Lore Review

The Dwarfen Mountain Holds are a series of mountain holds collectively known as the Karaz Ankor to the Dwarfs. The Dwarfs have a strong sense of identity and are an incredibly proud race. In times past, the Dwarfs were found throughout the mountain ranges of the Old World and beyond, mining for precious metals and creating a vast underground empire linked together by long tunnels known as they Underway.

However, the Dwarfs now find themselves besieged from all sides by the Ravening Hordes after a calamitous earthquake rocked the Worlds Edge Mountains where the majority of Dwarfen Holds stood. The Dwarfen empire is now in a slow decline as with each passing century, further holds are lost to the enemies that surround them. Don’t say that to the Dwarfs though….

There are three distinct flavours of Dwarfen army playable with the release of the new Arcane Journal, with options for you whether you want to run a traditional Dwarfen army of the sort that is constantly fighting to protect its holds, or a more focused force representing the experience troops that make up a Dwarf Kings throng, or the forces of an expeditionary force looking to reclaim a lost hold.

The lore section of the Arcane Journal focuses on the various Dwarf holds spread throughout the Old World, before expanding into exploring Dwarf society, from clans to the guilds.

The main focus of the lore is around Burlok Damminson and his expedition to reclaim the lost hold of Khazid Vosk, for which there is also a narrative scenario to allow you to recreate the battle. This section is perhaps the most detailed, going into the background of Burlok and the reasons for his expedition as well as the mustering of his troops. This is clearly intended to give some inspiration for creating a background for your own force.

The Book

As with our other Arcane Tome reviews, the core rules for an army from the Dwarfen Mountain Holds exist within the appropriate tome, with this one being the “Forces of Fantasy” book that also includes rules for Bretonnia, Empire, Wood Elves, and High Elves.

As a supplement to that, and the focus of this article, the Arcane Journal for the Dwarfen Mountain Holds includes two alternative ways to represent the Dwarfs, either as part of a Royal Clan Army or as an Expeditionary Force.

Besides containing two new “Armies of Infamy” as these alternative compositions are known, there is a selection of named characters, and a slew of extra runes and also runic tattoos that can be used both for these armies of infamy, many of which can also be selected as choices for your standard Dwarf army lists.

Armies of Infamy

The Armies of Infamy offers novel and thematic approaches to constructing your faction’s army lists. Introducing unique army-wide special rules and granting access to upgraded units that enhance specific playstyles. However, opting for an army of infamy imposes greater restrictions on your army composition compared to the base books by excluding certain units.

It’s important to mention that these Arcane Journals differ from traditional army books from previous editions. They act as supplements to the unit lists and army rules found in Ravening Hordes and Forces of Fantasy books. Playing a game in the Old World only using the Arcane Journals is not possible, as they rely on references to the special rules from Ravening Hordes and Forces of Fantasy. These journals provide new ways to play your faction, including special characters, but they don’t provide details on specific rules.

Royal Clan Army

The Royal Clan Army represents the throngs of the most experienced warriors available to the Kings and Queens of the Karaz Ankor. Notably for this army is the lack of Engineers and Slayers and black powder units such as the Cannon and Thunderers. However, this army list does allow your to field more than 1 King, but also an Anvil of Doom alongside of them. A Royal Clan army is all about the elite troops. Royal Clan Warriors replace the standard Dwarf Warriors, and, aside from points, there’s no limit on the number of Hammerers you can fit into your Special section.

Special Rules

Ancestral Fury – Units in a Royal Clan army that have made a charge of 3″ or more, or have made a follow up move gain a +1 modifier to their strength characteristic. Excellent for Dwarfs and encourages you to charge the enemy rather than standing and waiting to be charged.

Riches & Heirlooms – All character models in the army an spend an additional 25 points on runes. Units that have access to Standard runes may also spend an additional 25 points on Standard runes. The latter does not apply to the Royal Clan Warriors who have this bonus already included in their unit entry.

Striking a Grudge – You may nominate a single enemy character to become hated by all friendly models, regardless of the army you are facing. As well as this, you win a bonus of 75 victory points if the nominated character is slain, has fled or is fleeing the when the game ends.

List Composition

As a result of the army representing the experienced army of a King or Thane, there no limits on the amount of Royal Clan Warriors or Longbeards in an army.

There are enough changes to the general composition that it would make it a dull read to list them all here, but some highlights are that Royal Clan Warriors replace Dwarf Warriors as a core choice, Longbeards become an optional core choice, while Thunderers, Engineers, Slayers (of all kinds), Cannons and Flame Cannons have been removed entirely. Hammerers are now no longer limited to 1 per King of Thane (0-1 per 1k), and Ironbreakers move from Special to Rare.

Unique Units

Royal Clan Warriors are more experienced versions of Dwarf Warriors and are only available in Royal Clan armies. These come with shields as default, as well as gaining the Gromril Armour (re-roll natural 1 when making an armour save) and Gromril Weapons (Gives hand weapons Armour Piercing of -1) special rules. They can also spend 25 points more than Dwarf Warriors on Standard runes, while their champion gains access to Talismanic runes. 2pts more than the Dwarf Warriors, but I consider this a bargain when comparing the two units like for like.

Expeditionary Force

As a nice counter to the experienced Royal Clan Army, you have the option to create an Expeditionary Force. A force which may be tasked with testing a new invention created by the Engineers Guild, or tasked with reclaiming a lost hold and the treasures within. The Expeditionary Force selection features a lot of Black Powder weapons and no Kings or Runelords.

It goes to some length to explain the reason why Doomseekers and Slayers accompany these expeditionary forces and this does feel a little shoe-horned in. But it still makes for a nice read and still gives plenty of inspiration for players looking to create their own lore backgrounds.

Special Rules

Expeditionary Marksmen – As mentioned, the focus of the Expeditionary Force are it’s Engineers and black powder weapons. So one unit of Thunderers per 1,000 points may be upgraded to Expeditionary Marksmen for +1 point per model. This allows the unit to ignore the negative effects on hit modifiers for moving and shooting. It also allows any Dwarf Engineer to also have the same rule.

Function Over Form – To represent the Expeditionary Force being a mobile army, you can reduce the toughness of any Cannons, Organ Guns or Flame Cannons by 1, which then allows them to lose the Move or Shoot special rule.

Subterranean Ambush – If the army includes a unit of Miners, the Dwarf player may deploy two 32mm round Mine markers, plus one additional marker for each additional unit of Miners in the army. There are conditions on where these markers may be placed, for example, not within the enemy deployment zone or within 12″ of another marker. However, this does allow the Dwarf player to place Miner units held in reserve within 6″ of a mine marker rather than a board edge.

List Composition

No Kings, Runelords or Anvils of Doom here. However, you do gain access to the Engineer Sapper character.

In Core there are no more Quarrellers, but they have been replaced by Dwarf Carts. While the usual 0-1 Longbeards for a King have been replaced by 0-1 units of Scout Gyrocopters per 1,000. Joining them are the Rangers, but instead of a 0-1 per army, this is now 0-1 per 1,000 points.

Miners, Scout Gyrocopters and Gyrocopters are the main units in the Special category and are joined by 0-3 of Bolt Thrower, Grudge Thrower and Cannon.

In the Rare section, your choices have jumped up to 33% of your army from the usual 25%. Gyrobombers have no limit and are joined by up to 1 unit of Slayers and up to 2 war machines per 1,000 points, made up of, Organ Guns and Flame Cannons.

Unique Units

Dwarf Engineer Sapper – Is essentially the same as the standard Dwarf Engineer but for the additional 20 points in its price you lose the Entrenchment, “Stand Back Chief!” and Artillery Master abilities for the “Dig In!” special rule, which can be used during any Command sub-phase. This allows the character and any unit they are with to be considered behind partial cover. On top of this, you also have the Hostile Terrain special rule, causing any enemy model that ends its movement within the combat range of this character to make a Dangerous Terrain test.

Scout Gyrocopter – The Scout Gyrocopter are more manoeuverable than the regular versions, and have increased speed over less armour and weapons. They’re the same price as the regular Gyrocopter but in that price you lose the Dive Bomb special rule and gain a host of others. Gaining the Extended Formation, Fly (10) rather than Fly (9), and Hatred (Orcs & Goblins). They also lose a little armour and count as having heavy armour rather than full plate. They do gain Hit & Run, this allows them to Fall Back in Good Order rather than having to make a follow up or pursuit move after winning a round of combat. They have the clattergun as their only weapon.

Miner’s Cart – Dwarfs haul a lot of baggage when mounting an expedition, from barrels of Black Powder, to barrels of Bugman’s XXXXXX. There are two types of Dwarf Cart. The Miner’s Cart allows any unit within 3″ to make a Stand & Shoot charge reaction as if it were equipped with Blasting Charges. When it loses its last wound to an enemy in the combat phase, on a roll of 4+ it explodes and each unit within 3″ suffers D6 Strength 3 hits at AP -1 with the Flaming Attacks special rule.

Bugman’s Cart – Any Dwarf unit that is within 6″ of a friendly Bugman’s Cart in the Command sub-phase gains a +1 modifier to its Movement characteristic until the end of the turn (not cumulative).

Special Characters

The main army composition lists found in Ravening Hordes and Forces of Fantasy notably lacked the array of special characters that enthusiasts have grown fond of within their cherished factions. While it’s understandable considering the shift in time period, with many of these iconic figures potentially not yet existing, it leaves a void in the hearts of fans longing for something extraordinary to connect with. The Arcane Journals address this gap by introducing a selection of special characters, both familiar and new, to their respective armies

Thorgim Ulleksson, Kharl of the Dammaz Kron

At first you may not have realised that Thorgim Ulleksson is non other than Thorgrim Grudgebearer from the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle series and the Warhammer Total War franchise. (His ignominious death still hurts….).

Here, we’re treated to playing Thorgrim before he became High King, and you can read about his younger years and how he became intrinsically linked to the Book of Grudges.

At 250 points, Thorgim is already a beast of a model. Wielding Grudge-settler which is not classified as a great weapon and so does not have the Strike Last or Requires Two Hands special rules. It still has S+2 and -1 AP in combat, along with Armour Bane (1) and Magical Attacks. It is inscribed with the Master Rune of Smiting (Multiple Wounds – D6) and the Rune of Parrying (Enemies suffer a -1 to hit modifier when targeting Thogrim in the combat phase).

He wears the Armour of Skaldour, which is classified as heavy armour but with the benefit of a 4+ Ward save against a Killing Blow, or against any wounds suffered that has the Multiple Wounds (X) special rule.

He has the Grudgestone, which once set, allows Thogrim and any unit he has joined to gain the Unbreakable special rule and automatically pass any Panic tests they may be required to make. However, once placed, Thogrim and his unit cannot Flee as a charge reaction and cannot move other than to Give Ground or to make a follow up move or reform.

As well as this, being a master of Grudgelore, allows he and any unit he is with to replace the Hatred (Orcs & Goblins) with Hatred (all enemies) when the Grudgestone has been set.

Ungrim Ironfist, Slayer King of Karak Kadrin

Players of both the original series of Warhammer Fantasy Battle games, and the Warhammer Total War franchise will recognise the second special character to be listed in the book – Ungrim Ironfist.

Obviously a younger version than we’ve seen in previous editions, the lore talks about his background and how he became a Slayer King as did his father, and his father before him, for their Ancestor King Baragor. Who at the loss of his daughter on her way to wed the High King in Karaz-a-Karak, lost his battle against grief. Unable to to hold anyone else accountable other than his own decision not to travel with her, the King chose to shave his beard short and swore oaths to the Slayer Cult.

At 315 points, Ungrim Ironfist is available to any Dwarfen Mountain Holds army. As King of the Slayer Hold, Ungrim Ironfist allows for Daemon Slayers and Dragon Slayers to be taken as character choices in a Royal Clan army. He will also allow 1 unit of Slayers to be taken per 1,000 points as a core choice and up to 4 Doomseekers in every 1,000 points to be taken as Special choices.

Ungrim Ironfist can join a unit of Hammerers or Slayers. If he does join a unit of Hammerers, they benefit from gaining the Immune to Psychology and Unbreakable special rules for however long he remains with them.

Unlike other Slayers, Ungrim Ironfist does have armour, albeit only light armour. However, this is made up for with the Slayer Crown, which allows him to improve his armour value by 2 and have a 5+ Ward save against any wounds suffered.

His axe, the Axe of Dargo, is not classified as a great weapon, enabling Ungrim to attack at the Initiative 5 step, with both Magical Attacks and Monster Slayer at Strength +2 and -3 armour penetration. As with other, Slayer models, his rolls to wound of 4+ are always regarded as a success, regardless of the target’s toughness.

Burlok Damminson

It’s three for three with returning characters from the original Warhammer Fantasy battle series.

Following in the vein of the previous Arcane Journals released so far, Burlok Damminson is the prime focus of the lore within the first few pages of the book. This allows players to either recreate the historical battle in the book, or create new stories with the character.

Damminson is the cheapest of the three special characters in the book, coming in at only 85 points. This makes him only slightly more expensive than a regular Dwarf Engineer.

He has Range Finding Optics, which allows one friendly unit of Quarrellers, Thunders or Dwarf war machine to re-roll any rolls to hit of 1, or re-roll a single artillery dice. Provided that unit or war machine is not engaged in combat or fleeing. Any unit he accompanies do not suffer the usual -1 to hit modifier when shooting at long range either.

Mercenaries

Before we move to the two Armies of Infamy available in the journal, we should point out that there are three units provided in the book that can act as Mercenaries in any Dwarfen Mountain Holds force (Armies of Infamy or Grand Army) or Empire of Man Grand Army.

Doomseekers

Doomseekers are considered crazed individuals, even amongst the Slayers. Often covered in tattoos, Doomseekers throw themselves at the enemy without fore thought, flailing around themselves with axes attached to chains known as the whirling blades of death.

At 50 points, they’re cheap and versatile. They also have a host of options to tool them up Weapon runes and Runic Tattoos which we’ll cover later in this review.

Having no armour, you’d expect they wouldn’t survive long and you’d be right. However, the clever narrative influenced rule ‘Doomseeker‘ comes into play here. If you’re opponent does kill them during the battle, then they are worth no points to the enemy player. However, if the enemy player allows them to survive, they’ll gain bonus victory points equal to 100% of their points cost.

0-3 Doomseekers may be included as Mercenaries in any Dwarfen Mountain Holds or Empire of Man Grand Army. As a result they will be subject to the Misbehaving Mercenaries special rule.

Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries

Imperial Dwarfs, are those Dwarfs who have made homes for themselves within the Empire of Man. Here they’ll help humans build their homes, walls and craft weapons. When called to muster, they can be seen marching alongside the troops of the Empire, their weapons and armour often mimicking that of their Human allies.

Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries have a wide weapon selection, but come with light armour rather than the usual heavy armour as standard. Though this can be purchased as an upgrade. They have access to great weapons, thrusting spears, crossbows and handguns. As well as being able to purchase the Drilled or Veteran special rules for them, they can also take up to 50 points of Standard runes for one unit per 1,000 points.

However, only 1 unit of Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries can be included in any Dwarf Mountain Holds or Empire of Man Grand Army, and, like the Doomseekers, are subject to the Misbehaving Mercenaries rules.

Goblin-Hewer

The Goblin-hewer is rare amongst Dwarf armies due to its less than honourable origins. The original blueprints said to have been stolen from a famous engineer and rushed to completion by a thief. When unveiled, a fight broke out, resulting in many of the Engineering Guild shaving their beards in shame and taking the design with them.

The Goblin-hewer is a mercenary unit that may be taken in any Dwarf Army of Infamy and so, subject to the Misbehaving Mercenaries special rule.

Though if your Grand Army or your Expeditionary Force includes a Slayer of Legend, you may include 0-1 Goblin-hewer per 1,000 points as a rare choice. If included in this way, they’re also not subject to the Misbehaving Mercenaries special rule.

The Goblin-hewer fires a salvo of axes at their foes. An artillery dice roll determines the number of shots it fires plus a D3 modifier per rank or file depending upon which facing of an enemy unit the war machine fires upon. The Goblin-hewer has a 36″ range at Strength 4 and AP -1, plus Armour Bane (1).

Runic Tattoos

Not available in the Forces of Fantasy book, GW have expanded here to allows Doomseekers, Daemon Slayers and Dragon Slayers runic tattoos. Doomseekers are allowed up to 3 tattoos, Daemon Slayers, two and Dragon Slayers One. They cannot be duplicated on the same model and no two characters may have the same combination of tattoos. But with 10 tattoos there’s a decent enough choice.

I’ve picked the most how powered to go through rather than list each tattoo.

At 50 points Rune of the Dishonoured will allow Daemon Slayers and Dragon Slayers to benefit from a 3+ Ward save when losing their final wound. This also allows the enemy player to score bonus victory points up to the models points cost if it is still alive at the games end.

Rune of Endless Battle will allow a model with this runic tattoo which charged to make an additional attack for each unsaved wound.

Rune of the Reckless gives the model the Frenzy special rule (+1 attack and automatically pass Fear, Panic or Terror tests) as well as a +1 modifier to its to hit roll in combat. However, this is offset by the opponent also gaining a +1 to hit in the combat phase.

Engineers’ Weapon Runes

The runes can only be inscribed upon a crossbow or handgun, and follow the normal rules for Weapon runes described in Forces of Fantasy.

With 8 runes available, each gives varying benefits. Perhaps the most needed considering the current game state is the Master Rune of Slaying. This allows a to wound roll of 3+ to always be considered a success against an enemy whose troop type is behemoth. It also gives the weapon the Multiple Wounds (D3) special rule.

The Master Rune of Piercing gives the weapon a +1 modifier on its Strength characteristic and allows the weapon to shoot like a Bolt Thrower with the Through & Through special rule.

The Master Rune of Bursting Flame will allow the weapon to cause 2D3 hits on the target for each successful to hit roll.

The lesser runes all have smaller benefits such as the target of the shooting attack suffering from the Stupidity special rule until the start of the next turn, or the weapon not suffering from any negative to hit modifiers.

Wrap Up

Overall I think the book is a great benefit to Dwarf players, both Armies of Infamy bring something new to the table, with the addition of some of the Runes from this book, the Dwarfs no longer have to be terrified when an opponent brings a behemoth to the table.

As a long time Fantasy player I was pleased to see younger versions of three returning special characters. Although it may have been nice to have a one special character that hadn’t featured in the original Warhammer Fantasy series.

The Armies of Infamy are full of flavour and counteract each other perfectly (for Dwarfs at least) in their unit compositions.

The additional runes will go someway to help Dwarf players to take on Behemoths as well, and at range. Well done GW.

Given the relatively low cost of the Arcane Journals and the amount of lore and new play options, it feels worth picking up regardless of the army you collect.