By Adam Bales Copywrite 1999
Version 1
May be reproduced as long as I’m given FULL credit.
Chapter 1.0 Dwarf armies 1.1 Dwarf Warmachines 1.2 Troops 1.3 Characters & Special characters 1.4 Against Elves 1.5 Against Orcs and Goblins 1.6 general Tactics 1.7 Runes
1.0- Dwarf Armies Dwarves are stout, sturdy warriors, they are an ancient race and their craft outstretches even that of the Elves. In my opinion the best Warhammer army. Read on to find out some tactics.
1.1-Warmachines One of the main advantages of a Dwarven army is its Warmachines. My favourite weapon would be the organ gun. With it chance to fire more shots then the cannon. They have a reasonable range and they have a strength of ten making it a powerful machine. My two thousand point army includes either 4-6 organ guns depending on who I face. The Stone thrower is another good one, as a templete war machine is always good, fire these at the centre of large units for the best results (good against Orcs & Gobbos)
1.2-Troops Part 1-Slayers Part 2-crossbowmen Part 3-Ironbreakers
Part 1 Slayers are one of the best units in the dwarf army. They are usually used in about unit of 20-30. It is a good idea to have at least one slayer champion (eg. Dragon Slayer, Deamon slayer or Giant slayer) in the front rank to keep the unit alive. Also have a standard bearer and musician, these increase the chance of the enemy fleeing. Maybe give him a magic standard (eg. Banner of Fear is good against Gobbos).
Part 2 Always have a large amount of crossbowmen in your armies (say 30 in a one thousand point army) put about 24 of them in the front rank. Against Gobbos the banner of fear (or runic banner with the rune of fear) is good as they find it hard to get the charge on them. With these and your organ guns you have a strong long range army.
Part 3 Iron Breakers are the most elite troop in the dwarven army. With these troops I always use standard of shielding so that they have a 2+ save and I always have at least 15, so that they can beat most cavalry units. Always take a champion or to as if you want with the rune of stone (+1 armour save) that doesn't come out of your runic item allowance you can get a 1+ save for him (even without the standard of shielding).
1.3-Dwarven Characters Part 1-Special characters Part 2-Character
Part 1 I never use special characters, a dwarves strength is his runes and special character have stupid runes. A piece of advice if your using them , don’t use them.
Part 2 Dwarven characters are cool, try begging with your playmates to use runesmiths instead of generals to lead your army. Equip him with plenty of runes so that he can kick ass. (I advise against using the anvil of doom, not because it sucks, it’s actually cool, but it doesn’t suit the dwaven character.)
1.4-Against Elves When fighting elves always get plenty of warmachines to fire at their bolt throwers, because bolt throwers are a dwarven generals nightmare. Also the master rune of Gromril is good as they don’t have many high strength things and they need strength 7 to hurt you (even a bolt thrower has a strength of 5 for a single shot and 4 for multiple shots). Apart from that all I can say is get into battle, and Quickly.
1.5-Against orcs and Gobbos If battling Gobbo’s and Orcs a flank attack will often result in a majority of the army fleeing (With the Gobbos low leadership). The exception to this is Night Goblins who hate Dwarves and so have 10 leadership. A good Warmachine is the Stone Thrower as its templete lets it hit many people. Also it will hardly miss with how many Gobbo’s people have (A cannon is out). Crossbowmen are good, especially to use against small Night Goblin units that probably have a fanatic in.
1.7-Runic Items Part 1-Runes For a leader Part 2- Runes for a unit
Part 1 Runes are a dwarven generals best friend, they are another great advantage for the Dwarves. My favourite rune would have to be the Master Rune of Gromril ( This gives you ten toughness. Although it costs a lot and alows you to have one armour rune it makes you almost indestructable (opponents need 7 strength to possibly hit [Good against High Elves, who have low strength scores]) . Also the Master rune of spite means that around 50% of all hits that get through will hurt the attacker. The Rune of Smiting (causes D6 wounds), the Snorri Spangelhelm’s Master Rune (Automaticaly hits) and the rune of might (x2 strength) are also good.A runelord would now always hit, 10 strength (Almost always wound) allows no save because of strength bonus and causes D6 wounds. Also you have 10 toughness (Very hard to hurt) and on a 4+ the wounds are rebounded on the attacker.
Part 2 I don’t generally use runes on units (eg.Runic banners) but when I do I usually have the rune of fear (unit causes fear) In units of Ironbreakers I give them the standard of Shielding so they have a save of 2+ and always save on six. This standard only costs twenty five points.