Back to Basics, Revisited: Magical Powers in MESBG

Good morning gamers,

I have always been a HUGE fan of the magical powers in MESBG and how the system of casting and resisting spells works. The rules for casting and resisting hasn't changed much since I got started and the only additions that were made (Heroic Channelling casts a spell on a 6 now and you get Will points back on resist tests that get a natural 6) have been good - and I think the change to Channelling was epic in this edition. The purpose of today's article isn't to go in-depth into every spell - we'll be doing that in a later series - but rather to explain how casting works, things to think about for different caster types, and how to pick the right targets for your spells. Furthermore, you should be aware that I'll be using the term "spell" and "magical power" interchangeably in this post (and have already done so in this paragraph). Let's dig in!

How It Works: Casting and Resisting Magical Power in MESBG

Casting got both harder and easier in the new version of MESBG. This is partly due to the change to Heroic Channelling, where you spend a Might point to "get the spell off on a 6" (more on that later), but also the casting difficulties of most spells went up (nothing is cast on a 2+ anymore and many spells are cast on a 4+ or a 5+). While the casting difficulties went up (and many people would say this had made casting magic harder - and it is now), the fact of the matter is that magic itself got stronger in this edition of the game - so learning how to use it is definitely a good idea. We'll see why magic is so good at the end of the post.

In order to cast a spell, a model with at least one magical power has to be unengaged in order to cast one of its magical powers (though there might be a list that gives its members the ability to cast some of their spells while engaged). This means that if you can charge an enemy caster before they get to cast, you can prevent them (most of the time) from being able to cast a spell. Perfect!

As you probably noticed in the statements above, each model with at least one magical power can only cast one magical power each round (though again, there are models that might plead an exception in certain army lists). Since many casters have access to more than one spell, they have to be selective and intentional with which spell they're using this round. It's often a good idea to figure out BEFORE you play a game what spells you intend to use and in what situations you intend to use them. For casters like Moria Goblin Shamans, this may be decided pretty easily (I'm casting Fury with two dice and then I'm done OR I'm channelling Fury and will save 1 Will for a one-off use later), while casters like Ringwraiths and Wizards might require an entire chart to figure out what spell you're going to cast. Experience and practice helps with this a lot.

Models are able to cast at any point in their move and don't have to reduce their speed to cast magical powers (like most bowmen have to do if they want to move and shoot). This means models can move a little, cast, and move back to safety if they want - or they can cast before they move and charge/retreat, or even complete their move and cast from their final position. Be careful though: a model needs to be unengaged to cast, so if you intend to charge, you need to cast while you're at least 1mm away from your target (though it's best if you do it from outside the control zone of the model you intend to charge).

If you have a model that's eligible to cast a magical power and know which magical power you wish to cast, you need to choose your target. The target might be either a friendly model (including the caster) or an enemy model, so you'll want to check the casting radius of the spell to make sure you pick a legitimate target. Most spells have a 6-12" range and in most cases, the casting radius for one spell on one character will be the same casting radius for the spell on other characters (e.g. most models with Immobilize or Transfix have a 12" radius for casting it).

Once you've identified the caster, the spell being cast, and the target, you need to form your casting pool. To cast a spell, your caster must spend 1 Will point for each die they wish to roll. Each spell has a casting difficulty (usually a 3+, a 4+, or a 5+) and your goal is to have your highest value die equal or beat the specified casting difficulty. While spells that are cast on a 3+ are easier to get off than those that are cast on a 4+ or a 5+, they also tend to be "less powerful" than spells that are harder to cast. This doesn't make them bad - or even worse - than those other spells, but you should manage your expectations for what they do.

It's important to note that you have to form your casting pool BEFORE you roll any dice - you can't "buy a die" and roll it, see if it worked, then buy another one and roll it, and so on and so forth until "it works" or "you give up." The caster needs to settle on how many dice to roll, pay the necessary Will points, and then roll them all. At the end of the article, I'll go through my general thoughts on determining how many Will points to throw at different spells - there are a few things to think about with this.

Once the dice are cast, you can compare the highest value die to the casting difficulty and perform any modifications to the roll that your caster has access to. For some casters, they may be able to reroll a die - and all casters who still have Might points in their stores can pay Might points to boost the highest roll. For some casters, special rules might allow you to regain Will points based on whether you had at least one natural 6 - there are currently only two profiles that do this, but this is the part where you'll want to do what those rules say. If you don't meet the casting difficulty, the cast fails and all of the Will spent on the cast are lost. Part of the reason Heroic Channelling is so good in this edition of the game is that it guarantees that for the low-low cost of 1 Might point and 1 Will point, you get a 6-high and will always meet your casting difficulty.

If you meet or beat the casting difficulty, the spell is successfully cast and if it targeted a friendly model, its effects are implemented immediately. One of the great things about casting on a friendly model is that any Might you spend to boost the highest die roll are going to result in the spell working - there's no opposed roll to stop the spell. If you've played Warhammer Fantasy, you know that magical powers in that came could be resisted, even if they were augmenting friendly models - not so in MESBG. If you target a friendly model, the spell won't be resisted.

If the spell is successfully cast and it targeted an enemy model, the opposing player can attempt a resist roll by spending Will points on the target model (or one of the models being affected by an area spell) or by using Will points provided by special rules. If there are no Will points that can be spent, then the spell cannot be resisted. Like casting a spell, the target forms a Will pool for resisting, spending 1 Will point for each die they wish to roll. Once the pool is formed (and not before), the dice are rolled and the target can use Might to modify the roll (performing any rerolls before Might is used).

If the enemy model can tie or beat the highest roll of the caster, the spell is resisted and no further effect occurs. Furthermore, if any dice that were added to the resist pool came from the Will store of the target and result in a natural 6, the Will point spent for that resist roll is returned to the target's store. If the targeted model has a mix of Will that comes from their Will store and special rules, dice of different colors should be used so that it's clear what dice can result in Will points going back and which dice were "free" from special rules.

If the spell isn't resisted, it is successfully cast and its effects are resolved. This may involve moving models, knocking models prone, dealing damage, or just placing a token near the model to show that some effect is present. It's best to talk through with your opponent what's going to happen before any models are moved or picked up - this is particularly true spells that involve line-drawing or area-of-effects, since the actual positioning of models is important for how those spells play out.

With this understanding of how casting and resisting magical powers works, let's take a quick tangent to cover the different kinds of casters that you'll find in MESBG.

Types of Casters

I made a four-part taxonomy back in 2019 for the kinds of casters that are in MESBG - and like so many other articles I'm mentioning in this article, those articles have held up surprisingly well (though some casters have shifted around in the categories, some have lost their magical powers, and others have moved to the Legacies documents). The first category is the smallest category: Combat Mages. There are a few magical powers that are on models that have really good offensive profiles - these heroes include Elrond and the Mouth of Sauron. The distinctives of this crew is that they have good combat profiles (2+ Attacks, usually access to mounts/Heroic Strike for added damage, and F5+) and usually limited Will stores. These are heroes who are bringing magical powers to augment their damage or make their nearby friends better - they're not dedicated casters.

By contrast, there are also Unlimited Mages, who get a free Will point each turn or can regrow their Will points. These include wizards, Elves like Celeborn, Galadriel, and Cirdan, Sauron (both forms), and Dragons with Wyrmtongue/Smaug. These heroes CAN cast a spell each turn all game long if they want to. While most of these heroes don't have great combat profiles (Celeborn, the various dragons, and Sauron excepted), their utility is going to be the way they employ magic to mess with the enemy's troops. If a hero like Galadriel keeps a big hero or monster from doing anything with a Transfix each round, she's probably doing enough to give her team the win.

The third category of casters are the Auxiliary Mages, who are a balance between the two previous categories: they have spells that help their teammates or penalize enemy models, but they do so with a limited Will store. Like the Combat Mages, their casting is on a timer, but unlike the Combat Mages, these heroes only have 1 Attack, so their not great in combat. That said, some of them can boost their offense a bit with mounts (like Arwen) or have spells that are nasty enough that they're forgiven their weaker combat profile (like Blackshield Shamans and Barrow-Wights). They're not as flashy as Unlimited Mages, but they're also a lot cheaper than most of those guys, so it all works out in the end.

The final category of casters are the Multi-Purpose Will Casters, who have a massive pile of Will points (usually), but also have to spend their Will points for more than just casting (or resisting) magical powers. These models include all Ringwraiths, the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, Tom Bombadil, and Goldberry. Since these models need to use their Will points to cast/resist magical powers (most of these models have more than one spell at their disposal), participate in combats, stay alive, and sometimes trigger unique special rules, these are casters who LOOK like they can cast for the entire game, but they usually have 4-6 Will points for actually casting spells. While you could certainly make some of them cast for longer than that, it's best to assume that you'll only be casting for half the game.

If you want to dig deeper into any of these, check out the articles linked in each paragraph. We'll be looking at the Multi-Purpose guys a little deeper a little later, but let's move on to the different kinds of magical powers that you'll find in MESBG.

Magical Power Categories

We're going to be redoing our "Mastering Magic" series from 2020 in 2027, but here's a brief overview of the kinds of magical powers you will find in MESBG:

• Moving magical powers (Call Winds, Compel)
  
• Manipulation magical powers (Foil Magic, Panic Steed, Paralyze, Transfix, Your Staff is Broken)
• Stat restoration magical powers (Blessing of the Valar, Renew, Strengthen Will)
• Stat reduction magical powers (Curse, Drain Courage, Wither)
• Area of effect magical powers (Nature's Wrath, Tremor, Wrath of Bruinen)
• Direct damage magical powers (Banishment, Black Dart, Chill Soul, Collapse Rocks, Flameburst, Sorcerous Blast)
• Auric augment magical powers (Aura of Command, Blinding Light, Fury)
  
• Auric debuff magical powers (Aura of Dismay, Fog of Disarray, Instill Fear, Writhing Vines)
• Targeted augment magical powers (Terrifying Aura, Bladewrath, Enchant Blades, Enrage Beast)
• Anti-magical-power magical powers (Fortify Spirit, Protection of the Valar)

That's all 35 magical powers (not including specialized ones that are available to an army list) grouped into 10 categories - here's what you need to know about them. I've organized the categories into push-pull contrasts - some magical powers move their targets, while others force them to stay where they are (or change their game plan in some way). Some magical powers restore previously lost resources/stats, while others drain heroic resources or reduce stats. Some magical powers do damage (or knock people over) in an area, while others will only harm a single target. Some magical powers provide benefits to one friendly model, while others help or hurt the target and those around the target. Finally, we have the odd duck magical powers that make you more immune to magical onslaughts. While all magical powers allow you to fight asymmetrically against your opponent, this last category is the most asymmetric of the bunch.

None of these categories are "good", "bad", or even "better" - they can all be incredibly useful to your army, depending on what you want it to do. If you want to do rooting instead of moving or directed damage instead of area damage, then a Ringwraith might be a good choice for you. If what you really want is directed damage, then someone like Kardush is probably worth investigating. If you prize stat restoration and auric buffs, give Radagast a try. If you read our previous series, you'll get a good feel for how the heroes that are in the game stack up against each other by type (though my post topics didn't follow this taxonomy to a tee).

Okay, let's dig into some tips for casting and resisting magical powers . . .

Top Tips for Casting and Resisting Magical Powers

If you read the posts in my Mastering Magic series that I did back in 2020, you'll be familiar with my "70%/50%" rule, which basically goes like this: if you're casting a spell against an enemy model, you want to use enough dice to have at least a 70% chance of success. If you're casting a spell against a friendly model, you want to use enough dice to have at least a 50% chance of success. While the posts within that series break it down by spell and by caster, some examples of this include:

• If Gandalf the Grey wants to cast Sorcerous Blast (5+ casting difficulty) against an enemy, he should either spend 1 Might point to declare a Heroic Channelling and use 1 Will point (probably his free one) OR use 3 Will points (probably his free one), since this will give him a slightly better than 70% chance of getting the required roll.
• If Galadriel wants to cast Blessing of the Valar on Celeborn (4+ casting difficulty), she should use 1 Will point (probably free from her Lady of Lothlorien special rule), since this will give her a 50% chance of getting the required roll.

The values of 70% and 50% are arbitrary, but since this is a dice game, you can't have a 100% chance of succeeding each time, so we need to make reasonable benchmarks that we want to hit depending on whether the spell might be resisted (targeting enemy models) or not (targeting friendly models).

Models also have limited Will points and the importance of getting the spell to actually work (vs. failing) is a balance you always have to weigh, so I use a 70%/50% system. You're more than welcome to figure out a different tolerance level for yourself, but if you're looking for something to start with, I'll recommend this one.

After you know how many dice you need to meet your threshhold, you'll want to add one extra Will point if the spell MUST get off on a high number. This was also my advice previously when Heroic Channelling did something extra instead of guaranteeing that you cast the spell on a 6. Now that a channelled spell is "just cast" instead of "cast but bigger", you don't need to do that - spend as little Will as possible.

Sometimes casting the spell needs to happen now. If you have a Barrow-Wight that is trying to Paralyze an enemy General/Champion before he racks up a bunch of kills in Contest of Champions, you "should" only need two dice to get the 4+ that you require for Paralyze to work, but if he's got 3+ Will in his store and you only get a 4-high, there's a very good chance that he'll be able to throw 2 Will points and stop it himself. By throwing 3 Will points, you have a 70% chance of getting a 5- or 6-high, which will probably force out 3-4 Will points, making your next cast more likely to be unresisted. While you might always get lucky and get off a 1-die cast on a natural 6, he might also get lucky and get a natural 6 on a 1-die resist - luck aside, the best way to make sure a spell actually has the impact you want in the moment you're casting it is to throw more dice at the problem. Since Will is a limited resource, I recommend adding one more Will point.

Speaking of Will being a limited resource, here's a tip for using Multi-Purpose Will Casters: split your Will points up into buckets so you know how much Will you have to perform different actions. If you don't make separate buckets for your Will, you're likely to fall prey to the assumption that you have a lot of Will. You don't - you  just don't. If you have a Witch-King with 18 Will points (if you have the Level-3 Witch-King, this is what you have), you probably want your buckets to look like this:

• 1 Will: staying alive
• 7 Will: participating in 7 rounds of combat
• 10 Will: casting spells in 6-8 rounds

These bins tell us that if we only do single-die casts with the Witch-King, we can probably cast a few times before we engage and then continue to cast each turn that we engage. We'll only be able to fight for 7 rounds, but that will usually be enough. In most situations (read, not in a Barad-Dur list), the Witch-King will probably be our army leader, so a dead Witch-King means VPs for our opponent in all but one scenario. If we burn 10 Will casting spells and 7 Will fighting, we'll be sitting on just one Will point and a single charging model will kill us off. Yikes . . .

Additionally, if you throw 2 Will points on Transfix during five rounds of combat, you're out of your allocated Will for casting - and if you need to cast a Compel or something later to yank a model off an objective, you're cutting into a rapidly-dwindling combat stash. If you're careless with your Will early, you will pay for it later.

The final tips I have cover when to channel magical powers and when not to channel magical powers. Heroic Channelling has changed a lot since I wrote about it at the start of last edition, but the core principle is still the same: the spells you should always channel are the ones that get game-altering benefits by doing so. These should either be a) spells that are hard to cast without channelling (like Sorcerous Blast or Black Dart) and that will have a direct impact on how you score in the game, b) spells that you NEED to get off to help your army (like Fury), or c) spells that will force your opponent to make hard choices later (like Foil Magic against someone's Fury Shaman). If you meet one of these three rules, you should at least consider channelling.

Conclusion

And that's magic in MESBG. I really enjoy the magic system, though I do wish that both casting and resisting rolls got Will points back on natural 6s (this would require a natural 6 roll, otherwise any channelled spell would count). I know that it doesn't matter that much for Unlimited casters, but for all the others (especially Combat Mages), it would be a nice boost. As is, the system requires you to make interesting choices, regardless of how much Will you start with (though it's definitely influenced by how much you have) and despite having played this game a ton, there's always more to learn about how to use different spells and how many dice to throw at them.

Next time, we're digging into a new topic for this series: tests! You'd think that writing for this long, we'd have discussed courage tests, intelligence tests (admittedly, those are new), jump tests, leap tests, and the like - and in a bunch of different places, we have. This edition has seen a bunch of changes to these, so we're going to pull them all together and talk about what each does and the constraints placed on each. Hopefully this will be informative for veterans as well as novices, but in the meantime, happy hobbying!