Big Tree, Little Tree, Transforming Fox
Normally for troupes built around a keyword, several characters have auras and abilities that target said keyword.
The treefolk however are not like these traditional keyword focussed troupes. Instead, they focus on how they and their opponents interact with wooded patches. As well as bringing a new terrain focussed playstyle to the Leshavult they also bring some very durable models by Leshavult standards. Gump in particular has the incredibly rare ability in Leshavult to reduce damage suffered. It isn't just one type of damage like the Jackalope either, Gump reduces TWO types of damage! This in combination with a few treefolk abilities and some more traditional Leshavult healing tricks can lead to some incredibly tough trees!
The Growers
Ruwt
Ruwt’s Card
Firstly, the treefolk need to get their wooded patches on the board. For this vital task, Ruwt will happily lend their expertise. They bring the familiar 'Verdant Growth' and a base energy of 3 allowing them to use it once per turn off their base energy. That is until they utilise their passive 'New Growth' allowing them to suffer wounds instead of spending energy once per turn in order to use an arcane ability. Better yet, with an additional energy, Ruwt could use 'Verdant Growth' twice with energy then once by suffering wounds, getting all 3 wooded patches out on turn one!
In terms of utilising these patches, Ruwt has a couple of tricks up their sleeves (or maybe branches?). As mentioned earlier, the treefolk represents the more tougher and durable side of Leshavult. For Ruwt this means they can cheat death very easily as they send their spirit from one tree to another with little effort. Specifically, when they are reduced to 0 wounds, they can jump into a wooded patch created earlier in the game and heal themselves up at the cost of destroying the wooded patch. As well as making Ruwt very hard to lock down and kill it can allow them some great manoeuvrability, excellent for gathering awkward Moonstones at the end of the game!
As well as utilising the patches themselves for mobility and staying alive, Ruwt confers a small bonus on their fellow trees. With 'Woodspirit' they gain the ability to jog over wooded patches as other treefolk get with 'Woodfoot'. But unlike 'Woodfoot', 'Woodspirit' gives treefolk the ability to ignore wooded patches when determining cover. Whilst this doesn't mean the treefolk can see through patches, it does allow them to utilise cover that their enemies can't. With careful placement of patches, Ruwt can cut off any problematic enemies and provide your troupe cover whilst denying it to the enemy.
Dranyer
Dranyer’s Card
Whilst Dranyer doesn't have the treefolk keyword printed on her card, she is certainly a useful honorary member of the treefolk. Thematically, the shapeshifting spirit feels right at home with the treefolk who often have to change their form too. Mechanically, Dranyer will happily use her shifting abilities to move through wooded patches without penalty and offer a huge variety of support options. The majority of these options come from her two arcane abilities and are further compounded by 'Trickster' making her opponents always question what the truth really is!
The first of these is 'Mimic' which is perfect when combined with 'Trickster'! As well as having two different success colours it also doesn't specifically target anyone, instead choosing characters after resolution. She can therefore cast first then come up with a plan after seeing her hand! For the green effect, Dranyer can borrow the treefolk keyword to gain the cover ignoring effects of Ruwt or the keyword of an enemy to use her abilities more aggressively. In a treefolk troupe, the pink effect is excellent as she doesn't need to borrow any keywords before using it, they're all spirits to begin with! On turn one this energy-providing ability can be great to get Ruwt up to 4 energy and beyond this any model will always appreciate more energy.
'Cunning' is Dranyer's final arcane trick and provides a reliable heal or damage option. More interestingly though, if she shares a keyword with the target she gets to move them too. As well as the normal advantages of moving a character around, Dranyer can also take advantage of the numerous Wooded Patches inevitably grown by the treefolk, hampering the enemy's movement. This can also be achieved through her signature too. Jog Dranyer into a wooded patch, steal an enemy's keyword, melee them, and then swap with another one of their friends!
The Forest
Gump
Gump’s Card
Now that you've pulled an enemy into the treefolk's forest, what's awaiting them? The biggest of them all is Gump. Similar to the trolls and giants of the dominion and commonwealth, Gump is big, tough and hits like a tonne of bricks if given the opportunity! In particular, Gump is heavily skewed towards being tough, as is a common theme of the treefolk. This is achieved with an unprecedented TWO types of damage reduction on this Leshavult model and perhaps more traditionally, shed loads of healing. By planting Gump in a substantial group of wooded patches they'll be able to mitigate a lot of damage. With this much toughness, Gump can stand guarding moonstones against enemies with safety whilst the rest of the troupe harvests them.
Furthermore, if this damage is being dealt in melee Gump can make use of their excellent signature to heal even more wounds! As well as healing their signature also has the advantage of rooting them in place meaning Gump can't be moved until the end of the activation. This is perfect for models that may try and shift Gump off of moonstones with lures and pushes. Speaking of lures, Gump brings their own in the form of 'Call of the Woods'. This takes all of Gump's energy but drags an enemy towards any of your own treefolk, usually towards or into a group of wooded patches. But that's not all! It also deals some wounds based on nearby wooded patches! Perfect for a model and troupe that doesn't want to leave the safety of their wooded patches and wants to tie everyone up in one spot.
Snag
Snag’s Card
Now that you have the enemy troupe all tied up in the middle and trapped in wooded patches, how can they be dealt with? Enter Snag who is the main damage dealer of the treefolk, albeit an unusual one. With 'Deadwood Curse' Snag can place a passive ability on their enemies to deal wounds to them and everyone around them at the end of the turn. If an enemy troupe is very spread out and isolated or done near the start of the turn so they can move it'll often just deal a lacklustre 1 wound to a single model. If done at the end of the turn when an opponent's troupe can't react it can catch multiple models, dealing lots of wounds to loads of models!
Using Snag later on in the turn also gives them more of an opportunity to trigger 'Vengeance' allowing them an additional free cast of 'Deadwood Curse'. Losing a model to just get a free cast would normally be a pretty steep cost, however, with Ruwt you have a model that can be reduced to 0 wounds and survive. Sometimes playing overly aggressively with Ruwt or getting them reduced to 0 wounds on purpose can be very advantageous when Snag is hanging around and hasn't activated!
The curse only lasts until Snag is slain though so how do they keep themselves healthy? As with most treefolk, they can use 'Woodfoot' to hide and manoeuvre around wooded patches. Unlike the other treefolk Snag doesn't have many abilities to keep them healthy, rather they have abilities to maliciously punish enemies for targeting them. 'Accursed' can let Snag deal some wounds to anyone targeting them with arcane, whilst their good melee capabilities and signature punishes any melee onslaught. With enough rising attacks Snag could layer loads of curses onto a single model, then start to guard to ensure Snag isn't slain and keep the curses around. Another use for this signature is dealing with other signatures. Fraya keeps using her signature so you can't damage her? Well, since you haven't dealt her any wounds, she is now cursed with this signature!
Friends of the Forest
Kalista’s Card
As for other characters who can support the treefolk, there are plenty within Leshavult. As mentioned earlier, all the treefolk are spirits and they all have arcane abilities. Therefore anyone who increases the arcane of spirits would be incredibly useful. Enter Kalista who can stand alongside all her new treefolk friends bumping up their arcane and making them even more reliable. She also offers the excellent 'Leshavit's Caress' further enhancing the treefolks tough playstyle.
If you're looking for more spirits The Revenant can fit in comfortably too. Here he can make use of Snag and Gump’s situationally useful catastrophes with 'Visions of the Future'. Like Ruwt, Revenant can also be reduced to 0 wounds and survive and hence trigger Snags 'Vengeance'. Finally, amongst the other spirits are the witches who will appreciate two big tough models with the spirit keyword in Snag and Gump, excellent for Danica’s 'Meddle with Fate'.
Wendigo’s Card
If you're looking for more hitting power though there are multiple characters in Leshavult who can hit hard and love wooded patches. Continuing with even more spirits, Wendigo has no problem with wooded patches and as they share the spirit keyword with Dranyer they can get even more energy easily! If your opponent is especially happy to call bluff on Dranyer’s 'Mimic', two pinks can get Wendigo up to 6 energy, enough for two mind controls as they hide in the treefolk’s forest.
Another 'Sure Footed' Faun is Jayda who will happily hide in the wooded patches and fire her bow at opportunistic targets who've suffered a handful of wounds from the other treefolk. Eric the Enlightened can also jog through patches, but unlike the others also gains energy just for standing in them at the start of the turn. Finally, his 'Enchanted Bladestorm' ignores cover meaning he can fight without being hampered by the treefolks’ wooded patch placement.
The Verdant Troupe
The treefolk are a tough troupe who interact more with terrain features than each other compared to other troupes. Although they don't have as much energy as other leshavult troupes or move as fast as other leshavult troupes they can outlast them all. Key to that can therefore be working out where the main fight of the game will occur and preparing it with a forest of wooded patches. With carefully placed patches your opponent will be unable to easily target the treefolk, move or attack you effectively. With the opponent's troupe locked in place, the treefolk will be able to easily harvest the stones they need to win or slowly sap them of their wounds whilst the treefolk weather all attacks with ease!
General release 11th September 2023
