Monday, January 25, 2016
Fluff Theory #1: Hashut
You know, one of the best things about warhammer in my humble opinion is just how detailed and vast the universe is. I mean, in most fantasy dimensions things like magic and gods are just kind of swept under the generic rug of Chekov's Gun, simply relying on the reader to just accept that concepts like this just exist in that particular universe. Warhammer, both its fantasy and 40K components, actually takes effort to explain the hows, whys, whens, whats, and whos of its own fantasy. Now, this has the downside of shooting down most conspiracy theories before they can be asked, but every once in a while the story will leave us with little to no explanation of a particular subject, and to be honest I really like it when it dies, because it allows the D and D part of my imagination to explode with possible explanations. Hashut, the Father of Darkness, is one such mystery like that. His mere exsistance and the power he grants his followers means that he cannot be anice Old One, such as the Lizardmen worship. He's not a true Chaos God like the four ruinous powers worshipped by the Beastmen and Mortals of Chaos, despite the fact that he and Khorne seem to both share a penchant for fire, war, and smithing. Nor is he a created god, like any of the gods in the Elven pantheon. While this would seem most logical, only the Elves have were cannonically shown to actually have this ability and even they had lost the skills to creating dietes millenia before the coming of Chaos. This leaves the option of Hashut being an Ascendant God, a being who started off as a mortal and attained godhood through heroism or completion of herculean tasks. Examples of this would include Sigmar or any of the Dwarven Ancestor Gods. Yet nowhere in Tamurkhan, the BRB, or any other pieces of black library fluff do we really get anew accurate account. Even the much outdated Chaos Dwarf book from when they were a supported GW army didn't have the answers I sought. And then, after comparing timelines in the Dwarf 8th edition army book (because fuck end times with a rusty gunblade) and the BRB, I realized something. In the timeline, 300 years after Grimnir is last seen heading North to try and destroy the Chaos Gate, Hashut begins to be worshipped by the Dwarves of the East. Now, this is just my theory, but what if Grimnir strolled too far North or perhaps into the very depths of the Chaos Realm itself, and emerged sometime later, as time flows differently in the Chaos realm, with a penchant for fire and his stubbornness of a bull now literal as well as figurative? I took a look at a couple of pieces of fluff that support this particular theory. First, I have two direct cases of beings from the Old World entering and exiting from the dimension of Chaos. The first is Malekith, who did so only as a last result to escape imminent death. Now, Malekith was never the most stable of elves, but after emerging from the Chaos Realm his behaviour and personality became a bit more twisted then before his trip to Chaosville. The other is Oxyotl, a Chameleon Skink who basically got sucked into a portal and managed to emerge quite a while later back into Lustria, just as Chameleon Spinks began to spawn again. Now, Oxyotl doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary for a guy who just spent a thousand or so years being hunted by literally the evils of every living soul on the planet and had to watch Daemons eat the entrails of his particular Temple City's Slann Mage-Priest. However, Lizardmen are basically the only thing 100% immune to the warping effects of Chaos, which is why they were basically created. All this leads me to conclude that a creature like an Elf or a Dwarf does have the potential to enter and exit the Chaos Realm, especially someone as powerful as Grimnir. Additionally, consider the timeline here. At this point, the Dwarves entered their Golden Age, life was great, they were basically masters of their continent. Their cousins to the East though are begging for anyone or anything to save them from horrible mutations. A Dwarf of Grimnir's particular disposition would've helped the future Chaos Dwarfs, as they are more willing to empower him through worship. Thirdly, and lastly, the way in which the Chaos Dwarves have warped could not have been the result of a diety that was not Dwarven in nature. If the four big boys had gotten to them, they'd just be stuntier versions of their other worshippers. Yet the Chaos Dwarves maintain the majority of their original racial attributes. Their stubbornness and pride has not changed. In fact, it is on a whole other level that makes them hold other races with not just distrust or annoyance like their western kin, but outright contempt. Their talent for engineering also remains in tact, but that too has been upped to a whole new level with their ability to fuse Daemons to war machines. While Dwarves lust for mineral resources, the Chaos Dwarves seem to be motivated only by that and Hashut alone, and they are incredibly greedy creatures willing to slay without a second thought if someone so much as looks at their stuff. There you have it guys, my first Fluff Theory, I hope you guys like it and again, this is just my theory regarding Hashut. Now, I'm probably overthinking this, but I really do like this theory and makes a whole lot of since for the reasons I just stateddy above. I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll maybe keep doing these if you like and comment.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
The Good, The Bad, and the Never Used: Ogres
Greasus Goldtooth:
Weighing in at 272.5 Skaven Slaves and coming in with a stat line of 4 6 3 5 6 6 1 3 9, the Overtyrant of the Ogre Kingdoms is a bit of a hard sell, but we'll get to that later. He comes generically with Fear, but in addition he has two unique special rules. The first of which is Everyone Has Their Price. It means at the start of each enemy turn, before any Stupidity tests are taken, D3 enemy units within 18" of Greasus have Stupidity for the remainder of the turn. He also has Hoardmaster, which gives all friendly models within 18" including himself +1 to their combat results and automatically pass Rally tests. He's also rocking two magic items, the first being the Overtyrant's crown. This gives him a 4+ Ward Save and ITP to any unit he joins and himself. Lastly, he's got the Sceptre of the Titans. This magical weapon makes all of his normal attacks S10 and Multiple Wounds (D3). So before I shit all over this guy, let's look at some of his better aspects. First, he is a great line holder/breaker with his two special rules. Given how Ogres don't generate static combat res worth a damn, this can really help with that. Second, he's pretty rugged and between his 4+ Ward Save and his S10 he's probably going to be pretty kickass in combat. The bad news, this guy is stupidly expensive and has two critical weaknesses in his stat line. Movement 4 in an army that's universally Movement 6, that's a problem. Second, I1 means he's a Death and Shadow magic wet dream. And lastly, this may have since been faq'd, but I don't see him having Ogre Charge. In my opinion, he's too expensive, take a regular tyrant instead.
Skrag the Slaughterer:
The second and last Lord level special character in this particular army, this guy's you're token wizard special character. He costs 212.5 Skaven Slaves and rocks out with 6 5 3 5 6 5 3 4 9. He's also generically a Level 4 wizard on the Lore of the Great Maw, and comes with two hand generic hand weapons. He comes generically with the special rules Frenzy, Immune to Poison (Poison doesn't auto-wound, still has to roll like normal), Killing Blow, Ogre Charge (Impact Hits (1) if successful charge is made and the number of ranks they have is added to the Strength value of the hit, if the cHargett roll is 10 or higher it becomes D3 Impact Hits imstead, this is all per model in close combat by the way), and Terror. In addition he rocks out with the Cauldron of the Great Maw. This Enchanted Item works in collaboration with Gorgers, and both he and said Gorgers gain the following abilities depending on how many enemies Skrak has killed in close combat. As a side note, these effects are cumulative and they take effect immediately. 1-4 enemies gives Skrag Regeneration and the Gorgers, since they're Ambushers, do so on their next term. 5-9 enemies gives him and the Gorgers +1 Attack. 10-14 Gives he and the Gorgers Hatred. 15+, he becomes Unbreakable and the Gorgers get Regeneration. This guy is, well, he's situational. He's kinda like the Hellbron of the Ogres. If you take Gorgers, take this guy. If you play lots of Undead, Empire, or Skaven, take him. 4 attacks seems kind of crappy, but after you factor in Impact Hits, Frenzy, two hand weapons, and Killing Blow? He's doing some pretty serious damage. The problem? He's got no armor, no Ward Save, and he's more expensive then a kitted out level 4 Slaughtermaster. I think he's alright and in some cases he's even a perfect fit in the army. He's just a little flimsy to be out by his lonesome. If you do take this guy, try to take two support casters to actually cast magic while Skrag is chewing through Core units and rubbing his oversized Level 4 cock all over the Dispel phase.
Golgfag Maneater:
You know, every once in a while a special charachter from an army has such amazingly awesome fluff that you have to field him regardless. Clocking in at 130 Skaven Slaves and rocking a 6 5 4 5 5 4 4 5 8, this guy is a fucking hammer, but for reasons other then his stats. He comes generically with two hand weapons, a brace of Ogre pistols, and Light Armor. He also comes generically with Fear and Ogre Charge. Now here is where he goes from being a suped-up Bruiser to a damned nightmare. He has two unique special rules, the first of which is Easy Come, Easy Go. At the start of the battle roll a 2D6 and multiply this result by 10. That's how much magical item allotment Golgfag is allowed. Yes, he's a special charachter with access to magical items. Do I even need to explain how awesome that is? Lastly, he's got Golgfag's Maneaters, which means if he's in a unit of Maneaters then they get generically Stubborn and Vanguard and are always treated as trusted allies in an alliance. This guy is easily the best charachter in this book and he may in fact be one of the best charachters in all of warhammer. One of the biggest issues with special charachters is how dependant they are upon the situation. Sure, Teclis, Mazdamundi, and Manfred are awesome casters, but against Dwarves or anti-magic builds they fall apart. Kroq-Gar, Karl Franz, and Gorbad are dick-kickers, but against gun line builds they die too early. With Golgfag you never really need to worry about that. Plus math says you're going to usually be packing as much gear as a Dwarf Thane, so that's just fantastic. He is damn near double the cost of a Bruiser, but if you have the points and you like Maneaters, then I'd invest in him. Great charachter with great fluff from an era where Dogs of War was still a thing, I love him.
Bragg the Gutsman:
The last and arguably the worst special character in the Ogre book, Bragg is a bit of a disappointment. Coming in at 105 Skaven Slaves and coming in with a stat line of 6 5 3 5(6) 5 4 3 4 8 this guy's a bit of a disappointnent. He comes generically with Fear, Ogre Charge, Light Armor, and his only special item/rule, the Great Gouger. It's a two handed weapon that gives him Heroic Killing Blow in a challenge and if he kills his opponent in a challenge, all enemies in base combat with him suffer from Disruption for the remainder of the turn. Remember Chakax, the Lizardmen uber-Temple Guard Special Character I reviewed before? Yeah, this guy can't even hold Chaky's jock. First off, any dedicated combat charachter is going to make mincemeat out of Bragg in a challenge. My Bretonnian Lord laughs at this guy. Especially with his only defense being light armor and his Initiative being so low. However, this guy's model is kickass, so I'd use it as a Bruiser model instead of just being a lame ass special character.
Weighing in at 272.5 Skaven Slaves and coming in with a stat line of 4 6 3 5 6 6 1 3 9, the Overtyrant of the Ogre Kingdoms is a bit of a hard sell, but we'll get to that later. He comes generically with Fear, but in addition he has two unique special rules. The first of which is Everyone Has Their Price. It means at the start of each enemy turn, before any Stupidity tests are taken, D3 enemy units within 18" of Greasus have Stupidity for the remainder of the turn. He also has Hoardmaster, which gives all friendly models within 18" including himself +1 to their combat results and automatically pass Rally tests. He's also rocking two magic items, the first being the Overtyrant's crown. This gives him a 4+ Ward Save and ITP to any unit he joins and himself. Lastly, he's got the Sceptre of the Titans. This magical weapon makes all of his normal attacks S10 and Multiple Wounds (D3). So before I shit all over this guy, let's look at some of his better aspects. First, he is a great line holder/breaker with his two special rules. Given how Ogres don't generate static combat res worth a damn, this can really help with that. Second, he's pretty rugged and between his 4+ Ward Save and his S10 he's probably going to be pretty kickass in combat. The bad news, this guy is stupidly expensive and has two critical weaknesses in his stat line. Movement 4 in an army that's universally Movement 6, that's a problem. Second, I1 means he's a Death and Shadow magic wet dream. And lastly, this may have since been faq'd, but I don't see him having Ogre Charge. In my opinion, he's too expensive, take a regular tyrant instead.
Skrag the Slaughterer:
The second and last Lord level special character in this particular army, this guy's you're token wizard special character. He costs 212.5 Skaven Slaves and rocks out with 6 5 3 5 6 5 3 4 9. He's also generically a Level 4 wizard on the Lore of the Great Maw, and comes with two hand generic hand weapons. He comes generically with the special rules Frenzy, Immune to Poison (Poison doesn't auto-wound, still has to roll like normal), Killing Blow, Ogre Charge (Impact Hits (1) if successful charge is made and the number of ranks they have is added to the Strength value of the hit, if the cHargett roll is 10 or higher it becomes D3 Impact Hits imstead, this is all per model in close combat by the way), and Terror. In addition he rocks out with the Cauldron of the Great Maw. This Enchanted Item works in collaboration with Gorgers, and both he and said Gorgers gain the following abilities depending on how many enemies Skrak has killed in close combat. As a side note, these effects are cumulative and they take effect immediately. 1-4 enemies gives Skrag Regeneration and the Gorgers, since they're Ambushers, do so on their next term. 5-9 enemies gives him and the Gorgers +1 Attack. 10-14 Gives he and the Gorgers Hatred. 15+, he becomes Unbreakable and the Gorgers get Regeneration. This guy is, well, he's situational. He's kinda like the Hellbron of the Ogres. If you take Gorgers, take this guy. If you play lots of Undead, Empire, or Skaven, take him. 4 attacks seems kind of crappy, but after you factor in Impact Hits, Frenzy, two hand weapons, and Killing Blow? He's doing some pretty serious damage. The problem? He's got no armor, no Ward Save, and he's more expensive then a kitted out level 4 Slaughtermaster. I think he's alright and in some cases he's even a perfect fit in the army. He's just a little flimsy to be out by his lonesome. If you do take this guy, try to take two support casters to actually cast magic while Skrag is chewing through Core units and rubbing his oversized Level 4 cock all over the Dispel phase.
Golgfag Maneater:
You know, every once in a while a special charachter from an army has such amazingly awesome fluff that you have to field him regardless. Clocking in at 130 Skaven Slaves and rocking a 6 5 4 5 5 4 4 5 8, this guy is a fucking hammer, but for reasons other then his stats. He comes generically with two hand weapons, a brace of Ogre pistols, and Light Armor. He also comes generically with Fear and Ogre Charge. Now here is where he goes from being a suped-up Bruiser to a damned nightmare. He has two unique special rules, the first of which is Easy Come, Easy Go. At the start of the battle roll a 2D6 and multiply this result by 10. That's how much magical item allotment Golgfag is allowed. Yes, he's a special charachter with access to magical items. Do I even need to explain how awesome that is? Lastly, he's got Golgfag's Maneaters, which means if he's in a unit of Maneaters then they get generically Stubborn and Vanguard and are always treated as trusted allies in an alliance. This guy is easily the best charachter in this book and he may in fact be one of the best charachters in all of warhammer. One of the biggest issues with special charachters is how dependant they are upon the situation. Sure, Teclis, Mazdamundi, and Manfred are awesome casters, but against Dwarves or anti-magic builds they fall apart. Kroq-Gar, Karl Franz, and Gorbad are dick-kickers, but against gun line builds they die too early. With Golgfag you never really need to worry about that. Plus math says you're going to usually be packing as much gear as a Dwarf Thane, so that's just fantastic. He is damn near double the cost of a Bruiser, but if you have the points and you like Maneaters, then I'd invest in him. Great charachter with great fluff from an era where Dogs of War was still a thing, I love him.
Bragg the Gutsman:
The last and arguably the worst special character in the Ogre book, Bragg is a bit of a disappointment. Coming in at 105 Skaven Slaves and coming in with a stat line of 6 5 3 5(6) 5 4 3 4 8 this guy's a bit of a disappointnent. He comes generically with Fear, Ogre Charge, Light Armor, and his only special item/rule, the Great Gouger. It's a two handed weapon that gives him Heroic Killing Blow in a challenge and if he kills his opponent in a challenge, all enemies in base combat with him suffer from Disruption for the remainder of the turn. Remember Chakax, the Lizardmen uber-Temple Guard Special Character I reviewed before? Yeah, this guy can't even hold Chaky's jock. First off, any dedicated combat charachter is going to make mincemeat out of Bragg in a challenge. My Bretonnian Lord laughs at this guy. Especially with his only defense being light armor and his Initiative being so low. However, this guy's model is kickass, so I'd use it as a Bruiser model instead of just being a lame ass special character.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The Good, the Bad, and the Never Used; Dwarfs Special Character
Thorgrim Grudgebearer:
The High King of Karaz Ankor, this guy is basically the most badass Dwarf on the most magical recliner ever. Clocking in at a whopping 325 Skaven Slaves, Thorgrim is the single most expensive model in the army book, roughly three times and then some more expensive then a Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. However, kind of like Mazdamundi, it's not just how powerful he is, but what he does for your army with all of his magic toys. So to begin with, Thorgrim rocks a stat line of 3 7 6 4 5 7 4 4 10 and is taken to war by two stout Thronebearers that additionally rock the combined stat line of 3 5 3 4 - - 3 4 -. He comes generically with the rules Ancestral Grudge (roll a dice at the beginning of the game to determine Hatred distribution), Relentless (No march blocking), and Resolute (+1 Strength on the charge). Unique to him though, he's got the rule High King, which means he must be army's general and if he's slain all friendly models from the army book get Frenzy. That can be nice, but if this guy dies, you're probably up shit creek without a paddle. He also has the Throne of Power, which just means he's treated as a model that has Shieldbearers (look it up) but he adds +4 to his Wounds (this is factored into his profile already) and +2 to his Armor Save. He also has an Inspiring Presence of 18", but cannot benefit from any "Look Out Sir!" saves even if he's in a unit. He's also totting around the Axe of Grimnir, the Armor of Skaldour, the Dragon Crown of Karaz, and the Dammaz Kron, or the Great Book of Grudges to you mannlings out there. So, let's get started one at a time. The Axe of Grimnir, it's a Magic Weapon that gives Thorgrim ASF and he wounds any model on a roll of a 2+ regardless of the target's Toughness. Or, an a 3+ if the enemy is wearing Magical Armor. In addition, if Thorgrim is fighting against a Giant or a Chaos Giant, he has the Multiple Wounds (D6) special rule. So, this weapon is pretty balling becuase one of Thorgrim's real weaknesses is that he's only Strength 4. But since he can pretty much auto-wound, this fact can kind of be ignored. As for the whole Multiple Wounds against Giants, well, it's cute, but not all that useful. Because, I mean, when was the last time you actually saw a Giant? Now, if it was against all Monsters, then I'd be much more inclined because I play against Beastmen all the time. Moving on, we've got the Armor of Skaldour. This armor gives Thorgrim a 4+ Armor Save (meaning he has a total of a 2+ Armor Save) and he has a 2+ Ward Save against anything that has the Multiple Wounds, Killing Blow, or Heroic Killing Blow special rules. Yeah, this is very, very nice. It also, technically gives him the save to cannonballs. Meaning he's not a character you can easily swat with a cannon, which considering he can't get a "Look Out Sir!" bonus, this is very important. Next to last we have the Dragon Crown of Karaz. This talisman gives the wearer and any unit he's in ITP and Stubborn special rules. As you can imagine, this item is pretty nice, but not as awesome as it seems. First off, if you're putting this guy in a unit, you're putting him in Hammerers. Hammerers are already generically Stubborn. Still not a terrible rule, but kind of unused most times he's fielded. His last, and my personal favorite item, the Great Book of Grudges gives you a +3 to your Ancestral Grudge Rune, if your roll combined with this bonus is equal to a 7 or higher, then Thorgrim and any unit he's in may re-roll all failed to-hit rolls, not just in the first round of combat. Phew! Were finally at the end of it all! So all in all, Thorgrim is a badass motherfucker, and between his stats, items, and special rules inevitably you'll see him at least once in your career. Plus, even if you don't play End Times rules, he's pretty affordable in 3K lists and above, especially since all Dwarf lists no longer start off without a Runelord on the Anvil of Doom in their lists. In fact, the reasons to bring a Runelord are kind of debatable as is, so shit, bring Thorgrim if you can. He's a really good character despite his point cost and he can lock down and annihilate entire blocks of enemies by himself.
Thorek Ironbrow:
While Thorgrim went from being rarely to never seen all the way to being pretty common as far as special characters go, Thorek went from being an auto-include to never again making an appearance on the tabletop. I shouldn't need to explain how terrible the Anvil got, so I'll just take Thorek as a whole, and try not to judge him entirely because of his anvil. Thorek rocks a statline of 3 6 4 4 5 5 3 2 10 and is accompanied by Anvil Guards who have a statline of 3 5 3 4 - - 2 2 -. He comes with Ancestral Grudge, Ancestral Shield (5+ Ward Save), Armor Piercing, Locus of Power ( adds one dice to both you power and Dispel pool), MR (3), Rune Lore (he can channel Dispel dice), Strike the Runes (he uses the three bound spells on the anvil), and he's Unbreakable. But wait, there's more! He's also got Kraggi, Assistant at the Forge, which gives Thorek the ability to re-roll a single dice on a failed casting attempt per turn. If your re-roll is a 1, Thorek takes a single S10 hit and you no longer have this ability. He's also the Master of Ancient Lore, which gives him +1 to cast the bound spells. He also has two magic items. The first is Klad Brakak, which is a Runic hammer that allows no armor saves in close combat and provided he Wounds his enemy, any form of magic armor the opponent is wearing is destroyed. Lastly, he wears Thorek's Rune Armor, which just gives him a 1+ Armor Save. Poor Thorek, he went from being so good you never saw him, to so bad you never see him. I guess, maybe if you really love the anvil regardless of the shape it's in now, then he's worth taking, but at 217 Skaven Slaves, he's over twice as much as generic Runelord on an Anvil. I would never field an anvil, much less Thorek on one however.
Ungrim Ironfist:
Here we go! Now this is some good shit right here! Weighing in at 175 Skaven Slaves and with a stat line of 3 9 4 4 6 3 5 4 10, Ungrim is one of my favorite special charachters period. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Daemon Slayer (opponent's re-roll successful Ward Saves), Dragon Slayer (Multiple Wounds D3 against Monsters), Relentless, Resolute, Deathblow (makes a single attack upon his death as long as he didn't die to Impact Hits), Slayer (ignores Strength penalties and always Wounds on a 4+ unless less is needed), and Unbreakable. In addition, he's the Slayer King, which means he can only join units of Slayers, can be the Army's general, and he allows a single Slayer unit 8n the army to take a 100 point Runic banner. He's also got the Axe of Dargo, Dragon Cloak of Fryskar, and the Slayer Crown. So, first things first. The Axe of Dargo is a Magic Weapon that means all Ungrim's attacks are at +2 Strength and have Killing Blow. The Dragon Cloak of Fryskar gives him a 4+ Ward Save and a 2+ Ward Save against anything with the Flaming Attacks special rule. Last, but not least, he's got the Slayer Crown, which gives him +1 to his Toughness (already factored in) and +1 to his Armor Save (giving him a total save of 3+). Where to begin? So at first, I thought this guy was just going to be a fluffy choice for a Slayer themed army. Then I started to actually read this guy's stats and rules. Yeah, this guy is pretty kickass. Mostly because he's what every Dwarf player ever who likes Slayers has been pining to do. Put a Slayer in armor. True, he is 55 Skaven Slaves more expensive then a fully kitted out Darmor Slayer, but he is so much better that I think if you can take him, you should. He no longer makes Slayers core choices, but that whole shtick kind of died back in 7th edition. He's also perhaps the best thing to make Daemon Princes go splat. Also, put him into a High Elf Prince on a Star Dragon for laughs for days. Love this guy, he's my favorite Lord level special character in this particular army.
Belegar Ironhammer:
Now for a bit of downer. It's kind of a shame too, because in terms of fluff, I love this guy. The whole conflict between him, Skarsnik, and Queek Headtaker for control of Karak Eight Peaks is one of my favorite storylines in warhammer. Regardless, this guy rocks a stat line of 3 8 4 4 5 3 4 4 10 and clocks in at 157.5 Skaven Slaves. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, and Stubborn. He also comes with the rule, Revenge Incarnate (God that sounds fucking awesome!) which allows him to once per game double his attacks for the remainder of the turn. We'll talk about this later. In addition he has two special items, the first of which is the Hammer of Angrund. This magic weapon gives him ASF and give him +1 to wound. His last magic item is the Shield of Defiance, which gives him a 4+ Ward Save and makes him immune to Killing Blow and Heroic Killing Blow. Lastly, before I get grilled in the comments section, Belegar comes mounted on an Oath Stone, which means he and his unit can never elect to flee, cannot have their ranks disrupted, and allows them to make Parry Saves to their flank and rear. In addition, any charachter on an Oath Stone must accept challenges. Okay, so at first, this guy looks pretty cool, and his model is just fantastic in my humble opinion. When I first looked at this guy, I was immediately thinking Gor-Rok. Doubling attacks, re-rolls from ASF, +1 to KOwound. Then I realized he's on an Oath Stone. He's also only S4, now, he's +1 to wound, but S4 nonetheless. He's also 2.5 Skaven Slaves cheaper then a kitted out Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. He's just okay, and considering that the Dwarf Lord is awesome, he very rarely gets much playing time. However, awhile back we ran a three way battle with my Dwarves against my buddies who had Skarsnik with Goblins and Queek with Skaven. Really, really fun. I like him, but he's a little confused as to his roll in an army so I can understand leaving this guy behind, but he's certainly not the worst choice in the book.
Josef Bugman:
The first of two special Heroes available to the Dwarves, this guy is pretty kickass, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. So besides always abiding by universal bro code guidelines regarding the byob subsection, this guy also rocks a 3 6 5 5 2 4 4 10 and comes in at 82.5 Skaven Slaves. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, and Scouts. He also has the Bugman Rangers ability, which let's you upgrade Rangers in your army to have WS5, BS4, and S4 for an additional 3 points per model. He also has probably the most realistic parallel rule that we have amongst my gaming group, Liquid Fortification. As long as Bugman is aroundestroyed he and his unit roll 2 D6 at the start of each friendly turn. On a 2 he and his unit are Flammable. On a 3-9, their Stubborn. On a 10-12, they all get +1 Toughness. He's also rocking out with the Stout Courage special rule, which grant him and his unit immunity to Fear and Terror. He's also totting around Ol' Trustworthy, which is his magic weapon that gives him Armor Piercing, and +1 to his Attack and Strength (already factored in). Last, but definitely the best, is Bugman's Tankard. This little beauty allows him or any friendly models in the same unit to regain D3 Wounds at the beginning of any friendly turn. Considering how many Wounds Dwarf Lords can gave, this will make him even more unkillable. So, there's two reasons to take this guy. One, you've got a hard on for Rangers, regardless of how terrible they are now. Two, you want to make the meanest, most douchiest Death Star available to the Dwarves. He's also dirt cheap compared to the other charachters thus far. I like him, but he's not an auto-include by any means.
Grimm Burloksson:
Ah yes, the reason Irondrakes are so hated by so many. Rocking out to a stat line of 3 4 5 6 4 2 2 2 9 and identical to Bugman in terms of points, Burlok here is your badass Master Engineer. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Entrenchment (he can give one war machine hard cover and -1 to-hit in close combat provided it doesn't move), Relentless, Resolute, and Stand Back Sir! (Think lookout Sir but with war machines and a 3 inch range). He's also the Master of Accuracy, which at the start of each friendly shooting phase on a D6 roll of a 2+, he can confer one of three special rules. It should be noted though that he cannot benefit from these rules, but he may still use his own weapon. He can either allow a war machine to use his BS and re-roll a single artillery dice that can be the dice that determines a cannonball or flame cannon bounce, increase a unit's crossbow or handgun range by 2D6", or allow models in his unit to re-roll any missed to-hit rolls. He's also rocking a pimped out shotgun that has an 18" range, S4, Armor Piercing, Dwarf Crafted (no -1 penalty for stand and shoot), and Multiple Shots (2D3). In close combat it functions as S6 (as user), Armor Piercing, and Weaponsnapper (destroys an enemy's magic weapon on a successful hit on a roll of a 5+). Yeah, he may not be Ben Grim, but at S6 he damn near is! He's also an auto-include if you have more than three war machines in your army. He does have Grimnir armor, but if this guy gets into close combat, I'd just pick him up and apologize for making your opponent charge. However, he does have the potential to wipe out those pesky units of Goblin Wolf Riders and Dark Riders with his shooting potential. I've also seen him fuck up kitted out Goblin Bosses on wolves who bring magic weapons.
The High King of Karaz Ankor, this guy is basically the most badass Dwarf on the most magical recliner ever. Clocking in at a whopping 325 Skaven Slaves, Thorgrim is the single most expensive model in the army book, roughly three times and then some more expensive then a Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. However, kind of like Mazdamundi, it's not just how powerful he is, but what he does for your army with all of his magic toys. So to begin with, Thorgrim rocks a stat line of 3 7 6 4 5 7 4 4 10 and is taken to war by two stout Thronebearers that additionally rock the combined stat line of 3 5 3 4 - - 3 4 -. He comes generically with the rules Ancestral Grudge (roll a dice at the beginning of the game to determine Hatred distribution), Relentless (No march blocking), and Resolute (+1 Strength on the charge). Unique to him though, he's got the rule High King, which means he must be army's general and if he's slain all friendly models from the army book get Frenzy. That can be nice, but if this guy dies, you're probably up shit creek without a paddle. He also has the Throne of Power, which just means he's treated as a model that has Shieldbearers (look it up) but he adds +4 to his Wounds (this is factored into his profile already) and +2 to his Armor Save. He also has an Inspiring Presence of 18", but cannot benefit from any "Look Out Sir!" saves even if he's in a unit. He's also totting around the Axe of Grimnir, the Armor of Skaldour, the Dragon Crown of Karaz, and the Dammaz Kron, or the Great Book of Grudges to you mannlings out there. So, let's get started one at a time. The Axe of Grimnir, it's a Magic Weapon that gives Thorgrim ASF and he wounds any model on a roll of a 2+ regardless of the target's Toughness. Or, an a 3+ if the enemy is wearing Magical Armor. In addition, if Thorgrim is fighting against a Giant or a Chaos Giant, he has the Multiple Wounds (D6) special rule. So, this weapon is pretty balling becuase one of Thorgrim's real weaknesses is that he's only Strength 4. But since he can pretty much auto-wound, this fact can kind of be ignored. As for the whole Multiple Wounds against Giants, well, it's cute, but not all that useful. Because, I mean, when was the last time you actually saw a Giant? Now, if it was against all Monsters, then I'd be much more inclined because I play against Beastmen all the time. Moving on, we've got the Armor of Skaldour. This armor gives Thorgrim a 4+ Armor Save (meaning he has a total of a 2+ Armor Save) and he has a 2+ Ward Save against anything that has the Multiple Wounds, Killing Blow, or Heroic Killing Blow special rules. Yeah, this is very, very nice. It also, technically gives him the save to cannonballs. Meaning he's not a character you can easily swat with a cannon, which considering he can't get a "Look Out Sir!" bonus, this is very important. Next to last we have the Dragon Crown of Karaz. This talisman gives the wearer and any unit he's in ITP and Stubborn special rules. As you can imagine, this item is pretty nice, but not as awesome as it seems. First off, if you're putting this guy in a unit, you're putting him in Hammerers. Hammerers are already generically Stubborn. Still not a terrible rule, but kind of unused most times he's fielded. His last, and my personal favorite item, the Great Book of Grudges gives you a +3 to your Ancestral Grudge Rune, if your roll combined with this bonus is equal to a 7 or higher, then Thorgrim and any unit he's in may re-roll all failed to-hit rolls, not just in the first round of combat. Phew! Were finally at the end of it all! So all in all, Thorgrim is a badass motherfucker, and between his stats, items, and special rules inevitably you'll see him at least once in your career. Plus, even if you don't play End Times rules, he's pretty affordable in 3K lists and above, especially since all Dwarf lists no longer start off without a Runelord on the Anvil of Doom in their lists. In fact, the reasons to bring a Runelord are kind of debatable as is, so shit, bring Thorgrim if you can. He's a really good character despite his point cost and he can lock down and annihilate entire blocks of enemies by himself.
Thorek Ironbrow:
While Thorgrim went from being rarely to never seen all the way to being pretty common as far as special characters go, Thorek went from being an auto-include to never again making an appearance on the tabletop. I shouldn't need to explain how terrible the Anvil got, so I'll just take Thorek as a whole, and try not to judge him entirely because of his anvil. Thorek rocks a statline of 3 6 4 4 5 5 3 2 10 and is accompanied by Anvil Guards who have a statline of 3 5 3 4 - - 2 2 -. He comes with Ancestral Grudge, Ancestral Shield (5+ Ward Save), Armor Piercing, Locus of Power ( adds one dice to both you power and Dispel pool), MR (3), Rune Lore (he can channel Dispel dice), Strike the Runes (he uses the three bound spells on the anvil), and he's Unbreakable. But wait, there's more! He's also got Kraggi, Assistant at the Forge, which gives Thorek the ability to re-roll a single dice on a failed casting attempt per turn. If your re-roll is a 1, Thorek takes a single S10 hit and you no longer have this ability. He's also the Master of Ancient Lore, which gives him +1 to cast the bound spells. He also has two magic items. The first is Klad Brakak, which is a Runic hammer that allows no armor saves in close combat and provided he Wounds his enemy, any form of magic armor the opponent is wearing is destroyed. Lastly, he wears Thorek's Rune Armor, which just gives him a 1+ Armor Save. Poor Thorek, he went from being so good you never saw him, to so bad you never see him. I guess, maybe if you really love the anvil regardless of the shape it's in now, then he's worth taking, but at 217 Skaven Slaves, he's over twice as much as generic Runelord on an Anvil. I would never field an anvil, much less Thorek on one however.
Ungrim Ironfist:
Here we go! Now this is some good shit right here! Weighing in at 175 Skaven Slaves and with a stat line of 3 9 4 4 6 3 5 4 10, Ungrim is one of my favorite special charachters period. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Daemon Slayer (opponent's re-roll successful Ward Saves), Dragon Slayer (Multiple Wounds D3 against Monsters), Relentless, Resolute, Deathblow (makes a single attack upon his death as long as he didn't die to Impact Hits), Slayer (ignores Strength penalties and always Wounds on a 4+ unless less is needed), and Unbreakable. In addition, he's the Slayer King, which means he can only join units of Slayers, can be the Army's general, and he allows a single Slayer unit 8n the army to take a 100 point Runic banner. He's also got the Axe of Dargo, Dragon Cloak of Fryskar, and the Slayer Crown. So, first things first. The Axe of Dargo is a Magic Weapon that means all Ungrim's attacks are at +2 Strength and have Killing Blow. The Dragon Cloak of Fryskar gives him a 4+ Ward Save and a 2+ Ward Save against anything with the Flaming Attacks special rule. Last, but not least, he's got the Slayer Crown, which gives him +1 to his Toughness (already factored in) and +1 to his Armor Save (giving him a total save of 3+). Where to begin? So at first, I thought this guy was just going to be a fluffy choice for a Slayer themed army. Then I started to actually read this guy's stats and rules. Yeah, this guy is pretty kickass. Mostly because he's what every Dwarf player ever who likes Slayers has been pining to do. Put a Slayer in armor. True, he is 55 Skaven Slaves more expensive then a fully kitted out Darmor Slayer, but he is so much better that I think if you can take him, you should. He no longer makes Slayers core choices, but that whole shtick kind of died back in 7th edition. He's also perhaps the best thing to make Daemon Princes go splat. Also, put him into a High Elf Prince on a Star Dragon for laughs for days. Love this guy, he's my favorite Lord level special character in this particular army.
Belegar Ironhammer:
Now for a bit of downer. It's kind of a shame too, because in terms of fluff, I love this guy. The whole conflict between him, Skarsnik, and Queek Headtaker for control of Karak Eight Peaks is one of my favorite storylines in warhammer. Regardless, this guy rocks a stat line of 3 8 4 4 5 3 4 4 10 and clocks in at 157.5 Skaven Slaves. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, and Stubborn. He also comes with the rule, Revenge Incarnate (God that sounds fucking awesome!) which allows him to once per game double his attacks for the remainder of the turn. We'll talk about this later. In addition he has two special items, the first of which is the Hammer of Angrund. This magic weapon gives him ASF and give him +1 to wound. His last magic item is the Shield of Defiance, which gives him a 4+ Ward Save and makes him immune to Killing Blow and Heroic Killing Blow. Lastly, before I get grilled in the comments section, Belegar comes mounted on an Oath Stone, which means he and his unit can never elect to flee, cannot have their ranks disrupted, and allows them to make Parry Saves to their flank and rear. In addition, any charachter on an Oath Stone must accept challenges. Okay, so at first, this guy looks pretty cool, and his model is just fantastic in my humble opinion. When I first looked at this guy, I was immediately thinking Gor-Rok. Doubling attacks, re-rolls from ASF, +1 to KOwound. Then I realized he's on an Oath Stone. He's also only S4, now, he's +1 to wound, but S4 nonetheless. He's also 2.5 Skaven Slaves cheaper then a kitted out Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. He's just okay, and considering that the Dwarf Lord is awesome, he very rarely gets much playing time. However, awhile back we ran a three way battle with my Dwarves against my buddies who had Skarsnik with Goblins and Queek with Skaven. Really, really fun. I like him, but he's a little confused as to his roll in an army so I can understand leaving this guy behind, but he's certainly not the worst choice in the book.
Josef Bugman:
The first of two special Heroes available to the Dwarves, this guy is pretty kickass, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. So besides always abiding by universal bro code guidelines regarding the byob subsection, this guy also rocks a 3 6 5 5 2 4 4 10 and comes in at 82.5 Skaven Slaves. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Relentless, Resolute, and Scouts. He also has the Bugman Rangers ability, which let's you upgrade Rangers in your army to have WS5, BS4, and S4 for an additional 3 points per model. He also has probably the most realistic parallel rule that we have amongst my gaming group, Liquid Fortification. As long as Bugman is aroundestroyed he and his unit roll 2 D6 at the start of each friendly turn. On a 2 he and his unit are Flammable. On a 3-9, their Stubborn. On a 10-12, they all get +1 Toughness. He's also rocking out with the Stout Courage special rule, which grant him and his unit immunity to Fear and Terror. He's also totting around Ol' Trustworthy, which is his magic weapon that gives him Armor Piercing, and +1 to his Attack and Strength (already factored in). Last, but definitely the best, is Bugman's Tankard. This little beauty allows him or any friendly models in the same unit to regain D3 Wounds at the beginning of any friendly turn. Considering how many Wounds Dwarf Lords can gave, this will make him even more unkillable. So, there's two reasons to take this guy. One, you've got a hard on for Rangers, regardless of how terrible they are now. Two, you want to make the meanest, most douchiest Death Star available to the Dwarves. He's also dirt cheap compared to the other charachters thus far. I like him, but he's not an auto-include by any means.
Grimm Burloksson:
Ah yes, the reason Irondrakes are so hated by so many. Rocking out to a stat line of 3 4 5 6 4 2 2 2 9 and identical to Bugman in terms of points, Burlok here is your badass Master Engineer. He comes generically with Ancestral Grudge, Entrenchment (he can give one war machine hard cover and -1 to-hit in close combat provided it doesn't move), Relentless, Resolute, and Stand Back Sir! (Think lookout Sir but with war machines and a 3 inch range). He's also the Master of Accuracy, which at the start of each friendly shooting phase on a D6 roll of a 2+, he can confer one of three special rules. It should be noted though that he cannot benefit from these rules, but he may still use his own weapon. He can either allow a war machine to use his BS and re-roll a single artillery dice that can be the dice that determines a cannonball or flame cannon bounce, increase a unit's crossbow or handgun range by 2D6", or allow models in his unit to re-roll any missed to-hit rolls. He's also rocking a pimped out shotgun that has an 18" range, S4, Armor Piercing, Dwarf Crafted (no -1 penalty for stand and shoot), and Multiple Shots (2D3). In close combat it functions as S6 (as user), Armor Piercing, and Weaponsnapper (destroys an enemy's magic weapon on a successful hit on a roll of a 5+). Yeah, he may not be Ben Grim, but at S6 he damn near is! He's also an auto-include if you have more than three war machines in your army. He does have Grimnir armor, but if this guy gets into close combat, I'd just pick him up and apologize for making your opponent charge. However, he does have the potential to wipe out those pesky units of Goblin Wolf Riders and Dark Riders with his shooting potential. I've also seen him fuck up kitted out Goblin Bosses on wolves who bring magic weapons.
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