Greetings. I'm new to these boards, so I thought It'd be fit to say hello. Now when that's taken care of, allow me to cut to the chase :D.

My first Warhammer army was Chaos, which is now about 2 k. I recently abandoned it, in order to switch to the Dwarfs, which I have really liked better all along. I started chaos because the first thing I bought was a box of chaos warriors, without knowing anything about the game, and on that road I continued.. Now, starting Dwarfs, I have both some painting experience under my belt, as well ass some gaming experience. Having asked around a whole lot, and buying/reading the army book, I have found out quite a bit about the nature of the dwarfs. Here's my way of starting up my force - a way which has so far suited me very well. (Please note that all uber-dwarf generals may not agree in my points, as I'm not all that experienced. That is why I'm posting this here, to get feedback from those far more experienced, completely new, and of the same level :D).

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This is the order of which I have painted my current models:
*16 Dwarf warriors with hw/shields
*20 Ironbreakers
*I then bought another regiments box, and expanded my warrior-unit to 20.
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This is where I am today. The future for me looks like this:

*Stone thrower
*Get yet another regiment box, in order to expand my first unit even more to 24, and create a new unit of warriors - also 24 models big. I'll probably equip this one with hw/shields as well - as I'll be a victim of heavy missile fire.
*Paint one or more characters
*A unit of 20 Longbeards.
*Two bolt throwers
*An Organ gun
*Another unit of 20 Ironbreakers.

Well... that's pretty much it. I don't know why I wrote this, but I thought I'd introduce myself a little. =)

Cheers,
/Gromnil

looks promising, I personally like cannons rather than stone throwers but to each his own.

I've heard great things about the cannons. Why I chose to go with (at least) one stonethrower and two bolt throwers, is because my main opponent (my elder brother) plays High Elfs. The Stonethrowers are, I've heard, very good against big (10 large) blocks of cavalry - and my opponent is a fanatic fan of silverhelms :D. In addition, as my main opponent plays HE, I'd really love to play the war of the beard! (No high-tech thingies allowed =).

well since you used an organ gun I assumed that you were okay with black powder.

If you dont like cannons then I'd take more bolt throwers in the place of the Stone Thrower and the Organ gun.

125+85=210

210/45= 4 2/3

You can get a 3-4 more bolt throwers, with room for runes!

If your dealing with cavalry let me suggest these runes for the throwers:

Combinations of Runes of Penetrating and Skewering

Those will easily take care of the cavalry!

If you are going to take all those bolt throwers you have to hope that the elves just sit out in the open in youre fields of fire, which isn't going to happen. The elves, if cavalry based, will not be in multiple ranks so you will be wasting the effectiveness of the war machine. Bolt throwers are primarily for blocks of troops, ideally with good toughness and high armoursaves as they will chew them up. If you are going for cavalry killers then take stone throwers as they are a template weapon allowing for multiple wounds throughout file as well as rank. If you can get a shot through the flank with bolt throwers then take it but if your brother is a half decent general he will be hoping to take your war machines out as soon as poss and wont give you a chance for such a target.

With your army choices dont forget your basic troops, dwarves have some of the best in the game. You are looking at buying a lot of special choices and they wont be playable without the number of core. The bonus for hand weapon and shield only applies in combat so dont worry about equipping your troops with great wpn and shield as they get the same save from missile fire as their hand weapon and shield equipped brothers.
Get some missile troops!! Crossbows if you like plastic, thunderers if you can afford them.
How about Hammerers instead of another unit of Ironbreakers. Stubborn if your general is with them and wounding elves on 2's with -3 off their armour save can't be bad. Receive the charge with your ironbreakers and then hit them in the flank with your greatweapon armed troops to destroy the unit in question.

I liked the unit but as the Lord said more missile troops, crossbows can prove to be effective against those nasty Fast Cavalry and the Thunderers can make a dent in any unit if used in enough numbers. If he is cav crazy try to take the charge with Ironbreakers and then flank and destry the unit before the foot soldiers arrive, even with your high points per model Dwarfs cavalry are always more expensive.

Ok, then... thanks for the tips everyone.

As it looks now, I'll be going for either one unit of Crossbowdwarfs that is 16 big (8x2) or two units of 12. I'm not sure about this desicion though... I could afford some Thunderers, but again I want to play the war of the beard...

And I chose the Organ gun because I just wanted a rare choice for regular battles ;-).

Cool, id so love to play a War of the beard army, with runes that can even stop irresistable force and core ironbreakers thats got to be sweet [though of course HEs have a unit on drakes :-)] good luk with ur dwarfs!