Greetings friends, and welcome to today's discourse on Dwarven battle tactics. We shall start off with a short introduction to the Dwarven War Host, followed by some specific examples of War Host composition, and if we have time we will talk about deployment.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Army Composition
Troop types
Picking and Equipping a War Host
Deploying for Battle
The first thing to know about any army is it's strengths and weaknesses. With the Dwarves, the good things are easy. They are extremely tough, very hard to break, and even their rank and file are better fighters than most other races (WS 4), not to mention that they don't mind packing around more armor than your average warhorse. Also they have the ability to field customized magic items. magically enhanced war machines, and flying artillery.
On the down side, Dwarves have no cavalry of their own, only move 3, and pursue at 2d6-1. This lack of movement means that unless they are deployed so that they are very close together, each unit must be able to fight and survive on its own.
When building any army it is vital for success that you draw on your army's strengths to cover its weaknesses. The strengths in the Dwarven army list are: three units of elite troops, missile troops that can fight as well as most army's line regiments, Slayers, Runes, and some of the best war machines in the game. The primary weakness you have to cover is, as was stated before, lack of mobility.
Starting with the units of elite troops, you have Longbeards, Hammerers, and Ironbreakers. Longbeards are basic veteran warriors with heavy armor, shields, and hand weapons. They are a good overall value being the same cost as crossbowmen with two-handed weapons with only one lower strength and a much better save. You can rarely go wrong taking a unit of Longbeards along. The next elite regiment are the Hammerers, (or as they're called here at the Stronghold, Axe-Masters) which are the elite Royal guard of the various Dwarven Kings. (For the of the spirit of the game I would say you should have a plausible reason to have the Royal guard on the battlefield) They are exactly the same as Longbeards in profile and equipment, with one important exception. Hammerers have the option of carrying two-handed weapons in addition to their normal equipment. This gives them a slow but extremely hard hitting Strength 6 attack, which can be truly devastating if they are defending a wall or other obstacle. The final elite unit are the Ironbreakers. These guys are by far and away the best infantry in the game and with the exception of Chaos Warriors the only infantry (That I know of anyway.) that is equipped with magical armor and can be easily given a 2+ or even a 1+ save. Many is the time a cavalry unit has broken its charge against a unit of Ironbreakers.
Next we'll take a look at the famed Dwarven crossbowman. Not the cheapest missile troop in the game, but one of the only ones you can put in hand to hand and be reasonably confident that they can hold their own. My crossbowmen almost always get two-handed weapons, which since they almost always go last anyway is not that great of a penalty. And being able to strike with a Strength of 5 will assure that almost anything they hit, will feel it. There are two points of caution with regards to crossbowmen, which are that with only light armor, if they get wounded they are almost certainly dead and at a cost of 15 per model they are very expensive cannon fodder.
The next strong point of of the Dwarven army are the Slayers. These guys are probably the single most unique feature of the whole army. They are the quintessential, monster fighers. The basic slayer should alway be armed with two hand weapons, since a double handed weapon will only add to a Slayers unmodified strength and not to the Strength given to him by the Slayer's skill. Wounding is not usually the problem for these indomitable fighters, staying alive is. If a unit of Slayers charges a monster, even a small unit can do considerable damage. I once used a unit of Slayers to take out an Empire Steam Tank. Another good point of Slayers is that at only 12 points per model (with an additional hand weapon) they are as close to being disposable troops as the Dwarves have and since they are seeking death anyway, this is a bonus for them.
The strong point of the Dwarves which has received the most attention (and the most complaints), are Runes. The ability of the the Dwarves to customize their magic items is probably their biggest non-troop advantage. It can almost make up for not having Wizards that are indigenous to the army. With a little forethought, a Dwarven General can field a number of items designed for any task. Rune items can also have multiple affects, which is very rare among standard items.
The last of the strong points of the Dwarven army are its war machines. Dwarves are the only race that can field magically enhanced war machines. Some of the enhancements make the machines extremely effective.
The rest of the troops available to the dwarves are by no means bad, but for most of them there are liabilities that can outweigh there general usefulness. Included in this list are basic clansmen (problem Str 3), Thunderers (problem: slow fire, shorter range than a crossbow), and miners. Of these, the miners are the best. They have heavy armor and double handed weapons. A good alternative to elites for a central infantry regiment.
Now that we have covered the basics of troops, we can look at some of the ways we can use these troops. When I decide on the composition of a force I do so with the knowledge that each unit must be able to fight effectively on its own or all units must be deployed in mutually supporting positions. My preference is to do both. I pick units and equip them planning for them to be fighting on their own, and if at all possible deploy them to cover each other.
Since the Dwarven army is exclusively infantry based it is important that you field as strong a unit as possible. I almost never take the field without at least one unit of elites. Ironbreakers if it is a good size fight, or Longbeards in a smaller fight. When I take the field I generally take along a small unit of the Axe Masters as my personal bodyguard. Quite possibly the single most important item to give to your primary infantry unit is the Golden Sceptre of Norgrim. It's +1 save is invaluable to pump up the unit's armor protection, and it's +1 move can give a nasty surprise to an enemy cavalry unit that thinks its outside your charge range. At only 50 points it is a bargain. If at all possible I will give my primary infantry unit a Runic banner with the Rune of Courage. It's only 75 points and it will make a unit as invulnerable to break tests as slayers or flagellants with the added bonus of being able to wear armor. I always try to have at least 18 to 20 troops in my main regiment. Up to about 30 or so. Over 30 and you begin to have too many points invested in a single unit.
The next regiment I pick after my primary regiment is the primary support regiment. If I am fighting a defensive battle this will be a unit of crossbowmen armed with double handed weapons. A unit of at least 15 with a Standard. Crossbows are one of the best missile weapons in the game. Their Strength 4 is strong enough to even wound a Giant in sufficient quantities. The best thing about Dwarven crossbowmen is they have Toughness 4 and a high enough Leadership that they can be an effective melee force in addition to being a missile force. The important thing to remember when you intend to use your crossbowmen as a melee force is that you MUST reform them into multiple ranks for them to survive and win. Many is the crossbow regiment I have seen slaughtered to a Dwarf; because they were not reformed for Hand to Hand combat. If I am not fighting a defensive battle, I try to take an infantry unit that I can use as an assault force. The unfortunate thing about assaults is that you are guaranteed to take heavy casualties. This means that the lead force will most likely be decimated by the time they arrive at the enemy position. Bearing this in mind I generally use a unit of either Slayers or Clansmen as my lead force, with my primary infantry regiment just behind them.
Once I have my primary regiments, I pick out their support. This means artillery and air support. For artillery the single best piece of equipment is the Organ Gun. It has five shots, Strength 10, d3 wounds, and no Save. It's range looks a little short, but with favorable dice it can reach up to 44 inches. It is at it's best in a defensive role where favorable dice are not necessary for it to reach it's target. When given the Rune of Disguise it can give a nasty surprise to someone looking to crush a seemingly vulnerable flank. And since it is always near the top of the list of things to attack with a dive bombing monster a Rune or two of Immolation can make even it's death throes spectacular. My other favorite war machine is the Flame Cannon. It has a Strength of 5 which almost guarantees that you'll do casualties and if you do cause casualties the unit hit has to make a panic test. It has the potential to be truly devastating against low LD troops like Orcs and Goblins. Air support is as important, if not more so, as artillery support. Air support means being able to take out your opponents artillery and make a mess of his missile units. With Dwarves an unfortunate fact of life is that you can't have a Character mounted on a monster. Therefore you need monsters capable of operating on their own. This means that unless you want it just sitting there most of the time you need a monster with a high Leadership. Or an alternative would be a Dragon. If you have the points available a Dragon can be very cost effective. If you need a bargain for air support you can look at any of the flying monsters, but my personal favorite is the Griffon. It costs less than most units and it is a very stout hand to hand fighter. And since it causes Terror, it can effectively take out a War Machine without fighting.
These are just general guidelines of how I pick my force. I am not going to try to address specifics of what to take against who. Those type of things are a matter of style and preference. (KimShi for instance believes taking Mosters is just cheating as is any form of Allies!!)
I'm not going to say a lot about deployment, simply because there are only a few points to remember and there are no hard and fast rules. There are some points to remember.
1. Whenever possible deploy your units so they can effectively support each other.
2. Maximize the field of fire for your missile units and War Machines. Hills are the best for this.
3. Never leave an exposed flank, when you deploy. You may be forced to uncover it later, but it is much harder to cover a flank during the game than it is to abandon it. Alternatively if you can use an unprotected flank as bait for a trap. However this is VERY hard to do.
Arek Storm