The Book of Wildwood Monarch

[DanieLoche]

The Book of Wildwood Monarch
Awakened Forest - C3V Wave Exclusive 1



Basic Side Army Card

Spoiler Alert!

PDF download for printing.

The figure used for this unit is a D&D Miniatures figure. The figure name is : Stormrage Shambler from the Unhallowed set.


Biography : The concentrated essence of the forest, a living embodiment of nature, the Wildwood Monarch does two things well. Firstly, it is always growing, birthing smaller Wildwood seedlings all around itself. Secondly, it is a fierce protector of the forest, hitting hard with its vine-covered limbs. The Awakened Forest flows through the Monarch's very being, for the Monarch is its center, its heart, its trunk.

ASCEND 4
Instead of moving normally, the Wildwood Monarch may move one space. That space may be up to 4 levels higher.

TRUNK OF THE AWAKENED FOREST
After taking a turn with the Wildwood Monarch, you may take a turn with a small or medium Wildwood Hero you control.

NATURE'S KEEPER
Wildwood figures you control cannot attack other Wildwood figures you control.

SEEDLING
At the start of each round, before you place Order Markers, if you have not placed the Wildwood Monarch or used a Seedling power this round, you may place one of your previously destroyed small Wildwood Heroes on any empty space adjacent to the WIldwood Monarch.

_____________________________________________________________________

- Rulings and Clarifications -

• Wildwoods Growth : Vigorous, Verdant, Seedling...
  QUESTION - How does the Wildwood life cycle work?
  ANSWER - At the start of each round, you can, in any order:
  • Upgrade a Runner to a Sentinel
  • Upgrade a Sentinel into the Monarch
  • Place a Runner adjacent to the Monarch
  You cannot upgrade a figure you just placed, nor can you place a Runner if you just placed the Monarch. So, for example, you cannot upgrade a Runner into a Sentinel and then immediately upgrade it into the Monarch. Nor can you upgrade a Sentinel into the Monarch and then immediately place a Runner next to it.
  Any unit placed must come from your reserves. You may upgrade a Runner into a Sentinel, which puts that Runner into your reserves, then place that Runner from your reserves adjacent to the Monarch.
  
  

_____________________________________________________________________

- Combinations and Synergies -

Synergy Benefits Offered:

• TRUNK OF THE AWAKENED FOREST : Small & Medium Wildwood Heroes bonding
  • Wildwood Runner (C3V)
  • Wildwood Sentinel (C3V)

• SEEDLING : Small Wildwood Heroes
  Following small Wildwood Heroes can be resurrected :
  • Wildwood Runner (C3V)
  
  
  

Synergy Benefits Received:

• WILDWOOD SENTINEL : Verdant Growth
  As a Large Wildwood Hero, Wildwood Monarch may be resurrected in replacement of a Wildwood Sentinel, due to its special power.

• ACOLARH : Ullar’s Amulet
  As a unit that follows Ullar, the Wildood Monarch may benefit from Acolarh’s ULLAR’S AMULET movement bonus.

_____________________________________________________________________

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Ranking and Master Index
TBA.

Unit Strategy Review
TBA.

[dok]

Here are some highlights of the discussion between Sir Dendrik and I in the Runner thread, which are obviously relevant here as well:

Originally Posted by dok

Be aware that playing either with the Wildwoods or against them can be tricky. Have you ever played against a Marro Divider army where they kept hitting their divides? Or a Zombie army that was making zombies as fast as you killed them? Or Marro Warriors in late game that keep running away and cloning? Well, Wildwoods can feel similar if you are not careful.

A quick tip: try to "bottom up" the army by killing the Runners first, then the Sentinels, and finally the Monarch. Take advantage of being faster (everything this side of the Marro Hive is faster than Wildwoods) and stay away from the Monarch, or tie it down with cheap figures while your more important figures hunt the other units. If you can wipe out all the Runners, then you only need to kill the one new Runner the next round to keep a Sentinel from forming.

Conversely, when playing with the Wildwoods, the goal is to force your opponent to engage your powerful Sentinels and Monarch early. It's OK to miss out on some Runner attacks; you want to keep them in supporting positions.

Originally Posted by Sir Dendrik

You need to kill everything at once to effectively get rid of the Wildroots, or else they will just spawn back up, losing only a Runner. Once you get rid of all the Runners it is easier to get rid of the rest of the army, but a good Wildroot player will guard their precious Runners so they can regrow what's left of the army.

Originally Posted by dok

This is a really good point. Delaying the killing blow on the Monarch until there's no Sentinel waiting to regenerate is usually good, but if you can snipe the Monarch on OM1 and drain OMs for the rest of the round that's really strong. If this causes your opponent to throw some OMs on Sentinels to avoid losing OMs, that's a win as well.

And to flip that around into Wildwood strategy, if you do have a Sentinel in the wings, it's OK to be extremely aggressive with the monarch as it nears death. For example, don't worry about LEAs or lava damage with a 1-life monarch at the end of the round.

[Cleon]

So I just played these guys in a game vs. the Steamroller+ and to my surprise it took the gladiators down. Armies were Monarch+Sentinelx2+Runnerx4+Raelin and Spartacus+Crixus+Capuansx3+Gladiatrixx2. I think I played it correctly rules-wise other than the fact I forgot to carry over the sentinel’s wounds to the monarch’s. Not sure if it would have been a different outcome had I done that, but I think they might’ve still won which is impressive.

I don’t really know what you would do against range, but against melee they’re nice. A Sentinel and a Runner is PK’s x2 but I’m not sure that completely solves the problem. Raelin was nice, but I’m thinking Marro Warriors are probably these guys’ best friend. Drop a second Runner and you could go Q9. I don’t know but I don’t think sending a Runner in is gonna cut it against a lot of range. I don’t think I’d take them in a format below 500pt.

Is Monarch+Sentinelx1+Runnerx1 playable? That gives you 220pt. to play around with. Could try something like rats x4+Marro Warriors or rats x3+Syvarris. Maybe you need two Runners and drop a squad of rats.

Playing against these guys, other than camping them with range how should you go about dealing with them? It’s an interesting decision between killing the Monarch and erasing order markers or killing the seedlings first so there’s less points/lives being rebirthed. Probably put as many wounds on the monarch as you can without killing it, then go for the seedlings and then sentinels, and put a wound or two on sentinels if you can before going for the seedlings. I tried to go after all 3 at once with the gladiators and that was probably not the way to go lol.

But yeah I was skeptical at first but the Wildwood can be strong. They’re like a higher variance GG’s and I love it. Great job guys.

[Muskie]

You are supposed to carry over the wounds? I did not notice that. I read the first part where it said "remove" and assumed that it would stop there. that does make a bit of a difference. I still love playing them! They move slow, but once they get there it is trouble. Twice at the beginning of the round, I was back to full strength (only needing to replace a runner). my opponent was getting quite frustrated.

[Scytale]

Wildwoods are actually nasty against range. Range, in general is less powerful per attack than melee and has trouble cracking the 5 Defense. Of course after a while they do, but the Wildwoods just regrow and head back to the fight. The Wildwoods can do that all day, as long as they keep the Runners out of harm's way. On the other hand, every kill they land on the opponent is permanent. After a while they'll bust down the screen, then move on to the attackers.

Playing against Wildwoods:
Hunt down the Runners, then work your way up. Make sure to take out the respawning Runner each round.

Playing as Wildwoods:
Protect your Runners; they are your lifeline. Use Sentinels as guards. The Monarch is your wrecking ball.

As far as army builds go, for a ~500pt army I recommend all Wildwoods. Any weak points in the respawn chain can be capitalized on to devastating effect. Their units are fairly costly, so you don't get that many of them.

[Sir Heroscape]

Here's a tournament game I played against the Wildwoods.

Let me know what you think?

I found it especially interesting that the Wildwood player used 3 Sentinels, Monarch and 1 Runner and just left the 1 runner in the back of the Startzone.

https://youtu.be/mKuxSNW-rU0?t=3999

[Scytale]

Woah. Wildwoods vs Shadows! Loved it! Wildwoods very nearly fell to the Shadow onslaught, but held out and grew back.

[Cleon]

Originally Posted by Sir Heroscape

Here's a tournament game I played against the Wildwoods.

Let me know what you think?

I found it especially interesting that the Wildwood player used 3 Sentinels, Monarch and 1 Runner and just left the 1 runner in the back of the Startzone.

https://youtu.be/mKuxSNW-rU0?t=3999

I’d have to watch the video again as it’s been a bit (I usually play your vids and listen to them in the background). But yeah that’s interesting to only run 1 runner. I like leaving one back but I don’t think I’d run less than 2 so I can have the flexibility of spawning sentinels around the board easier.

Another cool thing is Theracus and Brunak can carry Sentinels, I thought that was neat

[Just_a_Bill]

Just one difference between card and transcript:

Originally Posted by DanieLoche

ASCEND 4
Instead of moving normally, a the Wildwood Monarch may move one space. That space may be up to 4 levels higher.

TRUNK OF THE AWAKENED FOREST
After taking a turn with the Wildwood Monarch, you may take a turn with a small or medium Wildwood Hero you control.

NATURE'S KEEPER
Wildwood figures you control cannot attack other Wildwood figures you control.

SEEDLING
At the start of each round, before you place Order Markers, if you have not placed the Wildwood Monarch or used a Seedling power this round, you may place one of your previously destroyed small Wildwood Heroes on any empty space adjacent to the WIldwood Monarch.

Also, does anyone know why SEEDLING says "or used a Seedling power" instead of "or used the Seedling power"? It reads awkwardly to me since the Monarch is unique and I don't see how any other unit could ever have a power titled SEEDLING. EDIT: Never mind, I think I figured it out: They could actually make a new (different) large Wildwood Hero that also has SEEDLING. This possibility seems to have been intentionally left viable based on the fact that the Sentinel transforms "generally" into a large Wildwood Hero rather than specifically into a Monarch.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Just_a_Bill

Also, does anyone know why SEEDLING says "or used a Seedling power" instead of "or used the Seedling power"? It reads awkwardly to me since the Monarch is unique and I don't see how any other unit could ever have a power titled SEEDLING. EDIT: Never mind, I think I figured it out: They could actually make a new (different) large Wildwood Hero that also has SEEDLING. This possibility seems to have been intentionally left viable based on the fact that the Sentinel transforms "generally" into a large Wildwood Hero rather than specifically into a Monarch.

Bingo.

[Just_a_Bill]

Over the years I've collected a variety of miniatures from other product lines and stored them in a "one day I'll make more customs" box. I was pretty excited when I learned about the Wildwoods because I knew I had all the figures needed for them. Today I was finally able to unpack those things after a long and complex move across the country this year, only to discover/remember/REGRET that a few years ago I had actually sold my Stormrage Shambler and Twig Blights to CSI or T&T in a huge buyback order, when I needed some cash. On average, I paid less than a dollar per figure back in the day, but of course now the prices are ridiculous.

Turns out I have a couple of decent proxy candidates for the Monarch in my customizing box, so I thought I'd mention them here for anyone else who's trying to field a Wildwood build at a reasonable price. To the left of the Verdant Reaver/Wildwood Sentinel we have a Heroclix Man-Thing from the Mutant Mayhem set; to the right is a World of Warcraft Bog Elemental mounted on a DW9K large base. (A stolen pic of the Shambler is also here for comparison, but I can't guarantee I got the relative scaling just right. Either way, the Bog Elemental is a bit bigger overall.)



These both seem a reasonable size for Large 6, if you measure to the BE's hunchback rather than his raised fist. I think I'm gonna use the Bog Elemental ($2.50 at Noble Knight if you want one). His fists encroach on the adjacent spaces somewhat, but I'll just account for that by moving him as needed to reasonably accommodate nearby enemies. It's not by the book, but it's how CVN plays so I don't think I'll get put in Heroscape jail. Anyway I'll probably break out the paint to tone down those pretty yellow flowers on that pretty little hunch.

That Man-Thing clix is no longer super-cheap, but apparently there's a Man-Thing Soldier in the Secret Wars set that can be had on ebay for about four bucks shipped, or on Amazon for $2.99 plus whatever shipping option works out for you.



And for anyone wondering, the photobomber in the background of the first picture is an old clix called Tanglewood Spirit. One of these days I'm sure I'm gonna do something cool with these. Well, kinda sure. At least hopeful.

[SuperSamyon]

Such a cool and exciting concept for an army!

Just completed a 700 point game where 500 of the points were used up by the Wildwoods. Four runners, two sentinels and the Monarch.

My opponent had the knights, Gilbert, Raelin, Orrick, and Concan the Kyrie warrior along with the Jandar Kyries.

The map we played on was Magma Temple which seemed to favor my army with the road tiles and a conveniently placed Movement +2 glyph allowing my Monarch to move up to 7 spaces per turn if he was on a road tile.

Overall the two armies ended up canceling each other out and we were locked in a stalemate for about 6 of the 12 rounds we played. Once my opponent's army got into position with the Gilbert, Concan, and Raelin boosts, my Wildwoods were unable to do much damage. However, with my army constantly respawning figures, my opponent couldn't do too much damage either.

In the end, the Wildwoods won out through attrition and were fully restored by the end of the game. We had a great time but we were both a little frustrated at how long it took for any action to take place. I was able to block my opponent from getting around the Monarch and Sentinels allowing my runners to constantly regenerate which was disheartening for my opponent.

I really like the Wildwoods and the interesting complexity they bring to Heroscape. Kudos to the design team. I do think the map favored my army somewhat given the movement bonuses. We are going to try again with a Heat of the Battle deployment to see if that makes a big difference.

I am a little concerned if playing against this army would be an enjoyable experience for your opponent. After the game, we discussed how she could have defeated them and I mentioned that it's better to kill the Runners first. Of course, knowing that she needs to do that to win, I can simply hide one of my runners in the start zone making them difficult to destroy.

I can see this army sitting around the A- to A rank against a number of other army builds. My opponent's army faired extremely well but I knew it was only a matter of time until my army wore them down. If you aren't able to kill two runners a turn, the likelihood that you'll be able to stop this army is low. Their defense is impressive and hard for range to stop and melee may have a hard time getting past their screen to get to the runners. You just have to be able to damage everyone at once which is a tall order against their high defense.

Their one weakness of movement has to be exploited and so long as you don't play against them on a road map (or a map with movement +2 glphs) they are certainly beatable. With those movement bonuses, however, they become an absolute terror.

Looking forward to trying them again. I would recommend that when playing against friends who have never seen the Wildwood before that you advise them on how best to take them down lest they may have a frustrating game. If both of you know their game plan, it will make for a better game.