Behold BattleLore Commanders!

BattleLore: Heroes Expansion is coming this Fall and we are heralding its release with this series of preview and strategy articles for the characters that this expansion introduces. Our previous installments looked at the Cleric , Rogue , and Field Commander . Now comes a figure of terrifying mystic powers, the Wizard . In Battlelore: Heroes , it is the Wizard who alone harnesses the arcane arts for death and destruction.

The Wizard

“A pity your steel attracts my lightning. I was hoping for worthy opponent.”

The Wizard uses an offensive strategy that enables her to take on enemy units face-to-face, whether opposing heroes or normal troops. The Wizard can also take more equipment into battle by summoning a servant or utilizing her skills in alchemy. A practitioner of the deadly arts of offensive magic, the Wizard is a good selection for a player willing to put his hero near the front lines.

The Wizard has only five skills to choose from at the beginning due to one requiring a prerequisite. However, since it is a support skill, apprentice Wizards will not be missing anything from the outset.

The “ Riding ” skill is usually less useful to the Wizard than other skills unless artifacts in her possession require quick movement around the battlefield.
Of the remaining four skills, two are preparatory skills that allow the Wizard to equip differently before the adventure while the other two skills give the Wizard offensive capabilities.

Let’s take a look at the setup skills first. “Alchemist” allows the Wizard, when using a potion, to use the potion more than once (although the maximum number of usages per turn is still one). Since potions are usually discarded after one use, this skill can be used to keep them around even longer to further utilize their powerful effects.

“Unseen Servant” is another setup skill that allows the Wizard to take three Artifacts into battle instead of just two! Depending on the artifacts you have accrued, this bonus item can turn the tide of battle. It can also soften the blow from a Rogue’s untimely theft of one of your items.

Of the two, the “Alchemist” is the only one that could be immediately useful since you only start with a single Artifact anyway. However, since potions are constantly being used up, it is probably better to choose one of the offensive skills described below.

The first offensive skill, called “Destruction,” allows the Wizard to destroy a target Artifact of an opponent’s hero by giving up all Lore rolled. Like the Rogue who can also target Artifacts, this power can be devastating early on.

The second offensive skill, called “Ball Lightning,” is a quick favorite of mine. In melee, the Wizard hero can cause hits with each Lore result rolled with this skill. Coupled with the fact that this is the prerequisite skill for “Lightning Arc” that allows the Wizard to share this ability with a friendly adjacent unit and you have a good first or second choice skill.

While offensive by design, the Wizard is interesting in that she is more powerful when leading a troop than when riding around on her own. Therefore, it is advisable to keep her with a red banner unit if possible so her powers can be utilized better because of the larger offensive dice pool.

Next time: We reveal the master of the blade, the Warrior !

Set in a world that bridges history and fantasy, BattleLore is board game that puts players in command of a vast array of miniature troops on the battlefields of medieval Europe. Using the easy-to-learn Commands and Colors system, players can wage thrilling battles without a lengthy time commitment.