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Here's the full text of the spell:

NET OF AMYNTOK Cast on 10+
The legendary Net of Amyntok was rumoured to have been woven to hold the Great Deceiver itself.
Net of Amyntok is a hex with a range of 24". The target unit must pass a Strength test every time it moves (included moving as a charger, fleeing, pursuing, moving compulsorily, etc.) or shoots or casts spells until the start of the caster's next Magic phase. If the test is passed, the target acts normally. If the test is failed, the unit is unable to perform the desired action, remaining in place and taking D6 Strength 4 hits from the net's barbs of light. The Wizard can choose to extend the range of this spell to 48". If he does so, the casting value is increased to 13+.

So if a unit contains a spellcaster looking to cast spells that turn, when and how often must he perform a strength check to do so? Is he doing it once for each spell he tries to cast? Or is there just one unit-wide test for all spellcasting attempted by models in the unit?

And what happens on a fail? Does a fail mean that you can cast NO more spells? Or does it mean that you can attempt other spells, but just not the ones that a test has been failed on? Also does the test occur before or after dice are used (meaning a failed test is lost dice...).


Here are the rules for casting spells from BRB page 31:

The casting player's Wizards can attempt to cast each of their spells once during each Magic phase, provided they have enough power and don't fail a casting attempt.
Each Wizard can only attempt to cast each spell once per turn. Wizards cannot try to cast spells if they are fleeing or not on the battlefield.
To cast a spell, a Wizard nominates one of his spells to cast, and declares the target of the spell. Before choosing, it's worth examining the rules of the spell to determine its maximum range — remember that you can normally measure to see if a target is in range before you try to cast a spell. Spells also have targeting limitations, as we'll discuss now.

It seems to me that causing your opponent to waste dice isn't the intended effect of the rule (and is a wee bit too powerful as well). It's more the question of timing and frequency of the tests that I'm unsure about. Since the spell refers to the "unit" that is attempting to cast "spell*S*" I'm tempted to say that it's one test for all spellcasters in the unit. A pass means they can all cast spells as normal, while a fail means no spells cast at all.

But then again, the plural could just as easily be a catch-all for all spells that are attempted, and the rules for casting clearly indicate that you can only ATTEMPT each spell once a turn (and a failed strength test would obviously count as an attempt). In that case you'd test once for each spell, and if you fail it's just that one spell that can't be cast.


Thoughts?

I read it as.

You choose a spell.

Declare you are going to cast it.

Test for the net.

If passed, cast spells with that wizarrd, if failed, do not cast this phase.

Choose next spellcaster in the unit (if applicable) and test for them, repeat until no more spellcasters in the unit.

I read it as you test once, for the whole unit.
If you were testing by spell, you'd let my slann test 8 times for his whole lore of high magic?

Great job posting the rules text. Lots of times that doesn't show up until page 11 of the debate.

-Matt

 HawaiiMatt wrote:
I read it as you test once, for the whole unit.
If you were testing by spell, you'd let my slann test 8 times for his whole lore of high magic?

Great job posting the rules text. Lots of times that doesn't show up until page 11 of the debate.

-Matt

Don't worry, that drives me crazy too! Without the rules text it devolves into "this is how I feel that the rules I sort of remembered reading once work." That's not productive for anyone.

As for the wording of the spell, I can honestly see it being read either way. Testing once seems a bit powerful, as it potentially shuts down an entire magic phase. However testing once per spell can result in a rather ridiculous number of S4.

My first impression was that you test once per spell cast out of the unit. However it's pretty ambiguous, and I can't see any reason in particular to support that reading beyond that it was the interpretation I came up with first. That's why I posted this poll in the first place: to get an idea of how most people read it as well.

Test 'every' time it moves or casts spells. Pretty clear to me.

 John Rainbow wrote:
Test 'every' time it moves or casts spells. Pretty clear to me.

And what, exactly, does "casts spells" entail? Does "casts spells" encompass ALL of the spells that might be cast out of a unit in the turn, in aggregate? Or does it mean each of those spells one at a time?

PirateRobotNinjaofDeath wrote:

 John Rainbow wrote:
Test 'every' time it moves or casts spells. Pretty clear to me.

And what, exactly, does "casts spells" entail? Does "casts spells" encompass ALL of the spells that might be cast out of a unit in the turn, in aggregate? Or does it mean each of those spells one at a time?

I agree with John Rainbow.

casting a spell is detailed in the casting a spell section, each spell goes through the motions of casting a spell.

each spell is indavidual from the other spells that may be cast that turn.

PirateRobotNinjaofDeath wrote:

 John Rainbow wrote:
Test 'every' time it moves or casts spells. Pretty clear to me.

And what, exactly, does "casts spells" entail? Does "casts spells" encompass ALL of the spells that might be cast out of a unit in the turn, in aggregate? Or does it mean each of those spells one at a time?

]
Following the rulebook, each "casting" is a single event. So every time you want to cast a spell, you declare spell, target etc. So you declare you are attempting to cast spell "A", roll the 4+, and continue. If you fail to roll the 4+, you lose your chance to cast that spell.

So for moving it would be unit wide, for casting spells wizard specific.

nosferatu1001 wrote:

PirateRobotNinjaofDeath wrote:

 John Rainbow wrote:
Test 'every' time it moves or casts spells. Pretty clear to me.

And what, exactly, does "casts spells" entail? Does "casts spells" encompass ALL of the spells that might be cast out of a unit in the turn, in aggregate? Or does it mean each of those spells one at a time?

]
Following the rulebook, each "casting" is a single event. So every time you want to cast a spell, you declare spell, target etc. So you declare you are attempting to cast spell "A", roll the 4+, and continue. If you fail to roll the 4+, you lose your chance to cast that spell.

So for moving it would be unit wide, for casting spells wizard specific.

I would agree with that if it was every time a unit "casts a spell". But it's "Casts Spells" (plural). GW does seem to like randomly throwing plurals into rules to muddy it up.
The action that triggers the net is casting spells, and a failed tests makes the unit unable to cast spells.

I'd either player as a single roll, once for every wizard in the unit, or, ignore the plural and roll once for each spell attempt. In either case, I'd have the roll trigger before dice power dice are rolled.

-Matt

Given that it's "unit...casts spells" I'm inclined to agree with Hawaii Matt et al. I can honestly still see it reasonably being read the other way ("casts spells" could just as easily refer to each individual casting attempt), but the other way seems...I guess slightly more persuasive.

Either way I've decided that this is ambiguous enough to be an issue, and with no clear consensus coming out between the polls here and on warseer I'm probably just going to hash it out with my opponents before each game and go from there.