Basic Magic Rules

Models able to cast spells are collectively known as Wizards, though individual armies may use their own terms (sorcerer, shaman, seer, and so on). Only beings of exceptional mental strength can hope to bend magic to their will -- lesser minds would be torn apart by the raw energies involved, or consumed by the Daemons that lurk within them. Even the greatest sorcerers walk a narrow line between ultimate power and utter annihilation.

Wizards range from level 1 to level 4 -- the higher the level, the more powerful the Wizard. Mastery of magic comes through dedicated practice, so a higher-level Wizard knows more spells, casts them with a bigger bonus, dispels more effectively, and channels more power than a lower-level one. Check the relevant Warhammer Armies book if you're ever unsure of a Wizard's level.

Each Wizard knows a number of spells equal to their level, chosen before deployment at the start of the battle (a few unusually powerful Wizards know more, but that's the exception). Wizards are assumed to know countless minor charms and rituals besides -- only a handful are ever worth bringing to actual battle.

If a Wizard loses one or more Wizard levels, they instantly forget one spell at random for each level lost (spells granted by a magic item can be lost this way too). Bound Spells can never be forgotten this way; if a Wizard with both normal and bound spells loses a level, only the normal spells are considered when randomising what's forgotten.

A Wizard reduced to level 0 no longer counts as a Wizard at all -- they can't channel power or dispel dice, and can't cast any spell except a Bound Spell they might still carry.

Before deployment, decide which spells each Wizard knows. When building your army, you also chose which Lore of Magic each Wizard uses -- often one of the eight Lores of Battle Magic in this rulebook, though many armies have their own race-specific lores described in their own Warhammer Armies book.

A Wizard's known spells are drawn from their chosen Lore, openly, so both players know exactly what every Wizard has. If an army has more than one Wizard, their controller chooses the order spells are picked in.

Every Lore's spells are numbered 1 through 6 -- lower numbers are generally easier to cast, higher numbers more powerful and more difficult, requiring a higher Wizard Level to even attempt. Consult the chosen Lore and the table below to see which spells are available to a Wizard of a given level, then pick.

Ordinarily, a spell can only be known once within the same army -- if more than one Wizard uses the same Lore, each must pick different spells. The exceptions are: a Signature Spell (below); a spell a model knows automatically with no choice involved (fixed by its own rules, or bought as a Bound Spell); a Lore or army book that explicitly allows a spell to be exchanged; or every spell in that Lore already being spoken for elsewhere in the army, in which case duplicates should be spread out as evenly as possible.

Most Lores of Magic have a Signature Spell -- one so central to that Lore's character that any practitioner is assumed to know it. Regardless of Wizard Level, every Wizard using a Lore automatically knows its Signature Spell in addition to whatever else they've chosen, even if another Wizard in the same army already knows it too.

A Wizard drawing spells from multiple Lores may know at most two different Signature Spells in total, and can choose which Lores to take them from. Wizards who don't get to choose their spells at all (because they only know a few fixed spells, or only carry Bound Spells) don't gain a Signature Spell either.

It's worth noting on your army roster exactly which spells each Wizard has -- it's easy to lose track otherwise.

Most Lores of Magic have a "lore attribute" -- a grouping of one or more special rules applied to certain spells from that Lore, perhaps granting an extra effect against a particular troop type, or changing how a spell behaves. A lore attribute only ever affects spells from its own Lore.

The Magic phase begins with both sides working out how much magical power they can draw on this turn. The player whose turn it is (the casting player) tries to gather enough power to cast their spells; their opponent (the dispelling player) gathers energy of their own to try to stop them.

1. Roll for the Winds of Magic -- determines how many power dice the casting player gets, and how many dispel dice the dispelling player gets.
2. Cast -- one of the casting player's Wizards picks a target and attempts to cast a spell using power dice.
3. Dispel -- if the spell was cast, one of the dispelling player's Wizards may attempt to counter it with dispel dice (or, lacking a Wizard, the army itself can still attempt a dispel).
4. Spell Resolution -- assuming the spell was cast and not dispelled, its effect is applied.
5. Next Spell -- repeat Cast through Spell Resolution until the casting player can't, or doesn't wish to, cast any more spells.

Roll 2D6 to determine the strength of the Winds of Magic. At the start of each Magic phase, the casting player rolls this to see how much power is available -- the number of dice rolled increases for every 2,000 points the game is played at beyond 2,000 (4D6 at 4,000 points, 6D6 at 6,000, and so on).

The casting player's available power equals the total rolled for the Winds of Magic -- take that many dice to form a "pool" of power dice representing this reserve. Each time a Wizard casts a spell, they take dice from this pool, so the pool shrinks with every attempt, limiting how many spells the casting player can try each Magic phase.

A Wizard can't control how much power the Winds of Magic offer, but can try to channel more of it. The casting player rolls a D6 for every Wizard level present in their army -- each result of 5 or 6 siphons a little extra power, adding one more die straight to the power pool. Wizards that are fleeing, or not on the battlefield for any reason, can't attempt to channel -- fleeing ones are too preoccupied, absent ones too far away.

With the power pool set, the dispelling player works out what they have to counter it with. Disrupting magic is inherently harder than wielding it, so the dispel pool is almost always smaller than the opponent's power pool -- it's equal to the highest single die rolled for the Winds of Magic (not the total).

For example, if the Winds of Magic dice show a 2 and a 6, the casting player gets 8 power dice (the total) while the dispelling player gets 6 dispel dice (the highest single result). In games of 4,000 points or more, the dispelling player gains a further +D6 dispel dice for every 2,000 points beyond that -- and the extra dice added are always the top half of the results rolled. For example, with four Winds of Magic dice showing 2, 3, 5, and 6, the casting player gets 16 power dice total, and the dispelling player gets 11 (the top two results, 5+6) dispel dice.

Extra dispel dice can be channelled the same way as power dice. The dispelling player rolls a D6 per Wizard level in their army -- each natural 6 adds one more dispel die to the pool. As with channelling power, fleeing Wizards or those absent from the battlefield can't attempt it.