LOREMASTERS OF THE WHITE TOWER 1
by Ken Kennedy

Through their many incarnations over the years, the High Elves have always been represented as being one of the most magically-endowed races that a player can field in a game of Warhammer. The latest version of this ancient race is no exception to this. In fact, on examining the rules for their Mages, spells, magic items, and special characters, I would argue that they are more arcane then they have ever been. High Elf Mages To start off, the Asur that are trained at the White Tower can use either High Magic or any of the eight lores of magic found in the Warhammer rulebook. They are currently the only race to have such a large selection of spells. (I wouldn't be surprised if the Slann in the upcoming Lizardmen Armies book also get access to High Magic). In addition to this, being in touch with the flow of magical energies allows High Elf Wizards a bonus of +1 to their attempts to dispel. To top this off, those that study High Magic, or True Magic as it is known, get the powerful Drain Magic spell in addition to their normal number of spells. This means that Level 1 High Elf Mages get twice as many spells as Level 1 Wizards of other races! Although the enigmatic Slann of the Lizardman army could be considered better Wizards, with their +1 to cast and dispel and their ability to use multiple lores per Mage (get the Lizardmen Army list here ), as a whole, the High Elves have advantages that far outweigh these bonuses.

Honours

Still not impressed? Well, before examining the True Magic spells that High Elf Mages have access to, let's look at another set of benefits that High Elves Mages can take advantage of -- Honours.
Although Mages are not barred from taking any of the six High Elf Honours, there are a few Honours that are specifically designed to augment the magical potential of your army:

• Loremaster makes any character a Level 1 Wizard. Although these endowed characters can still not cast spells while wearing armour, a few extra Wizards (and thus a few extra Power dice) on the battlefield can never be a bad thing.

• Seer is a very powerful ability that allows a Mage to choose spells instead of rolling for them. With this ability, strategies involving very specific spells or spell combinations can be attempted. (You still need to avoid those miscasts and dispels though!)

• Channeller allows the spellcaster to cast with a maximum of one more Power dice than normal. Not as powerful as the other two Honours, but useful and inexpensive at only 10 points.

High Magic Spells

Three of the High Magic spells are based around the concept of depriving the enemy of their magic. Drain Magic and Fortune is Fickle both affect your opponent's spell casting ability, while the powerful Vaul's Unmaking actually nullifies one magic item of the caster's choice in a target unit within 24". These three spells alone can disable your opponent's Mages long enough to get rid of them, and then the fun begins. Casting Vaul's Unmaking with impunity will cripple some magic dependent armies, and that's just the beginning! High Magic isn't all defensive, you know! Fury of Khaine is a 2D6 S 4 magic missile, while Flames of the Phoenix is a spell that burns a whole unit with an intensity that increases every turn that it remains in play. Worried about getting injured? Become ethereal with Walk Between Worlds. Everyone's favourite, Curse of Arrow Attraction, completes the list.

Special Characters - Teclis

And now we get to the High Elves magically-endowed special character; Teclis. The High Loremaster of the White Tower, Teclis is the most powerful Mage in this age of the world. He has the Channeller Honour, knows all the spells of the lore he chooses, and gets to re-roll all dice for spell effects. He is also laden down with unique magic items. The Potions of Inner Strength, the Moon Staff of Lileath, the Sword of Teclis, and the War Crown of Saphery are all incredibly powerful items. However, the feature that makes Teclis (and his brother Tyrion by the way) so tough is the Curse of Aenarion. As soon as Teclis reaches 1 Wound, a 2+ Ward save kicks in for the rest of the battle. The Curse is obviously better on Tyrion when combined with his 1+ armour save, the Heart of Avelorn (buy the High Elves Armies book!) and his nasty temperament, but a great ability for Teclis none the less. Some curse -- sign me up!

Find Part 2 Here!