Warband: Dwarf Treasure Hunters 'Captain Blackboar & his Boar-Ding Party'

'Sails ho! Prepare to Boar...D!' the sound of his scream was utterly muffled by the thickness of his black beard! Yet the crue seemed to understand. Powered with the lust for gold and probably taste for our blood they flipped a boarding plank between the buildings and charged! Missiles and cannonballs ricocheted all around me producing a crackling cacophony of sound. Wood fragments propelled by the impacts scraped off my face and that's when i saw him: Charging headlong through the boarding plank was the captain! My eyes met his hungering gaze and instinctively  i grabed my gold pouch. Just before our blades crossed i was distracted by a giant red boar emerging from behind the Dwarf and going strait for my legs. Without enought time to prepare myself i was thrown off balance, kneecap pummeled into paste. Bone fragments protruded from my left leg. I felt pure agony lad, like i have never felt before. I would have died back then if not for my favorite Warhound - Tośka. One moment the Dwarf Captain towered above me with an evil grinn, the next he joined me on the ground with an angry hound on his back. I was able to crawl away just in time to see a sharp point of an anchor wielded by a massive, muscular Troll Slayer, puncturing the side of my loyal hound. I was routed that day lad. I lost many companions, Toska included. It was the first time in my life that i fled and im not proud of it... but i kept my life and my gold!

Warband: Dwarf Treasure Hunters

  'Captain Blackboar & his Boar-Ding Party'

The Dwarf Treasure Hunters may easily be considered a most popular Warband there is. Mainly because of the Dwarf own popularity but also due to their ultimate climate. These short and bearded Treasure Hunters stand high above even the Undead or Witch Hunters as there's almost none gaming group without a Dwarf player. I fought bravely not to own a Dwarf Warband myself, yet fell in the attempt. To keep the vestiges of originality i have changed theme of my Dwarves but lets be honest: they're still short and got beards! Now when all that was said let us take a closer look into the Dwarves.

Advantages:

- Stone Skin,

Dwarves have a T value of 6 and benefit from two powerful rules: 'Hard to Kill' and 'Thick Head' which give them awesome durability both in hand-to-hand and range combat. Your enemy will need 6's and will not benefit from clubs/hammers etc. special rules when fighting against Dwarves. Just keep in mind not to be overwhelmed by enemy numbers cause a Dwarf stunned in hantd-to-hand combat is a dead Dwarf. 

- Look, it's a Wyrdstone Shard!

Yes you will start the game with one less hero but it means that your rating will be lower almost every time. You also gain an additional Wyrdstone Shard after each battle which gives you an edge against other Warbands in early campaign.

- Beardlings,

Dwarves have access to a great and cheap Henchmen group in the form of Beardlings. For 25gc. you get a human with one less I, one less M but T 4 and two powerful rules. I did not mention BS 2 intentionally as these are hand-to-hand warriors so Ballistic Skill does not count.

- Bipolar uses,

Dwarves are very flexible in terms of gameplay. All heroes may choose combat skills and three of them are able to choose strength skills. In the same time up to two heroes may become potent shooters with access to shooting skills and a variety of shooting weapons including pistols. You can build your Warband around hand-to-hand combat with a support of pistols and one or two crossbows or you can go all ahead shooting and use Troll Slayers as a hand-to-hand combat counter force. Both builds will work fine and i recommend that you test both of them in time.

- Powerful late game Skills,

Master of Blades is just sick! Combo it with two Dwarf Axes and feed with tears of your opponents each time you get into hand-to-hand combat. True Grit and Thick Skull may not be as powerful as Step Aside but they are very useful, especially in hand-to-hand combat where Stunned usually means Dead. 

Weaknesses:

- Yo! Where are the guys?

With a maximum number of 12 models and M 3 you will often find yourself outnumbered and unable to cover a large area of the table. In some scenarios it may prove to be fatal. Remember to bring some Thunderers as a precaution and to keep certain areas of the table occupied. 

Tips: You can buy a Wardog to bring a fast moving member to your Warband ;)

- Let's dig a hole!

Most of the Dwarf players preffer to stay put and use shooting weapons to repell eventual attack. If you take a look at the Skills and weapons available for your Heroes you should see that this is a hand-to-hand centered Warband. I know - you think me a Heretic now but my point of view is dictated by years of experience, fighting againts Dwarf players both in Mordheim and Warhammer. Believe me when i say that Mordheim Dwarf Treasure Hunters are something totally different than Warhammer Dwarf Army. Mordheim is more scenario oriented so most of the time you will be forced to race with your opponent or in the best case meet him axe against blade. Of course you should not forfeit shooting totally but consider not using four crossbows. Two (cannons) will do the trick and you can equip two heroes with a brace of pistols to keep up with the main body of your combat group wile maintaining a sniper/support role. I won't bully you into this strategy - just try it out for yourself ;)

Dwarf Noble: Captain Blackboar and Bucu (Cannon Fodder Boar)

Dwarf Engineer: Quatermaster Deadshot

 Dwarf Troll Slayer: Anchorfish

"We rob you of anchor..."

Troll Slayer: Squidwheel 

"...We rob you of wheel..."

 Dwarf Thunderers

 "...We rob all your weapons..."

Dwarf Clansmen: Hsif, Krahs

 "...All cargo..."

Dwarf Beardlings

"and beer!"

 'Chaaarge!'

 'Prepare to Boar...D!'

'Last stand'

Warband: Dwarf Treasure Hunters 'Captain Blackboar & his Boar-Ding Party'
Cost: 500gc,
Rating: 96,

Dwarf Noble: Captain Blackboar 103gc,
Pistol, Mace, Dagger, 

Dwarf Engineer: Quatermaster Deadshot  78gc,
Crossbow, Mace, Dagger, 

Dwarf Troll Slayer: Anchorfish 60gc,
Halberd, Dagger, 

Troll Slayer: Squidwheel  53gc,
Mace, Dagger, 

Thunderers (2) 130gc,

Crossbow, Dagger, 

Beardlings (2) 56gc,
Mace, Dagger, 

Arabian Merchant 20gc,

Scimitar,

This Warband roster is a classic flexible start with an addition of Arabian Merchant in place of usual Tilean Marksman. Merchant will add speed to my Warband's early progress so that i will be able to recruit more crue as fast as possible. When the numbers reach 12 fully equiped Dwarves (13 with Merchant) i will further invest in Hired Swords acquiring services of Ogre Bodyguard, Pit Fighter and then Tilean Marksman.

Nazroth,