Summary
Foot troops. Cost 4AP. Move 400p on road, 500p in good going, 200p in bad going. Combat factors are +4 vs foot or Stronghold, +4 vs mounted.
If they draw a close combat with a Paladin, and the score is odd, then both they and the paladin are destroyed.
If they lose to a Magician they are ensorcelled. If they lose to an Aerial hero, Hero, Paladin, Dragon or God they are destroyed. Otherwise they recoil.
If they are doubled in combat they are destroyed.
Magicians cost an extra PIP to move, but may also spend PIPs to bespell enemy elements.

Steve Price writes:
My Elven army has two magicians (and a third unpainted), one of which is the general. How I deploy them varies as to what I'm fighting but generally I'd line them up behind my shooters so that they break up enemy lines and give the shooters a better chance and help protect them against zealous enemies or a hero that strays too close. As they can pass through any elements, the only worry is PIPS and ensuring you are anchored on one flank. I have on occasion used them in the front line, although make sure you have sturdy troops with them so the magicians do not get flanked. I once made the error of pitting my beasts and magicians against a line of knights, the beasts were overlapped and bad dice meant they crumbled as they die to mounted. The Elven King and Queen got their recoils blocked and that was that.

The 600p range means you can sit tight and merrily shoot the enemy line up before they close.

Jeff Bolton writes:
I am not a huge fan of magicians for a couple of reasons: The PIPs needed for movement and the PIPs needed for using magic. For these reasons, magicians seldom appear in my armies.

My primary use of magicians is as anti-aerial defense. Fliers have proven to be something of a common thing in armies around here. And, a well-placed magician can perform wonders in defense.

Martin Costa writes:
For my money, I like magicians, and often, though not exclusively, include them in armies. In general, the armies that feature a strong static wing paired with a mobile striking wing seem to do best with a magician.

My current example is my Father Christmas army (modified Peter Pig gnomes & Christmas doll house decorations):
flank one:
2x Spear, 1x Blade
flank two:
3x Shooter + Beast(NPB)
center/reserve:
Hero (FC)
Flier
Magician

Depending on which flank is going to be the aggressive one, the Magician goes to the other one. The blade/spear units more often than not are given the job of anvil, and defending against stronghold attacks. In a fairly immobile situation, a Magician is very useful behind them, to disorder any attacking elements - in contact or not - hitting a blade/spear line without flank supports is generally painful, as is suddenly having your flanks vanish. Backing up the shooter line is also amusing, making it very hard for enemies to even get into contact. Plus, a +4 fast unit can be a very useful local reserve if the line folds. The key is putting them in a situation where the units they support don't need to use pips very often.

They are useful for zapping fliers, but given that the army has it's own flier (elves on reindeer, what else ?) it generally isn't worth the risk of getting frogged. I fact I have used my flier to draw fire from an opposing magician, who obediently turned into a frog eventually, as well as burning lots of PIPs.

Magicians can be surprisingly helpful against lurkers, (being able to snipe into rough going and disrupt their attack) and thus can support the beast/shooters for some of their advance if needed.

On the other side, an elven mage (or two) has proven to be the best defence against my beggar mob army (20 Hordes and one Hero) by being able to knock out the hero general despite the layers of ablative peasantry between him and danger: instant general gone & losses > than opponent = roast peasant for dinner. I have an alternate cleric general now.

PB designed them to be like (modern) artillery - I generally get the best results by playing them with that in mind. Plus, yelling "arclight !" when blowing up hobbit lurkers is REALLY fun.

James Ewins writes:
There are more powerful elements in the game than magicians, although the range makes them handy. They tend to be crippled by either lack of PIPs, preventing them from being in position or being any use when they arrive, or by the fear of the opponent that they go all froggy on them, disconcerting if the magician is the general. Keeping them behind the lines but in range is a good tactic, but the ways to maximize a magician has more to do with the rest of the army: keep them supported, keep the army together to minimize Pippage, and be prepared to let the battle line go to pot if you need the pips for a worth while zap.

Alan Saunders writes:
It helps, to have an army that holds itself together well - blades or spears for example. I have found magicians and hordes a difficult, if traditional, combination. Those PIPs which should be used for bespelling or moving Marvo the Magician end up being used to regenerate the hordes instead. Or vice versa - I once lost a game of Epic HOTT with the Tyranids because I used PIPs to bespell rather then to regenerate hordes; it was the first time I had used an army with two magician elements (Dominatrix and a Hive Tyrant, for the record). It was only when I had lost all ten hordes did I begin to realise that I may have made a mistake ...

Use the magician to open up favourable overlaps for other troops in your army. Remember that your target can be in combat, and does not have to be in line of sight, so there are plenty of opportunities for this.

Even if you don't bespell, you have an element with a +4 combat factor, the ability to interpenetrate any friends and a 500p move. Get them stuck in, supported by other troops, and you will discover their swordplay can be as useful as their wands.

Chow Li writes:
I have just recently come to enjoy using magicians. Here is what I have learned.

Use them as often and as soon as you can.

Pound heroes with them.

Keep something in front of them. Hordes are good, blades are better.

Perfect for "buttocks of death" (Place a stand close behind the target but not in contact and hit it with a spell and watch the target die.)

Use two and double your fun and impact.

Have an alternate plan. Frogs are no good. When you do get to that first one, play it cool and try not to take too many risks.

Call your spells. One of my personal favorites is the "choke on your own vomit " spell. My son likes the ol' "fried chicken flyer spell".

Sometimes it helps to cast the spell on an element next to the one you want to kill. A behemoth for example.

Richard Crawley writes:
In a game with a big deadlock on the main battle lines hiding behind a river, I sent off my magician on his own after my oppo's magician General. Although the odds were in his favour I didn't desperately need the PIPs elsewhere and could afford to lose the duels - he couldn't.

My magicians had been unenfrogged twice already and were all set for a third go when the battle ended through him losing his Stronghold. Now what he should have done was to stop me unenfrogging the frog by occupying the space my magicians would return to.

Richard Bodley Scott writes:
1) Their main benefit (against competent players) is in deterring enemy heroes from coming within range. [Which is 1100p - the magician's move plus his bespelling range].

2) They should rarely cast a spell unless the victim will either be ensorcelled, flee or die on less (due to recoiling into something). It is not worth the risk of "going froggy" or "going semi-froggy" to cast spells hither and yon with small chance of decisive effect.

Alan Saunders writes:
The second point above holds true, but to the list of spells worth casting should be added recoiling something that would otherwise be acting as an unfavourable overlap on another friendly element.

Back to The Stronghold