AoS: Hero Focus – Arch-Revenant
Arch-Revenants are avenging spirits that will lay low the enemies of the Everqueen. Aided by a host of sprites, there’s no end to what these heroes can do.
Since they first showed up, the Sylvaneth have had some really awesome and thematic hero options like the mighty Treelord Ancients, the fractured remnants known as the Spirits of Durthu, and of course the Everqueen herself.
However, with the growing threat of Chaos and the Undead threatening Alarielle’s realm, a new warspirt was required, one who could act as a champion for the Everqueen and lead her armies to the far realms. Enter the Arch-Revenant, a Free Spirit war leader who can act as both assassin or support depending on what you need.
The Arch-Revenant is a great hero choice, able to seamlessly fade between different battlefield roles depending on what the situation requires, and are a bargain to boot at only 100 points. They can Fly, so long as they still have their Zephyrspite, and have an impressive movement of 12”, allowing them to close distance rather quickly to deliver death or reposition to wherever you need them.
In combat they can really bring a lot of pain with their Revenant’s glaive, which has 3 attacks that hit and wound on a 3+, have a -2 Rend, and deal 2 damage with every successful wound. This is a great way to deal with pesky foot heroes without risking or tying up your casters or big guys. They makes a great starter or escort piece for units that like combat, like Kurnoth Hunters with Greatswords. And if they choose to balance their glaive on their shield, they are allowed to re-roll 1s to hit in the combat phase, making them more likely to land all their attacks.
As a support piece, the Arch-Revenant can really shine in an aggressive army. Any Hunters, regardless of what they’re equipped with, re-roll 1s to hit while their unit is fully within 12” of an Arch-Revenant. This applies to both the shooting AND combat phase, so it might bear bringing more than one Revenant to babysit both your Greatbow hunters and your fighters. The Revenant’s command ability is also great for a unit it’s babysitting, adding an extra attack to all their melee weapons.
A 5th attack on sword Hunters means blending just about anything AoS can throw at you in a single turn, or if you’re feeling really vindictive you can throw it on a giant block of dryads or Spite-Revenants and watch your enemy models turn to red mist. You can really add the hurt if your army is from the Winterleaf Glade, when your attacks all the have potential to explode into 2, so that extra attack means more likelihood for the bonus to trigger.
The Revenant is decently solid on the defense, with the standard 5 wounds and a 4+ save, but it probably shouldn’t make a habit of prolonged combat. If you need it to hold the line, however, you can focus its shield of defense rather than attack, allowing it to re-roll saves of 1. In the scenario where you absolutely need to save the Revenant, you can have the Zephyrspite jump in front of the attack. The Revenant is allowed to negate a single wound or mortal wound during the battle, but from then on it loses the ability to fly and can’t use the Zephyrspite’s tail attack. While it’s only one wound, keeping the Revenant alive for one extra turn could swing the game in your favor.
What are your favorite strategies with the Arch-Revenant?
