Tactics for Tyrants - 'Ard Boyz Training: The Magic Phase

It's time for another article in our our 'Ard Boyz preparation series, this time talking about the most magical of phases... the Magic Phase! TheTrev0 brings some topical advice, tips, and information for those looking to break out their 'ard magic bits one for this year's 'Ard Boyz!       

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There is over 20,000k points on these shelves between Ogre Kingdoms, High Elves, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts, Dwarfs, and Lizardmen (Ogre Kingdoms, High Elves, and Tomb Kings being 'Ard Boyz ready) and even this won't last long vs a strong magic phase! Be prepared to fight for your models' life - this is 'Ard Boyz Magic!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to Basic, Advanced, and Specialized training for all you grunts that want that competitive edge in this year’s ‘Ard Boyz! My name is Trevor (TheTrev0) and this is the fifth article in this series.

Today’s article is going to break down the magic phase, its rules and structure as well as some tips, tricks, and best of all Cheese!

Since we're talking about the Magic Phase, and there is no need to re-invent the wheel, I would like to point you to a thread from the Stronghold itself! One of our good members forgottenlor has already done a great job of giving us some much needed advice and tips on Ogre Kingdoms Magic!

This is a fantastic post with really good points, and I encourage all Ogre generals to use this post to help generate more ideas. Check the post later this week for my personal input on the topic!

While forgottenlor makes great points, today I am going to discuss some of the rules of the Magic Phase that may cause some issues as well as some good points and tips. Grab your bottle of wine, this is ‘Ard Boyz Magic and it holds some of the biggest cheese in the game!

Before the Magic Phase

During list creation you choose the Lore of Magic that each caster will be using and the items that they bring, but today I will be discussing rules and strategies to using the Lores that you select, the items that you bring and the rules that make it all work.

The first rule that I will discuss today is Spell Generation. The Ogre Kingdoms army does not have an option for Lore Masters and thus we must always randomly generate our spells. Spell Generation takes place just before deployment (specifically before the Wizard is deployed) and openly so that both players can see the dice that are being rolled for each spell; make sure you follow both of these rules strictly at ‘Ard Boyz and be respectful by not moving any of the dice until your opponent sees them all.

After you both see the dice, you can then openly discuss with your opponent what spells you are selecting (switching out for signature spell or in the case of rolling doubles, choosing the spell). Mark those spells down and make sure that you show your opponent so that there is no confusion later on.

Now, if you noticed I said “in the case of rolling doubles, choosing the spell,” and that’s because you are allowed to pick any spell you want from that lore if you roll a double. This is a rule that has been argued over at our local hobby shop and at our home games, but the rules are pretty clear; if you roll doubles, then you may select another spell of your choice for that double. So if my level 4 Slaughtermaster rolled all 4 dice and they were all 6’s, I could choose 3 spells of my choice and trade the 4th for the signature spell or keep the 6th spell. In the back of the rule book just before the spells for each lore this is explained, under a large heading called “The Lores of Magic” with a sub-heading “Spell Generation” that explains this very clearly (page 490 in the Big Red Book).

Once your spell generation is complete, and you’ve marked all of the spells your caster knows, you may then deploy him where you see fit (and where your strategy/play style would benefit from the most). For me, I will be deploying my Level 4 and Level 2 Butchers in my main Core block, while using my Firebelly in either one of my Leadbelcher units to help increase the range pain (or my Maneater block if he gets Flaming Sword of Rhuin).

Roll for Winds of Magic and Casting

Once the game starts and the Movement Phase ends, the Magic Phase begins. Unless there are any special rules that need to take place at the start of the Magic Phase, the first thing that needs to be done is to roll for the Winds of Magic and then Channel. The big rule to remember here is that Level 0 Wizards can still attempt to Channel. However, fleeing Wizards or any Wizard that is off of the board for any reason cannot attempt to channel.

The other rule to remember is that the power pool is for the person who is currently casting and the dispel pool is for the person who is trying to stop the magic; this is important to remember for situations like Cupped Hands that can potentially allow a Slann to send his own miscast to a wizard of his choice. Even though the other wizard has to take the miscast, if the miscast table has a result where “...d6 dice are lost from the power pool,” they are actually lost from the power pool of the Lizardmen player. This is why it’s important to understand the title of each of these pools.

Finally for the sake of sportsmanship, and to avoid confusion, keep your power pool (or dispel pool) in one area of the table while rolling to cast your spells (or dispel) on a different part of the table; this allows your opponent to know exactly how many more dice you have to use and lets both of you easily see the number rolled to cast/dispel.

Onto casting spells; strategically it’s an age old question: Do I cast my most important spell first with a lot of dice or do I try to cast other spells first to draw out dispel dice and dispel scrolls. Personally, I believe it is the latter.

By casting other spells first, you may make your opponent nervous and second guess themselves; “Should I dispel now or wait to see what else he is going to cast.” A strategy I use is to cast an important spell first (but not that important) to make my enemy think hard and when they decide not to dispel I follow it up with something really weak, meaningless, or nothing at all. Then subsequent turns, I make sure to hold my important spell that I want to go off for last, hoping they will think I will do the same thing I did last turn and dispel the first spell, letting me get the spell I wanted to go off to successfully cast.

The next bit of advice I will give you is to remember that the average on two dice is 7, so add accordingly and make sure that you meet the minimum casting value of the spell with the dice alone; do not add the bonus of your caster! You want the spell to go off since if the caster fails to cast a spell (Broken Concentration page 32), that caster is done and can no longer attempt casting. Remember, you’re only going to get one spell off because of your enemy dispelling your attempts, so by failing to cast one spell you basically have shut your own magic phase down.

But deciding what spells to cast, what order to cast them in, and how many dice to throw really is the only strategy involved here and you need to tailor it to your own play style.

Some important rules to remember while casting:

• A spell is considered successful as long as it matched the casting value or if double 6’s are rolled (Irresistible force).
• If you roll a natural 1 or 2 it automatically fails, regardless of other bonuses.
• If you fail to cast a spell, that caster can no longer attempt to cast any further spells.
• As the caster, you may only roll 6 dice maximum... the dispelling player may roll any number of dice to dispel.

Dispelling and Spell Resolution

Before a player can attempt to dispel, the following must be true: the casting value must have been met and the spell must not have gone off with Irresistible Force. Once this has been determined the dispelling playing may then consider whether or not they want to dispel the successful casting.

Playing as the Ogre Kingdoms, there are a few spells out there that cause horrific damage, so bad that they cause us to lose the game, namely Purple Sun of Xerxes. As such, if it’s not Purple Sun save your dispel scroll and if you’ve already used your scroll on one Purple Sun, save your dispel dice for it; you don’t and can’t afford to take that sort of risk if the enemy caster knows Lore of Death.

Otherwise, dispel whatever spell is going to be the most threatening right now (not later). For example, Flesh to Stone from the Lore of Life or Okkam’s Mindrazor from the Lore of Shadow are both augments that can literally make any unit an incredibly large threat; but if it is cast on one of their units that isn’t currently in close combat, just ignore it – you don’t have to charge it. Similarly, if a Hex is cast on one of your own units that isn’t in combat, let it go off – who cares if your Ogres only have strength 1, if they aren’t going to be whacking an enemy during the next close combat phase? Of course, if the casting player in question doesn’t have any more dice beyond those used to cast the spell and you still have dispel dice, just attempt the dispel.

Speaking of whether or not you should dispel, whenever you decide to actually dispel, never leave 1 dispel dice left – it just isn’t worth it. It is better to dispel a spell completely, than chance not being able to dispel either. As the old adage goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Think about what spells are going to cause you to lose the game and focus on those while letting spells that won’t cause you the game to go off; I understand how hard that can be sometimes and its tough – but that’s the Magic Phase... cruel and harsh.

Some rules to remember when dispelling:

• You may use a scroll OR attempt to dispel with dice, not both.
• Double 6’s is also considered irresistible force, but it’s called irresistible dispel and doesn’t cause a miscast.
• You may always attempt to dispel, even if you no longer have any wizards – you just don’t get any bonuses to dispel.
• You may use any number of dice to attempt a dispel (even if you have more than six dice).

In regards to spell resolution, there isn’t any strategy or tips here, only rule clarification.

If a spell is considered to be successfully cast and did not get dispelled, follow the rules described by the spell and complete it in full. Then do the lore attribute associated with the lore for successfully casting the spell (if it applies). Finally roll on the miscast table if it was cast with Irresistible Force.

Tips, Tricks, and Cheese!

Tips:

• As mentioned above, always save that dispel scroll for that one spell that can ruin the game for you – it’s better to not use it at all than to not have it when you need it.
• When casting or dispelling, meet the minimum value required with the dice first and be happy with any bonuses you get.
• There are really good spells in the Lore of Death (more than just using the Death-fist strategy or Purple Sun) like Soulblight and Doom and Darkness - read them and use them!
• Augment spells stack! You may want to bring 2 x Lore of Beasts or Lore of Heaven Butchers to stack the signature spell (or just give you security that one of them will go off).

Tricks:

• Firebelly on a flying carpet is a nasty trick that the enemy may not be prepared for – fly to the flank of an enemy unit and use your breath weapon for maximum carnage or use it to hunt Warmachines quickly and accurately.
• The Lore of Fire’s Sword of Rhuin gives +1 to wound and by casting it on a unit or model that already wounds on a 2+ means that they auto-wound; roll to hit and all of those are also considered wounds! Also works well with Leadbelchers and Sniping Maneaters!
• Lore of the Great Maw’s Bonecruncher may seem weak, but cast it on Cavalry or especially an Empire Steam Tank and you’ll learn its powers quickly!
• When you have a lot of dice (10 or more) cast an important and powerful spell to lure your opponent’s dispel dice or scroll; this is best achieved with Trollguts or an AoE version of Soulblight. Then after then attempt to dispel it, combo Lore of Death’s Doom and Darkness and Lore of the Great Maw’s Brain Gobbler to make that big, scary block flee. For added damage and salt in the wound, have a Sabertusk near by that can declare a charge your next round if they fail to rally next round (because they are still at -3 Leadership).

Cheese:

• The Greedy Fist reduces wizard levels every time the bearer of the item hits an enemy wizard; combine this item and use the Lore of Death’s Caress of Laniph!
• Beware! There is a new type of cheese that is rising up against the Ogres (because of our Hell Heart). Since enemy casters can't get too close to our Hell Heart to cast Purple Sun point blank, they have begun to cast Purple Sun out in the open but in front of our big block to prevent them from being able to charge or move. To further make this a threat, Daemons of Chaos use Siren's Song to force our block to charge through the Purple Sun!

Next Time

Alright - we're moving along really quick in these articles and next week we've got the Shooting phase which will be similar to this article. Come hungry and be ready, we're going to talk about Sniping Maneaters and the Move and Shoot special rule. Until then..

-TheTrev0