Where is he now - the Wood Elf Falconer

edit. 15/8/2017 added a picture of a falconer unit and a link

Was it lobbying by WEETA (Wood Elves for Ethical Treatment of Animals) that put a stop on using falcons as part of wood elf armies? Or the fact that it takes a long time to train a bird of prey to attack something else than it´s natural catch?

The rules for falconers appeared in the rule book of 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle. In the WFB: Armies the only list to include them was that of wood elves.

The reason for them being cut is propably pretty mundane. General streamlining of rules that came with 4th edition. Not being very sexy. Not fitting into the new look of Warhammer. You know the one with skulls and spikes everywhere.Rules too long and complicated for the 90´s.

 Looking at the profile line for hawk and rules for falconers we see that the hawk is basically a low strenght bow that can help you in close combat too. A falconer cost one point less than a lord´s bowman who´s missile range is 12" more and hits with better strenght. On the other hand the falconer gets that extra WS5 S2 close combat attack.

Goblin Lee has written a very good examination of the WFB: Armies Wood elf army list. His pro´s and con´s for falconers are as follows:

Pro's
The rules for Falconers (WFB page 97) mean that you can have an 

usual missile unit, or light flanking melee unit.
They fit in very well with the design concept of the Wood Elf army, and would look great 

on the table. I have never seen a unit of them used.
As a unit they also have good armour and weapon options.
A small unit size of 5-10 means you don't need many miniatures to field the unit.

Con's
Falconers aren´t very good, with a Strength 2 Falcon attack in either shooting or melee.
They may make for an interesting small units, but the army has already has 

Wardancers/Scouts/Beastmasters for that role.
Still they might be good to add to an army for character.

I agree with Lee´s list. For me the most important thing stand there as the last line: to add character for an army. There are certainly a few units in 3rd edition WFB: Armies that are really not that usable if you just want most bang for a buck. But for me Oldhammer is not about that. It´s about having fun with your friends. Collecting miniatures and assembling an army with background and character. Therefore if I were ever to build a wood elf army I would certainly try to include a falconer unit in it.

It´s a pity that the falconer´s are not listed under the troops that can do skirmishing. Having that choise would suit them and make them more maveuverable and therefore more usable. Perhaps they could be used to secure a flank and to harrash enemy skirmishers in their normal formation.

Citadel did not make models for falconers so what to do if you wanted use them in your army? There are several options available if you are ready do some conversions. There is of course Skaw model himself.

I´m not a fan of Skaw skulpt but paintjob on this one IMO is nice.

From MiniPainting.se site.

Other Citadel products with bird of prey are wood elf captain with hawk and MD4 Elf attack chariot crew member Aesilanan Woodmage. Neither of them look like the falconer pictured in the Armies and are perhaps a bit pricey if you just want the bird.

Perhaps the best alternative could be em4-miniatures 0162 Wood Elf Hero - with hawk model. Being pretty cheap you wouldn´t be in too much pain for cutting of the bird. Or you could use the model as it is. Even though he has a bow in his back and that weapon choise is not available for a falconer in Armies.

eM4-miniatures 0162 Wood Elf Hero

If you are looking for just the birds Dark eldar Razorwing flock or Reaper Miniatures´ Murder of crows set might be just what fullfils your needs.

 Razorwing flock from DakkaDakka forum. Murder of crows by Reaper Miniatures.

Both Marauder MM62 series and July 1985 C46 Villagers had a human falconer in them. The same C46 villager appears in the Blood on the Streets scenario models.

With the arrival of 4th edition the falconers as a unit were cut from the army list. What we got as a replacement was a special character Skaw the Falconer.

Skaw the Falconer as in 4th edition WFB Wood elf army book.

Along with Gruarth the beastmaster he is everything that was left of wood elf animal handlers when moving from 3rd to 4th edition. This form of Skaw was carried over to 5th edition as wood elf army book from 4th edition was not updated for that. Skaw dissappers from the 6th edition army book but makes a return of a sort in 8th edition in the form of Araloth the lord of Talsyn who has a hunting hawk called Skrayn. There is another set of rules for Shaw in Scribd but I have not been able to find out wether it is official or some fanmade stuff. But he sure looks very herohammerish there!

If you liked this article be sure to check out the previous one with the Dwarf Sapper.

Omar Ameer kindly gave permission to use a picture of his painted falconer squad here. More pictures of his beautiful wood elf host can been seen here.