[Archive] 2800 Dwarf Only - Brand new to Chaos Dwarfs

Archive [Archive] Army Lists
1

wisetiger7:

Hey everyone. I’m brand new to Chaos Dwarfs and this is my first list using just Tamurkhan and the BRB (I haven’t even looked at the Army list section yet), and I wanted to get this community’s opinion. My background is High Elves as my main army (~7000 pts worth), Beastmen (~4000pts), and Ogres (~4000pts). I am a good strategist and study real war tactics (as they can translate fairly well into in-game strategies). I tend to play on the softer sides of army lists because I like to play the underdog, and try to win based on my ability to make decisions in game (hence playing Beastmen and my Lothern themed High Elf army). Because of this, I tend not to play my Ogres much, unfortunately.

Sorcerer-Prophet L4, Lore of Hashut, Blood of Hashut, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Channeling Staff, Crown of Command

Daemonsmith Sorcerer L1, Lore of Hashut, Charmed Shield, Opal Amulet, Power Stone, Ironcurse Icon
Infernal Castellan BSB, shield, Fireglaive, Mask of the Furnace, Luckstone

18 Chaos Dwarf Infernal Guard with FC, Fireglaives, Gleaming Pennant
23 Chaos Dwarf Infernal Guard with FC, Hailshot Blunderbusses

29 Chaos Dwarf Infernal Ironsworn with FC, Razor Standard
Magma Cannon
Iron Daemon War Engine with Hellbound

Dreadquake Mortar with additional Slave Ogre

2799/2800

My Reasoning:

I chose the L4 because I like the Lore of Hashut, and the fact that you can armor him up. He’s not anything exciting in combat but he should be able to hold his own. Blood of Hashut is nice in case the enemy decides to make a run for him with an armored character of their own. If they don’t have armor, his S4 should be just fine. I gave him Enchanted Shield to give him a 2+, Talipres for 4++, and Channeling staff for that little extra chance for more PD, and Crown because of the lack of bodies in each unit. One bad big-spell and his unit could run; this is to protect against that.

I chose the L1 because I like the idea of having 2 rerolls for artillery rather than one, and I can spread them out if need be. Charmed shield will give him a 3+ with that 2+ one time protection, Opal Amulet for the one time 4++, and Ironcurse Icon for a little added protection for him and his unit. I gave him Power Stone because it would be nice to surprise an enemy with a last minute Breath of Hatred Spell, maybe boosted, if I can sneak it through at the end.

The BSB is pretty self explanatory. 2+ with a reroll from Luckstone, a 4++, 2++ vs Flaming. Good survivability. Adding the Fireglaive because he will most likely be in the Fireglaive unit, and the +1S in combat is a plus. And yes, I know that the shield is only good vs out of combat as Fireglaive Requires Two Hands.

I went with three units of Chaos Dwarf Infernals because I love the Forgeworld stuff. The entire army will be Forgeworld. I chose Fireglaives because of the decent shooting and the +1S in combat. It is a well rounded unit that is versatile and can be what I need it to be in different situations.

The Hailshot Blunderbusses are just ridiculously powerful and I had to include them. I have a neat fireglaive-to-blunderbuss conversion idea for them, so I like that too.

I love the Ironsworn because they are a very tough combat unit with good protection, and I don’t have to worry about being bogged down by ethereals.

I chose the Iron Daemon because of the shooting and combat effectiveness, though I do wish it was a 2+ rather than a 3+ AS. I chose against the skullcracker because I love the shooting for the attrition style warfare. I chose not to have it pull the other two because I want them to fire every turn to get max attrition before I engage them. Of course, range can be an issue, so deployment will be very important in this aspect. The mortar is awesome for long range, and I love flame templates, so that is why I chose them.

I understand that this is going to be very different from my usual style of play. I am used to fast armies (High elf flying circus/cav armies, ogres with M6 base, and Beastmen with movement spell). M3 is not the best, but it will (hopefully) give me a round or two of some good shooting to whittle them down before I engage them. Deployment-wise, I plan on putting the magma cannon in the front rank due to its range, with the blunderbusses and the fireglaives on either side of it. The mortar will be behind the lines due to its long range, most likely behind the fireglaives. The reason for this is because the fireglaives range of 18" is longer than the blunderbuss 12". That means I have to move the blunderbusses forward more to be effective. That makes it more offensive in terms of positioning. Having the fireglaives slightly back from the line will give the illusion of a refused flank. This will draw the enemy to attack there, especially with the mortar behind them, which should be a big threat. Depending on the positioning of the enemy, the Ironsworn and the Iron Daemon will be there for counter attacks and for flank maneuvers, the Iron Daemon moreso due to its movement. With its weak 3+ save, it will mainly be for combo charges if it does indeed need to get itself into combat.

I chose no Hobgoblins, because screw them. I’m playing a Chaos Dwarf army, not a mixed army. The times I played with gnoblars in my Ogre army it was only because I couldn’t fill the points exactly, because each ogre costs so much; though it was hilarious to watch an 8 chariot TK unit go down to 4 chariots due to some bad dangerous terrain rolls caused by my trappers… Plus no Forgeworld hobgoblins. And I’m not running K’daais because I like the Dwarf staples. I heard the K’daais can be broken at times and are usually limited in comp, and with my penchant for playing friendlier armies, I opted not to include them. And yes, I know (or feel, rather) that this is definitely a tougher army than I usually bring to the table, but I feel it is a decent enough list without being TOO ridiculous power-wise, but still not crappy enough to prevent me from investing in.

Welp, that’s it. I don’t know how well Chaos Dwarfs fare personally under my leadership, but I hear stories of them being pretty solid, so any comments would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

2

Vantraxx the Thrice Cursed:

Greetings! Something to consider are your daemonsmiths and the reroll. You need to be within 3" so if yoir in a unit they may prove difficult. Also the ironcurse icon effects the unit so unless the daemonsmith is part of the unit the 6++ won’t effect anyone else. The DS does not join the warmachine crew so he is not in the ‘unit’ even though he gets a 2++ LOS like he is in a unit that has 5 models.

Hobgoblins are great. Khans on wolfs are very important. Against most opponents your warmachines will be a very large target, you need some redirectors. The hobgoblins serve this purpose.

3

Billy Ocean:

Hi wisetiger, I remember you from the Herdstone - think you might have popped up there just as I was wrapping up with beastmen.

How strict are you on the no hobgoblin policy? I’m all for maxing on on dwarfs rather than hobbos with core points, but without any wolfriders or khans you are severely lacking in chaff and stand the risk of getting completely outmaneuvered. Can I convince you to get a Khan or two at least in the list?

Ironsworn are really inefficient for their cost, but I appreciate that are you trying to create a dwarf infantry feel, rather than a min-maxed list. Just don’t expect them to duke it out with the elven elites!

Also, you cannot take Lore of Hashut on your level 1! That lore is reserved for sorcerer prophets only. Its a shame, as Breath of Hatred is a nice signature spell so a Lvl 1 Hashut would be a nice addition to many lists sigh. I like to keep the lvl 1 as cheap as possible, and keep him alone by the warmachines rather than in a single unit. Just a scroll or power stone, and thats it, possibly charmed shield if I have the points, but his look-out-sir should be enough.

4

wisetiger7:

Ya, I was on Herdstone for a bit. I got some general ideas from there, but decided I knew enough to use them efficiently. Unfortunately, Chaos Dwarves are a little more complex, thus the need to forum.

I do love me some redirectors. High Elves are my main army, so I know how to use them well. I never leave home without eagles and reavers.

My reasons for not wanting to bring hobgoblins is two fold. First, I wanted a dwarfcentric army. I don’t much like armies that are half one race, and half another. It is chiefly why I was never drawn to the likes of greenskins or wood elves (though I did entertain the idea of running a wood elf army, mainly because they are bottom tier, and I like me some challenge). I understand the need for fodder (I occasionally used gnoblar trappers in my ogre army) and redirectors. But my main focus for this army is to go straight dwarves, hence the lack of hobgoblins, kdaai, and bullcentaurs.

Secondly, I wanted to strictly go with Forgeworld models. I am very much into aesthetics, and I think they make some great models. Unfortunately, they don’t make any hobgoblin models, so that nips that in the bud.

I do understand the need of chaff/redirectors, but I figure two things. One, using 2-3 units/heroes for these purposes can run anywhere from 165 to 180 points, which means losing 10-11 dwarf models in an already small dwarf army. Two, if I deploy well enough, which I am prone to do, I can potentially minimize the options for enemy warmachine hunters and fast combat units.

Thanks for the Lore catch on the L1. I didn’t see that before. I will also have to change the list around just a little bit due to not seeing the ironsworn command points changes in the FAQ. I like the Ironsworn because of the ensorcelled weapons. I face a lot of ethereals (a lot of vamp players where I play) so the more magical attacks, the better. Otherwise I would just have overloaded on core.

I had originally though to include both casters in units, but now that I know the L1 can’t cast hatred, I may as well have him with sit back with the mortar. The L4 will probably be in a unit kept near the magma cannon, again because its 24" range, it needs to be on the front line.

I heard that naptha bombs or even pistols are a good idea on characters to shorten the stand and shoot range so as to have the rest of the unit fire at short range. Is that correct? If so, I can’t find anywhere in the BRB for that rule. Could someone point that out to me?

Thanks again.

5

ThorAxe:

Bull centaurs are technically chaos dwarfs, just highly mutated ones, similar to how some beastmen descended from humans, though to a different degree.

When a unit takes its stand and shoot it is considered to be taking its shots at the maximum range of the shortest ranged weapon (pg17 near the bottom of the last paragraph, left column). This is generally more helpful for fireglaives, as at 6" range, you don’t have to worry about the -1 for long range when standing and shooting.

Also, instead of the mortar, would suggest 2 doom rockets. Cost is slightly cheaper, enough to buy bombs for a character with extra points, and provides 2 admittedly weaker, larger templates that cause havoc in low leadership or lightly armored masses of infantry , and twice as much monster hunting potential (very helpful against warriors) due to 2 center point temples.

Last thing, no scroll? They are very helpful when the foe rolls god-like for purple sun and decimates the entire army.

6

Vantraxx the Thrice Cursed:

It’s under the stand and shoot section. You measure the range from the weapon with the shortest distance to determine short range.

7

Vantraxx the Thrice Cursed:

P17 under charge reactions in the movement section

8

wisetiger7:

Perfect, thanks!

Are the Deathshrieker Rockets worth it though? The mortar sounds pretty devastating. I go up against high armor/high leadership/high toughness armies a lot. Most I can get around with the usual tools, but I’ve found Nurgle WoC and DoC to be a pain, so I thought the Mortar might be a bit more ‘impactful’, if you don’t mind the pun.

9

Vantraxx the Thrice Cursed:

Deathshrieker is super cheap for what it can do. Single shot s8 d6 wounds and the reroll from the smith makes them very good for dropping large monsters but against woc and doc the s3 pancake won’t be as effective as it is on cheaper infantry blocks.

The s5 of the magma cannon and the way it lands makes it very accurate and devastating against large infantry blocks but also medium monsters and MC, MI.

Hellcannon brings alot to the table when compairing. S10 on the hole for taking out big stuff, s5 for infantry and it is unbreakable and super hard to kill so it is perfect holding a flank.

Thing is you can have 2 deathshriekers for 1 hellcannon.

I see all the warmachines as great in certain situations but bad if you get the wrong match ups. I try to fit in a deathshrieker, magma cannon and a hellcannon in each list i make now but i don’t play in a comped environment and usually 3k.