Hey everyone, Reecius here to talk about my first impressions of the very awesome new Age of Sigmar Order Battletome: Sylvaneth!
Be sure to check the Tactics Corner for more great Age of Sigmar content!
So caveat: this is not a comprehensive review, but a first shot overview. We’re going through a comprehensive Sylvaneth review over at FLG for anyone interested, the first article of which can be found here.
As a long time Wood Elf player, I am thrilled to see these models! I mean, WOW. They’re just mind blowing! So good! If you want to see an unboxing video of the new kits, follow this link. We’ve come a loooooooong way from the old, incredibly awful Wood Elf models.
Yeah, that was were west started, lol. The new Duthu is a thing of beauty!
That is a quantum leap forward in quality. The entire new line is of this degree of improvement. So, so good. Gushing about the beauty of the new models aside, the book itself is very exciting! I am very pumped about what this means for the game. We can glean a lot about it from the structure of this Battletome.
The backstory in the book is very solid. The story of Alarielle and the Sylvaneth’s battle and near loss to Nurgle was great! With her return thanks to the sacrifice of her daughter and help from Sigmar, the forces of life are on the counter-attack! This sets the stage for where we are in the story.
The structure of the book is fun. It’s a combination of 40k and AoS, IMO, which is a good thing. We have unit Warscrolls, but also army wide rules for taking Sylvaneth only forces. We get some cool Command Traits to customize your general, custom spells for Sylvaneth Wizards and slick magic items for your Heroes. These are not only good on the tabletop, but fun and characterful. You can start the game with a Wyldwood Grove on the table which helps Sylvaneth armies a ton, and can move them around with spells, create more via Arcane Treasures, spells, etc. Your forces can teleport around through the woods, be healed by them or they can attack your opponent. They form a key part of the Sylvaneth army’s strategies.
You have options to make both powerful and themed characters in your armies, which is really fun. You can also take a magic item for each Hero per Battalion in your army! Often I think we’ll see 2-4 of these sprinkled around a 2,000pt list which will add a lot of fun to games and help to make your Heroes even more heroic.
There are also a combination of Warscroll Battalions in the book which function as the equivalent of both Formations and “Decurion” style Detachments in 40k. These give you themed groups of units that grant special bonuses to represent their play style. Personally, I decided to go with a Gnarlroot Wargrove warband comprised of a Household Battalion, Forest Folks and Free Spirit Battalions! The idea of super powered life Wizards really appealed to me. Oh, and of course, I am throwing Alarielle in there because WOW. Dat model.
But that’s just me! You can build your Sylvaneth Warband in so many different ways. You can go for a cool theme like one of the other Wargroves, or a season, etc. That is the beauty of it, you have tons of different ways to customize your army, give it a cool theme and have it play well on the table. I dig it! Oh, and what else? My Warband is only 33 models! That’s not too difficult to assemble and paint and not too pricey, either (relative statement, of course). That means you can easily collect a new, themed warband every year or even quicker if you were so inclined. I love variety so I am already thinking about my next Warband! Most likely some awesome Wanderers to compliment my Sylvaneth but I also have my eye on those Orruks and Minotaurs, too!
Are you all excited for the new Sylvaneth?
And as always, Frontline Gaming sells Games Workshop product at up to 25% off of retail, every day!
You can also pick up some cheap models in our Second Hand Shop. Some of these gems are quite rare, sometimes they’re fully painted!
