Beastmen Magic Tactics

Magic Lores

The best use I've found for the magic is to support the units that I need to do the fighting. Be it by augmenting my own units, or hexing my opponent. That said, I'm going to talk about the available lores in the order that I prefer to use them in the game.

  • Lore of Shadow This lore is great. It's main use is hexing enemy units. Reducing enemy Strength, Toughness, Weapon Skill, Initiative, and so on is huge. If you can combine the Toughness reduction with the Strength augmentation of the Lore of Beasts, you can cut swathes through enemy regiments. Also, reducing enemy Weapon Skill so that you hit easier makes a massive difference. One downside to taking this lore hoping for the hex/augment spells is that you end up with many spells that aren't useful in the first turn or two of the game. My main goal with this lore is to choose the important combat(s) each turn, and cast Shadow spells to help ensure that I win them. The lore attribute is interesting, but I've never found much use for it.
  • Lore of Beasts This lore is great as well. I usually take this on more wizards than I take the Lore of Shadow on. Wildform on a large Gor herd will make them even better, and the Curse spell (-1 to hit hex) can really save a combat for you. Those two spells fit my style the best. Beyond that; you can attempt to turn a shaman into a monster while in combat, and then hit the enemy with a nasty breath weapon attack. The spear spell is essentially a cannon when cast on it's higher casting value, which helps add some much needed ranged attacks. Not all the spells are great, as I don't think adding D3 Strength and D3 Attacks to a character is nearly as valuable in 8th Edition. It can still help out in a pinch though, perhaps when your Great Bray Shaman ends up in a challenge (as has happened to me). All in all, I think this lore is great. Also, the lore attribute makes these spells easier to cast when casting them on your Beastmen.
  • Lore of Death There are two great hex spells here: Soulblight and Doom & Darkness. Both are great, and have average casting values. If you take any large monsters that cause Terror, Doom & Darkness (-3 Leadership for enemy unit) is extremely handy before charging your monster in. It's great to terror-off an enemy unit with your charge, only to catch them and wipe them out because you have such high Movement. Soulblight can be amazing as well, especially once things get stuck in. The upgraded version gives all enemies within 24" -1 Strength and -1 Toughness. That can wreck someone's game! I've never gotten much out of the remaining spells in this lore. The character sniping spells are very short range. The Purple Sun really intimidates a lot of people, but from my experience its effectiveness is debatable. That intimidation is huge though, since people will hold dispel dice; letting my other hex/augment spells get off. The lore attribute of Death is pretty solid, assuming you have taken the sniping spells. You can easily pick off many ogres and similar monstrous infantry types with the signature spell, thus gaining some more casting dice.
  • Lore of the Wild This lore is pretty crappy. The signature spell isn't very useful, allowing your models to move D6" in the magic phase as long as that does not cause a charge. If you have a wizard in combat, Bray Scream could be decent, but it's only Strength 3. Traitor Kin is lame; in a tournament setting your opponents may not even have any troops that would be affected, so don't take Lore of the Wild with that hope in mind. The Mantle may kill your own character, and for little gain when opponents are frequently Steadfast. I generally avoid this lore.

Chaos Gifts

A few of these are great.

  • Gnarled Hide I take this every game. An easy armor save boost for a character (typically the BSB) is welcome any time.
  • Many-Limbed Fiend The only decent use I have found for this is to give a Bray Shaman with the Jagged Dagger a chance to cause more wounds. If that's your plan though, that means that your Bray Shaman is in combat; that's never a good thing.
  • Crown of Horns This could be used to make a second unit Stubborn, along with the Crown of Command. Sad thing is that it is almost twice the cost for the same effect.

The rest I don't recommend. They're too inconsequential, too many points, or both.

Common Magic Items

From the Beastmen Book:

  • Sword of Striking a good option. I usually don't take it in favor of a cheaper option.
  • Sword of Might Recommended. I give this to the Gorebull, and Beastlord whenever I can.
  • Sword of Battle Recommended. Wargors with Primal Fury can always use extra attacks!
  • Enchanted Shield A great way to boost a character's armor save. I take this almost every game on a character who needs it, usually the BSB if he isn't carrying a magic standard.
  • Dispel Scroll A must. Stops that early turn game-changing spell, and gives you some time to deal with pesky enemy wizards.
  • Warbanner In 7th edition, this was a must have. In 8th, I never take it. Mostly because enemies are frequently Steadfast, and because there are other really good banners that I'd rather have.

From the BRB:

Useful (and tried) items from the Big Red Book. As time goes on, and I use these items; this section will get more information added.

  • Weapons I don't have too much to say about the weapons here that don't also appear in the Beastmen book. The only thing to note would be that the two 5 point options give a very cheap way to give a character magical attacks. Most of these are too expensive to be worth while, but it is fun to break one out from time to time in friendly games.
  • Armor The helms are nice for an additional armor save that wasn't available before 8th. The Armor of Destiny is a way to get a 4+ ward on a character. That's huge, perhaps for the BSB if he doesn't have a magic banner. The rest, I don't currently rate too high.
  • Talismans I take Talisman of Preservation on my Great Bray every game. The 4+ ward save is great, and helps a character that isn't very survivable hang around. As for the rest, some are OK, but none are really worth mentioning.
  • Banners Standard of Discipline is great, and I take it every game. Usually on a Bestigor herd with the Beastlord, for Leadership 10. Banner of Eternal Flame I would love to take, but don't have a way to take a third magical banner. It comes down to either taking the Discipline banner or the Eternal Flame banner, and the Discipline banner wins every time.
  • Arcane Items There are many good options here:
    • Feedback Scroll Handy for wizard killing, especially when everyone is rolling so many dice for spells these days. It does mean you have to let a big spell go off, but hopefully the offending wizard will be dead! I recommend this one for fun, though probably not in a competitive environment.
    • Power Scroll Huge. When you need that one spell to succeed: this can make it happen. This one was almost immediately banned from many tournaments.
    • Channelling Staff Allows a wizard to channel on a 5+. I usually throw this in at the last minute when I'm trying to round out a list to a specific points cost.
  • Enchanted ItemsThere are many good options here as well:
    • The potions are great for mixing it up: Healing Potion, Potion of Strength, even Potion of Toughness.
    • Ironcurse Icon Great on a large regiment. Cheap enough to be almost a must have. If you pass one save, it's earned its points back.
    • Crown of Command This item is great. I take it every game on the Beastlord, and then stick him in with a large block of Gor or Bestigor. Being Stubborn rules!
    • Arabyan Carpet Good choice for a Gorebull or Doombull. Gives some real mobility to a model with a solid punch.
    • The Others... Many of the other items here are very usable. I recommend you try them out as you need them in your army. I will make updates to this section as time goes on. If you have any you'd like me to comment on, go ahead and email me.

Beastmen Specific Magic Items

Here I will discuss the Beastmen magic items from the Beastmen book that I actually use, or have used.

  • The Steel-Claws I've tried these, and they have been effective. I usually pass over them in favor of something less expensive points-wise, like a Sword of Might.
  • Brass Cleaver Extra attacks is always a good thing. Especially with Primal Fury. This I take occasionally on Wargor and Beastlord alike.
  • Hunting Spear Decent for adding some shooting to the list, but kind of pricey. If you're trying to get lots of ranged attacks in, then include this.
  • Blackened Plate A solid choice. I take this in almost every game, considering the proliferation of Flaming attacks in 8th edition. I usually take this on my Beastlord, and stick him in with a large block of troops. Then you find the enemy unit that has the flaming banner, and get stuck in.
  • Ramhorn Helm Great pick. Extra armor save, and attacks. I take this most games.
  • Shard of the Herdstone This is a great item. An automatic extra casting die per turn per wizard. That's huge! You just have to model up a small piece of terrain to represent it, and you're set. I've used this to great effect, using a 3 wizard list (one level 4, two level 1's). It almost guarantees a great magic phase.
  • Stone of Spite This is a great trick to pull on unsuspecting enemies. The problem is that it will be dispelled almost every time, unless you cast it irresistably. The key is to run the bearer out to within 18" of as many enemy wizards as you can, and throw 6 dice at it. If you don't get Irresistable Force, a Dispel Scroll will be used every time. Any opponent who doesn't use the scroll will have that scroll blow up in their hands! Be sure your own wizards who are carrying arcane items are far away when you do this.
  • Staff of Darkoth Seems great on paper, but never really accomplishes too much. I have even tried combining it with the Hagtree Fetish, but still didn't think it was worth its points.
  • Hagtree Fetish If you're going heavy on the direct damage magic, this is a great item. Problem is that the Beastmen don't have access to a ton of direct damage magic. I stopped taking this one.
  • Jagged Dagger I've tried this one with little success. The problem is that the Bray Shamans just don't do that much killing, and you really don't want them in a situation where they have to try!
  • The Beast Banner A great augment item. I take this in almost every game on the BSB. It is a bit pricey, but if you have a large block of Gor, they become great with this. Even more so when you augment them with magic.
  • Other Banners... There are some great uses for the Totem of Rust, and Manbane Standard. These two are decent choices, if you work them into your overall strategy. The reason I don't take them is because the Beast Banner & Banner of Discipline have proven extremely useful, and you can only take a few magic banners in the army.