Top 5 Most Underrated Spell from the BRB

Yep, I seem to be on a roll with this whole magic list, but can you blame me? I'm a Lizardmen player for Christ's sakes! It's what I do! Anways, I'm here no to list the Top 5 most underrated spells, the spells that never really seem to get too much recognition but always seem to really help out or just have some really nice abilities. Again, if you disagree with me and you use or know people who use these spells all the time and made it renown then I'm sorry. Keep in mind I play in the Reno-Tahoe area, so what you may experience in your meta maybe much different than mine. So without further ado, let's get started.

#5: Earth Blood
Despite being in the same lore as some of the most powerful spells like Dweller's Below, Flesh to Stone, and Regrowth, it always seems that this poor little guy can never stand out very much in the Lore of Life. For an 8+ casting value, the wizard and the unit he's in get 5+ Regeneration. Now, for that small clause alone is at the technical bottom of the list. The lack of a range really kinda hurts this spell, but not when you think in depth about it. Keep in mind, the primary purpose of Life caster is to keep Throne of Vines up, and Augment/Regrowth as many units as he can. The most practical place for a wizard like that is in a unit of troops, primarily infantry. However, you can't give a unit further away Regeneration, so it's not without it's weaknesses and inefficiencies. But it does provide an additional form of save, something very few spells in all of Warhammer are capable of. Most just increase the probability of a save, like Glittering Robe and Pann's Impenetrable Pelt. But Earth Blood goes one step beyond. For that reason and the fact that a Slann on Life Magic is AWESOME do I put it on this list.

#4: Transmutation of Lead
Lore of Metal is almost entirely a lore comprised of underrated spells, isn't it? Transmutation of Lead is no exception in this regard. Much how Wyssan's Wildform is really a help in horde-on-horde grinding situations, Transmutation is very much the same. Instead of buffing however, it debuffs. And oh boy, does it do that! For a fairly high 12+ casting value, this spells has targets a single unit within 24". that unit suffers -1 to it's Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, and Armor Saves. Can be boosted to have a range of 48" for a casting value of 15+. Unlike other popular Augments and Hexes, this spell targets a lot of different stats at once, instead of specifying what stat for an amount more than just one or a list of possible stats to drop/increase and giving the caster the option to pick which one given the situation. It makes the enemy do slightly less damage and allows you to do slightly more in return. In a pinch the spell can also be used to drop ranged units down a little bit, but primarily it is more useful in close combat situations. I've found this is actually very useful against Elves, dropping them down to no save or at most a 6+ (factoring in the Strength of my troops) and making it much harder for them to hit with their puny S3 attacks. Not much more I can say about this other than it's a good spell to have in your hand if you're rolling with the Lore of Metal.

#3: The Curse of Anraheir
This is kinda the inverse of Transmutation of Lead. Just like that spell, it's a Hex, but instead of reducing the weapon skill and ballistic skill of the target, it just suffers a -1 to-hit penalty in both close combat and ranged attacks, which can actually be better than just dropping a stat or stats. In addition, it makes that unit treat all terrain as Dangerous Terrain. It has a range of 36" and a casting value of 10+. It can be boosted to have range of 72" for an increased casting value of 13+. Where do I begin with the hilarity that this spell causes? If your army has chariots and/or cavalry in it, they're just dead. If you need a horde whittled down to size before engaging it in combat, this is a great spell. If there's a river on the board and you are feeling especially sadistic, this is a great spell. One of the scariest things to face is an Empire Gun Line with a Beasts Wizard casting this spell left and right. The very first magic phase you have, cast this spell. It will put your opponent so out of whack or have him lose more troops that he was expecting that it will reap only benefits for your army. This spell will outright destroy a Bretonnian army. How do I know this you ask? A long and very very touchy story that I'm not going into right now thank you very much. As much attention as Wyssan's gets, I'm actually a little surprised more people haven't embraced this spell as well. Even if there's no terrain on the board, the enemy is still looking at -1 penalty to do anything in the realm of attacking. Really no downside to this spell other than it doesn't just kill whatever it touches if it's victim fails an Initiative test.

#2: Wind Blast
To be sure, it's no Comet of Casandora, but it's still a very nice spell to have in your hand because the situation it's best in will almost always come around. If you're not familiar with this little gem, allow me to fill you in. For a 7+ casting value, you may "push" a targeted unit within 24" directly away from the caster D3+1". If the unit comes in contact with impassible terrain when blown back it suffers D6 S3 hits. If it hits another unit when blown back, they both suffer D6 S3 hits and you place the blown back unit 1" away from the unit it was blown into. If for some reason the targeted unit cannot move, they just suffer D6 S3 hits. For an increased casting value of 14+, the unit is pushed back 2D6+2" directly away from the caster. Most people see S3 and then leave this spell at home. However, those are the people who do not see the true power of this spell. The power of this spell does not come from the damage it deals directly. It comes from the damage it does to your opponent's strategy. Sun Tzu once said that to defeat your opponent you must attack his strategy, and this is a lesson that definitely applies to Warhammer Fantasy. Players will most often play conservatively, keeping their units/ models just far away enough to make it a difficult charge for you, but a relatively possible charge for them. Those Bretonnian Knights 12" away? Move them 9" (the average amount for the boosted version) and totally wreck their chances. This spell basically allows you to play keep-away with your opponent. If you're the cautious kind of person, then this spell should be your bread and butter. The important thing to note is that the units are flung in the direction directly away from the caster, not flung directly back from the targeted unit. Keep this in mind when using this spell. When you think about, this is the only spell that kinda negate spells Walk Between Worlds and Hand of Gork. That should count for something I think. Great spell, always overlooked and I never really know why. That's why it's on this list.

#1: The Penumbral Pendulum
Remember the disclaimer above? Keep that in mind. The reason I put this spell on the list was not because it's overlooked intentionally like Wind Blast, but because the two spells above it are so infamous and so well known that I feel this one occasionally gets forgotten about. It's a Direct Damage spell with a casting value of 13+. It acts like a cannonball bouncing in a straight line extended from the caster 6D6" (which should be an average of about 21"). Each model in the way must pass an Initiative (God I hate that phrase!) test or suffer a S10 hit with the D3 Multiple Wounds special rule. The range of the spell can be increased to 12D6" (averages out to be about 42") for an increased casting value of 18+. I am honestly confused how people don't seem to prefer this spell over Pit of Shades and Purple Sun. There I said! Hunt me down and crucify me if you will Shadow and Death fans, but this spell is WAY better. I mean, let's face it. Purple Sun and Pit of Shades are kinda random, and in order to do the massive casualties that those spells need to do in order to make up for their insane casting value they need the boosted versions, which means a bigger template, which means more scattering, which means more randomness, which means it's all the more a gamble because at this point, you're hunting for a Miscast and you know it. This spell is not only safer, but it also has the potential to inflict more damage because it's a lot more focused that it's older brothers. Sure, it's not an instant kill and does have a 1/6 chance of not wounding. But come on people, what won't S10 instant kill when given the chance? This spell is best used on a more mobile caster, able to get in a flanking position where a nice straight line will pierce through the ranks of your enemy and therefore inflict lots more damage. Hordes can be annihilated with this spell. Lines of artillery on a hill are just wiped off the face of the earth when this spell hits them. Pendulum > Pit of Shades and Purple Sun. It's math people, deal with it!

So that's the most underrated spells in the standard lores and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself with this post. Please comment below if you have questions, concerns, or suggestions. Until next time people, I'll keep posting if you get commenting!