Lore Attribute: Lifebloom
This is perhaps the second best lore attribute in all the lores of the BRB. When a Lore of Life spell is successfully cast the caster or another friendly model within 12" instantly recovers a single wound lost earlier in the battle. This is a really nice attribute because it makes miscasts and challenges in combat a lot less dangerous for your characters, meaning you can be free to be a little more cavalier with your characters. When you're playing Bretonnia, this is an especially nice thing, because it means your Lord can endure multiple challenges without having to be afraid of the entire unit losing the Blessing Save. I really like it, and if you talk to a lot of people who run the Lore of Life, they'll tell you how nice it truly is.
Signature Spell: Earth Blood
An Augment spell that targets only the unit the wizard is in and the wizard himself. It gives them the Regeneration (5+) special rule until the start of the caster's next magic phase. I would love this spell if it was only not restricted to the caster and the unit he's in. If it had a range, something like 12", I would be all over this spell. As it is, the spell's weakness just makes it not the highest ranking spell of all time. I give it a personal rating of 3 out of 5.
Spell #1: Awakening of the Wood
A Direct Damage spell with a range of 18" and a base casting value of 6+. It causes D6 S4 hits and if the target is even partially within a forest the hits are increased to 2D6 hits. Something you'll learn very quickly is that the Lore of Life is even less of an offensive lore then the Lore of Light. Hell, only two of the spells can be boosted for further output! However, this spell has increased in efficiency immensely since the 8th edition army book for the Wood Elves has come out. The tactic of putting a caster in the woods for getting +1 for casting is very powerful and very effective. So this can be a nice way to pop that little fucker out from someplace he thinks is safe. It can clear chaff and other nuisances up as well, but as far as Direct Damage spells go, this one is not all that and a bag of chips. I give it a 2 out of 5, with a suggestion to swap for it if given the opportunity.
Spell #2: Flesh to Stone
An Augment spell with a range of 24" and a base casting value of 8+. The target unit gets +2 to its Toughness until the start of the caster's next magic phase. Yeah, this spell is in fact beyond awesome. Turn wimpy, squishy, little T3 Elves into rock-solid units that can turn aside most attacks the the enemy can crank out at you. Increasing your units' Toughness is never a bad thing, and to top it off it's cheap enough to throw two dice just to draw a few dispel dice, a scroll, or get +2 Toughness. Either way, it's a win-win situation for the person putting this spell out. Great spell, I give it a 5 out of 5. It's that fucking awesome.
Spell #3: Throne of Vines
This spell is, odd to say the least. It's an Augment spell that targets only the caster. For an 8+, it does a lot of shit, so strap in and prepare to read. While in effect, this spell allows the caster to ignore miscasts on a D6 so long as he/she rolls a 2+ on the die. In addition, the caster gets to boost all his spells in the following ways; Earth Blood increases the Regeneration bonus to a 4+, Awakening of the Wood hits at S6, Flesh to Stone increases your Toughness by +4, Regrowth restores D6+1 wounds, and Shield of Thornes inflict S4 hits. This spell is nice because there is only one way to run Lore of Life. On a Level 4 caster. The synergistic feel of this lore lends itself to maximizing it's efficiency on the more spells you can have on a single caster. This spell help already maximize the power of the spells in your repertoire. I've already said my bit on how this spell isn't as big a deal as most people make it up to be, but it is really nice if you can keep it up and just ram magic down your enemy's throat and six dice Dweller's Below like it's going out of style. I give it a 4 out 5.
Spell #4: Shield of Thorns
An Augment spell with a range of 24" and a casting value of 9+ that remains in play. At the end of each magic phase, an enemy unit in base contact with the targeted unit of the spell receives 2D6 S3 hits. This spell is nice if Throne of Vines is up, because S4 is actually worth something. However, there is something that just makes this spells so weak, and this is it that it requires synergy in order to actually work. Synergy is great and all, but this spell is very weak because it cannot function without Throne of Vines at all. I give it a 1 out of 5, it's pretty shitty all and all.
Spell #5: Regrowth
An Augment spell with a range of 24" and a base casting value of 12+. The targeted unit instantly recovers D3+1 wounds worth of models (cavalry counts as 2 models for the purpose of the spell). The wounds are recovered in order, meaning you start with the champion, the musician, but the standard banner is never resurrected. This spell can never be used to increase a unit beyond its starting size. The spell can be boosted to have a range of 48" for an increased casting value of 15+. This spell is obviously the shit, as if you couldn't tell that. Especially in low model-count armies, this spell can really help you deal with numerical deficits that do not swing in your favor. As a result, this spell is really, really great for Bretonnia. Keep Regrowing the champion to play challenge games for a riot of time. My only suggestion for this spell is to make sure you have Throne of Vines up before you cast this spell. However, that should be fairly fucking obvious to anyone with a goddamned brain. I know I bitched and moaned about this spell about how it is overrated, but it is still effective. This is the only spell I would insist on having Throne of Vines for, besides Shield of Thorns if you have a real hard-on for that spell. I give it a 4 out of 5.
Spell #6: The Dwellers Below
Oh yes, if you've played more than two games against the Lore of Life, you have seen and felt the pain of this spell. Unlike a lot of spells, this one has actually gotten more powerful the farther and farther we get into 8th edition because of the prevalence of Elves in the current meta. This spell is a Direct Damage with a range of 12" and a casting value of an 18+. Every model in the targeted unit must pass a Strength test or be slain with no saves of any kind allowed. The caster can choose to increase the range of this spell to 24" for an increased casting value of 21+. No saves of any kind allowed. This is the best way to nuke that annoying unit of White Lions or Phoenix Guard with the Banner of the Bullshit Dragon. It's even better against Dark Elves, arguably the best army in the game right now, because they have the better saves of the three Elven races. This is an absolutely sure fire way to remove that terrifying horde of Witch Elves from off the board. This spell is also really good at removing the bottom tier armies, like Beastmen, like Tomb Kings, like dear Bretonnia. It's the one super-bomb spell in the Lore of Life, and it is absolutely beautiful. I give it a 5 out of 5, a perfect spell in my mind. It has the damage output of Pit of Shades and Purple Sun and an accuracy that's much better than all of the Vortex spells in the game.
This lore relies very, very heavily upon synergy, but in a much different way than the Lore of Light relies on it. While the Lore of Light works best on a few casters of lower levels and/or a single Lord-level character, Lore of Life needs to have a caster that can dish out at a minimum of three spells, preferably four. This is the lore that when it works, is a terrifying thing to deal with. The ability to throw a bullshit spell out and then no longer give a fuck about miscasts is a very dangerous thing to deal with. However, if you get the wrong combination of spells, this lore becomes very cumbersome, very quickly. Thus, it's best to be able to draw out as many spells as you can, increasing the likelihood of you getting a better combination. I like this lore and I am very familiar with it, so just keep that in mind.
