I would like to change things a bit. I am going to introduce a rating system to each spell in the Lore and the Lore as a whole. This will be a 5 point system. To keep things fluffy with the Brewery I'll give the rating system 1 Beer5 for the least dangerous and 5 Beer for the most dangerous.
Also of note I will add that I will be doing a new Lore every 2 weeks or so. It seems very unrealistic for us to take nearly 2 years to complete this guide. I hope to finish this within a years time.
Lore of Fire 1 1/2
Overall to us this is not one of the most Dangerous lores of spells we have out there. Normally I might say that this Lore is one that we don't have to fear at all, but it is all S4. That's about all this lore has going for it against us. There is a reason that I gave this lore 1 1/2 rating instead of a 1 and I'll explain that in the necessary spells.
Fireball 1/2
This is your bog standard magic missile. This spell in particular won't do much of anything to our units. With only a single D6 worth of hits being handed out this spell in particular is nothing to be afraid of. The spell will however do it's job over the course of the game by knocking a Dwarf or two down to remove a rank or make it easier to do so. Despite the fact that this spell is an easy one to cast, there should be very little, or no, fear of letting this spell go. It will do almost nothing to us.
Flaming Sword of Rhuin 1/2 - 3
This spell, like Fireball is an easy spell to cast. I gave it a variable rating because there are a numerous amount of characters that it can be cast on. This is one of the spells that I gave that extra half rating for. If this spell is cast on something like a mage, or something else to that effect, to give it a little more offensive punch I would let it go. If the opponent wants to cast it on a mage let them as they are wasting it. Now The 3 beer rating comes from the fact that it can be cast on some scary fighting characters. Vampires to be one of them. Chaos Lords or other such characters on foot. All of those that already have great combat potential are candidates for the 3 rating. If cast on them I would suggest stop it if that character is in combat, mainly the Vampire. If cast on a combat character give this the consideration of priority even over a spell like Curse of the Years as you're likely to lose more Dwarves, or a very much needed character to this spell than most others. This is also a RiP spell so that makes things easier in the way of dispelling it later on.
The Burning Head 1
This spell has a moderate casting value with a decent range. As it has to draw a direct line like a cannonball it isn't too dangerous to us. The reason for the rating of a 1 instead of 1/2 is that this can cause multiple Panic tests. With our high leadership it's usually nothing to worry about. Prudence though is something of a necessity in guides like these because the fact of the matter is that if we're forced to take enough Panic tests we'll eventually fail one. It is what it is. Generally speaking though I would let this spell go unless it's gonna catch a few flanks of some units. A guaranteed 4-5 models in each unit taking a hit is something to worry about and in which case I will think strongly about dispelling this.
Fiery Blast 1 - 2
This is just a pumped up version of Fireball for a moderate casting value. With 2d6 hits coming from this spell it will give us slightly more problems when it comes to decision making on if we want to dispel it or not. I gave it a rather decent rating on the high end because it can do a number of things to us if there is a high roll as well as the danger it possess to our softer units. If the number of hits is high and at one of our softer targets, a war machine mostly, but also soft flanking units, Miners, the Gyro, or something of that matter this spell should get very good consideration as to being dispelled, but because the number of hits is generated after we'll need to be prudent on the target that it is going at. This is the main thing we'll have to look at on whether or not we want to dispel or not.
On the low end having such a high 1 beer is because of the hits on a more rank and file unit or a unit that has already done it's job and it's late game. Unlike with Fireball this spell can get a potential of 12 hits on a unit and even a strong rank and file unit having 12 S4 hits come at you is still daunting and will in all likelihood kill a few models. Situation and target is key to the effectiveness of this spell and the strength of consideration for dispel purposes.
Conflagration of Doom 1 - 2 1/2
I won't say too much about Conflag because the only real comments I have on it are just like those of Fiery Blast. This spell gets an extra 1/2 rating because it has the potential to do so many more hits.
Once more I'll say think about the situation and the target that the spell is being cast at. This will definitely tell you whether or not you'll need to dispel this spell or not.
Wall of Fire 1 1/2 - 3 1/2
Of all the spells that have a constant threat to our Dwarves is that of the Wall of Fire. Even though in the first round it will only do hits on the front rank, characters included, the secondary effect causes the problems. Despite the fact that it is a high cost spell as well as being RiP it forces a tough decision. If you move the entire unit takes hits, after which the spell is automatically dispelled. As many of our units that it will be cast on, combat units mostly, there's something to be said for taking so many hits. The decision to keep a unit still or to move it and risk the hits is a tough one at times. That's the reason for such a high danger to us isn't in the hits, or the secondary number of hits. It's the fact that it forces us to either stay put and hopefully dispel it later on or to sacrifice soem needed Dwarves in order to get them into position where they need to be.
This is the first installment of the Spellbreaker by yours truly Aldrik Elfpiercer. I fully intend to have a few Spellbreakers goign at a time. I will for sure give each thread at least a week of discussion all it's own before I move onto the next one. The mods, and I as the author of these works, will reserve the right to close down or to allow the discussion or a particular threat to keep going.
As always any and all comments are welcome. I honestly hope that someone will disagree with me on the rating that I have given a few of these spells. There's only so much I can do writing things from my point of view as a Dwarf and the perspective of others would be fantastic.
Edited by Aldrik Elfpiercer, 12 June 2008 - 05:56 PM.
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