Waldgeist


 * Waldgeist****, Neverborn Minion** toc

=__Overview __=

The Waldgeist is a tough, melee oriented minion. He's the only model in the game that can move terrain (specifically forests) around the board using his //Uproot// Spell, and gains a lot of benefits from being in those forests.

In Neverborn crews, he shares his niche as a 6SS melee minion with the Young Nephilim and Baby Kade, against which the Waldgeist tends to be tougher but with a lower damage output. Overall, this makes him something of a defensive minion, who can move LoS blocking terrain and hold key positions on the board.

The Waldgeist is obviously best when there's forest terrain on the board for him to hide in and move around. He's merely okay without any forests, but certainly not useless.

=__Mobility__=

The Waldgeist's Wk5 and //Scout// translates to about average mobility for a Neverborn minion. He won't be moving any quicker without the help of other models but he's generally not the kind of model that wants to flit around the board anyway.

=__Offense__=

Claws
The Waldgeist's Claws attack does not have the ridiculous damage potential of similarly costing Neverborn Minions like the Young Nephilim and Baby Kade. However it also doesn't require any triggers to reach it's maximum damage so it's at least reliable.

Haunted Forest
This Ability is the best thing about the Waldgeist's melee attack. Being able to target any model within 1" of the Waldgeist's forest make's for a considerable threat range that requires no LoS, so there is no reason for the Waldgeist himself to be engaged with the enemy model it's targeting.

Entangle
Requiring a Mask to get off, //Entangle// will effectively prevent models from escaping whatever forest terrain they're on and thus, keeps them in the clutches of the Waldgeist. Otherwise slippery models like Silurid, Coryphee and the Riders are good targets for this. Unfortunately, the entangle trigger does not prevent Place effects, like Lilith's //Transposition// and Collete's //Illusionist//. Unsurprisingly, it also won't work if your target isn't in forest terrain.

=__Resilience__=

Df 5, Wd 7 and Armour 2 makes for a pretty tough minion for just 6SS. As usual you need to avoid models with attacks that ignore Armor, but otherwise you can rely on him to hold his ground in melee against similarly costing models.

Haunted Forest
//Haunted Forest// ensures that you can attack enemy models while remaining outside their melee range. At the absolute least they'll first need to move or charge the Waldgeist to hit him (although charging isn't a great idea, see //Perfect Camouflage//), both of which reduce will the number of hits the Waldgeist will take. And being within a forest means that there's a good chance you'll be able to keep him outside LoS too, preventing your opponent from targeting the Waldgeist with any attacks don't ignore LoS.

Perfect Camouflage
Even if your opponent can draw LoS to the Waldgeist, //Perfect Camouflage// ensures that he's still going to be a difficult model to hit. The :-fate to attack flips for charging and ranged attacks makes attempting either against a Waldgeist a bad idea. Any model with Paired weapons will effectively negate //Perfect Camouflage//, although that's generally only a problem against charging models. Ranged attackers will also be taking an additional :-fate flip for targeting a model in obscuring terrain, so they'll need a way of negating //two// :-fate flips if they want to have a chance of hitting the Waldgeist.

It's very important to remember that //Perfect Camouflage// does not just work with forest terrain. The entry actually specifies that the Waldgeist must be entirely within obscuring terrain, not just forests. The rules manual uses low walls and building corners as examples, so if the Waldgeist's base can fit on a terrain piece that counts as obscuring, be it a wall, pile of rubble, rocky hill, grave yard full of tombstones or ruined building, the Waldgeist will benefit from it. But before you get too excited, //Perfect Camouflage// (like //Hunter//) still won't work with a Stitched Together's //Creepy Fog// aura, since the effect isn't actually terrain.

=__Tips and Tricks__=

Uproot
One of the greatest and most frustrating things about the Waldgeist is it's single spell - //Uproot//. It's an easy spell to cast but it's effect, moving himself and a forest terrain piece 5", is amazing. First and foremost, //Uproot// allows you to use a forest as mobile cover for the rest of your crew. Both Marcus crews and the Neverborn tend to be full of fragile models, so being able to protect those models while they get into striking distance is a valuable asset. Pushing a forest onto an enemy model means they're now contending with severe terrain, plus a Waldgeist who may be hitting them from outside their melee range/LoS and possibly triggering //Entangle//. It's for that reason your opponent will generally try and avoid your Waldgeist-powered forests, allowing you to create a considerable zone of control. And if you can uproot the Forest to get it onto an objective, you should have a much better chance of holding it.

Finally, it's worth noting that as good as //Uproot// is, it can be a bit of a pain, for both players, to move that forest piece around or through other terrain and models. As per the Gaining Grounds document, a Tournament Organizer (TO) supposedly needs to supervise any movement of terrain but realistically, that's not likely to happen. If you do wind up using a Waldgeist during a tournament it might be wise to at least let the TO know that you'll be pushing some forests around, and they can decide whether to watch every movement or simply trust that you'll return the terrain to where it was after the game (which is far more likely).

Defensive Tree Monsters
The Waldgeist does not have //Melee Expert// and prefers not to charge enemy models, given that he doesn't have hunter (so no LoS through forests) and his benefits from staying put in a forest. So if the Waldgeist wants to attack an enemy model, he'll either need to move his forest up to the target before making a single strike, or the enemy model will need to already be in is forest-wide melee range (which your opponent will be avoiding if they have a choice). What all this means is that Waldgeists are a defensive minion. They are best at holding key objectives and punishing enemy models who come near, rather than taking the offense themselves (which is what the Nephilim are for).

Waldgeists without Forests
The Waldgeist is a great choice with forest terrain on the board, but that's not to say he's useless without any forests around. Playing with the Waldgeist on a board without forests means that he'll lose a lot of his inherent strengths, but he still makes for a resilient minion with some decent melee capacity. As mentioned above, he can also benefit from any non-forest obscuring terrain via //Perfect Camouflage//, which maintain his value for Soulstones.

=__Master-Specific Tips__=

Lilith
The Mother of Monsters is an obvious choice for the Waldgeist, if only for her //Illusionary Forest// Spell. Similar to many of her Nephilim, Lilith doesn't need LoS to target other models and so can hide behind the Waldgesist's forest and still be a threat. //Transposition// could help the Waldgeist get into position in his forest of choice, and if your opponent prefers to keep well away from the trees, you could also swap enemy models into the Waldgeist's forest for him to attack.

If you're planning to manifest Lilith into the Avatar of Nature's Malevolence, then Waldgeists are almost an auto-include, thanks to the mass of forest terrain she puts on the board.

Marcus
Like Lilith, Marcus tends to run a fragile crew so having a Waldgeist to move forests around is very useful. The disadvantage is that unlike Lilith, much of Marcus's crew still needs LoS to charge or target things and a some of his Beasts don't have scout to move through the forest terrain either. That's not to say that using mobile forests with Marcus is a bad thing, just that it requires more thought to use well compared with Lilith. Of course as a Beast, the Waldgeist himself will benefit from the variety of beast-specific synergies Marcus has available.

The Waldgeist is also a great target for Marcus's //Defend Me// Trigger, since his Armour 2 and respectable wound count should blunt most attacks. Unlike the Moleman, he's better able to keep up with Marcus, plus with //Perfect Camouflage// your opponent is unlikely to just target the Waldgeist instead of Marcus (as most people would do if they see a Moleman around...especially if they have an attack with blast).

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

Playing with Nephilim
The Young and Mature Nephilim will work particularly well with the Waldgeist. With //Diving Charge// they don't need LoS to charge their targets, and so these models can hide behind the Waldgeist's moving forests and still be a threat to anyone within their Cg range.

Slate Ridge Mauler
Marcus's alternative to the Waldgeist is the Slate Ridge Mauler - a similarly costing, tough, melee beatstick. The Mauler is a superior minion for pure damage output, although the Waldgeist is quicker. The resilience of both is broadly similar - there will always be times when //Hard to Wound//, //Hard to Kill// and //Bearskin Armor// will be a better choice than Armor 2 and //Perfect Camouflage//, and visa versa. As a rule of thumb, a Waldgeist in a forest is usually going to be a more effective threat than a Mauler, although the Mauler is almost always a better choice if there's few or no forests to take advantage of.

=__Playing Against the Tree Monster__=

The Waldgeist's main strengths are his resilience, and his ability to move forests with //Uproot//. He's by no means invincible but unless you have a way of ignoring Armor and/or //Perfect Camouflage//, killing a Waldgeist will probably require more effort that it's worth.

//Perfect Camouflage// will only work for as long as the Waldgeist is entirely within his obscuring terrain, so an easy way to stop that is to get at least part of his base out of that terrain with effects like //Obey//, a //Toss// trigger or the Rotten Belle's //Lure//. After that he becomes a much more viable target for charges and ranged attacks. If you want to shoot a Waldgeist in obscuring terrain, you'll need a model that can negate the double :-fate flip from both //Perfect Camouflage// and the obscuring terrain. Currently the only model who can do this easily is the Gunsmith, who gets multiple :+fate flips from his Paired weapon and his ability //The Hard Way//. Focused strikes from models with Paired weapons or //Hunter// will also work, and is in fact advisable if you want to get a severe damage flip to help minimise the effect of the Waldgesist's Armor.

There's not really a lot you can do about //Uproot//. Models that ignore LoS and/or Severe terrain won't care so much about moving forests and if the Waldgeist player is hiding their crew behind it, you might be able to draw a bead on those models by running parts of your own crew around the flanks. Keep in mind that even if the Waldgeist moves a forest onto your models the lack of melee expert means he'll only be able to make one attack, if any, that activation. So unless you stick around near his forest (or get hit by his //Entangle Trigger//), the Waldgeist's damage output is not going to be high.

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