The 9th Age/Tactics/Dwarven Holds

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The fair use The 9th Age expy of the Dwarfs of Warhammer Fantasy.

Why play Dwarven Holds

love dwarfs, love being an unflinching bunker, prefer to make your own custom enchantments rather than picking from the predetermined items list.

Tactics

The tactics are current as of second edition.

Army Rules

• Ancient Grudge First, you get one grudge for a general with ancestral memory, for each king, and two for each war throne. Before the battle starts, mark one enemy unit for each grudge, your models gain Hatred when fighting these marked units. Makes those big scary units easier to take down.
• Hewn out of Mountains All spells cast by your opponent have their casting value increased by 1. Effectively magic resistance 1 for every single one of your models. Not a huge boost, but is so widespread will screw with your opponent's magic phases.

• Ancestral Memory May be taken by your general, +1 grudge.
• Holdstone One use only, lasts until the unit is no longer engaged in close combat. The unit treats every single facing as its front facing. This means no flanking bonuses for your opponent, rules like parry and shield wall apply to every single facing, and your guys can make supporting attacks to every facing. However, this unit cannot pursue or overrun the enemy when they break. Dwarfs are durable and the holdstone proves it. Run a big block of clansmen deep and bait your enemy into an unwinnable grind.
• Rune of Resonance A unique bound spell with incredible potential for support. When a battle rune is cast anywhere on the table by a friendly model, a unit that has a rune of resonance can be chosen as an additional target of that battle rune, ending the rune of resonance. Gives you options to buff your wide ranging units from the backlines.
• The Bigger They Are... Models with this rule gain Swiftstride when charging units with any large or gigantic models. Gives you a surprising edge against bigger, lumbering monsters and the like.

• Shield Wall When using a shield models with this rule gain Aegis 6+ vs close combat attacks in the front facing. This aegis save is improved to 5+ against charging models. Better and less restrictive than parry.

• Sturdy Devastating Charge (+1 Str and AP) and no to-hit penalties for stand-and-shoot charge reactions. All of your dwarfs have this, abuse it.
• Yer Comin' With Me! Close combat attacks by this model can never wound on worse than 4+. When a model with this rule is removed as a casualty (unless by impact hits) in close combat it immediately makes a single close combat attack with str 5 ap 2. Makes units with this rule scary to be stuck in combat with.

Armory

• Forge Repeater Short range (only 18"), but 4 flaming shots and quick to fire makes this a scary gun with a large threat range.
• Guild-Crafted Handgun A normal handgun but is accurate. Has +1 AP on the crossbow, but 6" shorter range. Accurate makes the handgun better in most situations unless your opponent also has long ranged options.

Battle Runes

Dwarfs don't have a hereditary spell, but they have essentially their own magic path of cheap to cast buffs. Each one is a bound spell (5/8) so your magic phases will be consistent with no randomness. Runesmiths cast them with a range of 12", Anvil of Power casts them with a range of 36".

• Rune of Gleaming The target gains hard target (1) and distracting. If your opponent hits first (you are dwarfs, so it is likely) and you aren't sure if your dwarfs will survive that first strike, this is the rune to take.
• Rune of Oaths The target re-rolls failed to-wound rolls in close combat. Read rune of reckoning above, now make all those hits more likely to wound as well. If your opponent let you get both of these runes off you've pretty much won the game.
• Rune of Reckoning The target re-rolls failed to-hit rolls in close combat. Dwarfs already have good offensive skill, now your just making them all hit.
• Rune of Resilience All to-wound rolls against the target suffer a -1 modifier. Normal troops will be wounding on 5+ normally, and now it's 6+. Because this is a modifier to the roll, not to strength or resilience, even if the enemy model is strength 10, it's dropping the to-wound roll from 2+ to 3+.
• Rune of Resolve The target performs a 6" magical move. People will tell you the downside to dwarfs are how slow they are. Sure they only have a 3" advance, but they have a 9" march, outpacing humans (8") and almost keeping up with elves (10"), and now add in this rune and your opponent who believed in slow dwarfs will be quickly outmaneuvered.
• Rune of Revocation All other spells with duration: one turn affecting the target immediately end. In addition, the next spell targeting this unit (including aura and attribute spells) is automatically dispelled. Gives dwarfs great control in the magic phase.

Unit Analysis

Characters

Any character that can be general has the option to take Ancestral Memory (if it is the general), you should shell out for it to give all your units hatred against at least one enemy unit.

King Great offensive stats, high resilience, and good agility (for a dwarf). He doesn't have a huge amount of options for mundane equipment, but he makes up for that with a huge allowance for runic items. Always give him a shield, even if you are running a great weapon. If you can, shell out for at least the shieldbearers, having a 1+ character with an absurd number of attacks that can hide in huge infantry blocks is worth it.

Thane Your baby king that can be BSB. As above, give him shieldbearers for the extra armor, health, and attacks.

Dragon Seeker Your seeker character, not allowed to be general. His only options are for Monster Seeker: gains multiple wounds vs large and gigantic models, or Grims Resolve: +1 attack for each model in base contact. Don't expect him to live to the end of the game. Kit him to fight something scary on the other side of the table and have him run right for it and kill it before he goes down.

Runic Smith Not as melee-competent as the above options and lacks the options for ranged weapons, but runes are great. He gives the unit he's in +1 AP on their melee attacks and can buy up to 3 runes for an absurdly cheap points cost.

Engineer Counts towards Engines of War. Not only buffs your war machines to-hit on 3+, but entrenches them, giving them hard cover as long as they don't move. Engineer does not prevent him from using his own shooting weapon. Give him a hand gun or wyrm-slayer rocket (a unique gun they grab to take down big enemies) so he can hang in the back and take potshots.

Anvil of Power It's your magic war machine. It won't be moving much, but with it's huge range, good defenses, and selection of free runes, your opponent will have trouble dealing with it.

Character Mounts

Shield Bearers Thane or King only. +1 health and +2 armor is amazing on its own, now add in 2 additional attacks and you can still hide it in your infantry. Always take it whenever you can.

War Throne King only. +3 health and +2 armor, tank up your king for cheap. It additionally provides an extra 4 attacks, an increased Inspiring Presence range, hatred, and the bonus grudges. The downside is it costs about as much as a second king, but it is worth the cost.

Core

Clan Warriors Your beard and ale. They are surprisingly cheap for what they bring to the table, but you will be spending more on them depending on what you want to do. Depending on what you're fighting, they can take great weapons to take on elite infantry or heavy cavalry. Spears and Shields is the best all around choice. Hand Weapons and Shields are useful if your fighting extremely high offensive skill enemies where parry would actually help. Throwing weapons are generally a pass, but every so often they can chip on something. One unit of up to 30 can take vanguard, again, your opponent will think your dwarfs are slow, and then you will be in close combat on turn 2.

Greybeards Veteran warriors with +1 offensive/defensive skill, AP, Fearless and a mini BSB effect. However, their weapon selection is limited to only great weapons. Generally a pass, but they could make for a slightly tankier rally point for your blocks of warriors.

• One of unit of warriors or greybeards can also be given Vanguard. While the warriors give you that cheaper unit to fight immediately, the vanguard could be just as handy with their improved combat prowess.

Core + Clans' Thunder

Clan Marksmen Tanky ranged guys, but are pretty expensive. Always give them shields, will help them soak return fire and beat down on any flankers. In the same vein, they can also take great weapons to surprise people. Crossbows have longer range but worse to-hit at longer ranges, handguns have better AP and to hit but shorter range. If you're fighting elves (of any variety) take the crossbows so you can out trade them at their long ranges, anyone else you can dump on them with the handguns.

Special

King's Guard 2 attack great weapon infantry with plate armour + shields and gain stubborn if a king or general is rolling with them. Will murder anything you throw them at. The way a war throne ranks up with them will hurt their number of attacks to the front but not enough to really hurt their total damage output.

Deep Watch The brick to out-brick all bricks. A 3+/5++ in close combat is all they are, your opponent will have trouble burning through them. In any case where you need a retinue for another hero, these guys are your ideal choice.

Miners Essentially Clan Warriors that can pop in anywhere. If you give them ranged weapons they additionally count towards clans' thunder, which depending on who you're fighting can help out. Shields are never a bad option, but be careful to spend a lot of points on what is essentially a suicide wizard hunter.

Rangers Scouting warriors stats wise. Give them shooting weapons and Crag Wardens to out fire other ranged units, otherwise, use them as +3Arm roadblock if a vanguarding warriors and Seekers are not enough. Just be wary that these ranged weapons count towards Clans' Thunder.

Seekers Defenseless besides Aegis (6+), but at least they're unbreakable. Run them into enemy lines and hope they make it before they get shot off the table. Always take vanguard on them to get them into combat faster. If you're looking to be more annoying, you can also make one unit into Brothers of Vengeances, making them Skirmishers.

Vengeance Seeker A solo seeker with slightly better defenses (has distracting and hard target). If you get him into CC he'll do work. He hits first always (same step as impact hits). Better value than regular seekers but he'll be floored against a good unit of infantry.

Hold Guardians Automatons attack! Dwarfs have monstrous infantry damn straight. Faster than all of your other infantry, only held down by their small unit size. A unit or two of these are great flankers. You can even put them in different roles thanks to Runic Engravings giving you the option of either +1 Str/AP, Vanguard or +2 Agi when you set them up.

Grudge Buster A pretty quick flying Chariot unit. Has mediocre shooting but amazing defenses, 1d6+1 impact hits, and 3d3 grind attacks. Will Mulch through most infantry with its propeller blades.

Clans' Thunder

Forge Wardens Short ranged (only 18") with relatively weak attacks that are flaming but always hit on 2+. If your enemy is trying to run some hard target or cover shenanigans these guys will burn them anyways, but you might be better off with more marksmen for anything harder than light infantry.

Steam Copters Always equipped with the forge repeater and is by far your fastest unit, helped by being un-stompable. While they aren't too shabby in combat, you're want to look at providing them either shrapnel grenades or shrapnel bombs. The grenades are your free, if less-than-effective, set of single-use sweeping attacks. The bombs are considerably stronger and deal more sweeping attacks, but if you ever roll a 6 on one of the die for the number of hits they deal you lose them.

Engines of War

Field Artillery All of your siege engines lumped into one entry. Each one has 3 things in common. 1: add +4 to any misfire rolls, keeps your artillery up and running. 2: maybe upgraded with magical flaming attacks, be sure to mock your Undying Dynasties opponent. 3: they each have a upgraded form.

• Dwarf Ballista: Your cheapest option and is still nutty good. Has decent strength, insane AP, and can be upgraded to be accurate all the way out to 48" and scout. Use it to snipe monsters, lone characters, and small elite units.
• Flame Cannon: It's a flamethrower and can be used to troll the proper opponents. Don't bother upgrading it, it may let you shot standard size enemies behind the front line but it also makes it easier to be shot at.
• Catapult: Tied for your longest ranged weapon, is consistent against large units, but suffers from mediocre str/AP. This can be remedied by upgrading it, giving it consistent str 4 AP 2.
• Dwarf Cannon: The other long-ranged weapon. The classic fuck you to monsters. Being able to pound a monster with Str 10 AP 10 is quite the shutdown. Can also be fired as a volley gun at close range, probably won't use it much but can discourage flankers from getting too close. If you really need it's bounces to hurt something, you can upgrade it.
• Organ Gun: Same range as your crossbows and 2d6x2 shots. Anything that gets too close can just get deleted by the number of shots you can throw down at any moment. upgraded adds +1 to wound rolls.

• Dwarf Giant: A rather big dwarf who hates other giants from the Giants Supplement. His melee output is pretty scary between the aforementioned Hatred, Sturdy, and Rage giving them more attacks the more he gets damaged. Alongside the typical Big Brother and Giant Clubs, you can also either make them tanky with armor and Shield Wall or make them killier by turning them into a giant seeker.

Dwarven Runes

Dwarfs do not get to choose special equipment from the normal rulebook (except for enchanted standards). Weapons, Armor, and Talismans can each hold up to 3 runes, each rune combination is a unique special item that cannot be duplicated in an army.

Weapon Runes

Only hand weapons or paired weapons may be engraved with runes.

• 0-1 Rune of Destruction Attacks made with this weapon gain multiple wounds (d3). A 1/3 chance to one shot most characters, will also take about 1/3 of a king's entire magical allowance.
• 0-1 Rune of Smashing Models on foot only. When attacking a model with resilience 5 or more gain Str 10 and AP 10. Ask your opponent where his favorite monster is and kill it in 2 turns.
• Rune of Might For each rune of might on a weapon it gains +1 str and AP. One or two of these and your dwarf can open up anything.
• Rune of Penetration Weapons with one or more of these runes gain +3 AP. 4 AP is functionally all you'll need against most armies.
• Rune of Precision The wielder gains Lightning Reflexes. Functionally a +1 to-hit in melee. With your "spells" and already high offensive skill, tends to be a bit overkill.
• Rune of Quickening For each one you gain +3 agility. If you want to go first, take one of these, it should be enough unless you're fighting elves or the like.
• 0-3 Rune of Craftsmandwarfship The weapon becomes a great weapon. The only way to get a great weapon that can use runes. Agility 4 isn't much, but will go before most armies on the charge. But is equal to 2 runes of might at the cost of losing out on agility 4.
• Rune of Fury For each one you gain +1 attack. More attacks is always nice, and getting to throw 10 dice just for your king's attacks is always fun.
• 0-3 Rune of Lightning if the wielder successfully hits (not wounds) with this weapon, at the end of combat it deals d3 additional Str4 AP1 hits for each of this rune. A great way to chunk out more hits on either a solo model or grind down a horde.
• Rune of Fire Attacks with this weapon are Flaming Attacks. Self Explanatory.
• Rune of Returning The weapon can be used as a shooting weapon with range 8", aim 2+, str and ap as user, quick to fire and accurate but held back by Reload! Either way, this attack is affected by any other runes your weapon possesses. A fun way to get some extra damage on your king.

Armour Runes

All armour runes are applied to suits of armour, not shields.

• Rune of Steel The bearer re-rolls failed armor saves. Combo with Rune of Resistance to never take any hits.
• 0-1 Rune of Resistance Successful to-wound rolls against the wearer must be re-rolled. Your opponent will be lucky to get 2 wounds off your king by the end of the game.
• Rune of Iron +1 armor each, max +2. Not necessary on a king or thane, but can get that sweet 1+ on your runesmith.
• Rune of Retribution Whenever the bearer makes a successful shield wall save the attacking model takes a hit at the saved attacks' strength and AP.
• Rune of the Forge the bearer gains Aegis 2+ vs flaming attacks. Niche, but cheap and powerful against the right enemies.

Runic Banners

can use Common Banner Enchantments instead of Runic Banners. A Battle Standard Bearer may take any 2 combinations of Common & Runic Banners

• 0-1 Runic Standard of Shielding Battle Standard Bearer, Deep Watch, and King’s Guard only. All friendly units within 6" of the bearer gain aegis 5+ vs shooting attacks.
• 0-1 Runic Standard of Swiftness The bearer's unit gains vanguard.
• 0-1 Runic Standard of Dismay Enemies charging the bearer's unit suffer -2" advance.
• 0-3 Runic Standard of the Hold A unit with one or more of these runes count as an additional full rank for the purposes of steadfast and disrupted.
• 0-3 Runic Standard of Wisdom Select a single battle rune at the beginning of the game. The battle rune can be cast by the bearer with range: caster's unit.
• 0-3 Runic Standard of Steadiness One use only, the bearer's unit gains quick-to-fire until the end of the turn. Suddenly your handguns and crossbows have a much bigger threat range.
• 0-3 Runic Standard of the Anvil Friendly units charging enemy units engaged with the bearer re-roll failed charge rolls.

Runic Artefacts

Up to 3 runes form a single artefact (so you can smash in 6 talisman runes if you want to) but you can't double-stack on the composition of these artefacts. A model can only have 1 dominant rune.

• 0-1 Rune of Denial Dominant. Single-use automatic dispel of enemy spell. A handy tool to have, always take one.
• 0-1 Rune of Devouring Dominant. Runic Smiths only. One use only, done instead of attempting a dispel. The spell goes off as normal but the casting model can't cast that spell for the rest of the game (does not effect attribute spells or those dispelled by Rune of Revocation). Can ruin the day of a low level caster or by deleting the H spell from those pesky vampires.
• 0-3 Rune of Dragon's Breath The bearer gains a Str4 AP1 Flaming breath attack. Only a single friendly rune of dragon's breath may be used per round of combat. Can really beef up your attacks when grinding.
• Rune of the Courage One use only, makes the bearer stubborn for the rest of the phase. Can make your tarpit hold out for an extra round while you line up a charge.
• 0-1 Rune of Grounding Runic Smiths only. One use only, all spells with duration: one turn affecting the bearer's unit and any enemy units in base combat with the bearer end immediately. Can really screw your opponent's buffs or hexes.
• Rune of Harnessing Runic Smiths only. Enemy models within 24" reduce their channel value by 1. Can cap your opponents magic phases, you just have to get your runesmith close to the enemy wizards first.
• Rune of Shielding The bearer gains Aegis +1 (max 4+). This only stacks with itself and/or Shield Wall. Combo with rune of retribution to have an unkillable melee monster that bludgeons enemies to death with themselves.
• 0-2 Rune of Storms One use only, use at the start of your opponent's phase. Pick an enemy unit within 24", all models with fly in that unit have their advance and march rates halved (for normal and flying movement).
• Rune of Readiness One use only, use after all charges against the bearer's unit have been resolved. The bearer's unit may make a combat reform before combat starts. If you don't have a holdstone on hand, this will do the job against one unit.
• Rune of Kinship The bearer gains scout and ambush. Can't be taken by war thrones so no 6 HP duel monsters popping in from the backline.
• Rune of Mastery One use only. Add +2/+2 to the power level of a bound spell for it's casting this turn. Can make a rune available when you need it to be.
• Rune of Mining Choose one terrain feature before the battle begins. As long as the bearer of this rune is on the table all friendly models treat that terrain feature as open terrain.

Rune Combos

Thor's Hammer: Rune of Lightning + Rune of Returning. Lets you throw and have your hammer explode into 1+ D3 hits.

The 9th Age Tactics
General	Tactics Arcane Compendium Paths of Magic
Armies	Beast Herds Daemon Legions (Cultists) Dread Elves Dwarven Holds Empire of Sonnstahl Highborn Elves Infernal Dwarves (Hobgoblins) Kingdom of Equitaine
	Ogre Khans Orcs and Goblins Saurian Ancients Sylvan Elves Undying Dynasties Vermin Swarm Vampire Covenant Warriors of the Dark Gods (Åsklanders • Makhar)