IndigoGirls

Just want to clarify, you cannot pick spells from a realm for your casters. Access to realm spells is 100% dependent on what realm you're playing in. Therefore, in order to access the shyish spells your game would need to take place in shyish. The realm you play in will either be randomly rolled or agreed upon by both players, there is no cherry picking your favorite realm spells.

You could use Quicksilver Swords instead or drop Shackles and other spell for Pendulum/other 40pt options. I'm also not very sold on maelstrom. Initially I thought it was going to be sweet but the more I think about it the less I like it. I think you're seeing so much Alarielle now because she is very efficient and flexible and people want to bust out Sylvaneth's most bad-ass model! I played against a Lady Olynder and didn't have too much trouble with her at 1k points. I just made sure to keep her at a distant and kill her with range/magic. My opponent didn't roll well on Grave-sands of Time and she went down the following turn.

I believe realms are meant to be chosen at random. Choosing which realm your army is from only guarantees artifact selection from that realm. If that is correct then it is hard to plan on playing in shyish for Alarielle and making use of those powerful spells. Some realm spells are truly sweet though which makes an abundance of casts tempting. With a 30" deny range (and an unmodified cast) your opponent will deny a some amount less than half of their attempts. From my games so far a lot of spells have been denied on both sides of the board and a surprisingly low number of casts have gone through successfully.

Harvestboon boost to charge rolls is super nice when coupled with the cogs and warsinger. That gives you a 5" from 9" away, which is so sweet, also snake eyes are no longer a threat! Also, I personally prefer to boost spell casting (+1 for harvestboon wraiths) to having the ability to cast more spells (gnarlroot). It means that you'll more reliably get your casts off and have to worry less about denial. From the few games of 2.0 that I've played so many spells have been shutdown by denies that otherwise would have succeeded with any boost. I stepped away from the Harvestboon list because I really didn't want to run a horde of Dryads, otherwise it seems like a pretty sweet battalion.

I think you're seeing less Drycha because Alarielle is like her but better. I see both of the models, offensively, as fitting the same role in an army. They are both hoard/chaff killers. Alarielle does this through her beetle, Drycha through her shooting. In my 2k Dreadwood list I strongly considered Drycha but felt that Alarielle would be a good enough hoard killer on her own. I felt my points were better spent on a unit of Kurnoth hunters and a Branchwych. I don't love the Branchwych but she can take an artifact, something Drycha cannot. Hunters are more resilient than Drych and over similar CC damage output. If Drycha isn't enraged (something you can't control) her CC damage is nothing notable. Finally, my fear with Drycha AND Alarielle is hoard overkill. It's possible that I'm underestimating the need for hoard killing but only time will tell. If I need more of a punch against numbers I will drop the hunters and wych for Drycha 100%. Love the model and abilities just tight on points when you're taking battalions.

Thank you so much for the feedback! Alarielle is included to help fix that "points waste". My thought being, with her summoning/command ability she is the most flexible (not considering points) unit in Sylvaneth. She can summon hero killers (kurnoths), anvil (20 dryads), or in certain scenarios a monster (treelord) who can score special objectives. In my mind, she helps correct some of that point waste while still being a beater. I also miss an anvil! In games where I stand back and don't alpha Alarielle will summon that anvil for me. I thought about swapping 3 hunters for a 20 pack of Dryads but that lowers my punch. I'm on the fence as to what's better... 6 x Kurnoth to start and potentially 3 more or 20 Dryads. OR 3 x Kurnoth and 20 Dryads to start and potentially 3 more hunters or 20 more Dryads. I like option one since early turns the Spite will run at objectives and try their best not to get picked off! Agreed, spites are too flimsy but if I'm all up in the opponents face with most of my army, I think they'll have more immediate problems then picking them off. Also if I drop 20 Dryads they can run to where they're needed turn 2. Fitting Alarielle in was tough but she offers the army such a great level of flexibility that I felt she had to be in the list. Plus she is my hoard/chaff killer at the same time. Nevermind, 3 casts/unbinds is something I really want.

Mine measures just above 8in I believe.

I know @scrubyandwells already gave great input on the Dreadwood list previously posted but here is my take. I'd love feedback if folks have it! LEADERS Treelord Ancient (300) - General - Command Trait : Warsinger - Artefact : Lens of Refraction - Deepwood Spell : Regrowth Alarielle the Everqueen (600) - Deepwood Spell : Regrowth Branchwraith (80) - Artefact : Ranu's Lamentiri - Deepwood Spell : Verdant Blessing Branchwych (80) - Artefact : Acorn of the Ages - Deepwood Spell : Regrowth/Verdant Blessing (Not sure this matters all too much) UNITS 5 x Spite-Revenants (70) 5 x Spite-Revenants (70) 5 x Spite-Revenants (70) 5 x Spite-Revenants (70) 3 x Kurnoth Hunters (200) -Scythes 3 x Kurnoth Hunters (200) -Scythes BATTALIONS Outcasts (90) Dreadwood Wargrove (90) ENDLESS SPELLS Chronomantic Cogs (60) Soulsnare Shackles (20) TOTAL: 2000/2000 | EXTRA COMMAND POINTS: 2 | WOUNDS: 88 I built my version of the Dreadwood aiming at ambush as my preferred choice but with flexibility to sit back and play a more prolonged game based on match up. Plan is to have Branchwraith safely get off cogs and ideally a summon per turn. If I'm going all in on the alpha strike, Alarielle will summon Kurnoths (bows if I need damage turn 1 otherwise more melee), if I need an anvil she'll go for the Dryads (a weakness of this list). Spites are there for objectives generally speaking. I didn't really want to do Branchwych and Branchwraith but it seemed like the best way to make use of all three artifacts. I feel good about the artifacts/spells on everyone except for the TLA. His artifact is rather flexible but I thought Refraction seemed like the best bet to defend myself on turns after I go in. Other options were Oaken Armor, Doppleganger Cloak, Ignax's Scales, Ghystrike, Gryph Feather Charm, or Gildenbane. Finally, went for Soulsnare because I see it as a great answer to certain armies, the other options was Quicksilver Swords but I thought Shackles could be more oppressive. Final thought, one group of 6 Scythes or two groups of 3? 6 packs more punch but will be harder to fit in everywhere, 3's are more flexible but require multiple activations.

Anyone have rough numbers on expected damage from a Durthu vs 6 Scythe Kurnoth hunters? Obviously Kurnoths have way more combined wounds and are 20 pts more. Just trying to get a feel for the damage separation. I'm personally thinking that for pure damage against high armor targets, Kurnoth's will do more. New +1 hit/wound artifact for Durthu is pretty juicy though and might change those numbers a bit.

I just played a DoK army yesterday who used the Cauldron and Melusai. He wasn't running a unit of 20 but I handled the Melusai without any real issues. I did so by limiting the number he could use on the pile-in, then I got a good offensive roll with my TLA sweeps/impale and knocked out 5 or 6 in one combat. I'm not a competitive player but I've never had an issue holding my own against any army. I haven't had the chance to see Idoneth yet but I played against a lot of KO clown cars, DoK, Nurgle, and others. I didn't win ever game but there were few blowouts (except for my first game against the old clown car). If you and your opponent are using the new artifacts try out the refracting lens (I think that's the one) from the realm of light that severely reduces mortal wounds taken. Protects against a Sylvaneth shortcoming and was a stud in my game.

Yup @ppetford is right on, sorry if that wasn't clear enough! I'm not a huge fan of Lifeswarm but if you try it out and enjoy it certainly let me know

I would give Lifeswarm a whirl, why not? However, I think you'll find yourself disappointed by the spell (S&W said as much already). S&W listed out a bunch of good alternatives. For Dreadwood I personally think Shackles and the Pendulum could be great with ambush. They also come out to 60pts which covers your lifeswarm drop. IF you used that choice for the battalion roll moving all the way up field with either of these spells could be truly brutal for the opponent. Just a thought but lifeswarm is nice in that if you put it behind you, the opponent will have a hard time moving it to themselves and benefiting. Therefore, should they chose to move that endless spell, all they can do is run it away from you.

I think Sylvaneth were solid in AoS 1.0 and have only gotten more love in AoS 2.0. Sylvaneth are an extremely flexible army that do things across all stages of the game. As you ask about the competitiveness in 2.0, I think they are positioned very well. They should do well at most tournaments, may not be going 5-0 at LVO or a tournament of that prominence but they'll definitely be there doing work. Who is to say how they'll place competitively in 2.0? I'm certainly not qualified but how they are competitively is only one reason to play them. If you love the lore, models, and are generally excited about the army go for them. For a 1k army 100% grab the Start Collecting. From there I would suggest a box of Kurnoth Hunters and another box of Dryads. That will fill out your battleline requirement and give you an elite troop to mess around with. Plus, you'll still have points left over to pick up one more box! Drycha would fit, or more Kurnoths, etc. I will say, if you get the Start Collecting build your general as a Treelord Ancient, the unit is a terrific foundation for the army. Oh and a great budget option is 2 Start Collecting boxes. You can mess around with two big tree guys, enough Dryads for multiple battlelines, and some little caster friends. If you built Durthu and a TLA I believe you'd be right around 1k points. Probably not the best list but also probably not too bad. Final word of advice below... Honestly, I think you need more than 3 woods, aka 6. The army will allow you to place 1-3 tree bases at the start of the game. I often string out 2. First turn, you are then hoping to place 1 or 2 more forests (this all depends on board size and cramping). Therefore, by turn one you're likely at 3 forest bases, if not 4/5/6. From then on, I find I place forests much less often. I'll still drop the occasional forest between then and end game so for a start, I'd suggest buying two boxes of 3 bases, giving you 6 total which is enough to setup your game plan turn 1/2. The tree placement is both fun and frustrating. I love the game mechanics that stem from the woods but building and paying for them (in my experience) is frustrating. It makes the initial investment in Sylvaneth higher than many armies at 1k points (because you need the forests). To that end I'd suggest trying to find a similar alternative that's not as expensive early on. That way you can play with your buddy, see how you feel about your army, and then buy the real deal if you're pleased. Hope you find this helpful!

I think 40 points opens you up to a few more endless spells of value than 20. I personally like the shackles (20), balewind (40), prismatic pallisade (30), Geminids (40), and pendulum (40). Oh also quicksilver swords seems fine for 20 combined with the shackles.

I'm a big fan of the three kurnoth drop from Alarielle, particularly three bows in the back turn one. They can still shoot 30 inches and thus do damage turn 1. Vanilla treelord is also a real contender as certain game modes he acts as a monster to score objectives (3 places of power). 20 Dryads is obviously no joke either but in the harvestboon list I'm cooking up I just won't need another anvil. Spell damage clarification makes total sense and I agree. My only fear is how circumstantial some Sylvaneth damage spells are... but yeah that's a reasonable amount of damage. Alarielle is all around great chaff or hero killer for sure. Harvestboon runs 240. Forest folk is 140, Harvestboon is 100. Also also I do really like your list! I happen to also like pulling things apart and considering all possibilities

I'm no pro but I've got a couple of ideas for you! 1. It is hard to get Wyldwoods forward. I usually accomplish that with the first one I place before the game has started. I will place it a little deeper to one side and hope to pick sides. If i get to pick I take the opposite side, if not then I have a Wyldwood in front of me when I deploy which is fine. It's hard to get advanced Wyldwoods out there, one way to do it is to load one side of the board and crack through. Then plant a forest deep on that side, hard to accomplish though. Also, some of the rules for Wyldwood placement vary (TLA stomp has different rules than Verdant Blessing) the more flexible options can sometimes sneak the forests in. 2. What army were you playing against? It is hard for most armies to push forward. I personally like to use my beefy characters and elite hunters to accomplish that with Dryads and the like gumming up the board. Tree Revs are a great sneaky unit for this same thing. Yes they aren't durable but their movement stuff allows them to get to hard to reach places and soften up enemy units. Great at hurting low wound heroes/artillery crews. This can create pressure in the back which forces your opponent to turn a little allowing you to keep the push going. Sylvaneth is a pretty cagey army (at least how I play them) so I'm usually content taking up half the board and moving in later (turn 4 or 5) to sneak that objective that seals the game for me. 3. I LOVE 5 Tree Revs. Are they going to kill stuff? Not really. Will the force your opponent to stay honest with objectives? 100%. The threat of 5 tree revs appearing and taking an objective is very real and has won me games. At 80 points they are a great flexible unit who can occasionally kill an exposed unit. 4. Hunters are just very durable elite units. I like putting bows on my objectives way back or shooting them to flank objectives. Just make sure they're in a spot to shoot every turn and don't be afraid to realmroot them to get into position. They don't do huge damage but can project that damage almost anywhere on the board (especially if you shorten to 4 x 4 in a 1k point game). Melee hunters are also great, and probably better than bows with lookout sir (debatable). Swords and Scythes are beaters who put out decent damage and have high survivability. They can gum up units, kill units, all sorts. As previously mentioned swords are better for junk units with low saves while scythes are more of your high armor kills. I prefer scythes but both have their merits. 5. Don't be afraid to get your TLA dirty. Play aggressively with him to feel out his limits/breaking point. The unit has some real bad matchups so learn what those are. I was very careful with my TLA for a long time because I didn't want to lose his Wyldwood stomp/command ability. I still never want to lose those two things but I've learned what units he can safely duke it out with. Especially with regrowth he can do some really incredible things and not die. Only other type, I personally love using my Dryads to gum up their "powerful" units. Minus 1 to hit, +1 save over 12, +1 save in cover makes them very hard to work through for some big units. If a 200 pt swarm can hold off a 400 pt model all game, that's a huge win. Even if they only do 1 wound (and they will do more with their 2 attacks each) all I care is that they provided their points worth for the game. Killing is only one way to evaluate a unit.

1. The realm artifacts are in the malign sorc book, I think most people will use that/I think TOs (if you're a tournament goer, will let armies make use of the magical artifacts there as you are limited to one only). I'd check it out if you can, I'm sure info exists online somewhere, just some really handy choices, though Sylvaneth has some crazy good ones to so it's not like you chose wrong Just a thought! 2. I've got a few things to unpack here, because I'm curious. I think Alarielle is Sylvaneth's best (or tied with Drycha) chaff killer. That beetles expected damage against mobs is off the charts, I'd need to do the math again but I'm pretty sure at full HP the expected wounds is like 12 - 16 in a single combat. For that reason I think the beefy killers that are Scythes make the army more balanced. Either choice is fine in the end, there isn't much between them, I do really like the Scythe reach though, especially if you choose to sacrifice pile-in for re rolls. How do you figure that you're going to do 15 - 20 wounds through spells? That's A LOT of wounds through spells, especially with the new unbind range. That doesn't feel like a realistic number to me. 3. Again, Dryads just feel like overkill if you have a branchwraith revs are an incredibly flexible unit. 4. Personally I think the two battalions to watch out for are dreadwood and harvestboon. I don't have the required spites either so I'm building towards my harvestboon idea.

One big note and then a couple minor thoughts. Big note, it looks like you've picked all your artifacts from the Sylvaneth list, I would consider taking your one realm specific one as there are some bonkers options. Minor thought, why sword hunters? I prefer both other weapon loadouts (personally). Have you considered dropping the 10 Dryads in favor of another unit of Tree Revs? That would allow you to take a 60 point predatory endless spell, might expand your pool of options a bit and I honestly believe the movement and sneaky nature of the revs might be a good thing given how many Dryads you can spawn over the course of a 5 turn game. In general, I'm having a lot of trouble justifying Gnarlroot list, it just feels like total spell overkill AND it doesn't really improve the quality of your cast/unbind which is a shame.

I would love to but Branchwraith only gets one cast a turn (unless I use a battalion). I think there is a legitimate case for using that spell and making the branchwraith a superb unbinder during the enemies turn but as a casting buff it doesn't do any good for her.

Hey Bionic, I have a couple of thoughts! First, is Gift of Ghyran overkill? I personally prefer Gnarled Warrior to mitigate some amount of rend. Second, Throne of Vines is awesome in theory but I'm personally concerned with using it on Alarielle. If you're going to playing with the realm specific spells then I think it's great but otherwise I think it's overkill AND Alarielle is really a horde unit killer (the beetle chomps blobs) so not moving is a pretty high cost. That being said, you are setup to have access to 5 spells on her so who knows. I would consider using Throne of Vines on your Branchwych instead, since she can now cast 2 spells and has increased spell cast range thanks to circlet. Also, with your spare points taking a Balewind and trying to sit the Branchwych on it could be very potent. Keep in mind the rule of one for spell casts. Taking regrowth twice is good if one of the casters dies but you can't cast it twice a turn, maybe try the reaping with increased range and a balewind? Finally, I just said this in my post but look through the malign sorcery realm specific artifacts. There are some real gems in there that could replace the Oaken Armor or Circlet. Additionally, if you added a Branchwraith, you would have another body to take an artifact. Otherwise, I think the list is well rounded, so nice job! My final piece of advice is that Gnarlroot may be an overkill battalion. With your list you will have 9 spell casts a turn... WITHOUT access to realm specific spells I don't think you even have 9 potential casts. Lets imagine that TLA casts Regrowth and his specific spell every turn, Branchwych casts her specific spell and Sylvaneth spell every turn, Alarielle could then cast her specific spell, mystic shield, arcane bolt, Throne of Vines, and wastes one spell slot. Already, you see that you have one wasted spell slot (unless you use endless spells). The spells you do cast sound awesome on paper but many of those spells are situational. You probably won't cast Regrowth every turn (almost never on turn one and later itll be limited especially since you have many 1 wound models and only a few with more), Mystic Shield is a dead spell for Sylvaneth with the change, TLA specific spell is highly circumstantial so that's probably not going every turn either, early turns Branchwych wont be in position to cast her specific spell. Of those casts you now have 4 that are so circumstantial that you probably don't use them every turn. That brings you down to casting 4/5 spells a turn, which you could achieve without the battalion. You'd lose the command point and artifacts if you drop the battalion (and some other minor buffs) but you could spend those points on another unit.

Been playing around list building for a 2k army WITHOUT BATTALIONS. TLA General (Regrowth, Gnarled Warrior) Alarielle (Verdant Blessing) Spirit of Durthu (some artifact... so many options now unsure... 6 inch bubble mortal wound protect artifact in the realm of light is tempting. +1 to hit/wound for the sword from the realm of life is also tempting. Gryph feather seems legit, so many options. Can always fall back on oaken armor) Branchwraith (whatever spell you want, doesn't matter since I want to try and summon dryads every turn, maybe the reaping in case she gets swarmed) Dryads x 20 Tree Revs x 5 Tree Revs x 5 Scythe Kurnoth Hunters x 3 1 Extra Command Point (to be used at some point by Alarielle or as bravery check protection on Dryads) Endless Spell: Soulsnare Shackles The idea of the list is to be very cagey and control oriented through point efficient units. Obvious plan is to spread forests early through TLA and Verdant Blessing. Alarielle can then attempt to setup the soulsnare shackles to further restrict enemy movement. Turn one she is also going to throw out her summon (choice will depend on scenario and enemy force). Branchwraith will attempt to add 10 Dryads every turn, using the woods to move them into decent positions (or they can just move and run, 7 inch move is respectable). Then the game plan is basically setup favorable combats with the many beaters in the list. Alarielle is going for mobs, Durthu is going for whatever he can safely swing at, TLA is generally picking light combats so as to not die and lose his command ability. Tree Revs are still great for their value and can help the list sneak up on artillery, characters behind mobs, and enemy territory/far away objectives. 20 Dryad unit is the anvil to hold tough points, with 10 Dryad backups coming in to bolster the mob. Scythe Kurnoths are there to help characters in combat/be resilient, could also be swapped for bow hunters to pick at units from afar. Any thoughts? This list is using models I already have so I'm not sure it's very optimized. I think Drycha would be a nice add, probably in place of Durthu and would free up more points for endless spells, tree revs, whatever. However, I think this list makes for a nice cagey list where the aim is to setup the combats where the characters can shine and generally disrupt the opponents movement plans. Final final thought (this post is getting rather long...). With the way the realm specific artifacts look, I think battalions may be the way to go... getting a realm artifact AND one or two of our own is strong. Sylvaneth have great artifacts to pick from so it feels like a no brainer. Since I want to run Alarielle one excess command point feels required (which I'd be getting for free with a battalion so take 50 pts off the battalion cost). Finally, it brings the army way down in drops which is always a plus. I'm just having a hard time figuring out which to go in on. I'll keep thinking and post a battalion list soon!

You're 100% correct on this, I was being a space cadet! I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I think bows are still a good choice for two reasons. 1st, they pressure your opponent and restrict how their army can move if they want lookout sir. It makes predicting where the opponent will move easier and in the off chance they ****** up you can immediately snipe that character. 2nd, I'm still happy to take my bow hunters and shoot at big monsters. Lets say my opponent is playing Ironjawz, I'm happy to take the bows and whittle down his maw-krusha. That same concept applies to other armies with big baddies who won't get lookout sir and need to be dealt with. That's my thought on the bow hunter situation. I just thought of a third point in their favor, unlike scythes and swords bow hunters can sit back on objectives deep in friendly territory and still put out damage. They're a great objective baby sitting unit for that reason. That being said, I think that scythes are probably superior for the points cost but lookout sir will not stop me from bringing bows out.

Ahh I must have missed that part of your post! The summoning restrictions were a real concern of mine... Did you find the sheer number of Dryads to be effective? The only real downside I see in the Harvestboon is how many points you have to sink into Dryads. I really only want to spend 400 pts on Dryads tops and while you could get away with taking 3 squads of 10 taking less than 20 is a disservice to the unit. When I was playing with lists I developed the following (just doing models not equipment/spells). My big concern with the list is just a total overkill in the casting department. With this list you can cast 6 spells a turn, which seems like potential overkill. Alarielle TLA Branchwraith x 2 Kurnoth Hunters w/Scythes x 3 20 Dryads x 3 An endless spell costing 40 pts (was thinking geminids originally) Harvestboon Battalion

So happy to see someone use harvestboon! Out of curiosity why not plant a woods in your backline to branchwraith cast onto? The dryads could then jump when needed to another wood! It seems a waste not to cast that spell every turn at 6+.

Keep in mind regrowth is a situational cast and bolt/shield are not what they used to be. Shield is now TLAs command ability so casting that is very low priority and bolt does a laughably small amount of damage now. Finally, regrowth is only good on damaged units, so turn one its probably not something you're casting. Just throwing out some things to consider with spell casting. Magic is awesome but should be considered in its entirety.