Wood Elf Rumours II

[cosy]

You mean like the Dragon Princes, Phoenix Guard, Swordmasters, Shadow Warriors, Empire State Troopers, Handgunners, Stegadon & Thunderers? GW might get most of the things right when they update but some models are just inferior. Atleast you can search ebay & similar sites for old models you like.

Well no, i talked about the new big plastic monsters... but yeah i do prefere those new units you just described by a mile :-). There is not one model of 5th edition that is superior to the the new remade ones...in my opinion :-)

[Astraeos]

I really hope that dragon rumour turns out to be true, although I'm fairly confident it will be considering the current trends. (Don't take that for fact, it's just a guy with a laptop posting an opinion!)

[Rybo5000]

What WE need are good sculpts and not sexually ambiguous models. Same for the treemen/treekins. I think the WE range is currently one of the worst.
So new plastic regiments and (wood)monsters sound great

The main thing that turns me off them is they're barely fantasy, they don't have many mythical creatures.

[theJ]

The main thing that turns me off them is they're barely fantasy, they don't have many mythical creatures.

'sfunny... half the list is made out of spirits of some description, be they walking trees, half-elf/half-spirit hybrids or divinely possessed avatars, plus the odd dragon... the other half are elves, who are innately "fantasy".

'least, that's how I see 'em.

[Antipathy]

To be fair, although they're "Elves", they're "Humanoid" - compared to Beastmen, Daemons, Orcs/Goblins, Skeletons/Zombies, Lizardmen, and Ogres, they're positively "standard".

As for huge fantasy products, a Dragon and Ent/Treeman is pretty much standard fantasy fayre these days, and essentially the only difference between the Forest spirits is the size of the tree that they inhabit (regardless of the fluff difference between a dryad/treekin/treeman, the only difference appearance wise is small walking tree/medium walking tree/large walking tree).

Giant Eagles + Riding Giant eagles are fairly popular in such genre as well.

The only things which are pretty unique to the Asrai (as opposed to generic Wood Elves a la Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, etc) are the Wild Riders or rather "Priests of Kurnous" (I personally believe that they may be an alternate option for the Wild Riders, or possibly some form of Hero/Lord), and Orion - who IMHO could do with a serious resculpt, his spear is ridiculous.

The Preyton could be something to be used by the Shadowfey, but that's Warhammer Forge/Beastmen, although it's not unheard of to go from FW to 40K (Valkyrie, Leman Russ Variants etc). Another possibility is Alter Kindred, who could add in a whole new flavour to the army, possibly attracting to the Druidic players from DnD and Warcraft as being redesigned as a shape shifting unit. Ethereal Spirit Swarms could add some colour and vibrancy to the army design, as well as being useful if priced correctly (not to mention being played fluffily).

To be honest though, the only Elven army which is distinctly unhumanoid is the Dark Elves - Harpies, Hydra's, Cauldrons of Blood, Cold Ones, Dragons, Manticores, and Dark Pegasus, as opposed to High Elves - Great Eagles, Dragons and... well, Phoenix, although currently awaiting for a model and WHF only so far. Wood Elves have more Fantasy, but I also think the charm of some of the more humanoid factions is precisely that - I prefer Bretonnia to Empire particularly for their low fantasy as opposed to high fantasy/steam punk for example, I prefer the Norse/Plate Armoured Warriors as opposed to the more Daemonic/Chaotic/Mutated Chaos Warriors. Hell, even I even prefer the Strigoi Ghoul Thrall army (before it even became popular ruleswise - the Strigoi story was fantastic and really attracted me to the army - I prefered the idea of Nosferatu over the Bela Lugosi Vampire).

Admittedly, the design team have recently come up with wonderful ideas that were outside of the box - Necrosphinx, Wizardmobiles, Vampire Engine/Thrones, Mangler Squigs, Stonehorns, Thundertusks, Ironblaster, Mournfangs.

[Aryllon]

Wardancers are pretty unique, as far as I can tell? I mean yeah ok Elves are supposed to be skilled & quick, but I can't think of any non-GW elf factions (harlequins being GW elf) that are cult-dancers as much as warriors?

You're right about the Preyton being more beastman than WE - although the rumoured 'savage' twist to forthcoming WE would help it fit in a treat (and would also open up room for the incarnate elemental of beasts). Seems WHFB is following 40k trend; in their own way, everyone becomes the bad guys.

But yes the WE do need something more to mark them as GW unique rather than standard 'fantasy' fare. The stag-rider concept and variant / more Unicorns don't go far enough. That forest spirit swarm is an interesting idea though. Not going to throw my own ideas into the mix at this point, we don't want the thread closed again for wishlisting

Will be interesting to see what GW pull out of the hat!

[slirgy]

umm of the subject but do we have any pictures of these plastic clampacks that are rumoured???

[Tokamak]

Both High Elves and Wood Elves may get the Treeman in their updated books. (buzz0783)

This confirms my speculation about a wood/high elf combi-kit allowing for either a wood elf treeman or a high elf ship.

[Why]

You know I heard that it can also build various campfire's for armies such as empire and dwarves.

[mcfishstick]

Last time people made jokes about the plastic treeman's functionality for different armies the thread disappeared into general discussion. We're only on page 2 of this thread lol, let's not damn it the same way already

[popisdead]

Giant Eagles + Riding Giant eagles are fairly popular in such genre as well.

I would like to see that come back and be a bit more viable as a choice too. There was a neat 4th ed Special Char with a fancy lance on a Great Eagle.

Wardancers are pretty unique, as far as I can tell?

Yes they have been an archetypal staple of Fantasy since the 80s. I would like to see them returned to their former glory of being super scary to see on the table and Jes Goodwin sculpting the unit.

[spartan41]

Yes they have been an archetypal staple of Fantasy since the 80s. I would like to see them returned to their former glory of being super scary to see on the table and Jes Goodwin sculpting the unit.

Me too! A blister of wardancers and the old Orion model were the very first warhammer miniatures I ever bought back in 97, they have a soft spot in my heart. After seeing this Daemons wave of plastics I'd like to think that they'll start doing small skirmish type units of 5 or 10 in plastic, (wardancers, shadow warriors, shades, jezzail teams, chamelieon skinks, waywatchers, etc)

[Daniel36]

Plastic Set for Eternal Guard equipped with Saearath - presuming 10 to a set like High Elven Elites, including full command. Other than being plastic, I have been told that they will remain in the same style aesthetic so as not to clash with the existing Metal models - which in turn will also become direct only models. (Antipathy)

Hmmm... I was thinking of converting High Elf Spearmen to old school looking Eternal Guard (the old Glade Guard style), and hearing this news... I might just go ahead and do that sooner rather than later...

I REALLY dislike the Eternal Guard models... Then again, they might give the rules and stats a major overhaul that would make mine look wrong... Oh well... I will have to wait it out, I suppose.

[Antipathy]

Considering that Spearmen became Eternal Guard in 6th and EG Fighting Style specifies Saearath or Spear and Shield despite no new Spear and Shield models being made for the range (except the lone mounted Lord, IIrc) during the transition, I would support this idea - provided of course you enjoy the mahoosive hands

[MikeyB]

Can anyone even dare to hazard a guess how soon after High Elves we're gonna see Welfs appear? I cant see them doing Helfs and Welfs back to back

[Mechanium]

Their new release pattern seems to be in thematic blocks, so don't be suprised if helf weld and eldar all get redone right after one another.

[Sir_Glonojad]

There is not one model of 5th edition that is superior to the the new remade ones...in my opinion :-)

Except for the entire Bretonnian range, bar the hippogryph and Knights of the Realm (yet not Errants) - in my opinion of course

[Dargon]

Can anyone even dare to hazard a guess how soon after High Elves we're gonna see Welfs appear? I cant see them doing Helfs and Welfs back to back

For my pert, I'd never have seen GW doing 4-5 Chaos books back-to-back, yet it seems to be in our near future. Who knows what GW might have up its sleeves.

[Harry]

Well I have still not heard anything much other than the big plastic tree kit ... so they are keeping them a long way up their sleeves.

[zoggin-eck]

Then again, they might give the rules and stats a major overhaul that would make mine look wrong... Oh well... I will have to wait it out, I suppose.

That's what I'm worried about. The "you can use them as shield and spear armed models" rule to help out people with the old models always felt as temporary as the stormtroopers with shotguns counting as Adeptus Arbites option in 40k witchunters book