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| High Elves: |
The only High Elf guy around here plays a very defensive list. He sits back with 2 units of Spear Elves, 1 Silverhelms,
1 Dragon Princes, 2 Bolt Throwers, and some archers. His strategy is to sit back and shoot/magic all game, and it's
reasonably effective. If you sit back, you'll get no better than a draw, and often it'll be a minor victory for the
pointy ears. He'll usually send the knights up to claim the warmachines at some point as well. Against this
type of list, I set up across from the Spear Elf blocks and archers, try to anchor a flank with a board edge or terrain,
and bring the battle to him. All of my fire gets concentrated on his knight units, and they dwindle without too much
effort. Once combat gets going, Dwarfs can hardly be touched by the Elves. Fortunately for the stunties, T4 goes
a long way. The moral of the story here is: Don't be afraid to take the fight to your opponent. The Gyro can do a swell
job of mopping up the Elven Bolt Throwers for some easy VPs as well. Elves in general have a hard time versus Dwarfs,
due mostly to the T4. It's just too hard for them to wound us in combat. To me Elves seem a very fragile force, though
that's based upon my years of playing the sturdy Dwarfs.
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| Undead: |
The unique way that the Undead fights is a tricky nut to crack. This section for the most
part applies to both VC and Khemri. I have found that my most common take-all-comers list
is good at dealing with the Undead. That is due a lot to the large units that I take, 3
blocks of Warriors 24 strong plus a character in each, and a block of 24 Iron Breakers with
the Lord attached. For anti-magic I usually take just one Runesmith with a Master Rune
of Balance and a single Rune of Spellbreaking. One great tactic is kill the General (or
Heirophant if facing Khemri), and watch their army crumble. While I have seen battles where
even though the undead general fell, they still pulled off a win, it is rare. I usually
concentrate much firepower on the unit that the Lord/General is in, and then when it is
below 5 models do a little character sniping with the cannon as he can no longer hide in the
unit. Some will scream cheese at this tactic, but that's the game. One
more thing to keep in mind is to be sure you whittle down those skellie units with shooting
so that you are not outnumbered in combat, because it really sucks to lose a whole unit
because they autobreak due to Fear causing enemies and get run down. Pick a unit, concentrate fire
on it, and concentrate on dispelling all attempts to bring it back up in numbers. If you are
playing a game with a goal, keep that goal in mind at all times. The determination of the
Dwarfs should always prevail!
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| Skaven: |
The rodents are often able to provide a good game. They have a few things going for them:
numbers and magic. They usually get lots of both. Many will say that the Skaven's low leadership
is a hindrance to them, but that usually isn't the case for most regiments when in proximity to the
general (and any savvy general will be sure they are). Some things that work often is choose
your shooting targets and stick with them. I often target the Rat Ogres with the Thunderers/Quarrellers,
as the rat ogres will often be out on a flank on their own and when that panic test comes they will
be taking it on a 5. It is always a good thing not to have those monsters attacking your flanks when
you're locked in combat. Another great idea is to charge the Warpfire Cannon with a Gyrocoptor, as it will
automatically flee and isn't too likely to rally with such low leadership. Skaven are absolutely no
match for Dwarfs in close combat, so try to get stuck in ASAP. On the bad side they can magic and shoot
into combat, so you may still be taking some damage from outside while fighting. As far as the magic
phase goes, I suggest saving your few dice to deal with the big nasty spells like Plague that could
potentially wreck your whole game. The warp lightning spells really hurt as well, but there's no
way you'll be able to dispel them all. In many games I have had against them, the skaven have done a
good job of taking care of at least part of their own army for me. It's probably about 50/50 odds that
before the game is over the Grey Seer will cause his own death. Skaven are a fun army to play against
as long as you can handle watching your boys drop like flies to the magic!
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| Ogre Kingdoms: |
Ogres in general are a scary lot, and not just because they cause Fear! I've found that if a unit of 8 Ogres
(4 wide) hits any one of your units, even the mighty Breakers, you're done. Guaranteed auto-break. Whenever I'm
dumb or unlucky enough to let such a unit reach my lines intact, it's over. Another thing that experience has taught
me is that no Dwarf warmachine crew can stand up to a Gorger. So, how do you face these baddies with any hope
of winning you ask? In reality it isn't that hard. I've won far more games against the Ogres than the Ogres have
won against me. First and foremost, dispel their spells that give them combat bonuses. These guys are good enough
without being T5, or having regeneration. I usually ignore the spells that effect my army, 2D6 str whatever hits,
or the one that makes me take a panic check. You have to trust in the mental and physical sturdiness of your
lads and let those go. Do not let a regiment of magic-enhanced Ogres hit your lines! Second, shoot the big units
down. If you're opponent has 2 units of 8 ogres, conentrate your fire on those 2 things. For your best hope of
winning combat, you want to remove 2 from each unit. That will also require a panic check of them, and many are
the times I've watched those big blocks of Ogres run away which gives me time to concentrate my fire on more
immediate targets. It shouldn't be too big of a deal to drop 2 ogres from each regiment. I usually take a cannon,
a Bolt Thrower, and 24 shooty lads (12 Thunderers & 12 Quarrellers). If you can't get the job done with that,
something is wrong. One thing that really increases the odds of dropping some Ogres from shooting is the Gyro.
There's nothing like a well done march-block to slow 'em down! In combat, try to avoid being bull charged. Usually
an OK army will march up, and stop 10 or so inches from the lines, in preparation for a bull charge next turn.
If you see your opponent setting you up for this, on your turn simply march move your entire battle line 6" towards
his/hers. Make sure though that that doesn't set you up to be flanked, it's better to be bull charged than flanked!
Another thing about fighting OK: As a general rule I just ignore the Gnoblars. Weedly little green-skins the lot
of them, and not too effective as long as they don't come around and flank you. I only ever mess with the Gnobs
if there is absolutely no other Ogre target.
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| Chaos Khorn: |
I have a fair deal of experience versus a Mortal/Daemon mix Khorne army. The number one thing that would pull
out a win for me was to shoot up the baddest guys and ignore the lesser threats. I'd always direct fire at the
Knights first, then the Bloodletters (just to remove a rank or 2, these guys die easy to Quarreller fire), then
Warriors (once again, removing the ranks is huge as well as outnumbering for combat bonus when things get
down and dirty). I generally ignored the Hounds, the Furies, and the Marauders. If I had a decent shot at the
Marauder Horsemen I'd take it, those fast cav are very annoying! Beware the Khorn Lord! If the opportunity arises,
blast him with a cannon or whatever you have. If he's in a regiment, do your best to whittle that regiment down
so you at least get an outnumber and several rank bonuses up on him in combat. Key issue here, bear in mind your
target priority and with any luck you should be able to win the day.
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| Chaos Daemons, Slaanesh: |
The only all Daemon army I've ever played was Slaanesh. The only real threat was the 2 giant flying Daemonesses.
Dwarfs are very capable of facing off against the Daemonettes in combat, so that wasn't really an issue. The cannon
was able to make quick work of the 2 chariots. If you know you'll be facing one of these armies, I sugges a bolt
thrower with RoPenetrating for chariot removal. The Steeds of Slaanesh Riders are fast, but not tough enough to
worry about, as long as they aren't getting into your flanks. Just keep your wits about you when facing all those
naked ladies, hold your line, take out the chariots, and all should work out rather well.
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