Well, first off, hello again, all! I have had sadly few opponents for quite some time, but just last week I managed to finally get in a game as my Dwarfs - my first battle yet as Dwarfs in 8th, and my third game of 8th ever. I played quite a bit of 7th, and I was somewhat reluctant to change my list, but my opponent said he was "trying new things" so I decided to mix up my list as well. It was his first game of 8th as his Bretonnia, so it was something new for both of us. Anyways, here are the lists as they stand.

The Dwarfs of Zharrgrund Bar

Lord
Shieldbearers, Shield
Rune of Resistance, Master Rune of Spite, Rune of Fury, Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Striking

Thane
BSB
Master Rune of Gromril, Master Rune of Challeng

Runesmith (useless, as he didn't bring magic)
Master Rune of Balance

40 Warriors (Runesmith in here)
Great Weapons, Full Command

20 Quareller Rangers
Veteran, Musician

22 Hammerers (BSB and Lord here)
Full Command, Shields
Rune of Battle (which I totally forgot about!)

Cannon
Rune of Forging
Engineer

2 Organ Guns

He brought:

Lord - Tooled up for dueling, as it turned out
Paladin on Foot - BSB
12 Knights Errant
12 Knights of the Realm (with the Lord joining)
15 Knights of the Realm
2 30 man Peasant Hordes
5 Questing Knights
20 Archers
Trebuchet

Deployment went fairly well. He placed an Altar of Khaine in what ended up being one of my corners, so I deployed in the other. Frenzy is nice, but I'd rather he didn't get it on his lance charges. We had two mysterious rivers (that both ended up being Rivers of Blood!) and an earthblood mere that his archers started deployed in. I deployed my horde against the right edge of my deployment zone, the hammerers next to them with an organ gun inbetween and then another on the far edge of the hammerers. My canon sat behind the line, cozy in its independence from "to-hit" rolls. He deploys across in a substantial line, placing his Lord's unit centrally, with peasant hordes on either side, archers to my right, the questing knights lined up with my horde and the knights errant deployed wide to swing around for a flank charge. My rangers deployed after, however, settling 14" away from the knights errant and out of their LoS.

I get first turn because of prayer, and the game begins.

DWARF TURN 1

No movement.
Cannon fires, hitting the trebuchet and doing 2 wounds. Dang. I could've used a 4+ on that multiple wounds roll. The crossbows open fire and manage to kill 2 knights errant.

BRETONNIA TURN 1

The Knights errant turn to face my rangers the rest of the army advances, but half his peasants are taking up the ford in the river, and his knights can't march.
The archers fire at the Hammerers, doing nothing. The Trebuchet however gets a direct hit, killing 9 of my elite warriors. Not the best start.

DWARF TURN 2

No movement.
My organ guns open fire... to disastrous results! The first one misfires and explodes! The second manages 6 hits on a Knights of the Realm unit, and chops them down by 4. He passes panic with ease. My crossbows kill another knights errant, and my cannon hits but rolls a lousy 1 to wound!

BRETONNIA TURN 2

The Knights errant charge, my stand and shoot killing 1 more. The rest of his army advances, and now his questing knights and knights of the realm are in position to charge my horde and the peasants are in position to charge my hammerers. His lords unit wheels around menacingly, and the second horde of peasants finally stumbles out of the river. His trebuchet fires - and misfires! It takes itself out and I breath a sight of relief. His archers manage to kill a single hammerer. Combat sees my rangers kill 1 knight and lose 5 of their own. They manage to hold by rolling a 4 on the break test of 5. Lucky me! I do a combat reform to no longer be 10 wide, rolling a 3 this time. He also combat reforms to maximize frontage.

DWARF TURN 3

With the Trebuchet out of the way, my men are in luck. In retrospect, I should have charged with my horde - they would have devastated the two units of knights on a charge - but I wanted to squeeze in one last round of shooting against those knights of the realm. Also, I had the rune of challenge waiting in the sidelines. Shooting reduces his Knights of the realm to 7, and I then realized I should have probably targeted his Lord's unit that is coming in on the flank! Drat. The Rangers kill 4 knights errant, losing their champion in a duel and 3 others. We tie combat.

BRETONNIA TURN 3

I use the challenge rune to force his questing knights all the way over to my Hammerers. I didn't want them bogged down by the peasant horde. He accepts rather than fleeing off the table, and charges with ease. His lord's unit also attempts a charge, and blissfully fails! The peasant horde charges my horde alongside the few remaining Knights of the Realm. His archers decide to shoot at the organ gun, but their limited numbers in range and low S can't do anything to the crew. Combat goes perfectly for me. His questing knights lose 3 of their 5 to my lord before they even attack, and while they kill 2, they are wiped out entirely. I use my reform to turn to face the oncoming Lord's unit. My horde of great weapons is disastrously effective, killing 2 knights and 18 peasants! He needs double 1s for both units, and neither of them make it, even with rerolls. I pursue and cut down the peasants, but the knights of the realm get away. On the other side of the board, my rangers chop his knights down to 1 remaining, and he only manages to kill 1 of mine. He annoyingly holds with a great break check!

DWARF TURN 4

I'm feeling pretty good now. My horde charges his fleeing knights, chopping them down, then using their reform to turn towards the action. My hammerers charge his lord's unit, denying him the lance bonus. My organ gun has no targets in range, so advances forward to try and get a better shot at the incoming peasant horde that is now getting a bit closer. The canon fires towards the peasants, but thuds into the ground in front of them. Combat goes decent, although the challenge he makes against my Lord does not go well. He does one wound to me while I can't touch him. My unit does significantly better, the S6 laying a few knights low. He manages to win combat and my hammerer unit is looking very low in numbers! I pass the Ld 10 rerollable on the reroll. Little nerve-wracking. My rangers finally finish off those dang knights errant!

BRETONNIA TURN 4

His peasants march forward to support his knights fighting my lord. His archers, hilariously, have a different tale. They tried to reform to face my horde and get some shots in, but 6 of them failed the dangerous terrain test for the marsh they were in! They panic, fleeing off the board in one of the most hilarious displays of our match. Combat is hard on my Hammerers, but only a few casualties on both sides. My Lord is sadly laid low in his duel, and I begin to dislike his lord immensely. I pass the break check.

DWARF TURN 5

The Rangers advance to try and support the Hammerers before its too late, and my warrior horde does the same. My cannon fires on the peasants again, killing 3 of them no problem. My organ gun misfires, but thankfully does not blow itself up like the last one. My champion challenges his lord to soak up the deadly attacks, valiantly dying. The hammerers are reduced to a mere 5 men plus the BSB. I did manage to take a few more knights with me though. I hold like the stubborn dwarf I am.

BRETONNIA TURN 5

The peasant horde manages a miraculous charge! A 14" charge is dang impressive for those inbred buffoons! Combat is all that's left, and my BSB manages to hold of his Lord of dueling doom for one more round and the unit is reduced to a mere 2 dwarfs plus the character.

DWARF TURN 6

He realizes his critical error too late - his horde had extended so far out that my horde now has a viable charge target! I charge 8" into his flank, and the deadly work begins. My BSB dies in combat with the lord, and the hammerers retain one single model! Glorious! The standard still flies! My horde manages to kill 14 peasants, forcing his units to break anything higher than a 2! His peasants manage to roll snake eyes, and we have a good laugh as his lord flees and his peasants decide to stick it out. He manages to roll another double 1 for the combat reform, and rotates to face my horde. My one hammerer tags along in the rotation game.

BRETONNIA TURN 6

His Lord's unit rallies, and combat begins. My horde chops the peasants down to a meager 2 models, but on the way out he manages to take down my final hammerer. They fought well! He flees and the game ends.

At the end of it all, I still had my Rangers, warriors, canon, and one of the organ guns. He had his lord and one unit of Knights of the Realm, but it wasn't enough to save him points wise. A Victory to the Dwarfs!

It was a great game, and the differences between 7th and 8th were surprising to me. I'll post a unit by unit review later, but now I'm going to go to bed. I sadly will be game-less for a few months (big move!) but this was a great taste of what's to come.

Any comments on strategy/units construction would be great (I do know the Lord is lackluster though... just had to learn the hard way, I guess)!