Hi there Chorf Fans,
I’ve spent the last six months building my first Chaos Dwarf army as part of an escalation league with some friends, from 500pts all the way up to 2,200pts. Now that I’ve got some finished models to show, I wanted to share what I’ve made and talk through what worked for me and why I enjoyed it. I’ve got a few more to go before I wrap this project, which I’ll add as I wrap them up too.
Army Shots
- - CHARACTERS - -
Sorceror-Prophet on Bale Taurus
Have really nothing bad to say about this model. I take a pretty bog-standard version of this chappy. Storm of Ash is so amazingly powerful that I do prefer the new Tome of Spellcraft over a Mantle of Stone here for the extra consistency. He will hold pretty much anything in place while the Bale Taurus starts taking off wounds and Daemonic Vessel is great if you get it.
Sorcerer-Prophet [475 pts]
- Darkforged weapon
- Heavy armour
- Wizard [Level 4 Wizard]
- General
- Bale Taurus
- Armour of Meteoric Iron
- Talisman of Protection
- Tome of Spellcraft
- Daemonology
Sorceror-Prophet on a Lammasu
I almost exclusively use this guy when I take my Bale Taurus rider as a Castellan. The Lammasu is a really interesting peace, which flies around roasting things with it’s sorcerous breath. The Miasma seems very good against Ogre Blades and Dwarf Kings, but I’ve not used him to that effect yet. The model is the Lost Kingdoms Lammasu, but the Rider is at 100% and the Lammasu is 80% to better fit the base and the role of the model tbh.
Orc Warboss on Wyvern
I love how this paint scheme turned out! It both looks like an Orc Warboss, but also looks like a Chaos Dwarf piece. He’s almost unkillable, especially with Storm of Ash, but you do need to be careful of challenges. A Great Weapon is all he needs to kill some of the strongest models in the game thanks to Choppa’s and Furious Charge. Don’t forget the Waaagh! on the big turn too! (I always do…)
Black Orc Warboss [354 pts]
- Great weapon
- Full plate armour
- Wyvern
- Effigy of Mork
- Trollhide Trousers
- Enchanted Shield
Hobgoblin Khan on Giant Wolf
This guy has already got himself a reputation in our play group… S7, 3 attacks w/ Backstab and S5 Thrown weapons has been so much fun to field. He eats warmachines and light cav for breakfast and washes them down with archers and crossbowman. And he’s cheap as chips! I like him for getting into the cookie jar, picking wounds of tough stuff on the way into the back lines and then combo charging with the Warboss, so he can take the challenge if needed so the big fella can slap.
Hobgoblin Khan [79 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Great weapon
- Light armour
- Shield
- Ranged weapon [Throwing weapons]
- Giant Wolf
- Obsidian Vambraces
Daemonsmith
This guy got a lot of play earlier on in the league as a backfield menace, with the Summoning and a Ruby Ring. He cancel’s out your misfires, which is really really worth it when you spend 300+ points on warmachines. Darkforge weapon is great, as you can high roll into the +2, or you can get something that might be useful to fight if needed (like Hatred or D3 wounds). He’s also a great holder of the new Arch-Lightning Rod if you’re worried about flyers!
Daemonsmith Sorcerer [135 pts]
- Darkforged weapon
- Heavy armour
- Wizard [Level 1 Wizard]
- On foot
- Arch-Lightning Rod
- Daemonology
- - CORE - -
Infernal Guard w/ Blunderbuss
I’ll be honest, I don’t play these often. But when I put them in lists, I usually arm them with blunderbusses, take the Razor Standard and put a Hellshard on the champion. They’re great to Steed of Shadows up the board and to hold an objective, but we’ve only really just started to play objectives so time will tell. The thinking is that my opponent will use a flying character to crack the bunker, eat some stand and shoot, kill the unit champ and proc the Hellshard. Static CS is 5, add any Stand and Shoot, then add maybe 1 or 2 from the Hellshard, hopefully win combat, they Give Ground at worst, you restrain and reform (if you want) into 2 ranks and blow their Flying character away. It also puts a your core tax into one big block that will probably hold out for most of the game. Always remember, Stubborn + Shieldwall!
24 Infernal Guard [510 pts]
- Hailshot blunderbuss
- Heavy armour
- Shield
- Drilled
- Deathmask (champion) [Hellshard]
- Standard bearer [Razor Standard]
- Musician
Infernal Guard w/ Fireglaives
I know Renegades removed the 1+, but I still feel obliged to take these coz it’s Chaos Dwarves right?! 10 of these guys, w/ Shields and Fireglaives is 160pts and will protect your backline well. They project dmg better than Blunderbusses and still have Stubborn + Shieldwall which gives you time to call the cavalry if you’re under threat. When available, I like to have the Hellshard champion too, who can sometimes win you the Give Ground and blow them away if you’re lucky! So solid.
10 Infernal Guard [186 pts]
- Fireglaives
- Heavy armour
- Shield
- Deathmask (champion) [Hellshard]
Black Orc Mob
Ah, the ‘indentured servants.’ These guys made out like bandits with the 1.5 FAQ changes, as they either fight in 2 ranks or have Furious Charge/Choppas. It might be the one infantry you still want to charge with? The recent FAQ’s have made me rethink them, so maybe don’t listen to me on the Motley Crew makeup. The BRRF is amazing and makes these guys hit on 3’s against most things they will fight. I like to invest big on these boys, so they can get into combat with minimal casualties and are hard to break down. Veteran stops ‘bad luck’ from losing you the game, and Stubborn is definitely worth it when using them to hold the line for my artillery. I used to use a front rank of Great Weapons, a Champion with both and then the rest shields. You get to use the save from the majority of models, so you had the 3+ against shooting and attacks back, but now with casualties specifically coming from the front rank, I’ll probably change to 3 in each row, maybe add more, I’m not sure yet… will keep you posted!
18 Black Orc Mob [365 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Full plate armour
- Stubborn
- Veteran
- 13x Shields
- 6x Great weapon
- Boss [Obsidian Lodestone]
- Standard bearer [The Big Red Raggedy Flag]
- Musician
Hobgoblin Cutthroats w/ Shortbows
Painfully hard to get these models, but I got there!! You cannot go wrong with at least 1 of these units. Kings of ‘taking that last wound’ off pretty much anything, and leading expensive units down the garden path for long enough to line up a charge myself. They’re the cheap core for capping objectives and if they die, your opponent feels good and you don’t care about losing 45pts. Win Win Win! Got a 2nd unit on the painting table as we speak!
15 Hobgoblin Cutthroats [45 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Shortbows
- - SPECIAL - -
Iron Daemon
Acquire this model, and then get the rest. Do not leave home without one. Always take Hellbound. Profit. It’s exxy, but think of it like protecting 300 victory pts behind a Terror causing 3+ save, 6+ ward and T7 heavy chariot of doom. All while firing like a Dwarf Organ gun wishes it could. This piece causes major headaches for my opponents and also gives them a ‘Feelsgoodman’ when they manage to take it down. (Damn slayers..) I think you’d need to get me pretty drunk to take the Skullcracker too. The organ gun is just too good. Also, it’s special ability means it ‘cannot march,’ but you can get the extra movement if you don’t roll a 1 and still shoot which is critical if you go first. And BS4? Chefs Kiss!
I will probably get a second to try, but I do think it verges on unfriendly or ‘too competitive’ to stack these, especially in your mates back shed…
Iron Daemon [310 pts]
- Steam Cannonade
- Hand weapons
- Hellbound
Deathshrieker Rocket Battery
Casino cannon! If it hit’s its awesome and honestly it’s good enough to give your opponent a reason to come to you. Creating the conditions (either vs massed infantry, Plague of Rust, Gathering Darkness, etc.) for the 5” template to be good makes this into a powerhouse! I’ve yet to dome a dragon with the 3” but this guys does win a lot of ‘war-marchine offs.’ D6 wounds is awesome. I have a second one on the painting shelf ready to go, but I think I will stick with one for now. Oh, and remember you don’t get Infernal Engineer if you’re in combat and he allows you to reroll either the artillery dice or the scatter dice. 
Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher [120 pts]
- Demolition Rockets
- Infernal Incendiaries
- Hand weapons
- Heavy armour
NB. Bull Centaurs (w/ Taur’rok), K’daai Fireborn & Magma Cannon are all on the painting desk too. I’m still trying to track down Sneaky Gits and Hobgoblin bolt throwers models.
- - RARE - -
Hobgoblin Wolf Riders w/ Shortbows
The unit that Dwarf players are most envious of. These guys are great, and so efficient! Firstly, they provide much needed mobility and skirmish fire around your flanks, protecting your artillery from would be first movers like Harpies, Carrion, etc. Moving 9 is out of this world good, and moving 8 if you are in a wood is still amazing. You should be able to get around the back pretty quickly and safely, just watch out for Fireballs. Really important to take the upgrades too. Because Reserve Move is ‘majority’ models it’s how you can get the khan to move, shoot, move. Also, you never want to get caught and with Ld7 on the Khan, you will find it hard to fire & flee safely w/out Feigned Flight. I’ve never seen the need to take more than 5 but you could maybe take 7 if you were concerned. Oh, and Cav spears are great for the strange skirmisher ranking up stuff that can happen when you’re long bomb charging war-marchines. And with all that, just 80pts. Sublime.
5 Hobgoblin Wolf Riders [80 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Light armour
- Shields
- Cavalry spears
- Shortbow
- Feigned Flight
- Reserve Move
Dreadquake Mortar
Here is where I assume I’ll lose some of you, but hear me out. This thing wins games! Sure, if you use magic, it can really hurt big units with the 5” template. Sure it has D6 wounds under the hole which gives it the casino cannon play too. But IMO, it’s the Quake rule that make it worth the extra points over the DSR. From forcing dwarves to foot slog 3” all game to turning off swiftstride on the Chosen or Pegasus Knights that want to get into your cookie jar, but hang a little too far back, this buys you an entire extra turn of shooting in some cases. On top of that, it slaps (for a war machine). T4 crew, 5 wounds and 3 S3 and 2 S4 attacks back means this is not getting shut down by too many warhounds units. Perhaps it’s that I’m simply playing back-shed warhammer, but I find it really hard to drop this to 2 DSR, even with saving the 60 odd points. And don’t leave home without an Ogre Loader, he’s worth it all day!
Dreadquake Mortar [185 pts]
- Dreadquake Mortar
- Hand weapons
- Heavy armour
- Ogre Loader
I hope you’ve enjoyed the perv as much as I’ve enjoyed putting them together. 