| “ | Those who enter Athel Loren without permission must answer for such a transgression. | „ |
Waywatchers are a 
Wood Elves missile infantry unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer with Realm of The Wood Elves.
Recruitment[]
Unlocked with: Waywatcher's Perch or Verdant Heart of Laurelorn
Description[]
Waywatchers are silent sentinels, the guardians of the paths leading into Athel Loren. They are masters of concealment and can lie unmoving and unnoticed for days on end before springing an ambush on a startled and unfortunate prey. Few warriors can match a Waywatcher's skill with a bow. Should they wish it, these silent stalkers can loose an unerring stream of black-shafted arrows in a heartbeat or place a single shot precisely in the weak point of a foe's armour. Furthermore, Waywatchers are highly adept at the arts of disruption and surprise, often appearing silently next to a vulnerable enemy and vanishing as quickly before the body even hits the ground. Thus do any who enter Athel Loren run the risk of being slain without warning by the Waywatchers, cut down by unseen archers, or falling prey to their cunningly-constructed traps.
Attributes[]
- Missile Infantry
- ▲ Armour-Piercing Missiles: The damage of armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
- ▲ Forest Stalker: This unit gains bonuses to melee defence and accuracy while fighting within the forest.
- ▲ Good Range: This unit has a larger range than most other units of the same class. This allows it to take out hostile missile units before they can come into firing range.
- ▲ Master Ambusher: This unit can move whilst hidden in any terrain, firing in any direction even whilst running!
Abilities[]
Strategy[]
With Stalk, armour-piercing, insane range and with a 360 firing arc even while moving, Waywatchers are the best ranged unit in the game. Though they have quite a varied roster, optimal Wood Elf strategy can be boiled down to getting the most out of your Waywatchers, because if they're able to fire uninterrupted at any opponents' most valuable units they're going to win the battle for you, it's that simple. Some rifle units out-range them, but they can't hit what they can't see, and you should take advantage of that by either not firing until you've engaged the rifles with your flankers, firing from forests so their shots are blocked, or even flanking and hitting them with the Waywatchers themselves!
Their potential on its own means they function very effectively as bait - whether AI or human, your opponent absolutely will commit troops to nullifying them once they've spotted them, which means they can easily be drawn into Wardancers/Bladesingers ambushes. Keep them spaced out so they can't be easily hit with AoE magics, and so if one unit winds up in melee the rest can melt whatever caught them. Remember that they fire while moving, so there's no penalty for constantly retreating and repositioning them; and make sure they aren't wasting their shots on enemy chaff like Skavenslaves or Goblins.
Gallery[]
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