Wednesday 6 October 2010

A Matter of Life and Death. Part One.

Hej folks. Here today for yet another magic article. This time the infamous Lore of Life, and the Lore of Death ft. the infamous Purple Sun of Xereus. These lores have worked up quite a reputation for themselves. Personally I'm of the opinion that Life is the best of the BRB lores. So, to the spellbooks!

Article One is Lore of Life and Article Two is Lore of Death. So, to the forest!

The Lore of Life
LA: Lifebloom *****
This is a spell you want to build up slowly on the tanks, or if you're on raid healing spread around the raid- Wait what? WHFB? Oh sorry. This is your lore attribute. It is awesome. In my opinion one of the reasons the Lore of Life is so damn good. Every time you cast a life spell you get a wound back. This goes very well in a friend's Lizardmen army with an EotG, an Ancient and a Slann (who, because of this effect is immortal, by the way). It's good because you don't even need to work to get this effect off. Watch Warrior Priests glower at you in envy. Seriously, this is one of the reasons the lore is so god damn good. Always remember to use this.

#0 Earth Blood ***
WOW, another warcraft joke (ho ho!). This spell isn't cast often because it works only on the wizard's unit. And you do not want your wizard in combat. However this is another brownie point towards Slann using the lore as they can happily sit in their T8 regenerating shield of thornsing regrowing temple guard unit, while remaining safe from retaliation. So if you're a combat caster or a Slann, fantastic. Otherwise gtfo. Shout out to Brettonia here, who can make effective use of this within their knight units. OH NO WAIT A SECOND IT DOESN'T STACK WITH WARD SAVES. Ugh, that's one of the main reasons I dislike this spell. Too hard to cast for what it does imo.

#1 Awakening of the Wood ***
This spell is Not Safe For Work. It's best cast in the morning. I'm actually just trying to fill space. It's a magic missile, what can you complain about? I mean, it only has an 18" range but it has a nifty little condition to hit harder. So erm, cool? However this spell becomes absolutely brutal with Throne of Vines up. Very easy to cast.

#2 Flesh to Stone ****
This spell kicks arse. It's not 5 stars in this article just by comparison. And the fact it can sometimes be no help at all, for example if they already wound on 6s (I laugh at people who cast it on monsters to make them T10, when the monster is in combat). However, if an infantry v infantry slugfest is occurring, then this spell, even without throne of vines will usually push your opponent to wounding you on at least a 6. With throne of vines it's almost guaranteed. Very good spell for buying yourself time or swinging a combat in your favour. Also very easy to cast.

#3 Throne of Vines *************
Over rated? Yes. Honestly I feel the best thing about this spell is what it does to regrowth. It turns it from a few models in to a rank resurrecting monster. The second most important is bumping Shield of Thorns up to S4. After that it makes Flesh to Stone T4 (which I find is better vs shooting than vs close combat, as heavy shooting is usually high/good strength) in addition to making Earthblood a 4+ and raising Awakening of the Wood to S6, which is nice admittedly. This spell is fantastic and you should get it on every life wizard you have, by any means necessary. It just raises your magic to a whole new level. Absolutely no reason to not have this running, and if you have a Slann/powerful wizard and your opponent dispels this in their own turn, you should absolutely recast this all the time.

#4 Shield of Thorns ****
Sleeper hit of the lore. This is probably a 4.5 if that exists. It's not a powerhouse spell. It's just damn damn damn good. This spell is underrated, and very very powerful. It's a magic missile that works every magic phase, as long as whatever you cast it on is in combat. I've seen this take units down, over a scarily short period of time. It's brutal because most people let it through then forget to dispel it. You should always have this running if you have it. Awesome spell in an awesome lore.

#5 Regrowth *****
Yeah, this spell. Now let me say, it's not very good without Throne of Vines. It's not bad, just not good. With Throne of Vines up however this spell is awesome. D6+1 models back for 3 dice is a kickass deal on elite units like White Lions and Temple Guard, as well as stuff like Bloodletters. It's a very good spell and tends to be the key factor in making elite armies with lore of life so hard to shift. That and Lifebloom. Not much to say about it, other than it's very good. It also works well on ogre sized things, remember that.

#6 The Dwellers Below *****
This spell is good for clearing out hordes. It's good for taking out small elite units (like Black Guard and such). But most of all, yeah most of all, it's best for assassinating wizards. I'm sure you've all discovered that. This is one of those spells that doesn't need much explanation. It's as subtle as a (primal concrete) sledgehammer and it does it's job admirably. Almost always worth the extra range.

So in general, the average rating of the Lore of Life is 4.375. It is in my opinion one of the best lores in the game, and definitely the best lore for high elves, wood elves, bretonnians, chaos daemons and lizardmen. It just suits elite armies down to the ground. It has everything. Honestly, it's pretty point and click. Use spells where they're effective, assassinate wizards with dwellers, and keep your life wizard near multi wound models and you'll do fine.

Next magic article is the Lore of Death, of course.

16 comments:

  1. Only problem I see with Life is it relies on Vines and large units get the most benefit out of the T bonus and Regen. Obviously Regrowth and Shield don't care but when I put life into my army list I feel like I need a block unit of 20+ guys.

    Still an awesome Lore though =D.

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  2. See when I consider Life it's very much a case of "Do I have a big hard to kill thing in the list". Because when a Slann casts 5 or so life spells a turn, all at a casting value higher than 10, it becomes very hard to keep the big things down.

    Part three of this article will be a summary and using both lores. Yes it's a shameless way to drag the articles out but I need quick easy to write articles in the middle of the week cause I'm working and don't get back till 10 at night. >:

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  3. Try writing 4-5 a day :P and when you're the busiest, your guest authors disappear.

    And ya I think life is geared towards a block of units but from an HE perspective, hiding in a block of PG and casting what's needed on Swordmasters, etc. seems appealing.

    What I really wish GW had done with Magic was assign casting values in terms of how many times you can cast a spell much like the D&D based computer games. Low level fireballs for example might be able tobe cast 3 times by one wizard whilst Dweller's could only be cast once, etc. Too complex for some people though I guess.

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  4. Even over multiple wizards would be preferable. As in if you had 2 fire mages they could both cast fireball, but only one could cast flamestorm or whatever the crappy rip off of scorch is called.

    =]

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  5. I find that Lore of Life, moreso than any other Lore except maybe Fire, dictates the list you run rather than vice versa. Like Kirby says, it pushes you in a direction in order to take more advantage of it.

    Other Lores you can, to an extent, switch in and out in an army list and they don't change the way you approach building the rest of your list, but this one does.

    Not saying that's a bad thing. Teclis sitting in a beefy Phoenix Guard units with Throne of Vines up can and will make full grown childish men cry. Same for a Slann with Temple Guard.

    I would like to add that because it is so dependent on Throne, most times if you take Life on your level 4 you won't take it on a hero level caster at the same time. Without Throne, the hero level caster won't be able to take full advantage of the Lore, so unlike many armies that go 4/2 of the same Lore, with Life it is advantageous to explore a support Lore with your #2, like Shadow.

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  6. Life rules, way to make up for 7th :P

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  7. I actually don't find it "that" dependant on throne. Seriously, it makes it better sure. But the spells still serve the same purpose without it up. Like I say, in my opinion the major one that's neutered without it is Regrowth. Everything else I'm not that fussed by if throne isn't up.

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  8. The biggest beneficiaries of Life magic are the aforementioned Slann and HE.
    You have no idea how much, as a perennial elf player, I love T5. 7 is a mother-loving bonus. You have any idea how good it feels to be able to say: "Wounding on 6s"? I NEVER get to say that!
    And its good for bringing back small elite units. Which Archy mentioned, but I feel I really should point out one more time.
    :)
    Also, if you're wanting another article, I wanna do one on a Sigmarite army for Empire. Approve? I'll write it and send it down at the weekend if so.

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  9. I've already written up an army that looks something like;

    Level 3
    Arch lector on altar
    3-4 warrior priests
    30 Flagellants
    Some more random chaff units to protect the WMs
    ARTILLERY (like 3 mortars and 2-3 cannons or something)
    2x25 Flagellants for rare.

    If it's anything like that then I'm already on it :P. Idea being a wall of solid unbreakable that actually hits pretty hard in 8E, backed up by a lot of shooting and magic. I still don't think that list is as good as a tonne of state troops in units of 25, multiple heroes and WPs running around, backed up by artillery. Long live MSU. :3

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  10. That said, feel free to take the reins on it. I'm going to try and get a series going which discusses effective builds for armies. Of course I'm not going to do all effective builds, but things to get people started.

    Ogsa, we need to get in touch about friday, no? I want to write up a batrep or two. Seeing as I haven't played your High Elves yet with skaven, and I wouldn't mind getting a batrep showing the Lizzies in action either.

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  11. Slann and HE definitely benefit from Life the most. The big problem that I see with it is that the 'big' buffs, Earthblood and Flesh To Stone, are on a single unit. A lot of the other lores have buffs and hexes that effect an entire area.

    This again confirms Kirby's point that it encourages big units. The problem with the big unit idea is that a lot of the big magic could care less about Earthblood and Flesh to Stone. Black Horror, 13th, Dwellers, Purple Sun could care less that you are T7/8 and have a 4+ regen.

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  12. Sorry, by Kirby's point you mean the point I made in the debate in my Wood Elf thread -.-'

    Yes, big units and big monsters to get the most from the spells... I quote;

    "My thoughts were that fewer units work better with life magic, so you can have multiple spells running on one unit, or at least gain more from one casting of a spell."

    xD. But as long as we all come to the same conclusion it's all good.

    Anyhoo, Jolly, you are of course correct about the magic caring less. It's a good balance thing in my opinion. The new combat rules and shooting rules encourage big units, but then they bring out spells that absolutely devastate big units. Personally, after testing, i'm on the "couldn't care less for steadfast or shooting in 2 ranks, give me mobility". And while my army may not look mobile, it is. If your opponent has say, 5 units and i'm running 22 different targets around then they'll be very hard pressed to check them all, which means most of those units can move around unhindered.

    As I said, long live MSU <3

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  13. Was actually going to be more fluffy than that, given that artillery isn't in the slightest bit Sigmarite. Knights, Flagellents. Oh, and 2 War Alters. I cannae mind, but I seem to remember they aren't 0-1, and they're 225pts basic. ;)
    Uhm. Yeah, was thinking about doing saturday night/sunday for some hefty DH?
    Just at Frasers? I'm reliably informed there'll be pizza. Play Fantasy through the day on Saturday.
    Also, and i was forgetting, the best thing, the single best thing, about Throne of Vines is ignoring miscasts on a 2+.

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  14. they are 0-1. lol.

    I have no idea how i forgot the 2+ ignored miscast.

    To all people reading the thread:

    IGNORING ALL MISCASTS ON A 2+ IS AMAZING. ESPECIALLY ON WIZARDS LIKE SLANN. NUFF SAID.

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  15. They ain't 0-1. Sitting here with the Empire book. ;)

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  16. Well there's only one War Altar. "May ride on the war altar of sigmar". Emphasis on the.

    Also;
    http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1310254a_FAQ_Empire_2010_v11.pdf

    While the ruling in there is invalid now the intention is quite clear imo.

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