The Black Art

[The vampire Lestat]

I'll need people to turn to pages 58 & 59 of thier Vampire Counts armybook for this one.

Hand of Dust when cast reduces your wizard to using one (very potent) attack, my question is, do any magic weapons equiped still affect that attack? For example with a sword of striking make it hit on 2+'s for a vampire? Will I still regenerate a wound from Blood Drinker? etc.
I am also assuming that Bloodline powers such as Strigoi's Infinite Hatred and Blood Dragon's Heart Piercing will work with it too?

Hellish Vigour states that the unit will have enhanced combat abilities in the next close combat phase, since you can only cast magic in your own magic phase that means that the close combat phase refered to is in fact your own combat phase, so what confuses me is that it the Hellish Vigour entry then states that "even if they have been charged", which is very unlikely in your own turn. Am I missing someting?

Wargear 49-51
Cloak of Mist and Shadows
Am I obligated to inform my opponent about my etherialness before he strikes, because that would just be plain funny.

Rod of Flaming Death
The entry states "A flaming magic missile with a range of......", does it actually cause flaming attacks against flammable targets or is this just creative writing?

Thank you in advance.

[skilett]

Hand of Dust: I never play with any bonuses from weapons when attacking with this, but I guess you could argue that you would. For me it's common sense on this one, but I haven't the rules to back it up. Bloodline powers I would still count though, as they are not weapon specific.

Hellish Vigour: You can count as being charged in your own turn by an enemy unit making a overrun in their own turn, so yeah, I guess thats why they put it in there.

Cloak of Mist and Shadows: I don't think you're required to reveal magic items until their effect comes into play, so yes, you could wait until your opponent rolls for damage, and say: Got magic weapons? Part of the fun of magic items for me is the surprise, and of course surprise is also tactical advantage.

Rod of Flaming Death: I never used this as a flaming attack, but now that I read it again, and read the LRB pg. 95, I think it is a flaming attack, as it clearly states "a flaming magic missile" in the rules for it, and not just in the fluff.

I am by no means a rules expert, but this is how we play it in my gaming community.

[DavidWC09]

Hand of Dust
After reading the description, I think the answer is yes, those powers still work. The entry reads that the wizard is reduced to a single attack, not a single hand-attack or the like.

And yes, infinite hatred is fantastic with this.

Hellish Vigour
An oppopnent could overrun into your guys as his combat phase ends, meaning he would normally strike first in your subsequent combat phase.

Wargear 49-51
Cloak of Mist and Shadows
No, you don't have to reveal it. That's why other armies have magic items that force opposing players to reveal what items a character has, are in the unit, and so on. Besides, you couldn't say, "Your captain appears puzzled as his blade slips harmlessly through the ghostly form of the necromancer."

Rod of Flaming Death
The entry states "A flaming magic missile with a range of......"

Yes, as the entry states it directly. The problem with similiar items in the past is that they would be called THE FLAMING BLADE/SPELL/BURNING KNUCKLE OF WHATEVER in the title but not have any mention of flame in the entry, making people ask 'Well, it's in the lore of flames but the damage isn't described as flaming, so does that mean..."

Here, I think it's clear since the descrption says so.

[Fat_Badger]

I'd agree with all of Davids answers. The cloak is a wonderful way to deprive certain chars of their attacks. Chaos lord with a great weapon? Issue a challenge! Force him to swing wildly at your necromancer instead of decapitating skeletons left and right.

[Plague_00]

no hand of dust is a touch attack you can read any battle reps in white dwarfs or on the gw sites

[Neferata]

It seems common sense to me that the hand of dust would be an attack that you make without the aid of magic weapons (after all, it is the HAND of dust, not the SWORD OF STRIKING of dust)

...but, the wording of the codex suggests that you can use bonuses from wargear...you cant base the rules off of what you THINK they SHOULD mean...only what they actually say. You cant always trust what white dwarf says. Tthey also published an article stating that characters on bikes (in 40k) can use two handed weapons (which they cant).

I'd have to go with David on this one