Sylvaneth Dryads

Bark And Bite

Dancing between their foes, and bringing the forest to life with intertwining roots and branches; the Sylvaneth Dryads come forth in numbers to choke the life out of others.

Dryads make up a unit in groups of ten and gain their oppression by dragging foes into combat. Once the dryads have them in their tendrils, they keep them there by bringing back members of their own unit with the unit with faction traits

This particular unit came with the start collecting dryads box. I purchased it to get a good base for a Sylvaneth army to build upon. Although they’re not hard hitters, they are what I call a ‘quick sand’ unit, in the way that you can use them to drag down particular units and focus your stronger troops on the objectives.

Forests Wrath

So, now that we’re familiar with these members of the living forest, what do we get inside the box?

Enough pieces to build 16 individual models

• 16 x 32mm round bases
• 1 x Instruction booklet

Upon unboxing this box of bark, I noticed that the sprues are mainly made up of the small branches that sprout off of the dryad’s bodies. Because they are so spindly, it can cause some of the spurs to get caught up with one another, so be careful when trying to prise them apart.

Although the instruction manual clearly indicates which branches should be used with each body part, I had far more fun randomizing the pieces as I went. This gave more of a natural look to the models; representing the spontaneous growth of each individual tree. I also think this method makes the whole unit look far more interesting.

Sticking with my ‘under the sea’ coral themed paint scheme, I decided to whip up another batch of orangey red paint to base the base of the miniatures in, before dry brushing and picking out smaller details with a fine brush. To finish the miniature, I used blue sand to mimic the look of the base of a fish tank, and added some strands of orange grass to represent the coral. Altogether, I’m really pleased with how they turned out. Plus, the simplistic paint scheme I used allowed me to be able to paint large batches of these quickly.

As I mentioned above, the main customization element in this kit comes with the variety of branches that you can use to kit out your dryads. That, however, is about as far as the customization goes. Although, the leftover branches that you don’t use make fantastic scenery for the bases and can be glued onto the bases to look as if new dryads are growing from the ground.

Like myself, you might find yourself wondering why there are 16 models in the box, when a unit consists of groups of 10 miniatures. Good question. The reason for this is that this kit dates back to the days of square bases and fantasy Warhammer. Back when a unit originally consisted of 16 miniatures. Personally, I think it’s about time that Games Workshop updated this box to reflect on the new unit numbers, and simplify the sprue layout.

Dance Of Life

Unfortunately, in terms of combat, Dryads don’t have much going for them. They have two attacks each, that wound and hit on a 4+ and deal 1 damage per successful attack. With a few buffs from your leaders, you could bring that down to a 3+ which is far more enticing.

Additionally, given that Dryads are a melee focused unit, they don’t have anything for ranged attacks. That role falls to your archers and Hamadreth. Therefore, I wholeheartedly recommend buffing up your dryads with nearby leaders and getting them stuck into combat.

At one wound each, this unit is fairly weak to any opposition that can dish out a large number of attacks in one fell swoop. And although each dryad can deal 2 attacks, the odds of being able to pull off a successful attack aren’t in your favour. Therefore, this unit really plays into the style of being used to bog down your opponents in combat.

Final Thoughts

I love running large amounts of these in a reinforced unit, however, they are not strong enough to hold their own. They are, however, very good at bogging down opposing units to buy your stronger models some time to get across the battlefield and into the action.

That being said, there are other units I would rather run in place of these dryads, to ensure I’m getting the most value for my points in the roster. That being said, they are great for using up any leftover points that you might have.