I am a dwarf and…

 

Confession time. I like dwarfs (or dwarves, whatever they are in the setting). Whether it’s D&D, Warhammer or Dragon Age, I just plain like them. My first thought for AoS was to do a Fyreslayer or Kharadron Overlords army before I started getting distracted by all the other shiny options.

For that reason, I will probably take a couple of stabs at making this army.

Goal:

First time round, it’s all about the Magmadroths. That’s right, AoS brought in dwarfs riding monsters and hell to the yeah for that. They also look pretty immense, with fourteen wounds and one can have one of six traits.

Oh, and the Lofnir lodge allows all Magmadroths to take a trait, as well as allow 1 more Behemoth in a pitched battle. We’re building for pitched battles with these armies, so that first list has got to take five of them then, no matter how silly it is. The second list will try for a more balanced approach.

Research:

Whoopsie, did that above. Expanding on it, all Magmadroths are mounts for heroes and we have three options: Runefather, Runeson and Runesmiter. The Runefather is the big daddy of them all with a damage 3(!) axe, the Runesons compete with each other so get better together and the Runesmiter is more or a support piece, though still nasty in a fight.

Battalions:

Not this time.

Building the list:

Hero hammer time. One Runefather, one Runesmiter and three Runesons starts things off and spends 1210 points from our list. No problem, we wanted to bring the stomp and this does that, magma-style.

Next up, we need to get some battleline models in there and… oh dear. There are only three unit options. Not for battleline choices (though all can be, depending on general), for the entire army. Hearthguard Berzerkers are nuts near a hero (4+ FNP save!), Hearthguard are the shooty option that can protect a non-mounted character (which we’ll get to) and Vulkarites are a cheaper option for more bodies.

Eesh.

Right, let’s split this army into two now. First, I have to talk about the Start Collecting box. It’s the same price as a Magmadroth on its own, but comes with extra characters AND 10 Vulkarites, meaning that to buy five Magmadroths, I’m going to have 50 Vulkarites kicking about to be used. Two units of twenty and one of ten is… well, 100 wounds of naked dwarf butt to paint. It leaves us with 90 points for Magmic Invocations, so can take either the Molten Infernoth and Runic Fyrewall, or the Zharrgron Flame Splitter on its own.

The other option is to make the Runefather the general and field Hearthguard Berzerkers instead as the battleline. This gets us two units of five and one unit of fifteen, along with either the Molten Infernoth or the Runic Fyrewall*. And there’s still points for the Battlesmith, a standard bearer that makes my army really tough (and is apparently required)

The Army:

Two armies here, aren’t you spoiled. First up, the “cheap option”

Runefather on Magmadroth

Runesmiter on Magmadroth

3 Runesons on Magmadroth

20 Vulkite Berzerkers

20 Vulkite Berzerkers

10 Vulkite Berzerkers

Magmic invocations

Comes in at 55 models for £320, so middle of the pack for models but on the cheaper side for price.

Pros:

It’s a dwarf slayer army, something I have wanted since the Storm of Chaos back in 2004. Only now, instead of an axe throwing warmachine, there are Magmadroths (have I typed that enough in this post?).

Cons:

From a painting standpoint, there is so little variety here. It’s all orange hair, dwarf skin and filigreed metal (and that goes for characters and units). The only difference is the Magmadroths, and then I’m painting five of the same monster. Compare that with the Dinosaur list, which has six monsters in four varieties and of the triple (Stegadons), one is carrying an Engine of the Gods to give some variety.

The Army Redux:

And the ow-my-wallet version

Runefather on Magmadroth

Runesmiter on Magmadroth

3 Runesons on Magmadroth

15 Hearthguard Berzerkers

5 Hearthguard Berzerkers

5 Hearthguard Berzerkers

Magmic invocations

This is just 31 models in total but is an eyewatering £477.50 in price.

Pros:

Really cool army.

Cons:

I like my wife and she would definitely take issue with this much being spent on one army!

*I already own the normal endless spells so have not counted their purchase costs for my other army lists, these I would have to pick up because dwarfs.

But wait, there’s yet more

Goal:

To make a ‘sensible’ Fyreslayer list using at least one Magmadroth.

Research:

Looking at the other lodges, Hermdar is both resilient (no battleshock test when wholly within 12” of an objective) and can make a unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers fight at the very start of combat. Also, the command trait makes the enemy have -1 to wound, this army will be so tanky! This is a winner then.

Battalions?

Oh my. There’s the Lords of the Lodge, which requires a Runefather (on or off a Magmadroth), a Runemaster, a Battlesmith and a unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers. It lets that unit pile in and attack twice, as long as it is wholly within 12” of one of the battalion’s heroes. Oh hell yeah we’re going with this.

Building the list:

The Runefather will be the general to make the Hearthguard Berzerkers core, and let’s throw him on a Magmadroth because of the stompfactor. Add in a Runemaster and Battlesmith, as their required, and a unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers at max strength (20 strong).

That’s just over half the army sorted, now for the rest. As we’ll have the models, let’s use two units of 10 Vulkite Berzerkers to claim objectives (stubbornly). I might boost one of these later, but now to look at the heroes again. We’ve got three and can take three more.

Hmmm. I have to buy a second unit of Vulkite Berzerkers, Fyreslayers like their buffs and I want the stomp. Fiiine, I’ll add in a Runesmiter on a Magmadroth to accompany the Battalion/provide a distraction and a further Runesmiter on foot (got the model from the first Start Collecting set and like the buffs). Leaves us with 270 points left which is easily enough to take any two Magmic Invocations (with this many priests, seems logical). Finally, I’ll add in 10 more Vulkite Berzerkers as another battleline choice to take and hold objectives.

The Army:

Runefather on Magmadroth

Runemaster

Battlesmith

Runesmiter

Runesmiter on Magmadroth

20 Hearthguard Berzerkers

10 Vulkite Berzerkers

10 Vulkite Berzerkers

10 Vulkite Berzerkers

Magmic invocations

Once again this is 55 models, though it is just £325 so way cheaper than the second option above

Pros:

This genuinely feels like a good army to field, and I could then expand it with a couple more Magmadroths later to get the full stompy list.

Cons:

Still a lot of naked dwarf butt to paint, and still lacks variety in the models, and I was hoping for a lower model count overall. Of the three armies though, this one has me the most excited to play so they are still in contention.