I was referencing to Covid mate. I'm not tracking at all on the AoS scene
it's one of my favourites:
Excellent write-up, an enjoyable read. CheersWould love to!
-
First off, I'll say that the Lore of the Great Maw has a great synergy with the Ogre Kingdoms army. Lots of buffs for combat in the list as well as a brilliant regeneration granting spell. These spells can also be upgraded to affect all units nearby, so it's good to have your wizards up close and personal.
Taking into account most of the OK's troops are movement 6, you can make the most of these very quickly.
Which leads me to the first bit: Bloodgruel Lore Attribute.
Ogre Kingdom wizards are in the rare group where they can take armour (have ironfist on their equipment list) and their stats are not bad. Stick them with a good weapon and armour and you've already got a fair decent fighter.
Add to this the fact that they can buff all units around them and it starts to become fairly decent.
Bloodgruel is particularly of use here. Every time a spell is cast, roll a 2+ and you regain a wound. With the Slaughtermaster's 5 wounds, this becomes quite useful in a fight. (On a roll of 1, not so useful as you take a S6 hit but still have a chance for it not to wound, armour save and ward save). You can go up against another character and heal yourself while buffing your troops. Marvellous!
Add to this that you get +1 to the next spell and this is a very useful attribute, effectively making you a level 5 wizard after the first spell.
Now to the spells:
Signature - Spinemarrow 6+: Stubborn for your unit or another? Very useful for a 6+ spell, considering that leadership is one of the key weak points for OK's. Keeping in mind that it is also a 6+ spell to buff your wizard to a level 5 and regain a wound, it's actually not bad at all.
1. Bonecrusher 8+: A fair attack spell. No one is jumping up and down about 2D6 S2 hits, but when you add no armour saves it becomes a fair attack. Especially against high armour, low toughness troops like Empire Knights, Elves of all kinds, etc. A bit of a high casting price for me, but fair.
2. Bullgorger 7+: Decent buff. +1 strength to unit or 14+ to give to all units in 12 inches. Good for a 7+ casting price. Again, synergy is important here. By itself it's the bad side of okay. But when your wizard can hold his own in combat, so can be on front line where the buff's really matter it becomes a decent spell.
3. Toothcracker 8+: Same as Bullgorger but +1 toughness and for 16+ for all troops in 12". A bit expensive for results, but still decent.
4. Braingobbler 9+: Induce panic test in target unit, except for those Immune to Psychology. Situational for it to be useful. With the right army, like Orc's & Goblins or Skaven, can be very useful. For a lot of armies though it's not useful at all (Elves, Lizardmen, Chaos and any Unbreakable armies like Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings). I'd switch this one for the signature spell.
5. Trollguts 12+: Pricy buff, but 4+ Regen for your unit or target unit? Or everyone in 12 inches?! YES PLEASE! Easily my favourite spell, despite the high casting cost as the Ogre's usually don't have much going for them in terms of high armour saves and this spell could win the entire battle for you as suddenly your troops get an extra edge in combat.
6. The Maw 15+: Direct damage template attack. Based on initiative, if you pass you just get a S3 hit, if you don't, S7 with D6 wounds. Can be good, but you have to roll scatter for placement and this is where it becomes a bit "meh". Overpriced for the likelihood of scattering and doing nothing. You can buff for 21+ and use the larger template to make it more likely, but it's a lot to invest in something that might do nothing. I'd swap this one for signature spell, especially with a high initiative army.
I'd say, from best to worst, is: Spell 5, then 2 and 3 together, then signature, then 1, then 6 and then 4.
I'd look to swap 4 first and then 6. But if I'm going up against O&Gs, then I'd keep the panic spell. If I'm going up against lizardment, I'd keep number 6. There's no spell that's super crappy for me here.
-
So, there is an extra note on this lore. Following on from the introduction and based on the wizard being in the frontline, able to heal himself and wear armour, you can also add a Hellheart. Force every enemy magic using in D6x5" to suffer a miscast is deadly. Give to your tooled up wizard, or bluff with a character who can rapidly get close to the enemy wizard and BLAMO! If you have an opponent who knows the item, then double bluff with a decoy who heads towards the enemy wizard and watch them flee. Love this one. Especially with armies who will get their wizards close like High Elves (for the +1 to ward saves) or Chaos armies.
-
And finally, I love the humor inherent in the Ogre Kingdom's rules. Not the least of which is here in the Magic, where the subtitle of the lore reads:
"Gut Magic. Gastromancy. Shamanic Victuals."
Absolutely brilliant.
Excellent write-up, an enjoyable read. Cheers View attachment 95356
I agree with your ranking of spells.
I remember that. The biggest cluster-f#$@ in the history of GW FAQs.
Whenever I use my Tomb Kings and see how much better their spells are written for this edition I get more depressed about the army book.My number one choice is easily The Lore of the Vampires.
Here are the reasons why I feel that it is by far the best army book magic lore:
- The lore attribute is top class - you basically have the lore of Life lore attribute, which is my favorite BRB lore attribute. Healing expensive Vampire Blender Lords, Wizards, Terrorgheists or the like is absolutely invaluable. The fact that you can do it with your lore attribute means that it is very difficult for your opponent to prevent it, as they would if you were relying on a single specific spell going off. Chances are they can't stop all your spells, so you are free to heal back expensive and valuable wounds.
- The Signature Spell (Invocation of Nehek) is the best of the best - a top tier healing spell that can be bubbled at three different casting values! The base casting value is extremely cheap, and if you have spare dice you can increase its range. This spell is one of the key linchpins that make the Vampire Counts a force to be reckoned with. As a TK player, I certainly wish I had access to it. Additionally, on top of Invocation being a fantastic spell in it own right, it's also important to consider that it is the Signature spell. Having perhaps your best spell as the Signature Spell is a huge bonus as you are guaranteed to get it and it always be extra beneficial to trade away a spell you don't need. This is one of the key advantages that the Lore of Vampires has over the LoS and LoN, who can't guarantee they get their best spells and can be stuck with a poor spell because they may not want to trade it for their signature spells (each of which is not very impressive). Additionally, multiple wizards in the army can get the spell!
- There is only one dud spell in the lore (Wind of Death) - once again to draw a comparison to the LoS and LoN (both which I regard as fantastic lores), they have several spells that are either poor or mediocre. Consequently the effectiveness of those lores is somewhat vulnerable to what spells you roll at the beginning of the game. The same cannot be said with the Lore of Vampires. Since you're always going to want to swap one of your spells for the Signature (see above), rolling spell number 6 means that you simply always choose to trade that one. As such, you'll never be stuck with a spell you don't want.
- Great versatility in spells - you've got a healing spell (and lore attribute), 2 augment spells, a solid magic missile (especially in an army with no shooting), a unique summoning spell and damage dealing ultra dangerous hex spell. You also have a magical vortex, but that is the spell I would always choose to swap for the signature. The lore has it all and compliments the army very well. Most of the spells remain fully effective in the late stages of the game once everything is locked in combat.
- Unique spell in the Raise Dead - having a mechanic that no other army has (excluding End Times crap) is pretty cool. Its an immensely useful tool in the tool box that can be employed in a variety of different ways (chaff, chaff killing, war machine hunting, lone wizard hunting, obstruction, etc.). It's one of those spells that benefits greatly from some creative thinking and generalship.
- A devastating "#6" spell in the form of spell #5 (Curse of Years) - many of the best lores in the game are known for having truly terrifying number 6 spells (Lore of Life, Lore of Death, Lore of Shadows, Lore of Hashut, Lore of Slaanesh). As mentioned before, the Wind of Death is a weak spell that should always be traded out, however this does not leave the Vampires without a truly frightening spell. In their case, the spell is simply the fifth spell of the lore. Assuming that the enemy unit has no ward/regen, the spell kills 1/6th of the unit immediately. However, what makes it even truly scary is that it remains in play and gets more effective each round (wounding on 6's then 5's, then 4's, then 3's and finally on 2's). This means that the opponent must then waste power dice in their own magic phase or pretty much sacrifice their unit. Not to mention if they forget about the spell and fail to save some spare dice
. The final cherry on top is the fact that the spell can be cast into combat because it is a hex (one of the things that makes the LoS's 6th spell so powerful)
Those are my main reasons for ranking the Lore of Vampires as my favourite army book lore. I'd trade away the Lore Nehekhara in a heartbeat for this beast of a lore. Not only that, if possible, I'd take it in my CD, LM or WoC armies if it was applicable (if they had access to it and the references to Undead Units was changed to their corresponding units).
While all but one of the spells are fantastic, the four spells I'd personally go for in most situations (barring situation specific exceptions) are:
That said, I would not feel hamstrung if I ended up with Hellish Vigour or Gaze of Nagash, as both are very solid. As mentioned before, I would always swap out Wind of Death.
- Invocation of Nehek - see above
- Vanhel's Danse Macabre (the re-rolls of failed To Hit rolls is already worth the casting value of 6+, let alone of added versatility being able to use it as a movement spell and the ability to bubble the spell if need be)
- Raise Dead - see above
- Curse of Years - see above
And there you have it. One of the very best lores in the game (IMHO), including all army book and BRB lores. Outside of the fact that the lore is somewhat limited in terms of the range of the spells, it is nearly flawless. Useful, versatile, devastating and unique. The VC wouldn't quite be the VC if they did not have this fantastic lore.
Agree... disagree? Did I miss anything? Which lores are better and why?
Indeed. TK could be largely fixed by simply bringing them into line with the VC:
I'm not saying that the TK would become powerhouses, but these simple changes would make a major impact. Fix up the EBtS rule and allow TK to make Stand and Shoot reactions and we're in business.
- access to a Lore of Vampires type lore
- ability to march when within range of the general (and Animated Constructs are treated in the same way as models with the Vamperic special rule)
- allow another Liche Priest take over hierophant duties should the Heirophant be slain
No chance.
I'm concerned that might be bridging the territory between Monstrous Infantry and Monster, but it's still worth having a go at playtesting them with that, even if just for the laughs, and if it makes them too strong, never mind, Toughness 5 it shall be!oldmandan said:
2+ toughness at what level of points increase?
I think it is a very problematic proposition to alter rules based on fluff. It reminds me of an old reference made in the 3rd edition Necron codex from way back in the day:
