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Wizards in Combat

1K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Dfred 
#1 ·
Hi,

I've trawled through the rules, but I'm a bit confused about when or if a wizard can cast spells if he, or a unit he is with, is in combat.

Am I right in thinking that he can't cast if the spell requires line of sight unless he's on a large mount?

If he's on a fast cavalry mount with 360 deg line of sight could he cast if there were no unit members to his side or rear? e.g. if he was on his own.

If he's not in the front rank can he cast at all?

Thanks for the help

John
 
#2 · (Edited)
Usually the spell will say that they can cast it in combat. And I believe that no other spells may be cast, but I could very well be wrong.

Nope, I think that may have been a previous edition or something:

Magic Missiles cannot be cast while engaged.

Spells cannot target engaged units unless specifically stated otherwise.

So that should about cover all your bases.
 
#4 ·
Still a bit confused. Maybe examples might help me.

Law of Gold says "may be cast on any enemy unit that is within 24" ot the caster", and The Spirit of the Forge is similar, but the unit must also be "visible to the caster". Neither of these is a magic missile. Can either of them be cast, under any circumstances by a Wizard that is in combat.

I understand that Magic Missiles specifically can't be used in combat. What I don't undestand, and can't find in the rules book, are the rules that preclude a Wizard from casting non Magic Missile spells while combat, albeit that some require line of sight.

Sorry for being so slow

John
 
#5 ·
comments

Here is what I have been told by the local experts hanging out at the hobby shop. You all know the ones even some behind the counter who play alot. I have called the so called gurus at gamesworkshop and they even agreed with the local experts. Of course so people would say that that is not a good thing. Anyway here is what I was told.

If the spell says that it can be casted in combat then it can be, if not it can not be.
 
#10 ·
Here is what I have been told by the local experts hanging out at the hobby shop. You all know the ones even some behind the counter who play alot. I have called the so called gurus at gamesworkshop and they even agreed with the local experts. Of course so people would say that that is not a good thing. Anyway here is what I was told.

If the spell says that it can be casted in combat then it can be, if not it can not be.
That's what I thought but I think now that is an outdated rule. The BRB has nothing about that in it, and I think it used to, on top of that it does actually make mention of the specific case of Magic Missiles and being engaged. So if it is going to say you can't shoot your balls of fire but at the same time it isn't going to point out, like old rulesets did, that you can only cast that which says you may, then I think it no longer applies.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for that, but the problem is that I can't see amy of the spells from the standard Lores that say they can be used by a Wizard in combat. There are plenty that say that the target unit can be in combat, but that's not the same thing.

If a spell must explicitly state that it can be cast in combat then why bother with the Magic Missile rule? The fact that magic is explicitly disallowed for Magic Missiles seems to imply that it's OK for other spells (ignoring other constraints such as LoS)
 
#8 ·
Its pretty simple, for wizards in combat
Magic missile: not able to cast unless specifically says, some spells have a different wording IE skaven pestilence breath

LOS: if its says within 24 inches and line of sight, and your wizards in combat he's not casting this spell, as his line of sights is directly ahead of him, so depending the spell you may only be able to cast on the one he's in combat with.

If you mount a wizard on a horse, he is no longer unit strength 1 so may not have 360 line of sight, you should probably read the rules for fast cav to clarify this because he may not be able to cast those magic missiles as you think he can. He also now has a arc for charging purposes.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the clarification Guys, it sounds more or less like I thought.

As far as line of sight is concerned, I was wondering if a Wizard on a Fast Cavalry mount, e.g. Steed of Slaanesh, could use LoS spells (but obviously not Magic Missile) to his sides and rear if he was in combat on his own. However looking at the rule book more closely it does say that the 360 Deg LoS only applies during the shooting phase....oh well never mind :)

John
 
#11 ·
The most recent WoC FAQ states that a Slaanesh Sorcerer can indeed cast his spells with 360 degree LOS when mounted on a SoS. However, I'm not sure how this applies when he is locked in combat ... I assume, if he can cast the spell in combat and he can see his target, there's nothing to stop him. So even if he's in combat, if there's a target to his side, and he has LOS, he can cast.

Good question.
 
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