Table Of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Selecting Magic Users and Lores
3. Spell Casting
4. The Lore of Light
5. The Lore of Beasts
6. The Lore of Death
7. The Lore of Heavens
8. The Lore of Shadows
9. The Lore of Fire
10. The Lore of Life
11. The Lore of Metal
12. Bound Spell Items
13. Prayers

Introduction:

The impetus for this work was a post by Crimsonsphinx seeking to have a place where the collective thoughts of the forum on how the Lores of Magic apply to the Empire could be stored. Rather than have to repeat the same ideas to new players, we now have a place to where tactics and strategies previously discussed can be found. The ideas presented here are a compilation of the interpretations, analyses, and discussions of the rules of all the spells, items having bound spells, and the prayers of Sigmar of the Warrior Priests and Arch Lectors. This is not a substitute for what Games Workshop provides but a tool for analysis and decision making to select the best Lore for your particular army composition. This work should not be seen as something you need to have next to you when you play your games but something to contemplate before you go to battle. This is a work in progress so your thoughts for additions are welcome.

The actual text from the spells may be found in pages 104 et seq of the 7^th Edition rules for Warhammer and in the relevant pages in Warhammer Armies: The Empire. In addition, Games Workshop has provided handy printable magic cards for each of the eight Lores of Magic found on pp. 111-119 of the Warhammer rulebook at this location: http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/empire/extras/magiccards/default.htm  These cards are a handy way to "roll" for spells for your Wizards and for your bound items while having the text of each spell available throughout the game.

The analysis of each Lore of magic is left as much as possible in the language of the original poster from this thread: http://www.warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=19297.0. This work was edited and compiled by perambulator with considerable input and assistance from PowderMonkey. Perambulator also created the text and analysis that is not otherwise credited. PowderMonkey created the images and graphics and incorporated the photographs of the various spell casters into this work. The various photographs incorporated herein were submitted by posters on this thread: http://www.warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=20028.0.

Selecting Magic Users and Lores:

The choice of which Lore to take for each Wizard or bound item will vary depending on your approach to magic. As the rules state that you only roll for your spells prior to the deployment phase, you do not have to pick your Lore before your game and you may choose your Lore depending on the opponent you will be facing. This requires you to have at least some knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of all the Lores, an understanding of the effectiveness of the Lores against the opponent you are facing, and some expectation of what you feel about this whole "magic" thing anyway. Of course, if you have some fluff reasons for picking your Lores or if your models are WYSIWYG for the Lores and you feel bound by that, then you're stuck with those choices.

In any Lore always pay attention to the default spell.  If, for example, you roll both Uranon's Thunderbolt and the Comet of Casandora from the Lore of Heavens for a level-two Wizard, it is not likely that you will be able to successfully cast both spells, and there is a high probability that you will be unable to cast either spell.  Therefore swapping one of the two spells for the default Portent of Far would be a prudent choice. With cheap spells, you can be more confident of successfully casting something with left over power dice at the end of a magic phase.

If you are uncomfortable with taking magic and the most you are willing to take is a "scroll caddy" (A level-one Wizard with two dispel scrolls), then it doesn't really matter which Lore you choose, as it is likely that your opponent will have sufficient dispel die to effectively shut down your offensive magic phase. In such armies, bound items will not play a significant role, if any, as the relatively low casting value of bound spells are easy to dispel with little effort from your opponent. Obviously, if your opponent is not bringing any magic of his own to speak of, then even the lowly level-one Wizard could do significant damage, plus it is always possible for you to cast a spell with irresistible force. Battle Wizards may be present at the battle but they are not fighters by any stretch of the imagination, so taking a sole scroll caddy is only intended to show a token presence in the magic phase.

While a solo level-two Wizard in a list of Lords and Heroes with no other means of casting spells might be a force to recon with in smaller games, it is generally not recommended to take one unsupported in 2,000 point games and higher. The Empire is uniquely blessed with the Warrior Priest and Arch Lector characters that bring their own twist to the magic phase. The additional dispel die that they generate help the Empire's magic defense, and their prayers act like bound spells (while not actually being spells themselves) which will force your opponent to at least take their presence into consideration in your magic offense. The presence of even a single Warrior Priest or Arch Lector makes the choice of fielding a single level-two Wizard at higher point games more feasible. Combined with the Rod of Power, a single level-two Wizard with at least one Warrior Priest or Arch Lector has the ability to tailor your magic phase depending on what your opponent brings to the table and would allow you to adapt to changing battlefield conditions, if you manage to eliminate your enemy's Wizards or if your opposing Wizards miscast.

Taking two level-two Wizards at a 2,000-point game will generally give you a fairly strong magic phase both offensively and defensively. The presence of Warrior Priests and Arch Lectors will only augment this further.

If you choose to take a Wizard Lord, you might as well spend the 35 points to upgrade him to level four for the additional power die and spell. The level-three Wizard is the odd one out of the Empire Wizard world and is generally not fielded.

Spell Casting:

The chances that a spell will be successfully cast depend on the casting value of the spell and the number of dice used in the cast attempt. A simple calculation of probabilities to roll the minimum casting value versus the number of die used will produce the following table:

* Source: Calculated probabilities obtained from: http://folk.ntnu.no/tarjeia/avian/calculations/casting.php

The table lists the probability to successfully cast or dispel a spell minus the chance for a miscast (that is why rolling 5 die for a spell with a casting value of 3 only has an 80.4% chance of success). Therefore in many cases rolling more die actually lowers your chance of successfully casting a spell. Of course with each additional die used, the chances for rolling both miscasts and irresistible force also increase significantly.

The recommend number of dice to use applies equally to all of the Lores of Magic and is repeated for each spell listed below. These recommendations are probably more conservative than what many players may use for their games. Rolling fewer die than suggested would still give you fairly good odds that a spell will be cast and by all means use the number of dice you are comfortable with.

The chart applies equally to rolling dispel die to dispel an opponent's successfully cast spells. If you really need the spell to be dispelled, you are probably better off using the recommended number of die. Of course, you must take care to balance the need to stop a spell with whatever else your opponent may have up his sleeve.

by Crimsonsphinx

This is a nice Lore with low to-cast values.  Varying between 5-10 for the casting level for its spells, even the top-level spell can be cast with relative ease by a level-two Wizard.  It is a viable Lore no matter what your Wizard's level, and it is in character for a mage wielding light magic to combat the evils around.  The recommended place for Wizards with this Lore is slightly behind the front of your infantry line, as most of his spells will support them.

Burning Gaze

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This is a standard flaming magic missile attack. It is essentially identical to the base Fire and Death spells, with a bonus +2 strength against undead or daemons.  This means that you can engage and expect to inflict some serious damage on bone giants, zombie dragons, daemon princes and greater daemons.  On top of this, it is exactly the same cost to cast as the fire and death spells, which both lack this bonus.  This is a pretty generic spell, useful in nearly any situation.  It gives you a good fallback option for a default base spell, and can be used with a level-one Wizard better than the Fire and Death Lores in an all-comers tourney.

Pha's Illumination

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This is another cheap spell to cast. This can turn the Wizard or single character into a S5 model with three attacks.  It has limited use on our normal fighting heroes, but can be used on Warrior Priests or Wizards to reasonable effect.  It's probably the weakest spell in the Lore, as it really only helps our casters.  In the rare occasion that one of our fighting heroes is not as good as this spell, it is ok.  It's not really a spell we can do much with.  One slight advantage is that it cancels magic weapons, which can be useful in some situations, but is worthless against the ever common Great Weapon.  This spell is probably too situational to be of any use and I recommend you swap this out for the default spell if you can.

 
Healing Energy

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This is another cheap spell. It has unlimited range and can be even cast into close combat with no line of sight restrictions.  It can heal any friendly model of a wound lost, even monsters and chariots!  This is useful if you have a griffon or dragon and so probably more useful for High Elf's than us.  However it can save valuable victory points if used effectively.  I am not a great fan of this spell, but if you happen to have Franz on a dragon you might find this spell to be rather tasty.  I would swap it for the default spell if I could.  It is perhaps a slightly more usable spell than Pha's Illumination so if you roll both, keep this one.  It's well worth having if your general is on a flying beast.

Dazzling Brightness

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This is more like it!  This is my favorite spell in the Lore. This spell reduces the Weapon Skill of any enemy unit to 1!  Cast it on a unit of elite infantry or knights to show them that Humans rule!  It's best use is on Swordmasters or Chosen Chaos Warriors.  Yes, even flagellants can hit them on 3s with this spell!  With Weapon Skill 1, the enemy unit can only hit normal state troops on 5's too, meaning you can absorb more attacks from pretty much anything.  If you need to win a combat, this is the spell for you.  A reasonable range and no line-of-sight requirements make this ideal to support units even on the flanks of your army.

Guardian Light

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This spell is everything you could wish for when fighting Chaos, Undead, or Ogres and it remains in play.  With your Wizard slightly behind your lines casting this spell, you can all but eliminate the effects of psychology.  Also this spell rallies your troops within its effective radius. This has less use against other armies who have less psychology based units, but the rally is still useful.  Against Chaos, Undead, or Ogres it is the best spell in the Lore.  Otherwise its use is somewhat restricted, but it still protects from panic.  It can be problematic if you intend to flee as a charge reaction.

[Note that the Rulebook Errata changes the last sentence of the text of this spell as follows:

'If successfully cast, all these units are Immune to Psychology as long as they remain in range. In addition, during the 'Rally fleeing units' part of their Movement phase, all friendly fleeing units within range automatically pass their rally tests, and will rally even if below 25% of their initial numbers.'

Therefore, your opponent will have an opportunity to dispel this spell before it has the chance to take effect for your fleeing units. Thanks to NPC_Dave for catching this correction. - Ed.]

Cleansing Flame

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-5

This is the top spell of the Lore.  It hits all enemy units within 12 inches with d6 high strength attacks. Because the hits are randomized as shooting, be aware your own units may take damage if they are engaged in close combat with an enemy unit in range when the spells is successfully cast.  This spell is great against nearly any army but even better against Undead or any Daemons closing in on your Wizard or battle line.

by Rorrak

 
A lot of the spells in this Lore are situational, but for the spell choices for a level-2 Wizard there always seems to be something that one of the spells can do and you can always default to Bears Anger for the other. Bears Anger is the reason I take this Lore so it's not a compromise for me. When this list is backed up by another support Lore like Light or Heavens folks often overlook the usefulness of this Lore and pass on dispelling it in favor of stopping the other spells that are perceived to be more useful.

Bears Anger

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-2

For me this is the reason to pick this Lore. Pop this onto my Battle Standard Bearer or Arch Lector and they are quite capable in combat. Back it up with the Hammer of Sigmar prayer and suddenly you are not just winning combat with your static combat resolution, but you are also making it hard for your enemy to roll to stay. If you now run down the routed unit, the damage done by other direct damage spells pales in comparison to the damage done by this spell. Just because this spell has an extremely low casting value does not mean you cannot throw 3 dice at it, but the beauty is that you can very often get it off with just one dice in a pinch.

This spell is the reason to pick this Lore - any other spell you get is just bonus. The drawback is that you need a target for the spell to be on foot but a great target is a character fielded with the Armor of Meteoric Iron - so much the better for combat resolution if that character is the Battle Standard Bearer.

The Oxen Stands

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This spell can be very useful, but if I get it, it's often the spell that I pass over to select the default Bears Anger. Nevertheless, the remaining models factor is pretty significant. If your general is running in a unit that's too small to rally then this spell awesome. However when your opponent thinks he has got the victory points he will be reluctant to let you cast this. It's pretty good for drawing out dispel dice. If you really need it to be successfully cast, you should present your opponent with hard choices that will deplete his dispel dice pool before using this.

The Crow Feasts
Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This is a direct damage spell that is easy to cast. It's not as damaging as your pure direct damage Lores but also gets let through if you have stronger spells on your other Wizard. It's also a spell that I often drop in favor of the default Bears Anger but take a good look at your opponent's army to see if it's worth keeping.

The Beast Cowers

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3
For its relatively low power level requirements this spell is very effective against a number of targets. Combined with detachments you can have Brettonians fall over each other in a mess of a traffic jam.  It's also excellent at pinning monsters and chariots in place so that you can take another shot at them with your shooting. Another great use is to prevent a monster from adding its attacks to combat, which might be all you need to prevent your unit from breaking. This also makes the Van Horstmann's Speculum more effective in challenges as a cowering monster cannot attack back. If your opponent has no targets for this spell then it's the one to drop in favor of Bears Anger.

The Hunter's Spear
Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is the worst spell in the list. Well that is until you have that enfilade shot on a unit of knights. That enfilade is easier to get with a Wizard than a bolt thrower. However other spells in the Lore may be more useful.

The Wolf Hunts
Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is the hardest spell in the list to cast and it's still pretty easy. Three power dice will pull it off more often than not. I don't have hammer knight units in my army but even then it has its uses. For example, if your vanilla knights fail a fear test on a charge attempt against fear-causing war machine hunters, this spell gives you that second chance to stop them.

Another strong use is to push units of knights or the War Altar into the flank zone of the enemy and then threaten a charge into his flank. Beware that with the possibility of such a strong outcome your opponent will often have dispel scrolls in reserve for it. Be sure to carefully consider your options if you rely on this spell to put you in a game winning position because you may be in a worse position if the spell is dispelled or miscast. This spell is also great for giving the War Altar extra movement to keep up to a faster army. Always remember that the average movement granted by this spell is 7 inches, so plan accordingly.

by Masterengineer

Dark Hand Of Death

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This is a basic magic missile and a good default spell. I use it mainly against units of skirmishers and fast cavalry, because it isn't really that destructive a spell. It doesn't require much thought to use and small elite infantry units, skirmishers, and fast cavalry can take significant damage with this spell. However it is generally useless against large block units and not very effective against 1+ Armor Save knights or units with Toughness 5.

Steal Soul

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is a good spell for some other armies, but not the best choice for the Empire. While the casting cost is still relatively low, its low range and its ability to do just one wound aren't that appealing. It may be used to heal your Wizard, but really, it's the worst spell of the Lore. If used, it should be targeted at champions and characters in units; never cast it against rank and file soldiers that have only one wound (except champions). The good thing is, that you can use this while in combat, so you can kill champions and damage characters, while you are tied in combat.

Wind Of Death

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is an improved Dark Hand of Death spell that does more hits and has a higher casting cost. This can be used effectively against some heavier and larger units too, but it still is at it's best against skirmishers and fast cavalry. Use this against anything but Toughness 6 models, but still try to focus on soft units, because this hurts them seriously. Even rank and file troops take severe punishment from this spell.

Walking Death

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is an average spell that gives you an immunity to fear, and gives you the chance to make your opponent test insane courage. However its effectiveness is highly dependent on the situation. This spell is most effective against low Leadership armies like Goblins. It is also useful against armies with a lot of Fear and Terror causing units like Undead, Daemons, Wood Elf Spirit Hosts, and Ogres. It takes away a part of the Empire's psychology weakness.  However against armies like the Skaven this should probably be swapped for Dark Hand of Death, because you will face Leadership 9-10 units and won't face units causing fear.

[Additional Commentary on Walking Death:

From CaptScott:

This spell can be extremely valuable when cast on large units.  Enemy units will (with the exception of rolling insane courage!) automatically fail break tests if they are defeated by a unit that has a higher unit strength and causes fear.  This can be great when cast on large Empire infantry blocks that usually outnumber their opponents, but also keep an eye out for other instances where you have the unit strength advantage (e.g. knights charging a small unit). Also smaller enemy units may be forced to flee from charges by a higher unit strength block due to fear.

From yiradati:

In the odd chance that you have a unit that already causes fear (e.g. Ogres) you can cast the spell on them for a surprise terror check to turn the battle. Do it when you have a lot of enemy units in range.  But watch out for opponents pulling this trick on you!]

Doom & Darkness

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is THE spell of the Lore, it can make your opponent's units break more easily, panic more easily, and it can be used to bombard your opponents line with Terror test at -3. It is a very good spell. Use it against units that you NEED to break in combat this turn, or against units that have to take Terror test on their next turn. So you can, for example, make a Steam Tank's Terror a lot more powerful with this spell. Swap it for Dark Hand Of Death against armies that are immune to psychology, because it doesn't work against them.

[Additional Commentary on Doom & Darkness:

From CaptScott:

This spell can also work wonderfully with armies that have a strong shooting phase.  The spell has a similar range to your missile units, and can be cast upon a target before attempting to panic it in the shooting phase (remember, units that lose 25% or more of its models in the shooting phase must take a panic test).

From yiradati:

This is a nice spell to combine with the Doomfire ring...[…or the Burning Head Spell. -Ed.]]

Drain Life

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-5

This is a good spell, if you can get your caster into position near knights or other low Toughness high Armor Save units. But usually you don't get too many units that fit that category within range. This spell is a killer against Bretonnians.

This spell needs a Wizard in, or close to, combat, or a Pegasus-riding Wizard to get the required distance. Because we don't like to have our Wizards threatened more than they have to be, this would be better with a Pegasus riding Wizard Lord. Maneuver the Pegasus to a flank/rear of the opposing army and let all hell break loose. Against some armies, like Bretonnians, fly between two units of knights, and watch them suffer your wrath.

by Rufas The Eccentric

In the 6^th Edition this may have been the all-around favorite.  Second Sign of Amul can be a very powerful spell if used properly and it was the default spell.  The Portent of Far has now pushed it into second place.  Still, the Lore of Heavens provides a great diversity of spells.  The two magic missile spells do not have a range restriction and the Comet of Casandora does not even require line of sight.

Portent of Far

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

Rolling as many ones as I do, this is just as good of a default spell as the Second Sign of Amul was in the 6^th Edition. The Portent can be cast on any friendly unit in range and it can be cast on units in combat.  Obviously, you want to cast it on that unit that will be making the most shots or attacks that turn.  The Portent allows that unit to re-roll "ones" both to hit and to wound during that turn.  Not all misses - only "ones".  As always there are no re-rolls of re-rolls. 

As an example with a nice twist:  Your Wizard is in a unit of a dozen Handgunners and the Marksman with a Hochland Long Rifle.  Not only can all of the gunners and marksmen re-roll, but the Wizard would get to re-roll the wounds on one of his magic missile spells.  This would not affect the Comet of Casandora as it never goes off on the turn it was cast.

Second Sign of Amul

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

Again, this was the default spell for the Lore of Heavens in the 6^th Edition.  The re-rolls gained from successfully casting this spell can be used on rolls to hit, wound, armor, and ward saves.  Unfortunately, this does not apply to artillery dice or scatter dice and unlike 6^th Edition it no longer applies to power dice. However, if you're striking out with the ladies at the local pub, Second Sign can be a great asset.

There are several issues with the Second Sign.  Although not as powerful as it's prior edition, there are many who are not aware of its weakness: It is easy to dispel.  Many opponents will be scared of the Second Sign, perhaps out of a fuzzy recollection of the 6^th Edition and will go to great lengths to dispel it. 

If you do get it off, you need to take care to use the dice wisely.  It is far better to use the dice to allow a Captain with a Sword of Might a re-roll to hit then a member of the free company detachment.  However, if you know that Grimgor's going to swing for your General, then perhaps save that re-roll for his ward save.

The final issue and a very big problem with Second Sign is forgetting to use the re-rolls at all.  I have done this a lot.  Somewhere on this forum was the advice to set aside 1 to 3 dice as a reminder.  I've done this.  I still forget.  In a battle, there are dice all over the place.  You need three BIG markers of some type.  Three really big dice may do the trick, just don't crush your opponent's delicate figures with your really big dice.

(Edited thanks to the keen eye of dabber.)

Celestial Shield

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This is my least favorite spell simply because it is "remains in play".  I do not like having my spell caster tied down to protect one unit from shooting.  Cast it on your Greatswords and the Swordsmen will be targeted instead.  About the only use for this is that if the opponent does not dispel it outright, they may use power dice in their magic phase to do so.  If it is an option, I will always take the default spell over this one.

Forked Lighting

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

It is weird but this spell has a lower casting requirement than Celestial Shield. This is a good workhorse magic missile doing respectable damage.  It's greatest virtue is the low casting cost and unlimited range as long as there is line of sight.  It's best used against lightly armored targets and small units such as light cavalry and scouts where you may have the possibility of getting a panic check.

Uranon's Thunderbolt

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is an improved version of Forked Lighting cast at a higher cost, doing D6 ST4 hits, with no armor save.  Ideal for toasting Chaos Knights and other targets who feel special and invulnerable.  Again, only line of sight is required.

The Comet of Casandora

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 4-5

Everyone dreams of casting an irresistible force Comet that expands till it wipes out half the battlefield and most of the opponents army. It's not likely, but it is a nice dream.

Assuming the Comet is cast as a regular spell, you can bet that the opponent will use at least three and maybe four power dice in their turn to dispel.  That, in and of itself, is not such a bad thing. 

The Comet gains a marker when it is cast and at the beginning of each players turn.  Roll 1-3 and a new marker is added   Roll a 4-6 and the Comet goes off with a blast radius of D6 multiplied by the number of markers.  Now a suggestion here:  Be certain to place the marker with 1/2 inch of at least one unit, preferably a war machine.  That way when the Comet goes off on the very first phase and you roll a "1" to determine the radius you will at least get something.  The Comet is not a great spell against fast moving armies unless you are willing to cast the Comet dangerously close to your lines.  Likewise, if you are going on the offensive, the target point must be selected with care.   

If you have used Second Sign at the local pub and still struck out, the Comet is an ideal way to salvage your pride.

By Gneisenau

I've not calculated it, but this Lore could be the one with the highest average casting value. There are two spells a level-two Wizard will fail to cast more often than not with his three power dice. Plus, you get a base spell that doesn't seem very useful. Is it a bad choice overall? While the upper half of this Lore has indeed high casting values, it also consists of powerful spells some enemies can't risk letting through. The lower half is situational, but can be very useful. While the base spell is a disadvantage since it's more situational than others, Lore of Shadows can improve your performance to a great extent. It's a tactical Lore, not point and click, and requires some planning especially due to the short range of most spells. While not first choice for ordinary casters, it would be a great Lore for a fully equipped Wizard Lord. Give him the Grey Staff for fluff while you're at it (pun intended). [Ed. I don't get it.]

Steed of Shadows

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

So why would you want to move a US1 model 20-inches? Many people don't even include US1 characters in their armies. As a base spell, this can be pretty useless - and remember the comment about base spells. I see three possibilities to utilize this spell:

1. You could get your characters out of melees that turned out to be too tough. But while the wording could be clearer, you definitely can't remove them from combat if they are in a unit (cf. p. 73 BRB).

2. Create a Poor Man's Pegasus with this spell, with all the nice benefits. Keep in mind that if you use the full flying distance, you often won't be able to cast the spell again on the same model the next turn. Still, sometimes one flying move is all you need to get in a position for march blocking or wizard hunting. Check the Pegasus Tactica for details like Van Horstmann's Speculum or the Casket of Sorcery.
   
   

3. With this spell, you can actually trigger nice spell combos, like pushing a character with Bear's Anger into melee, or making the most of area-of-effect spells like Cleansing Flare from Lore of Light. The possibilities are numerous and situational, but nifty. If your opponent is a Magic the Gathering player, he might be afraid of combos and sacrifice some dispel die to counter them.
   
   

[Additional Commentary on the Steed of Shadows:

by Powder Monkey:

The Poor Man's Pegasus should be elaborated more on, as the tactical use of a Pegasus rider is different in some situations. I find a character moved by the Steed is in a bad situation most of the time. When the spell is not used to transport a character to safety, you will use him offensively and bring him near the enemy. There he will have a hard time coming back to your lines, since, unlike a Pegasus, he can only fly once - which was pointed out - and will be an easy target for shooting, skirmishers, or light cavalry. So send models with the Steed of Shadow models on suicide missions that have a decent chance of bringing back their points:

1. The human cruise missile: A cheap Captain with the Sword of Fate and a little luck (Second Sign of Amul / Hammer of Sigmar / Portent of Far) can be thrown against models three times his cost and reasonably expect to take them below half wounds on the charge or even kill them with lucky D3 rolls. He also will not have to declare charges and then fail his fear / terror test. Close your eyes when it's time for the target to hit back - it won't be pretty.
   
   

2. In my opinion the best use for the Steed is running down fleeing enemies. Declare charges in your turn, watch an expensive baiting unit turn tail and then run them down in the magic phase with a single A1 S3 scroll caddy that has run out of scrolls. This is a great way to recycle your caddy once used, and to shame your opponent.
   
   

3. March block only when there is no shooting available to your opponent or when one round of march blocking will give you a major advantage - in which case you should do it immediately. A line of close combat blocks without skirmisher / missile support shouldn't be able to take out your character without great disruption to it's coherency. So if you can kill the enemy support fast, this could be useful.
   
   

by Warlord:

Don't forget Steed of Shadows can also be used to remove a character stuck in a fleeing unit below quarter unit strength.]

Creeping Death

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This can be very cool. No, I'm not kidding. The advantage of 3d6 S1 hits over 1d6 S4 hits is that the more dice you roll, the less dependent on luck you are. It boils down to Mr. Gauss' bell curve. Use this spell on cavalry, of course. Whether they are T3 or T4 doesn't make a difference. You have a decent chance of killing two, let's say, Silverhelms per spell, which is not bad in my book for power level 6. The spell can also be used to finish of swarms. Contrary to a common misconception, it's not particularly good against skirmishers.

Crown of Taidron

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

Ask your Wood Elf friend with his Multiple Small Units archer army what he thinks of this... well, it's situational. You can either try to get your Wizard between the enemy's ranks and then cast (see Steed of Shadows), or you trigger it when the battle lines are engaged and accept the drawbacks. The casualties you suffer will be acceptable when playing against Elves and perhaps Ogres, but you shouldn't use it when facing Orcs or Dwarfs, as you will suffer more than them. If used right, it can be very effective for a power level 8 spell - just compare it to the magic missiles of other Lores, and you'll see what I mean.
 

Shades of Death

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is where the real fun starts. This can be a great spell when cast on your huge state troopers blocks. Causing fear is a pretty expensive ability otherwise (just check the Banner of the Demonslayer!), but this offers you the opportunity to get a unit that causes fear, is pretty resilient, and causes massive Combat Resolution points due to its detachments. It's bound to draw out some dispel dice if used correctly; casualties are all well and good, but auto-breaking is something nobody can abide. The other obvious use is that the unit becomes immune to fear, so it won't auto-break itself and doesn't have to test to charge fear-causers. It also means you don't have to test for terror.

Unseen Lurker

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-5

This is a pretty expensive spell, and rightfully so. This can be devastating, watch out for it if the enemy has this Lore. Movement spells can ruin the best battle plan. It is of course most effective when used on fast units - High Elf cavalry can cover 32-inches in a single turn when utilizing this spell. As to our own units, it's of course best on some Inner Circle knights led by a Warrior Priest, but you can also use it for a fast pistolier advance. The short range is a bit of a drawback though, decreasing its effectiveness (but check spell one again).

Pit of Shades

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 4-5

This is the tactical nuke of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the "Dude, where's my cannon??" spell. No ward save, no armor save, number of wounds irrelevant. Being very expensive, it rules against some and sucks against others. Dwarf and Lizardmen players are prone to get hysterical fits if you cast it, and it's not pleasant for Orcs either, especially if you manage to hit a character: It might be a 1/3 chance only, but would you be willing to risk losing your hero this way? Probably not, especially if you paid 70 points for equipment and another 40 for sacred spawnings. So expect to see dispel dice if you cast this. It's of course much less worth against elves.

[Additional commentary on Pit of Shades:

From CaptScott:

This spell is also great at taking out Giants and Treemen, or any other large target with a low Initiative value.  However be aware that when models with multiple characteristics (e.g. characters riding monsters) are forced to take a characteristic test they can use whichever value is highest.]

By BAWTRM

One nice thing with this Lore is that all hits done by these spells are Flaming hits. That's not that great on it's own, but when faced with a particular opponent (I'm looking at you Tomb Kings and Wood Elves!) they can have a nice spook factor. Don't count on "Flaming damage" to ever contribute something, but make a happy dance when it actually does.

This is a Lore that focuses on direct damage but with a nice twist added by the Burning Head and the Wall of Fire. The Flaming Sword of Rhuin is the only true stinker in the list (barring using it with Van Horstmann's Speculum, but then again if you're counting on this combo you'll probably will be going for Bear's Anger anyway), after all you might actually roll well and do a ton of hits with the Conflagration and that range of line of sight can always come in handy. Even so, with the high casting values you'll probably find yourself going for that default Fireball a lot as you're unlikely to have enough dice to use two high-end spells.

The Lore of Fire: ignore at your own risk.   

[Additional Commentary on the Lore of Fire:

From MysticForce:

With all those High Elf Dragon Princes taking to the field now that they have those two attacks, remember that they are immune to flaming attacks. So if your High Elf opponent likes Dragon Princes then leave the Lore of Fire at home!]

Fireball

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This is the basic magic missile available to many Lores. It's rather easy to cast (though I'd always use 2 dice to try and cast it) though not very great with only d6 hits. Skirmishers and fast cavalry are the main targets here; Banshees also hate them.

Flaming Sword of Rhuin

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

This spell is the stinker of the Lore of Fire. A measly +1 attack means your Wizard will suddenly have a whopping two attacks! The 2+ to hit and the +3 Strength are nice enough additions to make sure that you'll actually do some damage but let's face it: your Wizard should not be in a situation where this spell is needed anyway. It being 'Remains in Play' is the final nail in its coffin. Swap it for the default Fireball when able. At least that's a cheap spell that might hurt your enemy. Fire Wizards can only brag about using this spell to beat up Gnoblars and such. One notable exception: this spell is a nice boost to a Wizard who has swapped his stats using Van Horstmann's Speculum.

The Burning Head

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

At its cost, this spell almost requires three dice to reliably cast it but, depending on your opponent, this might be well worth it! Besides the nice 18-inch 'swath of destruction' the Head leaves, its main asset is the ability to force a Panic test on your opponent's units. It is completely useless against enemies that are Immune to Panic or Psychology in general, but it can be worth it against all others. Even a Leadership 10 unit (That is not Cold Blooded!) still has a 1/12 chance of blowing its Panic test. A high Leadership unit like Dwarven Warriors might only be running for a single turn before rallying, but this does leave it out of the game for at least two turns (one turn to rally the other to get back in position), the disorder in the lines alone can open up all kinds of weaknesses for you to exploit. Against low Leadership troops out of range of the General this spell can collapse entire flanks.

Fiery Blast

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is the standard upgraded magic missile. Cast on three dice for reliable casting, this spell can clear away whole units of skirmishers or fast cavalry and can even weaken blocks of troops that don't have amazing armor saves. It's nothing spectacular but it's a great tool.

Conflagration of Doom

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-5

At its hefty casting cost, this spell enters the realm of spells that can only be reliably cast by Wizard Lords. This is not to say it's impossible to cast with mere level-two Wizards - far from that! With three power dice, there's still almost a 1/2 chance of beating the casting value. Unfortunately for that much effort (using four dice with a Wizard Lord or a Wizard's Staff) or risk (only using three power dice and wasting them) the effect is not that great at all. Aside from the fact that you the potential to have more hits with this spell, you can possibly get the same effect for far cheaper with Fireball. Though some players might get a lucky streak with their dice there's a more than 50% chance that you'll lose any single dice roll off, thereby stopping the accumulation of hits. One of the redeeming features of this spell is that its range is only limited by line of sight, for when you need to hit those hard to reach places.

Wall of Fire

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 4-5

As the most expensive spell in the Lore, with three dice you'll only have about a 1/3 chance of successfully casting this spell, but what a spell it is! The most important thing to realize is that this isn't a spell whose primary job is to do damage - it's a spell that affects movement. Cast this baby on the right unit and you're almost guaranteed to stop it moving, with a few S4 hits added as a bonus. Sadly the spell only works on non-skirmishing units but there's usually enough juicy targets around (except when you're facing an all skirmishing army that is!).

The key to selecting a good unit is not based on the initial damage you'll do, but on the damage that might be done if your opponent would like to walk his unit through the Wall of Fire. Imagine a unit of twenty Black Orcs hit by this spell. While the initial S4 hits will likely cause a few casualties this is nothing to the fact that only a truly insane Orcs & Goblins general would choose to move his unit forward now! That unit of Black Orcs is looking at about a 50% mortality rate if it starts to move. The general is faced with dilemma of not moving the unit and having his advance blocked and a good portion of points neutralized, or moving onwards and almost immediately give his opponent 50% of the unit's points and taking a Panic test to boot. This too, with an example using T4 enemies; T3 ones would suffer even more. The one weakness is against high armor save units like knights. In these cases a player might be tempted to suffer a minimal amount of casualties in order to complete a charge.

Speaking of charging, Wall of Fire does not restrict Line of Sight. So when you cast Wall of Fire on a unit that is susceptible to involuntary movement (like Frenzy can) you can wring a whole unit through it. Think Bloodletters here for instance; they don't like S4 magic hits! One lure in charge range means a lot of damage being dealt.

Some units won't be inclined to move though, like shooters. However, these are usually deployed in a long single rank, meaning that the initial damage that the spell does actually hits every last model in the unit. Toasty!!

By masterengineer

Lore of Life has almost no offensive power, but instead relies in protecting your own units from shooting/charges, and is quite tricky to use effectively, and still needs a good match up. Probably the weakest Lore in 7^th Edition, but still usable if you want a low casting Lore, with spells that need you to use your brains. The Lore is effective on tables with a lot of terrain, but loses its power if there is not much terrain on the table. It was more destructive in 6^th Edition, and is nowadays a mediocre Lore at best. It has low casting values though (but short ranges).

Mistress of the Marsh

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-2

This is the worst default spell in the game in my opinion. It has a range of 12-inches from the caster, or 12-inches from a water feature but you don't see too many lakes and rivers on the table. If you do have some water features near the middle of the table, or on your opponents deployment zone this may be a more useful spell.

It is an easy spell to cast, and can be cast with even one die. If you have water features on table, this spell can be crippling for your opponents movement, and it can ruin a charge of a chariot, giving you an extra turn of shooting or the charge in your turn. The bad thing of this spell is that if you don't have water features on the table, its short range means that you can't stop the charges or cripple the movements of fast units, but only foot soldiers.

Master Of The Wood

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This does a moderate amount of damage with range of 12-inches from the caster or 12-inches from woods. This can be quite good, because there usually are woods on the table.

This spell has a reasonably low casting value making it quite easy to cast. It also has good range, because you usually have at least one forest on the table (And if you have a wooden table, you can start an idiotic rules argument, and be a complete prat ^^). This would be a very good spell, if it didn't need Line of Sight. That prevents it from killing models in deep woods. But it can still kill those models that can see you. It's alright for killing skirmishers and fast cavalry, but nothing to write home about (except against Wood Elves with their extra forest, and units in woods).

Gift of Life

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This spell can be quite a good way to keep your Griffon/Dragon or an expensive hero alive, and of course hold victory points by not giving anything from your characters. It has a reasonably low casting value, and a fair effect for the spell. It would be very good spell if it had a range of 24-inches, but now the only unit that really needs it is Griffon, which shouldn't be hanging with your battle line, so is likely to not be within 12-inches from the caster. Its only real use is to deny your opponent from scoring half points from your characters.

The Howler Wind

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3

This spell is completely useless against armies like Vampire Counts or Chaos and even Ogres and Bretonnians. But it can be very good against armies with lots of low Strength shooting like Wood Elves, some Tomb King and Empire builds, Lizardmen, Dwarfs, and even High/Dark Elves to some extent. You can protect your weak/pricey units from annoying shooting, and is a very good spell to keep your Giant alive in conjunction with Gift of Life. The only downside of this spell against shooty armies is that it's a Remains-in-Play spell, so it won't last long. Still, its quite a good spell against shooty forces but worthless against others.

The Rain Lord

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is another spell that is completely worthless against armies with no shooting. On the other hand, it's very good spell to cripple the shooting of your opponents unit's, especially those with armor piercing shots. It's also a wonderful way to make those Screaming Skull Catapults and Organ Guns a lot less dangerous with the 50% chance not to shoot. It is also the only spell in the whole Lore that has a decent range without terrain. It's just gold against shooting armies/units.

Master of Stone

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

This is the second damage spell of the Lore. It's capable of tearing even knights down, but weak against large block units. It's best utilized against armies that keep units on hills where this spell is downright destructive. Otherwise this spell is quite tame but is cast rather easily. It maybe a bit worse than Master of The Wood, because you see more woods than hills/rocks on table and Master of the Wood is easier to cast.

By CaptScott

Excellent against - Bretonnians, Chaos mortals, High Elves, Dwarves, Empire

Useful against - Vampire Counts, Tomb Kings, Lizardmen, Dark Elves, Beasts of Chaos, Orcs and Goblins

Weak against - Wood Elves, Skaven, Ogre Kingdoms, Chaos Daemons

Five of the spells within this Lore have a casting value of 8 or lower, meaning that Wizards as low as level-two have a good chance of being able to cast the spells that they roll, making this Lore a viable choice for your hero level Wizards. Several of the spells within this Lore require your opponent to field certain types of units (such as heavy cavalry and chariots) in order for the spell to be cast at its maximum potential, and therefore is most suited when these targets are present in the opposing army.  More details on these limitations are given below.

Rule of Burning Iron

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 1-3

While this spell can only inflict one hit, its value comes in its ability to target any model within range and line of sight, without restrictions.  That's right, this spell can be against normally restricted targets such as characters inside units and unit champions. This effectively makes the spell a 'sniper' weapon. Use the spell to target high priced models with high armor saves.  The obvious targets are enemy characters that often come well armored.  Other targets generally include heavy cavalry and unit champions, but also keep an eye out for other potential targets such as heavy chariots and steam tanks.

Know your enemy, only choose this spell if you are likely to have targets.  If your opponent's army does not include suitable (high armor save) targets, or is known to shield characters from line of sight with skirmishers or disposable units, then avoid this spell.

When used in conjunction with Hochland Long Rifles, this spell can put the fear of Sigmar into the heart of enemy characters.  It can also be used to draw out an inordinate number of dispel dice or scrolls when the enemy character only has one wound remaining.

Another useful tactic is to take out unit champions, forcing the enemy characters to face your challenges when hand-to-hand combat ensues.  This is particularly useful when used in conjunction with the Mace of Helsturm, the Sword of Fate, or Van Horstmann's Speculum.  Additionally opponents will sometimes expend less effort dispelling spells targeted against a unit champion as opposed than characters, improving your chances of a successful cast.

Commandment of Brass

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3
The Commandment of Brass is a ranged spell with the ability to neutralize enemy war machines or chariots for a single turn. Its usefulness is therefore limited to opponents that field war machines and/or chariots. It's relatively short range makes targeting war machines difficult at times and will require your Wizard to advance to do so, making it unsuitable for generals who prefer a 'stand and shoot' approach to magic.

The spell can be used to halt chariots in their tracks, allowing you the opportunity to charge first or gain another round of shooting.  However be aware that Empire armies have other units available that can fulfill this role through baiting and redirecting charges (such as detachments and pistoliers), which limits the spells usefulness.

Crafty generals often use chariots in conjunction with other units, as their charge alone may not be enough to break an opponent.  Therefore casting this spell in the early phases of the game (before the chariot is in charge range) can break up his line of attack, forcing him to attack piecemeal or to wait for the chariot to catch up (giving you another turn of shooting).

Transmutation of Lead

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 2-3
Transmutation of Lead is a useful spell that can be cast on enemy units within range and engaged in close combat.  The spell significantly weakens the attacking power of the enemy unit by reducing their chance to hit and to wound, while also lowering their armor save. It is the only spell in the Lore that can be cast in close combat, allowing you to apply magical pressure once the battle lines have met. It is useful against all opponents, but particularly against melee units (such as Chaos knights and High Elf Swordmasters) where their attacking power will be reduced.

This is a very useful spell for infantry based Empire armies that rely on static combat resolution, reducing the casualties suffered and letting their numbers come to bear. When casting this spell, target combats where it will be most useful.  For example, target enemy units that rely on killing the enemy for victory (such as cavalry, Swordmasters, etc.) where the negative modifiers will save more of your troops and help you to drag down a few of theirs.  Targeting enemy infantry blocks on the other hand may not be as useful, as they often rely on static combat resolution to win the combat, not kills.

Distillation of Molten Silver

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4

The Distillation of Silver is your standard magic missile spell. While it is a fairly generic spell, its medium range is very useful in weakening the approaching enemy.  It is useful for auto-hits on skirmishers, panicking small units, and reducing the rank bonus and outnumbering potential of enemy units.

Law of Gold

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 3-4
The Law of Gold is used to neutralize a magic item contained within a unit within range.  The spell will prevent the item from being used in either the following turn or the remainder of the game. It's a potentially useful spell that is limited by the fact that the target must have a magic item and your opponent chooses which item is removed. Therefore the item must be worth neutralizing (who wants to neutralize a biting blade) and there is a 50% chance that the effect will last for only one turn.

It would be useful to know that your opponent has access to and uses certain powerful items and is potentially even more useful if you had the Crystal Ball (of course, then you would have to spend the points on the Crystal Ball and then hope that you roll this spell).

The Spirit of the Forge

Recommended Number of Casting Die: 4-5
The Spirit of the Forge is an extremely powerful spell with the same characteristics as the Rule of Burning Iron except that it inflicts 2D6 hits instead of one while following the same targeting restrictions. With such a high casting value this spell is limited to Wizard Lords, though you may get lucky and successfully cast it from a hero level Wizard with a power stone. It is the bane of enemy cavalry. This spell inflicts high strength hits on heavily armored targets, and has been known on occasion to completely destroy entire units of Chaos Knights with a single cast. Unlike the Rule of Burning Iron, the spell is also useful against heavily armored infantry units as it has the potential to inflict enough casualties to limit the effectiveness of the unit. Keep an eye out for other high armor save targets such as heavy chariots and Steam Tanks. Once again, the spell is limited by the fact that your opponent's army must contain suitable targets for this spell to be effective.

There are six items available to Empire armies that allow non-wizards to 'cast' spells upon activation. The choice of whether or not to take such items is dependent on whether or not you feel you can use them at all and whether or not they are worth the points to spend on them. Powder Monkey has provided a tactica on four of the six items following the discussion of the War Altar and Aldred's Casket of Sorcery.

Powder Monkey's summary of bound items says it all:

"The Empire has quite a few bound items. Some are great. Some are not that great. I recommend using the great ones. The end. - Your Bound PM."

The War Altar:

The Grand Theogonist Volkar and the Arch Lectors, are the only characters that can take the mighty War Altar. Along with all the other benefits and abilities of taking it, the War Altar allows the rider to cast one spell from the Lore of Light as a bound spell with a power level of five at every turn. Along with the dispel dice that your character gives you, the War Altar is essentially a mini-wizard - and a wizard that cannot miscast either! While a power level of five is relatively easy to dispel, the spells available to use have the potential to devastate your opponent's battle line. As with most things, timing is important. If you use the War Altar's spell before your Wizards attempt to cast their spells, your opponent will have a tough choice to make on whether to spend the dispel dice to stop a spell from the War Altar or save them for your Wizards' spells that have the possibility of miscasting. A discussion of the spells from the Lore of Light is provided above.

Aldred's Casket of Sorcery :

The Casket is an item that allows you to steal spells from enemy casters of any kind, store them, and cast them back at the enemy later on. However, for it to be useful at all it needs to get into range of the enemy's wizard. Therefore it needs to be given to a character that can take it to them. Usually a character mounted on a flying mount is best suited for this task. It also needs to be a character that you can afford to send away from your battle lines - often alone and without support. As the only characters that can take flying mounts of any kind are the Emperor, the Generals of the Empire, and the Captains, you are only likely to see the Casket used with Captains. Your Generals usually spend their point allocation on other items to improve their defensive or offensive capabilities and are expensive options for you to lose. The cheap Captain is much more disposable and is more likely to be able to gain his points back with wizard hunting. Nevertheless the Casket does not guarantee that you will be able to stop your enemy's magic - you still have to roll to be able to capture a spell so it should not be seen as a lynchpin of your strategy. If it works - great! But relying on the Casket to shut down your enemy's magic is asking for too much. Don't forget that the Casket is rolled for at the end of the movement phase so it cannot be dispelled. Should you finally be able to roll that four and be in possession of a brand new spell, rejoice: Your magic phase is immediately after you stole the spell in the movement phase, so you can cast the spell right back!

Aldred's Casket of Sorcery is so well associated with the Captain on a Pegasus that it has spawned its own name for a unit so equipped - a Captasus. Randy Acthman's update of the excellent Pegasus Tactica can be found at http://www.warhammer-empire.com/warroom/pegasustac1.php and provides an excellent summary of how the Captain with a Pegasus can be used.

Powder Monkey's Bound Item Tactica:

The following is an analysis of four bound items available to Empire generals looking for support on the magic front. With the exception of the Ring of Volans, which uses the normal Lores of magic and is a one-use item, they can be treated like a Warrior Priest's prayer. Most tactics and limitations mentioned in the prayer tactica below are also valid for the bound items, as they also have a low power level while sometimes having a huge potential impact on the game. Other times they will be nearly useless, so just like prayers they cannot be counted on to keep up a continuous pressure on the enemy magic defense.

As you will see, all bound items serve a clearly defined purpose. They will often be purchased not to draw out dispel dice, but will be a part of the overall battle plan due to their usefulness. So, contrary to the prayers which are often used as a distraction or means of depleting enemy dispel volume, the bound items will most of the time need to go through to be of use. They therefore perform best in an army that has a decent to great magical offensive, where they will enable even your combat characters to contribute to the Wizard's efforts, and will often not be dispelled. In a low magic army, they are wasted unless the enemy also has not invested much in the magic department.

With the general advice out of the way, we shall now take a sharp look at all those shiny little trinkets the guy from 'Bounds-R-Us' was blathering about:

The Silver Horn:

The most expensive bound item we have is also one that is not very often brought to the field of battle. The Horn will rally all friendly fleeing units on the table, so no need for line of sight or proximity to the target. Even units below 25% of starting unit strength will rally, so for a badly mauled regiment that is hurrying towards the table edge with your hapless general inside, the Silver Horn is the last hope of rallying besides traditional spells. It has a impressive (for a bound spell) power level of 5, enabling it to still cast successfully two-thirds of the time when the opponent is only investing one dispel die to stop it. So why not use it more often?

Besides the obvious restriction of having to get it through the enemy dispel pool first, one has to consider at which point the Silver Horn will take effect when cast successfully. Most units will flee during the enemy turn because of combat, losses from ranged attacks and so on. During your turn the fleeing unit will have another chance to rally in the movement phase - which means once the magic phase starts and your captain finally gets around to toot a little tune on the Silver Horn, any unit affected by it will already have fled twice. Chances are that it's already too late to bring the fleeing unit back into the game, be it that they have fallen over the edge of the world / table or that they are so far away from the action that they won't affect it anymore. Often, its only use is in preventing your opponent from getting victory points from your depleted units that cannot rally. In a battle with a normal degree of psychological threats, I would not pay that many points to turn one of my heroes into a delivery system for an item that is so situational.

How to make the Horn useful, then?

1. First, there is a way for your units to do some serious fleeing during your own turn. I speak, of course, of the ever-popular mechanism called 'terror'. Charge your Sword of Fate wielding Pegasus Captain into that Treeman? Terror says no! Some big chaos thingy with wings and tentacles everywhere lands in your lines on turn two? A few terror checks later, the Silver Horn has paid for itself. Anything that runs in your turn is still fleeing in the opponents' (Is this true or is there a chance to rally in the turn you fled from a terror test? Well you do terror tests in the movement phase and the magic phase is after the movement phase so its possible that you can rally after you flee). Considering that terror checks mostly occur when the enemy is already near, the chances of your fleeing units being caught by fast moving enemies are large enough to think about the Silver Horn to counter this.

2. Second, think about other reasons to have your units flee regularly. When fielding lots of fast cavalry (or Pegasus riders) with the intent of using them for bait and flee tactics, they will sometimes miss that crucial feigned flight rally, often leaving them near a flank table edge outside the generals leadership radius. Their speed will enable them to get back into things quickly once the Silver Horn blew some discipline right up their... where was I?

3. Another reason to think about the Horn would be a battle with many fear causers, or any other means of making half your army run in short order. However, at this point I would rather spend my points on more reliable means of countering psychology effects, namely the Icon of Magnus, the Imperial Banner, maybe the Banner of Duty for a knightly order, etc. etc. Taking the Silver Horn would be dangerous defeatism when expecting psychological trouble, and expensive Imperial countermeasures are justified by the enemy spending even more to cause the trouble in the first place.

To conclude this review of the Silver Horn, one can say that it has potential uses in a tailored list, but players will more often than not have a hard time to justify the points and used up magic allowance. In a take-all-comers list, its usefulness decreases even more.

The Orb of Thunder:

Next up is the slightly cheaper, slightly less powerful Orb of Thunder. Should you get to cast it successfully, it prevents flying movement on the entire table until dispelled. Should this hurt your opponent, expect a hard time trying to cast this and a quick dispel in the enemies magic phase. This means at the most two casting dice less for your opponent, and one enemy movement phase worth of crippled fliers. To increase your chances of getting it to work, wait till you are sure the enemy has no dispel dice / scrolls left, even if this means to forfeit a good opportunity - the Orb needs to catch the enemy by surprise. Now that we know how to cast it, we need to turn it into an advantage for our great and mostly earthbound Empire:

1. Of course, it can just be used like it says on the box. Try to cast it as often as possible to prevent your opponent from using his fliers with low movement stats. They will hop around in their deployment zone, will helplessly flap on the ground behind that wood they wanted to soar over in their next turn, and finally fail to take off for that rear charge after they spent five turns getting behind your lines. *This description of the Orbs effects was brought to you by the naive marketing department of 'Cpt. Smiths Quality Orbs'. Actual results may vary.*

2. Set up charges for your own troops. Many fliers rely on their mobility to keep them safe. Maneuver into position with your footsloggers and then nail him down with the Orb to leave him vulnerable for a charge next turn. A nice spin on this is the 'Air Combat' variation: Air duels between fliers are often matters of area denial, who ends up in a charge arc first is charged and potentially defeated. With the Orb up your sleeve and magical superiority, you can land a Pegasus in front of enemy fliers and then use the orb to turn them into targets and the captain into a heavy knight with a ground movement range of 16 inches. Sound the charge!
   
   

Is the Orb worth it? As long as the enemy has invested a few hundred points in fliers, it could be. At least it will draw dispel dice, and used cleverly it could very well place those fliers in a bad, bad situation. In a balanced list, it is however even more situational than the Silver Horn.

[Additional Commentary on The Orb of Thunder:

By Mutch:

The Orb of Thunder is useful when you know your opponent will be bringing flyers and you have enough offensive magic to successfully cast it. An opinion I've gathered is that it is not worth taking in a tournament setting as the chances of encountering enemy flying units are comparatively low. Your enemy will need two dispel dice to reliably dispel it. Take care when using it in conjunction with a Pegasus Captain.]

The Doomfire Ring:

This item is so well known among the enemies of the Empire that opponents at tournaments will sometimes automatically reserve two dispel dice as soon as an Empire character comes into the 18-inch range, and rightly so. Among the bound items, this is the most used and most feared. The Doomfire Ring casts a very, very deadly spell (Burning Head from the lore of fire) with a fairly low casting value. This means that most will try to dispel it. The low casting value will help you sometimes, as the temptation to throw only one die will let you succeed one third of the time. Others will throw two dice, which will diminish their ability to repel the rest of your magic. A dominating magic phase will become deadly with the Ring, as it allows even the combat characters to contribute to the magic offense.

1. The main threat of Burning Head is the panic test forced on every unit that loses a wound by it. Flanks are your friends here: A Pegasus captain positioned near the side of enemy line can under the right circumstances cause the entire opposing army to run. The first unit to run will likely flee through a big part of the rest of the line, forcing more tests and more disruption. Archer lines and all units deployed very wide are also vulnerable to the Burning Head.

2. But this is not the full extent of how nice flanks are to our Doomfire Ring: Enemy units on flank protection duty hate the Ring. They are often a) soft targets when it comes to S4 auto hits, b) have low leadership values and c) are not in range of their generals booming but strangely reassuring voice. The effect is often a greatly enhanced ability to break the enemy flank protection and open up opportunities for your own fast flankers. Take special note of the Burning Head being a great way to hurt skirmisher clouds in cover. Don't waste missile troops against them, just throw a few heads their way.

3. Should you now think that flanks are nice, you will absolutely fall in love with them after this: The Doomfire Ring does not shoot magic missiles, as is often wrongly assumed. No, no, it just makes you draw a line from the base of your model to a point 18 inch away, terrifying all along the way. So you can happily charge into combat and still use the Ring as it is not a magic missile. You are not bound by line-of-sight or the front arc - just draw the line from the flanks of your model, to stay with my flank-theme. Or do it like William Wallace and let your character burn the enemy to crisp with a "Bolt of Lightning from his arse" - No, this is not swearing, it is a legitimate movie quote and possibly even a historical reference!
   
   

This combined makes the Doomfire Ring a very welcome addition to our magical arsenal. It deals damage, poses a psychological threat, makes our combat characters contribute to our casting efforts even when locked in a melee and is always good for a few bad surprises.

The Ring of Volans:

This is the cheap wildcard. Pay a few points to get one random spell from a Lore of your choosing, then auto-cast it once at minimum power level. Many different opinions exist on this, often based on the luck one has with rolling for the spell it contains. Even more complicating the matters are the many approaches one can take when bringing an item that requires some sort of pre-game nomination without giving away too much about your magic items to your opponent. Let's ignore the Rings in-game efficiency for a moment and look at how the player should be handling the choice of Lores:

WFB players are all, of course, men of honor and the highest level of moral integrity. So in theory it is enough to secretly decide which lore to use and then roll a die before the game and just write down what spell you have on the army list. However, this has at least the potential for cheating, and could leave the enemy with a trace of suspicion we do not, as sportsmen, want to be the cause of. Tournaments are especially sensitive environments for this. So how do we handle old Volans? The method with the least potential to cheat will result in something like this:

*Empire player arrives at table* "Cower before me, infidel! I brought the RING OF VOLANS!!! And now I will roll which spell it contains from the Lore of Heavens. Prepare to be smitten by..." *rolls die* "...Bwahaha - the Comet of Casandora! You lose!"

This will make clear that one of your characters has the Ring, but the opponent will not know whom. Should the spell be useful, he will also have to factor it in his dispel phases, making the rest of your casting easier. This method should eliminate the possibility of cheating and make you an all around gentleman while putting psychological pressure on your opponent.

[Another method is to download the handy printable magic cards for each of the eight Lores of Magic found on pp. 111-119 of the Warhammer rulebook. http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/empire/extras/magiccards/default.htm  and just "roll" for the spell by dealing out one card face down from your selected Lore. Then everyone knows that you picked a spell, but only you know what it is. Show your opponent the stack of cards first so he knows you aren't cheating with the cards. You could go so far as to offer your opponent the chance to draw your cards for you. - Ed.]

Now. Does Volans Ring have a place on the scarred and callused fingers of our hard working characters? Depends on your magic phase. Is there synergy with a few levels of magic, a prayer or two and maybe his brother, the Doomfire Ring? Then Volans can make the headache your opponent develops during the game that much more splitting. Choice of Lore is important, however, to make sure the resulting spell is useful. Casting values should play a part in these considerations too, as difficult to cast Lores increase your chances of overwhelming the dispel pool of the enemy. With the right lore chosen and enough magic to back it up, the Ring can be a worthy purchase especially for characters with a 30 point magic item - like the Rod of Power...

Conclusion:
Two of the four bound items are highly situational but useful in the right circumstances, and the Ring of Volans is not very dependable but can be a powerful psychological tool. Knowing their limitations is important to prevent disappointments. The Doomfire Ring is a staple in many armies and definitely worth its cost should you manage to find a character with enough unused magic item allowance and the ability to reach positions where its use is effective.

Taking the bound items of the Empire is in no way essential for victory, but they offer a decent means to enhance the magic offense and depending on the situation boost the Empires tactical abilities.

By Powder Monkey

Welcome to the seminary! So you want to be a Warrior Priest? Then listen up: Don't spend too much time on your martial prowess; you don't need to be as good as our Captains and Generals. We don't need weapon skills; all we need to do is pray! And here's how:

General Advice:

1. Don't expect prayers to be cast reliably. Though they may in theory always be cast, they are easy to dispel at power level 4, and the opponent will dispel them if he suspects them to pose any threat to his army. If prayers come through, it's not all and well, also. Either the prayer was not important, there to pull dispel dice, and a canny opponent noticed it. Or the prayer will need to remain in play to be of use, and the enemy will dispel it in his magic phase. Which brings us to...

2. Don't expect prayers to last longer than until the enemies next magic phase. Really. An opponent with any kind of experience in Warhammer magic will dispel them in his phase as long as he can afford to wait. Your unbreakable unit of spearmen will lose some of their smugness once their nifty prayer is dispelled just after that huge unit of skeletons charges them.

3. It is hard to constantly find a use for prayers. Should you come to a game with the reassuring feeling that your three Warrior Priests shall wipe away any kind of magic defense, and thus paving the way for your level-two Wizard - don't be so sure of it. They look good on paper, but especially in the early game with little combat a Warrior Priest will often be hard pressed to find targets for his divine boosters. Sure, you can make your main line unit unbreakable, but 24-inches away from any enemy this will not exactly put the fear of Sigmar into their hearts.

4. Prayers alone do nothing. Nothing! Well, an all-Warrior-Priest-led army against a non-magic army may get some through, but this is not likely to happen often. Read No. 1-3 again! Prayers only work the Empire way: In conjunction with everything else. Prayers alone are a laugh... until the bound items are activated, the War Altar begins to glow slightly and two Wizards start hurling fireballs around. Then you will have an effective magic phase. Only rely on some prayers to get through with at least a medium magic phase: For example a level-two Wizard, multiple Warrior Priests, a bound item, and preferably the Rod of Power.

On to the mechanics of magical synergy:

• Prayers first: Based on the old tactic of casting unimportant stuff early to pull out the dispel dice and scrolls; your prayers will form the first wave of attack. Rash enemies will tend to dispel all of your prayers and open themselves up to your spells and bound items. This is good if you have rolled good spells and want to ensure they have a good chance of getting through. More experienced opponents will know what's still to come and start to let the unimportant prayers through, but most really good ones will still be dispelled. Do not expect to surprise anyone with prayers cast this early, but the threat of a potentially devastating rest of your phase may help you in casting some of them. Remember, young Padawans: potential threats are always more reliable than actual results! Recommended for getting Wizards spells / bound spells through.

• Prayers last: If you really want them to work, you have to try and bleed the enemy defense out before you say your prayers. This however depends on your success with spells. If all spells fail, you can normally kiss your bounds and prayers goodbye also. But pull all the dice with spells, and watch your opponent making little 'Grrrrrr' sounds when a power level 4 Soulfire takes his elite knights apart! Even a 25-point scroll that is wasted on a small, free prayer is a success sometimes. w

• On the Worth of Prayers: Although the Inquisition may tell you that frequent praying cannot to be weighed in gold, it can be approximated in dispel dice. Most people consider a prayer to be 'worth' 2 DD of enemy defense, since you will only dispel a prayer half of the time with one die. I agree to the latter. If you want to dispel a prayer, use 2 dice. The chance to roll a 2 or 3 is acceptably small. But before you go and expect to steamroller armies with 4 DD with your Arch Lector and single Warrior Priest alone, let me correct this misconception a bit: Actually I consider a prayer to pull 1.5 DD at the very most. As has been said above, prayers are hard to be used effectively in many situations, so often don't pose an immediate threat. Better to set low expectations: One prayer will on average pull one dispel die in most situations, so remember to bring additional magic if you plan to overwhelm your enemy. 

Prayer Specifics:

Okay, enough of the theory, let's get down to business and pray!!

1. Hammer of Sigmar - Remains in Play - The Hammer allows one model - be it a champion of any unit or a character - to re-roll all 'To Hit' and 'To Wound' rolls. Nothing more. Nothing less. For all intents and purposes, as long as the model in question needs to hit anything or causes a hit and wants to wound his target in any way, you get the re-roll. This includes close combat, missile fire and even spells and prayers cast by the model! As the Empire players began to discover more and more uses for this prayer, it developed into the most diversely applicable prayer we have, and it's the key to one of the Warrior Priest's core problems: How can prayers contribute to the offensive magic in the early game? Answers can be found below:
   
   Targets for the Hammer of Sigmar:

   1. Obviously characters and champions in close combat. Characters in challenges that need to kill the enemy in one round are prime examples, as are knight champions on the charge, where every wound counts.

2. Characters with 'special assignments': The bearer of the Sword of Fate will thank you for every chance he gets to actually hit his intended target. Also useful on the Mace of Helstrum, Dragon Bow, and lastly on a captain on Pegasus before he lifts of to slam into some hapless units' side.

3. Now the big one: Missile troop champions. It's good on a Pistolier, but for champions with Hochland Long Rifles it's downright compulsory to be in range of a Warrior Priest. Whole strategies depend on the synergy between Long Rifle Champs, Warrior Priests, and Wizards: The Hammer of Sigmar is cast on the Long Rifle champions gunning for the enemy casters. If it's dispelled (perhaps multiple times when fielding more Warrior Priests), the imperial Battle Wizards can more easily cast their own spells and gain the upper hand in the magic duel. If it's let through, chances for character execution by Long Rifle are reaching frightening (for the enemy) heights, again helping the Empire gain the upper hand. Casting the Hammer on missile champs is a great way to build up the magic pressure early in the game, and helps both in the missile and magic phase.

4. Almost the same can be said about casting the Hammer of Sigmar on a magic user - Wizards, Warrior Priests, even characters with bound items!
   
   As demonstrated above, both missile and magic ranged attacks can be augmented greatly by a measly power level 4 prayer, and it is not difficult to find targets for it somewhere in the line. This means it easily poses a threat to the opponent. Use it first to draw dispel dice, or later on as a mean surprise. A very useful prayer!

2. Armor of Contempt - Remains in Play - Easy enough to understand - a 4+ ward save for everyone targeted by this. Prime recipients should be models that are either very vulnerable / important or models that are about to receive a hefty amount of hits. Examples:

   1.  The Battle Standard Bearer. Poor chap, he will get targeted by everything the enemy has, especially when he wields a magic banner and is riding around with his mundane AS of 2+ and only two wounds. So a little ward is in order to hold the line together.

2. Fighty characters in melee. You know the kind. Shiny swords, polished armor, grinning, popular with the ladies... People with this lifestyle need as much protection as they can get. Not just from communicable diseases and parenthood, but from enemy attention as well.

3. Wizards with one wound left. Better to have a ward save when that casting attempt goes sideways...

4. Champions in a challenge. No matter against whom they fight, even against Archaon, some wounds will get saved, and you will reduce the overkill by a point or two. Champion is dead either way, of course, but at least the combat could go a bit better!

5. A suddenly dismounted Pegasus Captain. It happens all the time since the Empire shut down its Pegasus barding factories to refit them to produce War Altars. Maybe you can just save the poor pilot from being turned into a pincushion while he slogs across the field to find some hiding place or join a unit. He may not fight again, but it's still victory points!

3. Healing Hand - Well, it heals a character or champion completely. Since champions are not very alive after taking one wound, strike that: It heals a character. End of story. A very straightforward affair - but not without the potential for being used with a little thinking. Healing hand should be used whenever there is a character that needs it and other prayers are not of a higher priority. Making general rules for this is difficult, as healing a Captain may not be important when he is comfortably enjoying the stay in a large regiment that is not in combat, but when he is desperately heading for the hills after having his Pegasus shot out from underneath him, that one wound may mean another 90 victory points saved. I'd often use this instead of Soulfire or Hammer of Sigmar, depending on the enemy, as protecting the characters is more important than a few kills, but your mileage may vary. Concentrate on healing up characters at 50% wounds at the end of the battle, as this will often swing around the victory points in your direction by a hefty amount. This will also help to deplete dispel dice in the late game when the main combats are over and you still need to apply pressure on the enemy magic defense.
   
   

   1. Heal characters exposed to enemy attacks.

1. Patch up characters with 50% wounds in the late game to deny victory points.
   
   

1. Soulfire - Soulfire is one of the rare and useful damage spells that circumvent armor. At the same time it is not causing wimpy strength 2 hits or something, but rather a manly strength 4, even 5 against things that Sigmar really dislikes. So in theory it is devastating. However, expect it to work mainly on units it has no big impact on, i.e. hordes of cannon fodder. The elite troops Soulfire is effective against will often be spared as the opponent normally does everything to dispel it. Good for drawing dispel dice before praying for Unbending Righteousness, but only occasionally really killing the big ones. The prayer description also says that every unit in base contact receives the hits, so to maximize the threat potential of Soulfire, move the Warrior Priest to a place in the unit where he will be able to contact multiple chargers, which is most often the corner of his unit when a flank charge is expected.
   
   The Soulfire burns especially bright when used to:
   
   

   1. Kill high AS troops as well as lone characters and small units.

2. Reduce ranks on big units of troops of any quality. Remember that rank bonus is calculated at the start of the combat phase long after the Soulfired enemies have burned to small piles of ash.

1. Affect multiple units because of clever placement of the Warrior Priest in the unit.
   
   
   

1. Unbending Righteousness - Remains in Play - BREAKING NEWS: 7th Ed Army Book To Include Unbreakable-Prayer!!! The news spread fast that the Empire would soon field huge lines of unflinching, battle hardened, unbendingly righteous, and pretty much unbreakable troops led by the Warrior Priests of Doom. After some careful reconsideration, however, the prayer to end all problems with psychology was discovered to have pitfalls large enough to drive a War Altar into.
   
   Let's put up some warning signs:
   
   

   1. As with all prayers, you first have to get it through, see above.

2. Unbreakable units are also immune to psychology and thus unable to flee from a charge, something that many Empire units do more frequently than blinking their eyes. So remember to think about if you really want those five Ushabti to barrel into your swordsmen... Now I hear the young and reckless among the Warrior Priests shout: "Who cares? We are Unbreakable! No one shall break our unbending resolve!!" Yeah, yeah. Read on…

3. Once the enemy charges your unit in his movement phase, he has a entire magic phase to lazily roll two or three dice and dispel Sigmar's Holy And Divine Power Level 4 Prayer like it was just a magical sneeze. Now your unbreakable unit is suddenly back to normal Empire mode and puts on the running shoes after taking 6 casualties from the Ushabti and being outnumbered. So much for magically induced resolve...
   
   

So what do we do now? How to get the most bang out of every Amen?

1. Obviously try to make your unit unbreakable when you expect to lose combat. Just don't expect the spell to survive the enemy magic phase and thus the next combat phase after your own.

2. Pray during the early game to protect against panic tests from shooting / magic.

3. Protect a unit against terror checks once the Big Nasty is in range to stir up your lines next turn. Remember that being unbreakable does not prevent the terror test, it makes the unit pass the test, so no more terror in the turns to come, even when the prayer is inevitably dispelled.

4. When you want to take a charge by an outnumbering fear-causer, make the unit unbreakable to prevent them from fleeing the charge itself. But be prepared for them to lose combat and auto-break, so position a flanking unit to destroy the fear causers once they broke through your line.

5. A sneaky little tactic is based on the fact that the unbreakable effect originates in the Warrior Priest and affects any unit he stays in. So it is possible to cast Unbending Righteousness on a mounted Warrior Priest in a relatively unimportant unit, which will most probably be allowed - it's unimportant, after all. So next turn, the prayer will probably still be in play, at which point the sneaky Warrior Priest can zip over to any unit his horse can reach. This way the new unit will benefit from unbreakable without the Warrior Priest having to actually cast it.
   
   

Conclusion:

The Warrior Priest is not a cheap choice, but with his good mundane equipment options, his dispel dice and the help of his prayers, he is one of the most useful and versatile characters the Empire can field. His magic is far from being irresistible, but highly reliable and flexible, contributing to a large degree to the Empire's might during the magic phase. Using his magical potential to it's fullest is not easy, but manageable and crucial to a powerful magic offensive.

Say your prayers, put your trust in Sigmar, and good hunting!

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