Is going no-magic really viable?

[Bigred]

I have been fiddling for months with my Dark Elves, trying all kinds of Sorceress and scroll-caddy combos, before just saying "screw it"!

By my calculation, I was spending 2-300 points to get a level of combat effectivness that was totally random and roughly on par to a repeater bolt-thrower.

I've instead gone no-magic and rely soley on a mounted Ring of Hotek (so I can get him where I most need him) and the occasional key unit with Null Talismans, and poured all the leftover points into more offense. Its been working well for me.

What are your thoughts on the no-magic option and are there certian armies it workes better for, or not at all?

[Cryl]

I guess you've got enough anti magic to make it work and dark elves can do the shooting thing pretty well too so they can get some long range fun in there whereas there's armies that can't do anti magic without dispell dice from casters or can't do enough shooting to offset the range of magic.

Personally my new fantasy love the skaven rely on magic so I'd never go that route but DE might just pull it off!

[Grabnutz]

It's certainly a thought. I am putting together my new Ogre army and a Butcher, with standard kit and gnoblars will set me back 200pts. For those same 200 pts I can get six Bulls, 4 Ironguts, 3 Yhetees or even 3 Leadbelchers.

I've never been a fan of magic, after all it's really cheating when you come to think about it. Heres the rules, you follow these, unless you have a Wizard when anything goes... :P

I can probably replace his effect by buying banners and good kit for my Tyrant and Bruisers.

[L192837465]

A buddy of mine plays deamons and has 2 dispel dice. i frequently play chaos and have 2 dispel dice. Way more fun to have 1200 points of kick your face than wussy magic.

[HammerofVaul]

No magic certainly can work against most armies, you just have to be weary of VC's and Tomb Kings, as those 2 dispel dice will be all you really get, as their magic isn't offensive. I generally take at least 1 scroll caddy, and being High Elves, that one caddy will not be cheap, but I still find it useful.

[Dosadi]

My Empire army has no magic (save a single Warrior Priest...who doesn't count). I still take some magic defense in the form of the Shroud of Magnus and a Banner of Arcane Warding. I’ve considered adding a level 2 wizard with a wizard staff and dispel scroll so my warrior priest might actually be able to get his prayer off.


Dosadi

[brominated]

As a lizard player I can seriously bring some face-pounding power but often times in my games I have to have the magic to sling back against any Elf, Chaos or especially Vampire player. With VCs I'll need a full magic complement (slann/priest/priest) to just hold the line. I would argue that the no-magic list is very dependent on what you're playing against. With Empire or maybe Ogres, (I love playing Empire btw) I'll go light magic, 1 skink with an engine to provide shooting cover to get me into combat. Against Chaos, I love the Lore of Metal too much to let it go. 1 Slann has annihilated entire units before using the Lore of Metal.

[Randroid]

No magic plus not magic defense items = you will lose to magic. If you are okay with those odds go for it!

[Xas]

as said there are some armies which can do it better and some who dont.

basically there is 3 armies which can go no-magic:
dwarfes (obviously), dark elves (they have the ring and magic resistance stuff) and empire (priests are fighting heroes which grant dispell dice).

if you count low-magic (as in spend no additional points for casting power) as well vampires can be a great army as well because their heroes are great combatants but still bring 1 magic level (meaning 1 dispell dice) to the table. the lord can bring up to two dispell dice (the 2nd costs a 50pts upgraid afaik to be lvl3 caster).
in a fully decked 2k army you have 2+2+3*1=7 dispell dice which is as much as even a full magic army gets.


on the other hand you can outplay most magic users anyway. offensive magic isnt in any way more dangerous than shooting (lore of metal #6 can be but wahtever) and support magic doesnt kill stuff.

[jamesTFL]

I've seen DE run with only a ring. Its fairly effective at protecting your center but, any aggressive magic army will wipe all your flanks. I would recommend keeping a scroll caddy to stop big spells that get past your hotek. But you will get some comp credit for no scrolls and wizards so up to you really.