Returning player...so how are Dwarves these days?

Just like the title states, I am a player who is pondering getting back into the game. In long-distant previous editions (I think 5th or 6th or so) I was a Dwarf player, who sold off my army mainly for financial reasons (perhaps backed by a healthy dose of boredom). Lately, I have been looking at jumping back into a fantasy game, and the pretty new models are attractive. Additionally, Avatars of War has a bunch of cool looking character models and some slick new plastic units that look better (IMO) than their GW counterparts, and are actually cheaper. Good stuff!

But I was wondering - how are Dwarves playing lately? I don't necessarily need to roflstomp all my opponents, but it would be cool to actually play an army that was at least quasi-competent. Are they good?

What about them isn't so good? Any stinkers in the new list I should avoid?

I see they have some new models/units now. Are the new gyrocopters decent at all? Are Slayers working ok still? How about IronDrakes?

EDIT - oh yes, before I forget. The one thing that used to annoy me about dwarves in prior editions is that we always seemed to rely extremely heavily on taking an Anvil of Doom, just to be able to shut down the enemy magic quasi-reliably. Is this still the case? If so, that's something of a negative for me.

8th Ed has done a pretty decent job of levelling the playing field.

Gunlines, whilst still pretty decent have lost some of their lustre as charge reaches have increased. Instead of simply double move reach, it's now 2D6+M - so a M4 unit can potentially charge 16", with an average of 11". Naturally this somewhat reduces the number of turns a gunline has to blast away freely!

Stunties themselves are still Dwarfs, and do what Dwarfs do best - not die! Oh, and you get +1S in the first round of combat, which is a pretty big boost!

More later when I get home and dig my Army Book out!

Oh neat - that's a pretty groovy rule! That could make for some pretty serious Great Weapon troops. I assume you do not have to Charge to receive this bonus?

Since Gunlines aren't quite as effective, what would be better? An infantry-based army? A warmachine based army? Combo of both?

Combined arms is probably about right, but nothing is really invalid.

Need to check the rule in full, but sneaking suspicion it's +1 on the charge only (to discourage/redress gunline dominance)

Couple of new units to boot - Shooty and heavily armoured infantry, and a Gyrobomber which can do horrible things.

Combat has also changed. If you lose combat, but have more ranks than you're opponent, you're 'Steadfast', and suffer no modifiers to your break test - bit of a bummer for Dwarfs, but not insurmountable with some cunningly placed dakka.

Oathstones are different now too, but I can't remember how!

one major change to the rules systems is that casualties come from the back of the unit rather than the front. no longer does killing the front line of dwarfs negate their attacks, making low I more forgiving. the movement rules are also more forgiving, and Dwarfs charge pretty much the same as everyone else so you are in a level playing field there.as well. Magic is a lot more powerful however, Irresistible force still exists however causes a miscast but a lot of the spells are worth even the more devastating miscast.

Right, having got home yesterday, and fallen asleep until around 11 this morning....I can now wibble on more!

Got my Dwarf book next to me (I get them all me...)

Army Specific special rules first, as these typically give you the best idea of how the army works best.

Ancestral Grudge.

Dwarfs always have the Hatred special rule (re-roll to hit in the first round of combat, must always pursue fleeing enemies) against Orcs, Goblins and Skaven - that covers all units from those two army books. To determine the level of bitterness the Dwarfs feel towards other armies, roll a D6 and consult the following chart.

1-2 Personal Vendetta. The Dwarf general has Hatred against the enemy General.
3-4 Rancorous Resolve. All friendly character models with the Ancestral Grudge special rule have the Hatred special rule against all characters in the opposing army.
5-6 Seething Score to Settle. All friendly models (that's all your Stunties then) that have Ancestral Grudge have the Hatred special rule against all models in the enemy army.

So straight off the bat, we can see Dwarfs can do exceptionally well in combat, as this brings added efficiency.

Next....

Dwarf Crafted.

Shooting attacks made with weapons that have this special rule do not suffer the -1 to hit for Stand and Shoot charge reaction.

Not bad. Keeps gunlines decent

Resolute

Models with this special rule have +1 Strength during a turn in which they charge into combat

Clearly designed to make combat Dwarfs just as appealing as shooty Dwarfs. Combined with a 5-6 on the Ancestral Grudge, you become a hot knife through butter!

Relentless

Units entirely composed of models with this special rule do not need to pass a Ld test to march, regardless of enemy unit proximity.

Pretty much as it was. Keeps them manouverable when the range closes

Shieldwall

In a turn in which the unit is charged (even if already in combat), all models with this special rule receive a +1 bonus to any Parry saves they are eligible to take (Parry save is normally a 6+ Ward to front attacks when you're equipped with Hand Weapon and Shield).

Very, very nice. Thwarts Great Weapons somewhat, and can all but ensure Knights bounce right off! Again, this is a reason to ditch a pure gunline army. But do be careful. You cannot fight with Handweapon and Shield if you have any other kind of close combat weapon, as under the game rules you must use a specialist weapon if you've got one! And remember, in Warhammer you can take your Armour Save, then your Ward Save....

Natural Resistance.

Permanent +2 bonus to all dispel attempts.


So from that, we can see Dwarfs are just as well off played aggressively as castling on a hill with loads of shootybang units. In particular, charging Great Weapon units will often be S7, which is bloody horrendous and more than capable of kneecapping even a Dragon in a single round of combat, especially if you happen to hate that unit!

Other units make even better use of the army special rules. For instance, Ironbreakers. S5 on the charge, and always get the +1 Parry Save bonus, giving you a well armoured T4 stunty with a 3+ save (Gromril 4+, Shield +1 to that) and a 5+ ward to most attacks coming from the front.

Beyond those, little has changed. Anything the Dwarfs did well before, they still do well!

Dwarves are fine, their runes give you a lot of customization possibilities. I wouldn't recommend going heavy on the siege weaponry though, not because it isn't effective (it is), but because it is incredibly boring to fight against. We've got a guy at our local GW whom I like to call One-Phase Willy (No his name is not Willy, doesn't matter.), simply because he pretty much doesn't use any phase but the shooting phase.

Organ gun with Grimm and the +1 to hit rune basically says "hey that unit, remove it" once per shooting phase. Combine that with several cannons and a block of dwarves that I'm relatively sure I've never seen him move once, and you've got a really boring matchup where you move forward while getting shot at and all semblance of strategy is removed from the game and it pretty much becomes a "throw dice to see how much stuff dies" fest.

Sure, it might seem fun in theory to play only one phase of the game, but it won't be long before people refuse to play against you because it simply isn't fun.



My tip, stunties in armor and hammers and axes in hand, marching forward to war, like they should!