Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Sylvaneth

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Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

If your army has the SYLVANETH allegiance, it has the following rules:

Command Traits

A general of an army with the SYLVANETH allegiance can choose one of the following Command Traits:

Magical Artefacts

One HERO in an army with the SYLVANETH allegiance, plus one HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Magical Artefacts:

  1. Daith's Reaper: One of your melee weapon gets the bonus of wound roll of 6+ having -4 Rend. This is... eh. Might be best on a Spirit of Durthu because he has the largest volume of attacks.
  2. The Oaken Armour: Add 1 to bearer's Save rolls.
  3. Briarsheath: To Hit penalty for anyone attacking the bearer.
  4. Seed of Rebirth: The first time you lose your last wound you gain D3 wounds. Obviously best for a Branchwych/wraith, as a monster with D3 Wounds might as well be dead again, unless we're talking about a Treelord Ancient with Regrowth...
  5. Wraithstone: Subtract 1 from the Bravery of enemy units within 10" in the Battleshock Phase. Combine with Spite-Revenants for best results.
  6. Glamourweave: 6+ save-after-the-save. Great for a Spirit of Durthu tanking Wounds because he can use that to protect himself.

Arcane Treasures

One WIZARD in an army with the SYLVANETH allegiance, plus one WIZARD for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Arcane Treasures:

  1. Acorn of the Ages: Set up a Wyldwood within 5", one-use only. Sounds incredible, doesn't it? Well. It has its uses. You can simply throw a forest-shaped wrench into enemy charge lanes, you can let an isolated Hero summon their own reinforcement spawn point, you can make some cover to make a stand. But it isn't the end all, be all.
  2. Warsong Stave: Add Treesong to the spells you know. The usefulness of Treesong is debatable though...
  3. Moonstone of the Hidden Ways: Can teleport anywhere so long as you stay 4" away from enemies. Either useful to rush into a fight or to run the hell away from one you cannot win. However, since only Wizards can take this, rushing into fights might not necessarily be the best idea, especially since named characters cannot take these.
  4. Ranu's Lamentiri: Add 1 to all casting rolls, if the spell is from the Deepwood Spell Lore, add 2 instead. Casting roll modifiers are always welcome. Might be useful to make sure your Ancient will get his Regrowth off, but might also be nice to buff the Branchwych's spell.
  5. Hagbane Spite: Once per game, the bearer can choose to forgo unbinding a spell and deal D3 Mortal Wounds to the caster after the spell has been cast. Could be a nice deterrent, or useful for finishing a Wizard off who's annoying you.
  6. The Silverwood Circlet: +6" to spell range. Of limited use for most spells, but The Reaping will get pretty terrifying pretty quickly with this.

Deepwood Spell Lore

Every WIZARD in an army with the SYLVANETH allegiance can choose one of the following Spells:

  1. Throne of Vines: Casting value 5. +D3 to cast/unbind, but you only so long as you don't move. This is probably the toughest spell to use well as a lot of your Wizards are squishy and don't want to sit still. You could buff Alarielle's or a Branchwych's unique spells up with this, but mostly there is little reason to taking this. If, however, you play the Gnarlroot Wargrove that lets you cast two spells a turn, this here turns from meh to incredible.
  2. Regrowth: Casting value 5. Heal D3 Wounds to a friendly within 18", D6 for Sylvaneth. TAKE IT. I don't care about your strategy, take it. Alarielle? Take it. Treelord Ancient? Take it. Drycha? Take it unless you want a suicide bomb.
  3. Verdant Blessing: Casting value 6. Sets up a Wyldwood within 18". As useful as the Wyldwoods are to you, this spell is pretty good, just... don't place the full 3 Citadel Woods when you cast this, okay? Don't be that big of a dick unless your opponent has a rule that can wreck scenery.
  4. The Dwellers Below: Casting value 7. Pick a unit within 10", roll a D6 for every model in the unit, every 6 deals a Mortal Wound. Basically Vermintide. It's good, with a potentially gigantic damage output, but effectively against all but the biggest units, Arcane Bolt will probably do more.
  5. The Reaping: Casting value 6. Every enemy unit within 3" takes D3 Mortal Wounds. Nice when you're stuck in melee, but only really good in combination with the Silverwood Circlet. Also remember that it gets better against multiple small units, but worse against horde armies.
  6. Treesong: Casting value 7. Immediately rouses a Wyldwood, then moves it 2D6". This spell is of debatable value. On the one hand, it helps you shove a Wyldwood into a more useful position, damages enemies on it, can pull said enemies with them to where they don't want to be, can pull your units somewhere you do want them and generally acts as a fantastic deterrent to entering your Wyldwood. On the other hand, it's a pretty high casting value, moving the scenery is not always useful and depending on where it is can be flat-out impossible. There are basically endless uses for this spell if you're clever, but you need to think them through beforehand or this spell becomes dead weight. For example, if you goad your opponent into taking the table half with the Wyldwood on it, you can yank the Wyldwood toward you and drop a ton of damage onto the opponent in the process. Or you could place some Spite-Revenants and Kurnoth Hunters into a Wyldwood and then shove the Wyldwood towards the opponent, giving your slowest units slightly higher movement.

Warscrolls

Leaders

Named Leaders

  • Alarielle the Everqueen: This count also as Behemoth. As expected from the next big over-the-top God model, Alarielle is downright terrifying. Specifics? Sure. The lady has a massive pool of 16 Wounds with a 3+ Save and yet she still rocks a 16" Flying Move stat. She also regenerates and can either drop another unit of angry trees on the battlefield OR heal all Sylvaneth model around her, including herself, even more. She also has a massively strong throwing spear with equally massive 30" range and the beetle hits harder than anything else in the game. It's so damn strong it damages people standing in terrain if it charges into said terrain and has five damage 5(!) attacks. And her other weapon is basically the Massive Impaling Talon, but supercharged and with 4 attacks. Like Nagash and Archaon, she is not really something you compare to normal models. She's too powerful for that. She's simply something you try to survive.
  • Drycha Hamadreth: This count also as Behemoth. Drycha is back and more pissed off than ever. The tree Dreadknight has an armada of tiny gribbles that can cause a quite massive amount of Mortal Wounds to enemy units at range, having either an aura of angry bees that deals a bit of damage to every enemy unit, also YOURS, within 18" (down to a 6" if you're wounded) or a shooting attack with centipedes that targets an enemy unit within 10", rolls a D6 per model in range and on 3+ (up to a 5+ if you're wounded) deals a Mortal Wound. Holy cow. This flat-out kills 2 in every 3 Saurus Guard, though it does lose effectiveness against multi-wound models. In melee she's not the overkill to end all overkill, but pretty damn powerful for what she is. She's also excessively fast with a 9" Move that is not weakened by her damage table. Her best combination is in her relationship to Spite-Revenants though. The Revenants lower enemy Bravery in order to power her damage-off-of-Bravery spell whereas she grants them better To Wound rolls (if she manage to not kill them with the bees). Drycha's real meat lies in her mood swings. Each player turn she will become either angry or sad. The angry profile buffs the bees and DOUBLES the attacks made with her stronger melee profile, thus making her absolutely terrifying, whereas the sad profile treats her damage chart as one better than it actually is (meaning if she suffered 5 Wounds you look at the chart as though she'd suffered 3) and makes the centipedes better. Only problem is that you can only have one of the two shooty profiles, so against most things the centipedes might be better.

Generic Leaders

  • Branchwraith: A useful caster, but nowhere near as mandatory as she used to be. As a Hero she sports a very meh stat wheel with the exception of her above average movement speed (7"). Her melee will offer only token resistance to opponents, big surprise, she's a Wizard after all. Not an overly powerful Wizard at first glance, mind, but she does summon new Dryads and generally has just enough support utility to never not be welcome in a Sylvaneth army. If you have any sense you will keep this crazy looking plant lady in or near a Wyldwood churning out dryads as it also makes the lady harder to hit in addition to raising her Save like normal cover. To sum up its always a good idea to have at least 1 of these around more if you can but just keep her close to a Wyldwood or else give her a bodyguard unit (Treekin work well as they are large enough to maybe block line of sight).
  • Branchwych: Where the Branchwraith is defensive minded, the Branchwych is very aggressive-minded. She exchanges the summoning spell for an unreliable but potentially devastating damage pulse, the meh melee for actually decent melee and the defense bonus whilst in a forest for damage bonuses after charging and after being hurt in melee. Only time will tell if she's more useful than her old counterpart.
  • Sylvaneth Treelord Ancient: This count also as Behemoth. It seems as if GW has attempted to make the Ancient a weaker but more magical version of a garden variety Treelord. This guy has 1" less movement and 1 less attack on its Sweeping Blows. This doesn't seem like much, but the drop from 4 to 3 attacks is actually quite drastic. And what does this old fella get in return? An extra 3 to its Bravery, 18" range on its strangle roots and becoming a freakin' wizard! His unique spell is also great. It's either a great deterrent to entering your Wyldwoods or a great punishment if the opponent was dumb enough to actually do it. He can also summon entirely new Wyldwoods and has a Command Ability that lets all the Sylvaneth around him reroll saves of 1s.
  • Spirit of Durthu: This count also as Behemoth. Oddly NOT a named character anymore and therefore not reduced to 0-1 in Matched Play, but very expensive. The Spirit of Durthu is an absolute damage monster, with a shooting attack that is basically the vanilla Treelord's Stranglevines on steroids, with higher range, more shots and higher damage per shot, which he can also make even stronger by channeling his life-force, meaning he can add shots but takes damage if he does. His sword is just about as terrifying as it looks, with constant damage 6 so long as he stays in good health and bonus attacks for being near a forest. In short, the Spirit of Durthu is a monstrous damage dealer, with extremely powerful shooting, terrifying melee and all the standard tricks of the Treelords. He also adds to the Bravery of friendly Sylvaneth and can tank Wounds for Sylvaneth Heroes, so take that into account when picking his artifact.

Troops

Battleline

  • Sylvaneth Dryads: Your rank and file angry trees. These ladies are thankfully quite versatile and so can be used for a variety of situations. At first glance the ladies don't look like much, having only a 5+ Save and 2 attacks at 4+/4+/-/1. But they quickly become incredible as in units of 12+ they gain a better Save, they hit on 3+ in your combat phase and they also have 2" range on their attacks, letting them fight in thick, two-row hedges. They also profit massively from being in cover, Wyldwoods in particular and are also very fast at 7".
  • Tree-Revenants: The new guys on the block, the Tree-Revenants at first glance look disappointing, with basically the same stat-wheel as Dryads but lower Move. Now here's where it gets good. First, they have Rend in melee, something the army desperately needs and second they have the coolest rerolls in the game, getting to reroll 1 dice per phase. So this seems wonky in melee, doesn't it? Well, it also allows them to reroll the dice to run, one of the charge dice, the Battleshock dice... you get the picture. The real meat with them however are musician and standard bearer. The standards allow them to pile in 6" which lets them get more attacks in and the musician allows them to use a better Spirit Paths rule, letting you take them off the table and then place them close to either a Wyldwood or a table edge to hunt down those pesky archers and war machines and then instantly zipping back to the home front. All in all they're good specialists, but too fragile (and too expensive) to use for your mainline infantry.

Others

  • Spite-Revenants: Less tricksy, more creepy Tree-Revenants. These do not have Rend but gain an additional attack over Dryads. They also exist to muck around with enemy Bravery. They flat reduce the Bravery of enemies around them, which combos well with Drycha's unique spell and terrain pieces around them become so creepy that enemies have to roll 2 dice for Battleshock and pick the highest. These will not be your mainline infantry either, but small units interspersed with your Dryads will do wonders to screw with the opponent.
  • Kurnoth Hunters: Incredible. Each of these guys is basically a minor Hero at 5 Wounds and a 4+ Save. They also have a choice of weapons. First and probably most useful are the Greatbows. Bows with a stunning 30" range, two shots per model and D3 damage per shot, these guys are basically artillery. If you pick that option, you also get the adorable Quiverbug who does the melee fighting for them, being very non-threatening, but remember, these guys are tough as nails and you can shoot into melee. The other options are melee weapons, Sword or Scythe respectively. The sword tosses out 4 attacks at -1 Rend and damage 2 while the scythe tosses out 3 attacks at Rend -2 and damage D3. Probably best to go with the scythes as Rend in melee is something Sylvaneth painfully lack. However, always keep in mind that the bows are probably the best and not just because your army needs shooting even more desperately. Another nice thing about them is that they channel Command Abilities. They themselves always count as in range of a Sylvaneth General's Command and every Sylvaneth unit within 10" of them does as well. Use them to spread your Ancient's protection skill around.

Behemoths

  • Sylvaneth Treelord: With beautiful models and some equally beautiful stats your Treelords are a force to be reckoned with. These guys have a little bit of everything. Their stat profiles are similar to that of a riderless dragon with a few big knocks with high damage and one special attack that has a chance of auto-killing weaker/damaged opponent. They also have a nice To Hit penalty to dish out in melee and can teleport between Wyldwoods. Aaand they can also shoot, which is decent, but nothing you should bet on. You have Kurnoth Hunters for shooty. While it should be remembered that these guys class as monster and carry all the baggage that comes with that (You know declining stats, Large model, everyone wants to shoot it. that sort of thing), its still a pretty kickass unit.

Scenery

  • Sylvaneth Wyldwood: Consists of up to 3 Citadel Woods. Obviously the bigger you make it, the more expensive it gets and harder it is to place, but the bigger you make it, the more useful it becomes. To start off, this forest will attempt to kill all models that aren't Sylvaneth, Heroes or Monsters. If the model rolls a 1 then it's goodnight. Watch any Ogors and Bullgors avoid these woods like the plague. In addition this forest is allergic to magic, and will deal d3 damage to all units in or within 1" (again, except for Sylvaneth) if a spell is cast within 6". All of that is without the multitude of abilities that the rest of the army draw from it, ranging from buffs to spawning points and even as warp pads. If one of these things is on the board it's definitely an advantage to the Sylvaneth, so don't be surprised if the enemy take another unit in Open Play to compensate.

Discontinued

  • Treekin: (NOTE: These units are no longer in production but still contain the Sylvaneth keyword, so if you still have them/converted them from leftover Dryad bits, you can totally still use them without screwing up your allegiance). If you have some, use them, they're quite strong. While not as hard hitting or durable as some other units of their size they are generally faster and still add a nice middle ground between your dryads and Kurnoth Hunters, being pretty much Ogres with better Saves who profit a lot from having Branchwraiths/Branchwyches around. While I wouldn't rely on these guys they do make a useful addition to any army when fielded in units of around 6. Useful as bodyguard when transporting a Branchwraith round the field as their tall stature can help block line of sight. Alternatively these guys are quite effective at taking out the crowd control units that will eliminate great swathes of your dryads especially if you throw a mystic shield their way. In Matched Play, there's less than no reason not to use them as they're incredibly cheap for what they do, with three of them being actually cheaper than ten Dryads.

Battalions

Guardians of the Deepwood

Found in the Mighty Battles in an Age of Unending War campaign book.


3 Treelords and/or Treelord Ancients, 2 units of Dryads, 2 Sylvaneth Wyldwoods. Deep strike any unit from this battalion within 3" of a SYLVANETH WYLDWOOD and more than 9" from enemy model. Also you can place your 2 woods after everything is set up, everywhere on the battlefield.

Forest Spirit Wargrove

A Treelord Ancient, 2 Treelords, 3 units of Dryads and a Branchwraith.

Alarielle's Heartwood Guard

A Branchwraith, 3 Treelords and/or Treelord Ancients, 3 units of Dryads.

Here's a table that summarize how with few units you can make a lot of different battalions:

Battallion Branchwraith Dryads Treelord/Treelord Ancient Sylvaneth Wyldwoods
Guardians of the Deepwood xx xxx xx
Forest Spirit Hargrove x xxx xxx
Alarielle's Heartwood Guard x xxx xxx


Outcasts

Three units of Spite-Revenants

Free Spirits

A Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters

Forest Folk

A Branchwraith and three units of Dryads

Household

A vanilla Treelord, a Branchwych and a unit of Tree-Revenants

Lords of the Clan

A Treelord Ancient (the Chief), one to three other Treelord Ancients and one to three normal Treelords

Army Building

All this buildings are for armies with the SYLVANETH allegiance.

1000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 2 Battleline units with a minimum of 300pt.

An example list would be:

  • Treelord Ancient (General)
  • 20 Sylvaneth Dryads
  • 5 Tree Revenants
  • 3 Kurnoth Hunters with Bows
  • 3 Kurnoth Hunters with Scythes

Solid core of Dryads, big monster with magic capabilities, powerful shooting and powerful melee. Alternatively you might switch out the Ancient for a Branchwraith, a Branchwych and 5 more Tree Revenants to get some better magic game and some more foot soldiers.

Otherwise another list could be:

  • Drycha Hamadreth (280pt.)
  • A Sylvaneth Treelord Ancient with Wraithstone and the Regrowth spell (300pt.)
  • A Branchwych with the Silverwood Circlet and the Reaping spell (100pt.)
  • 10 Sylvaneth Dryads (120pt.)
  • 5 Tree Revenants (100pt.)
  • 5 Spite-Revenants (100pt.)

2000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 3 Battleline units with a minimum of 400pt.

2500 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 4 Battleline units with a minimum of 500pt.

Allied Armies