albionsangel

Hi all, Progressing well with my fire themed Sylvaneth, and trying to come up with colour schemes for the "spirit" parts of the revanents. For reference, here is a repost of my treelord ancient. And my newly done Dryad scheme I am fairly certain on some things: Neither spirit should be the same colour as my "flames" (Averland sunset, trollslayer, mephiston) as that would take it from an accent colour to an in-your-face colour Neither should be blue (there is no blue on any other model), and I dont think either should be purple (as its an accent colour on my elite units only) Trees and Spites should be very different to each other This is posing some problems. I have already written off quite a few colours there. And I dont think Green would work either. But I wondered about a "white" tree rev spirit and a "black" spite rev spirit. Both accented with the yellow/orange/red. I think it would look striking. The Spites would end up overall dark and sinister, and the tree revs would be nice and bright. It might not work, but its worth a try. I dont know how to do it though. Obviously, painting one white, and the other black, will look awful. Clearly I need shades and highlights for it to look good. So "White" is probably some sort of light grey? But how? And "Black" is... what? I need recipes. I know there are pictures on the GW shop of black spite revenants but there is no colour chart for them. Is it just black with blue highlights (which would be yellow/orange/red in my version)? Also, do any other colours scream out at people? This is the part I am worst at. I cant think new colour schemes up myself. I need inspiration and I am lacking. Please help!

Hi all, So, I recently upped my painting game (properly thinning paints, making a wet pallet, etc) and I thought I was doing the right thing, but I have hit a problem. Ages ago, I stumbled across Winsor and Newton brushes, and bought a Series 7 Miniature Size 0 brush to be a fine detail brush. I realise now I probably wanted a bigger brush to hold more paint in the body, and just use the tip, but I am not the worlds best painter and the small brush helped when I was using its edge for highlighting. Well, when I "upgraded" recently, I went ahead and bought another size 0 (having badly mistreated my first one) and a size 2 from the Miniature range - and because I apparently cannot read, also a Size N2 from their watercolour range. And I have been trying to keep them clean and tidy - pot of water for washing when I am at the painting station, and then after every session, take them into the bathroom, run some warm (but not hot) water, work some basic bar hand soap into the bristles, and swirl in a circular motion on the palm of my hand. Unfortunately, I was probably a little overenthusiastic with the water pot when using my Size 2, and I have some serious fraying that even hair conditioner does not fix. Also, the brush never seemed to stay together for very long anyway, with paint quickly causing it to fray as it dried at the base. As you can see, it "sort of" keeps its shape, but its clear that it is fraying. I think a few hairs have even snapped off half way! Those brushes are expensive, and now I have just read a couple of threads where people complained about the W&N Miniature range of brushes, and said people should be using the watercolour range (the NSize range). But the N2 brush I have is... well, HUGE. And the point is very floppy. It does not matter how fine it is, it just collapses/splits and therefore does not paint what I want. Also, the body gets in the way for some of the minis I am trying to paint (Warhammer minis). So, anyone got any concrete suggestions on brushes? I have some nice fine detail brushes but I need some general purpose brushes for base coating and doing large highlights, etc. A "one size paints all" if you will. Specifically to tackle the standard sized minis for warhammer (rather than the bigger ones). I am at my wits end, and sinking far too much money on "life long" brushes. Also, can someone do a really detailed walkthrough of brush care? I am clearly doing something wrong. Just swishing it in a cup of water fails to get the paint out, but pushing the brush against the side or bottom of the cup ruins the bristles. The soap/water treatment after a session gets them very clean, but again I am worried I am damaging them as I try to work the soap up to the base of the brush to remove the paint that is causing fraying as it dries. Even with a fairly long cleaning process, here is my N2 splitting as it dries. I cannot seem to get any paint out of it, so something else is going on here.

Hi all, My Sylvaneth army has a burning theme going on. Regular wood, but with blackened and ashy feet, and then twigs, leaves and antlers painted like fire. I am really pleased with it. But a few of the Dryads have bones hung up in their branches, often held on by vines painted like flames. So the typical off-white bone colour will look... stark. Anyone got a good recipe for really charred bone? Someone must have a Aqshy skeleton army, right?

He is finally done (minus cleaning up the base edge and a few patches of red grass - I have lost the ability to see colours properly or hold a brush steady at this point XD). My Treelord Ancient, the first complete model of my first AoS army. The goal was to create an autumnal feel that also invoked the idea of flames. Then stand him on black sand framing a cracked lava river. "Burning" his feet, the ends of his beard and tabard, his claw and the butt of his staff help to tie him into the environment - a theme that will be carried through every model in the army. I wanted to give the impression that this grove slumbered in a sheltered, forgotten valley while the Everqueen underwent her transformation, and then marched out to seek vengeance, crossing the burning planes of Aqshy. Primer is white spray (I used a generic plastic primer) Heartwood is Rakarth Flesh undercoat, Seraphim Sepia wash, Ushabti Bone highlights. Bark is Dryad Bark undercoat, Nuln Oil wash, Gorthor Brown highlights. Branches/vines/antlers/mouth are Averland Sunset undercoat, Trollslayer Orange from about half way, or at meeting points, Mephiston Red tips. (Averland and Trollslayer might just be the 2 best paints I have ever used. Both flow so well when correctly watered down, and Averland is strikingly solid, while Trollslayer is decidedly transparent, letting the Averland really pop through!) Beard/Tabard are Nagaroth Night undercoat, Druchii Violet wash, Slanesh Grey highlight (or drybrush for the tabard). Burnt bits are painted as above, then heavy drybrush of Abadon Black (from bottom up of each area, so its full coverage at the base, and fades higher up), Mechanicus Standard Grey drybrush, Admin Grey light drybrush (and then red tips on each of the ends of the beard hairs - a la Blackbeard!) Eyes are Averland and a tiny, tiny spot of Trollslayer Mushrooms are Ushabti Bone underneath (with a Sepia wash for the big ones on the staff) and raw Rakarth Flesh on top with white spots. Beard Gem is Abadon Black, highlights of Admin Grey, a very watered down Mephiston Red in the rune, then a couple of coats of Ardcoat Base is black aquarium sand on the sides, then a basecoat of Mephiston Red, stippling of Jokaero Orange, smaller stippling of Averland Sunset, a layer of Ardcoat (let it dry fully - DONT USE PVA - its too variable), then LOTS of Mordant Earth and a hairdryer, and finally a Lamian Medium wash on the Mordant Earth to stick it down more, and take the shine out of the cracks. Boy did that take some experimenting. The guides online are not all complete, and sometimes contradict. All hand painted (apart from the primer) He is pinned to the base. What do you all think? Personally, this is by far the best thing I have ever painted. I am so very proud of him.

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up thinking about the blue a lot, especially as it would contrast the orange. I then talked it through with my other half, who is one of those people that sees the world in colour wheels and I did some more "research" (read: looking at other people's armies and wishing I could be that good) before settling on a deep purple. I think it look alright! Now I just need to blacken the end, ash it up, and set the embers. Then I can start on the legs! Nearly done with this guy!

Hi all, I have just started a Sylvaneth army and I am really proud of my colour scheme. Here is a picture of the chest of my Treelord Ancient. TLA chest - An Autumn/Fire theme, which will be complemented with charred lower legs and lava/black sand bases. The goal is go get an autumn theme going, but for that autumn theme to also be strongly suggestive of fire. The TLA will look like a proper tree (all browns) with twigs and leaves of yellow-orange-red. The lower portion of the feet and legs will then be painted black, and dry brushed with greys to give a charred effect (as seen here) All good, and I have all the colours fully planned. Except for 2 things... TLAs have long braided beards (picture below), and a tabard that falls from their waist. The lower ends of these will be the same charred effect as the feet, with red tips on the end of the beard hairs like blackbeard's burning beard-ropes. But as for most of the beard and tabard, I am totally lost for a colour scheme. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would rather not depart massively from the current colour scheme, but on the other hand, I understand the importance for contrast. These bits hang down, and the twigs go up, so I dont want to paint them the same way as the twigs as either the "flames" will be burning upsidedown (if I go from yellow at the top to red at the bottom) or will be burning from nothing (if I go from yellow at the bottom to red at the top). Yellow-orange-red might also be TOO MUCH. There is already a lot. Really need help with this. Any thoughts? This is SlyRebirth's TLA, posted here. You can clearly see the beard (here in orange) and tabard (here in blue). https://www.tga.community/blogs/entry/1042-treelord-ancient-autumn/

Hi all, Just got my Sylvaneth starter box, first AoS army, and I wanted a total departure from my cold 40k Drukhari (lots of harsh blues and deep sea greens and blacks). I was inspired by someone who had made an Aqshy Sylvaneth army that was totally black based, drybrushed with white, and highlighted with orange, giving a totally charred look. For my own army, I want to make an Autumn themed set, particularly painting the leaves so they fade yellow into orange into red, as you would paint flames. Eyes and mouths done with orange, yellow and white. Symbols probably drybrushed with orange. And then drybrushing their feet and part way up their legs totally black, with white drybrushing on top so just the ends of their legs, and maybe arms too, look burned to a crisp. I think it will give a really nice effect. But I dont know what to do for the rest of the bark. And for the bare wood of the TLA (making my TL into a TLA). It cant be too complex, this is already going to tax my limited abilities. But I have never painted "wood" before and dont know where to start. I am guessing base with white as opposed to black as I usually would. But where from there? What do you think would both fade well into black at the burned bits, contrast nicely with the orange highlights, and look good with the "flaming" leaves? Advice on both colours and techniques would be appreciated. No airbrushing please, I simply dont have the space/equipment/budget for that.

Hi all, I need some quick help with a 500 pt first army. I already know what I want for 2000 pts and dont want to buy too many redundant or "i wont use this" models. Ultimate aim is a force of tree revs and spite revs, squads of hunters, a wraith or 2, TLA, Hammdreth, maybe swap in a arch-rev from time to time, with some of the endless spells and enough dryads to summon them in multiple squads of 10. So my initial 500pts should draw from that pool. Notably, I dont see me taking a regular TL or a wych at any point in the future. Unfortunately, that means the starter box is... not all that helpful? Thoughts?

I think you might be underselling order. Sure, there are the humans and the elves and the dwarves and the big cities. And the immortal versions of each of those, including some empty angelic armour. But there are also the mer-people who ride magical flying sharks. FLYING SHARKS! Also flying electric eels. And the tree people that TELEPORT. TELEPORTING ANGRY TREES! And then there are the lizards. Because the Lizardfolk wernt cool enough in the old world. So the living frog gods flew off in their giant stone pyramids with the power of their MINDS, leaving one of their own behind to BUILD A FORCEFIELD AROUND A FALLING MOON so it only destroyed a continent and not the entire planet. THEN they wandered through the stars until they found the new realms and went "Blast it all! Sigmar STILL cant stop the forces of Chaos? Do we have to do EVERYTHING ourselves!?" and started a merciless campaign of summoning memories of their old warriors to fight chaos. Only, their memories were TOO GOOD and now there are living, breathing dinosaurs running around totally out of the Slaan's control in addition to the Slaan STILL continuing their crusade against the dark forces. And half the dinosaurs have FRIGGIN LAZERS on their heads! Whats chaos got? Crab claws and tentacles? Thats SO last planet. And undead? Puh-lease. And green orks. Well, what can I say, except Stegadons wore it better.

Ok, I am a little confused then about the Outcasts thing. Trying to army build with Battlescribe. Are you saying that I need to have 3 units of spites, THEN take outcasts which ALSO comes with 3 units of spites (for a total of 6 units of spites). Or are you saying I need to have 3 spite units in my army, which then BECOME an outcasts battalion if I choose that option (and pay the points)? The way that battlescribe is set up, when i select the outcasts battalion, its a separate "thing" in my army, that has 3 units of spites in it. Yeah, I dont know why I thought the Tree Revs were more hardy than the spites. They have one fewer attack, require one more to hit, get rend, and can reroll 1 roll per phase, but it seems their real benefit is teleporting. From what I understand (and correct me if I am wrong), I get to summon dryads (and some models can summon hunters) at Awakened Wyldwoods, I can teleport one unit per round if it is near an awakened wyldwood to any other awakened wyldwood, certain units can do this in addition to the one unit picked (Treelord Ancients, for example, have this as an ability, which presumably does not count towards the 1 unit limit), Dreadwood gives a command point teleport for a single unit within 18" of a hero to anywhere on the board, and Tree Revs also get free teleports if they have waypipes. Of course, if I go Gnarlroot for that sweet, sweet chalice, then I lose a teleport, but gain better dryad summoning. So, assuming that the way I have Outcasts right now (where I am assuming it comes with 3 spite units and their associated points costs, as battlescribe shows), and rolling in what you say, I probably want to drop at least one tree rev unit, and maybe squeeze in another hunter unit, or as Pennydude suggested, a unit of dryads that is fielded from the start. Ok, I can start to see this taking shape. I def want to try and have dryads being summoned. It seems extremely useful to just have more free batteline units appearing when and where I need them. What are the limits on artefacts. Is it one per army, or one per hero? Because I obviously need to take the one associated with a grove if I take that grove, but both the acorn and the spiritsong staff seem too good to pass up (acorn would bring my wyldwoods up to 3, while the staff would help the branchwych when I am not taking Gnarlroot as my grove).

Ah, sorry, I think my formatting made it a little difficult to see. The outcast bat has 3 units of spites in it already, even with the tree revs as the main battle line. Unless I am misunderstanding how bats work? So its 10 Trees and 2x5 Trees AND 3x5 Spites. I really like the look of spites but they do seem weak. Def a "hammer" to the tree-rev "anvil", or bodies on points. Causing extra models to flee is nice, especially if I can get rid of the heroes of the Skaven player. Dreadwood does seem really nice. Free reroll of wounds on Spites seems nice, makes them more "Hammerish". And the command point teleport is nice (and teleporting/summoning trees is kinda what is drawing me to Sylvaneth). If I ran Dreadwood, then the Stave seems really good on the Branchwraith. On the other hand, going Gnarlroot would allow for the Chalice, allowing for a more guaranteed summon attempt each turn, without resorting to the Throne. I was playing around and actually took out one of the units of 3 Kurnoths, so I could cram in some endless spells. Except then I was quite a bit under 2000 and could fit in all 3, and still be under the target. Im worried though. From what I am reading, Kurnoths seem important, providing the punch that many Sylvaneth units often lack. I can see the need for more battleline. I was hoping that if I can reliably summon Dryads, then I get a free battleline unit every turn. But I dont know if thats viable. Everything filled up so quickly! I do love the model for Drycha, but I do wonder if shes needed in a 2000 pt army, or if I should save her (and Alarielle) for a 3000 or 3500 pt army (my friends informed me that they can play to any level I want to field, and they have run 3000 point battles against each other, and still only fielded half their models). That would free up 300 points which could go on another leader and some other things, but what I dont know. Anyone got any tips for a list if I want to use teleporting/summoning a lot, and make it viable, but still include outcasts and not be a complete pushover? For around 2000 pts? I figure if I can start there, I can build up to 3000 or more later.

I just wanted to jump in because a couple of people half mentioned the 40k Morale tests. So, lets talk about 8th edition Morale. In the morale phase, units that took damage that turn had to make a leadership test. 1d6 + slain models that were killed this turn, try to roll lower than the maximum leadership score in the unit (units often had a commander with +1 leadership). For each point this roll exceeds the leadership score, remove a model. From the sound of it, this is kinda like AoS Battleshock (though I dont know, I am new to all this!). I dont know if this is true in AoS, but many, many armies also had ways of forcing immediate morale checks, either causing models to flee, or forcing mortal wounds, or some other debuff. Because of this, EVERYONE ran MSU (usually 5 model squads for most units). Why risk losing 6 models and then failing morale by a lot. Unfortunately, that hit hoard armies really hard, as 40k also has upper limits on the number of units you can take. Tyranids, Orks, even my own Drukhari to a degree, suffered from MSU (though good Drukhari players made it up in other ways, and dominated early 8th, until some nerfs came in). 9th changed things. As has been insinuated, instead of loads of models fleeing, what happens now is you still roll 1d6+slain, and try to get under leadership, but if failed, this only causes a single model to flee. However, in addition to that, if the test is failed, you then roll 1d6 for EVERY MODEL in the squad, and unmodified rolls of 1 cause another model to flee. This is... better for hoards, though the bigger the unit, the more likely it is to roll at least one 1. In addition to this, a new general rule came in, capping buffs to stats at +/- 1. So army abilities that buffed Ld scores cant stack, but also debuffs cant stack. This is great for some armies and trash for others, but it probably helps moral as it prevents cheese by debuffing the Ld of an army into the ground, then forcing morale checks. Thats all not bad. Its certainly the right direction for trying to get hoards back, while simultaneously keeping morale very simple and easy to understand. I think, from the sound of it, it would work well for AoS big units, especially if there was some sort of buff for being over 50% (perhaps the secondary rolls that cause models to flee on natural 1s only occurs at <50%? Or even below a certain model count, so Hoards are actually protected longer than MSU?) But, for 40k, what with one hand GW giveth, with the other GW taketh away. They also brought back vehicles shooting in melee combat (which, I mean, ok, but some vehicles had high damage and many shots BECAUSE locking them down in melee was the counter balance!), and Blast weapons, only instead of templates (I miss templates), variable-shot weapons simply hit a minimum amount of times vs units over a certain size (so a gun that shoots 2d6 shots normally, shoots a minimum 2d6 minimum 3 times vs units with 6+ models, and max times vs units with 12+ models), thus ensuring we are also running MSU for 9th. Still, they like AoS players more, so heres hoping!

Thanks guys Lots of stuff here. The more I think about it, the more sold I am on Sylvaneth. I borred a friends battletome and core rules book and did some reading and then popped over the the order sub-forum and threw together an army list and will see what people say. After sitting on it for a while, I am moving away from Gitz. While I do want to learn new things, Gitz is a bit too far out of my ability range when it comes to painting for my perfectionism to allow. Plus I dont have the space for hundreds of models. Seraphon were an initial draw after getting really into lizard men in Total War a couple years ago. I got disheartened when I saw their range dramatically decrease with AoS, but then new things seem to be added fairly often. They certainly seem to be current GW favourites and I am probably looking at some easy wins against my friends if I went with them - especially with coalesced. But... there is just something not sitting right with me. And I dont know what that is. Almost like a part of me is rebelling against the idea that I SHOULD want to be Seraphon, and I SHOULD want easy wins. And they can do everything that Sylvaneth can do, but better. And yet, the idea of teleporting and summoning tree folk excites me, while teleporting and summoning sentient lizards does not. I will continue to think.

So I have gone over the last 3 or 4 pages, and I am starting to get feel for things (brand new to AoS and seriously leaning towards Sylvaneth). I wont be tournamenting, but will be playing with 3 casual friends, 2 of whom have been playing AoS and Fantasy (one is Skaven, the other is Daemons - sometimes Tzneetch, sometimes Khorne) for years, and one who just got their Nighthaunt army. (We all play 40k together too). Trying to figure out what I need to get, and how best to play, and I am liking the sound of free dryads and teleporting (which I guess means Tree-Rev), and I like the Spite-rev models a lot, as well as Drycha. Presumably I need some hunters in there for some heavy lifting. And a branchwraith for the summoning (is she the only summoner?). Battalions get you CP, right? Trying to get out of the 40k mindset where Battalions are a detachment type. But, in general, I have 0 clue what I am doing. I threw this together but would like some advice in general: Leaders: Drycha ATL Branchwraith Battleline: 10 Tree-Rev 2x5 Tree Rev Other: 6 Scythe Hunters 2x3 GS Hunters Battalion: Outcasts Probably Gnarlroot most of the time, to better guarantee summons. In theory, I could bring in 10 Dryads a turn for free. Right? Winterleaf gives a nice combat boost, while Dreadwood synergises well with the Spites. If Skaven are still similar to old world Fantasy, then the Outcasts should be good for them, as I can hopefully play up to battleshock. Thing is, I would also like to win some games now and then. Ok, sure, practically no one is winning vs Tzneetch right now, but I am hardly facing meta. I just need something I can actually stand a chance with. Before I buy some boxes that is. Can anyone help out with that? Edits to my list? Point me towards other models? Spells I have missed for summoning, teleporting, better utilising Revs in general? Weapon choices? Thanks guys.

Ok, thanks guys! When I was looking earlier, I didnt enjoy the aesthetic of IronJawz. Too... 40k? But they might grow on me. What you are all saying about seraphon sounds encouraging. I think I remember something on Lustria online ages ago about how they were kinda bad becasue of how old their battlescrole was, and then how their new battlescroll didnt help a lot because they didnt get much rend. But you are all telling me they are top notch! I notice only one of you said anything about Synvaneth. And that was only to say they were expensive and that I need wild woods. Anyone care to expand on that? I think sylvaneth are the ones I have the most visceral "I want those lovely models" reaction to.

I messed up and now cant edit the OP for some reason. When I said "I want to stay away from destruction and death armies" I meant "chaos and death armies".

Hi all, new here. Reddit sent me in your direction as they (and I) are kinda obsessed with 40k right now and its hard to get AoS advice. About to start heading into the strange and mysterious world of AoS games. Been a follower of old world lore for a while, and a collector and player of 40k for years. I would not be looking for tournament ready stuff, but my friends collect and play between themselves (non-competitive), and want me to do the same. For reference, my friends collect Skaven, a variety of Chaos Daemons (both Tzneetch and Khorne), and a third has just picked up his first set of Nighthaunt. I have been having a look purely at models, and after falling in love with Lizardmen in old Fantasy, I of course see the appeal of Seraphon - though compared to the old range, the AoS range seems fairly limited. Sylvaneth has even fewer models, but looks so damn cool. Finally, I am wondering about Gitz or Orruks, mostly because they are fun models. It would be even better if I could use some of the models for warcry games too. I want to stay away from destruction and death armies for a couple of reasons: Nothing there really takes my fancy. Never been a massive fan of daemons or Chaos. I liked necrons in 40k, and I liked the old tomb kings. But I also quickly get bored of "yet another skeleton". My friends play armies from those subsets, and it would be fun if eventually we could represent 3 out of the 4 groups, or even all 4. The thing is, I already lose to my friends in 40k because Drukhari are a pain to field correctly. So I am also looking for an army thats a little forgiving, as well as interesting to model and paint, and that I could have some fun army building with. So, does anyone have any advice for the armies I mentioned above? Is there anything just around the corner for any of them? How are they currently playing? Even if they are doing well, am I forced into a small handful of boring looking units to remain competitive? And are any of them likely to pull double duty as old world armies when they bring back fantasy (thus saving me a ton of money, given that Daemons and Skaven are likely to be directly transferable)?