7th Ed. Dwarven Battle

[Thebestlazyguy]

My first real game of Warhammer is going to be against a seasoned Dwarf army player (he's been collecting for three years now) and as soon as i have a fully assembled 2000 point army. My plan is (and yes i realize it doesnt seem to make sense) is to go with a magically strong army. My opponent prefers to base his army on his cannons and gunners so i want to take the lore of life. Using my Slann with knowlege of the full lore, i plan on casting the rain spell that forces his cannons, guns etc to have to roll 6s. this should protect my army whilst i advance. for added protection, i will give my EotG the Protective spell, and advance it behind my two saurus units, just in case the cannons do go off. i also plan on using the mountain spell against his gunners, as he places them on top of mountains (clearly). once i get to the dwarven army, i have to worry about him flanking me, as ive played him in a skirmish once before and i noticed he likes doing this. i plan on using my skinks/COC to intercept any flanking units while my saurus take on whatever units remain. well from the point i haven't thought out the rest of my plan, as i think i should be good once i get to that point. yes i know dwarfs are magically resistant and they get plus two to their dispell dice, so i hope that with a few lucky rolls i wont have too much trouble from that aspect of the game. If anyone can spot any other possible flaws with my plan (other than the ones i already stated) i would really like to know how i could improve my plan. id like to show this guy up, because hes kind of a conceited jerk lol thanks for any tips anyone can give me. oh and sorry for not knowing the specific spell names. i cant remember them, and i hope you know the ones im talking about

 

[WheelR]

Dwarfs being Magic resistant is not really that scary.. i play against dwarfs every week and i get through his 'resistance' 8/10 (I am known for crappy rolls with my Slann..). You should be scared if he brings an Anvil, Rune priests and Master rune of Valaja(or something) That would stop your magic but that means he has less Thanes/Engineers and no Dwarf Lord.

If you 'hide' your stegadon behind your saurus units he is still able to shoot at it because it is a Large Target. Best way to hide the Steg is behind scenery(big rocks.. forests etc etc.. as long he can't see you) and support your other units with 5+ ward saves.. Dwarfs hate that. Try to get him into combat as well.. once the steg is there in the flank your sure to keep him into combat.

What a gunline hates as well? Skinks.. a lot of them. Terradons/Skirmishers are your best friend against gunlines. If you really want to go Anti then I'd suggest that. Also to protect your Slann for becoming a pin cushion you could take the Magic Item that gives him a 2+ Save against missiles from 12".

You also want some punch of course.. Gunlines don't want to get into combat so you want to get there ASAP. Krox's, Cold Ones are fast and hit hard.. Get a unit of either one of them..or both. Regular Saurus Warriors work as well as do Temple Guards but they walk slower.

There is really a lot of things you could do against dwarfs.. In the end you just have to hope you don't get slaughtered by his lucky rolls. But do expect that he guesses his cannons right and if it is really a jerk he will abuse it and shoot your units that are in combat. Charge into his Machines with your skinks/Terradons ASAP. Just watch out for Flame Cannons. Have Fun!

 

[Revered_Guardian]

slayers are skinks best friends , also, this is a rare example you might wanna take lore of heavens for slaan, as he gets NO magic resistance versus the comet as it isnt targetting any of his units-(i believe thats how it works...)

 

[WheelR]

No don't listen to the ally of Skaven!

Dwarfs being MR is because they start with 4 Dispel Dice.. Rune Priests bring 1 each and Rune Lords 2. If he would take the Rune of Valaja then it will dispel any Remains in play/Bound spell in 12" range of the banner.
Lore of Life is good vs Gunlines.. I myself use Shadow most of the time but i play against more friendly dwarf lists.

A good dwarf player knows he shouldn't bring Slayers against Lizardmen by the way..

 

[Caneghem]

The ideal units for warmachine slaughter are the skink cohorts with one kroxigor. Dwarf warmachine crews are stubborn, and all it takes is one fear-causing kroxigor at US3 to auto-break the otherwise stubborn gunners. Skinks ensure the win through static res. Hopefully your 5 skink attacks and 3 kroxigor attacks will be able to kill one crew off, as that will get you the outnumber.

If he uses an anvil of doom, your flyers will be torn to shreds unfortunately. The Anvil of Doom is the only warmachine worth tying up with your flyers... and if he take the anvil your assault will be much more difficult. Its one weakness is this... it cannot target characters by themselves unless they or their mount are a large target. You may want to consider a flying skink chief or one riding a terradon... and equip him like an assassin. As long as he's not with a unit, this character cannot be targetted by "wrath and ruin", and have him look at his army book if he tries it. You can then charge in and challenge the Runelord, though it will be a tough fight.

The "standard" low-cost well protected Runelord has...
gromril armor, Rune of Stone
shield
GW
This means 2+ save vs. ranged, 1+ save in hth OR 3+ save with str 6 attacks. Killing Blow seems tempting, but many people will buy the KB immunity rune. There is also still debate (senseless IMO) about whether the Runelord is naturally immune to KB because of the anvil.

 

[Jive Professor]

I would think the ideal Warmachine hunter is not a single unit of Terradons, but rather two. He can Anvil one, certainly, but he runs a serious risk trying to get the ultimate power off to affect both. If he is running that kind of risk to stop 180 points of models, then you've already won my friend.

The Anvil is really not as overpowered as other armies would like to claim. Thorek is overpowered, but a regular Anvil is really what Dwarfs need to survive. It gives them the opportunity to either mitigate enemy mobility or increase their own, so it turns a static "please roll my flanks" list into a competitive army. If the guy is a conceited jerk, then he deserves to get stomped, but don't fall into the trap of calling "cheese!" just because an Anvil is on the table.

The Anvil is really expensive though, and costs more if you try to protect it. The threat of those Terradons is worth their weight in gold. Even if you only take one unit of Terradons and he anvils them every single turn they will have done their job. If he anvils your Engine, then he has slown a good portion of your battle line and possibly damaged it as well. If he ignores them, punish him with Terradon charges.

Good luck!

 

[pika82]

maybe you don't like the idea but how about no magic...
if he has tons of dispel dice why even bother
take an oldblood that ( almost ) always works wel as in a slann i never got the points out of it nor the unit he is with think of how many saurus you can get just out of him and his temple guard. and just be a jerk and play with a lot of terradons hope this helps

 

[WheelR]

maybe you don't like the idea but how about no magic...
if he has tons of dispel dice why even bother

How did you not get your points back from atleast your slann? Also.. you can get around 21 Saurus instead of 16 Temple Guards.. not really a big upgrade because they will be shot to smithereens just as fast if not faster.

Like i said.. you are only in trouble if he really goes anti magic.. I think a Carnosaur is more vulnerable than Slann tbh.. What protection does a Carnosaur have against tons of war machines? Barely any.. Slann have a 2+ Ward Save.

If one would say an Anvil is cheese i would seriously roll on the floor. It is nothing to be scared of.. i wouldn't say it is your prime focus tbh.. Cannons and Organ Guns are more scary if you ask me.. They hurt! Also.. Don't forget to score Table Quarters.. Dwarfs are not really good at it unless they pop Miners on the table last turn.

 

[Caneghem]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the Anvil is overpowered.. but it can be a game-changer if used correctly. It is also a fairly easy way to win the game if you can take it out. Terradons can tie it up but not kill it.

My advice comes from the point of view of a dwarf player.. I don't like things tying up my anvil.

If you fielded a Carnosaur with the war drums you would have a decent shot at getting to the anvil. You might actually need to use a couple units of terradons to help screen the Carno from warmachines, but it sure is a juicy prize that will cause your opponent to feel he has lost, even if he can technically still win.

Getting rid of warmachines is of course important, but taking the anvil will crush the enemy's spirit!

 

[Klladdy]

With the slann you can also get the regenerate rule for extra protection from cannons while the carn can't...

 

[Barotok]

With all due respect, I'd prefer a 2+ ward save (Plaque of Divine protection) versus the Regenerate rule any battle regardless of the cannons. You have a better chance to save a cannon ball hit and you save yourself 20 points.

 

[Thebestlazyguy]

would it be considered cheesy for my slann to take the Higher state of COnsciousness DoA against my friends dwarfs?

 

[Sashu]

Killing a static dwarf gunline is quite easy once you figure out how to do it.

The most important part of the battle will be deployment.

Your first step is to make sure that there is SOME terrain on the board. Not a lot but, some.

You then place your cheapest units in the middle of your deployment zone. Things like skinks etc. Anything that costs less than 100 points a deployment.

What this will do is stall his deployment. Dwarves don't have anything that they can use to stall deployment and he will then be forced to start deploying important parts of his army.

Once you find out where he is deploying his main units start building the other flank very heavily. Try if at all possible to have a piece of terrain between this deployment and the center of the battle field. What type of terrain it is doens't matter as long as it is something that blocks line of sight. He will then see that one of your flanks is going to be VERY strong and will start to deploy there as well.

As he has already deployed a significant portion of his line to defend the center of the field and shoot at it he has committed a number of troops that will not be significant to the flank battle.

Once the actual battle starts pull your troops in the center of the field to the flanks. These troops are not going to actually fight in the battle. The only thing you need to do with these guys now is to keep them out of range so the don't get shot and killed.

You then advance with your flank. This will allow you to bring your entire army to bear on his flank. The terrain will protect the core of your army from shooting damage. The troops you are able to commit to the flank fight will be more than strong enough to roll his flank.

That is more or less all you have to do. Once you have rolled his part of the flank don't worry about trying to kill the core of his army. You will have enough victory points for a victory, don't go throwing units into the center of his army where you are just going to get killed.

This works against just about any gunline but best against dwarves because they are not able to maneuver and bring the miss deplyoed elements of his army into the battle.