Glade Guard

The Glade Guards forms the very core of Athel Loren's armies. In time of need, every Wood Elf can answer the call to defend their forest home, for all are trained in the arts of the longbow as soon as they can hold one. After all, in Athel Loren, archery is not just a tool of battle but one of many hunter’s skills vital to an Elf’s survival. When an Elf comes of age, he or she will be formally inducted into their household’s Glade Guard, and given responsibility for patrolling of a section of the forest. Should such a sentry sight an intruder, he swiftly raises the alarm and awaits assistance. Within moments, the forest is alive with sharp-eyed Elven hunters, all focused on seeking and slaying the intruder in their midst.

Most who enter Athel Loren die without ever realizing they are in danger. When Athel Loren goes to war, it is the Glade Guard who form the core of the army. Each Elven household fights together on the battlefield with several disparate kinbands combining to create one or more formal regiments under the command of a lesser lord or lady of the realm. The Wood Elf army can often seem haphazard and slightly disorganised to outsiders, for each band of Glade Guard is expected to follow the broad dictates of the general but, at the same time, is encouraged to take the initiative when the opportunity presents itself. Such a principle often leads to an overlapping line of battle, with individual Glade Guard kinbands advancing and retreating like leaves in a storm, all the while pouring volleys of arrows into the foe.

Source

 * Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
 * pg. 41

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