Bright Magic is the archetypal battle magic: fiery, destructive and entirely directed at incinerating the opposition. Obviously Bright Magic is directly related to fire and is therefore very hard to manipulate into any spell which isn't an attack, but it is supremely good for blasting the foe. If you choose a Bright wizard you can pretty much guarantee he will have the spells to stay at a distance and blaze away much like a stonethrower or a cannon.

If you feel unsure about what spells do and what you want from a wizard, choose a Bright wizard because they're easy to use well. Even when you understand the different Colleges better you'll still find that Bright wizards are one of the best battle wizards because you can always rely on them to have one or two good, destructive spells.

Flamestorm

This spell utilises the round fiery template. Position the template where you wish with its centre within the spell's maximum range of 24". All models covered by the area of the card template are affected. As with stone throwers and other engines of war you must judge for yourself whether models are within the template area or not. As a general rule a model is caught if the template covers half of its base area or more.

Flamestorm is a useful spell because it is not necessary for the wizard to be able to see his target as is the case with Fire Balls and Blasts. If a unit is attacked by a Flamestorm it is moved 4" directly away from it as soon as any casualties have been removed. The Flamestorm may then be ended instantly, or it may be kept burning in order to prevent the enemy moving through it.

If the player decides to keep the Flamestorm burning then the template is left in place and nothing may move through it. As soon as the Flamestorm spell is cast again the template is removed from its old position and repositioned over its new target. This is an exception to the normal rules for spells which remain in play, as normally it would take an entire magic phase for a spell to be removed.

Fire Ball

A Fire Ball is a typical magic missile attack affecting a single model. Fire Balls hit the first model in their path and so can be used to pick out a specific model from a unit so long as the wizard can see the target. A wood, building, hill or other intervening scenery will block the missile's route and render it harmless.

The useful thing about the Fire Ball spell is that it can be used to cast several separate Fire Balls. Each power card used produces one Fire Ball so it can be used to attack several different models or the same model several times.
All targets must be declared before working out damage.

The Burning Head

This spell is useful because it can be used against several targets at once if one lies beyond the other, a bit like a bouncing cannon ball. This is especially useful for catching models skulking behind units of troops.

The fiery line burned by the head is just that - a line, rather like a cannon shot. Like a cannon it hits all the models whose base it crosses. If the spell is cast against a unit in a four deep formation it will hit four models.

The best way to use this spell is to position the wizard so that he can catch a large number of models - if he can manoeuvre himself to the end of a long line of troops, for example. If a wizard uses a movement spell to put himself in a good position to cast the Burning Head across several ranks or units then the effect can be very dramatic indeed. A unit that sustains casualties as a result of being attacked by the Burning Head takes a panic test if it is normally liable to such tests. Troops not normally liable to panic tests (such as Skeleton Warriors, Dwarf Slayers or Slaanesh Chaos Warriors) do not have to test.

Sanguine Swords

The Sanguine Swords is a useful spell for attacking individual heroes or wizards even if they are out of sight of the caster. It can also be used to form a powerful defence in hand to hand combat. It is an unusual spell because the swords attack in the hand to hand combat phase rather than the magic phase, so wounds inflicted by the words do count towards combat resolution.

The swords always strike first in hand to hand combat even if the enemy has charged this turn. However, note that the Sword of Swift Slaying strikes before the Sanguine Swords, and Assassins strike before the Sanguine Swords too.

Crimson Bands

The Crimson Bands is a spell which remains in play over several turns. If the affected unit is engaged in hand to hand combat the enemy rolls to hit as normal but the affected unit may not attack at all.

Conflagration of Doom

Note that although a single successful Dispel card will only remove one marker, the spell is totally negated by a Drain Magic card. All markers are removed and the spell card is returned to the casting wizard's hand.

The Conflagration of Doom is quite uncompromisingly destructive. When it lands it will destroy any models within its area of effect regardless of any protective magic or items they might have, their toughness or number of wounds. The only way to survive the impact of the Conflagration of Doom is to play the Escape card from the magic card deck, although a Vampire may also reincarnate himself using the Carstein Ring.

Wings of Fire

Wings of Fire is a typical movement spell of which there are comparable examples in other College decks. If this spell is used to propel the wizard into hand to hand combat he fights as normal from the next hand to hand combat phase and counts as charging in the first phase. As the next phase could well be during the other player's turn, it is possible that fresh opponents might charge into the combat, and that both the wizard and some of his opponents are charging. This means that both can strike blows first. If this happens then the models with highest initiative strike first, and if both sides are equally matched in this respect roll a dice and the highest score goes first.