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Mercenary Mage Quest: Asur Dogs of War in Warhammer Fantasy

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I think all these spells are extremely useful for a reason I don't think anyone has touched on - they are extremely low power spells that basically any elf could use even without training on how to safely handle the winds at a high level. Earthwall is good and all as a spell for us, but imagine it being taught to all our elven commanders so they can throw up a wall in the middle of combat.

You do not need a deep understanding of the winds to pull these off. You just need to know not to reach to high, to settle for a small effect.

But lots of small spells add up to a big effect if every unit has access to them.
 
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Fouredged Sword said:
I think all these spells are extremely useful for a reason I don't think anyone has touched on - they are extremely low power spells that basically any elf could use even without training on how to safely handle the winds at a high level. Earthwall is good and all as a spell for us, but imagine it being taught to all our elven commanders so they can throw up a wall in the middle of combat.
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I'm not sure they can? Elves are more likely to have a talent for magic then humans, but even then I don't think any elf can just learn a tier 2 spell like these. These aren't cantrips, those are spells that literally labeled as "Complicated".
 
That is a very nice list of spells for a mercenary commander.

Is Earthwall permanent? How long can it be? How much control does it give? The sheer labour armies spend on earthworks in the field makes it look like the operational standout if it's big enough.

For champion fights Hammering Wave suits our sword-wizard style. If it's a few yards long then knocking down several opponents just before contact is a nice aid to line breaking. All depending on how smoothly it can be incorporated into physical actions.

Cowering Beasts: making enemies run away is a great option in battle. Seeing the cavalry turn tail might well spread panic through less elite units.

I'd say Earthwall and Cowering Beasts for now as the most immediately useful. Be generous in the trade and get contact details for a longer term relationship.
 
noliar said:
For champion fights Hammering Wave suits our sword-wizard style. If it's a few yards long then knocking down several opponents just before contact is a nice aid to line breaking. All depending on how smoothly it can be incorporated into physical actions.
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Keep in mind a lot of the opponents dangerous enough to be worth a one on one fight with us be them Chaos warriors, orc bosses, bestigors etc,etc are probably often going to substantially out mass what is generally considered "human sized" reducing the chance their balance will be lost like that.
 
Imperious said:
I'm not sure they can? Elves are more likely to have a talent for magic then humans, but even then I don't think any elf can just learn a tier 2 spell like these. These aren't cantrips, those are spells that literally labeled as "Complicated".
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Every elf can use magic. As earthbound magic powered spells misscast should not be a factor and so it should just be a matter of learning stats.
 
noliar said:
That is a very nice list of spells for a mercenary commander.

Is Earthwall permanent? How long can it be? How much control does it give? The sheer labour armies spend on earthworks in the field makes it look like the operational standout if it's big enough.

For champion fights Hammering Wave suits our sword-wizard style. If it's a few yards long then knocking down several opponents just before contact is a nice aid to line breaking. All depending on how smoothly it can be incorporated into physical actions.

Cowering Beasts: making enemies run away is a great option in battle. Seeing the cavalry turn tail might well spread panic through less elite units.

I'd say Earthwall and Cowering Beasts for now as the most immediately useful. Be generous in the trade and get contact details for a longer term relationship.
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In terms of Hammering Wave specifically, I'd argue that Fanriel already has a spell for that kind of disruption in Ygethmor's Fiery Blizzard! That said, totally agree with you on Earthwall. (Beating my own drum, I know, but I'll point to my analysis on the previous page; goes over those along with a few other thoughts on the spells on offer.)
 
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noliar said:
Is Earthwall permanent?
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Yes.

noliar said:
How much control does it give?
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It does exactly what is stated in the description.

Imperious said:
Has @Blackout said this as well as that every elf has the capacity to use magic enough to cast a t2 spell?
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No. Most elves could probably learn to cast a Complicated spell with a lot of time and effort, but not all elves who can want to.

The Swordmasters, for an example, will refuse to learn non-sword related magic for religious reasons.
 
Blackout said:
Yes.


It does exactly what is stated in the description.


No. Most elves could probably learn to cast a Complicated spell with a lot of time and effort, but not all elves who can want to.

The Swordmasters, for an example, will refuse to learn non-sword related magic for religious reasons.
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Ok, but would it be feasible for us to train SOME elves to use magic to a significant degree? While acting as a spellcaster commander is something we can do, it's not really our strength.
 
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[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Cowering Beasts (Advance)
-[X] Earthwall
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky

This seems about right. Hefty AP cost sure, but we can get all these spells squared away relatively quickly to cover a lot of the holes in our repertoire. I have been convinced on the Cowering Beasts as a matter of synergy.
 
[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Earthwall (Advance)
-[X] Cowering Beasts
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky

[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Cowering Beasts (Advance)
-[X] Earthwall
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky

I still prefer to have Earthwall as our advance.
 
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[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Earthwall (Advance)
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky

Does Clear Sky allow us to dispel dark clouds, smoke or fog? If so, it's the anti-Mordor spell^^
Also, remember that Earthwall is very small: 3x2x1 meters is not a lot, it barely covers one individual. Good for bodyguarding, maybe...
 
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Netos said:
[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Earthwall (Advance)
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky

Does Clear Sky allow us to dispel dark clouds, smoke or fog? If so, it's the anti-Mordor spell^^
Also, remember that Earthwall is very small: 3x2x1 meters is not a lot, it barely covers one individual. Good for bodyguarding, maybe...
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3m long allows it to cover at least 2 people in fighting formation from ranged attack, more if they're packed. But if cast it several time to break the charge of enemies, it's going to be very disruptive because the enemies changing direction will force others to move too.
 
Blackout said:
You and me both. There's so much to write and so little time.
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This pain. This terrible, terrible pain. I sympathize so very much.

Sometimes I wish I could just directly transmit my thoughts onto documents way faster than I could ever possibly type whenever I wanted.

[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Cowering Beasts (Advance)
-[X] Earthwall
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky
 
[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Cowering Beasts (Advance)
-[X] Earthwall
-[X] Beast Tongue
-[X] Clear Sky
 
If we get them all in writing we could buy the whole lot. Still there's an order to learn them for best effect in this campaign.

Maybe not all elves are up to casting T2 but we have a few dozen in the company now - if we can find 3 or 4 who can manage Earthwall, even if only under low stress conditions, that massively increases our options as a company. Not just fortified camps but fords and causeways on the march. If we have multiple people who can do it under fire even better.

Now that the combo of Clear Skies and gunpowder has been pointed out, let's note that we're supporting an Empire army in the mountains i.e. gunpowder users in variable weather conditions. We want this.

We don't have a familiar candidate at the moment and we're on the job so I don't see much opportunity to go looking so Beast Tongue isn't a priority. We'll want it eventually but then we want them all eventually - Fanriel's a Loremaster. (She probably even wants versions of what she already has so she can compare!)

Fear effects can swing a battle against low discipline enemies so I think we'd get plenty of use out of Cowering Beasts.

[X] Yes, you wish to buy spells from the Middenheimers.
-[X] Earthwall (Advance)
-[X] Cowering Beasts
-[X] Clear Sky
 
I note that since we all want to buy something, the Yes section of the vote causes a messy tally. Oh well, too late I guess^^
 
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