When I covered the general Wood Elf army tactics, I identified some strengths and weaknesses that players needed to be aware of before working on a strategy to use on their opponents. The first thing that we need to do to prepare a Forest Spirit army is look at these characteristics and see what has improved, and what has not.

WEAKNESSES REVISITED

The Spirits of Athel Loren go to war.

Listed as weaknesses of a general Wood Elf army were the facts that its troops are fairly expensive, frail, and unarmoured. In addition, few units in the Wood Elf army gained a bonus to combat resolution from extra ranks, and only about half of the unit types had the ability to negate the enemy's rank bonus.

Bang for Your Buck. While it is true that the individual troops of a Forest Spirit army are quite expensive (even when compared to a standard Wood Elf army), you are definitely getting your points-worth. The Dryads in particular are a steal at only 12 points. Also, since small units of Forest Spirits can do the job of much larger units, you can have many small, average-cost units running around the battlefield instead of just a few giant blocks of troops.

Bark and Bite. "Frail" was an adjective used in the first Wood Elf tactics article to describe the constitution and strength of the Asrai (Elf) portion of the list. When you remove the majority of the Elves from your selections, all you are left with is the durability and power brought to bear by the ancient spirits of Athel Loren. Every unit in the army has at least a Strength of 4, and only the Wild Riders have less than a 4 for their Toughness. As well as being tough and strong, all of the troops in the army (except the Wild Riders, when they charge) have multiple attacks to savagely beat down their opponents. And armour? The Forest Spirits have the best armour in the entire Wood Elf army list.

Combat Resolution. Gaining for yourself and denying your opponent combat resolution bonuses are still going to be a problem for this army, like it is for a well-balanced Wood Elf army. You'll get little help from your only Core unit, the Dryads, as they are Skirmishers and will only get bonuses from hitting from the side or rear. Good luck getting rank bonuses from any of the other expensive Forest Spirit units. However, what the Wild Riders of Kurnous, the Tree Kin, and the Treeman can do is charge into the side of the enemy units to negate their rank bonus. Without a rank bonus, and a flank or rear bonus against them, few enemy units are going to survive a confrontation with any of the powerful Forest Spirit units.

As you can see, a Wood Elf army comprised solely of Forest Spirits nullifies many of the disadvantages attributed to the army as a whole. Now to see how the strengths of the army fare...

The Wild Riders of Kurnous.

STRENGTHS REVISITED

For strengths, a well-balanced Wood Elf army has superior manoeuvrability, excellent delay capabilities, great missile fire, a psychological advantage, and the ability to alter the battlefield during the set up and during the battle itself.

Manoeuvrability. The manoeuvrability of a Forest Spirit army is much less than that of its general counterpart. With no Flyers and Scouts, this army has to rely on their Skirmishers (the Dryads), and the Wild Riders that are a Fast Cavalry unit. Having said that, the Forest Spirit army is still quite mobile compared to the average army that it will be facing.

Slowing Down the Enemy. Without all of the advanced troops like the Scouts, Waywatchers, and Flyers, this former strength has really taken a hit. All that this army is left with to slow the advance of the enemy are the Wild Riders of Kurnous. Wild Riders can move along the enemy's flank to slow them down. Thus, almost every army you face will have delay capabilities as good or better than that of your Forest Spirit army.

Manipulate the Playing Field. Nothing has changed here. You will still get your extra 6"-diameter woods when playing in Pitched Battles, and your spellcasters will still be able to convince the forests to move around the battlefield using the Tree Singing spell. The only minor alteration is that your Wizards will need to be part of the Glamourweave Kindred and choose a mount in order to follow the strict theme of the army. This mount will, of course, cost some extra points, but it will also provide a few valuable perks.

Shock and Awe. Every Forest Spirit unit at your disposal has Fear or Terror. The Treeman has Terror, Tree Kin and Dryads have Fear, and even the Wild Riders of Kurnous have Fear on the turn that they charge. Except for your Wizards with the Glamourweave Kindred, all of your characters have these powerful psychological traits.

So Much for Missile Fire. The complete and utter lack of missile troops is a major weakness of this army. Your opponent has a much lower incentive to come to you and fall into your traps without a few large units of Glade Guard shooting their units to pieces. Without your shooting, your opponent can just sit back and shoot at you as you approach. Luckily, your thick bark hides, Armour Saves, and Ward Saves should keep the damage to acceptable levels. Just hope they don't have too much artillery...

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