Beastmen: Magic

 

                If you want to play Big Magic Beastmen you will need several things:

1)      The proper choice of Lores of Magic

2)      Four Shamans (yes, this is the proper plural of shaman)

3)      The proper choice of magic-boosting magic items

I think the major weakness for Beastmen magic is #1.  You can choose from the following four lores—Wild, Beasts, Death, Shadow.  Here are my opinions of each:

Shadow Lore [This is my recommendation for Great Bray-Shamans]

The best two spells (Unseen Lurker & Pit of Shades) both need 4 dice to cast successfully.  So I would only take this lore with a level 4 Great Bray-Shaman.  The problem is that many of the spells have only 12” range and your mages don’t have any way to increase their mobility (aside from using Steed of Shadows to hop around).  So I would rate this Lore choice as “mediocre”. 

Steed of Shadows (2 dice = 83.3%) – use this to hop your Beastmen (not Minotaur) characters around.  Don’t forget you can use this to charge fleeing troops and auto-cause them to flee again (hopefully off the board). 

Creeping Death (2 dice = 72.2%, 3 dice = 91.2%).  This is best used against armored T4 enemy characters that are outside of units or heavily armored elite troops. 

Crown of Taidron (3 dice = 82.4%) This is not attractive since it is a 12” AOE effect that hurts both friends and foes and your Shamans will have a hard time getting into a position to use it that is both 1) not going to get them killed and 2) around a bunch of enemies and not a bunch of friends.  Meh. 

Shades of Death (3 dice = 74.1%) With all the fear & terror in the game this can be handy to avoid having your non-fear causing troops get auto-broken by fear causing enemies.  It can also be used to cause a surprise terror test on enemies within 6” of your fear causer.  Meh. 

Unseen Lurker (4 dice = 79.5%) Magical movement is often game-winning.

Pit of Shades (4 dice = 73.3%) It auto-kills low Initiative enemies.  Absolutely fantastic.  The following species are particularly susceptible:  Dwarves, Ogres, Slaan, Saurus, Orcs, Treemen, Hydras, Skeletons, Varghulfs, Cairn Wraiths, Chariots, Plaguebearers & Heralds of Nurgle, Chaos Spawn, Centigors, Dragon Ogres, Liche Priests, Swarms, Kroxigors, Trolls, Zombies, Corpse Carts, Spirit Hosts, Beasts of Nurgle, Bone Giants, and virtually all warmachines (i.e. cannons, Screaming Bells, etc.)

Death Lore

This is a rather generic damage-dealing & anti-low-leadership-enemies list.  Like Shadow a lot of the spells have 12” ranges making it less than ideal for Beastmen. 

Dark Hand of Death (2 dice = 83.3%) Standard magic missile.  A

Steal Soul (3 dice = 82.4%) 12” range, auto-hit, auto-wound, no armor save vs. one model.  Plus it heals you and can take your wounds above starting value.  Fantastic for character-killing (its only weakness is vs. wards & regeneration).

Wind of Death (3 dice = 82.4%) Standard upgraded 2d6 dmg magic missile.  These are always very nice. 

Walking Death (3 dice = 74.1%) Identical to Shades of Death (see Shadow Lore above).

Doom & Darkness (3 dice = 74.1%) -3 to enemy leadership is always nice.  Plus is stays in play for one turn without the normal drawbacks of a “remains in play” spell (i.e. you can cast other spells, it can’t be dispelled, etc.)

Drain Life (3 dice = 62.5%, 4 dice = 83.3%) 12” range, all enemy units, ignores armor saves.  Good against clusters of armored enemies, but tricky to use with slow beastmen casters. 

Beast Lore [The is my recommendation for Bray Shamans]

With the horrible leadership of Beastmen, Oxen Stands becomes a gem.  And The Beast Cowers is one of the most powerful spells in the game.  Finally, with the exception of the lame default spell the list generally has very long ranges, including two spells with unlimited range that don’t require LOS.  So your slow beastmen shamans can lurk in forests in your deployment zone and still cast spells. 

The Bear’s Anger (1 die = 50%, 2 dice = 91.7%) I guess you could use this to buff unit champions (+3A, +2S, +1T, can’t use weapons) but don’t forget it’s a remains in play spell so use it last (or it prevents your caster from casting anything else). 

The Oxen Stands (2 dice = 83.3%) Fantastic for rallying your often fleeing troops. 

The Crow’s Feast (2 dice = 58.3%, 3 dice = 88%) An upgraded magic missile, but with only S3.  Average. 

The Beast Cowers (2 dice = 58.3%, 3 dice = 88%) Enemy cavalry, swarms, chariots, and monsters cannot move or attack in melee for one round.  Note:  In the main rulebook under “monsters” a Slaan is given as the example in the illustration.  In addition, Greater Demons are specifically identified as “monsters” in the Demon book.  So both of these creatures are (according to the rules) susceptible to this spell.  That said, I’m under the impression that some GW employee publically claimed that they weren’t so there may be a FAQ or somesuch where they alter this.  Yet although instance of GW not understanding their own rules…

The Hunter’s Spear (3 dice = 82.4%) Auto-hitting bolt thrower.  Cool.   The problem is that it would be really helpful to have a mobile mage so you can flank enemy untis… which you don’t have. 

The Wolf Hunts (3 dice = 74.1%) A good but not ideal movement spell.  It is somewhat limited on what it can be used upon and only moves you straight at your enemies.  However, if you move up to within 2” of the enemy (during your movement phase) this spell basically guarentees a charge in the magic phase (if you successfully cast it). 

Wild Lore

Like Shadow and Death there are a number of very short-range spells which as we have repeatedly noted is not ideal for Shamans who can’t fly or ride fast mounts.  Sadly, this is probably my least favorite of the four lores. 

Bestial Surge (2 dice = 58.3%, 3 dice = 88%) This has a tiny range (6”) and it seems to not allow you to magically charge (since you stop within 1” of a “unit”—which assumedly includes enemy units.)  So I guess you could use it to advance a bit quicker… but generally its pretty lame.

Viletide (2 dice = 58.3%, 3 dice = 88%) This is similar to Creeping Death, except it doesn’t ignore armor saves.  This is decent for shooting completely unarmored T4 enemies (i.e. mages outside units) who will take 3 wounds on average.   

Devolve (3 dice = 74.1%) Again we have a 12” radius effect that ignores enemy armor saves.  This one is inferior to the Death and Shadow versions which always work vs. this one which only works if they fail a leadership test (although this one doesn’t affect allies). 

Bray-Scream (3 dice = 62.5%, 4 dice = 83.3%) Its hard to get into position to use a breath weapon effectively and this has a high enough score you need a Great Bray-Shaman to cast it.  Its only saving grace is that it ignores armor saves.  Eh.

Traitor-Kin (3 dice = 62.5%, 4 dice = 83.3%) Having a Star Dragon attack its rider or a Hydra eat its handlers is pretty cool.  The problem is that you will often not have any attractive targets for this spell.  Too situational for my taste. 

Mantle of Ghorok (4 dice = 65%) You have 13% chance of miscasting on this big boy and if it works the character it is cast upon has a 33% chance of taking 1W with not saves allowed.  That said, +d6 Strength and Attacks is downright nasty on minotaur characters.  This is the best of the bunch, but your Great-Bray Shaman will only get it in 66% of your games… so its risky taking this lame list and hoping you roll a 6 when choosing spells. 

Magic-boosting Magic Items

                I would start by giving one of my Bray-Shamans the Shard of the Herdstone (50 pts).  Deploy it in a forest or behind a hill or building in your deployment zone and park your Shamans around it (which will cause it to generate 4 power dice/round).  It will be a magnet for the enemy’s army so you can deploy your troops to smash them as they come at it. 

                I would give my other two Bray-Shamans 3 Dispel Scrolls and the Hagtree Fetish (25 pts).  The Fetish makes your damage spells re-roll to wound (which is fantastic) against one enemy unit per turn… so focus all your fire on it and destroy it. 

                Finally, I would give my Great Bray-Shaman 2 powerstones (20 pts each) and the Skull of Rarkos (60 pts) .  The powerstones should be used ASAP in conjunction with your big spells (i.e. Unseen Lurker, Pit of Shades) to draw enemy dispel scrolls.  The Skull provides a nice steady bonus to all your casting scores and has the same radius of effect as the Shard of the Herdstone. 

Dispelling Spells

One key to dispelling properly is to ALWAYS use only the proper number of dice.  MORE IS NOT BETTER.  MORE IS NOT BETTER.  (Get it?)  Here is the rule:

If your opponent has a casting TOTAL of… 3-6 (use 2 dice), 7-9 (use 3 dice), 10+ (use 4 dice or a scroll). 

If you follow this rule you will dispel ~80% of spells that you roll dice at.