Weekly Waffle # 349 – Ranger Danger

24th October 2026

The Mojo

It’s been another manic week for me so this week’s weekly waffle has taken a bit of turn. We have had a lot of changes on our program at work which has meant people move a lot of leave about. This week has ended up being a busy week with lots of people off so I’ve been a bit on the manic side.

That being said things have got well and I’ve managed to get some hobby time it. So all in all it’s been a good week.

On The Work Bench

This week the Space Wolves got a breather. The pack has been hogging the desk for weeks, and I fancied something completely different. Enter a female ranger mini that’s been sitting in the pile of shame, quietly judging me.

The plan is a proper woodland palette: green and brown cloak, muted leathers, nothing really shiny enough to give her away in a treeline. Just a nice clean paint job.

I like how she has turned out and more by accident than by design I have ended up with something of a yellow filter running through the whole. Well maybe not completely by accident but I didn’t intently set out at the start of the process to go with this yellow tint. It just came about as I was working my way through the process.

Not a single drop of Fenrisian Grey in sight, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. But what do you think? Should I keep the cloak earthy or risk a bit of colour?

Pictures here

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If you like this guy you can find more of my D&D inspired minis in the Gallery.

Tactical deep dive

I’ve been back on D&D Beyond lately. Partly that’s because I’ve got the itch to roll some d20s, and partly it’s because I’m after inspiration for my next character. So this week the Waffle takes a detour away from grimdark and into the granddaddy of tabletop gaming, to dissect a proper classic: the Wood Elf Ranger. She has a longbow for picking people off at range and twin short swords for when things get uncomfortably close.

The Lore Bit

In D&D, elves aren’t just humans with pointy ears. They’re tied to the Feywild and the natural world, and they live for centuries. When an elf picks the Ranger’s path, it’s less a job and more a vocation: centuries spent standing between civilisation and whatever is crawling out of the dark bits of the map.

Wood elves (Sy Tel-Quessir, if you want to be properly nerdy about it) are the ultimate survivalists. No towering stone castles for them; they live with the forest and guard it quietly. A Ranger is the sharp end of that: a tracker, a navigator, and a hunter with a grudge.

That grudge is half the fun. Whether your homeland was torched by orcs or you spend your nights hunting things that crawled out of the Underdark, the backstory practically writes itself. She knows how her prey thinks, how it moves, and exactly where to stick the pointy end.

The Stat Line

Here’s what the build leans on. Edition matters here. The 2014 Player’s Handbook and the 2024 revision handle several of these features differently, so I’ve flagged where they split.

Speed: 35 ft (Wood Elf Fleet of Foot in 2014, and still 35 ft in 2024)

Key stat: Dexterity, which drives the bow, the short swords and her AC. In 2014 the elf gives +2 Dex; in 2024 your ability bonuses come from your background instead.

Hit Die: d10, with light and medium armour, shields, and simple and martial weapons

Longbow: 1d8 piercing, range 150/600

Short sword (x2): 1d6 piercing each, finesse and light

Hunter’s Mark: +1d6 damage on every hit against the marked target. In 2024 it’s always prepared and comes free with Favored Enemy from level 1.

Colossus Slayer (Hunter subclass): +1d8 damage once per turn against a creature that’s already below its hit point maximum

Treat exact numbers as a snapshot. Always double-check current rules against D&D Beyond or your own Player’s Handbook before you build a character around them.

Class Feature Interactions

Death from Afar. The Archery fighting style gives +2 to attack rolls with ranged weapons. Stack that with Hunter’s Mark and she’s reliably landing hits and chipping away at priority targets before they’ve worked out where the arrows are coming from.

The Whirlwind of Steel. When the front line folds, or a goblin sneaks round the flank, out come the blades. Wielding two light weapons lets her attack with her action and swing the second blade as a bonus action. Hunter’s Mark applies to every hit, which is why dual wielding and the mark get on so well.

The catch. You only get one fighting style at level 2. So it’s Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting, not both. Without Two-Weapon Fighting, the off hand swing doesn’t add your Dex to damage. There’s also a bonus action traffic jam: casting or moving Hunter’s Mark eats the same bonus action as the second sword. Decide which half of her toolkit is the main event and build for that.

Tactics Corner

Control the distance. At 35 ft of movement she’s quicker than most of the party and most of what she’s fighting. Grab high ground early and make melee enemies come to her.

Mark first, then shoot. On turn one, mark the biggest threat and start shooting. Move the mark when the target drops rather than recasting from scratch.

Let the tank go first. Colossus Slayer wants injured targets, so let the fighter take the first chunk out of the big lad, then pile in.

Out of combat, she’s the compass. In 2014, Natural Explorer means she can’t get lost in her favoured terrain, tracks and forages with ease, and keeps the party fed. In 2024 that’s been replaced by Deft Explorer, which gives expertise in a skill, extra languages, and later on more speed and climbing. Either way, when the DM throws a nightmare swamp trek at the party, the Ranger is the one going “don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

The Verdict

The bow and blades Wood Elf Ranger is a cracking all-rounder: mobile, hits hard once Hunter’s Mark is up, and genuinely useful when the dice aren’t out. Just be honest with yourself at level 2 about whether she’s an archer who can stab, or a duellist who can shoot, because the fighting style choice decides it.

So, over to you: have you played a Ranger, and did you go bow or blades? Let me know in the comments.

The Wrap Up

That’s your lot for this week. Normal Space Wolves service will probably remain on hold for the next couple of weeks and I’m going to share a bit more D&D. But the mojo is still there and the pack will be expanding in the not to distant future. In the meantime, if the ranger gets her cloak finished, you’ll see her here.

As always, go and show some love to these lot:

Red Rose Wargaming

Trapped Under Plastic

Tabletop Dominion