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So I heard this was in the new WD, and then found in on the most recent WFB main book FAQ. Apparently Power Scroll as we know it is no more. Now it just halves the casting value of a spell (and you can't boost the spell), which seems more appropriate for a 35 point item. Sorry if this has been posted here, search wasn't working for me, and I didn't see anything in the first few pages. I think most people, with the possible exception of the VC players who really loved that scouting Purple Sun, breathed a little sigh of relief. My question is, does this really change anything in list construction or play? I think it doesn't change list construction too much, because there's not too much one could put in a list to counter that sort of thing. I think it does change how one plays and deploys, however, because one can rely more on dispel dice and scrolls to protect your important unit(s) for the really critical turns.

It just makes high spells easier to cast. it also makes them easier to dispell.

I think it was a good balancing choice they made. now if only they would fix the wizarding hat...

Grey Templar wrote:It just makes high spells easier to cast. it also makes them easier to dispell.

I think it was a good balancing choice they made. now if only they would fix the wizarding hat...

It doesn't really make them any easier to dispel, since that's still a factor of the casting roll. I think people will still toss lots of dice at the important spells.

Also, 1,000,000x to the bolded. I love using it, just wish it didn't cost a warlord his entire allotment.

the only army that can use the Hat is basically a goblin army. they can afford to toss a Goblin lord at the hat just for lolzies.

I think that it is intersting item to take. regardless for a gray seer. cut the cost of the 13th in half and some opponents will allow burn other dispel dice elsewhere.

Grey Templar wrote:the only army that can use the Hat is basically a goblin army. they can afford to toss a Goblin lord at the hat just for lolzies.

I've used the hat on Ogre Tyrant with good effect. I recently started using it on a skaven warlord, because all I use mine for is standing in the back and providing leadership. Now he provides leadership and might get a spell that useful. Every now and then, my Seer fails to dispel, and I can pick up the slack with the +2 from the wardlord.
Finally, a 2nd channel attempt is nice, even if it doesn't do much.
For the hat to make sense, you pretty much need:
1) An army that doesn't have good access to the basic lores. If you can already take all the basic lores, you're better off just buying a level 2 wizard.
2) A character who is cheap (goblin) doesn't need gear (Ogre) or can just stand around and provide Leadership (skaven).
Tomb Kings might want to take a look at that hat as well.

With the power scroll, vampires should be happy, it makes life a lot easier for their level 1 loremasters.
Outside of that, I think high/dark elves might be able to make good use of it. Both can get a lot of power dice, and making everything easy to cast can result in getting several spells off in a single phase.


-Matt

I looked at it for high elves, and I've found that there are just better arcane items for them.

My level 4 usually gets the staff of solidarity
my level 2 usually gets the annulian crystal
next level 2 will get silver wand or seer staff of saphery.

All but the crystal cost less than the scroll, and effects last the whole game.

if power scroll halves the casting of a spell it sounds like it was specifically made for Cataclysm spells.

Holds the entire enemy dispel dice supply hostage.

As long as you have enough dice to cast a 15+ spell (average 4.3 dice) he can't use up his dispel dice without risking you scrolling some 26-30 casting ultra-spell.
If he's too afraid to use up any dispel dice, cast your important normal spells (killing his heroes and things) without him attempting dispels. Don't use scroll if he hasn't dispelled anything yet. Then cast some less important spells.

With spells like "every model in enemy army has movement 1, WS1, BS1 and wizards can't cast any spells. Remains in Play" at a 30+ to be dispelled. He can't ever afford to have that spell go off.

Grey Templar wrote:the only army that can use the Hat is basically a goblin army. they can afford to toss a Goblin lord at the hat just for lolzies.

HawaiiMatt wrote:I recently started using it on a skaven warlord, because all I use mine for is standing in the back and providing leadership. Now he provides leadership and might get a spell that useful. Every now and then, my Seer fails to dispel, and I can pick up the slack with the +2 from the wardlord.

I've been running one on a warlord also, but hadn't considered running him alongside a Grey Seer. I've been running Mr. Hat alongside 2 warlock engineers to somewhat decent effect (even if I've been losing all my games; I was doing that before I started running the hat).

Give a lord the 100 point wizarding hat and you have the most expensive guy who is both mediocre at magic and mediocre in combat.

He'll get crushed in a magic duel by a real mage.
He'll get smashed in close combat by a real fighter with things like super armor and super weapon that he spent his 100 points on.

TheBloodGod wrote:Give a lord the 100 point wizarding hat and you have the most expensive guy who is both mediocre at magic and mediocre in combat.

He'll get crushed in a magic duel by a real mage.
He'll get smashed in close combat by a real fighter with things like super armor and super weapon that he spent his 100 points on.

You don't take it as your primary caster. You take it as a back up, when you have very limited lore selection.
You play your strengths; don't throw him into a fight with an enemy lord, keep him out of combat, or limit his exposure to weaker rank and file units.

-Matt

I don't think 100 points is that bad for access to any rulebook Lore, I just think it is bad that you can't actually pick the Lore yourself. You usually want your Lore to support your army, so if you can't pick the Lore yourself, it becomes unreliable. Unreliability isn't necessarily bad, if the price is balanced for it. As it is, a Lord with full Magic Item allowance shouldn't be this unreliable.

Airmaniac wrote:I don't think 100 points is that bad for access to any rulebook Lore, I just think it is bad that you can't actually pick the Lore yourself. You usually want your Lore to support your army, so if you can't pick the Lore yourself, it becomes unreliable. Unreliability isn't necessarily bad, if the price is balanced for it. As it is, a Lord with full Magic Item allowance shouldn't be this unreliable.

I think it would be better if less reliable. I would be happier to pay 100 points for 2 random spells, generated at the start of each magic phase. Odds of getting something good for at least 1 phase would be a lot better. It's also keep your opponent off balance, which is what you want with a supporting wizard.

-Matt

100 points to become a level 2 of any base lore might be too little, but perhaps not too little by much. It's tough to say. For some armies, getting access to some base level spells is just fantastic. I'm thinking from the Orcs & Goblins perspective that I'd probably pay 100 points for access to the signature Beasts spell. Any other spell would just be a bonus.

Well, 100 points may or may not be too much depending on the army.


it comes down to the cost of your lords rather then the cost of the item.

Can you afford to buy a Lord character and blow his entire allotment on the hat?

If you are O&G you can get a super cheapo goblin boss and slap the hat on him. bam, less then 200 points down the drain.


compare this to WoC or Ogres. Warriors can get a lvl2 for 120 pts(IIRC) and he has several lores to pick from and he can also get magic items for additional protection. Ogres, in the new book, can get a lvl2 for 135 pts that has access to 4 lores(3 main lores and 1 unique)

these armies also will rarely have more then 2-3 lords. a fighty one for the general and a high level caster. so it would make little sense to give either the Wizarding hat.

Very good point, but that is true for other magic items. With their ASF, all magic weapons are a better buy on High Elves, for example.

Grey Templar wrote:the only army that can use the Hat is basically a goblin army. they can afford to toss a Goblin lord at the hat just for lolzies.

Hmmm hadn't thought of that. Finally found a job for that Night Goblin Warboss sitting on the shelf...

On the other hand, a goblin or night goblin with stupidity? Even a warboss? ............

Wizarding hat is grossly overcosted for what it does. Look for example as the blue scribes. They can cast one spell randomlly selected from any of the lore's each magic phase. He has great eagleish stats, and is immune to miscasts not to mention he can leech power dice, all for less than 90 points.