The Red King

The reason everyone is playing pure lists (with a competitive eye) is because this army isn't competitive. If I built a list using only the best options this book had to offer with no consideration for what models I owned already or what I like or what makes sense it wouldn't compete with the top dogs. So what's the point? Nobody that's chasing the competitive scene is buying this army, the people who already play it are doing so because it allows them to field most of their old armies they already loved. Why would I waste time and energy and money on adding a bunch of units I don't want to my mainly wanderers army just to be a low B tier army at best? I'm not gonna reward GW for squatting high elves and pushing out a half baked bandaid book by buying a bunch of new models. I like this army for conversion opportunities and because I like my wood elves and don't do tournaments but I don't think OP has found the super secret code to solve the underpowered Cities book. No offense.

Does it count if I painted most of Alarielle (herself) last month and then just was too afraid to touch the beetle until now?

I love Kurnoth hunters and already own 12 but part of me really wants to try a phoenix in their place as the list has enough healing to keep him pumping out 5 MWs with his flyby attack every turn.

An excellent point as well since the enemy is charging you they're probably going first anyway. Now a very canny opponent will consider this when picking his own activation order but the more choices you present your opponent the more chance he has to make the wrong one.

Ah yes and piling in. 2 inch weapons hdlpbhere though.

I mean they definitely went up in points but against non rending units they're an absolute brick wall. The change to their fortress of boughs from "didn't move in the last movement phase" to "didn't move this turn" means they will almost always be getting that buff. Terrain or the discounted sisters of the thorn turn them into a 2+ bouncing mortals on 6's. If you look at those two as a package they actually got 20 points cheaper (for a 10/5 split) Looking at them with their buff active (which again it will always be unless you charge or get charged on your turn after moving?) Then they've got 21 attacks at 2+/3+/-/1 and a 3+ save at worst. That's a fairly elite unit for a 130 point battleline. They're probably in general not as good as Pheonix guard but comparing them against sequitors they're only marginally less killy while being more durable and better at area and objective control. I for one don't consider them nerfed because I like my elves to be expensive and good rather than chaff.

Okay I've looked all over. What nerf? They only got better in the new book and havent been changed since?

So after years of thinking Alarielle looked amazing and recently getting into cities (living city to be exact), then playing a game against her and seeing her all painted in person and I needed a big monster to run alongside my cities and wouldn't you know it they had one just sitting on the shelf after all this time... Well a few weeks of quibbling and fretting about whether or not I could risk putting paint on her with my... average at best skill level I finally broke down and did it. I'm not sure about her spear (painted to represent the 4 seasons) and could maybe stand to touch up the bone in places, and of course I still need to add the wings, but all in all I'm actually pretty darn happy with how she turned out. I've never stressed so hard in my life as I did when I dumped super glue on the face of a $100+ dollar model to glue a skull mask on (to match my swampy sylvaneth). She's very golgari inspired for any MTG fans.

So after years of thinking Alarielle looked amazing and recently getting into cities (living city to be exact), then playing a game against her and seeing her all painted in person and I needed a big monster to run alongside my cities and wouldn't you know it they had one just sitting on the shelf after all this time... Well a few weeks of quibbling and fretting about whether or not I could risk putting paint on her with my... average at best skill level I finally broke down and did it. I'm not sure about her spear (painted to represent the 4 seasons) and could maybe stand to touch up the bone in places, and of course I still need to add the wings, but all in all I'm actually pretty darn happy with how she turned out. I've never stressed so hard in my life as I did when I dumped super glue on the face of a $100+ dollar model to glue a skull mask on (to match my swampy sylvaneth).

Look I play cities, and I wish they had gotten. These things too. Orcs seemed like an easy pick for terrain as well. I just meant from a fluff perspective I like them for theming tables. Although as the above pointed out Sylvaneth are balanced around their terrain. Nobody wants Durthu as an ally without woods.

My biggest reason for liking the terrain is that it gives every faction at least ONE piece of terrain to make the table feel like they belong there. These aren't just "ruins" you're fighting over, this was a destroyed fyreslayer lodge. It's not just a forest and some hills, this is the edge of sylvaneth woods. I mean I know a lot of the terrain is mobile stuff like gnawholes but it can really help theme a table. That said I wish they weren't sometimes such cash grabs. I mean you can buy one idoneth shipwreck but you can put down 2 for the same cost (free) if you just buy more kits. Same with Sylvaneth woods.

I want to believe. And if it helps it can't be exodites because GW doesn't do non-marine 40k releases lol.

I'm usually pretty skeptical but I do have a hard time seeing anything but a way stone (or leyline are they calling it? I can't remember.)

These are important considerations yes. The 4+ to hit does seem rough but I suppose the Azyros could help with that at least yeah? Plus she's not a bad way to spit out mortal wounds. The charging a 5 model unit only to kill one prior to combat is definitely the kind of thing I wanted to hear. Something I'd never consider until I really messed up lol. Thank you for the input.

Sorry for the double post but I wanted to post a list for public assessment and it was completely disconnected from my assessment of SotT lol. I worry this list is too heavy into Alarielle but it's really a test list on how I might go about using her now that the FAQ is out and we can still "strike and fade away (from the place that isnt our enemies)" Nomad prince (General, ironoak artisan, spear of the hunt) Knight Azyros (adjutant) Sorceress (cage of thorns) Sorceress (cage of thorns) Alarielle (ironoak skin) Eternal guard×20 (retinue) SotT×5 (lifesurge) SotW×20 Dreadspears×10 Emerald lifeswarm Soulsnare shackles Extra command point So the idea here is to deep strike the prince, sisters, and knight Azros for some targeted alpha. Eternal guard dropped in as well to form a wall. Sorceresses and spears in the back, moving forward as needed and using their spells as support or otherwise just casting and dispelling my own endless spells. SotT are second line following Alarielle to heal her or buff the spears. Alarielle and her summons (most likely kurnoth hunters but I've got options) just move up as an absolute wrecking ball with the potential to heal 2d6+1d3+1 every hero phase she'll need to die all in one go or not at all. Combined with ironoak skin for -1 to wound she should be able to pretty recklessly be applied as a wrecking ball to the enemies face while also being a caster herself. I could swap a sorceress for battlemage of hysh but I worry that adding phas protection on top of everything else could be too much and convince my enemy to just kill everything around her. I suppose I could bring the hush mage to buff the spears and just give my opponent hard choices between a walled off shooting base or an absolute monster barreling down on him. It feels a bit light on bodies but I suppose I could use Alarielle's summons on dryads if i need bodies or revenants if i need mobility. Rather than always a treelord or (more likely if I don't need the stomp) a treelord. Thoughts?

Sisters of the thorn are playable just for being highly mobile casters. Consider their attacks entirely optional and you're just paying 40 extra points for double movement over a battlemage (which can be important for positioning endless spells and such or parking at 30" of an enemy wizard to get an unbind attempt). Other than that their own spell is pretty good for throwing on a block of Eternap Guard (2+ save if they stand still and reflect mortals on a 6). Their weapons are a formality and they're too squishy to use offensively in my mind.

I'm not sure what you mean by same type, but you are correct that you can't cast the same spell (or even attempt to) twice in the same turn. So the goal is to pump out the endless spells turn 1 or 2 and then use them to cast cage and ironoak every turn. Though I'm realizing then that I should probably leave them further back and instead deepstrike the revenant and hunters (and make the rev my adjutant) so I can cast on turn 1. I just have to be in position to cast the buffs by at least turn 2.

My current list plan is looking like Living City Nomad prince, Ironoak artisan, spear of the hunt Sorceress, adjutant, cage of thorns Sorceress, ironoak skin Arch-revenant EG×20, retinue SotT×5, lifesurge Wildwood rangers×10 Wild riders×5 Wild riders×5 SotW×20 Darkshards×10 Kurnoth hunter w/sword×3 Shadow warriors×10 Emerald lifeswarm Soulsnare shackles The 2 sorceress was originally 2 battlemage but I decided I like the added reliability for endless spells over the versatility of the battlemage (this may be wrong) but I'm paying for those spells and I'd like to get value from them. The darkshards are literally just there to feed the sorceress and maybe get resurrected by the lifeswarm to be sacrificed again. They could be replaced with any of the cheap dark elf units and may become spears. The shadow warriors are a concession of points and would be 10 more sisters of the watch otherwise, but they aren't bad units themselves and do offer me a bit more surprise mobility. The whole list revolves around disrupting my oppnened movement phase the most. Multiple slows to hopefully force his army to reach my lines piecemeal. Mobile units to threaten to grab undefended objectives and the like. Present my opponent with enough choices and eventually he makes the wrong ones right? The list feels really solid defensively but maybe lacks punch? Idk. I'll get some games in as soon as I can and report back. Any idea how to wood elf some darkshards or should I just paint them to match and call them city allies? Gave it some thought. I think wildwood hooded heads on the shards and a matching paint scheme should do it. I might even give them bird skull masks to match with some of the rest of the armies masked scheme. The shadow warriors are going to be LotR Mirkwood rangers. I know the scale is off slightly but I'll put them on raised stones and stuff for LoS and fluff up some reason they're so thin. Maybe they are the younger less experienced hunters vying to become sisters of the watch? Maybe they're a religious order of hunters who starve themselves to honor the hunt by only eating worthy prey or something along those lines?

Mine is the old Orion model because they moved them to 32mm and Orion just fits on that. I had to buy him second hand and replace his missing hand and horn (but now he has a cool wooden hand from a Kurnoth Hunter and a neat bit of backstory for my sylvaneth allies.) I'm building the base now to use the two dogs as a marker for the "harrying birds of prey" ability. Like the hounds showing the targets status as "prey".

So I think I've figured the list I want to run for Living City. Nomad Prince; Ironoak artisan, spear of the hunt Battlemage; cage of thorns, not sure which base spell. Adjutant. Arch-regent Eternal guard×20; honored retinue Sisters of the watch×20 Sisters of the thorn×5; ironoak skin Wildwood rangers×20 Wild riders×5 Wild riders×5 Kurnoth Hunters w/ sword×3 Emerald lifeswarm Extra cp. That's 2000 on the nose. However I'm considering dropping the extra CP (as you can see I'm not using the turn one monster ambush command ability) and bringing either Soulsnare shackles with their massive 27" reach OR Shards of Valgharr for consistency and I cant decide which one if either is worth taking. Basically the list wants to bunker up the sisters and guard while using the spells to slow his army and break up its approach. The 300 points of sylvaneth are open for debate as I'm sure there are other things I could spend the points on including shadow warriors or even tree revanant for more mobility. Also considering taking the druid command trait and gyrstrike instead of ironoak/spear just to have s 3rd caster as I kind of want to be casting shield/cage of thorns almost every turn and would still like to try to use ironoak or one of the endless spells sometime. Thoughts?

So I didn't want to just ignore your post but I don't really know what to suggest because your list is a bit all over the place and I don't know which direction you wanted to focus to offer advice. A prince that's only buffing EG seems unnecessary. Having both a dragon AND Durthu seems excessive. The Hurricanum is a lot of points to be buffing only 200 points of Darkshards etc. So what do you most want this list to do because it could with alterations morph into a few different things.

The original concept for my wanderers had them tied to Ereth Khial. She had worshippers after all and unbeknownst to the Prince his wife was one of them. So when the end times came the clan fled into the Endless Vale. The Wood Elf underworld seeking shelter. There they wandered the endless bone tree groves for countless years until they lost all sense of self. One day however the distant sound of a hunting horn drew them from their fugue and they followed its call in pursuit of a pure white Stag who led them on a chase through and out of the underworld into the Mortal Realms. They now live as most of the wanderers do save the rare times when they are all drawn to some distant battlefield by the far off sound of a hunting horn that they believe is Kurnous himself. This was because I wasn't a huge fan of the death of the old wood elves lore and also to give them an interesting visual quirk when painting. They follow a pretty typical green and bronze color scheme but they have bleach white skin from their time in the underworld. They're like the Altansar of Wood Elves if we have any eldar players here. So yeah they and their Sylvaneth allies worship Kurnous rather than Alarielle who they believe has become imbalanced and fey without her Consort whom once took the burden of their wars so she could take the burden of their peace. So now they seek him, drawn by the sounds of his ever distant hunting horn in the hope that returning him to Alarielle will bring balance and peace back to their races. That got longer than intended. Maybe I should make an army blog. I've already got a decent chunk painted. Might motivate me to paint more... how does one make an army blog on here? Just like making a post?

That Tempest eye bunker maybe better served with eternal guard than dwarves. They get an easy 3+ by not moving. Throw them in cover or use the sisters of the thorn spell to get a 2+ save wherever you want. Mystic shield if you really want to go in on it. Tangentially related to the above I personally think the emerald lifeswarm is really strong in CoS due to the boost in healing/resurrecting to d6. Any tough to kill unit (like say eternal guard, phoenix guard, even sequitors) are going to become exponentially harder to shift if d6 of them are coming back every turn. Imagine sequitors with a Lord arcanum nearby, boost them with terrain or SotT and they're going to be rock hard to shift, the arcanum ability can allow you to leave one alive one one wound, then the Living cities attuned to nature kicks in putting him back to full, which triggers the emerald lifeswarm to go from heal mode to resurrect up to 3. That could make quite an anvil on which to break your enemy. Form a solid wall backed by sisters of the watch and the 3" range on their "loose until the last" means they can soften whatever charges the defenders without being in combat themselves.

From the Cities of Sigmar book: "With heavy hearts, the forest rulers abandoned their ancient glades and forest kingdoms and retreated to Azyr alongside Sigmar the God- King. They became the Wanderers a nomadic people with no homeland to call their own, fighting for a world they had already lost. Neither Alarielle the Everqueen nor her Sylvaneth warriors would ever forgive their flight from Ghyran, and the Wanderers would forever be denied a place at their deity's side. " It flat out says they retreated WITH Sigmar and yet they will never be forgiven for doing what she already forgave Sigmar for... bruh?

Ghoul kings ON terrogheist and Keeprs of Secrets were what I was thinking of specifically. As for cities. I kind of really like Tempest's Eye for non living city lists. The +1 to wound on ranged attacks command trait seems really nice.