Time for another discussion on the finer points of Warhammer the Game of Fantasy Battles by one of the more loutish representatives of the OZ community, me.   Autographed pictures of me are on special at the WarPuppy store, only $150 per framed copy, each individually numbered.  That’s some real value there.  Anyway, Magic and Shooting.  Two elements of the game that are very closely linked.  A list that focuses on either of these elements at the exclusion of all else will usually result in a poor comp score.  I don’t mind these elements of the game, they are a little bit unfun for your opponent, but you can plan for them to some extent.  It’s a bit of a shame that the Aus community feels this way, and if I remember rightly, Gavin and I discussed this briefly on an episode of Podhammer.  Anyway, I am digressing.  The focus for this lesson is twofold: How to maximise your shooting effectiveness, and how your minimise your opponents effectiveness. 

Both shooting and magic share some common traits.  The main one is:  there is nothing you can do about the damage received once the opponent has succeeded in casting the spell or targeting your unit.   So all the work you do must occur before this happens.  As I discussed earlier, deployment of your troops in the correct positions to minimise casualties is a very good start.  I think most players have a pretty good handle on how to protect troops from shooting.  Its an easy element of the game to understand.  I think the key to this part of the game is to accept that parts of your army are going to die.  If you try and save every unit from shooting and magic you will never get anywhere.  Sacrificial units and diverters are there to prevent your shock troops and important units from being harmed, either by enemy combat units, or also shooting and magic.  Charging into shooting units is probably not the best way of achieving this result, unless your diverters are a certain thing to win (remember calculate how likely you are to break the unit before committing).  Blocking LOS is a better way of preventing casualties on important units – force your opponent to shoot at the diverter.   I guess the main thing to take away from your opponents shooting phase is – if it is going to cause you problems, you need to integrate how to stop it early in to you planning.  If it is a minor nuisance, ignore it.  I would classify a unit of High Elf Archers as a minor nuisance.  I would classify Dark Elf Bolt Throwers as a problem.  If you are in command of the shooting, then there are several things to keep in mind, and once again, planning and forethought has a lot to do with selecting your targets.  Firstly, are you attempting to destroy a unit by shooting?  Or cause a Panic test by causing enough casualties?  Or are you attempting to clear LOS to another unit?   Ensuring you know what you are trying to achieve, you can play out exactly how much of your force you need to utilise.   You should always concentrate your fire, rather than spread to lots of targets, try and eliminate a unit through MAXIMUM firepower!  Probably nothing earth shattering in those thoughts, as I said at the start, most people tend to have a good handle on this part of the game.

So Magic.  I hate magic with a passion, quite genuinely despise it.  Probably because I think Gandalf is such a spazzo until he becomes Gandalf the White.  I mean really, all he does it hit guys with his staff and turn on a little light.  Even the Balrog fight was lame.  Whatever happened to lightning strikes and shit?   But magic in warhammer is a little bit unreliable, which is where my real dislike of it stems.  In case you missed it, I play a very planned, structured and careful way, using average statistics and calculations to determine my decision making process.  Mind you, I throw a bit of recklessness and ridiculous decision making in there as well.  Two units of Blood Knights anyone? J  To get the best results from Magic, you need to maximise your potential output.  Make sure you have at least 9PD, as many magic increasing items and or abilities as possible.  Again, this all seems very obvious but you should be considering how you are going to use your spells whilst writing your list.  Maybe there are synergies between units in your army and certain spells.  Keep in mind how to protect your mages, and this one in particular is a massive one.  Sometimes your mages are best in units, and at other times they will work best by themselves.  All things that need to be planned before you get to the game.  Its so random what spells you will get, how effective they will be against your opponent etc.   I have never really played with heavy magic, aside from Vampires which is 100% reliable and effective. J  So I am probably not the best person to ask how to use it.  But I know how to defend it better than most.   I have played almost every tournament for the last two years with 3 dice and 2 scrolls.  My policy changes depending on what army I am playing and how they are structuring their magic phase.  Here are some handy tips to help get you through –

a)      D6 S4 magic missiles are inconsequential 95% of the time. 

b)      Remember Bound Spells and how effective they can be.

c)       Save your scrolls if at all possible, for ONE critical phase.  In every game, it usually comes down to a single phase where the opponent HAS to get off certain spells.  I like to call this the IMPACT Zone.  (not really I just made that up).  Tomb Kings in particular are a prime example of this. 

d)      Brad Peel once described magic in sensational terms – one Game Changing spell per phase, assuming magic heavy.  Understanding how your opponent is planning to execute his magic phase is the key to stopping it.  Be aware of your opponents spells, I like to write them down as well on my sheet, so I know when they cast something and how its going to affect the other potential castings.

e)      And assassinate mages wherever possible.  Sometimes losing a 200point unit is worthwhile if you can eliminate the Magic phase of your opponent.  Vampires spring to mind, killing a baby Vampire is usually pretty easy, and can halve the effectiveness of the raising.

So, probably a really useless lesson for most.   Ultimately, this is one of the areas of the game you have limited control over, you just have to do as much as you can and hope for the best.  War Machine hunting is a great example of this.  A lot of games the Empire cannon will drop short, or overshoot, or Misfire.  But against great guessers, or lucky bums, occasionally it will snipe your chariots, two in one hit, or kill a Hydra in one shot.  It’s a part of the 50% - your opponents list vs yours.  You either are prepared for it, or you are not.  Mind you, I don’t think anyone is prepared for 80 Thunderers, plus 4 Bolt Throwers and two Organ Guns.  Good luck champs, Lesson 5 could be a little way off, lots of stuff happening in the next few days.  Maybe tomorrow, more likely Thursday or Friday.  It will be on Combat, Challenges and Strategy.  Maybe

Peace out

Big Deno

Thanks to everyone who has responded positively to Trents School of Warhammer.  Up yours to everyone else.