Age of Sigmar: Seasons of War – Subfactions of the Sylvaneth
Just like there are several variations of trees, Alarielle has a bunch of ways to turn you into plant food.
The new Sylvaneth battletome is out this weekend, alongside a host of awesome new releases for the Defenders of Ghyran. As with all the updated battletomes released in 3.0, one of the biggest changes within is how subfactions work. Gone are the compulsory artefacts, traits, and special abilities, replaced with more minor abilities to bring a little balance. Don’t let that fool you though; some of the new subfaction abilities are surprisingly powerful. Your tree spirits will still feel the power-up should you decide to go for one of these special forces.
Oakenbrow
As the first glade created by Alarielle, you expect the elder spirits of Oakenbrow to bring a wealth of experience, and they deliver in spades. They are immovable in their devotion to Alarielle, allowing them to push through injuries that would surely fell their lesser kin. To represent this, when checking the damage table for Oakenbrow Treelords, Ancients, or Spirits of Durthu, you only count half the wounds they have been dealt. On top of that, standard Treelords can be taken as Battleline, allowing you to play a full Behemoth army. If you liked the march of the Ents from Lord of the Rings, this is the subfaction for you.
Gnarlroot
Guardians of eldritch knowledge, the Gnarlroot glade are a secretive and insular group that mostly keeps to themselves. However, as the closest glade to the arcane powers of Ghyran, they are also the most adept at harnessing it. When one of your Wizards is wholly within 9″ of an overgrown terrain piece or a Wyldwood, you get to roll an extra d6 for casting, dropping the lowest. You’ll be able to pump out your spells out with deadly efficiency, leaving your opponent tangled in the roots.
Heartwood
When I played Sylvaneth, the Kurnoth Hunters were always my favorite pieces. I loved the idea of larger spirits given form by Kurnuos, hunting down his enemies with wild abandon while protecting the wild places. Heartwood represents this perfectly, allowing you to pick out three “quarry” units on your enemy’s side of the board. When attacking these units, all your models get +1 to hit, so you can take out important threats quickly. Even better, Kurnoth of all flavors are battleline in this faction, so you can stalk your enemies with the true children of the hunt.
Ironbark
On the opposite side of the hunter conclaves are those Sylvaneth that fight the enemy by just…not moving. Enter the Ironbark, a glade with a well earned name, as they are one of the toughest groups out there, and they’re almost deadlier on defense than offense! Have you ever gotten snagged in a bramble, then made it worse when you tried to wriggle out? Ironbark is like that, with a command ability that deals damage to units that dare to charge your boys. You can simply wait for enemy aggression, hit them with some mortal wounds, then teleport through the trees to wherever you’re needed. If you like to play the long game, pick this subfaction.
Tune in Sunday for the other three subfactions!
