Gods and their aspects stride the battlefields in Warhammer Age of Sigmar, fighting alongside the very mortals who worship them, while sorcerers tap into the thaumaturgical energy that permeates every realm to conjure magical manifestations that can run wild on the battlefield.
Along with the changes to commands and combat, the way that spells and prayers work in Age of Sigmar has undergone some significant tinkering, leading to more flexibility and opportunities for counterplay.
Casting and Unbinding Magic
From gibbering Weirdnob Shamans caught in the violent grasp of the Waaagh! to the luminous Archmage Teclis, mortals and gods alike can call on the very stuff of the realms to cast powerful spells.
Each spellcaster in the game is identified by the keyword WIZARD, which is followed by their power level – a number in brackets that determines the number of SPELL, UNBIND, and BANISH abilities that they can use per phase. So a hero with the keyword WIZARD (2) could fire off a single SPELL and still attempt to BANISH an endless spell or invocation.
Spell lores have changed in the new edition, and are selected as part of constructing your army. Pick a single spell lore, and every sorcerer in your army can attempt to cast any of the spells from that lore. This means you no longer need to keep track of which specific Weirdnob Shaman knows Mighty ‘Eadbutt – you can attempt to cast that spell with any of them.*
No more than one friendly wizard can cast the same spell each turn, unless that spell has the new UNLIMITED keyword – and even UNLIMITED spells can’t be repeatedly cast by the same wizard in the same turn. Casting rolls are still 2D6, and if a casting roll includes a double 1, then the spell is miscast – the caster takes D3 mortal damage and can cast no more spells in that phase.
Unbinding is an important part of spellcasting counterplay, and with Magical Intervention letting canny casters crack off spells in their opponent’s hero phase, the Unbind reaction ability is vital.
As an exception to the usual restrictions on abilities, a WIZARD can attempt to use the Unbind reaction multiple times per phase, based on their power level – but only once per casting roll.
Chanting Prayers
The gods have cast their divine light on the prayers in the new edition, which are now more powerful than ever – and very different from spells, in some key ways. As with your spellcasters and sorcerers, your PRIESTS are marked out by a keyword with an associated power level, and may use a combination of PRAYER and BANISH abilities each phase up to that number.
Like spellcasters, you’ll pick one specific prayer lore when building your army – but there the similarities end. Instead of making a single dramatic casting roll, these combative clergy beseech their deities (who may even be on the battlefield with them at the same time) through chanting. Every prayer will ask you to roll a D6 chanting roll, and on a roll of 2+, your PRIEST gains that many ritual points, which accumulate over multiple turns.
Each prayer has a chanting value that you’ll need to match before it will be answered – and many include a higher value that can power up the resulting miracle even further. For example, a Slaughterpriest can choose to unleash the Witchbane Curse to weaken an enemy WIZARD once they’ve gathered 4+ ritual points… or hold out for a chanting value of 8+ to also deal three mortal damage to the target.
Building up your rituals comes with a risk, and the gods in the Age of Sigmar can be extremely petty, so a chanting roll of 1 will lose your priest D3 ritual points. Note that prayers can’t be unbound, so astute commanders will have to target enemy prophets while they’re busy amassing ritual points for swift execution.
Manifestation Lore
Endless spells and invocations are still in the mix – but instead of spending points to add endless spells when constructing an army, you can pick a manifestation lore. This grants access to a selection of endless spells and invocations that you’ll be able to summon in battle.
Some factions will have their own Manifestations, while the current endless spells from Malign Sorcery and Forbidden Power are divided into thematic lores. You’ll find the infamous and ghastly Purple Sun in the Morbid Conjuration Manifestation Lore, for instance, alongside Suffocating Gravetide, Malevolent Maelstrom, and Soulsnare Shackles.
Wizards and priests both can attempt to use the Banish Manifestation ability to expunge these autonomous arcane forms. There are more ways to interact with these conjurations, which we’ll cover in more detail next week.
We’ll be revealing another new miniature on Monday, and learning more about battleplans, the General’s Handbook, and the battle tactics of the new edition.
* Certain warscrolls have additional spells unique to them – as we saw earlier, with Nagash.