Last time we learned that Chaos Dwarf will triumphantly return to Warhammer: The Old World with their own Arcane Journal. The designers gave us a first glimpse at the new units and Armies of Infamy but left us with more questions than answers. We decided to bother them again.
Justus: When we first thought about the Arcane Journal Chaos Dwarfs we had a lot of very specific yet quite separate ideas. A unit here, a game mechanic there, a particular character we wanted to bring back. But a lose collection of unit profiles doesn’t make an Arcane Journal, it needs a certain je ne sais quoi, as the Bretonii say.
Jasko: (rolls eyes) We looked at all previous Arcane Journals and started with a meta-analysis: What makes an Arcane Journal? We have released nine so far (with Cathay on the way), and they give the players between 3 and 8 new units, plus two or three special characters. We split these numbers into the different troop types and analysed the spread. Every Arcane Journal offered around two new types of infantry, for example, and usually one new character – except for High Elves, whom we somehow gave three?!
Justus: We balanced it out with Beastmen, they didn’t get any! (pleased chuckle)
Jasko: A few Arcane Journals got new rules for character upgrades or new lores of magic, but there is not really any system behind it. With magic items we’re much more consistent: Exactly four new magic weapons, two pieces of magic armour, two talismans, four magic standards, three enchanted items and three arcane items.
Justus: Dwarfs don’t count for obvious reasons. And I only gave Tomb Kings two enchanted items. I don’t like sand. It’s course, it’s ruff and irritating … and it gets everywhere.
Jasko: (more eye rolling) Now we had a framework. The very first thing we knew would have to be featured was the Slave Army…
Justus: Penal Legion!
Jasko: What?
Justus: Penal Legion. I changed it.
Jasko: Mhmmm, I don’t know… But let’s roll with it for now. The first thing we put in place was the … Penal Legion (Justus nods). Both the army lists in White Dwarf Presents: Chaos Dwarfs as well as 6th edition’s Ravening Hordes allowed Chaos Dwarfs to field units of Orcs, Goblins, Black Orcs and Hobgoblins as part of their regular roster, while the truncated army list for the Legion of Azgorh only contained Hobgoblins. In the Grand Army list, we re-introduced Black Orcs, but we know that many fans want Orcs and Goblins back in the mix!
Justus: At this point it’s important to also take the lore into account: Chaos Dwarfs and Orcs and Goblins are not exactly allies. Chaos Dwarfs regularly subjugate Orc and Goblin tribes and let the greenskins toil in their mines and forges, or downright sacrifice them in dark rituals. And when wartime comes, they prod them into the general direction of their enemies and hope for the best. This arrangement went well enough for a couple of hundred years, until the Chaos Dwarfs decided to pursue, shall we say, extracurricular activities in genetic engineering, which led to some exciting discoveries in the field of eugenics. The result was the Black Orcs, larger and stronger Orcs but without the pesky attributes which make them so unreliable. Black Orcs are smart and organised and professional. The only problem was that the experiment was too successful. The Black Orcs started looking around and asked themselves why they weren’t in charge of the whole operation. They stirred the other greenskins into a revolt and nearly toppled the Chaos Dwarf empire!
Jasko: And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling Hobgoblins! This greenskin subspecies really puts the “treacherous” in filthy treacherous greenskin. They realised that they would have a better life at the top of the food chain of the slaves in Chaos Dwarf society than at the bottom of the Orc & Goblin tribes. But where does that all leave us in regards of the Penal Legion?
Justus: At the time of the Old World, the Black Orc revolt has already happened. That’s why you can find Black Orcs in Orcs & Goblins armies. But there are still some Black Orcs under the control of the Chaos Dwarfs. In a Grand Army, their independent nature is held in check by the Chaos Dwarfs. But in a Penal Legion, Chaos Dwarfs would be very mindful not to let a Black Orc have too much influence. You wouldn’t find a mighty Warboss attached to a Penal Legion, much too dangerous! The Black Orc mob moved to the rare slot too, as the core of Penal Legions are made of Chaos Dwarfs or Hobgoblins, who function as kind of overseers within Chaos Dwarf society. The actual slave troops are found in the mercenaries section, where you can spend a hefty 50% of your points allowance. We looked at all the others armies and looked for units which would make sense here. Orcs and Goblins were a given, but Chaos Dwarfs are also known to utilise human slaves. We took units from both the Empire as well as Chaos Marauders to represent various sources for human troops. We generally stayed away from elite troops, we wouldn’t expect those poor souls toiling away in captivity to be particularly well fed or equipped. That’s also why they are not allowed champions or standards. Only musicians, as those will be needed to set the rhythm in the pits.
Jasko: In previous editions of Warhammer Fantasy these troops were just part of the roster, but that never set quite right with us. Mercenaries in Warhammer: The Old World were the perfect framework for us! The interaction of regular troops and mercenaries naturally reflects the uneasy nature between those two. The mechanic for misbehaving mercenaries makes it all even better. If a slave forced into battle is not a misbehaving mercenary, I don’t know what is! What’s more, they would all automatically fail their test and roll a 6 on the table. The line “[they] do not appear to be especially invested in their employer’s cause.” couldn’t be a better fit.
Justus: We now had added a whole bunch of very unreliable units to the army list while debuffing one of the best choices in the Grand Army. And we didn’t stop there! Armies of Infamy are all about presenting a different playstyle and completely change how familiar armies look, so we also took away Sorcerer-Prophets, who wouldn’t be seen in such a ragtag force! Same goes for the mighty Bull Centaurs and all the Chaos Dwarf war machines. Basically everything which isn’t a slave, a Hobgoblin or a Chaos Dwarf making sure the army fights the right enemy. Now we needed to make this army interesting to play!
Jasko: The first new unit for the Arcane Journal is the Chaos Dwarf Overseer. Overseers are particularly brutal fellows tasked with keeping production in the mines at peak efficiency. They feel equally at home on a battlefield and use their whips with just the same enthusiasm against their enemies. Their most valuable quality is keeping the slave troops in line with their Back in Line! special rule.
Back in Line!
The beaten masses toiling way in the mines and pits of the Chaos Dwarfs fear the whips of their cruel masters more than any foe on the battlefield.
Unless it’s fleeing, friendly units with the Mercenaries and/or Levies special rules within its Command range can use this model’s Leadership characteristic instead of their own. Additionally, if it is your army’s Battle Standard Bearer and is not fleeing, friendly units with the Mercenaries and/or Levies special rules within its Command range may use the Hold your Ground special rule as normal.
Justus: Some Overseers continue to rise through the ranks of Chaos Dwarf society and become Senechals or even Castellans, and you can field those individuals in your Penal Legion too. As it turns out, the bravest Human, Orc or Goblin is one who’s pushed into battle by a Chaos Dwarf with a whip.
Jasko: As we looked at the Penal Legion army list, we realized that we could sneak in a skeleton force for the Hobgoblin Khanate. Yet we did not want to add too many Hobgoblin units to the Arcane Journal as to not shift the balance too far away Chaos Dwarfs. And while a Hobgoblin shaman or some kind of beast or chariot would have been great fun to design, in the end we turned to the treasure trove that is our vast model collection and dug out a very special unit. Oglah Khan’s Wolfboys!
Justus: Oglah Khan’s Wolfsboys are the quintessential Hobgoblin Khanate unit, and now they have the rules on the battlefield to match! They are an upgrade for a single unit of Hobgoblin Wolf Riders in a Chaos Dwarf army but can also be a Regiment of Renown in many others.
Jasko: We are huge fans of the Dogs of War from 5th edition and could not keep our excitement in check when we decided to bring the first of these famous regiments back to life in Warhammer: The Old World. Something tells me the Wolfboys won’t be the last one. (ominous eye contact with Justus)
Justus: That token Hobgoblin Khanate army suddenly got a whole lot punchier! But with only Hobgoblin Khans to lead them it still was lacking in leadership.
Jasko: We toyed around with a Hobgoblin Great Khan as a new generic character, but it wasn’t a good fit with any other army besides a Hobgoblin Khanate subfaction within a Penal Legion. Finally, we found what we were looking for in our first named character.
Justus: Named characters were always an integral part of Warhammer Fantasy. Mighty heroes of legend, whose names are known far beyond their own domains. They usually have unique and powerful items and special rules which ideally cannot be built with the generic versions of the characters. The trick lies in balancing them out.
Jasko: We looked briefly at Ghazak Khan, whose fantastic model alone made him a worthy pick for sure. But in the end, he’s just too much of a Khanate model and has no business being a named character in a Chaos Dwarf Arcane Journal. He will get his time to shine in a Hobgoblin Khanate Arcane Journal. Or perhaps when we look more to a peninsula in the west…
Justus: But there is another famous Hobgoblin Khan, one who has been closer aligned with the Chaos Dwarfs: Gorduz Backstabber!
Jasko: Now here we have someone who always irritated me a bit – he’s named Backstabber, yet he carries axe and shield. Doesn’t seem he’s doing much backstabbing, at least not on the tabletop. Warhammer: The Old World was the perfect occasion to remedy this!
Justus: Not every named character from the heydays of 4th edition necessarily was alive at the same time. Just look at Azhag the Slaughterer. And since we never knew when Gorduz Backstabber lived, he might as well have during the time of Warhammer: The Old World! That gave us a great canvas to work on. We kept his infamous survivability with Fated…Lucky…Sneaky and the option to be mounted on a giant wolf (what a great coincidence!) but otherwise reimagined him as a Sneaky Git, which much better fits his moniker. He now has the profile you would expect from something akin to a Hobgoblin Great Khan and he even makes a unit of Sneaky Gits better! He’s a great choice to lead your Hobgoblin Khanate army.
Fated…Lucky…Sneaky
Gorduz Backstabber has an enduring talent for survival.
Once Gorduz Backstabber is reduced to his last Wound, he gains Ward save (3+) against any further wounds suffered.
Jasko: Now, we had written an army list featuring all those classic troops fans of the old mix-and-match Chaos Dwarf players were yearning for and we even made it possible to field a Hobgoblin Khanate force. But would this army be fun to play? Would it be able to go toe to toe with other armies? We weren’t so sure. Something was missing. Something which would really utilize all those mercenary units beyond just having more variety on the table.
Justus: Chaos Dwarfs had a few very distinct iterations through the years and we had the goal to have something for everyone in their Arcane Journal. The Altar of Hashut is a somewhat new addition to the roster and could not be found in previous army lists, it was only mentioned in some obscure text of unknown origins (another ominous eye contact). On first glance, the Altar of Hashut is a mix of the Casket of Souls and the Anvil of Doom, but of a far more sinister provenance. Chaos Dwarfs not only use their unpaid labourers to work in the mines, they actually sacrifice them to fuel their dark rituals and gain Hashut’s favour. And with lots of those involuntary mercenaries on the table, you can do exactly that!
Jasko: There must always be a balance between cost and effect for any unit. If something is very powerful, there either has to be some drawback in terms of special rules, or a high points cost. For the Altar of Hashut we leaned into the nature of sacrifices. In its basic state it’s pretty weak but can become quite powerful, if you dare. Hashut favours the bold!
Justus: Now we had a really interesting first army of infamy, an army that looks and plays significantly different from the grand army but still feels undeniably chaos dwarf. It’s a great opportunity for any players with a wide selection of models and tactically can be adopted to any play style. But you’re also missing some of the more powerful units in the roster, so beware!
Jasko: We were even able to sneak in another kind of specialist army with a small Hobgoblin contingent, something we know many people have asked for.
This is all for today’s Almanack. We left a cup of tea and some biscuits with the guys and will return in due time to hear everything there is about the second army of infamy and the other half of the new units. As we locked the doors to their sanctuary, Justus was making some weird choo-choo noises that made us feel a bit uncomfortable…
