It seems I can't help but jump on the bandwagon, but in response to a short but hilarious outbreak of Top 10 videos done by Anthony, Malorian, and a few other youtube fantasy players, I too have decided to do a Top 10, but instead of Skaven, Orcs/Goblins, or Ogres, I will be doing High Elves. As an avid Lizardmen player, I have come to hate and despise High Elves and everything having to do with them. What do I hate about the armies of Ulthuan? Well, sit tight and and find out why every fiber in my body makes me want to kill a puppy when I see them across the table form me.
#10: Magic
This one may surprise a few people, but yeah, I hate High Elf magic. Not the Lore of High Magic either, I love running a Level 4 Slann on High Magic, but the fact that they have access to all 8 standard lores in the BRB is what really grinds my gears. Now from a fluff perspective, I understand that High Elves are pretty much the masters of all magic (except for Slann, who eat High Elf sorcerers for breakfast), but there are some lores that they have access to that make no sense to me. Lore of Fire, Lore of Heavens, Lore of Life, Lore of Light, that seems to fit in with the whole High Elf theme. Lore of Shadow and Death, those are a little harder to justify, but given how powerful they are I understand the necessity that High Elves have for these lores. Lore of Metal and Beasts. Yeah, how exactly does that make any fucking sense for High Elves to be able to use? High Elves have worse armor that humans do and given their level of technological advancement, I would assume their knowledge of metallurgy is piss poor. As for Lore of Beasts, High Elves live in cities, not forests like Wood Elves. For an army that doesn't really have a lot of monsters (outside mounts and the Phoenix(s)) and live in an urban environment, it makes no sense for them to be able to use Beast Magic. Being able to cast Wyssan's on Phoenix Guard or White Lions is just grating as hell. Not the worst thing in this fucking army, but my hate levels will consistently rise from here on.
#9: Sisters of Avelorn
Oh yes, these bitches are definitely on my hit list. I try not to directly reveal stats for any GW products, but this can't be ignored. Sisters of Avelorn have a 30" range with a Ballistic Skill of 5! What the fuck aren't these bitches going to hit?! At BS5, they could move and be at long range and still have a 50/50 shot at hitting what they shoot at! To put that in perspective, my Chameleon Skinks, who are master hunters and can put darts into the chinks of Chaos Armor in the dark heavily shrouded jungle, are BS4. And they're always taking a -1 due to multi-shot blowpipes with a 12" range. Now, Chameleon Skinks can scout, skirmish, and have poison, which Sisters of Avelorn do not, but that doesn't matter when these bitches can kill off any chaff or fast cav I have to take out the Repeater Bolt Throwers any competitive High Elf army will have two of. Just, just hate them, hate them so much. Only at #9 and already I'm angry enough to want to drink a pack of PBR to calm myself down! They also have this Flaming attacks thing against evil armies, but it never comes into play on my part, so I don't really care about that in particular. The only reason you never see too many of these bitches is because they come out of the Rare section, meaning they're competing with other really good stuff that tends to be seen a lot more (like Frost Phoenixes). I can't get in range of these whores, and getting into close combat with them is kind of difficult with 50 goddamn High Elf Spearmen in your way!
#8: Silverhelms
Oh yes, another unit that just grinds my gears whenever I see them on the field. I know a lot of people are shocked when I tell them I hate Silverhelms more than Dragon Princes, but you really shouldn't be. Dragon Princes are elite cavalry, but they come from the Special section of the book, where elite cavalry units belong. Silverhelms, who have an almost identical stat line, come from the Core section, and take no movement modifiers from barding. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was playing Bretonnians. With lances, this unit is S5 on the charge. That's the same as my Saurus Cav with spears. Seriously, how do you justify this unit? Please High Elf players, answer me! Because whenever I see my Cold One Riders (who reside in the Special sections) get massacred when going into combat with Silverhelms, I die a little inside, I really do. Because a unit that just cost 370 points (that's with spears and full command) got destroyed by a unit that came out of a section that HAD to have the points spent from it. I can't even wrap my head around that. Don't even get me started on how badly my Knights of the Realm are outclassed by these piss ants! I'm just going to keep going, because at this point my rage meter is already fucking broken because of these wimpy-ass Elves that always seem to kick the shit out of me because they're so fucking broken anyway.
#7: Lothern Sea Guard:
Oh yes, these guys are on here. I know Anthony from the Sustainable Center talked a little about them in his review on the High Elf book (great review, check it out on youtube), but what he didn't talk about was how fucking broken these guys are. They are a core infantry unit that is a bowman and a spearman unit combined that costs only slightly more than High Elf Archers and Spearmen as a whole, and allow them to save drops and put you at a fucking conundrum. DO NOT GO AFTER THESE GUYS IF THEY ARE IN A HORDE! For the love of God, do not. They will just butcher anything that is directly across from them. Why do you ask? because these guys are the perfect tar-pit/bunker you could put together. Anything within their range and line of sight (that isn't cav or monster cav) will probably have two whole turns of being shot at and then take losses from them standing-and-shooting. God help you if you fail the charge, cause then they get another whole turn of shooting and another stand-and-shoot. Once you make it into this unit, you will then proceed to have every single unit (cause anybody with half a mind will take fifty of these to be his/her anvil unit and core requirement, if the points allow it) in a fifty man formation hitting you with ASF and if you're really lucky, re-rolls because they have higher Initiative. S3 doesn't fucking matter when you're unit has had three to four round of shooting put into it and then another fifty attacks at best. If, for some reason, you manage to beat these guys in combat, there is no way they are going anywhere, because they will inevitably be steadfast after all that shooting into your own ranks. If there are any Lords or Heroes in that unit, just give up, You will never break fifty LD 10 Lothern Sea Guard in horde formation. Unless you really love Doom and Darkness and your opponent roles like complete and utter shit. The scary thing, these bitches come out of Core, so this nightmare unit is REQUIRED. High Elf Core is just so fucking ridiculous.
#6: Martial Prowess
I understand this one of the rules that has been with the High Elves for a long time, and so I can't hate on it as hard as anything above it on this list, but this rule still pisses me off like nothing else. Why? Because when you break this rule down to it's logical basis, then it will really tick you off when you realize how many units have this rule that shouldn't. Martial Prowess is the result of Elven physiology and centuries of training and battlefield experience that allows a regiment to maximize it's damage output. Given these conditions, how do standard core units, like Spearmen and Archers, who are basically just militia, have this rule? Now, elite units like Phoenix Guard and White Lions, I can understand the rule applying to them because they cost a shit-load of points to field and are the creme de la creme of the High Elf army. Now, many people will counter this argument by pointing out that Saurus Warriors, who are also core, benefit from the Predatory Fighter special rule, despite being very cheap as well. Yes, but Saurus are the ONLY rank and file infantry worth a shit in the whole book and are also designed for war and killing. Some have even fought in times before Elves and Humans walked the earth. Spearmen and Archers? They're the National Guard for Christ sake! Why do they benefit from a a rule that should only apply to Navy SEALS?! I know this a little nit-picky, but I really don't care, it just makes me angry, and that's why it's on this list. Because it pisses me the fuck off, that's why!
#5: Loremasters
This is an example of a unit or model that should be taken all the time and never is for reasons I can't seem to grasp. This is basically a Level 2 who doesn't select a lore like a normal caster. Instead, he has all Signature Spells from all 8 standard lores of magic. That is fucking insane. Let me explain why that is exactly. See, there are pretty much no bad Signature Spells in the 8 lores. Fireball, Wyssan's Wildform, Searing Doom, Iceshard Blizzard, Shem's Burning Gaze, Earthblood, Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma, and Spirit Leech. All with the power of a Level 2 caster behind it. So you have a Level 2 who can use all the kinds of spells and pretty much do whatever the hell you need him to do. Where do I begin to say how much this pisses me off? My Slann can do that, and admittedly is automatically a Level 4, but for a price of 300 points base cost plus the points it takes to upgrade the Slann to be able to do that. The Loremaster is so fewer points than my Slann and has only a little less power in the realm of magical output. How does that even work? I pay almost twice the cost of this little bastard (after magical items and disciplines are totaled up) for the same thing that he does. How does a demi-god, who literally IS magic, have the same power as a piddly little elf scholar who can't even make up his mind on what magical lore he wants to specialize in and kind of knows a little bit of sword-play?! Jesus Titty-Fucking Christ there is nothing more that pisses me off than seeing this guy across the table from me. Except anything that places in the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st places on this list. I guess I'm just jealous that something can do the same job as my Slann for cheaper. Oh, and to add insult to injury, this motherfucker can kick my Bretonnian Lord's ass six day a week and twice on Sunday.
#4: Repeater Bolt Throwers
Oh yes, these little bastards are definitely on here. So as if all the Bowman, Sisters of Avelorn, and various other bow shots weren't enough, High Elves now have the ability to castle with war machines. I don't necessarily think they're overpowered, but it's what they do for High Elves that really makes me angry. You basically use them to anchor your flanks. From there, they will then proceed to kill all of your chaff, pick off lone characters, and continue to harass you units from far away. If, by so miracle of God you can use scouts or your own artillery to silence these annoying fucks, then the High Elf player has still won, because he's kept your attention on something that at the end of the day matters absolutely nothing to him. The only redeeming quality of this motherfucker is that it comes out of the Rare section, meaning you're opponent can't take too many of these and multiple Frostheart Phoenixes in the same list. Two of these on the board, a horde of White Lions, and a horde of Seaguard, and I might as well call it quits, cause there's no fucking point in dealing with this army. Fucking High Elves. I fucking hate them with so goddamn much! They're so goddamned good and my Bretonnians are so goddamned bad...
#3: Frostheart Phoenixes
Oh yes, another thing that makes one of my armies seem like complete and total ass compared to the perfect Elves of Ulthuan. See, it's not enough that the Elves have to use Strength and Toughness 3 and destroy my Saurus who have Wyssan's Wildform on them by the way. But they also have to have monster that's more survivable than anything else in the Lizardmen book. It also deals more damage than anything else in the Lizardmen books, debuffs anything that goes into close combat with it. Yeah, my Stegadon doesn't give enemy in base contact with it Always Strikes Last and it certainly doesn't give it -1S. It also doesn't make itself immune to cannons. Fuck this thing, fuck it in it's frosty asshole with a rusty halberd. How does a monster, that's near the end of it's life cycle crank out more damage than an immortal dinosaur who's tusks can fell anything in a jungle filled with dinosaurs who can swallow entire cities and who's plates have literally ossified into a material stronger than steel?! Anyone who's ever played a competitive High Elf list knows the butt-raping potential of the Frostheart Phoenix.
#2: Banner of the World Dragon
Oh yes, lie to me and say you didn't see this coming! Much like Frostheart Phoenixes if you've ever played a competitve High Elf list then you know what this is. You've inevitably seen it in either a horde of White Lions or a horde of Phoenix Guard. What it does is that it gives the unit and any characters in it a 2+ Ward Save against Magical Attacks. Meaning this unit will just laugh at you if you try to whittle it down. This makes your stuff pretty much immune to miscasting results. White Lions, this banner, and a level 4 will ROFL-stomp your army. It also makes their dragons Stubborn, so if you're trying to just beat a Dragon and Prince combo with static combat resolution you're now officially fucked. Remember how Dweller's Below used to be the only thing that could seriously cripple a horde of White Lions? I miss those days, I miss them a lot. A horde with this banner will take anything you throw at it and just keep laughing as you put everything you have into it. Makes the ultimate douche-bag High Elf Death Star. And the cu-da-gras is coming right up.
#1: Special Characters
In a tournament scenario, I frown very heavily upon the use of special characters unless the army is really fluffy or it's a friendly game/local tournament. In fact, most special characters, with the exception of most High Elf characters, Throgg, and some of the Vampire counts characters, most special characters are overpriced for what they do. For example, I've seen Empire "Crusading" lists with Luther Huss or Lizardmen "Anti-Skaven" Skink lists with Tehenuaian and/or Tettoeko. Those are acceptable armies because the special characters are compensating for the very low damage output that these armies can put out. However, there are some characters that are so insanely over-powered or have such ridculously powerful special rules that tournaments will sometimes make a blanket ban of special characters. Like Throgg, who makes Chaos Trolls a Core option in the Warriors of Chaos book, or Mannfred von Carstein from the Vampire Counts, who just removes ten models a turn and gives the player an automatic twelve-dice magic phase. However, even the terror that is Mannfred or a Throgg list pales in comparison to the two characters in the High Elf list that create the ultimate death star. Allarielle and Teclis. These two are terrifying, plain and simple. If you see Allarielle in a horde, it's game over. If Teclis is in the unit with the Banner of the World Dragon, it's game over. Seriously, Nagash has got nothing on these two. In terms of points and what they do, Teclis is much better, and Allarielle makes the unbeatable Death Star. Don't believe me? The Alarielle Death Star won the US masters for Warhammer Fasntasy last year. Yes, it is that bad.
So that's it guys, the 10 Things I Hate About High Elves and god I'm glad that it's over! Maybe now I can put aside my issues, and probably get on with my life. Or I'll just keep hating on them! Yup, gonna be going with that one! Until next time, see y'all later!
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Bringing Bretonnia Into the Future Part 7 Final
So the last thing that I wanted to cover I've arrived at, and boy am I super excited to get this series done with! I hope you guys liked it but before I pat myself on the back, it's time to take a look at one of the best parts of any older book, the army's special items selection.
Magic Weapons:
The Silver Lance of the Blessed:
Works the same way as a normal lance (resolved at +2 Strength on the charge) except if the knight has the Blessing of the Lady then all attacks with this weapon automatically hit. This item is currently 65 points, and it's actually an okay item as is. However, I see it reappearing in our newest book, given the precedent that GW has set for it's newest books. Take any 7th edition book and look up the most expensive magic weapon it has. Then, take the 8th edition version of the book and see it made into a 100 point magical weapon. The Blade of Realities, the Battleaxe of the Last Waghh, the Runefang, I could list more examples, but you get my drift. I forsee this item reappearing, and getting upped in price and effect.The most obvious would be to allow it to auto-hit and auto-wound if you have the Blessing. I would take that item for 100 point on a Lord.
Sword of the Quest:
May be used as either a hand weapon or a great weapon (decided at the beginning of combat) and no armor saves are allowed for against attack from this weapon. For 50 points, this item is totally, totally worth it. It's almost an auto-include because it allows you to take a competitive character with the Questing Vow. My current list has a Paladin BSB with the Questing Vow and this magic weapon in a lance of Questing Knights. It allows your character to at least do some very serious damage before anything that isn't Skaven or Elves. This item allows my Questing Knights to go into units like Mournfang or Demigryphs with at least a bit more confidence then I normally would have. I would love to see at least one item for each Knightly Vow retained in our new book, and for Questing Knights, this definitely a weapon I would be keen to see again in a new book. I don't even think the price or the wording of this item should change. Just copy and paste this item into the new book and I think people would still take it.
Sword of the Lady's Champion:
The way that this item is worded is really, really weird, so I'll just cut to the chase. For 40 points it allows you to always wound on a 3+ because it makes your Strength always count as being 1 point above the opponent's Toughness. This modified Strength is also used to calculate penalties for Armor Saves and only a character with the Grail Vow can take this item. I think that this has potential on a character with the Gauntlet of the Duel. Other than that, I just see this is a not so great reward for paying the price of another knight just to be a Grail Knight. If it's redone to make it a little more utilitarian, I might warm up to it, but as is it's just not a big deal.
Sword of Heroes:
Against enemies with Toughness 5 or over, the bearer gets +1 Strength and then inflicts D3 wounds instead of one wound for each unsaved wound this weapon inflicts. For 35 points, this is a steal in my opinion. While this isn't exactly the most utilitarian weapon in the book, you're almost always going to run into some kind of monster or really nasty character that will have high Toughness. With the prevalence of Dwarves and Chaos Dwarves in my area (the Reno-Tahoe area to be more exact), this is a cheap way to deal with their ridiculously powerful characters and special units. While it's certainly no Sword of the Quest, if you're a miser with your points (stop playing Bretonnia) then this is a pretty good compromise I suppose. I don't think we'll be seeing this weapon in the new book though because god forbid our different armies be different! Lord knows GW can't make armies comprised of different races have any shred of difference between them.
The Heartwood Lance:
Allows you to re-roll all failed to-wound rolls when charging and actually using a lance. For 35 points, I think it's too expensive and there are just so many better items in this list that are so much superior. Don't care if it's in the new book and to fix it would mean replacing one of the better items that could be in the new book.
Birth-sword of Carcassonne:
Gives your character +1 Strength and enemies wounded with this weapon must re-roll their Armor Saves. For 35 points, I think this is another steal coming from the magic weapons selection. While I like this sword, I very rarely take it because of the Sword of the Quest and the item coming up right after this one. I would like to see this in the new book repriced to maybe 20-25 points, but it isn't in there, I won't bitch too much about it.
Morning Star of Fracasse:
The bearer of this weapon has +2 Strength on the first round of combat, for each hit on a close combat opponent, roll a D6. On a roll of a 4+, if the opponent has a magic weapon, it's destroyed. For 25 points, this is perhaps the best item in the world for nullifying the greatest weakness of Bretonnia's Blessing Save. It's no secret that unless you really kit your character out accordingly, most combat Lords (who are starting to trickle back into the meta) will eat your Lord for breakfast. When I hand my book over to a Warriors of Chaos player, he just laughs at it. He knows that his Chaos Lord could liquefy my Knight Lord with but a glance. Then he cries when my Lord survives, swings back, and busts his 100 point magic weapon into pieces. Plus, the way I read it, this effect Dwarf Runic Weapons too. Yet another reason not to throw your Dwarf Lord into a Lance of Bretonnian Knights with a Knight Lord in it. Great item, and I'd love to see it stick around in the next book.
The Lance of Artois:
Acts like a normal lance and gives the knight the Killing Blow special rule, but only on the turn in which he charges. This, for 20 points, is a pretty damn good item. If you're hesitant to drop 40 points on a character for HKB, then this weapon is the perfect compromise. Right now, it's nice and I think decently priced. However, I would perhaps like to see some elite knights in our new Special and/or Rare section with Killing Blow already given to them. Again, it's a nice weapon as is and I don't think it needs to be redone. I'd much rather keep the Sword of the Quest and the Morning Star of Fracasse over this one.
The Wyrmlance:
Acts like a normal and allows once per game for the wielder to use a breath attack from the tip of the model's lance. All hits by this special attack are resolved at S3. In addition the character receives the Flaming Attacks special rule when using this lance in combat (ergo on the turn he charges). For 20 points, I always have to ask why not just take the Flaming Banner? It's cheaper and gives the whole unit Flaming Attacks. Now, if this lance were say, 5 points, I would see it a little differently. The tip of the lance caveat is pretty flexible and has a lot of room for finagling in terms of ranging it out. However, as is it's not worth the paper it's written on. If we were to see this in the new Bretonnian book, I would like to see this maybe changed so that it does extra damage to Monster (+D3 wounds or something). However, I have to slap any Bretonnian player I know who's using this weapon in an attempt to put some more sense into them.
Magic Armor:
Guilded Cuirass:
Can only be worn by a character with the Grail Vow and replaces his Heavy Armor. It provides a 5+ Armor Save that can be combined with other equipment as normal and gives the character Regeneration. Considering Grail Knights already come with the Blessing Save, and in 8th edition Regen and Ward Saves cannot be combined as they could in 6th edition, this armor is pretty much crap. 55 points of crap. Now, if it gave a better Ward Save to the Blessing, then I'd be all over this in the new book. As for now, not a big fan and I wouldn't poo-poo if it didn't make into the next book.
Armor of the Midsummer Sun:
Replaces the Knights Heavy Armor and gives him a 5+ Armor Save that can be combined with other equipment as usual. Opponent's suffer a -1 to-hit penalty in both shooting and close combat attacks. Or you can take Beasts Magic and use Curse of Anraheir for free. -1 isn't that big of deal, and for 45 points, this item is way overcosted for what it does. Plus most knights have a 2+ Armor Save anyway which makes most missile fire, with the exception of artillery, nearly useless in the first place. Don't care about this item and I most certainly don't want it coming back, unless it somehow shields the wearer from war machines, then I might take a bit more of an interest in it.
The Grail Shield:
Can only be taken by a character with the Grail Vow. It acts as a regular shield but it also ups the wearers Blessing Save to a 4+ against attacks of any Strength value. This save can be lost the same way a Blessing Save would usually be lost. For 35 points, this is the second best piece of armor in this book and perhaps the most cost effective. Anything that acts as a combined Talisman of Preservation and shield for 13 less points then both of them is a winner in my book. I'd love to keep this piece of armor in the new book, but knowing GW's talent for disappointing Bretonnian fans, I won't keep my finger crossed.
Gromril Great Helm:
Gives a 6+ armor save that may be warn in addition to other armors. The bearer of this armor may re-roll failed Armor Saves. For 30 points, this is the other item that without a doubt is a steal and should be an auto include. Automatically makes your Lord or Paladin have a 1+ re-rollable armor save, provided he isn't a Questing Knight. I need this piece to be in the new book, without it a 1+ Armor Save with HKB and the Gunatlet of the Duel will be forever lost. Without a doubt this is my favorite piece of armor because it is accessible to whatever Vow you put your character on. A great item, and should remain as is. Copy and paste GW, copy and paste.
Armour of Agiluf:
Replaces a knights heavy armor and gives him a shield for a 4+ Armor Save. This armor prevents him from using any two-handed weapons. This also gives the knight Weapon Skill 10 (this cannot be further increased by items) to whoever is wearing it. For 25 points, I think that this is a very decent item, especially for if and/or when your character gets into a challenge. It makes him very hard to hit, and makes him pretty much incredible. Combining this with the Virtue of Knightly Temper makes for some very impressive damage output from your Knight Lord. I think it's really nice, but I highly doubt we'll be seeing this item ever again. It's just one of those items that made sense in a prior edition, but is much too powerful now.
Cuirass of Fortune:
Replaces the knight's armor with a 5+ Armor Save which may be combined with other defensive items as normal. When rolling in close combat, the knight may re-roll any failed to-wound rolls of 1. For 20 points, if you can spare it on a blank Paladin, then I think it's just fine. Other than that, there's just too many more cost effective and impressive magical armor pieces out there that I would rather be using. Much like anything else, I wouldn't be sad to see it go exactly.
Orcbane Shield:
I have no doubt in my mind that this will make it into the new Bretonnian book as the Skavenpelt Banner and the Standard of Beards made into their armies' respective lists. It works just like a normal shield with the exception of the fact that any unengaged Orc and Goblin unit within 12" of the bearer fails an Animosity Test on a roll of a 1 and 2. Even for 15 points, I still think it's a waste. Any item that specializes in specifically effecting a single army in particular is a waste to me. I want this thing gone, but again, knowing GW's talent for maximizing my disappointment this piece of shit will be in the next book.
Talismans:
Sirienne's Locket:
This can only be put on a Bretonnian Lord, and it prevents a Knight Lord from taking anymore than 1 from non-magical attacks. Even weapons with multiple wound (war machines too) can only cause a single wound. After the first wound is taken, all the others acquired in the phase are ignored. The bearer can still be effected by Killing Blow and can be run down if he flees from combat as normal. For 55 points, it's an okay item. The only problem is that every time I look at this item, I have to wrestle with my inner miser. My Lord already comes with a 2+ Armor Save and 6+ Ward Save. He's pretty well defended as is, and for 55 points, what are you loosing access to that could be used to wipe out an entire rank of enemies. I'd be interested to see it re-done in the next book, but definitely with some re-tooling gone into this unit.
Token of the Damsel:
Can only by equipped on a Knight Lord or Paladin. Against the first wound suffered, the Knight gets a 2+ Ward Save. For 35 points, this is a fair purchase and I think it should stay in the next book but go down 10 or 15 points. This is a nice item for all you crazy people who love putting your Knight Lord on a Hippogryph. Other than that, I again refer you to reasoning for Sirienne's Locket. You already have a guy who's got exceptionally high defensive abilities. Between this and the Grail Shield, and I just think that the Grail Shield is a better bang for your buck.
Insignia of the Quest:
Can only be taken by a character with the Questing Vow. If the bearer of this item is ever reduced to 1 wound remaining the knight instantly gets a 3+ Ward Save. If he's hit by something that causes multiple wounds and he has more than 1 wound remaining (cannons, bolt throwers, magical missiles, etc) but the shot will kill him, he gets to use the 3+ Ward Save to protect himself with this item. For 30 points, I think this is a highly overpriced item for what it does. Not really a good item in my opinion. It's not worth fixing because I doubt this item will be popping up again in our future book.
Braid of Bordeleaux:
A one use 25 point item. It's used at the start of the Bretonnian player's turn and it increases the character's Leadership by 1 point for that turn. In addition, the turn in which the item is used the character and the unit he is in have the Strider Special Rule and they benefit from Soft Cover while in said terrain. This is an item that can really save your ass from one of Bretonnia's many, many natural enemies. Terrain. Terrain is evil if you play cavalry. Being able to fling your Lance through an otherwise dangerous piece of terrain that your opponent is using to screen his troops is a nice tactical thing to be able to do. This and a Dispel Scroll on a Damsel in a Lance of Knights of the Realm. Total, total destruction into your poor unsuspecting enemy. However, only put it on a Damsel. On anything else, it just takes away from what you can do. I would like to see this item reappear, but I fear not.
Dragon's Claw:
So, as of the most recent FAQ, this item does the following for 25 points. The bearer of the item has his/her Blessing Save increased to a permanent 5+ (this can be lost the same way that Blessing is normally lost) and gets a 2+ Ward Save against Flaming Attacks. It's okay, if you want to take a character who can just destroy a unit with the Flaming Banner on it, than this is it. It's nice, and considering the fact that everyone takes a Flaming Banner in a tournament list to deal with Regen units, I think it's an okay item. There's really no downside to it and I would like to see it again in the newest book.
Mantle of Damsel Elena:
For 20 points, this item makes the bearer immune to Killing Blow and Poison. It's a very nice item if you're worried about somebody assassinating your Lord or some Skinks lighting your troops up with Blow Pipes and Javelins, then this a nice item to have. My problem is that every time I play a game where my opponent has a model or unit with either of these rules, there are five more games I play where my opponents don't have either of these abilities in their army. They're okay, but I'm just not big fan of this item because it never seems to be a very helpful item overall.
Enchanted Items:
Falcon-Horn of Fredemund:
A one use item that may be used at the start of any Bretonnian turn. No enemy unit may fly, they are forced to use their ground-based movement instead. The FAQ deletes the last sentence of this item, which used to allow you to use this to alter fleeing distances for Flying units. For 45 points, this is probably the worst item in the book per points. Skip it, don't even bother with it.
Holy Icon:
For 40 points, it gives the character Magic Resistance 3. If Magic Resistance gets you off, then it should be noted that this item is 5 points cheaper than the Obsidian Lodestone from the BRB. Otherwise, I think it's a bit too expensive in the context of this army. Keep in mind, this would make a Knight Lord/Paladin have a 3+ Ward Save and the Prophetess/Damsel have a 1+ against Magical Attacks. I guess if you play a lot of Death Magic, than this a great way to keep your characters alive. Again, I'd rather take an item that gives me a direct Ward Save or at the least expands upon my Blessing Save against any kind of attack that comes my way. If it comes down in price and/or does something else in addition to giving MR, then I'd be okay seeing it in a new book.
The Ruby Goblet:
This item activates at the end of the first phase during which the bearer or his/her unit takes any unsaved wound(s). For the rest of the game, the bearer and the unit he/she is in cannot be wounded by anything non-magical on better than a 3+. For 30 points, this is a great item, because it makes cannons cry in frustration. If you play it smart, what it does it makes cannons only wound your unit on a 2. Because a 1 always fails and with this item activated, a 3+ fails to wound now too. Wanna make Questing Knights survivable? This thing right here. I think it's a very gamey piece of gear though, so I don't take this item unless I know I'm going to face the Chaos Dwarf Gun Line (I'm also praying they don't make their artillery pieces magical) from hell. Even helps in close combat. Fun item, enjoy it while it lasts because I would be willing to bet that this thing will be gone in the next book.
Mane of the Purebreed:
Character on warhorse only, gives +1 Strength to the character's warhorse and and the other horses of the unit your character is in for the first time they charge. For 25 points, it can make a nice little surprise and it most certainly can make the first charge into combat (the most important part for Bretonnia) go a little bit further. Throw it on an excess Paladin in one of your Lances if you have the points, it's pretty nice and I would like to see some item that boosts our horses in the next book.
Antlers of the Great Hunt:
As of the FAQ, this item now allows your Knight and the unit he's in to roll 3D6 when pursuing and select the highest two dice. For 25 points, I think it's okay. It makes me sad though, because it reminds me of the Jaguar Standard in the 7th edition Lizardmen. Look that shit up, it was what made Cold One Riders usable. If you are fanatical about finishing off your opponent and not leaving him rallying his army up to fate, then this is the item for you. It's okay, but I just don't really have any points for it because there are so many other items I would rather carry.
Tress of Isoulde:
What the fuck is a Tress anyway? I guess it's a one-use only that allows you to nominate a single enemy model in any Combat Phase that makes to-hit rolls by the bearer of this item that on a roll of a 2+ regardless of any modifiers. For 20 points, I think it acts very well in combination with the Morningstar and the Virtue of Heroism. It's a nice piece of gear that may have some tactical use for Bretonnia, but it needs to be cheaper if it's one-use only. I'd rather see a few other things reappear in the new book, but if this little trinket pops up again, I'd be okay with that.
Guantlet of the Duel:
Any challenged issued by the bearer cannot be refused. For 10 points, this item is pretty much an auto-include in any army. This item no longer makes me fear Skaven as a Bretonnian player. When, as a Bretonnian player, you find that your opponent's characters are very vulnerable to direct damage you take full advantage of that. This why Tomb King and Vampire Count armies will be very reluctant to play a Bretonnian army. Once their Vampire Lord or Hirophant goes pop, the game is practically over. Skaven, while not Undead, are still very much reliant on their characters allowing them to have Leadership 10 (which is fucking bullshit) and re-rolls via the BSB. This item means the Skaven player can't use his Verminous Valor special rule. You will liquify a Grey Seer or a Skaven Warlord with a Bretonnian Lord. Unless your opponent it totting the Fell Blade, this item can allow you to cripple Skaven and pick at their biggest overall weakness, their Leadership. Even when you're not against Skaven, this is still a great item, especially for 10 points. Just be VERY careful picking your fights as the Bretonnian Lord is a machine, but he is still a squishy human. I would love to see this appear on our next book.
Arcane Items:
The Silver Mirror:
Any army that allows you to run dual Dispel Scrolls is instantly an A+ in my book. For 40 points, this is a damned fine item to bring along. First off, it's stated that it works exactly as a Dispel Scroll. In addition, the Wizard that cast the spell suffers an immediate Strength 6 hit. The strength in this item is not in how much damage it does. It's what it does to your opponent's psyche that makes it worth 40 points. In the era of 6-dicing bombspells, this will make most people think twice. Loosing your Level 4 is almost impossible to come back from. In the short-term, you threw a Dwellers Below on my Knights. In the long term, you're no longer at +4 to cast, and more importantly, to dispel. This will make many opponent's very reluctant to chuck their 6 dice when their Lord is one or two wounds in. Great item, stick it on your Prophetess.
Sacrament of the Lady:
As of the most recent FAQ, this item no longer exists. Which is sad, because this used to allow Bretonnians to have bangin' magic phases.
The Verdant Heart:
For 40 points, this item seems very unimpressive, until you get to the latter part of the item's paragraph. If the character with this item (which shall only be a Level 4 Prophetess on Life) is wholly within a Forest, then the Forest automatically counts as Dangerous Terrain. Ignore this part, but not what's coming up next. In addition, the bearer is +1 to cast from the Lore of Life. This will make your opponent sweat bullets. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. Lore of Life is very reliant of synergy. The easier time you have throwing out spells, the better. This will allow you to shove Throne of Vines, Dwellers Bellow, and all the other nice Augments in the lore off with much more ease than before. Unless you're playing Dwarves, certain Slann builds, or High Elf armies with the Book of Hoeth, this will allow you to basically rape your opponent in the Magic Phase. Knights at +2 (or +4 with Throne of Vines up) Toughness will solve a lot of the grinding problems that Bretonnia faces after the charge. I love this item. If I don't take the Silver Mirror (because it does become a one-trick pony eventually) then I'm taking this item. Absolutely great, I would love to see this item come back, but either boosted in effect and points or dropped a bit as is.
Prayer Icon of Quenelles:
This item can be revealed at any time in the game, and it is a one-use item. Once revealed, it gives the wielder and the unit she is in the Blessing of the Lady. This can be used to give a unit that has lost the Blessing save to re-gain it. The Blessing given from this item can be lost in the normal way a Blessing can normally be lost. For 25 points, this item has two possible uses. One, it allows you to ignore a single challenge with your Lord, something that would normally be the biggest thorn in the side of Bretonnian Knights. Two, it allows you to give Men-At-Arms the Blessing Save. A very popular tactic is to take a Damsel on foot with this item and a Dispel Scroll in a horde of fifty or so Men-At-Arms to make the tar-pit unit from hell. Honestly, it's not that many points and it can save your ass or make a horrible unit at least die a little less quickly. I love, but I doubt that if our Blessing Save gets modded that we will be seeing this item again, unless we get a new Prophetess special character that has this as a special item.
Chalice of Malfleur:
At the start of the opponent's Magic Phase, the bearer may drink from the chalice. Roll a D6, on a roll of a 1, she takes a single wound with no saves of any kind allowed. On a roll of a 2-6, you get an extra Dispel Dice to your pool. For 20 points, this item has a lot of potential. While Verdant Heart is a lot of points to make your Magic Phase measurably better, this item makes your ability to dispel much higher. You have a 16.5% chance of hurting yourself, but with Life magic, you can heal that right up. I love it in combination with Verdant Heart and/or the Silver Mirror. I would like to see it again, but I highly doubt that I will.
Potion of Sacre:
A one-use item only that is used before rolling dice for casting or dispelling. After the dice are rolled, you may add +1 to the result of one dice. This can be used to make your caster cast with Irresistible Force, but no longer allows you to prevent a miscast per the latest FAQ. For 10 points, it would be awesome in any other army. Why not for Bretonnia? Well, unless you have your Prophetess/Damsel in a horde of Men-At-Arms, a miscast is very bad not for the caster, as she has MR and a Blessing Save, but for all the other knights in the Lance she is in. If she miscasts in a group of Peasants, she hits two when she miscasts in base-to-base and who really gives a shit about Peasant anyway? In a Lance of Knights? You're wiping out a whole rank, and that's best case scenario. Miscasts are very, very scary if you play Bretonnia. This item was better in my opinion before the FAQ so as to allow you to prevent a miscast. If you like gunning for Irresistible Force? Yes. If you're me? No. I don't see this item coming back in the new book as 8th edition got rid of a lot of the 7th edition items that did this kind of thing.
Magic Banners (FUCK YEAH!!!):
Banner of the Lady:
Can be wielded by a model on foot or on a Bretonnian Warhorse. For 100 points, this banner makes all enemy models with at least one model in base-to-base contact with bearer of the banner receives no combat resolution from ranks. As you can tell, this is by far my favorite item section in all of the unique magical items of Bretonnia. This banner is VERY powerful for Bretonnia because it mitigates one of the things that Bretonnia has a difficult time dealing with. Static Combat Resolution. A full bus of Knights of the Realm is capped at 15 models. Throwing in a Paladin, a Lord, and Prophetess/Damsel, you're now at 6 ranks deep. This seems very powerful, until you realize we're now very susceptible to flank charges and our ranks are only 3 wide. Three successful wounds means one rank goes bye bye. Means that a Lance with this banner is going to be beating even horde of elite infantry because of a combination of our defensive capabilities, small frontage, and Lance Formation rules. It's expensive, and for what it does it should be. I want to see it in the next book as 100 point banners are very popular in army books right now and thus I really hope to see it again.
Valorous Standard:
Can only be taken in a Knight unit. For 50 points, this banner gives the Cold-Blooded special rule (rolls 3D6 for Leadership test and discards the highest number on the dice) to the unit it is in. As a Lizardmen player, I can tell you that Cold-Blooded is an awesome rule. This, is a nice little banner, but for the points the Leadership Banner (+1 Leadership but can't use General's Leadership) is just a better buy. In an army where everything is really overpriced, this is neat, but only if you just have nothing to do with 50 points. However, this is the worst item (again, in my opinion) in this section, and it's still something that can be very, very effective. That should tell you about something about where the power in the magic items resides.
Banner of Defence:
As long as the unit with this banner is affected by the Blessing of the Lady, the unit gets a 4+ Ward Save against all missile fire at a Strength 5 or higher level. If the Blessing of the Lady is lost then so is the effect generated from this banner. For 30 points, this banner is a really, really nice item to include when you play in a meta where artillery wins games. My Grail Knights with this banner will fuck a Gun Line list up. Cannons who try to evaporate these guys will find themselves at a severe disadvantage. This is what can keep Bretonnian Lances alive from the always popular and effective Chaos Dwarf/Dwarf/Empire Gun Lines who seem to just fuck up everyone's day with no concern for anyone at all. I'd like to see it reappear, and I think the fluff supports it, since knights hate missile weapons and this is a perfect way to incorporate it via way of the fluff.
Twilight Banner:
No, this does not allow you to use shiny emo whiny vampires (who turned the coolest supernatural creatures into pussies BTW) to set upon your enemies. It's a one-use item that can be used in the Reaming Moves sub-section of the Movement Phase (basically anything that isn't charging, fleeing, or rallying). This allows your unit to move through pretty much anything except for enemy units. In addition, the unit cannot end it's movement phase inside Impassible Terrain, though they may move through it when under the effect of this banner. For 25 points, I think it's another item that makes terrain much less of a problem to deal with as Bretonnians. A Lance of Knights suddenly marching through what you thought was an effective screening device is a terrifying thing to behold. I love this banner, I think it's a much cheaper alternative to the Ranger Standard (another effective pick for Bretonnia), and in an army where everything is overcosted, the ability to pinch pennies like that in terms of points is a really nice boon. Doubt we'll be seeing it again, unless it's boosted up and grants the Ethereal special rule to the unit and costs a 100 points.
Conquerors Tapestry:
Per FAQ, this item now grants double victory points if the enemy's banner is slain or removed due to the Last Stand special rule by the unit with this banner in it. In addition, if the bearer of this banner is slain, then it counts as 50 victory points instead of the usual 25. For 25 points, I think it makes a nice addition to a Bretonnian Death Star Lance. My friend Art swears by this item, and I will admit that it has some merit, I just personally do not take it. It's not because it's a bad item, or an over-costed one. If anything I think it's very much under-costed for what it does. I would just rather have a Banner than helps me win combats! If you take Bretonnia to GT's, then you have one goal in mind, table the guy across from you, or you will be tabled. While it seems like a hell-and-leather strategy, it is the one I feel makes the most sense for Bretonnia and it does work very well. Watch some tournament batreps from the Sustainable Center for reference. Again, I think it's effective in tournaments, and if you're a big tourney goer, then this is a banner you should very seriously consider taking. I think that this banner will be disappearing for the same reason that the Potion of Sacre will probably not be making a reappearance.
Errantry Banner:
Ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!!! I love this banner because it allows you to create the Cruise Missile Lance! For 20 points, it can only go on your Errant Knights. They suffer -2 Leadership to their Impetuous Tests, but they get +1 Strength on any turn in which they charge. This effect is not extended to characters in the Lance or the knights' mounts. I know a lot of people who question this tactic, until my Errant Knights blow through their Rat Swarms and into their Hell Pit Abomination and destroy it. Having access to ITP units with S6, via this banner, on the charge is incredible. If you take a Lance of Errant Knights, I highly suggest you run them with this banner. This item should be in the next book, if only available as an upgrade for the unit itself (like the VC's Blood Knights with their special standard). I love, I want it to make a reappearance for sure. my love for my Bretonnian Cruise Missile is so great that I would be happy to see it stay for that same amount of points.
Banner of Chalons:
For 10 points, this banner makes it impossible for your opponent to make Stand and Shoot reactions against you. I cannot tell you how helpful this is against Scouts, Thunderers/Quarrelers, Darkshards, Dark Riders, Skinks, Lothern Sea Guard, etc. It does have some potential to be combined with the Virtue of Noble Disdain for a full blown anti-range unit. What else can I say besides it's cheap, it's effective, and in an army book that was written in 6th edition, that's all I could ask for. Very underrated, very nice to have. Especially against Ogres with their fucking Leadbelchers!
So that's it folks, the last webisode of BBIF, and I hope you all enjoyed it. For all my readers out there who I tired of me talking about Bretonnia, don't worry, I'm hoping to go back to blogging on magic, as that it was seems to get the most views and comments. Until then, +1, if you're loyal to the Lady!
Magic Weapons:
The Silver Lance of the Blessed:
Works the same way as a normal lance (resolved at +2 Strength on the charge) except if the knight has the Blessing of the Lady then all attacks with this weapon automatically hit. This item is currently 65 points, and it's actually an okay item as is. However, I see it reappearing in our newest book, given the precedent that GW has set for it's newest books. Take any 7th edition book and look up the most expensive magic weapon it has. Then, take the 8th edition version of the book and see it made into a 100 point magical weapon. The Blade of Realities, the Battleaxe of the Last Waghh, the Runefang, I could list more examples, but you get my drift. I forsee this item reappearing, and getting upped in price and effect.The most obvious would be to allow it to auto-hit and auto-wound if you have the Blessing. I would take that item for 100 point on a Lord.
Sword of the Quest:
May be used as either a hand weapon or a great weapon (decided at the beginning of combat) and no armor saves are allowed for against attack from this weapon. For 50 points, this item is totally, totally worth it. It's almost an auto-include because it allows you to take a competitive character with the Questing Vow. My current list has a Paladin BSB with the Questing Vow and this magic weapon in a lance of Questing Knights. It allows your character to at least do some very serious damage before anything that isn't Skaven or Elves. This item allows my Questing Knights to go into units like Mournfang or Demigryphs with at least a bit more confidence then I normally would have. I would love to see at least one item for each Knightly Vow retained in our new book, and for Questing Knights, this definitely a weapon I would be keen to see again in a new book. I don't even think the price or the wording of this item should change. Just copy and paste this item into the new book and I think people would still take it.
Sword of the Lady's Champion:
The way that this item is worded is really, really weird, so I'll just cut to the chase. For 40 points it allows you to always wound on a 3+ because it makes your Strength always count as being 1 point above the opponent's Toughness. This modified Strength is also used to calculate penalties for Armor Saves and only a character with the Grail Vow can take this item. I think that this has potential on a character with the Gauntlet of the Duel. Other than that, I just see this is a not so great reward for paying the price of another knight just to be a Grail Knight. If it's redone to make it a little more utilitarian, I might warm up to it, but as is it's just not a big deal.
Sword of Heroes:
Against enemies with Toughness 5 or over, the bearer gets +1 Strength and then inflicts D3 wounds instead of one wound for each unsaved wound this weapon inflicts. For 35 points, this is a steal in my opinion. While this isn't exactly the most utilitarian weapon in the book, you're almost always going to run into some kind of monster or really nasty character that will have high Toughness. With the prevalence of Dwarves and Chaos Dwarves in my area (the Reno-Tahoe area to be more exact), this is a cheap way to deal with their ridiculously powerful characters and special units. While it's certainly no Sword of the Quest, if you're a miser with your points (stop playing Bretonnia) then this is a pretty good compromise I suppose. I don't think we'll be seeing this weapon in the new book though because god forbid our different armies be different! Lord knows GW can't make armies comprised of different races have any shred of difference between them.
The Heartwood Lance:
Allows you to re-roll all failed to-wound rolls when charging and actually using a lance. For 35 points, I think it's too expensive and there are just so many better items in this list that are so much superior. Don't care if it's in the new book and to fix it would mean replacing one of the better items that could be in the new book.
Birth-sword of Carcassonne:
Gives your character +1 Strength and enemies wounded with this weapon must re-roll their Armor Saves. For 35 points, I think this is another steal coming from the magic weapons selection. While I like this sword, I very rarely take it because of the Sword of the Quest and the item coming up right after this one. I would like to see this in the new book repriced to maybe 20-25 points, but it isn't in there, I won't bitch too much about it.
Morning Star of Fracasse:
The bearer of this weapon has +2 Strength on the first round of combat, for each hit on a close combat opponent, roll a D6. On a roll of a 4+, if the opponent has a magic weapon, it's destroyed. For 25 points, this is perhaps the best item in the world for nullifying the greatest weakness of Bretonnia's Blessing Save. It's no secret that unless you really kit your character out accordingly, most combat Lords (who are starting to trickle back into the meta) will eat your Lord for breakfast. When I hand my book over to a Warriors of Chaos player, he just laughs at it. He knows that his Chaos Lord could liquefy my Knight Lord with but a glance. Then he cries when my Lord survives, swings back, and busts his 100 point magic weapon into pieces. Plus, the way I read it, this effect Dwarf Runic Weapons too. Yet another reason not to throw your Dwarf Lord into a Lance of Bretonnian Knights with a Knight Lord in it. Great item, and I'd love to see it stick around in the next book.
The Lance of Artois:
Acts like a normal lance and gives the knight the Killing Blow special rule, but only on the turn in which he charges. This, for 20 points, is a pretty damn good item. If you're hesitant to drop 40 points on a character for HKB, then this weapon is the perfect compromise. Right now, it's nice and I think decently priced. However, I would perhaps like to see some elite knights in our new Special and/or Rare section with Killing Blow already given to them. Again, it's a nice weapon as is and I don't think it needs to be redone. I'd much rather keep the Sword of the Quest and the Morning Star of Fracasse over this one.
The Wyrmlance:
Acts like a normal and allows once per game for the wielder to use a breath attack from the tip of the model's lance. All hits by this special attack are resolved at S3. In addition the character receives the Flaming Attacks special rule when using this lance in combat (ergo on the turn he charges). For 20 points, I always have to ask why not just take the Flaming Banner? It's cheaper and gives the whole unit Flaming Attacks. Now, if this lance were say, 5 points, I would see it a little differently. The tip of the lance caveat is pretty flexible and has a lot of room for finagling in terms of ranging it out. However, as is it's not worth the paper it's written on. If we were to see this in the new Bretonnian book, I would like to see this maybe changed so that it does extra damage to Monster (+D3 wounds or something). However, I have to slap any Bretonnian player I know who's using this weapon in an attempt to put some more sense into them.
Magic Armor:
Guilded Cuirass:
Can only be worn by a character with the Grail Vow and replaces his Heavy Armor. It provides a 5+ Armor Save that can be combined with other equipment as normal and gives the character Regeneration. Considering Grail Knights already come with the Blessing Save, and in 8th edition Regen and Ward Saves cannot be combined as they could in 6th edition, this armor is pretty much crap. 55 points of crap. Now, if it gave a better Ward Save to the Blessing, then I'd be all over this in the new book. As for now, not a big fan and I wouldn't poo-poo if it didn't make into the next book.
Armor of the Midsummer Sun:
Replaces the Knights Heavy Armor and gives him a 5+ Armor Save that can be combined with other equipment as usual. Opponent's suffer a -1 to-hit penalty in both shooting and close combat attacks. Or you can take Beasts Magic and use Curse of Anraheir for free. -1 isn't that big of deal, and for 45 points, this item is way overcosted for what it does. Plus most knights have a 2+ Armor Save anyway which makes most missile fire, with the exception of artillery, nearly useless in the first place. Don't care about this item and I most certainly don't want it coming back, unless it somehow shields the wearer from war machines, then I might take a bit more of an interest in it.
The Grail Shield:
Can only be taken by a character with the Grail Vow. It acts as a regular shield but it also ups the wearers Blessing Save to a 4+ against attacks of any Strength value. This save can be lost the same way a Blessing Save would usually be lost. For 35 points, this is the second best piece of armor in this book and perhaps the most cost effective. Anything that acts as a combined Talisman of Preservation and shield for 13 less points then both of them is a winner in my book. I'd love to keep this piece of armor in the new book, but knowing GW's talent for disappointing Bretonnian fans, I won't keep my finger crossed.
Gromril Great Helm:
Gives a 6+ armor save that may be warn in addition to other armors. The bearer of this armor may re-roll failed Armor Saves. For 30 points, this is the other item that without a doubt is a steal and should be an auto include. Automatically makes your Lord or Paladin have a 1+ re-rollable armor save, provided he isn't a Questing Knight. I need this piece to be in the new book, without it a 1+ Armor Save with HKB and the Gunatlet of the Duel will be forever lost. Without a doubt this is my favorite piece of armor because it is accessible to whatever Vow you put your character on. A great item, and should remain as is. Copy and paste GW, copy and paste.
Armour of Agiluf:
Replaces a knights heavy armor and gives him a shield for a 4+ Armor Save. This armor prevents him from using any two-handed weapons. This also gives the knight Weapon Skill 10 (this cannot be further increased by items) to whoever is wearing it. For 25 points, I think that this is a very decent item, especially for if and/or when your character gets into a challenge. It makes him very hard to hit, and makes him pretty much incredible. Combining this with the Virtue of Knightly Temper makes for some very impressive damage output from your Knight Lord. I think it's really nice, but I highly doubt we'll be seeing this item ever again. It's just one of those items that made sense in a prior edition, but is much too powerful now.
Cuirass of Fortune:
Replaces the knight's armor with a 5+ Armor Save which may be combined with other defensive items as normal. When rolling in close combat, the knight may re-roll any failed to-wound rolls of 1. For 20 points, if you can spare it on a blank Paladin, then I think it's just fine. Other than that, there's just too many more cost effective and impressive magical armor pieces out there that I would rather be using. Much like anything else, I wouldn't be sad to see it go exactly.
Orcbane Shield:
I have no doubt in my mind that this will make it into the new Bretonnian book as the Skavenpelt Banner and the Standard of Beards made into their armies' respective lists. It works just like a normal shield with the exception of the fact that any unengaged Orc and Goblin unit within 12" of the bearer fails an Animosity Test on a roll of a 1 and 2. Even for 15 points, I still think it's a waste. Any item that specializes in specifically effecting a single army in particular is a waste to me. I want this thing gone, but again, knowing GW's talent for maximizing my disappointment this piece of shit will be in the next book.
Talismans:
Sirienne's Locket:
This can only be put on a Bretonnian Lord, and it prevents a Knight Lord from taking anymore than 1 from non-magical attacks. Even weapons with multiple wound (war machines too) can only cause a single wound. After the first wound is taken, all the others acquired in the phase are ignored. The bearer can still be effected by Killing Blow and can be run down if he flees from combat as normal. For 55 points, it's an okay item. The only problem is that every time I look at this item, I have to wrestle with my inner miser. My Lord already comes with a 2+ Armor Save and 6+ Ward Save. He's pretty well defended as is, and for 55 points, what are you loosing access to that could be used to wipe out an entire rank of enemies. I'd be interested to see it re-done in the next book, but definitely with some re-tooling gone into this unit.
Token of the Damsel:
Can only by equipped on a Knight Lord or Paladin. Against the first wound suffered, the Knight gets a 2+ Ward Save. For 35 points, this is a fair purchase and I think it should stay in the next book but go down 10 or 15 points. This is a nice item for all you crazy people who love putting your Knight Lord on a Hippogryph. Other than that, I again refer you to reasoning for Sirienne's Locket. You already have a guy who's got exceptionally high defensive abilities. Between this and the Grail Shield, and I just think that the Grail Shield is a better bang for your buck.
Insignia of the Quest:
Can only be taken by a character with the Questing Vow. If the bearer of this item is ever reduced to 1 wound remaining the knight instantly gets a 3+ Ward Save. If he's hit by something that causes multiple wounds and he has more than 1 wound remaining (cannons, bolt throwers, magical missiles, etc) but the shot will kill him, he gets to use the 3+ Ward Save to protect himself with this item. For 30 points, I think this is a highly overpriced item for what it does. Not really a good item in my opinion. It's not worth fixing because I doubt this item will be popping up again in our future book.
Braid of Bordeleaux:
A one use 25 point item. It's used at the start of the Bretonnian player's turn and it increases the character's Leadership by 1 point for that turn. In addition, the turn in which the item is used the character and the unit he is in have the Strider Special Rule and they benefit from Soft Cover while in said terrain. This is an item that can really save your ass from one of Bretonnia's many, many natural enemies. Terrain. Terrain is evil if you play cavalry. Being able to fling your Lance through an otherwise dangerous piece of terrain that your opponent is using to screen his troops is a nice tactical thing to be able to do. This and a Dispel Scroll on a Damsel in a Lance of Knights of the Realm. Total, total destruction into your poor unsuspecting enemy. However, only put it on a Damsel. On anything else, it just takes away from what you can do. I would like to see this item reappear, but I fear not.
Dragon's Claw:
So, as of the most recent FAQ, this item does the following for 25 points. The bearer of the item has his/her Blessing Save increased to a permanent 5+ (this can be lost the same way that Blessing is normally lost) and gets a 2+ Ward Save against Flaming Attacks. It's okay, if you want to take a character who can just destroy a unit with the Flaming Banner on it, than this is it. It's nice, and considering the fact that everyone takes a Flaming Banner in a tournament list to deal with Regen units, I think it's an okay item. There's really no downside to it and I would like to see it again in the newest book.
Mantle of Damsel Elena:
For 20 points, this item makes the bearer immune to Killing Blow and Poison. It's a very nice item if you're worried about somebody assassinating your Lord or some Skinks lighting your troops up with Blow Pipes and Javelins, then this a nice item to have. My problem is that every time I play a game where my opponent has a model or unit with either of these rules, there are five more games I play where my opponents don't have either of these abilities in their army. They're okay, but I'm just not big fan of this item because it never seems to be a very helpful item overall.
Enchanted Items:
Falcon-Horn of Fredemund:
A one use item that may be used at the start of any Bretonnian turn. No enemy unit may fly, they are forced to use their ground-based movement instead. The FAQ deletes the last sentence of this item, which used to allow you to use this to alter fleeing distances for Flying units. For 45 points, this is probably the worst item in the book per points. Skip it, don't even bother with it.
Holy Icon:
For 40 points, it gives the character Magic Resistance 3. If Magic Resistance gets you off, then it should be noted that this item is 5 points cheaper than the Obsidian Lodestone from the BRB. Otherwise, I think it's a bit too expensive in the context of this army. Keep in mind, this would make a Knight Lord/Paladin have a 3+ Ward Save and the Prophetess/Damsel have a 1+ against Magical Attacks. I guess if you play a lot of Death Magic, than this a great way to keep your characters alive. Again, I'd rather take an item that gives me a direct Ward Save or at the least expands upon my Blessing Save against any kind of attack that comes my way. If it comes down in price and/or does something else in addition to giving MR, then I'd be okay seeing it in a new book.
The Ruby Goblet:
This item activates at the end of the first phase during which the bearer or his/her unit takes any unsaved wound(s). For the rest of the game, the bearer and the unit he/she is in cannot be wounded by anything non-magical on better than a 3+. For 30 points, this is a great item, because it makes cannons cry in frustration. If you play it smart, what it does it makes cannons only wound your unit on a 2. Because a 1 always fails and with this item activated, a 3+ fails to wound now too. Wanna make Questing Knights survivable? This thing right here. I think it's a very gamey piece of gear though, so I don't take this item unless I know I'm going to face the Chaos Dwarf Gun Line (I'm also praying they don't make their artillery pieces magical) from hell. Even helps in close combat. Fun item, enjoy it while it lasts because I would be willing to bet that this thing will be gone in the next book.
Mane of the Purebreed:
Character on warhorse only, gives +1 Strength to the character's warhorse and and the other horses of the unit your character is in for the first time they charge. For 25 points, it can make a nice little surprise and it most certainly can make the first charge into combat (the most important part for Bretonnia) go a little bit further. Throw it on an excess Paladin in one of your Lances if you have the points, it's pretty nice and I would like to see some item that boosts our horses in the next book.
Antlers of the Great Hunt:
As of the FAQ, this item now allows your Knight and the unit he's in to roll 3D6 when pursuing and select the highest two dice. For 25 points, I think it's okay. It makes me sad though, because it reminds me of the Jaguar Standard in the 7th edition Lizardmen. Look that shit up, it was what made Cold One Riders usable. If you are fanatical about finishing off your opponent and not leaving him rallying his army up to fate, then this is the item for you. It's okay, but I just don't really have any points for it because there are so many other items I would rather carry.
Tress of Isoulde:
What the fuck is a Tress anyway? I guess it's a one-use only that allows you to nominate a single enemy model in any Combat Phase that makes to-hit rolls by the bearer of this item that on a roll of a 2+ regardless of any modifiers. For 20 points, I think it acts very well in combination with the Morningstar and the Virtue of Heroism. It's a nice piece of gear that may have some tactical use for Bretonnia, but it needs to be cheaper if it's one-use only. I'd rather see a few other things reappear in the new book, but if this little trinket pops up again, I'd be okay with that.
Guantlet of the Duel:
Any challenged issued by the bearer cannot be refused. For 10 points, this item is pretty much an auto-include in any army. This item no longer makes me fear Skaven as a Bretonnian player. When, as a Bretonnian player, you find that your opponent's characters are very vulnerable to direct damage you take full advantage of that. This why Tomb King and Vampire Count armies will be very reluctant to play a Bretonnian army. Once their Vampire Lord or Hirophant goes pop, the game is practically over. Skaven, while not Undead, are still very much reliant on their characters allowing them to have Leadership 10 (which is fucking bullshit) and re-rolls via the BSB. This item means the Skaven player can't use his Verminous Valor special rule. You will liquify a Grey Seer or a Skaven Warlord with a Bretonnian Lord. Unless your opponent it totting the Fell Blade, this item can allow you to cripple Skaven and pick at their biggest overall weakness, their Leadership. Even when you're not against Skaven, this is still a great item, especially for 10 points. Just be VERY careful picking your fights as the Bretonnian Lord is a machine, but he is still a squishy human. I would love to see this appear on our next book.
Arcane Items:
The Silver Mirror:
Any army that allows you to run dual Dispel Scrolls is instantly an A+ in my book. For 40 points, this is a damned fine item to bring along. First off, it's stated that it works exactly as a Dispel Scroll. In addition, the Wizard that cast the spell suffers an immediate Strength 6 hit. The strength in this item is not in how much damage it does. It's what it does to your opponent's psyche that makes it worth 40 points. In the era of 6-dicing bombspells, this will make most people think twice. Loosing your Level 4 is almost impossible to come back from. In the short-term, you threw a Dwellers Below on my Knights. In the long term, you're no longer at +4 to cast, and more importantly, to dispel. This will make many opponent's very reluctant to chuck their 6 dice when their Lord is one or two wounds in. Great item, stick it on your Prophetess.
Sacrament of the Lady:
As of the most recent FAQ, this item no longer exists. Which is sad, because this used to allow Bretonnians to have bangin' magic phases.
The Verdant Heart:
For 40 points, this item seems very unimpressive, until you get to the latter part of the item's paragraph. If the character with this item (which shall only be a Level 4 Prophetess on Life) is wholly within a Forest, then the Forest automatically counts as Dangerous Terrain. Ignore this part, but not what's coming up next. In addition, the bearer is +1 to cast from the Lore of Life. This will make your opponent sweat bullets. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. Lore of Life is very reliant of synergy. The easier time you have throwing out spells, the better. This will allow you to shove Throne of Vines, Dwellers Bellow, and all the other nice Augments in the lore off with much more ease than before. Unless you're playing Dwarves, certain Slann builds, or High Elf armies with the Book of Hoeth, this will allow you to basically rape your opponent in the Magic Phase. Knights at +2 (or +4 with Throne of Vines up) Toughness will solve a lot of the grinding problems that Bretonnia faces after the charge. I love this item. If I don't take the Silver Mirror (because it does become a one-trick pony eventually) then I'm taking this item. Absolutely great, I would love to see this item come back, but either boosted in effect and points or dropped a bit as is.
Prayer Icon of Quenelles:
This item can be revealed at any time in the game, and it is a one-use item. Once revealed, it gives the wielder and the unit she is in the Blessing of the Lady. This can be used to give a unit that has lost the Blessing save to re-gain it. The Blessing given from this item can be lost in the normal way a Blessing can normally be lost. For 25 points, this item has two possible uses. One, it allows you to ignore a single challenge with your Lord, something that would normally be the biggest thorn in the side of Bretonnian Knights. Two, it allows you to give Men-At-Arms the Blessing Save. A very popular tactic is to take a Damsel on foot with this item and a Dispel Scroll in a horde of fifty or so Men-At-Arms to make the tar-pit unit from hell. Honestly, it's not that many points and it can save your ass or make a horrible unit at least die a little less quickly. I love, but I doubt that if our Blessing Save gets modded that we will be seeing this item again, unless we get a new Prophetess special character that has this as a special item.
Chalice of Malfleur:
At the start of the opponent's Magic Phase, the bearer may drink from the chalice. Roll a D6, on a roll of a 1, she takes a single wound with no saves of any kind allowed. On a roll of a 2-6, you get an extra Dispel Dice to your pool. For 20 points, this item has a lot of potential. While Verdant Heart is a lot of points to make your Magic Phase measurably better, this item makes your ability to dispel much higher. You have a 16.5% chance of hurting yourself, but with Life magic, you can heal that right up. I love it in combination with Verdant Heart and/or the Silver Mirror. I would like to see it again, but I highly doubt that I will.
Potion of Sacre:
A one-use item only that is used before rolling dice for casting or dispelling. After the dice are rolled, you may add +1 to the result of one dice. This can be used to make your caster cast with Irresistible Force, but no longer allows you to prevent a miscast per the latest FAQ. For 10 points, it would be awesome in any other army. Why not for Bretonnia? Well, unless you have your Prophetess/Damsel in a horde of Men-At-Arms, a miscast is very bad not for the caster, as she has MR and a Blessing Save, but for all the other knights in the Lance she is in. If she miscasts in a group of Peasants, she hits two when she miscasts in base-to-base and who really gives a shit about Peasant anyway? In a Lance of Knights? You're wiping out a whole rank, and that's best case scenario. Miscasts are very, very scary if you play Bretonnia. This item was better in my opinion before the FAQ so as to allow you to prevent a miscast. If you like gunning for Irresistible Force? Yes. If you're me? No. I don't see this item coming back in the new book as 8th edition got rid of a lot of the 7th edition items that did this kind of thing.
Magic Banners (FUCK YEAH!!!):
Banner of the Lady:
Can be wielded by a model on foot or on a Bretonnian Warhorse. For 100 points, this banner makes all enemy models with at least one model in base-to-base contact with bearer of the banner receives no combat resolution from ranks. As you can tell, this is by far my favorite item section in all of the unique magical items of Bretonnia. This banner is VERY powerful for Bretonnia because it mitigates one of the things that Bretonnia has a difficult time dealing with. Static Combat Resolution. A full bus of Knights of the Realm is capped at 15 models. Throwing in a Paladin, a Lord, and Prophetess/Damsel, you're now at 6 ranks deep. This seems very powerful, until you realize we're now very susceptible to flank charges and our ranks are only 3 wide. Three successful wounds means one rank goes bye bye. Means that a Lance with this banner is going to be beating even horde of elite infantry because of a combination of our defensive capabilities, small frontage, and Lance Formation rules. It's expensive, and for what it does it should be. I want to see it in the next book as 100 point banners are very popular in army books right now and thus I really hope to see it again.
Valorous Standard:
Can only be taken in a Knight unit. For 50 points, this banner gives the Cold-Blooded special rule (rolls 3D6 for Leadership test and discards the highest number on the dice) to the unit it is in. As a Lizardmen player, I can tell you that Cold-Blooded is an awesome rule. This, is a nice little banner, but for the points the Leadership Banner (+1 Leadership but can't use General's Leadership) is just a better buy. In an army where everything is really overpriced, this is neat, but only if you just have nothing to do with 50 points. However, this is the worst item (again, in my opinion) in this section, and it's still something that can be very, very effective. That should tell you about something about where the power in the magic items resides.
Banner of Defence:
As long as the unit with this banner is affected by the Blessing of the Lady, the unit gets a 4+ Ward Save against all missile fire at a Strength 5 or higher level. If the Blessing of the Lady is lost then so is the effect generated from this banner. For 30 points, this banner is a really, really nice item to include when you play in a meta where artillery wins games. My Grail Knights with this banner will fuck a Gun Line list up. Cannons who try to evaporate these guys will find themselves at a severe disadvantage. This is what can keep Bretonnian Lances alive from the always popular and effective Chaos Dwarf/Dwarf/Empire Gun Lines who seem to just fuck up everyone's day with no concern for anyone at all. I'd like to see it reappear, and I think the fluff supports it, since knights hate missile weapons and this is a perfect way to incorporate it via way of the fluff.
Twilight Banner:
No, this does not allow you to use shiny emo whiny vampires (who turned the coolest supernatural creatures into pussies BTW) to set upon your enemies. It's a one-use item that can be used in the Reaming Moves sub-section of the Movement Phase (basically anything that isn't charging, fleeing, or rallying). This allows your unit to move through pretty much anything except for enemy units. In addition, the unit cannot end it's movement phase inside Impassible Terrain, though they may move through it when under the effect of this banner. For 25 points, I think it's another item that makes terrain much less of a problem to deal with as Bretonnians. A Lance of Knights suddenly marching through what you thought was an effective screening device is a terrifying thing to behold. I love this banner, I think it's a much cheaper alternative to the Ranger Standard (another effective pick for Bretonnia), and in an army where everything is overcosted, the ability to pinch pennies like that in terms of points is a really nice boon. Doubt we'll be seeing it again, unless it's boosted up and grants the Ethereal special rule to the unit and costs a 100 points.
Conquerors Tapestry:
Per FAQ, this item now grants double victory points if the enemy's banner is slain or removed due to the Last Stand special rule by the unit with this banner in it. In addition, if the bearer of this banner is slain, then it counts as 50 victory points instead of the usual 25. For 25 points, I think it makes a nice addition to a Bretonnian Death Star Lance. My friend Art swears by this item, and I will admit that it has some merit, I just personally do not take it. It's not because it's a bad item, or an over-costed one. If anything I think it's very much under-costed for what it does. I would just rather have a Banner than helps me win combats! If you take Bretonnia to GT's, then you have one goal in mind, table the guy across from you, or you will be tabled. While it seems like a hell-and-leather strategy, it is the one I feel makes the most sense for Bretonnia and it does work very well. Watch some tournament batreps from the Sustainable Center for reference. Again, I think it's effective in tournaments, and if you're a big tourney goer, then this is a banner you should very seriously consider taking. I think that this banner will be disappearing for the same reason that the Potion of Sacre will probably not be making a reappearance.
Errantry Banner:
Ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!!! I love this banner because it allows you to create the Cruise Missile Lance! For 20 points, it can only go on your Errant Knights. They suffer -2 Leadership to their Impetuous Tests, but they get +1 Strength on any turn in which they charge. This effect is not extended to characters in the Lance or the knights' mounts. I know a lot of people who question this tactic, until my Errant Knights blow through their Rat Swarms and into their Hell Pit Abomination and destroy it. Having access to ITP units with S6, via this banner, on the charge is incredible. If you take a Lance of Errant Knights, I highly suggest you run them with this banner. This item should be in the next book, if only available as an upgrade for the unit itself (like the VC's Blood Knights with their special standard). I love, I want it to make a reappearance for sure. my love for my Bretonnian Cruise Missile is so great that I would be happy to see it stay for that same amount of points.
Banner of Chalons:
For 10 points, this banner makes it impossible for your opponent to make Stand and Shoot reactions against you. I cannot tell you how helpful this is against Scouts, Thunderers/Quarrelers, Darkshards, Dark Riders, Skinks, Lothern Sea Guard, etc. It does have some potential to be combined with the Virtue of Noble Disdain for a full blown anti-range unit. What else can I say besides it's cheap, it's effective, and in an army book that was written in 6th edition, that's all I could ask for. Very underrated, very nice to have. Especially against Ogres with their fucking Leadbelchers!
So that's it folks, the last webisode of BBIF, and I hope you all enjoyed it. For all my readers out there who I tired of me talking about Bretonnia, don't worry, I'm hoping to go back to blogging on magic, as that it was seems to get the most views and comments. Until then, +1, if you're loyal to the Lady!
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Bringing Bretonnia Into the Future Part 6
Now we get started with the Virtues, and while I touched on these in two different lists, I'll be going over the ones that fall in between good and bad, and whether or not we'll see this in a new book and/or how can it be modified to be in 8th edition. Keep in mind, a lot of these things have been FAQ'd away, so I will have the current FAQ up to let you know in this review. So let's get started. Oh, and before we begin the stupid double and triple point penalties for taking the Virtues is fucking stupid as shit. Either only allow one of each Virtue per army, or just allow them to take combinations of different ones like the Dwarf runic system. I also think that our Virtue should be independent of our magic item allotment, like the Slann or VC Bloodline abilities.
Virtue of the Penitent:
Grants you the Stubborn rule but he can't take magic items, ride anything but a horse, and never join units for 40 points. This virtue is absolute crap, but for 8th edition it can be viable with a bit of re-tooling. Change Stubborn to Unbreakable and ITP, and then either drop the clause regarding the magic items or significantly drop the point cost of this virtue. I think it would be an interesting chaff to use an Unbreakable Paladin, but that's just me. As of now crap, as of next book... who knows?
Virtue of Knightly Temper:
For each successful wound a knight with this virtue makes when on the charge (before saves are rolled), he may make an addition attack. These extra attacks do not generate new attacks. A character with this virtue can't use magic weapons and the virtue costs 40 points. This is a pretty shitty choice and if there was a #6 spot on the worst Virtues list, then this would be it. For significantly cheaper, it would be viable in a list with Paladin walls in your lances, it would be really good. On anything else it just makes no sense. It should be 20 points and allow you to take magic weapons. That bullshit restriction has no place in 8th (and hopefully 9th) edition. Moving on.
Virtue of Heroism:
This is by far the legendary Virtue that probably makes the Bretonnian Lord as feared as he is even in this day and age. Especially with the FAQ in place. The FAQ clearly states that the whole paragraph is to be disregarded and is replaced with "The Knight has the Heroic Killing Blow special rule." Meaning, you can now take a Lord with this and the Sword of Swift Striking. Yes, it is possible to have an ASF Lord with HKB. Goobye Steam Tank, goodbye Iron Daemon, goodbye 6 wound Dwarf Lord. Totally worth the 40 points it costs and it cannot go away or I will cry.
Virtue of Stoicism:
The Knight and any unit he is in re-roll failed break tests for 35 points. I foresee two options with this Virtue, the first option is that it's staying, but the point cost plummet to 15-20 points. The second, it makes the knight and unit he's in Stubborn and staying at that cost. Either way it's not bad now, but there's just so much that's just better in terms of Virtues.
Virtue of the Ideal:
Gives the knight +2 Weapon Skill, +1 Initiative, and +1 Attack. This knight cannot be the general (even if he has the highest Leadership in the army) and any friendly unit (including other knight characters and Peasants using his Leadership) taking any Leadership test within 6" of the knight suffer -1 to their Leadership. This is all for 35 points. If this was a generic character in the Lord/Hero section, I would be okay with this. Otherwise, skip this piece of shit Virtue.
Virtue of the Impetus Knight:
The knight and any mounted unit he's in add +D6" for the first charge they declare (which you roll after you declare the charge) and if the charge is failed then you do not add the extra D6" to the failed charge movement for 35 points. This is one of my favorite Virtues to throw on a Paladin in a Lance of Errant Knights with the banner of Errantry in it. Ladies and gentlemen, the Cruise Missile Lance. Monsters? Gone. Small bands of elite infantry? Gone. Other cavalry? Gone. Giant horde of nasty elite infantry? Severely whittled down. Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that this will not be showing up in our new book. It just seems like too much of a wonky thing to be showing up in an edition where the armies have been as streamlined as they are.
Virtue of Audacity:
Against an enemies with a higher Strength value than himself (before modifications from weapons, spells, etc.), the knight can re-roll any failed to-hit and to-wound for 30 points. This is kind of a nice Virtue when killy close combat characters are starting to creep back into popularity. At least they are in my meta. My friend Art runs this on a Paladin, and I've had it tear my Old-Blood to pieces in a challenge (he also had the Gromil Great Helm and another nasty magic weapon). I think it's cool and fluffy, but it needs to be much cheaper because it's so damned situational. I think it'd be reasonable at 15 points.
Virtue of Duty:
Cannot be taken by the army's General, and it makes the user generate an automatic +1 bonus in combat resolution if the army's General is still alive. For 30 points, this is perhaps the best way to help Bretonnians in the grind. That's why it's been FAQ'd away. Yup, according to GW, this Virtue no longer exists. Sigh, that would have been nice to know when I put it on my favorite Virtues list!
Virtue of the Joust:
The Knight may re-roll failed rolls when charging and using a lance (or magical lance) for 25 points. If this allowed re-rolls for hitting and wounding when using a lance, I'd be all over this. As it is, it's overpriced, but I would put good money that this will be in the new book. Lances are the premiere weapon of Bretonnia, it only makes sense to have them specialize in using these weapons.Needs to be dumped in price and do a bit more. I feel like a damned broken record.
Virtue of Confidence:
The knight must always issue and accept challenges and gets to re-roll all failed to-hits and to-wound for 20 points. Again, like Virtue of the Joust, I like the fluff aspect of this Virtue and considering that smart opponents will challenge you with superior combat Lords and then makes your entire unit loose the blessing unless you feed him you best combat tool. For this, make it expensive and make it turn the character into a BEAST in challenges. Give him extra attacks, ASF, and maybe Hatred. Then just jack up the price. I'd be all over this Virtue if that happened.
Virtue of Noble Disdain:
The Knight with this Virtue hates all enemies using missile weapons, this also includes war machine crews. In addition, the unit that this knight joins never takes Panic tests caused by taking 25% casualties via everything that's not close combat (shooting, magic, etc.). This is all for 20 points. My buddy Art loves putting a Paladin on a Royal Pegasus with this Virtue as a super good artillery killer and this thing can wreck the flanks of High Elf bowmen, or Dark Elf Dark Shards. I, I think it's interesting and again very fluffy and fits in with the theme, but it needs to be dropped very much in point costs. I think 10-15 points would be a fair cost for this Virtue in a newer book.
Virtue of Purity:
The knight with this Virtue starts the game with the Blessing of the Lady, even if the army did not pray. The Ward Save is also always 5+ regardless of whatever Strength value the attacker is hitting you with for a cost of 20 points. First off, you'd have to be high, drunk, and have had a lobotomy to not pray as a Bretonnian player. Second, it's not worth being a virgin for a force field that only protects you 33% of the time. If the point cost were jacked up a bit and it gave you a permanent Blessing save of 2+, then I might like this Virtue a lot. Still not worth being a virgin for though. I can see it in a new book, but if ain't there, I won't be shedding no tears.
Virtue of Discipline:
Honestly, I don't think that this Virtue exists anymore due to a past FAQ. Look it up, because it makes no sense in 8th edition context. Either way, I've never used it because of this. Though drop a comment below to tell me if I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to handle my own army.
Virtue of Empathy:
It allows the unit to be fielded on foot. In addition, he can lend his Leadership to Peasant's within 12" of him instead of the usual 6". For 10 points, I think it's kind of okay. I bet this will show up in a new book, and it is kind of fun to run a Grail Knight Paladin in a unit of Battle Pilgrims. It's fluffy and fun, but I'm just not a big fan is all. I think if it made Peasants Stubborn, then it would make Bretonnia a lot better at competing in our worst aspect, infantry.
So that's all the virtues and we're almost done with the series so I can get on with some more tactica materials and magical lores reviews that seem to have more views that anything else, so I'll catch all you guys later.
Virtue of the Penitent:
Grants you the Stubborn rule but he can't take magic items, ride anything but a horse, and never join units for 40 points. This virtue is absolute crap, but for 8th edition it can be viable with a bit of re-tooling. Change Stubborn to Unbreakable and ITP, and then either drop the clause regarding the magic items or significantly drop the point cost of this virtue. I think it would be an interesting chaff to use an Unbreakable Paladin, but that's just me. As of now crap, as of next book... who knows?
Virtue of Knightly Temper:
For each successful wound a knight with this virtue makes when on the charge (before saves are rolled), he may make an addition attack. These extra attacks do not generate new attacks. A character with this virtue can't use magic weapons and the virtue costs 40 points. This is a pretty shitty choice and if there was a #6 spot on the worst Virtues list, then this would be it. For significantly cheaper, it would be viable in a list with Paladin walls in your lances, it would be really good. On anything else it just makes no sense. It should be 20 points and allow you to take magic weapons. That bullshit restriction has no place in 8th (and hopefully 9th) edition. Moving on.
Virtue of Heroism:
This is by far the legendary Virtue that probably makes the Bretonnian Lord as feared as he is even in this day and age. Especially with the FAQ in place. The FAQ clearly states that the whole paragraph is to be disregarded and is replaced with "The Knight has the Heroic Killing Blow special rule." Meaning, you can now take a Lord with this and the Sword of Swift Striking. Yes, it is possible to have an ASF Lord with HKB. Goobye Steam Tank, goodbye Iron Daemon, goodbye 6 wound Dwarf Lord. Totally worth the 40 points it costs and it cannot go away or I will cry.
Virtue of Stoicism:
The Knight and any unit he is in re-roll failed break tests for 35 points. I foresee two options with this Virtue, the first option is that it's staying, but the point cost plummet to 15-20 points. The second, it makes the knight and unit he's in Stubborn and staying at that cost. Either way it's not bad now, but there's just so much that's just better in terms of Virtues.
Virtue of the Ideal:
Gives the knight +2 Weapon Skill, +1 Initiative, and +1 Attack. This knight cannot be the general (even if he has the highest Leadership in the army) and any friendly unit (including other knight characters and Peasants using his Leadership) taking any Leadership test within 6" of the knight suffer -1 to their Leadership. This is all for 35 points. If this was a generic character in the Lord/Hero section, I would be okay with this. Otherwise, skip this piece of shit Virtue.
Virtue of the Impetus Knight:
The knight and any mounted unit he's in add +D6" for the first charge they declare (which you roll after you declare the charge) and if the charge is failed then you do not add the extra D6" to the failed charge movement for 35 points. This is one of my favorite Virtues to throw on a Paladin in a Lance of Errant Knights with the banner of Errantry in it. Ladies and gentlemen, the Cruise Missile Lance. Monsters? Gone. Small bands of elite infantry? Gone. Other cavalry? Gone. Giant horde of nasty elite infantry? Severely whittled down. Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that this will not be showing up in our new book. It just seems like too much of a wonky thing to be showing up in an edition where the armies have been as streamlined as they are.
Virtue of Audacity:
Against an enemies with a higher Strength value than himself (before modifications from weapons, spells, etc.), the knight can re-roll any failed to-hit and to-wound for 30 points. This is kind of a nice Virtue when killy close combat characters are starting to creep back into popularity. At least they are in my meta. My friend Art runs this on a Paladin, and I've had it tear my Old-Blood to pieces in a challenge (he also had the Gromil Great Helm and another nasty magic weapon). I think it's cool and fluffy, but it needs to be much cheaper because it's so damned situational. I think it'd be reasonable at 15 points.
Virtue of Duty:
Cannot be taken by the army's General, and it makes the user generate an automatic +1 bonus in combat resolution if the army's General is still alive. For 30 points, this is perhaps the best way to help Bretonnians in the grind. That's why it's been FAQ'd away. Yup, according to GW, this Virtue no longer exists. Sigh, that would have been nice to know when I put it on my favorite Virtues list!
Virtue of the Joust:
The Knight may re-roll failed rolls when charging and using a lance (or magical lance) for 25 points. If this allowed re-rolls for hitting and wounding when using a lance, I'd be all over this. As it is, it's overpriced, but I would put good money that this will be in the new book. Lances are the premiere weapon of Bretonnia, it only makes sense to have them specialize in using these weapons.Needs to be dumped in price and do a bit more. I feel like a damned broken record.
Virtue of Confidence:
The knight must always issue and accept challenges and gets to re-roll all failed to-hits and to-wound for 20 points. Again, like Virtue of the Joust, I like the fluff aspect of this Virtue and considering that smart opponents will challenge you with superior combat Lords and then makes your entire unit loose the blessing unless you feed him you best combat tool. For this, make it expensive and make it turn the character into a BEAST in challenges. Give him extra attacks, ASF, and maybe Hatred. Then just jack up the price. I'd be all over this Virtue if that happened.
Virtue of Noble Disdain:
The Knight with this Virtue hates all enemies using missile weapons, this also includes war machine crews. In addition, the unit that this knight joins never takes Panic tests caused by taking 25% casualties via everything that's not close combat (shooting, magic, etc.). This is all for 20 points. My buddy Art loves putting a Paladin on a Royal Pegasus with this Virtue as a super good artillery killer and this thing can wreck the flanks of High Elf bowmen, or Dark Elf Dark Shards. I, I think it's interesting and again very fluffy and fits in with the theme, but it needs to be dropped very much in point costs. I think 10-15 points would be a fair cost for this Virtue in a newer book.
Virtue of Purity:
The knight with this Virtue starts the game with the Blessing of the Lady, even if the army did not pray. The Ward Save is also always 5+ regardless of whatever Strength value the attacker is hitting you with for a cost of 20 points. First off, you'd have to be high, drunk, and have had a lobotomy to not pray as a Bretonnian player. Second, it's not worth being a virgin for a force field that only protects you 33% of the time. If the point cost were jacked up a bit and it gave you a permanent Blessing save of 2+, then I might like this Virtue a lot. Still not worth being a virgin for though. I can see it in a new book, but if ain't there, I won't be shedding no tears.
Virtue of Discipline:
Honestly, I don't think that this Virtue exists anymore due to a past FAQ. Look it up, because it makes no sense in 8th edition context. Either way, I've never used it because of this. Though drop a comment below to tell me if I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to handle my own army.
Virtue of Empathy:
It allows the unit to be fielded on foot. In addition, he can lend his Leadership to Peasant's within 12" of him instead of the usual 6". For 10 points, I think it's kind of okay. I bet this will show up in a new book, and it is kind of fun to run a Grail Knight Paladin in a unit of Battle Pilgrims. It's fluffy and fun, but I'm just not a big fan is all. I think if it made Peasants Stubborn, then it would make Bretonnia a lot better at competing in our worst aspect, infantry.
So that's all the virtues and we're almost done with the series so I can get on with some more tactica materials and magical lores reviews that seem to have more views that anything else, so I'll catch all you guys later.
Bringing Bretonnia Into the Future Part 5
Now we get into the Special section of the Bretonnian book, and boy are we in need of a serious overhaul. Whereas the Hero and Lord section just need to be a little more filled out and the Core section needs only a slight overhaul, this is the section that needs not only an overhaul and a filling out, but also reductions, modifications, and some serious retooling. First, let's start with the Questing Knights. These guys are rocking an impressive stat line of WS4, S4, T3, I4, and 1 attack. They're kitted out with heavy armor, a shield, and mounted on barded warhorses, meaning they have an armor save of 3+ in close combat and 2+ for shooting and they're armed with a great weapon. Meaning they hit ASL and are hitting at S5. These guys, just these guys. First off, they have a serious problem with being at the price that they are. 28 points a guy plus upgrades means that you are going to being spending a fuck-ton of points in this section on a unit that to be honest will not be worth the amount you spend. First off, I really think that these guys should have the ability to be unmounted for a much reduced price. It would be an interesting tactical option and I would like to seem some heavy infantry in this army in the future. Second, these guys are honestly an answer looking for a question. With so many things at ASF in the game right now, things with ASL, even hitting at a high Strength, will not be able to survive the grinding that they will go through. They also need more attacks, I think two attacks (three for the Paragon) would make up for the turn placement of the combat. Maybe finding a way to make them hit at their base I would be nice too. I mean, it's the problem I have with my Saurus Cold One Riders. They charge in, and then they have to wait and let the people you just charged into hit first and wipe you out. All in all, these guys need a severe overhauling to make them a possible option instead of the unit you almost never see but always hear off like they are now. Next up we have the Pegasus Knights and you better bet your ass that I want these guys re-tooled. So first off, they have this horribly inconvenient caveat regarding how many of them can be fielded on the field. Normally, you are only allowed to field a single unit of 3-10, but normally you'll see 3 or 4 at most. Unless you take a Knight Lord on a Pegasus, then you can only have one unit on the board. Period. However, if you do pay this tax, you can remove this restriction. If you ever watch Anthony from the Sustainable Center's Bretonnian battle reports, you'll notice he takes a lone Lord (nicknamed Lord Flappy-Bird) on a Pegasus specifically to unlock the best chaff in the army currently. They're 55 points a model with the stat line of a Knight of the Realm. They need to be cheaper and I really don't think you should need to include full command upgrades, unless you give us the option to put them in Lance Formation. That would be badass! And of course the restriction thing needs to absolutely go away. Okay, now we go onto what is one of my favorite units in this army, the Grail Reliquae with the Battle Pilgrims. For 118 points, you get a model with Hatred and Stubborn. The 6 Pilgrims that come with it have the same stat line as a Man-At-Arms, but with re-rolls and always using their base Leadership of 8. The Reliquae itself is identical to the Pilgrim's in terms of stats barring it has 6 wounds and 4 attacks. What's also really cool, is that the group (even though they have the Peasant's Duty) benefits from having the Blessing of the Lady. However, the one bad thing about this is that there's also a caveat to this unit that really chaps my ass a whole lot. In order to field this unit, you must have a model with the Grail Vow. This means either taking a character with the Grail Vow or a bus of Grail Knights. Considering I'm not a big fan of doing either of these, I've slowly had to adapt to this restriction in order to field the one sticky infantry unit in all of the army. So, this model needs a new model, because the old one is hideous, expensive, and uber-rare right now. Second, the restriction while unfair, I would not bitch too much if it stayed. Third, I think I would like to see this in the Rare section of the book. Considering you can only take one of them per army, I really think that they should have some level of synergy with their Grail Knight counterparts. BTW, putting a Grail Knight Paladin with the Empathy Vow in the unit kitted out with a badass weapon, totally fun build. The points to add Pilgrims needs to decrease, the Pilgrims need higher WS, and this thing needs a new kit. Also, in my opinion, it needs to be relocated to the Rare section in the next codex. Finally, we get to the Mounted Yeomen, probably the most utilitarian chaff in the book next to Pegasus Knights. For 15 points a model, you get a mounted peasant with a slightly higher stat line then the usual peasant troops. They're armed with spears and bows, but can be upgraded to have shields and/or light armor. However, you will almost never see these upgrades, especially since the latter upgrade takes away the Fast Cavalry rule. First off, these guys are fine as it it, just need to be relocated to the Core section. Almost every other book has chaff in their core sections, why not Bretonnia? So, now that we finished up with what's in the book right now let's take a look at what we might like to see in the new codex. First off, we need a monster cav unit. Something like Demigryph Knights (cough Hippogryph Knights cough) would probably be best. Next, we need some elite infnatry in this section. Whether it's Questing Knights on foot or something else, we need it badly in this meta of Warhammer. Next, we need some kind of unique unit to Bretonnia. Something only we have that no other army has. This can be a variety of things, but I'm thinking maybe some fey creatures that we can field (maybe with Ethereal Special Rule?) or some fey knights perhaps? Either way, having only four units in a Special section is just laughable. Now, because I haven't put one of these out in a while, I felt it only fair to include the Rare section of the book as well. So, the first of two units in our Rare section, the Grail Knights. They're a very solid choice because they're very armored up, have the ward save, magical attacks, ITP, and they have S4, with which a lance is really really nice. However, they're T3 and are 38 points a pop. Way too expensive for what they currently do, but they're almost a must-have because they can just chew through units like nothing else. At least that's what I've found. Plus they make a great Death Star because they can all act as a unit champion, keeping your HKB lord safe from annoying and potentially dangerous challenges. They need to stay because they are very much iconic, but they need to be dropped in price and made into a conversion kit with Questing Knights. Finally, we have the Trebuchets, who need to stay as they are because they are awesome! I'm serious, if I had to pick three things that I absolutely wanted to stay, it would be the following in this order exactly. The Lance Formation, the Virtue of Heroism, and the Trebuchet. It is, in my opinion the second best artillery piece for their cost, beaten only by the ridiculously powerful Skaven War Lightning Cannons (watch SkavenAZ's channel to learn about how disgustingly powerful that and the rest of the stuff in the Skaven codex is). It needs a conversion piece and a new model as well, because seeing a gigantic bolt-thrower in this army would be really, really nice. Think basically a gigantic crossbow, bigger than the other stuff in the game. So that finishes up the units, and next part will be dealing with the Virtues and the Virtues alone, items will be the final post in the series. Until next time, stay strong Bretonnian players, stay strong.
Monday, October 13, 2014
In a Nutshell; The Lore of Beasts
Lore Attribute: Wildheart
This is another pretty hand attribute to have. If a spell from the Lore of Beasts targets a unit of war beasts, cavalry, monstrous cavalry, chariots, monsters, swarms, or anything from the Beastmen codex, then the casting difficulty of the spell is reduced by one. If you play Beastmen, Bretonnians, Ogres, or an army with a shit-ton of cav and/or monsters, than this an attribute that can very much make an easier time of having to cast a spell. And not just a particular kind of spell, both offensive and defensive magics work provided that the targeted unit meets the above listed material. I think my one complaint about this attribute is that it doesn't include Lizardmen in this description. What's up with that? I would complain against Beastmen for having an unfair advantage, but considering that their army is in worse condition than my Bretonnians, I will refrain from doing so. Overall, this is a useful attribute in some cases, but if you run all infantry blocks of standard troops, than you might not find it that helpful overall.
Signature Spell: Wyssan's Wildform
Much like Flame Storm, I've kinda already gone over this spell. but I'll type it in to fill up some space anyway. It's an Augment spell with a casting value of 10+ and a range of 12"that grants a targeted unit +1 Strength and +1 Toughness until the start of the caster's next magic phase. It can be boosted to have a range of 24" for an increased casting value of 13+. Can we say, hell yes?! I mean, this spell can turn even the most standard rank-and-file Empire troops into a serious meat grinder of a unit. I suppose for a Signature Spell it is a little expensive, but the rewards it reaps are so totally worth the price of this spell. Excellent spell, one of the spells both my Lizardmen and Bretonnians really benefit from, easily a 5 out 5.
Spell #1: The Flock of Doom
It's such a shame that after perhaps one of the best spells in the lore comes the absolute most horrible spell in the entire lore and perhaps the game itself. This is a Magic Missile Spell with a range of 24" that inflicts 2D6 hits at an incredibly underwhelming Strength value of 2. It has a base casting value of 5+, but if you want to increase the range to 48" then it has a casting value of 8+. Whoop-de-shit. Seriously what is that going to inflict? Even the least protected chaff are going to shrug this spell off like it's not a big deal. Why? BECAUSE IT IS NO FUCKING BIG DEAL!!! It doesn't matter if it's 2D6 hits or 100D6 hits, at S2 this spell isn't going to do diddly squat. Bretonnian Mounted Yeomen will laugh this spell of like it's nothing, because that's practically what it is. Apart from having a laughably low casting value, there's no redeeming quality of this spell. If I wanted a Magic Missile that could actually do something, I'd run lore of Fire or take the Ruby Ring of Ruin. 1 out 5 on the scale.
Spell #2: Pann's Impenetrable Pelt
Another Augment spell in this lore, this is spell targets a single friendly character within 12". This can be the caster himself is the player so wishes. On a roll of an 8+, the targeted character gets +3 Toughness until the start of the caster's next magic phase. This spell can be boosted to bubble out so as to include all friendly characters within 12" of the caster, including the caster himself for an increased casting value of 16+. If you run an Ogre Gut Star, Bretonnian Lances filled with Paladins and/or Lords, or a horde of Bestigore with characters, this spell is awesome. However, it does have the caveat of only targeting characters. In lower point games, this spell may not be too effective, especially compared to Wyssan's. I know a lot of people who swear by this spell as a means to keeping their caster alive if he's targeted in a unit or all by his lonesome, but too me it just seems a little lackluster to me. Especially compared to it's bigger twin brother, which is coming up. I give this spell a 3 out 5. It's by no means bad, but it's a bit too situational to be considered as one of the best Augment spells in the game.
Spell #3: The Amber Spear
This spell is a Magic Missile with a range of 24" and a casting value of 9+. The way it works is basically a S6 bolt-thrower (meaning after it hits and kills the first target it drops in S by one when it hits the next one in line, it keeps doing this until it fails to kill). The only difference being that this spell also has the D3 Multiple Wounds special rule. In addition, you can't take armor saves against wounds caused by the Amber Spear. It can be boosted to have an initial Strength value of 10, and have the D6 Multiple Wounds rule in place of the D3 one but for a casting value of 15+. Remember when I said Burning Head could be improved by adding a few special rules to it? Well, here it is! Amber Spear is a very nice Magic Missile for targeting enemy characters inside bunkers, but it really shines through when you chuck it on a character mounted on a monster or flying steed who's getting very annoying. I cannot tell you how many times I have killed my girlfriend's Dreadlord on a Black Dragon with a little Skink Priest chucking this spell out. I love you honey! I can't say this is the best MM in the game however, it does have three serious drawbacks. One, it acts like a bolththrower, so unless you get on a flank, this things going to hit 5 people at most if their in horde formation. Two, it's range is only mediocre, making it very difficult to deal competitively with other farther ranged spells like Fireball or Urannon's Thunderbolt. Three, you're going to almost always want to boost this thing if you chuck it at anything with three or more ranks, meaning it's probably more expensive then most MM you can cast for cheap. D6 wounds is nothing to laugh at. However, unlike other spells, this one has the potential for inflicting the most damage when it's boosted. Plus, it's a great way to deal with heavily armored infantry or monster cavalry. One Skink Priest with this on the flank of a brick of Demigryph Knights means no more Demigryphs. Great spell, I give it a 4 out 5.
Spell #4: The Curse of Anraheir
The first and only Hex in the Lore of Beasts, this spell fits a niche almost like Flame Cage from the Lore of Fire. It has a range of 36" and a base casting value of 10+. The targeted enemy unit suffers -1 to-hit on both close combat and shooting attacks. In addition the unit treats all terrain as dangerous terrain, and fails the test on 1 or a 2. This spell can be boosted to have a range of 72" and the new casting value becomes 13+. This spell destroys chariots and cavalry the way I destroy cheeseburgers on the dollar menu at Mickey D's. While this spell relies heavily on the presence of terrain, something I love but most fantasy players despise with a burning passion, it can be really effective when there's a river on the board. I have actually lost games because a Lance of my Bretonnians charged over a river with this spells on, and over half the unit was lost due to the effects of this spell. The -1 to-hit is also not something to look over. Any enemy unit that looks to make a charge on you the next turn, throw this on them to make them think twice, especially if it's over a river or a forest or something. And, if you want to get real dirty, this spell is also a great way to handle those annoying avoidance style Wood Elf armies. Watch the litte tree-humping pussies leap to their deaths as they cross their beloved wooded terrain! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!... Ahem, yes. Well all in all this is a good spell. but it's again very much situation on the layout of the battlefield. So, I have to penalize it and give it a 3 out 5.
Spell #5: The Savage Beast of Horros
Another Augment spell with a range of 12" and a casting value of 10+. Much like Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, it only targets a single friendly character. It gives that character +3 Strength and +3 Attacks. It can be boosted to hit every character within 12" of the caster, including the caster himself/herself on a 20+. While Pann's seems to be limited in it's use, Savage Beasts is most certainly not. Keep in mind, the characters that I cast this on, are Lizardmen Old-Bloods/Scar Veterans and Bretonnian Knight Lord/Paladin. Picture a S4 Bretonnian Lord with Heroic Killing Blow, a 1+ re-rollable armor save, the Blessing of the Lady, and some helpful magic weapon, that now has 7 Strength 7 Attacks. Mathematically, he will get the HKB attack off, and will one-shot whatever he's fighting. Plus, it's reduced by one to cast because he's a cavalry model! While one can argue that Pann's helps protect characters, I'd be a lot more comfortable with my Combat Lord kitted out for bear then make him a bit more tough. While again, not a perfect Augment, and I still prefer the mass boosts that Wyssan's give to a horde, but when I load my Bretonnian Lances up with Paladin walls, this spell when boosted is so dangerous and really does help when you get stuck grinding with a lance of Bretonnians. Again, this spell is a bit too selective for my personal tastes, so other people besides me may not find it as useful as I do. Thus, I give it a 4 out 5.
Spell #6: Transformation of Kadon
The final spell in this lore is perhaps the biggest disappointment to me as a personal preference. I ragged on it in an earlier post, so I'm just going to type it and let you figure the problems with this spell for yourself and/or look at my prior post on this spell (it's in a Top 5 spell list). This Augment targets the caster, and for a 16+ casting value, you can transform the caster into either a Feral Manticore, Black Hydra, or a Horned Dragon. Once transformed, you can't use any of the magical items, mundane equipment, or cast spells anymore. The transformed caster can remain in a unit if he was in one originally, unless there's no room, in that case the spell no longer works. However, the unit can be reordered in order for the new monster to fit. Any wounds aquired between transformations carries over. For a 20+ boosted version of the spell, you can turn the caster into either a Mountain Chimera or a Great Fire Dragon. I ripped on this spell enough for six people as it is, so I'll just let you stew over that. 1 out of 5, and that's all I got to say about that.
So Lore of Beasts is the inverse of Lore of Fire. Instead of focusing on dealing damage, it focuses on boosting your units. It's also not the best lore to take on anything more than a Level 2. I've met some Bretonnian players who swear by it on their Prophetess, but it always seems like such a waste to me. This lore is much more effective in diversity compared to it's flaming cousin. Augments are useful in almost any build that can be concieved of of. MSU, Hordes, Gun Lines, it doesn't matter, the Augments in the lore can be useful in almost every situation, making this a popular choice for hero-level casters in tournaments all over the place. If I had to pick my personal three favorite spells from this lore, I'd have to go with Wyssan's Wildform, The Curse of Anraheir, and Savage Beast of Horros. As for the three stinkers, I'm thinking Flock of Doom, Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, and Transformation of Kadon. So that's Lore of Beasts, and stay tuned for the next one in the series about Metal Magic.
This is another pretty hand attribute to have. If a spell from the Lore of Beasts targets a unit of war beasts, cavalry, monstrous cavalry, chariots, monsters, swarms, or anything from the Beastmen codex, then the casting difficulty of the spell is reduced by one. If you play Beastmen, Bretonnians, Ogres, or an army with a shit-ton of cav and/or monsters, than this an attribute that can very much make an easier time of having to cast a spell. And not just a particular kind of spell, both offensive and defensive magics work provided that the targeted unit meets the above listed material. I think my one complaint about this attribute is that it doesn't include Lizardmen in this description. What's up with that? I would complain against Beastmen for having an unfair advantage, but considering that their army is in worse condition than my Bretonnians, I will refrain from doing so. Overall, this is a useful attribute in some cases, but if you run all infantry blocks of standard troops, than you might not find it that helpful overall.
Signature Spell: Wyssan's Wildform
Much like Flame Storm, I've kinda already gone over this spell. but I'll type it in to fill up some space anyway. It's an Augment spell with a casting value of 10+ and a range of 12"that grants a targeted unit +1 Strength and +1 Toughness until the start of the caster's next magic phase. It can be boosted to have a range of 24" for an increased casting value of 13+. Can we say, hell yes?! I mean, this spell can turn even the most standard rank-and-file Empire troops into a serious meat grinder of a unit. I suppose for a Signature Spell it is a little expensive, but the rewards it reaps are so totally worth the price of this spell. Excellent spell, one of the spells both my Lizardmen and Bretonnians really benefit from, easily a 5 out 5.
Spell #1: The Flock of Doom
It's such a shame that after perhaps one of the best spells in the lore comes the absolute most horrible spell in the entire lore and perhaps the game itself. This is a Magic Missile Spell with a range of 24" that inflicts 2D6 hits at an incredibly underwhelming Strength value of 2. It has a base casting value of 5+, but if you want to increase the range to 48" then it has a casting value of 8+. Whoop-de-shit. Seriously what is that going to inflict? Even the least protected chaff are going to shrug this spell off like it's not a big deal. Why? BECAUSE IT IS NO FUCKING BIG DEAL!!! It doesn't matter if it's 2D6 hits or 100D6 hits, at S2 this spell isn't going to do diddly squat. Bretonnian Mounted Yeomen will laugh this spell of like it's nothing, because that's practically what it is. Apart from having a laughably low casting value, there's no redeeming quality of this spell. If I wanted a Magic Missile that could actually do something, I'd run lore of Fire or take the Ruby Ring of Ruin. 1 out 5 on the scale.
Spell #2: Pann's Impenetrable Pelt
Another Augment spell in this lore, this is spell targets a single friendly character within 12". This can be the caster himself is the player so wishes. On a roll of an 8+, the targeted character gets +3 Toughness until the start of the caster's next magic phase. This spell can be boosted to bubble out so as to include all friendly characters within 12" of the caster, including the caster himself for an increased casting value of 16+. If you run an Ogre Gut Star, Bretonnian Lances filled with Paladins and/or Lords, or a horde of Bestigore with characters, this spell is awesome. However, it does have the caveat of only targeting characters. In lower point games, this spell may not be too effective, especially compared to Wyssan's. I know a lot of people who swear by this spell as a means to keeping their caster alive if he's targeted in a unit or all by his lonesome, but too me it just seems a little lackluster to me. Especially compared to it's bigger twin brother, which is coming up. I give this spell a 3 out 5. It's by no means bad, but it's a bit too situational to be considered as one of the best Augment spells in the game.
Spell #3: The Amber Spear
This spell is a Magic Missile with a range of 24" and a casting value of 9+. The way it works is basically a S6 bolt-thrower (meaning after it hits and kills the first target it drops in S by one when it hits the next one in line, it keeps doing this until it fails to kill). The only difference being that this spell also has the D3 Multiple Wounds special rule. In addition, you can't take armor saves against wounds caused by the Amber Spear. It can be boosted to have an initial Strength value of 10, and have the D6 Multiple Wounds rule in place of the D3 one but for a casting value of 15+. Remember when I said Burning Head could be improved by adding a few special rules to it? Well, here it is! Amber Spear is a very nice Magic Missile for targeting enemy characters inside bunkers, but it really shines through when you chuck it on a character mounted on a monster or flying steed who's getting very annoying. I cannot tell you how many times I have killed my girlfriend's Dreadlord on a Black Dragon with a little Skink Priest chucking this spell out. I love you honey! I can't say this is the best MM in the game however, it does have three serious drawbacks. One, it acts like a bolththrower, so unless you get on a flank, this things going to hit 5 people at most if their in horde formation. Two, it's range is only mediocre, making it very difficult to deal competitively with other farther ranged spells like Fireball or Urannon's Thunderbolt. Three, you're going to almost always want to boost this thing if you chuck it at anything with three or more ranks, meaning it's probably more expensive then most MM you can cast for cheap. D6 wounds is nothing to laugh at. However, unlike other spells, this one has the potential for inflicting the most damage when it's boosted. Plus, it's a great way to deal with heavily armored infantry or monster cavalry. One Skink Priest with this on the flank of a brick of Demigryph Knights means no more Demigryphs. Great spell, I give it a 4 out 5.
Spell #4: The Curse of Anraheir
The first and only Hex in the Lore of Beasts, this spell fits a niche almost like Flame Cage from the Lore of Fire. It has a range of 36" and a base casting value of 10+. The targeted enemy unit suffers -1 to-hit on both close combat and shooting attacks. In addition the unit treats all terrain as dangerous terrain, and fails the test on 1 or a 2. This spell can be boosted to have a range of 72" and the new casting value becomes 13+. This spell destroys chariots and cavalry the way I destroy cheeseburgers on the dollar menu at Mickey D's. While this spell relies heavily on the presence of terrain, something I love but most fantasy players despise with a burning passion, it can be really effective when there's a river on the board. I have actually lost games because a Lance of my Bretonnians charged over a river with this spells on, and over half the unit was lost due to the effects of this spell. The -1 to-hit is also not something to look over. Any enemy unit that looks to make a charge on you the next turn, throw this on them to make them think twice, especially if it's over a river or a forest or something. And, if you want to get real dirty, this spell is also a great way to handle those annoying avoidance style Wood Elf armies. Watch the litte tree-humping pussies leap to their deaths as they cross their beloved wooded terrain! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!... Ahem, yes. Well all in all this is a good spell. but it's again very much situation on the layout of the battlefield. So, I have to penalize it and give it a 3 out 5.
Spell #5: The Savage Beast of Horros
Another Augment spell with a range of 12" and a casting value of 10+. Much like Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, it only targets a single friendly character. It gives that character +3 Strength and +3 Attacks. It can be boosted to hit every character within 12" of the caster, including the caster himself/herself on a 20+. While Pann's seems to be limited in it's use, Savage Beasts is most certainly not. Keep in mind, the characters that I cast this on, are Lizardmen Old-Bloods/Scar Veterans and Bretonnian Knight Lord/Paladin. Picture a S4 Bretonnian Lord with Heroic Killing Blow, a 1+ re-rollable armor save, the Blessing of the Lady, and some helpful magic weapon, that now has 7 Strength 7 Attacks. Mathematically, he will get the HKB attack off, and will one-shot whatever he's fighting. Plus, it's reduced by one to cast because he's a cavalry model! While one can argue that Pann's helps protect characters, I'd be a lot more comfortable with my Combat Lord kitted out for bear then make him a bit more tough. While again, not a perfect Augment, and I still prefer the mass boosts that Wyssan's give to a horde, but when I load my Bretonnian Lances up with Paladin walls, this spell when boosted is so dangerous and really does help when you get stuck grinding with a lance of Bretonnians. Again, this spell is a bit too selective for my personal tastes, so other people besides me may not find it as useful as I do. Thus, I give it a 4 out 5.
Spell #6: Transformation of Kadon
The final spell in this lore is perhaps the biggest disappointment to me as a personal preference. I ragged on it in an earlier post, so I'm just going to type it and let you figure the problems with this spell for yourself and/or look at my prior post on this spell (it's in a Top 5 spell list). This Augment targets the caster, and for a 16+ casting value, you can transform the caster into either a Feral Manticore, Black Hydra, or a Horned Dragon. Once transformed, you can't use any of the magical items, mundane equipment, or cast spells anymore. The transformed caster can remain in a unit if he was in one originally, unless there's no room, in that case the spell no longer works. However, the unit can be reordered in order for the new monster to fit. Any wounds aquired between transformations carries over. For a 20+ boosted version of the spell, you can turn the caster into either a Mountain Chimera or a Great Fire Dragon. I ripped on this spell enough for six people as it is, so I'll just let you stew over that. 1 out of 5, and that's all I got to say about that.
So Lore of Beasts is the inverse of Lore of Fire. Instead of focusing on dealing damage, it focuses on boosting your units. It's also not the best lore to take on anything more than a Level 2. I've met some Bretonnian players who swear by it on their Prophetess, but it always seems like such a waste to me. This lore is much more effective in diversity compared to it's flaming cousin. Augments are useful in almost any build that can be concieved of of. MSU, Hordes, Gun Lines, it doesn't matter, the Augments in the lore can be useful in almost every situation, making this a popular choice for hero-level casters in tournaments all over the place. If I had to pick my personal three favorite spells from this lore, I'd have to go with Wyssan's Wildform, The Curse of Anraheir, and Savage Beast of Horros. As for the three stinkers, I'm thinking Flock of Doom, Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, and Transformation of Kadon. So that's Lore of Beasts, and stay tuned for the next one in the series about Metal Magic.
Friday, October 10, 2014
In a Nutshell; The Lore of Fire
So this is a series that I think as a Lizardmen player touches a subject that's very near and dear to my heart, and that' s magic. While this one is going to be a lot longer, it's also going to be a lot more in detail and ONLY dealing with the individual lore itself. What spells are good and what are ones you want to swap for, so, without further ado, let's check this thing out!
Lore Attribue: Kindlflame
Basically, this is what makes spamming Fireball possible in a list with a few Fire mages included into it. What is does is very simple, if a Direct Damage or Magic Missile spell is cast at a unit that has already been targeted by a Direct Damage or Magic Missile spell from the Lore of Fire in the same magic phase, then the caster gets a +D3 to his casting value. Oh, and all attacks made by this lore count as Flaming Attacks. No fucking shit. While by no means game changing, it's actually a very simple and effective lore attribute. Something you'll find the Lore of Fire is pretty much the epitome of. I really like it because it allows the level 1 or 2 casters to suddenly become Nagash(s) of the Lore of Fire in terms of the ability to shove a spell down your opponent's throat. Plus. considering all but 3 out of the 7 spells in this lore are either DD or MM, this attribute can really come in handy when you're up against Dwarves or anti-magic built armies.
Signature Spell: Fireball
This spell epitomizes the Lore of Fire. Simple, low casting value, humble compared to most other lores, and pretty much focused solely on offense. And I love it! Basically, it's a Magic Missile with a casting value of 5+ and a range of 24" that inflicts D6 S4 hits. It's all you could want in a MM spell, cheap, effective, and balanced. If you want to give it a boost, you can increase the casting value to 10+ for an increased range of 36" and the number of hits increases to 2D6 hits. The best part though, is coming up. You can boost this spell AGAIN to have a range of 48" and inflict 3D6 hits for a casting value of 18+. Now, the increased range and number of hits is nice, but isn't that a little expensive? Wrong! Refer to the lore attribute. As long as you hit your intended target with another DD or MM spell, you'll mathematically add around 2+ to your casting value, making this spell decently easier to cast. I've seen Elf armies with no form of artillery use this spell to snipe monsters, Daemon Princes, Dragons, Phoenixes, you name it! Hell, at 3D6 you're getting into the range where even rank and file are going to be a little wary of this spell. I know a lot of people bitch about it only being S4, but in a meta where Elves rule supreme, it's not that insanely hard to wound something that's T3 with a S4 hit that may only have light armor and a shield at most! A great spell to swap to if you're ever in doubt. On a 1-5 scale, I'd probably give this spell an even 4.
Spell #1: Cascading Fire Cloak
This spell is handy if you're the kind of guy who likes to put a Level 1 or 2 in your block of infantry to help boost them a little bit. It's an Augment spell that targets the caster and/or the unit that the caster is in. On a 5+, every enemy unit in base contact with your unit suffer a 2D6 S4 Flaming hits at the end of every Magic Phase. The best part, it's a Remains in Play spell! It can't be boosted, so that's kind of the downside to this spell. If your Fire caster is on top of a dragon or something, then this spell is kind of useless. However, if he's a Fire Battle Wizard in a horde of Halberdiers, then this spell totally kicks ass! I cannot tell you how many times this spell has both helped and fucked me over in horde-on-horde grinding situations. Two or three extra guys dying per turn may seem like nothing, but after four magic phases of being in combat, that shits starts to add up let me tell you! On average, I'd give this spell a decent 3.
Spell #2: Flaming Sword of Rhuin
This is the second and last Augment in the Lore of Fire. For a casting value of 8+, you can target a friendly unit/model within 24" and give that unit/model +1 to-wound in all shooting and close combat phases. That unit/model also counts as having Flaming and Magical attacks. All these effects last until the start of the caster's next magic phase. You can choose to boost this spell to have a range of 48", but the casting value goes up to an 11+. I think this is actually a decent spell, considering how much it does in return for what it costs. So for a casting value of 8+, you can boost any unit within 24" to have +1 to-wound, Magical Attacks, and Flaming Attacks. Can we say, hell yes! I know a lot of people who complain about the fact this spell doesn't adjust any stats, making it kind of inadequate, but I don't think so. Looking at it objectively, this spell costs less than most spells that adjust to-hit or to-wound values, and gives you two very helpful effects for less than double digits of a casting value! Call me a sucker for hard luck case (lore), but I like this spell a lot! I give it an easy 4!
Spell #3: The Burning Head
The First Direct Damage spell in this lore, and in my opinion one of the most difficult to justify. For a 10+ casting value, you get an 18" line extended from the caster's base in his front arc. The attack works like a cannonball, and each unit in the way (aka each unit under the 18" line) suffers a S4 Flaming hit. If a unit hit by this spell takes any casualties, they must immediately make a Panic test. You can choose to boost the range of this spell to 36" for an increased casting value of 13+. Yeah, this spell is really an answer looking for a question in my opinion. I guess it has potential if you launch it up the flank of an enemy horde unit, but why would you bother doing that when you can just chuck a bomb spell like Purple Sun or Dwellers and do infinitely more damage? Plus, an 18" line is really short ranged, meaning you'll only have the potential to launch it once, maybe twice if you're lucky. You can boost it to compensate for the range, but at that point Fireball will be inflicting more damage, for less of a casting value, with an even higher range! And S4? Are you fucking kidding me GW? You took every opportunity to explain that this spell is effectively a cannonball, but unlike every other cannon in the game, it hits at S4. I guess the whole Panic Test clause is kind of nice, but it's really just cheap icing on a stale cake. Horrible, confusing, confounding spell. I give it a 1 out 5.
Spell #4: Piercing Bolts of Burning
A Magic Missile spell with a casting value of 10+ and a range of 24" that causes D3 S4 Flaming hits for each rank of five or more models in the target unit. Can be boosted to have a range of 48" for an increased casting value of 13+. Okay, who came up with this spell? No, seriously, who actually took the time to write a spell that would be on the same uselessness level as Burning Head? D3 hits, are you fucking kidding me GW? Now, I would understand this if the damage was say, S5 or S6, but not fucking S4! This spell won't even clear up chaff! Hordes, which this spell is specifically designed to counter, will laugh at this spell! I mean, at least in a horde of fifty guys, it will on average do about 10 hits, half of which won't wound, and the other half will be armor saved and/or ward saved away. If this spell and Burning Head made a baby, where it acted as a Flaming cannonball that had the +D3 wounds special rule, or inflicted D3 hits on each model in the line, I could get behind that. However, this spell is just utter and complete rubbish. 1 out 5, moving on!
Spell #5: Fulminating Flame Cage
The only Hex spell in the Lore of Fire. It has a casting value of 11+ and a range of 24". What it does is cause the targeted unit to suffer an immediate D6 S4 Flaming hits. If the unit moves for any reason whatsoever, this includes marching, charging, reforming, fleeing, or anything you can think of, than each model in the unit suffers a S4 Flaming hit. You can choose to boost the spell to have a range of 48" for a casting value of 14+. This spell is in fact awesome! This spell is the one advanced magical tool that this lore has in it. This spells is used in order to prevent your opponent from basically doing anything with his unit. It's used to basically lock down a unit from doing any form of movement. This is great for tearing through nasty looking hordes of Tomb Guard, Trolls, Black Orcs, or anything else you'd like to put out of position or whittle down a bit. Personally, this is in fact my favorite spell from this lore without a doubt. I give it a 5 out 5.
Spell #6: Flame Storm
Yeah, I won't go into too much detail as I already tore this spell a new one the size of the Grand Canyon in a Top 5 review I did a while back, but this is without a doubt one of the most disappointing #6 spells in the game. I'll type it in a bit to get my point across. This is a Direct Damage with a casting value of 13+. You place a small template within 30" of the caster and then scatter it D6". Everything hit under the template suffers a S4 Flaming hit. For a boosted version, you can use a large round template and scatter it 2D6" for an increased casting value of 16+. If you don't see the problem with this spell, then I don't know what to tell you pal. Other than you haven't played Warhammer for very long, have you? This spell is much too high to cast for much too little payoff. In terms of bomb spells, it just flat out sucks monkey dick compared to even this lore's Signature Spell. Not the worst spell in the world, but it certainly won't be winning any MVP awards in my book. 2 out 5.
So in conclusion, the Lore of Fire is by no means a game winning lore like Death or Life, but it does have it's own personal niche in the game. While so many people use magic specifically for Augments or Hexes, the Lore of Fire is actually very refreshing in it's simplicity. This lore has some excellent spells in it, and if I had to pick my three favorite spells from it, I'd have to say Fireball, Flaming Sword of Rhuin, and Fulminating Flame Cage most assuredly take those honors. The three spells I would have to say that I like the least are Burning Head, Piercing Bolts of Burning, and Flame Storm. Where do I see this lore being most effective? First off, never put this lore on anything more than a Level 2. It's got a universal low casting rate, so you don't need to worry too much about that. I guess there's some possibility for High Elves and Chaos Dwarves to combo this lore with some of their mounts, but that's a whole new gaggle of issues brought up with those builds. No, I see this lore being most effective in armies with little to no shooting. The effective, efficient, and prevalent MM and DD spells mean you have plenty of opportunities to fire back a few shot before getting into combat, and the two Augments and single Hex are both great for manipulating the flow of combat. Horde style armies, which often entirely eliminate their BS or artillery options in favor of more troops will have a bit more of an edge in the first few rounds of the game. I also see this as a great lore for new players to have, with the exception of Burning Head and Piercing Bolts that is. It's a great way to introduce magic in a way that isn't so damned confusing it makes your head spin. I would also like to note that with the prevalence of Trolls, Chimeras, and other dangerous things with Regeneration, this lore can be an effective answer to those nasty things that more often that not do show up in tournaments and competitive games.
Lore Attribue: Kindlflame
Basically, this is what makes spamming Fireball possible in a list with a few Fire mages included into it. What is does is very simple, if a Direct Damage or Magic Missile spell is cast at a unit that has already been targeted by a Direct Damage or Magic Missile spell from the Lore of Fire in the same magic phase, then the caster gets a +D3 to his casting value. Oh, and all attacks made by this lore count as Flaming Attacks. No fucking shit. While by no means game changing, it's actually a very simple and effective lore attribute. Something you'll find the Lore of Fire is pretty much the epitome of. I really like it because it allows the level 1 or 2 casters to suddenly become Nagash(s) of the Lore of Fire in terms of the ability to shove a spell down your opponent's throat. Plus. considering all but 3 out of the 7 spells in this lore are either DD or MM, this attribute can really come in handy when you're up against Dwarves or anti-magic built armies.
Signature Spell: Fireball
This spell epitomizes the Lore of Fire. Simple, low casting value, humble compared to most other lores, and pretty much focused solely on offense. And I love it! Basically, it's a Magic Missile with a casting value of 5+ and a range of 24" that inflicts D6 S4 hits. It's all you could want in a MM spell, cheap, effective, and balanced. If you want to give it a boost, you can increase the casting value to 10+ for an increased range of 36" and the number of hits increases to 2D6 hits. The best part though, is coming up. You can boost this spell AGAIN to have a range of 48" and inflict 3D6 hits for a casting value of 18+. Now, the increased range and number of hits is nice, but isn't that a little expensive? Wrong! Refer to the lore attribute. As long as you hit your intended target with another DD or MM spell, you'll mathematically add around 2+ to your casting value, making this spell decently easier to cast. I've seen Elf armies with no form of artillery use this spell to snipe monsters, Daemon Princes, Dragons, Phoenixes, you name it! Hell, at 3D6 you're getting into the range where even rank and file are going to be a little wary of this spell. I know a lot of people bitch about it only being S4, but in a meta where Elves rule supreme, it's not that insanely hard to wound something that's T3 with a S4 hit that may only have light armor and a shield at most! A great spell to swap to if you're ever in doubt. On a 1-5 scale, I'd probably give this spell an even 4.
Spell #1: Cascading Fire Cloak
This spell is handy if you're the kind of guy who likes to put a Level 1 or 2 in your block of infantry to help boost them a little bit. It's an Augment spell that targets the caster and/or the unit that the caster is in. On a 5+, every enemy unit in base contact with your unit suffer a 2D6 S4 Flaming hits at the end of every Magic Phase. The best part, it's a Remains in Play spell! It can't be boosted, so that's kind of the downside to this spell. If your Fire caster is on top of a dragon or something, then this spell is kind of useless. However, if he's a Fire Battle Wizard in a horde of Halberdiers, then this spell totally kicks ass! I cannot tell you how many times this spell has both helped and fucked me over in horde-on-horde grinding situations. Two or three extra guys dying per turn may seem like nothing, but after four magic phases of being in combat, that shits starts to add up let me tell you! On average, I'd give this spell a decent 3.
Spell #2: Flaming Sword of Rhuin
This is the second and last Augment in the Lore of Fire. For a casting value of 8+, you can target a friendly unit/model within 24" and give that unit/model +1 to-wound in all shooting and close combat phases. That unit/model also counts as having Flaming and Magical attacks. All these effects last until the start of the caster's next magic phase. You can choose to boost this spell to have a range of 48", but the casting value goes up to an 11+. I think this is actually a decent spell, considering how much it does in return for what it costs. So for a casting value of 8+, you can boost any unit within 24" to have +1 to-wound, Magical Attacks, and Flaming Attacks. Can we say, hell yes! I know a lot of people who complain about the fact this spell doesn't adjust any stats, making it kind of inadequate, but I don't think so. Looking at it objectively, this spell costs less than most spells that adjust to-hit or to-wound values, and gives you two very helpful effects for less than double digits of a casting value! Call me a sucker for hard luck case (lore), but I like this spell a lot! I give it an easy 4!
Spell #3: The Burning Head
The First Direct Damage spell in this lore, and in my opinion one of the most difficult to justify. For a 10+ casting value, you get an 18" line extended from the caster's base in his front arc. The attack works like a cannonball, and each unit in the way (aka each unit under the 18" line) suffers a S4 Flaming hit. If a unit hit by this spell takes any casualties, they must immediately make a Panic test. You can choose to boost the range of this spell to 36" for an increased casting value of 13+. Yeah, this spell is really an answer looking for a question in my opinion. I guess it has potential if you launch it up the flank of an enemy horde unit, but why would you bother doing that when you can just chuck a bomb spell like Purple Sun or Dwellers and do infinitely more damage? Plus, an 18" line is really short ranged, meaning you'll only have the potential to launch it once, maybe twice if you're lucky. You can boost it to compensate for the range, but at that point Fireball will be inflicting more damage, for less of a casting value, with an even higher range! And S4? Are you fucking kidding me GW? You took every opportunity to explain that this spell is effectively a cannonball, but unlike every other cannon in the game, it hits at S4. I guess the whole Panic Test clause is kind of nice, but it's really just cheap icing on a stale cake. Horrible, confusing, confounding spell. I give it a 1 out 5.
Spell #4: Piercing Bolts of Burning
A Magic Missile spell with a casting value of 10+ and a range of 24" that causes D3 S4 Flaming hits for each rank of five or more models in the target unit. Can be boosted to have a range of 48" for an increased casting value of 13+. Okay, who came up with this spell? No, seriously, who actually took the time to write a spell that would be on the same uselessness level as Burning Head? D3 hits, are you fucking kidding me GW? Now, I would understand this if the damage was say, S5 or S6, but not fucking S4! This spell won't even clear up chaff! Hordes, which this spell is specifically designed to counter, will laugh at this spell! I mean, at least in a horde of fifty guys, it will on average do about 10 hits, half of which won't wound, and the other half will be armor saved and/or ward saved away. If this spell and Burning Head made a baby, where it acted as a Flaming cannonball that had the +D3 wounds special rule, or inflicted D3 hits on each model in the line, I could get behind that. However, this spell is just utter and complete rubbish. 1 out 5, moving on!
Spell #5: Fulminating Flame Cage
The only Hex spell in the Lore of Fire. It has a casting value of 11+ and a range of 24". What it does is cause the targeted unit to suffer an immediate D6 S4 Flaming hits. If the unit moves for any reason whatsoever, this includes marching, charging, reforming, fleeing, or anything you can think of, than each model in the unit suffers a S4 Flaming hit. You can choose to boost the spell to have a range of 48" for a casting value of 14+. This spell is in fact awesome! This spell is the one advanced magical tool that this lore has in it. This spells is used in order to prevent your opponent from basically doing anything with his unit. It's used to basically lock down a unit from doing any form of movement. This is great for tearing through nasty looking hordes of Tomb Guard, Trolls, Black Orcs, or anything else you'd like to put out of position or whittle down a bit. Personally, this is in fact my favorite spell from this lore without a doubt. I give it a 5 out 5.
Spell #6: Flame Storm
Yeah, I won't go into too much detail as I already tore this spell a new one the size of the Grand Canyon in a Top 5 review I did a while back, but this is without a doubt one of the most disappointing #6 spells in the game. I'll type it in a bit to get my point across. This is a Direct Damage with a casting value of 13+. You place a small template within 30" of the caster and then scatter it D6". Everything hit under the template suffers a S4 Flaming hit. For a boosted version, you can use a large round template and scatter it 2D6" for an increased casting value of 16+. If you don't see the problem with this spell, then I don't know what to tell you pal. Other than you haven't played Warhammer for very long, have you? This spell is much too high to cast for much too little payoff. In terms of bomb spells, it just flat out sucks monkey dick compared to even this lore's Signature Spell. Not the worst spell in the world, but it certainly won't be winning any MVP awards in my book. 2 out 5.
So in conclusion, the Lore of Fire is by no means a game winning lore like Death or Life, but it does have it's own personal niche in the game. While so many people use magic specifically for Augments or Hexes, the Lore of Fire is actually very refreshing in it's simplicity. This lore has some excellent spells in it, and if I had to pick my three favorite spells from it, I'd have to say Fireball, Flaming Sword of Rhuin, and Fulminating Flame Cage most assuredly take those honors. The three spells I would have to say that I like the least are Burning Head, Piercing Bolts of Burning, and Flame Storm. Where do I see this lore being most effective? First off, never put this lore on anything more than a Level 2. It's got a universal low casting rate, so you don't need to worry too much about that. I guess there's some possibility for High Elves and Chaos Dwarves to combo this lore with some of their mounts, but that's a whole new gaggle of issues brought up with those builds. No, I see this lore being most effective in armies with little to no shooting. The effective, efficient, and prevalent MM and DD spells mean you have plenty of opportunities to fire back a few shot before getting into combat, and the two Augments and single Hex are both great for manipulating the flow of combat. Horde style armies, which often entirely eliminate their BS or artillery options in favor of more troops will have a bit more of an edge in the first few rounds of the game. I also see this as a great lore for new players to have, with the exception of Burning Head and Piercing Bolts that is. It's a great way to introduce magic in a way that isn't so damned confusing it makes your head spin. I would also like to note that with the prevalence of Trolls, Chimeras, and other dangerous things with Regeneration, this lore can be an effective answer to those nasty things that more often that not do show up in tournaments and competitive games.
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