There are some sick combat magics, and even more powerful Ritual/Battle combos. That being said, to really employ combat magic well, you more or less need to use Communions, unless you’ve got an ubercaster pretender. One national mage you throw in an army set to “Cast Spells” isn’t going to help much, if at all.
Those would be the “few exceptions” I mentioned. Generally, anyspell that costs gems, effects the entire battlefield, and requires a level 3 or higher mage to cast is useful. But level 3 or higher mages are rare, which limits those spells to specific nations intended to have them or pretenders built to cast them. Add in the fact that gem resupply can get iffy for a crusading army and such spells become even less common.
When I was talking about battlefield magic I was generally referring to the spells a national mage could do with no gems. That’s the kind of magic that can be counted on in every battle. And that stuff generally isn’t up to snuff. Certainly, a 200 gold national mage (of any almost nation) will kill a few enemies or make some contribution in a battle. But is that 200gp mage helping you win the battle more than 200gp of heavy infantry or 200gp of xbowmen would be? Probably not.
I do concede that quickness is useful for pretty much anyone who can cast it. I missed that one, my bad.
But I stand by my point for the rest of the buffs. A non-melee mage who blows turns and fatigue on melee buffs isn’t contributing to the victory. If I’m worried that a group of backfield casters is going to get harassed by fliers or cav, then I’ll assign bodyguards. Problem solved and my mages can cast terror or frozen heart or whatever they
were scripted to do.
There are some sick combat magics, and even more powerful Ritual/Battle combos. That being said, to really employ combat magic well, you more or less need to use Communions, unless you’ve got an ubercaster pretender. One national mage you throw in an army set to “Cast Spells” isn’t going to help much, if at all.[/quote]
I actually really dislike communion (especially if I’m not pythium) but I do concede the necessity of using it to get off some of the especially sick spells without killing a caster with fatigue. It just bugs me to see over 800gp worth of mages banding together to get one spell off per round (two with quickness). I can’t help but thinking about how many bolts 800gp of xbowmen could be shooting . . .
There are some sick combat magics, and even more powerful Ritual/Battle combos. That being said, to really employ combat magic well, you more or less need to use Communions, unless you’ve got an ubercaster pretender. One national mage you throw in an army set to “Cast Spells” isn’t going to help much, if at all.[/quote]
I actually really dislike communion (especially if I’m not pythium) but I do concede the necessity of using it to get off some of the especially sick spells without killing a caster with fatigue. It just bugs me to see over 800gp worth of mages banding together to get one spell off per round (two with quickness). I can’t help but thinking about how many bolts 800gp of xbowmen could be shooting . . .[/quote]
Those 800 gp of xbowmen won’t hit much in the dark. Mwuhahahahaha…
As soon as your opponents can field such spells you can expect to see them in any significant battle. They’re just too potent to ignore.
And that stuff generally isn’t up to snuff.Certainly, a 200 gold national mage (of any almost nation) will kill a few enemies or make some contribution in a battle. But is that 200gp mage helping you win the battle more than 200gp of heavy infantry or 200gp of xbowmen would be? Probably not.
I disagree here too. With the right mid level research I’d take a 200gp mage over 20 crossbowmen any day, especially if it’s part of a combined arms approach. And this is without even taking into account that Mages can search, research, forge, and cast ritual magic. Missiles are easily countered, Mages are not.
500 gold gets you 2 Theurgs and 4 Communicants, with the same upkeep as 25 crossbowmen. Equip with a Storm staff and two Master Matrices, then cast: Resist Lightning, Arrow Fend, Wrathfull Skies. Throw in Mistform and Mirror Image for extra defense, then start summoning False Horrors or casting Orb Lightning. Add a few units of fodder and you hardly need even worry about protecting your mages. Add in a mage casting Relief and you can work in quickness and not worry about fatigue.
This destroys 800 gold of missile troops, and with some tweaking handles 800 gold of conventional troops too. A slightly larger communion force can easily drop several varieties of battlefield death. Factions such as Pythium, Vanheim, Man, and Caelum can pull off nasty battle field combos after using Cloud Trapeze – and thus choose battles they know they’ll win. This only scratches the surface of the brutal possibilities.
I suggest hunting down the thread “Alex’s Tome of ever expanding knowledge” (or something like that) on the shrapnel forums. It’s a decent summary of some nasty spell tactics.
Since I’ve already got the link, I’ll save everyone the trouble.
Alexander’s Ever Expanding Tome of Knowledge
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=74;t=000855#000000
And the easier to keep in context printer-friendly way
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=74;t=000855
:)