Hi friends, my name is Owen. You might know that I've done quite a few things for the Crown of Command over the last couple of years. Played games online, chatted about beast men, adventures, told stories, all those things. But I'm here today to take a bit of a deep dive into Warhammer Armies Dwarves. Now, this book had a huge influence on me as a gamer. Unlike many things in life, it happened out of the blue. I'd always been a Warhammer player when I always, obviously, I was born.
I grew up, to paraphrase Dickens, but I'd always played as an orc and goblin player or a Chaos player or a beastman player. And all the games I played up until this point in the 80s back into the early 90s was usually just pile them high and knocking down type games where we put all the figures we could find on the table and just roll dice until the sunset. But that sort of changed. I think it would have been around 1993 I was in university, but I travelled back and forth to university.
At this point I had a little job in the Laser Dome in Swansea, which used to be an old cinema, The Oldcastle Cinema. It's still there today, is one of the few surviving laser domes in the country and there I was working a couple of nights a week. I was working to the extent that I got paid £42.50 a week. Now wherever you are in the world, that isn't a lot of money, but at that time it
bumped up my student loan. Just give me something to play with and it allowed me to do a few things hobby wise. I used to go on a Friday and I'd start work at 2:00, but I'd always arrive at one. And the reason I arrive at one is my pay packet would be ready. A little brown envelope filled, well, not filled, partially filled with cash. And I would go with that little brown envelope into Swansea Town itself, usually to visit the comic shop.
It's called Comics with an X. It's a tiny shop, still there today, still visited quite often at that point, that point in time, that magical time. It was over two floors. But when I say two floors, it was like about the size of your kitchen, I would imagine, with another one of your kitchen on top of it, with just a dark, windy stairs in between the two filled with cardboard cutouts of Lara Croft's Tomb Raider, et
cetera. And I remember on this day, it was a sunny day, much like as I look out the window and I walked to the comic shop, my £42.50 clanking in my pocket, looking to buy some Hawks and goblins, looking to buy maybe a Vampire the Masquerade book. I was big into that at the time, my goth phase. And I arrived at the comic shop
and went upstairs. The stairway was dark and when I arrived in that little floor at the top it was like arriving in Wonderland but without the Mad Hatter or Tea Party. On the left hand side there would be a big rack full of lead figures, all in their blister packs. Hanging from the wall on the right were all the paints and in
front of you was a dirty window. Now the comic shop is in one of the old Victorian arcades in Swansea and the windows leading looking out into the arcade were never that clean. But they're on a stand facing me like the Holy Grail, gleaming in the light. Was Warhammer army dwarfs. Now, I'm not a great painter, never have been, was never really into dwarves as a race. But for some reason I picked up that book. I opened it and it had that real
stiffness a brand new book has. It creaks a little when you pull it open and there on the first page inside the cover were these wonderful pictures of brightly coloured 90s citadel miniatures doing battle across a bridge, a tree man involved and lines upon lines of Marauder dwarves doing battle. And that turned on a little light in my head. I've got the book in front of me, but sadly it's an E version. I don't know where my old book went, but I used to carry it
everywhere. Needless to say I purchased the book. I think it was 999. That was 1/4 of my pay really. And then I picked up a small box of plastic dwarves. You remember the ones with their axe above their head. And in my comic shop bag is a white bag red writing comic shop established 1986. I went back to work and all day thought about what I would do
when I got home. And I got home and I started to read the book and I read it from cover to cover and at that time I would start and very rarely finish any projects. But I started this project and I carried on and on and for the weeks leading on my £42.50 would almost be totally spent on Dwarves until in the end I had a fine Warhammer army painted and ready for war that lasted me the best part of 10 years. But that, and this isn't really there a story. This is a deep dive into the book.
I'm going to work my way through it. I'm going to read some of it out. I'm going to describe some of it for you. And no doubt if you're listening to this, you are in the Crown of command and you will have had experiences with this book. So come with me for a trip down memory lane.
I'm looking at the cover, and there on the cover is the great Dwarf King Thorgren, Grudge bearer upon his throne, being carried by his bearers, raiding into a big huge crowd of night goblins who are being scattered before him. There are some slayers in the pick as well, some dwarven banners flapping in the wind behind. The air seems to be filled with fire, as if the dwarf and war machines are all kicking off together. It's a wonderful drawing. It's atmospheric.
I'd love to have it as a poster on my wall. It says it's a Warhammer supplement and it's by Games Workshop. And then you open it up. You can just imagine turning that cover, that sort of faintly hard but plasticky cover, and they're inside. The first picture says wood elves ambush a dwarf army, and you can see the dwarves marching over a bridge. Who's that clip clopping over my bridge? And there there are an army of wood elves facing them next to a
pond and an old rewind building. I don't know why they're at war, but what a war it is. The bases are all gobbling green, of course. The trees are there scattered about. Planners flap in the wind. I wonder who won this? Below that, a mighty clash between Dwarves and Chaos Dwarves is the next picture. We can see a Bull Taurus rearing up Bull Centaurs and there in the centre, making its debut, the classic Anvil of Doom.
There's a unit of long beards there, a unit of thunderous, but we'll go into those as we go along. The next thing, this is Warhammer Army's Dwarves. It was written by Rick Priestley and Nigel Stillman, legends each of them. Story is by Bill King. Wow, look at the talent involved here. The cover art by Dave Gallagher, black and white art by John Blanche, Ray Wayne England and Mark Gibbons. This has to be the high watermark of Gaines Workshop
army books of the last 40 years. Warhammer armies Dwarves. What a book. Wow. The contents page is next. I'm not going to bore you with that. Needless to say, there are two contrasting styles of art in this one. Very John Blanchesque, which is an axe. A wing head axe seems to be floating through the sky and the next one is the face of a dwarf in a sort of a a runic sort of style, which I think must be looks computer generated to me
or 90s computer generated. Anyway, we have a couple of pages of those and then we go into a great looks like a John Blanche artwork of a a flame cannon firing into the night. Birds scatter before the flames and the dwarfs rush forward their weapons. You can almost hear them shouting. One of them's playing, blowing on a horn, so atmospheric just brings it alive. Behind them are those peak mountains that the sort of peaks that nobody could stand on without piercing their bum.
And then. But that was Warhammer. It was so different, so evocative, so stylish in what it had. And the first page just describes the dwarfs, and there's an old dwarf staying here. There's nothing as sure in the world as the glitter of gold and the treachery of elves. And that says everything about the Dwarves and Warhammer, the Lord of the Rings and many things, doesn't it?
I'll read you the first few paragraphs of this just to reacquaint you with the greatness of the of the story of the work of the the way these were written back in the day, and the ways they would capture your imagination and bring you into the painting, the buying, the gaming, all from the Genius of the Army books. The Dwarves are one of the most ancient races of the Warhammer world.
From the beginning of time, their traditional homeland had been the World's Edge Mountains, the vast forbidden mountain chain that marks the eastern boundary of the Old World. Here, in ages past, the dwarves built their massive underground strongholds among the high peaks and tumbling chasms. At its height, their realms spread from the far north to the distant S, while their minds stretched far beneath the earth itself. These days of glory are now long
gone. Many strongholds lie in ruins or are occupied by evil creatures. The great achievements of the past are now nothing more than memories. Ancient sagas sung in the halls of the few surviving Dwarf strongholds. Dwarves are the greatest miners and tunnelers in the world, delving deep beneath their mountain homes from metals, precious stones and the mineral
wealth buried there. From this raw material they make all kinds of precious objects, including weapons and armor, marvellous vessels and jewels worked with incredible skill. Beneath each dwarf stronghold there exists a labyrinth of caverns and tunnels, created and enlarged over centuries as the dwarves dug ever deeper in search of new riches.
Dwarves are supremely skilled Craftsman and take great pride in everything they do. It is almost impossible for a dwarf to hurry his work, and no dwarf could ever bring himself to produce something slipshod or cheap. Whether it be forging weapons and armour, the construction of fortifications, all the mechanical inventions of the famed Engineers Guild, the ingenuity and technical ability of dwarves is unsurpassed anywhere in the Old World.
No other race, not even the great Craftsman of the Hives, can rival the care and skill of the dwarves. Dwarves all what? I'll start again. Dwarves obtain all they really need by trading raw materials and artefacts with their neighbouring peoples. A few basic crops are grown within the walls of the dwarf strongholds, and a Hardy livestock graze on the high
pastures. Good land is scarce in the mountains of the Dwarves, and they're not great farmers, although they are enthusiastic hunters, able to find meat and fur even in the highest peaks. Grain and fruit are brought into the mountains by merchants and exchanged in the strongholds for metalwork and gold. If their trade routes are cut by war and the strongholds are besieged, the dour dwarves tighten their belts and dine on dwarf bread.
A tough baked bread from a mixture of wild grain and pulverised rock, made almost palatable when washed down with good old dwarf ale. Indeed, the Dwarf Ale is so nourishing the dwarves can survive for weeks on this alone. Every stronghold has a great store of barrels, takes great pride in their efficiency and unique flavour of its ale. There are a number of pages going on telling us all about the back, the background and the history of the dwarves.
We have the dwarf gods, grungy, grim near the fearless Valea. Then they talk about the dwarf clans, pages of evocative text telling us all about the rich background. This is where the old world finally found its feet in 4th edition of the Warhammer world I believe this is where that which walked finally started to run. We have the coming of Chaos, we have the elves, we have the Doom of Gurimneer. All this stuff which still stands up to this day.
Then the Golden Age, the Goblin Wars and then we talk about the Dwarf Realms. This is a gaming book. Its purpose is to provide you with the information required to build and field Dwarf armies in the Warhammer world. And yet we are now on page 10 and we are still talking background, still top notch background and world building and characters and adventures and all those things just there to inspire you. It talks about Carazza, Karak, the ever peak, the capital of the dwarves, Zafbah.
That's always the realm I chose, and I chose it from my army and their leader, Vander Karak, Kadrin, the Slayer Keep, Kadrig, Eight Peaks, Karakazuul, the Iron Peak, Barakva. And then we have a map, an old pencil drawn map of the dwarf realm. And there is sadness that lies in the beauty of this map. It's like something of The Hobbit or EU Hobbed as it's now been translated into Welsh at last. But it's like the maps there.
And looking through this map of the of the World's Edge mountains, you can see all the dwarf realms and some are marked as habitable and some are marked as destroyed. And it's hard to look at it and not feel sad because the dwarves are surrounded by death and destruction and doom, and yet they are there like a fine light in the pictures. Dark, ready to March out and do battle like never before. Moving on from the map. I don't want to move on from the map. I could look at the map for
hours. The Sour Sea, the Black Gulf, the Realms of Thaila, the Plain of Bone, the Ash Ridge Mountains, the Desolation of Asgor, the Crookback Mountain, the Skaven lair. They're all there. Oh, and now there is another map. This time we are panning out a bit, if you can imagine the credits of Game of Thrones as the page moves around and the camera zooms in on the places which will have an impact on this week's episode. The Northern Waste, the Sea of Claws, The Empire, The Moot, Bretonia.
We're looking at the Warhammer World, the Old World. And then we talk of the lost realm of the Dwarves. Karak Drask, Karagvan, Karag Angor. Let's read Karagvan and lose ourselves again. In William King's rich text, Karagvan was hewn out of the cliffs overlooking Blackwater. The mountains around the stronghold are loaded with a strata of unique and extremely precious minerals, including the highly prized meteoric iron that dwarves call Gromniel Grombril. Grombril.
That's it, got it right. This exceptionally hard metal is forged into the best swords, axes and armour. For centuries, Karakvan prospered and dwarves flocked to its halls. The mines beneath the stronghold became ever deeper and more extensive until the cliffs overlooking the lake were honeycombed below the water level. During the disastrous upheavals that ended the great days of the Dwarf Empire, Karakvan was struck by a devastating earthquake.
The waters of the lake poured into the lower workings. Through fissures in the rock. Thousands of dwarves perished, and the great horde of treasure was washed away. Amidst the ruin and destruction, the Scaven attacked from beneath and Orcs from the surface. Trapped between these two implacable foes, the Dwarves of Calakvan stood no chance. Some fled, but most died, defending their stronghold
against its inevitable doom. The city was abandoned and it remains uninhabited to this day except by trolls and other wild monsters. Is now known as Cragmere, a dangerous ruin of tunnels and broken halls in which the treasures of the dwarves lie undisturbed. From the dark days of the ruin, adventurers sometimes penetrate its depths and some return to tell tales of horror and riches, but most are never seen or heard of again.
Dwarf prospectors are lured back to this ruined stronghold by the promise of Gromnil. Expeditions frequently brave the terror of the dark to penetrate the deepest tunnels in search of the precious metal. The dwarves of devised ingenious diving machines for exploring the deepest and richest workings
which are permanently flooded. Needless to say, the Scaven and other vile creatures which now dwell in the depths of Cradagmaya are more than a difficult opposition for the Dwarves. Wow, it's like the minds of Moria, isn't it? Filled with dreadth and darkness and doom, where the Dwarves will seek to reclaim it. But whether they will, we shall never find out.
The book goes on. Talks about the Wild mountains, the underway Black Fire Pass, and even outside the World's Edge mountains where dwarf clans live and prosper. The Norse dwarves, of course. Citadel had a range of Norse dwarves back in the day. The Black Mountains, the
expatriate dwarves. All of these before we go into a Dwarf history, and then for the next few pages, an incredibly detailed timeline which goes all the way through the Dwarves from the beginning of recorded time, the time of the Ancestor Gods, right up to the present day as it stood in Warhammer. I'll read the first one and I'll read the last one for you before 4500. Imperial year, the time of the
Ancestor gods. No written records of these times survive, but legend relates to the dwarves begin their slow colonization of the World's Edge Mountains. About the Imperial year -5000 This age came to a close with the coming of Chaos. Good words. The disappearance of the ancient Ancestor God Grim near into the Chaos Wastes and the disappearance of other Ancestor
gods shortly afterwards. Dwarf tradition holds that Grim Near close the mighty Chaos Gate after battling the Chaos Gods and thereby saving the world from certain doom. Shortly before Grim Near's disappearance, the Dwarves and High Elves meet for the first time. 2 friendly relations and they are established as friends for a while and then we move on
and we have the final entry. 2510 Imperial Gallander the Battle of Broken Leg Gully. After 10 years of constant raiding and pillaging, the York warlord Grashnak is defeated by King Angrim. Iron Fist of Caraccadin. The good thing about this history is that you could devise and use and place your dwarf army in any part of it that you wished. There were so many battles fought and heroes created in wondrous realms that all this
could come alive in any way. You decided to paint your figures or put them on the table with the friends that you had to play with. Next came the article on Magic Rooms. Magic runes in Warhammer were extremely important, and this is what made the Dwarf army different from many other armies. They didn't use magic users. They didn't use magic shot across the battlefield from the fingers of Wizards.
No, it came from runesmiths, magical people who had spent hundreds of years learning the secrets of the runes. I'll read the first paragraph here. Magic pervades the Warhammer world and permeates all things. It flows into the material realm from beyond the Chaos Wastes as an ever shifting flux of energy. This energy can be perceived and used by the races of the Warhammer world. Some races, such as Elves and Men, can use magic to cast terrifying and destructive spells.
Dwarves, on the other hand, are extremely resistant to magic and its influence, neither perceiving its presence nor feeling its effects. Dwarves have learned to use the power of magic in a different way, by incorporating it into magic items such as swords and armour. The Dwarves are the greatest and more successful of all the races when it comes to making magical items. Indeed, many of the most powerful magic weapons used by men and elves were made by the dwarves using their unique
skills. A dwarf who makes magic items is called a Runesmith. As dwarves of no direct equivalent to a human wizard, the Runesmiths are a very important The Runesmiths are an ancient Guild of Craftsman. For thousands of years they have preserved the secrets of how to forge magic runes and how to make weapons and armour and other items of incredible power. It goes on to tell us about the Runesmiths and then the runes, incorporating a poem, an incantation struck when a rune is made.
Find the heart of the mountain. Take it on the last day of the third moon. Stroke the furnace at midnight where the oar glows red. Hammer it before the dawn. Bend seven times the white hot metal upon itself. Recite seven times the verse of forging. Quench in the blood of a dragon. Slake red hot in the Quicksilver of Carrick and Gaul. Do this in the name of Harky the ancestor. Temper in the waters of Van Horn, the blade upon the Dragon's horn on the third moon
of the winter. Carved the rune of slaying Anoint in the blood of a troll slain on the day of Grungy. Bind the hilt with dragon hide and with horn side inside. Halt the haft with Azil's gold. Bind with Azul metal. Mark the orc Fang pommel with the sign of Grimm near. Perform the naming right with ale upon Valaya's altar. The slaying of a troll by night will make the rune glow for 1000
years. It tells us about battle magic, about rune magic, about creating a rune item and then choosing runes, and then rather uniquely, almost melded into the background in a sort of camouflage way, wearing its rock like armour against a stone face. Comes the rule of the runes. You may inscribe up to three runes in a runic magic item, subject to the following restriction. There are six points, all of them named the Rune of three, the Rune of Pride.
All these things which again bring the background so much into what is becoming the rules. And now they mention the different runes. Many of them are similar to the magic items you would find in other army books. But of course, these are all written so beautifully. It starts with Snorri, Spanglehelm's Master rune costs 75 points. Then it gives you the background
to this item. Runesmith to the High King in Kalasa Karak during the time of Gallon, Snorri wrought the exquisite war panopy of the High Kings for several generations. He fought many battles and was renowned for his magnificent gromrel armour as well as his unique weapon rune. Any blows struck by a weapon engraved to this rune will always hit. No hit, no role to hit is necessary. Costs 75 points and it always
hits. There are loads of these runes, master runes, all of them, weapons, runes, and there are different subjects. We have weapons runes, we have armor runes. I'll give you one here, The master rune of adamant. Hey Prince, Prince Charming. The master Rune of Adamant. The rune adds +2 to the armour save of the character. The rune can be combined with a Rune of stone to give a + 3 save.
It is possible that this may reduce the quiet dice roll to a negative number, in which case only attacks with a high saving throw modifier can harm the character. Costs 50 points +2 armour save. The Rune of stone was always a favorite of mine. To give you a plus one save. Only cost five points. The rune of spell eating, the master rune of stormy red beard, plus one combat result within 12 inches. There are loads of these. The rune of battle to add to your battle runes onto your
standard. The rune of courage, the rune of fear, the rune of slowness, the rune of warding. And we have engineering runes, the rune of accuracy, the rune of burning, the rune of disguise, the rune of forging, the rune of fortitude. Many of them. And then we go on again to look at talismanic runes, Master rune of dismay, the master rune of spite, the rune of the furnace, the rune of luck, the rune of spell breaking.
And then it gives us entire page runic magic items record form a blank sheet for you to use to mark down your own rooms. Then our book goes into a few pages of fiction. Really great written story about the Escaven and the dwarves doing battle. One I've recorded before is often played one of the Crown of Command adventures. We're reaching the middle part of the book now, and now they're going to show us the magnificent figures, beautifully painted,
that we can buy. And every one of these is familiar to me. My army consisted, and now I'll have to remember a unit of 20 dwarf warriors, the old plastic ones that I bought on that first day when I bought the book. A unit of 20 Slayers, Bugman's Dwarf Rangers there with their crossbows, a unit of iron Breakers, a unit of long beards, the the flame cannon, a cannon and the Anvil of Doom. And a boat thrower. I think I had Vander leading it, and a couple of other characters as well.
She was a big army, and a lot of them are in here. On the first page we have a flame cannon and Bugman's Dwarf Rangers. What a brilliant regiment of renown. They were the Bugman character, so evocative, owed Tom Fikeson. There he is with his one eye and his peg leg and his axe held above his head. We move on to the Dwarf King's throne of power. I never owned this, but look at it. What a wonderful bit of metal this is beautifully painted.
And then is the Anvil of Doom. Now I still have this, though it lies in pieces. One of the greatest, most impractical models ever created, riding on wheels into battle, pushed by its guardians. The Anvil of Doom that could strike and send spells scattering all over the battlefield. Amazing figure, amazing piece of work. In the in the army book. Dwarf clansmen. They are the Marauder ones, but they're mixed together with some of the plastic ones that I own.
Dwarf long beards, Dwarf crossbow men. And now we go on to some battle scenes. Undead and dwarf units in savage combat. High elves and dwarves doing battle as well. Then Felix and Gottreg helping to defend a dwarf forge. Bringing in heroes. Mentioning books one of the first times they did that. Dwarf slayers, some dwarf clansmen and then pages of dwarf thunderers. Some more Dwarfs. There's pictures of the original Gottrick and Felix characters. The Felix figure I use for my
ranges of shadow. Deep Force still got him after all those years. The organ gun, I had that as well. Dwarf painting guide. I never paid attention to these. I could never paint with black under undercoat, never got on with it. Don't play much better with white undercoat, but black particularly difficult. I've got a figure in front of me here on my board that needs painting, but somebody in their wisdom has painted. I've given it a black undercoat, which will prove difficult for me.
And then we've got some cut out cards containing some of the magic items. You could cut these out and use them. And then the gyrocopters, and I own gyrocopters, but I didn't use them very often. Miners. There's a battle there with some old Orc figures, and then we've got the Warhammer battle at the Eastgate of Carrick Eight Peaks. And for the next few pages it gives us an old scenario that we can do between dwarves and orcs and goblins. It gives U.S.
Army lists. It gives us everything we need, as well as the designer's notes, which is a huge thing to have, isn't it? Then there's another story, and only now. But now we go back to background, the dwarf language and script. Now there's no need for this, is there? There's no need to put this in an army book. But yet they did, and the army book came alive because of it. The language of the dwarves, Casalid, is a very ancient
tongue indeed. Over the many millennia of history, the dwarf language has changed only slightly, having absorbed some words from the humans and the elves. This resistance to change is undoubtedly due to the strong sense of tradition which all dwarves possess. Dwarves are extremely resistant to new ideas, especially if those new ideas come from other races. In contrast, there are many words in the tongue are men that obviously owe their origins to the dwarves.
This means there are inevitably points of similarity between the two languages, especially in words for metalworking and mining. And it gives us a load of a dwarf lexicon, if you like. Angrell is the dwarf word for stone carving lines in the face of very old dwarf azul. Metal of any kind, dependable and sturdy. Boga, a candle which blows out unexpectedly, plunging the tunnel Into Darkness. Here we have. We used to have a lot in Warhammer, which they seem to
have lost somewhat. Now, is that humour that came with it, those gags, Boger. Bugger. My favorite, of course, is right down the list here, which I remember to this day. And it's one that I and the group of friends that I used to play with at this time, you used to remember quite well. And it is the dwarf word that says ick, putting your hand in something slimy and unpleasant in the darkness. Well, yes, yes. Ragarin, a coarse and uncomfortable clothing made from
the height of a troll. Yeah, a ricket, a small stone which falls on your head as you walk down a tunnel. A lot of comedy in the dwarf lexicon. Look at the time they made putting this together. And then we have the other, the dwarf rooms, the dwarf numerals, some common dwarf words. And now, and only now, and we're on page 64, do we come to the rules. And we start with the war machines. Of course important in any dwarf army.
The dwarf organ cannon misfires were of course a big part of the game in those days. The profile of the organ cannon, 24 inch range, that's the maximum you could guess. Strength 1010. I say save none, no save wounds D3 multiple shots. We go on to the flame cannon. Great figure with the flame cannon.
Still got that again. Dangerous thing to feel would often blow up as much as it would do good that it only has a maximum range you can guess of 12 inches Strength 5 but would use the flame template can pages of text around these. The throne of power, How to shoot the throne of power, how to use it in hand to hand movement and bearer casualties. The characteristics powerful thing that gyrocopters. The steam cannons, how they fly, how to use them on bombing runs.
So good. Just reading this makes me want to bring my dwarf army out of retirement. They're starting to re release a lot of the older the older but newer figures for the old world. I'm off to Warhammer World in a few weeks and this is tempting me, let me tell you. Then we have the Dwarf Anvil of Doom. Let's read a bit about this. The Anvils of Doom are ancient devices forged with great skill by the runesmiths of old in the
bowels of Thunder Mountain, Thunder Rd. using the energy of the volcano's heart Kurgas, the most skill of the Old Ones, melted Grombril to forge the Anvils, and they cooled. Kurkas himself beat the Rune of Sorcery under each gleaming anvil. No one knows how many anvils were forged before the secret of the Rune of Sorcery was lost. The Dwarf Book of Grudges recalls how an evil dragon attacked Thunder Mountain and slew the old Runesmith in a mighty battle which went the mountain apart.
During the devastation, the forges of Thunder Mountain were destroyed and many Runesmiths slain. The Anvils of Doom are ancient and valuable heirlooms and that always value them more highly they than highly they they they they than any other of their possessions. Runesmiths use the Anvils of Doom for making magic items. Most Anvils are owned by various strongholds or by guilds, and the Runesmiths make use of these when they only they need to.
A few Anvils are owned by Runesmiths, but these tend to be the sedentary Runesmiths who reside in the halls of Karaza Karak and the weapon shops of Karak Azul. The Anvils are objects of great power, and in times of extreme need, a Runesmith can unleash spells and lightning upon his foes. With a mighty blow of his hammer, the Runesmith can release the Anvil's power. Lightning boat's blast from a surface of many.
Magically a mighty energies unfurl, the sky darkens with brooding energy and clouds of multi coloured magic swirl and sparkle in the air. The unveil in battle follows, followed by lightning and then total power. I remember that it used to go mad. Lightning all over the board. Rules for cannons follow stone throwers, bolt throwers, and then some dwarf banners you could cut out in colour. He's always really hard to do or
to get them looking good anyway. And then we have dwarves themselves, Hatred of orc and goblins, the Elf grudge -1 leadership penalty if they're any elves within 6 inches, and the old dwarf start line movement 3, Weapon skill 4, Bow skill three, Strength 3, Toughness 4, Wounds 1, Initiative 2 attacks one Leadership 9. Champion more or less the same but with weapon skill 5, initiative 3 and two attacks the hero.
Weapon skill 6, Strength 4, Toughness 5, Two wounds Initiative 4, Three attacks Leadership 10 and then the Lord Movement 3. Webiskill 7, Boskill 6, Strength 4, Taped US 5 Wounds 3. Initiative 5 Attacks 4. Leadership 10. Dwarves had special rules are they could wear armour with no no difference in their movement. Their movement was only three so to reduce it even more would make them impossible to use really.
But whenever they pursued people they were at -1 on the 2D6 roll, or whenever they fled, it was the same. We have the rules for Dwarf runesmiths, Slayers. Slayers were great, weren't they? They were never that great in the game. They would just hold up units, but they were there. The the story, everything about them is so good.
Then we go into the army list. Of course it gives you all the rules, as it does in all the books, about what you can take, how many heroes, how many champions, how many Lords, how many runesmiths, regiments, monsters, etcetera. Gives you the rules and the hand to hand weapons of what you can have. And then it goes into them. One general for 160 points. Your army must be led by a general. One nought to 1 battle standard. We've got heroes, Slayer, champions, we have regiments,
long beards. These were the older dwarves, they were like all champions in themselves. They all had weapons, skill 5, strength 4 and initiative 3, heavy armour and a shield. You could use them with options. May carry a magic standard and chosen appropriately. Unit of hammers. These were the Dwarf King's bodyguards. 2 handed weapons. Great great figures. Unit of iron Breakers. That's what always my favorite,
the great mining deep down. Dwarves. 20 points per model, but they'd wear extremely powerful Gromrel armour which would give them a great save. Weapons Kill 5 toughness 4 initiative 3 dwarf warriors. 11 points per model. Plenty of those dwarf crossbowmen. Dwarf Thunderers. At this point the thunderers can only fire every other turn. Sounds like three shots a game, and they'd only hit the less than half of those, maybe a
third. They were practically useless but didn't stop me taking them every single time. Dwarf miners, Dwarf slayers. Then the war machines we've already talked about. Then the special characters. King Kazador of Karak, Azul, Ungrim, Iron Fist, the Slayer King of Karakhadrin Room, Lord Crag, the Grim, Gottrick Gernison and Felix Jaguer. Look at these. Look at that old artwork. Gottrick Gernison is certainly the most or the least successful stroll. A Troll Slayer in the Age of the World.
His quest to find death at the hands of a worthy opponent has never been fulfilled. But in the search he has slain monsters, scave and orcs, beastmen and goblins beyond count. He's been an outlaw in the Empire, and he has fought in the Empire's armies. Rumour has it that he has once a member of the Dwarf Engineers Guild. But Gottrick never talks about his past, either to confirm or deny this.
No one knows why he shaved his head and took the Slayer's Oath, and no one has ever had the courage to ask, not even his human henchman Felix. These characters have lasted for many, many years. Gottrick is now even in the old, in the new Mortal Realms for the Age of Sigma, probably the most successful and popular character in all of Warhammer history, if anything. But that leads me on to Joseph Bugman. He's got a bar named after him.
When I first started playing Warhammer back in the early 80s, Bugman's Dwarf Rangers were one of the original regiments of renown. Such a good background disappeared again into the Wilds. No one knows where he went. The Brewer of Bugman's Six XI. Wonder what he is now. I'd like to know. Engineer Guildmaster Burlok Daminson. And then we have the Warmer Army books Collecting a dwarf army. It shows us a basic sort of collection we've got and some of
the figures that we can use. Dwarf warriors, troll slayers, black and white pictures of all these old, many of them marauder miniatures. Gives us the stats again. Gives us tips on what to build as well. Are the units worth considering and a big core unit of hammers, long beards and iron Breakers. These are all these are all first class troops worthy of any army.
However, for these we would have to go for metal models, increasing the initial cost of the army and this kind of them they're telling us how much is this is going to cost us. On the other hand, the general of a small clan of 1000 points is unlikely to start with troops which are more fitting for a dwarf king. These troops are expensive in points which in dwarf terms mean they like being paid in gold, not just in ale. A less costly alternative might
be the higher slayers. So it's basically giving you some tips on how to start an army and how to use an army which is gratefully received. So Noah, look at those Thunder figures. Fantastic. The Dwarf Flame cannon then it shows you how to expand the army and gives you more pictures as well. Gives you some examples of made-up characters that you could do in order to inspire your imagination. And then to finish off a blank army sheet to write down your
own army on a final photograph. A final great picture of a battle that is forever being fought on these old books. It's dwarfs against orcs. I can see the Wyvern fighting the anvil of doom at the front. Dwarves prepare to wreak vengeance on an advancing or chord. And then the back page, the blue page of the dwarf book. It's a long time, my friends. By my reckoning, 31 years since I worked. Walked into the upstairs comic shop room, picked up that Dwarf book and started my dwarf army.
But in that moment, and we have these moments in life, these Seminole moments, that's what made me the Warhammer player that I was. I suddenly had an army that I felt passionate about. I suddenly had an army where I named the characters. I painted them myself. They fought, they loved, they lost, they won, they knew. Defeat. Many draws, but still they were
my army. Vander and his clan of Zasfar dwarves using the 4th edition Warhammer Army's Dwarf book is one of the high points of my war gaming career. If you like. One which I will forever hold in my heart. And that's why, my friends, that I have been so pleased to be able to sit down today and talk to you about my relationship, my love of, let's say it, Warhammer Armies, Dwarfs. My name is Owen Stayton.
I am the host of the Time Between Times podcast, you can find out wherever you find your pods. I also have a YouTube channel which I have on it, Slumber stories, things to help you go to sleep and I also have an adventures at the Time Between Times channel where I put down battles and backgrounds for my war gaming adventures. If you want to buy me a coffee you would be most welcome.
Maybe that will give me enough money to stride into the into Warhammer and pick up my next army, my next book, in the vain hope that it will make me feel the way that Warhammer Army's dwarves did all those years ago. Thanks for listening my friends.