Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Order/Dispossessed

These rules have been succeeded by the Cities of Sigmar Battletome.

Why play Dispossessed?

Pros

• You can ignore battleshock half the time.
• Your battleline has a 3+ save.
• Most of your infantry can reroll failed saves if they didn't run or charge.
• You want a flavor of Duardin besides sky-merchants or naked bearded dawi.
• You like rules that reflect fluff.
• Irondrakes!
• Grudges!
• I WILL PUT THIS ON THE BOOK!

Cons

• You are slow.
• Your infantry are unable to reroll failed saves if they run or charge.
• Your ability to produce mortal wounds is barley existent and is quite situational.
• No magic unless you ally in Stormcasts.
• Currently no Battletome.
• You will be forced to take Ancestral Pickaxe 99% of the time to boost mobility
• Cons you say?! THIS IS GOING IN THE BOOK LAD!

Rulebooks

There isn't currently a Battletome for Dispossessed.

• The Grand Alliance Order book has all the Warscrolls and Battalions.
• This should be supplemented with the Grand Alliance Order Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.
• Allegiance Abilities are in the General's Handbook 2018.
• Matched play points are in the General's Handbook 2018.
• Alternatively up to date warscrolls can be found in the WH AoS app.

As with all factions you'll want:

• The core rules are either downloadable or in the Core Book.
• Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the Core Book.
• In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the Malign Sorcery book.
• Matched play battleplans are split across the Core Book and General's handbook 2018.
• All books should be supplemented with any updates from the FAQs.

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

• Stubborn to the end: Whenever a Dispossessed unit rolls a 1, 2 or 3 for a battleshock test they automatically count as having passed the test, regardless of modifiers or models lost. This makes Dispossessed excellent at holding the line and grinding the enemy in an attrition fight that AOS loves.

• Grudgebound: This is the unique flavor ability for the Dispossessed comes from. Basically before your general picks a command trait you pick a grudge from the grudge table (or roll for it if you so choose) and that ability applies to the whole army for the rest of the battle even if the general is killed (if you get another general you do not roll for another trait. The list goes as such:

1. Stuck up: You can re-roll hit rolls of one for Dispossessed units when attacking an enemy Hero. Not that worth it compared to the other ones.
2. Speed Merchants: You can reroll hit rolls of one for Dispossessed units when attacking an enemy with a move characteristic of 10 or more. Most useful against cavalry heavy armies.
3. Monstrous Cheaters: You can reroll hit rolls of one for Dispossessed units that attack an enemy Monster. Only useful against monster heavy armies so situational.
4. Cowardly Hordes: You can reroll one's for Dispossessed who targets a unit that started the game with 20 or more models. Can be very useful against most armies except elite armies like stormcast or beastclaw raiders.
5. Shoddy Craftmanship: You can reroll one's to hit for Dispossessed that hit an enemy unit that has a save characteristic of 2+ 3+4+. Elite troops like Stormcast, chaos warriors and other dorfs will suffer from this.
6. Sneaky Ambushers You can reroll one's for attacks that target units in cover or did not start the game on the battlefield. Best against brayherds and summoner armies.

The General of an army which has a Dispossessed allegiance and has chosen to take the Dispossessed allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:

1. Resolute: Friendly Dispossessed wholly within 12" auto-pass morale on a 1-4 instead of a 1-3.
2. Resilient: Add one to generals wound characteristic.
3. Unforgiving: Add 1 to hit and wound for the general if the enemy unit has inflicted any wounds to your general.
4. Siegemaster: Do not add 1 to the cover save for enemy units if they are attacked by the general or another Dispossessed unit wholly within 12" of the general.
5. Battle Fury: Roll a dice after the general completes his attacks in the combat phase. on a 6 they may attack again.
6. Grudgebearer: Once per battle in your hero phase your general can change the grudge of the army for the rest of the battle.

Magical Artefacts

• Heavy Metal Ingot: You can reroll all failed save rolls as long as you didn't move
• Ancestral Pickaxe: Once during the game, you can select this model and one other unit within 6" of it and remove them during the hero phase from the board. During your next hero movement phase set them up again within 6" of each other and 9" away from the enemy. This counts as their movement phase.
• Teardrop of Grungi: Once per battle during your shooting phase select a unit within 6" and that unit takes d3 mortal wounds. If it was a Hero or Monster it halves its move characteristic until your next movement phase.
• Grudge Rune: After set-up but before the game starts, pick one of the enemy Heros and for the battle, you can reroll all hit and wound rolls against that Hero when attacking with this model.
• Piledriver Gauntlets: At the start of the combat phase instead of attacking you can instead strike the ground and for the rest of the combat all enemy models within 6" subtract 1 from their hit rolls.
• Resounding Gromrillhorne: Once per battle in your hero phase you can have all friendly Dispossessed add 2 to their bravery until your next hero phase.

Wargear

• Shields: Your shields are down-right amazing. If you don't charge or run your dorfs can create a shield wall, allowing them to re-roll all of their failed saves in the combat phase until your next movement phase.

• Banners: Dorfs have access to 2 banner types: the first banner, the Clan banner, halves the number of models removed from battleshock. Kinda crappy since you already have so many buffs to battleshock, but it could help in a pinch. The second and much better banner, the Runic Icon, gives you a 5+ save against casting attempts on units with the icon. This is arguably more reliable than wizards, and is a great way to make you even MORE durable. GW has also FAQ'ed that both may be taken in the same unit.

• Musicians: Musicians are almost a must in the dispossessed list. Since dorfs are so slow, having a guaranteed 4" run is a more reliable way to position your dorfs.

Warscrolls

Heroes

• Warden King: Your rock. This guy hits hard, can take punishment like a champ, keeps your units from running and can make your Dorfs killier with his Command Ability. Never leave home without one of them. Unlike their 'legacy' counterpart, Warden Kings ALWAYS have a rune weapon and shield. The shield is arguably better than the older version (4+ rerolling vs. a flat 3+) and now your warden king can take an oathstone, which gives all dorfs nearby the ability to use his bravery, which makes them even MORE defensive. Stat-wise, your Dorf Lord is a Vampire Lord with a better save. Yes, that's awesome.

• Runelord: Here's your... priest? Okay, so he can strike runes to grant effects to your dorfs, giving them either a 6+ save-after-the-save for even hardier units or better Rend on their weapons for even more murder. It should be noted that this latter ability applies to ALL weapons the unit carries, yes, even to your already awesome Drakeguns. He "prays" better than any other Priest, succeeding on 2+ and never hurting himself on a 1 like some other priests do. Also, he can unbind spells for you.

• Unforged: Just as slow as any other Dorf, with only a 6+ save to keep him alive, no buff auras whatsoever and nobody wants him within 50 clicks of their Monsters. Yeah. If he manages to reach a monster, he'll hurt it something fierce, but any army with even a token ranged unit will focus fire him down. It's also worth noting that he's great at dealing with slaves to darkness units, since most of them have more than a single wound, he's wounding on a 2+ with double damage against most of their army. Just take a warden king it's 20 more points but it's a small price to pay for a far better leader.(there's a point anyway. You can give him the grudge rune for making him re-roll failed hit and wound rolls against one hero. Combined this with the rune priest who can add rend and you find yourself with a killing machine who can deal easily 12 wounds in one moment against chaos and the 50% of giving a d6 of mortal wounds. The perfect antihero/monster.)

Troops

• Dwarf Warriors: Your basic infantry and overall not a bad one. They have a choice between a hand weapon or a great weapon, with the great weapon swapping To Hit and To Wound and having better Rend. They can take a shield either way, so the great weapon is always better. They also gain bonuses during your opponent's melee phase, so yeah, shield wall the hell out of them and never charge and they're awesome. They also have a choice of banners. The Clan Banner halves the number of models that flee, which with all your awesome Battleshock abilities is rather meh or a Runic Icon, which negates spells cast at them on 5+, which is rather awesome. You are quite free to include both banners in the unit.
  • The warscroll for the Dispossessed Warriors states "Most Warriors enter battle armed with either a Duardin Axe or a Duardin Hammer, but some units prefer instead to wield Double-handed Duardin Axes to cut down their foes with mighty swings. Many units also carry sturdy Duardin Shields." There is a period between the sentence referring to the weapons and the sentence that refers to the shields. It implies that regardless of whether you chose a hand weapon or a great weapon, you may always take a shield. Therefore, you should always take the Double-handed Duardin Axes because they may be used in combination with shields and are the superior weapon.

• Quarrelers: Dorfs with Crossbows. They have great range and their weapons are okay, though not stellar. Get 20 or more of them and they can each shoot twice, at which point Sigmarines with Crossbows start feeling insecure. Really though, you use them because they can reliably mow down very light infantry from far away. If you want to fell big game, look elsewhere. They can also take Bucklers to give them the same awesome shield wall ability as the normal Dorfs, but they're shooty, so that's not really their point. However, unlike other ranged units, Quarrelers are surprisingly not awful in melee, being only one point worse at Hitting and otherwise the same as Dorf Warriors. They are also passable in close combat: being the same stat-line as state troops and other generic infantry.

• Thunderers: Thunderers want to be the slower-shooting but more powerful Quarrelers, but they don't really succeed. Sure they Wound better and have better Rend, but that's where the good stuff ends. Get 20 of them together and they don't shoot twice but instead Hit better. Woo. They're also shorter ranged than Quarrelers and left their axes at home, so they Wound one worse in melee, too. Ultimately, their guns look sweet, but that's just about all that can be said for them.

Alternate Opinion: They’re shorter range than Quarrelers, but with a unit of 20+ they both hit, wound, and rend better than the Quarrelers. A unit of 20 with Forgefire from a Runelord has taken a Bloodthirster down to half health. I say the quality of shots over quantity of shots. Additionally, Grimm Burloksson* can give a ranged unit an increased range of 6" for the rest of the game, making a unit of Thunderers now have a 22" range with a better to hit, wound, and rend than the Quarrelers. Statistically, you'll land more shots this way. *Grimm has been removed as of the last Compendium update, as has his stellar ability. The unit still has a better average to hit with the rend increasing your chances of damage going through.

• Longbeards: On first glance, Longbeards are simply Dorf Warriors + 1, with a better save and better Bravery, but without the ability to take a Runic Icon. On second glance, the wonky wording in their description allows them to take Great Weapon and Shield together. Then, on a third glance, there's their special rule (You no longer have to complain about them, but you still should for the lulz), which is awesome. In your hero phase, the longbeards start complaining about things, which gives them an 8" buff aura for one of 3 things. You can either give all Dorfs around them an extra 5+ save against fleeing, rerolls of 1s to Wound in melee, or let Dispossessed Heroes use their Command Ability as if they were the general in terms of range. Yeah, Longbeards are fucking awesome. Unfortunately, this list only has 1 hero with a unique command ability so you'll probably be doubling up on these more or less. Still, good for the extra range on the generic command abilities too, especially as General's Handbook 2019 has added some more of them too.

• Hammerers: There is nothing subtle about Hammerers and you wouldn't want them any other way. They swing a big Hammer, which has two swings at 3+/3+/-1/1, a rather nice profile, they have a 4+ save and don't take Battleshock if there's a Dorf Hero within 16". Unfortunately, they are somewhat outclassed by Ironbreakers and Irondrakes. Though really, that's an unfair comparison, because most any infantry is outclassed by them. Also, unlike the before mentioned Ironbreakers and Irondrakes, Hammerers, unfortunately, can't take a Runic Icon. They do get Clan Banners but that just makes their battleshock immunity ability a bit redundant imo. But I guess that's what Runelords are for. Have a Runelord put their -1 Rend ability on them, with your Warden King's +1 to wounding on their target.. and you have a single unit doing 20 hits at a 3+/2+/-2/1. You can hammer down most foes with them.

• Ironbreakers: The actual Dorf Warriors + 1. They get twice as many swings, their saves are one better and they have more Bravery. In addition, they can take a Runic Icon and ignore all Rend worse than -2. These are your anvil. So, they're reasonably safe from magic, about 90% of weapons can't rend their saves and in melee, they get a rerollable 4+. Yikes. The only thing that can reliably bring them down are non-magic-inflicted Mortal Wounds, so keep them away from stuff like Paladins, because your Ironbreakers hate Starsoul Maces with a passion. Other than that, they never ever fucking die and can dish out surprising amounts of hurt. Wound-per-Wound, they leave most infantry in the dust. Their leader can also opt to swap out his ax and shield for a pistol and bomb or a brace of pistols. The whole unit gets the benefit of the shields even if the champion doesn't have one, so you might as well give the guy a little more punch. Remember: These dorfs are the anvils, not the hammers. As of AoS 2.0 they are now dispossessed battleline.

• Irondrakes: If Ironbreakers are anvil and tongs, Irondrakes are the hammers. Any unit held in place by Ironbreakers (or any dorf infantry, for that matter) is already dead and only too stupid to realize it if you have Irondrakes nearby. Why? They get a pretty good missile weapon, being pretty much exactly a Judicator with Bow, only with 16" range. If there's no enemy within 3" and there are ten or more models, they shoot twice. So, wound per wound, they shoot four times as well as Judicators. Yikes. Their champion can take a Trollhammer Torpedo, which has better Rend and deals D3 damage (D6 if the target's a monster), and now you can fire that twice since GH 2018 and AoS 2.0 the FAQ reads "shoot all ranged weapons twice", so it's a no brainer to use it. Much like the quarrelers, these guys are also no slouches in close combat: Having the same melee attacks as quarrelers and the same armor as Ironbreakers (albeit lacking rerolls)

Battalions

Grudgebound War Throng

Found in Grand Alliance: Order

A Warden King, a Runelord, an Unforged, any 4 from Warriors, Thunderers, Quarrellers, Longbeards, any 3 from Irondrakes, Ironbreakers, Hammerers. 160 points (1260 point Min, 3700 point Max)

With this Battalion, you get a re-roll to hit on a one for the entire battalion, and a unique battleshock test, basically passing any battleshock on a 1,2 or 3 regardless of modifiers or casualties lost.

• if you are using the Dispossed Alliance, the ability to ignore battleshock based on dice rolls is already provides, but the re-rolling ones to hit then makes using Dispossed grudges redundant for the Battalion.

• This Battalion can be seen as a way to get a partial benefit of the Dispossessed Allegiance alongside GA Order/Free Cities.

Army Building

As expected, your Duardin are great for holding up enemy units. Use Warriors and Ironbreakers to screen/protect your gunlines. As AOS.2 is a highly magic-focused game, running multiple Runelords is a must. Another must-have is a block of Longbeards, their buff to-wound plus the grudge will lead to lethal gunlines (your greatest pro). As for who you give the Ancestral Pickaxe to will differ depending on your command trait, if you are running one made for offence like Siegemaster, give the general the pickaxe to max out the power of a deepstrike. If you are running a more supportive trait such as Grudgebearer, run the pickaxe on a runelord, if he survives a turn, he can also buff your deepstrike further.

In terms of allies, you have limited options being a dwarf faction, your best bet is to mix in Stormcast to fill in the holes of your army (magic, mortal wounds, mobility). The Blacksmoke Battery also is a fun ally if you want to play something akin to the FB dwarfs.

(Sidenote): Irondrakes are a MUST for anybody looking to win, they are one of the best gunline units in the game, with double attacks if you have more than 10 models while also having 3+/3+/-1/1 on the gun (before grudge/longbeard rerolls).

Allied Armies

• Fyreslayers: Dorfs that rip and tear. Add some extra melee punch, a fast and decent monster-ridden by a decent hero, and knockoff Irondrakes to your army. A solid choice for those times when you want a more aggressive melee team, as opposed by Hammerers or Ironbreakers. Fyreslayers are made better by their allegiance abilities (as of GHB 2017), so take that into consideration if you want to use any for allies.

• Ironweld Arsenal: Your cannons. Use these guys to relive the glory days of 8th and cannon gun-lines. Also for the mobility of the low-cost Gyro-Copters/Bombers that the Duardin severely lack.

• Free Peoples*: While the armies are similar (both being defensive armies with good shooting) they mesh well together. *Note: These are not allies unless your allegiance is Order

• Kharadron Overlords: Similar to Free Peoples, a defensive army that has a pretty similar plan to yours: sit back, shoot the enemy full of holes, and mop up whatever manages to reach melee with dedicated melee units. You're not getting access to anything that Dispossessed don't kind of already to have, other than the ships, and a big fat block of Irondrakes will fill mostly the same place of being a big expensive dakkaball. That said, Kharadron is more mobile than you, so consider bringing your steampunk cousins if you feel like flying mobility is important.

• Stormcast Eternals: with the with the release of loads of fun Magics, your dwarfs may need to hire a Stormcast wizard if they want to benefit from these strong spells.

Mercenary Companies

• Blacksmoke Battery: Only worth it if you include the Gyrocoptor which provide +1 to hit rolls for your cannons against targets your copter is flying over.
• Greyfyrd: Their special rule adds 1 to hit rolls for units in this company against those that charged. You'll also need to keep them close to your general after the third turn or they'll lose 1 to their bravery stat.
• Grugg Brothers:
• Gutstuffers:
• Nimyard’s Rough-Riders:
• Order of the Blood-Drenched Rose: A very solid cavalry to go with your Dorfs.
• Rampagers:
• Skroug’s Menagerie:
• Sons of the Lichemaster:
• Tenebrous Court:

External links

Rules are here

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-warden-king-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-runelord-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-duardin-unforged-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-duardin-warriors-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-quarrellers-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-thunderers-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-longbeards-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-hammerers-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-ironbreakers-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-irondrakes-en.pdf