Dwarves - what non Dwarves think

"Whaddya mean I can't
take all these weapons?"

A little while ago I read good ole troller of a post on Fields of Blood. It got me thinking though, he's right. For any army, there's always the nay sayers who are never happy with their army book. I like to think I'm happy with any army book if things are fairly balanced - but no doubt I'm biased towards the Dwarven Army as they hold that special place in my beard clad heart.

To try and pin down exactly how I am biased, I mailed around my warhammer group asking for their honest opinions. Sometimes these are hard to come by in a group where back stabbing your trusted ally is considered a jolly good show, and something to be proud of.

I provided some material to get the juices flowing:
"""
Hello person who I have played Warhammer against and <lost||won>,
I'd like to do a blog post about what non-dwarf players think of dwarfs armies when they're playing them. Yes yes, they're small, smelly, stupid, stunty, etc. Harr harr.

I'm more interested in: Balance issues: Do you think some/all units are totally over powered? which/why? Any under powered (I'll bet no one thinks this one)? 
What do you worry about in turn 1 and you're trying to figure out how to deal with the different enemy dwarf units in front of your army? Where are the weak points / strong points kinda thing general strategy you'd try use against dwarves Anything else you'd like to add about Dwarves? 

Just to get the juices flowing:
do you like the fluff behind them? do you think the army matches the fluff?
If you do take the time to do something (I'll buy you a pint at the next bcon), obviously you don't have to write a thesis, just whatever you feel like.
Contributors real names will be redacted. :)

Much obliged good sir,
-RedCraig
"""


Mr.Fett:
So you want people tell you why you keep losing? Ballsy move.










Mr.Saturday:

...what non-dwarf players think of dwarfs armies when they're playing them. Yes yes, they're small, smelly, stupid, stunty, etc. Harr harr.
Indeed. Unless they're of the chaos variety, in which case they rock.

Balance issues:
Do you think some/all units are totally over powered? which/why? Any under powered (I'll bet no one thinks this one)?
Not particularly. I think dwarves are a tough matchup, (from a vampire counts point of view) they can fairly shut down a magic phase, so most of your effective magic will be buffs for your own troops. Happily, I'm fine with this. Dwarves are also very hard to kill or break, and with high leadership they won't be suffering much from fear or terror. I do find though, dwarf and undead units tend to grind, as the dwarves will hold, but the undead get replenished.

What do you worry about in turn 1 and you're trying to figure out how to deal with the different enemy dwarf units in front of your army?
Dwarf war machines give me the fear, especially the magic flaming kind. There's nothing more heart-stopping than weathering three cannon shots on your general in turn 1. I also worry about miners, as their appearance can be really detrimental to your battle plan. There aren't too many armies that can take a ranked up unit and have it appear behind you on turn 2. I don't know why the gyrocopter isn't in more dwarf armies. A fast redirector should be gold in a slow army. I have also had that moment where I crash into dwarf gunners, only to find out they're carrying great axes. Yowch.

I've found the best way to deal with dwarves is to keep moving, and if possible employ a refused flank. Fast hard hitters such as the double vargulf are great at mopping up smaller units if they can hit the flank. I've seen this duo wade right through ranked miner units in one turn. Ethereal units that can avoid the magic cannon can hold up units, as if you are double-teamed by dwarf units you are dead. Magic can still work, but you need to pump up your caster with level 4, master of the black arts and so on to get over that dwarf anti-magic. Even then you have to be canny with the order you cast your spells. Above all, play dirty. You just can't take on dwarves head on with VC, bar the legendary buffed grave guard. Let's hear it for the grave guard!

Speaking of wights, wight kings are my hero of choice when taking on dwarf heroes. Get him in first, slap the sword of kings on him for a 5+ killing blow and watch the heads roll. And how they have rolled. If by some chance the dwarf survives, hey, it's only a wight king.

Anything else you'd like to add about Dwarves? Just to get the juices flowing:
do you like the fluff behind them?
do you think the army matches the fluff?
As far as fluff goes, I think the dwarves are an army with real depth. They have the beleaguered good guys thing going on, and dwarf armies just look cool. Despite the tactical difficulties, they are great fun to play against, as the army does play well to the fluff, and I do so like braiding dwarf heroes beards into my battle standard after the game.




Mr.Timewalk
Do you think some/all units are totally over powered? which/why? Any under powered (I'll bet no one thinks this one)?
I believe the miners are underpowered, they tend to arrive way to late to make a difference, I've yet to see them do anything... interesting.

What do you worry about in turn 1 and you're trying to figure out how to deal with the different enemy dwarf units in front of your army?
Gun lines, my worry on first turn is IF the dwarf player gets the roll and thereby gets a second shot in, this is a game winner and in fairness is a bit crazy as it comes down to ONE roll of the dice
The only weak points I see with dwarfs are mobility but this isn't such a big deal with a small table/large army

General strategy you'd try use against dwarves?
Straight in to the engines of war and shake it all about. Try to break up their line, concentrate on one unit and draw units away and lead them a merry dance.

Anything else you'd like to add about Dwarves?
Fluff is excellent, love the whole dying race, grumpy bastick stuff, bit generic though in places - but the army absolutely matches the fluff.




Mr.Fett:
Hah! I'm back. So, Dwarves eh? Balance issues, hmm.  Difficult one to call. The game seems to be developing into massed infantry beats artillery beats big monsters beats massed infantry with a biased towards overpowered spells swinging things a bit to much imo. Dwarfs have good to great infanrty and great artillery so that makes up for the lack of monsters. The lack of a magic phase is not balanced out by having a little more anti-magic stuff.

As for units, the only ones that are overpowered are the anvil and the ridicules amounts of rune infested artillery.

The underpowered units are the rangers and the slayers. 15pt increase in cost to move from troll slayer to giant slayer is way too much. The rangers should really be skrimishers too. As should the miners. Most of the infantry units should probably be a point or two cheaper, and the longbeards upgrade should be free. This is because to their low int score and the new importance in the game. Most dwarf players dont complain about this because of years of conditioning of never getting to charge and always then attacking second.

Turn 1 against a Dwarf players is usually about weathering the hail of black powder, after taht it is about engaging his fighting troops infront of his shooting troops as to negate them from the game. As for the diffirent unit types, it really breaks down fighting or shooting. I am not worried as to whether a unit has great weapons or not. It is purely who i can lure out in front of the gunline.

As a lizardman player, against dwarfs i tend to scarifice my monsters to limit the cannon shoots at the slann and the temple guard. Stegs attract attenion, but their are reasonably tough and can get across the board in two turns. I usually try to attack the infantry units closest to the most troublesome artilay array. They block line of sight a treat.

In the magic phase i nearly always get to do what i want. Dwarven anti-magic is not powerful enough to stop the slann. The fact that i will be adding 4 to each roll compared to the dwarfs 2, and the number of spells I will be casting means that it will be a struggle for the Dwarf player. One they wont win.

As for the fluff, the army has a tendency to run a little too easily. Hard to fix without overpowering units but I think stubborn as a racial trait fits the fluff. Also str 10 cannons, fock the empire. Why do the Dwarfs get a shitty gyroscope while the empire gets a fucking steam tank ffs.


Plenty of food for thought.  What do you think of the Dwarves?