Dwarfs

You might remember the game of Warhammer I followed a couple of weeks ago; if you didn't catch it and don't want me to spoil the ending, then go and check it out here. In a bloody four turns, Martin Morrin's Dwarfs convincingly thumped Rich Packer's Wood Elves, in the most one-sided battle since Azhag the Slaughterer carved up an army of the Empire (oddly, another of Rich's armies...) at the Battle of Butcher's Hill. Well today Martin's going to use his gaming powers for good, and provide us with some tips on gaming with the short fellows. Over to Martin:

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  I love Dwarf Warriors; they're very cheap for what you get (Toughness 4 and Weapon Skill 4). Try to think of them as the horde element of your Dwarf army, albeit a horde that's far harder than most other hordes. My unit of 40 has served me well against Goblin and Skaven hordes and if I need to hold a powerful enemy unit up, I can simply reform the unit to have a frontage five wide and eight ranks - enough to hold even a Bloodthirster up for a whole game.

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  Ironbreakers are hard as nails. With a 3+ save and Toughness 4 they take a lot of killing, and with their Strength of 4 they can dish it out too. They work best with some ranks to give them steadfast - a wider frontage would just allow more enemies to attack them and they cost too many points to field as a horde. I always take advantage of the Ironbreakers' ability to carry a magic banner and equip them with the Master Rune of Grungni to give them a 5+ ward save from shooting. The banner also confers its ability to all units within 6", another reason why I form my battleline around a unit of Ironbreakers.

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  Miners are a must have. Although Dwarfs are faster under the new edition (their average charge range has gone from 6" to 10") they still don't have access to units of cavalry. Miners offset this by being able to turn up from any table edge, even behind your opponent's lines, and make a great reserve unit. If you're fielding a single unit of Miners it's worth arming the unit champion with a steam drill to make sure they turn up quickly. Remember, you can bring the Miners on from your own board edge - a useful tactic if the enemy is baring down on your war machines.

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  You have to have a cannon in a Dwarf army, preferably two or three. They've always been effective against monsters, powerful characters and well-armoured units but are even better in the new edition. The new line-of-sight rules mean it's almost impossible to hide a model from a cannon and Dwarf Cannons now inflict D6 wounds as opposed to D3. You don't even need to guess the range any more! Equip your cannon with the Rune of Forging and you can re-roll the misfire dice, making your cannon even more reliable and deadly.