7th Ed Rule Change of the Week

Today I want to go over the rule changes for magic and how they will affect the game.
There are really 4 different rule changes that will work together.

1. Change in magic lores.
2. Power dice distribution.
3. Nastier miscast table.
4. Character targeting elimination.

All of these rule changes will have a huge impact on the game for some armies, and very little on others.

In 7th edition we see Heavens (previously neutered) stay about the same with the huge shuffle of moving 2nd sign to the #2 spell and Portent of Far becoming the default. Life takes a nasty cut in power levels, while many of the other lores, metal and light in particular getting a nice boost to their previously never used status.

I think the biggest change this will have is that now everyone will have to actually learn all the lores and not just heavens and life. So you will see a lot more of the "now what does that spell do?" during tournament games. And I was really pleased to see Howling wind lose its half movement rule. That spell was, IMO, the nastiest spell in the game. And was a potential game changer.

The distribution of power dice will only really hurt those armies that take a tooled up mage lord and then a bunch of 2nd levels to actually pump power dice into the lord. Tzeentch armies shouldn't really be affected as their shared pool will be pretty large. Most other armies won't either. I guess the 2nd Gen Slaan with 2 scroll caddy skinks will be the most affected. I just don't see this rule as being that big a hinderance.

The 3rd rule is the biggie. With every miscast there is a slim chance your wizard will just die. Tie that into the 4th rule and he will probably be in a unit and will take a lot of guys out with him. Imagine a Brett Prophetess in the middle of a wedge. Can you say entire unit gone. ;)
Add in that with every miscast there is a good chance to take a wound and most 2nd level wizards won't stay around too long if they are casting.
Armies with miscast prevention items get a big leg up, ecspecially 4th+ Gen Slaan, Staff of Change armies and the O&G with their re-roll staff (though I've heard that is going.) Some armies have some one shot items, like the Skaven Warpstone Charm, but many armies have nothing to prevent a nasty miscast. So I think you will see fewer Lord level mages running around the game. The risk to lose all those points in one roll is going to be just too high.

The 4th rule allows characters and such, (ie, ratling guns and doom seekers) to be picked out with shooting and magic missles. This makes the good old favorite MM a much stronger spell. Instead of having to pour 1d6 strength 4 hits into a unit of 30 models. You can now pick out the mage running around in the back by himself. Or the heirophant with the cloak of flying.
So this rule hurts Skaven, Slayers (yea!!), Tomb Kings and VC.

I think overall, I like the magic changes. I always felt the miscast table was way to soft on the player compared to the affect an Irresistable force spell could have. Now I like the balance. Not sure I care for the pick out rule, but many spells didn't require targeting or LOS anyway, so I don't see that as a huge change other than to force characters into units. I think TK's will be hurt here the most as the Heirophant cannot hide near as easily as before.
Vamps are taking it hard on the chin with this one though. A vamp lord with no way to stop a miscast has the chance to lose the game every time he casts a spell. That is just horrid. And so I think you will see a lot fewer vamp lords, more counts and you will see them leaving the necromancers to do the casting. Add in the crumble rule and its just too big a risk until turn 5 or 6.

Armies helped the most:
4th+ Gen Slaan Lizardmen
Ogre Kingdoms (no change).
Orcs and Goblins (no change to miscast table for them.)
Tomb Kings (while now the Heirophant is harder to hide, their bound spells and no miscast, make up for it.)
Tzeentch Chaos (The staff of change can prevent miscasts easily and their marks add to their shared pool. )
Dwarfs: I think these rules will see a decrease in overall magic levels, which will help the dwarfs a lot.

Armies these rules hurt the most:
Vampire Counts: The chance to lose the game on one roll (well 2 really) is a huge detrement and I think you will see fewer Vamp armies running around.

Skaven: Their most feared weapon, the ratling gun takes a hit here. But with the charm and their main spell being a MM getting a boost. The normal twin setup is unaffected by the dice sharing, makes up for it a lot.

All the armies with no way to avoid miscasts.

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Ben