Well, someone said something about asrai.org having a lot of complains about VC... eh... Do not judge the whole forum from what mostly one... eh... myself... writes.
Most folk at asrai.org agree that VC are a tough nut to crack for many Wood elf builds, and takes some tailoring to deal with. What makes persons like me freak out on occasions is that you need to tailor a lot against VC to have a fair chance, while VC need not tailor half as much to face most enemies.
As for no missile fire, well, that is a rather irrelevant point since VC can negate the enemys missile fire via raising and "healing", making the enemys eventual firepower reduntant and taken out of the equation, unless the VC player got many easy to kill small units.
Firepower can still be used to kill of VC, but the big issue is that you will need a lot of fire power, indeed, a gunline/bowline, to do so.
If we take an asrai example, a fast moving asrai list, focusing on shooting and moving, with lots of Glade riders, waywatchers and some fighty stuff, but mostly lots of shooty stuff, can kill one regiment at a time, if they can focus the firepower on one unit each turn. This is also doable against most other enemies, so that list is viable more or less against all enemies.
However, not everyone would say it is a friendly list, or a nice list. Some, or rather, many, would scream "filthy wood elf cheese" at you.
So while there are indeed WE lists that can stand against VC, I would say they are within the realm what many players considers "unfriendly".
However, as some here have said, a friendly VC army, or at least friendly aside from the time and band bloodline combinations on the characters, are hard to beat, unless you as a WE player pick up a force your VC playing mate would say is "powergamish" since it might include a treeman ancient with Nettles, double treeman, maybe supported by a Battle standard bearer, containing the everhated Hail of Doom arrow and so on...
I think this is one of the things that creates these feelings, namely that GW made the VC very able in many builds, bar a fighty Blood Dragon oriented one, while it takes a specialized army to beat it.
An army that really is friendly is still very able, unless you go for some true low-magic or heavy fighting approach visavi your characters.
The characters setups can make or break an otherwise rather soft army, I think.
In other words, you could also say, that while VC can relly on the same setup of tactics to fight any army, bar maybe Tomb kings (but I would recon a normal VC army would be able to outmove and out raise a TK army, but that is pure speculation) opponents WILL most often have to use radically different approaches, unless they use some extreme builds (like the mentioned "move and shoot" Wood elf build that really cannot preform any other tactic).
So by virtue of it´s rules and basics, the VC army will always dictate the approach the opponents must take regarding army composition and tactics. The opponents will have to adapt, while the VC can relly on tried and tested ways of waging war.
This is a significant advantage... (especially against an angsty, fluffy, themeloving, stubborn old sod like me). The VC forces the enemy to tailor. It may not seem that big, but already there the VC army have made it´s first impact, since it have dictated the enemys response.
Asrais works in the same way. Ask me, there are multitudes of ways to waste an asrai army, if you take the right units, especially if you build it around it´s strength.
My son was crying as I had his hired ogres chasing my great eagle and as my fast cav played hide and seek with his knights, while my archers shot his statetroops to pieces and his cannon had little of substance to shoot at.
Luckily, he had some luck, and managed to get a grip on some units in the end, but he really was feeling like he could not fight me.
Hence why I have tried to play an asrai army that was sort of half-standard, centered around a large unit of Eternal guards, commanded by a highborn.
Now, the fact I felt I had to pick forth those frustrating weapons in the asrai arsenal made me feel dirty, and I wonder if my VC playing friend will not view my army as such. He wants me to fight him with more Eternal guards, so I have more CR he say. Now, I know that is the way to suicide with asrais against VC, but he belives it will truly help. "You need more troops, more core! Engage my units earlier and faster!"
My own feelings against the new VC have made me understand how many feel frustrated about Wood elves. Because both armies have inate abilites that makes them dictate the very composition of the opponents army from the start, by virtue of their lists strength alone. This is what many feel is unfair, because it does not work the other way around.
Well, for Wood elves, it works the other way around against Vampire counts and Daemons of Chaos. And against High elves... For VC I do not know... Maybe if you fear you have to play an ultramovable WE or DE list?
I think much also depends on what level you are supposed to play. Once again, on a rather friendly level, things get hot because of the disparity about what people see as a friendly build, and what GW have made 7th ed into, promoting special characters and monsters, and big character ridden monsters are still not seen as friendly by many players, my VC playing mate among them, yet, that is one of the main strength with for example High elves, and one way of swiftly getting at the VC armys heart, the general, as someone pointed out.
On a hardcore tournament level, well, that is true, but in a friendly setting, people, me included, will shy away from a monstercharacters, especially if he flies, since it is seen as "unfriendly". I would think GW counted on monster riding characters to be a balancer against VC, and they have done their best to promote this as a nice way of playing, but many gamers feel GW are wrong in that respect, so old gamer culture and values clash against how GW wants "their" game to be.
Sadly, VC gets caught in the jaws of that sissor pretty firmly.
However, I would feel it being pretty moot to play a game that revolved around me killing the enemy general fast and the sit and wait while the army crumbled. Sort of not a good way of balancing things... I mean, if I killed him on turn two... I would feel like I had just wasted the game.
But in the end, yes, VC is a strong, very strong army. Many tournaments results that have been posted speaks for this, VC being up together with Daemons. And many player do rank VC close to Daemons as being broken, even non-whiners.
However, Daemons are clearly the bad boys in the hood. VC are a hard bunch with some potentially broken combos, and maybe with an author who went overentusiastic with his project. But still, the consensus seems to be that VC are not as bad as daemons.
However, it seems as if GW is lovering the "powerlevel" now. Warriors of Chaos does not look that scary, just a mean bunch. Dark elves where not that bad, even if they have some... grumble... stupid items...
Pendant of Kaleth anyone? Combined with a good armour...
Anyway, yes, VC got MANY advantages that makes them easier to wield, but they have pitfalls. However, I think it is easier to see those pitfalls and learn them. However, if a gamer is soloplaying his VC lord general out in the open, he deserves to get nailed and crumbled...
But VC:s greatest advantage is that the list forces the enemy to adapt, while the VC can make a good take-all-comers and feel pretty safe in the knowledge he will be able to handle all but the most extreme builds, an opponent will have to tailor even against a normal VC build.
And maybe it is here that the root of the problem lies, the powerlevels that VC can get in magic for example, especially against armies that are not as strong in defending against magic only builds on this.
All in all, it has sort of to do with the feelings many have against for example Wood elves, that it is not a "true" army! In many ways, VC is seen as a more real army than Wood elves, because they form a battleline.
Gamers feelings and ideas about what the battle should be collides with GW:s wishes to make the game and the armies varied.
This have stigmatized VC and WE for a long time. And as a WE player, it feels a bit nice not to be the center of hate attention anymore. But I must say it is a bit sad that VC got there. In truth, I like part of the VC story, even if I am more into the Blood Dragon side of it (yeah, I am always looking for that little remains of dogooding... sorry, can´t help it...) but GW made me reject it, and my friends repeated bashing of my army confounded it.
But at the heart of it, it is really the same thing. That the army play differently and demands radically different tactics from the opponents while not suffering form similar problems in return (generally).
But I agree that daemons are the thing that GW made wrong. But maybe it was intentional. Someone said that all other armies can fail by virtue of you making crappy choices, but it is almost impossible to make a bad daemon list.
But hey, GW needed to save their revenues... Enter the Daemons...