AoS 2 - Sylvaneth Discussion

[Overread]

1 minute ago, Austin said:

Lets fire up this rumor- the battletome isn't releasing next week because the Sylvaneth release is more than endless spells and a battletome. Discuss.

It's more likely GW is just spreading out the AoS and 40K stuff to avoid having too long a period with one ignored over the other. Which is good because one of the biggest annoyances in the past was how one game would dominate all their attention for a long time. 

GW also just had Slaanesh and Gloomspite and so is likely spreading out some releases so that they can balance demand against production. 

[Austin]

1 minute ago, Overread said:

It's more likely GW is just spreading out the AoS and 40K stuff to avoid having too long a period with one ignored over the other. Which is good because one of the biggest annoyances in the past was how one game would dominate all their attention for a long time. 

GW also just had Slaanesh and Gloomspite and so is likely spreading out some releases so that they can balance demand against production. 

Don't bring your logic in here.  Tell me what I want to hear! Spite horde bases, spectral hounds of Kurnoth, and venus flytraps on 60mm bases!

[Mirage8112]

19 minutes ago, Austin said:

Lets fire up this rumor- the battletome isn't releasing next week because the Sylvaneth release is more than endless spells and a battletome. Discuss.

I believe next weekend is Warhammer fest... somewhere. I expect we’ll get our announcement then to correspond with the actual release of looncurse.  

[Aeryenn]

Sylvaneth battletome is too modest for a Warhammer Fest, at least for the main dish. I still expect new army reveal. 

[Vition]

48 minutes ago, Austin said:

Lets fire up this rumor- the battletome isn't releasing next week because the Sylvaneth release is more than endless spells and a battletome. Discuss.

Would love for this to be the case but doubt it.

Just to play around I had created 6 additional units and played around with (and now that most of these are pretty much definitely NOT happening I don't mind posting a quick rundown of them, for funsies  )

- Tree-Revenants got better with their enchanted blades (2/3+/3+/-1), got an additional attack with claws (1/3+/4+/-), and got an additional attack with their enchanted blades when starting a charge from fully within 6" a wyldwood.  The goal here was to make them a really good ambushing unit, but with poor staying power.

- Spite-Revenants got an additional attack (4/4+/4+/-), kills counted twice for battleshock (was still messing with this as on it's own seems a bit much)

- Hounds of Kurnoth: A fast chaff unit associated with the Free Spirits.  The only major thing of note was charges would be at 3d6, and they could charge through wyldwoods even if it was blocking LoS, but they'd roll 3d6 and keep the lowest 2 for the charge, ideally, making it very unreliable.  Taken in units of 10, maxing at 40.

- Thorn-Revenants: Archer revenant unit, revenant bows as listed in Ylthari's Guardians, also with a special ability allowing them to fire at half range using a wyldwood as the attack location with a -1 to hit penalty.  If they don't move they get an extra attack with the bow.  Taken in units of 5, maxing at 30.

- Grove-Revenants: The "Anvil" unit of the standard wargrove.  3 wounds, 4+ save, 6+ MW save, both with re-roll 1s.  One in every 4 models could take a weapon that on a natural 6 on the attack roll, would double it's rend to -2 and the normal -1 rend would be applicable to MW saves and other saves which normally aren't modified by rend (I wanted to use design space that hasn't been used yet, at least to my knowledge).  Taken in units of 4, maxing at 20.

- Daughters of Drycha: A fast-ish (7-8" move) horde-killing unit, but still fragile (2 wounds, 5+ save).  Choose a unit they are in melee with, for every enemy model of that unit fully within 6" of the leader of the unit, roll a dice if the result it equal to (7 minus the number of DoD in the unit, and no lower than 3+), that unit suffers a wound then when it rolls armor saves it rolls 2 dice, taking the lower of the two.  Taken in units of 4, maxing at 12.  The idea for the attack is something similar to squirmlings.  I was also considering making the special attack being a "weapon" allowed in one in four models, but it was getting messy so decided to stick with the relatively simple.

- Spite Swarms: Because most everyone is expecting these at some point.  Basically the Life version of nurglings, endless swarm would stay, there'd be a venom-based MW option, probably on a wound roll of a natural 6.  Then they have flight as well as first turn set up, similar to Hidden Infestation.

I figured that these, along with a couple more leaders would beef up the options for Sylvaneth to the point where I would consider it a truly complete army.

Has anyone else played around with new units?

Edited May 5, 2019 by Vition

[Aezeal]

On 5/4/2019 at 5:56 PM, Heksagon said:

Teleporting anywhere on the battlefield will be actually really great. They're still very fragile, but their potential is much better with these changes.

Yeah this is really helping. NOW the opponent really has to mind their objectives. Teleporting to the edge NEAR an objective isn't the same thing.

 

On 5/4/2019 at 6:47 PM, Frowny said:

I'm optimistic about those big trees. They look quite majestic. And way easier to fit places. Probably still super annoying to travel with but maybe at least better to play with

The new revenants seem a little less finicky but functionally unchanged. Less reliant on the trees though. It doesn't seem like they really opened up options for a 2nd battleline unit besides dryads though, unless the points plumet (which they shouldn't with that mobility), so I expect them to be  1-2 unit wonders unless there is some awesome battalion or something

I know people often don't like the over the top things of AoS.. but I'd hoped for something similar (lone tree) but... a bit more over the top

[Aezeal]

On 5/4/2019 at 7:15 PM, Mirage8112 said:

So, based on what’s come out, the following seems likely to me:

Most everything we’ve seen so far says that our army isn’t changing all that much. That (might) mean that abilities that are dependent on tree placement (like waypipes) are now no longer dependant on WW placement to be effective. 

While it would have been nice to see T-revs get some upgraded abilities, waypipes is decidedly better. The ability to just drop them anywhere on the map means we’re no longer tied to table edges or forests  and they can literally jump right in front of an enemy that’s preparing to charge. For you old WHFB players they are now the equivalent of a great eagle on steroids, since 5 can literally sit in your backfield until you need them and then you can just drop them in the enemies way  and buy yourself an extra turn before you have to fight a unit you don’t want to fight. 

If the T-revs essentially remain the same, that probably means dryads will get -1 to hit naturally just because they’re dryads. I wonder how they’re going to handle the guardian sword or Treelord ancient’s spells now? 

If those trees are our unique terrain piece, It also begs the question wtf do they do? I’m not totally convinced they’re our unique terrain piece, since the  Battletome featured kitbashes of existing woods and few custom tree conversions.  It does look like they have feet though...  hard to say until we get more info.

I like your optimism.. if dryads get a free -1 to hit... well.. that would be great... On the other hand.. a -1 to hit for ANY sylvaneth unit withing 6-9-12"of a big tree would be nice too

6 hours ago, Aryann said:

If this is all they had corrected about Tree-Revenants then epic fail GW. Unit that dies first, kills nothing. Who writes these rules? Cleaning ladies at GW? It was the only unit that really needed help in Sylvaneth forces. Beyond disappointment. 

Well... GHB 2019 could make both kinds of spites drop in points again. They have utility which makes them possibly a great unit... at 60-70 points  . Also.. if we loose OTHER teleport options that might make them more needed (the opposite would also be true: if teleporting gets more general for our army they'd be useless unless points really drop).

 

2 hours ago, Mirage8112 said:

although its possible I’m wrong, I don’t think those are are our unique scenery piece, unless there’s more to it I’m not seeing. One tiny leg or not, they really don't fit the “over the top with a bunch of things on it” AoS aesthetic.  The leaves on the tree are very clearly the same leaves from our current woods kit, and although the scale is decent, it just doesn’t look like it has a lot of detail. 

I mean look at the loonshrine fgs. Even the dwarf forge has runes and stuff all over it. 
 

Chaff wins games. 

As much as people hate it, knowing when to feed a relatively weak but mobile unit to an enemy whose intent on throwing his most powerful unit at you, can mean the difference between a win and a loss, or, a major loss and a draw (if it comes down to it). Tree-revenants (before the update) were hands down the best char fin the game, and now, they’re even better. A unit that can do 10 MW on the charge, or 30 wounds + 6MW if they activate first is not scary if they have to go through 5 t-revs that suddenly popped up in their previously clear charge path. 
 

If you check a few pages back, the new Arch-rev does a decent job at turning them into a commando unit. We don’t know what our items are like yet, but if you can get an arch-rev behind enemy lines, and give him a -hit item like briarsheath, and possible a warsinger command trait (if he’s the general) he’s decently survivable. 4+ save RR’1s, -2 hit vs shooting. Once he’s there, you can just pop a group of 10 revenants within 9” of an enemy, and charge all of them with +2 (from warsinger). Manage to get Cogs out, it’s +4 to charge. T-revs can even RR one charge dice almost guaranteeing a charge. Pop command ability, and that 160 pt unit of revs is doing 15 wounds vs a target with a 4+ save (not counting the Arch revenenants attacks. That’s enough to take most characters, warmachines and monsters off the table in one round of combat: FOR 160 POINTS.  How much more commando can u get?

Spite are nearly the same deal as T-revs in the sense that they are chaff.  As somebody who plays dreadwood primarily they are excellent area denial and combat multipliers. If i’m using the TLA bunker ploy (Treelord ancient, with 30 dryads in front in a half circle in Wyldwood, I’ll have a two untis of 5 spites mixed in just out of combat and one behind guarding the rear. Anybody want to jump in from behind they have to clear the spites first, giving me an extra turn to figure out what I’m going to do about it. If they just opt for combat, They cant clear 30 drayds in a single turn, which means they’re stuck 3” from 2 spite groups. in the hero phase they get blasted with 2D6- bravery worth of MW (-1 bravery from the spites themselves to boot) then, combat, and then have to roll 2D6 for battleshock and discard the lowest. For armies that have 6 bravery or there about that can be a brutal turn. I’ve had whole stormcast units flee after crashing into that wall and having combat turn pear shaped. 

Not everything can be hunters or Drycha. Some stuff does combat well, but just because you cant throw 5 at star brand and take him off the table in 1 turn doesn’t means its a useless unit.  
 

- Agreeing with you on the trees.

- Not really on the T-revs, but maybe I'm just not good enough... and my problems lately stem from 3-4 BT lists that would fly over them.

- I think getting Archie behind enemy lines won't be so easy that it can be counted on to use reliably in the way you describe it personally. I'd be hesitant to try and get him there on his own.

- I lack spite but if they'd just drop another 10 points I'd certainly try what you are saying (I'd do it now.. but I don't have them... if they drop in points I'd actually build a unit from the looncurse set :D)

- Sadly bravery stuff doesn't seem a reliably strategy... there is just SOOO DAMN MUCH B 8-9-10 around. I've NEVER used drycha's own spell... I mean usually hoping for a 10+ on a mystic bolt seem a better idea.

Appreciate the effort you put into your posts here btw.

 

[Aezeal]

1 hour ago, Vition said:

- Spite Swarms: Because most everyone is expecting these at some point.  Basically the Life version of nurglings, endless swarm would stay, there'd be a venom-based MW option, probably on a wound roll of a natural 6.  Then they have flight as well as first turn set up, similar to Hidden Infestation.

I'm not.. I'm hoping spites will be an extra option for magic items . For use on treelords (ALSO non hero ones) like SC mounts get options.

[Mirage8112]

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

I'm not.. I'm hoping spites will be an extra option for magic items . For use on treelords (ALSO non hero ones) like SC mounts get options.

This seems very likely to me given the way the4 other Battletome have been set up. 
 

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

Not really on the T-revs, but maybe I'm just not good enough... and my problems lately stem from 3-4 BT lists that would fly over them.

BT lists? For some reason I can’t pick out the acronym...

Just as a tip, if you don’t know where the flying models are coming from it’s best if you put the Revenants (spite or tree) directly in front of the unit you want to screen. It doesn’t really matter if they’re flying units if they cant fit the model between the screen and the target. Flying models usually require 2 units of t-revs to screen, so you can create a complete circle around the likely target  but remember they can’t land within 3” of an enemy model before they charge, and they still need to maintain coherency, so even if they can fit 1 model in a gap, but cant keep the rest of thier models within 1”: the charge fails.

If you know where they’re going to be, then thats a different story. If a flying unit is looking to set up a charge next turn against a Treelord ancient with only 3 wounds left, and positions itself for a reasonable charge next turn by ending it’s move the turn before 18” away  from the wounded treelord (12” flying move + average of 7 on a charge roll, so lets call it a 6” inch charge just to be safe). 

You see what’s coming, so you pop a unit of tree-revenants 6” in front of the likely target, spaced the full 1” out. That puts them 11” away from the attacker ( 6” between treelord and revs +1” for the t-revs bases is 7”. 7”-18” = 11” away from T-revs: easily outside the 9” enemy model restriction).

Now, even though your opponent can fly, he can’t end his move within 3” of a model before charging. If he’s 11” away from the tree revenants he can’t fly over them (not enough movement), and has to land at least 3” away from them I.E. he can only move 8”. That means from the no-land zone to the intended target is a 10 charge if he wants to try to fly over the screen (6” from Tree-revs, + 1” for tree-revs bases, + 3” no land zone from tree-rev before a charge = 10” away).

Say he starts closer. Instead of setting up for a charge 18” away, he sets up 16” away. Doesn’t matter. You can set up exactly the same as before (6” between the target and the screen+ 1” for t-revs bases = 7”. 16” -7 “= 9” still within the restriction) Although he starts 9” from T-revs and has enough movement to move over them, he still cant land within 3” of a model before charging. Still a 10” charge.  And if somehow you opponent has + movement buffs, run and charge and cogs all out at the same time, then you just use 2 units and form a tight ring around the treelord. 

T-revs are built to die. They’re protectors after all; not because they’re Killy, but because they get in the way and there’s very little you opponent can do to stop them other than killing them first. 

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

I think getting Archie behind enemy lines won't be so easy that it can be counted on to use reliably in the way you describe it personally. I'd be hesitant to try and get him there on his own.

I dunno. I envision him being used behind a unit of scythe hunters for the RR 1’s buff, because thats where your enemy expects him to be, with the exception that he stays out of combat, because you’ll need him to charge the next turn. You keep your t-rev assassins in the background, pretending to guard a flank, or hold an objective or something. You let the hunters use that RR 1’s buff for a turn, hopefully thinning out whatever unit is holding the line in front of you. He’s not in combat, so all he’ll have to weather is shooting. At 4+ save, RR 1’s from his shield ability, and -2 hit from being a character (and I’m assuming an item), I doubt you opponent will worry to much about him and will spend more energy trying to wear the 6 scythe hunters with 4 attacks RR 1’s at -2 rend D3 damage. 

Next turn however, you cast cogs. Hunters can root and reroll failed saves, so they’ll be fine. 

Your revenant has 12” +2 move from cogs, so a 14” move. That means as long as the enemy’s line isn’t more than 8” deep you have more than enough to hop the 3” gap (she’s not in combat so she should stay just outside of 3”) and the 3” no-land zone behind them. 3”+3”= 6”- 14 inch move =8” buffer. T-revs dont need to worry about all that. They just show up, close to the revenant, 9” away from something you want to die. Again, cogs+warsinger turns a 9” charge into a 5” charge, RR 1 dice. You can also spend an extra CP if things go pear-shaped. 

Also the arch rev’s buff happens at the beginning of the combat phase. That’s important, because you need to bring your t-revs in close to the arch revenant and they need to start wholly within 12” (I’m figuring warsinger, so the arch-rev must be the general. That is, if the attribute is still around).  But remember that T-revs have a massive 6” pile in, so it should be pretty easy to ensure that they all get buffed. 

I actually think this will be super easy to pull off, because your enemy will not be expecting it. I watched a game a couple of nights ago of stormcast vs seraphon. The stormcast player ultimately won, but his troop formation was never more than 3” deep at any point along the line of skirmish. He had 2 support characters within 2” inches of the back of his line, and a ballista about 4” behind that. His backfield was completely empty. 

I saw at least 3 points in the line that would allow you to pull exactly this type of attack off. Nobody’s scared of revenants. Do this a couple of times and they will be.  
 

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

Sadly bravery stuff doesn't seem a reliably strategy... there is just SOOO DAMN MUCH B 8-9-10 around. I've NEVER used drycha's own spell... I mean usually hoping for a 10+ on a mystic bolt seem a better idea.

It’s not so much a strategy as a bonus. Spites bravery attack is just something they get, and they’re required to unlock Dreadwood.  But the real benefit is the 2d6 battleshock test at -1 bravery. 9 bravery sounds like a lot, but put them behind a line of 6 hunters buffed with an Archie, or near Drycha with squirmlings and its a different story. 9 bravery doesn’t mean all that much if you manage to push 15-20 wounds into a unit. It’s especially painful for multi-wound models, since 15 wounds is only 3 ogres; but since they’ll be at 6 bravery, and rolling 2d6 discard the lowest, that could easily be about 15 wounds worth of models fleeing from battleshock. Sure, there are ways to get around it, but CP’s spent on BS immunity are Cps that cant be spent on command abilities later in the game. 

 

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

Appreciate the effort you put into your posts here btw.

Thanks mate! We’ve had some good discussions you and I. It’s good to have a place to discuss high-level play and strategy. It makes us all better players. 


 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Mirage8112

[Undeadly]

So, evidently, it looks like we're about to get some new Warscrolls for the Revenants and Kurnoths: These are under the Looncurse Rules tab, but none of these PDF's work.

If you wish to use these miniatures in games of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, download their Warscrolls for free here.

Arch-RevenantTree-RevenantsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth GreatbowsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth GreatswordsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes

 

[Mirage8112]

1 hour ago, Undeadly said:

So, evidently, it looks like we're about to get some new Warscrolls for the Revenants and Kurnoths: These are under the Looncurse Rules tab, but none of these PDF's work.

If you wish to use these miniatures in games of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, download their Warscrolls for free here.

Arch-RevenantTree-RevenantsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth GreatbowsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth GreatswordsKurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes

 

The arch-revenant is already in the AoS app, and the t-revs warscroll has already been updated. What’s curious is the separation between the hunters via loadout.

Some people seem to think this indicates that they’ll have different points values, but that’s not really certain.  My thought is if they thought bows were underpowered, they’d just buff them. Adding an extra attack would have buffed them significantly if everything were to remain equal. 

My thought is that they’re just separating the warscrolls out to make it easier for new players to use the weapon load out corresponding to the model they’re using. I have been guilty of occasionally using the wrong statline for equipment on a model I’m not familiar with once or twice. This makes it a lot cleaner for new players (and it is a “starter box” after all).

i dunno, we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Mirage8112

[Coyote]

There’s about four warscrolls in Azur that have “updated April 2019”

[Craze]

I noticed one thing: Ylthari is having the Oakenbrow keyword, while Archie and the new bow hunters have the Free Spirits keyword.

I was expecting to get the traditional Wargroves as our "Stormhosts", but now it seems that there will be units having the old "small" batallions as Keywords, too.

What does this mean for us?

[Ruhraffe]

Nothing until the battletome is released. From then on, it means whatever stands in the BT. I guess it is futile to throw aroundwild speculations, if we get the answer in about 2-3 weeks.

[jaebird]

The Stormcast BT does have keywords for smaller groups or factions in their list. "Redeemer" units can receive buffs from specific characters and battalions. My thought is that we'll get keywords for the main army themes (Oakenbrow, Harvestboon, etc) and keywords for the groups of Sylvaneth in their society (Free Spirits, Tree Folk, the Household, etc).  Ideally it means we'll get some cool stuff spread across more armies, but I do think the Stormcast BT is a little bland re: things like Stormhosts and battalions. Now I haven't read the Fyreslayers tome so it might be an idle worry, but I do like how varied the Sylvaneth can be right now. Hope we don't lose that.

[Kaylethia]

That does open up battallions to be structured along the lines of "must contain at least 2 Household units." While at the same time allowing them to add another unit with the same keyword, and have it count toward those requirements. 

[GeneralZero]

That is a really weird move from GW, showing new warscrolls without (announcing) the battletome. Should have been wayyyyyyy better to release Sylva 2.0  just after Looncurse...

[Overread]

It's not that odd, GW has done that many times before. Plus the hint of the new Endless Spell is a pretty clear sign that a new book is on the horizon. GW has done most of these sets with the boxed set first hen the battletome - the only time they didn't was when they released Flesheaters and Skaven at the same time as the boxed set 

[GeneralZero]

38 minutes ago, Overread said:

the only time they didn't was when they released Flesheaters and Skaven at the same time as the boxed set 

...and it was by far the best way of doing it! 

[The World Tree]

3 hours ago, jaebird said:

The Stormcast BT does have keywords for smaller groups or factions in their list. "Redeemer" units can receive buffs from specific characters and battalions. My thought is that we'll get keywords for the main army themes (Oakenbrow, Harvestboon, etc) and keywords for the groups of Sylvaneth in their society (Free Spirits, Tree Folk, the Household, etc).  Ideally it means we'll get some cool stuff spread across more armies, but I do think the Stormcast BT is a little bland re: things like Stormhosts and battalions. Now I haven't read the Fyreslayers tome so it might be an idle worry, but I do like how varied the Sylvaneth can be right now. Hope we don't lose that.

This is exactly right. Free Spirits/Thornwych etc will be the equivalent of moonclan/squigs/spiderclan and then we'll have the overarching 'Stormhosts', of which we already know of Oakenbrow. 

People seem to have been thrown by Ylthari, who is part of a dedicated 'Stormhost'.

[Kaylethia]

17 minutes ago, The World Tree said:

People seem to have been thrown by Ylthari, who is part of a dedicated 'Stormhost'.

Not that strange, as the Farstriders have the Hammers of Sigmar keyword, the Chosen Axes have the Vostarg keyword, etc. GW is much more willing to tie Underworlds warbands to specific groups in the lore, much like they do with named heroes.

[The World Tree]

48 minutes ago, Kaylethia said:

Not that strange, as the Farstriders have the Hammers of Sigmar keyword, the Chosen Axes have the Vostarg keyword, etc. GW is much more willing to tie Underworlds warbands to specific groups in the lore, much like they do with named heroes.

Exactly. But I think it has confused people in their new book speculation.

[Aezeal]

11 hours ago, Mirage8112 said:

The arch-revenant is already in the AoS app, and the t-revs warscroll has already been updated. What’s curious is the separation between the hunters via loadout.

Some people seem to think this indicates that they’ll have different points values, but that’s not really certain.  My thought is if they thought bows were underpowered, they’d just buff them. Adding an extra attack would have buffed them significantly if everything were to remain equal. 

My thought is that they’re just separating the warscrolls out to make it easier for new players to use the weapon load out corresponding to the model they’re using. I have been guilty of occasionally using the wrong statline for equipment on a model I’m not familiar with once or twice. This makes it a lot cleaner for new players (and it is a “starter box” after all).

i dunno, we’ll just have to wait and see. 

I think that without a buff (and with current LoS bow hunters deserve to be 20 points less than melee guys. I just hope that mean the melee guys dont get an increase.

I meant bloodthirsters btw, tyrants of blood, especially. The one with the big axe took hits from.alarielle.. but even nearly dead his finished her off easily. Skarbrand deleted 3 hunters in pne hit etc

 

 

[Mirage8112]

1 hour ago, Aezeal said:

I meant bloodthirsters btw, tyrants of blood, especially. The one with the big axe took hits from.alarielle.. but even nearly dead his finished her off easily. Skarbrand deleted 3 hunters in pne hit etc

Ah. That makes sense. I had a bloodthirster come at me at Adepticon. Took 4 turns to take the damn thing out thanks to failing a 3” charge with my scythe hunters bottom of turn 2. Stupid dice.

A bloodthirster is the perfect example of a unit you’d want to screen for. ESP skarbrand, since he can’t fly.   Units like that are pretty easy to bait, since they are excellent at wiping whole units from combat if they get to strike first. Best bet is to put a group of 6 hunters out in the open, maybe 20-24” inches away and see if he sets up for a charge the next turn. If he threatens a charge, then you can pop the screen in between.

Even if he doesn’t take the bait, and repositions or moves away, you win. A unit like that is only worth its points if it gates into combat early, and spends the whole game in combat till it dies. If you can keep him dancing around the edge of the battlefield, wasting time: that’s perfect. The longer he’s out of combat the less damage he can do. 

[Aezeal]

2 hours ago, Mirage8112 said:

Ah. That makes sense. I had a bloodthirster come at me at Adepticon. Took 4 turns to take the damn thing out thanks to failing a 3” charge with my scythe hunters bottom of turn 2. Stupid dice.

A bloodthirster is the perfect example of a unit you’d want to screen for. ESP skarbrand, since he can’t fly.   Units like that are pretty easy to bait, since they are excellent at wiping whole units from combat if they get to strike first. Best bet is to put a group of 6 hunters out in the open, maybe 20-24” inches away and see if he sets up for a charge the next turn. If he threatens a charge, then you can pop the screen in between.

Even if he doesn’t take the bait, and repositions or moves away, you win. A unit like that is only worth its points if it gates into combat early, and spends the whole game in combat till it dies. If you can keep him dancing around the edge of the battlefield, wasting time: that’s perfect. The longer he’s out of combat the less damage he can do. 

If they have 4 of those it's really hard.. I had units of 10 dryads (which I used to screen), units of 20 dryads. I played winterleaf AND I was on escalation so he started them FAR away.. can't get much more anti chaos than that and ideal scenario and I had 2 units of shooty hunters and summoned 1. I finally killed 2 but then I was nearly tabled already, damage rolls on my shots where terrible I'll admit but his big axe thirster had a ghyrstrike and it was like 2+ 2+ rend 2 damage d6 … x 5. Even when nearly dead those things have more than 50% damage output I think (unlike our big guys who loose 75% of damage output).