8th Ed. BRB Lores of Magic - A Deep Dive

[NIGHTBRINGER]

LORE OF HEAVENS

This lore has a nice mix of the various types of spells, such that it lends itself to some forward planning with your army.

The different types of spells, for me, give this lore a strategic edge. Not just giving you an edge on combat, but really messing with gunlines, moving troops around and denying sections of the battlefield.

SPELLS

Lore Attribute – Roiling Skies:

This Lore Attribute is not a great one. Giving a model with Fly D6 S4 hits doesn’t really make anyone shudder with fear, but occasionally this will help you out. It occurs so infrequently for me that I also sometimes forget to apply it.

Signature Spell – Iceshard Blizzard (6+)

This, in my opinion, is the most useful spell from the lore. Not the most powerful or intimidating, but most useful. Why? It has a relatively low casting cost and, as the signature spell, can be taken automatically and also taken multiple times by Level 1 fodder-wizards.

To give one of your units a -1 to hit in combat is huge. With the 8th edition WS grid you have to be double +1 compared to your opponents WS to make you 5+ to hit. The Strength vs Toughness chart remained as it was in earlier editions, where every single point of difference changes the odds (e.g. S3 to T3 = 4’s to wound, S4 to T3 = 3’s to wound, S5 to T3 = 2’s to wound). So in combat if you can push the percent of hits from 50% to 33% or from 66% to 50% this is quite major.

To cause a set of enemy missile troops to have -1 to hit is also pretty good. It can tip shooting over the edge for most armies (Empire, Orcs & Goblins, Dwarfs, Chaos Dwarfs, Ogre Kingdoms) as if you are also at long distance (likely) then this is -2 to hit. Suddenly your opponent needs 5’s or 6’s to hit. If cast on a war machine, you are effectively giving your army a 4+ ward save against it’s hits, as your opponent needs to roll a 4+ to hit. If you have a couple of wizards you could even luck out and neutralize two war machines.

How about casting this on a unit twice? -2 to hit in close combat or missile troops that are at -2 to hit your troops? For a 6+ spell? This is, if you’ll pardon the pun, magic.

1. Harmonic Convergence (6+)

Augment spell so that your troops re-roll to hit, to wound and armour save rolls of 1. Can be boosted to affect all troops in 12” for a 12+. This is okay. I would have preferred that it was slightly less than the Iceshard Blizzard on casting as you get a 1 in 6 chance of a re-roll which still might end up being naff. This is a spell to fire off with your spare power dice or to draw out dispel dice from your opponent. Don’t get me wrong, every so often this will be very helpful and could sway a combat in your favour. However, given a choice I’d go with Iceshard Blizzard which has a definite affect which is superior.

2. Wind Blast (7+)

Third favourite spell of the lore because you have to be in the right position to really use this effectively. This pushes a target D3+1 inches directly away from the caster or boosted (14+) to D6+2. If you collide with a unit, both take D6 S3 hits. If you collide with an object (or if the affected unit cannot move) take D6 S3 hits.

Obviously no-one is quivering about S3 hits. Not when the average is going to be 3 or 4. However, strategically this is a good one. Not as good as the Hand of Gork (or is it Mork? ) where you can move one of your own units around, but still good.

Push a unit back so it is out of charge range. Push a supporting unit back so you have a chance to defeat a different unit in combat first. Push a Chariot or unit into dangerous terrain and force the dice rolls for this. Or a Mangler Squig into a friendly unit and watch the fun unfold as it now becomes subject to random movement. The disadvantage is that it has to be directly away from the caster, so you need a mobile wizard to take full advantage. But Arabyan carpet is a free-for-all item. How about pushing a unit into range of missile troops? Or away from a BSB re-roll bubble or General’s leadership bubble?

3. Curse of the Midnight Wind (10+)

Slightly crappier cousin of Harmonic Convergence. Make enemy re-roll to hit, to wound and armour saves of 6+. Ostensibly not bad, but when you consider it 10+ to cast then it becomes a spell you should just switch for harmonic convergence.

4. Urannon’s Thunderbolt (10+)

Decent Magic Missile. D6 S6 hits. Nothing amazing considering 10+ casting cost. Still good and can have boosted range for 13+. ‘Nuff said.

5. Comet of Cassandora (12+)

Second favourite spell of the lore. If cast successfully, then you put two markers down and in EACH magic phase (not just your own) you roll a dice and either you get an immediate 2D6 inch blast of 2D6+2 S6 hits, or you add a counter making a possible S7 2D6+3 hits. And it just keep building. And you can put it ANYWHERE.

If it lands in a timely fashion (which sometimes doesn’t happen at all or is way too late) it will do a lot of damage. But this isn’t the main benefit of the spell. You are effectively creating a major danger zone for the opponent. Who wants to have their prize unit destroyed because they chanced moving through that space? How about freaking out a gunline general with his war machines by placing it overhead. Used properly, you can deny a section of the battlefield to the enemy, force well-placed troops to move or destroy a slow moving but deadly unit.

The other value is psychological. Make sure your opponent knows that you have this spell. Watch them hoard their dispel dice to make sure you can’t cast it. Cast your Iceshard Blizzards with little or no opposition. Force dispel scrolls to be used. If used correctly you can intimidate the enemy without casting it once.

6. Chain Lightning (15+)

Just like Urannon’s Thunderbolt, but there is a 3+ chance the lightning will jump to another unit within 6”. Sounds great, but in real life either you can’t line up that theoretical immense chain reaction or, if you do, the dice gods send you a roll of 1 just when you need it. Considering Comet of Cassandora is 12+ casting cost, it is the superior choice given that there is a high chance of doing the same effect as a 10+ spell.

PROS & CONS

Like I said above, there are some strategic spells in this lore that can definitely help you do a strategy. You can always get Iceshard Blizzard so can factor this in to opposing gunline or very-shooty armies (Dwarfs, Wood Elves, etc.)

Downsides is that aside from the very tempermental Comet spell, there is nothing that will help you kaboom some big monster. Urannon’s is okay, but it’s just D6 hits. All in all, aside from not having that heavy-punch spell, it is a good all-rounder for any army.

ARMY INTERACTIONS (Legal Disclaimer: As I have not played with every army, I will freely admit that there is a certain amount of Theory-Hammer happening here.)

LIZARDMEN: Good lore to use, especially with Tetto’Eko who has the Loremaster rule for this as well as special rule for Comet of Cassandora which makes it a lot more effective. Even though Lizardmen don’t have any war machines, it is still a decent lore considering the effects on combat which plays into one of their strengths and the Iceshard Blizzard is key so that you can negate as much of gunlines/missile troop attacks as possible before entering combat. Specifically, Iceshard is excellent when used as the lore to hamper war machine fire on your Steg’s or Carno’s.

I will say that Lizardmen Generals who don’t use Wandering Deliberations to get Iceshard Blizzard are missing out as this is a much more well-rounded way to get the best spell of the lot. I would always do Wandering Deliberations or Focus of Mystery if I’m fielding a Slann.

EMPIRE: A good lore to use. Since the Empire has many options of high strength (and with 8th Edition rules, laser guidance) cannons that can be used to nerf monsters and other war machines, so this lore can give you the edge you need in combat, mitigate damage from missile troops with Iceshard and otherwise help you use your superior numbers against a higher quality army (HE, DE, WoC, etc.) by moving some troops around and denying sections of the battle field.

BRETTONIA: Still decent. Brettonia does have some war machines, but the main worry that I can see would be ensuring that the opposing war machines are stopped from taking out your knight formations before they arrive into combat (or missile troops taking their toll). The augment/hex spells are always useful and CoC can be used to force enemy troops to move in a certain way or take out the gunline.

HIGH ELVES: Based on the High Elf high movement, good missile troops, high WS, it seems like High Magic is the better choice or a lore that augments strength and toughness (as the primary weakness to shore up for this army).

WOOD ELVES: This seems like a bad choice for this army. Wood Elves have High WS and BS, LOTS of missile troops and the main weakness is sold anvil troops to take the charges and no major war machines. If anything, I’d be wanting to get some punchy spells to shore up my weakness there, so that I can take out the opposing monster/lord/war machine so that my highly mobile troops can continue to run rings around the enemy.

-

So that’s my review of the lore. Hopefully helpful to someone and hopefully not full of major holes!

Looking forward to getting into this! Best enjoyed a little later on with a nice cup of tea.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Excellent review @Lizards of Renown , taking for taking the time to create and share it!


A couple of very quick notes...

Signature Spell – Iceshard Blizzard (6+)

Iceshard Blizzard is cast on a 7+.

5. Comet of Cassandora (12+)

Second favourite spell of the lore. If cast successfully, then you put two markers down and in EACH magic phase (not just your own) you roll a dice and either you get an immediate 2D6 inch blast of 2D6+2 S6 hits, or you add a counter making a possible S7 2D6+3 hits.

I believe that you only get to put down two markers initially (and a further two markers each time the comet fails to land) if you cast the boosted version of the spell on a whopping 24+ to cast. At the standard casting value of 12+, you only start with a single marker and place one additional marker each time the comet fails to arrive.

How about freaking out a gunline general with his war machines by placing it overhead.

This is seems like the very best use for the spell. A dwarf or Chaos Dwarf player would hate having that spell cast above their gunline. With their slow rate of movement it would take them several turns to get safely away from it, and during each of those turns their war machines cannot fire. Just knowing that the opponent has the spell would force the gunline player to completely reconsider their entire deployment strategy. An absolute game changer in such a situation, even before a single spell has been cast.

2. Wind Blast (7+)

Third favourite spell of the lore because you have to be in the right position to really use this effectively. This pushes a target D3+1 inches directly away from the caster or boosted (14+) to D6+2. If you collide with a unit, both take D6 S3 hits. If you collide with an object (or if the affected unit cannot move) take D6 S3 hits.

Obviously no-one is quivering about S3 hits. Not when the average is going to be 3 or 4. However, strategically this is a good one. Not as good as the Hand of Gork (or is it Mork? ) where you can move one of your own units around, but still good.

Push a unit back so it is out of charge range. Push a supporting unit back so you have a chance to defeat a different unit in combat first. Push a Chariot or unit into dangerous terrain and force the dice rolls for this. Or a Mangler Squig into a friendly unit and watch the fun unfold as it now becomes subject to random movement. The disadvantage is that it has to be directly away from the caster, so you need a mobile wizard to take full advantage. But Arabyan carpet is a free-for-all item. How about pushing a unit into range of missile troops? Or away from a BSB re-roll bubble or General’s leadership bubble?

Interesting that you rated this spell so highly. From a theoretical standpoint, this is probably my least favourite spell of the lore. However, I must admit that this is pure theory hammer on my part, as I don't believe I have ever fielded the lore of Heavens... so I have literally zero actual experience with it. Also, it's a pretty tough spell to theory hammer, as it isn't that straight forward as other spells that can be math-hammered.

I guess the part that bugs me about the spell is the variable and relatively short range of the push. 2-4" unboosted and 3-8" boosted. The boosted range has some potential, but is it worth 14+ to cast? That is an expensive casting cost just shy of heavy hitters like Purple Sun and Final Transmutation.

That said, if you have been able to get this spell to perform well, I'd love to hear any successful exploits you have pulled off with it! You've raised some interesting potential uses for it in your write-up. In your experience how often do these strategies pan out?




Reading your review, I get the impression that this lore might lend itself better to multiple lower level casters rather than a single level 4. Would you agree with my assessment?

Aside from Tetto'eko (who is a great value and doubly good for the reason you detailed) which army do you feel is best suited to the Lore of Heavens?

What are your opinions on Dark Elves fielding the Lore of Heavens? I don't believe you listed them in your write-up.


Thanks again for the great analysis!

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

LORE OF HEAVENS

This lore has a nice mix of the various types of spells, such that it lends itself to some forward planning with your army.

The different types of spells, for me, give this lore a strategic edge. Not just giving you an edge on combat, but really messing with gunlines, moving troops around and denying sections of the battlefield.

SPELLS

Lore Attribute – Roiling Skies:

This Lore Attribute is not a great one. Giving a model with Fly D6 S4 hits doesn’t really make anyone shudder with fear, but occasionally this will help you out. It occurs so infrequently for me that I also sometimes forget to apply it.

Signature Spell – Iceshard Blizzard (6+)

This, in my opinion, is the most useful spell from the lore. Not the most powerful or intimidating, but most useful. Why? It has a relatively low casting cost and, as the signature spell, can be taken automatically and also taken multiple times by Level 1 fodder-wizards.

To give one of your units a -1 to hit in combat is huge. With the 8th edition WS grid you have to be double +1 compared to your opponents WS to make you 5+ to hit. The Strength vs Toughness chart remained as it was in earlier editions, where every single point of difference changes the odds (e.g. S3 to T3 = 4’s to wound, S4 to T3 = 3’s to wound, S5 to T3 = 2’s to wound). So in combat if you can push the percent of hits from 50% to 33% or from 66% to 50% this is quite major.

To cause a set of enemy missile troops to have -1 to hit is also pretty good. It can tip shooting over the edge for most armies (Empire, Orcs & Goblins, Dwarfs, Chaos Dwarfs, Ogre Kingdoms) as if you are also at long distance (likely) then this is -2 to hit. Suddenly your opponent needs 5’s or 6’s to hit. If cast on a war machine, you are effectively giving your army a 4+ ward save against it’s hits, as your opponent needs to roll a 4+ to hit. If you have a couple of wizards you could even luck out and neutralize two war machines.

How about casting this on a unit twice? -2 to hit in close combat or missile troops that are at -2 to hit your troops? For a 6+ spell? This is, if you’ll pardon the pun, magic.

1. Harmonic Convergence (6+)

Augment spell so that your troops re-roll to hit, to wound and armour save rolls of 1. Can be boosted to affect all troops in 12” for a 12+. This is okay. I would have preferred that it was slightly less than the Iceshard Blizzard on casting as you get a 1 in 6 chance of a re-roll which still might end up being naff. This is a spell to fire off with your spare power dice or to draw out dispel dice from your opponent. Don’t get me wrong, every so often this will be very helpful and could sway a combat in your favour. However, given a choice I’d go with Iceshard Blizzard which has a definite affect which is superior.

2. Wind Blast (7+)

Third favourite spell of the lore because you have to be in the right position to really use this effectively. This pushes a target D3+1 inches directly away from the caster or boosted (14+) to D6+2. If you collide with a unit, both take D6 S3 hits. If you collide with an object (or if the affected unit cannot move) take D6 S3 hits.

Obviously no-one is quivering about S3 hits. Not when the average is going to be 3 or 4. However, strategically this is a good one. Not as good as the Hand of Gork (or is it Mork? ) where you can move one of your own units around, but still good.

Push a unit back so it is out of charge range. Push a supporting unit back so you have a chance to defeat a different unit in combat first. Push a Chariot or unit into dangerous terrain and force the dice rolls for this. Or a Mangler Squig into a friendly unit and watch the fun unfold as it now becomes subject to random movement. The disadvantage is that it has to be directly away from the caster, so you need a mobile wizard to take full advantage. But Arabyan carpet is a free-for-all item. How about pushing a unit into range of missile troops? Or away from a BSB re-roll bubble or General’s leadership bubble?

3. Curse of the Midnight Wind (10+)

Slightly crappier cousin of Harmonic Convergence. Make enemy re-roll to hit, to wound and armour saves of 6+. Ostensibly not bad, but when you consider it 10+ to cast then it becomes a spell you should just switch for harmonic convergence.

4. Urannon’s Thunderbolt (10+)

Decent Magic Missile. D6 S6 hits. Nothing amazing considering 10+ casting cost. Still good and can have boosted range for 13+. ‘Nuff said.

5. Comet of Cassandora (12+)

Second favourite spell of the lore. If cast successfully, then you put two markers down and in EACH magic phase (not just your own) you roll a dice and either you get an immediate 2D6 inch blast of 2D6+2 S6 hits, or you add a counter making a possible S7 2D6+3 hits. And it just keep building. And you can put it ANYWHERE.

If it lands in a timely fashion (which sometimes doesn’t happen at all or is way too late) it will do a lot of damage. But this isn’t the main benefit of the spell. You are effectively creating a major danger zone for the opponent. Who wants to have their prize unit destroyed because they chanced moving through that space? How about freaking out a gunline general with his war machines by placing it overhead. Used properly, you can deny a section of the battlefield to the enemy, force well-placed troops to move or destroy a slow moving but deadly unit.

The other value is psychological. Make sure your opponent knows that you have this spell. Watch them hoard their dispel dice to make sure you can’t cast it. Cast your Iceshard Blizzards with little or no opposition. Force dispel scrolls to be used. If used correctly you can intimidate the enemy without casting it once.

6. Chain Lightning (15+)

Just like Urannon’s Thunderbolt, but there is a 3+ chance the lightning will jump to another unit within 6”. Sounds great, but in real life either you can’t line up that theoretical immense chain reaction or, if you do, the dice gods send you a roll of 1 just when you need it. Considering Comet of Cassandora is 12+ casting cost, it is the superior choice given that there is a high chance of doing the same effect as a 10+ spell.

PROS & CONS

Like I said above, there are some strategic spells in this lore that can definitely help you do a strategy. You can always get Iceshard Blizzard so can factor this in to opposing gunline or very-shooty armies (Dwarfs, Wood Elves, etc.)

Downsides is that aside from the very tempermental Comet spell, there is nothing that will help you kaboom some big monster. Urannon’s is okay, but it’s just D6 hits. All in all, aside from not having that heavy-punch spell, it is a good all-rounder for any army.

ARMY INTERACTIONS (Legal Disclaimer: As I have not played with every army, I will freely admit that there is a certain amount of Theory-Hammer happening here.)

LIZARDMEN: Good lore to use, especially with Tetto’Eko who has the Loremaster rule for this as well as special rule for Comet of Cassandora which makes it a lot more effective. Even though Lizardmen don’t have any war machines, it is still a decent lore considering the effects on combat which plays into one of their strengths and the Iceshard Blizzard is key so that you can negate as much of gunlines/missile troop attacks as possible before entering combat. Specifically, Iceshard is excellent when used as the lore to hamper war machine fire on your Steg’s or Carno’s.

I will say that Lizardmen Generals who don’t use Wandering Deliberations to get Iceshard Blizzard are missing out as this is a much more well-rounded way to get the best spell of the lot. I would always do Wandering Deliberations or Focus of Mystery if I’m fielding a Slann.

EMPIRE: A good lore to use. Since the Empire has many options of high strength (and with 8th Edition rules, laser guidance) cannons that can be used to nerf monsters and other war machines, so this lore can give you the edge you need in combat, mitigate damage from missile troops with Iceshard and otherwise help you use your superior numbers against a higher quality army (HE, DE, WoC, etc.) by moving some troops around and denying sections of the battle field.

BRETTONIA: Still decent. Brettonia does have some war machines, but the main worry that I can see would be ensuring that the opposing war machines are stopped from taking out your knight formations before they arrive into combat (or missile troops taking their toll). The augment/hex spells are always useful and CoC can be used to force enemy troops to move in a certain way or take out the gunline.

HIGH ELVES: Based on the High Elf high movement, good missile troops, high WS, it seems like High Magic is the better choice or a lore that augments strength and toughness (as the primary weakness to shore up for this army).

WOOD ELVES: This seems like a bad choice for this army. Wood Elves have High WS and BS, LOTS of missile troops and the main weakness is sold anvil troops to take the charges and no major war machines. If anything, I’d be wanting to get some punchy spells to shore up my weakness there, so that I can take out the opposing monster/lord/war machine so that my highly mobile troops can continue to run rings around the enemy.

-

So that’s my review of the lore. Hopefully helpful to someone and hopefully not full of major holes!

I would have thought that Iceshard Blizzard would be better used by armies that don't have War Machines, as it can be used to neutralise enemy war machines where normally they wouldn't be able to, so for instance, Bretonnia and Lizardmen would get a lot more out of the spell than Empire, who have a lot more tools at their disposal already for taking out enemy war machines. Additionally faster armies like Bretonnia and Wood Elves can more easily take advantage of the movement shenanigans Wind Blast and Comet of Casandora can cause to set up a timely flank charge or concentrate fire on a displaced enemy.

Otherwise, a very detailed and thorough review, except a couple of things:

What are your opinions on Dark Elves fielding the Lore of Heavens? I don't believe you listed them in your write-up.

As well as Dark Elves, The Blue Scribes and Kairos in the Daemons of Chaos army list can choose to use Heavens, as can Ogre armies with more than one Butcher/Slaughtermaster, as per Lore of Beasts.

Given they're two of your favourite armies, I'm surprised you missed those out mate

 

[Lizards of Renown]

Excellent review @Lizards of Renown , taking for taking the time to create and share it! View attachment 105550

A couple of very quick notes... Iceshard Blizzard is cast on a 7+.

Whoops...

I believe that you only get to put down two markers initially (and a further two markers each time the comet fails to land) if you cast the boosted version of the spell on a whopping 24+ to cast. At the standard casting value of 12+, you only start with a single marker and place one additional marker each time the comet fails to arrive.

Whoops. Yes, got a little enthusiastic. My reasoning still stands though.

This is seems like the very best use for the spell. A dwarf or Chaos Dwarf player would hate having that spell cast above their gunline. With their slow rate of movement it would take them several turns to get safely away from it, and during each of those turns their war machines cannot fire. Just knowing that the opponent has the spell would force the gunline player to completely reconsider their entire deployment strategy. An absolute game changer in such a situation, even before a single spell has been cast.

Definitely.

Interesting that you rated this spell so highly. From a theoretical standpoint, this is probably my least favourite spell of the lore. However, I must admit that this is pure theory hammer on my part, as I don't believe I have ever fielded the lore of Heavens... so I have literally zero actual experience with it. Also, it's a pretty tough spell to theory hammer, as it isn't that straight forward as other spells that can be math-hammered.

I guess the part that bugs me about the spell is the variable and relatively short range of the push. 2-4" unboosted and 3-8" boosted. The boosted range has some potential, but is it worth 14+ to cast? That is an expensive casting cost just shy of heavy hitters like Purple Sun and Final Transmutation.

That said, if you have been able to get this spell to perform well, I'd love to hear any successful exploits you have pulled off with it! You've raised some interesting potential uses for it in your write-up. In your experience how often do these strategies pan out?

Not any on Wind Blast, so definitely Theory Hammer. As I was doing the review more and more possibilities came to mind and I got an itch for a Lore of Heavens Skink Priest with Cloak of Feathers who could be REALLY annoying being able to fire Slann spells and wind blast enemies from the best angle.

Reading your review, I get the impression that this lore might lend itself better to multiple lower level casters rather than a single level 4. Would you agree with my assessment?

Yes. It is Theory-Hammer right now, but I believe that if you had several Level 1 Wizards with Iceshard it would be pretty awesome, especially it they ganged up on a deathstar to neuter it.

Never tried it though...

Aside from Tetto'eko (who is a great value and doubly good for the reason you detailed) which army do you feel is best suited to the Lore of Heavens?

Empire. They have the War Machines for the heavy punch to monsters and lords. The hex and augments will assist them a lot in combat and being able to dictate movements of the enemy will benefit their numbers best I believe.

What are your opinions on Dark Elves fielding the Lore of Heavens? I don't believe you listed them in your write-up.

Whoops... I'll go through that tonight, as well as the armies that @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl brought up!

Thanks again for the great analysis!

glad you enjoyed it.

I would have thought that Iceshard Blizzard would be better used by armies that don't have War Machines, as it can be used to neutralise enemy war machines where normally they wouldn't be able to, so for instance, Bretonnia and Lizardmen would get a lot more out of the spell than Empire, who have a lot more tools at their disposal already for taking out enemy war machines. Additionally faster armies like Bretonnia and Wood Elves can more easily take advantage of the movement shenanigans Wind Blast and Comet of Casandora can cause to set up a timely flank charge or concentrate fire on a displaced enemy.

All fair points.

As well as Dark Elves, The Blue Scribes and Kairos in the Daemons of Chaos army list can choose to use Heavens, as can Ogre armies with more than one Butcher/Slaughtermaster.

Given they're two of your favourite armies, I'm surprised you missed those out mate

Whoops. I'll review them tonight.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

I have hyperlink indexed both @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl and @Lizards of Renown 's Deep Dive lore entries in the first post of this thread to make it easier for people to find them and to ensure they don't get lost among all the replies. I'll be doing this for all the entries as they are submitted.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

@Lizards of Renown I also forgot that Vampire Counts can, for some strange reason, can give one Vampire the Lore of Heavens through the Forbidden Lore Vampiric Power, again as per Lore of Beasts. Another army for you to evaluate

 

[Lizards of Renown]

As well as Dark Elves, The Blue Scribes and Kairos in the Daemons of Chaos army list can choose to use Heavens, as can Ogre armies with more than one Butcher/Slaughtermaster, as per Lore of Beasts.

Given they're two of your favourite armies, I'm surprised you missed those out mate

Dark Elves I forgot, so no excuse there. I play Khorne/Nurgle Daemons (although I KNEW I missed something on character somewhere.

At least on Ogres, I remembered why I discounted any lore apart from Lore of the Great Maw. Because of the points, no sane OK general is going to invest in a pricey second wizard just to get another lore. The points are far better off spent on a Bruiser, other troops or kitting out your Slaughtermaster for combat.

@Lizards of Renown I also forgot that Vampire Counts can, for some strange reason, can give one Vampire the Lore of Heavens through the Forbidden Lore Vampiric Power, again as per Lore of Beasts. Another army for you to evaluate

Interesting that we find you so knowledgeable about the Vampire Counts... I guess it's know your enemy? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?

Good point, I'll add that when I look over the other armies.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

can give one Vampire the Lore of Heavens through the Forbidden Lore Vampiric Power, again as per Lore of Beasts. Another army for you to evaluate

In short, (virtually) nobody is going to do it:

• the Lore of Vampires is AWESOME!
• you need to spend 25 points and eat up a portion of your Vampiric Powers allotment to access it
• if the general is slain, only wizards with spells from the Lore of Vampires can take over to stop the crumbling

Interesting that we find you so knowledgeable about the Vampire Counts...

Maybe he is secretly a super fan and projects false hatred to hide it from the world. Of maybe he is a vampire and doesn't want anyone to catch on!

 

[Lizards of Renown]

In short, (virtually) nobody is going to do it:

• the Lore of Vampires is AWESOME!
• you need to spend 25 points and eat up a portion of your Vampiric Powers allotment to access it
• if the general is slain, only wizards with spells from the Lore of Vampires can take over to stop the crumbling

Lore of Vampires has one the best synergies with VCs in the entire 8th Edition.

Maybe he is secretly a super fan and projects false hatred to hide it from the world. Of maybe he is a vampire and doesn't want anyone to catch on!

Ha!

I looked over Dark Elves and the Daemons of Chaos. Honestly, all the points I made about the lore being pretty good are all true, but I'd use Dark Magic / Lore of Nurgle from a synergy/better lore point of view.

So not much to add to my write-up at this point.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

Dark Elves I forgot, so no excuse there. I play Khorne/Nurgle Daemons (although I KNEW I missed something on character somewhere.

At least on Ogres, I remembered why I discounted any lore apart from Lore of the Great Maw. Because of the points, no sane OK general is going to invest in a pricey second wizard just to get another lore. The points are far better off spent on a Bruiser, other troops or kitting out your Slaughtermaster for combat.

I looked over Dark Elves and the Daemons of Chaos. Honestly, all the points I made about the lore being pretty good are all true, but I'd use Dark Magic / Lore of Nurgle from a synergy/better lore point of view.

So not much to add to my write-up at this point.

In short, (virtually) nobody is going to do it:

• the Lore of Vampires is AWESOME!
• you need to spend 25 points and eat up a portion of your Vampiric Powers allotment to access it
• if the general is slain, only wizards with spells from the Lore of Vampires can take over to stop the crumbling

While it's unlikely anybody would see such a choice of tactics for either Vampires or Ogres, or perhaps even Dark Elves or Daemons, it's still worth analysing the effects the lore would have on these armies if someone did ever decide to bring a caster with that lore to the field, given that it's there and possible for the army to access, and using that to determine an opinion on it after everything has been considered. After all, I did so with Lore of Beasts, I don't see why any of you should be able to skive off putting that little bit of extra work into your write-ups

Interesting that we find you so knowledgeable about the Vampire Counts... I guess it's know your enemy? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?

By and large yes, if you don't know thy enemy, how can you ever hope to crush them on the field of battle?

But also I wish to present an unbiased air when engaging in projects like this, as they're meant to be designed to get everyone together and are not places for divisive arguments about which factions are more or less interesting than others.

Maybe he is secretly a super fan and projects false hatred to hide it from the world. Of maybe he is a vampire and doesn't want anyone to catch on!

 

[Lizards of Renown]

I don't see why any of you should be able to skive off putting that little bit of extra work into your write-ups

Well, in the interest of proving I do not suffer from the deadly sin of Sloth, I'll do those analyses.

By and large yes, if you don't know thy enemy, how can you ever hope to crush them on the field of battle?

Fair point

But also I wish to present an unbiased air when engaging in projects like this, as they're meant to be designed to get everyone together and are not places for divisive arguments about which factions are more or less interesting than others.

[LoR whispers to Nightbringer]

"I knew it! He's a vampire! Don't let him get close"

 

[Lizards of Renown]

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl

Thy will be done, good sir, original post updated. No tardiness here.

@NIGHTBRINGER Also updated the points you made in the original post.

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl

Thy will be done, good sir, original post updated. No tardiness here.

@NIGHTBRINGER Also updated the points you made in the original post.

Awesome!


My analysis will still take some time. I put some more work into it last night, but plenty more to go. By deep dive, I hope to go "Challenger Deep" level deep. (that's a lot of occurrences of the word deep in a single sentence )

 

[Lizards of Renown]

Awesome!


My analysis will still take some time. I put some more work into it last night, but plenty more to go. By deep dive, I hope to go "Challenger Deep" level deep. (that's a lot of occurrences of the word deep in a single sentence )

I'm looking forwards to reading your work.

 

[ASSASSIN_NR_1]

Lore of Fire


Lore Attribute - Kindleflame
States that all spells in the lore have the Flaming Attacks special rule, and that Direct Damage and Magic missiles get +D3 to cast if cast on a unit that has previously been hit by one, in the same magic phase.

Opinion
The Flaming attacks part can be a blessing or a curse, really depends what you are casting the spells on, though most of the time I don’t think it will matter much, unless you are playing in a specific meta. The +D3 to casting is nice and works for at most 4 (possibly 3 depending how Burning Head is counted); It does lend itself well to getting as many smaller spells of as possible, to make it that bit harder to dispel for the opponent, but to do that you’d need to either have a lucky roll for spell selection, to even get the right spells, or have Loremaster, seeing as you can only have all 4 if you bring a Lv 4 wizard; A nice addition, but nothing too noteworthy unless the stars align.


Signature - Fireball
A magic missile that only takes a 5+ to cast, with good range and a respectable D6 S4 hits. It even has two boosted version (possibly the only spell to have that, or at least one of the only ones) that extends the range by 12” each time, and adds another D6 hits, for another 5 and 13 more to cast.


Opinion
The 5+ for D6 S4 hits is a bargain, even a Lv 1 wizard have 50% chance to get it off with just 1 die. You might then save a single die for it, or if you have a lv 1 wizard, might just throw it out before your other spells, to bait out dispel dice, as an opponent would either gamble with 1 dice, risking broken concentration, or use 2 dice to your 1.


Of the boosted versions, only the 10+ with 2D6 S4 hits seems reasonable, 18+ for 3D6 is too steep, unless you really have nothing else to cast, or really need to remove that regen for a phase.


The best part of this spell is that it’s the signature spell, meaning you can always get it, and it is good enough that you might want to take multiples of it, if you have multiple wizards with the Lore of Fire.


1. Cascading Fire-Cloak
For 5+ you get a Remains in play Augment, that gives the Wizard’s unit, the ability to damage enemy units in base contact at the end of each magic phase, so at least once if you get it off. It deals 2D6 S4 hits.


Opinion
For the casting value, it deals a nice amount of damage, the same as a boosted fireball for half the cost, that might very well be able to hit multiple units as well. Tricky part is, to actually get into a situation where you can deal the damage.

On paper it seems nice, but you need to consider that your wizard needs to be in combat for the spell to do any damage, and don’t be fooled by being able to hit multiple units, as most units do not want to fight multiple other units at once; Maybe it can give you the edge, but don’t count on it, just know it’s there.


Another use is as a detergent, cast it on your wizard bunker, and any light cavalry or other might be hesitant to charge, as they might very well die on impact.
The deal with this approach, is that you can never count on it working, seeing as the opponent will always have a magic phase to dispel it, and with a casting value of 5, they will always have a good shot at it, even if they do not have a wizard.


All in all a very situational spell, one that can do a nice amount of damage against the right targets, though nothing to count on - still not a bad spell, considering how easy it is to cast, just not a first pick for the Lore.


2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin
An 8+ augment spell, with good range at 24”, granting +1 to wound to both shooting and close combat, while also granting Flaming and Magical attacks, until the start of the caster’s next magic phase. The caster can boost it to get double range for 3 more to cast.


Opinion
A very good augment, rarely do you see a spell granting +1 to wound. A unit of good archers might be able to do a good amount of damage with this spell, seeing as it helps with the big problem of wounding with only S3.

Combat units will also love it, and especially if they have to fight regen units - Think of it as a boosted Flaming Banner, that need to be activated.


3. The Burning Head
Cast on a 10+, The Burning Head is a direct damage spell, and is one of those weird ones where you extend a line, in this case 18” straight out, somewhere in the caster’s LoS. Each model it passes over then takes a S4 hit, as if it were a Cannonball (which makes me think that it might actually stop dead if it hits monstrous infantry or bigger and does not kill it).
If a unit takes any casualties, it must take a panic test. This one can also be boosted, to double the line’s length, for only 3 more to cast.


Opinion
In terms of value, the Boosted version is the way to go, but I think the 18” of the regular version might be enough most of the time.

This spell does not seem very good at actually killing stuff, S4 is not enough when you only hit models on the line, unless you can position it over a large unit - You’d need to average 7 models hit, to get the same average value as a boosted fireball, so keep that in mind. Where it could be better than a regular fireball, is if you can hit multiple units, or one that is likely to take a wound, and break due to the panic test - but to be honest, I don’t see many of those units running around - Might have some success on the flanks, but you have to position well to take advantage of that.


One thing it might be able to do well, depending on how you interpret it, is trigger the Lore attribute on multiple targets, the issue here is: Do you have enough dice to take advantage of that? Most of the time, the answer is ‘Probably not’.


The spell is overall decent against the right armies, but might need a mobile caster to get the most out of it - making me lean towards a regular Fireball as a more safe choice.


4. Piercing Bolts of Burning
Another spell with 10+ to cast, this time another magic missile with a 24” range. It deals D3 S4 hits, for each rank of 5+ models in the target unit. Once again it can be boosted to get double range for 3 more to cast - I’m seeing a pattern here.


Opinion
Potentially more damaging, to larger units, than a fireball, and much cheaper. Where a regular fireball will do the 7 S4 hits on average for the same casting cost, this will do 8 hits to a 20 man unit, so not bad. The issue one might run into, is dealing with lone models, or monstrous units, such as trolls, where the regular Fireball is much more reliable.

If you do face a lot of larger units (not hordes, necessarily seeing as it gets hits per rank), this might be devastating. Say a you get it off on a unit of 50 Skaven slaves, deployed 5 wide - you’d then get 20 hits on average, probably killing 13 of them; granted you won’t get much value by killing slaves, which is where the spell might falter, seeing as most units it is good against, probably won’t be too expensive; even so you will probably need to deal with them anyway, just don’t expect your wizard to be the one paying for itself in raw numbers.


5. Fulminating Flame Cage
A spell that is not 10+ to cast! This one is 11+ instead, but it still has a 24” range (thank goodness, for a moment I thought I looked at the wrong Lore ). It is a hex, and the target unit taes D4 S4 hits, and if they move, EACH model in the unit takes a S4 hits and the spell ends. The range can be extended to have double range, and it once again costs 3 more to cast - phew.


Opinion
Mostly a tactical spell, unless you can find some reason to make the unit it was cast on move; in which case it can do some serious damage to lightly armored troops. For 11+ it does not deal enough damage on its own, so the tactical part needs to be considered. Since it is mostly good against high model count units, it really is only viable against infantry.

Where it could shine is in a gunline, where you can effectively stop a unit coming at you, to place them in a dilemma - do they move anyway, and take a bunch of damage and possibly fail their charge, or do they just stand there and take another round of shooting.


A possible synergy, though I’ll admit it is kind of a ‘stars aligned’ situation, is if you cast this on a unit, and then cast Wind Blast from the Lore of Heavens, on the unit, you can guarantee the damage.


If for some reason a big unit is fleeing and you can make them flee again or suspect that they will continue to flee, cast this spell on it, and they will be very unhappy next time they do.


6. Flame Storm
The one and only template spell in the lore. CIt is a direct damage spell, that is cast on a 13+, and uses the small round template, unless boosted in which case it is a 16+ to cast, uses the large round template, but whereas the regular scatters 1D6, the boosted scatters 2D6. All models hit, take a S4 hit.


Opinion
Not the big killer spell so many lores have a their 6 spot, it really isn’t that great, though not terrible. I’d stick with the regular version over the boosted almost always, unless my opponent has a lot of units bunched together, ensuring that I’ll likely hit something even with the extra scatter, and then the extra 3 to cast isn’t too bad - you’d probably want to cast it with a lv 4 wizard though, but don’t use 6 dice, unless you are desperate, it is not killy enough that warrant going for an Irresistible Force/miscast.

Main Theme
The theme of the lore is dealing damage, and dealing it all through S4, and mostly at range. This makes it best in armies that either need to take out smaller units on the flanks, where they maybe cannot contest with their own units, or as a defensive army that can stand back, shoot and cast magic missiles and direct damage.

The augments are okay, but not what you take the lore for, same thing for the hex - they should be taken more as a potential bonus or tactical option, rather than the reason to take Lore of Fire.


The main weakness of the Lore is the S4, which is not enough to do well against armor, and a lot of elite units have T4 or greater, making the damaging spells ineffective. The only reason you’d generally target tougher units, is if you can remove their regen and follow up with other sources of damage, or if you have nothing else to target.


It is a very straightforward lore overall, most spells is more or less ‘point and shoot’, and it is good at clearing chaff or damaging large units if lower quality units or at least units with low armor and toughness.

Spell Ranking
Some matchups and metas might change the ranking slightly, but generally I’d rank the spells as follows.

1. Fireball
   
   
2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin
   
   
3. Fulminating Flame Cage
   
   
4. Piercing Bolts of Burning
   
   
5. Flame Storm
   
   
6. The Burning Head
   
   
7. Cascading Fore-Cloak

With 3, 4 and 5 being very close.

Armies that can use it
In general, any army that can field multiple lv 1 wizards with access to Lore of Fire, can use it well by just spamming Fireball, the most versatile spell that you can be guaranteed to have. also the army should probably be defensive, to get the most amount of time to toss their Fireballs, so might as well invest in shooting as well.

Empire
The Empire has access to the lore on both Hero and Lord level wizards. Empire might be one of the only armies where going for Lore of Fire on a lv 4 wizard is worthwhile, as you have a higher chance to case a couple spells, due to the overall low casting values, and they have access to some great sources of high strength attacks, so might not need the extra help from magic in that area, freeing them up to use The Lore of Fire.

High Elves
Just as with the Empire, the High Elves can use the Lore effectively, although they are more in need of tools to deal with armor, than the Empire. Still they have better targets for the Flaming Sword of Rhuin in their Core choices - A big unit of Lothern Sea Guard seems tasty.
There is also the case of the Dragon Mage which has to take the Lore, and always has the Flaming Sword of Rhuin. He might also be one of the better options for the Cascading Fire-Cloak, even if he still is very squishy.

Dark Elves
Not the best choice for the Dark Elves. In comparison to their own Lore of Dark Magic, the Lore of Fire is unimpressive, but if chaff clearing is what is needed it is more suited to the task.

Wood Elves
Same story as the Dark elves, there are better options.


Lizardmen
Only the Slann is able to use the Lore, and really I’d say don’t bother. The best spell is Fireball, and you can get that through wandering deliberations or by using High magic.

Lizardmen also have a lot of S4 attacks anyway, such as Salamanders and chaff clearing is something Lizardmen are good at anyway.

If you do go with it, then at least you will probably not need as many Skink Priest to cast through, as most spells have good range, meaning that you’d only really want them to get certain angles or be able to cast Magic missiles while the Slann is in combat.

A Temple Guard unit with a Slann might be the best use of the Cascading Fore-Cloak out of any other unit in the game.
The Lore is not useless though, it just does not fill a need that the Lizardmen cannot fill on their own.


Warriors of Chaos
Can take the Lore on heroes, lords and Archaon. The Warriors of Chaos is partly in the same boat at Lizardmen, in that they have plenty access to S4 troops; Where they differ is that the Warriors are not as good at dealing with chaff, if for no other reason that their very elite nature, meaning they won’t have as many resources to deal with them. In that sense, the Lore of Fire might be okay, still though I would not rate it too highly, unless the meta is highly dependent on clearing the chaff.


Daemons of Chaos
Kairos Fateweaver is able to use it, but he’ll only choose one spell from the Lore, so there’s not much else to say than that he’ll probably go with Fireball.


Vampire Counts
Through the Forbidden Lore Vampiric Power, the Vampire Counts can take the Lore of Fire. Simply put, the probably don’t need it, they can flood the board with cheap bodies, and so is unlikely to need to spend much energy in clearing the enemy’s own chaff units - as such there are better lores that also has magic missiles that can lend to the chaff clearing if need be.


Ogre Kingdoms
Get the Lore through their Firebelly heroes, who have to take it. Seeing as Ogres are a very offensive faction, it suits them well, but like with the Lizardmen, they do not lack S4 attacks, but might use the chaff clearing aspect of the lore well, but take that with a grain of salt, seeing as I do not know the army well.


Who will use it best?
I believe The Empire has the best odds of using the lore effectively with their gun-line builds. They want to stay back and shoot anyway, might be lucky and get the Flaming Sword of Rhuin to buff one of their units, and otherwise toss out cheap magic missiles in Fireball.

Good against
Humans and Elves and anything else with Toughness 3 or less, and at times higher toughness units with low armor saves.


In general it is a good chaff clearer and can do a lot of damage to weaker high model count units. So if you feel you need a lot of options to deal with enemy chaff, the Lore of Fire seems a decent choice.


Verdict
A straightforward lore, which sometimes is all you need. It is by no means the most powerful lore, but it’s ease of use could mean that it will sometimes make a bigger impact than the more tactical ones. I suspect newer players will like the lore the most, and gradually move away to other lores that are more specific to their game plans and better cover their army’s shortcomings.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

Excellent review all round, and unlike Heavens I agree with you that the Empire makes best use of all those Strength 4 attacks. Just one thing:

2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin
An 8+ augment spell, with good range at 24”, granting +1 to wound to both shooting and close combat, while also granting Flaming and Magical attacks, until the start of the caster’s next magic phase. The caster can boost it to get double range for 3 more to cast.

Opinion
A very good augment, rarely do you see a spell granting +1 to wound. A unit of good archers might be able to do a good amount of damage with this spell, seeing as it helps with the big problem of wounding with only S3.

Combat units will also love it, and especially if they have to fight regen units - Think of it as a boosted Flaming Banner, that need to be activated.

Still they have better targets for the Flaming Sword of Rhuin in their Core choices - A big unit of Lothern Sea Guard seems tasty.

might be lucky and get the Flaming Sword of Rhuin to buff one of their units

I thought The Flaming Sword of Rhuin affected characters, not units - I could be wrong, perhaps I'm mixing it up with its 7th Ed incarnation.

 

[ASSASSIN_NR_1]

I thought The Flaming Sword of Rhuin affected characters, not units - I could be wrong, perhaps I'm mixing it up with its 7th Ed incarnation.

Yup you are mixing it up
It was quite different in 7th, and as you say it only affected characters, the caster to be specific: In effect it creates a magic weapon that gives the caster +1 Attack, always hit on 2+ and +3 Strength, but oddly enough dos not grant Flaming attacks .

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Lore of Fire


Lore Attribute - Kindleflame
States that all spells in the lore have the Flaming Attacks special rule, and that Direct Damage and Magic missiles get +D3 to cast if cast on a unit that has previously been hit by one, in the same magic phase.

Opinion
The Flaming attacks part can be a blessing or a curse, really depends what you are casting the spells on, though most of the time I don’t think it will matter much, unless you are playing in a specific meta. The +D3 to casting is nice and works for at most 4 (possibly 3 depending how Burning Head is counted); It does lend itself well to getting as many smaller spells of as possible, to make it that bit harder to dispel for the opponent, but to do that you’d need to either have a lucky roll for spell selection, to even get the right spells, or have Loremaster, seeing as you can only have all 4 if you bring a Lv 4 wizard; A nice addition, but nothing too noteworthy unless the stars align.


Signature - Fireball
A magic missile that only takes a 5+ to cast, with good range and a respectable D6 S4 hits. It even has two boosted version (possibly the only spell to have that, or at least one of the only ones) that extends the range by 12” each time, and adds another D6 hits, for another 5 and 13 more to cast.


Opinion
The 5+ for D6 S4 hits is a bargain, even a Lv 1 wizard have 50% chance to get it off with just 1 die. You might then save a single die for it, or if you have a lv 1 wizard, might just throw it out before your other spells, to bait out dispel dice, as an opponent would either gamble with 1 dice, risking broken concentration, or use 2 dice to your 1.


Of the boosted versions, only the 10+ with 2D6 S4 hits seems reasonable, 18+ for 3D6 is too steep, unless you really have nothing else to cast, or really need to remove that regen for a phase.


The best part of this spell is that it’s the signature spell, meaning you can always get it, and it is good enough that you might want to take multiples of it, if you have multiple wizards with the Lore of Fire.


1. Cascading Fire-Cloak
For 5+ you get a Remains in play Augment, that gives the Wizard’s unit, the ability to damage enemy units in base contact at the end of each magic phase, so at least once if you get it off. It deals 2D6 S4 hits.


Opinion
For the casting value, it deals a nice amount of damage, the same as a boosted fireball for half the cost, that might very well be able to hit multiple units as well. Tricky part is, to actually get into a situation where you can deal the damage.

On paper it seems nice, but you need to consider that your wizard needs to be in combat for the spell to do any damage, and don’t be fooled by being able to hit multiple units, as most units do not want to fight multiple other units at once; Maybe it can give you the edge, but don’t count on it, just know it’s there.


Another use is as a detergent, cast it on your wizard bunker, and any light cavalry or other might be hesitant to charge, as they might very well die on impact.
The deal with this approach, is that you can never count on it working, seeing as the opponent will always have a magic phase to dispel it, and with a casting value of 5, they will always have a good shot at it, even if they do not have a wizard.


All in all a very situational spell, one that can do a nice amount of damage against the right targets, though nothing to count on - still not a bad spell, considering how easy it is to cast, just not a first pick for the Lore.


2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin
An 8+ augment spell, with good range at 24”, granting +1 to wound to both shooting and close combat, while also granting Flaming and Magical attacks, until the start of the caster’s next magic phase. The caster can boost it to get double range for 3 more to cast.


Opinion
A very good augment, rarely do you see a spell granting +1 to wound. A unit of good archers might be able to do a good amount of damage with this spell, seeing as it helps with the big problem of wounding with only S3.

Combat units will also love it, and especially if they have to fight regen units - Think of it as a boosted Flaming Banner, that need to be activated.


3. The Burning Head
Cast on a 10+, The Burning Head is a direct damage spell, and is one of those weird ones where you extend a line, in this case 18” straight out, somewhere in the caster’s LoS. Each model it passes over then takes a S4 hit, as if it were a Cannonball (which makes me think that it might actually stop dead if it hits monstrous infantry or bigger and does not kill it).
If a unit takes any casualties, it must take a panic test. This one can also be boosted, to double the line’s length, for only 3 more to cast.


Opinion
In terms of value, the Boosted version is the way to go, but I think the 18” of the regular version might be enough most of the time.

This spell does not seem very good at actually killing stuff, S4 is not enough when you only hit models on the line, unless you can position it over a large unit - You’d need to average 7 models hit, to get the same average value as a boosted fireball, so keep that in mind. Where it could be better than a regular fireball, is if you can hit multiple units, or one that is likely to take a wound, and break due to the panic test - but to be honest, I don’t see many of those units running around - Might have some success on the flanks, but you have to position well to take advantage of that.


One thing it might be able to do well, depending on how you interpret it, is trigger the Lore attribute on multiple targets, the issue here is: Do you have enough dice to take advantage of that? Most of the time, the answer is ‘Probably not’.


The spell is overall decent against the right armies, but might need a mobile caster to get the most out of it - making me lean towards a regular Fireball as a more safe choice.


4. Piercing Bolts of Burning
Another spell with 10+ to cast, this time another magic missile with a 24” range. It deals D3 S4 hits, for each rank of 5+ models in the target unit. Once again it can be boosted to get double range for 3 more to cast - I’m seeing a pattern here.


Opinion
Potentially more damaging, to larger units, than a fireball, and much cheaper. Where a regular fireball will do the 7 S4 hits on average for the same casting cost, this will do 8 hits to a 20 man unit, so not bad. The issue one might run into, is dealing with lone models, or monstrous units, such as trolls, where the regular Fireball is much more reliable.

If you do face a lot of larger units (not hordes, necessarily seeing as it gets hits per rank), this might be devastating. Say a you get it off on a unit of 50 Skaven slaves, deployed 5 wide - you’d then get 20 hits on average, probably killing 13 of them; granted you won’t get much value by killing slaves, which is where the spell might falter, seeing as most units it is good against, probably won’t be too expensive; even so you will probably need to deal with them anyway, just don’t expect your wizard to be the one paying for itself in raw numbers.


5. Fulminating Flame Cage
A spell that is not 10+ to cast! This one is 11+ instead, but it still has a 24” range (thank goodness, for a moment I thought I looked at the wrong Lore ). It is a hex, and the target unit taes D4 S4 hits, and if they move, EACH model in the unit takes a S4 hits and the spell ends. The range can be extended to have double range, and it once again costs 3 more to cast - phew.


Opinion
Mostly a tactical spell, unless you can find some reason to make the unit it was cast on move; in which case it can do some serious damage to lightly armored troops. For 11+ it does not deal enough damage on its own, so the tactical part needs to be considered. Since it is mostly good against high model count units, it really is only viable against infantry.

Where it could shine is in a gunline, where you can effectively stop a unit coming at you, to place them in a dilemma - do they move anyway, and take a bunch of damage and possibly fail their charge, or do they just stand there and take another round of shooting.


A possible synergy, though I’ll admit it is kind of a ‘stars aligned’ situation, is if you cast this on a unit, and then cast Wind Blast from the Lore of Heavens, on the unit, you can guarantee the damage.


If for some reason a big unit is fleeing and you can make them flee again or suspect that they will continue to flee, cast this spell on it, and they will be very unhappy next time they do.


6. Flame Storm
The one and only template spell in the lore. CIt is a direct damage spell, that is cast on a 13+, and uses the small round template, unless boosted in which case it is a 16+ to cast, uses the large round template, but whereas the regular scatters 1D6, the boosted scatters 2D6. All models hit, take a S4 hit.


Opinion
Not the big killer spell so many lores have a their 6 spot, it really isn’t that great, though not terrible. I’d stick with the regular version over the boosted almost always, unless my opponent has a lot of units bunched together, ensuring that I’ll likely hit something even with the extra scatter, and then the extra 3 to cast isn’t too bad - you’d probably want to cast it with a lv 4 wizard though, but don’t use 6 dice, unless you are desperate, it is not killy enough that warrant going for an Irresistible Force/miscast.

Main Theme
The theme of the lore is dealing damage, and dealing it all through S4, and mostly at range. This makes it best in armies that either need to take out smaller units on the flanks, where they maybe cannot contest with their own units, or as a defensive army that can stand back, shoot and cast magic missiles and direct damage.

The augments are okay, but not what you take the lore for, same thing for the hex - they should be taken more as a potential bonus or tactical option, rather than the reason to take Lore of Fire.


The main weakness of the Lore is the S4, which is not enough to do well against armor, and a lot of elite units have T4 or greater, making the damaging spells ineffective. The only reason you’d generally target tougher units, is if you can remove their regen and follow up with other sources of damage, or if you have nothing else to target.


It is a very straightforward lore overall, most spells is more or less ‘point and shoot’, and it is good at clearing chaff or damaging large units if lower quality units or at least units with low armor and toughness.

Spell Ranking
Some matchups and metas might change the ranking slightly, but generally I’d rank the spells as follows.

1. Fireball
   
   
2. Flaming Sword of Rhuin
   
   
3. Fulminating Flame Cage
   
   
4. Piercing Bolts of Burning
   
   
5. Flame Storm
   
   
6. The Burning Head
   
   
7. Cascading Fore-Cloak

With 3, 4 and 5 being very close.

Armies that can use it
In general, any army that can field multiple lv 1 wizards with access to Lore of Fire, can use it well by just spamming Fireball, the most versatile spell that you can be guaranteed to have. also the army should probably be defensive, to get the most amount of time to toss their Fireballs, so might as well invest in shooting as well.

Empire
The Empire has access to the lore on both Hero and Lord level wizards. Empire might be one of the only armies where going for Lore of Fire on a lv 4 wizard is worthwhile, as you have a higher chance to case a couple spells, due to the overall low casting values, and they have access to some great sources of high strength attacks, so might not need the extra help from magic in that area, freeing them up to use The Lore of Fire.

High Elves
Just as with the Empire, the High Elves can use the Lore effectively, although they are more in need of tools to deal with armor, than the Empire. Still they have better targets for the Flaming Sword of Rhuin in their Core choices - A big unit of Lothern Sea Guard seems tasty.
There is also the case of the Dragon Mage which has to take the Lore, and always has the Flaming Sword of Rhuin. He might also be one of the better options for the Cascading Fire-Cloak, even if he still is very squishy.

Dark Elves
Not the best choice for the Dark Elves. In comparison to their own Lore of Dark Magic, the Lore of Fire is unimpressive, but if chaff clearing is what is needed it is more suited to the task.

Wood Elves
Same story as the Dark elves, there are better options.


Lizardmen
Only the Slann is able to use the Lore, and really I’d say don’t bother. The best spell is Fireball, and you can get that through wandering deliberations or by using High magic.

Lizardmen also have a lot of S4 attacks anyway, such as Salamanders and chaff clearing is something Lizardmen are good at anyway.

If you do go with it, then at least you will probably not need as many Skink Priest to cast through, as most spells have good range, meaning that you’d only really want them to get certain angles or be able to cast Magic missiles while the Slann is in combat.

A Temple Guard unit with a Slann might be the best use of the Cascading Fore-Cloak out of any other unit in the game.
The Lore is not useless though, it just does not fill a need that the Lizardmen cannot fill on their own.


Warriors of Chaos
Can take the Lore on heroes, lords and Archaon. The Warriors of Chaos is partly in the same boat at Lizardmen, in that they have plenty access to S4 troops; Where they differ is that the Warriors are not as good at dealing with chaff, if for no other reason that their very elite nature, meaning they won’t have as many resources to deal with them. In that sense, the Lore of Fire might be okay, still though I would not rate it too highly, unless the meta is highly dependent on clearing the chaff.


Daemons of Chaos
Kairos Fateweaver is able to use it, but he’ll only choose one spell from the Lore, so there’s not much else to say than that he’ll probably go with Fireball.


Vampire Counts
Through the Forbidden Lore Vampiric Power, the Vampire Counts can take the Lore of Fire. Simply put, the probably don’t need it, they can flood the board with cheap bodies, and so is unlikely to need to spend much energy in clearing the enemy’s own chaff units - as such there are better lores that also has magic missiles that can lend to the chaff clearing if need be.


Ogre Kingdoms
Get the Lore through their Firebelly heroes, who have to take it. Seeing as Ogres are a very offensive faction, it suits them well, but like with the Lizardmen, they do not lack S4 attacks, but might use the chaff clearing aspect of the lore well, but take that with a grain of salt, seeing as I do not know the army well.


Who will use it best?
I believe The Empire has the best odds of using the lore effectively with their gun-line builds. They want to stay back and shoot anyway, might be lucky and get the Flaming Sword of Rhuin to buff one of their units, and otherwise toss out cheap magic missiles in Fireball.

Good against
Humans and Elves and anything else with Toughness 3 or less, and at times higher toughness units with low armor saves.


In general it is a good chaff clearer and can do a lot of damage to weaker high model count units. So if you feel you need a lot of options to deal with enemy chaff, the Lore of Fire seems a decent choice.


Verdict
A straightforward lore, which sometimes is all you need. It is by no means the most powerful lore, but it’s ease of use could mean that it will sometimes make a bigger impact than the more tactical ones. I suspect newer players will like the lore the most, and gradually move away to other lores that are more specific to their game plans and better cover their army’s shortcomings.

Great write-up @ASSASSIN_NR_1 !


I agree with your general assessment of the lore. It's the best for chaff clearing but has difficulty with heavily armoured or high toughness armies. The top 3 spells, as you detailed, are quite good, but that is out of seven spells. Having the Fireball spells as the signature really makes this shine on a level 1.

Your final verdict is spot on in my opinion.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

Any closer to finishing your Metal write-up, @NIGHTBRINGER buddy?

 

[NIGHTBRINGER]

Any closer to finishing your Metal write-up, @NIGHTBRINGER buddy?

Bit by bit it is progressing, although my work on my Hobgoblins has definitely slowed the process. I'll keep plugging away at it!