And my controversial dwarf tactica with the Warriors of Chaos. As before this just what to expect from the lists. I maintain that Dwarfs tend to be static and shooty, even if most of their points are in big blocks.
Anyways same things apply. Just to help you be prepared to face them.
Dwarfs
I hate dwarfs. I
really do. The games tend to be rather
boring with everything being predictable, upon seeing deployment. Dwarfs castle up, Shoot a bunch, Brets charge
in to cause a bunch of damage. Brets
either break them or are broken then shot dead.
Against dwarfs it is critical to have Good, no GREAT, target
priority. You will often only get one
chance to hit with the force of Bretonnia so you must make it count. Part of this is excellent deployment so be
certain to be prepared. Also charging is
very important due to the sheer toughness of their units. Also they have decent magic defense without
wizards so don't think you'll get spells of easily.
Types of Units.
Take it for granted that everything is infantry. And slow.
Given half a chance we can outmaneuver anything in their list, but
against dwarfs it is kind of moot. Expect
me to comment mostly on what to charge a unit with due to the more static
nature of dwarfs. I'm going to go over
their core choices first.
The first is the humble warrior. This is the basic infantry unit of dwarfs and
as such it is rather versatile however there is only one option which threatens
our knights. That is the great
weapon. Without it they are only
strength 3 and will be unable to penetrate armor of our knights. Even with great weapons they are not threats
in units 10 or less. They may cause some
damage but are breakable. Often fielded
in units of 20 as the last resort against units charging the gunline. They are rather tough however but if you can
negate the steadfast a good solid charge should remove this unit from the
table. That can't be said for the
upgraded version however. They can gain
an additional strength and weapon skill boost to turn them into
longbeards. Fortunately you can't have
more longbeard units than warrior units which means you will often only see one
unit of these since dwarfs tend to spend their points on other infantry. In essence they are much stronger dwarf warriors
and with great weapons are to be feared be warned as they may even have a
potent magic banner as well. If you
charge them even without great weapons you can expect to lose a knight or two. Still they are breakable and if treated with
enough force, like a double charge, will provide you with points worth the
sacrifice. Just don't head in unless you
are prepared to lose models. I usually try to avoid longbeards to kill the
warriors if possible.
Keep in mind that if they have great weapons they also can
gain the scout rule and become rangers.
This comes with throwing axes as well.
Fun. Still if they want to get
closer go ahead and let them they cost more and are just as easy to kill.
The next unit is strangely a mix. The quarrelers are not the most dangerous
shooting unit out there but they have range a respectable 4 shot though their
ballistic skill is the same as our own bowmen. Their most unique ability is to
take great weapons which makes them a legitimate combat threat. As such it negates most of our support unit
killers, mounted yeoman will die in droves and it is even dangerous to Pegasus
knights. Against a combat unit of
knights however they seldom have the ranks and certainly lack the armor to
survive. So avoid with light units and
hit with heavy units. This should net
you a decent amount of points. They also
have the option to gain the scout rule as rangers if they took great weapons,
which is an odd choice. It gives them a
chance to get closer which is odd for a missile unit. Really the main reason to do this is to make
them more of a target for fast cav which should avoid them.
The next unit I hate.
It is the single most effective shooting unit against our knights in the
game. Period. I HATE Thunderers. In combat pegasus knights are effective,
mounted yeoman are not. I highly
recommend taking out as many of these guys as possible as quickly as
possible. They tend to be a high
priority target for me because other than warmachines these guys can cause the
most damage to a bretonnian army. If
possible charge from outside of 12" this is long range and may save some
knights. Sadly other than close the
distance fast to kill them before they kill you and try to hit them from the
edge there are not many good tactics to use against this unit. They do need to die however and should be
placed rather high on the to kill list.
They are CORE though and can be taken without restriction.
As for special units it is important to separate the
artillery from the troops. With the
first troop being hammerers. Stubborn
great weapon wielding dwarfs. They are
often used as bodyguards for characters due to the stubborn nature. I recommend avoiding them unless you have a
character or two in the unit with boosted strength. Even then you can consider the unit he is
with toast. Their job is to grind you
down before you grind them down and at S6 they certainly can do that. This unit is not a high priority target and I
generally avoid it.
Next is the Iron breakers.
Guess what? They are like tough
hammerers, without stubborn and are often taken as bodyguards as well. They trade the great weapons and stubborn for
better armor. They fight with the same
principle. wear you down before you wear
them down. If you fight these things be
prepared to be stuck in for the rest of the game. Even if you have a character unless he is
packing some serious firepower you won't do much damage and I've even had
multiple knight charges bounce off of them.
Really not worth the time unless you needed to tie them down to free
your other knights to ravage the back lines.
Still when it comes down to it... I'd rather fight these where they have
a chance of breaking then the hammerers.
Miners are the only special choice I recommend
fighting. It comes with a catch though,
they will come from behind you to attack your support. Any decent sized fighting unit should be able
to handle them and I often find my M@A useless otherwise so they stay back and
prepare to fight the miners. They must
be taken care of quickly however because they do present a decent threat to our
back lines. Still good points to be had
for keeping someone back to deal with them.
Also after taking care of them thy can turn around and reinforce the
main battle line.
Lastly is the slayers.
Unbreakable with the choice for great weapons. Fun.
Another unit I try to avoid or more likely shoot until they're mostly
dead or better yet, all dead. Since they
lack armor shooting is the best way to remove the unit. Another unit I generally avoid if possible.
As for artillery. The
basic strategy is to get in combat and kill the crew since they are stubborn. Shooting
has become more effective against thee warmachines than before and my bowmen
often target a machine until it is dead.
The first is the cannon. While not terribly special it is rather
effective and reliable making it a
stable in any dwarf army. With the
addition of runes it can have all sorts of effects as well, including the
ability to re-roll the misfires. Again
the strategy is to close the range fast and take them out. Pegasus knights and even mounted yeoman work
well. Certainly something worth taking
out since they can cost upwards of 130 points easily.
The next is the bolt thrower. Again nothing to special here other than the
magic runes that can be attached to make is stronger and flaming seems to be
popular. While less of a threat to our
knights than a cannon it is half the price and a common fallback for dwarf
players when their cannons don't work.
Again Pegasus knights and mounted yeoman stand a decent chance at
killing these accursed machines. Bowmen
might also work if you are busy killing the more dangerous machines. Not the highest threats on the list but they
are still threats. Also be warned as
they are commonly placed within easy charge range just to explode at the end of
combat causing some serious damage.
Last of the special artillery is the grudge thrower. It can also be given runes but please note
that it can't re-roll artillery dice.
Which means that a misfire is still a misfire. Given the fact that it can only be as
effective as a trebuchet for almost 150 points it can be dangerous but more so
to our peasants. Consider this one more
of kill it for the points after the threats are gone. Again bowmen may very well knock it down.
As for the rare units the first to mention is the organ
gun. An artillery dice worth of shots
that auto hit? With a minus 3 to your
armor save? That is just painful and
unpleasant. I often set these as my
single highest threat priority in the game.
The best chance is to overload it with threats. it can only shoot at one unit so have two
capable of charging it. Even with that I
may still be firing my trebuchets and bowmen at it.
The last artillery piece is the flame cannon. Like a cannon but fires a flame
template. It is painful, it causes panic
checks but we finally have something that armor is good against! They cost a chunk of points however and if
seen should be taken out reasonably quickly so our back line peasants don't run
away. I suppose this one would be just a
little below the cannon in threat but above the bolt thrower.
The last basic unit of the dwarfs is the Gyrocopter. It's fast with a flame template shooting
attack and is capable of outfighting our warmachine crew. It has a nifty 4+ save but can be handled in
the exact same way that you deal with most fast flanking units. It is fairly tough however at T5 so consider
a rock or two if it gets too close.
Again decent points but may be hard to acquire them.
For characters I recommend against engaging any of them
except for the runesmith and runelord.
They are tough little buggers with your best chance being killing blow
or very high strength attacks and more often than not I find them not worth the
effort. Again the exception being the
rune variety because I do like casting magic and with them on the board it
becomes very difficult to do so. They
have a build a weapon and armor which means that they basically have what they
want with few restrictions. Take it for
granted that you will be facing 1+, often re-rollable armor saves when facing
these foes, except for the slayer characters of course. All around they are tough cookies and should
be handled with high strength or killing blow attacks. Be warned about the oathstone. If it is placed then the unit basically has
no flanks and charging it from the rear is just as useless. It can't move after it is placed so feel free
to ignore the unit or pepper it with shooting.
Also they can take runes to become immune to killing
blow. Another reason to avoid them. Also Master engineers can't join units. Easy targets for range firepower.
Special attention must be given to the anvil of doom. It's been a stable in almost every dwarf army
at 2000 points and for good reason.
Without the special character it can be a bit dicey striking ancient
runes with failure occurring half the time but the damage is often worth
it. The most dangerous runes are the ones
which inflict damage and slow you or allow the dwarfs to charge in the shooting
phase. Dwarf charging is more serious
than you think. They move 6 inches in
their phase then charge on average another 10.
That's right around the average range of our knights. That right there is a game changer. The other inflicts damage which is nasty, up
to 2d6 on d3 units, but the real harm is our knights suddenly lose half their
movement. It's like casting multiple
spells for free with no chance of dispel and no LOS needed. This is my number one target to eliminate
quickly or at least get stuck in. Pegasus knights are your best chance to slow
this machine down but the runelord could have some serious combat gear. Still if time can be bought for a combat unit
to get into range it is worth it.
However since it requires no LOS it is often placed in the very center
of all combat units for protection.
Shooting isn't great due to a granted 4+ ward save. However its one downside is that it is
expensive and will often cost over 400 points.
This makes it a keystone of his army as well as depletes the other
forces he can take. It is powerful yes
but I was able to find a single weakness!
Independent characters can't be targeted by the anvil unless they have a
large target mount. If you can get a
solo character in charge range and outside of sight of getting shot then they
are immune to the effects of the anvil and being small may be able to charge
between enemy units. A paladin on a
pegasus is also immune to the effects of the anvil. This can grant you a fast way to fly over the
enemy and engage them with serious results.
The last thing is that if you have a character in a unit that is slowed
out of charge range, charge out of it, the character is no longer affected by
the unit being slowed at least so says their FAQ.
Army builds.
Gunline. Really this
is it. They castle up in one corner of
the board and shoot you dead while you cross it. Thankfully we can cross it quickly. The key here is target priority.
Moving Gunline. Same
as above but they have big, big, blocks of infantry that advance towards you to
finish you off while artillery fires from range.
Things to expect.
Them not dying.
Dwarfs are tough and well armored don't expect your lances to always
work.
Good magic defense.
Magic can be hard to get off if they are packing some runesmiths/lords
which you will need to eliminate. If you
do kill them magic can be quite effective on them.
Unmoving. Dwarfs often
don't move unless they have too and even when they do move, they're not all
that fast giving you plenty of time to react.
Tough characters.
Most dwarfs characters are VERY powerful and tough to kill, they are
often not worth the fight.
Escape. Even if you
do break dwarfs struggle to run anything down giving you time to reform.
A boring game. The
average game will be you hitting him, killing one maybe two a turn and several
turns of combat later one of you breaks.
What fun.
Lethal shooting.
Dwarfs win games in this phase.
If you can eliminate their shooting then you might as well just avoid
the rest of the army and declare victory.
Warriors of Chaos
With the weapon skill and almost the stat line of our grail
knights on their basic infantry it should be obvious what the army is capable
of. It also should tell you what it
specializes in. Close combat. However this said Bretonnia has two serious
advantages against the mighty warriors.
The first is that we have a potent ranged phase, the second is
speed. Because of these two advantages
we will often get to choose our fights and focus charge several units. Also due to the nature of chaos several
things may be dramatically different each time you play. Also be warned that the most powerful
characters in the game call this army their own and as such challenges will be
thrown out.
Types of Units.
Marauders are just a touch more expensive than our peasants
but are basically naked... Literally.
The level of danger these guys posses is equal to the amount of gear
bought for them. With nothing any combat
unit of ours can fight and win against them.
The common ones I see are flails and great weapons with perhaps a touch
of armor. With flails they are only
dangerous in the first turn and even then only Strength 5. If you can survive the first turn, or hit a
flank so they get less attacks then this unit has been neutralized and will be
ground down by any of ours. Including
M@A, provided they have a larger frontage though statistically an equal amount
of M@A will achieve victory it is so close that it is a significant gamble. It is 1/3 a wound per peasant and 5/18 a
wound per marauder. Basically for 18
attacks the M@A will score one additional kill.
Not much of an advantage, so it is better to overwhelm them.
With great weapons it is another story. Here they are still threatening in subsequent
turns. Here shooting with bowmen will
likely be the best choice to whittle them down to the point of being able to
break them. Again M@A do rather well,
especially the blessed ones. Sure they
will die but better those wounds on the peasants then on the expensive
knights. Here even with the greater
frontage they out kill the M@A by about a model a turn. If our M@A are in horde formation then we out
kill them by one and if they carry the blessing then they will win, even in
equal ratios. Knights likely have
something better to do but if the enemy unit is low on ranks then they
certainly can be used to finish them off.
On a similar note the fast cav of chaos is the marauder
horsemen. Nothing truly special about
them except that they will often carry hand axes to throw. This allows them to fire S4 weapons at point
blank range. More than others I think
that these deserve to be shot. Low armor
and toughness 3 will kill them off with little problems, just make sure that you
don't let them run by you to continue firing the semi-lethal shots at your knights.
Warhounds are often run for objectives and for some speedy
expendable units. Not a threat to any
decent sized unit and even 10 bowmen with a stand and shoot should win against
5 warhounds. This should tell you that
unless you have something out on its own like a trebuchet they can basically be
ignored if you feel safe being flanked.
Also they have a terrible leadership so a panic test should solve the
problem.
Occasionally you may even come across a chaos spawn to
handle the same purpose as fast cav or to try and hold a unit up. With 3 wounds and no armor if you can get
some wounds in then it will drop fast.
It also has a few other tricks up his sleeve with his upgrades. Also you must be careful of the random
movement since you are not allowed a reaction against it. Not a terrible threat and seldom seen.
Dragon ogres are basically fast ogres with a bit of
armor. Their goal is to get into combat
quickly and tear things up. Treat them
as an enemy cav unit and you should be fine for distance. Be prepared to take some damage though they
hit quite hard. Keep in mind that they
are also expensive. I don't see them all
that often since I think they are rather overpriced.
Giant. It's a giant
it can get a ward save but... it is a giant.
Really, nothing special.
Shaggoth are their big nasty. Powerful in combat but it is
just a monster that hits very hard.
Don't hit it with lightning though.
Six wounds with an armor save means that it can be tough to add them all
up. Still not too bad with our blessing
and he is breakable if you can't get the kill in fast.
Trolls. LD 4 and
stupid. Sure they regenerate and can
ignore armor with certain of their attacks so they can be dangerous. If they are fielded then they will always be
near the general. Or wandering across
the field in a dumb stupor. A decent hit
can secure you some points but unless they are bothering you, you can delay
fighting them until you can overwhelm them.
Hellcannon. It's the
stone thrower of the chaos army and easily the most powerful one in the
game. It comes with a substantial cost
though. Also unlike the average stone
thrower in the game this one has bite.
Literally. With 5 attacks at S 5
it can cause some serious damage. It
costs about as much as a 9 man unit of KOTR and that is at least what you
should send at it. Other units can tie
it up to prevent shooting and possibly kill the crew so there is even less
shooting but less you brought some powerful hitting things then its T6 will
stall you. Also it can berserk and go rampaging
across the table. Be careful, treat it
with respect and try to avoid getting hurt by its shots.
And finally the warriors of chaos. I saved the biggest most common unit for
last. These buggers are core and have
stats similar to our grail knights. With
good armor, stats, the best equipment and everything else going for them this
is the go to unit for the Warriors of Chaos book. They can be given marks to further enhance
their ability as well. The best way to
handle this unit is with range and combined fire. They are a marching wall and even the
trebuchet will struggle to inflict considerable damage. They key thing to remember is that every
wound hurts. When the advancing army
gets closer you will need to focus several units at once together to drop a
single unit. Taken commonly in units
between 15 and 20 don't expect them to have ranks. The key to facing them is to consider their
equipment first. With two hand weapons
they become the grind unit designed to cut through lightly armed and armored
units. With great weapons they are
designed to kill heavy cav. Halberds is the" either or choice" with
the unit capable of outfighting both cav and infantry. Last is the Shield combo
designed to survive in combat I see it as the bodyguard style unit to protect a
wizard, combined with the mark of Tzeentch they can blunt just about any
attack. Even so all combinations are
dangerous to our knights and M@A should just stay away from them.
All in all... They have no weakness. They are nearly a perfect combat unit. Their only downside is cost. They are very expensive to field in large
numbers and take up a significant part of the army. Expect them to just march across the board to
kill you. Focus hit them or avoid
them. Also whittle them down with shooting
and magic.
Chaos knights. Even
more dangerous than the warriors are the knights. With an excellent 1+ save constant Strength 5
they can put a damper on any fighter.
Again you pay all sorts of points for them though. A good solid charge should be able to break
them and inflict some damage. Honestly
if you treat them as fast chaos warriors you won't be far off a small unit can
easily cost as much as a block of warriors.
If your brought something to ignore or dampen armor saves this is where
he should go.
Next are the chosen.
Chaos warriors on steroids.
Basically they are the same as the normal warrior but with a boost or
two. One of these boosts is rolled for
randomly at the start of the game. It
can be good or it can be stupidity.
Really how you handle this unit depends on what they rolled. But in essence the tactics that work against
the normal warriors should work against the more powerful cousins.
Lastly are the warshrines.
It's basically a chariot and has the same threats as one. It also has the special ability to boost a
nearby unit with the favor of chaos granting them a random boost. I find the boosts to be better for the foe
than the actual combat ability of this unit.
If you see one it might be worth firing at to try and drop it down. Also pegasus knights have a decent shot at
bringing it down if it has been a bit banged up.
As for the characters they all share some similar
traits. Tough, powerful, will challenge
you, expensive and good armor. Even the
wizards have at least a 4+ save. Without
killing blow a chaos lord will be a difficult opponent and have a likely chance
of killing whatever you send his way.
Also be warned that if they win a challenge they will become even
stronger so hit them hard and fast. The
wizards also have their own lores that can be confusing. All in all they are dangerous in the
extreme. As for mounts they can ride
just about anything, including a dragon.
I seldom see them ride anything though as it tends to leave them out in
the open and vulnerable.
Types of lists.
For Khorne! Since
they lack any form of shooting the basis is to close the distance and use their
superior troops to beat whatever happens to be facing them. This list takes advantage of faster units to
get there quicker.
The gods bless us.
This list takes advantage of several warshrines and chosen to constantly
buff the armies. It can be devastating
but they still have to get to you.
Hordes. With cheap
marauders they can bring some numbers to bog people down long enough for the
warriors to finish them off. Also with
great weapons damage will add up.
Things to Expect.
Ouch. Warriors hurt
in combat. A lot. Expect to lose people.
Chaos. With random
boosts to units strange things can happen.
Bouncing. They are
tough with good armor our lances are not guaranteed kills.
Being faster. They
tend to be slow compared to us.
Combined charges.
Best way to take down units is a double or even triple charge.
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