So in conjecture with my last post, I thought it only fair to also list the virtues that I think don't quite cut the mustard. Again with my usual disclaimers, it is my opinion, but it is also my opinion supported by fact and my blog. So nah, nah, nah! So, without further ado, what virtues should you be taking only if you want to truly fuck with your opponent's mind and tank your list building reputation.
#5: Virtue of the Joust
For 25 points, the knight re-rolls all failed to-hits when charging and using a lance. This is basically like having Hatred for a single round. Granted, for Bretonnians it's the most imperative round in which you well and truly want to make as many attacks as is possible, but that doesn't really excuse this virtue. Like a lot of things in the Bretonnian book, you have to pay more points that you would usually like to. Myself and most Bretonnain players have accepted that is something you simply have to do to play Bretonnians. But paying 25 points for Hatred for one character is ridiculous even without having to over-pay for everything anyway. Now, if it allowed the whole lance to doe this, then I would have no problem and may have made it unto the Top 5 Favorite Virtues List. However, it does not. It's not that the virtue is bad, it's simply that there are much better ones for a much more reasonable price that are much more utilitarian. Sorry Virtue of the Joust, you're just not cut out for competitive Bretonnian play.
#4: Virtue of the Penitent
For 40 points, the Knight is Stubborn, however he may not join any units, take any magical items, or ride either a Royal Pegasus and/or a Hippogryph. Stubborn is good, stubborn is very good especially for Bretonnia. I can even except not being able to join units. It fits with the fluff and I think it's a neat aspect. However, my acceptance of this virtue end here. Why can't he do those things?! The whole point of being Stubborn, as a lone character, is to load up on as many goddamned magical killing items as is possible and take the really cool, but vulnerable, monstrous mount so you can fly into an enemy's flank and then tear them a new asshole! If, he could take the items and mounts, I would be much more tolerant of this virtue, but as it is, it's just laughable. Unless you want to have a lone character (Paladin only) as the cheapest possible sticky chaff, then I see absolutely no reason why you should take this virtue. I think that if you do put this on a Lord, other Bretonnian players should be legally able to shoot you. Stupid virtue, stupid restrictions, should be wiped out completely, made 5 points or less, or modified and then reduced slightly in cost.
#3: Virtue of Audacity
For 30 points the knight may re-roll failed to-hit and to-wound rolls against enemies with a higher Strength then himself. This is perhaps the most ingenious idea for a virtue with the most ridiculous payoff. I think Bretonnian knights should have a virtue that benefits them fighting a more powerful opponent. It fits in with their fluff, it allows humans to compete with supernatural monstrosities, and it just seems really cool. But just re-rolling failed to-hits and to-wounds is horrible. Absolutely underwhelming. For 30 points, I think perhaps getting ASF in addition to re-rolls would be a lot more useful. Or +1 Attack for ever point of S difference between the two models and re-rolls would also be a lot more useful. However, they both would be fair. Again, almost everything in this book is overcosted, I understand that. But even by the standards in which it was written, somebody had to know that this was complete bullshit. This is definitely a virtue that needs to be re-tooled in the new book. While the Virtue of the Penitent is horrible all around, this is even worse. Why? Because it has such unique potential and then becomes horrible. Seriosuly, GW, if you're reading this. A for effort, F for execution. Try it again, but for the love of God, GET IT RIGHT!!!
#2: Virtue of Empathy
For 10 points, you get a knight who as the option to be fielded on foot. If he's not the army's General, units with the Peasant's Duty may use his leadership if he's within 12" rather than just the normal 6". Oh yeah, cause I've always wanted to take a Bretonnian knight on foot before! There are three conditions that must be met. First, this had better be put on your BSB, otherwise it's just not usable. Second, you better have a metric fuck-ton of Peasants in your army and a Grail Reliquae. Thirdly, you must under no circumstances field this knight on foot. If there is one saving grace to this virtue, it's the price. Even by 8th edition standards this is pretty well priced for what it does, in my opinion. I once fielded a list that included two Trebuchets, a block of fifty Men-At-Arm with full command, two groups of twenty Peasant Bowman with stakes and braziers, and a Grail Reliquae with as many Pilgrims as I could take. This all being tied in with a Questing Knight BSB with this virtue. It was relatively enjoyable to see what Peasants could actually do, and more often then not, could not do. If you're a fluff fanatic that absolutely MUST have an all Peasant army, then this is your virtue. I wouldn't mind seeing it again in the new book, but I would never take it. To me, it's one of those fluffy options GW likes to throw in their new books. Much like the 8th edition Anvil of Doom, fluffy and fun, but not in the least bit competitive.
#1: Virtue of the Ideal
Never hard of this one? There's a reason why. For 35 points your knight receives the following modifications to his stat line: +2WS, +1 Initiative, +1 Attack. He may not be the army's General and any units within 6" (even Peasants using his Leadership) suffer a Leadership decrease of -1. Why, for 35 points, does it even have the potential to have negative effects? This has got to be the most laughable virtue in the entire list. No amount of stat modification is worth a negative effect on Leadership for Bretonnians. Our combat outside the charge rely on high Leadership values to keep us sticking around and preventing us from loosing a free army-wide ward save. We need as much Leadership as we can get in grinding situations. This could be a +2 to all stats and I still don't think you'd see it ever. What makes this my least favorite virtue, because much like Flock of Doom in my Top 5 Least Favorite Spells From the BRB list, it's the only virtue with absolutely no potential. The negative effects of this virtue so outweigh it's stat increases, that's akin to taking 35 points to roll at -1 Leadership. A complete waste of ink. In the new book, I think it's savable. Perhaps if you could hybrid this with Virtue of the Penitent, it would make sense. A lone knight with the stat increases that can't ride anything but a horse, can't use magic items, is stubborn, and can't join units would be an effective chaff tool. So much so that you might see one in every Bretonnian army, much like Dark Riders are to Dark Elves. As it is, nothing is right with this virtue. If this virtue didn't make it into the next book, I might throw myself a little party.
So that's it, the last list I will be doing on Bretonnian Virtues until the next book. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and please comment below if you want to see more or less of what you're currently seeing on the blog. Until next time, peace!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Top 5 Favorite Bretonnian Knightly Virtues
In this era of weakened cavalry Bretonnia really seems to have received the cold shoulder from GW, if not the shaft in general. However, what really allows the Lords and Paladins of Bretonnia to be such a formidable force in my opinion are the knightly virtues and variety of unique items that they have in their army book. So as a Bretonnian player, I thought it only fair to list the ones that I think are the most effective on the battlefield. Note that this with the 2003 army book, and when the newest Bretonnian army book does come out, I will be doing a similar list but with the new book. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the virtues that seem to help tip the balance of the scales ever so slightly in the favor of Bretonnia.
#5: Virtue of Noble Disdain
For 20 points, the Knight has Hatred for all enemies with ranged weapons, this includes war machine crews. Additionally, the unit that the knight is in never take Panic tests if 25% or more of the unit is killed off by shooting, magic, etc. (basically everything not close combat related). One of my favorite ways to deal with artillery is to put a Paladin (you can use a Lord if you want to remove the 0-1 unit restriction on Pegasus Knights but I always run with the Paladin) on a Royal Pegasus with this virtue in a group of Pegasus Knights. I don't care if it's Chaos Dwarves I'm dealing with, this unit combination will tear through anything that has the potential to shoot at me. The key to making this work though is to take the attention away from this group. The need to avoid enemy chaff and unwanted magical attention is the key to making this strategy work. Whenever I take my Bretonnians to a tournament, this is a Paladin build I almost always take due to the presence of large amounts of Empire and Dwarf players. Even Ogre Ironblasters fall before this build. If you're having a problem dealing with artillery in general as a Bretonnian, then this is a solution that might work for you. There are two things that absolutely must happen for you to make this work. First, you need to make sure your enemy is not very familiar with Bretonnians. Players who come into contact with them a lot know that the Bretonnian Paladins and Lords are most certainly to be feared. Second, you need something to take the pressure off of this unit. A decoy unit so to speak. Mounted Yeoman work relatively well for this, but lone character are even better. Especially ones with little more than their base armor and Blessing of the Lady attached to it. Counter their chaff, blow it to pieces, get their artillery and magic users attention away from them, I don't care. If you want a sure fire way to blow through artillery, then those are some things that might help you do so.
#4: Virtue of the Impetuous Knight
For 35 points, the knight and any mounted unit he is in add +D6 for the first charge that they declare. If the charge is failed, they do not receive the extra +D6 to their failed charge movement. It's generally a good rule never to put characters in a unit of Errant Knights. However, this is the one exception in my humble opinion. The key to Errant Knights is to get them into a combat you know that you will loose. Think if this lance as a kamikaze pilot of sorts. You want to keep it as under costed as is physically possible. Pay the points for the Paladin (never a Lord for this one), the lance for the Paladin, this virtue, and as many Errant Knights as you deem prudent for the situation. However, there is one caveat to this combination. They absolutely must have the Errantry Banner. This lance has one primary purposes, seek and if that's not possible then die trying to hold the enemy back as long as is possible. What you will have is a unit that can charge a potential of 26" with 10-12 (for ranks of 3-4 deep respectively) S6 attacks, not including the attacks made by the horses. Even units with heavy armor and shields (infantry) will get no save and the unit is ITP when it charges. I have used this tactic to destroy a bunker of 23 Chaos Warriors and their BSB. I killed 10 of them, they swung back nailed me for 4, I won combat, I broke them, ran them down, and it was so very beautiful. I've used it to also slow down a horde of Hammerers long enough for me to get a few more Trebuchet shots on them before beating them down with another lance. It's really great at dealing with lone monsters. If you need a Cygor or a Hell Pit Abomination taken out, this is a great way to do it. Again, I cannot stress enough that you must keep this unit as cheap as is physically possible. If this virtue remains untouched and GW follows their usual habits, then this tactic will become more cost efficient then ever before. However, I probably shouldn't have said that, and if there are any GW executives reading this, forget what I just said. I command you!
#3: Virtue of Stoicism
For 35 points, the knight and the unit he is in may re-roll failed break tests. For 35 points, you get a unit-sized version of a BSB. Do I even need to say how awesome that is?! I mean, that's almost as cool as a Slann being both a BSB and a General. And there's no restrictions on how many times this can be done, you can effectively tie up a horde simply by making re-rolls. Combined this with Bretonnia's army wide Ward Save and high Armor Saves, and you get a unit that's just as capable of tar-pitting as a host of Undead units. While it's not the most blatantly powerful virtue, it is a very useful one, especially if you want a lance designated for operating outside of the reach of your normal BSB. For example, a lance designated for going after fast cavalry and getting into combats where they will be unsupported. That being said, do not take this on the unit you want to make your BSB. I wouldn't suggest this on a Lord that's capable of being your General, but on a normal Lord or Paladin I think it works just dandy. It's also very utilitarian, making it useful in almost every army build and almost every situation. Great virtue to have, never gone wrong with it before, it's relatively well costed, I see no down sides to it, and that alone makes it very good for an army that seems to be dependent on getting into combat.
#2: Virtue of Duty
Before we go any further, I would like to clarify that I didn't put this virtue on here because it's the same as my last name. Although that doesn't hurt it either! For 30 points, your Paladin or Lord (cannot be taken by the army's General) adds +1 combat resolution to whatever fight(s) he takes part in. If you thought that the Orc Warboss ability to call a Waghh! was awesome, then you have no idea how powerful this virtue is. This virtue helps mitigate one of the biggest weakness that the Bretonnian army has. Generating static combat resolution. Turns on which we charge into combat, we are an army to be feared. However, the following turns we become little more than paper tigers. Being at -2S is not good. Hitting at anything below S4 is never good! Thus, Bretonnian knights run into the problems when we cannot break the enemy on the turn in which we charge. Even then, because of our superior defensive abilities, we can remain on the board even after charging, we simply cannot hit back for very much. This means the combat resolution tends to be very slight after the turn that we charged on. Thus, having an automatic +1 is so very useful. Opinions on who to give this virtue are varied. Some players like to hand it over to their BSB, others just like to kit out an extra Paladin or Lord and call it good. Either way, you cannot really go wrong in my opinion. If we were an army with a new book, I would think this is kinda cheesy. However, since our list of disadvantages never seems to end, I think all's fair in love and espeically warhammer! I made a pun!
#1: Virtue of Heroism
I know, I know, it's the copout of all copouts, but can you really blame me? I mean, what else in the game is really capable of dealing out this kind of power? For 40 points, you get the Heroic Killing Blow special rule. Not familiar with the rule? Allow me to explain with so much affection. Killing Blow is a rule that automatically wounds on a roll of 6. No armor saves may be taken against these attacks or pretty much any other kind of save with the exception of a ward save. This rule does not work on monsters or multi-wound models. Heroic Killing Blow removes the last two restrictions. That's right, this ability can one-shot anything in the game. Steam Tanks die from a single 6 rolled by knights with this rule. Deamon Princes are sent back into the Chaos Realm without making a single action because of this rule. If your General does not have this virtue, or at the very least another Lord (putting it on a Paladin is a ridiculous waste) you have made a mistake. If you make a list that does not include this virtue, you have made a mistake. Make your list again, and then come back. People often speak as a warhammer army being a bag of tools. Sometimes you need hammers, sometimes you need corkscrews. This is not even in that same realm. This, this is a goddamned nuclear missile to be launched at whatever you absolutely positively must kill. I don't care if you bring Nagash, an HKB Lord is like the end all equation. It doesn't really matter what he hits, he will, luck and dice providing, kill whatever he fights. If this virtue does not make into the next book in the exact same form as this one, GW had better have a good mother fucking reason why! We'd better have a minimum Strength and Toughness value 5, on our goddamned peasants before this rule can be allowed to go away! When/if it does, I will cry. I will cry long and hard, and I will never truly recover.
So that's the Top 5 Knightly Virtues in my personal opinion, and if you don't like them, then make a youtube channel or your own blog and then write your own list up. Either way, I couldn't care less. If you really like this list and would like to see more Bretonnian related posts on the blog then please comment below. If you'd like to see something else, then comment too, I really need feedback to determine the future course of this blog.
#5: Virtue of Noble Disdain
For 20 points, the Knight has Hatred for all enemies with ranged weapons, this includes war machine crews. Additionally, the unit that the knight is in never take Panic tests if 25% or more of the unit is killed off by shooting, magic, etc. (basically everything not close combat related). One of my favorite ways to deal with artillery is to put a Paladin (you can use a Lord if you want to remove the 0-1 unit restriction on Pegasus Knights but I always run with the Paladin) on a Royal Pegasus with this virtue in a group of Pegasus Knights. I don't care if it's Chaos Dwarves I'm dealing with, this unit combination will tear through anything that has the potential to shoot at me. The key to making this work though is to take the attention away from this group. The need to avoid enemy chaff and unwanted magical attention is the key to making this strategy work. Whenever I take my Bretonnians to a tournament, this is a Paladin build I almost always take due to the presence of large amounts of Empire and Dwarf players. Even Ogre Ironblasters fall before this build. If you're having a problem dealing with artillery in general as a Bretonnian, then this is a solution that might work for you. There are two things that absolutely must happen for you to make this work. First, you need to make sure your enemy is not very familiar with Bretonnians. Players who come into contact with them a lot know that the Bretonnian Paladins and Lords are most certainly to be feared. Second, you need something to take the pressure off of this unit. A decoy unit so to speak. Mounted Yeoman work relatively well for this, but lone character are even better. Especially ones with little more than their base armor and Blessing of the Lady attached to it. Counter their chaff, blow it to pieces, get their artillery and magic users attention away from them, I don't care. If you want a sure fire way to blow through artillery, then those are some things that might help you do so.
#4: Virtue of the Impetuous Knight
For 35 points, the knight and any mounted unit he is in add +D6 for the first charge that they declare. If the charge is failed, they do not receive the extra +D6 to their failed charge movement. It's generally a good rule never to put characters in a unit of Errant Knights. However, this is the one exception in my humble opinion. The key to Errant Knights is to get them into a combat you know that you will loose. Think if this lance as a kamikaze pilot of sorts. You want to keep it as under costed as is physically possible. Pay the points for the Paladin (never a Lord for this one), the lance for the Paladin, this virtue, and as many Errant Knights as you deem prudent for the situation. However, there is one caveat to this combination. They absolutely must have the Errantry Banner. This lance has one primary purposes, seek and if that's not possible then die trying to hold the enemy back as long as is possible. What you will have is a unit that can charge a potential of 26" with 10-12 (for ranks of 3-4 deep respectively) S6 attacks, not including the attacks made by the horses. Even units with heavy armor and shields (infantry) will get no save and the unit is ITP when it charges. I have used this tactic to destroy a bunker of 23 Chaos Warriors and their BSB. I killed 10 of them, they swung back nailed me for 4, I won combat, I broke them, ran them down, and it was so very beautiful. I've used it to also slow down a horde of Hammerers long enough for me to get a few more Trebuchet shots on them before beating them down with another lance. It's really great at dealing with lone monsters. If you need a Cygor or a Hell Pit Abomination taken out, this is a great way to do it. Again, I cannot stress enough that you must keep this unit as cheap as is physically possible. If this virtue remains untouched and GW follows their usual habits, then this tactic will become more cost efficient then ever before. However, I probably shouldn't have said that, and if there are any GW executives reading this, forget what I just said. I command you!
#3: Virtue of Stoicism
For 35 points, the knight and the unit he is in may re-roll failed break tests. For 35 points, you get a unit-sized version of a BSB. Do I even need to say how awesome that is?! I mean, that's almost as cool as a Slann being both a BSB and a General. And there's no restrictions on how many times this can be done, you can effectively tie up a horde simply by making re-rolls. Combined this with Bretonnia's army wide Ward Save and high Armor Saves, and you get a unit that's just as capable of tar-pitting as a host of Undead units. While it's not the most blatantly powerful virtue, it is a very useful one, especially if you want a lance designated for operating outside of the reach of your normal BSB. For example, a lance designated for going after fast cavalry and getting into combats where they will be unsupported. That being said, do not take this on the unit you want to make your BSB. I wouldn't suggest this on a Lord that's capable of being your General, but on a normal Lord or Paladin I think it works just dandy. It's also very utilitarian, making it useful in almost every army build and almost every situation. Great virtue to have, never gone wrong with it before, it's relatively well costed, I see no down sides to it, and that alone makes it very good for an army that seems to be dependent on getting into combat.
#2: Virtue of Duty
Before we go any further, I would like to clarify that I didn't put this virtue on here because it's the same as my last name. Although that doesn't hurt it either! For 30 points, your Paladin or Lord (cannot be taken by the army's General) adds +1 combat resolution to whatever fight(s) he takes part in. If you thought that the Orc Warboss ability to call a Waghh! was awesome, then you have no idea how powerful this virtue is. This virtue helps mitigate one of the biggest weakness that the Bretonnian army has. Generating static combat resolution. Turns on which we charge into combat, we are an army to be feared. However, the following turns we become little more than paper tigers. Being at -2S is not good. Hitting at anything below S4 is never good! Thus, Bretonnian knights run into the problems when we cannot break the enemy on the turn in which we charge. Even then, because of our superior defensive abilities, we can remain on the board even after charging, we simply cannot hit back for very much. This means the combat resolution tends to be very slight after the turn that we charged on. Thus, having an automatic +1 is so very useful. Opinions on who to give this virtue are varied. Some players like to hand it over to their BSB, others just like to kit out an extra Paladin or Lord and call it good. Either way, you cannot really go wrong in my opinion. If we were an army with a new book, I would think this is kinda cheesy. However, since our list of disadvantages never seems to end, I think all's fair in love and espeically warhammer! I made a pun!
#1: Virtue of Heroism
I know, I know, it's the copout of all copouts, but can you really blame me? I mean, what else in the game is really capable of dealing out this kind of power? For 40 points, you get the Heroic Killing Blow special rule. Not familiar with the rule? Allow me to explain with so much affection. Killing Blow is a rule that automatically wounds on a roll of 6. No armor saves may be taken against these attacks or pretty much any other kind of save with the exception of a ward save. This rule does not work on monsters or multi-wound models. Heroic Killing Blow removes the last two restrictions. That's right, this ability can one-shot anything in the game. Steam Tanks die from a single 6 rolled by knights with this rule. Deamon Princes are sent back into the Chaos Realm without making a single action because of this rule. If your General does not have this virtue, or at the very least another Lord (putting it on a Paladin is a ridiculous waste) you have made a mistake. If you make a list that does not include this virtue, you have made a mistake. Make your list again, and then come back. People often speak as a warhammer army being a bag of tools. Sometimes you need hammers, sometimes you need corkscrews. This is not even in that same realm. This, this is a goddamned nuclear missile to be launched at whatever you absolutely positively must kill. I don't care if you bring Nagash, an HKB Lord is like the end all equation. It doesn't really matter what he hits, he will, luck and dice providing, kill whatever he fights. If this virtue does not make into the next book in the exact same form as this one, GW had better have a good mother fucking reason why! We'd better have a minimum Strength and Toughness value 5, on our goddamned peasants before this rule can be allowed to go away! When/if it does, I will cry. I will cry long and hard, and I will never truly recover.
So that's the Top 5 Knightly Virtues in my personal opinion, and if you don't like them, then make a youtube channel or your own blog and then write your own list up. Either way, I couldn't care less. If you really like this list and would like to see more Bretonnian related posts on the blog then please comment below. If you'd like to see something else, then comment too, I really need feedback to determine the future course of this blog.
Top 5 Most Overrated Spells in the BRB
Seems I just can't stop posting all of a sudden, probably because I'm off of my hiatus and actually have some time to post now. So as you can tell by the title of the post, this is going to be the Top 5 spells that I think get way too much credit and have way too big of a reputation for their own good. All the usual disclaimers with my other posts in addition a little reassurance. Purple Sun and Pit of Shades will not be on here. They're good spells and they can do some really nasty damage and therefore not overrated. So, without further ado, let's begin,
#5: Banishment
Again, I seem to have Empire players sharpening Great Swords and ready to put my head on a chopping block. Let me be a little more specific. This is a great spell if you play Empire. Using this as a bound spell on the War Altar and having two or three casters running around with this can be really really nice. However, if you're anyone else besides this set up, then the spell is pretty much over hyped. Now, keep in mind my opinion of whether a spell is good or bad is based off of what it can do unsupported in the most common of scenarios. By itself, it's just a Magic Missile with a range of 24" that causes 2D6 S4 hits for a casting value of 10+. It can be boosted for an increased range of 48" for an increased casting value of +. The only difference between this spell is three distinct things. One, these attacks count as flaming attacks, cool, but not something to right home about. Two, all successful ward saves made by the targeted unit must be re-rolled, that's really cool. Here's where I have an issue. Any Light Wizard (except the one casting the spell) within 12" of the caster increases the Strength value of the spell. That's great, if you're running 3 or 4 Light casters and a War Altar. The amount of issues with the running the Light Counsel that's infamous because of this spell just seems to create too many problems to justify it for me. However, it is a deadly and powerful spell, so for that reason is it rated at #5 on the list. Is it a spell I would ever intentionally be gunning for (let alone build a whole army around)? No. Do I think that the Light Counsel and the Banishment rape-train are really powerful and usable? Yes. I simply think this spell doesn't deliver enough payoff for the amount you invest in it.
#4: Throne of Vines
Boy, I just seem to be picking on all the popular lores today, don't I? For this spell, it's not necessarily the effects of the spell I think is overrated, but rather the reaction to it that so many people seem to have to it. On both sides of the magic phase too. If you're not familiar with this spell, it's basically the ultimate way to boost the effects of the spells in the Lore of Life. Basically, for a 8+ casting value, you increase the effects of most of the spells in the lore. Meaning you basically need at least a level 4 caster if not a Loremaster of the Lore of Life in order to make it useful. It makes Earthblood give your unit a 4+ Regeneration, Flesh To Stone grants +4T, Awakening of the Wood causes S6 hits, Regrowth brings back D6+1 wounds, and Shield of Thorns inflicts S4 wounds. In addition, as long as the spell is up, you get to ignore miscasts on a roll of a 2+ on a D6. Again, like Banishment I'm not going to deny that this spell is weak. It's not. It's just not as powerful as I think some people make it out to be. First off, none of the spells in Lore of Life except for Dwellers Below can be boosted, so needing a spell specifically to do that seems kinda like a big design flaw to me. Secondly, this spell can be dispelled like any other augment in the game, so if you really want to get rid of it, then just be patient and save up your magic dice. Thirdly, why not let this spell go? It doesn't change the casting value of any of the spells. Let it go and just save your dispel dice to block the incoming spells the Life caster will then use. While not as specific in it's use as Banishment, Throne of Vines does have a few flaws that I think make it hard to truly loose your mind over when your opponent rolls it up. Chiefly among them is the fact that unless you have this spell on a Level 4 it's effectively useless (although that's pretty much the Lore of Life in a nutshell) and that it's still possible to block all the spells incoming after the Life caster puts up Throne of Vines as easily as one would be able to block them normally. Guys who chuck their dispel scrolls at this spell the first chance they get mystify me. Just like Banishment, there's too much relying on synergy (again, the Lore of Life in a nutshell) for me to definitively say that this an awesome spell. It's a good spell with a lot of potential, but just not enough directly measurable payoff to be worth it in my opinion.
#3: The Speed of Light
Now, this is the beginning of spells that are overrated for a reason that I think makes them not quite as good as some people make them out to be because there's a similar spell in either that lore or another one that just seems to be better. Speed of Light is definitely one of them. With a range of 24" and a casting value of 8+, it grants a targeted unit Weapon Skill 10 and Initiative 10. It can be boosted to turn into a 12" bubble for a casting value of 16+. In 7th edition, this was a great spell to have because the initiative of most units (barring some characters) never exceeded more than 5 and ASF was reserved for characters and anyone who took the Sword of Swift Slaying. It meant you were always striking first and hitting almost every time. That's the past, now let's take a look at the present. ASF is almost everywhere now. All Elves have it, all vampires have it, and to make it worse, Light Magic is everywhere now, making Bironna's Time Warp highly accessible. Speaking of the Timewarp, this another reason Speed of Light has suffered a lot. Timewarp not only grants ASF, but it also doubles the Movement and increases the units Attacks by 1 per model. Think of this spell as Luigi and Timewarp as Mario. In a pinch, you'd probably want the latter over the former. Now, WS10 is still a nice thing, but I think this spell has been hurt so much by age and by 8th edition army books, that it just has a hard time making as big of a splash as it used to. Sorry Speed of Light, I still love you.
#2: Pann's Impenetrable Pelt
I think the wider targeted audience of a spell, the more effective it is. Especially where Augments are concerned. That's what kills Pann's Pelt. For an 8+ casting value, you can boost one character (it may be the caster him/herself) within 12" and gives them +3T. It can be boosted to include characters (including the caster) within 12". If you play Bretonnia (which few people do it seems) like me, then this is a great spell. Suddenly your now T7 Lords and Paladins are shrugging off hits from Chaos Lords like they were water balloons. If you play anyone else, this spell definitely looses some of it's mojo. Especially compares to this spell's evil twin brother, The Savage Beasts of Horros. Works the exact same way, but instead add +3S and +3 Attacks. Personally, I prefer that spell, especially since I like getting into challenges and just liquefying my opponent's characters (btw, for Bretonnian players out there, Gauntlet of the Duel is great item for this). If you error on the side of caution, then this may be the spell for you, however it has two things that make it difficult for me to get over when so many player I know just fawn over this spell. One, it's so selective in it's application. I would much rather have my Prophetess on Life use Flesh to Stone then have my Damsel on Beasts use Pann's Pelt. The +2T for all models (+4 with Throne of Vines) versus +3T for characters only, I prefer the former. Two, Savage Beast will make your characters into killing machines. Pann's Pelt will make them respectively more survivable. In for a penny, in for a pound, don't fuck around and just cast Savage Beast. Again, like the other spells on this list, it's not that they're bad spells, just that I don't think they deserve the reputation that they get.
#1: Spirit Leech
Now before you Death fans get your panties in a twist, I want you to admit something. I want you to admit that this is not the best sniping spell you have in your lore. Admit that, I will push the subject of my eternal loathing for Death Magic no further. In case you've been living under a rock, Spirit Leech is considered the sniping spell of all sniping spells, and for reasons I cannot truly understand. I'll type here so you can see exactly what I mean. This is a direct damage spell that targets a single model (even in a unit) within 12" of the caster. On a casting value of a 7+, both the caster and the target add their respective unmodified leadership to a roll of a D6 (rolled separately for each character). For every point the caster wins, the targeted model takes a wound with no armor saves allowed. It can be boosted to have a range of 24" for a casting value of 10+. That's a damned good spell, if you're trying to kill Skaven characters. Leadership values on characters are generally exceptionally high, especially on Combat Lords and Combat Heroes. Why would you go after a stat that's the highest available stat on that model? That's like trying to kill an Elf with Purple Sun, it won't reap good results. Not to mention that once you cast this spell there's a startling large chance you won't do anything at all even after hitting the model. Also, note the clause unmodified Leadership values. If you could combo this spell with Doom and Darkness (-3 Ld Hex, in the Lore of Death), I would avidly agree it's the best sniping spell in the 8 standard lores, hands down. However, you cannot, you specifically cannot combo this spell with anything that might lower the highest number on the targeted model's stat line. To put that in comparison, Fate of Bjuna (also in the Lore of Death) targets a single model and inflicts 2D6 minus the targeted unit's Toughness, always hits on a roll of a 2+, allows no armor saves, gives the model Stupidity for the remainder of the game if it survives, and can be combined with Soulblight (-1S and -1T Hex, in the Lore of Death). Personally, I'm going with Bjuna! Why so many people are terrified of this spell, I will never know. Sure, there will be times where you just roll like complete and total shit and this spell just kills off one of your characters. It happens and it sucks, but that's what happens when people use Death Magic. But the amount of weight players give this spell always seems to be way overboard to me. It's a Signature Spell guys! It's not really that hard to stop! Now granted, it's the only sniping spell that has a range greater than a possible charging distance, but that still doesn't give it enough juice to make it this terrifying monster that everyone makes it out to be.
So there you go folks, the last of my Top 5 lists having to do specifically with spells from the BRB, and I'm glad it's over with. Comment below if you have any suggestions on my next series, and until then good luck and have a good life.
#5: Banishment
Again, I seem to have Empire players sharpening Great Swords and ready to put my head on a chopping block. Let me be a little more specific. This is a great spell if you play Empire. Using this as a bound spell on the War Altar and having two or three casters running around with this can be really really nice. However, if you're anyone else besides this set up, then the spell is pretty much over hyped. Now, keep in mind my opinion of whether a spell is good or bad is based off of what it can do unsupported in the most common of scenarios. By itself, it's just a Magic Missile with a range of 24" that causes 2D6 S4 hits for a casting value of 10+. It can be boosted for an increased range of 48" for an increased casting value of +. The only difference between this spell is three distinct things. One, these attacks count as flaming attacks, cool, but not something to right home about. Two, all successful ward saves made by the targeted unit must be re-rolled, that's really cool. Here's where I have an issue. Any Light Wizard (except the one casting the spell) within 12" of the caster increases the Strength value of the spell. That's great, if you're running 3 or 4 Light casters and a War Altar. The amount of issues with the running the Light Counsel that's infamous because of this spell just seems to create too many problems to justify it for me. However, it is a deadly and powerful spell, so for that reason is it rated at #5 on the list. Is it a spell I would ever intentionally be gunning for (let alone build a whole army around)? No. Do I think that the Light Counsel and the Banishment rape-train are really powerful and usable? Yes. I simply think this spell doesn't deliver enough payoff for the amount you invest in it.
#4: Throne of Vines
Boy, I just seem to be picking on all the popular lores today, don't I? For this spell, it's not necessarily the effects of the spell I think is overrated, but rather the reaction to it that so many people seem to have to it. On both sides of the magic phase too. If you're not familiar with this spell, it's basically the ultimate way to boost the effects of the spells in the Lore of Life. Basically, for a 8+ casting value, you increase the effects of most of the spells in the lore. Meaning you basically need at least a level 4 caster if not a Loremaster of the Lore of Life in order to make it useful. It makes Earthblood give your unit a 4+ Regeneration, Flesh To Stone grants +4T, Awakening of the Wood causes S6 hits, Regrowth brings back D6+1 wounds, and Shield of Thorns inflicts S4 wounds. In addition, as long as the spell is up, you get to ignore miscasts on a roll of a 2+ on a D6. Again, like Banishment I'm not going to deny that this spell is weak. It's not. It's just not as powerful as I think some people make it out to be. First off, none of the spells in Lore of Life except for Dwellers Below can be boosted, so needing a spell specifically to do that seems kinda like a big design flaw to me. Secondly, this spell can be dispelled like any other augment in the game, so if you really want to get rid of it, then just be patient and save up your magic dice. Thirdly, why not let this spell go? It doesn't change the casting value of any of the spells. Let it go and just save your dispel dice to block the incoming spells the Life caster will then use. While not as specific in it's use as Banishment, Throne of Vines does have a few flaws that I think make it hard to truly loose your mind over when your opponent rolls it up. Chiefly among them is the fact that unless you have this spell on a Level 4 it's effectively useless (although that's pretty much the Lore of Life in a nutshell) and that it's still possible to block all the spells incoming after the Life caster puts up Throne of Vines as easily as one would be able to block them normally. Guys who chuck their dispel scrolls at this spell the first chance they get mystify me. Just like Banishment, there's too much relying on synergy (again, the Lore of Life in a nutshell) for me to definitively say that this an awesome spell. It's a good spell with a lot of potential, but just not enough directly measurable payoff to be worth it in my opinion.
#3: The Speed of Light
Now, this is the beginning of spells that are overrated for a reason that I think makes them not quite as good as some people make them out to be because there's a similar spell in either that lore or another one that just seems to be better. Speed of Light is definitely one of them. With a range of 24" and a casting value of 8+, it grants a targeted unit Weapon Skill 10 and Initiative 10. It can be boosted to turn into a 12" bubble for a casting value of 16+. In 7th edition, this was a great spell to have because the initiative of most units (barring some characters) never exceeded more than 5 and ASF was reserved for characters and anyone who took the Sword of Swift Slaying. It meant you were always striking first and hitting almost every time. That's the past, now let's take a look at the present. ASF is almost everywhere now. All Elves have it, all vampires have it, and to make it worse, Light Magic is everywhere now, making Bironna's Time Warp highly accessible. Speaking of the Timewarp, this another reason Speed of Light has suffered a lot. Timewarp not only grants ASF, but it also doubles the Movement and increases the units Attacks by 1 per model. Think of this spell as Luigi and Timewarp as Mario. In a pinch, you'd probably want the latter over the former. Now, WS10 is still a nice thing, but I think this spell has been hurt so much by age and by 8th edition army books, that it just has a hard time making as big of a splash as it used to. Sorry Speed of Light, I still love you.
#2: Pann's Impenetrable Pelt
I think the wider targeted audience of a spell, the more effective it is. Especially where Augments are concerned. That's what kills Pann's Pelt. For an 8+ casting value, you can boost one character (it may be the caster him/herself) within 12" and gives them +3T. It can be boosted to include characters (including the caster) within 12". If you play Bretonnia (which few people do it seems) like me, then this is a great spell. Suddenly your now T7 Lords and Paladins are shrugging off hits from Chaos Lords like they were water balloons. If you play anyone else, this spell definitely looses some of it's mojo. Especially compares to this spell's evil twin brother, The Savage Beasts of Horros. Works the exact same way, but instead add +3S and +3 Attacks. Personally, I prefer that spell, especially since I like getting into challenges and just liquefying my opponent's characters (btw, for Bretonnian players out there, Gauntlet of the Duel is great item for this). If you error on the side of caution, then this may be the spell for you, however it has two things that make it difficult for me to get over when so many player I know just fawn over this spell. One, it's so selective in it's application. I would much rather have my Prophetess on Life use Flesh to Stone then have my Damsel on Beasts use Pann's Pelt. The +2T for all models (+4 with Throne of Vines) versus +3T for characters only, I prefer the former. Two, Savage Beast will make your characters into killing machines. Pann's Pelt will make them respectively more survivable. In for a penny, in for a pound, don't fuck around and just cast Savage Beast. Again, like the other spells on this list, it's not that they're bad spells, just that I don't think they deserve the reputation that they get.
#1: Spirit Leech
Now before you Death fans get your panties in a twist, I want you to admit something. I want you to admit that this is not the best sniping spell you have in your lore. Admit that, I will push the subject of my eternal loathing for Death Magic no further. In case you've been living under a rock, Spirit Leech is considered the sniping spell of all sniping spells, and for reasons I cannot truly understand. I'll type here so you can see exactly what I mean. This is a direct damage spell that targets a single model (even in a unit) within 12" of the caster. On a casting value of a 7+, both the caster and the target add their respective unmodified leadership to a roll of a D6 (rolled separately for each character). For every point the caster wins, the targeted model takes a wound with no armor saves allowed. It can be boosted to have a range of 24" for a casting value of 10+. That's a damned good spell, if you're trying to kill Skaven characters. Leadership values on characters are generally exceptionally high, especially on Combat Lords and Combat Heroes. Why would you go after a stat that's the highest available stat on that model? That's like trying to kill an Elf with Purple Sun, it won't reap good results. Not to mention that once you cast this spell there's a startling large chance you won't do anything at all even after hitting the model. Also, note the clause unmodified Leadership values. If you could combo this spell with Doom and Darkness (-3 Ld Hex, in the Lore of Death), I would avidly agree it's the best sniping spell in the 8 standard lores, hands down. However, you cannot, you specifically cannot combo this spell with anything that might lower the highest number on the targeted model's stat line. To put that in comparison, Fate of Bjuna (also in the Lore of Death) targets a single model and inflicts 2D6 minus the targeted unit's Toughness, always hits on a roll of a 2+, allows no armor saves, gives the model Stupidity for the remainder of the game if it survives, and can be combined with Soulblight (-1S and -1T Hex, in the Lore of Death). Personally, I'm going with Bjuna! Why so many people are terrified of this spell, I will never know. Sure, there will be times where you just roll like complete and total shit and this spell just kills off one of your characters. It happens and it sucks, but that's what happens when people use Death Magic. But the amount of weight players give this spell always seems to be way overboard to me. It's a Signature Spell guys! It's not really that hard to stop! Now granted, it's the only sniping spell that has a range greater than a possible charging distance, but that still doesn't give it enough juice to make it this terrifying monster that everyone makes it out to be.
So there you go folks, the last of my Top 5 lists having to do specifically with spells from the BRB, and I'm glad it's over with. Comment below if you have any suggestions on my next series, and until then good luck and have a good life.
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