By Jarrod Coad
Images copyright of Games Workshop, used without permission, no challenge to their copyright intended.

Hot on the heels of the Wood Elf Army book comes the newest GW release for Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs, along with the release of some very useful plastic regiment sets and one or two metal models as well.

Dwarf generals have been seen to grumble for some time now about shortcomings with their armies (sorry, I’ll try to keep the puns to a minimum), and the shiny and new version of their list can be seen to present some new options, whilst still staying true to the character of this hardy race.

First things first, the new version of the Dwarf book is exactly the same in page count as its predecessor, coming in neatly at 80 pages plus the lovely full colour cover. Unlike its predecessor, however, the new book opens with the history and background of the Dwarfs in the Warhammer world, attempting to provide the definitive documentation of historical events, and the Dwarf culture, all in the first 25 pages of the army book. This section is more or less a carbon copy of the earlier version, covering the rise in power of the Dwarfs, the war against Chaos, the War of the Beard, and the downfall of the Dwarf civilization fighting against goblins and skaven. However, it also includes some small detail on the Dawi-Zharr, or Chaos Dwarfs, and also includes recent history such as Archaon’s invasion of the Empire. A welcome return in this edition of the Dwarf Army Book is a full and proper timeline of Dwarf history, from -4500 to the present day of 2523, and also a clear map of the Dwarf realms. Short descriptions of the major surviving Dwarf holds, as well as pages on Dwarf culture and the Dwarf guild structure fill out this section. However, details of the Dwarf language, khazalid, present in the previous edition are now lacking, although the number runes and alphabet can be found in the Special Character section alongside the rules for Thorek Ironbrow.

The Dwarf Throng

Immediately following the background section of the book, there are descriptions of the units, characters, war machines and rules of the Dwarf army. This section is obviously of much interest to those considering building a Dwarf force, and almost as much to those contemplating facing one on the field of battle.

Those rules basic to the Dwarf army as a whole, namely Ancestral Grudge, Resolute and Relentless, are still there (yes, Dwarfs still hate greenskins, including gnoblars!). The Dwarf rule of having 4 dispel dice instead of 2 is not contained in the book, but was presented in the Warhammer Rulebook. This possibly should have been mentioned in the general Dwarf rule section, and its lack gives a slight feeling of incompleteness.

Characters

Dwarf characters are made up of Lords and Thanes (Heroes), Runelords and Runesmiths, Daemon and Dragonslayers, and the addition of the Master Engineer, which adds some new options to the list.

Characters, with the obvious exception of the Slayers, now come standard with gromril armour, and have increased in points slightly to account for this, as well as the increase of Thanes to T5, and now have some new options available to them. Dwarf Lords and Thanes may take an Oathstone, which can be dropped as part of a Hold reaction to a charge. This Oathstone prevents the unit from any further movement, but now counts as not having flanks or a rear, and the character must accept challenges. An interesting way of holding terrain…

Dwarf Generals who don’t like the Oathstone idea may instead elect to be carried about on a shield by a pair of Shieldbearers, increasing their armour save and gaining some extra attacks, with the three models counting as a single model with US3 and taking up two places in a unit. Dwarf Lords also come with the Royal Blood special rule, which allows the army to contain an extra unit of Longbeards if this option is chosen for the General.

Runesmiths and Runelords remain much the same as in the previous edition of the army book, with an exception of the long-needed change of Runelords providing two extra dispel dice instead of one. Runelords also allow the army access to the shiny new Anvil of Doom, which now takes effect during the shooting phase – which means no dispelling of its effects. The Anvil has three runes which can be struck, which include allowing Dwarf units to reroll failed Fear and Terror tests, allowing a Dwarf unit to make a normal move (which can be a March or Charge) in the shooting phase, or causing D6 S4 hits to a single enemy unit anywhere on the table. These effects are from a normal strike (which works on a 2+), but the Dwarf player may elect to strike with Ancient power, which only works on a 4+ but is much more powerful. The Anvil can misfire on a 1, with predictable effects, but still seems very useful, and has the added advantage of adding an extra dispel dice to the Dwarf pool.

Slayer characters seem to remain the same, which is disappointing as this would have been a good place to integrate some of the Slayer skills from the Storm of Chaos Slayer army list, but the addition of the Master Engineer as a character option is very interesting, allowing the artillery wing of the Dwarf force to gain some defensive options, including entrenching a single War Machine behind hard cover and a defended obstacle. This, combined with the addition of Stubborn to War Machine crew, will make the Dwarf battery very difficult to remove with some of the standard anti-artillery options out there, including Furies and small units of light cavalry.

Core

There are some fairly comprehensive changes in this section, with the core units of the Dwarf army now being made up of Warriors, Quarrellers (the new name for Dwarfs with crossbows), Thunderers, and Rangers.

Warriors are your basic Dwarf fighter, with no changes from the previous edition.

Longbeards are now an upgrade for Warriors, gaining weapon skill and strength, but there cannot be more units of Longbeards in the army than there are Warriors (unless you have a character with the Royal Blood special rule). Longbeards still ignore panic tests, but now give all units close by a reroll to their Panic tests as well.

Quarrellers have not changed (except for the name), whilst Thunderers lose move-and-fire in exchange for +1 to hit with their Dwarf handguns. Rangers are now a 0-1 unit upgrade for any unit of Warriors, Longbeards or Quarrellers that have great weapons. Rangers still have the Scout ability, but no longer ignore forested terrain. This could prove problematic for the Dwarf scouts.

Special

The most notable change in the units available as Special choices in the Dwarf list is that the infantry are now no longer 0-1 unit choices, and are all unit size 5+, instead of the fairly standard 10+. An interesting indicator of possible changes in the upcoming 7th Edition of Warhammer, perhaps?

Hammerers have decreased in points slightly and are now always stubborn, but also if they are led by a Royal Blood character the unit ignores Fear and Terror.

Miners remain substantially unchanged, except for the inclusion of some new options such as the Steam Drill, a +3S great weapon for their champion which also allows a reroll if they do not arrive on their Underground Advance, and also Blasting Charges, which give the unit a stand-and-shoot charge reaction once per game doing d6 S6 hits – very handy indeed!

Ironbreakers remain the same as in previous editions, although are no longer a 0-1 unit choice, and are the only Dwarf unit that has access to gromril armour.

Slayers stay basically the same, albeit gaining the ability to choose between two axes or a single great axe at the start of a combat.

Dwarf war machines have changed quite a bit in this edition, with the Cannon, Bolt Thrower and the Grudge Thrower (a renamed Stone Thrower) being Special choices in the list. The crew of these weapons may now be upgraded to include an Engineer, who can either act as extra crew, or use his Artillery Specialist rule to fire the Bolt Thrower using his BS, or allow a Cannon or Grudge Thrower to reroll on the Misfire chart. Artillery crew now also have Gunner’s Pride, which means that they count as Stubborn as long as their machine is not destroyed, but cannot flee as a charge reaction or pursue a beaten foe. This combined with the Engineer’s optional weaponry of pistols and handguns should definitely make Dwarf War Machines a tough nut to crack in melee combat!

Rare

The Rare choices in the updated Dwarf list consist of the Gyrocopter, the Flame Cannon, the Organ Cannon and Dogs of War units.

The Gyrocopter has changed substantially, now being treated more as a flying unit than a war machine, counting as US3, and doesn’t crash when destroyed. This would definitely seem a better choice now than in previous editions.

The Flame Cannon is unchanged, whilst the Organ Cannon has a range increase and can reroll the Artillery Dice to determine the number of hits, unless it misfires. None of these more exotic War Machines can have runes placed upon them, or be upgraded to have an Engineer, and the Gyrocopter does not have Gunner’s Pride, but still all seem to be reasonable choices.

Runes

There are many changes to the Runes available to the shiny new Dwarf force – some new Runes are included, some old favourites have disappeared, some have been downgraded, and others increased in power.

Several old favourites have disappeared, including the Rune of Shielding, the Master Rune of Taunting, the Master Rune of Groth One-Eye, and the Rune of Kadrin.

New Runes include several of interest, such as Strollaz’s Rune (a banner rune allowing all Dwarf units within 12” at the start of the game to make an immediate Move or March), the Rune of Stoicism (a banner rune allowing the unit to double it’s unit strength) and the Master Rune of Kragg the Grim (a weapon rune is placed on great weapons allowing them to retain the great weapon rules).

Several of the older runes have been changed or reworded, with the most noticeable being the Rune of Snorri Spanglehelm, no longer a Master rune and only +1 to hit, and the Rune of Courage now grants immunity to Fear and Terror only. A few new runic combinations will soon show up among the Dwarf lists.

Special Character

A couple of old favourites return in this section as well, with the High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer and Josef Bugman making appearances in the new book, and a Rune Lord special character in Thorek Ironbrow fills out the trio.

Thorgrim is a big expensive choice that will need to kill about half of an opposing force to be worth the investment, and is likely to do it too – if he can reach them that is! Bugman remains much the same but allows the choice of an extra unit of Longbeard Rangers, and Thorek Ironbrow gives you an even more effective Anvil of Doom. Nice characters, but as usual unlikely to be seen in most tournament forces.

The Rest of the Book

The last few pages of the Army Book (15 pages to be exact) are the inevitable colour showcase, all about showing off the new models, giving a few details on methods of painting beards, armour, and several examples of Dwarf hold colour schemes. It also includes a reasonable army, ready built with points costs and colour scheme, which would be useful to a new player.

Conclusions

This new edition of the Dwarf Army Book for Warhammer changes the existing army in several ways, some subtle and others not. It adds quite a bit of flexibility into the process of army choice, and would seem from examination to provide several reasonable army ‘types’, moving away from the previous editions dependence on the static gunline castle.

Improvements to several under-utilised units include the changes to Longbeards and Hammerers, and also the increase in options available to units such as Miners and Warmachines.

The loss of Move-and-Fire for Thunderers, which would seem to reduce their ability to defend against fast moving units such as light cavalry and flyers, appears balanced by the changes to Warmachines which make them fairly able to defend themselves, whilst the loss of the Forester ability for Rangers would seem to impact quite heavily on their usefulness at first glance.

Another lack that would seem apparent in a book presented as the definitive resource for Dwarf players is the absence of the Slayer list from the Storm of Chaos book, along with the collateral rules for Slayer skills, Doomseekers, Brotherhood of Grimnir, and so on. The inclusion of these rules would have allowed for a viable alternate list, or even some more options for these units in regular Dwarf armies, while only taking a couple of pages. It would also have been nice to see the inclusion of the rules for specific Dwarf Regiments of Renown, such as the Dwarf Pirates or the Goblinhewer, but this exclusion is understandable in light of their availability online.

This updated version of the Dwarf Army book is going to inspire quite a few new armies to hit the tabletop, and from a first reading seems likely to raise the Dwarf force to parity in power with other armies. It still seems unlikely that Dwarf forces will be massacring opponents with thunderous charges, but the new version of the list definitely has many more choices and options with which to tinker, whilst still keeping that ‘Dwarf’ feel.