To begin I want to take a look at one of the biggest changes with the release of the new Awakened Wildwood model. The new model is lovely and made with the thought of usability for game use. There is a surprising amount of diversity in the footprint you can create with the new trees and are well worth the investment. However, it is great to see the recent FAQ officially allow the use of the old Citadel Woods as the new tree to help people change over to the newer models at their own pace. It is good to note the FAQ also mentions that only the first tree placed uses the new terrain placement rules while all future trees use the warscroll rules for deployment. I would recommend picking up at least two or three of the new kits to start and expand from there as you play more games.
Next up I want to take a look at the Glades from the Battletome and which ones I think might have a strong impact on the table. If you are looking to have a strong presence casting and dispelling spells I would take a serious look at The Gnarlroot Glade as it has one of my favorite artifacts in the book allowing you to roll three dice to cast or dispell and remove a dice of your choosing! If you are a fan of the Kurnoth Hunter models and want a surgical strike army containing both combat and shooting then I would suggest The Heartwood Glade. You can maximize rerolls for your units quite easily and really put a hurt on your opponent. The Winterleaf Glade is built for those who like combat armies as it allows any hit roll of a six to turn into two hits in combat! You can build around a few big hitters or a bunch of small attacks to good effect. My “under the radar” pick from the book is The Dreadwood Glade and if I am honest I would build entirely in this glade if I was just starting my Sylvaneth army now. I would take Drycha and a bunch of Spite-Revenants and push out the damage while dropping my opponent's bravery as low as possible making them reroll their successful Battleshock tests with the glades command trait. The final, and my current favorite glade is The Harvestboon Glade. It is strongly focused on charging into combat and is built with Durthu in mind as the general with the cool ability to hit and run for its command trait. There is plenty of options to choose from and you are likely to find a glad to suit your playstyle quite easily.
Next on the list to take a look at is the Battalions we have in the Battletome. They should look familiar to everyone who plays the army and while none of them feel overpowered they do have a use depending on how you want to play your army. The Free Spirits Battalion is great if you want to play a Kurnoth focused list and want to maximize your run rolls. Forest Folk and Outcast are both excellent as they allow you to make your Battletline a single drop during deployment on top of their added benefits. This army will need to play the deployment game in the higher tables so lowering your drops will be very important.
I am not planning on diving into the Warscrolls to deep as they are mostly the same with a few changes here and there throughout the Battletome and they can easily be looked up on the Azyr App. Some of the great changes that have happened are the Tree-Revenants way pipe allowing them to teleport much more freely. Drycha getting both of her bug types as well as plenty of attacks! Alarielle’s Talon of Dwindling becoming much more reliable in its damage output and her command ability being toned a bit, but is able to be used more than once per game. I am also a big fan of the change to the Treelords Stomp abilities now causing enemy units to fight last. One warscroll you really need to check out is the new Arch Revenant released in the recent Looncurse boxset. She is a really neat character I plan to add to my force once I can obtain one of the models.
We also see the Sylvaneth get their own Endless Spells with the release and I really like them all. Each has good use depending on how you plan to play your army. The Spiteswarm Hive will be great to help you get some early turn charging off with the added benefit of assisting any units nearby holding down an objective. The Gladwyrm, while a bit tricky to use in this way, will be useful if you are getting stuck int combat and can get this guy between you and the enemy unit allowing you to damage your enemy while healing yourself. Lastly the Vengeful Skullroot pairs nicely if you are running an Outcast style army and want to put as much hurt to your enemy in their Battleshock phase as possible. They are all great looking models to boot so I would recommend picking up the box.
Lastly, we have a plethora of Command Traits, Artifacts, and a Spell Lore. I encourage you all to read this section for yourself and find your favorites to fit what you need. I am a big fan of the Vesperal Gem to let me automatically cast a spell, with the risk of hurting myself on a roll of a one after the spell is cast. The Seed of Rebirth is another artifact I have my eye on allowing me to keep a Hero around just a bit longer. As far as the Command Traits and Spell Lore go I can easily see a use for pretty much all of them so you really need to pick the ones that fit the plan of your army, but there is something there for everyone.
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and ramblings on the new Sylvaneth Battletome. Below I will put up my current list I am playing around with for my games and I encourage everyone to share their lists in the comments below. Be sure to come back in a few days when I do a review of the lore in the new Battletome and see how The children of The Everqueen are handling the aftershocks of the Necroquake. Happy Hobbying!
Chuck Moore
Allegiance: Sylvaneth
- Glade: Harvestboon
Leaders
Spirit of Durthu (340)
- General
- Trait: Seek New Fruit
- Artefact: The Silent Sickle
Alarielle the Everqueen (660)
- Deepwood Spell: The Dwellers Below
Treelord Ancient (300)
- Artefact: The Vesperal Gem
- Deepwood Spell: Regrowth
Branchwraith (80)
- Deepwood Spell: Verdurous Harmony
Battleline
10 x Dryads (100)
10 x Dryads (100)
10 x Dryads (100)
5 x Tree-Revenants (80)
Battalions
Forest Folk (140)
Endless Spells / Terrain
Gladewyrm (30)
Spiteswarm Hive (50)
Total: 1980 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 80