Battle tactics- Dwarfs
Created | Updated Oct 11, 2003
Introduction
I've been wargamming for nearly a decade now, coming in and out of the fantasy and 40k systems during that time. However, for the past year and a half i've been playing only fantasy, and i've become quite good at it. I'm writing these articles so that new gamers can see how armies work, possible to get idea's for there own force, as well as for veteran gamers such as myself, where untested stratagy's are always worth testing.
One last thing. If there's something in this article that you disagree with totally, or if you have tried any of my suggestions and they haven't worked then please tell me. There's no point in having a serious problem with this peice if your not going to feed back to its write with your own personal opinions. Thanks.
I've been wargamming with dwarfs for quite some time now and have met with only a handfulful of defeats defeats. Sufice to say my army is fairly solid and and has gone many battles with little if any changes. In my experience, the dwarfs are a strange force to play. You can't describe them as an easy force to play with as a lot of this comes down to troop selection. They can't really be described as difficult to play either, as they have good weapon skill, equipment and leadership, as well as being fairly cheep for the quality of the average trooper. The main problem lies in the speed of your dwarf force.
There low speed in comparison with all the other races would seem a horrible hinderance at first. But there high toughness and armour save (if tooled up) usually off sets this nicely. This, combined with the resolute rule, means that yur opponent can face a solid mass of strong flesg and heavy armour, which most missiles will find difficult to penetrate (only the crossbow and handgun, and possibly a wood elf bow, stands any chance of hindering a dwarf force through shooting alone)
My force
My force is based on a more traditional dwarf army. I've always like the idea of the older generation being looked upto by the younger and this lead to my choice in specialist unit. In recent times, this has changed slightly, as I begin use my miners more often and have recently bought a unit of ironbreakers.
It is quite easy to distinguish your force by taking a large unit of specialist troops which will feature heavily in your battle plan. For instance, an army with a strong contingent of Hammerers may be the personal body guard of the king/ kings son. Or an army that features ironbreakers could be based on one of the many forces which guard the dwarfen tunnels, perhaps now surfaced to right some wrong or to avenege the loss of there mining kin. The choices are pretty limitless with the appendix's as well as the background providing a host of material for you to use.
My army is based upon the personal clan of Lord Fundin, and his son and standard bearer, Thane Balin. The elders are venerated and the traditonal ways are held close to the armys beleifs. Hence it has a solid core of longbeards with a few large units of warriors, backed up by artillary in one form or another. One of the main reasons for doing this is because i really like the longbeard models, and see it fitting that the lord would want to be around the oldest dwarfs in his clan so that they could advise him on the battle. My force always consists of the certain following things:
Lord Fundin:
My lord fundin has also been killed only twice, both times in challenges against nasty saurus lords. He always carries armour with the master rune of gromril. That one plus save just cant be refused. A master rune of skalf blackhammer is the next obvious choice. Anybody weilding a weapon that automatically wounds is deadly and this guys no exception. usually hitting on threes, he mows through infantry, charecters and monsters with ease. The problem comes when you have to decide what to spend the last 25pts on. Do you give him the rune of resistance and let him re-roll his one plus save (which really annoys my opponent), or how about a master rune of spite giving your dwarf lord a 4+ ward save (good if your opponent has a weapon which negates armour saves), or you can be a proper dwarf and have the rune of fury for your axe, giving him an extra attack (my prefered choice) for a total of 5 attacks that always wound! His high weapon skill means he'll usually be hittin on three's anyway, even against most lords!
Thane Balin:
Thane Balin is my battle banner bearer, and son of Lord Fundin. Most people may see a re-roll for an army that has leadership 9 a waste of points but i disagree for several reasons. Firstly, after combat resolution, your leadership is going to be roughly 7, so the re-rolls handy. Secondly, when put near him the general, it makes your army more dwarfish (no retreat, no surrender, no quarter!) put him and your lord in the middle of your lines and watch you opponent as he tries again and again to break your dwarfs, only to have they stay and take the beating and still dish out punishment. Thirdly, and i feel most importantly, is the banner itself. The battle banner is the only standard in your force that has access to runes that are over 50pts. Not only that, but you can combine your runes on the banner. For example, a combination that i use most frequently is the master rune of stromni redbeard (+1 combat resolution to all units in 12"), rune of kadrin (re-roll any 1's to hit in close-combat or shooting) and rune of battle (+1 combat resolution). This gives an impressive +3 combat resolution to any unit he joins, also allowing them to re-roll any 1's. The rune of kadrin is the only rune that i change with any frequency, and it is usually changed for the rune of santuary (+1 dispel dice against magic at unit). I have also recently experimented with the rune of groth one-eye (unit is stubborn). This is a fantasic rune and very dwarfish in nature. Combined with the longbeards it allows Lord Fundin to join a weaker unit (warriors or ironbreakers), whilst keepin a strong centre for your battlelines.
Longbeards:
Always at least 15 strong (usually 18, as Lord Fundin and Thane Balin go in the front rank!) and always accompanied by the general. This unit smashes through anything and everything. Temple guard, Saurus, skeltons, tomb guard, even bone giants have been humbled by my short and stumpy legion. They have been whiped out twice, and reduced to just the standard bearer on numerous occasions, but they still keep coming. Equiped with heavy armour and sheild, they are already more heavily armed then most armies. They also come equiped with great weapons, which combined with the extra point of strength they have, as well as the extra point of weapon skill (when compared with a standard dwarf warrior), plus the fact that there immune to panic, they are a worth while addition to your force. Not to mention the fact that there only 3pts more then a similarly equiped dwarf warrior.
Combined with a lord (and the army standard if desired), there nigh on unstoppable. Not to mention the fact that they can have a runic banner worth fifty points. At the moment my favoured combination of runes for there banner is the rune of sanctuary and the rune of battle. The extra dispel dice for magic against the unit is invaluable and the extra one to combat resolution is always worth taking. There most vulnerable to magic, especially some of the heavens spells that are high strength or ignore armour saves all together. The best way to combat such spells is use as many dice as possible to stop the magic missiles, and use runes of spell breaking (if you have a rune preist) to stop anything else that could threaten your army.
Ironbreakers
There is only one think to rival my love of longbeards and miners. That thing is my new found love, my ironbreakers. They have a 3+ save. Forget for a moment that there a special choice, taking valuable slots away from war machines, forget that there not as strong as other troops that have great weapons, just let that single fact sink in. 3+ save. Okay for cavalry that isn't that impressive, but for infantry thats amazing. And there only 13pts each. Thats a point cheeper then the longbeards. Okay in comparison there strength of 4 is a bit weak, but when fighting most infantry, thats average to wound rolls. My opponent hates them completely, even more then miners. His high elf army has nothing that can really do any damage to them apart fom his massed archer units and his white lions.
There main weakness comes when your opponent starts using the lore of heavens. Spells and magice items which cancel out your save is your worst problem. But if you can afford it, 2 runes of santuary should see them through the battle. A word of warning though. Massed firepower will come after them one day. There toughness of 4 and there save should protect them, but point enough longbows and there dead. You can use war machines to counter these threats, but i prefer to march straight towards my opponents key units, letting him try and destroy a single unit as the war machines and other infantry destroy the rest.
Dwarf warriors:
If you want a good troops choice don't look anywhere else. full armour and a great weapon and they stand against anything and laugh in its face. Dont bother with crossbow men there a waste of time. Just buy a dwarf, give him a big axe, and point. Not as good as long beards by a long shot, but useful for backing up the longbeards, and they have provided, on more then one occasion, a safe-haven for my dwarf lord. Watch your opponents face in triuph as he wipes out the longbeards, only to have your dwarf lord join the nearest regiment of warriors that he hasnt thought about yet!
But that isn't there only use. If you have the option always give them greatweapons and full armour. There initiative of 2 means that there going to strike last against most troops anyway, so the extra strength is well worth it. You now have a dawrf who has a 4+ save (against missile fire, 5+ against close combat), weapon skill 4 (beating most other rank and file troops) and a strength of 5! This may sound a bit poor at first glance, especially for 11pts a dwarf and only moving 6" max a turn, but who cares? Your fully equiped dwarf force can beat most elite units into submission, or at the very least hold them up for several turns. And most other rank and file (elf spearmen, empire swordsmen) simply wont be able to get through your toughness or your armour and end up getting turned into paste by your great axes.
Stone thrower:
In a previous life i beleive i was some form of artillary master, or possibly a builder. I have an inate ability to acturately judge any range in inches. That means that my stone thrower is superb and, at times, horrendously deadly. Usually fitted with two runes of penetrating so that its strength 6 (-3 to any armour saves!) and a rune of accuracy just incase. A few good shots and it leaves any unit humbled. And the fact that it can be tooled up in hundreds of ways and will always prove troublesome for your opponent it is always worth taking. Having said that the cost of rune's on your stone thrower can get out of hand. I once took a dwarf force that contained a runned up dwarf stone thrower and an enginneer and it came to nearly 300pts. You have been warned!
Bolt thrower:
Before my dwarf army i used to have a high elf army, and then a dark elf army. Both have the multiple shot bolt throwers and that extra point of ballistic skill. So the dwarf bolt thrower was a shock to say the least.
When planning my army i had never intended getting one until Gina, my lucky charm, picked one out. Any unit she picks seems to be blessed in some way. Such things include her first suggestion, a dark elf standard bearer on cold one. This model decimated many of my opponents troops and was the sole survivor of the army (even though he got surrounded by three units, i surrendered so technically...). She was the one who picked out several of my longbeards and even my stone thrower! Gina goes to my college and when i make my weekly trip, she joins me as shes going to manchester anyway. And so it turned out that i ended up with a bolt thrower that i had never really wanted, but wasn't going to chance fate about!
Anyway, for only 45pts who can argue, there half the cost of the elven ones and you get an extra crew man who has toughness 4! and i havent even started on the fact that you can rune them up. Does your opponent love to take huge blocks of infantry? well have a strength 9 bolt thrower to decimate him (or her). Does opponent take mummies or treemen? have flaming attacks for just 5pts. Do you have a really sneaky opponent or one who like to use flyers to kill your war machines? give the humble bolt thrower a valiant rune (unbreakable crew) and a master rune of immolation (anytime you wish, KABOOM!!!) and have a rune of seeking to pick of the flyers (+1 to hit flyers).
As you can see its the humble bolt thrower that should always be your weapon of choice, as it is cheep enough to tool up, or alternatively can be bought in bulk to help thin down enemy ranks. Plus the fact that you can have two for a single special choice, and two for the price of a single cannon.
Other unit's
The above are always in my force and form a solid core which i can base the rest of my force around. Here are the following units that i have experimented with and my personal opinions.
Crossbow men:Dont take them. Unless you a fool do not take them. with BS 4 they may be alright but they have BS 3 instead. for 2pts extra you can have armour penetrating shots, move and fire, and +1 at short range. Trust me buy handgunners and dont waste your money on the bow men. Dwarfs were never meant to hold a crossbow. My crossbowmen in each game they have fought in have inflict only a handful of wounds. They cost to much and are definately to ineffective.
Theres a reason why this text is brown and not green. Get the hint?
Enginners:
I tried engineers in my last battle, one with my stone thrower and one with my bolt thrower. I have to admit that even thought there terrible stats mean that the moment they get near combat there going to die, the re-roll missed hits for the bolt thrower, and the extra guess for the stone thrower is invaluable. Having a stone thrower that in every turn pounded my opponents clanrats was amazing and if you ever plan to take a tooled up warmachin for use against specific targets, i would advise taking one.
Miners:
Hehehehehe. I love miners. if i were a dwarf, id be a miner till i got a longer beard! Twenty strong, any table edge. No messing about turing up randomly, just pop up an start bashing stuff. Equiped with heavy armour and great weapons, its a force to be reckoned with.
This unit has killed heirophants and basically saved me on several occasions. I know i could use them to bolster my main battle line, but sending them in a flank is just too tempting! Watch your opponents flanking manouvre fail as a group of miners goes in there side. And even if they never turn up, so what? Just tell your pponent you've got them and watch him worry and falter. unless he moves his entire army straight down the centre of the battle feild in to your longbeards, he's vulnerable to being flanked or rear charged. If you don't beleive me experiment with a unit of twenty and you'll see what i mean.
Cannons:
My cannon used to be the pride and joy of my army and spent several games picking off charecters running around on there own. That was until me and my opponent were using them entirely wrong. To be honest, any weapon that adds between 4 and 24 inches is risky, better off with another stone thrower or two bolt throwers.
Slayers:
The fact that i have only five slayers in total has meant that when i do feild them (my opponent and i play a fun, not rule, based game) they usually get decimated. However, slayer charecters are another thing entirely. I had a deamon slayer with the master rune of snorri spangelhelm and a rune of fury (always hits first, +1 attack) take on and kill khalidra. He minced her. Saying that last game he was demoted to a dragon slayer and was prommetly shot to death by chameleon skinks. The high toughness is great, and does provide them with some protection from missile fire. And the slayer skill is superb, but i'm too fond of heavy armour. Having said that i painted him a few nights back and he looks superb so i may buy a unit.
Organ gun:
The organ gun is lovely when it gets working, especially if you havent got the money to buy a unit of thunderers. Being mobile artillary is also a great advantage and many enemy units have been decimated by my organ gun. Around six shots all on strenght 4 all with armour penetrating hits is nothing to be argueing with. Try one after you try miners.
Gyrocopter:
I have used this machine only once. It was in a three way game where i was allowed to use a dwarf on a small base to represent it as i was considering getting one. Although it got shot down by a dark elf bolt thrower, it still prevented several march moves and severly slowed my opponent down. Apart from that i see no use for it. Its a serious pain for your opponent, but not because its deadly, just because it slows him down and because its new and worrying.
Flame cannon:
Yes yes yes yes yes.
I recently bought a flame cannon. God am i proud of it. Its first outting against a high elf force saw it blow up without firing a shot. Its second outting killed two skinks and four saurus warriors. Its a fantastic model and i love it to death and having only used it twice i cant write it off as a failure. Its abilty to roast even high toughness opponents and then cause a panic test is fantastic. The problem lies in firing the tear drop template as it is extremely difficult to angle and inflict maximum damage.
After my first time writing this i am now the prowd owner of two flame cannons, which i havent tried together yet but plan to in the near future, in a way so that they both support each other. I'll update this soon.
Update: My flame cannon is gorgeous. I havent tried the double yet but even one is still worth the cost. Units of archers, infantry, even elites have gone fleeing after this beauty gets to work. And it does D3 wounds against charecters and the like, making it ideal to kill hidden heros and lords. Buy one. Now.
Runelords and Runesmiths:
I'm sort of undecided as to whats the best mix. A rune lord doesnt get picked off so easily, but two runesmiths can be spread out and can have more equipment of the same type (5 runes of spell breaking for instance) and also gets an extra dipel dice. Persoanlly, i always take a rune smith with the three runes of spell breaking you can nullify most of your opponents magic. But the ability to carry a magic weapon and armour, the extra point of toughness, and the extra point of leadership is often too hard to resist. I havent tried out the anvil yet, but i'm considering buying one after i get my thunderers.
Units i havent tried
The following are units i have yet to try in my force for one reason or another, along with the reasons why.
Rangers
If there was ever a unit that was less like the army that it was in its rangers. They just don't fit. I can see the point and you cant really disagree with bugamans lot, but in a typical dwarf army, they just dont look right. And at a maximum of 18pts each id rather have another block of dwarfs and a rank on my longbeards. Also, there equiped with crossbows. In a word - No
Thunderers
I dont own any handgunners so i've never had the opportunity to feild them. However, having seen the destruction that my humble organ gun does i feel compeld to buy a unit.
Well thats it for now. i'm going to update this pretty much every other week, remove bits as units arrive (e.g thunderers) and explaining how i fair in battle. Keep checking my journal and i'll annouce any updates. Imput is welcome.
Writen by
AsmodaiDark
Thought of the day:
Revere your ancestors,
Obey your king,
Bear your arms with pride,
Fear no foe,
Hate the greenskin,
Mistrust the elf,
And you can do no wrong.
