Forces of Nature: Key Units for your Warband
4th Apr 2019
Rob Burman
Following our previous review of the Forces of Nature’s unique spells and warband abilities, today we’re highlighting some of their key units. As you might expect, the Forces of Nature are a diverse bunch – ranging from powerful Centaurs to magical druids and woodland animals.
At the heart of the Forces of Nature warband is, of course, the druid! Although not a commander, the druid is a key aspect of the warband with a host of offensive and defensive spells – alongside access to the Barrier of Vines unique spell we covered earlier in the week. Keep your druid a safe distance from the enemy, but not too far away, so you can still take advantage of the druid’s Inspiring ability.
If you do want a druid with a bit more oomph, then consider the Gladewalker Druid. This is a command option (alongside a Spellcaster) but comes with a neat range of spells. In particular, it’s worth highlighting Tanglefoot, which would normally cost an additional 10pts because it’s from the Advanced Spellbook. Tanglefoot is great for slowing fast opponents down and reduces theiruu effectiveness in combat and defense. The Gladewalker Druid is also great for neutralising powerful enemy spellcasters, thanks to its Nature’s Defence ability.
Once you’ve entangled the enemy with Tanglefoot, it’s time to steam in with one of the Forces of Nature’s heavy hitters. The warband isn’t short of combat-heavy units, with the likes of the Earth Elemental, Water Elemental and Fire Elemental all packing quite a punch. You’ve also got access to the Forest Shambler too. Of course, you can only choose one Large model for your warband – so think about the theme of your list before making your selection.
Something that could influence your decision is your choice of Commander(s). We’ve already mentioned the Gladewalker Druid but another cool option is the Salamander Veteran. Cheaper than many other Command options in the game, the addition of the Salamander Veteran into your warband means you can spend more on Grunts or Warriors to try and overwhelm your enemy with sheer numbers – or have the Veteran to back up the Gladewalker Druid.
What’s more, once per game the Salamander Veteran can unleash an explosive flame attack (Ordeal of Fire) that targets all units within 2”. This will be particularly useful for clearing enemy models off objectives, as there’s the chance you could take multiple enemies out in one fell swoop. Oh, and don’t forget, you get a FREE miniature to use as your Salamander Veteran if you order the Forces of Nature Warband from the Mantic website.
So, that’s a quick look at some of the key units available in the Forces of Nature warband. There are plenty more options too, like the Centaurs, Wild Companions, Naiads and Salamanders – but hopefully this will get your warband creative juices flowing.