Lores of Magic: The Lore of Undeath

Well, this is something a little different. The new Warhammer: Nagash book contains a lot of rules for special characters, new units and combining the Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings armies into a single more powerful army called the Undead Legions. It also includes a new Lore of Magic - the Lore of Undeath.

As usual, I thought I would go through this new Lore and see what it has to offer. It's worth noting that, as with everything in the Warhammer: Nagash book, there is likely to be some debate as to whether these spells (and the Undead Legions) are going to be permitted in tournaments. The content of the book is intended to represent a particular time period and set of events, and so many people may feel it's not appropriate for them to be used in what might otherwise be considered "normal" games. Anyway, I'm not going to get into that here. Let's focus on the new Lore of Magic.

Before we begin, there is something else unusual about this Lore that I should mention - all wizards in all armies can use it. So there could be Orcs, Elves, Daemons, Skaven, and all manner of other spellcasters running around, using the Lore of Undeath. So unless you're a Dwarf player, this Lore applies to you!

One other note is that the summoning spells in the Lore of Undeath work differently from any we've seen before in the various Undead Lores of Magic. Instead of creating a specific type of unit (such as Zombies) and a particular number of models or wounds, the spells here work on points values. It's an elegant way to broaden the scope of different units you can create, as well as giving you the option to give them the sort of equipment such a regiment could normally buy (like command models or weapons). The only restriction is that the unit still has to meet the normal minimum size, so you can't go around raising 3 Grave Guard or something silly like that. Other than that, you could see all manner of new units appearing on the table (provided that you have suitable models on hand).

Lores of Magic: Skaven Spells of Plague

Yesterday we did a quick walk-through of the Skaven Spells of Ruin. Now it's time to discuss the other Lore in the Skaven book – the Spells of Plague.

As with the Spells of Ruin, there are no Lore Attributes, boosted casting costs or clear spell types to work with due to the book harking back to 7^th edition.

The Spells of Plague are the only ones available to Plague Priests, whilst Grey Seers and Vermin Lords can select them if they wish.

Lores of Magic: Skaven Spells of Ruin

OK, so the Skaven book has been around since 7^th edition, and I still haven't gotten around to talking about the Lores contained therein. Maybe I am lazy. Maybe I am forgetful. Maybe I am a perfect storm of both. Anyway, time to rectify that.

The Spells of Ruin are one of two separate Lores that can be found in the Skaven army book. It is the only Lore available to Warlock Engineers, whilst Grey Seers and Vermin Lords are able to take a mix of spells from the Spells of Ruin and Plague.

Being an old spell Lore, there is no such thing as boosted casting values for these spells. There is also no Lore Attribute, as this was another concept introduced with 8^th edition. Nor is there the clear distinction between spell types such as Augments or Direct Damage. This has caused confusion in the past, especially given that the general rules applying to all spells shifted slightly when the editions changed. So just bear with me...

Lores of Magic: Lore of Athel Loren

There are no two ways about it; the Wood Elf book is old and in serious need of an update. Rumours currently suggest that this might happen around May 2014, but that's still 6 months away. So in the interest of completing my reviews of the Lores of Magic (there's only a few left now), I figured I might as well give the Wood Elves the treatment.

Interestingly, the extreme ancientness of the Wood Elf book has both its perks and its downsides in terms of the spells here. An echo of a bygone era...

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Dark Magic

I feel slightly bad that I've seen numerous searches hitting this blog looking for the Lore of Dark Magic, and of course they're all finding the old Lore from the previous book. Now that there is a new book, I should really be updating the review. If you actually were looking for the Lore from the previous book, you can find it here.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Dark Magic

Dark Elves are the only race with access to Dark Magic, although nowadays they have the full range of the Lores of Battle Magic in the rulebook to choose from as well. So, with 9 Lores to choose from, let's hope Dark Magic stacks up.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of High Magic

Well, the High Elf book has been replaced and this includes a substantially different Lore of High Magic. People are likely to see a lot of High Elves in the coming months, so I figure it's a good time to have a look at this new Lore of Magic.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of High Magic

High Magic remains solely in the control of High Elves, despite the fact that Slann have been able to use it in previous editions. Of course, rumours suggest that the next book we will see is Lizardmen, so maybe that's about to change as well...

As a general rule, bear in mind that High Elf Mages who choose High Magic add +1 to their casting rolls. So the spells are slightly easier to cast (and harder to dispel) than they might otherwise be.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Slaanesh

And now we come to the final Lore of Magic in the new Warriors of Chaos book, the Lore of Slaanesh.


UPDATE:
The Daemons of Chaos were re-released shortly after the Warriors of Chaos, and they use the same Lores of Magic. However, their Lore Attributes are different. I will include both in this review.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Nurgle

Continuing with our review of the Lores of Magic in the new Warriors of Chaos book, next we will look at the Lore of Nurgle. As with the Lore ofTzeentch, many of the spell names found here already exist in the Lore of Nurgle in the Daemons of Chaos book, although the effects are often different.

UPDATE:
The Daemons of Chaos were re-released shortly after the Warriors of Chaos, and they use the same Lores of Magic. However, their Lore Attributes are different. I will include both in this review.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Tzeentch

It's been a while since I reviewed a Lore of Magic. I've had a couple of requests to look at the Skaven and Wood Elf Lores, however right now I thought I might focus on something that generates a bit more excitement, with the new Warriors of Chaos book. Maybe then I'll get into a rhythm and can look at those other lores that are now well overdue...

I've chosen to start with the Lore of Tzeentch, however this was pretty much a random decision. The people I have talked to about the new book seem to rate this as the weakest if the new Lores. Let's take a look and see if there is actually anything wrong with it, or if this is just a matter of personal preference.

As an aside, I notice that the Lores in the new Warriors of Chaos book seem to be a blend of the spells from the old book, and those found in the Daemons of Chaos one. I wonder if this is an indication that we could find the exact same spells in the new Daemon book, when it appears. Time will tell.

UPDATE:
As predicted above, the Daemons of Chaos were re-released shortly after the Warriors of Chaos, and they use the same Lores of Magic. However, their Lore Attributes are different. I will include both in this review.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Vampires

Magic used to define the Vampire Counts army in much the same way as it did the Tomb Kings. The primary difficulties an opponent faced was the prowess of the Vampire characters, and the fact that the generally modestly powerful units could regain lost models (or even grow beyond their starting size), spring up from nowhere, and charge in the magic phase. 

Things have been shaken up a bit under the latest Vampire Counts book, including the loss of the ability to charge using Vanhel's Danse Macabre (continuing the trend we have seen across all new magic lores under 8th edition). The book has seen a number of new units added, many of which fight well enough that they don't necessarily need magical assistance to get the job done. 

So then, the army has reduced its reliance on magic (assuming the player builds his army list correctly). What does this mean for the new Lore of Vampires? Let's take a look.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Hashut

By now I would imagine that most of you would have come into contact with the Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos book. For anyone who has not, it contains a lot of story and rules for many of the weird Chaos monsters that Forgeworld are well known for. It also includes a full, stand-alone Chaos Dwarf army list called the Legion of Azgorh.

Chaos Dwarf sorcerers can use the Lores of Fire, Metal and Death. The lord-level Sorcerer-Prophets have another option, however. They can use the Lore of Hashut, which is included with the army list. Many people probably only have a vague idea of what this Lore does, so I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Nehekhara

Two posts in one day?? Well, I promised some time ago to review this Lore, so it's now well overdue. Let's have a look and see what the Lore of Nehekhara has to offer...

In the previous army book, Tomb King magic used to be the defining characteristic of the army. It behaved differently from other Lores of Magic and could be largely unstoppable if the player built his army right. It allowed Tomb King units to charge with impunity in the magic phase, and completely changed the dynamic of the game. Those times are past, however. The new book contains a Lore that is more in keeping with the game as a whole, and most notably it does away with the magic charges (which are now all but extinct in 8th edition).

What does it do?

The Lore Attribute of the Lore of Nehekhara is The Restless Dead. Units affected by augment spells from the Lore immediately regain D3+1 lost wounds, in addition to whatever effect the spell has. The Restless Dead is now the only way for Tomb King units to regain lost wounds or models. This is both a good and a bad thing. The upside is that you no longer need to dedicate some of your magic specifically to raising stuff back, as it happens anyway as a side-effect of your other spells. In effect you get two spells for the price of one. There is no one spell that your opponent can plan to block in order to prevent your raising - so long as you still have an augment spell remaining, you still have a chance to raise.

The downside to the raising being restricted to the Lore Attribute is that there is no way for you to make a concerted effort to save an endangered unit. No matter whether the spell is boosted or not, the affected units will only ever regain D3+1 wounds. The other downsides are the limitations I have not yet mentioned. Animated Constructs may only ever regain a single wound per phase from The Restless Dead - regardless of how many augment spells may be flung their way. This is a very harsh limitation, and means that choices like Ushabti are slightly less appealing. One wound per turn will never compensate for a concerted amount of punishment from the enemy. Furthermore, characters and their mounts will never regain wounds from this spell. So you can't heal Tomb King characters. This is a significant disadvantage compared to Vampire Counts (the other life-challenged army out there), who are still able to prop up their characters.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of Dark Magic

NOTE: This review is of an older version of the Lore of Dark Magic, which has since been replaced. If you're looking for the current rules, please try here.

The Lore of Dark Magic is exclusively available to Dark Elves, however it is not that often seen nowadays. It is competing with the Lores of Death, Fire, Metal and Shadow when it comes time to choose spells for your Sorceress or Supreme Sorceress, and a lot of the time it loses out in the decision.

It’s worth noting that all Dark Elf Sorceresses have the Druchii Sorcery rule, which means they may ignore the usual limit of 6 power dice for a single spell attempt. This rule made more sense when the army book was released, when a wizard could only use dice equal to his level +1 for a spell attempt. Now its sole purpose is to encourage throwing a preposterous number of dice at a potentially game-winning spell. Anyway, let’s have a look and see what the Lore of Dark Magic has to offer.

Lores of Magic: The Lore of the Wild

Beastman Bray Shamans and Great Bray Shamans have a number of Lores to choose from. One of these Lores is specific to the Beastmen army - the Lore of the Wild. Today we'll have a look at what it has to offer, and how it stacks up with the other options at their disposal.
 
What does it do?
Being from a 7th edition army book (albeit a very late one), the Lore of the Wild doesn’t have a Lore Attribute. So it’s straight onto the spells, then…
 
Bestial Surge is the Signature Spell for the Lore. Cast on a 7+, it causes all friendly units within 6” to lunge D6+1” toward the nearest enemy they can see, or straight forward if there is nothing visible. Units stop when they come within an inch of another unit, so of course you can’t charge with the spell. It was probably the first hint that GW were killing off charging spells in the lead-up to 8th edition.

Lores of Magic: The Daemon Lore of Nurgle

The final Lore of Magic in the Daemons of Chaos book is the Lore of Nurgle. Time to have a look at it, then.

What does it do?

As with the Lores of Slaanesh and Tzeentch, the Lore of Nurgle gets no Lore Attribute due to its 7th edition origins. This means we can get straight onto the spells.

The Signature Spell of the Lore is Miasma of Pestilence. It affects all enemy models in base contact with the caster, and drops their Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness, Initiative and Attacks to 1 for a full turn. In case you've not heard of this spell before, yes - you read that correctly. The casting value if a preposterous 3+, and it basically makes your caster immune to attacks from models in base contact. It also makes the enemies extremely vulnerable - WS and Toughness 1? That is worse than a drunken Snotling...

Miasma of Pestilence is an amazing Signature Spell in a Lore that is available to tough characters who are looking to be in combat. Great Unclean Ones and Nurgle Heralds are some of the tougher options in the Daemon army, and casting this spell makes them much more so. Realistically, the only threat then becomes models not in base contact - those offering support attacks from back ranks. Generally speaking, the number of these will be limited.

Offensively, Miasma is brutal. Affected models are almost entirely reliant upon any saves they have, as they will be hit on 3s and wounded on 2s - by everything. Even the Nurglings lugging a Palanquin about will demolish opponents when this spell is in play. That's 6 attacks that normally don't do a lot, suddenly elevated to lethal against anything without a good save. Friendly models adjacent to the caster also stand to benefit, as they can have a go at the weakened enemies as well.

This is one of those spells that tends to show up gaps in the rules, unfortunately. How do Breath Weapons and Thunderstomp work? The FAQ states that when a unit has multiple toughness values or armour saves, you use the value of the majority or in the case of a tie, the best. This means that when the enemy unit drops to only a small number of models, you may find yourself breathing and stomping on those weakened by Miasma. Stream of Bile is a useful ability to begin with, but against Toughness 1 enemies, it's horrific.

Lores of Magic: The Daemon Lore of Slaanesh

Continuing our review of the Lores of Magic in the Daemons of Chaos book, today we're looking at the Lore of Slaanesh.

What does it do?

As with all older Lores, the Lore of Slaanesh does not possess a Lore Attribute. I'm sure that's an advantage in some ways. Less for you to forget, right? Anyway, onto the spells...

Acquiescence is the Signature Spell of the Lore. It has an 18" range, and makes the target subject to Stupidity for the rest of the game. The best targets for the spell obviously have low leadership, and are out of range of the influence of the general and BSB. Some players employ flanking units that fit these criteria perfectly. For example, did you know Varghulfs have a leadership of 4? You might not, given that the value is not often used. What about Furies, with leadership 2?

To be honest, these are extreme examples. More often you will find yourself presented with targets around leadership 7 or 8, floating around the flanks or sitting back with the missile troops. The key to this spell is its casting value is only 5+. This means you can just throw the odd dice at it whilst saving most of the pool up for more important tasks. If you've found a really good target, your opponent will definitely try to dispel it. Otherwise he might decide to take his chances, and may find his plans unravelling thanks to a bad leadership test later in the game.

Lores of Magic: The Daemon Lore of Tzeentch

It's been quite a while since I reviewed a Lore of Magic, but there are plenty that we have not yet looked at. Today we will start looking at those found in the Daemons of Chaos book, starting with the Tzeentch.

What does it do?

Being an older Lore from a 7th edition army book, the Lore of Tzeentch does not possess a Lore Attribute. Therefore we can move straight onto the spells themselves. Again because the spells are pre-8th edition, none of them have boosted casting values. Keeps things simple, right?

Flickering Fire of Tzeentch is what serves as the Signature Spell in this Lore. It's a magic missile with an 18" range - not a great range, but adequate. As with many old spells, the casting value is very cheap - it requires a 4+. The damage from Flickering Fire is highly variable, however. It generates D6+1 hits, with a strength of D6+1 (the hits are flaming, as per the FAQ for the Daemon book). This means it has the potential to deliver a pitiful 2 strength 2 hits, or 7 hits at a frightening strength of 7.

In other words, it could do nothing, or bring down a large target with a single blast. This sort of unpredictability tends to make the spell a nightmare for opponents when it comes to dispelling. Do you rely upon the player rolling poorly on at least one of the dice, or do you stop it on the off chance that the spell is going to hit with brutal force? The decision gets harder when the target is something relatively vulnerable, like a chariot - where you only need a decent roll on each dice to threaten it. A light chariot, Eagle or fast cavalry unit won't appreciate an average roll of 4-5 hits at strength 4-5.

The low casting value, coupled with the ability to get multiple copies (thanks to its being the Signature Spell and the first spell each unit of Horrors receives) means it's quite possible to throw several attempts of Flickering Fire each turn - further compounding the misery of your opponent as he tries to decide what to dispel.

In short, Flickering Fire is a decent spell which is well worth the casting cost. It's not a reliable way to do damage, but it has great potential if the dice are on your side.

Lores of Magic: Lore of the Great Maw

The Lore of the Great Maw can be found in the 8th edition Ogre Kingdoms army book

The Lore of the Great Maw (or Gut Magic as it was previously called) first appeared in the 6th edition Ogre Kingdoms army book, when Ogres became an army in their own right. Like much of the book, the Lore was fatally flawed. The spells didn't follow the normal conventions of spellcasting, with everything being cast on a 3+ (and becoming harder if the spell had already been cast that turn), but requiring a 7+ to dispel anything in play from a previous turn. However, therein lay the problem - the most important spells (the ones that increased the effectiveness of your units) were Remains in Play, and could be dispelled in your opponent's turn. You could make your unit Stubborn, but by the time your opponent charged them, the spell would be gone. This, coupled with many spells damaging your wizard, miserable spell range and the inability to field a Slaughtermaster in a normal game to compensate, made Gut Magic a very frustrating proposition.

The 6th edition Ogre book was a disappointment, including Gut Magic

However, it is a new day, and the Ogres have a new book. It's no secret (or surprise) that the book is a vast improvement on the old one. Ogre mages can now access Lores of Magic other than their own, so how does the new Lore of the Great Maw stack up? Let's take a look.

Lores of Magic: Da Little Waaagh!

We have already looked at the spells of Da Big Waaagh! so it is now time to consider the other option open to Orc and Goblin players - Da Little Waaagh! Just as Da Big Waaagh! is restricted to Orc Shamans only, this Lore is restricted to Goblin and Night Goblin Shamans. So for people fielding all-Orc or all-Goblin lists the decision is already made for them, but for everyone else the choice is there to be made.

Goblin Shamans are sneaky, and their Lore matches their mentality

What does is do?
The Lore Attribute for Da Little Waaagh! is Sneaky Stealin'. Every time a Little Waaagh! spell gets through the enemy defences (whether they failed to dispel it, could not, or chose not to), you roll a D6. On a 5 or 6 you steal a dice from the opponent's dispel pool and add it to your power pool.

Sneaky Stealin' is interesting, because it encourages the player to cast a wave of smaller spells, rather than gathering all the dice together for a single big attempt. A number of successful castings will make it very hard for your opponent to stop them all, and each time one gets through, the situation can become worse and worse for him as you pilfer bonus dice whilst draining his defences. It may mean Goblin players will throw dice at seemingly unimportant spells, simply on the off chance that the opponent lets them through and runs the risk of losing dispel dice being held for the more important stuff.

The Goblin Signature Spell is Sneaky Stabbin' (not to be mistaken for Sneaky Stealin' as described above - Goblins are very sneaky). The spell is cheap (6+) with no option to boost it, which is unfortunate given its limited range of 12". It grants the target friendly unit the Armour Piercing rule in close combat. Perhaps more significantly however, it also grants them rerolls to hit and wound when they are in an enemy's flank or rear. Whilst that is obviously situational, on a decent combat unit it could be devastating.

As a Signature Spell, Sneaky Stabbin' is rather good. It's dirt cheap to cast (a lesser wizard with nothing better to do could throw a single dice at it), and Armour Piercing is a useful upgrade for a number of the better Orc and Goblin combat units who often fight at Strength 5. That is decent for wounding most targets, however opponents with good armour may still get solid saves against it. The extra hit on armour would be very welcome against units such as Empire and Chaos Knights, with their 1+ saves.

When there is the threat of getting a powerful unit into the enemy's flank, this spell could suddenly become a main focus of the enemy's dispel dice. The potential to have multiple copies of the spell could be very telling in that situation.

Lores of Magic: Da Big Waaagh!

OK, so it's been a while since I reviewed a Lore of Magic. Time to get back on the wagon...

The Orcs and Goblins army book was one of the first to be re-released after the introduction of 8th edition. The greenskins are a popular army, and one of the most important from a GW marketing perspective. As such, they get a lot of love and attention when it comes to things like updating the army list. This helped them jump the queue in terms of some other armies that really needed an update, however hopefully the current book will be around for a while now that it’s here.

Greenskin magic is divided into two Lores – Da Big and Little Waaagh! Da Big Waaagh! is used exclusively by Orc and Savage Orc Shamans, whilst Da Little Waaagh! is restricted to Goblin and Night Goblin Shamans. Today we are going to look at the Lore for the Orcs.

Orcs, orcs, orcs, orcs, orcs...