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AoS 2 - Sylvaneth Discussion


Chris Tomlin

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3 minutes ago, Craze said:

@scrubyandwells Thanks a lot for you thoughts and the detailed write-up!

 

One question: Do you think Spellweaver is the best choice we have in Gnarlroot? What does she add apart from the auto-unbind?

Yeah I'm still a little skeptical about Spellweaver. Spending those last 100pts effectively is important.

She could certainly help vs Everblaze, where you could put her on the line, take first, run her forward, and she should be well-within range for auto-unbind. She could also help vs Nagash builds re: Hand of Dust Spellportal.

With that said, vs Everblaze, another option is to play more aggressively with some of your units, such that you minimize pieces getting hit, unless your opponent doesn't mind hitting their own. That might compromise bunkering, durability (being in cover in Wyldwoods), and objective play, however.

Re: Everblaze, I could be overly concerned about its potential impact. (Haven't faced it yet.) It certainly seems problematic, especially when combined with everything else SCE can do at the moment with their undercosted Sequitors, Evocators, and Gavriel, combined with their teleporting pieces.

Doomfire Warlocks, Archmage, Incantor + Everblaze, and Loremaster (140 is a lot...) are worth a closer look as well.

Also still interested in testing out 30 Dryads built into Gnarlroot (they certainly seem a solid choice for a better-rounded Dreadwood). They still seem to have a lot of value. It just honestly sucks needing to collect so many damn Dryads, though (from a competitive tournament POV), because of the introduction of summoning, especially when it's another layer on top of allies and the existing incentive to collect multiple ally options, again from a tournament POV.

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Just now, scrubyandwells said:

Yeah I'm still a little skeptical about Spellweaver. Spending those last 100pts effectively is important.

She could certainly help vs Everblaze, where you could put her on the line, take first, run her forward, and she should be well-within range for auto-unbind. She could also help vs Nagash builds re: Hand of Dust Spellportal.

With that said, vs Everblaze, another option is to play more aggressively with some of your units, such that you minimize pieces getting hit, unless your opponent doesn't mind hitting their own. That might compromise bunkering, durability (being in cover in Wyldwoods), and objective play, however.

Re: Everblaze, I could be overly concerned about its potential impact. (Haven't faced it yet.) It certainly seems problematic, especially when combined with everything else SCE can do at the moment with their undercosted Sequitors, Evocators, and Gavriel, combined with their teleporting pieces.

Doomfire Warlocks, Archmage, Incantor + Everblaze, and Loremaster (140 is a lot...) are worth a closer look as well.

Also still interested in testing out 30 Dryads built into Gnarlroot (they certainly seem a solid choice for a better-rounded Dreadwood). They still seem to have a lot of value. It just honestly sucks needing to collect so many damn Dryads, though (from a competitive tournament POV), because of the introduction of summoning, especially when it's another layer on top of allies and the existing incentive to collect multiple ally options, again from a tournament POV.

Spellweaver is just a piece I'd like to test a fair amount, as it seems difficult to judge her value on paper. It's plausible, though, that you could go to a tournament and keep running into opponents where you're grateful to have at least one auto-unbind.

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Second 2k list test against Tzeentch was a loss... this army is definately straight forward to play! 13-12 loss on better part of valour. I only lost to it a key double turn but none the lesss still a bitter pill to swallow. The practice carries on next week with games v Maggotkin & Nighthaunt.

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4 hours ago, AaronWIlson said:

Second 2k list test against Tzeentch was a loss... this army is definately straight forward to play! 13-12 loss on better part of valour. I only lost to it a key double turn but none the lesss still a bitter pill to swallow. The practice carries on next week with games v Maggotkin & Nighthaunt.

"... this army is definately straight forward to play!" 

Is that sarcasm, or are you finding the army straightforward to play? :)

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1 hour ago, AaronWIlson said:

What I actually meant to say is the army isn't straight forward to play! There is so much going on every turn and I feel like you HAVE to be making use of all the oppurtinites open to you to be playing the army even somewhat competently.

Amen. That's why at tournaments I usually look anxious and stressed, trying to juggle all the different variables and set things up in the right way. For the most part, the army is very punishing to mistakes. 

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Just now, scrubyandwells said:

Amen. That's why at tournaments I usually look anxious and stressed, trying to juggle all the different variables and set things up in the right way. For the most part, the army is very punishing to mistakes. 

Kind of jealous of the fellow who took Durthu and 18 Scythes to Northern Invasion. Not a fan of spam lists, but that's one of the more straightforward, strong Sylvaneth lists I've seen since they launched in 2016. 

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I’ve now played 4 whole games Of AoS all with Sylvaneth (Dreadwood build - for a tournament in weeks time) A lot of lessons and great to have @scrubyandwells insights to keep me somewhat on track.  Thanks - I really do appreciate both the forum insights and the blog postings here.  

Last night we were playing Places of Arcan Power.  I won my last game 16-3 but I think he was letting me win.  This time Dave brought his A game.  I left a 1cm gap between 2 forests, and Arkhan hand of dusted Alarielle off the board his T1.  Sigh.   I was starting to grind out points and stop him from getting too many and then had a great opportunity to press the advantage with the celestant vs Arkham on 4 wounds.  5 attacks ... and 4 1s - ended up doing 3 and then got smashed. I am learning how to use the woods and have a 3-page order of battle that helps a lot.  Great game and so happy to have started playing Warhammer again after 4 years :) 

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5 minutes ago, Cblackaus said:

I’ve now played 4 whole games Of AoS all with Sylvaneth (Dreadwood build - for a tournament in weeks time) A lot of lessons and great to have @scrubyandwells insights to keep me somewhat on track.  Thanks - I really do appreciate both the forum insights and the blog postings here.  

Last night we were playing Places of Arcan Power.  I won my last game 16-3 but I think he was letting me win.  This time Dave brought his A game.  I left a 1cm gap between 2 forests, and Arkhan hand of dusted Alarielle off the board his T1.  Sigh.  

Just fyi, because Alarielle/Arkhan can fly the Overgrown Wilderness rule that prevents LoS through woods would not apply. The relevant rules text:

"Models are not visible to each other if an imaginary straight line 1mm wide drawn between the closest points of the two models crosses over more than 1"of the base of a Citadel Wood. This scenery rule does not apply if either model can fly."

However, if we say that neither model has the Fly ability in that scenario, I think it would be VERY tough for Arkhan to prove that the line from the closest point of his model passes perfectly to the closest point of Alarielle's model without crossing any woods base. Possible, but very unlikely. 

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On 8/23/2018 at 11:53 PM, Mirage8112 said:

Mostly I spend the battalion points for the option of single drop, or as near it as I can get. I very much prefer to have my choice of turns in the first round. I'll take first if i want to alpha-strike or hard bunker on an objective, or second if I'm facing a gunline or something similar. The fact that battalions are tied to command points and artifacts is really more of a bonus in my mind, one which I'll try to take advantage of as long as it doesn't mean handicapping my lists effectiveness.  

4% of my army's total points for practically guaranteeing first turn + command point + an artifact is money well spent in my book. 

Wow there has been so much discuss since I last posted, it's wonderful to see :) 

When I say 4% above, I'm talking about the tax to take our cheapest artifact bearer i.e. a bwych/bwraith (80/2000 = 0.04). In every list that I made using a two battalion system I've forced myself to provide three artifact bearers. What I was getting at is it might be ok to not use all three artifacts and it sounds like @Mirage8112 might agree. 

From reading through the forums over the past week or two I see a lot of people asking @scrubyandwells for his thoughts on Dreadwood lists/it seems all people are talking about is Dreadwood and Gnarlroot. From what I can tell, more folks have been interested in starting Sylvaneth or have in fact just started. What I'd like to say to everyone is don't get stuck on these two battalions. Sylvaneth has a lot to offer outside of those two that I don't think people are properly experimenting with. If last year is any indication, a non-battalion Sylvaneth list can do very well at top tournaments (i.e. Adepticon) and I believe that still holds true in AoS 2.0.

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Buckle up folks, this is going to be a long post. See above post but here is a non-battalion list I'm going to try. I call it"Look ma, no battalions"

Leaders
Alarielle the Everqueen (600)
- Deepwood Spell: Throne of Vines
Branchwraith (80)
- General
- Trait: Strategic Genius
- Artefact: Ranu's Lamentiri 
- Deepwood Spell: Verdant Blessing
Drycha Hamadreth (280)
- Deepwood Spell: Regrowth

Battleline
5 x Tree-Revenants (80)
5 x Tree-Revenants (80)
20 x Dryads (200)

Units
6 x Kurnoth Hunters (400)
- Scythes
3 x Kurnoth Hunters (200)
- Greatbows

Endless Spells
Chronomantic Cogs (60)
Soulsnare Shackles (20)

Lets start by looking at what's going on with this list.

First, we have plenty of anti-horde à la Alarielle and Drycha (perhaps too much against elite lists, but how common are those these days?). Second, we have elite character killers in 400 pts of scythe hunter, why not swords you ask? Simple, swords provide more damage to low(ish) saves and we've got that covered through my first point. Third, we have a great anvil unit to work with in 20 Dryads, we want to place these guys on a highly contested objective, ideally where we have spawned a wood. Fourth, we often have a difficult time reaching the end of our opponents zone, introducing our version of khinerai heartrenders, old faithful "fail the re-roll charge" tree-revenants! Though I'm mocking these guys a bit, they have won me many AoS1.0 games. Here, we are using them to pressure weak/isolated heroes, artillery crew, or (my top choice) jump in turn 4 or 5 to take a late objective uncontested. Fifth, we really invest in valuetown with our Branchwraith build, Alarielle, and cogs. Admittedly, our ability to spread woods is awful in this build (addressed later). In order to remedy that shortcoming we take ranu's and cogs. Casting order for T1... Alarielle casts throne of vines > cogs > mystic shield. Cogs are set up to be used by Branchwraith, now with two casts we do verdant > roused. I have done this combo many times with my Dreadwood list and it works like a charm. If cogs fail, we still favor verdant over roused with the wraith as we really need those forests out. The valuetown present with Alarielle should be clear but we've built the list to take advantage of our three best options (20 Dryads, Treelord, 3 Kurnoth Hunters). If we really need to bunker down (and if I had enough Dryads) we will use another 20 block to hold a different objective. Treelord is very situational but I can see some use in scoring schemes where behemoths score or as a distraction piece for people who don't know just how likely this dude is to completely whiff. The most attractive option and part Six are 3 Kurnoths, Alarielle is the reason we've brought 3 bows along. I've previously defended bows, but if they stink after a couple of games I'll find a better use of 200pts. However, here is why they are included. A 3 group of bows, is kind of a miss but they can still do a few things we're missing. At size 3, they can hold a deep objective, they can pop artillery crews, they can whittle down behemoths, turn 4 or 5 they might remove an enemy from a scoring position, and they can ward off some deep-strike threats (i.e. mirror match tree revs or heartrenders). Worst case, I'm happy to simply shoot into an elite unit to pick off one or two models (see brutes, melusai, etc.). Now, when you have 6 bows, things start to get interesting. Even with -1 to hit pesky heroes, you should still be able to remove one every two turns, if you're lucky you'll get a bunch of hits and blow them up in a turn (oh and 6 bows are great for weakening/finishing behemoths and elites). Finally, we take shackles and not swords because they're easy to cast (good for rousing/casting without a modifier), if they go off enemy is -1 cast on their turn, can't be moved, and best case scenario enemy misses the unbind and suffers movement penalties.

Wow! That was a lot of text, but it's not over folks. My chief concerns with this list.

1. We are abysmal at spreading woods. As someone who has been rocking an acorn and TLA this concerns me but lets turn a weakness into a strength. Our verdant blessing is as strong as we can make it (potentially +3). If we take 3 more bows with Alarielle, the board now has less LoS terrain to inhibit our shooting. The switch here is Drycha. I just bought her and want to use her but TLA for Drycha and the Shackles is our swap. TLA has been a real disappointment in AoS2.0 and a 50-50 for a forest is not the gamble I want to take. However, with the number of Dryads this list can rock the TLA command ability is stronger.

2. Our general can't make great use of a command trait. I think we want strategic genius here to help power Alarielle's ability/battleshock/and failed charges. Other consideration is Warsinger (but we can switch cogs to cover that), Inspiring/Wisdom of the Ancients, or Tenacious (she is that important). Also, to make her actually reliable, we take Ranu's even though I'd rather have some defensive help (particularly against mortal wounds).

3. We don't get too many Deepwood spells to play with... I really like 2x regrowth when possible (redundant but it increases board presence). Also, if the Branchwraith dies we no longer have forest spread (a sad thought). Overall, I think the spell chose and placement above makes the most sense.

4. This list is 8 drops, yikes... Most games we aren't choosing when we go. We need to deploy smart and use our flexibility. Honestly, I think we have enough going on where the difference between going 1st and 2nd is whatever. On top of that, unlike our one drop variants this actually allows us to see how our enemy deploys before plopping everything down.

It's a wrap folks.

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18 hours ago, IndigoGirls said:

Buckle up folks, this is going to be a long post. See above post but here is a non-battalion list I'm going to try. I call it"Look ma, no battalions"

It's a wrap folks.

Thanks for the excellent post @IndigoGirls! I agree with most everything you wrote.

On the Strategic Genius command trait, I don't believe you can select that if you're doing Sylvaneth Allegiance, although maybe someone could correct if that's mistaken?

Here's a recent iteration on the prior Gnarlroot build: 

  • Treelord Ancient
    • Gnarled Warrior
    • Ignax's Scales
    • Regrowth
  • Drycha Hamadreth
    • Regrowth
  • Branchwraith
    • Ranu's Lamentiri
    • Verdant Blessing
  • Branchwych
    • Acorn of the Ages
    • Throne of Vines
  • 10 Dryads
  • 5 Tree-Revenants
  • 5 Tree-Revenants
  • 5 Spite-Revenants
  • 6 Kurnoth Scythes
  • 3 Kurnoth Swords
  • Gnarlroot/Household
  • Chronomantic Cogs
  • Balewind Vortex

Couple thoughts on the above:

  • Gnarled Warrior + Ignax's Scales may provide better durability than Ethereal Amulet, at the sacrifice of the +1 from Warsinger combo'ing with Cogs for 6+ teleport charges. Instead, you'll be relying more on Cogs to stay on + relying on 7+ charges with (hopefully) a CP RR, which isn't too bad.
    • In my testing with Ethereal Amulet on Durthu at Siegeworld, mortal wounds were still a consistent problem. If the Ancient has a 3+ save, RR 1's to save, ignore -1 rend, and a 4+ vs mortal wounds via Ignax's Scales, I suspect those elements may provide better return vs a broader range of lists/situations.
  • Ranu's + Verdant stays on Branchwraith, even though not giving her Throne sacrifices Dryad-summoning potential, since I'm just not a fan of trying to cast Verdant on 6+, given how important it usually is to have a reliable means of getting Acorn + Verdant down in round 1. Branchwraith should also often be out of unbind range and still in position to summon Dryads, so I'd rather rely on a 6+ (with +1 from Ranu) for that each round than a 6+ for Verdant.
  • Acorn + Throne stays on Branchwych, but the Balewind has been added for the potential to cast Verdurous Harmony with her while keeping her out of unbind range. Balewind would turn Verdurous' 18" range into 24". The 6 Scythes would be the main target, so if they're mid-table rather than deep in enemy territory, the Branchwych could potentially stay in your backfield out of unbind range while still casting Verdurous onto them with her +D3 from Throne.
  • Potential first-turn order of business for Branchwraith and Branchwych:
    • Branchwych: Acorn > Throne > Cogs > Balewind > up to one more spell
    • Branchwraith: Verdant > Roused to Wrath
  • An additional 5 Tree-Revenants provides another utility unit, e.g., for teleporting into Wyldwoods as a screen with 3 Kurnoth Swords or the Ancient behind them. I'm hopeful the list can get away with only 10 Dryads built-in, with 2x5 Tree-Revs + 1x5 Spite-Revs for early-game screening, especially in a Wyldwood. If it can't, though, an alternative is to swap one of the 5 Tree-Revs and the Balewind for another 10 Dryads + Soulsnare Shackles. 

 

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9 minutes ago, scrubyandwells said:

Here's a recent iteration on the prior Gnarlroot build: 

  • Treelord Ancient
    • Gnarled Warrior
    • Ignax's Scales
    • Regrowth
  • Drycha Hamadreth
    • Regrowth
  • Branchwraith
    • Ranu's Lamentiri
    • Verdant Blessing
  • Branchwych
    • Acorn of the Ages
    • Throne of Vines
  • 10 Dryads
  • 5 Tree-Revenants
  • 5 Tree-Revenants
  • 5 Spite-Revenants
  • 6 Kurnoth Scythes
  • 3 Kurnoth Swords
  • Gnarlroot/Household
  • Chronomantic Cogs
  • Balewind Vortex

Still not in love with that build. It has some clear flaws, e.g.:

  • a fair # of points in utility pieces that die easily (Dryads, Tree-Revs, Spite-Revs)
  • a more-survivable Ancient who will still often fluff shooting and melee
  • a strong reliance on 6 Scythes as the primary combat punch
  • 100 points in utility magic that could still fail to cast
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Hi all

here is my Gnarlroot list , I tried a similar list with Sisters of the Thorn , but it really lacked some threat.

I'm pretty sure that I can't afford to take Allarielle and Gnarlroot ?

There just doesn't seem to be enough killing Power?

Allegiance: Sylvaneth
Mortal Realm: Ghyran
Alarielle the Everqueen (600)
- Deepwood Spell: Throne of Vines
Treelord Ancient (300)
- General
- Trait: Gnarled Warrior  
- Artefact: The Oaken Armour  
- Deepwood Spell: Regrowth
Branchwych (80)
- Artefact: Moonstone of the Hidden Ways  
- Deepwood Spell: The Dwellers Below
Branchwraith (80)
- Deepwood Spell: Regrowth
30 x Dryads (270)
10 x Dryads (100)
5 x Tree-Revenants (80)
3 x Kurnoth Hunters (200)
- Scythes
Household (100)
Gnarlroot Wargrove (130)
Aethervoid Pendulum (40)
Soulsnare Shackles (20)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 2
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 98
 

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2 hours ago, scrubyandwells said:

On the Strategic Genius command trait, I don't believe you can select that if you're doing Sylvaneth Allegiance, although maybe someone could correct if that's mistaken?

In hindsight, I'm fairly certain you're correct on this one. It's not often that I venture outside of the Sylvaneth battletome and I confused myself. In that case, I'd take Warsinger to help boost the wraith's movement a little and make units that are screening more reliable on the charge without flipping cogs.

Two other things... First, has anyone considered running solo Household? I really like the ability you get and I'm kind of alright with paying the treelord tax. Doesn't offer the same utility as a TLA but offensively it's the same if not better (more reliable ranged attack). Second, Alarielle can benefit from re-roll all failed saves when manipulating the cogs, correct? I recently played a game where she was on throne of vines and manipulating cogs to give her metamorphosis a little extra punch. At the time, I completely forgot cogs confers a defensive bonus to the user and it seems that re-roll would be wonderful on Alarielle (a surprisingly squishy 16 wound model).

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1 hour ago, IndigoGirls said:

At the time, I completely forgot cogs confers a defensive bonus to the user and it seems that re-roll would be wonderful on Alarielle (a surprisingly squishy 16 wound model).

With the change to mystic shield, defensive cogs on Alarielle is glorious. I actually used that ability far more than any other benefit from cogs, you just need to be clever with your positioning, thinking ahead about where Alarielle will be when she charges and not giving the enemy the ability to manipulate them.

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Hey people!

I am preparing lists for a 1500 points game at the end of this month and I would like to get some input. Does anyone have any experience with this size?

I was thinking about taking Alarielle for a spin with some Hunters, an Ancient and the usual Dryad/Tree-Revenant tax but I felt it was a bit cheesy considering her OP summoning. How would you feel playing against such a list?

On the other hand bringing as many hunters as possible in a 1500 list could be interesting too. What are your thoughts?  

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8 hours ago, romhi said:

Hey people!

I am preparing lists for a 1500 points game at the end of this month and I would like to get some input. Does anyone have any experience with this size?

I was thinking about taking Alarielle for a spin with some Hunters, an Ancient and the usual Dryad/Tree-Revenant tax but I felt it was a bit cheesy considering her OP summoning. How would you feel playing against such a list?

On the other hand bringing as many hunters as possible in a 1500 list could be interesting too. What are your thoughts?  

I say bring whatever you think is fun but if you are trying to win (i.e. this is a tournament situation where you want to shine) then what I'm about to say probably doesn't apply! I certainly don't think Alarielle is cheesy or that summoning ~200pts of models is OP. Your opponent will likely do something equally "cheesy" or "OP". Personally, I don't like the idea of 600/1500 of my points being in a single model so I wouldn't take her. Especially if you want hunters, TLA, Dryads and Revs. Quick math on that puts your list firmly at...

Alarielle (600), TLA (300), 3 x Hunters (200), 10 x Dryads (100), 2 x 5 Tree Revs (160) = 1360/1500 (not much flexibility left, though your best bet from here is probably wraith and cogs or wych and balewind)

Kurnoth hunters are my favorite unit aesthetically so bringing a bunch of them is always cool plus they are certainly competitive. My choice is drop Alarielle and your TLA instead taking Durthu (380), Drycha (280), and 240 spare points. Upgrade your hunters to 2 x 3 or 1 x 6 (400), upgrade your Dryads to 20 (200) and throw in a Wraith or Wych (80). If you want to get really cheeky downgrade your Tree Revs to Spite Revs (2 x 70), drop the Wych/Wraith and try out a Knight-Azyros (100) behind a Durthu who is pumped up with Ghyrstrike or whatever that artifact is called (also a joy behind 6 x Scythe/Sword Hunters).

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So my third test of Gnarlroot is going down this evening, I decided to change my original template as I was finding Drycha underwhelming and Hunters awesome., Having more Hunters offers me a little more Synergy also allowing me to have more units to return Hunters to. Here's my Gnarlroot MK2 list, going up against Nighthaunt this evening. 

Treelord Ancient 
Artefact - Ignax's Scales 
Trait - Gnarled Warrior 
Deepwood Lore - Regrowth 

Branchwraith 
Artefact - Ranu's Lamentiri 
Deepwood Lore - Verdant Blessing 

Brancwych 
Artefact - Acorn of the Ages
Deepwood Lore - Throne of Vines 

30 Dryads
2 x 5 Tree Revenants 

2 x 3 Scythe Hunters
2 x 3 Bow Hunters

Gnarlroot
Household 

I'll let you guys know how it goes :D

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2 hours ago, AaronWIlson said:

So my third test of Gnarlroot is going down this evening, I decided to change my original template as I was finding Drycha underwhelming and Hunters awesome., Having more Hunters offers me a little more Synergy also allowing me to have more units to return Hunters to. Here's my Gnarlroot MK2 list, going up against Nighthaunt this evening. 

Treelord Ancient 
Artefact - Ignax's Scales 
Trait - Gnarled Warrior 
Deepwood Lore - Regrowth 

Branchwraith 
Artefact - Ranu's Lamentiri 
Deepwood Lore - Verdant Blessing 

Brancwych 
Artefact - Acorn of the Ages
Deepwood Lore - Throne of Vines 

30 Dryads
2 x 5 Tree Revenants 

2 x 3 Scythe Hunters
2 x 3 Bow Hunters

Gnarlroot
Household 

I'll let you guys know how it goes :D

You are missing exactly 80 points 1920 / 2000 miht add another unit of tree or bwraith or bwych :)

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