Dave's Gallant Glade Guard (204 points)

What a journey! It is with a great sense of relief, no small amount of satisfaction and even an appreciable sadness that I present to you the final regiment in Galadrin's Guardians of the Grove. This month's entry brings the Wood Elf warriors to the princely sum of 1,000 points. We've seen deadly dryads, a terrifying treeman, a charging chariot and Lord Galadrin himself. The final regiment of the army, however, must of course be the plucky Glade Guard, every-ready to defend Athel Loren against any intruder!

These humble models, designed by the incomparable Aly Morrison, were the very first Games Workshop figures I ever laid eyes on. Not quite knowing what Warhammer was, I opened the promotional flyer I had picked up at a Games Workshop store to the center spread, showing the glorious GW studio Wood Elf army on full display. There were many exciting things to see: the colorful Wardancers, the swooping Great Eagles, the mighty Forest Dragon. Yet I couldn't help but be fascinated by the small regiment of blue-cloaked spearmen, with their stout, heavy-bladed polearms. Finally, decades later, I have recreated that original inspiration, ready to march to war on my own tabletop.

The Glade Guard come pretty close to being an objectively bad unit. They are quite expensive at 12 points a model fully upgraded. At the same time, their mediocre characteristics (Toughness 3, 1 Wound and a 5+ save at best) leave them incredibly vulnerable. They have neither the strength to defeat elite enemies nor the numbers to defeat ordinary troops. Finally, in an army where nearly every unit skirmishes, a rank and file regiment can feel very clumsy and may quickly find itself the target of enemy attacks.

Nevertheless, I adore the brave little Glade Guard and would never march to war without them. They are the heart of the army, both in terms of providing a solid block of troops to hold the line as well as representing the common Wood Elf citizen-soldier, taking up arms to defend his home. And with a good magical standard and careful coordination with the rest of the army, the Glade Guard can definitely hold their own on the battlefield!

15 Glade Guard (light armour, shield, standard bearer, musician) ~ 204 pts

And with that, the Wood Elf army is finished! Given that we still have another month to go in the challenge, I will be looking to paint up some bonus units and characters to keep up with everyone else, but you will have to wait and see what these surprise additions will be...

Andrea’s Wood Elves core and elite units: Glade Guards and three Wardancers (198pts)

Hi to all, 

Here we are with December entry of the Wood Elves hunting party: the whole Glade Guards unit, including champion and standard bearer, and the first three Wardancers (a total of 198 pts).

Wood Elves Glade Guards with spear are the first miniatures I ever painted, back in 90s: among the 10 in the unit, four are the very same minis from that past! 

Unlike Glade Guards of late 90s (those across the 4th and 5th edition), these do not have a truly military uniform. After all they were originally warriors of kinbands, individuals from elven families sent to war wearing familiar colors. Therefore, I choose to give them a various shape with everyone using different combination of colors. I just kept the same color palette to give a kind of unit’s uniformity. The champion is the only one wearing an armour and a shield, somehow indicating he is the only one life-long committed to war. Painting this unit is a dream coming true, as I always wished to have it in my army, and I am happy with the results!