Elvish is now a trait any weapon can have. Question is, what happens if I exchange that weapon? Say my galadhrim captain is modeled with an axe - is it considered an elven axe, or a normal axe? What about if I give a warrior a spear? It doesnt say its an elven spear, so RAW would imply you dont get the bonus... it seems iffy by RAI though. And thats not even getting into wood elven spears, which do have elven in the name, but also have their own associated rules... anyone have a clue? Or barring that, a FB acvount to annoy GW anout it for an official ruling?

Page 86 lists the sort of weapons that can be exchanged and it does not list a spear as something you can swap to. An example on that page is of an elf that has their elven made hand-and-a-half sword modeled as an axe. Which seems to contradict the rule that you can only exchange a weapon for something of the same class (hand weapon for hand weapon not two-handed weapon for hand weapon etc.). I would think that a weapons class would include the properties like "elven made" and "hand-and-a-half." That way all you are able to change is the special strike that a model can use and not anything else about the way the weapon is handled in game terms. Perhaps the example does not mean that the elf has an axe (hand weapon) but rather a axe version of the sword previously held by that elf. That is how I would read it.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Oh, no, spears most definitely have to be listed, and they are, for galadhrim warriors at least. The question is, would they be elvish spears, winning draws 2/3 of the time, or non-elven spears? The 1.5 hander thing seems pretty clear, but its not as vlear wether other traits are preserved as well.

No, the weapons you buy from a models profile are exactly what they are said to be. A spear that is called a spear is not going to be elven made just because an elf buys that piece of wargear. Furthermore, you don't replace an existing weapon with a new piece of wargear when you buy it from the profile unless it says "exchange x for y" in the specific profile.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Thats certainly RAW. Question is, is it RAI too?

And I was talking about two different cases - case 1:
There is a listed option. I buy it. It does not replace the existing weapon. RAW here is clear, RAI less so. Both options could make sense.

Case 2: I replace a weapon with a weapon of the same type. Ie, a 2 handed sword with a 2 handed flail. Question here is, does only the handedness trait transfer, or do other things like elvishness *also* transfer?

Hope that makes more sense.

Case 1: For this I think that you will be hard pressed to argue that the RAI are otherwise than the RAW in this case.

Case 2: This requires an interpretation of, in my opinion, the phase "class of weapon" as it is used on pg. 86 of the rule book. I think it could go either way really just depending on whether "class of weapon" included more than the weapons handed-ness. I would be more inclined to argue against the elven made effect also transferring because I see elven made hand-and-a-half swords as a weapon within the hand-and-a-half weapon class but also not one that is generic enough to be draw upon by just any warrior in the game with a hand-and-a-half class weapon.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Case 1 does seem less likely, true. Though depending on how case 2 works out, itd be kind of weird if spears were the only exception... that said, Im going to stick with non-elven spears until we get an official ruling. Hope well get an FAQ at some point.