Trevelyan

I think it just takes practice and a little forward planning. I assume you mean Verdurous Harmony rather than Verdant Blessing (which summons a Wyldwood). But you certainly shouldn’t ever have the 2” Dryad problem in practice - you moved the Dryads and you moved the Branchwraith, so why not get the Branchwraith within an inch of at least one of the Dryads? More generally, you can help a lot by making sure that you have the right spells on the right units. Healing spells are typically a poor choice for back-line casters because LoS can be difficult to manage around existing terrain even before you start adding more Wyldwoods. If you want a spell to heal a unit then you need to have the caster capable of staying close to that unit. This is one of the hidden advantages of the TLA - he’s robust enough that he can support the front line. Drycha is a solid choice for Regrowth on the same basis - she may want to cast on herself, but even if she doesn’t, she can likely see the unit that does need healing. In summary, caster selection and spell selection for each caster is about more than slapping a good spell on a caster and expecting it to work in the game. You need to think carefully about how you plan to use the caster and the spell, and whether that combination is viable in practice. And don’t leave trivial gaps between units in the same forest.

I occasionally run bows. The trick is that they generally aren’t supposed to do big damage - if you expect them to mirror the output of their melee cousins then you’ll be disappointed. Bow hunters are good for two things, and maybe a third if forced. 1) You have the range to put some damage on targets early. Don’t waste it on small heroes surrounded by other units, but seriously consider the value of taking a behemoth down a damage tier or two before it gets a chance to engage. 2) Clean up duty ahead of charging. There is nothing more frustrating than a cheap chaff unit in your charge lane. Bow hunters are pretty good at clearing space for your heavier hitters to get stuck in. 3) If forced, bow hunters are a surprisingly good tarpit for a 3-man unit. I wouldn’t set out to use them like that, but if you are charged By something trying to limit their targets, or you get the opportunity to charge yourself into something that wants to stay mobile, then they can stick around long enough to protect something squishier. Just don’t expect them to do any damage in combat - they are less effective than half a unit of Dryads in offence. Anyone seeing the “Kurnoth Hunter” label and expecting ranged damage on par with scythes or swords hasn’t thought carefully enough about why they won’t get that at 30” range.

Too obvious. It’s far more likely to be a small growth on the back of a larger creature - as with mushrooms on trolls. It looks like an extreme closeup of something very small, and GW would never post a clear picture of a tree if it was in any way tree-based.

Sadly you do need battleline. Unlike many other factions, we don’t have a glade that allows us to take elite infantry as battleline. The most Hunters you could reasonably get would be 12 (800 points). You could then take 2x5 Spite Revenants as battleline (120) and a Branchwraith as leader and to summon Dryads (80). Realistically, you probably only want 9 Kurnoths (unit of 6 and unit of 3 - 600 points), and to take more battleline plus another leader. An Arch Revenant would be best with Kurnoths. You’ll want two woods to start and realistically two boxes of Dryads as they come 16 to a box but summon in units of 10. Plus anything else you add to the list.

The language is slight different. The gnawhole triggers at the start of the movement phase and “counts as” normal movement for those that use it in the subsequent normal movement phase But doesn’t requires normal movement because normal movement is not a thing that occurs at that point. Essentially, neither skaven ability “cost” movement, they both stop you from moving subsequently Navigate realmroots happens as part of the normal movement phase “instead of” normal movement, but if you don’t have movement available during the movement phase then you are stuck. The language could certainly be clearer. IIRC (and I may not) there was an FAQ on this for the previous edition of the battletome. It is possible I’m misremembering the FAQ, but I’ve never once seen summoned dryads navigate realmroots even when there was no opportunity cost (because we weren’t limited to once per turn). It is also possible that GW has had a change of heart given that navigate realmroots is now very limited and teleporting Dryads means not teleporting anything else - I would have no problem if that was the case.

It doesn’t work like that. Navigate realmroots is something that you do instead of making a normal move - it is essentially a special move. But if you can’t make a normal move then you don’t get to do something instead.

Very true. 750pts makes it too easy to build a skew list, even inadvertently, as no one has enough points to cover all the bases. Factions which can take elite infantry as battleline do very well at lower points. 1000pts is better, but you might want to think about using the Meeting Engagement rules from the 2019 GHB. They push everyone towards a balance list and the related scenarios work well with smaller lists on a smaller table.

The Dreadwood Sinister Ambush teleport ability is not considered a move. It happens at the end of the movement phase, so a unit cannot move after you teleport it, but otherwise there is no interaction. In fact, a unit can move before a teleport, for example if it is not in range of a hero and needs to get closer to be the target of Sinister Ambush. There is no problem using Sinister Ambush on a newly summoned unit of Dryads. Whether it is a good idea to burn a command point to teleport a unit of 10 Dryads will depend on circumstance/the existence of unguarded objectives.

That’s the most common scenario. If you have Throne but don’t need it then you’ve not really lost much. But if you need it and don’t have it then you can spend a frustrating game being swatted down by unbinding wizards on the other side.

RAW you can. There are no general rules that prohibit the bonus from stacking. It’s worth noting that the previous version of the spell in the old battletome explicitly prohibited stacking but that line was removed from the new version.

You need to consider a few other points: 1) the chances are that someone will try to unbind her summoning. Adding Thrones doesn’t just help with marginal casting rolls by turning a narrow failed cast into a narrow successful cast, it also helps make a successful cast harder to unbind. 2) Some lists have more than one Branchwraith. Standard practice would be to have the second ‘wraith summon on the first turn while the first sets up the Throne. That gives you the advantage of Throne in subsequent turns without reducing the total number of summons. 3) You’ve got to give her a spell, and the other options are likely to be even less appealing as she frequently won’t have LoS for healing or be close enough for something offensive. Just because she has Throne doesn’t mean she has to cast it in every game. I wound the worry too much about the need to stand still. I very rarely need to move a summoning Branchwraith, Throne or not. She sits in backfield and churns out the Dryads. EDIT 1: Also, the number of casting rolls you make is far too few to start worrying about statistical averages. The difference between 2.32 and 2.49 average successful casts is abstract nonsense when you’ll only be making single digit number of rolls. EDIT 2: You also need to consider the role you expect those Dryads to play. You only need early Dryads if you want them to play a more offensive role. But if you want them to cover backfield objectives against fast movers in the late game then the better summoning chance in a turn 2+ is worth more than the chance to simply summon more small units. Remember that the aim isn’t just to summon the Dryads but also to use them effectively. An increased chance at fewer summons that you can use well is better than a lower chance of more summons that you don’t really have a plan for.

https://counterattackbases.co.uk/item/wild-wood-base-set These are pretty good.

Dear god the speed! We used to be relatively fast, back when planting forests wasn’t a pain and you could teleport more than one unit per turn. But so many factions think nothing of moving 12+ inches, or running them charging, or both (I hate The Blisterwotsit FEC Court) that we are really one of the slowest factions around these days. Fun fact: by the time you’ve killed a Keeper of Secrets twice, you’ve essentially generated enough summoning points for your opponent to summon it back again! As you say, Slaanesh would be credible without any summoning. That they have the best summoning in the game (summon stuff for doing what you were going to do anyway) is a whole punnet of cherries on top.

You know what else provides a ranged attack, a stomp and a spirit path teleport on the same base size? Both the TLA and the Spirit of Durthu. Plus the TLA and Durthu provide other benefits on top. The TLA is our premier support Treelord model (Durthu is more combat centric) and I like having one whenever I can. The basic Treelord isn’t worth spending points for just as a support.

Basic treelords are objectively worse than a unit of Kurnoths for the same points. They have a few notional advantages - ranged attack, stomp and spirit paths - but are very swingy, have a plummeting stat line once they start taking damage and never get the benefits that come with taking larger units. The general advice is not to take them unless/until they get a 20+ point drop minimum, and even then think carefully. I’ve had fun with a Treelord as a mandatory component of a LotC battalion in a Gnarlroot list, but it’s not really competitive. Mostly it doubles up on stomp chances for the accompanying TLA, provides extra ranged support (direct attack and the battalion ability) and can be durable enough when supported by an automatic heal to frustrate a half arsed attempt to remove it.

That’s largely my experience too. Slaanesh can be beaten, and we’ve arguably got a better toolkit than most factions to do it, but you really have to play a completely different game and build a list with them in mind. The fact that every Slaanesh hero effectively has Stomp, and that every Slaanesh list has a built in Winterleaf double 6s to hit is tough enough. But add the ludicrous amount of easy summoning and you’ve basically got an entire faction that pulls together the best tricks we have available, does them all better and then starts adding extra features on top. I don’t know anyone who finds them remotely balanced, including local Slaanesh players (they all agree that the nerfbat is coming).

For friendly games I use some shapes cut from a foam battle mat, but for official events I generally use the real thing. Different tournaments have different expectations, but Sylvaneth can be a lot more expensive than other factions to play. That’s one of the reasons you may see less of them about.

Yup

People bring 15 SR for access to the Outcast battalion. Having Alarielle in the list allows people to summon an extra 20 Dryads when necessary (or more Kurnoths otherwise) so they have a screen, or bodies for objectives, as needed. Together with a Branchwraith, possibly boosted by an artefact, that’s plenty of chaff for a 2000 point game.

Branchwraith is good if you can fit her in and definitely worth having and practicing with for the future. You’ll rarely see a list without her at 2000 points. At 1000 points she is very valuable in theory (an 80 point unit that can add 100 points of infantry per turn) but I don’t always find her essential in low point games. Between the relatively high casting value of her summon, the risk of her spell being unbound and the fact it takes summoned Dryads at least a turn to get into the fight, she doesn’t always deliver. There is no right answer, just be aware of the pros and cons, and consider what you sacrifice to bring her. Tree Revenants (TRs) and Spite Revenants (SRs) are both equally squishy and will die to a stiff breeze. SRs hit harder (or at least more often - they still lack rend) and are cheaper to take in larger units. A blob of SRs is the proverbial glass cannon and the Outcast battalion is the cheapest way to fill the battleline tax and get a battalion at 2000 points. TRs are vastly more mobile with their ability to teleport anywhere. In low point games that gives you a big advantage as you either force your opponent to hold units back and cover uncontested objectives or else you teleport in behind enemy lines and steal them. If you want a low model count list then TRs are a good way to offset the numbers advantage other players may have, as a 5 man unit of TRs can keep a much larger enemy unit pinned down. Again, SRs aren’t bad (they are really very good for the points) and you’ll see more of them at 2000 points. It’s just that a 1000 point game has some very different play considerations that you should consider when picking your battleline. You can use SRs at 1000 points, but they will do far less than TRs in many games. Having 6 Scythe Hunters and 3 Sword Hunters in your collection is pretty safe at 2000 points. You might not always use them all, but there are plenty of lists that will use one or both. Alarielle can summon a unit of 3 Kurnoths (she’ll want the swords) so it’s good to have them even if you don’t field them at the outset. Which order you get them in is a matter of personal preference. At least one SC box is definitely worth getting. Personally I have four - one for each Treelord (or variant) I own as they are the cheapest way to get treelords plus Dryads and more Dryads are always useful. The Branchwych is of limited value. She’s actually good for the points, but we usually have other priorities - many other factions would jump at the chance of an 80 point wizard like her. I have two assembled and two on sprus - they sometimes see play in casual games.

It fits the Branchwraith alongside the Arch Rev and six Kurnoths. That’s a definite plus. But it does have some disadvantages. I personally like the TLA, but he is a lot less punchy than Durthu or Drycha. He does bring an automatic wyldwood to the table and generic spell casting, though, both of which have value. My real concern with that list is that a pair of Spite units doesn’t have a lot of threat range or general utility to make up for the low numbers. You risk losing the objective game in some scenarios. I’d also recommend that you give the Frozen Kernel to the Arch Rev. She is far more mobile than the Treelord and wants to be supporting the Kurnoths anyway.

If you want a power list at 1000 points then take Durthu, a unit of 6 Kurnoth Hunters with scythes and an Arch-Revenant, with 2x5 Tree-Revenants as your battleline tax. That’s exactly 1000 points and can plough through almost anything, with the Tree Revs forcing your opponent to cover his objectives so he can’t match you properly. If you prefer, you can swap Durthu for Drycha and/or the Arch Rev for a Branchwraith. The ‘wraith lets you summon 100 points of dryads each turn (on a good casting roll) and Drycha adds a host of whacky abilities. They won’t hit quite as hard, but certainly make for a more entertaining list.

500 points of Arch-Rev and Kurnoths get practically nothing from Gnarlroot. If you want to put that many points into a unit plus support then you might as well take a Glade which benefits them more directly. I don’t see why a new player would find it harder to learn how to play a TLA. They’ve not got any bad habits or expectations to correct. I find that the TLA works very well as a general in 1000 point games.

Swords in units of 3, Scythes in units of 6 or more.

I wouldn’t take Gnarlroot in a list with two backline casters. The Chalice is nice for a Branchwraith but they don’t really want to be up front supporting a Kurnoth blob. I’d also question the wisdom of taking a unit of six Scythe Hunters if your aim isn't to table your opponent. That’s a lot of offensive output, especially with an arch revenant in support. You could table a casual 1000 point list by accident! I do think you’ve hit on the essential question, though - do you want a 1000 point list that works like a mini 2000 point list, or do you want to build a 1000 point skew list? For a balanced, learning experience list I think the Start Collecting box is a good place to start, with a TLA as general and using the Branchwych as a proxy for a Branchwraith. Add some more Dryads (field a unit of 20, keep 10 for summoning) and one unit of Hunters to start. An Arch Revenant is valid only for someone who already has one, since they aren’t readily available at the moment. Then add Revenants to taste (try both flavours). picking up the Sylvaneth spells might also be worthwhile for the Hive.