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AoS: Magic In The Next Edition

4 Minute Read
May 22 2018

 

The Magical scope of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar has grown since the game first launched. With every new Wizard came a new spell and every Battletome brought new ways to harness the Winds of Magic. In AoS 2.0, we’re getting some tweaks to the current system as well.

Magic can be fickle in the Mortal Realms but two spells have been trusty side-kicks to many wizards: Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield. However, in the new edition on the horizon, GW is shaking up the classics and reworking the Magic in AoS.

via Warhammer Community

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Magic is most interesting when each army’s magic phase is distinct and defined by the unique character of the wizards involved. To do that, the new edition sees a change to two classic spells – Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield – to offer more incentive to use the unique spells each Wizard has access to.

Arcane Bolt is a little less powerful. In the next edition it’s going to be good for at least 1 Mortal Wound, but you’ll only get the D3 when your casting roll is above 10.

Mystic Shield has changed a little bit more significantly. It no longer will add 1 to your armor, instead, you will get to re-roll 1s for the target unit’s armor save.

Overall, both of these spells have certainly been toned down quite a bit – more reason to use your unique spells!

Unbinding in AoS 2.0

“Secondly, you can now attempt to unbind a spell – using one of your Wizards to prevent the enemy spell from working – at a massive 30″ range, up from 18″, making unbinding much easier and also giving you a chance to deny your enemy key spells even in the first turn of the game, where you may not have had a chance to move your wizards into defensive positions.”

You read that correctly – Unbinding got a HUGE range buff at almost double. It went from 18″ all the way to 30″ of range! On a typical 4′ x 6′ table that means most wizards will have a shot at stopping spells across the board. It’s basically a 60″ bubble around each wizard of being able to attempt to Unbind Magic. That makes some of the more Unbind-inclined wizards pretty powerful. The Cygor is one example and the Curseling is another.

Location, Location, Location!

Another change to the way magic will work in AoS is that Wizards will also have access to more spells depending on where the battle is taking place (ie, what Realm you’re fighting in):

“For example, the new edition brings with it a whole Lore of Magic’s worth of spells for almost every realm, depending on where your battle is taking place.

Here’s one of our favourites that any Wizard can use, for when you find yourself battling in the radiant vistas of Hysh:”

First off, more magic based on the Realm is a great concept. Secondly, holy crap that spell is awesome! Is that block of enemy troopers getting too close for comfort? Why not fling them more than 24″ away from your caster! That’s actually a really powerful spell as it could take a unit out of the game for at least a turn or two. In a 5 turn game, that’s a big deal. And that’s just 1 of the 7 spells that will be available when you fight in the realm of Hysh! Overall, there will be over 50 new spells to add to your Wizard’s toolbox!

And that’s not all – we’ve things and seen glimpses of the new Endless and Predatory Spells. But that’s for a later date.

Unbinding got a LOT better. I think it might be time to bring a few extra Wizards around…What do you think of the new Magic in AoS 2.0?

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Author: Adam Harrison
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