I've often mused on this one myself. While game-wise I have always prefered ironbreakers (2+ armour saves on infantry make me giggle), but I love the models for the Longbeards, and the fluff for the slayers is so awesome.

I agree with you the longbeards are awesome I just like thinking about them grumblig to themselves during the battle while half the army runs away.
(I give mine a D,lord with rune of kingship to make them stubborn)

I like slayers in terms of fluff and Ironbreakers in terms of play, so I take em both!

Ironbreakers are good. Longbeards are great, too, but I hate their model.

SLAYERS!!! they are the ONLY cool dwarves, except they kill my pretty dragons, damn them all... <_<

Dude, this is warhammer, not 40,000 and well, longbeards are like, the classic dwarf man! :D

I hate the slayer's mohawks and crazy hair. All that hair (and on the longbeards, too) makes them look childish and goofy. Not like the rock-hard, dour, proud dwarves they are!

Just to add my bit, the unit that I would like to play all the time is the slayers, so much character in one unit but they just don't cut it in terms of practicality on the gaming field. The hammerers are supposed to be the royal bodyguard, the elite, but, in most dwarven armies that I've seen, are often overlooked for the heavier armoured iron breakers. Long beards were,imo, just overlooked in the army book. They could have been fleshed out into a more distinctive unit in their own right instead of just being a special warrior slot with immunity to panic.
In my armies I try not to go gunpowder crazy but I do like to use my specials on combat units, people do not like the proposition of dwarves advancing at them so thats what I give them. Big units of hammerers and iron breakers for the combat results with the flanks being covered with smaller units of slayers and longbeards. The special rules of the smaller units mean that they can have an effect on the battlefield,ie holding up a charge, refusing a flank, without having to think too hard about consequences of failure.
To sum up, I do like the specials but there could still be a small refinement, nothing too major, something like a ward save for the slayers or a bonus in combat for the longbeards to represent battle experience (killing blow perhaps?) :huh:

definetly ironbreakers what a .... GREAT GREAT GREAT SUPER SUPER SUPER GREAT SUPER GREAT SAVE!!!!

Hmmmm....well, I'd have to go with the coolness of the model instead of its stats, which is just stupid

"wow! this model is sooo cool! I mean he has a 2+ armour save!"
-kids...pfft ;)


So, Longbeards for me! The yare the fluffiest and greatest models out there! :)

are u making fun of me??

Yes and no. Not directly, but I'm really sick of people just picking units because of their effectiveness rather than coolnes or fluff or whatever...:)

But why is nobody taking the hammerers? An excellent unit that people just abuse when on the field. What could be more awe inspiring in a dwarven army with a venerable dwarf lord making a dramatic entry onto the battlefield, covered in his ancient rune armour that has been handed down from generation to generation, weapon runes that are glowing in the fog of war, surrounded by his elite bodyguard, veteran warriors who have proven themselves in countless battles in their loyalty, not only to their lord but also to their families honour. Grim, dour warriors who care not about the forces that they face but care only for the protection of their lord. What more character could you want. Its not often that I take a fully tooled up lord on to the battlefield but when I do I make sure that he is surrounded by his bodyguard and they have served me well countless times in the past.

Yeah, No Fake, I can see what you mean. Fanatics can suck sometimes but they're still awesome to play with.

The longbeards have some nice fluff, I like the whole grumbling dwarf thing, just I don't like many of the dwarf models (like slayers and longbeards).

guess ur right... Anyways.. fluff wise i'd take the miners but if its charateristics and stuff definetly ironbreakers :D

aah, but fanatics are fun AND fluffy! :lol:

Slayers all the way. What more could you want? Imagine it ... A short, bearded fellow with a gigantic crest of bight orange hair, weilding a HUGE axe running as fast as his little legs can carry him towards the biggest and meanest opponent on the field and shouting "OY!! COME BACK HERE!!". Now tell me that doesn't create a great mental picture! :lol:

They are a good unit to use if only for the sheer amount trouble that the enemy goes to to wipe them out. If they do actually get into combat with that big monster, I find it usually happens in the last turn of the game when the monsters initiatve means that he usually whips them first :angry: . Unless they spend the whole of the battle being tied up by snotlings and only 1 slayer survives(damn init 2) my saddest moment in warhamer history. :(