I think it needs more missile, like maybe two bolt throwers and a cannon, with a flame cannon, organ gun, or both. The core choices are all good, though you may want a runesmith in place of one thane to fight magic heavy armies. Also, slayers can be devestating :blink:

I just finished losing a game with my dwarf army, and I need some help adjusting my list and probably my tactics. I think I could have pulled off a win in the game if I hadn't been rolling so terribly, but I made some mistakes, too. My primary opponents are Dark Elves and the Cult of Ulric, but I'd like my list to be able to take on all comers. It's a 1500 point list, and I'd prefer to have an aggresive list.

CHARACTERS (272)
Thane-great weapon, gromril armour, rune of stone (72)
Thane-great weapon, gromril armour, rune of stone (72)
Thane-battle standard, gromril armour, master rune of gromril, rune of stone (128)

CORE (1084)
Warriorsx20, great weapon, shield, heavy armour, full command (245)
Warriorsx20, great weapon, shield, heavy armour, full command (245)
Warriorsx19, great weapon, shield, heavy armour, full command (234)
Thunderersx10, shields (150)
Minersx15, full command (210)

SPECIAL (135)
Stone thrower, rune of accuracy, rune of penetrating (135)


Well, that's the list. My stone thrower killed two warriors the whole game, even managing to scatter 8" after I dropped the rock directly onto a regiment of knights. It misfired as well, somewhat limiting what it could accomplish.
I don't think the thunderers were worth their cost in this game, though they would be a lot better against the more expensive dark elves.
I kept the miners as part of my initial deployment, as there would have been very few places for them to pop up and make a difference.
The biggest mistake I made was changing my plan because of the terrain we generated. I got two hills in my deployment, and decided to defend them when I should have been pressing the attack.
As I said, the dice were really bad to me in this game, and there were multiple turns where one of my thanes failed completely to even hit in a round of combat.
Any advice is welcome.

I'm trying for a much more offensive army than that would make it. A 'stand and shoot' army does well at surviving, but it gets really boring to play after a while. I want to march right up to my opponent and give 'em a bloody nose, with just a bit of shooting to keep 'em distracted.
Obviously, the rune of stone on the BsB should be a rune of iron, but aside from that I actually typed the list right. :D
The first time I get thoroughly dominated in magic I'm sure a runesmith will be in the army, but for now I'm willing to rely on the T4 and minimum 5+ save I have.
Thanks for the ideas, though, and I am thinking about working in some Slayers to tie up imortant enemy units.

If you want to march across the battle field and play aggressive i suggest taking at leat one elite unit, hammerers are my favourite.
You might like the rune of sheilding for you general 25 pts 2+ ward save vs missle weapons

I've said it before and I'll say it again, try a gyrocopter. Nothing beats it for aggressiveness as it can move 20 inch and then shoot (with a template that ignores to hit modifiers,) stop march moves, pursue 3d6 (very useful for dwarves) and generally make opponents think about approaching the dwarf line. Even if everything in the opponents army shoots at the gyrocopter to take it out at least its not shooting at your battle line which is relentlessly marching up to your enemy. Template weapons of strength 3 against any elf (particularly scouts or characters on their own), just gotta love em. Apart from that the list isn't bad but always try and go for two war machines even if they are of different types as if you roll badly for one machine, thats it turn over, whereas you may balance your luck with the other machine.

Note: you can't use a rune of stone and Master Rune of gromril

Dwarfs aren't really the army for marching across the battlefield in an agressive fashion!

If that's want u wanna do though, I would say drop the thunderers and stone thrower - they will only get left behind. Invest in choices to harass the enemy / distract him from your advancing battle line. I'm thinking miners, rangers and gyrocopters.

Anything with good armour saves is a necessity. Tooled up warriors are good, maybe think about replacing one unit with some ironbreakers.

And I'd take a runesmith for some extra help against enemy magic - this army could have a real hard time against Tomb Kings, High Elves or Lizzies

I think your army list is fine but pehaps you need to rethink your stragy or maybe you were just unlucky! :unsure:

Change your stone thrower to a bolt thrower or cannon
Espicially against elves
I play elves(High)
Deep ranks, Bad toughness
Rank piercers spell doom
Just an Idea

I have to disagree with cjb over whether dwarves can be used aggressively or not.

Dwarf warriors are definitley one of the best close combat core infantry in the game. Ok, so they're not Chosen Chaos Warriors or Saurus, but they are 9pts for a WS4, T4, 3+ armour save (in combat), which makes them very resiliant.

As for how to make the list any better? Personally, I'd drop the thunderers for a cannon with the Rune of Forging (bolt throwers being a waste of points in my opinion, as you'll be hitting on a 5+ half the time). Scrap one unit of warriors, and shave off a few miners, and get a nice big unit of Ironbreakers with Rune of Battle! Elite infantry is what I feel this army is lacking.

If you ever feel like expanding the army, a unit of slayers and another cannon would be a good way to go.

Consider getting a Slayer character with the Master Rune of Swiftness and a couple of other nice weapon runes. Run him around as a single character and hit one of your opponents units. He should kill the models in base contact with him, effectively pinning the unit in place for a fair while! Obviously this works better with a Daemonslayer rather than a Dragonslayer. It'd be worth it for the look on your opponents face!

Note to Argan: If you had read the thread, you would have noticed that Vriish had already pointed this out. Please do try to read the post a little more carefully to avoid repeating what others have said, as other mods may view it as spam and take action! ;)

Cheers,
DLJ

Hmm, yes. This topic is rather old, and my army has moved beyond this, but I'll respond to a couple of the points raised.

First, aggressive dwarfs are a very effective style of army, as enemy shooting has a difficult time accomplishing anything, meaning that combat has to be joined. When all of your units are powerful in hand-to-hand, they can't even pick on a weak point.

Second, I don't like Ironbreakers. The combination of low S and high points makes them an ideal candidate to be either ignored or tied up with a swarm, and anyone with a no-save weapon has a field day with them. My 2k list has hammerers, though, and I really like them. Elite enough for you, Jim? ;)

The Daemon Slayer does sound interesting, and I think I'll give it a try at some point purely for humour's sake.

Bolt Thrower/Cannon against elves isn't going to accomplish much unless they're all-cav, which nobody in my area plays; I'd rather be able to hit a lot of models in a big, ranked unit. Also, cannons tend to do very poorly for me, for whatever reason.

Thunderers are gone and a Gyro's in; I'll probably post the updated list sometime later today for your viewing pleasure. :P

I'm beginning to agree with you.

Since dropping my War of the Beard-type traditional army (no blackpowder, rangers or hammerers) I have started experimenting with new unit types and tactics. It's like I've got a new army altogether!! My High Elves have even taken the back burner and they weren't even half painted! Funny how everything can change after using variations of the same army for years!!

I've now drawn up a number of lists, including the two already posted, and intend to post some more now I've got a block of 20 Hammerers.

For the first time in ages I have a variety of options :D