The forbidden lores

[zanthodin]

Alright, so I play a 4000 point army with two lords in it. One Combat orrientated the other magic based.

The magic based Lord has forbidden lore and master of the black arts.

So my dilemna is which of the lovely new lores to take with him, I have 4 other vampires in the army, three level 1 wizards and one level 3 wizard, so the lore of the vampires is not needed nor is it an option.

I was thinking about the lore of shadows, the ability of the lord to jump around the table after casting a spell might be invaluable, espescially since one of my smaller vampires has Hunter in the Dark, making him a scout.

Thoughts?

 

[LuciusBlake]

using the lore of shadows is pretty nifty. ecspecially since i'm assuming u use your other vampires to lead your units so mindrazor is an awesome spell that will keeps opponents guessing. even possibly letting your combat lord switch places at the critical moment. strength 10 hurts!

plus miasma and enfeebling foe (both shadows) can really turn your opponents elite into near zombie stats. (quoting the words from 5th Invocation)
death is pretty good in itself already. purple sun, soulblight, doom and darkness, bjuna's fate... all self explanatory... but if you're gonna take death and have the points to spend. i suggest go with mannfred lord. 14 spells is not to laughed at!
Vc magic is supposed to supportive towards augmenting our troops and enfeebling our enemies. i dont really agree with using wizards as magical artillery unless theres a really good shot lined up. and since our units work in synergy. even a loss of 1 unit can sometimes be detrimental to victory... keep them alive as long as possible!

 

[zanthodin]

Thanks for the advice, I do own Manfred (classic model not new) so I might write up a list based around him too.

 

[Ricey]

If you're not dead set on shadow, go for light! Light's spells are all relatively easy to cast, have some really nasty buff effects, and work wonders on those big units like GG

 

[zanthodin]

I'd thought about the lore of light but the spell which rallies troups just felt like too much of a waste.

 

[Lord Crosis]

Heavens is where its at. It has a balance of good hex/buff spells with some great offense spells that can really punish gunlines and fliers. Though metal is rather overlooked too. If you ignore the signature spell, Metal is great! Final Transmutation is a killer especially from 36" away or permanently reducing enemy armor saves with Plague of rust.

Basically, find the lore that fits you. There is a choice besides light and shadows.

 

[Darius the Insane]

I think the key is to change it up as much as you can, obviously some lores are better against certain armies and Vampires is a solid law on a game to game basis. But if you can keep your opponent guessing its gotta be a good thing, especially if you play a lot between your group of friends and they all know that you thrash death/purple sun 24/7

At the end of the day if you can get into CC asap with a lord and a couple of vamps I think you'll be better off than throwing magic around all day!

 

[zanthodin]

Actually I think im going to go for the Lore of Beasts. In the circle I play in there are loads of chariots, so the curse on Anraheir might turn out to be brilliant; espescially for that pesky chariot riding Tomb King.

 

[Poxous]

SHADOW!

 

[Questioner]

I like them all... I can never decide either!

 

[bored1]

I think the key is to change it up as much as you can, obviously some lores are better against certain armies and Vampires is a solid law on a game to game basis.

Are you suggesting that he picks the lore at the time of the game? Because that would be illegal.

The consensus (Internets of course) "top" lores are death and shadow. Vamps is decent, but only because you guarantee that you get the 2 spells that are useful all of the time. Beasts, Light, and sometimes Metal are also not bad. Life would be amazing if we could get it.

 

[PapaNasty]

imo Shadow or Light

Shadow

Awesome Remain In Play Spells - Nerf your opponents next magic phase, but only 1 turns use out of the spell. Makes Shadows very defensive magic
Primarily Hexes not Auguments - Makes Shadows particularly good vs opponent Deathstar units. But significantly less effective vs lots of unit armies.
Mindrazor - Insane for a horde of Ghouls
Shades - Good vs War Machines

Light

Auguments effect everything within 12" - Good for if you're running a lot of units
A lot of Auguments - Good if you're running big strong units
Auguments give Inititve / WS - Awesome for compensating for our weaknesses.


With such a high points game, I'd say that Light would be best since you'd have soo many units, although Shadows would be a close second (Unless you're running a coach, imo that'd nerf your own magical ability too much).


Also you could still take Vampires, since you'd be getting it via loremaster. Dark Acolyte would still be useful though (And roll for Vamp Lord first), since then you'd be lvl4 for more magic phase dominance. Winds of Undeath would be pretty nice in a big points game, since your opponent would have soo many units. The rest of the lore wouldn't be that good tho.

 

[Darius the Insane]

I think the key is to change it up as much as you can, obviously some lores are better against certain armies and Vampires is a solid law on a game to game basis.

Are you suggesting that he picks the lore at the time of the game? Because that would be illegal.

No defintely not. All I'm saying is that if you play a considerable amount between the same group of people (which I do lol) I think the key is to change it up and keep your opponents guessing. There's nothing worse than being known as the guy who takes the same old predictble army/lore all the time erv:

 

[Sanai]

Beasts- Transformation of Kadon. If you manage to cast it, you can turn your little vampire into a huge frikkin dragon. 'nuff said.
-Savage Beast of Horros. Great augment spell to beef up your characters
-Amber Spear. A bolt thrower style magic missile!

Fire- Fulminating Flame Cage. Thats d6 str 4 hits on an entire unit, followed by a str 4 hit on every model in the unit if it moves, all as a flaming attack.

Metal- Gehennas Golden Hounds. d6 hits against a model of your choice sounds pretty nice. (Remembering that lore of metal spells to wound is always identical to the targets save stat)
Final Transmutation- Spell whos potential is only limited by the size of the target unit.
Glittering Robe- If you extend the spell, the scaly skin save applies to "all friendly UNITS within 12" Unlike other augments, thats units, not characters.
Lore of Metal is great to teach them knightly heavily armoured types a lesson.