Keeping track of Spells and effects

[dbecer01]

Ok,

 

So I normally play IG, and normally don't even bother with a psychic phase; and have played blood angels with 1 psyker. 

 

Now, with TS, it seems that everyone is a psyker, so I need to be able to keep track of spells known, and spell effects on units on the battlefield.

 

I. So, I found this sheet of spell effect tokens, so that takes care of that: https://github.com/cgordon13/Warhammer-40K-Tokens/blob/master/Chaos/Thousand_Sons_Sheet.pdf

 

II. However, not sure what to to about keeping track of multiple psykers and the different spells they have. I thought about buying the datacards, but they would only have 1 spell per; and I can take multiple copies of the same spell on different units.

 

So, what do you guys do to keep track of all of this?

[Heliomanes]

Battlescribe keeps track of which spells I have assigned to what unit. Then I put the relevant card down on the unit I cast it on, as you can only cast a single spell once per turn in matched play, except for Smite.

[BoomWolf]

Battlescribe does not help if you don't pick spells during list building, and you don't by "regular" rules. (though in almost every turny they houserule it)

[Heliomanes]

You can still assign them in battlescribe in the pre-match phase. I find it helpful, at least.

[Tyriks]

Battlescribe is also only helpful if there's gear or something to differentiate units. I always list my spells in BS but I don't know how many times I've forgotten which 5 man rubric squad is which, or which exalted sorcerer has what. Especially with rubrics or SOT since they tend to be out of range, off the board or in a transport turn one by the time they get a chance to cast its easy to forget which is which.

 

I've been thinking about making KT style cards for each unit and just leaving them on the board near the unit. Or maybe paint a sigil on the sorcerer somewhere and having a corresponding sigil on the relevant card.

[dbecer01]

Do you guys think that all the spells make your turns take a lot longer?

[The Yncarne]

If you have the spells selected beforehand, the only extra time I spend is determining cast order. I pick out the main cards from the deck that I will use at the start of the game. Both those minimize my time wasted.

[Tyriks]

I haven't noticed anything, but when I play TS I tend to have very low model count lists so my turns are always shorter than my opponent's.

[Marshlands]

How about very small tokens marked with the spell the caster knows along the lines of "WoF" for weaver etc and then blue tack them under your models base before the battle.

[Prot]

I think what’s been described above works if you’ve played TS for a while.

 

I will say in wacky 7 th Ed I used to use laminate sheets you can get at a dollar store. Simply use white board markers, mark up your laminated sheets and then wipe them down between games.

 

I do think after you’ve played ts for a while, you’ll be using the cards as described by others. Even having multiple sets of the spell cards helps.

[dbecer01]

One thing, more than 1 copy of the same spell can't be attempted per psychic phase, but I might want more than 1 copy learned on different psykers, in case 1 dies, or one is in a better position. I was thinking something as criticals as warp time, I might want on more than 1 psyker.

[Heliomanes]

That's true. Again, I use battlescribe to keep track of which powers are assigned to what unit, and the cards to designate who I've cast them on. Some people find that first step a bit difficult, so you might want to take a quick photo of your units and individual sorcerers, and make a plastic card you can write the assigned powers on.

So, to recap. Whatever system you choose has to account for two different things;

1. Chosen powers.

2. Used powers.

The second step is easier, again because you can only cast a single power once. The first step is a bit more difficult, since you can choose powers at the start of every individual match, and you have to make an easy to remember connection between your particular unit/sorcerer and the signifier you use, if you intend to do this in writing. This can be made easier by converting or painting the units to be more unique and easy to differentiate, or by giving them names.

And a quick note: remember that you can use a quick stratagem to "switch" a spell if you suddenly need some redundancy or you see an opportunity. This can be particularily game changing when using Warp Time or Death Hex, and can be used to lure your opponent into a false sense of security.

[Sonoftherubric21]

The data cards are very useful for this. 

 

I use a system of tokens. 

For a model that has powers to cast I will put a number of tokens (little blue beads) next to the model during the psychic phase. Exalted Sorcerers for example get 2 beads, and per each cast you take one away so its easy to keep track of who has what spells and who cast when. 

If you wanted to take my system one step further for really extreme spellcasting (i.e. over 10 spells on the table or 15+ usually) use the datacards and get color-coded beads for a given caster, each of these would be easy to track of which casters have which spells. a little-colored bead next to them Or a tiny color variation on the base/model that would signal them as a caster of a certain spell. 

There is a reason I own Black Legion....for when I don't feel like playing an army that is so fluff-accurate it not only wrote spreadsheets on Prospero but plays using a spreadsheet on the table lol.  

[Marshlands]

A cool formation detachment might be letting Psykers know each others spells, not because its thats useful or powerful (because we have all the spells anyway) but just because it would remove this issue

[dbecer01]

Heh, I'm looking for glass beads on Amazon now :P

 

The data cards are very useful for this. 

 

I use a system of tokens. 

For a model that has powers to cast I will put a number of tokens (little blue beads) next to the model during the psychic phase. Exalted Sorcerers for example get 2 beads, and per each cast you take one away so its easy to keep track of who has what spells and who cast when. 

If you wanted to take my system one step further for really extreme spellcasting (i.e. over 10 spells on the table or 15+ usually) use the datacards and get color-coded beads for a given caster, each of these would be easy to track of which casters have which spells. a little-colored bead next to them Or a tiny color variation on the base/model that would signal them as a caster of a certain spell. 

There is a reason I own Black Legion....for when I don't feel like playing an army that is so fluff-accurate it not only wrote spreadsheets on Prospero but plays using a spreadsheet on the table lol.  

[dbecer01]

Do you think it would slow the game down if I had a 30 model Tzaangor bomb in there?

 

I haven't noticed anything, but when I play TS I tend to have very low model count lists so my turns are always shorter than my opponent's.

[Tyriks]

I use one sometimes and still have way less models than my usual opponents. I have yet to ally my Tzeentch Daemons though. But especially for casual games I don't feel the Tzaangkrs add much time. Really just that first phase they come in, usually. Mine tend not to survive much beyond that.

[Raven1]

I have made copies of the cards for the spells and I place them next to the caster or the target if the effect lasts till the next turn is successful. Otherwise once cast I turn the card upside down to know I cast it. The book keeping on these spells can be ridiculous.

[Paladin777]

I type up my own lists from scratch so I actually have made up my own table system. Here’s an example for a normal sorc, sort of...

 

Turn: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6

Smite

Power x

Power y

 

Powers ‘x’ and ‘y’ are obviously the chosen powers, but when you choose a sorcerer to cast a power on any given turn I put a check on the power under the appropriate turn number if successful, and an ‘x’ if it failed or was denied. Make a table like this for every sorcerer and keep track of every spell you cast.

[Archaeinox]

Instead of tokens I have used this method much better:

 

1. Take an actual picture of each psyker (works best if they all have different helmets/looks)

2. Arrange each psyker you have on a single sheet of paper in whatever program you want.. Leave a space under it (like for Magic card info)

3. Laminate

4. Dry-erase marker for which spell each psyker has. Done.