Compared to our mundane world, the Warhammer world is drenched in magic. The very rocks of the planet are soaked with sorcerous power, the trees draw their sustenance from waters steeped in magic, and the air itself is impregnated with raw sorcery. Small wonder then that the creatures which live in the Warhammer world have developed a certain natural immunity to magic - an ability to resist the influence of magic upon their minds and bodies. Were this not the case then all life would have since mutated into abhorrent forms and the world would be overrun with slithering tentacled monstrosities.

To represent this natural ability to resist the influence of magic, we have the Dispel roll. After a player has cast a spell, his opponent can immediately make one attempt to dispel it using any number of his Dispel dice. Some magic items may allow a second attempt, or a re-roll, but these are exceptions and in normal circumstances only one attempt can be made to dispel a spell. You will notice that it does not matter who or what the spell has been cast at, it can always be dispelled.

In addition, the result can be increased further by the use of magic items. Any number of magic items can be combined to boost the score, but the player must declare that he is using any magic items before he makes the Dispel dice roll. It is not permitted to roll the dice and then decide to use a magic item retrospectively. Many of these magic items can only be used once, or a limited number of times, so it is important to be clear about whether you are using them or not before rolling the dice.

To dispel a spell, the player must score the same number or higher than the caster scored to cast the spell. For example, if the caster used four dice and got a result of 20, the dispelling player must score 20 or more on his Dispel dice to dispel the spell.

Trying to control massive magical energy to dissipate an enemy spell is extremely taxing and difficult, and can easily go wrong. Therefore, just as with casting spells, if two or more of the Dispel dice come up as 1s, the attempt to dispel a spell automatically fails. Regardless of how many bonuses you might have accrued from magic items, etc, a roll of two or more 1s is always a failure. If a player rolls two or more 6s when dispelling a spell, the dispel succeeds automatically. Note that an automatic fail takes precedence over an automatic success when dispelling a spell.

As we have already noted, if two or more 6s are rolled when casting a spell, the spell is considered to have been cast with (adopt deep booming voice now) Irresistible Force! A spell cast with Irresistible Force is irresistible just like it says... you cannot dispel the spell and no Dispel roll can be attempted.

Dwarfs are legendarily resistant to magic and a Dwarf army always adds two extra Dispel dice to its pile. A Dwarf army therefore starts with four dice plus one per Runesmith or Runelord in the army.

If a player rolls two or more 1s when rolling Power dice to cast a spell, this is a very bad thing. Something has gone terribly wrong with the spell. The Wizard, and by extension the player, is about to find out what kind of terrible consequences occur when foolish creatures dabble in things best left alone. We said that magic is a dark and dangerous power and how telling those words will become as you take 2D6 and roll on the Miscast table! Note that a Miscast spell never succeeds regardless of the actual number rolled by the Wizard.

The Miscast table given below is a general table which is used for all races that do not have a specific table in their own Warhammer Army book. Some races derive their sorcerous powers from specific, and usually very nasty, gods or daemons, for which specific, and usually very nasty, Miscast tables are provided in the appropriate Warhammer Army books.

Some units have a natural resistance to magic, or they are protected from hostile magic by magical artefacts they possess.

These often add Dispel dice to attempts to counter any spells. These dice may be used on their own as well - for example a unit may carry a magic standard which gives two Dispel dice against any spells which affect the unit. These can either be used on their own against any spell targeted against the unit, or in combination with Dispel dice from Wizards or other sources.

After a player has finished casting his spells, his opponent is allowed to dispel any spells that remain in play (unless they were cast in the same Magic phase) if he has any Dispel dice left. Note that he only needs to beat the casting value of the spell in question - he does not have to beat the original casting score. In addition, these spells can be dispelled in the player's own Magic phase using any Power dice not being used to cast spells, as Dispel dice. Follow the same rules as given above. Note that a spell that was originally cast with Irresistible Force can be dispelled as normal in subsequent turns if it remains in play.