awcamawn

The Sisters of the Watch are solid keepers, and are workhorses of the faction. Despite being fragile they're best used aggressively along with the Wanderers' Realm Wanderers battle trait to redeploy without moving and thus get the benefit of their Quicksilver Shot ability. A unit of 20 of these can be a downright terrifying threat to a chaos player, as @Ndino87 mentioned in his battle report. Their mere presence on the board edge can force your opponent to react or be flanked. The Sisters of the Thorn are likely a bit overpriced, but they wield a very excellent unique spell in Shield of Thorns. This spell combos quite well with Eternal Guard - and any other unit that has access to +1 save modifiers, such as all those Dryads you're likely to have from your Sylvaneth. Units of dryads with more than 12 models will be doing mortal wounds on 5+ when rolling saving throws in the combat phase with Shield of Thorns active. Eternal Guard are really efficiently pointed right now though, and are probably a better target for Shield of Thorns for that reason alone. If you have some old High Elves with spears they would work just fine as a proxy for Eternal Guard, otherwise I would consider buying some as they form a low-point-cost defensive backbone for any Wanderers force. The Glade Guard are a bit of a one hit wonder with their Arcane Bodkins, but the fact that you get twice as many models vs a similar costed unit of Sisters of the Watch means they can be useful for objectives in AoS 2. Running the 40 you have in 2 groups of 20 is risky as they really want that +1 to hit from their Peerless Archery ability while they have 20 or more models. A unit of 30 may be better, able to put a solid hurt on something early with their -3 rend and then scooting off to hold an objective or to simply use their very large footprint on the table to take up some space and zone out your enemy (blocking deepstrikes to key areas, etc) Just to note, only one Wanderer hero is in resin, the Spellweaver with staff. There is an alternative Spellweaver available from GW in metal, and the Waywatcher/Wayfinder/Waystrider heroes are also in metal as well, not resin. So no need to mess with any resin! There are definitely conversion options out there though - please share any that you come up with! Dark Elf Sorceress as a Spellweaver is one I see a bunch, and a Waywatcher can be made by just building a really fancy looking Glade Guard/Sister of the Watch. Personally I really like the look of the metal Wanderer hero models though. The three key heroes you will likely want at 1250 points are a Nomad Prince (our sole hero available in good ol' plastic, and a great sculpt), a Spellweaver, and a Waywatcher [or maybe two]. A Nomad Prince is relatively points efficient with a very respectable melee profile and provides a key 'reroll 1's to hit' bubble to nearby Wanderer units. A Spellweaver has a nifty spells that revives slain Wanderer models to a target unit (especially effective on the 2 wound, 44-points-a-model Sisters of the Thorn) and additionally has a once per game ability to automatically succeed on an unbind attempt with her Ancient Blessings ability. I've found this once per game auto-unbind absolutely clutch against opponents with powerful spellcasting, especially when they're using some of the really powerful endless spells (looking at you, Everblaze Comet). Finally the Waywatcher, despite a 20 points cost increase in the last GHB, remains a powerful and extremely reliable source of relatively long range shooting attacks with rend. Additionally, his command ability 'See, But Do Not Be Seen' will improve the resiliency of Wanderer units against enemy shooting attacks by providing a large bubble of '-1 to hit.' Besides the heroes, potentially some additional Sisters of the Watch (I've found units of 20 to be especially effective), and the aforementioned Eternal Guard, some Wildwood Rangers would make a good addition. They have a solid melee punch even against non-monster keyword targets and their 2" melee range comes in extremely handy in making sure they get all of their attacks in. Ultimately I would pick them over some of the similar elite melee options High Elves have to offer, especially if you are looking to use the Wanderers Allegiance Abilities. Non-Wanderer alternatives won't reroll battleshock or have the option to use Realm Wanderers, nor will they benefit from the Spellweaver's Blessing of Life or either the Nomad Prince's or the Waywatcher's command abilities. As far as allies, Kurnoth Hunters provide some very strong melee punch with potential -2 rend as well as some much needed toughness for the army (as @overtninja mentioned). I would also speculate that Drycha would make an excellent ally for Wanderers mechanically, providing a solid mortal wound output which Wanderers lack, but would not fit into the ally limit at 1250 points. As far as our options from the High Elf range, I think the Dragon Blades would make a nice allied detachment providing some mobile melee damage. I've seen folks ally in Phoenix Guard, but in my humble opinion 20 Eternal Guard are simply more efficient than 10 Phoenix Guard for the same point cost in a Wanderer allegiance list - especially when sheer number of models on a given objective can easily decide a game in AoS 2. The Phoenixes [w/Anointed] themselves are a different matter; they're strong ally options but again even the cheaper Frostheart Phoenix won't fit in the ally limit for a 1250 point game. Based on what you already have, I might go for something like this: Allegiance: WanderersNomad Prince (80)Waywatcher (120)- General- Trait: Masterful Hunter - Artefact: Starcaster Longbow 10 x Sisters of the Watch (180)30 x Glade Guard (360)10 x Eternal Guard (70)10 x Eternal Guard (70)10 x Wildwood Rangers (140)5 x Sisters of the Thorn (220)Total: 1240 / 1250Extra Command Points: 0Allies: 0 / 200Wounds: 90 You'd need to buy two heroes and three boxes of the Wildwood Rangers/Eternal Guard kit, or if you're looking to convert the heroes and you have 20 of the old High Elf spears (for Eternal Guard proxies) you might just need to buy a single box to get to 1250 points of Wanderers.

@Ndino87 awesome battle report, seemed like a fun game. Keep em coming, love all the pics. Somehow never considered putting the ol' Spellweaver on a Balewind Vortex before, but I am now! @GM_Monkey True enough, add a very specific set up to the list of downsides of the Forget-me-not. I think the Starcaster Longbow is nearly an auto include for us as far as artifacts go, and with a choice of a second one (w/battalion) the Viridescent Shawl is more useful in more situations than the Forget-me-not. The Forget-me-not is on a short list of things capable of killing Morathi in one turn (as she cannot use The Iron Heart of Khaine for the combat phase that she is removed from); powerful but very niche. One thing I've noticed is I haven't been able to effectively use Protective Volley ever since one of my buddies started using the Everblaze Comet; if I try to stack up to use the battalion as I would before I'm at risk of having half my army wiped out by one endless spell (after the Spellweaver uses Ancient Blessings or by my opponent casting the comet from 36" - beyond unbinding range).

@Frozenbeast The solution is to ensure that all the bases within the screening unit are wholly within 2.49" of the Prince, so that no charging models can be placed within .5" of the screening unit without also being within 3" of the Prince. There are perhaps stronger options, but the Forget-me-knot can still be quite powerful as long as you do not make a mistake in moving and arranging your models; ensuring the models are in the right place is tricky but it is ultimately up to you to plan ahead and not leave an opening for your opponent. To me, the Forget-me-knot's main weakness is that a wise opponent will simply go after your Prince with their non-hero units.

@GM_Monkey I think Aezeal is right, proper placement and planning can be key here. When looking to use the Forget-me-knot defensively, try not to have three full 25mm bases in your way in any direction so that your opponent can't charge around the artifact's range. In this example, if an enemy Waywatcher is charging in to do some serious damage with his Waystalker Blade, the Prince can prevent it. Even if the opponent places his charging hero as far from the Prince as he can, he'll still be in combat with the Nomad Prince and the Forget-me-knot can be used: When trying to charge a hero bearing the Forget-me-knot into combat, be sure to take full advantage of the 1" of distance that unit cohesion allows and it will leave enough of a gap for your charging hero to fit between your units' 25mm bases. Here these Eternal Guard are tied up in combat with the fearsome melee threat of an enemy Waywatcher hero, but with careful model positioning the Nomad Prince can still charge in to save the day:

Indeed, Heart of Winter featured a outcast washed-up drunk of a Waywatcher whose clan had been slaughtered. The Sylvaneth Outcasts are notably friends to nobody, and it can be inferred that they have an axe to grind with aelves they see as betrayers to their kind. Had the rest of his clan not been slaughtered by twisted forest spirits he'd probably still be living happily in the wilderness with the rest of his kindred however; he had pretty good reason to not like Sylvaneth but still kept a shrine to the Everqueen. As a society they seem to largely live outside of cities and keep moving, hence the Wanderer moniker. @Turin Turambar I know the 'weird tree things' was a light hearted comment, but like most good jokes it contained an important kernel of truth so I felt the need to address it while going over the points you had made. The fact that the Sylvaneth truly are so weird, fey, capricious, and mercurial is probably the best reason Wanderers can't/shouldn't/won't get merged in with them. They are beings of magic and see the Wanderers as 'divorced from nature' - which is a pretty serious diss among hippie types. But currently the main driving narrative force for Wanderers is their desire to redeem themselves, so hoping for a merging of the factions is my selfish way of them getting a bit of happy resolution to their current plot. It's also why I don't think their merging would be 'lazy,' as it would require them to move the story forward for both of the factions and thus give us some cool new fluff and story progression. To me, an aelf-soup tome is not at all lazy per se, but it would be the option requiring less effort on GW's part as any fluff within would most likely be repeating what we know of the various aelven factions from their blurbs in the ancient GA: Order book and the AoS 2 Core Book without any new developments fluff wise. I do agree that an 'aelf battletome' is the most likely option for Wanderers to get anything at all (based on the AoS 2 faction focuses, the new AoS website's faction breakdown, and the updated GW webstore faction categories), and you better believe if/when such a book is announced I'll have my wallet ready with a big smile on my face. I again would prefer a bespoke battletome for Wanderers, but with that seeming unlikely I still hold that they'd retain more of their identity alongside a Sylvaneth update instead of being stuck with a bunch of city-slickin' aelves. 😉 You do bring up a very interesting point with the mysterious Wanderer defenders of Greywater Fastness. We have descriptions of aelf civilians living in the city, and Firestorm tells us Wanderers make up part of its defense, but all the descriptions we have of Greywater Fastness' military seem to exclusively describe gunpowder based ranged weapons. So who are these 'dark Wanderers?' I've thought it would be a cool army concept since I read the Firestorm book - outcast Wanderers who have turned their back on the spiteful Sylvaneth and their goddess: Glade Guard converted to be wielding firearms, a Waywatcher hero with a sniper rifle, and lots of gritty urban bases covered in soot and sludge to invert the normal wood elf tropes. But to play devil's advocate again, if we look at the city allegiances available to Wanderers - being Greywater Fastness and the Living City (ignoring Hammerhal as everybody including the Sylvaneth seem to work together to defend that one) - neither allows any other aelf factions except for the Wanderers alone and the Wanderers themselves aren't found in other aelf-centric city allegiances like the Phoenicium - evidence they don't play nice with other aelves? 🤔

Congrats on the win @bernoodist, looked like a really fun game. Always great to see some beautiful and brightly colored armies on the table. Looks like some pretty nicely painted terrain too. I like your use of some of the older models. The Eternal Guard sans shields always looked really cool. What do you use the Glade Lord with Sword and Spear as? I got one from a GW store manager that he didn't know what to do with and I converted it into a Nomad Prince.

Sylvaneth are weird tree things which they were close allies with for millennia, and some of those weird tree things - Tree Revenants - now run around cosplaying as ancient wood aelf [wanderer] warriors ("Protectors" from sylvaneth lore). The Sylvaneth consider the Wanderers "estranged cousins" (Grand Alliance: Order, page 85), and the Wanderers "hope to redeem themselves" (AoS 2 Core Rule Book, page 143) in the eyes of the Sylvaneth and their Everqueen. They do have a "symbiotic relationship" with the Free Cities, "acting as scouts and guerrilla strike forces when necessary, in exchange for occasional shelter and succour" (AoS 2 Core Rule Book, page 143, emphasis my own). This is important because their 'symbiotic relationship' highlights that they represent a separate entity from the cities, and being a nomadic people they largely do not live in the cities themselves but prefer the wild places of the realms (like the Sylvaneth do). "Wanderers are warriors of the wilderness" and when called to war "the kindreds of the Wanderers gather from the wilderness" (GA: Order, page 264). In this, I admit they do share a great deal in common with the Lion Rangers but all the rest of the other aelves are rooted quite staunchly within the cities. In short, if we consider the lore, the Wanderers occasionally help the forces of the free cities when necessary - sounds like every faction in GA: Order there - and in fact do not live within the free cities as a society but instead are nomads, a lifestyle that is quite unlike all the other aelf factions save the Lion Rangers. And those 'weird tree things' aren't that weird to them - they worship the same goddess and favor the same types of places within the realms to make their homes. I would love for this rumor engine to be Wanderers, but I think it's a good call that this could very well be a slaaneshi perversion of the trope aelf aesthetic with as little as we have to go on here. My best real guess is it's most likely something new for Sylvaneth, following the pattern of Warhammer Underworld releases being used to showcase and tease upcoming AoS releases and we know they have a warband coming of very aelfy-looking tree spirits. Would be great to see Wanderers buck that trend and come out of nowhere off those 'hidden paths' they're always using though.

I would rather they put Wanderers back in with the Sylvaneth than simply throw us in a big soup with the other aelves. I would like even more for us to get a book of our own. I will happily buy any of those options without much complaint, however. I just think Wanderers share more in common with the Sylvaneth than they do the Darkling Covens, Order Draconis, or Eldritch Council. Would love to see the King in the Woods return alongside some wardancers and a rewritten Wild Riders warscroll.

Good question! Back in AoS 1.0 I remember using precise shots against a SCE player that had stacked the Lord-Castellant's Warding Lantern with Staunch Defender, to where he was healing wounds on saves of 5+. Using precise shots meant fewer saving throws for him to have a chance to heal off of, and if the extra rend goes off there would be no chance to heal. There are some edge cases like this where an ability will trigger off of saving throws, and doubling your attacks with Fast Shots means more potential saving throws and a greater chance of such an ability triggering. The Stardrake's Sigmarite Thundershield also comes to mind. Fewer shots but with similar damage potential can be useful in such cases.

Looks good @Gwendar. I would consider, although up to personal preference, putting your Sisters of the Watch into one large unit of 20 and have that unit be your main target for Realm Wanderers. They benefit greatly from not having to 'move' and thus shoot twice in the shooting phase, while Glade Guard can scoot and shoot normally without penalty. Another thing to think about is your command trait, depending on how much use you get out of Stalker of the Hidden Paths. I've found the extra 10" of range from Eagle Eyed really useful for getting in range of support heroes that your opponent may hold to the back a bit. The Spellweaver as general with Singer of Spells is a pretty solid option as well, especially against magic heavy opponents when you want more reliability in unbinding them normally and preventing them from more easily unbinding your own spells. Just some things to think about; a very solid looking list!

@Aloth_Corfiser Good eye there, didn't see that but I will definitely have to pick it up now. Is this the first piece of brand new art depicting wood aelves/wanderers for AoS? I think it is. Pretty awesome. We do exist y'all!

@overtninja I think you've got solid lists cooked up here all around. I've not had the chance to face Nighthaunt much just yet, but in a relatively small game against them I believe your Sisters of the Watch will be your MVPs regardless of which list you choose. Therefore, I would pick the list based on how you plan to use them. They would benefit massively from the Nomad Prince's Lord of the Deepwood Host command, allow them to reroll fully half of their misses under normal circumstances. However this would require keeping them within 8" of the Prince, and you may not be deploying either the Prince or the Sisters in the optimal positions at that point. So it's consistency of damage vs optimal positioning - the way I would normally use the Sisters (especially in such a small game) is Realm Wanderer them far around the flank and force my opponent to choose to divert some or all of his forces chasing after my most powerful unit, knowing it will 'disappear' in my next movement phase, or continue towards my main force and/or the objective and let the Sisters fire with impunity. If he's running some of the faster Nighthaunt stuff or is smart enough to hold some back for a 'deepstrike' this could be a risky strategy however, especially if you face a potential double turn early on. I might also recommend considering the Forget-me-knot on the Nomad Prince instead of the Relic Blade if you do take him, while the Relic Blade gives your list some much needed extra punch, the Forget-me-knot can often result in a dead enemy hero instead of a dead Nomad Prince. Depends on what enemy hero(es) you expect to face though. Remember you can also give a Nomad Prince a Starcaster Longbow as well, another option always worth considering. Or give the Wayfinder the Starcaster Longbow to split your opponents focus a bit.

I will usually use Realm Wanderer on a Waywatcher or a unit of Sisters of the Watch because of the benefits those warscrolls have when they do not move normally. Sisters of the Thorn would get an honorable mention, particularly when you have a Realm Spell or Endless Spell to unleash with them and need to get in range quickly (especially for a first turn Soulsnare Shackles). I find myself not taking Stalker any more. At some point I want to try it combined with the Wending Wand for maximum movement options but as-is I'm afraid it will give a single unit a huge burst of speed but then leave it either isolated or out of position or both. I have found that Singer of Spells is fantastic on a Spellweaver general and makes her a really potent magical force on the battlefield, giving her some decent sustaining power to go alongside her single Ancient Blessings trump card. More commonly I've taken a Waywatcher general and found great use out of both Eagle-eyed and Masterful Hunter, though I prefer the +10" range because it maximizes your target options and almost guarantees he'll be able to shoot every turn at basically whatever you want him to anywhere on the board (hard to stay 38" away from board edges). If taking the Nomad Prince as general, I find Myst-Walker very useful for keeping him alive when you've taken the battalion and want to get him within 12" of some dangerous foes (and provides for fun shenanigans when you haven't). Bubble wrap the Prince with Eternal Guard and he'll be able to swing his 2" reach attacks at foes that cannot even attack back until they chew through the Guard. I like the idea of counter-charging rangers coming off a board edge into the flank, they're a fantastic but somewhat challenging-to-use unit and it's incredibly satisfying when you can keep them alive and use them well. The issue with using a command point to reroll their charge post Realm Wanderer is it would be hard, depending on the circumstances, to have a hero within 6" or your general within 12" of them after they've teleported away. That or they haven't teleported very far. Cogs could be interesting, but you would have to be pretty fearless to bring them to the table with a Wanderer army as they generally would benefit them other army more (most of the time). With the right timing on the activation it could work though. Would love to see a Eternal Guard/Wildwood Rangers/Wild Riders-heavy army try that!

But in AoS 2.0 when your general dies you get to pick a new one, right? While the battalion is quite good, I've found Wanderers play fine at lower points. We don't have one of our best toys but at 1k neither does most everybody else. Even with their points increase, Waywatcher heroes are very strong and taking multiple in a smaller game can be downright dirty against some more casual lists. A unit of 20 Sisters of the Watch bouncing around the board edge will also typically find less that can threaten them in smaller games; your opponent will likely not have as much to out-range or chase them down with (knowing they will just disappear and potentially leave a significant portion of their army out of position). And with fewer big scary threats on the table at 1k, you can be a bit more aggressive with your Nomad Prince and take advantage of their solid melee profile. The Forget-Me-Knot artifact can be extremely powerful in smaller games as well if your opponent does decide to invest a lot of points in a hero; make them lose a key combat phase then follow up with a retreat and/or coup de grace them with either shooting or some well positioned Wildwood Rangers (especially if its a monster as well as a hero).

I have thought about this, it could potentially make for a very strong defensive backbone and still leave plenty of points for some offense. Eternal Guard are easily our most efficient unit points-wise. But who wants to paint that many Eternal Guard? The models are so detailed, it would take me forever! In AoS 1.0 I got a unit of Eternal Guard into cover on an objective with 6 models out of 10 left. I was able to set the combo off and by the time my friend had rolled the first of his Plague Drones attacks and realized what was going on, he then politely declined to attack with their remaining weapons and retreated the next turn. Possibly the most triumphant moment of my AoS career; it felt pretty great. And in AoS 2.0, your opponent must attack, even if it means blowing themselves up on the shield! Pulling that off is now my new goal in AoS. I have found that units of 10 are absolutely key to giving them a chance to find full cover for the unit, though. Units of 20 or 30 have their benefits as well, but Eternal Guard don't gain any bonuses on their warscroll from unit size so I find myself sticking with 10s.

Kurnoth (kurnous) was confirmed to be still alive in the Ghyran section of the new Core Book. Last we heard he's biding his time and regaining his strength in Ghyran somewhere. The irony of that post in the Herald is that Khaine is confirmed dead (but not necessarily permadead if Morathi would stop drawing power from his literal heart)

I'm not sure it can be said enough what a great model the Prince is and it's always great to see everyone's take on him. Nice work, very wintery. The red gems really pop against the grey-blue.

You have a good deal of freedom here. From the core rules under Warscroll Battalions: 'During set-up, you can set up some or all the units from a warscroll battalion at the same time rather than setting up each unit individually.' When a unit is set up, that is when you declare whether it is using any special deployment rules, like the Waystone Pathfinders' Realm Wanderers ability. So as one drop you can set up some or all of the units in the battalion, and then set up any remaining units individually, declaring for each unit when deployed whether they will start on the battlefield or not. Weclome to the fold, you have good taste!

I'd been tempted by Harlequins for a while because they did indeed seem like the 40k analogue to wood elves (exodites not being an army). The Kill Team ruleset seems like fun, so I find myself picking up my first 40k models - the other day I built a six model kill team of Harlequins (with Wanderer heads). I played a quick game at a store that had a demo Kill Team set on the table this past weekend and absolutely shredded some Space Marines with my Harlequins in close combat. They even have "War Dancers" as a faction specific tactic! So that's how I'll scratch my Wardancer itch for the near future, and still have AoS as my main game when I want to pew pew people with Waywatchers. I am hoping to turn the Kill Team starter set terrain into cool AoS terrain though, there are a good amount of sci fi doodads on the buildings but I'm thinking they can be covered with greenstuff and then they just look like gothic ruins. My archers need more elevated things to stand on and shoot people from.

+++++++ Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely. Especially on the Wardancers part! They are missed greatly, such a cool concept that I think really epitomized Wood Elves as a faction. And because the Wardancer kindreds of the old world already roved the forests as traveling performers, they would perhaps be an even better fit for the nomadic lifestyle the Wanderers have adopted in the Mortal Realms. It just makes sense GW! Really hoping that we may someday get the Daughters of Khaine treatment, with a battletome, a new centerpiece-style hero model, and a couple of new kits (and yes, a rework of the Wild Riders' rules akin to what the Witch Aelves received upon the DoK release). And yet I stand by the fact that they are not 'dead' as-is. We've got to count our blessings, at least we're not one of many factions that simply have zero battalions (1>0)! ? And of all the various factions that have yet to receive an AoS battletome, we have the single most unique warscrolls - 11, so I think there is a solid core of a faction for GW to build upon here.

I like the conversion idea! But Wanderers are not a dead army as far as AoS is concerned. There are black library stories, lore in the core book, and allegiance abilities for Wanderers. How much do they need to have to not be 'dead' in AoS?

Hey, love the Wanderers shout out! A Ben Vereen model dancing around would be a great addition to my Wanderers force! Wanderers: Men Aelves in Tights Great episode! Twice a month sounds good, though I'd listen about as fast as you can put them out in any case.

Played a game today in which I tested a unit of 20 Sisters of the Watch to maximize on only one unit using Realm Wanderers per turn and they were definitely my MVPs! The large unit size also helped me secure an objective late game, and I was able to garrison them in a dreadhold at one point as well which was great - garrisoning a unit is also "instead of making a normal move" so they got to shoot twice there as well. Used an emerald lifeswarm and the spellweaver's blessing of life to ensure they remained in good health. I find with the change to Realm Wanderers I have to think much more carefully about placement and deployment, which isn't necessarily a bad thing even if it is a significant nerf.

Stormcast Eternals can Ally in any Order keyword units... ????