AoS: Endless Spells of the Woodlands
Sylvaneth are out Saturday, and with their new book comes some cool new releases. Here are my thoughts on the brand new Endless Spells, and some ideas on how to utilize them in battle.
Sylvaneth are out Saturday, and with their new book comes some cool new releases, like snazzy dice, a re-imagined Wyldwood, and (of course) a trio of new and shiny endless spells. The new spells all capture different aspects of the Sylvaneth lore, and bring equal parts destruction and rebirth to the battlefield. Here are my thoughts on the brand new spells, and some ideas on how to utilize them in battle.
Gladewyrm
The new Sylvaneth book added a few of the more warlike spirits of Ghyran to the mix, and the Gladewyrm is the largest example. Described as being an entity formed of concentrated Jade magic, Gladewyrms live beneath the groves of the Sylvaneth, patrolling the realmroots to prevent any incursions into the sacred paths. Sylvaneth Wizards can call them to the battlefield, which makes them feel a little less like an Endless Spell and more like a summoned unit, but they still behave as a predatory spell. The have a cast of 7, which seems high until you consider the Throne of Vines spell which boosts you casting by 2, and has an 8” move that can “fly” (it’s actually moving under the ground but simplicity is king). When it is summoned, it is set up wholly within 6” and then can make its move. This spell feels the most Sylvaneth to me, as it is dangerous for your enemies but beneficial to your own units. Once it finishes its move, you roll a die for every non-Sylvaneth unit within 1”, dealing d3 mortal wounds on a 3+. Then, you roll a die for each Sylvaneth unit WHOLLY within 6”, and on a 3+ you heal d3 wounds. Note it does not say friendly, so this is probably not a spell to take in a mirror match. However, summoning one of these guys close to a multi-unit combat can be clutch, especially if you have some Kurnoth Hunters or a weakened Treelord. The wyrm will pop up, hopefully ice a few enemy models, and then beef up your own wounded units, possibly pushing a Treelord back into a more beneficial bracket. It unfortunately doesn’t bring back dead models, so it won’t be much help to Dryads or Revenants, but it could still soften up their enemies before you charge them.
Use this to back up big charges or support some of your heroes or monsters in combat. If you want to lose friends fast, keep one of these near Alarielle and watch her heal 3d3 wounds every hero phase.
Spiteswarm Hive
With an updated Chary who can use BOTH her spite attacks now and the Arch-Revenant’s winged Zephyrspite buddy, spites are seeing a lot more representation in the new Sylvaneth book. It makes sense that their representation would extend to the endless spells as well. The only stationary spell in the book, the Spiteswarm Hive is a fantastic support piece that gives you a couple options depending on what you need the most. It has a casting value of 7, which again seems high until you consider Throne of Vines, which you should almost always be taking on at least one of your wizards. Once cast, the ethereal beehive is set up anywhere wholly within 15” of the caster. At the end of every subsequent hero phase, you get to pick one of two effects for all Sylvaneth near the swarm. If you have an aggressive unit that you need to get into combat quickly, you can declare that the swarm is giving your guys a sting on the butt to get them moving with the Vital Venoms ability. If you pick this effect, roll a die for EVERY Sylvaneth unit wholly within 8” of the hive, and on a 2+ add 3” to both their normal moves and charge moves until the end of the turn.
This makes Dryads really spooky since it will increase their basic move to 10”, giving them a 25” threat range.
The other option is to declare that the spiteswarm will fly up and buzz around your units, making them much more difficult to take down with the Shielding Swarm ability. Like before, when you declare this ability you roll a die for each Sylvaneth unit wholly within 8”, and on a 2+ you can reroll save rolls of 1 for that unit until the end of the turn.
This is solid to protect a unit from a shooting attack, or if you need to add a little extra survivability to a dedicated combat unit.
Vengeful Skullroot
The only thing scarier than the ticked off forests that accompany the Sylvaneth to battle is when one of the trees picks up on its own and starts to track people down. This is exactly the case with the Vengeful Skullroot, which functions as both a damage dealer and added punishment for the battleshock phase. The Vengeful Skullroot is summoned on a 6, which makes it fairly easy to cast, and is a predatory spell with an 8” fly move. Once you summon it, it is set up wholly within 6” of the caster and can make its move. After the move, each non-Sylvaneth unit that the tree has passed over suffers d3 mortal wounds, or d6 mortal wounds if that unit is within 3” of an Awakened Wyldwood (the trees apparently like to fight together). This is already a fairly strong move, but the Skullroot has another nasty trick as well. Whenever a non-Sylvaneth unit fails a battleshock test within 3”, d3 extra models flee.
Combine this with the Spite-Revenant’s Unbridled Malice, Fear the Forest-Kin from the Outcasts Battalion, or for maximum damage, both, and you’ll be seeing giant blocks of models fleeing all at once. This can be particularly nasty against high model low bravery units like Grots or Clanrats and can do significant damage to low model units as well, especially close to an Awakened Wyldwood.
~What do you think of the new spells? Which ones will you be using in your games?
