Argwylon


 * Argwylon requires Realm of the Wood Elves to play.

Argwylon is a playable sub-faction of Wood Elves introduced in Total War: Warhammer. It is led by Durthu and can be found in northern Athel Loren, in the middle of the Old World.

The Wood Elves are a mysterious race of fickle elves and their forest-spirit allies, who dwell in the magical forest of Athel Loren. Their military features elite elven units who tend to be only lightly armoured, along with forest spirits such as Dryads and some monsters. Their archers are arguably the best in the game. Argwylon is a faction focused on the plant-like forest spirits and wild beasts of Athel Loren, with Elven units taking a backseat. Their mechanics differ slightly from Talsyn.

Background
"How could you ever understand us? You are not of the forest; you do not follow the Green Way. Yours is the scurrying of badgers, the flight of the starlings, but without meaning. You are never still, never at peace. Always taking without thought, never giving back."

Athel Loren is more than a mere forest; it is a living force whose spirit inhabits both the creatures that dwell there and its plantlife also. The flora itself is sentient - capable of thought and emotion - and fully entwined with the forest in such a way that only death can separate them. The forest spirits view the outside world and its inhabitants with great suspicion. Outsiders, on the other hand, consider such things as Dryads and Treemen creatures of myth, either long-dead or only existing in legend. How wrong they are! In many ways, the Treemen are the forest, embodying its spirit like no others, and never leaving it unless forced to do so. Naturally cautious, they will only join battle when no other choice is presented, but can command other forest-dwellers to their will and advantage when fighting.

At war, forest spirits are fierce, almost impossible to kill, and filled with the wrath that only centuries of anger at careless trespass and deliberate incursion can generate, ensuring that any who face them and live to tell the tale remain reluctant to return to Athel Loren ever again. Despite this aggression, Treemen feel warmth towards the ‘lesser’ creatures that live around them. Although not indigenous to the forest, the Wood Elves have long been accepted within their beloved woodland. However, even the extremely long lives of the Elves appear to be as fleeting as the seasons to the forest spirits, many of whom can still recall the times before they settled and made homes within its boughs and glades.

The last of the Ancients – the mighty Durthu – and his kin live deep within Athel Loren, inside the bounds of the Elven High Realm of Argwylon. Also known as the ‘Moonspring Glades’, Argwylon is a special place, where magic is everywhere and within every living thing. There the forest spirits and Wood Elves co-exist peacefully, coming together during times of threat and turmoil to put those foolish enough to invade their sacred home to ignominious flight or certain, screaming death!

How they play
A summary of Argwylon gameplay:


 * Units: Tough Forest-Spirit and Monster units, with a focus on melee. Elite elven units require amber. Limited ranged options.
 * Gathering of the Ancients: Can promote Ancient Treemen to positions, conferring various bonuses.
 * Amber: Unique resource used to summon exotic units or provide other bonuses.
 * Wood Elves settlements: Unique settlement system, unaffected by climate or regional occupation.
 * Oak of Ages: A special settlement which gives faction-wide buffs. If it dies, the player loses.
 * Worldroots: Special stance that allows Argwylon armies to bypass terrain, similar to Underway.
 * Sword of Khaine: Wood Elf factions (along with HIgh Elf and Dark Elf) can draw the Sword of Khaine in Total War: Warhammer II.
 * Aspects: Argwylon has unique access to the Aspects upgrades for tree spirit units in Total War: Warhammer II

Unit roster

 * Main article: Wood Elves unit roster.

Forest-spirit focused unit roster with a variety of monstrous creatures and hard-hitting melee units. They work in an opposite way to Wood Elves: Forest Spirits and beasts do not require amber to recruit, but elite elven units do. This means they have much less access to powerful ranged units than regular Wood Elf factions.

Regiments of Renown
Argwylon use the same Regiments of Renown as the main Wood Elves faction.

Campaign
Argwylon is playable in The Old World, Realm of the Wood Elves and Mortal Empires. They play largely the same as Talsyn (using amber, the same stances, and the Wood Elves settlements system etc), with the following exceptions:

Lord Choices
See lord pages for details on special campaign effects for each lord:


 * Durthu - A huge ancient Treeman, a monster who can mow down enemies in melee and is also a spellcaster

Gathering of the Ancients
Gathering of the Ancients is a mechanic similar to Elven Council or the Empire Offices. Ancient Treemen can be assigned to various roles on the council, which confer various bonuses. To gain access to each council position build each building related to it-a different council position related building can be built in each part of the forest. For example the building that makes available the council position allowing to trade with non-Wood Elf factions can be build in Argwylon. One way to create the full council is to confederate with each of the other factions around the tree of the ancients (the initial Wood Elf factions you come into contact with) and then build the respective building in each location.

Faction Effects

 * -50% Upkeep cost for Branchwraiths
 * Melee attack +10 during forest battles

Strategy
The strategy with Argwylon is quite different from Talsyn. All the elite (or even just high ranking) Elven units consume Amber, and that includes most ranged units. The best way so far for a non-amber army is to use Dryads and Tree Kin for your front line (damage dealers and tanks respectively). Later in the game you can employ more costly Treemen for damage dealing and tankiness. Forest Dragons are your best unit overall, but also your most mobile one, best used for hunting ranged and mounted units. Overall, this means that the army will be much more expensive. A careful approach is necessary when consuming Amber on buildings so you can afford armies with Amber Units. A slow expansion is also very important, since going into negative amber has dire consequences.