Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Order/Dispossessed

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 uniuqe flavour ability for the Dispossessed comes from. Basically before the 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.
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.
3. Monstrous Cheaters: You can reroll hit rolls of one for Dispossessed units that attack an enemy Monster.
4. Cowardly Hordes: You can reroll one's for Dispossessed who targets a unit that started the game with 20 or more models.
5. Shoddy Craftmanship: You can reroll one's to hit for Dispossessed that hit an enemy unit that has a save characteristic of 4 or better.
6. Sneaky Ambushers You can reroll one's for attacks that target units in cover or did not start the game on the battlefield.

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. Resolve: Friendly Dispossessed within 6 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 wound for the general if the enemy has the chaos keyword.
4. Siegemaster: Do not add 1 to the cover save for enemy units if they are attacked by the general or another Dispossessed unit within 6 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 the 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 3 of it and remove them during the hero phase from the board. During your next hero phase set them up again within 3 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 Guantlets: 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 untill your next movement phase.

• Banners: Dorfs have access to 2 banner types: the first banner, the Clan banner, halves the number of models remobed from battleshock. Kinda crappy since you already have so many buffs to battleschock, 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 durrable. 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 guarenteed 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. Two more things to note about the Runelord: First, he "prays" better than any other Priest, succeeding on 2+ and never hurting himself, second, you can argue (if you're a dick) that he doesn't actually "pray", so things like the Rain of Sigmar, for which Priests have to forgo praying, can be done even after your Runelord struck a rune.

• 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.

Troops

• Dwarf Warriors: Your basic infantry and overall not a bad one. They have a choice between weapon and shield or great weapon, with the great weapon swapping To Hit and To Wound and having better Rend. Generally, though you're better off with the shield, since the hand weapons are still decent and the shields are amazing You need to forgo charging and running, but for that you may reroll your saves in melee, going from 33% saved to 52% saved. 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.
  • Firstly, 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. The only reason to ever use a single-handed weapon is if you're using the Warriors from the Battle for Skull Pass set, which are mono-pose models with no options for weapons.
  • Secondly, in the 2018 Chaos FAQs, on page 5, Games Workshop has clarified that units may include both Icon bearers AND Banner Bearers. There is no longer any need to waste time and/or effort arguing which is better between the two standard bearers.

• 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.

• 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. While the extra damage at range is nice (as is the once-per-game ability to inflict d3 mortal wounds) it's not really worth ditching a little bit of durability (note: technically the unit gets the shield ability even if the boss doesn't have it, so give him the pistols to provoke people into charging you, I say). 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 they don't move and 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.

Army Building

The one two punch Have 30 thunderers and a Warden king with the ancestral pickaxe for a powerful strike force. Pull them out of the game on your hero phase and then on your next turn drop them down and make one enemy unit disappear. With the Warden king's command ability Ancestral Grudge you can have 30 3+, 2+ shots at -1. Can very easily take care of a character or backline unit.

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

• 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.

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

Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
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