Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Dwarfs

THE ORIGINAL BLUE BOOK

Why play Dwarfs?

Dwarfs

Army Special Rules

• Ancestral Grudge: your dwarfs hate all types of Greenskins. Orcs, Goblins, Night Goblins, hobgoblins, everything.
• Resolute: Flee and pursuit roles are 2d6-1" instead of 2d6". Supposedly this is to represent a dwarf's "determination not to abandon their position", but we all know it's because dwarfs are natural sprinters (and very dangerous over short distances).
• Relentless: Dwarfs may march even when enemy units are within 8". This is excellent: use it to evade enemy manoeuvres and make sure you can't be tied down by the ol' fast cavalry lock.

• Slayer: Your Slayers, Daemon Slayers and Dragon Slayers have this one. Whenever you find yourself facing a unit with a higher Toughness than your Strength, you can increase your Strength to maximum S6 to match it for that round of attacks only. This counts both for wound roles and for calculating armour saves. You do not need to decrease your Strength for weaker targets, mind.

• While not technically an army special rule, Dwarfs also generate 4 dispel dice (see the big rule book) instead of the usual 2. You also get one more for each Runesmith or Runelord present in the army.

Runes

Build your own magic items! Each item a Dwarf carries can be inscribed with up to 3 runes from the following list. You can double up on most runes, and you can take the same runes on multiple dwarfs as long as they each have a different combination of runes. Some exceptions apply: each Master Rune can only be taken once, some runes can not be doubled, and some runes are useless if you take more than one.

This list is still incomplete.

Weapon Runes

Remember that all the mundane attributes of a runic weapon are lost so there is no reason to spend any points in a great weapon if you're planning to pick some armour runes.

• Master Rune of Flight: Can only be inscribed onto a hammer. WYSIWYG in the army rules, lets go! Turns your hammer into a ranged weapon, but instead of rolling BS it automatically hits any model within 12" as if you were in close combat. Stack up on other runes to make this one really hurt.
• Master Rune of Breaking: If you hit an enemy character carrying a magic weapon, that weapon is destroyed. No roll needed. 50p is a high price tag for something which is easily avoided if the enemy general is able to think.
• Master Rune of Swiftness: ASF. A fantastic rune for a measly price tag of 25pt.
• Rune of Speed: +1 initiative for a 5pt pittance. Probably best to take multiples of this on the same character: 15pts to make your characters Initiative 6 isn't bad at all.
• Rune of Fire: Flaming attacks. It's cheap.

Armour Runes

• Master Rune of Gromril: 1+ armour save. Note that you actually have to buy armour in order to use armour runes, so it's probably best to put this on a light armour character to save a few points. This armour save cannot be improved further.
• Rune of Stone: +1 to your armour save and by far the most popular rune around. So popular, in fact, that you can have multiple dwarfs with the same combination of a single Rune of Stone, which would otherwise be forbidden. You can only take one per dwarf, but combine it with a shield and Gromril Armour and you've got yourself a 2+ save.

Engineering Runes

Your war machines can be made more effective and every war machine with runes causes magical hits.

• Rune of Penetrating: A bolt thrower without this rune is a bolt thrower played wrong.
• Rune of Burning: A very useful rune! Flaming attack itself are rarely needed but since you can't have two war machines with same combination of runes, this rune can be exploited to make difference between otherwise similar machines. For example the first bolt thrower with just Rune of Penetrating and the second with Rune of Penetrating and this, 5 points is not much.

Runic Talismans

Every dwarf is assumed to have some kind of trinket or heirloom for these to be inscribed upon. Apart from Slayer characters, for some reason.

Units Analysis

Named Characters

• King Alrik Ranulfsson of Karak Hirn:
• Thorek Ironbrow:

Lords & Heroes

• Lord:
• Runelord:
• Daemon Slayer:

• Thane: With an above-average stat line (WS6 and S4, wow) for a low cost, Thanes are reliable backup characters who aren't only useful for carrying around the Army Standard. With a 50pt runic allowance, they can be turned into virtually any sort of hero, be they a toolkit support hero or a combat beast. Comes with the usual option and, uniquely, the option to take either a crossbow or a handgun alongside a pistol.

• Runesmith: Gives you +1 dispel dice just by being on the table, and access to a whole 75 points worth of runic items, as opposed to the measly 50p of magical items most other heroes have to contend with. Can take all the armour options, including Gromril armour and a shield, making him quite tanky, and his statline's comparable to a Thane's, with the only difference being one less WS and Attack. The 15pt cost increase over that of a Thane is pretty reasonable just for the extra dispel die.
  • The real reason you take this guy is for his unique runic talisman items. Runes of Spellbreaking (dispel scrolls in all but name) and their mightier cousin the Rune of Spelleating, which not only auto-dispels but also prevents wizards from casting that same spell again for the rest of the game; the Master Rune of Balance which steals an enemy power die and adds it to your dispel pool each turn; and the Master Rune of Spellbinding which just adds +1 to all your dispel attempts.

• Engineer: A weaker statline, but with the option to take either one pistol, two pistols, or a handgun. It's not like you want this guy in combat anyways: his job is babysitting your artillery, which he can join (becoming an additional crewman). His Artillery Master rule lets you guess twice for cannon and stone thrower ranges, although not for those newfangled flame cannon contraptions, or re-roll misses with a bolt thrower. If he does so, he cannot shoot on his own that turn, and if a warmachine he has joined explodes then he dies with his crew.

• Dragon Slayer: Has the Loner rule, which means he can only join Slayer units. For 10pts over a Thane you're getting an extra point of initiative and the Unbreakable and Slayer rules... if you're running Slayer units, he might be be worth the consideration. His 50pt rune allowance can only be spent on Weapon runes, not talismans or armour runes (he's naked, duh).

Core Units

• Warriors: Hands down one of the best Core units in this edition. T4 and Ld9 mean they'll be hard to kill and even harder to break, and and can take heavy armour and/or shields for a pittance. They can also take great weapons, which remains a fiercely debated upgrade.
• Crossbowmen: Warrior statline (meaning they're not too shabby in combat at all) with, you guessed it, crossbows.
• Thunderers: Same statline as the above choices, but carrying armour piercing handguns that they can actually move with as opposed to static crossbows. Handguns which also get +1 to hit at short range on account of them being Dwarfs. All this comes out at being only 2pts more per Dwarf than crossbowmen. If you splurge on a Veteran, he can exchange his handgun for a brace of pistols.
• Miners: Great weapon and heavy armour armed dwarfs with the extremely fun Underground Advance rule. This allows them to be deployed underneath the battlefield, and they may role a die each turn after the second to see if they arrive. If they do, they may deploy on any table edge during the movement phase.
  • While you may be tempted to use them as warmachine hunters, a task which they excel at, remember that a 20-man great weapon unit charging an enemy unit in the flank or, better yet, the rear is guaranteed to do some damage. See that big block skirting up the side of the battlefield to charge your gun line? It'd be a shame if they were ambushed by the Black Mountain's finest, wouldn't it.
• Rangers: Limited to just a single unit with a maximum of 20 Dwarfs, Rangers are your first line of defence against whoever threatens your ancestral homeland. They have the Scout rule, which means they can deploy ahead of your main force and, if you're lucky, get a turn-1 charge in. They can also move through forests, but they aren't Skirmishers. Pansy elves won't know what hit them.
  • They can buy crossbows if you think putting a move-or-shoot weapon on the one Dwarf unit that could be considered "fast" is a smart idea, or throwing axes if you'd like to spend a minimum of 30pts on a sub-par missile weapon which will only conceivably be used once a game.
  • Don't expect these guys to last long. They're a distraction unit, a speed bump, or a way of chipping wounds off of big enemy blobs (or monsters), but they aren't going to hold off the enemy alone. Hilariously, they have a habit of being broken and then rallying again once the (much faster) enemy has passed them to charge your backline, which opens up fun flanking chances.

Special Units

• Hammerers
• Longbeards
• Ironbreakers
• Slayers
• Cannon
• Bolt Thrower
• Stone Thrower

Rare Units

• Organ Gun:
• Flame Cannon:
• Gyrocopter:

THE SECOND BOOK

Why play Dwarfs?

Dwarfs

Army Special Rules

• Ancestral Grudge: your dwarfs hate all types of Greenskins. Orcs, Goblins, Night Goblins, hobgoblins, everything.
• Resolute: Flee and pursuit roles are 2d6-1" instead of 2d6". Supposedly this is to represent a dwarf's "determination not to abandon their position", but we all know it's because dwarfs are natural sprinters (and very dangerous over short distances).
• Relentless: Dwarfs may march even when enemy units are within 8". This is excellent: use it to evade enemy manoeuvres and make sure you can't be tied down by the ol' fast cavalry lock.

• Slayer: Your Slayers, Daemon Slayers and Dragon Slayers have this one. Whenever you find yourself facing a unit with a higher Toughness than your Strength, you can increase your Strength to maximum S6 to match it for that round of attacks only. This counts both for wound roles and for calculating armour saves. You do not need to decrease your Strength for weaker targets, mind.

• While not technically an army special rule, Dwarfs also generate 4 dispel dice (see the big rule book) instead of the usual 2. You also get one more for each Runesmith and two more for each Runelord present in the army.

Units Analysis

Named Characters

• High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer:
• Thorek Ironbrow:
• Josef Bugman: Okay, this lad has been around before time itself began. I'm not sure about his cost-effectiveness but this guy is just so characterful that he should be given a special privilege to be allowed even in tournaments where special characters are not normally allowed.

Lords & Heroes

• Lord:
• Runelord:
• Daemon Slayer:

• Thane:
• Runesmith:
• Engineer:
• Dragon Slayer

Core Units

• Warriors:
• Crossbowmen:
• Thunderers:
• Miners:
• Rangers:

Special Units

• Hammerers
• Longbeards
• Ironbreakers
• 0-1 Slayers

• Cannon
• Bolt Thrower
• Stone Thrower

Rare Units

• Organ Gun:
• Flame Cannon:
• Gyrocopter: