Grimdark Future/Tactics/Dwarf Guilds

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Why Play Dwarf Guilds?

The dwarfs aren't fast by a long shot. But what they do tout is a lot of ways to carry heavy weaponry. Most of your units can carry heavy guns without paying as much for battle brothers and the same can be said for melee.

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Pros

• Plenty of access to heavy weaponry
• While not battle brother tanky, you are a pretty doughty force of troops.
• Some really dangerous tanks

Cons

• The majority of your infantry units are Slow
• Most units are pretty expensive
• Low-average number of activations
• Most of your force is pretty meh at melee.
• Limited psychic casting

Special Rules

• Shield Wall: Anybody who shoots a model with this rule takes -1 to hit. A lot of units can buy shields for this rule, but it sorta sucks unless you can keep your shields at the front to put it to use.

• Slayer: The rule for berserkers. Whenever they fight a unit with Tough 3+, then they add +2 AP to their melee weapons.

Psychic Spells

• Spite Rune (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes -1 to hit when they next fight. This can be useful since most of your force is more melee-focused.
• Smiting Rune (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 4 hits.
• Battle Rune (5+): Friendly unit within 12" adds +6" to their next move. This is seriously important because of the aforementioned slowness of your army.
• Breaking Rune (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
• Drill Rune (6+): See that setpiece within 6"? Well, you can now shove it around 6" or blow it up, whatever satisfies you. This can be incredibly powerful since no other army has something like this.
• Cleaving Rune (6+): Two enemy units within 12" take 6 hits each, making this an ideal anti-mob power.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Guild Lord: While not the most powerful of heroes, he is without a doubt the most flexible. You should note that his shooting power isn't very good, as most of his options beyond the stock assault rifle are pistols or the storm rifle. If you're not looking at melee, then you can replace his gun with a shield. He instead totes plenty of hammers to make it hurt in combat. He also has the option for either a jetpack (flying at a not-Slow speed and Ambush), a combat bike (for Fast and extra guns) or a power suit (for Tough 6 and Ambush). If you're looking to support a unit, then you have good reason to pick either Battle Lore or Guild Defender for a +1 to the unit's fighting or shooting rolls.

• Berserker Lord: The batshit insane hero. He's got no guns, but that's how he likes it. With his twin A3 AP 1 axes, Furious and Slayer, he's got all he needs to show most tanks and heavy infantry why they should fear him. This however comes at the cost of a poorer defense score. You'll definitely want a transport and berserker retinue so he can actually kill something of value.

• Engineer: While slightly cheaper than the guild lord, he's no less important for trikes, power suits and tanks. His Repair rule, though really limited in reach, lets you restore wounds. The issue with using him is that he's as Slow as the rest of the infantry. Luckily, he has access to all the mobility options afforded to the guild lord - a very handy way to resolve things.

• Rune Master: Your lone psychic caster stands just as strong as any other hero. Besides the option for +1 to his psychic score, he's just as capable of handling melee as the guild lord and can move around with the same sets of gear.

Infantry

• Dwarf Warriors: Your core infantry unit. You can equip everyone with shotguns, but this will make getting close a priority, and stubby legs can only carry you so far. While most of their gun options aren't too weird, they do get to carry a laser cannon or missile launcher, weapons that most armies can't carry around all willy-nilly.

• Dwarf Support: Your warriors are now Relentless, making shooting more of an incentive. They also can pick whatever guns they want from their heavy weapons, making them way deadlier than just carting the same guns as the warriors.

• Jetpack Warriors: These guys are free from the curse of Slow, but are stuck to pistols. Even then, their option is trimmed down to only the plasma pistol, shotgun and flamethrower and one extra melee weapon.

• Berserkers: A bunch of very angry dwarves with two AP 1 axes, Fearless, Furious and Slayer. They are very bent on melee, but in doing so suffer defensively. Never throw them at an enemy without a means to draw fire away from them.

• Miners: Less protected, but you have Ambush to make sure that you're in range to open fire because all you have are pistols. Fortunately, you have access to the fusion rifle so popping tanks is a quicker task, but you could also buy a drill platform, a big gun that's essentially a longer ranged fusion rifle with 36" A1 AP 4 and Deadly 6. This will absolutely spell the end of anything you get the drop on.

• Veterans: Your dwarves are a good bit better with a 3+ on quality and defense. They're essentially supports that sacrificed their Relentless for better atats, and they also swapped the option for a laser cannon for the option for a heavy fusion rifle.

• Elites: Melee veterans. They sacrificed their guns for A2 AP 1 hammer and Fearless. They now have free reign of the melee armory in exchange, which might be useful for flattening whatever they go against. They can act as a more defensive retinue for a berserker lord, since he has weak defense, while a guild lord with Battle Lore and a shield can help ward off a few blows and grant some melee boosts.

• Power Suits: If you've seen the destroyers used by the battle brothers, these might feel familiar. You've essentially got Elites with pistols and give them Tough 3 and Ambush so they don't have to struggle so hard to get within whacking distance. While they're free to pick out melee weapons, their options for guns aren't so. Whether you pick plasma pistols, storm rifles or shields, you have to commit for the entire team. From there, you can then make one unit instead carry a heavy machine gun or heavy fusion rifle so you aren't so stoned on shooting, and then slap on a missile launcher for long-range.

• Sniper Team: Essentially what happens if you give a miner a sniper rifle. This means that they aren't useless the moment they're in combat, but Stealth offers a modicum of protection against shooting.

• Weapons Teams: Three dwarves with heavy guns, offsetting the lack of the Veterans' 3+ with Tough 3. Each lugs around a heavy machinegun. Uniquely, these guys can carry autocannons for long-range AP 2 and mortars, giving you even better range, Blast 3 and Indirect. You're slow, after all. Movement's not much of your thing.

• Dwarf Bikers: Fast is a very strong drug for a sluggish army. The rush is cut down once you realize how limited your loadout is. Aside from the one melee choice and the ability for your entire unit to go for pistols and CCWs, your entire choice is limited to buying twin assault rifles for extra shooting. This opens up the option for one grenade launcher, giving some varied firepower.

• Dwarf Trike: The heavy weapons bike. You've got Tough 3 and a heavy flamethrower, so you're more keen to be closer to the field. This is your platform for fast heavy weapons, something you otherwise lack entirely. You can also give this trike an explosive keg for Impact 6, though you're not really advised to because of your heavy gun.

Vehicles

• Half-Track: While listed as two different transports, this is essentially an APC with half the Transport capacity. If you're only looking to cart forward, say, a single pack of berserkers and their lord or something of the like, you're only saving 10 points by grabbing this.

• APC: This APC is pretty humble. You have 11 slots for Transport, a heavy machinegun you can replace with a heavy fusion rifle, and the option for a storm rifle or hunter missiles if you need extra guns. You can also give Strider if you're looking for more mobility.

• Assault Drill: Expensive as hell, but you've got a Transport with Ambush, Tough 12 and a nightmarish drill to gouge out enemies with. While it lacks any guns, you can buy one (a pair of heavy flamethrowers, plasma cannons or twin heavy machineguns) to even the odds for a hefty price. Absolutely useful for berserkers and elites.

• Battle Tank: Tough 12 gives you a good starting point for a tank and the flamethrower cannon gives a lot of attacks. If you're looking for something deadlier, that flamethrower cannon with either a twin heavy fusion rifle, a quad machinegun or a battle cannon.

• Battle Train: See that tank? This is its much weirder big brother. Comes stock with a battle cannon and you can then slap on more guns, including a hyper-expensive artillery cannon. Even better, you've got plenty of mounts so you're not held down with only one gun!
  • Battle Carriages: This is how its cost skyrockets. For 105 points, you can add 6 more wounds to this behemoth, of which you can buy up to four. Yes, you can make this thing cost as much as a titan. Even better, these cars can act as either transports (each holding 11 spaces) or extra guns. The AA guns give you some much-needed anti-air while the ballistic missiles have the insane Blast 12.

• Dwarf Walker: A big beefy walker with two hammers but is afflicted by Slow. You've got the weapon options open to the infantry if you're looking to stay melee-focused and compliment Fear. You can also lean into the limited mobility and give them a gun between a twin heavy machinegun, twin autocannon or twin heavy fusion rifle. If you really want to stay flexible, you can instead buy a fist for both AP 3 and a storm rifle. While not the best for guns, you have an option for a different gun if you're inclined.

• Artillery: Another Slow vehicle, but this allows you to carry more long-ranged weaponry. You've got a lot of long-range Blast weaponry with Indirect, which is ideal because of its speed.

• Dwarf Gunship: It comes with a twin minigun, which gives quite a flurry of attacks, but you can also buy a battle cannon if you want to blast things too. You can also replace the twin minigun if you're looking for a gun with better range.

Army Building

Tactics

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Pros

• Plenty of access to heavy weaponry
• While not battle brother tanky, you are a pretty doughty force of troops.
• Some really dangerous tanks

Cons

• The majority of your infantry units are Slow
• Most units are pretty expensive
• Low-average number of activations
• Most of your force is pretty meh at melee.
• Limited psychic casting

Special Rules

• Shield Wall: Anybody who shoots a model with this rule takes -1 to hit. A lot of units can buy shields for this rule, but it sorta sucks unless you can keep your shields at the front to put it to use.

• Slayer: The rule for berserkers. Whenever they fight a unit with Tough 3+, then they add +2 AP to their melee weapons.

Psychic Spells

• Spite Rune (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes -1 to hit when they next fight. This can be useful since most of your force is more melee-focused.
• Smiting Rune (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 4 hits.
• Battle Rune (5+): Friendly unit within 12" adds +6" to their next move. This is seriously important because of the aforementioned slowness of your army.
• Breaking Rune (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
• Drill Rune (6+): See that setpiece within 6"? Well, you can now shove it around 6" or blow it up, whatever satisfies you. This can be incredibly powerful since no other army has something like this.
• Cleaving Rune (6+): Two enemy units within 12" take 6 hits each, making this an ideal anti-mob power.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Guild Lord: While not the most powerful of heroes, he is without a doubt the most flexible. You should note that his shooting power isn't very good, as most of his options beyond the stock assault rifle are pistols or the storm rifle. If you're not looking at shooting, then you can replace his gun with a shield. He instead totes plenty of hammers to make it hurt in combat. He also has the option for either a jetpack (flying at a not-Slow speed and Ambush), a combat bike (for Fast and extra guns) or a power suit (for Tough 6 and Ambush). If you're looking to support a unit, then you have good reason to pick either Battle Lore or Guild Defender for a +1 to nearby allied fighting or shooting rolls.

• Berserker Lord: The batshit insane hero. He's got no guns, but that's how he likes it. With his twin A3 AP 1 axes, Furious and Slayer, he's got all he needs to show most tanks and heavy infantry why they should fear him. This however comes at the cost of a poorer defense score. You'll definitely want people around him so he can actually kill something of value.

• Engineer: While slightly cheaper than the guild lord, he's no less important for trikes, power suits and tanks. His Repair rule, though really limited in reach, lets you restore wounds. The issue with using him is that he's as Slow as the rest of the infantry. Luckily, he has access to all the mobility options afforded to the guild lord - a very handy way to resolve things.

• Rune Master: Your lone psychic caster stands just as strong as any other hero. Besides the option for +1 to his psychic score, he's just as capable of handling melee as the guild lord and can move around with the same sets of gear.

Infantry

• Dwarf Warrior: Your core infantry unit. You can equip him with a free shotguns, but this will make getting close a priority, and stubby legs can only carry him so far. While most of the gun options aren't too weird, he does get to carry a laser cannon or missile launcher, weapons that most armies can't carry around all willy-nilly.

• Dwarf Support: Your warrior is now Relentless, making shooting more of an incentive. He also can pick whatever guns he wants from the heavy weapons list, making them way deadlier than just carting the same guns as the warriors.

• Jetpack Warrior: A dwarf free from the curse of Slow, but stuck to pistols. Even then, their option li is trimmed down to only the plasma pistol, shotgun and flamethrower and extra melee weapon.

• Berserker: A very angry dwarf with two AP 1 axes, Fearless, Furious and Slayer. They are very bent on melee, but in doing so suffer defensively. Never throw one at an enemy without a means to draw fire away from them.

• Miner: Less protected, but you have Ambush to make sure that you're in range to open fire because all you have are pistols. Fortunately, you have access to the fusion rifle so popping brutes is a quicker task, but you could also buy a drill platform, a big gun that's essentially a longer ranged fusion rifle with 36" A1 AP 4 and Deadly 6. This will absolutely spell the end of anything you get the drop on.

• Veteran: Your dwarf is a good bit better with a 3+ on quality and defense. They're essentially supports that sacrificed their Relentless for better stats, and they also swapped the option for a laser cannon for the option for a heavy fusion rifle.

• Elite: Melee veteran. They sacrificed their guns for A2 AP 1 hammer and Fearless. They now have free reign of the melee armory in exchange, which might be useful for flattening whatever they go against. They can act as a more defensive retinue for a berserker lord, since he has weak defense, while a guild lord with Battle Lore and a shield can help ward off a few blows and grant some melee boosts.

• Power Suit: If you've seen the destroyers used by the battle brothers, these might feel familiar. You've essentially got Elites with pistols and give them Tough 3 and Ambush so they don't have to struggle so hard to get within whacking distance. While they're free to pick out melee weapons, their options for guns aren't so. Whether you pick plasma pistols, storm rifles or shields, you have to commit for the entire team. From there, you can then make one unit instead carry a heavy machine gun or heavy fusion rifle so you aren't so stoned on shooting, and then slap on a missile launcher for long-range.

• Sniper: Essentially what happens if you give a miner a sniper rifle. This means that they aren't useless the moment they're in combat, but Stealth offers a modicum of protection against shooting.

• Weapons Team: Three dwarves with heavy guns, offsetting the lack of the Veterans' 3+ with Tough 3. Each lugs around a heavy machinegun. Uniquely, these guys can carry autocannons for long-range AP 2 and mortars, giving you even better range, Blast 3 and Indirect. You're slow, after all. Movement's not much of your thing.

• Dwarf Biker: Fast is a very strong drug for a sluggish army. While it has most of the same equipment as a base warrior, it also has the ability to buy a twin assault rifles or grenade launcher for extra shooting.

• Dwarf Trike: The heavy weapons bike. You've got Tough 3 and a heavy flamethrower, so you're more keen to be closer to the field. This is your platform for fast heavy weapons, something you otherwise lack entirely. You can also give this trike an explosive keg for Impact 6, though you're not really advised to because of your heavy gun.

Army Building

Tactics

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Grimdark Future Tactics Articles
General:	General Tactics
Alien Hives:	Alien Hives - Soul-Snatcher Cults
Aliens:	Dwarf Guilds - Eternal Dynasty - Jackals - Orc Marauders Robot Legions - Saurian Starhost - TAO Coalition
Battle Brothers:	Battle Brothers - Custodian Brothers - Prime Brothers
Elves:	Dark Elf Raiders - Elven Jesters - High Elf Fleets
Havoc:	Havoc Brothers - Machine Cult Defilers - Wormhole Daemons
Humans:	Battle Sisters - Feudal Guard - Gangs of Hive City Human Defense Force - Human Inquisition - Infected Colonies Machine Cult - Titan Lords - Rebel Guerillas
Ratmen:	Ratmen Clans - Vile Rattus Cult