Dwarves Skirmish Tactics
Why play Dwarves
The dwarves are slow as molasses, but they have two things to their favor: The first is their impressive array of artillery and their good defenses. More often than not, you'll have the enemy before you before you can hit back, but that's why you have your machines blast them to kingdom come before they reach charging range.
Pros
- Lots of artillery
- Good defense stat
Cons
- All your footsloggers are Slow
Special Rules
- Slayer: The Berserker rule. This unit's attacks add +2 AP whenever they fight a model with Tough 3 or higher. Just in case you needed proof of who they're supposed to kill.
Wizard 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
- Dwarf Lord: A big bruiser of a hero. They're pretty much ideal for melee and can grab whatever they need to rip their opposition to shreds while Fearless gives him and his unit the chance to stand firm. Their special rule is Grudge, giving friends within 12" a +1 to hit when fighting in melee. Their only mount option is the Beast, which nullifies Slow as well as providing an Impact hit.
- Melee: Your basic hand weapon is pretty good, giving a full three attacks, and your melee upgrades are cheap as hell. You can go for dual wielding (6 attacks is not a joke), halberd (Rending), great weapon (AP 2 is great for heavy armor) and spear (Phalanx).
- Shooting: While more expensive than the melee, a gun is far more invaluable. The pistol gives you the cheapest source of AP 1, though at a fairly short range, and can be doubled. For the same price as two pistols, you could also get a rifle for better range. The crossbow gives the best range, but it's not only the most expensive, but it also sacrifices that guaranteed AP 1 for Rending.
- Berserker Lord: While poorer defensively, this guy has two axes for six AP 1 attacks, all subject to Slayer and Furious. This guy is absolutely going to need some bodyguards in order to make it across the board and into the fray where he can make his worth.
- Engineer: Effectively the dwarf lord, but without Fearless. Though this guy lacks any mounts, they do get two new gun options (The flame rifle for rapid-fire and the organ rifle for the full dakka experience).
- Rune Master: As befitting the dwarves, even your wizard isn't some robe-wearing pansy. They're wearing real armor and can grab real weapons so they can actually go to town on the enemy while also casting their spells.
Infantry
- Warriors: Your workaday frontliners are all quite good at their jobs. Each has 4+ to quality and defense and they have the option of whatever weapon is necessary, including a harpoon for nailing bigger nasties.
- Berserker: Though this guy's a bit squishier, they make up for it with Fearless, Furious, Slayer and AP 1 on their weapons. You will absolutely need a way to protect them if you plan on taking them into a fight.
- Miner: Ambush goes a long way towards making the dwarves more mobile while their great weapons are just what you need to pop open most heavy infantry. You can grab shrapnel bombs for any miners you want, providing a short-ranged means of managing crowds. You can also grab a mining drill for a weapon, giving both AP 3 and the advantage of deep-striking within 3" of an enemy unit - a perfect ambush.
- Veteran: Essentially a warrior with a 3+ on quality and defense. Seeing that their cost is close to that of a pack of warriors, you should be only picking these if you need someone to tie the enemy down.
- Elite: Veterans with special Great Weapons that give A2 AP 2 - all for the same price as giving a veteran a great weapon and even then they would lack an attack.
- Iron Warrior: Veteran with a very beefy 2+ defense, making them the most powerful walls. Alongside the basic weapons, they also have access to the miners' shrapnel bombs and dual dragon pistols in order to melt armor at range.
- Golem: A big bruiser, all with Tough 3 and claws capable of ripping light infantry. In exchange however, they aren't nearly as strong as the veteran.
- Steam-Powered Suit: Going full steampunk over here. If you see the elite and give them one more attack and Tough 3, then you'd have something close. If you're looking for some manner of shooting, you can buy them a steam rifle for the equivalent of a rifle.
- Marksmen: If berserkers sacrificed their defense for choppy power, the marksmen sacrifice the defense of a warrior for rifles, much more palatable since they're only a few points more than the warriors. If you're looking for more range, get crossbows but beware the cost to your AP. Also worth considering is getting a pair of pistols for some extra bang.
- Ranger: A marksmen with a crossbow and gains Scout, so you can shoot at a better position. While they're stuck with crossbows as a primary weapon, you can buy them throwing axes so they have a guaranteed means of popping armor.
- Drake Marksmen: The Iron Warriors to the marksmen's warriors. It's not such a big deal to protect the heavy shooters, you do get flame rifles so you can cover the area in fire. On top of shrapnel bombs, you can also grab a model a pair of fire pistols. Their big secret weapon is the torpedo rifle, giving them a means to nail a monster or elite model.
Cavalry
- Beast Riders Your light cavalry, though they don't offer much. For a 4+ to quality and defense, you get an attack each from mount and rider and a normal move speed.
- War-Bear Rider: Heavy cavalry riding with Tough 3 and some dangerous claw attacks thanks to the mount. If you want the full AP experience, you can grab an axe-halberd for both AP 1 and Rending.
List Building & Tactics
General Advice
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Tactics
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