Holla amigos, as promised I am posting about my newest Warhammer Fantasy army, the mighty Dwarfs! The main reasons I decided to start a second army are many and varied but basically boil down to two things; variety and competive ability. While I do love my Vampire Counts army it is hard not to see the blatent nerfing they took in the 8th edition. I understand the reasons GW needed to take them down a peg but honestly, I was never a power gamer and when GW took away the only things that really made them viable (fear / terror, reliable magic phases, etc) it really just stopped being fun. Combine this with the fact that the Vampire Counts army basically relies on super point sinking characters and I had had enough. I decided to start a dwarf army mainly because it was the first army I remember thinking was cool (way back in 1995) and they are the polar opposite of a Vampire Counts army. I am posting my initial 2000 point army list with a very brief reason behind taking the unit so that any dwarf players who happen to catch this blog whilst googling "sex games with kimchi" can critique it. So without further adeu, my first 2k Dwarf list.
Dward Lord on Shield Bearers(+2 Armour save and +2 str. 4 attacks) w / great weapon (gives str.6) Rune of Stone (+1 Arm. Save) Rune of Resistance (reroll arm. Saves) Rune of Preservation (Immune to Killing Blow and Poison) Master Rune of Spite (4 + Ward Save)
So here we have a Lord with a considerable WS of 7, 4 attacks with Strength 6 and Toughness 5. He strikes last due to the great weapon but is very surviveable with 3 wounds and his 1 + armour save with rerolls, immunity to killing blow and poison attacks and 4 + ward save.
Thane BSB, Master Rune of Gromril (1 + arm. Save, Rune of Preservation (Immunity to Killing Blow and Poison) Rune of Cleaving (+1 str.)
My trusty battle standard bearer which lets me reroll pretty much any leadership checks. He is also kitted out for defense but does pack a punch with 3 strength 5 attacks.
Runesmith shield, Rune of Stone (+1 arm. save) Master Rune of Balance (Opponent must remove one power die from their pool and add it to your dispel pool)
This dude gives my army +2 dispel dice per turn and is fairly surviveable with a 2 + armour save and 6 + parry.
28x Warriors Full Command and Great Weapons
28x Warriors Full Command and Great Weapons
These will be my anvil units, and as far as dwarves go are fairly solid. They are strength 5 (gw) toughness 4 and have a 5 + armour save. Though their surviveability is iffy, the large numbers should help in terms of combat resolution . These are also were the characters go, so they can be very killy once in combat.
16x Thunderers shields
An all around scary unit. Dwarf handgunners have a +1 to hit which basically negates the -1 to hit penalty for shooting at long range. The handgun itself is strength 4 and armour piercing so anything wounded by one will be taking their armour saves at -2. With their shields they will have a 5 + armour save which is kind of nice.
16x Quarrellers / Rangers - Great Weapons
These are the guys that will be setting up 12 "from the enemy (thanks to Scout) and harrassing the shit out of them. With their great weapons they are a fairly capable combat unit that can take out enemy bunkers, archer units or war machines . They will have a hard time against things like the Hellcannon but will at least annoy and distract it for a few turns.
Cannon - Engineer (reroll on the misfire chart, use his BS) Rune of Burning (Fire Attacks)
The mighty cannon. Nice to have something that provides d6 strength 10 flaming (what, a hellpit abomination .. smack!) Hits when needed. Great for sniping those monsters or characters.
Grudge Thrower - Engineer (see above) Rune of Penetrating (adds 1 strength, so str. 10 middle and str. 4 outer circle) Rune of Accuracy (can reroll the scatter die)
The good ol 'strone thrower. These hits are magical and with pre-measuring stone thowers are now quite deadly. Though strength 4 isnt that great, the strength 10 center is enough to take out anything with a really high toughness, such as war machines . Tune of accuracy makes it hit around 50% of the time .. nice.
Organ Gun
This baby can potentially spit out 12 strength 5 shots that are -3 to your armour save. Great for taking out heavy cavalry and mostrous infantry. You also have the ability to reroll the artillary dice (though you must take the second result.)
So thats it. I'm excited to start playing with it (not so excited for the mass painting) and should be ready to go by mid-October. Here is a pic of the first, almost completed unit of Thunderers.
Until next time,
Jason