Age of Sigmar: ‘Sylvaneth’ Faction Focus – Strike And Fade
The forests are alive in more ways than you might think. Especially when the Sylvaneth are on the hunt. Don’t mess with the trees!
Alarielle the Everqueen has roused her forces once again. The armies of life itself are marching to war! How will these play out in the next edition? That’s what we’re looking to find out. Get ready for life to, uh…find a way!
“As mercurial as the seasons, the Sylvaneth appear capricious and amoral to their more flesh and blood allies among the forces of Order – for they believe the sanctity of nature is paramount. Alarielle is happy to let mortal civilisations foster for there is power within all life, but she allows for the construction of great smoke-belching cities of industry only if they do not impinge on the delicate balance of life in the Mortal Realms.”
Sylvaneth Battle Traits
Once again the Sylvaneth ride to battle with the very forces of nature and life on their side. Their Awakened Wyldwoods are back and they will be a key part of this army. Endless Growth triggers off them and provides a Heal (D3) for each eligible unit wholly within 6″ of an Awakened Wyldwood.
Furthermore, Strike and Fade is back. You’ll be able to essentially teleport a Sylvaneth unit from one Awakened Wyldwood to another one outside of 9″ from enemy units. And finally, we have a look at Walk the Hidden Paths. This ability ALSO allows for a Sylvaneth unit to teleport to a different Awakened Wyldwood! The difference here is that it can happen in the movement phase instead of the end of any turn. The Sylvaneth are looking to be very tricky to pin down thanks to their Awakened Wyldwoods.
Sylvaneth Battle Formations
Once again we’ve got four Battle Formations for the army. Below you can see the rules for the Lords of the Clan. Their Healing Song can provide some potent boosts to the Sylvaneth’s healing.
“Smaller forest spirits protect their habitats with bloodthirsty vigour, while malevolent outcasts terrify their opponents. Finally, Alarielle’s elite cavalry swiftly run down their foes without mercy.”
Sylvaneth Spell Lore of the Deepwood
The Sylvaneth will be able to tap into the Lore of the Deepwood. Here we get a look at the Treesong spell which allow them to summon in a new Awakened Wyldwood or regen an existing one if there are already 3 on the field.
Sylvaneth Warscrolls
In terms of Warscrolls, we’ve got Alarielle the Everqueen, the Spirit of Durthu, Spite-Revenants, and Spiterider Lancers. This really showcases two of the bigger hitters in the army with Alarielle and the Spirit of Durthu. I’d expect those two to be quite popular options in many Sylvaneth lists. The Spite-Revenants and Riders are nice to see as well. But my personal favorite unit from the army is the Kurnoth Hunters and we do get the Spearhead version of them below.
Sylvaneth Spearhead – Bitterbark Copse
The old Sylvaneth Vanguard box is now the new Spearhead option. If you can find this box it’s a good start.
Contents:
- 1x Branchwych
- 1x Treelord, which can also be built as a Treelord Ancient or Spirit of Durthu
- 3x Kurnoth Hunters, which can be built with Kurnoth Greatswords, Greatbows, or Scythes
- 5x Tree-Revenants, which can also be built as Spite-Revenants
We also get a quick look a few of their Spearhead specific rules.
The truncated version of the Spearhead rules do at least ease you into playing this army. And we also get a look at those Kurnoth Hunters. This looks like the Greatbow build of them.
The trees are alive and they are angry. I think that the Sylvaneth have always been an interesting army to play. They’ve had a lot of great units that can answer some tough problems when used with care. They’ve got the staying power with their various healing abilities and can really tough to pin-down. If you’re up against them you’re going to want to avoid those Wyldwoods…if you can!
The forest is alive alright. And it’s MAD.
