Continuing on in my review/tactica of the new Lizardmen army book I present my impressions of
the new Lizardmen Lore, and the generic Lords and Heroes.
The Lore of High Magic
Lore Attribute
The Lore Attribute, Contemplations, allows the user to
forget a spell after casting it and generate a new spell from any Lore using
the normal spell generation rules. The first way this can be used is to swap
out a spell after it is no longer useful to you. For example, Arcane Unforging
allows you to destroy the opponent’s Magic Items. Once this has been achieved
the spell could be considered useless so you could swap it out for a spell from
another Lore. The second way I can see this being used is to just take the Lore
of High Magic if you are unsure of what your opponent will be using. Once you
see his army, you can then start casting some cheap spells on turn 1 and
generate a more useful one from another Lore. The way I would view this is to
assume you are rolling on a Lore for its Signature Spell with a chance of
potentially getting something better. An example of when you would do this is
upon seeing that your opponent is playing Warriors of Chaos and has gone Knight
heavy. You could cast Tempest first turn and then Swap it out for a roll on the
Lore of Metal.
Unlike most
Lores, the Lore of High Magic contains two Signature Spells.
This spell can remove Remains in Play effects on friendly or
enemy units. While it is fairly cheap (you should essentially never fail
casting this using two dice) a similar effect can be obtained through the use
of the Cube of Darkness so I don’t rate this too highly. Not bad, but nothing
amazing either.
Effectively a shorter ranged but more efficient Fireball,
this is the Signature Spell that I prefer. Very straight forward spell, I like
it.
A way to regenerate wound son a nearby model. It is
relatively cheap to cast and we generally have a large amount of suitable
targets to cast this on, so I think it is pretty useful to have.
Allows you to buff the Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Initiative
or Movement of a nearby unit by D3. Can buff it to affect all of them. The
increases to WS and Initiative are very helpful to our Saurus as those are the
stats they aren’t great in. Combined with a Bastilodon, this can manage to
bring our Saurus up to a respectable Initiative. However, this is more
difficult to cast, has a weaker effect, and is less reliable than the similar
Speed of Light from the Lore of Light. This can also be used to help get a unit
into range next turn or to boost a unit of skinks BS so they can double tap at
long range after moving, etc. All in all, it isn’t a bad spell but the Lore of
Light does what this is trying to do better.
This is one of the best spells in the Lore. It allows a unit
to move 10/20 inches counting as Ethereal. This can really help outmaneuver your
opponent’s units and works especially well on Carnosaurs, Salamanders and Ancient
Stegadons. Great spell.
This is a handy enough spell. I find that it works most
effectively against Elves as they tend to be more ranged than most armies and
have a lower toughness. Outside of those armies it can have its uses but it
doesn’t have enough hitting power compared to other damaging spells and isn’t
as reliable as Iceshard Blizzard at countering ranged. Unless your opponent is
a low toughness army I would exchange this one before the others. It even has a
fairly long range to enable you to use it effectively on the first turn.
A nifty spell that can neuter a combat character while
having a decent chance of knocking a wound off. After making use of it, this is
another one I would suggest swapping out for another spell. As you won’t know
what items their characters have before casting its best to target their more
powerful characters. It’s also an effective way of drawing out an opponent’s Dispel
Scroll. If they don’t use it, the wizard could take a wound and lose it anyway
so it is in their best interests to use it. Very handy spell to have, but don’t
be afraid of swapping it out once you’ve got the most out of it.
This spell can really put the hurt on any horde units you
come across. It should absolutely devastate a unit of Toughness 3 models. It is
of limited use against armies like Ogres and Chaos however. If facing them don’t
be afraid of swapping out for another Lore.
In summary, I like the Lore. It has several situational utility
spells and a decent mix of damaging spells and augments. If you want to take
High Magic I would suggest taking Focus of Mystery so that you will get all of
the spells in the Lore. This will allow you to get 8 spells and give you the
most flexibility for swapping them out.
