Post by Saynt on May 18, 2015 3:07:45 GMT
I do not claim credit for any of the AotW thread, that honor goes to the original authors from the en-forums on Rackham's old website.
This one is from forum member Drimdal:
So a week ago I suddenly got a PM from Capt. Krill. He asked if I couldn’t do an AoTW for Tir-Na-Bor. Off course I accepted and immediately started writing.
It wasn’t until I saw his AoTW about Goblins I realised that I had misinterpreted the assignment.
I thought I had to write up a decent 400 AP force explaining troop choice, various tactics etc.
Instead he covered each and every troop in the Goblin army and suddenly I faced the fact I had to write my Dwarven treatise again but now for C3.
Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed but as I agreed to do it I started again.
This document will cover the following chapters :
1. Tir-Na-Bor, a general overview
2. Characters
3. Troops
4. Fortresses & clans
5. spells, miracles & artefacts
6. sample armies
Before I start with chapter one I would like to say a couple more words. When I first joined this forum not to many people were playing Tir-Na-Bor. To remedy this I wrote the dwarven treatise. Now the dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor are well represented with many players here on the forum. Unfortunately they still are not played a lot on tourneys and are certainly not winning a lot of them. I hope this document helps people in gaining a bit more insight in our little guys and ensure that next time they take a top 3 position in a tourney.
Last but not least I wish to thank many of our dwarven players here on the board for there valuable insight and posts. I’m not using names as I would certainly miss out on one or two excellent people who have helped shape this document with their precious advice.
1. Tir-Na-Bor a general overview
Ever since the first miniatures were released the dwarves of the Aegis mountains haven’t changed much. They are perfect examples of the old adage ‘haste makes waste’.
With low movement and initiative they usually get beaten on a lot before having the chance to strike back.
However they have 2 points in which they really shine: Resilience and Discipline. Slowly but surely I’ll show how these 2 strong points can turn the tide of battle in your favour.
Some numbers: We have 24 characters of which 6 are mages and 1 is a faithful, to compliment this we have 42 troop types. 11 of those are cavalry, this is more then any other army out there.
Our lowest resistance is 3 and the highest is 20 (which outshines even the Tarascus and great Wyrm).
Out of 66 different troops we have 28 with a resistance of 8 or higher. As the racial ability hard-boiled gives an essential +2 to resistance with straight up damage rolls this means 42% of your army has 10 or more resistance. Talking about hard to kill.
Before discussing individual troops a last word about steam.23 troops have straight up steam equipment. 2 fortresses can give steam equipment and the clan can also give it to some troops. So it’s important to know how to use it. Steam can boost Movement, strength and fear by a D6. Sounds like some free mutagenic for your troops? Forget it. Steam has some distinctive advantages and disadvantages
-RULE NUMBER 1 : you do NOT have to use steam. Only use it when it is needed.
-then of course know there is always 1 chance in 6 something goes wrong. Even if you don’t explode chances are great you won’t be able to use the steam equipment for the rest of the battle and have an overcosted model on the battlefield.
-Always remember you can’t boost a stat to more then double the original stat. So if you have a fear of 4 the max is 8.
-Also remember that you have to throw for steam before every roll. So if you attack your target three times and want to use steam you will have to roll before each attack.
Dwarfs also have numerous spells, a miracle and a troop type or two to help with steam.
When you use steam just be aware of the risks. It’s no problem that your forge guardian of 14 points blows up while his other two buddies manage to get some str 10 hits at an elite unit of your opponent but it is a big deal if your 100+AP char explodes because of a bad roll.
2. Characters
Regular
• Brognir, Defender of the Plaines 46 AP
• Pillgrim the one-eyed 46 AP
Two very nice cheap characters and leaders. With a disc of 7 of leadership they can take command of your group. I usually prefer Brognir because of the higher point of RES. For the moment they don’t see much play in a competitive environment because of 80AP char min. If this is adapted to 15% in 2007 they might see some more play with an artefact in their hands to boost them up to 60 AP. If you field them a war-staff is almost a must to get to that nice DIS of 9.
• Nerak the bold 67 AP
The odd man out. With his crossbow, scout and a good aim he can really sneak up on the enemy and wound some crucial units. Unfortunately a str 5 shot isn’t that impressive and the rest of stats are average at best. His artefact is not of much use anymore in C3 as he has the innate ability to take a second shot.
• Lor-Arkhon the deranged 72AP
Our second shooter character. This time with a different approach. Instead of going for precision he is going for pure strength. Again his artefact that allows him to shoot twice is diminished in C3 because he already can. His combat stats are really low and he is vulnerable to scouts. If you can keep him out of combat he can however devastate both your enemies’ troops and his plans because he just can’t be ignored. I advice to always use an armourer to boost his AIM with 1 thanks to the eye of ley
• Aegher the short 84 AP
Waste of points, Never ever bother using him. Rackham recognized this and put out a second incarnation of him which is really good. If you want a reason just look at his STR and RES. For those points you want someone who can actually survive being hit. His artefact is like the worst in confrontation history and shouldn’t ever be used no matter the incarnation used.
• Bhor-Hok the leader 84AP
Same as the previous. Sure he has more STR and a very nice artefact but once again he can’t take a hit and has no abilities whatsoever to help him in combat.
Veteran
• Kahinir the savage 48 AP
Nice little fighter. Although he isn’t a leader like Brognier or Pilgrim he is a better fighter. If you are in no need for the leadership take him. He has an initiative of three which is unheard of for dwarves and will probably surprise your opponent. His masterstrike/5 makes his blows feared by even the highest of RES.
His artefact is nice because it can be used by any dwarf. If you fight an army with low res (kelts, gobs this the weapon of choice as it will automatically kill them)
Special
• Kahinir, Dwarven armourer - 2nde Inc.69 AP
Now we start talking. Although he still isn’t a leader he has impressive combat stats and a respectable DIS of 8. The fact that he is an armourer and can also upgrade your troops is just icing on the cake. For 69 points this is a bargain.
• Aegher the short - 2nde Inc.129 AP
As said before the second incarnation of this guy is just so much better. For a50% increase in cost you gain a lot. With a res of 10, steam equipment on mov, sr and fear, the abilites war-horse and brutish charge and to top it off leadership this guy is made to lead your army. Just be careful as he is a lot of points and you don’t want to see him blow up due to a steam accident.
Elite
• Kal-Nur, Khor warrior 60 AP
Made to be a leader in Rag’narok this guy is a bit overpriced for confrontation. My advice : keep him for Rag’narok.
• Pilzenbhir, defender of the plaines 90 AP
Although he lacks leadership his discipline of 9 is more then enough to command an army. Thanks to his defence of 7 and ambidextrous he is a very dangerous opponent. His str of 10 is nothing to laugh at either and beware the opponent that underestimates him.
• Pilzenbhir, Defender of the plaines - 2nde Inc.105 AP
The second incarnation has some small upgrades for 15 points. Bravery helps against those pesky ones when rolling for courage and an extra point of RES helps him survive.
His attack is also up by one. Combined with bravery this means he is almost unblockable when going all-out. Be careful and don’t forget he has ambidexterity to both defend and attack. Although his swords do not come cheap (18 AP) they give him regeneration making sure he stays around a bit longer.
• Lothan, the beast of steel 107 AP
Comparable to Pilzenbhir there are still a couple of minor changes. He has a heavy hitting short range weapon. Because he is a char he can perform assault fire. Combined with a MOV that can be pumped with steam and the skill brutish charge and you see that this guy is meant to charge as quickly as possible. His discipline is a bit lower but still good. His str is two points lower. Yes you can boost it by a D6 thanks to steam but again be careful with such an expensive char. You can protect him but that means an additional investment of points.
• Kaël the Irascible 124 AP
Kaël compares to Aegher just as Lothan did to Pilzenbhir. One uses steam while the other has straight up stats. Kaël has better DIS, REs, STR and DEF but he loses out on the war-horse ability and the possibility to augment with steam. Which one is better ? I’ll just leave that up to personal taste.
• Kaël the Irascible - 2nde Inc.150 AP
Another 2nd incarnation that is a vast improvement. This however comes at a price. For 150 points he is a considerable investment of your army. Heightened ATT and STR is nice, especially his STR of 12 when charging. With also another point of COU and DIS and Commandment/20 he is the best leader we have (except for a living legend).
If you field him consider the additional investment of an artefact that gives him cure/4 or 5 to prevent a lucky hit from decimating your army.
• Hirh-Karn the enraged 157 AP
This one is a killer. 157 points of raw muscle. Put him in a combat and watch him tear the opposition apart. The problem is that for that many points he only has MOV of 7,5 and ain’t going anywhere fast. He is easily tied up by cheaper units and has a hard time getting his points back.
Try using him with the primagic spell forced march (to make him walk twice in a round) and/or principle of inertia (+2,5cm mov) fielding alithomancer and giving him the box with cruel will (full mov follow-up) is also a good way to keep him in combat.
Living Legend
• Tan-Kaïr, the first of Fom-Nur 250 AP
Let’s be short here. This guy doesn’t belong in confrontation. He is good yes. He has very nice stats and good artefacts but he is hardly the best Living legend out there. He excels as a commander where his DIS of 12 and commandment/30 really shine. Combined with the ability to give an attack or defence bonus to the rest of your army and the fact that regulars all gain reinforcement make shim more a team player and reserved for very large games of probably Rag’narok.
Editor’s note: now come the various mages. Specific spells are discussed later on.
Initiate
• Bâl-Torg the Ancient 39 AP
The first of the mages we ever received and not a good one at that. His stats are low and he has an all-time low for a non-warrior mage. Yes he is cheap but you usually want to invest a bit more points to get a decent mage. The only thing worth mentioning is his artefact. For 8 points it gives a nice boost to the strength of your mage
• Fenggar iron hand 46 AP
He also suffers from a very low power rating (3) and his stats are just as bad.. The only advantage he had was that he was a forge mage that could actually cat a couple of spells to protect and enhance your steam. Now we have more possibilities at our disposal and he is mostly overlooked for better choices. He might work if you want to play the BoB theme and don’t have enough points for his second incarnation.
Adept
• Bâl-Torg the ancient - 2nde Inc. 52 AP
For 13 more points his stats are exactly the same as his first incarnation. The main difference is another point of power, another element mastered, a path of magic known and becoming an adept. This actually makes him a cheap little adept with a lot of versatility. He is also our only access to fire spells. His DIS of 7 is good enough to even command your army.
• Magnus lthe Mystical 68 AP
For 69 points he brings a lot to the table. A discipline of 9, a power rating of 5 and stats that are not to bad except for resistance. So be careful and don’t let him get caught up in combat. Unfortunately now the spell packs are no longer valid the list of spells that are useful for him is not that long.
• Kûlzarak, Dwarven Alchimist 82 AP
82 points is a lot to invest in a non warrior character. Especially because you still have to buy spells and artefacts for him. But this guy is worth it. Thanks to his leadership/10 and DIS 8 he can be a very good commander. His POW of 6 is the highest we have so far and he has access to a wide variety of spells.
• Fenggar the fist of bronze - 2nde Inc. 89 AP
Altough he lacks the commandment of Kûlzarak and has only a power rating of 4. Fengarr still can lead your army thanks to his high DIS of 8 and authority. He also has impressive combat stats for a mage and can be used as frontline warrior. This good as it will keep him with the rest of your force and even short range spells can be effective. He is also the best forge mage available and can easily influence steam results to turn the tide of battle in your favour.
Devout
• Elghir the resolved 30 AP
The only character priest we have and he doesn’t do a good job. With bad² combat stats and the fact he can’t run and call a miracle in the same round he is just not good enough. His only saving grace is his artefact. If you don’t play scenarios but a straight up battle where you can keep your troops together his healing cauldron can be a livesaver.
3. Troops
Irregular
• Mechanical Familier 16 AP
A little guy with one specific function: To help prevent steam explosions. His stats are really bad and since he doesn’t prevent failures but only lessens the impact the failures have you can usually use these points for a spell that is more effective in protecting against steam. Especially because the familiar has to stay next to the target while a spell can be cast at range.
Regular
• Boor with axe 9 AP
• Boor with hammer 9 AP
• Boor with pick hammer 10 AP
• Soldier of the plaines 11 AP
Four almost identical troops. The only difference is their strength. For each additional AP you spent it increases by one. But even at 11 AP they only have STR 6. Taking into account they usually take a hit first you will probably hit with a max of STR 5. Thanks to Hard Boiled they have an effective RES of 6. If you need tie up models with no other expectations take the 9 point version. If you want a model that has a slightly better chance to strike back take the 11 point. The 11 point version can also drop it’s STR by 2 to take a +1 in INI. This is a waste as the slight increase almost never helps but the decrease in STR is a great loss.
• Forge guard 14 AP
For all intents and purposes I consider these the first standard troops. Not to expensive and thanks to a STR of 6+d6 they can even dent the bigger guys on the board. The rest of their stats are not impressive but hey what do you expect for these points.
• Dwarf musician 14 AP
• Dwarf standard bearer 14 AP
• Musician of the plaines 15 AP
• Standard bearer of the plaines 15 AP
They are only useful if you have a character with leadership on the field. I usually start taking the 15 point version and end up downgrading one or both to the 14 point version to free up some points.
• Dwarf with crossbow 15 AP
• Dwarf blunderbuss wielders 18 AP
2 very similar shooters. They have almost the exact same stats except that the blunderbuss had a +1 in RES and can pump the str of his shot with steam. This allows for shot of a STR between 7 and 10 which is very impressive. However their lack of range and low movement seriously hamper their effectiveness. Also don’t forget that if you throw a1 on a shooting roll you don’t only suffer an accident but the shot is also cancelled.
• Boor on Razorback 16 AP
• Young dwarf on Razorback19 AP
I’m actually only discussing the first here because the second is such a limited figure that you will almost never encounter it. The boor on razorback is the fastest unit we have. With a MOV of 17,5 cm it is a very cheap way to conquer objectives. But his large size and RES of 3 make it a easy target for enemy ranged fire. Keep him back and use him to conquer objectives in the last turns or charge into existing combat to give charge penalties to the other side and a +1 INI bonus to your side.
• Dwarf Bombardier38 AP
One of the most controversial units we have. It has such a huge potential that it would be a mistake to outright discard. The chance to realise this potential is however not always easy. With a range of 30-60-90 and a STR of 10+2D6 nothing is really safe. Be aware that if you use steam you have to roll both dice and the chance of rolling a one are 33% thereby cancelling your shot. With an aim of 1 you also are not likely to hit anything beyond short range.
What can you do ? improve his aim thanks to the armourer, shoot at targets where you know that if you miss one or two other models are also in the path and can be hit because of the artillery rules. Don’t use your steam unless necessary, str 10 is good enough. Cast a protection of Uren miracle on it first turn so it will ignore the first one you roll. Mystical galvanisation and warrior of the earth can both boost aim with another point.
Veteran
• Veteran of the plains 14 AP
This profile is worthless. They lack the +2 str option nd have the ability counter-attack which is nearly useless because of their low defence. Now if they had an option to increase DEF by 1 it might have been worth it.
• Veteran forge guard 19 AP
For 5 extra points you gain an extra point of ATT, RES and fanaticism. All very useful upgrades but paying 5 points extra for your basic troops is a lot. Res they will hit harder and more often but usually you want to take 3 normal ones (42 AP) vs 2 of these (38 AP)
They might however be worth it if you play the fortress Kâ-In-Ar. As they already belong to it you save an additional point.
• Dwarf Escort 23 AP
Worthless. It has slightly worse stats as a khor warrior and is 2 points more expensive. This is meant for mercenary warbands and not for Dwarven armies.
Creatures
• Uren’s son 69 AP
Our big hitter. The first thing we notice is that he lacks a way to obtain 3 combat dice which puts him at a disadvantage against other heavy hitters. He does however make more then up for it with his stats. A good ATT&DEF a high RES (10+HB) and an incredible STR. He has 12+D6 STR combined with masterstrike/2 this is by far one of the deadliest creatures to walk the lands of Aarklash. The fact that he has Uren in his name means the provost can protect him from steam accidents. Brutal and hard-boiled means he will always give charge penalties and rarely have them himself. His high move is also a great boon to any dwarf army.
• Mountain warrior 159 AP
First of the great creatures he is a bit diminished in C3, lacking his special shield capacity and his wound reduction. His natural RES of 16 keeps him safe against most and his status as enormous protects him from a lucky double 6. With a INI of 3 he is however vulnerable to masterstriking/ high STR units of your opponent ( knights of alahan, cannons, masterstriking giant barbarians, etc) he is al lot of points and usually has a hard time earning them all back if your opponent is clever. The look on their faces when you start deploying this big bad buddy however is what makes it worth deploying him once every while.
Special
• Dwarven armourer 27 AP
One of the must include troops we have. His special ability to increase str while charging for cavalry or aim on your ranged troops means he is just to good to pass up. He also has a great DIS to perform the duty as a back-up commander for your army. The only thing he lacks is a decent STR. Putting him in a fortress where you can give him steam-equipment greatly enhances his performances.
• Black-blood Automaton 37 AP
Extremely limited because they are only playable in the fortress of Lor-An-Kor. They posses a RES of only 7 and no hard boiled. They however have a high STR (8) and the for Tir-Na-Bor unique ability of assassin. They also posses a normal move. I haven’t personally used them but that’s because I don’t like the fortress and they are not good enough to convince me to take it.
• Dwarf chariot (with Balista) 170 AP
• Dwarf chariot (with Canon) 190 AP
The great tank with an amazing RES of 20 and 8 structure points. This is THE hardest to kill unit in the entire game. You can’t however use it in any tournament and it mostly reserved for Rag’narok. When you do decide to play it just warn your opponent so he can take it into account. It is considered rude not doing so.
Elite
• Khor warrior (2-h sword) 21 AP
• Khor warrior (sword+shield) 21 AP
Another of those to great to be true troops. For 21 AP you have the cheapest high RES troop in the game. With a 10RES+HB you can hold up almost any troop, even if they are 2 to 3 times as expensive. The trade off is that you lacking hitting power with a STR of 5.
The other profile has a STR of 7 which is respectable and still has RES 8+HB. I like to think of this as the better all-round profile and use the other only if I need blockers.
• Thermo-warrior 32 AP
• Thermo-warrior of Uren 32 AP
2 almost identical units. The normal thermo warrior has point of STR and DEF more but loses one in ATT. The advantage is that you can use him anywhere.
The Uren variety has the advantage that he can be protected by a provost of Uren nearby against steam accidents but is bound to the Brother of Bronze clan and can’t be used in another fortress. Usually I like to think that 32 points is to much to throw away a unit and choose the Uren variety so I can protect it with a provost.
• Khor on Razorback 36 AP
• Khor on assault Razorback 39 AP
Dwarven heavy cavalry. The first profile looks like an upgraded khor knight with 2-h weapons. For 36 points you have a MOV of 15, RES of 12+HB and a DEF of 6. Again a perfect tie-up unit. Being able to tie up the much more expensive lion cavalry and/or other big beasties/chars. However they also lack offensive power (STR 5) which is a real shame for 36 points.
The khor on assault razorback slightly improves this. He loses out on 2 RES but gain a point of STR and brutish charge. Combined with a breastplate of the titan from an armourer he can pull off some impressive charges. However after the charge it is all over for him and he gets bogged down in combat pretty fast.
• Hunter on Razorback 39 AP
A much more offensive profile thanks to a STR of 8 and masterstrike. Beware of it’s relative low RES (5+HB). He can also only be used in unaffiliated lists or the fortress of Naël-Tarn. This is not a bad thing as it means you will save another 2 points if you want to use that fortress and the fierce you can give him there makes him into a terrifying unit.
• Khor knight of Uren (1) 55 AP
• Khor knight of Uren (2) 55 AP
• Khor knight of Uren (3) 55 AP
Three profiles that are the same yet so different. They all have the same basic stats as the khor on assault razorback and essentially have the same abilities. So what is so different for these guys. So what makes these guys so different ? Three little words : steam, steam, steam. That’s right they have three pieces of steam equipment. They can boost their movement, their strength and instead of courage they cause fear which can be boosted.
They also have this little rule that if they charge the steam increase for movement becomes a bonus to your STR. You then can not roll for steam/STR that round. This is great as it means you will only have to roll once to increase both your MOV and the STR of all your attacks which greatly reduces the risks of an accident. Especially because the boost in MOV happens before they move along which means a provost of Uren can be close by to help avoid accidents.
Both the bestial charge and the war-horse profile have their advantages depending on the type of force you play. The resolution/2 profile remains largely unused. It is nice if you know you are facing an opponent who has troops with a great defence and you want to break through that.
• Khor musician on razorback 58 AP
• Khor standard bearer on Razorback 58 AP
To expensive for Confrontation. They are great in Rag’narok where they can form a mounted war-staff and break the 50AP barrier. But in a skirmish game they have no place.
Initiate
• Lithomancer of Tir-Nâ-Bor 28 AP
Although his spell selection has been diminished in C3 he still is a great guy to take. His combat stats are pretty good and he has this nifty special ability that allows him to take a free spell and put in a jewel box. He can keep this box and give it anybody else. They can then cast the spell on a 3+, afterwards throw another d6 on a 3+ they can try again next round. In the spell selection chapter we will show just which cool spells there are for this guy. Definitely worth every point.
• Thermo-priest (Lance) 39 AP
• Thermo-priest (warhammer) 39 AP
• Thermo-priest of Uren 42 AP
Three versions of the same priest. I’ll start with the warhammer version as he has almost the same stats as the thermo warrior. For 7 more points you gain a point of IN and FEAR, loses a point of DIS and brutal but also gains the warrior mage ability which allows some nifty tricks. With a POW of 1 you don’t have to count on him to cast many spells. Almost every spell out there is just to hard to cast and at best will be called once every two turns.
The lance version drops a point of RES and FEAR but gains 2 STR. This makes it one the hardest hitting troops we have (9+D6).
The third version has the lowest stats but is till a respectable combatant. He does have however a POW of 2 which allows him to actually cast some forge spells to enhance/protect a steam force. The fact that he is of Uren also means a provost can protect him from steam accidents.
• Thermo-priest on Razorback 65 AP
For 10 points more then a khor knight you lose a lot. A point of ATT, FEAR, brutal and the third variable ability (war-horse, resolution, brutish charge) in exchange his STR increases to 9, gains a point of INI and also has the warrior-mage ability. Unfortunately he also has a POW of 1 so he can hardly cast any spells. Unless you bind him to a fortress to increase his POW he isn’t worth the points IMHO.
Devout
• Provost of Uren 27 AP
Last but not least we have the provost. He is the one fig that is almost required in every serious steam force. His combat stats are not that great but also not really bad. His special ability to boost his courage means he will almost never run away as long as a couple of other dwarfs stay nearby.
His real str lies in two things. First is a miracle to protect you from steam accidents (see chapter 5) second is his innate ability to protect those ‘of Uren’ he allows them to re-roll the steam dice if they come up a one. This is THE single best ability we have to protect our steam troops and it greatly increases the usefulness of troops with words ‘of Uren’ in it.
4. Fortresses and Clans
• Fom-Nur
The fortress of Tan-Kaïr : for 2 points a piece your entire army gains Bravery. Could be useful to resist fear and up the attack values a bit. The ones that already have don’t even have to pay a thing to join.
Unfortunately the solo’s are not really worth it. Unless you know up front you are facing the Dwarves of Mid-nor in which case the solo/Demonkiller is nice.
Off course there is now also the new solo for everyone who is a khor warrior were they can gain desperate for 2 points. Although this is okay it still not making it worthwhile for taking the fortress.
• Kâ-In-Ar
A fortress with a cheap cost. For only one point per troop you can re-roll one die every turn. This is very nice if you have a small army force with a couple of high priced troop.
The solos are a bit better but very restricted. The first solo can ONLY be given to Elghir for the moment. The second AND third is a nice way to boost some troops but can’t be given to anybody with steam, khor equipment or who is not small. This means less then 1/3 off your force can use them. That’s a pity because both are actually pretty good to boost and tailor your army.
A new fourth one has appeared. Keeping in tradition with the others it can only be given to khor warriors. It is however a nice one because handing out mastrike.2 for 3 points is pretty good
• Kal-Nam
This is a tricky fortress. For 1 point per troop type you have the option of holding a part of your force in reserve and let them enter on any edge of the battlefield in later turns. This is a nice way to win some scenarios and to work around the speed disadvantage.
The solos both require some expertise as well and rely heavy on your magicians. The Soul of Alphax allows you to give concentration/1 (INI,ATT, DEF) to your troops which can be boosted up to 3 thanks to TF or mana gems.
The second always two magicians with this solo to exchange gems. A nice way for a low warrior-mage to hand over his gems to a more powerful mage so he cast more and bigger spells.
• Kar-An-Tyr
A nice fortress to hand out some steam equipment or personalise and upgrade it. Unfortunately it doesn’t count for large troops who do have to pay the 1 point to join
The solo’s here are very nice. It always you to give the forge path to mages who don’t have it or increase the POW of those that do have it .this makes a couple of warrior mages a lot more useful (thermo-priest on razorback) and allows a mage like Bal-Torg (who is cheap) to fully control a steam force.
The second solo is just as good. It gives either the ‘Of Uren’ attribute to troops or if they already have it, it gives feal/1. This way you can either control a lot more troops with the provost of Uren or generate some additional TF to call upon miracles.
• Lor-An-Kor
Lor-An-Kor is nice because it is free to join the fortress and allows you to access the black-blood constructs. That’s actually about all the nice things I can say about it. The two solo’s are too expensive and useless.
• Naël-Tarn
Another expensive fortress as you have to pay 2 AP for each model. In a 400 AP army it means you can choose two models each turn that get the fierce ability. Also when they use it they count as only light wounded. This sounds very nice and is especially good to a)make sure opponents can not make pursuit movements b)if a heavy hitter is about to die to make sure he stays in the game until the end of turn and deals out some serious damage in return.
The solo’s are once again not that great (starting to see a pattern here). The solo to break away by force no matter the size op the opponent might be nice but with a MOV of 7,5 cm where are you going to run to. There might be situations were it is useful but they are rare.
The other is nice but very limited as it can only be handed out to a couple of characters. Putting it on Pilzenbhir is a good way to make sure he keeps up with the big guns (khor on razorback, khor knight, son of Uren) and deals out some serious damage. The backdraw is that you can only use it once and it costs 6AP.
• Ogh-Hen-Kir
For 2 AP for each troop you can keep 4 extra reserve cards (in a 400 AP army) that’s a pretty good way to control the flow of battle but is usually only good during set-up and round 1. Afterwards you mostly want to go first to get some charges in.
The explosive arrow solo is expensive (5AP) for a one shot trick but might be nice if playing against a swarm army with lots of models on the board.
The other was a good way to increase the POW of your lithomancer or te make sure other mages could cast these spells but as the spell selection isn’t very broad (4 available spells) it just isn’t worth it.
• The brotherhood of bronze
Finally we come to the brotherhood. For this I advice you to pick up Cry Havoc 3 as it contains all the rules you need.
Not every dwarf can join this. Only those that already have steam-equipment, provosts & armourers. They have to pay 5 extra AP and gain steam/STR equipment this is already a very nice ability. The fact that he can give a steam mask is very nice if given to somebody with high courage and movement (Son of Uren is the best example here)
You then have the option have upgrading the bombardier to zone artillery instead of piercing. If you know you come up against a swarm army this might be useful.
If you manage to include two characters in a 400 AP army you get the clan bonus which means getting a +1 to all steam results. This does usually leave you with few numbers and sometimes it’s better not to go for this bonus but for more figs. It is however achievable in a 300 AP (only one needed) and 500 AP (still only two) army.
One word of warning here: Although it is possible to include the four characters from the brotherhood of bronze in other fortresses (under another name and without their special artefacts) it is NOT possible to include other characters in the BoB
5. Spells, Miracles and Artefacts
Spells :
There are many spells available and it useless to discuss all of them. Instead I have chosen to look over the most important ones.
First let’s take a look at forge spells to protect and enhance your steam bearing troops :
• Thermo-destruction(8 AP) is a spell greatly weakened but with its uses. When one of your expendable troops is greatly wounded it is often more useful to blow him up and try to damage the enemy in the process. This also deprives him from a follow-up movement. It’s diff of 7 and 2 gem cost means however that our warrior mages have a hard time calling it
• Thermo-compression(6 AP) is cheap and easy to cast. It does however increase the cost of those you wish to protect with 5. It is nice to put on important characters that cannot benefit from the provost’s protection.
• Transfer of pression(4 AP) is probably my favourite spell. It is very cheap (4AP) and can be used to greatly enhance steam troops. It shut down the magicians own steam and doubles the effectiveness of the targets. The range is great (25cm) and it can be prolonged to a next turn by spending a single gem. It’s frequency of 2 allows the mage to shut down his equipment to boost two other warriors. Ideal candidates for this are the son of Uren and the khor knight of Uren (because they are both of Uren a provost can protect them). If you equip the son of Uren with a steam mask (in the BoB) he has an effective fear of 8+2d6. Nobody can resist this.
Now a couple of lithomancie spells :
• The diamond’s soul(11 AP) is probably one the best spells to put in his jewel box: it allows the target to use a masterstrike/0 with only one die instead of two thereby greatly increasing his STR. The fact that it even can be used on an attack die gained from counter-attack and ambidextrous make it even more useful.
• Cruel will (9 AP) is another nice spell to increase the MOV of your troops. It is especially nice to put on (again) son of Uren and khor knight of Uren as they benefit the most from a full MOV when pursuing.
• Crystalline illusion(6 AP) is a cheap often overlooked spell. Once cast it makes sure that one charge against the caster is ignored and there is a 50% chance that the charger get’s charge penalties himself. Important here is that he gets those penalties but that it isn’t called ‘charge penalties’ so they are cumulative if that model gets charged again that round.
Some earth&telluric spells
• Warrior of alphax(20 AP) a costly and difficult to cast spell with great consequences. It permanently increases both the STR and the RES of the target by 2. On dwarves that are already hard to kill this makes sure your opponent most almost rely on luck to wound you. The only real detriment to this spell is that its range is contact which can be hard to accomplish sometimes. My advice is to start a combat with already one model in contact with your mage so he can immediately cast it on the target. In a round when nobody can reach the mage let him cast it on himself.
• Crash concentrate(13 AP) is a direct damage spell with a decent range. It is a pity that its frequency is only 1. When you cast it try to make sure that you always use one mastery die to avoid failures (as it will damage your mage)
• Chtonian eruption (30 aP) is a more expensive and shorter ranged spell but with a much greater STR and it can be cast multiple times in a turn.
• Primal attack of earth(5 AP) is of course a no brainer. For 5 points you have spell which can wound even the most resilient of opponents.
• Both iron of the mind(10 AP) and warrior of the earth(10 AP- are nice spells to boost the effectiveness of your troops
Some other spells
• Forced march(16 AP) is a great spell for a dwarf army because it compensates one of our great weaknesses, movement. With a frequency of 2 it allows for a quick advancement of your troops.
• Although a bit hard to cast, minor cure(16 AP) is nice because it allows you to frustrate your opponent to no end. If he does finally manages to wound your dwarfs you just heal them back up again.
• Flow of absolute incompetence(15 AP) is a great spell for Kûlzarak. It allows him to make sure crucial attacks go through by putting DEF to zero. Or to put an ATT on zero so your dwarves can parry or even counter-attack with ease. It even allows you to put INI to 0 so you actually have a chance of winning this test.
• Nymph(18 AP) is nice spell for Magnus. It allows him to heal a very important target anywhere on the battlefield. Combined with a mountain giant this is a deadly combination.
Miracles :
There a not to many miracles that we can use to great effect. Especially because we only have 2 faithful
• Protection of Uren(10 AP) is the most important one. It allows you ignore the first incident rolled when something goes wrong with your steam equipment. The miracle stays in effect until an accident is rolled. Meaning you can start protection troops from turn one and you don’t need to cast it again until they have used it up
• Sylvan animae summoning (12AP). Always nice to summon some extra help. Also because they are faster then your own troops and can be used to increase your initiative in a combat (especially when they do a diving attack)
Artefacts :
• Cauldron of Hyffaid(21 AP) a rather expensive artefact but with some nice benefits. Let’s start with the drawback : You can only use it with Elghir. The good thing is it can perform 2 functions. It can automatically heal a wound lvl each round OR turn somebody into a character (with all benefits) until the end of round. This means shooting twice with your bombardier or doing masterstrikes and counterattacks with those khor on razorback
• Glaive of alphax(8 AP) : The glaive is like a generic potion but better. Any mage mastering telluric can take it. For 8 AP he can increase his STR by 2 up to three times in the game and best of all he can use multiple doses in the same turn to increase it by 4 or 6.
• Healing serum(8 AP) : it seems like a very nice artefact. For 8 points it gives regeneration/5 which can be boosted by a mage spending a gem BUT you have to give up hard-boiled for a turn. The catch is that you have to give up hard-boiled in the beginning of your turn and only regenerate at the end of the turn. It might be useful on those characters that have a Res of 10 or higher to start with but is otherwise more a detriment then a benefit.
• Fusion hammer(10 AP) : the fusion hammer is a very nice artefact useable by all. If you know you are coming up against an army that has a couple of low RES troops it is almost a must. The fact that it also makes the wearer immune against fire damage is great now the Cynwall dragon and great wyrm have arrived
• Telluric weapon(16 AP) : a bit more expensive but with the nice ability to re-roll an INI, ATT or DEF test every turn. Very good for characters who like to counter-strike or masterstrike and don’t like rolling ones.
• Major and supreme rune of healing (10&16 AP) : This is a generic artefact which is very nice (ok it’s good for everybody). Nothing is more frustrating for your opponent to beat endlessly on your high Res models to see them get cured of every wound they suffer.
• Potions(3 to 7 AP) : Although the potions are a one use only artefact they are also cheap and can be used to surprise an opponent (especially the ones that boost INI and MOV), to keep a mage alive (The RES one) or to inflict that much needed killing blow (the STR one)
6. Sample Armies
Now follow three sample Tir-Na-Bor armies at 400 AP all made with GDR limitations.
First we will try to make a dwarven army that can not only take care of your opponent in casual games but will also be able to win scenarios where speed can be of the essence.
Now let us first look at what we have at our disposal to accomplish this. Most of our troops have a poor 7,5 mov and aren’t going anywhere fast.
Our faster troops start with :
Son of Uren : beatstick and a 12,5 cm mov
Khor on razorback : defensive unit and 15 cm mov
Assault khor on razorback : bit more aggressive and 15 cm mov
Khor knight of uren : excellent assault unit and 15+d6 cm mov
Thermo-priest on razorback : crappy mage and 15+d6 cm mov
Boor on razorback : cheap throw away unit and 17, 5 cm mov
Some characters we have :
Bhor-Hok : to low a res to be usefull but 17,5 cm mov
Kaël the irascible : 2 incarnations to choose from, 15cm mov
Aegher the short : 2 incarnations to choose from. The first should be disregarded but the second is excellent. First has 15cm mov, second has 15+d6 cm mov
Fenggar iron hand : two incarnations: steam mage has 7,5 + d6 mov
Lothan : Steam character has 7,5+d6 mov
Out of category we also have the mountain giant (17,5 mov) and the steam chariot (15+D6cm mov)
With a faithful you can also deploy Sylvan animae : little flying things with 15cm mov
So you see the dwarves aren’t as slow as many people believe. There are plenty units you can deploy to cover this deficit.
Now how do we make an army out of this? First of all we have to choose a character to lead our army.
I’m starting with Fengar iron fist in his second incarnation. (89 points)
Why? Well because he can fight, cast spells and lead an army at the same time.
Although he doesn’t have leadership he still has a discipline of 8 and authority.
He also has a STR of 7+d6 and a resilience of 10+hard boiled.
To support him I choose 2 khor knight of Uren. (110 points)
We can choose from three different profiles here. I always have a hard time deciding between the brutish charge and the war horse profile. The one is more offensive while the other can help a lot on the next turns when counter charged.
As I am a bit of gambler I’m going to take the brutish charge profile for both.
I then take 2 armourers (paying 5 extra AP to join the brotherhood) (64 points)
I give both khor knight a breastplate of the titan (10 points)
I also take one provost of Uren (again paying five extra AP) (32 points)
To have some additional troops I take
3 forge guardians (42 points)
2 sylvan animae (32 points)
This is 379 points.
I give Fengar the spell thermo-propulsion. This allows me to set the result of steam roll for movement instead of rolling it for himself and up to three others. With his power of 4 he can easily make a diff 6. This gives him and the 2 khor knights +6 mov (13,5 and 21 respectively) the khor knights also get this as bonus on their STR while charging. Combined with the titanic breastplate they will have an impressive STR 17.
With fourteen points left I’m looking at a second spell for Fengarr : This would be either Crash concentrate to give a him a nice ranged damage spell or forced march to enhance the mobility of the army even more. It all depends a bit on your personal flavour and what you want but in this case I’m going to take forced march. This brings my total to an exact 400 points.
Point total : 400
Model cound : 11
# of cards : 7
Purchase value : 90 euro +20 euro for CH3
I have 11 models and 7 cards. Of these 5 have a movement better then 7,5 and with the spell forced march the others can move a bit faster to.
I have a discipline of 8 and an authority counter.
Except for the animae (who can make diving attacks) my whole army has steam weapons meaning they have the potential to hit hard and can’t be ignored.
Army 2: lots and lots of dwarfs
This is an army with no special abilities, no tricks up its sleeve or anything.
There are just a lot of dwarfs that charge at your opponent and whittle him down.
Pilzenbhir 90
6 forge guards 84
6 khor warriors with 2-h swords 126
4 boor on razorback 64
3 Soldiers of the plains 33
Point total :398
Model count : 20
# of cards :8 cards (although a much used tactic with swarm armies is to put models on more cards)
Purchase cost : 91,30 euro
You have a very good character that can hold its own, 3 models with STR 6, 9 with STR 7 and 6 with STR 6+D6. That’s actually very decent and your opponent should be worried.
The Khor warriors also have a very good RES and can tie up important units. The 4 boor on razorback are the speed in the army and can be used for additional charges were needed or to capture objectives.
Army 3 : Combo army
Kûlzurak 82
2 air familiars 30
-warriors of alphax 20
-flow of absolute incompetence 15
Dwarven standard bearer 14
Dwarven musician 14
Lithomancer 28
2 Son of Uren 138
1 provost of uren 27
1 Boor on razorback 16
8 AP for fortress kal-nam
2*4 ap solo telluric for 2 mages
Point total : 400 AP
Model count : 10
# of cards : 6
Purchase value : 91,70 euro (this includes the dwarven fortress pack and buying Magnus the mystical as figure for Kûlzarak)
Although you don’t have many models this is a very hard army. Make sure that Kûlzarak is deployed in contact with both Son of Uren and that the lithomancer can see him on turn one.
In turn one the Litho transfers his gems to Kûlzarak and he gets another two from his familiars (lowest result possible on the familiar control table). You then cast warriors of alphax twice and let the two son of Uren go.
On turn two you cast warrior of alphax on yourself and support combat with flow of absolute incompetence so the Sons can easily kill their opponents. The air familiars can be either sacrificed for extra mana or sent into combat to boost initiative. The boor can inflict extra charge penalties or go for objectives. The trick here is speed. Those two son of Uren backed up by a mage can kill anything but in a tournament there is affixed amount of time and/or turns. If they get tied up for to long all may be lost.
This one is from forum member Drimdal:
So a week ago I suddenly got a PM from Capt. Krill. He asked if I couldn’t do an AoTW for Tir-Na-Bor. Off course I accepted and immediately started writing.
It wasn’t until I saw his AoTW about Goblins I realised that I had misinterpreted the assignment.
I thought I had to write up a decent 400 AP force explaining troop choice, various tactics etc.
Instead he covered each and every troop in the Goblin army and suddenly I faced the fact I had to write my Dwarven treatise again but now for C3.
Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed but as I agreed to do it I started again.
This document will cover the following chapters :
1. Tir-Na-Bor, a general overview
2. Characters
3. Troops
4. Fortresses & clans
5. spells, miracles & artefacts
6. sample armies
Before I start with chapter one I would like to say a couple more words. When I first joined this forum not to many people were playing Tir-Na-Bor. To remedy this I wrote the dwarven treatise. Now the dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor are well represented with many players here on the forum. Unfortunately they still are not played a lot on tourneys and are certainly not winning a lot of them. I hope this document helps people in gaining a bit more insight in our little guys and ensure that next time they take a top 3 position in a tourney.
Last but not least I wish to thank many of our dwarven players here on the board for there valuable insight and posts. I’m not using names as I would certainly miss out on one or two excellent people who have helped shape this document with their precious advice.
1. Tir-Na-Bor a general overview
Ever since the first miniatures were released the dwarves of the Aegis mountains haven’t changed much. They are perfect examples of the old adage ‘haste makes waste’.
With low movement and initiative they usually get beaten on a lot before having the chance to strike back.
However they have 2 points in which they really shine: Resilience and Discipline. Slowly but surely I’ll show how these 2 strong points can turn the tide of battle in your favour.
Some numbers: We have 24 characters of which 6 are mages and 1 is a faithful, to compliment this we have 42 troop types. 11 of those are cavalry, this is more then any other army out there.
Our lowest resistance is 3 and the highest is 20 (which outshines even the Tarascus and great Wyrm).
Out of 66 different troops we have 28 with a resistance of 8 or higher. As the racial ability hard-boiled gives an essential +2 to resistance with straight up damage rolls this means 42% of your army has 10 or more resistance. Talking about hard to kill.
Before discussing individual troops a last word about steam.23 troops have straight up steam equipment. 2 fortresses can give steam equipment and the clan can also give it to some troops. So it’s important to know how to use it. Steam can boost Movement, strength and fear by a D6. Sounds like some free mutagenic for your troops? Forget it. Steam has some distinctive advantages and disadvantages
-RULE NUMBER 1 : you do NOT have to use steam. Only use it when it is needed.
-then of course know there is always 1 chance in 6 something goes wrong. Even if you don’t explode chances are great you won’t be able to use the steam equipment for the rest of the battle and have an overcosted model on the battlefield.
-Always remember you can’t boost a stat to more then double the original stat. So if you have a fear of 4 the max is 8.
-Also remember that you have to throw for steam before every roll. So if you attack your target three times and want to use steam you will have to roll before each attack.
Dwarfs also have numerous spells, a miracle and a troop type or two to help with steam.
When you use steam just be aware of the risks. It’s no problem that your forge guardian of 14 points blows up while his other two buddies manage to get some str 10 hits at an elite unit of your opponent but it is a big deal if your 100+AP char explodes because of a bad roll.
2. Characters
Regular
• Brognir, Defender of the Plaines 46 AP
• Pillgrim the one-eyed 46 AP
Two very nice cheap characters and leaders. With a disc of 7 of leadership they can take command of your group. I usually prefer Brognir because of the higher point of RES. For the moment they don’t see much play in a competitive environment because of 80AP char min. If this is adapted to 15% in 2007 they might see some more play with an artefact in their hands to boost them up to 60 AP. If you field them a war-staff is almost a must to get to that nice DIS of 9.
• Nerak the bold 67 AP
The odd man out. With his crossbow, scout and a good aim he can really sneak up on the enemy and wound some crucial units. Unfortunately a str 5 shot isn’t that impressive and the rest of stats are average at best. His artefact is not of much use anymore in C3 as he has the innate ability to take a second shot.
• Lor-Arkhon the deranged 72AP
Our second shooter character. This time with a different approach. Instead of going for precision he is going for pure strength. Again his artefact that allows him to shoot twice is diminished in C3 because he already can. His combat stats are really low and he is vulnerable to scouts. If you can keep him out of combat he can however devastate both your enemies’ troops and his plans because he just can’t be ignored. I advice to always use an armourer to boost his AIM with 1 thanks to the eye of ley
• Aegher the short 84 AP
Waste of points, Never ever bother using him. Rackham recognized this and put out a second incarnation of him which is really good. If you want a reason just look at his STR and RES. For those points you want someone who can actually survive being hit. His artefact is like the worst in confrontation history and shouldn’t ever be used no matter the incarnation used.
• Bhor-Hok the leader 84AP
Same as the previous. Sure he has more STR and a very nice artefact but once again he can’t take a hit and has no abilities whatsoever to help him in combat.
Veteran
• Kahinir the savage 48 AP
Nice little fighter. Although he isn’t a leader like Brognier or Pilgrim he is a better fighter. If you are in no need for the leadership take him. He has an initiative of three which is unheard of for dwarves and will probably surprise your opponent. His masterstrike/5 makes his blows feared by even the highest of RES.
His artefact is nice because it can be used by any dwarf. If you fight an army with low res (kelts, gobs this the weapon of choice as it will automatically kill them)
Special
• Kahinir, Dwarven armourer - 2nde Inc.69 AP
Now we start talking. Although he still isn’t a leader he has impressive combat stats and a respectable DIS of 8. The fact that he is an armourer and can also upgrade your troops is just icing on the cake. For 69 points this is a bargain.
• Aegher the short - 2nde Inc.129 AP
As said before the second incarnation of this guy is just so much better. For a50% increase in cost you gain a lot. With a res of 10, steam equipment on mov, sr and fear, the abilites war-horse and brutish charge and to top it off leadership this guy is made to lead your army. Just be careful as he is a lot of points and you don’t want to see him blow up due to a steam accident.
Elite
• Kal-Nur, Khor warrior 60 AP
Made to be a leader in Rag’narok this guy is a bit overpriced for confrontation. My advice : keep him for Rag’narok.
• Pilzenbhir, defender of the plaines 90 AP
Although he lacks leadership his discipline of 9 is more then enough to command an army. Thanks to his defence of 7 and ambidextrous he is a very dangerous opponent. His str of 10 is nothing to laugh at either and beware the opponent that underestimates him.
• Pilzenbhir, Defender of the plaines - 2nde Inc.105 AP
The second incarnation has some small upgrades for 15 points. Bravery helps against those pesky ones when rolling for courage and an extra point of RES helps him survive.
His attack is also up by one. Combined with bravery this means he is almost unblockable when going all-out. Be careful and don’t forget he has ambidexterity to both defend and attack. Although his swords do not come cheap (18 AP) they give him regeneration making sure he stays around a bit longer.
• Lothan, the beast of steel 107 AP
Comparable to Pilzenbhir there are still a couple of minor changes. He has a heavy hitting short range weapon. Because he is a char he can perform assault fire. Combined with a MOV that can be pumped with steam and the skill brutish charge and you see that this guy is meant to charge as quickly as possible. His discipline is a bit lower but still good. His str is two points lower. Yes you can boost it by a D6 thanks to steam but again be careful with such an expensive char. You can protect him but that means an additional investment of points.
• Kaël the Irascible 124 AP
Kaël compares to Aegher just as Lothan did to Pilzenbhir. One uses steam while the other has straight up stats. Kaël has better DIS, REs, STR and DEF but he loses out on the war-horse ability and the possibility to augment with steam. Which one is better ? I’ll just leave that up to personal taste.
• Kaël the Irascible - 2nde Inc.150 AP
Another 2nd incarnation that is a vast improvement. This however comes at a price. For 150 points he is a considerable investment of your army. Heightened ATT and STR is nice, especially his STR of 12 when charging. With also another point of COU and DIS and Commandment/20 he is the best leader we have (except for a living legend).
If you field him consider the additional investment of an artefact that gives him cure/4 or 5 to prevent a lucky hit from decimating your army.
• Hirh-Karn the enraged 157 AP
This one is a killer. 157 points of raw muscle. Put him in a combat and watch him tear the opposition apart. The problem is that for that many points he only has MOV of 7,5 and ain’t going anywhere fast. He is easily tied up by cheaper units and has a hard time getting his points back.
Try using him with the primagic spell forced march (to make him walk twice in a round) and/or principle of inertia (+2,5cm mov) fielding alithomancer and giving him the box with cruel will (full mov follow-up) is also a good way to keep him in combat.
Living Legend
• Tan-Kaïr, the first of Fom-Nur 250 AP
Let’s be short here. This guy doesn’t belong in confrontation. He is good yes. He has very nice stats and good artefacts but he is hardly the best Living legend out there. He excels as a commander where his DIS of 12 and commandment/30 really shine. Combined with the ability to give an attack or defence bonus to the rest of your army and the fact that regulars all gain reinforcement make shim more a team player and reserved for very large games of probably Rag’narok.
Editor’s note: now come the various mages. Specific spells are discussed later on.
Initiate
• Bâl-Torg the Ancient 39 AP
The first of the mages we ever received and not a good one at that. His stats are low and he has an all-time low for a non-warrior mage. Yes he is cheap but you usually want to invest a bit more points to get a decent mage. The only thing worth mentioning is his artefact. For 8 points it gives a nice boost to the strength of your mage
• Fenggar iron hand 46 AP
He also suffers from a very low power rating (3) and his stats are just as bad.. The only advantage he had was that he was a forge mage that could actually cat a couple of spells to protect and enhance your steam. Now we have more possibilities at our disposal and he is mostly overlooked for better choices. He might work if you want to play the BoB theme and don’t have enough points for his second incarnation.
Adept
• Bâl-Torg the ancient - 2nde Inc. 52 AP
For 13 more points his stats are exactly the same as his first incarnation. The main difference is another point of power, another element mastered, a path of magic known and becoming an adept. This actually makes him a cheap little adept with a lot of versatility. He is also our only access to fire spells. His DIS of 7 is good enough to even command your army.
• Magnus lthe Mystical 68 AP
For 69 points he brings a lot to the table. A discipline of 9, a power rating of 5 and stats that are not to bad except for resistance. So be careful and don’t let him get caught up in combat. Unfortunately now the spell packs are no longer valid the list of spells that are useful for him is not that long.
• Kûlzarak, Dwarven Alchimist 82 AP
82 points is a lot to invest in a non warrior character. Especially because you still have to buy spells and artefacts for him. But this guy is worth it. Thanks to his leadership/10 and DIS 8 he can be a very good commander. His POW of 6 is the highest we have so far and he has access to a wide variety of spells.
• Fenggar the fist of bronze - 2nde Inc. 89 AP
Altough he lacks the commandment of Kûlzarak and has only a power rating of 4. Fengarr still can lead your army thanks to his high DIS of 8 and authority. He also has impressive combat stats for a mage and can be used as frontline warrior. This good as it will keep him with the rest of your force and even short range spells can be effective. He is also the best forge mage available and can easily influence steam results to turn the tide of battle in your favour.
Devout
• Elghir the resolved 30 AP
The only character priest we have and he doesn’t do a good job. With bad² combat stats and the fact he can’t run and call a miracle in the same round he is just not good enough. His only saving grace is his artefact. If you don’t play scenarios but a straight up battle where you can keep your troops together his healing cauldron can be a livesaver.
3. Troops
Irregular
• Mechanical Familier 16 AP
A little guy with one specific function: To help prevent steam explosions. His stats are really bad and since he doesn’t prevent failures but only lessens the impact the failures have you can usually use these points for a spell that is more effective in protecting against steam. Especially because the familiar has to stay next to the target while a spell can be cast at range.
Regular
• Boor with axe 9 AP
• Boor with hammer 9 AP
• Boor with pick hammer 10 AP
• Soldier of the plaines 11 AP
Four almost identical troops. The only difference is their strength. For each additional AP you spent it increases by one. But even at 11 AP they only have STR 6. Taking into account they usually take a hit first you will probably hit with a max of STR 5. Thanks to Hard Boiled they have an effective RES of 6. If you need tie up models with no other expectations take the 9 point version. If you want a model that has a slightly better chance to strike back take the 11 point. The 11 point version can also drop it’s STR by 2 to take a +1 in INI. This is a waste as the slight increase almost never helps but the decrease in STR is a great loss.
• Forge guard 14 AP
For all intents and purposes I consider these the first standard troops. Not to expensive and thanks to a STR of 6+d6 they can even dent the bigger guys on the board. The rest of their stats are not impressive but hey what do you expect for these points.
• Dwarf musician 14 AP
• Dwarf standard bearer 14 AP
• Musician of the plaines 15 AP
• Standard bearer of the plaines 15 AP
They are only useful if you have a character with leadership on the field. I usually start taking the 15 point version and end up downgrading one or both to the 14 point version to free up some points.
• Dwarf with crossbow 15 AP
• Dwarf blunderbuss wielders 18 AP
2 very similar shooters. They have almost the exact same stats except that the blunderbuss had a +1 in RES and can pump the str of his shot with steam. This allows for shot of a STR between 7 and 10 which is very impressive. However their lack of range and low movement seriously hamper their effectiveness. Also don’t forget that if you throw a1 on a shooting roll you don’t only suffer an accident but the shot is also cancelled.
• Boor on Razorback 16 AP
• Young dwarf on Razorback19 AP
I’m actually only discussing the first here because the second is such a limited figure that you will almost never encounter it. The boor on razorback is the fastest unit we have. With a MOV of 17,5 cm it is a very cheap way to conquer objectives. But his large size and RES of 3 make it a easy target for enemy ranged fire. Keep him back and use him to conquer objectives in the last turns or charge into existing combat to give charge penalties to the other side and a +1 INI bonus to your side.
• Dwarf Bombardier38 AP
One of the most controversial units we have. It has such a huge potential that it would be a mistake to outright discard. The chance to realise this potential is however not always easy. With a range of 30-60-90 and a STR of 10+2D6 nothing is really safe. Be aware that if you use steam you have to roll both dice and the chance of rolling a one are 33% thereby cancelling your shot. With an aim of 1 you also are not likely to hit anything beyond short range.
What can you do ? improve his aim thanks to the armourer, shoot at targets where you know that if you miss one or two other models are also in the path and can be hit because of the artillery rules. Don’t use your steam unless necessary, str 10 is good enough. Cast a protection of Uren miracle on it first turn so it will ignore the first one you roll. Mystical galvanisation and warrior of the earth can both boost aim with another point.
Veteran
• Veteran of the plains 14 AP
This profile is worthless. They lack the +2 str option nd have the ability counter-attack which is nearly useless because of their low defence. Now if they had an option to increase DEF by 1 it might have been worth it.
• Veteran forge guard 19 AP
For 5 extra points you gain an extra point of ATT, RES and fanaticism. All very useful upgrades but paying 5 points extra for your basic troops is a lot. Res they will hit harder and more often but usually you want to take 3 normal ones (42 AP) vs 2 of these (38 AP)
They might however be worth it if you play the fortress Kâ-In-Ar. As they already belong to it you save an additional point.
• Dwarf Escort 23 AP
Worthless. It has slightly worse stats as a khor warrior and is 2 points more expensive. This is meant for mercenary warbands and not for Dwarven armies.
Creatures
• Uren’s son 69 AP
Our big hitter. The first thing we notice is that he lacks a way to obtain 3 combat dice which puts him at a disadvantage against other heavy hitters. He does however make more then up for it with his stats. A good ATT&DEF a high RES (10+HB) and an incredible STR. He has 12+D6 STR combined with masterstrike/2 this is by far one of the deadliest creatures to walk the lands of Aarklash. The fact that he has Uren in his name means the provost can protect him from steam accidents. Brutal and hard-boiled means he will always give charge penalties and rarely have them himself. His high move is also a great boon to any dwarf army.
• Mountain warrior 159 AP
First of the great creatures he is a bit diminished in C3, lacking his special shield capacity and his wound reduction. His natural RES of 16 keeps him safe against most and his status as enormous protects him from a lucky double 6. With a INI of 3 he is however vulnerable to masterstriking/ high STR units of your opponent ( knights of alahan, cannons, masterstriking giant barbarians, etc) he is al lot of points and usually has a hard time earning them all back if your opponent is clever. The look on their faces when you start deploying this big bad buddy however is what makes it worth deploying him once every while.
Special
• Dwarven armourer 27 AP
One of the must include troops we have. His special ability to increase str while charging for cavalry or aim on your ranged troops means he is just to good to pass up. He also has a great DIS to perform the duty as a back-up commander for your army. The only thing he lacks is a decent STR. Putting him in a fortress where you can give him steam-equipment greatly enhances his performances.
• Black-blood Automaton 37 AP
Extremely limited because they are only playable in the fortress of Lor-An-Kor. They posses a RES of only 7 and no hard boiled. They however have a high STR (8) and the for Tir-Na-Bor unique ability of assassin. They also posses a normal move. I haven’t personally used them but that’s because I don’t like the fortress and they are not good enough to convince me to take it.
• Dwarf chariot (with Balista) 170 AP
• Dwarf chariot (with Canon) 190 AP
The great tank with an amazing RES of 20 and 8 structure points. This is THE hardest to kill unit in the entire game. You can’t however use it in any tournament and it mostly reserved for Rag’narok. When you do decide to play it just warn your opponent so he can take it into account. It is considered rude not doing so.
Elite
• Khor warrior (2-h sword) 21 AP
• Khor warrior (sword+shield) 21 AP
Another of those to great to be true troops. For 21 AP you have the cheapest high RES troop in the game. With a 10RES+HB you can hold up almost any troop, even if they are 2 to 3 times as expensive. The trade off is that you lacking hitting power with a STR of 5.
The other profile has a STR of 7 which is respectable and still has RES 8+HB. I like to think of this as the better all-round profile and use the other only if I need blockers.
• Thermo-warrior 32 AP
• Thermo-warrior of Uren 32 AP
2 almost identical units. The normal thermo warrior has point of STR and DEF more but loses one in ATT. The advantage is that you can use him anywhere.
The Uren variety has the advantage that he can be protected by a provost of Uren nearby against steam accidents but is bound to the Brother of Bronze clan and can’t be used in another fortress. Usually I like to think that 32 points is to much to throw away a unit and choose the Uren variety so I can protect it with a provost.
• Khor on Razorback 36 AP
• Khor on assault Razorback 39 AP
Dwarven heavy cavalry. The first profile looks like an upgraded khor knight with 2-h weapons. For 36 points you have a MOV of 15, RES of 12+HB and a DEF of 6. Again a perfect tie-up unit. Being able to tie up the much more expensive lion cavalry and/or other big beasties/chars. However they also lack offensive power (STR 5) which is a real shame for 36 points.
The khor on assault razorback slightly improves this. He loses out on 2 RES but gain a point of STR and brutish charge. Combined with a breastplate of the titan from an armourer he can pull off some impressive charges. However after the charge it is all over for him and he gets bogged down in combat pretty fast.
• Hunter on Razorback 39 AP
A much more offensive profile thanks to a STR of 8 and masterstrike. Beware of it’s relative low RES (5+HB). He can also only be used in unaffiliated lists or the fortress of Naël-Tarn. This is not a bad thing as it means you will save another 2 points if you want to use that fortress and the fierce you can give him there makes him into a terrifying unit.
• Khor knight of Uren (1) 55 AP
• Khor knight of Uren (2) 55 AP
• Khor knight of Uren (3) 55 AP
Three profiles that are the same yet so different. They all have the same basic stats as the khor on assault razorback and essentially have the same abilities. So what is so different for these guys. So what makes these guys so different ? Three little words : steam, steam, steam. That’s right they have three pieces of steam equipment. They can boost their movement, their strength and instead of courage they cause fear which can be boosted.
They also have this little rule that if they charge the steam increase for movement becomes a bonus to your STR. You then can not roll for steam/STR that round. This is great as it means you will only have to roll once to increase both your MOV and the STR of all your attacks which greatly reduces the risks of an accident. Especially because the boost in MOV happens before they move along which means a provost of Uren can be close by to help avoid accidents.
Both the bestial charge and the war-horse profile have their advantages depending on the type of force you play. The resolution/2 profile remains largely unused. It is nice if you know you are facing an opponent who has troops with a great defence and you want to break through that.
• Khor musician on razorback 58 AP
• Khor standard bearer on Razorback 58 AP
To expensive for Confrontation. They are great in Rag’narok where they can form a mounted war-staff and break the 50AP barrier. But in a skirmish game they have no place.
Initiate
• Lithomancer of Tir-Nâ-Bor 28 AP
Although his spell selection has been diminished in C3 he still is a great guy to take. His combat stats are pretty good and he has this nifty special ability that allows him to take a free spell and put in a jewel box. He can keep this box and give it anybody else. They can then cast the spell on a 3+, afterwards throw another d6 on a 3+ they can try again next round. In the spell selection chapter we will show just which cool spells there are for this guy. Definitely worth every point.
• Thermo-priest (Lance) 39 AP
• Thermo-priest (warhammer) 39 AP
• Thermo-priest of Uren 42 AP
Three versions of the same priest. I’ll start with the warhammer version as he has almost the same stats as the thermo warrior. For 7 more points you gain a point of IN and FEAR, loses a point of DIS and brutal but also gains the warrior mage ability which allows some nifty tricks. With a POW of 1 you don’t have to count on him to cast many spells. Almost every spell out there is just to hard to cast and at best will be called once every two turns.
The lance version drops a point of RES and FEAR but gains 2 STR. This makes it one the hardest hitting troops we have (9+D6).
The third version has the lowest stats but is till a respectable combatant. He does have however a POW of 2 which allows him to actually cast some forge spells to enhance/protect a steam force. The fact that he is of Uren also means a provost can protect him from steam accidents.
• Thermo-priest on Razorback 65 AP
For 10 points more then a khor knight you lose a lot. A point of ATT, FEAR, brutal and the third variable ability (war-horse, resolution, brutish charge) in exchange his STR increases to 9, gains a point of INI and also has the warrior-mage ability. Unfortunately he also has a POW of 1 so he can hardly cast any spells. Unless you bind him to a fortress to increase his POW he isn’t worth the points IMHO.
Devout
• Provost of Uren 27 AP
Last but not least we have the provost. He is the one fig that is almost required in every serious steam force. His combat stats are not that great but also not really bad. His special ability to boost his courage means he will almost never run away as long as a couple of other dwarfs stay nearby.
His real str lies in two things. First is a miracle to protect you from steam accidents (see chapter 5) second is his innate ability to protect those ‘of Uren’ he allows them to re-roll the steam dice if they come up a one. This is THE single best ability we have to protect our steam troops and it greatly increases the usefulness of troops with words ‘of Uren’ in it.
4. Fortresses and Clans
• Fom-Nur
The fortress of Tan-Kaïr : for 2 points a piece your entire army gains Bravery. Could be useful to resist fear and up the attack values a bit. The ones that already have don’t even have to pay a thing to join.
Unfortunately the solo’s are not really worth it. Unless you know up front you are facing the Dwarves of Mid-nor in which case the solo/Demonkiller is nice.
Off course there is now also the new solo for everyone who is a khor warrior were they can gain desperate for 2 points. Although this is okay it still not making it worthwhile for taking the fortress.
• Kâ-In-Ar
A fortress with a cheap cost. For only one point per troop you can re-roll one die every turn. This is very nice if you have a small army force with a couple of high priced troop.
The solos are a bit better but very restricted. The first solo can ONLY be given to Elghir for the moment. The second AND third is a nice way to boost some troops but can’t be given to anybody with steam, khor equipment or who is not small. This means less then 1/3 off your force can use them. That’s a pity because both are actually pretty good to boost and tailor your army.
A new fourth one has appeared. Keeping in tradition with the others it can only be given to khor warriors. It is however a nice one because handing out mastrike.2 for 3 points is pretty good
• Kal-Nam
This is a tricky fortress. For 1 point per troop type you have the option of holding a part of your force in reserve and let them enter on any edge of the battlefield in later turns. This is a nice way to win some scenarios and to work around the speed disadvantage.
The solos both require some expertise as well and rely heavy on your magicians. The Soul of Alphax allows you to give concentration/1 (INI,ATT, DEF) to your troops which can be boosted up to 3 thanks to TF or mana gems.
The second always two magicians with this solo to exchange gems. A nice way for a low warrior-mage to hand over his gems to a more powerful mage so he cast more and bigger spells.
• Kar-An-Tyr
A nice fortress to hand out some steam equipment or personalise and upgrade it. Unfortunately it doesn’t count for large troops who do have to pay the 1 point to join
The solo’s here are very nice. It always you to give the forge path to mages who don’t have it or increase the POW of those that do have it .this makes a couple of warrior mages a lot more useful (thermo-priest on razorback) and allows a mage like Bal-Torg (who is cheap) to fully control a steam force.
The second solo is just as good. It gives either the ‘Of Uren’ attribute to troops or if they already have it, it gives feal/1. This way you can either control a lot more troops with the provost of Uren or generate some additional TF to call upon miracles.
• Lor-An-Kor
Lor-An-Kor is nice because it is free to join the fortress and allows you to access the black-blood constructs. That’s actually about all the nice things I can say about it. The two solo’s are too expensive and useless.
• Naël-Tarn
Another expensive fortress as you have to pay 2 AP for each model. In a 400 AP army it means you can choose two models each turn that get the fierce ability. Also when they use it they count as only light wounded. This sounds very nice and is especially good to a)make sure opponents can not make pursuit movements b)if a heavy hitter is about to die to make sure he stays in the game until the end of turn and deals out some serious damage in return.
The solo’s are once again not that great (starting to see a pattern here). The solo to break away by force no matter the size op the opponent might be nice but with a MOV of 7,5 cm where are you going to run to. There might be situations were it is useful but they are rare.
The other is nice but very limited as it can only be handed out to a couple of characters. Putting it on Pilzenbhir is a good way to make sure he keeps up with the big guns (khor on razorback, khor knight, son of Uren) and deals out some serious damage. The backdraw is that you can only use it once and it costs 6AP.
• Ogh-Hen-Kir
For 2 AP for each troop you can keep 4 extra reserve cards (in a 400 AP army) that’s a pretty good way to control the flow of battle but is usually only good during set-up and round 1. Afterwards you mostly want to go first to get some charges in.
The explosive arrow solo is expensive (5AP) for a one shot trick but might be nice if playing against a swarm army with lots of models on the board.
The other was a good way to increase the POW of your lithomancer or te make sure other mages could cast these spells but as the spell selection isn’t very broad (4 available spells) it just isn’t worth it.
• The brotherhood of bronze
Finally we come to the brotherhood. For this I advice you to pick up Cry Havoc 3 as it contains all the rules you need.
Not every dwarf can join this. Only those that already have steam-equipment, provosts & armourers. They have to pay 5 extra AP and gain steam/STR equipment this is already a very nice ability. The fact that he can give a steam mask is very nice if given to somebody with high courage and movement (Son of Uren is the best example here)
You then have the option have upgrading the bombardier to zone artillery instead of piercing. If you know you come up against a swarm army this might be useful.
If you manage to include two characters in a 400 AP army you get the clan bonus which means getting a +1 to all steam results. This does usually leave you with few numbers and sometimes it’s better not to go for this bonus but for more figs. It is however achievable in a 300 AP (only one needed) and 500 AP (still only two) army.
One word of warning here: Although it is possible to include the four characters from the brotherhood of bronze in other fortresses (under another name and without their special artefacts) it is NOT possible to include other characters in the BoB
5. Spells, Miracles and Artefacts
Spells :
There are many spells available and it useless to discuss all of them. Instead I have chosen to look over the most important ones.
First let’s take a look at forge spells to protect and enhance your steam bearing troops :
• Thermo-destruction(8 AP) is a spell greatly weakened but with its uses. When one of your expendable troops is greatly wounded it is often more useful to blow him up and try to damage the enemy in the process. This also deprives him from a follow-up movement. It’s diff of 7 and 2 gem cost means however that our warrior mages have a hard time calling it
• Thermo-compression(6 AP) is cheap and easy to cast. It does however increase the cost of those you wish to protect with 5. It is nice to put on important characters that cannot benefit from the provost’s protection.
• Transfer of pression(4 AP) is probably my favourite spell. It is very cheap (4AP) and can be used to greatly enhance steam troops. It shut down the magicians own steam and doubles the effectiveness of the targets. The range is great (25cm) and it can be prolonged to a next turn by spending a single gem. It’s frequency of 2 allows the mage to shut down his equipment to boost two other warriors. Ideal candidates for this are the son of Uren and the khor knight of Uren (because they are both of Uren a provost can protect them). If you equip the son of Uren with a steam mask (in the BoB) he has an effective fear of 8+2d6. Nobody can resist this.
Now a couple of lithomancie spells :
• The diamond’s soul(11 AP) is probably one the best spells to put in his jewel box: it allows the target to use a masterstrike/0 with only one die instead of two thereby greatly increasing his STR. The fact that it even can be used on an attack die gained from counter-attack and ambidextrous make it even more useful.
• Cruel will (9 AP) is another nice spell to increase the MOV of your troops. It is especially nice to put on (again) son of Uren and khor knight of Uren as they benefit the most from a full MOV when pursuing.
• Crystalline illusion(6 AP) is a cheap often overlooked spell. Once cast it makes sure that one charge against the caster is ignored and there is a 50% chance that the charger get’s charge penalties himself. Important here is that he gets those penalties but that it isn’t called ‘charge penalties’ so they are cumulative if that model gets charged again that round.
Some earth&telluric spells
• Warrior of alphax(20 AP) a costly and difficult to cast spell with great consequences. It permanently increases both the STR and the RES of the target by 2. On dwarves that are already hard to kill this makes sure your opponent most almost rely on luck to wound you. The only real detriment to this spell is that its range is contact which can be hard to accomplish sometimes. My advice is to start a combat with already one model in contact with your mage so he can immediately cast it on the target. In a round when nobody can reach the mage let him cast it on himself.
• Crash concentrate(13 AP) is a direct damage spell with a decent range. It is a pity that its frequency is only 1. When you cast it try to make sure that you always use one mastery die to avoid failures (as it will damage your mage)
• Chtonian eruption (30 aP) is a more expensive and shorter ranged spell but with a much greater STR and it can be cast multiple times in a turn.
• Primal attack of earth(5 AP) is of course a no brainer. For 5 points you have spell which can wound even the most resilient of opponents.
• Both iron of the mind(10 AP) and warrior of the earth(10 AP- are nice spells to boost the effectiveness of your troops
Some other spells
• Forced march(16 AP) is a great spell for a dwarf army because it compensates one of our great weaknesses, movement. With a frequency of 2 it allows for a quick advancement of your troops.
• Although a bit hard to cast, minor cure(16 AP) is nice because it allows you to frustrate your opponent to no end. If he does finally manages to wound your dwarfs you just heal them back up again.
• Flow of absolute incompetence(15 AP) is a great spell for Kûlzarak. It allows him to make sure crucial attacks go through by putting DEF to zero. Or to put an ATT on zero so your dwarves can parry or even counter-attack with ease. It even allows you to put INI to 0 so you actually have a chance of winning this test.
• Nymph(18 AP) is nice spell for Magnus. It allows him to heal a very important target anywhere on the battlefield. Combined with a mountain giant this is a deadly combination.
Miracles :
There a not to many miracles that we can use to great effect. Especially because we only have 2 faithful
• Protection of Uren(10 AP) is the most important one. It allows you ignore the first incident rolled when something goes wrong with your steam equipment. The miracle stays in effect until an accident is rolled. Meaning you can start protection troops from turn one and you don’t need to cast it again until they have used it up
• Sylvan animae summoning (12AP). Always nice to summon some extra help. Also because they are faster then your own troops and can be used to increase your initiative in a combat (especially when they do a diving attack)
Artefacts :
• Cauldron of Hyffaid(21 AP) a rather expensive artefact but with some nice benefits. Let’s start with the drawback : You can only use it with Elghir. The good thing is it can perform 2 functions. It can automatically heal a wound lvl each round OR turn somebody into a character (with all benefits) until the end of round. This means shooting twice with your bombardier or doing masterstrikes and counterattacks with those khor on razorback
• Glaive of alphax(8 AP) : The glaive is like a generic potion but better. Any mage mastering telluric can take it. For 8 AP he can increase his STR by 2 up to three times in the game and best of all he can use multiple doses in the same turn to increase it by 4 or 6.
• Healing serum(8 AP) : it seems like a very nice artefact. For 8 points it gives regeneration/5 which can be boosted by a mage spending a gem BUT you have to give up hard-boiled for a turn. The catch is that you have to give up hard-boiled in the beginning of your turn and only regenerate at the end of the turn. It might be useful on those characters that have a Res of 10 or higher to start with but is otherwise more a detriment then a benefit.
• Fusion hammer(10 AP) : the fusion hammer is a very nice artefact useable by all. If you know you are coming up against an army that has a couple of low RES troops it is almost a must. The fact that it also makes the wearer immune against fire damage is great now the Cynwall dragon and great wyrm have arrived
• Telluric weapon(16 AP) : a bit more expensive but with the nice ability to re-roll an INI, ATT or DEF test every turn. Very good for characters who like to counter-strike or masterstrike and don’t like rolling ones.
• Major and supreme rune of healing (10&16 AP) : This is a generic artefact which is very nice (ok it’s good for everybody). Nothing is more frustrating for your opponent to beat endlessly on your high Res models to see them get cured of every wound they suffer.
• Potions(3 to 7 AP) : Although the potions are a one use only artefact they are also cheap and can be used to surprise an opponent (especially the ones that boost INI and MOV), to keep a mage alive (The RES one) or to inflict that much needed killing blow (the STR one)
6. Sample Armies
Now follow three sample Tir-Na-Bor armies at 400 AP all made with GDR limitations.
First we will try to make a dwarven army that can not only take care of your opponent in casual games but will also be able to win scenarios where speed can be of the essence.
Now let us first look at what we have at our disposal to accomplish this. Most of our troops have a poor 7,5 mov and aren’t going anywhere fast.
Our faster troops start with :
Son of Uren : beatstick and a 12,5 cm mov
Khor on razorback : defensive unit and 15 cm mov
Assault khor on razorback : bit more aggressive and 15 cm mov
Khor knight of uren : excellent assault unit and 15+d6 cm mov
Thermo-priest on razorback : crappy mage and 15+d6 cm mov
Boor on razorback : cheap throw away unit and 17, 5 cm mov
Some characters we have :
Bhor-Hok : to low a res to be usefull but 17,5 cm mov
Kaël the irascible : 2 incarnations to choose from, 15cm mov
Aegher the short : 2 incarnations to choose from. The first should be disregarded but the second is excellent. First has 15cm mov, second has 15+d6 cm mov
Fenggar iron hand : two incarnations: steam mage has 7,5 + d6 mov
Lothan : Steam character has 7,5+d6 mov
Out of category we also have the mountain giant (17,5 mov) and the steam chariot (15+D6cm mov)
With a faithful you can also deploy Sylvan animae : little flying things with 15cm mov
So you see the dwarves aren’t as slow as many people believe. There are plenty units you can deploy to cover this deficit.
Now how do we make an army out of this? First of all we have to choose a character to lead our army.
I’m starting with Fengar iron fist in his second incarnation. (89 points)
Why? Well because he can fight, cast spells and lead an army at the same time.
Although he doesn’t have leadership he still has a discipline of 8 and authority.
He also has a STR of 7+d6 and a resilience of 10+hard boiled.
To support him I choose 2 khor knight of Uren. (110 points)
We can choose from three different profiles here. I always have a hard time deciding between the brutish charge and the war horse profile. The one is more offensive while the other can help a lot on the next turns when counter charged.
As I am a bit of gambler I’m going to take the brutish charge profile for both.
I then take 2 armourers (paying 5 extra AP to join the brotherhood) (64 points)
I give both khor knight a breastplate of the titan (10 points)
I also take one provost of Uren (again paying five extra AP) (32 points)
To have some additional troops I take
3 forge guardians (42 points)
2 sylvan animae (32 points)
This is 379 points.
I give Fengar the spell thermo-propulsion. This allows me to set the result of steam roll for movement instead of rolling it for himself and up to three others. With his power of 4 he can easily make a diff 6. This gives him and the 2 khor knights +6 mov (13,5 and 21 respectively) the khor knights also get this as bonus on their STR while charging. Combined with the titanic breastplate they will have an impressive STR 17.
With fourteen points left I’m looking at a second spell for Fengarr : This would be either Crash concentrate to give a him a nice ranged damage spell or forced march to enhance the mobility of the army even more. It all depends a bit on your personal flavour and what you want but in this case I’m going to take forced march. This brings my total to an exact 400 points.
Point total : 400
Model cound : 11
# of cards : 7
Purchase value : 90 euro +20 euro for CH3
I have 11 models and 7 cards. Of these 5 have a movement better then 7,5 and with the spell forced march the others can move a bit faster to.
I have a discipline of 8 and an authority counter.
Except for the animae (who can make diving attacks) my whole army has steam weapons meaning they have the potential to hit hard and can’t be ignored.
Army 2: lots and lots of dwarfs
This is an army with no special abilities, no tricks up its sleeve or anything.
There are just a lot of dwarfs that charge at your opponent and whittle him down.
Pilzenbhir 90
6 forge guards 84
6 khor warriors with 2-h swords 126
4 boor on razorback 64
3 Soldiers of the plains 33
Point total :398
Model count : 20
# of cards :8 cards (although a much used tactic with swarm armies is to put models on more cards)
Purchase cost : 91,30 euro
You have a very good character that can hold its own, 3 models with STR 6, 9 with STR 7 and 6 with STR 6+D6. That’s actually very decent and your opponent should be worried.
The Khor warriors also have a very good RES and can tie up important units. The 4 boor on razorback are the speed in the army and can be used for additional charges were needed or to capture objectives.
Army 3 : Combo army
Kûlzurak 82
2 air familiars 30
-warriors of alphax 20
-flow of absolute incompetence 15
Dwarven standard bearer 14
Dwarven musician 14
Lithomancer 28
2 Son of Uren 138
1 provost of uren 27
1 Boor on razorback 16
8 AP for fortress kal-nam
2*4 ap solo telluric for 2 mages
Point total : 400 AP
Model count : 10
# of cards : 6
Purchase value : 91,70 euro (this includes the dwarven fortress pack and buying Magnus the mystical as figure for Kûlzarak)
Although you don’t have many models this is a very hard army. Make sure that Kûlzarak is deployed in contact with both Son of Uren and that the lithomancer can see him on turn one.
In turn one the Litho transfers his gems to Kûlzarak and he gets another two from his familiars (lowest result possible on the familiar control table). You then cast warriors of alphax twice and let the two son of Uren go.
On turn two you cast warrior of alphax on yourself and support combat with flow of absolute incompetence so the Sons can easily kill their opponents. The air familiars can be either sacrificed for extra mana or sent into combat to boost initiative. The boor can inflict extra charge penalties or go for objectives. The trick here is speed. Those two son of Uren backed up by a mage can kill anything but in a tournament there is affixed amount of time and/or turns. If they get tied up for to long all may be lost.