everything has a weakness, i always play utgard with a good N bless but have enjoyed them with both W9 and E9. E9 is probably mor esolid, but W9 can be specatacular, and gievn that woodsmen have average prot even with E9, getting to the enemy quickly and killing them faster can reduce casualties. It is all about avoiding damage focus with woodsmen, they will never be great at avoiding damage.
Also, while E9 is normally better on a pretender for ritual/forging/combat purposes, you don't have any natural earth income or mages. A W9 pretender will have gems on hand by the time you get him free, letting you cast powerful spells requiring gems
If going for W9 I recommend the Son of Nifel. I played him in a MP game, and the W9 makes his defence and chill factor astounding. He was undefeated that game, singlehandedly resisting the onslaughts of the game leader at the time (midgard), who had decimated my main armies. I ended up having to leave that gaem as i went away for a month, but he was my most enjoyable pretender SC ever
I find E9N8 much more boring, though probably more reliable, especially as utgard doesn't need an SC