Wood Elf Falconers

 It´s more that five years since I wrote an article about one of the lost units of WFB - the wood elf falconers. Yesterday I finished the fifth and final model for my unit of five falconers. I used Jes Goodwin sculpts and added modern resin birds to models as there really aren´t good falconer models to work with. Enjoy!

Please link your falconers in comments! Would love to see what models others have used in theit units.

Where is he now - Berserker

One of the special troop types presented in the 3rd edition rule book is berserkers. Their descripsion says that they are units of troop that can enter a wild and uncontrollable frenzy. The berserker frenzy resebles the psychological effect frenzy but is something a bit more.

Berserkers are found in Norse armies, both in the mercenary contigent and in the WD107 published full Norse army list. The are available in both human and norse dwarf form. Chaos dwarf berserkers can be fielded as part of a chaos mercenary contingent. Chaos dwarf berserker units are also available for Khornate armies as ppesented in Slaves to Darkness.

Once again I´m supported by LM´s apparently infinite

collection of miniatures. Norse berserkers with 2H axes.

Before a battle the berserkers work themselves into a battle-fury by clashing their swords, chewing their shields and singing ´berserkers songs´. Al this will turn them into frothing homicidal maniacs with foaming mouths and glazed eyes. They will attack anyone or anything that gets in their way. Berserkers are so battle-crazed that even deadly wounds won´t necessarily stop them.

THE RULES (p. 96)

1. Berserkers never wear armour, but may carry a shield. They may be armed with any hand-to-hand and throwing weapon, such as a throwing spear or axe. Many berserkers carry two hand weapons, choosing to forego a ´namby-pampy´ shield in favour of offensive weapons.
   
   All this suits the berserker style quite nicely. One could of course squable about the throwing weapons being not very berserky but hey, you don´t have to take those if you don´t want to. 3rd edition rules for wielding two hand weapons are pretty harsh. The +1 to hit bonus from frenzy helps with that but it´s up to you if you want to go that way. If I were facing goblins or other troops of low WS, two hand weapons could be a choise for norse dwarf berserkers.
   
2. Berserkers automatically enter frenzy the first time they charge or are charged. No dice test is made. Once berserkers are frenzied they remain so for the rest of the battle.
   
   Nicely in line with the general description of the berserkers and their lust for battle.
   
   Don´t forget the effects of frenzy: +1 to hit and to wound rolls, +1 to any saving throw, never take rout tests, cannot be routed and ignore psychology tests.
   
3. Berserkers cannot be pushed-back in hand-to-hand combat, nor can they be routed as a result of hand-to-hand combat. They will refuse to give ground and will fight to the death regarless of circumstances. They must always follow-up in close combat regarless of the circumstances.
   
   This is a very good trait. It means that even if you lose a round of combat your enemy won´t get that +1 to hit bonus for pushing you back. As you are not pushed back. These guys can be used as an anchor point of your battle-line. They will not run a away from combat allowing your other troops to take on enemy flanks and rear.
   
4. If a unit of frenzied berserkers finds itself not in hand-to-hand combat at the beginning of it´s turn, it must charge the nearest enemy troop. If there are no enemy troops within charge range, the berserkers battle-lust is such that they will charge any friendly troops in charge range! If no troops are in charge range they will move at double rate towards the nearest visible enemy.
   
   In my opinion this is not as bad as it might initially sound. Just make sure that there are no on units in front of the berserkers and you are out of harms way. The rule doesn´t state what to do if there is no visible enemy. Perhaps then the berserkers would manouver towards nearest friendly unit in order to get in charge range. I would propably GM it that way.
   
5. Berserkers must always pursue routing enemy, including previously friendly units! Once they have entered frenzy they do not need to reform after pursuit or a charge, but are concidered insantly reformed and must attack or move towards any enemy of friendly unit as described above.
   
   Very well in line with everything above. And a good clarification about reforming.

Berserkers cost an extra +5 points, added after points for equipment. A normal human berserkers is therefore worth 10 points and a norse dwarf costs you 13 points.

NORSE MERCENARY CONTINGENT

Quite logically you get a smaller number of higher quality troops, in this case norse dwarf berserkers. Being pretty tough by themselves the berserkers can do with a lvl 5 hero. In my opinion double-handed weapons are a must for berserkers. With frenzy you then get +2 to to-wound rolls and that is a lot.

On odd side is the weapons option differences. Why throwing weapons for dwarfs but not for humans?

WD 107 NORSE ARMY LIST

First thing that sticks out is the missprint on human berserker profile. Numbers have shifted one column to right. Not a big deal.

But a bigger thing is the change in unit sizes!

Now the human unit size is only 5-10 and dwarf 10-20. Can´t follow the logic here. Like someone had been thinking: "The Norse dwafr berserkers are really tough - let´s let the players take a bigger unit of them to make them even tougher".

There are no seperate rules for berserker characters. I´m assuming that you can take them if you pay the extra 5 points. But I would limit their use to leading berserkers units. Just like with were characters.

Norse dwarf berserkes unit by LM.

CHAOS DWARF BERSERKERS

With maximum unit size of 20 models and a lvl15 hero this can be one tough unit. And a pretty expensive one too. With full unit with double handed weapons, standard and a hero costs 455 points. As mentioned before the two handed weapons is a must for chaos dwarf berserkers too.

A pair of LM´s chaos dwarf berserkers.

MODELS

The Perry sculpted Norsemen and Norse dwarfs ranges have a couple of suitable models for berserkers. The norse dwarf slayers make perfect berserkers too. From norsemen I would choose the models with bare upper body and dynamic pose. SoL will help you out here, here, here and here.

Foundry has still in production the ex-Citadel Vikings including berserkers. You may want to check out their other viking models too.

CP models has a range of vikings including berserkers. Don´t know how these scale with old Citadel ones.

V&V miniatures too produces 28mm viking models. Their berserkers look a bit chubby for my taste but that´s propably just me.

Chaos dwarf berserkers can be found in the Citadel D3 Chaos dwarf series.

WHERE ARE BERSERKERS NOW?

Sadly the Norse as an army were left out of the 4th edition.  And with that the berserkers ceased to exist. The Norse came back with 6th edition of WFB as part of forces of chaos and new fluff was written for them. In this new setting the berserkers became devotees of Khorne which actually makes some sense. Battle-lusting warriors slipping to the dark side.

What is sad is that berserkers in my opinion became just another type of chaos warriors. Where´s the originality? If the berserkers (and all Norse) had to be turned to chaos why not make use of the tragic side of that. I´m thinking about slow degeneration. Perhaps understanding that everything has gone wrong but not being eble to do something about it. Hating oneself for the blood-lust and not being able to control it.

In the 40k there are Khorne Berzerkers described as: "Driven into battle by the frenzied need to kill, Khorne Berzerkers slaughter everything in their path and leave nothing but twitching corpses in their wake. These murderous lunatics have been ritually lobotomised to remove all trace of fear or compassion. In place of these emotions, they receive cortical implants that heighten their already fearsome aggression to psychotic levels". How original. 

And in the AoS they have Vulkite Berzerkers. Google at your own responsibility.

Where is he now - Ulfwerenar

Where shapechangers in WFB 3rd edition Armies are available only to wood elves the ulfwerenar are unique to the norse. They can be fielded either as part of a norse mercenary contingent or in a norse army as per list published in WD107.

The Ulfwerenar are the only case of were creatures being included to official army lists in 3rd edition WFB. They form their own units and in that differ from shapechangers who hide among ´normal´ troops and are revealed in enemy proximity.

The later editions of WFB don´t have Ulfwerenar units; or much weres at all. The  Dogs of War regiment Beorg Bearstruck & the Bearmen of Urslo is perhaps the closest thing the later editions had regarding Ulfwerenar.

Once again a BIG Thank you to LM for providing me with pictures of his painted wolf-men. That´s one magnificent unit!!!

Just look at this unit by LM. Very very nice indeed.

THE RULES

The rules for were creatures are quite long and WD107 specifies the use of champions with Ulfwerenar a bit. Let´s take a look into those rules here and see what they mean. Taken from page 244 in the rule book.

1. Units of weres may enter battle in either human or wolf form. If entering battle in human form, players will have to provide alternative models to use once the unit has transmutated. Once a unit of weres has changed to wolf-man form it remains in that form for the remainder of the battle.
   
   In the descripition on weres it is thold that weres have to distict form, that of a human and that of a wolf-man. Wolf-men are frightening creatures with powerful hairy body and a snarling wolf´s head. They walk upright and  can use weapons like normal men.
   
   Entering weres to battle in human form gives you a certain element of suprise. Wolf-men are far better in close combat that regular humans which means that the enemy might overlook them initially if entering in human form. But you are going to need a big pile of models as you need those replacements when the transformation takes place.
   
2. Were characters may enter the battle in either human or wolf form. hey may not enter as giant wolves. Alternative models for all three forms will have to be provided. Were characters may change beween their three forms during the battle, and are obliged to make transmutation tests in some circumstances as described under 6,below.
   
   So in addition to normal and wolf-man forms, the were characters have a third form too. That of a giant wolf. And another model needs to be provided.
   
3. All models comprising a unit of weres always have the same form. A single transmutation test is made as described under point 6. The result applies to the whole unit. If led by a were character the character model may assume a different forma and is concidered separately. Character models therefore test separately even if they are leading a unit. An ordinary human character may lead a unit of weres, but obviously may not transmutate.
   
   Having same form for all models in a unit is pretty natural.
   
   The underlined part of rules is changed in the WD107 Norse army list. There it clearly states that Ulfwerenar units cannot be led by ordinary heroes, although they can be led by their own were heroes.
   
   And when you get to rule 11 you realise that once again editing has been a bit limited as rule number 3 allows normal human leaders but rule 11 denies that.
   
4. Were characters may only change to Giant Wolf form once they have changed to wolf-man form. Similarly, to transmutate from Giant Wolf form they change again to wolf-men and then change again to human form. It is not possible to change from human to Giant Wolf form (or visa versa) in a single transmutation.
   
   A good clarification on how were characters transmute.
   
5.  A player controlling weres may attempt to tranmutate any unit or character at the beginning of the side´s turn. Once a were unit has adopted wolf-man form, it may make no further transmutations and fights the remainder of the battle as a unit of wolf-men. A were character is free to change between the three forms (human, wolf-ma and giant wolf), but must test in the following situations. If a were character is in hand-to-hand combat at the start of the side´s turn and is in human form, the player must test to transmutate into wolf-man form. If a were character is in hand-to-hand combat at the start of the side´s turn and is in wolf-man form, the player must test to transmute into giant wolf form.
   
   So normal weres may attempt to transmute but were characters must roll in the above mentioned cases. Perhaps were characters are closer to animals than normal weres and because of that are less in controll of the transmutations.
   
6. To effect a successful transmutation, the player rolls a D6. If the score is 6 the transmutation is successful. If enemy troops are within 12" of the testers, the player must add +1 to the dice if attempting to change from human to wolf-man, or from wol-man to giant wolf. If already engaged in hand-to-hand combat the player must add +2 to the dice if attempting to change from huoman to wolf-man or wolf-man to giant wolf. This reflects the were´s natural inclination to change into a more lupine form for combat.
   
   It´s not that easy to make that transformation. One really has to weight the pro´s and con´s of bringing the ulfwerenar on battlefield in human form. Unarmoured T3 models costing 15 points each are not something you want to attract missile fire to.
   
7. A unit which is in wolf-man form when it charges, or when it is charged automatically becomes frenzied. No separate test is required to enter frenzy.
   
   In addition to better profile line the frenzy is the reason you want to have your ulfwerenar in wolf-man form when they go hand to hand with the enemy.
   
8. A were character model which is a wizard loses all associated magical abilities when in wolf-man or giant wolf form. These are immediately regained when the character changes back to human form.
   
   The army lists for norse don´t have were wizards so this line can be disregarded when using ulfwerenar.
   
9. Once a character has transmutated into the form of a giant wolf its personality changes, becoming far less human and far more lupine. A were in full giant wolf form is dangerous because it is subject to animal urges and motivations which may result in the character leaving the scene of the battle altogether. In giant wolf form were characters are subject to the psychological rules given for hatred. Were characters in giant wolf form hate the nearest enemy whatever it is. This overrides all other psychological effects caused by the enemy, negating any affect of fear for example. In addition, any were character charging or being charged while in the form of a giant wolf automatically becomes frenzied.
   
   As per rule book page 93 the unit associated charecters additional psychological reactions do not affect the unit that does not suffer from that same effect.  The rule for hatred aplies only to the were character. Once in giant wolf form the were character must test to see if it enters a fit of hatred as per the rules for hatred in rule book page 72. Once in that mode it will charge the nearest enemy where possible. This can cause the were character to become separated from the unit he was leading.
   
   In my opinion a were character in giant wolf form can no longer act as a leader of a unit. He is in effect a wolf now and no longer capable of leading. Therefore the next in command should step in and his profile should be used for further tests.
   
10. A were character in giant wolf form and which is not engaged in hand-to-hand combat at the beginning of the side´s turn must make a transmutation test to assume wolf-man shape. If the test is failed, the player must make a further test rolling a D6.
    
    1-4. The character remains under normal control.
    
    5. The character must move towards the nearest table-edge at normal speed avoiding combat, if possible. As long as the model remains on the table, the players may test to transmute at the beginning of each of his following turns. No further roll is made on this chart. If the character has failed to transmute by the time the model crosses the table-edge, it is assumed to have left the battlefield and takes no further part in the game.
    
    6. The character must move towards the nearest table-edge as described above. No further tests are taken; the model is removed from play as soon as it crosses the table-edge.
    
    With some bad rolls you can end up with your were character running for wild. This is the risk you have to take if you use them. It certainly makes using expensive characters in giant wolf form pretty uninviting.
    
11. Units of weres must be led by an ordinary were or a were character.
    See rule 3. Some inconsistency here. As WD107 clarifies this I would follow that ruling.
    
12. In competition games, weres are only permitted to those armies indicated in Warhammer Armies, fundametally the Norse. In non-competition games players are allowed to make weres even weirder (if you´ll forgive the pun) by adding D3-1 dominant Chaotic mutations to each unit when in wolf-man form. Characters may be gicen D4-1 personal mutations in wolf-man and giant wolf form - these do not have to be the same mutations and can be generated separately. All random generation must take place before the game begins, preferable under the supervision of the GM.
    
    So a little hint towards chaos here in the last were rule. And a good point about generating the mutations under GM supervision.

I have to say that even for 3rd edition WFB the rules for weres are long and quite clumsy. Quite a lot of dice rolling and things to remember. But you could have streamlined the rules a bit - not cut the weres alltogether.

The were champion and two troopers. Champion is

a C22 Creatures giant werewolf and troopers are

C18 Nighthorrors wereman and wolfman. From LM´s collection.

PROFILE AND ARMY LISTS

First of all, in my opinion every norse army should have some Ulfwerenar. Just because they are a cool unit that no one else gets. They look good in their wolf-man form and that alone is a good reason to field them.

As we see from the table below, the weres are pretty expensive but they are tough too. As one can expect the profile leans toward hand to hand combat.

As per rules the Ulfwerenar can only be led by one of their own. If were characters are fielded they must be assigned to a Ulfwerenar unit as a champion. As you can not have more than one champion per unit of Ulfwerenar this means that you can never have more were charaters than you have units of weres in your army.

A norse mercenary contingent can have 0-10 ulfwerenar with 5-10 models per unit. A unit must include a were champion. You could theoretically field two units of ulfwerenar but they would be really weak that way. For mercenaries I would field a unit of 10 and wouldn´t try to pass them for normal troops but give them two-handed weapons and deploy them in wolfman form. With champion and a standard the unit would cost roughly 260 points. Pretty expensive but T4 gives some durability and WS4 hitting with S5 is a lot of punch.

If you are using the army list from WD107 you have more options. Now you could try confusing your enemy by deploying in human form and having such equipment that ulfwerenar could be initially mistaken bondsmen. You could potentially field 6 units of bondsmen each 20 models strong and hide a ulfwerenar unit of same size among them.

For a were strong ulfwerenar unit you could take 19 models including a standard bearer all equipped with shields. They would be led by a lvl 20 ulfwerenar hero. You would want to have shields as the bondsmen have that as normal equipment. That combination would cost you 556 points. Taking a relic banner would be highly recommended to keep them from breaking when not in frenzy. The additinal 25 points is not that much for 550+ points unit.

If almost 600 points feels to much you could take a lvl 10 hero and cut the cost by 100 points. Lvl 10 were characters are pretty tough too.

But keep in mind that fielding weres in human form comes with the risk. They might not transmute when you would want them to.

The rule book has different profiles for were characters of different levels in giant wolf form too. Most of the stats stay the same regarless of the level but you get more wounds and higher initiative. This is however changed in the WD107 and all were characters now use the common giant wolf profile regardless of the characters actual level.

This again will affect the way you use your were character. In my opinion there is no sense in using the giant wolf form for other were characters than level 5 champions. Imagine your lvl 25 hero charging out of his parent unit in giant wolf form only to shot to pieces by an enemy that chose to stand & shoot. A lvl 5 champion might benefit from giant wolf form. They do not provide leadership bonuses in any case so combined with profile changes it might be worth trying.

Another shot of this beautiful unit. The flag is a Wargame¨Designs

28mm Viking/Saxon flag that fits the theme perfectly.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Closest thing to ulfwerenar in the later editions is the Dogs of War regiment Beorg Bearstruck & the Bearmen of Urslo that came with the 5th edition in 1998. At that time the norse are seen as deeply affected by powers of chaos and their lycanthropy being a gift from chaos gods. In this regiment only Beorg himself is clearly a were creature. His model is clearly a half-man-half-bear creature and the rules state that he fights with claw and teeth. The normal troopers are more or less touched with the mark of were bear affecting their appearance and giving them a higher-than-normal-men profile. Unlike Beorg they wield normal weapons and wear armor. There are no rules for different forms and  every model has just one profile.

Bearmen of Urslo. Beorg himself is not that bad a model

but the rank & file don´t impress me much.

I have to say that I did like the old Norse better before they all went chaos. The norse in 3rd edition were described as fierce and brutal like the land they live in. They love battle and are concidered untrustworthy but they are not all grim & dark chaos that they were turned into later.

-------------------------

I think I need to take a deeper look into the were creatures as whole in the Oldhammer world. There doesn´t seem to too much material available on them. And things I have managed to find are somewhat conflicting...

Where is he now - Elf shapechanger

Introduced in the 3rd edition WFB Rulebook the shapechangers were made available only to wood elves in the WFB: Armies. The shapechangers resemble werecreatures in many ways but there are differences too. Weres in WFB have usually a normal man-form and a half-wolf form. Were characters can turn to full wolf form too. Shapechangers on the other hand have three animal forms in which they will randomly turn to.

Unlike norse ulfwerenar the elf shapechangers are not fielded as seperate units but they are hidden inside normal units a bit like goblin fanatics. Ulfwerenar will get their own article later.

The rules for shapechangers are quite long and it´s worth taking a good look into them here. Rules are presented on the page 99 in the 3rd edition rulebook.

1. Models representing shapechangers are indistinguishable from ordinary members of a unit. The controlling player secrectly allocates each shapechanger to an ordinary unit of its racial type. Up to 20% of any unit may be composed of shapechangers hidden in this way. Each is represented by a normal model of the unit´s type. It is important that the player makes a clear note of shapechanger/unit allocation and shows it to the GM.
   
   So for every four models in a unit you can have one shapechanger hiding there. Wood elf archer (including Lord´s bowmen) units have a maximum unit size of 20 which means you could field 16 archers and 4 shapechangers. With Warrior kinbands you could field 6 shapechangers as the maximum unit size is 30 models. I don´t think it´s stright out forbidden to hide shapechangers in a unit of cavalry but the whole idea of doing that is so strange that I wouldn´t allow it as GM.
   
   
2. If a sheltering unit begins its own turn within 12" of an enemy unit, the controlling player must roll a D6. If the score is 5 or 6, all shapechangers in the unit change shape. If the covering unit is charged in the enemy turn, shapechangers roll to change shape immediately. Shapechangers who enter combat still unchanged may roll at the beginning of each of the following combat rounds (regardless of which side´s turn it is) until they change shape.
   
   It´s a big disadvantage not to have control over your shapechangers. They will change shape on random so you really can´t make plans that depend on them changing.
   
   
3. Roll a D6 to determine which creature the shapechangers change into. All shapechangers from a unit change into the same creature:
   1-2 Giant wolf
   3-4 Boar
   5-6 Bear
   
   More unwanted randomness in my opinion. Bear is a great option with S4, T4, W2 and 3 attacks. And they cause fear. Giant wolves are quite good with high movement, WS4 and 2 attacks. But boars are not worth the 28 points the shapechangers cost. Even with those two attacks they get (see rule 5) and frenzy (see rule 7).
   
   Another disadvantage with shapechangers is the fact that you will need four models for each shapechanger. One for normal for and one for each animal form too. That certaily raises the level for using them.
   
   
4. Shapechangers may not wear armour or carry a shield. They may carry a single weapon - usually a hand weapon.
   No suprises here. Armour would be in the way of shape changing and you have to be able to protect youself in unchanged form too.
   
   
   
5. Shapechangers retain some of their human or elven qualities and are cpable of wileding weapons as well as making animal attacks. They have characteristics equivalent to the animal thay change into, with an additional attack from any held weapon. This additional attack is made with animal´s WS.
   Here we learn that  a shapechangers transformation is not complete to animal form but instead he becomes a sort of hybrid between his original form and the animal he turns into.
   
   
6. Once changed into animal form, the shapechangers must move as fast as possible towards the nearest visible enemy. They are now concidered to be a seperate unit, and the models representing them are removed from their covering unit. The models representing their animal forms are placed on the table and make an initial move that turn. If their covering unit is already in close combat or is being charged, the shapechangers move into the front rank but cannot leave the unit until that engagement is complete.
   
   Upon the shape change the controlling player loses what little control he had over the shapechangers. They will move on their own and as per rule 7 charge when able to do so.
   
   
7. Shapechangers in changed form, must charge the nearest enemy as soon as they are able to do so. They automatically enter frenzy as soon as they engage in hand-to-hand combat.
   
   Frenzy is a powerfull thing. Troops stay frenzied as long as they are in base-to-base contact with the enemy including pursuit. Frenzied troops add +1 to both  ´to hit´ rolls and to ´to wound´ rolls. They also get +1 to any saving throw they make. As shapechangers are unarmoured the last don´t count for them. Unless you want to rule that they get 6+ saing throw while frenzied.
   
   Frenzied troops will always follow-up and pursue. They are immune to psychology effects, don´t take rout tests and can´t be routed. They will either kill the enemy of die trying.
   
   
8. If, at the beginning of their turn, there are no enemies within 12" of the shapechanger unit, they automatically return to their non-animal form. This small unit may then be moved independently, or may be assimilated within any friendly unit of foot models outnumbering it by four to one or more.
   
   When this happens the player actually gets to move the shapechangers by his own will. For ake of cover from missiles it could be a good idea to assimilate them to a friedly unit. There are no rules for how the assimilation is done but I suppose moving to contact with the unit you want to assimilate the changers into would be enough.
   
   
9. When a covering unit takes missile casualties, the chance of a shapechanger being hit is proportional to the number of shapechangers present. The GM may determine this as he sees fit. If a unit has it´s full 1 in 5 allocation, a shapechanger will be hit on th e D10 roll of a 9 or 10, for exmaple.
   
   Compared to goblin fanatics and skaven plague cencer bearers this is a disadvantage. You may lose valuable models to lucky shots.

Shapechangers cost an extra 20 points that is applied after equipment has been added.

In general shapechangers are pretty costly and too random and uncontrollable to field if you just want to get best bang for buck. With some luck they can be a nasty suprise to your opponent but in my opinion it´s too dependant on how you roll.

The overall complexity of rules and random behaviour of shapechangers is propably what led to them being cut from 4th edition.

But they are certainly charasteristic and do fit a wood elf theme very well. And again, no one else gets them and that alone is a good reason to have a few in you wood elf army.

Wood elf shapechangers have weapon options for spears and double-handed weapons. As rules allow only one weapon/model is suppose that the hand weapon is discarded if taking the spear or the two-handed option.  Having a weapon wielding elf-animal-hybrid can create some need for bending the rules a bit. For example as per rules a bear has two claw attacks. If a bear form shapechanger is wielding a two-handed weapon is think it can´t use it´s claws but perhaps does bite attacks instead.

There is not much info to found regarding the shapechangers around the internet but here are couple of blog´s you might want to take a look into:

• Goblin Lee - The wood elf host
• True mini wargamer - Bringing back old units

 If you concider building a shapechanger force for your wood elves and don´t know where to get those animal form models here are some suggestions:

• Midlam miniatures. Good looking boar men. I would remove the skull emblem from belt but othervise I like these.
• C38/27 series has some boar faced beastmen that one might use but they seem to be armoured and too evil looking for my taste.
• C18 Night Horrors has a couple of weremen, wolfmen and a bearman.
• IronWind metals. This series has all three animal form from a single manufacturer. Elvish weapons could be easily added to these.
•  A couple of werebears by Reaper.
• Otherworld miniatures werebear.

 If I were to use wood elf shapechangers I would perhaps use the IronWind ones as they fit together and it would be easy to model some weapons on their hands/paws.

Let me know if you have painted some shapechangers. I would love to see the pictures and if we so agree link them here.

Where is he now - Dwarf Mountaineer

Was it the climate change that melted the glaciers connecting the dwarf keeps and therefore making the ski troops obsolete? Or did the yodlers just blow themselves up with those blunderbusses of theirs? Perhaps we´ll never know...

The dwarf mountaineers appeared in WD116 where there was both rules and a new mini for them. Here´s the rule page:

Being scouts the mountaineer act in every sense as skirmishers except that they can charge normal troops and they don´t have to run away if charged by such (WFB rules page 101). Their points value is pretty low as normally scouts cost you additinal 5 points. "Correct" value for a blunderbuss armed dwarf should be 15 (dwarf 8 + scout 5 + blunderbuss 2).

A blunderbuss is a pretty rarely seen weapon in WFB. It has a range of 16" and it hits with S3 and -2 armor modifier on 0-8" range. For 8-16" range the strengh is reduced to S1 and no armor modifier. One of the mountaineer´s special rules is that the blunderbusses can be fired when doing a downhill charge or ski charge as it is called. With the blunderbuss´ tendency to misfire on to-hit-roll of 1 this can lead to pretty hilarious situations. Imagine exploding dwarves speeding down a hill side - yodeling as they come!

The rule about using a blunderbuss in ski charge lacks the explanation on how the casualties caused by shooting are handled. I would use the throwing spear rule as a basis so that the wounds caused would count directly towards close combat result. The other option could be to count them seperately which could lead into the unit that is shot at breaking before melee. Use a GM or agree before playing how to deal with this.

The ski charge is a nice special rule that lets your mountaineer charge triple their movement rate when going downhill. To help one to able to do that charge a player employing mountaineer can place one hill on his side of the table. That can give one a tactical advantage as you could place your heavy artillery and missile troops on that hill too. Perhaps the best way to use mountaineers is as artillery guards. Make use of the hill you get to place and blast away with everything you got. And if the enemy gets close engage him with your mountaineer.

On normal movement mountaineers can do double their movement rate if doing down a slope. Good skiing skills mean that they do not suffer penalties on going down a steep hill. They can also negate movement penalties for moving in a forest on a downhill slope.

Muontaineers can have a special magic instrument in the form of Yodel of Doom. The yodel puts the mointaineers in the state of battle lust that gives them a +1 to hit rolls on first round of close combat and on all following turns if they are not pushed back. Yodel is a must for mountaineers!

Dwarf mountaineer diorama from WD.

The original model is pretty sought after and you propably won´t get one for cheap. The only examply on ebay when this was written had a price tag of 84€ on him. And with minimum size of unit is five you´ll be paying A LOT to complete one.

Luckily Ral Partha produces a good alternative model in the form of DW020 Ullr the Intrepid. His weapon is not exatly a blunderbuss by the looks of it rather than a short musket or something like that. But as this mini costs only a friction of what the original mountaineer model does I think most of us can live with the not-trumpet-like barrel. Or can make one with some green stuff.

And this kickstarter should be a must for all mountaineer fans. A full unit of skiing dwarfs with real blundersbusses, a banner and all. Looks very promising!

A wonderful dwarf mointaineer from Billy Bunter´s Collection.

What I would like to see is a painted unit of mountaineers. I wonder if any of my readers has one? Or even better - a battle report including these alpine dwarfs.

If you want another view on the mountaineers Orlygg has written about them in his Realm of Chaos 80´s blog.

Where is he now - the Forstjaeger

Among the lost troop types of 3rd edition WFB is the forester. The forester made it´s only appearence in the form of Empire Forstjaeger in the WFB: Armies.

Throwing spear as a weapon option is an interesting one. I have never used them myself so I can´t speak out of experince. A throwing spear has the range of only 4" and it strikes with the same strenght as the thrower. What is interesting is that if may be thrown when entering close combat both when charging or receiving a charge. This supersedes the normal stand and shoot rule. What is nice is that casualties inflicted this way are counted into close combat resolution. What is not that nice is the fact that to-hit-rolls for thrown spear used in this manner are done with -2 modifier. So you are rolling for 6´s to hit. Or worse. Being pretty heavy the throwing spear give a -1 armor save modifier. All that means is that for 1 point you get an extra S3 attack that hits on 6 or worse for the first round of combat. Not very effective in my opinion.

Any Forstjaeger unit may skirmish and for mobility that could be a good idea.

With maximum amount of 30 models and with minimum unit size of 5 you can field quite a many forstjaeger units if you wanted to. On a very forested battle field you could make pretty good use of them fielding small groups that set up traps and that way disencourage the enemy from using woods.

A C07 Ranger - John the trapper as seen on Oldenhammer in Toronto.

A perfect example of a forstjaeger.

So this is what makes foresters special. Foresters are the only troop type that is able to set up traps. If a unit of foresters stay still for a turn in woods they can set up traps that cause S4 hits to any model that moves within that wood on a D6 roll of 6. As there is no armor saving throw vs. wounds caused by traps they have the ability to do some damage. But are they worth staying put for a turn? Perhaps if you want to deny the enemy of the use of a forested area.

Once again the rules are somewhat unclear about setting traps. They do not tell you how big a forest can be trapped in one turn. There could be a very large wooded area in which the foresters are. Can they set up traps to whole of that area? Or should there be some kind of area template of something? Certainly some GMing is required for fair use.

Being skilled survivalists and expert woodsmen they can move through forests without penalty to movement. Reserve move however can´t be made within a wood.

All in all the foresters are an interesting troop type full of character. And Forstjaegers fit the empire army list nicely knowing the wast forests of that realm.

Sadly the foresters were discarded in the sleeklining known as 4th edition WFB and never returned. And to my knowledge traps too have not been seen since it the WFB world. Can someone confirm this? The Empire did have huntsmen unit in the 6th edition army book with new scouting rules and that unit stayed with WFB to 8th edition. Perhaps a slight nod into forstjaeger direction?

So in a nutshell for 4th edition the foresters were sucked into normal archer units but from 6th edition onwards they were renamed huntsmen, became scouts and lost the trap setting skill.

Perhaps the best line of classic Citadel models for forstjaegers would be C07 Rangers. Many many models there that represent survivalists, woodsmen, hunters etc. perfectly. In my opinion there are some models you could use from F2 and F4 series of fighters and men at arms as forstjaegers. Or you could pick some individuals from Marauder MM62 citizens.

An another from Oldenhammer in Toronto. Be sure to

visit that site if planning on getting a unit of forstjaegers -

so much inspirational stuff there.

A sort of edition 3.5 solution is to use Perry sculpted Empire archers that were presented in WD147 and in the green catalogue of 1992. These models are listed as archers but actually bear a marking of forstjaeger or bergjaeger in their slotta tab. This goes in line with the forstjaegers getting demoted to archers with the coming of 4th edition.

 Forstjaegers and bergjaegers by LM

There are a few examples around the internet of people building units of forstjaeger (here, here and here) but very few painted models actually. Please let me know if you have or find some.

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This blog actually hit the 20 000 views mark a couple of weeks ago but the lottery I promised has not been done yet. I´ll try to get something painted and do the winner draw when posting about whatever gets painted next.

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.

Where is he now - the Dwarf Sapper

Disclaimer - The following monologue by an old dwarf sapper is purely fictional and does not fully fit into the official Warhammer fluff. Don´t take it too seriously.

"Yeah - looking back it was the Battle of Dungal Hill that started it. After that so called `glorious victory´ every damn dwarf kid wanted to a miner. Heroes of the Dungal Hill. Heroes my ass. And we were just too blind to see what was happening. The guild elders told us that it´s just a mode quirk that will wear out in a couple of years. How could we not see what was coming!”

*sip*

“It took a few years but slowly things started to change. We the sappers were still an important asset in almost every army. You know - building stockades and bridges. And even doing demolitions if needed. With our tools and prefabricated materials we could set up a defensive strongpoint in a matter of minutes. That´s what I call professionalism!”

*sip*

 “But at the same time the use of miners on a battlefield was studied at the Dwarven Royal Military Academy (DRMA) and miner education was increased in every vocational school across the dwarven realms. Being a sapper was no longer considered ´cool´ and we got only those kids deemed unfit for being a miner.”

*big sip*

“Then came the big sieges of Barak Varr and the Iron Rock and sealed our faith. You know - in a pitched battle you have to be able to build that stockade or bridge fast. And it was us sappers who could do that. Sieges are different. They take time and the generals soon noticed that normal grunts could do the earthworks and tunnel digging themselves. It didn´t matter that it took longer - they had all the time in the world. The grunts did with no extra pay and our union was not ready to renegotiate the sapper salaries.”

*a really big sip*

“So the commanders did some quick math, money made our world go around and all of a sudden we were no longer needed in those sieges. Over the time we were sort of forgotten. No longer were we called even for a normal campaign. We became obsolete. Many sappers re-educated themselves to miners, many became unemployed. And stayed that way. Structural unemployment - that´s what the clan elders called it. Ah - then there´s me - building fences and walls for rich ladies´ gardens all around the Empire to put the food on the table for my family. How sad is that?!?”.

*falls silent*

One of the troop types that was lost with the streamlining of rules that happened when WFB went from 3rd to 4th edition is sappers. In the 3rd edition WFB: Armies the dwarves were the only race to employ them. What we got with 4th edition is miners who were just normal infantry grunts with two-handed picks and no special skills.

Five lovely sapper teams by TL. Check SoL for

more Oldhammer dwarf engineer models.

Sappers appeared in the 1987 published Ravening Hordes - The Official Warhammer Battle Army Lists for 2nd edition WFB. They are indroduced under the dwarf army list as special troops. Once again WG has been faithful to their ever appearing unconsistency - there rules are there but the sappers don´t exits in the army list itself! How typical.

2nd edition WFB - the rules are there but troop list

and points value are missing. From Ravening Hordes.

For 3rd edition the rules evolved a bit. The unit size for sappers is fixed as a two model team and rules for building streamlined a bit. Same options for building and demolishing are retained with small rule modifications. And now there´s the points value too.

Sappers as per 3rd edition rule book. Now with points value too.

The tactical  use of sappers is not widely - or actually not at all - discussed in the 3rd edition books. In the Ravening hordes we find this paragraph that gives a good idea on where and how to employ them.

Build cover. Stand and shoot. Sounds good to me.

Warhammer Siege brought us detailed rules for castles and how to attack and defend them. Sappers are mentioned there under special troop types. They gice certain bonuses to mining and contruction works.

Sappers are recognized in the Warhammer Siege.

With 4th edition the sappers were lost. What we got instead was the dwarf miners. Who in the beginning were just another unit of infantry but carrying two-handed picks. No building or demolishing. Nothing special. The tactical use of building stockades as described above lost. Just a bunch of new models to be bought. Pretty dull. I guess the original sapper rules, even in their simplicity, were just too complicated for the new way of playing Warhammer.

4th edition Dwarf miner unit from Dwarf army book page 87.

Could it be any more uninspiring?

Dwarf sappers make a reappearence in a form of Dwarfen expert engineers in the 6th edition WFB. Very little information about them can be found apart from this page kindly delivered Josh. But as we see they construct walls and do other kinds of building and demolishing works. The rules cover just the wall building and all else is left for GM to determine.

6th edition "sappers".

At the current end of the line for sappers/miners stands the AoS. At least in this Warscroll for dwarfs (or Duardin?) there are miners who can set up underground and emerge in your movement phase no closer than 9" of enemy anywhere on the battlefield. Either they dig really fast or they can really well predict where the enemy is going to be.

A miner unit can have a biting  mule drawing a steam harpoon armed cart and their leader can wield a steam drill. And the miners can throw blasting charges too. Not my kind of miners really.

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Hope you liked this first look on lost troop types. Sound out if you want to read about foresters, falconers or something else that was lost in history.