AoS: New Endless Spells Preview – Magic Lives On
In the second edition of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Magic is taking on a new life of it’s own. With the Endless Spells, Wizards will have all new ways to use magic – but be careful what you wish for.
“Endless spells are a new kind of magic that ranges from predatory magics that indiscriminately annihilate anything in their path to “utility” spells that provide cover against ranged attacks or allow you to heal units.”
Lore-wise, these new Endless Spells are the “unforeseen consequences” of the shenanigans that Nagash has pulled off in Shyish. Formerly, spells would dissipate over time but now, if unchecked, some spells can come to life! In fact, these new class of spells have opened up new job opportunities for Wizards as Bounty Hunters who travel the realms and dispel the magic – kind of like if Gandalf were to be in the Witcher series…and he hunted magic spells instead!
Endless Spells On The Tabletop
“Endless spells are cast like normal spells, but rather than resolving their text with a mere roll of the dice, each summons a model to the table. This miniature then persists throughout the game until it’s dispelled – Wizards can choose to do this in place of casting a spell normally, meaning you’ll have to weigh up the choice between disrupting your enemy’s magic and using some of your own.”
These new spells will have models associated with them and will persist after casting. The only way to get rid of them is for an enemy wizard to dispel them on their own turn. I’m looking forward to seeing what folks come-up with to represent these spells on the tabletop and also I’m sure GW has more than a few spell-models ready to go.
Some big name spells are back as well. The Purple Sun has been spotted several times and it’s back with some new rules as well. It’s one of the new Predatory Endless Spells and it’s coming to kill units!
But before you decide to cast a bunch of Endless Spells and have them dance on your opponent, you should be aware that the winds of magic can be fickle:
“Endless spells are moved at the start of each battle round after determining who gets the first turn, with players taking it in turns to pick a spell to move, starting with the player that has the second turn that round. You’ll be able to move any Endless Spell with this move, not just the ones you control, representing their wild and untameable nature.”
Uh-oh. The player going second in the turn gets first move…You’ll probably want to take that into account BEFORE you start slinging Purple Suns all over the board. Then again…
Now, not all Endless Spells are going to cause massive amounts of mortal wounds. Some spells can heal units, grant new powers to Wizards, and some can even affect your entire army! The Balewind Vortex is one example and has had a complete overhall in the rules department to better fit what it does now. And speaking of examples check these two Endless Spells out:
Oh that’s BRUTAL! Notice it just straight-up slays models on a 6+ and doesn’t just do mortal wounds. Now that doesn’t sound terrible (even if it is on a 6+) but don’t forget these spells stay in play! You can attempt to mode it again and again. On top of that, it also subtracts 1 from the Bravery of units within 6″ of it. Oh and where you fight matters, too because if you’re fighting in the Realm of Death it move 12″ vs 9″ and that’s kind of terrifying!
This spell is a cool utility spell. It will allow you to place to “door ways” and you can fire spells between the two. This can help you extend the range of your spells and can even let you move Predatory Endless Spells great distances very quickly. And if you’re fighting in Ulgu, you can drop the second portal anywhere on the tabletop!
There is one more teaser that GW has put out with their preview on Endless Spells:
That’s not just some fancy terrain piece – it has a base. I bet that’s one of the new Endless Spells that GW is planning to unleash. Anyone have any guesses as to what it will do?
Are you excited about Endless Spells? Time to bring some extra Wizards to the tabletop…
