What can I do with Skull Pass Dwarfs?

[mort]

Ive been searching around for a Dwarf list using the skull pass models
12 warriors
10 thunderers
8 miners
1 Thane
1 dragon slayer
1 cannon (3 crew)

Every time I search for skull pass, people always have extra stuff that I dont have, so with just the Skull Pass set, what army can I get? How would you use this army in general. And yeah I just really need some tips to get started.

I havent actually read that mutch in the books (codex + rules)(yes I have read them but not that mutch) soI have a little understanding of them. Ive read some guides and tips about dwarfs. But lack of time has made me unable to read on the stuff "properly". Ive played 40k quite a long time, so i know the game mechanics.

A dude wanted to play some intro games with me on thursday, so he wants to know how many points I can come up with and we take it from there. Ive played three times with him, using the Skull Pass models. He used goblins while I used Dwarfs. I had read they were dead hard in combat, but my dwars seemd to just lie down before the battle even started. I failed horrible against his green units. But this was straight from the package, everything build from the booklet in there. He said that the equipment on the dwarfs sucked, and if I build an army list it would be better. So thats why Im asking here. Can anyone help me?

[King Ulrik Flamebeard]

If you don't have the Dwarf army book then buy it, this will explain all the rules you need to know how to play with the dwarf army (same goes for your goblin friend - get the orcs and goblins book).

After that, I would for now ignore the rules for magic weapons and leave magic aside until you have the basics down - though this does sort of nullify one of the goblin characters, be he can be used as a big boss or something. Here is a basic list...

Thane; Gromril armour, axe, shield (67)

Dragon Slayer (50 )

12 Warriors; hand weapon, sheild, heavy armour + full command (133)

12 thunderers; handgun, hand weapon, light armour + full command (193)

8 Miners; great weapon, light armour + full command (113)

Cannon (90 )

(646pts)

That is minus any form of runes. As I said, the use of magic items and magic itself can be difficult to get your head around, it works differently than wargear and psychic powers from 40k. Follow the guide you get with the boxed set, also if you are close to a GW it might be worth while asking a staff to walk you through a game, they should be able to help you understand the rules better.

Basically what I am saying is get your head around the three major phases first:

- Movement
- Shooting
- Combat

Without adding in any extra complicated rules for your first few games, then following this I would introduce more rules and magic.


Good luck with your games, and well done in choosing the right army. If you need help there are plenty of good dwarf players around willing to help out and loads of helpful threads for you to look over.

Kuffy

[mort]

Thanks for a fast reply. My opponent used my Orcs because he wanted to try them out. He has a bit of experience, and he does have different armies. He is kind of teaching me how to do it, and the last games I played I kinda figured most of it out. I just need to gain some experience and how to use units.

Runes and magic is a litte wierd yes, and i will read on the rules and the codex when I have time. I do have both books. The small rulebook from BfSP and I baught the Codex in the same go. But as a student, I wave a generally little spare time. And as an Animator studen, sparetime is not an option. (haha) I love to draw, and i can say that drawing is a hobby too, so I kinda have too many hobbies to choose from. My Ork army need tending too (my priority when it comes to 40k vs fantasy).

I come from an Speadfreaks Ork army (40k), so I like the Idea of an offencive army. As a plan for my upcoming army I will probably add lots of CC units and a few shooty stuff to add some veriaty to my army. I (think I) dont like the idea of a stand and shoot army.

Ah, the teacher is coming into the room, gotta go =D

[vote4pedro]

Dwarves are more of a sit back and shoot till they get to you army. They're the slowest army in the game, but also one of the most resilient. With the skull pass set unfortunately they don't offer enough models to play the army effectively, since you need 5 models per rank to get a rank bonus now instead of 4. I would convert your miners to be warriors and add them to the warrior unit. Giving you 20 warriors(5 wide 4 deep) so you can get the full 3 rank combat bonus.

That leaves you with this

20 warriors with shields and full command 205
Thane with shield and oathstone 87
dragon slayer 50
cannon 90
10 thunderers with shields 150

Total of 582

deploy your thane with your warriors and your dragon slayer near your cannon to try to protect it.


You basically sit back and shoot until they come to you and then get stuck in hand to hand. Your handgunners are actually not bad in hand to hand.(though not great either) in that small a game you should do fine.

[Emagdnim83]

I have also just recently started a dwarf army starting with the skull pass models. My suggestion is if you want to bolster your core army cheaply check out ebay. A few sellers sell the skull pass dwarfs in individual units. To add to my current skull pass dwarfs I bought 2x12 more warriors so i can make 2x16 (prob 15, 5 wide 3 deep) units (note that one of the command groups will be useless, ahh well), 10 more thunderers and another cannon. This is a much cheaper way to go and will keep your units looking uniform. These extras to add to my force have cost me under $40AU including postage from the US all up. Will soon get more miners as well and prob another set of 12 warriors to make 2x20 size dwarf warriors.
Just a tip if you wanna make a bigger cheaper army.

[THRILLHELM]

I'm also trying to put together a list using my skull pass models but I'm finding it hard to fit one I like into 500pts. Will it be a problem if i play the thunderers as just 10 with no command group even though the models appear like that? Sorry I'm a massive beardling. I actually have a lot of questions about the Skull Pass and making a 500pt army.
1) is there any way to viably include the Slayer in the army without sacrificing the cannon? I really like how i painted him and want to use him
2) What army structure would you guys reccomend for a 500pt list using these models (I have a thane with a GW that i will be using rather than the Skull Pass one)
3 How viable are dwarfs on such a small scale? WIll I need to expend to have an effective force?

[Hex]

I'm also trying to put together a list using my skull pass models but I'm finding it hard to fit one I like into 500pts. Will it be a problem if i play the thunderers as just 10 with no command group even though the models appear like that? Sorry I'm a massive beardling. I actually have a lot of questions about the Skull Pass and making a 500pt army.
1) is there any way to viably include the Slayer in the army without sacrificing the cannon? I really like how i painted him and want to use him
2) What army structure would you guys reccomend for a 500pt list using these models (I have a thane with a GW that i will be using rather than the Skull Pass one)
3 How viable are dwarfs on such a small scale? WIll I need to expend to have an effective force?

Whatever your opponent decides, I wouldn't care if somebody said a command group were normal thunderers.

The slayer on his own will be pretty useless.

500pts list - 13 warriors full command, 10 thunderers, 1 thane with gw and Mrogromril

Dwarfs are good at small scale - buy a battlaion to expand.

[THRILLHELM]

Thanks Hex. I guess I'll throw together two lists, one for when my opponents don't care about the command group and one for when they get beardy. Thanks for the list suggestions.