Winds of Magic: Lore of Heavens

Who doesn't like slamming the enemy with a comet from the heavens, or with bolts of arcane lightning?  The Lore of Heavens is a varied lore which offers a fair amount of utility, but doesn't necessarily lack some hitting power as well.

Lore Attribute: Roiling Skies

When there is lightning, high winds and flying chunks of rock, being in the sky isn't exactly the safest place.  In addition to any other damage, flying models take a bit extra (D6 S4) from the Lore of Heavens.  Similar to Lore of Light, this attribute is interesting, but it's not something which adds any versatility to the lore, so it really doesn't have much place in a battle plan.  It is however, a nice bonus when your pesky enemy flyers are hovering about.

Signature Spell: Iceshard Blizzard

This spell is very similar to Pha's Protection, though with a much longer range.  Unlike Pha's, this spell cannot be used to create an aura effect, but instead, it can be boosted for a mighty 48" range, allowing you to cast it on enemy artillery pieces that you don't want firing cannon balls down your gullet.

1. Harmonic Convergence

This is actually the lowest casting value spell in the lore, but that doesn't make it a slouch at all.  Giving your unit the ability to re-roll 1's can be extremely powerful, especially when you're hitting on 3's, wounding on 2/3's and have a nasty 2+ armour save.  Unfortunately however, on units that don't have good armour, high WS, or are already re-rolling hits/wounds, it is not particularly good.  If you're wounding on 6's, re-rolling 1's is only going to give you a slight increase in damage output, but re-rolling 1's, when those are half of your misses, then you're on to something...

2. Wind Blast

This is kind of an interesting magic missile, that I'm sure can be used in some creative ways.  Basically, the unit hit is pushed back D3+1", and if they run into another unit or impassible terrain, the unit takes a few low strength hits (as does the unit they run into).  You can boost the spell to push the unit D6+2", though at a fairly steep casting value.  This could be used to push enemies out of charge range, or at the very least, decrease their chance of succeeding in a charge, but I'm sure there may be some other uses I haven't thought of.

3. Curse of the Midnight Wind

This is the opposite of Harmonic Convergence, basically a hex that forces people to re-roll 6's.  As the opposite, that also means you want to cast it on units that are hitting or wounding on 5's, because then you'll really make it hard for them to kill you in combat.  Similarly, this spell has diminished effectiveness against units that wound on 2's or hitting on 3's.  The casting value is fairly moderate, and if you double it, you can cast it as an area of effect.

4. Urannon's Thunderbolt

Finally some real damage!  This is your standard magic missile, except at S6!  Hell yes!  The casting value is still fairly moderate, and for just a little more (+3), you can increase it to a 48" range, allowing you to reach out and hit some vulnerable units across the board.  If you're shooting at flyers, you're going to cause even more hits from Roiling Skies, so keep that in mind!

5. Comet of Casandora

This is probably the most feared spell in the lore, and rightfully so.  Basically, you're going to pick a spot, which becomes a ticking time bomb, every magic phase you'll test to see if the comet hits, or if it gets bigger (noted by placing a token).  The longer it takes to arrive, the stronger the attack will be when it lands.  Since this spell doesn't cause immediate damage, and could even take a couple turns to strike, it is much better off cast early in the game, and is often a waste after turn 4.  If you double the casting value, you can double the effect, starting with 2 tokens and adding 2 tokens every turn it doesn't arrive.  This spell is most effective against static armies that can't really afford to run out of the way of falling debris, and against really fast armies, it may be less of a threat.

6. Chain Lightning

This spell is basically Urannon's Thunderbolt that keeps going on a 3+.  Each time it strikes a target, you roll the dice, if successful, you pick another target within 6" of the last target.  This keeps happening until you roll a 1-2, or if there are no more new targets (the same target cant be struck twice).  As a "6" spell, I find it a little lack lustre, though with some luck, you can start the chain at one end of the enemy battle line and have it roll across the field.  It's casting value is a bit high for it's damage output, especially when compared to things like Dwellers, but it's still a spell that should be feared, and will definitely take a chunk out of small units.

Overall, I think Lore of Heavens suffers from having a lot of good spells, but no real great spells.  It is a safe lore to take and you'll always find a use for any spells you get.  Since the spells are mostly on the lower side of casting value, it is totally fine to take it with a level 1/2, though you may find yourself throwing a bunch of dice at Comet and Chain Lightning.

Lore of Heavens is accessible to: Bretonnia, Daemons of Chaos, High Elves, Lizardmen, Ogre Kingdoms, The Empire, Vampire Counts and Warriors of Chaos.