Games of Warhammer are won in the movement phase. Any spell that assists in the movement phase, then, is a valuable tool for victory. Sadly only 3 lores include any movement spells, and the two that have good movement spells are widely held as the best lores in the game. I may go a bit long on some of these spells, but that's because I love them so much. The Oxen Stands - 5+ - Any fleeing friendly unit on the table - Immediately rallies target unit. This one is ranked lowest, but it is still excellent. It's just a bit too limited in usefulness because of when the spell goes off. The magic phase happens right after movement, so most fleeing units have already had their shot to rally. However, on the off chance that a LM unit has failed a terror test, this spell reverses the damage. Since the rally happens in the LM magic phase, what essentially happens is a free movement phase (in which the target rallies). Most of the time you'll be using other spells in the beast lore, but this one is nice insurance against the odd terror test failure or a unit that fails to rally on its first attempt. The Wolf Hunts - 9+ - 24" Friendly cavalry, swarm, chariot, or monster - target moves 2D6 towards a visible enemy unit This one is ok, but pretty situational. Basically it's a spell that gives a unit of Saurus Cav, a Stegadon, or maybe some terradons a little 2D6 charge move. It doesn't give you a full movement and you don't have too much control over where you wind up afterward. Fairly pricey to cast for how limited its uses are. Though you can still get some great charges off with this one. Mistress of the Marsh - 4+ - Enemy within 12", or 12" of water - half target's movement until end of its following turn. Target flees or pursues at normal roll / 2. I almost ranked this as the worst movement spell, because it is very rare that I see a water feature on a table. Then I realized you can cast it at anything within 12" of the Slann. A big static res temple guard unit engages some fast moving unit. Got a Jaguar Standard? You'll average 10.5 inches in your pursuit. If you can put this spell on the quick unit you are fighting, their new MAXIMUM flee distance is 9 inches (18/2). Even units that pursue on 2D6 have a good shot at catching any unit they manage to break from combat. These combats need to happen within 12" of the Slann (within cast range), as otherwise this would be overpowered. It can also be used to thwart charges by the enemy, as it turns 14" charging heavy cav into 7" charging heavy cav. Sadly it doesn't work on flying or ethereal creatures, but still really good. Has defensive and offensive implications, you just need to have your Slann/TG in the thick of combat. Steed of Shadows - 5+ - 12" US1 character - Model makes 20" flying move, may be a charge. Also known as the jag charm spell. For those who like to keep a Scar-Veteran tucked into their Temple Guard unit, this spell helps discourage the enemy from ever fleeing charges by the Temple Guard. Any foolish enemy who turns to flee now has this spell to worry about. A flying Scar Vet is still a unit, and can destroy any sized fleeing unit. But the fun doesn't stop there. From the protection of the unit, the Scar-Vet can be sent flying out to slam into enemy warmachines or anything worth targetting with a combat machine. I plan to keep a Scar Vet with the Burning Blade of Chotec and the War Drum of Xahutec in my unit of Temple Guard. He will keep them on the march and when the Slann decides, he will become the unit's "wrecking ball" The war drum keeps him mobile when he's out on his own as well, and so long as he is within 12", steed of shadows can recall him back to his temple guard. Steed of Shadows can also pluck him out of the unit if it is facing a character that will almost certainly kill him. You definitely need to plan to use this one in advance though, given its limited range. Unseen Lurker - 11+ - 12" unengaged friendly unit - Unit makes a normal move as in its movement phase Well, here it is, a spell that gives you another movement phase for one unit. I am planning a themed army that models its fighting style around Tomb Kings and their Tomb Guard with King that keep casting urgency on themselves. This spell is really expensive to cast but it can keep the TG moving. And with the previously mentioned War Drum of Xahutec tucked into the unit, you can just keep marching, up to 16 inches in a single turn. I can't think of too many other worthwhile uses for the spell, given its crazy casting cost. But this one is potentially a game winner, and will help my super unit plow into target after target. Pursuing 3D6 with the jaguar standard will help as well. The Beast Cowers - 7+ - Any enemy unit of cavalry, swarm, chariot, or ridden/unridden monster anywhere on the table - Target cannot move until the end of its next movement phase, except to flee. Target ALSO may not attack in the close combat phase of the current turn. Probably THE best spell in the big 8 lores. This spell is the answer to all of your giant nasty bloodthristers, dragons, and any other massive horrible beast. The fact that they can't even attack on top of it all means that you can charge them with something like your own stegadon, do a few wounds, and then win because your target can't fight back! Depending on how big and nasty the enemy's uber monster is, it may be worth picking the Lore of Beasts just so you can get access to this spell. EDIT: Thanks to Celticfire for pointing out, that a monster that is also a character cannot be targeted with this spell. Handy to know for cases like Bloodthirsters and Treeman Ancients... you may want to consider a lore aside from Beasts in these cases. Well, this concludes the full review of the Slann's 48 spells within the 8 ancient lores of the high elves. I may or may not begin to do a review of the lores taken as a whole, in light of the spells that they each contain. Hope you've enjoyed reading, I'm taking a break from writing for now!
Great, it has certainly made me look at magic differently and really consider a few more options. Definitely a good analysis to read if you are thinking about taking a Slann. It might be a bit hard, but I'm going to see about ranking all the lores based on this when I have a bit of time.
I just finished reading your summaries and I have to say that you have done an awesome job! I just started with Warhammer and this list is a huge help for my first bigger list with magic. So thanks for all the work and time you put in this!
Quite welcome, I can identify with that, having started playing with Dwarves and never using magic. I came to Lizardmen and found it daunting to choose from the 8 Lores, but I realized that a Slann capable of taking any of those 8 would be extremely flexible and could take the best thing against each opponent. So I started with a full review of all the spells and what they do. The last step will of course be reading the army books one by one, and deciding which lores are worth taking in each case.