Ulthuan

Hi all,

Recently added a Loremaster of Hoeth to my collection and have fielded him with a unit of 15 Swordmasters. Unfortunately, their first game, they were charged by a group of TK Necropolis Knights and they didn't quite survive the encounter, which I thought was odd to say the least. However, I'll be testing him in that unit a bit more soon.

My questions to the group:

- Is it feasible in a 2000pt game to field him, and maybe a lvl 2 High mage with a scroll? Or will you be at a disadvantage vs all the lvl 4s?
- I've found the spell selection to be pretty great with Earthblood and Wyssan's Wildform for the Swormdaster unit. How do you normally use and/or equip your Loremasters?

Hi!

I love fielding Loremasters at 2k points - in general, the lower the points the better they are, IMO.

I typically equip him with either:
- Book of Hoeth, Talisman of Preservation
or
- Dispel Scroll, Ogre Blade, Shield of the Merwyrm

Them losing to Necroknights is... odd. Dice gods are fickle though, don't let that discourage you!

RE.Lee wrote:Them losing to Necroknights is... odd.

I’m wondering how many RE?

Live_waaaaagh wrote:Is it feasible in a 2000pt game to field him, and maybe a lvl 2 High mage with a scroll? Or will you be at a disadvantage vs all the lvl 4s?

It’s entirely feasible LW. He’s got +2 but you’ve got 10 spells.

Thank you both! Will be playing some smaller games on a smaller table soon and will be sure to bring him along.

I also think I made mistake in that combat - it was a weird combat because not all SMs were able to attack because fo the angle of the overrun, but I think I forgot some atatcks. (first game in like a year )

The loremaster is great. His spell selection is very versatile and it really shines at lower points, where people often only bring a single mage. He vastly outperforms a simple lvl2 due to always having a spell to cast, instead of (usually) a signature spell and some random spell which could be high casting cost. He's decent in combat, but suffers from the same issue as regular SM, which is that he's not very durable. So you have to be a bit careful with him in combat (though he does a lot better then the average mage).

I think RE.Lee has the most common equipment variations for him. He's amazing with the BoH. The book shines in a situation where you have many smaller spells. After all, if you cast 5 spells then you can potentially reroll 5 dice, whereas if you cast one you only reroll 1 dice. Also, the book slightly compensates for the fact that he's only a lvl2. You could think of the book as adding +2 to a roll. Not quite, since it works slightly different and the randomness increases, especially with fewer dice. But it's close enough.

He works well with a backup lvl2 with a scroll. The scroll helps for that one spell you must get rid off, when you're at a 2 level disadvantage compared to a lvl4 mage. High I'm not sure about for the lvl2. Drain is very situational in my experience. And you don't really need another magic missile. So you're depending on the dice roll to get some useful spells for him. But it also depends on the rest of your list of course.

Also something to keep in mind perhaps is that for me at least he's a budget choice. You can bring him as a reasonably competent combat general with some above average magic capabilities. Sort of an all in one package. Which leaves you with a lot of points to bring other fun things (you could even field him next to an archmage if you would want in 2400 games). So that could be a reason not to bring a lvl2 to run alongside him and instead go for more boots on the ground.

Rod

Thank you for the feedback! A couple of items on my end:

- the idea of adding the BoH is interesting - I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. In the event that you're able to use fewer dice for more spells, a re-roll of 1 - 2 becomes important. I like this idea.

- The lvl 2 high mage, was meant more for the ward saves on its unit. In particular with the army I'm building as it has two main block of combat units. Please note, I am going for a more themed army, as opposed to competitive.

Loremaster General
Lvl 2 Mage
Sea Helm BSB on foot

30x Sea Guard (mage & Sea Helm here)
5x Reavers

1x Lothern Skycutter (with bolt thrower)
5x Dragon Princes (maybe champ with Star Lance depending on points)
15x Swordmasters (loremaster here)

and then trying to decide whether to finish it off for 2000 pts with a phoenix, or more Dragon Princes or what exactly.

Prince of Spires wrote:next to an archmage if you would want in 2400 games

I agree Rod, this can be very interesting.

Live_waaaaagh wrote:The lvl 2 high mage, was meant more for the ward saves on its unit.

The danger with this LW is that enemy contact and kill him. You could run a 4+ Ward on him and switch the Scroll to the Loremaster.

Live_waaaaagh wrote:phoenix

Frosthearts are powerful, Flamespyres so-so.

All good points! I'll see what I finish my army with and test the Loremaster int he comign few games (smaller games, 1250 pts) where he should shine.

He definitely should shine in lower points games. Though magic is fickle. And so a mage is perfectly capable to take a holiday in the warp after the first spell of the game you cast with only two dice...

At 1250 pts a loremaster is very powerful. He grants you soo many spells combined with decent combat potential (when the most overpowered combat units are not there yet because of the low points limit). And all that for a very affordable price. Great fun.

Rod

All those magic missiles (with re-rolls to cast, potentially) work really well at low points, when the model count is low. Can't beat redundancy!