Lets Chat Wanderers / Wood Elves compendium

[darkspear]

15 hours ago, Frozenbeast said:

happy new year my fellow pointy ears friends!!!!!!!!!!!!

Might mighty Alarielle forgive us and take us back under her protection!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alarielle is weak.  She forgotten her roots and abandon us.  

[darkspear]

Anyway I had a match play game using the open war cards for scenarios.

Once again the Wanderers allegiance did well out of the 6 GHB17 match play scenarios.  Perhaps players should not get so fixated in playing those 6 scenarios in GHB17.

In the attached pic, our armies are deployed at the short edge up to the full half of 36 inch.  This allow me to have a token force to contest objectives at the centre while the bulk of my forces zoom along the table edge and do damage on my enemy.  I killed Kairos  in turn 1.  My opponent was so pissed that he nearly conceit.  

 

[JayJay11]

Hello Wanderers of the Realms,

once I was a Kid I dreamed of playing a Wood Elves Army. Now These Days I have found a few Models on Ebay and I will Start my Wood Evles Army (now Wanderers). When Age of Sigmar was released, I downloaded the Compendium and I'm glad that I've done this. In My Opinion the old Warscrolls of the Units are a bit better. But I have to say I only Play with my wife, my brother and 2 Friends, so there are not maxed lists at our games. My question is, how big do you guys Play the Eternal Guard at 1k and 2k Games? We love themed Armies and I plan to Play Wanderers only (have the old warscrolls for Wardancers e.g.). Can you experienced Players tell me whats a must have in 1k and 2k?

Here is what I have atm:

1x Nomad Prince on Forest Dragon

1x Glade Lord on Great Stag

1x Orion King in the Woods

2x Hunting Hounds

2x Waywatcher

1x Waystrider

1x Spellweaver

1x Nomad Prince

2x 20 Glade Guard

1x 30 Eternal Guard

1x 10 Wildwood Rangers

15x Wardancers inkl. Command

5x Sisters of the Thorn

5x Wild Riders

10x Sisters of the Watch

6x Waywatchers

16x Glade Riders inkl. Command

All These Models are cleaned, on Round bases and only Basecoated. Need a Painting Scheme first

Thank you all for your comments in this Thread, learned a lot about the Wanderers.

 

[WABBIT]

Play the whole force if you want to , just agree the parameters of the game with your opponent first. The GHB is not mandatory unless its a tournament and they say they are following its rules. You could ignore it completely as we did before it came out. Just put down models you want to play as per their warscroll. Keep placing units until you're both happy and ready to start. If you want to try and set a limit you can use wounds or number of models and restriction number of monsters/heroes/wizards/war machines etc to a set number. You can do anything you like really just discuss what sort of game you want to play with your opponent first. If you find games are too one sided then try the GHB point system but the points are not balanced and in a constantly changing meta they never will be so it's up to you what you want to try. More competitive players prefer hard rules and use the GHB. Or you can take a more narrative approach or a completely open approach.

Eternal guard work in 10, 20 and 30 and will offer different potential depending on their size. They have 2 " reach so you can get a lot of them into combat especially if you don't use their Forest of Boughs ability but that ability is their strength and you'll want to use it often. Small units of 10 can be good roadblocks to screen your archers and slow down the enemy advance but they won't last long or do much damage. They are cheap and disposable if using points from GHB. 20 is a middle ground and 30 will offer the greatest staying power and continue to pump out attacks due to high numbers and 2" range. Just be careful they don't take too many casualties and a battleshock test or they will bleed troops quickly - maybe use inspiring presence on them to guard against losing too many to BShock.  They have good leadership but it's no guarantee against taking lots of wounds. 30 of them won't find cover easily so it's harder to get benefit from terrain but they will cover a large area if needed. If using points 30 in one unit is cheaper than 3 units of 10 but 3 units of 10 will cover much more of the battlefield if you want to screen or hold lots of objectives spread across the table. Just try them out in each configuration and see how you like them. There is no "Best way to play them".

[Popisdead]

I have about 25 Wardancers, half of which are 1987 Jes Goodwin sculpts which I just love.

should I just spam 5-man units?

I was also thinking of a Shadowdancer to fluff out the list.

 

Most likely Open play cards for this, perhaps matched play points still?  

 

thanks kindly

[WABBIT]

Yeah no harm in trying it out. I've been surprised by how mine have done in the past.  Build an army around the core of wardancers. Your opponent may not be prepared for a themed army so 5 units of 5 make a flexible force upfront. Maybe have one bigger unit to get some punch in first as MSU vs one big enemy unit means most of your units you go last and could take casualties + Battleshock at the end. As cheap screens you can push them up to give archers more time.  With so many little units you can block with one and run around the enemy units with the others targeting enemy heroes, caster or objectives.

As with all games of AoS so much depends on the battle plan (IF you are using them) and random open play cards makes it even harder to prep for so you could get lucky and get a plan which suits your match up or you may not. I'd try it a few times to hone the army style and see which units work well with wardancers.

Points are up to you. We often play points with the same hero/wiz monster restrictions but with no battle line restrictions so we can get the units/army we want. Oddly we nearly always qualify with 3 battleline anyways but it means you don't have to worry about being forced to use wanderer allegiance so you can get eternal guard as BL or use Way watchers as BL in a wanderer army etc. There's just no reason to restrict wood elf and wanderer battle line units so much beyond Sales marketing at GW. Sadly its common in most elven armies. Its just unnecessarily complicated and confusing so ditch the rules and play using guides but be sure to extend the same courtesy to your opponents. IF games seem unbalanced it will be obvious so house rule it next time.  I think too many of us (me included) get too hung up on GHB rules. they are just one way to play and we don't talk about open play or narrative games enough. I have found them to just as fun if not more so. Points can make a game a little too competitive and I've seen many one sided battles end turn one even though they used points to balance it. Balance in the GHB is nothing less than an illusion!  but I like it anyway and use it more often than not.

Let us know how you get on and share pics? Good luck!

[Popisdead]

On 1/5/2018 at 2:51 PM, WABBIT said:

Points are up to you. We often play points with the same hero/wiz monster restrictions but with no battle line restrictions so we can get the units/army we want.

 

We do that too since we all quit tournaments.  Mostly as I also like to play Warherd and use the Khorne Bloodscorch formation with a Bloodstoker and Bloodsecrator for extra Khorniness.  I was hoping the Doombull made Bullgors BL but nope.. ah well.

Thanks for the response.  I'll try formulating up a list.  I haven't used my Wanderers much and usually won on objectives instead of beat-down.

I am a huge fan of Narrative play.  I try to always play a written-up scenario in any of the games i play (40k, Flames of War) and those are always more memorable.  

[Popisdead]

On 12/24/2017 at 5:37 PM, xking said:

https://www.blacklibrary.com/prod-home/new/the-autumn-prince-mp3.html

I liked this; I like most Guy Haley things and he gets non-imperium perspectives and does them well.

 

I want to add, if you guys are Wanderer fans, if you buy this BL will notice Aelf stuff sells and commission more.  Even if you just think it is mediocre, toss a few bucks this way and you'll see more and the quantity and quality will improve.  

 

Just saying.

[Frozenbeast]

I have played the other day this list:

 

Glade lord on Great eagle  (general, sword, +1 A trait, +1 rend artifact)

Loremaster

Waywatcher

Waywatcher

Highborn spearmen x10

Highborn spearmen x10

Waywatchers x5

Waywatchers x5

Executioners x10

Warhawk raider

Warhawk raider

 

1000/1000

 

I have to say I had great fun and didn't expect a couple of outcomes. Was playing against a friend who borrowed some SCE and did not know how to play them plus it was a list with really nothing special (crossbows, longstrikes, a big chicken raider, some decimators and the hunters). On my side though I got to try the use of singles Warhwak raiders and the amount of space they take away from the enemy movement is ridiculous for 40p.ts; is basically 8-9" bubble in where the enemy cannot walk unless it charges. And against units that are not meant for CC they also hold their ground (I mean not for long, like one turn when luck but even that I found it great). Plus they get to shoot a couple of arrows which if lucky pull out a wound and maybe the exact one you need to kill a model. I think I will include them again in my list in the future.

I could write again how Waywatcher lords are great and all and to be honest they basically made me the game 'cause I shoot off the table the longstrikes turn 1 although I knew I just nneeded to hide them well and make them strike at the correct time.

The same could be said for the Executioners, we already all know how strong they are even if they are not enhanced by an Hurricanum: I rolled above average but I have deleted the decimators (3 left) from the game with 5 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glade lord on eagle is a great fighter!!! I mean I set him to be one but I didn't think it could have been such a great resource. 7W 4+S are really solid and you could hit on a lot of things and deliver some serious dmg; 5A 3+ 3+(re-roll if Lormaster hits the spell) -2 rend 2dmg gives you enough power to makes holes on the board!plus is another target that takes fire and attention away from your Waywatchers.

 

All in all great game, had a lot of fun, makes me wanting to finish my wardancers to try them instead of the waywtchers.

WARDANCERS HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WABBIT]

Yeah I love the glade lord on eagle, I often use 3 of them instead of waywatcher lords and Warhawk riders. I originally made a unit of 3 warhawk riders from LotR eagles and glade guard riders which are much bigger than warhawks but I  use em for both anyway. I found warhawks to be too weak as a unit and rarely did much so I use them as single model  chaff now if at all.  It’s a cheesy tactic but you can hold up a really powerful unit/monster/hero for a full turn by feeding them one by one to the enemy. In a 6 turn game that’s huge. You could Hold back back a major enemy piece for 5 turns for 200pts. You don’t have to kill you opponents units win battle plans. Just keep em busy ?

[stratigo]

On 1/1/2018 at 10:47 PM, darkspear said:

Alarielle is weak.  She forgotten her roots and abandon us.  

as a high elf?

[Popisdead]

On 12/26/2017 at 5:23 PM, awcamawn said:

I remember pointing this out in the big discussion thread when the changes to the compendiums happened. If they're not Wanderers anymore at least the Sisters can give them a rerollable 4+ save that causes mortal wounds to the attacker (on a roll of 4, 5, or 6) in the combat phase, although only every other turn. Just keep them away from rend, as always with Shield of Thorns.

Are you sure that works that way?  The spell is on a 6+ it causes a mortal wound.  The dance is their saves is 4+, not +2 to their already 6+.  

[Aezeal]

23 hours ago, Popisdead said:

Are you sure that works that way?  The spell is on a 6+ it causes a mortal wound.  The dance is their saves is 4+, not +2 to their already 6+.  

The Shadow’s Coil: Add 2 to this unit’s save rolls

Check latest version of compendium.

[Popisdead]

11 minutes ago, Aezeal said:

The Shadow’s Coil: Add 2 to this unit’s save rolls

Check latest version of compendium.

Much thanks Aezeal!

I was reading the old warscroll cause it had the Wanderer Keyword.  That is really nifty and that unit just has good utility.

 

I want to send a shout out to Wabbit for his constant defense of playing this game with friends using simpler rules with models you have converted and love from your collection.  I am not saying one way or the other is better but his voice is well deserved to be heard for equilibrium balance particularly if we want to attract people back to the game.

[MayItBe]

Hey!

We have tournament for beginners incoming, and instead of bringing my "OP" Sylvaneth army I'm thinking about giving a shoot with my elves:

Allegiance: Wanderers

Leaders
Nomad Prince (80)
- General
- Trait: Stalker of the Hidden Paths
- Artefact: Starcaster Longbow
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)

Battleline
20 x Glade Guard (240)
20 x Glade Guard (240)

Units
5 x Wild Riders (140)

Total: 1000 / 1000
Allies: 0 / 200
Wounds: 70

 

The idea behind this is to deploy near my table edge, out of range of my opponent, and then teleport with everything on board edges within range of general and kill key threats with alpha strike. I have no experience in playing pure wanderers, but I often use Waywatchers as allies in my Sylvan in low point games - they rock! I have no EG models and the only screen i can take are allied dryads. Will I need them really?

C&C are welcome!

[Frozenbeast]

On 1/12/2018 at 4:50 AM, MayItBe said:

Hey!

We have tournament for beginners incoming, and instead of bringing my "OP" Sylvaneth army I'm thinking about giving a shoot with my elves:

Allegiance: Wanderers

Leaders
Nomad Prince (80)
- General
- Trait: Stalker of the Hidden Paths
- Artefact: Starcaster Longbow
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)

Battleline
20 x Glade Guard (240)
20 x Glade Guard (240)

Units
5 x Wild Riders (140)

Total: 1000 / 1000
Allies: 0 / 200
Wounds: 70

 

The idea behind this is to deploy near my table edge, out of range of my opponent, and then teleport with everything on board edges within range of general and kill key threats with alpha strike. I have no experience in playing pure wanderers, but I often use Waywatchers as allies in my Sylvan in low point games - they rock! I have no EG models and the only screen i can take are allied dryads. Will I need them really?

C&C are welcome!

First of all, +1 'cause you don't bring an OP list!!!! Second of all +1 because you are actually trying to bring a full shooting army, very brave!  

Jokes aside I think you can try everything especially if these are the models you can field the only thing I would suggest is to lose some of your GG to list something that can actually protect them. In absence of some EG I see those Dryads very useful in your situation. I know they cannot jump with the GG like EG would do but with a bit of careful play you can avoid a big charge on your archer with the Dryads and THEN jump them to safety. Unless your opponent will have too many dangerous (especially shooty units) you will be ok with a single jump and an alfa-strike to abolish his most dangerous one. The rest is literally just keeping your HMG (Waywatchers) alive. they will o the trick. Last tournament I played they've taken on their own the most of the armies I have play against (in 2 turns I have leveled 20 Executioners, 10 blightkings, 10demonettes+chaos lord on demonic mount and I could go on like that....). 

Also I like very much the MW on the Starcaster longbow although I would put it on one Waywatcher as you can sacrifice one of them but your general enables most of the units in your army and having such powerful artifact on him will attract a lot of attention and fire on him. 

Otherwise Good luck for the tournament and have a lot of fun. Let us know how it went!

[MayItBe]

Hey again.

Holy cow this list is amazing! I've finished second overall ( of 10) and lost only to Tzeentch due to my awful deployment and i've lost general turn 1.
Really fun army to play, allegiance ability is awesome if used with Stalker of the Hidden Paths, and face expression of my opponents when they key units was shoot 42 times with rend -3. One of my best wargaming weekends so far!

1st round I played vs Sylvaneth with Durthu and Treelord. My opponent was a beginner and after 1st round teleport + arcane bodkins on durthu i've spent rest of the game talking about how to play Sylvaneth, as the game was already mine.
2nd round vs SCE with Fulminators and dracoth Celestant. He gave me first turn, as he was pretty sure his 2+ re-rolling 1s fulminators will stand. Spoiler alert: they dont Celestant though after charging my 20 GG erased them (with battleshock) and it was really first time someone killied my whole unit in one combat. Wild Raiders was key in securing objectives in Starstrike.
3rd and last round i've faced experienced Tzeentch player, who took 20 horrors and shaman and rest in summoning (another fun to play list). I forgot that he will summon LoC 18" of his caster, and will have my general in 18" afterwards. I've almost wiped out him by turn 5 but without proper mobility (deployement sucked, as i was prepeared to jump over board edge) i wasn't able to contest his objective.

Overall i am very happy with my result and this army. As for my first three games with pure wanderers it wasn't bad

[Aezeal]

On 12-1-2018 at 5:50 AM, MayItBe said:

Hey!

We have tournament for beginners incoming, and instead of bringing my "OP" Sylvaneth army I'm thinking about giving a shoot with my elves:

Allegiance: Wanderers

Leaders
Nomad Prince (80)
- General
- Trait: Stalker of the Hidden Paths
- Artefact: Starcaster Longbow
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)
Waywatcher (100)

Battleline
20 x Glade Guard (240)
20 x Glade Guard (240)

Units
5 x Wild Riders (140)

Total: 1000 / 1000
Allies: 0 / 200
Wounds: 70

 

The idea behind this is to deploy near my table edge, out of range of my opponent, and then teleport with everything on board edges within range of general and kill key threats with alpha strike. I have no experience in playing pure wanderers, but I often use Waywatchers as allies in my Sylvan in low point games - they rock! I have no EG models and the only screen i can take are allied dryads. Will I need them really?

C&C are welcome!

I think you should be careful not to waste your wild riders in trying to use them as elite cavalry. 

1. they aren't elite cavalry anymore, they are rather mediocre fast cavalry.

2. You need them to claim objectives.

I think if your opponent kills them quickly and then bunkers on objectives it might be hard for you to win the objective game.If you can go first you can try and grab an early objective with them and then hope you can keep the edge by keeping pressure with archers... but I don't think it will be easy.

[Gwill_of_the_Woods]

Well done @MayitBe 

Sounds like you played them really well.

I am really enjoying the new allegiance abilities too. I had an amazing doubles game 1000points of Wanders and Flesh Eaters vs Beastclaw raiders and Iron Jaws.

General- Nomad Prince (stalker of the Hidden paths & starcaster bow)

2x Waywatchers

Spell Weaver

10 Eternal guard

10 wild wood rangers

5 Wild Riders.

 

[Baz]

Wanderers of the Wythel Glade attend Heat 1 

So I attended Heat 1 last week with my Wanderers, having played them extensively since AoS was released, they are the army I love from a model and fluff background and the addition of the allegiance abilities, traits and items from GHB 2017 gave them a distinct playstyle. I took the list below having used the Waystone Pathfinders battalion at a previous tournament, which is a very shooty list but doesn't fight in the combat phase.. The core of the army remained the same but the addition of the phoenix and rangers were purely to add some combat punch and survivability.  10 drops meant that I would ant really be choosing to go first or second but being able to deploy in the corner and move around the table edges made up for this. Also with 40pts remaining I knew that I would get a triumph in most games and rerolling hits or wounds could be crucial. 

I arrived on the Friday and had a game against Nico and his Tzeentch Fatesworn led by Archaon himself. The mission was Duality of Death.  I buffed up the phoenix with mystic shield and shield of thorns and used it to sit on one objective whilst I tried to shift Archaon off the other. The Glade Guard with the -3 rend bodkins did the damage and helped take him off but in the end Nico managed to roll the 4+ needed to run a hero onto an objective and win the game by one point. A very close game with lots of lessons learned. 

Game 1 -Total Conquest v Chaos 

Day 1 and I found myself on table 1 playing Timothy and his chaos list which contained Archaon, 3 Bloodthirsters in the council of blood formation and 3 units of marauders as battle line. He gave me first turn and because he had  cunning deceiver which is -1 to hit in the first battle round and a run and charge command ability from his blood thirst general which affected all his monsters!

I decided to buff the phoenix up with mystic shield and shield of thorns, at which point it had 2+ save rerolling and bouncing mortal wounds back on a 3+ and pushed it slightly forward. I then redeployed the rest of the army into my bottom left corner. In his turn he barrelled all his monsters forward but failed charges with 2 bloodthirsters on the phoenix so Archaon was the only one to make it into combat. Fortunately Archaon missed with his attacks and the phoenix was able to cause a couple of wounds to him. 

I won the roll off for turn 2 and with cunning deceiver no longer in effect I used my -3 rend bodkins to shoot off Archoan (that's twice now in less then 24 hours) I also moved my rangers to the top right of the board to start going after his marauders on the objective whilst 2 waywatchers went for the top left objective. Over the next few turns I was able to whittle away at the bloodthirsters and kill 2 whilst the rangers dealt with the marauders and claim the objectives. 

Result: Major Victory 

A good opening game facing an unusual list but I was happy with the way I had played it. The first turn monster charge was very scary but the phoenix did its job. I could have used the wildwood rangers to attack the bloodthirsters with their d3 damage but I needed to get bodies onto the top objectives and fight my way through them so felt this was the better option. 

 

Game 2 -Scorched Earth v Wanderers

So Game 2 was a surprise, I found myself facing Nicky and his Wanderers! Nicky  is a top bonesplitterz player and had attended the UK masters the week before where he had taken the same wanderers list he was running, the waystone pathfinders. However the event organisers had ruled that the Stalker of Hidden Paths rule was a set up therefore units could set up in combat like Vanguard Wing. I know there has been a  debate about this and it will be FAQ'd in the future but for the purposes of the tournament this was how it could be played. 

He was running the battalion with 30,20 and 10 glade guard with the Nomad Prince as his general. 

I deployed and in hindsight I should have deployed the army in a clump in the corner with no gaps for the enemy to exploit. I didn't and Nicky set up most of his army in combat with mine, photo below.

He targeted my general and only just managed to kill him, the -1 to hit and -1 wound debuff from the phoenix was frustrating for him. In my turn I took out his the nomad prince and began attacking the glade guard in order to whittle them down.  However his eternal guard had been buffed with mystic shield and shield of thorns and I was unable to do any damage to them with the phoenix. The game then turned into my army moving up the sides in an attempt to grab his objectives but he was able to hold onto my objective and held off burning it until the final turns. Nicky in turn was able to kill off my ranged threats and was able to hold multiple objectives to rack up the points and win a major victory.

Result -Major Loss

An interesting game with both armies playing different rules Nicky was a great guy to play and I was left with a gamers conundrum, do I play the rules as I had been or do I play it as it had been ruled. after speaking to various people I decided to play it has I had been previously.  Losing the general early on really hampered my manoeuvrability but if I had deployed in a clump I think I could have won this game. 

 

Game 3 - Knife to the Heart

I was up against Tom and his Ironjawz , his list was Boss on Mawcrusha, Troll Hag, 2 warchanters, 10 Brutes, 5 Brutes, 10 Ardbouz and 2x3 Gore Gruntas

I went first and alpha striked the 10 brutes with the Glade Guard. My plan was to concentrate on the troops as the scenario required 5 or more models to claim my objective. I also hoped that due to their low bravery I could kill half and see the reaming runoff due to battleshock. I killed 4 brutes and he lost another to battleshock. The phoenix had been buffed and pushed into the middle of the battlefield. 

In his turn he pushed most of the army forward but left the ardboyz on his objective. He was able to kill off my 2 units of Glade Guard but my hero were able to stay out of range and move around the board. With the troll hag and mawcrusha bearing down on my line I buffed up the wildwood rangers with shield of thorns and mystic shield and sent them into the 2 monsters and the 2 units of brutes. The d3 damage to monsters proved crucial and they were able to kill the hag and mawcrusha. Over the next 2 turns the rangers died to the combined onslaught of brutes and gore gruntas but the damage had been done. 

In my turn 4 I buffed up the eternal guard and moved to the back table edge to attack his home objective I managed to whittle down the arsboyz to one model but it wasn't enough to get the major victory.

Result -Minor victory

A good game where the wildwood rangers proved their worth, the damage output especially against the monsters was great.  So iended day 1 with 2 wins and a loss, I was pleased with how things had gone and was looking forward to day 2.

 

Day 2 

Game 4 -Starstrike 

I found myself playing Martin Orlando who had travelled fromt he US to attend. He was running stormcast with allies, Lord Celestant, relictor,  heraldor, Castellant, Runesmiter on Magmadroth, 4 Fulminators, 2 units of liberators, unit of judicators 10 Retributors and an organ gun. 

For this mission I decided to target the faster moving elements of his army, the glade guard moved across to the top left and used the bodkins to cause 8 wounds to the fulminators, I also shot off the magamadroth. 

Martin responded by charging the fulminators into the glade guard and wiped them out. His retributors moved up ready to claim an objective if it fell nearby. I won the roll for the 2nd turn and the objective fell close to his retributors on the far right of the board. I pushed the phoenix up into the fulminators but he was able to pile in with the retributors and kill it. 

Turn 3 and my meteor fell in the bottom left corner near the eternal guard and Martins objective fell in his left side. I pushed he rangers up to claim the middle objective and attack his liberators. In his turn he charged the fulminators into the buffed up eternal guard who were able to hold out. I won the turn 4 roll which proved crucial as the fulminators whiffed their attacks and the eternal guard were able to hang and so I was able to hold all 3 meteors. 

Martin realised that the only way he could win the game was to get all 3 objectives in the final turn he managed to kill off the eternal guard with the fulminators and claim this objectives and his retributors were able to claim the second objective. It went down to the final objective held by my general and his general was the only unit in range. He managed to charge but my general survived with one wound remaining thereby denying Marin the win!

Result - Major Win

Such a close game and one I probably should have lost. In hindsight I committed too early and should have kept units for the later rounds as more points are available. Martin was a gent and had been considering conceding at turn 4 but after discussing with him he decided to continue and nearly won the game. 

 

Game 5-Battle for the Pass 

My aim for the weekend was 3 wins which should be enough to qualify for the final. Going into game 5 I found myself playing Shaun and his Tzeentch army. His list was a Gaunt Summoner, Shaman, Changeling, Lord of Change, 6 skyfires, 20 Tzaangoor 2 units of 10 pink horrors and a summoning pool of balewind, Blue horrors and brimstones. 

I knew it was going to be a tough game, the mortal wound output from the army could destroy me quickly and the secanrio required big units to capture objectives which would then be in range of the gaunt summoner on the balewind!

Shaun made me go first and I was able to kill of some of the skyfires but then things went horribly wrong. He double turned me and with the summoner on the balewindwith treacherous bond cast on the Tzangoor I didn't really have a chance of getting to him. In my turn 2 I gambled on getting the double turn and pushed the wild wood rangers onto his left flank so they could push forward and kill his general and move into his line. Unfortunately this didn't work and his gaunt summoner and magic wiped out the rangers. 

Shaun was able to get all his dead skyfires back and pushed into my home objective and that was game really. 

Result -Major Loss 

It was a bad match up for my army, the mortal wound output from the army is so strong whilst my mortal wound output comes from arcane bolt and nothing else. Shaun was a good guy and played the game well. I have thought about how I could have played the game differently to try and win it but with my army it was never an easy task. 

Conclusion

So I finished in 34th place which I was very happy with. I also received 3 favourite game votes which definitely made my weekend. People have been asking me about list builds and tactics. I think playing wanderers is a challenge but very rewarding. The army is a glass cannon  with no real mortal wound output you may struggle to take out your enemy's key pieces. Some key point below:

You cant go wrong with waywatchers, they are great for sniping characters and thinning down units.

The phoenix was really useful as diverter piece and because you can make it resilient to damage it can hang around and annoy your opponent.

Wildwood rangers whilst overcosted were really useful as a combat threat, the 2" range and 2 attacks are great, the low armour save isn't.

Glade Guard, again overcosted but the -3 rend really helps having at least 2 units of 20/30 is a must in my opinion. 

Deploy in the corners out of range of the enemy, because you can move around the board you can feign one way and go another. 

Keep units within 6" of the board edge to allow them to move away if they are in danger.

Play to the scenario, its easy to get caught up in trying to kill the enemy but sometimes its best to hold back and use your superior movement to claim objectives and win the game. 

 

 

 

 

[WABBIT]

@BazFantastic post, I haven't read it yet but will do after work . I did spot a wanderer army on the Heat 1 list so it's great to hear your story AND Pictures!. Look forward to it soon. 

[Yeled]

3 hours ago, Baz said:

Wanderers of the Wythel Glade attend Heat 1 

So I attended Heat 1 last week with my Wanderers, having played them extensively since AoS was released, they are the army I love from a model and fluff background and the addition of the allegiance abilities, traits and items from GHB 2017 gave them a distinct playstyle. I took the list below having used the Waystone Pathfinders battalion at a previous tournament, which is a very shooty list but doesn't fight in the combat phase.. The core of the army remained the same but the addition of the phoenix and rangers were purely to add some combat punch and survivability.  10 drops meant that I would ant really be choosing to go first or second but being able to deploy in the corner and move around the table edges made up for this. Also with 40pts remaining I knew that I would get a triumph in most games and rerolling hits or wounds could be crucial. 

I arrived on the Friday and had a game against Nico and his Tzeentch Fatesworn led by Archaon himself. The mission was Duality of Death.  I buffed up the phoenix with mystic shield and shield of thorns and used it to sit on one objective whilst I tried to shift Archaon off the other. The Glade Guard with the -3 rend bodkins did the damage and helped take him off but in the end Nico managed to roll the 4+ needed to run a hero onto an objective and win the game by one point. A very close game with lots of lessons learned. 

Game 1 -Total Conquest v Chaos 

Day 1 and I found myself on table 1 playing Timothy and his chaos list which contained Archaon, 3 Bloodthirsters in the council of blood formation and 3 units of marauders as battle line. He gave me first turn and because he had  cunning deceiver which is -1 to hit in the first battle round and a run and charge command ability from his blood thirst general which affected all his monsters!

I decided to buff the phoenix up with mystic shield and shield of thorns, at which point it had 2+ save rerolling and bouncing mortal wounds back on a 3+ and pushed it slightly forward. I then redeployed the rest of the army into my bottom left corner. In his turn he barrelled all his monsters forward but failed charges with 2 bloodthirsters on the phoenix so Archaon was the only one to make it into combat. Fortunately Archaon missed with his attacks and the phoenix was able to cause a couple of wounds to him. 

I won the roll off for turn 2 and with cunning deceiver no longer in effect I used my -3 rend bodkins to shoot off Archoan (that's twice now in less then 24 hours) I also moved my rangers to the top right of the board to start going after his marauders on the objective whilst 2 waywatchers went for the top left objective. Over the next few turns I was able to whittle away at the bloodthirsters and kill 2 whilst the rangers dealt with the marauders and claim the objectives. 

Result: Major Victory 

A good opening game facing an unusual list but I was happy with the way I had played it. The first turn monster charge was very scary but the phoenix did its job. I could have used the wildwood rangers to attack the bloodthirsters with their d3 damage but I needed to get bodies onto the top objectives and fight my way through them so felt this was the better option. 

 

Game 2 -Scorched Earth v Wanderers

So Game 2 was a surprise, I found myself facing Nicky and his Wanderers! Nicky  is a top bonesplitterz player and had attended the UK masters the week before where he had taken the same wanderers list he was running, the waystone pathfinders. However the event organisers had ruled that the Stalker of Hidden Paths rule was a set up therefore units could set up in combat like Vanguard Wing. I know there has been a  debate about this and it will be FAQ'd in the future but for the purposes of the tournament this was how it could be played. 

He was running the battalion with 30,20 and 10 glade guard with the Nomad Prince as his general. 

I deployed and in hindsight I should have deployed the army in a clump in the corner with no gaps for the enemy to exploit. I didn't and Nicky set up most of his army in combat with mine, photo below.

He targeted my general and only just managed to kill him, the -1 to hit and -1 wound debuff from the phoenix was frustrating for him. In my turn I took out his the nomad prince and began attacking the glade guard in order to whittle them down.  However his eternal guard had been buffed with mystic shield and shield of thorns and I was unable to do any damage to them with the phoenix. The game then turned into my army moving up the sides in an attempt to grab his objectives but he was able to hold onto my objective and held off burning it until the final turns. Nicky in turn was able to kill off my ranged threats and was able to hold multiple objectives to rack up the points and win a major victory.

Result -Major Loss

An interesting game with both armies playing different rules Nicky was a great guy to play and I was left with a gamers conundrum, do I play the rules as I had been or do I play it as it had been ruled. after speaking to various people I decided to play it has I had been previously.  Losing the general early on really hampered my manoeuvrability but if I had deployed in a clump I think I could have won this game. 

 

Game 3 - Knife to the Heart

I was up against Tom and his Ironjawz , his list was Boss on Mawcrusha, Troll Hag, 2 warchanters, 10 Brutes, 5 Brutes, 10 Ardbouz and 2x3 Gore Gruntas

I went first and alpha striked the 10 brutes with the Glade Guard. My plan was to concentrate on the troops as the scenario required 5 or more models to claim my objective. I also hoped that due to their low bravery I could kill half and see the reaming runoff due to battleshock. I killed 4 brutes and he lost another to battleshock. The phoenix had been buffed and pushed into the middle of the battlefield. 

In his turn he pushed most of the army forward but left the ardboyz on his objective. He was able to kill off my 2 units of Glade Guard but my hero were able to stay out of range and move around the board. With the troll hag and mawcrusha bearing down on my line I buffed up the wildwood rangers with shield of thorns and mystic shield and sent them into the 2 monsters and the 2 units of brutes. The d3 damage to monsters proved crucial and they were able to kill the hag and mawcrusha. Over the next 2 turns the rangers died to the combined onslaught of brutes and gore gruntas but the damage had been done. 

In my turn 4 I buffed up the eternal guard and moved to the back table edge to attack his home objective I managed to whittle down the arsboyz to one model but it wasn't enough to get the major victory.

Result -Minor victory

A good game where the wildwood rangers proved their worth, the damage output especially against the monsters was great.  So iended day 1 with 2 wins and a loss, I was pleased with how things had gone and was looking forward to day 2.

 

Day 2 

Game 4 -Starstrike 

I found myself playing Martin Orlando who had travelled fromt he US to attend. He was running stormcast with allies, Lord Celestant, relictor,  heraldor, Castellant, Runesmiter on Magmadroth, 4 Fulminators, 2 units of liberators, unit of judicators 10 Retributors and an organ gun. 

For this mission I decided to target the faster moving elements of his army, the glade guard moved across to the top left and used the bodkins to cause 8 wounds to the fulminators, I also shot off the magamadroth. 

Martin responded by charging the fulminators into the glade guard and wiped them out. His retributors moved up ready to claim an objective if it fell nearby. I won the roll for the 2nd turn and the objective fell close to his retributors on the far right of the board. I pushed the phoenix up into the fulminators but he was able to pile in with the retributors and kill it. 

Turn 3 and my meteor fell in the bottom left corner near the eternal guard and Martins objective fell in his left side. I pushed he rangers up to claim the middle objective and attack his liberators. In his turn he charged the fulminators into the buffed up eternal guard who were able to hold out. I won the turn 4 roll which proved crucial as the fulminators whiffed their attacks and the eternal guard were able to hang and so I was able to hold all 3 meteors. 

Martin realised that the only way he could win the game was to get all 3 objectives in the final turn he managed to kill off the eternal guard with the fulminators and claim this objectives and his retributors were able to claim the second objective. It went down to the final objective held by my general and his general was the only unit in range. He managed to charge but my general survived with one wound remaining thereby denying Marin the win!

Result - Major Win

Such a close game and one I probably should have lost. In hindsight I committed too early and should have kept units for the later rounds as more points are available. Martin was a gent and had been considering conceding at turn 4 but after discussing with him he decided to continue and nearly won the game. 

 

Game 5-Battle for the Pass 

My aim for the weekend was 3 wins which should be enough to qualify for the final. Going into game 5 I found myself playing Shaun and his Tzeentch army. His list was a Gaunt Summoner, Shaman, Changeling, Lord of Change, 6 skyfires, 20 Tzaangoor 2 units of 10 pink horrors and a summoning pool of balewind, Blue horrors and brimstones. 

I knew it was going to be a tough game, the mortal wound output from the army could destroy me quickly and the secanrio required big units to capture objectives which would then be in range of the gaunt summoner on the balewind!

Shaun made me go first and I was able to kill of some of the skyfires but then things went horribly wrong. He double turned me and with the summoner on the balewindwith treacherous bond cast on the Tzangoor I didn't really have a chance of getting to him. In my turn 2 I gambled on getting the double turn and pushed the wild wood rangers onto his left flank so they could push forward and kill his general and move into his line. Unfortunately this didn't work and his gaunt summoner and magic wiped out the rangers. 

Shaun was able to get all his dead skyfires back and pushed into my home objective and that was game really. 

Result -Major Loss 

It was a bad match up for my army, the mortal wound output from the army is so strong whilst my mortal wound output comes from arcane bolt and nothing else. Shaun was a good guy and played the game well. I have thought about how I could have played the game differently to try and win it but with my army it was never an easy task. 

Conclusion

So I finished in 34th place which I was very happy with. I also received 3 favourite game votes which definitely made my weekend. People have been asking me about list builds and tactics. I think playing wanderers is a challenge but very rewarding. The army is a glass cannon  with no real mortal wound output you may struggle to take out your enemy's key pieces. Some key point below:

You cant go wrong with waywatchers, they are great for sniping characters and thinning down units.

The phoenix was really useful as diverter piece and because you can make it resilient to damage it can hang around and annoy your opponent.

Wildwood rangers whilst overcosted were really useful as a combat threat, the 2" range and 2 attacks are great, the low armour save isn't.

Glade Guard, again overcosted but the -3 rend really helps having at least 2 units of 20/30 is a must in my opinion. 

Deploy in the corners out of range of the enemy, because you can move around the board you can feign one way and go another. 

Keep units within 6" of the board edge to allow them to move away if they are in danger.

Play to the scenario, its easy to get caught up in trying to kill the enemy but sometimes its best to hold back and use your superior movement to claim objectives and win the game. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a good time and that the Wanderers were very competitive. I'm not a competitive player myself but I like seeing how they do. And yeah,  Tzeentch seems a tough match up for us.

[WABBIT]

Ok read it now, Sounds like you had a great weekend and congrats on our successes! Like Yeled I'm not a competitive player but I do support wanderers like you support a football team so it's good to hear how well wanderers can do. As you haven't gone for waystone pathfinders battalion would swapping the spell weaver for a lore master been more useful? I find the spell weavers spell isn't great for 1 wound models and you have no warhawks - although you do have sisters of the thorn.  The Loremaster spell on that phoenix would be very nasty  

Thanks for Sharing @Baz

[Origin]

17 hours ago, Baz said:

So Game 2 was a surprise, I found myself facing Nicky and his Wanderers! Nicky  is a top bonesplitterz player and had attended the UK masters the week before where he had taken the same wanderers list he was running, the waystone pathfinders. However the event organisers had ruled that the Stalker of Hidden Paths rule was a set up therefore units could set up in combat like Vanguard Wing. I know there has been a  debate about this and it will be FAQ'd in the future but for the purposes of the tournament this was how it could be played. 

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

The above confuses me more than a bit.  How does the reference to 'Set Up' in the stalker rules override the 'must be more than 9" from enemy models' bit?  That seems so very bogus. I would have spit chips. I hope old mate told you what was coming when you deployed.

[Baz]

14 hours ago, WABBIT said:

Ok read it now, Sounds like you had a great weekend and congrats on our successes! Like Yeled I'm not a competitive player but I do support wanderers like you support a football team so it's good to hear how well wanderers can do. As you haven't gone for waystone pathfinders battalion would swapping the spell weaver for a lore master been more useful? I find the spell weavers spell isn't great for 1 wound models and you have no warhawks - although you do have sisters of the thorn.  The Loremaster spell on that phoenix would be very nasty  

Thanks for Sharing @Baz

I have considered the loremaster but the spellweaver has a couple of extra advantages, firstly she can use the allegiance ability to move around the battlefield. Secondly she has a one off auto unbind which can be crucial in game to stop a crucial spell from going off. Thirdly her signature spell can resurrect models, this comes in handy in scenarios where you need 20 or models to trump an objective. If you lost a few models in a unit you can cheekily resurrect them and claim an objective.