The Dimensional Portal spell has been modified shortly after the 2nd edition of the Imperial armybook. The errata .pdf files was downloadable on the website dw4all.de (which sadly doesn't exist anymore) and every changes were in German, made by the German players but approved by Hobby Products. When we translated the game in French, we included the errata .pdf files so we have all the rules
There are some changes in general rules (mostly flying rules) and Dwarves, Orcs, Elves, Empire and Isthak (spells and units costs mostly).
I still have the errata .pdf files on my computer - I will translate it in English when I have time and send it to FASAGames / Ral Partha as Omasu asks it on the forum . If someone from the German community goes first for it, I will be happy because my german is rusted...
You have a point concerning the use of 2 sorcerers lvl1-2 instead of only 1 lvl3. In fact, my old "tournament" Isthak army uses 3 lvl1 for 1500 pts
(only 2 for 1200) Yeah for mass spells ! Yeah for mass criticals !
Yeah for mass rests ?...
No resting is for games when you cast cheap or not-too-expensive spells (like 2-4 mp) each turn to buff or unbuff units and for some other situations (it depends of the armies and the battlefield, as always). This is very true for the Orcs when they use the lvl2-3 Shamans (just consider the number of units to buff or unbuff) or Clanngett's brothers. As those characters are heroes and sorcerers, having to rest in a crucial moment can ruin the strategy. You can recruit 2 lvl1 and boost 2 units per turn but the cost is higher than a lvl2. and a lvl2 can chain spells (e.g. Blizzard + Lightning from Isthak : you need 8 mp to cast both the spells without resting as you need the Blizzard to be casted the magic phase before the Lightning... 2 lvl1 can alternate the spells but cost higher than a lvl2 who can do the job very well and with a great flexibility - please don't mention the Cristals I'm not considering them for this exemple).
Sometimes, when you know what army you will face (e.g you play Empire and you know you're fighting Isthak), it may be more usefull to get the lvl3 for a special strategy (e.g. mass exorcisms !). So, recruiting a lvl3 is a very special way of playing sorcerers and need to be think differently. The lvl3 will be the main piece of the army and not a reinforcement like lvl1-2 and the army has to be recruited that way. And don't forget it may cost expensive, but if you play him well, your opponent will never get its points - so it's also 400 pts saved.
Don't forget also that when a spell ends in a critical, only the lvl3 sorcerers will never lose all their mp (without regen) as you can add / substract 2 to the D20. I won't say more about it.
The game allows everyone to play differently the sorcerers and everything is good. That's a huge advantage in the rules.
I will conclude with this concerning the sorcerers :
- lvl1 reinforce the army in any case and are easy to play but are very weak to criticals and very easily killed by the ennemy ;
- having 2 lvl1 is a very good option for who wants to use magic alot but this is more expensive than having just a lvl2 (beware the criticals !) ;
- lvl2 have more flexibility / adaptability than lvl1, they can do more things during the game, they are harder to kill than lvl1 and they won't die when a critical spell occurs ;
- having 1 lvl2 is a better way to reinforce the army than having 1 lvl1 but it's more expensive ;
- having 1 lvl1 and 1 lvl2 is a very good option for who wants to use magic alot but this is more expensive than having just a lvl3 (or 2 lvl1) (beware the criticals !) ;
- lvl3 are really powerfull but must come with a special strategy and so are hard to play ;
- the cost and strategies of lvl3 makes them usuable only in battles with more than 1500 pts ;
- lvl3 will never be killed by the ennemy and won't suffer too much the criticals.
And now I realize I just wrote a huge post... and I may went a little far off the subject. Sorry !