By Grungi, this old traveler was not about to tell Snorzi Spenglehammer that he and his city were doomed. Snorzi was after all the son of the king of karak Azul. Yet, this dwarves beard obviously was longer than his so he stood and listened to his ancestor's blathering.
The dwarves no longer knew how to fight. . . .their axes grew rusty. . . .they should take the innitiative. . .Did not this old man know the winds of magic blew in mysertious, new ways that confounded even Vahalla's Runes? Snorzi was used to the ravings of the Longbeards but this man was incredulous. His patience grew thin and ultimately he challenged the stranger to a drinking bout, wishing to spare his life. If only he knew.
To embarrass his stranger, he challenged him to an open drinking bout in front of the entire council of dwarves at the banquet hall of Karak Azul. All would see that the stranger was mad. The dwarves were beaten and must learn to struggle just to survive.
20 tankards of the strongest dwarven ale were placed on the table of the royal family. Snorzi grabbed the first, if it was going to be a battle to see which man stood the longest, he sure wasn't going to let any shortbearded dwarf say he took advantage of a mad old dwarf. Gulp Gulp Gulp. . . .Snorzi snickered at the stranger. Then it was the stranger's turn. He threw back the cloak hiding his face and all stood in awe. Before them was a dwarf of enormous stature and the whitest, longest beard anyone had ever seen. Scilence fell over the banquet hall until finally there was a faint wisper, "Grombrindal".
Needless to say, Snorzi was honor-bound to continue the drinking bout and although he downed over 30 tankards of ale, in the end he knew he was no match for Grombrindal. The very next day, he shaved his head and became a slayer. Myth has it he died exploring the South Lands but not before he had his share of fried frog legs!
Gombrindal spoke to the assembly:
"Dwarves you have lost your heart and souls. Vahalla and Grungi hold
their heads in shame. You have forgotten what it is to be a dwarf and to fight with
honor. Your ancestry is forgotten and you are worth little more than Doc, Bashful
and Sleepy. . .What kind of dwarf would let the rise of Bretonnia or the new sightings of
Lizardmen cause fear? I too have felt the changes in the winds of magic [historian's note: 5th edition magic] and have seen many strange
occurances on the field of battle [historian's note: 5th edition
rules]. I have even seen the trained monsters of the mountains flee from
battle. Yet, you do not battle or consider strategy. . .instead you have retreated
to the few strongholds you still keep. What of destroying the skaven that infest us,
or the orcs and goblins who raided our ancestral
homes? BAHHH!!
In the past I have come to fight by your side. . .Now I come to teach you to fight. Take heed shortbeards.:
Grombrindal then spoke many things. His words I often forgot, but I will never forget his message. I only hope that my disertation reflects his eloquence.
Grombrindal began with a recertation of what dwarves are not. He figured so long as we bemoaned out own fate, we might as well remind us of our grudges.
First, he reminded us that in battle we were strong but slow. . .no dwarf ever outran a man and only one unit, name I have forgotten, had ever charged a unit of Bretonnian Knights and that was only because they prayed entirely too long!
Secondly, he reminded the dwarves that all too often they would break their enemy only to find that the cowards legs were longer than their own. They could make them run but running through them was a chore indeed.
Thirdly, he reminded them that their lives were precious [historian's note: They cost a lot of points] and could not be treated like the worthless lives of goblins and humans.
Fourthly, he reminded them that they never would learn even the simplest magic trick as it is impossible to both study magic and drink strong dwarven ale and they all knew which was more important.
Fifthly, he reminded them of how for some mysterious reason, their ranks mattered little these days when attacked from the sides or rear.
Sixthly, he reminded them that while they mastered the art of making handguns, they still remained close combat fighters and would never beat the elves in target practice.
Next, he reminded them that the winds of magic were a bit less predictable and that they could no longer hide behind layers of runes. Magic seemed to rise and form its spells too quickly now for multiple counters.
Finally, he reminded them that all those monsters found in the mountains and trained for years to fight for the dwarves seemed to develop a bit of a temper and often left in the midst of battle.
Then Gromidal spoke of his visions of the past of successful dwarven armies.
He spoke of armies where the troops all could see their general and all would rally around the battle standard, of armies where all the dwarves could hear the battle cries of their fellow mates.
He spoke of concentration and of forcing the enemy to fight not hit and run. He spoke of taking charges and casulties and destroying the enemy in the ensuing slogging match to follow. He reminded them that they were slow in battle but stronger and heartier than all with armor and axes forged by the finest blacksmith's in the world! He reminded them that there was no dishonor in fleeing NONE. . .so long as you fled to lead the enemy into a cunning dwarven trap, but to leave battle was a disgrace. The slayers openly agreed.
Then he spoke of specifics, first starting with the great heroes of the Dwarven Kingdom.
Most dwarven strategies begin with the necessity of huddling together. A dwarf is
nearly impossible to panic with such high leadership, near there general and around the
battle standard. Dwarves can no more afford to chase their opponenets than the
Brettonian knight can sit back waiting for a charge. By staying closely grouped, the
dwarf gains the benefit of psychology. . . .troops close enough to counter attack any
enemy bold enough to dishonorably hit the dwarves in the flanks. . .and can generally
protect themselves. Of course, there can be more than one huddle. . .After all. .
.the crown of command and master rune of Kingship can be
used! Two virtually unbreakable forces! You must keep some troop able to
pursue the enemy when they break. . .gyrocopters are the most reliable. For the more
daring, a chimera is awefully nice at being vicious, taking out rank bonuses and flaming
the artilery and archers pluse TERROR. Problem is if the dice are not with you and
he struggles at critical times. You can mitigate this by using the chimera and one
gyrocopter.
Likewise, the dwarves must remember they ARE the greatest firepower in the world.
They may not be the best shots but their cannons, gyrocopters, handguns, x-bowmen, organ
guns and flame cannons and stone throwers with such runes as the rune of forging and
rune of acuracy and shooters that could shake off enemy shots make up for their mediocre
bs. Dwarves should not be afraid of firing on almost anything.
Certainly, they will not be moving much so shooting is only natural. Eventually, the
shooters can reform and fight or flee to allow the advance of the h-t-h troops. A
special trick is to take the ruby chalice. . .that will make you dominate the shooting and
hopefully if you take a wound will help soften the blow of the initial charge as -1 to hit
will cause fewer wounds. Often. . .especially when facing sooo many war
machines and shots. . .the enemy will rush in and charge from maximum
distance. It is always wise to have dwarven shooters flee either shoot and take the
damage then flee the next round when you get whipped or just flee so you can charge right
away. The enemy will rarely have the movement to catch them. In this manner
you can often charge the arrogant knights and enemy. Don't worry much about
rallying. In the huddle, you will be close to the general and battle standard.
You will naturally rally BEFORE the enemy has time to hunt you down! Charging
slayers with 2 handed weapons are enormously powerful against most any target save heavily
armored knights. Seriously consider using slayers behind your x-bowmen. At
worst, they are a cheap block of troops that can
not break from which you can swong other troops around to flank or pick their
fights. Think about putting the warmachines way up front and boobytrapping all of
them with runes of immolation. That is a rude surprise! Flame cannons are
underrated. Forcing multiple panic tests before the enemy can charge is critical and
often you can get a route going. Use 2 and make sure they can cross fire [ie hit the same
unit].
One or more huddles is the key. . .If you need to eliminate threats such as Empire artillery. . .use gyrocopters which are extremely useful as well as to blanket enemy archers and x-bowmen giving you the definate shooting advantage. Keep an enemy monster or two close to the general to be unleased on the insolent fool who would attack the dwarves from the flanks or rear. Decimate them before they arrive! An honorable foe will engage you head on.
White Dwarf : Never forget the White
Dwarf is now like any special character. . . .He is mighty and only costs 3 vps!
Consider Louen vs. . .the white dwarf and a
hippogriff by his side. Obviously the charge is critical, but it is unlikely the
White Dwarf will be killed in one round. Furthermore, he can wait till AFTER the
charge to reveal himslef. Take THAT Louen. After the charge. . .Louen has st
4-7. . .The White Dwarf has st 7 each and every attack. The White Dwarve's axe is
deadly as he gets 2 rolls to hit and 2 to wound EVERY HIT and EVERY WOUND and the enemy
must roll twice to save and take the worst result. Needless to say. . .Louen would
have a hard time slaying the White Dwarf should he have enough strength to fight back.
Nothing helps dwarves in the new edition better than the ability to ignore all spells
directed at a unit! The Crown is an instant huddle device. Sure the dwarves may
panic and flee, flee to put the chargers within charge range of the stunties legs AND
still automatically rally the beginning of the dwarfs next turn.
Other Dwarven Special Characters Have the Great Benefit of Specifically being allowed to substitute magic items for their listed items! What a huge advantage.
King Kazador is nothing more than a king with runes any other king could get with a very useful point of strength.
The Slayer King is wonderful.
First. . .he will never flee [good and bad expecially with new general dies you take panic
test rules]. His ability to always wound on a 4+ can not be underestimated. On
top of all this he can take any 3 magic items you want, including runic items.
Absolutely fantastic! Add multiple attack weapons or runes of spite for big baddies.
POP goes the enemy. I also like to take master rune of swiftness with an additional
attack or rune of spite and golly is he going to punch hard. Armor of fortune is
nice. Against Brets you might add rune of cutting. Custom magic items are still
incredible [sure sure tournament rules] Side
Note: In a tournament Master rune of swiftness with a curse rune often either kills
the enemy outright [you test right after you hit BEFORE you wound] or causes them to hit
lie girls. Otherwise. . .I do indeed like adding 2 runes of cutting. -3 to save will
slice and dice expensive Bretonnians.
Rune Lord: The ULTIMATE in monster
slayers [if he catches them that is!] Huddle Huddle Huddle. Keep the Hammer.
Strength 10 no matter what you opponent's toughness is. . .does not stike last! Plus
any of these st 10 hits will each do d6 wounds. His armor is mighty as
well. 3+ save to start and a 4+ save unmodified plus an AUTOMATIC dispel. Two
great things about dwarves, many characters can buy the 4+ unmodified save unlike
other races. This helps enormously absorb a charge. Secondly, the rune of
spelleating is extremely useful. The First spell is AUTOMATICALLY dispelled, so a
50pt destroy scroll [sound familiar] except ou don't have a chance of destroying the spell
instead there is a good chanceyou can automatically dispel several spells.
Even a mighty power 3 spell will only sate the AUTOMATIC dispel 1/2 times. No
this does not help the rank and file but helps keep the lone characters alive. .
.especially rune lords on
anvils! Blast away without worrying about being attacked from afar. Runestaff needs
to go. . .yes rune of passage is nice but is the anvil really well served going chasing
the enemy? Perhaps against woodies. I like to take three runes of spell
breaking. 3 autodispels for 75pts. Dwarves need them.
Gotrek: Against Chaos or any non-shooting army I really do like the pair. Again huddle and use Gotrek to attack or counter-attack large units of deamons. Now you can only try to dispel or counter a spell once, BUT. . . .you always test if you have an ability to avoid or resist the magic. IE. . .Gotrek CAN first see if Vahalla Rune works THEN use doom if it does not.
Thorgrim: 4 magic slots. Enough Said
Bugman: Cute but not useful.
Burlok: So many many options just change the items and remember you get 2 magic items with str 7 base. One of the best and cheapest.
Long Beards: Strength 4 attacks only. I'd leave them at home, well actually against humans they ar not bad for their initiative is the same.
Hammerers: Outstanding. You have 4+ save against shots and in h-t-h you can hit at st 6. I think because the 2handers are optional you have a hand weapon AND the 2handed and can decide which route is best. Maybe I am wrong. At any rate. Whatever troops are left in the front rank after a charge WILL pound the enemy into submission. 17pts vs. 39 for a Bret Knight. . .wanna bet who will win?
Iron Breakers: Much better than they look. 3+ save may not seem like much but their heavy armor is MAGICAL. . .ie.. a magical 4+ save which is useful against so many items or spells that check vs. magic armor. Other that the magicness of the save. . .use cheaper long beards or hammerers.
Dwarf Warriors. . . . .Use spears or go for equivalently equipped x-bowmen. I avoid them except agains wood elves/skaven.
Dwarven Crossbowmen: I would take them BEFORE any dwarven warriors with 2-handed. After all they are the same stats with 3pts for a crossbow, which is well worth it. Shoot then either flee and regroup to support the primary attack troops or reform early [I prefer getting the extra round of shoots. . .take the charge, stand and shoot and don't be the least bit afraid of the inevitable flee]. These are your basic troops.
Thunderers: Against Calvery sure. . .-2 to save seems nice. But Brets prayer makes x-bowmen's extra rounds of shots seem more important.
Miners: Again, I prefer dwarven crossbowmen with shields and 2 handers. The advantage of miners is that they wear heavy armor. +1 to save even in h-t-h. Worth it, not usually. I'd prefer to softe up my enemy with horrific amounts of crossbowfire.
Slayers: Unique. . .powerful and potentially fragile. Archers can mow them down even with 4 toughness. Remember they are not about to rush into combat [lil legs]. They are mighty sitting right behind the x-bowmen that will flee through them! They do not BREAK. I like this because it gives the other stunties time to ctch up to the flanks and rear of the enemy troops. I have seen them take the brunt of a bret chaarge and then allow time for me to chug troops to slaughter the knights from the sides and rear. Against, high tougness troops take an extra hand weapon. 2 attacks mirroring the enemy's toghness. nly against weak enemies with high armor [Brettonians only] would I take 2-handers. Since most things can be slaughtered with st 7 attacks [or with anything matching their toughness], I rarely take characters. . .Having no armor and only one magic item is tough for me to swallow.
Stone Throwers: If they hit they are vicious. Rune of accuracy gives you another chance. . . .tell me though, how many stone throwers do you find it takes to get a good hit? A 74 pt thrower with a 50pt rune. . . .almost worth just using 2 throwers!
Gyrocopter: Flexible and your flyers! Sure they are expensive and can potentially be beat up. Just don't get caught, flee if you are charged! Shots except from x-bows and handgunners just rarely will hit the piolet and if they do rarely wound. Steam archers, x-bowmen or anything that threatens the dwarves BEFORE h-t-h. Runes are useful. Disguise is nice but probably unintended. Penetrating and disguise if it doesn't bother your conscience. The way you will have to run down troops.
Bolt Throwers: Depends on the enemy but against Bretonians these are hysterical with the runes of penetrating. Start at st 7 or 8 and go down each rank. . . .you will skewer quite a few of them if you hit. . .sure you will need several but that is ok. If I were better with guessing I would say use cannons. . . After all my BS doesn't matter with cannons.
Organ Guns: Well they are CHEAP. .
.You know they will misfire and that will cost you a VP so think. . .I love to fire
cannons at most anything. Can you take the rune of forging? Doubt it [recall there
is some debate here]. After all, you can afford a misfire 2 organ
cannons vs a cannon with rune of forging are about the same price. Take the Organ
cannons. They create a great deal of fear in opponents like the hellblaster.
Don't bother against Wood Elves who have few ranks. For them take template
weapons. However, organ guns do not cause panic tests like flame cannons. . .in the
final analysis causing a unit to take 2 panic tests right before it
charges is more useful than 2-4 cannon balls.
Flame Cannons: Personally, I love
them. . . .they create MASS havoc right before the enemy gets to charge. I often get
a unit to flee [they take panic tests when injured] and that can often cause another unit
to flee with them. You must respect that the flame cannon can potentially send your
attackers running. Aim short. . .after all you WILL have 12" of template to
cover. I find this device is easier to hit with. Sure they are unreliable if
wounded. . . .but by the time an enemy attacks your machines your going to have your crew
long gone. Plus it is tougness 7. . .and you don't have to shoot! Nice to have
them invisible and up front in your deployment zone on the far flanks but perpidicular to
the troops. . .when the enemy gets in range you shoot them from the sides with 2 invis
cannons. . . .I find this
hysterical! Shoot the same targets with both cannons ensuring you cause 2 sets of
panic tests.
Throne of Power: Sure you can't move but who wants to as a dwarf! Absorb wounds means the charge won't hurt that much. Powerful champions holding the throne you get for dirt cheap. Problem is only if you face a mass of good artilery shots. Archers won't get through the armor or toughness. I like getting the extra 4 wounds for h-t-h and that ultimate combat in my deployment zone. It often is the difference between winning the battle when the enemy charges.
Anvil of Doom: Take it now and
always. It allows the runesmith to store magic cards and use them like any
mage. You now can store 4 cards WOW! It is like having 4 mages. You may
use these stored cards to assist counters [like the old destroy spell card]. If you
don't need them or are in a crunch the lightning can do a number of things from weaken a
powerful monster or character to destroying war machines if you get in range [I'd use
gyros so you don't move this guy]. Charriot strikes BEWARE. . . .Small but strong
untis such as dragon ogres are good targets as well. So much flexibility along with
the ability to act like the finest mages is all the reason you need for an anvil.
Store 4 and you still can shut down the magic phase of the enemy. You should between
your stored cards and new cards have
a dispel or two.
Battle Standards are costly. . . .Keep him out of combat but they help the huddle enormously. First, rerolling break tests is important as you WILL fight deep in your territory. Master Runes are hugely helpfulI like the master rune of Groth. . . .You can keep those x-bowmen in the fray long enough to chug into a flank attack. Terror/panic no big deal. . . .I like this rune. Vahalla is exceptional but between the 3 spellbreaker runes and the anvil that gives further cards to help with dispelling you may not need this.
Champions: You bet. . . .they take the brunt of the enemy charge. Overkill may hurt but at least you have more troops to strike back.
Heroes: We all know how to use them. . . .Remember though. . . .your heroes unlike your enemy's will not be able to pick their targets. . .black gem may never get used on a worthwile target etc. Useful if you keep the army tight. 6" charge if all troops are within 8" isn't bad. Still. . . be defensive. Put a hero in the battery with the talisman of ravensdark and of course the flying hammer from hell. Drop that hero/monster etc. Armor him up just in case the enemy is flying regiments.
General: You can figure this one out
 | Snorri's [always hits]: Decent but why not always wound? Very good against troops with -to hit modifiers. Side Note: I like the ruby chalice with dwarves. . .make them hard to hit the x-bowmen from shootng and when they do get injured then in h-t-h they will be -1 to hit on the charge [very useful]. Always hits is enormously useful for slayer champions/heroes. . .Then all attacks wound on a 4+. Add rune of spite and OUCH. . .Now tell me how you will keep this guy alive to counter-attack? Of course this rune with the curse rune is vicious. You automatically take your # of attacks and reduce strength or toughness. YIKES! |
| Skalf. . . .So many uses. I love to auto wound such things as chariots, steam tanks, treemen etc. Great thing about this is that it can be used with rune of Spite to take out anything. |
| Mad. . . .No save even for magic armor [No save of any kind]. . . .enough said. |
| Master Rune of Death. . . .excellent if you survive the charge and great on slayers. |
| Master Rune of Swiftness. . . .my
favorite. Since you will take the charge usually. . .why not whip em before they can
think. Add this with anything. . .extra attacks, extra strength or rune of
spite. Rune of curse often works well to absorb a charge. . . .reduce their strength
prior to them hitting your troops. My favorite no question. |
| Slaying Runes : [obvious] |
| Flight: Can you stand and shoot with it? Says used in shooting phase hmmm. . . .If so. . .give it to the character protecting your battery. You will hit and you can do all kinds of things with the rune. Don't use rune of breaking [your here to slay the beast] Rune of spite or curse rune helps [auto hit auto -st or -tougnness]. |
| Rune of Cutting: Against brets but of course. |
| Rune of Fire: Usually I will use something else. |
| Rune of Fate: I can't pick my targets remember. I have no idea who I will be fighting. Pick something else. |
| Rune of Fury: Good because you can tie this with other runes, otherwise just like the blades in magic supl. |
| Rune of Might: Slayer skill on drugs. Doubling strength will take you over the toughness of the enemy! |
| Rune of Parrying: Hysterical in combination. Use three of them then challenge. I love it! |
| Rune of Smiting: So many uses. Just a fabulous rune. |
| Rune of Striking: Useful in extreme circumstances but nothing to take often. |
| Adamant. . . .YUCK! Get 2 runes of stone cheap |
| Gromril: Toughness 10 slaughterhouse character would be great if I could get him into combat when and where I want. |
| Resistence: The core rune of dwarven armor. Armor of Fortune for everyone! |
| Spell Eating: A good way to
encourage enemy's NOT to cast cheap spells at large targets such as Kings on Thrones of
Power or runesmiths on anvil. For characters in units, this rune is not all that helpful. |
| Rune of Stone: Excellent cheap magic for champions. . . .easy to get a 1+ save with heavy armor and shield and 15pts of runes. Nice champion for challenging. |
| Rune of Iron: You have to respect additional toughness but I still like the rune of resistence. |
| Rune of Fortitude: Very useful for open exposed characters such as Generals on Thrones and Runesmiths. |
| Strommi: Well if you were trying to break units fine, but who is going to catch up with all these troops. |
| Groth: Psychology tests are crucial deep within your deployment zone. |
| Vahalla . . . .good but many ways of getting a 4+ save and you have a runesmith with lots of cards to dispel. |
| Battle: Multiple Runes are helpful, but so is a battle banner. |
| Rune of Courage: My Mainstay! No psychology and no breaking. . .fight to the last man. What a way to defeat brets. . .after charge you will deal damage and stick around to remember it. Great way to force the enemy to stay around long enough to get your troops to do the charging. Excellent way to avoid a general route of troops deep within deployment. |
| Rune of Fear: You think you have enough troops to outnumber the enemy???? Against some armies I love it. After all, if you get lucky they will not charge. A crap shoot. |
| Rune of Slowness: Listen VERY carefully. When the enemy decides to charge you roll and deduct from his charge distance. You MAY then flee. . .Now he is not going to come close to catching you. That is the beauty of the rune. So long as you are not fighting, why stick around unless you want to shoot em up. Again, using it this way is a crap shoot. . . .what if they roll low. |
| Rune of Warding. . . .Don't take this unless you already have banner of arcane protection [same cost less effective]. |
| Accuracy: Almost cheaper to buy an additional thrower. |
| Burning: Not enough useful targets |
| Disguise: A must. . . .trap them with flame throwers. Best trick. . .2 flame throwers facing one another on far flanks of deployement zone Gyros invis cheesy? Well, it is not my style but do as you please. Flame cannon pointing ----------> Troops<------------Flame cannon pointing Keep the cannons invis. As the enemy charges up the middle slow them down. Runes of slowness or whatever. Turn cannons to shoot and send the fleeing troops into position to get fried next time by the other cannon. Just don't shoot your cannon. Otherwise, I suggest putting both on the same side. |
| Immolation: A great bait rune. . . .esp if only one machine is not hidden. Put on a hill and tempt the flyer to come. I like to make place them at the beginning of my deployment zone. Shoot until the enemy charges then BANG!!!!!! Sock em with huge casulties. Against Bretonnians this is incredible. Fire the machines as the knights are forced into the battery blow it up. You could keep the machines invisible. Can the crews flee and still blow up the machine? If so would you get Vps? Where is the line between clever play and cheese here? Batteries are great 2" apart. . .you can almost force the enemy go through the war machines. BANG!!!!!! |
| Penetrating: Useful for Gyrocoters and possibly flame cannons. Other machines do just fine. Gyros pretty much are only way to us this. |
| Dismay: An excellent tool right before the enemy charge! Get an extra round of firing. |
| Kingship: Expensive Crown of Command. . .Useful if you need 2 huddles far apart. |
| Spite: Black amulet is better but useful as a "second" amulet. |
| Furnace: High Magic, Skaven magic and warp fire, Chaos Dwarves. . . .otherwise why do it? |
| Luck: Reroll that critical die roll you failed. Very useful. Very useful and you can put them on a champion for dirt cheap. |
| Passage: I don't use it much. . .avoid terrain, avoid moving. |
| Spellbreaking: A must for runesmiths. You need to take out enemy magic. |
| Book of Grudges: Hate is a wonderful thing. Reroll misses and unmod 10. . .. Again, it allows for another huddle. |
| Armor of Skaldor: 2+ then 4+ saves. . .even against no save armor. . .Better than armor of fortune but not much. |
| Grimnir and Gotrek's axe: If you hit this is deadly! I use them a lot. |
| Fiery Ring: If used right you will charge. Use when the enemy decides to charge, then he must move as if the charge failed. Now you may be in range! |
| Sceptre: Once in combat this helps. You won't be oving your trops much so forget it. |
| Banner of Defiance can often let you win
that initial charge esp against knights. |
I think I have mentoned lots of tactics throughout this article, to recap. .
Use x-bowmen as standard troops and back them up with slayers or hammerers. Huddle around the general/hero with crown of command/Groth battle standard.
Think of having a monster follow the general closeby to threaten flyers who come close, attack any troops trying to flank etc. I know it doesn't use the general's leadership and 1-3 he will do something and 2-3 it will be struggle. Can you say use the RUNES OF LUCK?!!!!!?!!!!! Take Lots of them!
Gyrocopters are usually the key to taking out things which can damage dwarves from afar, archers, x-bowmen and artillery. Later use on mass troops.
Flame Cannons are ideal right before the enemy charges. Create panic. Put them on the side perpindicular to enemy. Remember they can pivot!
Consider having your battery way up the deployment zone. Threaten enemy to go
through you and use runes of immolation. If they don't go through you
shoot them up with x-bowmen on a hill.
Just follow some of the advice above and you CAN compete. I know in tournaments
things are different. . .but I like the following. I can take the throne of power
and since you only have 50 pt magic items I will likely slam you after you charge. I
can take the anvil so I store a huge number of cards. I can take 3 dispel scrolls
[essentially] on the runesmith PLUS other useful items like ring of corin and ring of
volans. [Ring of Volans is good because battle magic spells are terribly useful for
dwarves. Pray for hold fast!].
Weapon Runes for Tournament: Without question I would use master rune of swiftness to avoid getting crunched and curse rune as it can cover most anything where rune of breaking is limited. Armour: Give most important characters runes of resistance.
Protection: Runes of Fear are excellent with large units of dwarves. The enemy may well be outnumbered and might possibly flee. Rune of slownes is my favorite. Throw it on the x-bowmen and Flee leaving the untis just inches behind ready to slap the enemy OR stand and shoot if they charged from far away then flee the next round.
Engineering: Penetrating/Disguise or none. . . .
What to buy: I like organ guns with runes of immolation. Get 3 of them. . .You can place them forward, make them invisible and shoot the dikens outta the enemy right as he is commited to having to go through you. Then BAM. . . .That or just keep them invis until the enemy is in range. Flame cannons are really nice. Get a pair and fry the enemy, cause panic tests. I always like at least one gyrocopter to take out archers,x-bows and artillery. I almost always get a Chimera or Griffon. If I get the Chimmera I only take one gyro [in case Chimmera flees] and I go quickly to attack war machines and other threats. Terror is useful of course. You need runes of luck to handle the naughty monster though.
Take a large unit of x-bowmen with double handed and shields. . .standard bearer and
musician and of course rune of slowness. Use slowness to reform! Take a unit
of attack troops. . .I like hammerers with the throne of power using general. Give
general the master rune of swiftness and curse rune and let him tear apart big characters
or lots of little troops. Give general Rune of Resistence] crossbow. Runesmith
with Anvil of doom + 3 spellbreakers/armor out the gazoo with 3
runes of stone/ crossbow/2 hander and Hero with black amulet/ 3 runes of luck [help
the monster know what to do or use them to rebound more wounds] 2hander of course
and plenty of armor. Crossbow.
These are just ideas not a full list. Some players may wish to use slayers to bait the enemy and then swing other troops in to do the killing and breaking. Best way to do this is a unit of x-bowmen that flee through the slayers [keep them from getting shot up] letting the slayers with 2 hand weapons charge the next turn.