WotR Magic - Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Command [Part 2/7]

The next set of Magic to be covered is the Spells of Command. The Spells of Command are mostly used by Good Models; in fact the only model that is Evil that has access to this set of magic is Saruman the White Hand.

Here is the list of Magic Users that have access to the Spells of Command. Notice that those entries that are in purple italics are the "new profiles" that were added via bringing SBG Hobbit profiles into WotR.

The spells have been separated again for Spell Mastery (1) and Spell Mastery (2+) Magicians.

The Spells of Command are intended to be defensive and augmenting in nature. Notice that the biggest change is within the Blessing of the Valar spell being used on a non-infantry/non-cavalry formation (i.e., Glorfindel casting the spell on himself as a Monster Hero). Since there is no specification for how to handle "casualties" for Monsters the addendum needed to be added to make the spell viable for these unit types as well.

LINKS TO OTHER MAGIC RULES UPDATE POSTS

1. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Dismay [Part 1/7]
2. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Command [Part 2/7]
3. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Wilderness [Part 3/7]
4. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Ruin [Part 4/7]
5. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Darkness [Part 5/7]
6. New Epic Abilities for Spell Caster Upgrades [Part 6/7]
7. How to combine spells effectively [Part 7/7]

WotR Magic - Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Dismay [Part 1/7]

A lot of the special rules for Magic have already been covered in several of the Army Point Analysis posts that have been put up, however I thought it would be useful to gather all the rules for Magic into a single post block to provide a single point of reference for all things Magic. I've gone through the different Magic Areas and adjusted the text to provide clarification (if needed - similar to what we have done with the Epic Rules Applicability Posts) to ensure that the Magic text indicates the target of the spell being oneself, an impacted hero, an impacted company or an impacted formation. One of the biggest gaps in the magic lists is that none of them specify any duration (although I think it is fairly well accepted that the implied duration is until the end of turn). I've added it anyway - just to ensure that there was no confusion. Likewise, I tried to fill any of the "logical holes" that existed within the rules to ensure that they were as complete as possible.

This block of posts will consist of 5 parts - one part for each of the Magic Discipline Areas: Dismay, Command, Wilderness, Ruin, & Darkness. I've also split the rules into a block for Spell Mastery 1 Magicians (which have no use of Focus - since they can only cast a single spell per turn) and Magicians with Spell Mastery 2 or greater. I suspect that in the near future there will be a post on how to effectively chain spells together for spell casters with a Master Level of 2 or greater, as well.

The following is a list of spell casters that can use the Dismay spells:

The only character in the list above that is a Spell Mastery (1) is the Angmar Shaman in the Angmar Orc Warband formation (see page 209 of the rule book). All others are at a minimum 2 and most are 3.

Notice that a roll of 1 will always result in a critical failure for casting a Dismay Spell. Also notice that the clarification to Visions of Woe was added to ensure that the number of hits is compared against the Resilience Value of Monsters.










LINKS TO OTHER MAGIC RULES UPDATE POSTS

1. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Dismay [Part 1/7]
2. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Command [Part 2/7]
3. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Wilderness [Part 3/7]
4. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Ruin [Part 4/7]
5. Updates to the Rules for the Spells of Darkness [Part 5/7]
6. New Epic Abilities for Spell Caster Upgrades [Part 6/7]
7. How to combine spells effectively [Part 7/7]

The Fortress of Isengard Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 7/10]

The last army on the list is The Fortress of Isengard. Isengard has an interesting "problem" with the fact that Lurtz has the same Epic Action "Mighty Blow" that exists in Gondor & Arnor. Notice that those have been reconciled and both have been updated to be a single rule that applies to the company in which the Hero is located. Likewise, with Thrydan Wolfsbane - he has the "Bestow Wargbane" special rule which makes absolutely no sense to include for an anti-Rohan hero. For that reason he has been also given the "Bestow Manbane" rule to reflect his true anti-Rohan nature and  make him useful for more than just fighting against a single other army. There are only 4 Epic Heroes in the list, so the list isn't extremely long - but regardless, here is the applicability list for Isengard:

 

So, there it is ... If we look at the applicability column, it is interesting to see that the following spread exists:

• Only the Hero - 3/25
• Hero's Company - 5/25
• Hero's Formation - 9/25
• Target Enemy - 4/25
• All Friendly Formations within Range - 4/25
• Target Friendly Hero - 0/25

One thing that stuck out to me is: None of the Isengard Epic Heroes have Bestow Terror. I guess they just are not scary enough to be terrifying!

LINKS TO OTHER SPECIAL RULE EVALUATION POSTS

1. Gondor & Arnor Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 1/10]
2. The Kingdom of Rohan Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 2/10]
3. The Elven Kingdoms Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 3/10]
4. The Dwarf Holds Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 4/10]
5. The Forgotten Kingdoms Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 5/10]
6. Mordor Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 6/10]
7. The Fortress of Isengard Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 7/10]
8. The Misty Mountains (Moria) Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 8/10]
9. The Fallen Realms Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 9/10]
10. Angmar Epic Heroes' Special Rules [Part 10/10]

LINKS TO OTHER UNIT COST ANALYSIS POSTS

1. Gondor & Arnor Warriors
2. Gondor & Arnor Heroes
3. The Kingdom of Rohan Unit Cost Analysis
4. The Elven Kingdoms Unit Cost Analysis
5. The Dwarf Holds Unit Cost Analysis
6. The Forgotten Kingdoms Unit Cost Analysis
7. Mordor Unit Cost Analysis
8. The Fortress of Isengard Unit Cost Analysis
9. The Misty Mountains (Moria) Unit Cost Analysis
10. The Fallen Realms Unit Cost Analysis
11. Angmar Unit Cost Analysis