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Bolt Thrower
Where as in the previous Warhammers, many generals would have turned thier nose up at the thought of fielding a bolt thrower, these are set to become the most fashionable piece of kit on the battlefield! Why? Because now they are a "special choice", and under the rules for bolt throwers, 2 bolt throwers take up the place of one "special slot", in otherword 2 for the price of one slot!. Cheap at a cost of 45pts, there realtively low strength means there only good for mowing down large units, but coupled with Master rune of Skewing, rune of penetrating and Flaskksons' rune of penetrating, this can be a very good piece of kit, don't leave ur dwarf fotress with out one!
Organ Guns
Organ guns had to be THE most powerful and cheapest war machine in the old editions of the Dwarf army. Unfortunatley this is no longer. Organ cannons have been religated to the "Rare unit choice", meaning its highly unlikely to see the numbers which once use to populate Dwarf armies. Another change has been thier points cost, no longer cheap, these way in at 125 pts a piece, Ouch!. Its gets worse though, Runes are no longer inscrible upon the Dwarfs "new warmachines". which covers Organ guns, Gyrocopters and flame cannons. The last piece of bad news is they way they shoot. No longer is a nice cannon with a S10, no armour save, but more like a modified Hellblaster.
It now has a maxium range of 18", S5 and -3 Armor save. Rather then a spefic number of shots, you just roll the artillery die and this is the number of hits on the unit if with range of 18 inches. A poor man#s cannon. The only bit of good news? You dont have to wait a turn to refire it. Is it worth it in my opinion? No, not at the high points and low hitting ability of it, I now rarely take one of these unless up againest O&G or skaven as it is ussful for taking out large blocks of infanty.
Flame Cannon
Another serious bit of kit which has been made harder to get and more expensive. Again religated to the "Rare unit Choice" and with a cost of 140 pts, no runes allowed, any general thinking of taking this has to think seriously about its position on the battlefield, one wrong setup spells doom for such a model. Other then this, the flame cannon is untouched and regulary has a place in my army as it hits eeerything under the flame template.
Cannon
Why Dwarf cannons are never as good as the Empire ones, is a mystrey that even GW can't come up with a correct answear. The cannon has stayed the same, is a "special choice" and costs marginally less then the orginal cannon. Coupled with some fancy runes, this little beauty is always something a dwarf should have in his army. Its S10 and D3 wounds per hit and no save means its ideal for taking out thoose heavily armoured knights and troops. All cannons can now use "grapeshot" too, which means that a cannon is now not the best thing to charge. Worth its weight in gold.
Stone Throwers
Again, much the same as the Cannon, although its points have now dropped even further, but the option of 2 stone throwers has been removed - well we can't have everything. Again useful for taking out large units, espically large blocks of heavily armoured troops as the stone thrower allows no save. Just be very good at guessing ranges!.
Gyrocopters
No longer are "stealth" gyrocopters available, and like the flame cannon and organ cannon, this has been reduced to a "rare unit choice", something for once, I agree with. However, no runes are allowed on it and its points cost has been increased to a large 140pts. A small joy is that the pilot now comes with a 4+ save but the best part is that the gyrocopter now comes with 5, yes 5 wounds. Its low steam cannon strength (now made a -1) means that it is only good for combat with war machines of the opposing enemy and playing skirmish battles with scouts, although some people do use it effectley to slow down other peoples armies whilst its fast speed, save and 5 wounds means that unless its in combat, the chances of it staying alive are quite high. Only ever take one unless you have points to burn, and even then, I would always buy another core unit for the same cost.
Choosing targets
Dwarf artillery makes up for the lack of wizards in your army, so make sure you use it to the best of your advantage. Yes the enemy will try to take it out, but whilst its concentrating on removing it, it buys you time to position and crush the rest of his army. Do not be afraid to stand and fight with your dwarf crew, and with the option of a dwarf engineer, they can be very effective indeed.
Remember that Cannons are highly useful as they hit with a S greather then 7, causing an auto kill if it wounds a model, eg a chariot with a T5 can be destroyed by a single hit by a cannon. Use the force wisley my friends.
Dwaf Engineers
At long last, GW brings out something new for the Dwarfs in the way of War machines, an engineer. These highly useful fellows are not only allowed runic items, can be attached to war machine crews, act as war machine crews and come with 2 wounds. However the best bit is the artillerty master skill. This allows you to guess and measure 2 distances for stone throwers and cannons whilst using his balastic skill for a bolt thrower. He can also fire his own weapon (although then his unique skill can not be used). This is a must for every dwarf army, and at only 65 points, is worth every point. However if you are a seasoned vetran then this may be a waste of points.
Where as in the previous Warhammers, many generals would have turned thier nose up at the thought of fielding a bolt thrower, these are set to become the most fashionable piece of kit on the battlefield! Why? Because now they are a "special choice", and under the rules for bolt throwers, 2 bolt throwers take up the place of one "special slot", in otherword 2 for the price of one slot!. Cheap at a cost of 45pts, there realtively low strength means there only good for mowing down large units, but coupled with Master rune of Skewing, rune of penetrating and Flaskksons' rune of penetrating, this can be a very good piece of kit, don't leave ur dwarf fotress with out one!
Organ Guns
Organ guns had to be THE most powerful and cheapest war machine in the old editions of the Dwarf army. Unfortunatley this is no longer. Organ cannons have been religated to the "Rare unit choice", meaning its highly unlikely to see the numbers which once use to populate Dwarf armies. Another change has been thier points cost, no longer cheap, these way in at 125 pts a piece, Ouch!. Its gets worse though, Runes are no longer inscrible upon the Dwarfs "new warmachines". which covers Organ guns, Gyrocopters and flame cannons. The last piece of bad news is they way they shoot. No longer is a nice cannon with a S10, no armour save, but more like a modified Hellblaster.
It now has a maxium range of 18", S5 and -3 Armor save. Rather then a spefic number of shots, you just roll the artillery die and this is the number of hits on the unit if with range of 18 inches. A poor man#s cannon. The only bit of good news? You dont have to wait a turn to refire it. Is it worth it in my opinion? No, not at the high points and low hitting ability of it, I now rarely take one of these unless up againest O&G or skaven as it is ussful for taking out large blocks of infanty.
Flame Cannon
Another serious bit of kit which has been made harder to get and more expensive. Again religated to the "Rare unit Choice" and with a cost of 140 pts, no runes allowed, any general thinking of taking this has to think seriously about its position on the battlefield, one wrong setup spells doom for such a model. Other then this, the flame cannon is untouched and regulary has a place in my army as it hits eeerything under the flame template.
Cannon
Why Dwarf cannons are never as good as the Empire ones, is a mystrey that even GW can't come up with a correct answear. The cannon has stayed the same, is a "special choice" and costs marginally less then the orginal cannon. Coupled with some fancy runes, this little beauty is always something a dwarf should have in his army. Its S10 and D3 wounds per hit and no save means its ideal for taking out thoose heavily armoured knights and troops. All cannons can now use "grapeshot" too, which means that a cannon is now not the best thing to charge. Worth its weight in gold.
Stone Throwers
Again, much the same as the Cannon, although its points have now dropped even further, but the option of 2 stone throwers has been removed - well we can't have everything. Again useful for taking out large units, espically large blocks of heavily armoured troops as the stone thrower allows no save. Just be very good at guessing ranges!.
Gyrocopters
No longer are "stealth" gyrocopters available, and like the flame cannon and organ cannon, this has been reduced to a "rare unit choice", something for once, I agree with. However, no runes are allowed on it and its points cost has been increased to a large 140pts. A small joy is that the pilot now comes with a 4+ save but the best part is that the gyrocopter now comes with 5, yes 5 wounds. Its low steam cannon strength (now made a -1) means that it is only good for combat with war machines of the opposing enemy and playing skirmish battles with scouts, although some people do use it effectley to slow down other peoples armies whilst its fast speed, save and 5 wounds means that unless its in combat, the chances of it staying alive are quite high. Only ever take one unless you have points to burn, and even then, I would always buy another core unit for the same cost.
Choosing targets
Dwarf artillery makes up for the lack of wizards in your army, so make sure you use it to the best of your advantage. Yes the enemy will try to take it out, but whilst its concentrating on removing it, it buys you time to position and crush the rest of his army. Do not be afraid to stand and fight with your dwarf crew, and with the option of a dwarf engineer, they can be very effective indeed.
Remember that Cannons are highly useful as they hit with a S greather then 7, causing an auto kill if it wounds a model, eg a chariot with a T5 can be destroyed by a single hit by a cannon. Use the force wisley my friends.
Dwaf Engineers
At long last, GW brings out something new for the Dwarfs in the way of War machines, an engineer. These highly useful fellows are not only allowed runic items, can be attached to war machine crews, act as war machine crews and come with 2 wounds. However the best bit is the artillerty master skill. This allows you to guess and measure 2 distances for stone throwers and cannons whilst using his balastic skill for a bolt thrower. He can also fire his own weapon (although then his unique skill can not be used). This is a must for every dwarf army, and at only 65 points, is worth every point. However if you are a seasoned vetran then this may be a waste of points.
