All this is theory, my first impressions of the book as I haven't used anything in a game yet (nor will I for probably at least 5-6 months).

Fluff:
I think the older fluff was better at some points, but of course other stories are better than the old versions. Nothing was as good as it was before, things were either clearly better or clearly worse.

A highlight is the concept of Ariel's nemesis, in the past this level of personality was never in the Wood Elves: what was good for the elves was good for the individual. It is made clear in the book that this is Ariel's enemy, like a personal vendetta thing that will eventually be resolved by Ariel herself in some dramatic final showdown (though I wouldn't expect it in the near future). I also like the new wild hunt: Orion is not a defensive, peaceloving king any more: he is arrogant, violent and agressive attacking friends and allies in an orgy of destruction. In this way Ariel is clearly the leader of the wood elves making her (correct me if I'm wrong) the only female ruler of a Warhammer race.

Aside from the king and queen, I like the new origins of the elves. They didn't just flee into Loren, they slowly worked their way in: they had to prove their loyalty to it's inhabitants and fight alongside it. It makes the forest seem more evil, more human, and I like it :D

I love the poetry thrown throughout the book: a couple copies from other sources, but I still can't help but love the poems.

Something I disliked is that the stories don't revolve around the common elves: they nearly always feature either a special character or Treeman ancient. There is never the remarkable elf in a small party: the stories always focus on 'lord level characters'. An example is 'the battle of pine crags', my favourite story from the previous book. It was no longer a small battle between a wardancer and a greedy dwarf, it was a massive war which was resolved by the sisters appearance.

Also, there seem to be some weird omissions: things still vaguely referred to but without actually describing what they are. Examples are Naieth and the lost kindred, both are mentioned but there are no featured stories about them. I also wish there were some stories directly showing the links between Loren and Bretonnia. From what I saw, they still haven't confirmed the 'Ariel is the Lady of the Lake' rumours, but they certainly haven't been denied.


Units:
I'll go over these vaguely, it is hard to determine their strength until I play them. I don't see the point in Treeman ancients outside of the fluffy forest spirit army: they still take up a rare choice and only get +1Ld and character rules. Not that he is a bad choice, just that I would rather take one of the other lords and a normal treeman. The Branchwraith is interesting: excellent stats and cheaper than a noble, as well as the option to learn wizardry. These dryads aren't the sort to hide in a forest all game, even as wizards they will have no trouble ripping apart small skirmishers. The wizardry option is expensive (relative to the dryad's own price), but I was willing to pay 50 pts to get +1 power/dispel before the army book came out so why not now :D The only complaint I have about the new character mounts is the great stag: he is expensive and I can't justify taking him when the unicorn looks so much better for a similar price (I know they are supposed to be different kinds of mount but still, it just doesn't look like good value).


Glade guard have easily become our core choice. S4 longbows (at short range, but that is irrelevant :D ), move and fire without penalty, they will be amazing. Glade Riders will be interesting: far more fragile, but slightly cheaper than before. They seem more logical though, having access to both bows and spears. Eternal guard are a toss-up: in small armies they must be special choices: though they are damned powerful for basic spearmen. I think that in the end, they will be taken as rarely as they were before, but it should be interesting to see how people take to them. I think the new dryads are simply amazing for their price. They've lost their aspects but still have amazing statlines and all for only 12 points.


The new wardances look good: +1S replaced with +1A makes sense: we now have killing blow for tough foes, +1A for fighting numbers and then there's the two defensive dances. As an aside, the wardancers have truly amazing stats: WS6 and I6 is about the same (if not better) than your typical human hero. It is interesting that wardancers now have a reason to be dancing: they are worshipping their bizarre god of trickery and fun. For some reason, whenever I think of Loec I get the image of an insane bard, but again that's just me. Wild Riders are interesting, but you didn't need me to tell you that. Treekin look good but far too expensive. I also dislike their fluff, it seems they were thrown in just to make a treeish special choice (so they could say trees can be taken in all choices): more of a marketing choice than a gaming / character decision. Warhawk riders, again look too expensive. They are just too fragile, and really offer nothing different from glade riders. I also think the new 'surfing' concept is silly.

Waywatchers are interesting: I love that they have 2 hand weapons now (even if I dislike the new models), and I don't need to tell you that lethal shot is an amazing ability. Treemen haven't really changed much, just swapped treewhack for strangling roots. They are also harder to kill, with a ward save in addition to their 3+ scaly skin. To Great Eagles: just say no :D

Spites: (please, oh god don't say sprites :D )
I dislike the concept of spites, but they should be fun in game. They just remind me too much of wisps from Warcraft III: the glowy spheres, the possessing trees. Most of them are too weak to be of much use (a lot of variations on the 'D6 S2 hits' theme), but the Annoyance of Netlings and Cluster of Radiants stand out as useful. I guess some of the S2 hit things will be good for a treeman ancient: giving him heaps of different short ranged attacks and make him great at thinning foes weak units (especially skinks :D ).

Magic Items:
I don't really have time to review them all, but my favourites are the Spirit Sword, spear of twilight, Helm of the hunt, Rhymer's Harp, Amaranthine Brooch, most of the enchanted items, Calaingor's stave, Deepwood sphere, and banner of dwindling (that thing is nasty).

As a general trend, there are heaps of conditional ward saves, but they are good and cheap. There are of course some bad items but they are ever present within magic item lists. Hardly any armour saves (as it should be) but some nice aggressive items as well. An interesting thing is the Amber Pendant, a 'strikes first' item that seems to take priority over other 'strikes first' effects.

Kindreds:
Great idea, but I think they went too far, there are just too many and some make no sense. The Wardancer one just seems too expensive for what it does: the previous use of Bladeweavers as KB guys is irrelevent now that we have a weapon that gives unconditional KB. The rest of the dances aren't that good for characters. The eternal kindred is also just odd, as far as I can see all it is is an additional hand weapon (it is not clear what the 5+ armour save comes from). The only reason I can see taking Wild Rider or Glamourweave is to get access to their special steeds (or to sneak an elf into Drycha's army). Waywatcher just seems too expensive: it would be fun if it could be comboed with the Bow of Loren, but as it is, 45/35 pts for 1 KB attack, he might succeed once per game.

The only real stand-out from the kindreds is the Alter kindred: our answer to the jaguar saurus of death: with the exception we do not need to use any of our magic item allowance on the same ability.

Special characters:
It is a shame that Ariel was missed out, but I guess she is just too godly (seeming to be queen of one race and secretly puppeteering another, as well as protecting Loren with the mists and stuff).

Orion seems a little plain: he is good, but lacks character in my opinion. He is also significantly less powerful than he was depicted in previous editions. Drycha I like :D . It is annoying that she takes a lord choice (so you couldn't field both her and her master Coeddil in the same army), but that is minor. She has some nice rules, none of them overly powerful, but all adding to her character. An interesting sidenote, I think you can field both Drycha and Orion in the same (3000 pt) army: since orion and his wild riders are all forest spirits. There is the slight problem of who is the general, but if you really hate someone, this is the army to field.

The Sisters are just bizarre: I can't see what role they fulfil. They are sort of interesting, but at the same time completely plain and dull. They say nothing really unique about the army.

The Lore of Athel Loren:
The Treesinging spell is the best in my opinion. The side effect is interesting: FEAR THE WOODS :D . Hidden Path is good, but there are very few units in the wood elf army that are affected by difficult terrain anyway. Ariel's Blessing is a good spell, but it's cost is perhaps a little too high. Finally, I want to say that while I can see a purpose in the Call of the Hunt, I can see no way to actually cast it in a game: 11+ is just too unreliable for level 2 wizards (who will make up the bulk of our casters). It is not hard for an opponent to use a dispel scroll in this situation either. Having said that, on a unit of eternal guard +1A would be amazing, effectively giving 5 attacks per front rank model (assuming there are guys in the back ranks).

I think if I take a higher level wizard it will be back to old life lore, that thing was very fun and nasty in a way that Athel Loren isn't. This lore seems to give wood elves things that they basically have anyway: from lots of attacks, to movement through terrain.

Summary:
I was not disappointed, but I wasn't really all that impressed with the changes. I love the new magic items, but some of the other ideas are a little too bizarre for me.

Great post, but alot of the things in your post really stumped me, and then I thought, "spoken from a true person who hasnt used the army".

Really no offence, but the things that you have listed really got me thinking about how all these things are really just your opinion... just an opinion like this should only be formulated once you have played the army... Sorry but thats just how it feels to me...

I have played a couple of games, and they have never once let me down haveing never lost, only having drawn in my favour..... The fluff comments were fair enough, and I do agree with you on alot of those points... so good job there ^_^

I think what got to me was how you described the units.... a treeman ancient is worth it in my opinion.. having all the stats of a normal treeman, but having a higher initiative.. Also the fact that you can allocate 100 points of spites onto him is just awesome... Also having the ability to cast treesinging as a bound spell at power level 3 twice will leave you opponent dreading the magic phase as you can draw dispel dice away from the nasty spells you do want. Anyway all these abilities for only 40 points more should satisfy alot of people who want a treeman in thier army, but can also have one which really casts fear into your opponents eyes. :thumb:

Indeed the great stag is possibly the worst kind of mount for what it does in the game. Although having 3 wounds, with 2 strength 5 attacks is nothing to be taken lightly. Anyway you arent allowed to have any character other than the spellweaver and spellsinger on a unicorn. And besides the fact the unicorn is good for what it does having a high strength on the charge and the high magic resistance, are you really willing to pay an additional 20 points to an already expensive mage to allow for them to ride a unicorn... I think most people woudl rather have them on foot opposed to paying 85 (65 for unicorn, 20 for the kindred required to ride unicorn) points for a mount you dont want to get into combat for a long period of time..

Even though they are expensive being 65 points, but think about it... swarm bases which have toughness of 5 and a strength of 5, would you really expect any less for what they do... Seeing as they move the same distance as nearly everything in the army they are great for flanking... they cause fear and have numerous amount of attacks (3 per tree). They also have a massive save of 4+ armour and a special ward or 5+... now that is good!

Also I dont think you have given enough credit to eternal guard. Eternal guard if left in combat can be really deadly... with thier massive amount of attacks, having a leadership of 9, a ws of 5 and being able to carry a magical banner worth 50 points or under... now these things will all appeal to a wood elf player if tey want something to really make a dint into your enemy.

Wildriders are also awesome for what they do. Causing fear on the charge and having a base strength of 4 is really great. Also you dont to be vsing these guys in a long round of combat. Having +1 attack on any turn they dont charge. Combine this with magic resistance 1, 5+ armour save, 5+ ward save, that is really good!

The kindred are a great idea. It basically allows you to customise you lord, and hence your army around him. I like the waywatcher one. Even though it is expensive, you pay for somthing which makes your lord really hard to hit. Put him in with a unit of waywatchers, along with the bow of loren and arcane bodkins(as many arrows as attacks, and no armour saves), and you really have somthing really quite deadly...

Overall the wood elves are really great to play.. And all of which swordsalot has said is also very important in showing that there are many opinions on things, of which you have to make up your own...