Many powerful wizards are accompanied by small, magical creatures known as familiars. Familiars are strange creatures with an innate feel for the magical flux who often possess a considerable amount of magical power themselves. They are fascinated by beings with the ability to manipulate the Winds of Magic and tend to be attracted to them like moths around a candle flame.

Familiars are naturally capricious, mischievous and come in many different forms. They appear in folklore and legend as imps, sprites, faeries or similar mythical beings that live in enchanted forest glades or dismal swamps and entrap unwary travellers. Though ordinary folk think of such creatures with a shudder wizards know that they are useful aides in their quest for knowledge.

Wizards acquire these creatures in a number of ways, perhaps by encountering and befriending them on their travels through ancient, trackless forests or while delving for lost knowledge in dank subterranean catacombs. Some wizards create their own familiars through weird alchemical processes or summon them from realms unknown. Other wizards, Chaos Sorcerers in particular, are granted a familiar by their gods.

It is quite common for Battle Wizards to take their familiars with them onto the battlefield. A familiar's extraordinary abilities can prove invaluable to the wizard and they may even be able to save the wizard's life if he gets caught in a fight. When you pick your army you can decide to buy some or all of your wizards familiars by paying the requisite points cost.

Each wizard can only have a single familiar but there are three different types to choose from: Warrior, Spell and Power. Each of these has a different special ability.