Hello there.

I'm starting to collect a dwarven army and I'm curious to hear what people think of the dwarven race in general for the SBG. I'm not sure yet wether I go for a Moria themed armylist, or an Erebor list.

Which heroes are good? I personally have a feeling Gimli is really good and the King's Guard, altough I prefer not to take the King's Guard since he is so expensive and I just don't like the looks of him and his heralds.

Khazad Guards: Are they good for an army? And in what situation do they tend to shine, and in which combination of other units?

Grim Hammers: Any good?

And dwarven ranged units. Which would fit?

Basically... I know nothing, so any tips would be great!

actually the King's Champion is quite cheap, considering the fact that he comes with 2 banners (50 points alone). Think of him as a captain with +1F, +1S and +1 attack with two S4 bannermen with shields: he is actually very underpriced.
Gimli and Balin are very good heroes. Floi is not a fighting hero but has a great rule which comes in play quite often. Dain is tough. Mardin is useless. I think Durin is too expensive when compared to other options at that point level, but others may like him.
My favorite Erebor hero is Thorin. For a little more than 100 points you get a mounted hero with D8 and all the 3s where you need them. Dwalin is good, a killing machine, but quite fragile having only D6 and 2 wounds.

As a Dwarven army player myself, I usually think of having a single erebor warband with spears and shield to back up the core force, made by the old dwarves. Durin's Folk simply has more units and option than Erebor and yet Erebor has one of the two thing Durin's Folk need: spears. So I see Erebor as complementary to Durin's Folk.

Everybody loves Khazad Guards and Iron Guards. The Irons have 2 attack at S4 and access to both piercing strike and feinting (they also have throwing axes, but those are nowhere nearly as effective as they used to) while the Khazads have S4 and D7 and access to two-handed strike when needed.
Vault Teams are hard to master, but they can stall units for a while, including many heroes. In most cases, even a piercing striking S4 unit will still need 6 to wound.

Most people dislike Grimhammers (Me included). They are as expensive as Khazad Guards but with one less strengh and one less defence. They have throwing axes, but again, not as effective as they were.

As for ranged units, there are two categories of people: those who like the Dwarves Ranger and those who dislike them. I am a fan of Dwarves Warrior with dwarf bow. They only have average shoot value and a shorter range, but they have S3 bows, D6 and are cheaper than their ranger counterpart. Usually I use them to hold objective far from battle with Floi behind. They are hard enough to safely tank most bowfire and counter them (against elven bows, under optimal condition: elf bowman has a 1/9 chance to wound them against the 1/6 to get wounded by them, dropping to 1/4 if unarmored)

As a primary Dwarf player, I have decent experience with them. Like Dikey said, Iron Guards are great. As for throwing axes, yeah, they aren't that great, but they can definitely reap some good kills and wounds on heroes; Mauhur can sure testify. In the huge games I usually play, my Grimms and Rangers all have throwing axes as the Evil side has enough points to warrant that. A lot of people bag on Grimms, but I have found nothing but success with them. Then again, Khazads sound better on paper, and I don't have any, so I have not been able to compare them on the tabletop. But either way, Grimms are not bad by any stretch, maybe just not optimal. Another strategy I use with them and my Irons is to use the Grimm's bash to knock down an enemy and than the Iron has 4 attacks; this only works really on more elite enemy units and heroes as most of the time your troops will be tied up, but if there's an opportunity for it, it works really well.

As for heroes, I only really use Captains. Although I have Dain and Balin, we use them as generic captains for thematic and balance purposes. Whereareas someone like Mauhur is able to retain his stats and just become generic 'Uruk-Hai Raid Leader', since my Dwarf force is the most well-developed, I just stick with my Grimm Captain and 2 Dwarf Captains.

Overall strategy I would say is map control and positioning. In my early games, I'd find myself easily surrounded and attritioned down due to their low movement. To counter this, you need strong and adaptable formations. Splitting them into smaller groups to help flank is great. And taking cover, defending ruins and such, and using throwing weapons if you choose to take them also really makes it hard for an enemy to break it. Overall, I'd say don't spread too thin, try to not get surrounded, and be flexible.

For ranged units, other than my Grimm and Iron axe-throwers, I take Dwarf Rangers. Like I said, they are also equipped with throwing weapons. Although 4 of mine have bows, I would actually prefer regular Dwarf Bows. Dwarf Long Bows are 24" and 2 Strength, while regular Dwarf Bows are 18" and 3 Strength. I would gladly take that extra strength since most of my engagements are in that range anyway. My Rangers perform the least out of my army, but they are decent combat and skirmish units. Kill teams of one-handed, 2-handed, and a bow are great at guerilla warfare and working with your main Dwarf lines to pick apart enemy formations.

No matter what though, Dwarves always are a good choice. I have never had a bad game with them (though I've certainly had some game-breaking poor dice rolls) and their style is easy to learn and effective against a variety of opponents.

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Forlorn, I remove my Iron Guard from the pile of Goblins; just staring at that 6 with disbelief.

about Throwing axes: my problem is that the dwarves have only average aim, and will hit on a 5+ and wound mostly on a 6. When playing against heavy armored unit, that D6 really makes the difference. And with most of the axes missing the "to hit" roll, chances drops even more. However, the Iron Guard has still 2 attacks at S4 and throwing weapons is a plus that may score a lucky kill. The Grimhammer is just a regular dwarf with a two-handed weapon.
I know that many consider the bashing as a saving grace for grimhammers. However, to bash they have to go 2 handed, need some backup and they still need to do a good roll. At this point, I think that in most cases they may just as well call a piercing strike and go for the wound. And even if not, they will not always have a backup unit to help and, if left alone against S4 unit, they are vulnerable.

That's where Khazads prove their superiority. Against S4 units (and there a lot of them around) a Khazad get wounded on 6 and usually will not need more than 5 to wound infantry. Plus, they have the bodyguard rule, which is never a bad thing (I know that dwarves have what is considered a good courage value, but I lost more than one of them to a bad roll)

rangers with throwing axes are not bad,but are expensive.

Thanks for the help!

As for the King's Guard I ment expensive in €.
Balin, Gimli and even Dain are easy to get for €4-€10 while the King's guard is atleast €30,- on ebay.

Anyways I decided (since I already have Gimli and 1 Captain) to go and try to get 12 khazads.

I'm just wondering. Should I see Erebor and Moria, Iron Hills etc, as different armylists? Would it be weird if I (let's say) have Erebor Dwarves, Thorin, Floi and Khazads in an army with converted Iron Hills spearmen? Does that count as having allies in play just like Mirkwood Elves and Rivendell Elves are allied?

I just converted 3 Dwarf warriors with 2-handed weapons into the King's Champion Trio. As long as the opponent can point out right away that those are different models from the others, is fine.



There are two dwarf armies list: Durin's Folk and Erebor. Then we have 2 special armies made by heroes only (Thorin's Company and Champions of Erebor).
No Iron hills army so far.
Durin's Folk and Erebor are, by all means, different armies and count as being allies just as mirkwood and rivendell, Gondor and fieldsdom and so on.
Many people use a converted Grimhammer with spear and shield as "iron hills spearmen", since the final result is very close to those shown in the movie. However, there is no such model yet and those models count as Erebor warriors with spear and shield and have to be lead by an Erebor's hero (Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Thror, Thrain, Grimhammer captain and Erebor captain).

Alright. I've got the Free Peoples Sourcebook but only see Durin's Folk there. I suppose the Erebor army is completely made out of Hobbit stuff. So, damnit, I suppose I have to get my hands on a Hobbit book or something. I know nothing of that armylist.

Wish there was a book that had all this stuff combined. Too bad GW never created something like that.

Yeah you will need the main hobbit rule book for the units from Erebor's Army of Thror as well as Thorin's company. Then the battle of five armies source book for the champions of Erebor. Still Durin's Folk is enough to make a start with at least.

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"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

there is a free pdf called "heroes and villains of middle-earth". Is still online, just google it. I just checked and I found it on the games workshop website.

Dwarves are tough, and I am building an Irons list --but competitive? Those short legs make "Hold Ground" and "Reconnoitre" very (very) tough, and "Domination" is no picnic either. Fun, though--and cheap, beastly heroes.