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Stubber

2022-10-26T06:36:51Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* thumper (kickback) shotgun */

{{Topquote|If you really think about it, now we're just throwing lead with gunpowder..... god we have not advanced that much.| Mechanicus priest Roanoke gaming aptly describing the Stubber}}

'''Stubbers''', or stub guns, are weapons from as early as the halfway point of M2, but mostly 20th/21st century [[Firearm|gun]]s (our times) in the 41st millennium. Needless to say, most haven't aged very well when you consider how powerful everything else is. The only thing that they have going for them is they are cheap, they can still kill an unarmored humanoid target, and are durable as hell and depending on its mechanics and care, given can be and have been in use ''SINCE M2''. Sadly, they are incredibly weak against much of the universe's serious threats - in fact, they are among the few things that a [[Imperial Guard|Guardsman's]] flak armor will reliably stop a direct hit of. This should give you an indication of exactly how weak they are. Of course, anything above it is guaranteed to fuck up your Guardsman and [[Space Marine]]s quite well, and stub guns are actually capable of downing Terminators if you aim for the joints, lenses, or other sensitive equipment (read: if the unlucky marine rolls a 1). Just because a gun is simple doesn't mean it's not effective, especially when it's scaled up a few (dozen) calibers. But just remember - every dog has their day. Especially as the latest Primaris armoured units have found fresh use for them.

==Disambiguation==
[[File:Autopistolclarifier.png|500px|right|thumb|The page of the Primer detailing what an autopistol may look like.]]
One of the pitfalls of Games Workshop is that they really don't have an internal canon police. To wit, the difference between Stub weapons and Auto weapons is rather blurry. Some authors write as though these technologies are one-and-the-same, citing only vernacular differences for the existence of multiple terms for ignited-gas slug-throwers (or sometimes totally writing out one term or the other!). The game itself is not an exemption, as edition-to-edition, codex-to-codex, and supplement-to-official author changes cause a mess of personal opinion writing over personal opinion, and some authors sling both terms with abandon, interchanging one for the other whenever they feel one term is becoming overused.

To clarify, it is generally agreed that there are both Stubbers and Auto-weapons. Stub technology tends to be lower-tech, revolvers-to-WWII style weaponry, with an air towards larger-caliber and higher stopping-power. Auto-weapons tend to be higher-tech, Cold-War-and-on style weaponry, which emphasize accuracy and fire rate. It's been suggested that any full scale cannons would be classified as Auto-weapons, however calling a battle cannon or macro cannon an Auto-weapon is a bit of a stretch. Bigger caliber and relatively slow rates of fire denote Stub weapons, until you hit the point where infantry can no longer wield them. Anything with explosive, tracer, frangible, or incendiary rounds are typically Auto-weapons. Muzzle-loaders like muskets or arquebuses are neither Auto nor Stub. Furthermore, autoguns are generally (but not always) described as firing caseless ammunition and also include such types of weapons as gauss rifles (the electromagnetic kind not Necron bullshit) and even gravitic propelled slugs.

A good example to use would be pistols: A stub pistol would be either a revolver or a semi-auto magazine-fed pistol, while an autopistol would be either a handheld automatic pistol or a burst-fire pistol. It could also be something along the lines of an Uzi, MAC-10 or any other SMG whose magazine is located in the grip, judging by the illustration of an autopistol given in the [[Imperial Infantryman%27s Uplifting Primer]]. High-tech, [[Shadowrun]]-esque revolvers are still Stub weapons, while Krieg-made automatic slug-throwing cannons are still Auto weapons by default, and hand-crank Gatling guns could go either way. Pepperbox-style breach-loaders would be neither, and futuristic ignited-gas projectile weapons are Auto weapons. Since GW is pathologically incapable of consistency, the Cult Mechanicus Tech-Priest Dominus carries a 5-shot burst pistol called a macrostubber, even though its form factor and performance place it in the 'autogun' family. Though it likely probably fires similar rounds to a heavy stubber, they only match in power not caliber, and it is the method of the weapon system’s function which distinguishes the type of weapon.

For further comparison between Stubbers and Autoguns, [[Autogun#Autoguns versus Stubbers|click here]].

==Primitive Variants==
Although these models technically count as too primitive to even count as Stubbers, let alone Autoguns, for the sake of convenience they are listed here.

[[File:Inq1-blackpowder-pistol.jpg|200px|rght|thumb|When you really want to go back to the point on making [[Orks]] look advanced. The Flintlock Pistol is the tool for you.]]

===Flintlock Pistol===
Wooo boy. If you want to role play as a 16th century Pirate, then the Flintlock Pistol is for you. These simple black powder weapons can take many forms, from finely crafted pistols constructed for the nobles of low-tech worlds to simple pipe and powder affairs used by underhive scum. They are uncommon and are famous for their low battle characteristics but those which do exist are sometimes very heavily ornamented and carried by high ranking officers mainly as decoration.

Of course, whilst you may scoff at the idea of going into a battle filled with tanks and space ships with an 18th century gun, do take note that the more master-crafted versions could be quite deceptively deadly by virtue of incorporating some form of advanced tech into, seemingly, primitive and "backward" design. For example, such constructs could be capable of holding plasma munitions that can crack open power armor in a single shot. So while actually using a black powder pistol (in all but the most retardedly desperate situations) will get you in trouble, you never know if some dude has an archaeotech pistol that resembles one just to look cool. Laugh at your own peril.

===Musket===
[[File:Rb1-73-musket.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Musket, basically the Flintlock's older brother.]]
Muskets are primitive firearms, utilizing explosive powder and a crude firing mechanism to propel a lead ball. Like the Flintlock Pistol, these crude devices can only fire once before reloading and are prone to failure. Slow, inaccurate, and unreliable, they are only made and used on backwards planets. However, they are extremely easy to construct and maintain even from scrap-parts and with an absolute minimum of skill and knowledge about firearms operation. For this reason they are known to be quite popular among outlaw members of Hive societies such as the Ratskins and Scalies of the Necromundan underhive. The [[Planetary Defense Forces]] of Feral and Feudal Worlds also sometimes make use of muskets.

Like the Flintlock Pistols, master-crafted Muskets could be quite deceptively deadly by virtue of incorporating some form of advanced tech into, seemingly, primitive and "backward" design. That “backward” musket could hide archaeotech capable of making a Thermal Cannon look like a firecracker.

===Blunderbuss===
[[File:ScavvieBlunderbuss.PNG|200px|right|thumb|The Blunderbuss, the Shotgun's grandfather.]]

A primitive shotgun. Also known as a Scatter Gun, the Blunderbuss is an exceedingly simple weapon made out of one or more short barrels strapped to a solid stock. An explosive charge is primed at the bottom of each barrel, then a large amount of metal fragments, stones, pieces of bone or anything else likely to cause harm are packed in on top.

When the weapon is discharged, it belches out this "ammunition" in a vast swath which will hopefully find itself somewhere in the locale of its intended target.

Outside of primitive societies, such a crude, ineffective and dangerous (to its operator) weapon is only used by the poorest or most desperate members of society. Usually it can be found in use by criminal gangs, for instance the Ratskin Renegades and [[Scavvies]] of Necromunda's underhive. Gretchin also craft these weapons, even upsizing them for their primative dreadnoughts.

===Scatter Cannon===
[[File:Scatter_Cannon2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Scatter Cannon. The Blunderbuss' older brother and the Shotgun's uncle.]]

A primitive weapon found on Necromunda and used exclusively by the [[Scalies]]. Basically a 18th century cannon with a trigger attached to it. A scatter cannon is simply an enlarged version of a Blunderbuss or scatter gun with a heavy barrel and a fist sized bore. The greater weight of the shrapnel and explosive charge used in a scatter cannon increase its range and make it a lot deadlier in the confined conditions of the underhive.

If all else fails, the Scalie can basically just use the giant cannon as a giant makeshift club. Any poor scrub would get crushed by the weapon's immense weight. The Scatter Cannon is sturdy enough due to be constructed mainly with one piece of reinforced wooden log and one piece of a steel firing bore. Thus, the Scatter Cannon is essentially the watered down version of the Ogryn's Ripper Guns.

Scalies are the only underhive denizens with the massive strength to take the recoil from these powerful primitive weapons.

==Ancient Variants==
===Stub Gun===
[[File:40k-Stub-Boltok-Pistol.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Some things... don't quite get better with age, but the Stub Gun definitely aged well.]]
God made men, Samuel Colt made them equal, and John Browning made them civilized. It's a basic pistol in two variants: the stub automatic which is like a .45 caliber handgun and the stub revolver which is, of course, a generic revolver, more of which can be explained below. If you're in a gang on a hive world, it'll work pretty well because you're probably going to be shooting at other people without armor, or lightly armored local law enforcement. Very reliable, unlikely to jam, manufacture is a breeze, and ammo is plentiful. However, if you're trying to shoot an [[Ork]], even headshots might just bounce off his skull. Though, the same could be said of [[autogun]]s and [[lasgun]]s, minus the actual bouncing of course.

====Stub Revolver====
The stub revolver carries fewer rounds than most pistols but is very reliable and easy to operate. As bullets can be inserted individually, it is relatively easy to load in specialized rounds when needed. It is one of the most ancient of pistol designs and serves as an ideal backup weapon.

====Stub Automatic====
Unlike the Stub revolver, this pistol weapon fires in semi-automatic. Like the [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]] it is easy to produce and maintain, but less accurate at longer ranges. Just as common as the revolver variant, the stub automatic is relatively less reliable, but allows for a greater rate of fire and magazine capacity.

<gallery>
File:Stub_revolver.jpg|Stub Revolver, looking much like [[Hats|The Spy’s revolver]]
File:Stub_automatic.jpg|Stub Automatic, one must wonder how any magazine is supposed to [[FAIL|fit inside such a grip]] (Uses a helical magazine at the front.)
</gallery>

===Shotgun Pistol===
[[File:ShotgunPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Shotgun Pistol. The littlest of boomsticks.]]
A special and unique type of shotgun.

Also known as "'Foehammer'", this weapon takes a form of a squat, brutal pistol resembling a single-shot hand cannon. It can fire a standard shotgun shell, and is popular with many naval ship's officers as well as crew chiefs who need an intimidating weapon close at hand. This is the smallest shotgun known in the Imperium and the weakest one at that.

Compared to the Hand Cannon, the Shotgun Pistol has less accuracy and stopping power, but it has lower recoil, better handling and it's a shot gun so it's easier to hit something. It is also easier to maintain and construct since it is nothing more than a tube with a firing mechanism. Great as a secondary weapon when things get too close for comfort, but there are honestly better firearms in the Imperium to choose from.

Be careful firing this thing, an incautious user might break their wrist.

For better context, think of this as the Duplet from the Metro series.
{{Clear}}

===Hand Cannon===
[[File:Hand_Cannon.png|200px|right|thumb|A Hand Cannon. For when you want to have pint-sized firepower.]]
Basically a semi-auto stub pistol (and sometimes revolver) on steroids, not unlike real-world .50 cal Desert Eagle or .454 Casull pistols in operation (It is worth noting that at least one model of hand cannon has its caliber listed as being .54 cal, that equals roughly 13.06mm).

Hand cannons are almost invariably heavy and cumbersome by pistol-grade weapons standards, in addition to having unforgiving recoil, requiring a degree of training and physical resilience to wield such a firearm.

However, hand cannon do reward their users with the ability to kill even armoured or resilient to damage opponents (like Ogryns, Orks and Necrons). Sort of. They are still closer in power to stub pistols than bolt pistols for instance. But they are far easier to produce meaning Guardsmen, typically Sergeants and vets, could use them as a surprisingly powerful backup weapon. And if you find yourself up close and personal with an Ork, Necron or Genestealer, you will want as much firepower as you can get your hands on.

Its big brother is called the Stub Cannon which can be read below.

===Sawn-Off Shotgun===
[[File:Sawn-Off.JPG|200px|right|thumb|A Sawn-Off. A hand-held pepper shot.]]
The Sawn-Off Shotgun is a catch-all term to describe any primitive shotgun that has its barrel...well...''sawn off''. This is one of the most ancient of weapon modifications. The effects of which decreases the range, whilst increasing both the spread and ease of handling.

By sawing off the barrels, the shotguns turns from a rifle into a pistol. So you essentially have a shotgun pistol for all intents and purposes. Due to such [[Heresy|unsanctioned modifications]], they are not widely popular in the [[Imperial Guard]]. Instead, they are used by hive gangers where Imperial oversight is non-existent.

In the [[Necromunda]] tabletop, the Sawn-Off is easily one of the [[Fail|worst weapons in the game.]] It has worse range than a Pistol and its attributes is easily overshadowed by other short-range weapons like the [[Flamer]], [[Melta]] or you know, an ''actual'' Shotgun. There is no situation where taking this weapon is better than a pistol. Avoid it.

They also appear in 40k proper via the [[Neophyte Hybrid]]s, who also use them in conjunction with the pump-action variety due to its aforementioned ease of handling, cheapness and relatively low maintenance cost. Of course, on tabletop, they, like most shotguns, [[Derp|act the same.]]

===Pump-Action Shotgun===
[[File:Wg2-31-Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Pump-Action Shotgun AKA the Boomstick.]]
Imperial shotguns, in fact, changed little over millennia - they are the same smoothbore firearms, principally designed to either fire buckshot at close ranges or slugs to engage targets up to medium ranges. About the only big change that the Imperium employs to the gun itself is putting the gun's tubes in a metal box. These are generally simple and cheap in construction and exists in different patterns and models throughout the Imperium of Man.

The first type of 'modern' Shotgun is the archaic over-and-under shotguns and pump-action ones. They are often favoured by Enforcers as these manual shotguns have all the strengths of their double-barrelled cousins with the added benefits of increased ammo capacity or - for [[Neophyte Hybrid]]s - due to its commonality, low-tech construction and ease of maintenance. There are also few things as distinctive as the sound of a pump-action shotgun chambering a shell.

===Stub Cannon===
[[File:Stub_Cannon.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Stub Cannon. The Devil's Fang of Stub weapons.]]

Often called "stub-blasters" or more simply "stubbies", the Stub Cannon is an especially large version of the hand cannon that fires massive, high-caliber rounds so massive that the recoil can break bones -- basically like a Torgue pistol from ''Borderlands 3''. As such, most gangers in the underhive could barely lift such a weapon, let alone take the grievous recoil from firing one in the first place. [[Abhuman|Due to their unnatural and inhumanly large muscle mass and bulk,]] they're favored mainly by the members of [[House Goliath]].

Like the [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans and their Knives]], carrying such a gun is more a show of strength (and a dick measuring contest) than it is a practical weapon, but that just adds to the appeal for your average Goliath ganger. On the flip side, if you are wearing power armour, it's a cheap way to blast a hole into Ork skulls and blow chunks out of Genestealers.

The Stub Cannon looks like an enlarged Stub-Revolver. How quaint.

===Stub Rifle===
[[File:Stubrifle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Sure enough, the Stub Rifle epitomizes not fixing something if it ain't broken.]]
The gun that coins the term Stubber.

No, really, take a Mosin or a Springfield and you got one of these. Shit's built to last.

Generally, a simple medium/high-caliber bolt-action or semi-auto rifle. Also called the Stubber. It is basically your typical, everyday hunting rifle you can buy today with some slight modifications. Existing in many patterns, generally such a rifle is regarded as a lowly civilian-grade weapon or tool.

However, it often sees action not as just a hunting or farming tool, but as a combat weapon in the hands of lowly insurgents, cultists, or militia fighters. It's likely that high powered Stub Rifles could also be seen to use the same or similar rounds to a Heavy Stubber, minus the automatic fire. Heck, some high powered Stubbers could become a makeshift Sniper Rifle. Typically a Stub Rifle acts as a Marksman Rifle in these cases. Its rule 63 equivalents are the [[Las-Lock]] or [[Autogun]]. Don't look down on the stub rifle, some of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy are stub weapons.

==Modern Variants==
===Liberator Autostub===
[[File:Liberator_Autostub.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Liberator Autostub. A gun that literally fires bullets made out of [[Bullshit|Bullshitium.]]]]
The primary sidearm of the triple gunslinging space cowboy of the [[Genestealer Hybrids#Kelermorph Hybrids|Kelermorph Hybrid]]. From an initial perspective, these Stub Revolvers look like any other form of Stub Revolver. But don't let that fool you, for these revolvers pack enough of a punch to make a Hand Cannon and even a Bolt Pistol look like a pathetic Flintlock Pistol in comparison.

For you see, the bullets of a Liberator Autostub is made from extremely [[Bullshit|'rare']] depleted volonium shells. Rare is in quotations because they are made by disgruntled workers from any normal arms factory, produced by the stuff being smuggled out in trace amounts. [[Wat|Which begs the question on why the Imperium never seem to make bullets out of this volonium stuff if]] [[Derp|god damned sweatshop workers can smuggle them out and make it by themselves.]] (Maybe genestealers shit out volonium?) The fluff suggests that the normal Imperium does not use them because making these things is a deadly task since you're likely to be exposed to high levels of radiation (which suggests that to make depleted Volonium they first have to synthesis normal Volonium which, before you ask, is not a real element). But since when have the human costs of production stopped the Imperium "grim dark is our catchphrase" of Man? And it's deadly only to those aforementioned sweatshop workers because their basement armory has zero radiation protection, unlike a sanctioned worker specialized in that task. Anyway, these bullets are supposedly hard enough to pierce Power Armour and the hulls of light tanks (which makes no sense anyway because it still wouldn't have the kinetic energy to defeat said armor anyway), but crunch-wise they're only -1; not too bad, given the rate of fire, yet not quite "turn a tank inside out" good, <s>which may also explain why the Normal Imperium doesn't field them</s> crunch in this case is dramatically different from fluff in which these bullets are easily tank and Marine killers. They've got better (and cheaper, and probably wayyyyyy less radioactively lethal) shit to produce AP rounds with (and yet nobody, even Space Marines, ever gets any of these hypothetical AP rounds?).

On tabletop, these are the Kelermorph's rootin' tootin' shootin' S4 AP-1 2 damage Pistol 2. [[Awesome|The Kelermorph has three of these babies and can just gun down space marines and below with ease.]] [[Cypher|Cypher]] wishes he could get guns this good.

===Combat Shotgun===
[[File:Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Combat Shotgun, AKA, the Boomstick that goes [[Dakka|BRRRRRRR.]]]]
The Combat Shotgun is the second type of 'modern' shotguns that have abandoned all forms of manual reload for that sweet, sweet full auto-combat action. When you think of shotguns in 40k, ''these'' are the types you automatically think about. These automatic shotguns as such, are designed purely for warfare. Combat shotguns are usually fed from a drum magazine (and so rarely need to be reloaded) and are even deadlier than the normal shotgun. In addition to their short-range destructive power, they hammer out an intimidating racket when being fired.

They are often employed as a signature weapon of [[Adeptus Arbites]].

Also worth noting is that along with simple buckshot or slug shells, Imperial shotguns can also fire specialised rounds, usually produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus, including the dreaded Executioner-pattern sniper slugs, having the ability to change their trajectory mid-flight and home in on their target thanks to their miniature on-board cogitator.
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===Astartes Assault Shotgun===
[[File:Astartes_Assault_Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Boomstick to end all Boomsticks.]]
As its name implies, the Astartes Shotgun is a shotgun model specifically tailored for a Space Marine's biology, and thus having great mass and recoil, but also vastly greater stopping power. It is the third 'modern' type of shotgun shown.

They are the standard issue for [[Scout Squad|Space Marine Scouts]] and are bulky, mag-fed weapons that can fire in single shots and in both semi and fully automatic modes, and use an array of specialty ammunition ranging from armor-piercing penetrator rounds to the powerful man-stopping rounds. The [[Deathwatch]] also maintains unique shotguns with specialized alien-killing rounds, utilizing armour-piercing solid rounds, flame-belching shells, or rounds that fill the room with deadly bouncing ball-bearings.

These variants are specially designed to be used by members of Adeptus Astartes and as such are of much better quality and much more deadly than normal shotguns. Assault shotguns are best used in urban and close-quarters combat, as well as in boarding actions aboard voidships.

===Heavy Shotgun===
[[File:Heavy_Shotgun.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The [[Autocannon]] of Boomsticks.]]
The biggest broomstick of the family.

These double-barrelled combat shotguns are used exclusively by the [[Imperial Navy]] Breacher Teams. Its sheer bulk means that these Voidsmen need to carry a specialised shield that could mount these things in order to properly fire without throwing off one's aim. Given their double-barrelled nature and large size, the Heavy Shotgun fires bigger gauges which contain more pellets per shot. The result is that anyone in front of the damned monster would get shredded into beef patties.

Given its ridiculously boxy design, moving this thing around is an absolute bitch and don't even get us on the recoil. Without that supporting shield, firing this unwieldy [[METAL BOXES|metal box]] would make this shit so god damned inaccurate even by shotgun standards. Furthermore, given its double-barrel and automatic fire nature, ammo conservation is also going to be a bitch to look out for.

All in all, point this thing in the general direction inside a ship and watch as the opposing side cry bitter tears.

<gallery>
Heavy_Shotgun_2.JPG
</gallery>

===Longrifle===
[[File:Longrifle.JPG|200px|right|thumb|[[Derp|A pump-action rifle]]...technically viable, but not very smart.]]
Longrifles or Long Rifles are a catch-all term for any Stubber carbine/rifles. They should not be confused with the [[Eldar]] [[Ranger Long Rifle|Ranger Long Rifle]] as these two weapons are on a completely different spectrum. They're ironically modeled as being ''pump action'' and, while this is technically feasible, it is rather impractical due to pump-action weapons being inherently more inaccurate than other forms of weapon (the action of pumping the gun tends to throw off one's aim).

They have a longer range than a Stubber by sheer fact of having better materials and a higher tech-tree. They could also hold a lot more ammunition and could, theoretically (Depending on the design) have variable fire rates.

On the [[Necromunda]] tabletop, they are capable of reaching out across the entire battlefield, and more accurate beyond 24”, the long rifle is perfect for taking out targets with precision. Strength 4 makes this weapon deadly, and pairing that with the Knockback trait makes them devastating.

===Ripper Gun===
[[File:Ripper_Gun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Ripper Guns. [[Heresy|Just when you thought regular Shotguns were big enough.]]]]
The Ogryn Ripper Gun is a large, brutal, and simple weapon designed for use by Imperial Guard's similarly-large, brutal and simple Ogryns. It is a heavy automatic shotgun, built as simply and solidly as possible in order to survive being used by the Ogryns who use it as much as a club as a firearm. Think of it as the high-tech grandson of the Scatter Cannon. It can fire either a heavy shell or a hail of shot. By design, the Ripper Gun does not have a long range to better fit the Ogryns' instincts for close combat, and many also have a fire rate limiter to prevent them from firing off an entire magazine's worth of ammunition at once.

Ripper Guns are intended to be fired to soften up the enemy before the Ogryns charge into close combat, and are built particularly robustly so that they can stand up to the Ogryns' use of them as clubs in melee. Ripper Guns can also be fitted with Ripper Saws. A Ripper Saw is, as the name implies, a saw blade that is attached to the end of a Ripper Gun which is intended to provide the Ogryn with an effective close combat melee weapon once they close with the enemy. The Ripper Gun is one of the few Imperial weapons that is intentionally crafted for use by Ogryns, and its design is intended to be much more durable and larger than a standard Imperial weapon, to compensate for the Ogryns' size, extreme clumsiness, and intellectual deficits.

<gallery>
image:OgrynRipperGun.png|<center>Ripper Gun</center>
</gallery>
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===Heavy Stubber===
[[File:Heavy_Stubber.jpg|250px|right|thumb|A Heavy Stubber deployed by Chaos forces]]
Well-known is the Heavy Stubber, a machine gun used as a vehicle mount in the Imperial Guard, because in 40,000+ years, humanity has still been unable to top the genius of Weaponsmith John Browning's legendary [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning M2] (who's surprised?). Just ask the goddamned [[Orks]].

It is basically a <strike>direct equivalent of the</strike> Browning M2 .50 cal Heavy Machine Gun (except for the different models of Vraks-pattern stubbers, which looks more like a M1919A6 or MG42 depending on which you have under your nose…or those giant, silly [sometimes] double barreled monstrosities with curved overhead magazines like a fat Bren Gun/Hotchkiss bastard). [[Awesome|The Imperial Guard uses them in the same way as light machineguns were in WW2 and a SAW would be used today]]…or in the case of those giant, double barrel chonkboi Brens, wheeled onto the battlefield ala Russian wheeled Maxim Machinegun - no wonder these patterns are more popular with the [[Praetorian Guard|retro]] [[Death Korps of Krieg|look]] [[Mordian Iron Guard|regiments]]. Various models on tabletop visually run from .50 to bolter sized bullets to rounds that probably are larger than a heavy bolter’s hanging off a short chain. So, who the fuck knows. [[Derp|They all hit the same anyway]]. Unlike the smaller Stub guns, Heavy Stubbers actually contain enough mass to do similar damage to a Bolter round at a much higher rate, (albeit with more recoil) and will reliably blow people's limbs off now as easy as they did then. Unlike the others which have been phased out, these are still in the mainline army arsenals, and are often pintle-mounted on vehicles or used in Heavy Weapon Squads in the [[Imperial Guard]], especially for vehicles produced from worlds that do not have the resources to produce Heavy Bolters, or those who just find it more economical to push out a hundred Heavy Stubbers with the man-hours it would take to make a single Heavy Bolter and rounds for it. Obviously, they are not as strong as the Heavy Bolter they replace, which is <s>several times</s> more powerful than a regular Bolter, but they are still damned powerful enough, and they [[/tg/ gets shit done|DO GET SHIT DONE]]. Besides, if you're just trying to gun down enemy infantry, you don't strictly ''need'' a Heavy Bolter, or even a Storm Bolter, when a Heavy Stubber is just as capable of turning a human or human-equivalent into so much jelly. A heavy bolter is nice for ruining their cover if it were used in real life, so everyone else can have a merry time slaughtering the exposed enemy. Then there are the different types of ammo, such as ones that [[Awesome|break apart in the target and the ''pieces'' '''explode'''.]] A similar but heavier laser version of this weapon would be a [[multilaser]].

Note that despite our metaphorical praise calling it the M2 .50 cal of the future (for its simplicity and dependability), its actual calibre according to [[Imperial Armour]] books is an "8.25 long" cartridge. Assuming this means "8.25mm diameter, rifle cartridge" this puts it at a "mere" 0.325, not 0.50(which would be 12.7mm). In fairness that was only the calibre of the Vraks pattern mentioned above, which was modeled after the smaller MG42, which fired the 7.92×57mm cartridge.

Alternatively it could be an 8.25'''cm long''' cartridge. Remember that most cartridge specifications come with both the nominal diameter and the case length- .50 BMG is also known as 12.7x99mm, for example. The heavy stubber would thus be something like 12.7x83mm. With fancy futuristic propellants, maybe they figured out a way to cram more energy into a shorter case. Who knows?

Surprisingly, an enhanced heavy Stubber called the Ironhail Heavy Stubber is one of the many weapons used by the [[Primaris Marines]]' transport, the [[Repulsor Tank]], and is also present on a fair number of AdMech vehicles. <strike>Why it uses a heavy stubber instead of the much more potent and commonly used heavy bolter is a mystery for the ages.</strike> Again, reliability and ammo simplicity. No fancy rockets, just bigass bullets of doom. Also although it has no impact in-game heavy stubbers probably have much more ammo capacity and faster, more accurate rounds, being smaller and lighter and relying on pure impact (thus speed) to inflict damage compared to a heavy bolter round. Google the .50 SLAP round for a potential real life equivalent. There is also the Icarus variant designed for AA work, frequently twinned but we say AA in the means of light air targets like [[Gargoyle (Tyranids)|Gargoyles]] or enemy jet pack infantry.

The Death Guard also make use of a variant known as the Heavy Slugger, which fires Heavy Bolter level shots at a faster rate.
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===Sniper Rifle===
[[File:SniperRifle6.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Space Marine Sniper Rifle. [[Mary Sue|Better than those filthy plebian Sniper Rifles of the Guard]]... save for one...]]
While the Imperial sniper rifles are generally a rather broad class of weapons including, for example, the [[Long-Las]] sniper [[lasgun]]s used by the Imperial Guard, at least some of the sniper rifles utlized in the Imperium are actually solid-slug ballistic weaponry, firing high-caliber, powerful rounds to achieve maximum range and precision with their shots. Some specialist snipers like to add in specialized rounds in their Sniper Rifle for the 'special occasions'.

Space Marine Chapters, particularly Scouts, utilize a unique model of Sniper Rifle. A Space Marine-pattern Sniper Rifle fires a solid shell and boasts powerful telescopic sights that allows the wielder to fire at enemy weak points and distant foes with extreme accuracy.

<gallery>
image:CatachanSniper.png|<center>Catachan Sniper Rifle</center>
image:RatlingSniper.png|<center>Ratling Sniper Rifle</center>
image:SpaceMarineSniper.png|<center>Astartes Sniper Rifle</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===thumper (kickback) shotgun===
a new weapon added in darktide, that acts as the default weapon for ogryns when you make one, it only has one shot, but that one shot is enough to turn crowds into chunky salsa and knock any survivors onto their asses, like all ogryn weapons, its idiot proof and can be used as a club, unknown if this weapon will appear on tabletop.

==Advanced Variants==
===Exitus Pistol===
[[File:ExitusPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Exitus Pistol]]
The Exitus Rifle's kid cousin. The Exitus Pistol is an Imperial pistol and a signature weapon of the Vindicare Temple of the Officio Assassinorum. Like its cousin the Exitus Rifle, it is a masterpiece of Adeptus Mechanicus engineering and is custom-built for the requirements of the individual assassin. The Pistol is largely a backup weapon for the Exitus Rifle and is used in the rare circumstances the assassin is discovered, cornered, or in need of rapid-fire weaponry. With a built-in silencer and the capacity to load and fire the same specialized ammo as its big brother, it has saved the lives of many Vindicare Assassins.

Like its rifle counterpart, the Exitus Pistol is capable of firing a variety of specialized ammunition. These include:
*'''Shield-Breaker Rounds''' - Overload the personal Force Fields of the target
*'''Turbo-Penetrator Rounds''' - Use a two-stage charge to punch a secondary round through the thickest armor.
*'''Hellfire Rounds''' - Contain virulent bio-acidic toxins that can reduce targets to ash.

<gallery>
image:ExitusPistolHolster.png|''An Exitus Pistol holstered.''
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Exitus Rifle===
[[File:Sniper_Rifle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Exitus Sniper Rifle. Scoring more headshots then the entire Tau Empire combined.]]
Arguably the most iconic (and dreaded) of such Imperial "solid-slug" sniper rifles are the Exitus rifles, employed by field agents of the [[Officio Assassinorum]]'s [[Vindicare]] temple. Each of these rifles is a one-of-a-kind "work of art" which is painstakingly hand-crafted by Adeptus Mechanicus artisans to match the particular specs of each individual assassin. Its exceptional range and power also imply that the rifle uses something far more advanced than mere chemical gunpowder combustion to accelerate its bullets (however, the exact mechanics of its action is highly classified by Adeptus Mechanicus top brass).
With such high velocity, combined with specially made "turbo-penetrator" rounds, designed to make quick work of any armor including such utilised by super-heavy tanks and TITANS (in the glorious days of 5th edition GK codex, that baby rolled 4d6 for armor penetration), the Exitus rifle gives the Vindicare assassin a chance to slay practically every conceivable target in just one well placed shot...

The Exitus Rifle is capable of firing a variety of ammunition depending on the target. These include:
*'''Shield-Breaker Rounds''' - Overload the personal Force Fields of the target
*'''Turbo-Penetrator Rounds''' - Use a two-stage charge to punch a secondary round through the thickest armor.
*'''Hellfire Rounds''' - Contain virulent bio-acidic toxins that can reduce targets to powder.
*'''Immolator Rounds''' - Rounds that caused most soft targets to violently explode at the molecular level leaving behind nothing but ash. These are the Rounds most often used in conventional sniper operations.

<gallery>
image:VindicareExitus.png|<center>Exitus Rifle</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

===Macrostubber===
[[File:Macrostubber.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Macrostubber. Looking more like a Rad Gun than anything else.]]
The Macrostubber is the Mechanicum's more advanced and powerful variation of a typical solid-slug ballistic weapon (As expected from the AdMech). The standout feature of the Macrostubber is just *how fast* it fires, especially considering it's basically an SMG with similar power to a bolter, or Ork shoota. This type of antique weapon is used by Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priests, and is able to hurl out a thunderous cloud of specially designed bullets (the exact method of accelerating its projectiles is not disclosed by the Techpriests, however the looks imply something more than just gunpowder is involved). A Macrostubber can apparently fire at a rate exceeding the Heavy Stubber, a bloody MG, by a ratio of 5:3! Maybe it's just an MG 42 cut down to pistol form? It's further possible that Macrostubbers are coilguns or railguns, which would explain the need for "specifically designed" (read: ferromagnetic) projectiles. Maybe the electromagnetic firing mechanism removes the need for moving parts, accelerating the rate of fire by removing the need to cycle a bolt? Perhaps it's only as good as a normal autogun, but the Magos that wield them can think so fast that they aim and fire with absolute precision and accuracy, making literally every shot count.

You know what, just think of it as a drum-fed, compact, heavy machine gun with a crazy-fast rate of fire, and you won't go insane. Or maybe you will considering it's practically a .50 cal machine gun that fires almost as fast as an Assault Cannon, and is wielded as a pistol! In theory could be dual-wielded, or more if you have extra robot arms...

This weapon has proven quite [[skub]]by in /tg/, due to the fact that some people have taken to calling it an Autogun due to its technological superiority and rate of fire despite the name. Then again, some may have pointed out that it could be just a more portable and lightweight variant of the Heavy Stubber. As noted in the Disambiguation section and throughout the article, the fluff [[Autogun#Autoguns versus Stubbers|doesn't do a good job of drawing any consistent lines]] between Stubbers and Auto-weaponry.

Also worthy of note is that stubber and autogun refer to the mechanism of the weapon itself, whereas a bolter specifies both the weapon, and the special explosive <s>rocket-assisted</s> rocket-propelled (assisted just gets it up to the right muzzle velocity, propelled does far more) munition it uses. It could very well be that a macrostubber employs the simple and reliable mechanics of a stubber to fire a low-velocity high-mass (hence, low initial recoil) rocket-assisted round. Historically, rocket firearms have not proven too reliable, but the biggest problem is the ammunition; it would make perfect sense that these weapons function only if maintained and used by a member of the AdMech.

<gallery>
image:MacrostubberPict.png|<center>Macrostubber</center>
</gallery>
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===Stubcarbine===
[[File:Stubcarbine.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Stubcarbine. You would be fooled to think this was an Autogun.]]
''Another'' AdMech weapon exclusive to the [[Skitarii]] (and, of all people, the Cultist Champion from the [[Blackstone Fortress]] game). The stubcarbine, though small, has the stopping power of the heavy stubbers mounted on the vehicles of the Imperial Guard. When a squad of Sicarian Infiltrators opens fire with these weapons, the air fills with an avalanche of solid shot that chews their victims to shreds. It can be assumed to have a shorter range to compensate for their high rate of fire or because of it's short barrel and high caliber. Despite how it looks from the side, the magazine is not actually that tiny cylinder the size of a fist on the underside, it's actually side-mounted similar to the FG-42. A squad equipped with these, the enemy will be dead by the time you need to reload, so magazine size won’t really matter, and if not, Skitarii are incredibly expendable to the AdMech anyway. Plus, as cyborgs, it's not inconceivable that an Infiltrator can reload extremely quickly. The intention could be that an Infiltrator can rake a group of enemies with fire, then run a reloading macro while doing something else, like charging into close combat or taking cover.

Judging from how they are described in fluff, Stubcarbines seem to be a lightened variant of Heavy Stubbers, outfitted with some kind of recoil suppression system which allows them to be fired as handheld weapons by the Skitarii, albeit with shorter range due to sporting a much shorter barrel than the actual Heavy Stubber. It seems like the thinking was "a carbine is a lighter version of a rifle, so a Stubcarbine is a lighter version of a Heavy Stubber." This would make it an... assault rifle? High caliber (but otherwise normal) carbine? Uncertain, go ask [[/k/]]. (/k/ here, sounds like the Heavy Stubber "variant" was not a .50 but a 7.62x51 or equivalent, which would make it a medium machine gun. But knowing the Admech, it's not improbable that it is a .50 in which case it would be a compact heavy machine gun, or a high caliber SMG, depending on the overall power of the rounds)

<gallery>
image:SicarianStubcarbine.png|<center>Stubcarbine</center>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==Gallery==
===Shotgun===
<gallery>
image:NecromundanShotguns.png|''An assortment of Necromundan (and Arbites) Shotguns.''
image:GenestealerShotguns.png|<center>Cultist Shotguns</center>
image:CadianShotgun.png|<center>Cadian Shotgun</center>
image:AstartesShotgun.png|<center>Astartes Shotgun</center>
image:DeathwatchShotgun.png|<center>Deathwatch Shotgun</center>
</gallery>
===Heavy Stubber===
<gallery>
image:GenestealerStubber.png|<center>Genestealer Heavy Stubber</center>
image:CultistStubber.png|''With a right body, one person is enough''.
image:TeamStubber.png|''But if not, you might need a couple''.
image:TankStubber.png|<center>Pintle Mount</center>
image:SquadStubber.png|<center>Heavy Weapons Team</center>
image:SaberStubber.png|<center>Sabre Gun Platform</center>
image:RepulsorStubber.png|<center>Ironhail Heavy Stubber</center>
image:PlagueburstStubber.png|<center>Heavy Slugger</center>
</gallery>

{{clear}}

{{Template:40k-Imperial-Weapons}}
{{40k-GenestealerCults-Weapons}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]
{{40k-Chaos-Weapons}}

Stubber

2022-10-26T06:36:27Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534:

{{Topquote|If you really think about it, now we're just throwing lead with gunpowder..... god we have not advanced that much.| Mechanicus priest Roanoke gaming aptly describing the Stubber}}

'''Stubbers''', or stub guns, are weapons from as early as the halfway point of M2, but mostly 20th/21st century [[Firearm|gun]]s (our times) in the 41st millennium. Needless to say, most haven't aged very well when you consider how powerful everything else is. The only thing that they have going for them is they are cheap, they can still kill an unarmored humanoid target, and are durable as hell and depending on its mechanics and care, given can be and have been in use ''SINCE M2''. Sadly, they are incredibly weak against much of the universe's serious threats - in fact, they are among the few things that a [[Imperial Guard|Guardsman's]] flak armor will reliably stop a direct hit of. This should give you an indication of exactly how weak they are. Of course, anything above it is guaranteed to fuck up your Guardsman and [[Space Marine]]s quite well, and stub guns are actually capable of downing Terminators if you aim for the joints, lenses, or other sensitive equipment (read: if the unlucky marine rolls a 1). Just because a gun is simple doesn't mean it's not effective, especially when it's scaled up a few (dozen) calibers. But just remember - every dog has their day. Especially as the latest Primaris armoured units have found fresh use for them.

==Disambiguation==
[[File:Autopistolclarifier.png|500px|right|thumb|The page of the Primer detailing what an autopistol may look like.]]
One of the pitfalls of Games Workshop is that they really don't have an internal canon police. To wit, the difference between Stub weapons and Auto weapons is rather blurry. Some authors write as though these technologies are one-and-the-same, citing only vernacular differences for the existence of multiple terms for ignited-gas slug-throwers (or sometimes totally writing out one term or the other!). The game itself is not an exemption, as edition-to-edition, codex-to-codex, and supplement-to-official author changes cause a mess of personal opinion writing over personal opinion, and some authors sling both terms with abandon, interchanging one for the other whenever they feel one term is becoming overused.

To clarify, it is generally agreed that there are both Stubbers and Auto-weapons. Stub technology tends to be lower-tech, revolvers-to-WWII style weaponry, with an air towards larger-caliber and higher stopping-power. Auto-weapons tend to be higher-tech, Cold-War-and-on style weaponry, which emphasize accuracy and fire rate. It's been suggested that any full scale cannons would be classified as Auto-weapons, however calling a battle cannon or macro cannon an Auto-weapon is a bit of a stretch. Bigger caliber and relatively slow rates of fire denote Stub weapons, until you hit the point where infantry can no longer wield them. Anything with explosive, tracer, frangible, or incendiary rounds are typically Auto-weapons. Muzzle-loaders like muskets or arquebuses are neither Auto nor Stub. Furthermore, autoguns are generally (but not always) described as firing caseless ammunition and also include such types of weapons as gauss rifles (the electromagnetic kind not Necron bullshit) and even gravitic propelled slugs.

A good example to use would be pistols: A stub pistol would be either a revolver or a semi-auto magazine-fed pistol, while an autopistol would be either a handheld automatic pistol or a burst-fire pistol. It could also be something along the lines of an Uzi, MAC-10 or any other SMG whose magazine is located in the grip, judging by the illustration of an autopistol given in the [[Imperial Infantryman%27s Uplifting Primer]]. High-tech, [[Shadowrun]]-esque revolvers are still Stub weapons, while Krieg-made automatic slug-throwing cannons are still Auto weapons by default, and hand-crank Gatling guns could go either way. Pepperbox-style breach-loaders would be neither, and futuristic ignited-gas projectile weapons are Auto weapons. Since GW is pathologically incapable of consistency, the Cult Mechanicus Tech-Priest Dominus carries a 5-shot burst pistol called a macrostubber, even though its form factor and performance place it in the 'autogun' family. Though it likely probably fires similar rounds to a heavy stubber, they only match in power not caliber, and it is the method of the weapon system’s function which distinguishes the type of weapon.

For further comparison between Stubbers and Autoguns, [[Autogun#Autoguns versus Stubbers|click here]].

==Primitive Variants==
Although these models technically count as too primitive to even count as Stubbers, let alone Autoguns, for the sake of convenience they are listed here.

[[File:Inq1-blackpowder-pistol.jpg|200px|rght|thumb|When you really want to go back to the point on making [[Orks]] look advanced. The Flintlock Pistol is the tool for you.]]

===Flintlock Pistol===
Wooo boy. If you want to role play as a 16th century Pirate, then the Flintlock Pistol is for you. These simple black powder weapons can take many forms, from finely crafted pistols constructed for the nobles of low-tech worlds to simple pipe and powder affairs used by underhive scum. They are uncommon and are famous for their low battle characteristics but those which do exist are sometimes very heavily ornamented and carried by high ranking officers mainly as decoration.

Of course, whilst you may scoff at the idea of going into a battle filled with tanks and space ships with an 18th century gun, do take note that the more master-crafted versions could be quite deceptively deadly by virtue of incorporating some form of advanced tech into, seemingly, primitive and "backward" design. For example, such constructs could be capable of holding plasma munitions that can crack open power armor in a single shot. So while actually using a black powder pistol (in all but the most retardedly desperate situations) will get you in trouble, you never know if some dude has an archaeotech pistol that resembles one just to look cool. Laugh at your own peril.

===Musket===
[[File:Rb1-73-musket.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Musket, basically the Flintlock's older brother.]]
Muskets are primitive firearms, utilizing explosive powder and a crude firing mechanism to propel a lead ball. Like the Flintlock Pistol, these crude devices can only fire once before reloading and are prone to failure. Slow, inaccurate, and unreliable, they are only made and used on backwards planets. However, they are extremely easy to construct and maintain even from scrap-parts and with an absolute minimum of skill and knowledge about firearms operation. For this reason they are known to be quite popular among outlaw members of Hive societies such as the Ratskins and Scalies of the Necromundan underhive. The [[Planetary Defense Forces]] of Feral and Feudal Worlds also sometimes make use of muskets.

Like the Flintlock Pistols, master-crafted Muskets could be quite deceptively deadly by virtue of incorporating some form of advanced tech into, seemingly, primitive and "backward" design. That “backward” musket could hide archaeotech capable of making a Thermal Cannon look like a firecracker.

===Blunderbuss===
[[File:ScavvieBlunderbuss.PNG|200px|right|thumb|The Blunderbuss, the Shotgun's grandfather.]]

A primitive shotgun. Also known as a Scatter Gun, the Blunderbuss is an exceedingly simple weapon made out of one or more short barrels strapped to a solid stock. An explosive charge is primed at the bottom of each barrel, then a large amount of metal fragments, stones, pieces of bone or anything else likely to cause harm are packed in on top.

When the weapon is discharged, it belches out this "ammunition" in a vast swath which will hopefully find itself somewhere in the locale of its intended target.

Outside of primitive societies, such a crude, ineffective and dangerous (to its operator) weapon is only used by the poorest or most desperate members of society. Usually it can be found in use by criminal gangs, for instance the Ratskin Renegades and [[Scavvies]] of Necromunda's underhive. Gretchin also craft these weapons, even upsizing them for their primative dreadnoughts.

===Scatter Cannon===
[[File:Scatter_Cannon2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Scatter Cannon. The Blunderbuss' older brother and the Shotgun's uncle.]]

A primitive weapon found on Necromunda and used exclusively by the [[Scalies]]. Basically a 18th century cannon with a trigger attached to it. A scatter cannon is simply an enlarged version of a Blunderbuss or scatter gun with a heavy barrel and a fist sized bore. The greater weight of the shrapnel and explosive charge used in a scatter cannon increase its range and make it a lot deadlier in the confined conditions of the underhive.

If all else fails, the Scalie can basically just use the giant cannon as a giant makeshift club. Any poor scrub would get crushed by the weapon's immense weight. The Scatter Cannon is sturdy enough due to be constructed mainly with one piece of reinforced wooden log and one piece of a steel firing bore. Thus, the Scatter Cannon is essentially the watered down version of the Ogryn's Ripper Guns.

Scalies are the only underhive denizens with the massive strength to take the recoil from these powerful primitive weapons.

==Ancient Variants==
===Stub Gun===
[[File:40k-Stub-Boltok-Pistol.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Some things... don't quite get better with age, but the Stub Gun definitely aged well.]]
God made men, Samuel Colt made them equal, and John Browning made them civilized. It's a basic pistol in two variants: the stub automatic which is like a .45 caliber handgun and the stub revolver which is, of course, a generic revolver, more of which can be explained below. If you're in a gang on a hive world, it'll work pretty well because you're probably going to be shooting at other people without armor, or lightly armored local law enforcement. Very reliable, unlikely to jam, manufacture is a breeze, and ammo is plentiful. However, if you're trying to shoot an [[Ork]], even headshots might just bounce off his skull. Though, the same could be said of [[autogun]]s and [[lasgun]]s, minus the actual bouncing of course.

====Stub Revolver====
The stub revolver carries fewer rounds than most pistols but is very reliable and easy to operate. As bullets can be inserted individually, it is relatively easy to load in specialized rounds when needed. It is one of the most ancient of pistol designs and serves as an ideal backup weapon.

====Stub Automatic====
Unlike the Stub revolver, this pistol weapon fires in semi-automatic. Like the [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]] it is easy to produce and maintain, but less accurate at longer ranges. Just as common as the revolver variant, the stub automatic is relatively less reliable, but allows for a greater rate of fire and magazine capacity.

<gallery>
File:Stub_revolver.jpg|Stub Revolver, looking much like [[Hats|The Spy’s revolver]]
File:Stub_automatic.jpg|Stub Automatic, one must wonder how any magazine is supposed to [[FAIL|fit inside such a grip]] (Uses a helical magazine at the front.)
</gallery>

===Shotgun Pistol===
[[File:ShotgunPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Shotgun Pistol. The littlest of boomsticks.]]
A special and unique type of shotgun.

Also known as "'Foehammer'", this weapon takes a form of a squat, brutal pistol resembling a single-shot hand cannon. It can fire a standard shotgun shell, and is popular with many naval ship's officers as well as crew chiefs who need an intimidating weapon close at hand. This is the smallest shotgun known in the Imperium and the weakest one at that.

Compared to the Hand Cannon, the Shotgun Pistol has less accuracy and stopping power, but it has lower recoil, better handling and it's a shot gun so it's easier to hit something. It is also easier to maintain and construct since it is nothing more than a tube with a firing mechanism. Great as a secondary weapon when things get too close for comfort, but there are honestly better firearms in the Imperium to choose from.

Be careful firing this thing, an incautious user might break their wrist.

For better context, think of this as the Duplet from the Metro series.
{{Clear}}

===Hand Cannon===
[[File:Hand_Cannon.png|200px|right|thumb|A Hand Cannon. For when you want to have pint-sized firepower.]]
Basically a semi-auto stub pistol (and sometimes revolver) on steroids, not unlike real-world .50 cal Desert Eagle or .454 Casull pistols in operation (It is worth noting that at least one model of hand cannon has its caliber listed as being .54 cal, that equals roughly 13.06mm).

Hand cannons are almost invariably heavy and cumbersome by pistol-grade weapons standards, in addition to having unforgiving recoil, requiring a degree of training and physical resilience to wield such a firearm.

However, hand cannon do reward their users with the ability to kill even armoured or resilient to damage opponents (like Ogryns, Orks and Necrons). Sort of. They are still closer in power to stub pistols than bolt pistols for instance. But they are far easier to produce meaning Guardsmen, typically Sergeants and vets, could use them as a surprisingly powerful backup weapon. And if you find yourself up close and personal with an Ork, Necron or Genestealer, you will want as much firepower as you can get your hands on.

Its big brother is called the Stub Cannon which can be read below.

===Sawn-Off Shotgun===
[[File:Sawn-Off.JPG|200px|right|thumb|A Sawn-Off. A hand-held pepper shot.]]
The Sawn-Off Shotgun is a catch-all term to describe any primitive shotgun that has its barrel...well...''sawn off''. This is one of the most ancient of weapon modifications. The effects of which decreases the range, whilst increasing both the spread and ease of handling.

By sawing off the barrels, the shotguns turns from a rifle into a pistol. So you essentially have a shotgun pistol for all intents and purposes. Due to such [[Heresy|unsanctioned modifications]], they are not widely popular in the [[Imperial Guard]]. Instead, they are used by hive gangers where Imperial oversight is non-existent.

In the [[Necromunda]] tabletop, the Sawn-Off is easily one of the [[Fail|worst weapons in the game.]] It has worse range than a Pistol and its attributes is easily overshadowed by other short-range weapons like the [[Flamer]], [[Melta]] or you know, an ''actual'' Shotgun. There is no situation where taking this weapon is better than a pistol. Avoid it.

They also appear in 40k proper via the [[Neophyte Hybrid]]s, who also use them in conjunction with the pump-action variety due to its aforementioned ease of handling, cheapness and relatively low maintenance cost. Of course, on tabletop, they, like most shotguns, [[Derp|act the same.]]

===Pump-Action Shotgun===
[[File:Wg2-31-Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Pump-Action Shotgun AKA the Boomstick.]]
Imperial shotguns, in fact, changed little over millennia - they are the same smoothbore firearms, principally designed to either fire buckshot at close ranges or slugs to engage targets up to medium ranges. About the only big change that the Imperium employs to the gun itself is putting the gun's tubes in a metal box. These are generally simple and cheap in construction and exists in different patterns and models throughout the Imperium of Man.

The first type of 'modern' Shotgun is the archaic over-and-under shotguns and pump-action ones. They are often favoured by Enforcers as these manual shotguns have all the strengths of their double-barrelled cousins with the added benefits of increased ammo capacity or - for [[Neophyte Hybrid]]s - due to its commonality, low-tech construction and ease of maintenance. There are also few things as distinctive as the sound of a pump-action shotgun chambering a shell.

===Stub Cannon===
[[File:Stub_Cannon.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Stub Cannon. The Devil's Fang of Stub weapons.]]

Often called "stub-blasters" or more simply "stubbies", the Stub Cannon is an especially large version of the hand cannon that fires massive, high-caliber rounds so massive that the recoil can break bones -- basically like a Torgue pistol from ''Borderlands 3''. As such, most gangers in the underhive could barely lift such a weapon, let alone take the grievous recoil from firing one in the first place. [[Abhuman|Due to their unnatural and inhumanly large muscle mass and bulk,]] they're favored mainly by the members of [[House Goliath]].

Like the [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans and their Knives]], carrying such a gun is more a show of strength (and a dick measuring contest) than it is a practical weapon, but that just adds to the appeal for your average Goliath ganger. On the flip side, if you are wearing power armour, it's a cheap way to blast a hole into Ork skulls and blow chunks out of Genestealers.

The Stub Cannon looks like an enlarged Stub-Revolver. How quaint.

===Stub Rifle===
[[File:Stubrifle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Sure enough, the Stub Rifle epitomizes not fixing something if it ain't broken.]]
The gun that coins the term Stubber.

No, really, take a Mosin or a Springfield and you got one of these. Shit's built to last.

Generally, a simple medium/high-caliber bolt-action or semi-auto rifle. Also called the Stubber. It is basically your typical, everyday hunting rifle you can buy today with some slight modifications. Existing in many patterns, generally such a rifle is regarded as a lowly civilian-grade weapon or tool.

However, it often sees action not as just a hunting or farming tool, but as a combat weapon in the hands of lowly insurgents, cultists, or militia fighters. It's likely that high powered Stub Rifles could also be seen to use the same or similar rounds to a Heavy Stubber, minus the automatic fire. Heck, some high powered Stubbers could become a makeshift Sniper Rifle. Typically a Stub Rifle acts as a Marksman Rifle in these cases. Its rule 63 equivalents are the [[Las-Lock]] or [[Autogun]]. Don't look down on the stub rifle, some of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy are stub weapons.

==Modern Variants==
===Liberator Autostub===
[[File:Liberator_Autostub.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Liberator Autostub. A gun that literally fires bullets made out of [[Bullshit|Bullshitium.]]]]
The primary sidearm of the triple gunslinging space cowboy of the [[Genestealer Hybrids#Kelermorph Hybrids|Kelermorph Hybrid]]. From an initial perspective, these Stub Revolvers look like any other form of Stub Revolver. But don't let that fool you, for these revolvers pack enough of a punch to make a Hand Cannon and even a Bolt Pistol look like a pathetic Flintlock Pistol in comparison.

For you see, the bullets of a Liberator Autostub is made from extremely [[Bullshit|'rare']] depleted volonium shells. Rare is in quotations because they are made by disgruntled workers from any normal arms factory, produced by the stuff being smuggled out in trace amounts. [[Wat|Which begs the question on why the Imperium never seem to make bullets out of this volonium stuff if]] [[Derp|god damned sweatshop workers can smuggle them out and make it by themselves.]] (Maybe genestealers shit out volonium?) The fluff suggests that the normal Imperium does not use them because making these things is a deadly task since you're likely to be exposed to high levels of radiation (which suggests that to make depleted Volonium they first have to synthesis normal Volonium which, before you ask, is not a real element). But since when have the human costs of production stopped the Imperium "grim dark is our catchphrase" of Man? And it's deadly only to those aforementioned sweatshop workers because their basement armory has zero radiation protection, unlike a sanctioned worker specialized in that task. Anyway, these bullets are supposedly hard enough to pierce Power Armour and the hulls of light tanks (which makes no sense anyway because it still wouldn't have the kinetic energy to defeat said armor anyway), but crunch-wise they're only -1; not too bad, given the rate of fire, yet not quite "turn a tank inside out" good, <s>which may also explain why the Normal Imperium doesn't field them</s> crunch in this case is dramatically different from fluff in which these bullets are easily tank and Marine killers. They've got better (and cheaper, and probably wayyyyyy less radioactively lethal) shit to produce AP rounds with (and yet nobody, even Space Marines, ever gets any of these hypothetical AP rounds?).

On tabletop, these are the Kelermorph's rootin' tootin' shootin' S4 AP-1 2 damage Pistol 2. [[Awesome|The Kelermorph has three of these babies and can just gun down space marines and below with ease.]] [[Cypher|Cypher]] wishes he could get guns this good.

===Combat Shotgun===
[[File:Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Combat Shotgun, AKA, the Boomstick that goes [[Dakka|BRRRRRRR.]]]]
The Combat Shotgun is the second type of 'modern' shotguns that have abandoned all forms of manual reload for that sweet, sweet full auto-combat action. When you think of shotguns in 40k, ''these'' are the types you automatically think about. These automatic shotguns as such, are designed purely for warfare. Combat shotguns are usually fed from a drum magazine (and so rarely need to be reloaded) and are even deadlier than the normal shotgun. In addition to their short-range destructive power, they hammer out an intimidating racket when being fired.

They are often employed as a signature weapon of [[Adeptus Arbites]].

Also worth noting is that along with simple buckshot or slug shells, Imperial shotguns can also fire specialised rounds, usually produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus, including the dreaded Executioner-pattern sniper slugs, having the ability to change their trajectory mid-flight and home in on their target thanks to their miniature on-board cogitator.
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===Astartes Assault Shotgun===
[[File:Astartes_Assault_Shotgun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Boomstick to end all Boomsticks.]]
As its name implies, the Astartes Shotgun is a shotgun model specifically tailored for a Space Marine's biology, and thus having great mass and recoil, but also vastly greater stopping power. It is the third 'modern' type of shotgun shown.

They are the standard issue for [[Scout Squad|Space Marine Scouts]] and are bulky, mag-fed weapons that can fire in single shots and in both semi and fully automatic modes, and use an array of specialty ammunition ranging from armor-piercing penetrator rounds to the powerful man-stopping rounds. The [[Deathwatch]] also maintains unique shotguns with specialized alien-killing rounds, utilizing armour-piercing solid rounds, flame-belching shells, or rounds that fill the room with deadly bouncing ball-bearings.

These variants are specially designed to be used by members of Adeptus Astartes and as such are of much better quality and much more deadly than normal shotguns. Assault shotguns are best used in urban and close-quarters combat, as well as in boarding actions aboard voidships.

===Heavy Shotgun===
[[File:Heavy_Shotgun.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The [[Autocannon]] of Boomsticks.]]
The biggest broomstick of the family.

These double-barrelled combat shotguns are used exclusively by the [[Imperial Navy]] Breacher Teams. Its sheer bulk means that these Voidsmen need to carry a specialised shield that could mount these things in order to properly fire without throwing off one's aim. Given their double-barrelled nature and large size, the Heavy Shotgun fires bigger gauges which contain more pellets per shot. The result is that anyone in front of the damned monster would get shredded into beef patties.

Given its ridiculously boxy design, moving this thing around is an absolute bitch and don't even get us on the recoil. Without that supporting shield, firing this unwieldy [[METAL BOXES|metal box]] would make this shit so god damned inaccurate even by shotgun standards. Furthermore, given its double-barrel and automatic fire nature, ammo conservation is also going to be a bitch to look out for.

All in all, point this thing in the general direction inside a ship and watch as the opposing side cry bitter tears.

<gallery>
Heavy_Shotgun_2.JPG
</gallery>

===Longrifle===
[[File:Longrifle.JPG|200px|right|thumb|[[Derp|A pump-action rifle]]...technically viable, but not very smart.]]
Longrifles or Long Rifles are a catch-all term for any Stubber carbine/rifles. They should not be confused with the [[Eldar]] [[Ranger Long Rifle|Ranger Long Rifle]] as these two weapons are on a completely different spectrum. They're ironically modeled as being ''pump action'' and, while this is technically feasible, it is rather impractical due to pump-action weapons being inherently more inaccurate than other forms of weapon (the action of pumping the gun tends to throw off one's aim).

They have a longer range than a Stubber by sheer fact of having better materials and a higher tech-tree. They could also hold a lot more ammunition and could, theoretically (Depending on the design) have variable fire rates.

On the [[Necromunda]] tabletop, they are capable of reaching out across the entire battlefield, and more accurate beyond 24”, the long rifle is perfect for taking out targets with precision. Strength 4 makes this weapon deadly, and pairing that with the Knockback trait makes them devastating.

===Ripper Gun===
[[File:Ripper_Gun.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Ripper Guns. [[Heresy|Just when you thought regular Shotguns were big enough.]]]]
The Ogryn Ripper Gun is a large, brutal, and simple weapon designed for use by Imperial Guard's similarly-large, brutal and simple Ogryns. It is a heavy automatic shotgun, built as simply and solidly as possible in order to survive being used by the Ogryns who use it as much as a club as a firearm. Think of it as the high-tech grandson of the Scatter Cannon. It can fire either a heavy shell or a hail of shot. By design, the Ripper Gun does not have a long range to better fit the Ogryns' instincts for close combat, and many also have a fire rate limiter to prevent them from firing off an entire magazine's worth of ammunition at once.

Ripper Guns are intended to be fired to soften up the enemy before the Ogryns charge into close combat, and are built particularly robustly so that they can stand up to the Ogryns' use of them as clubs in melee. Ripper Guns can also be fitted with Ripper Saws. A Ripper Saw is, as the name implies, a saw blade that is attached to the end of a Ripper Gun which is intended to provide the Ogryn with an effective close combat melee weapon once they close with the enemy. The Ripper Gun is one of the few Imperial weapons that is intentionally crafted for use by Ogryns, and its design is intended to be much more durable and larger than a standard Imperial weapon, to compensate for the Ogryns' size, extreme clumsiness, and intellectual deficits.

<gallery>
image:OgrynRipperGun.png|<center>Ripper Gun</center>
</gallery>
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===Heavy Stubber===
[[File:Heavy_Stubber.jpg|250px|right|thumb|A Heavy Stubber deployed by Chaos forces]]
Well-known is the Heavy Stubber, a machine gun used as a vehicle mount in the Imperial Guard, because in 40,000+ years, humanity has still been unable to top the genius of Weaponsmith John Browning's legendary [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning M2] (who's surprised?). Just ask the goddamned [[Orks]].

It is basically a <strike>direct equivalent of the</strike> Browning M2 .50 cal Heavy Machine Gun (except for the different models of Vraks-pattern stubbers, which looks more like a M1919A6 or MG42 depending on which you have under your nose…or those giant, silly [sometimes] double barreled monstrosities with curved overhead magazines like a fat Bren Gun/Hotchkiss bastard). [[Awesome|The Imperial Guard uses them in the same way as light machineguns were in WW2 and a SAW would be used today]]…or in the case of those giant, double barrel chonkboi Brens, wheeled onto the battlefield ala Russian wheeled Maxim Machinegun - no wonder these patterns are more popular with the [[Praetorian Guard|retro]] [[Death Korps of Krieg|look]] [[Mordian Iron Guard|regiments]]. Various models on tabletop visually run from .50 to bolter sized bullets to rounds that probably are larger than a heavy bolter’s hanging off a short chain. So, who the fuck knows. [[Derp|They all hit the same anyway]]. Unlike the smaller Stub guns, Heavy Stubbers actually contain enough mass to do similar damage to a Bolter round at a much higher rate, (albeit with more recoil) and will reliably blow people's limbs off now as easy as they did then. Unlike the others which have been phased out, these are still in the mainline army arsenals, and are often pintle-mounted on vehicles or used in Heavy Weapon Squads in the [[Imperial Guard]], especially for vehicles produced from worlds that do not have the resources to produce Heavy Bolters, or those who just find it more economical to push out a hundred Heavy Stubbers with the man-hours it would take to make a single Heavy Bolter and rounds for it. Obviously, they are not as strong as the Heavy Bolter they replace, which is <s>several times</s> more powerful than a regular Bolter, but they are still damned powerful enough, and they [[/tg/ gets shit done|DO GET SHIT DONE]]. Besides, if you're just trying to gun down enemy infantry, you don't strictly ''need'' a Heavy Bolter, or even a Storm Bolter, when a Heavy Stubber is just as capable of turning a human or human-equivalent into so much jelly. A heavy bolter is nice for ruining their cover if it were used in real life, so everyone else can have a merry time slaughtering the exposed enemy. Then there are the different types of ammo, such as ones that [[Awesome|break apart in the target and the ''pieces'' '''explode'''.]] A similar but heavier laser version of this weapon would be a [[multilaser]].

Note that despite our metaphorical praise calling it the M2 .50 cal of the future (for its simplicity and dependability), its actual calibre according to [[Imperial Armour]] books is an "8.25 long" cartridge. Assuming this means "8.25mm diameter, rifle cartridge" this puts it at a "mere" 0.325, not 0.50(which would be 12.7mm). In fairness that was only the calibre of the Vraks pattern mentioned above, which was modeled after the smaller MG42, which fired the 7.92×57mm cartridge.

Alternatively it could be an 8.25'''cm long''' cartridge. Remember that most cartridge specifications come with both the nominal diameter and the case length- .50 BMG is also known as 12.7x99mm, for example. The heavy stubber would thus be something like 12.7x83mm. With fancy futuristic propellants, maybe they figured out a way to cram more energy into a shorter case. Who knows?

Surprisingly, an enhanced heavy Stubber called the Ironhail Heavy Stubber is one of the many weapons used by the [[Primaris Marines]]' transport, the [[Repulsor Tank]], and is also present on a fair number of AdMech vehicles. <strike>Why it uses a heavy stubber instead of the much more potent and commonly used heavy bolter is a mystery for the ages.</strike> Again, reliability and ammo simplicity. No fancy rockets, just bigass bullets of doom. Also although it has no impact in-game heavy stubbers probably have much more ammo capacity and faster, more accurate rounds, being smaller and lighter and relying on pure impact (thus speed) to inflict damage compared to a heavy bolter round. Google the .50 SLAP round for a potential real life equivalent. There is also the Icarus variant designed for AA work, frequently twinned but we say AA in the means of light air targets like [[Gargoyle (Tyranids)|Gargoyles]] or enemy jet pack infantry.

The Death Guard also make use of a variant known as the Heavy Slugger, which fires Heavy Bolter level shots at a faster rate.
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===Sniper Rifle===
[[File:SniperRifle6.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Space Marine Sniper Rifle. [[Mary Sue|Better than those filthy plebian Sniper Rifles of the Guard]]... save for one...]]
While the Imperial sniper rifles are generally a rather broad class of weapons including, for example, the [[Long-Las]] sniper [[lasgun]]s used by the Imperial Guard, at least some of the sniper rifles utlized in the Imperium are actually solid-slug ballistic weaponry, firing high-caliber, powerful rounds to achieve maximum range and precision with their shots. Some specialist snipers like to add in specialized rounds in their Sniper Rifle for the 'special occasions'.

Space Marine Chapters, particularly Scouts, utilize a unique model of Sniper Rifle. A Space Marine-pattern Sniper Rifle fires a solid shell and boasts powerful telescopic sights that allows the wielder to fire at enemy weak points and distant foes with extreme accuracy.

<gallery>
image:CatachanSniper.png|<center>Catachan Sniper Rifle</center>
image:RatlingSniper.png|<center>Ratling Sniper Rifle</center>
image:SpaceMarineSniper.png|<center>Astartes Sniper Rifle</center>
</gallery>
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===thumper (kickback) shotgun===
a new weapon added in darktide, that acts as the default weapon for ogryns when you make on, it only has one shot, but that one shot is enough to turn crowds into chunky salsa and knock any survivors onto their asses, like all ogryn weapons, its idiot proof and can be used as a club, unknown if this weapon will appear on tabletop.
==Advanced Variants==
===Exitus Pistol===
[[File:ExitusPistol.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Exitus Pistol]]
The Exitus Rifle's kid cousin. The Exitus Pistol is an Imperial pistol and a signature weapon of the Vindicare Temple of the Officio Assassinorum. Like its cousin the Exitus Rifle, it is a masterpiece of Adeptus Mechanicus engineering and is custom-built for the requirements of the individual assassin. The Pistol is largely a backup weapon for the Exitus Rifle and is used in the rare circumstances the assassin is discovered, cornered, or in need of rapid-fire weaponry. With a built-in silencer and the capacity to load and fire the same specialized ammo as its big brother, it has saved the lives of many Vindicare Assassins.

Like its rifle counterpart, the Exitus Pistol is capable of firing a variety of specialized ammunition. These include:
*'''Shield-Breaker Rounds''' - Overload the personal Force Fields of the target
*'''Turbo-Penetrator Rounds''' - Use a two-stage charge to punch a secondary round through the thickest armor.
*'''Hellfire Rounds''' - Contain virulent bio-acidic toxins that can reduce targets to ash.

<gallery>
image:ExitusPistolHolster.png|''An Exitus Pistol holstered.''
</gallery>
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===Exitus Rifle===
[[File:Sniper_Rifle.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Exitus Sniper Rifle. Scoring more headshots then the entire Tau Empire combined.]]
Arguably the most iconic (and dreaded) of such Imperial "solid-slug" sniper rifles are the Exitus rifles, employed by field agents of the [[Officio Assassinorum]]'s [[Vindicare]] temple. Each of these rifles is a one-of-a-kind "work of art" which is painstakingly hand-crafted by Adeptus Mechanicus artisans to match the particular specs of each individual assassin. Its exceptional range and power also imply that the rifle uses something far more advanced than mere chemical gunpowder combustion to accelerate its bullets (however, the exact mechanics of its action is highly classified by Adeptus Mechanicus top brass).
With such high velocity, combined with specially made "turbo-penetrator" rounds, designed to make quick work of any armor including such utilised by super-heavy tanks and TITANS (in the glorious days of 5th edition GK codex, that baby rolled 4d6 for armor penetration), the Exitus rifle gives the Vindicare assassin a chance to slay practically every conceivable target in just one well placed shot...

The Exitus Rifle is capable of firing a variety of ammunition depending on the target. These include:
*'''Shield-Breaker Rounds''' - Overload the personal Force Fields of the target
*'''Turbo-Penetrator Rounds''' - Use a two-stage charge to punch a secondary round through the thickest armor.
*'''Hellfire Rounds''' - Contain virulent bio-acidic toxins that can reduce targets to powder.
*'''Immolator Rounds''' - Rounds that caused most soft targets to violently explode at the molecular level leaving behind nothing but ash. These are the Rounds most often used in conventional sniper operations.

<gallery>
image:VindicareExitus.png|<center>Exitus Rifle</center>
</gallery>
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===Macrostubber===
[[File:Macrostubber.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Macrostubber. Looking more like a Rad Gun than anything else.]]
The Macrostubber is the Mechanicum's more advanced and powerful variation of a typical solid-slug ballistic weapon (As expected from the AdMech). The standout feature of the Macrostubber is just *how fast* it fires, especially considering it's basically an SMG with similar power to a bolter, or Ork shoota. This type of antique weapon is used by Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priests, and is able to hurl out a thunderous cloud of specially designed bullets (the exact method of accelerating its projectiles is not disclosed by the Techpriests, however the looks imply something more than just gunpowder is involved). A Macrostubber can apparently fire at a rate exceeding the Heavy Stubber, a bloody MG, by a ratio of 5:3! Maybe it's just an MG 42 cut down to pistol form? It's further possible that Macrostubbers are coilguns or railguns, which would explain the need for "specifically designed" (read: ferromagnetic) projectiles. Maybe the electromagnetic firing mechanism removes the need for moving parts, accelerating the rate of fire by removing the need to cycle a bolt? Perhaps it's only as good as a normal autogun, but the Magos that wield them can think so fast that they aim and fire with absolute precision and accuracy, making literally every shot count.

You know what, just think of it as a drum-fed, compact, heavy machine gun with a crazy-fast rate of fire, and you won't go insane. Or maybe you will considering it's practically a .50 cal machine gun that fires almost as fast as an Assault Cannon, and is wielded as a pistol! In theory could be dual-wielded, or more if you have extra robot arms...

This weapon has proven quite [[skub]]by in /tg/, due to the fact that some people have taken to calling it an Autogun due to its technological superiority and rate of fire despite the name. Then again, some may have pointed out that it could be just a more portable and lightweight variant of the Heavy Stubber. As noted in the Disambiguation section and throughout the article, the fluff [[Autogun#Autoguns versus Stubbers|doesn't do a good job of drawing any consistent lines]] between Stubbers and Auto-weaponry.

Also worthy of note is that stubber and autogun refer to the mechanism of the weapon itself, whereas a bolter specifies both the weapon, and the special explosive <s>rocket-assisted</s> rocket-propelled (assisted just gets it up to the right muzzle velocity, propelled does far more) munition it uses. It could very well be that a macrostubber employs the simple and reliable mechanics of a stubber to fire a low-velocity high-mass (hence, low initial recoil) rocket-assisted round. Historically, rocket firearms have not proven too reliable, but the biggest problem is the ammunition; it would make perfect sense that these weapons function only if maintained and used by a member of the AdMech.

<gallery>
image:MacrostubberPict.png|<center>Macrostubber</center>
</gallery>
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===Stubcarbine===
[[File:Stubcarbine.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Stubcarbine. You would be fooled to think this was an Autogun.]]
''Another'' AdMech weapon exclusive to the [[Skitarii]] (and, of all people, the Cultist Champion from the [[Blackstone Fortress]] game). The stubcarbine, though small, has the stopping power of the heavy stubbers mounted on the vehicles of the Imperial Guard. When a squad of Sicarian Infiltrators opens fire with these weapons, the air fills with an avalanche of solid shot that chews their victims to shreds. It can be assumed to have a shorter range to compensate for their high rate of fire or because of it's short barrel and high caliber. Despite how it looks from the side, the magazine is not actually that tiny cylinder the size of a fist on the underside, it's actually side-mounted similar to the FG-42. A squad equipped with these, the enemy will be dead by the time you need to reload, so magazine size won’t really matter, and if not, Skitarii are incredibly expendable to the AdMech anyway. Plus, as cyborgs, it's not inconceivable that an Infiltrator can reload extremely quickly. The intention could be that an Infiltrator can rake a group of enemies with fire, then run a reloading macro while doing something else, like charging into close combat or taking cover.

Judging from how they are described in fluff, Stubcarbines seem to be a lightened variant of Heavy Stubbers, outfitted with some kind of recoil suppression system which allows them to be fired as handheld weapons by the Skitarii, albeit with shorter range due to sporting a much shorter barrel than the actual Heavy Stubber. It seems like the thinking was "a carbine is a lighter version of a rifle, so a Stubcarbine is a lighter version of a Heavy Stubber." This would make it an... assault rifle? High caliber (but otherwise normal) carbine? Uncertain, go ask [[/k/]]. (/k/ here, sounds like the Heavy Stubber "variant" was not a .50 but a 7.62x51 or equivalent, which would make it a medium machine gun. But knowing the Admech, it's not improbable that it is a .50 in which case it would be a compact heavy machine gun, or a high caliber SMG, depending on the overall power of the rounds)

<gallery>
image:SicarianStubcarbine.png|<center>Stubcarbine</center>
</gallery>
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==Gallery==
===Shotgun===
<gallery>
image:NecromundanShotguns.png|''An assortment of Necromundan (and Arbites) Shotguns.''
image:GenestealerShotguns.png|<center>Cultist Shotguns</center>
image:CadianShotgun.png|<center>Cadian Shotgun</center>
image:AstartesShotgun.png|<center>Astartes Shotgun</center>
image:DeathwatchShotgun.png|<center>Deathwatch Shotgun</center>
</gallery>
===Heavy Stubber===
<gallery>
image:GenestealerStubber.png|<center>Genestealer Heavy Stubber</center>
image:CultistStubber.png|''With a right body, one person is enough''.
image:TeamStubber.png|''But if not, you might need a couple''.
image:TankStubber.png|<center>Pintle Mount</center>
image:SquadStubber.png|<center>Heavy Weapons Team</center>
image:SaberStubber.png|<center>Sabre Gun Platform</center>
image:RepulsorStubber.png|<center>Ironhail Heavy Stubber</center>
image:PlagueburstStubber.png|<center>Heavy Slugger</center>
</gallery>

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{{Template:40k-Imperial-Weapons}}
{{40k-GenestealerCults-Weapons}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]
{{40k-Chaos-Weapons}}

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-24T05:31:12Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534:

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "corrupt" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The corruption cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by the healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the healing station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away and gives them a boost to their movement and attack speed to finish them off faster. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife, and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protects da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==Weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.

===Ranged Weapons===

*'''[[Lasgun]]:''' the humble lasgun, while often the butt of jokes, is arguably the best weapon in the game. With very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun, we'll get to that later), an actual scope for good accuracy, ''and'' a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in. It is available to all classes barring the Ogryn, though it works best with the Veteran because his skills and passive traits reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is ''very'' good at. The special attack for all lasgun types is an under-slung flashlight, perfect for illuminating darkened corridors, though here's hoping we also get a bayonet in the full release. Before you start complaining about [[Skub|the lasgun somehow having recoil]], the devs ''did'' try to make fully recoilless lasguns, [[Not as planned|but it felt so off that they scrapped the idea]].
**There are three types of lasguns, '''light''', '''medium''' and '''heavy'''; the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, making it ideal for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios whether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun... sucks. There's no sugar coating it. When guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why; its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker (read: chaff). Use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones. pls do note they are all semi automatic, so buy a second mouse as it will break.

*'''[[Autogun]]:''' Depending on what you're going for, this weapon is either great or it sucks. On one hand it has a better rate of fire compared to the lasgun, but on the other hand it has worse recoil, ammo efficiency, and to an extent damage. Good if you want to mimic an Ork, but until release it is best given up for your trusty lasgun. Available to all classes barring the Ogryn, and has an underslung flashlight as its special attack.

*'''[[Shotgun]]:''' With 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control. It's also one of the few ways that the Veteran and Zealot can knock down and kill Marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have. Its special attack is supposedly firing a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it.

*'''Autopistol:''' Ironically better than the autogun, it's effectively a VZ61 Skorpion submachine gun with a very high rate of fire. Has surprisingly low recoil compared to equivalent weapons in other FPS games so don't be afraid to use it at medium to longish range. Like most other guns, it has a flashlight for its special attack. Exclusive to the Zealot.

*'''Thumper Shotgun:''' Exclusive to the Ogryn, it's essentially a larger M79 that fires 40kg shotgun shells. It can only hold one round before reloading, but that one round is all you need to turn an entire mob into chunky salsa. Has a pistol-whip secondary attack that sadly doesn't do much damage.
** If you played the closed beta this is actual name of the Kickback shotgun, editors found the true name on playdarktide.com .

*'''[[Ripper Gun]]:''' Effectively an Ogryn auto-shotgun. If you thought the Kickback turned crowds into paste, wait till you use this thing. Its standard fire is a three-round burst and holding right click turns it into a fully-automatic pellet hose that also tightens spread. Only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing. The Ripper has an actual bayonet mounted for its special attack.

*'''Force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.

*'''Stub revolver:''' For the pysker and zealot. Is surprisingly accurate and does good damage, use as an alternative to the lasgun if you want to fight effectively at long range. Count your shots, the reload animation is painfully slow since it has your character manually pushing rounds into the chamber one at a time instead of using a speed loader.

*'''Meltagun:''' Not present in the beta, but it's icon was datamined from the files.

*'''Bolter:''' Not present in the beta, but it's icon was datamined from the files. Looks like a 2 handed rifle variant, likely used by the sisters of battle.

*'''[[Flamer]]:''' Zealot only. Wasn't available in the beta but visible in the character creator.

*'''[[Plasma Gun]]:''' Our lovely blaster cannon made for Veteran only. Present in early trailers and in the character creator but wasn't available in the beta. Seems to be a combination of Moonfire Bow and Trollhammer Torpedoes from [[Vermintide 2]]. We can safely assume that Plasma Gun will be a specializing in destroying armoured foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop and the previously mentioned Vermintide weapons. May also have a overheat mechanic, similar to the drakeguns in vermintide.

===Melee Weapons===

*'''Shovel:''' The stock melee weapon for the Veteran and perfect for roleplaying as a [[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieger]], it has good damage and can smack multiple heretics at a time. It focuses more on cleaving though a horde than the Night Fang which rewards more precise head severing strikes.

*'''Chainsword:''' Wouldn't be a 40k game without one. Veteran exclusive. The light attacks aren't as good for clearing hordes as the shovel, but it's better for taking out bosses and special enemies with it's revved up heavy strike.

*'''Catachan Night Fang:''' In the hands of the [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans]], it's a knife. In the hands of a normal human, it's a bloody sword. As mentioned above its built for precision strikes towards a heretic's neck, preferably decapitating them. Its special attack is a parry that allows you to conserve stamina for pushing/blocking when being swarmed.

*'''Axe:''' It's an axe, what's there to say other than its heavy attack is easily one of the better ones and does a decent job of chopping though armor, though marauders are still a pain, especially when's there more than one. Not very good at cutting a crowd to pieces but it does the job well enough, is the stock weapon for the Zealot and can purchased by the Veteran.

*'''[[Power Weapon|Power Hammer]]:''' It smacks people real hard thanks to the power field, though it is slow on the swing.

*'''[[Force Weapons|Force Sword]]:''' Exclusive for the Psyker, spectacularly fast and lethal especially at high peril. Though the Power Hammer and the Ogryn's weapons hit harder with individual hits the Force Sword is probably the best overall melee weapon so far, the ludicrous speed allowing it to both butcher hordes and take down the big bastards.

*'''Ogryn Knife:''' Would be a knife in anyone else's hands, but has the proportions of an ork choppa when scaled up to ogryn size.

*'''Ogryn Maul:''' Slower + not as good at horde clearing as the knife, but blunt damage makes it better for taking out armored enemies.

*'''Ogryn Shock Maul:'''

*'''Ogryn Grenadier Gauntlet:''' Punches the crap out of enemies and can fire grenades as a special attack

*'''Ogryn Slab Shield:''' Will likely take up the ranged item slot since we see it wielded with the maul and the grenadier gauntlet. In addition to blocking gunfire, it can also be used to bludgeon enemies to death. Emperor Said You shall be the Cover!!

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Hadron Omega 7-7: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.
* '''Explicator Zola:''' An Atoma native.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash common infected/clanrats equivalent that comes in hordes with the purpose of tarpitting the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guardsmen:''' Your '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to use cover like most FPS enemies. They can come with lasguns or close combat weapons. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like a fireworks display]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to playing 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]].
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks and armed with low quality ballistic weapons.Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but lobs firebombs to create puddles of area denial fire. Raises the question as to why the ruinous powers didn't issue gas bombs if the Sixth were going for a pestilence themed army. For whatever reason, they don't cause as much friendly fire as the Vermintide globardiers, it's pretty common to see hordes sprinting through the flames without getting burnt to a crisp.
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' Reasonable that Nurgle cultists would choose Tox throwers instead of regular flamers, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. A bile spewer would be more on brand, but fatshark probably decided to stick to fire for visibility. That or the nurglites jumped through a warp portal to nick weapons from Clan Skryre. 40K doesn't have that many green fire flamethrowers in it.
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. More clever than the ratmen since the Trapper uses an electrified net gun to disable players from a distance instead of running into melee range with a man catcher hook-on-a-stick. That and the trapper isn't wearing a bunch of rattling skulls to give advanced warning to it's future victims.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but uses a [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead.
** '''Scab Shotgunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent. Suicidally aggressive, they close to optimal shotgun range and start dumping rounds.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Similar to Stormvermin from [[Vermintide 2]]. Fully armored, tough as nails and armed with a two-handed chain-axe. Like stormvermin, they occasionally come in small mobs on higher difficulties.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' This guy hangs out at a distance and blends in with vanilla traitor guardsmen until he turns on his targeting laser. His long-Las shots are very painful since they ignore toughness and deal HP damage with every shot. He is at his most dangerous when he has pals to [[tarpit]] players while he picks them off one by one. Take cover behind a wall or a structure if you see him scoping you out with his laser. On the plus side, he dies almost instantly the moment the players start shooting back at him.

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark and it does not fly. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite can corrupt players, not to mentioned it is fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar ASAP. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger with the abnormally large body proportions of Ogryns. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with two handed great weapons. Reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Armed with a shotgun, two handed maul, and energy shield and will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. Serves as the boss of assassinate missions. Psykers can chain stun him with their headcrush ability when his shield is down, ideally your team will bring one for this mission. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller boss soundtrack]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-23T06:16:14Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Weapons */

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "corrupt" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The corruption cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by the healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the healing station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away and gives them a boost to their movement and attack speed to finish them off faster. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife, and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protects da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==Weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.

===Ranged Weapons===

*'''[[Lasgun]]:''' the humble lasgun, while often the butt of jokes, is arguably the best weapon in the game. With very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun, we'll get to that later), an actual scope for good accuracy, ''and'' a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in. It is available to all classes barring the Ogryn, though it works best with the Veteran because his skills and passive traits reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is ''very'' good at. The special attack for all lasgun types is an under-slung flashlight, perfect for illuminating darkened corridors, though here's hoping we also get a bayonet in the full release. Before you start complaining about [[Skub|the lasgun somehow having recoil]], the devs ''did'' try to make fully recoilless lasguns, [[Not as planned|but it felt so off that they scrapped the idea]].
**There are three types of lasguns, '''light''', '''medium''' and '''heavy'''; the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, making it ideal for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios whether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun... sucks. There's no sugar coating it. When guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why; its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker (read: chaff). Use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones.

*'''[[Autogun]]:''' Depending on what you're going for, this weapon is either great or it sucks. On one hand it has a better rate of fire compared to the lasgun, but on the other hand it has worse recoil, ammo efficiency, and to an extent damage. Good if you want to mimic an Ork, but until release it is best given up for your trusty lasgun. Available to all classes barring the Ogryn, and has an underslung flashlight as its special attack.

*'''[[Shotgun]]:''' With 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control. It's also one of the few ways that the Veteran and Zealot can knock down and kill Marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have. Its special attack is supposedly firing a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it.

*'''Autopistol:''' Ironically better than the autogun, it's effectively a VZ61 Skorpion submachine gun with a very high rate of fire. Has surprisingly low recoil compared to equivalent weapons in other FPS games so don't be afraid to use it at medium to longish range. Like most other guns, it has a flashlight for its special attack. Exclusive to the Zealot.

*'''thumper shotgun:''' Exclusive to the Ogryn, it's essentially a larger M79 that fires 40kg shotgun shells. It can only hold one round before reloading, but that one round is all you need to turn an entire mob into chunky salsa. Has a pistol-whip secondary attack that sadly doesn't do much damage.
** I found the true name on playdarktide.com

*'''[[Ripper Gun]]:''' Effectively an Ogryn auto-shotgun. If you thought the Kickback turned crowds into paste, wait till you use this thing. Its standard fire is a three-round burst and holding right click turns it into a fully-automatic pellet hose that also tightens spread. Only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing. The Ripper has an actual bayonet mounted for its special attack.

*'''Force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.

*'''Stub revolver:''' For the pysker and zealot. Is surprisingly accurate and does good damage, use as an alternative to the lasgun if you want to fight effectively at long range. Count your shots, the reload animation is painfully slow since it has your character manually pushing rounds into the chamber one at a time instead of using a speed loader.

*'''[[Flamer]]:''' Zealot only. Wasn't available in the beta but visible in the character creator.

*'''[[Plasma Gun]]:''' Our lovely blaster cannon made for Veteran only. Present in early trailers and in the character creator but wasn't available in the beta. Seems to be a combination of Moonfire Bow and Trollhammer Torpedoes from [[Vermintide 2]]. We can safely assume that Plasma Gun will be a specializing in destroying armoured foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop and the previously mentioned Vermintide weapons. May also have a overheat mechanic, similar to the drakeguns in vermintide.

===Melee Weapons===

*'''Shovel:''' The stock melee weapon for the Veteran and perfect for roleplaying as a [[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieger]], it has good damage and can smack multiple heretics at a time. It focuses more on cleaving though a horde than the Night Fang which rewards more precise head severing strikes.

*'''Chainsword:''' Wouldn't be a 40k game without one. Veteran exclusive. The light attacks aren't as good for clearing hordes as the shovel, but it's better for taking out bosses and special enemies with it's revved up heavy strike.

*'''Catachan Night Fang:''' In the hands of the [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|Catachans]], it's a knife. In the hands of a normal human, it's a bloody sword. As mentioned above its built for precision strikes towards a heretic's neck, preferably decapitating them. Its special attack is a parry that allows you to conserve stamina for pushing/blocking when being swarmed.

*'''Axe:''' It's an axe, what's there to say other than its heavy attack is easily one of the better ones and does a decent job of chopping though armor, though marauders are still a pain, especially when's there more than one. Not very good at cutting a crowd to pieces but it does the job well enough, is the stock weapon for the Zealot and can purchased by the Veteran.

*'''[[Power Weapon|Power Hammer]]:''' It smacks people real hard thanks to the power field, though it is slow on the swing.

*'''[[Force Weapons|Force Sword]]:''' Exclusive for the Psyker, spectacularly fast and lethal especially at high peril. Though the Power Hammer and the Ogryn's weapons hit harder with individual hits the Force Sword is probably the best overall melee weapon so far, the ludicrous speed allowing it to both butcher hordes and take down the big bastards.

*'''Ogryn Knife:''' Would be a knife in anyone else's hands, but has the proportions of an ork choppa when scaled up to ogryn size.

*'''Ogryn Maul:''' Slower + not as good at horde clearing as the knife, but blunt damage makes it better for taking out armored enemies than the knife.

*'''Ogryn Shock Maul:'''

*'''Ogryn Grenadier Gauntlet:''' Punches the crap out of enemies and can fire grenades as a special attack

*'''Ogryn Slab Shield:''' Will likely take up the ranged item slot since we see it wielded with the maul and the grenadier gauntlet. In addition to blocking gunfire, it can also be used to bludgeon enemies to death.

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Hadron Omega 7-7: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.
* '''Explicator Zola:''' An Atoma native.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, but also corrupt players with it. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to playing 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]].
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but lobs firebombs to create puddles of area denial fire. Raises the question as to why the ruinous powers didn't issue gas bombs if the Sixth were going for a pestilence themed army. For whatever reason, they don't cause as much friendly fire as the Vermintide globardiers, it's pretty common to see hordes sprinting through the flames without getting burnt to a crisp.
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that Nurgle cultists would choose Tox throwers instead of regular flamers, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Could be mistaken as Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]]) That or they jumped through a warp portal to nick weapons from Clan Skryre. 40K doesn't have that many green fire flamethrowers in it.
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. More clever than the ratmen since the Trapper uses a net gun to capture the players from a distance instead of running into melee range with a hook-on-a-stick (aka Man catcher). That and the trapper isn't wearing a bunch of rattling skulls to give advanced warning to it's future victims.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher charge him [[Tau|since he's completely helpless in melee]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark and it does not fly. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite can corrupt players, not to mentioned it is fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar ASAP. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-21T15:38:18Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Weapons */

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "infect" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The infections cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the heal station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Will be taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protec's da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==Weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.

===Ranged Weapons===

*'''Lasgun:''' the humble lasgun, while often insulted as a flashlight, it is arguably the best weapon in the game, with very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun) and an actual scope for good accuracy and a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in, it can be equipped by all classes minus the ogryn, in regard to classes it works best with the veteran because of his skills and passive traits that reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is very good at.
**There are three types of lasguns, light, medium and heavy, the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, very good for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios wether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun, it sucks, theres no sugar coating it, you know how in universe that even the guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why, its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker, use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones, its special attack for all lasgun types is an actual flashlight for illuminating darker parts of the map, hopefully in the full game a bayonet lug will be available.

*'''Autogun:''' depending on what you're going for, this weapon is either great or it sucks, it has more recoil than the lasgun, it has a poor ammunition pool of both clip and reserves and whiles it damage isn't awful, when compared to the lasgun (baring the light lasgun), one will find himself wanting, the only thing it has going for it is that it has a better rate of fire and if you're an ork, it sounds very nice, like the lasgun, its special attack turns on a flashlight, it can be used by the zealot, pysker and veteran.

*'''Shotgun:''' with 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control, it's also one of the few ways that classes that arnt pyskers or ogryns, can knock down and kill marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have, can its special attack supposedly fires a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it, can be equipped by the veteran and zealot.

*'''Autopistol:''' ironically better than the autogun, it kinda works like a submachine gun, its sole purpose is close quarters combat and has a very high rate of fire, has a flashlight for its special attack, its pretty good for what it does but one can do better, can be equipped by the zealot.

*'''Large, single shot, shotgun:''' for the ogryn only, it has only one shot but holy hell it will turn crowds into chunky pudding in short order, its special attack, the ogryn smacks his enemies with it like a club, sadly doesn't do as much damage like one would think.

*'''Ripper gun:''' ogryn only, if you thought the last weapon chunked crowds in soup, wait till you use this thing, its standard fire is like a semi-auto shotgun but bigger and holding right click turns full-auto and bloody hell, only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing, unlike the human sized weapons, this one has an actual bayonet under it for its special attack.

*'''Force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.

*'''Stub revolver:''' for the pysker and zealot, it isn't awful but far from the best, its surprisingly accurate and can do good damege, if you want accuracy but dont want a lasgun for your zealot then grab this thing, replace with the force staff when you're playing pysker, its special attack lets you do a pistol whip and has one of the best revolver reloads in any game ever, most games just load one bullet or empty the entire clip after one shot, not this one though, it only removes the shot you fired and that's it.

*'''Flamer:''' zealot only, wasn't in the beta but we can safely assume it will function like the drakegun for bardin, but without overheat perhaps.

*'''Plasma gun:''' veteran only, like the flamer, wasn't in the beta but can assumed to be a monster in destroying armored foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop, it might have a overheat mechanic that must be drained less it blows up.

===Melee Weapons===

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Harkon: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, he also inflict poison that decrease the player's HP. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to play 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]] for a time.
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but use firebomb to create puddles of flame to burn the player's arse. This raised a question as to why their Bomber didn't chose to use poison gas bomb if the Sixth were going for the pestilence theme army?
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that the traitor being Nurgle cultist would choose Tox thrower instead of regular flamer, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Their Tox thrower glow so bright, one could mistake them as some kind of Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]])
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. Actually, clever than the ratmen since the Trapper use a net gun to capture the players from a far instead of using a long-stick-with-a-hook (aka Man catcher) and isn't wearing a bunch of skulls to warn its targets about the incoming incapacitation.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher trap him [[Tau|in melee range where he is the most vulnerable]] so the players could [[rape|take their everlasting revenge against that fucking heretic]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite contains powerful pox that decrease players' HP. It is very fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-21T12:56:37Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Weapons */

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "infect" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The infections cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the heal station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Will be taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protec's da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==Weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.

===Ranged Weapons===

*'''Lasgun:''' the humble lasgun, while often insulted as a flashlight, it is arguably the best weapon in the game, with very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun) and an actual scope for good accuracy and a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in, it can be equipped by all classes minus the ogryn, in regard to classes it works best with the veteran because of his skills and passive traits that reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is very good at.
**There are three types of lasguns, light, medium and heavy, the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, very good for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios wether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun, it sucks, theres no sugar coating it, you know how in universe that even the guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why, its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker, use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones, its special attack for all lasgun types is an actual flashlight for illuminating darker parts of the map, hopefully in the full game a bayonet lug will be available.

*'''Autogun:''' this weapon sucks, in universe, barring poorer planets or PDFS, the autogun was phased out in favor of the lasgun, and when used its easy to see why, it has more recoil than the lasgun, it has a poor ammunition pool of both clip and reserves and whiles it damage isn't awful, when compared to the lasgun, one will find himself wanting, the only thing it has going for it is that it has a better rate of fire, like the lasgun, its special attack turns on a flashlight, it can be used by the zealot, pysker and veteran.

*'''Shotgun:''' with 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control, it's also one of the few ways that classes that arnt pyskers or ogryns, can knock down and kill marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have, can its special attack supposedly fires a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it, can be equipped by the veteran and zealot.

*'''Autopistol:''' ironically better than the autogun, it kinda works like a submachine gun, its sole purpose is close quarters combat and has a very high rate of fire, has a flashlight for its special attack, its pretty good for what it does but one can do better, can be equipped by the zealot.

*'''Large, single shot, shotgun:''' for the ogryn only, it has only one shot but holy hell it will turn crowds into chunky pudding in short order, its special attack, the ogryn smacks his enemies with it like a club, sadly doesn't do as much damage like one would think.

*'''Ripper gun:''' ogryn only, if you thought the last weapon chunked crowds in soup, wait till you use this thing, its standard fire is like a semi-auto shotgun but bigger and holding right click turns full-auto and bloody hell, only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing, unlike the human sized weapons, this one has an actual bayonet under it for its special attack.

*'''Force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.

*'''Stub revolver:''' for the pysker and zealot, it isn't awful but far from the best, its surprisingly accurate and can do good damege, if you want accuracy but dont want a lasgun for your zealot then grab this thing, replace with the force staff when you're playing pysker, its special attack lets you do a pistol whip and has one of the best revolver reloads in any game ever, most games just load one bullet or empty the entire clip after one shot, not this one though, it only removes the shot you fired and that's it.

*'''Flamer:''' zealot only, wasn't in the beta but we can safely assume it will function like the drakegun for bardin, but without overheat perhaps.

*'''Plasma gun:''' veteran only, like the flamer, wasn't in the beta but can assumed to be a monster in destroying armored foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop, it might have a overheat mechanic that must be drained less it blows up.

===Melee Weapons===

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Harkon: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, he also inflict poison that decrease the player's HP. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to play 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]] for a time.
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but use firebomb to create puddles of flame to burn the player's arse. This raised a question as to why their Bomber didn't chose to use poison gas bomb if the Sixth were going for the pestilence theme army?
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that the traitor being Nurgle cultist would choose Tox thrower instead of regular flamer, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Their Tox thrower glow so bright, one could mistake them as some kind of Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]])
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. Actually, clever than the ratmen since the Trapper use a net gun to capture the players from a far instead of using a long-stick-with-a-hook (aka Man catcher) and isn't wearing a bunch of skulls to warn its targets about the incoming incapacitation.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher trap him [[Tau|in melee range where he is the most vulnerable]] so the players could [[rape|take their everlasting revenge against that fucking heretic]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite contains powerful pox that decrease players' HP. It is very fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-21T05:15:40Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* weapons */

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[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "infect" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The infections cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the heal station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Will be taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protec's da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.
*'''ranged weapons'''

*'''the lasgun:''' the humble lasgun, while often insulted as a flashlight, it is arguably the best weapon in the game, with very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun) and an actual scope for good accuracy and a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in, it can be equipped by all classes minus the ogryn, in regard to classes it works best with the veteran because of his skills and passive traits that reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is very good at.

there are three types of lasguns, light, medium and heavy, the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, very good for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios wether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun, it sucks, theres no sugar coating it, you know how in universe that even the guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why, its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker, use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones, its special attack for all lasgun types is an actual flashlight for illuminating darker parts of the map, hopefully in the full game a bayonet lug will be available.

*'''the autogun:''' this weapon sucks, in universe, barring poorer planets or PDFS, the autogun was phased out in favor of the lasgun, and when used its easy to see why, it has more recoil than the lasgun, it has a poor ammunition pool of both clip and reserves and whiles it damage isn't awful, when compared to the lasgun, one will find himself wanting, the only thing it has going for it is that it has a better rate of fire, like the lasgun, its special attack turns on a flashlight, it can be used by the zealot, pysker and veteran.
*'''the shotgun:''' with 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control, it's also one of the few ways that classes that arnt pyskers or ogryns, can knock down and kill marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have, can its special attack supposedly fires a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it, can be equipped by the veteran and zealot.
*'''autopistol:''' ironically better than the lasgun, it kinda works like a submachine gun, its sole purpose is close quarters combat and has a very high rate of fire, has a flashlight for its special attack, its pretty good for what it does but one can do better, can be equipped by the zealot.
*'''Large, single shot, shotgun:''' for the ogryn only, it has only one shot but holy hell it will turn crowds into chunky pudding in short order, its special attack, the ogryn smacks his enemies with it like a club, sadly doesn't do as much damage like one would think.
*'''the ripper gun:''' ogryn only, if you thought the last weapon chunked crowds in soup, wait till you use this thing, its standard fire is like a semi-auto shotgun but bigger and holding right click turns full-auto and bloody hell, only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing, unlike the human sized weapons, this one has an actual bayonet under it for its special attack.
*'''force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.
*'''stub revolver:''' for the pysker and well, it kinda sucks, can be used in a pinch but your main strength is your pyskic powers, replace with the force staff as soon as possible.
*'''flamer:''' zealot only, wasn't in the beta but we can safely assume it will function like the drakegun for bardin, but without overheat perhaps.
*'''plasma gun:''' veteran only, like the flamer, wasnt in the beta but can assumed to be a monster in destroying armored foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop, it might have a overheat mechanic that must be drained less it blows up.

*'''melee weapons'''

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Harkon: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, he also inflict poison that decrease the player's HP. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to play 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]] for a time.
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but use firebomb to create puddles of flame to burn the player's arse. This raised a question as to why their Bomber didn't chose to use poison gas bomb if the Sixth were going for the pestilence theme army?
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that the traitor being Nurgle cultist would choose Tox thrower instead of regular flamer, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Their Tox thrower glow so bright, one could mistake them as some kind of Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]])
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. Actually, clever than the ratmen since the Trapper use a net gun to capture the players from a far instead of using a long-stick-with-a-hook (aka Man catcher) and isn't wearing a bunch of skulls to warn its targets about the incoming incapacitation.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher trap him [[Tau|in melee range where he is the most vulnerable]] so the players could [[rape|take their everlasting revenge against that fucking heretic]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite contains powerful pox that decrease players' HP. It is very fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-20T18:13:27Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* weapons */

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[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "infect" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The infections cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the heal station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Will be taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protec's da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.
*'''ranged weapons'''

*'''the lasgun:''' the humble lasgun, while often insulted as a flashlight, it is arguably the best weapon in the game, with very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun) and an actual scope for good accuracy and a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in, it can be equipped by all classes minus the ogryn, in regard to classes it works best with the veteran because of his skills and passive traits that reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is very good at.

there are three types of lasguns, light, medium and heavy, the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, very good for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios wether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun, it sucks, theres no sugar coating it, you know how in universe that even the guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why, its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker, use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones, its special attack for all lasgun types is an actual flashlight for illuminating darker parts of the map, hopefully in the full game a bayonet lug will be available.

*'''the autogun:''' this weapon sucks, in universe, barring poorer planets or PDFS, the autogun was phased out in favor of the lasgun, and when used its easy to see why, it has more recoil than the lasgun, it has a poor ammunition pool of both clip and reserves and whiles it damage isn't awful, when compared to the lasgun, one will find himself wanting, the only thing it has going for it is that it has a better rate of fire, like the lasgun, its special attack turns on a flashlight, it can be used by the zealot, pysker and veteran.
*'''the shotgun:''' with 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control, it's also one of the few ways that classes that arnt pyskers or ogryns, can knock down and kill marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have, can its special attack supposedly fires a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it, can be equipped by the veteran and zealot.
*'''autopistol:''' ironically better than the lasgun, it kinda works like a submachine gun, its sole purpose is close quarters combat and has a very high rate of fire, has a flashlight for its special attack, its pretty good for what it does but one can do better, can be equipped by the zealot.
*'''Large, single shot, shotgun:''' for the ogryn only, it has only one shot but holy hell it will turn crowds into chunky pudding in short order, its special attack, the ogryn smacks his enemies with it like a club, sadly doesn't do as much damage like one would think.
*'''the ripper gun:''' ogryn only, if you thought the last weapon chunked crowds in soup, wait till you use this thing, its standard fire is like a semi-auto shotgun but bigger and holding right click turns full-auto and bloody hell, only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing.
*'''force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safety and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.
*'''stub revolver:''' for the pysker and well, it kinda sucks, can be used in a pinch but your main strength is your pyskic powers, replace with the force staff as soon as possible.
*'''flamer:''' zealot only, wasn't in the beta but we can safely assume it will function like the drakegun for bardin, but without overheat perhaps.
*'''plasma gun:''' veteran only, like the flamer, wasnt in the beta but can assumed to be a monster in destroying armored foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop, it might have a overheat mechanic that must be drained less it blows up.

*'''melee weapons'''

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Harkon: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, he also inflict poison that decrease the player's HP. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to play 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]] for a time.
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but use firebomb to create puddles of flame to burn the player's arse. This raised a question as to why their Bomber didn't chose to use poison gas bomb if the Sixth were going for the pestilence theme army?
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that the traitor being Nurgle cultist would choose Tox thrower instead of regular flamer, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Their Tox thrower glow so bright, one could mistake them as some kind of Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]])
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. Actually, clever than the ratmen since the Trapper use a net gun to capture the players from a far instead of using a long-stick-with-a-hook (aka Man catcher) and isn't wearing a bunch of skulls to warn its targets about the incoming incapacitation.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher trap him [[Tau|in melee range where he is the most vulnerable]] so the players could [[rape|take their everlasting revenge against that fucking heretic]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite contains powerful pox that decrease players' HP. It is very fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Warhammer 40K: Darktide

2022-10-20T18:12:56Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534:

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Darktide 40k Logo.png|700px|thumb|center|''Rejects Will Rise'']]

'''Darktide''' is an upcoming co-op first-person shooter made by [[The End Times: Vermintide|Vermintide]] developer Fatshark. The game will likely have the same gameplay as Vermintide, only in space and facing Chaos cults in an Underhive.

==Story==
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7pEier2MQ Writing] Brought to you by motherfucking [[Dan Abnett]], with help form your favourite [[Spiritual Liege]], [[Matthew Ward]]<ref>https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1512480226651295744</ref>

The game takes place on the Hive World of '''Atoma Prime''', where a group of [[Nurgle]] worshipping assholes called '''The Admonition''' are plotting to take over the planet from the hive city of '''Tertium''' with the extensive use of pox gases, converting the infected to their side. Thankfully (or not), one Inquisitor Grendyl has come to cleanse the heretical arsehole. Instead of [[exterminatus|doing the mercy killing]], or calling [[Adeptus Astartes|911]], the inquisitor believes the situation is still somewhat salvageable. Scooping out the convicts they've collected [[The Last Chancers|(not for the first time)]], giving them weapons and throwing them to the meat grinder, hopefully they could find out what the hell is going on while purging some fucking heretics.

According to the devblog, the true antagonist is a concept known as the '''Darktide''' (roll credits!), a boogeyman threat that must be kept at bay, or so the people of Atoma Prime believe. In fact, it is a collective term referring to the brutal horrors of the Warhammer 40,000 universe: mutants, xenos, and worse - who want nothing more than to extinguish the fluttering flame of human civilization. The young people recruited to regiments like the Moebian Sixth have no idea where they’re being sent, or what they will face. They are as ignorant of the "Darktide" as any other regular citizen, for they were all citizens themselves. Out on the death worlds of the Fringe, the lasmen are thrown into the meat grinder and come face to face with unimaginable danger. Their world-view changes. They learn the nature of the Darktide and fight it tooth and nail. Sometimes, they learn too much. Long tours result in trauma, both physical and psychological. Some are broken by the experience. Some are made bitter and resentful that the grueling combat they experience is generally unrecognized back home, because the Imperial Administratum tends to keep all details of the ongoing conflict quiet so as not to generate public alarm. There might be a few news broadcasts about "great victories", but the rest of the turmoil is screened by propaganda. Some troopers, of course, serve brilliantly and bravely, and remain loyal despite everything they experience. But others fall prey to the insidious touch of the Darktide. They encounter the malevolent effect of the Warp, and it changes them. They become - literally, in some cases - the very thing they are fighting against.

In summary, the Darktide is basically Nurgle's way of weaponizing PTSD, throwing Imperial troops into a meat grinder to break their spirits and then brainwashing them to become one with the grinder themselves. It is no wonder why [[Adeptus Astartes]] were not sent. One can see some rather unnerving parallels with what happened to the [[Iron Warriors]] and how the their endless campaigns of gruelling siege warfare caused them to snap and turn to Chaos.

And that's where our heroes, the convicts come in. They are invaluable yet expendable. Whether they're Ogryns, guard veterans, fanatics of the Imperial Creed, or Psykers, they are the hardest meat the Imperium could send en masse, ready to purge the enemies of the Imperium with their remarkable abilities.

'''''The Rejects Will Rise!'''''

==Gameplay==
The game excitingly is one of the very few 40k video games to feature the Guardsmen in the starring role and not the Space Marines, and will play just as similar to Vermintide, only probably leaning more towards the shooty parts of the game. As such it will likely be much closer to the L4D2 style of play than Vermintide. The game will also feature a class style of character system like in Vermintide.

More will come as more info comes out, but Guardsmen fans rejoice as they are put in the spotlight for once.

As of the magazine spot, playable classes are to be a Zealot, an Ogryn, a Veteran, and a Psyker, The classes are also apparently very customizable, both visually and gameplay-wise with lots of interchangeable weapons for classes and while no weapons have been specifically mentioned, plasma weapons, hellguns, chainswords, ripper guns, and flamers have all been seen at one point or another. Also, [[Awesome|you can play as four Ogryns.]] Each character can choose between three different voices with their own unique responses, for it seems Fatshark has been pulling their weight and emptying coin pouch on this game with many different VA.

The trailer also showed off Poxwalkers, traitor guardsmen, Hounds of Xaphan (actually pox hound), and fucking Plague Ogryns as enemy types so even though FW disconnected the Renegade and heretic line, they will hopefully live on in the game.

Darktide was featured on Edge magazine with a 15-page article stating that there will be some form of character creator and that you start as a newly conscripted prisoner snatched off a transport ship by the Inquisition, also ability leaks and a shield system like Payday 2.

For new introduced features unlike in Vermintide or L4D, certain enemies now "infect" players, reduce their maximum health by the purple bar (just like in vermintide where the players are cursed for carrying grimoire). Be aware the effects can stack so the players better stick together and be ready kill any specials in order to prevent further health reduce. The infections cannot not be heal by normal means however (normal health pack are health sprays that can group heal btw), but it can be treated by healing stations that appears at certain points of the run, fully healing any players that use it. Do note however that the heal station has a usage limit of 4, so spent its use wisely. Also, there are no more infinite ammo box like in vermintide, so the players should have some awareness about their range weapon usage, but there will always be at least 3 stacks of ammos waiting at the healing stations.

A new mechanic called "cohesion" gives bonuses to players if they stick together, discouraging them from trying to wander off on their own to get killed. Another mechanic called "toughness" acts as a temporary damage soak, ensuring that players won't just get stunlocked to death the moment they get shot at. Unlike regular health, it regenerates over time but does so faster if the team stays in cohesion.

==Classes==
Unlike the Ubersreik Five (or Four, doesn't matter), your characters each have a customizable backstory that lets you choose their homeworld, what they did in their earlier lives, and how they ended up in prison. As a result, it's perfectly possible to form a team consisting entirely of one class (though in practice it'll probably be a good idea to have some variety). Each class has several different personalities representing the various criminal lunatics serving in the campaign. Highlights include the aggressively German male Psyker, a Northern English Ogryn, the magnificently hammy Preachers (all of them, male and female, it's great) and the French female Psyker who alternates between psychotic and kind (amazingly, she is the SANEST Psyker, which is saying a lot, and has a shockingly well developed moral compass for the 42nd Millenium, though of course she is just as remorseless a killer as the rest and thus something of an oblivious hypocrite professing love for the citizens and horror at the Inquisition's regular MO even as she gleefully pops skulls and rips through hordes of enemies with her sword).

* '''Veteran:''' Has the ability to grant themself extra gun zooming range and increased headshot damage. By default, they wield a [[Lasgun]], a [[Chain Weapon|Chainsword]] and Frag Grenades. For other weapons, they have a Lucius patterned combat [[shotgun]] (aka your favourite shotgun from L4D is back!!!),[[Stubber|a Stub Revolver]], a Plasma Gun, a Power Sword, an Autogun, and a Combat Blade. Confirmed that they will be making Forge-World variation for Basic weapons such as Lasguns and Autoguns for now.
** '''Sharpshooter:''' A subclass of Veteran geared towards long-ranged combat and scoring headshots, with their passive granting them a larger ammo capacity and more damage against enemy weak points. While in cohesion, they have a chance not to use up ammo when shooting. Their active ability slows them down in exchange for boosting their accuracy, damage against enemy weak points, and weapon handling; it also makes non-Ogryn elites and special enemies easier to identify from afar so you can snipe them better. By default the weapons they can wield are a Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun, a shovel ([[Death Korps of Krieg|Krieg fanon-lovers rejoice!]]), and frag grenades.

* '''Zealot:''' Your happy go purging Ministorum Priest. Since player characters are all convicts for a reason, the Zealots was probably excommunicated for [[heresy|certain reasons]], but let's hope it is not something [[chaos|too severe]]. By default, they wield an [[Autogun]], a [[power weapon|Power Hammer]] and Incendiary grenades, and have also been seen using a [[Flamer]] and a Chain Axe.
** '''Preacher:''' A subclass of Zealot that functions similarly to the Zealot from [[Vermintide 2]]: they have fast melee attacks, deal bonus damage when their health is low, and can avoid dying after taking a fatal attack (albeit with a long cooldown). They take reduced toughness damage while in cohesion. Their active ability is a charging attack that locks enemies into melee. By default they wield an [[Autogun#Autopistol|Autopistol]], Combat Axe, and stumm grenades.

* '''Psyker:''' A wizard type character with the exact some play style and mechanics as [[The End Times: Vermintide#Gameplay|Sienna from vermintide]], but no fire (because Psyker drawn their powers directly from the warp while human wizards in fantasy drawn theirs from one of the 8 winds of magic for safety reasons). So I guess we know that the Inquisitor sending the Convicts out is a Radical. As mentioned previously in Vermintide, this type of character has unlimited ammo, but will explode if they overuse their powers. They will also suffers damage when trying to cooldown from overheating by "reloading", but not for the Psyker in Darktide however, bless the Emperor. As for other new features, the Psyker can get new spell powers in their grenade slot (which every class now gets their own unique grenades) to smite the enemies for the Emprah! One of the many demonstrated spell is the headlock spell that deal massive damage to a single enemies' head, [[awesome|to the point of crushing their skull, killing them instantly]]. When blocking, they are able to conjure a psychic shield that not only blocks ranged fire, but also stagger enemies when they try to hit it, and it works on even the hardest hitting elites like the Crushers or the Maulers. Other powers include [[Star Wars|pushing away a horde of enemies in a burst of psychic wind]] (melee special attacks), and imbuing the powers of the warp into their blades and to deal lethal damage in one swing. Their unique ability allows them to instantly erase any overcharge they had. By default, they wield a [[Force Weapons|Force Sword, a Force Staff]] (aka the conflagration staff from vermintide) and the aforementioned head busting power (speculated to be able to switched for other psyker powers in future updates). For other weapons, it was confirmed in a dev steam that they can exchange their force staff with a stub revolver or a [[Laspistol]] if they wish to save their overcharge for spamming their special melee attacks instead.

* '''Ogryn:''' Will be taller than the other characters ([[derp|said to be the height of three Bardins tall]]) and can send smaller enemies flying back with his attacks. Has the same charging move as Foot Knight Kruber in [[Vermintide 2]], which pushes enemies away. By default, they wield a ripper gun (which has an alt-firing move that allows it to go full auto), a combat knife and their own unique Ogryn patterned grenades (a cluster bomb that scatters and explodes in a large area, randomly). Due to how tall and big the Ogryn is and since this is a sci-fi game where majority of the enemies and characters use guns, the Ogryn will have to do the heavy lifting, [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|acting as a distraction/cover]] for his teammates. But that's fine since he's big and strong, and being tall allows him to score headshots in melee with relative accuracy and ease. You should play a strike team of four of them.
** '''Skullcracker:''' [[Meme|It cracks skulls.]] This chonker is a big ol' brute in the classical Ogryn image who takes less damage, staggers enemies harder and protec's da lil' unz by continuously reviving allies even while taking damage. Their default weapons are a break-action single-shot shotgun, a huge metal club and a box of grenades. No, they don't toss a box of grenades with some sort of igniter attached to it to set them all off in quick succession (though there is a feat that can be taken with such a functionality), [[Lulz|they just toss a whole-ass box of grenades at someone's face to instantly murder them with the blunt force trauma]]. This is apparently more potentially-lethal to a single person than actual shotguns. [[Lulz|Can also lethally pimp slap people with some melee weapons' special attack.]]

==weapons==
being a 40k game you have a wide plethora of weapons to shoot and beat heretics to death with, when the full game comes out, this might be of help of choosing your favored toy for killing.
*'''ranged weapons'''

*'''the lasgun:''' the humble lasgun, while often insulted as a flashlight, it is arguably the best weapon in the game, with very little recoil, good damage (minus the light lasgun) and an actual scope for good accuracy and a humongous ammo pool both in clip and reserves, there is very few scenarios the lasgun will serve you badly in, it can be equipped by all classes minus the ogryn, in regard to classes it works best with the veteran because of his skills and passive traits that reward precision headshots, which the lasgun is very good at.

there are three types of lasguns, light, medium and heavy, the heavy lasgun is slower firing but heavier hitting, very good for dealing with elites or specials, the medium serves as the middle ground between the heavy and light lasgun, perfect for all scenarios wether it be sniping or crowd control, and then the light lasgun, it sucks, theres no sugar coating it, you know how in universe that even the guardsmen themselves call lasguns "flashlights", this thing is probably why, its rate of fire is the best when compared to its cousins, that means fuck all when you can't kill something heavier than a traitor guardsmen or poxwalker, use the other two when available and scrap the light lasgun for thrones, its special attack for all lasgun types is an actual flashlight for illuminating darker parts of the map, hopefully in the full game a bayonet lug will be available.

*'''the autogun:''' this weapon sucks, in universe, barring poorer planets or PDFS, the autogun was phased out in favor of the lasgun, and when used its easy to see why, it has more recoil than the lasgun, it has a poor ammunition pool of both clip and reserves and whiles it damage isn't awful, when compared to the lasgun, one will find himself wanting, the only thing it has going for it is that it has a better rate of fire, like the lasgun, its special attack turns on a flashlight, it can be used by the zealot, pysker and veteran.
*'''the shotgun:''' with 9 shots and a very good cone of damage, this thing is one of the better weapons for crowd control, it's also one of the few ways that classes that arnt pyskers or ogryns, can knock down and kill marauders, easily one of the more annoying enemies in the game with the amount of armor they have, can its special attack supposedly fires a single shot for greater range but one doesn't really notice it, can be equipped by the veteran and zealot.
*'''autopistol:''' ironically better than the lasgun, it kinda works like a submachine gun, its sole purpose is close quarters combat and has a very high rate of fire, has a flashlight for its special attack, its pretty good for what it does but one can do better, can be equipped by the zealot.
*'''Large, single shot, shotgun:''' for the ogryn only, it has only one shot but holy hell it will turn crowds into chunky pudding in short order, its special attack, the ogryn smacks his enemies with it like a club, sadly doesn't do as much damage like one would think.
*'''the ripper gun:''' ogryn only, if you thought the last weapon chunked crowds in soup, wait till you use this thing, its standard fire is like a semi-auto shotgun but bigger and holding right click turns full-auto and bloody hell, only bosses are going to survive a volley from this thing.
*'''force staff:''' pysker only, kinda of like one of siennas staffs but instead of fire its space magic, can be used with realtive safty and is very good for crowd control, though be careful with it as its increases your perils meter.
*'''stub revolver:''' for the pysker and well, it kinda sucks, can be used in a pinch but your main strength is your pyskic powers, replace with the force staff as soon as possible.
*'''flamer:''' zealot only, wasn't in the beta but we can safely assume it will function like the drakegun for bardin, but without overheat perhaps.
*'''plasma gun:''' veteran only, like the flamer, wasnt in the beta but can assumed to be a monster in destroying armored foes and beefy targets, like on tabletop, it might have a overheat mechanic that must be drained less it blows up.

*'''melee weapons'''

==Other Characters==
* '''Sergeant Major Morrow:''' Think of him as the Mission Control from [[/v/|Deep Rock Galactic]] or Lohner from [[vermintide]]. Now with the power of Vox technology (bless the [[Omnissiah]]!), he will constantly be providing mission details for the players team in a sarcastic tone. Voiced by Kruber's VA. His original regiment is the [[Armageddon Steel Legion]]. Was apparently the sole survivor of a warp accident and the Inquisitor rescued him.
* ''' Tech-Priestess Harkon: ''' Sometimes does the briefing and is the one who warns you when the data-interrogator starts to fuck up and you have to fix it, filled to the brim with sass and been angry for nearly 333 Terran cycles or so, calls the player and the squad varlets and rightfully thinks the players are a bunch of idiots who may not be completely useless.
* '''Flight Lieutenant Masozi:''' The [[Valkyrie]] pilot. The squads accuse her of cheating at cards and somehow even the Tarot, with the more reckless characters constantly complaining about losing credits to her.
* '''Sefoni:''' The narrator for the tutorial with 2 different responses when greeting the player's character, if you're a Psyker she greets the player as a little one to be turned into a proper solider, if you're any other class, she says “Welcome to the Pyskana, where your torture, I mean training starts.” You can actually find her stuffed in a tube aboard the Mourningstar if you want to replay the tutorial.

==Enemies==

* '''Poxwalkers:''' Civilians of Atoma Hive who were infected by Moebian Sixth's pox gas. They are the trash enemy of this game that comes in hordes, whose purpose is to [[tarpit]] the players. Befitting lore, [[Grimdark|they can be heard periodically begging for help or crying over being forced to observe their body act completely outside of their control whilst out of combat]].
** '''Poxburster:''' Suicide bomber. Think of him as a Boomer from left 4 dead. He not only deals massive damage with his explosion, he also inflict poison that decrease the player's HP. Kill him from afar as soon as possible. Can be detected by the beeping sounds from their bomb.

* '''Moebian Sixth Regiments''' These regiments were known for being the toughest out of all Moebian regiments. However, with a bit of war trauma and a bit of warp power shenanigans, it corrupts them into Nurgle worships, turning them against the Imperium. They now seek to "save" the citizens of '''Atoma''' and its sister worlds by giving them pox gas filled with papa Nurgle's "truth", freeing them from the corpse Emperor's lies... So that Papa Nurgle's can take their place. Also a major source of annoyance as the gas mask wearing shmucks choking on their own blood while dying gets grating on the ears after a while.
** '''Traitor Guards:''' Your typical '''''HERETICAL''''' wall of guns. Smarter than Poxwalkers. Knows how to cover and knows how to shoot your ass. There are two types of them: One that can shoot, and one that hit yo ass with a stick. [[Anal Circumference|The former can spawn in groups of 10 or more at difficulty 3 and higher to light your ass up like it's a campfire]], forcing you to cover-hump and switch from playing 40K [[Vermintide]] to play 40K [[/v/|Call of Duty]] for a time.
*** '''Admonition Cultists:''' Your bog-standard Chaos Cultists dressed in ragged robes and gasmasks. They use low quality weapon like Auto Guns and Stubber. Their Scab Gunner use [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]] instead of [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]]. Possibly only encountered in poorer parts of the hive like the Underhive.
** '''Scab Bomber:''' Think of them as the Spitter/Globadier of this game, but use firebomb to create puddles of flame to burn the player's arse. This raised a question as to why their Bomber didn't chose to use poison gas bomb if the Sixth were going for the pestilence theme army?
** '''Dreg Tox Flamer:''' The Warpfire Thrower of this game. Reasonable that the traitor being Nurgle cultist would choose Tox thrower instead of regular flamer, unlike their choice of Firebomb for their Scab Bomber. Their Tox thrower glow so bright, one could mistake them as some kind of Necron tech (as if any human were capable of wielding it, let alone some fucking low-born heretics. [[Kill Team|Only the inquisition knows how.]])
** '''Scab Trapper:''' The Packmaster/Jockey of this game. Actually, clever than the ratmen since the Trapper use a net gun to capture the players from a far instead of using a long-stick-with-a-hook (aka Man catcher) and isn't wearing a bunch of skulls to warn its targets about the incoming incapacitation.
** '''Scab Gunner:''' The Rattling Gunner of this game, but shoots the players with [[lasgun#Hotshot_Volley_Gun|Hotshot Volley Gun]] instead. accuracy be damned.
** '''Scab Shot Gunner:''' The Berserker/Plague Monks enemies equivalent of this game. Suicidal and deals a lot of damage at close range with their shotgun.
** '''Scab Mauler:''' Literally Mauler from [[Vermintide 2]], but fully armored, tough as nail like chaos warriors (probably more so since it fucking resists power weapon attacks!) and is armed with a two-handed chain-axe.
** '''Scab Sniper:''' Does what it says judging by its name. Their Long-Las ignore player's range shield and dealt a shit ton of damage in one shot from a far against the player and really likes to fucking hide and run. He is the most dangerous when he has his pals to [[tarpit]] for him while he takes his sweet ass time to downing the players' entire team. He can only be spotted by their laser sight. The best way to defend against him is to take cover behind a wall or a structure where he can't shoot, or have someone like a Preacher trap him [[Tau|in melee range where he is the most vulnerable]] so the players could [[rape|take their everlasting revenge against that fucking heretic]].

* '''Mutant:''' Mutants that were enhanced with cybernetics. Inspired by the Charger from left 4 dead whose role is to charge at the player to separate them from their team, then give them a bit ground pounding, followed by throw them even further. It is a pretty big abomination, about the size of an Ogryn, and it is pretty fast and tanky. Hilarious, it copied Chaos Spawn's throwing animation from [[Vermintide 2]]. Liable to choose one target [[Derp|and then run past everyone else to get to it no matter how triggers everyone else are pressing while facing them]], so these probably aren't the kind of Mutants to have a human intellect preserved in their heads.

* '''Pox Hound:''' A straightforward Gutter Runner/Hunter, but not as agile nor stealthy since it likes to bark. It sometimes comes in a squad of 2 or 3 mixed in with hordes. Its bite contains powerful pox that decrease players' HP. It is very fast and tanky so like the Pox Burster, it should be another enemy to be taken out afar. Just like the Mutants [[Derp|they will prioritize their chosen target regardless if the rest of the team is opening fire]].

* '''Chaos Ogryn:''' The Chaos Warriors of this game, but bigger considering Orgryn's abnormal body proportions. Their job is to [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|attract the players' attention and tank as much as possible]]. These tough dumb bastards come in three variants:
** '''Crusher:''' The offensive variant that's armored and armed with great weapon. A classic reminiscent of the Chaos Warriors from [[vermintide 2]].
** '''Bulwark:''' Chaos Bullgryns, the defensive variant that's armed with a [[chainsword]] and a big sturdy shield, but not armored, thankfully. Capable of charge towards the players.
** '''Reaper:''' The ranged variant that will fill the players, the air, and their allies full of lead with their big fucking [[Stubber#Heavy Stubber|Heavy Stubber]]. Think of it as a mobile, meatier version of the Scab Gunner.

* '''Plague Ogryn:''' The first revealed randomly encountered boss of this game. Just a big rotting mutated Ogryn that wants to eat you and stuff you inside its shitty rotten intestine. Pretty much the Rat Ogre/Tank equivalent.

* '''Enforcer:''' Shown in trailer with a plasma pistol. In game he serves as a boss you kill in assassinate missions, has a shield shockingly and will try to smack you around with what looks like either a hammer or chainsword, will call in poxwalkers and traitor guard for support. [[Awesome|Has an absolutely fucking baller song playing while fighting them.]]

==Bosses==

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dwarfs

2022-08-03T16:20:36Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Domination */

{{Topquote|Kazukhan-kazakit-ha! (Look out, the Dwarfs are on the warpath!)|Game battle chant for Dwarfs}}
This is the tactics page for the Total War: Warhammer version of The Dwarfs.

==Why play Dwarfs?==
*Because you want to sit and watch as your enemies are blasted away while coming towards you.
*Cause you're under 5'5 and want '''vengeance''' for all the short jokes.
*You don't want to do too much micro, so an army without much in the way of mobility and cavalry doesn't bother you as much.
*You enjoy having infantry that won't die after being slapped by a wet noodle.
*Slay everything without a beard!!
*FLAMETHROWERS!!!
*SATISFY THE GRUDGE!!!!

===Pros===
*'''Durability''': You are a tank faction. Most of your units are categorized with high armour, melee defense and leadership. Even your tier one and chaff are very tanky compared to counterparts from other factions. This is further supplemented by the innate magic resist many of your units have, which ''slightly'' compensates for your otherwise complete lack of magic. Additionally, with their naturally high leadership, dwarfs do not usually break unless hopelessly outnumbered or if you screw up massively by getting cavalry charged in the rear. Frankly, your units will hold out forever.
**Your magic resistance got nerfed in the third game to ''only'' resist magical spells. Still useful, but now units with magic attacks, I.E Daemons, are going to be way better at cracking you open.
*'''Range''': Guns, guns and more guns! Dwarfs have some of the best blackpowder units in the entire game. Thunderers and Cannons can lay a whooping on anything they are firing on, and their artillery isn't anything to sneer at. Even their non-AP range units are very good for their price, and it's not hard for them to earn their points back as long as they are defended.
*'''If they get close, Nut 'em!''': As if being being one of the best factions at shooting was not enough, their missile units can also hold their own in close quarters better than most.
*'''Airforce''': Gyrocopters with their anti large can get you control over the air, and their ability to kite monsters into oblivion is a good skill to have. Even Gyrobombers have a niche for their blob killing capabilities after recent buffs.
*'''Runes''': Where other races rely on the fickle Winds of Magic, you have your reliable runes. Runes supply surprisingly good buffs and debuffs that can help your army out, making them a great way to make sure your infantry stays in the fight a bit longer. The fact that they aren't limited by a power reserve also means that they'll remain a viable option well into the latter stages of a fight, where other factions might begin to tap out of their mystical power.
*'''Anti-large''': You laugh when the enemy brings big monsters. With all your AP missiles, Anti Large artillery and slayers, you have the one of the easiest times killing monsters out of any faction in the game.
*'''Strong Economy''': It's campaign specific but yeah, it turns out the species who's renowned for being the best at making shit is also one of the best at making money. The resource building chains go up to level IV instead of stopping at level III, you can mass produce Dwarf Beer anywhere. Putting together Doomstacks of Top Tier Dawi troops is easier.
*'''Good for Beginners''': Everyone was just starting once, if you are new to Warhammer Total War or just Total War in general the Dawi are (ironically enough) forgiving. Something like the Wood Elves is fragile and has a limited margin for error, Dwarfs on the other hand have more of a fudge factor in most match ups. Not to say that it's easy mode playing dwarfs, but the likelihood of things going pear shaped in a second is lower.

===Cons===
*'''Lack of Mobility''': With no Cav, monsters and slow infantry, Dwarfs are the least mobile faction in the game. You will spend the majority of the game standing still.
*'''Lack of Magic''': Though your most recent rework makes your runes a damn good alternative, you don't really have magic. This can pose a problem when you face similarly physically durable armies in battle and lack a reliable, magical alternative for damage. Additionally, though you defensively have a 25% resistance to the arcane, many large vortex spells will still sting quite a bit and your complete lack of magical healing means it'll be hard to bounce back from the damage you do take.
*'''Chariots''': Chariots are the bane of a Dwarf players existence. They don't have any real way to lock them down and, as you'd expect, AP anti infantry can really kill what the Dwarfs want to do on the battlefield. Due to the rework to how bracing and knock down works, this isn’t as bad as before, but chariots can still be a problem
*'''Predictability''': Most veteran players know what's going to happen when Dwarfs are picked. They are going to go for a cheap, numerous and sturdy front line and a lot of guns and artillery. This means that Dwarfs are easy to plan for as they only have one real viable tactic. Building an army around fighting Dwarfs is something players from all races know how to do.
*'''Lack of Good Lord Options''': Do you like the Runelord or Thorek? No? Well you better start because in multiplayer they're your only viable options. Grombrindal is an ok duelist but honestly Dwarf lords in general kind of suck. With no mounts and no way to stick to their targets it's hard for them to get anything done. This problem got better with the Twisted and the Twilight due to the changes to knockdown effects, but sticking to targets will still be hard
*'''Hard campaign''': With all the changes to the factions around them, the Dawi have fallen on some pretty hard times. The lifetime of WH2 dotted the landscape around Karaz-A-Karak alone with a huge number of guaranteed enemies that you will have to look out for, with your most reliable allies in the Empire being very far away. The other subfactions don't fare much better and your slow growth seriously hurts your ability to expand, especially when compared with your most dominant enemies, the Greenskins of the Badlands and Clan Mors further down the road.
*'''Bad in Domination''': Turns out your stubby little legs makes it really hard for you to capture objectives. Due to your lack of mobility you can't effectively capture points since other factions can just out race you to them and get more units on them. As such, you're widely considered the weakest faction in Domination.
*'''DLC''': A con for everyone, but fortunately you get off easier than many others. Unfortunately, a couple of your best units, namely Runelords and Rangers, are in fact locked behind DLC and if you want to really use your Dwarfs to the fullest, you'll need to pay the toll.

==Universal Traits==

*'''The Great Book of Grudges''': The fact that the sacred Dammaz Kron went unmentioned on this pages for so long merits an entry on its own. The Book of Grudges documents every slight committed against your faction, including legendary grudges that you start out with. Whenever something bad happens, i.e. you lose a settlement, get raided or a hostile faction repeatedly traspasses on your turf without you allowing it, it merits an entry in the book. These entries can (and will) accumulate over time, and depending on how much your Dorfs disliked the transgression, will vary in severity, which fills up a meter that gives you some penalties and some bonusses. High severity from unresolved Grudges gives you minor public order and research speed penalties, but it also gives all of your armies a charge bonus (since the Dwarfs are so pissed off) and increases the chance of Slayers and Giant Slayers popping up in your Regiments of Renown pool, where they can then be recruited instantly into your armies. Resolving Grudges and Legendary Grudges (such as retaking Karak Eight Peaks as Belegar Ironhammer) also earns you powerful bonusses (Money, Oathgold, small Buffs for the entire faction ) and special Runes.
*'''Oathgold''': The secondary resource of the Dwarfs. Practically identical to the Mortuary Cult of the Tomb Kings, with the key difference being that the Dwarfs can make much more stuff with Oathgold and that the stuff is much more abundant. Oathgold is earned through resolving Grudges, doing missions and quests, Gold Mines and some special buildings such as the Brightstone Mine in Mount Gunbad. Oathgold, combined with trade goods, can be used to create items for your Lords and Heroes, which makes it downright trivial to kit out every single character on the map with some special gizmos to make them really powerful. Oathgold can also be used to make Character and Banner Runes, the former can be applied as equipment to individual characters (with up to 3 individual runes at maximum), the latter functions like Banners that you can give units to give them special bonusses and abilities.
*'''Expert Charge Defense''': Barring Slayers, every single one of your units has Expert Charge Defense, which nullifies charge bonusses and also the momentum of units charging into your staunch line of angry Dwarfs.
*'''Magic Resistance''': Every Dwarf has a built in 25% Magic Resist (Spell Resist in WH3). Consult the main page for WHFB Dwarfs as to why.

==Legendary Lords and Subfactions==
*'''Thorgrim Grudgebearer:''' The high king himself, and the only large non-war machine unit in your roster, as he is carried on a massive throne sled by some burly dwarfs, Thorgrim isn't huge on offence, better than say mid-tier combat lords, but he's mostly just a hard to kill brick of leadership. Dwarfs in range of him just become slightly harder to break, which isn't saying much given their default morale, and he's not easily sniped. This results in him being kind of underwhelming, you know he's not going to die like a bitch, but you also know that he's not exactly going to recoup even a quarter of his cost. Is kind of safe in campaign play for beginners, but Grombrindal is overall superior. - Pass.
*'''Ungrim Ironfist:''' The Slayer King, bane of anything taller than six feet, Ungrim is the opposite of Thorgrim; all offence, with low defence. Ungrim is actually pretty good in terms of being a hero-killer and monster-hunter, he's not going to solo Tyrion or Kroq-Gar, and don't even think of monster lords like Kholek or monstrous mounts such as a Tomb King on a war sphinx, without a unit to bog them down. The problem with Ungrim is that while he can throw hands and live up to his title, he eats a lot of damage for a dwarf, or just in general for a combat lord, he's easy to snipe with massed missiles if caught in the open, and while he can butcher most things sent his way, he'll only be able to do this once or twice in a battle before he's at serious risk of dying. Don't let that 120 armour & unbreakable make you think he's a tank, Ungrim's Melee Defence is quite low for a combat lord, and that low dwarf speed means he can by kited to death. Thorgrim lacks the damage to recoup his cost, Ungrim lacks the defence to recoup his costs. If playing with an ally that has access to Lore of Life he can be kept alive, but you're asking a lot of resources to support the Slayer King. - Pass.
*'''Grombrindal:''' THE WHITE DWARF, Grombrindal doesn't bring anything really special to the table, he's a decent duelist, although lacking the balls-to-the-wall offence of Ungrim Ironfist, Grombrinal is nowhere near as risky for a combat lord. The flashbomb ability can lockdown mobile heroes and give the white dwarf a few easy hits. Doesn't quite bring much for the rest of the army, but is the best legendary lord for cost-benefit tradeoffs. He can fight, he can survive, and he can make the entire army Unbreakable with a reusable map-wide buff. - Niche but competitive in that niche. In Campaign, he is easily the best LL the Dwarfs offer. His blue skill tree affects ''your entire faction'' and the four blessings you can choose every 20 turns (10 after picking a specific skill) are all very powerful, a whopping +25% Research Rate is no joke, as are +10 Melee Attack and Defense for every unit in Grombrindals army.
*'''Belegar Ironhammer:'''(DLC) Belegar is really just a wall, he's harder to kill than Thorgrim as they have comparable stats, but he has a silver shield for 55% missile resistance. That's all. Just an insanely hard to kill lord, sure his offence isn't terrible, being better than Thorgrim's on base stats and a nice buff can be popped to go higher. But honestly you're paying a lot for a lord that won't die, and generally speaking Dwarfs in Total War: Warhammer aren't a faction that is centred around their generals or heroes. No real wizards to throw high-impact spell effects, no mobile heroes that can exploit small gaps to flank units or hunt down supporting pieces like buffers, wizards or artillery crews. The only upshot to taking Belegar's subfaction in multiplayer is getting access the ancestor heroes who are damned hard to kill, but are also the only dwarf units that are scared of magic damage, which can sort of be a mind-games thing because the default assumption to seeing Clan Angrund picked is that ancestor heroes are on the field, so grab some magic damage to delete them, but then seeing that there are no ghost dwarfs means that the magic damage is actually a big waste considering all dwarfs have 25% Magic Resistance. - Pass.
*'''Thorek Ironbrow:'''(FLC): With the rework comes a new LL and Thorek serves this role, being the latest (and most likely last) new contender in the Lustrian Thunderdome in the Vortex Campaign, and starting at the southernmost tip of the map in Karak Zorn on Mortal Empires. He serves as a supercharged Runelord with access to a unique mount that messes quite a bit with enemy spellcasting and improved Runic Magic on his own part. In the campaign, his legendary conservativeness translates into bonusses for "traditional" Dwarfen ranged units like Quarrelers and Grudge Throwers. Not to worry though, since he starts with a Rune of Burning that makes the Catapult projectiles [[Awesome|FUCKING EXPLODE]] and dramatically increases the combat value of Quarrelers in his own Army quite significantly (arguably making them even better than Thunderers). His campaign goal revolves around finding several lost Dwarfen artifacts, which can then be used to craft powerful buffs for your whole faction. [[Derp|He also can make enemy casters explode.]] - Best Multiplayer lord pick.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===
*'''Dwarf Lord:''' No, just no, he suffers from the same issue that the legendary lords suffer from, being too slow. But wait there's more, the generic lord is easier to kill in combat, provides less army support, and does less damage. He's not even the cheapest option to help save costs. I mean he has a shield, but its only bronze. Unless you've got some kind of bet riding on a battle and there's a specific stipulation that you cannot use any other lord, screw the money because he's too crap. That said compared to generic foot lords in other factions he's quite difficult to kill, which is more advice for fighting Dwarf Lords in campaign really. PASS
*'''Runelord:''' (DLC) Yes, yes yes. The one competitive General in multiplayer, the Runelord is just a walking bubble of passive buffs that make your low tier units good, and your good infantry units even better. Has good active abilities, like Master Rune of Oath & Steel which gives +30 armour to all dwarfs in range, or the Rune of Speed which adds 45% speed and 24 melee attack to all dwarfs in range. This is the lord pick that supports the dwarf army, and don't think he's some kind of wizard that dies when someone looks at him funny, while the melee defence is low at 40, the Runelord has the same 120 armour as the other lords, plus up to 35% missile resistance, sharing 20% of that with nearby allies. Slapping him on an Anvil of Doom gives a special ability that causes enemy casters to automatically miscast for minor damage when near him. TL;DR fucks magic, gets buffs. - Good if you want Thorek but a bit cheaper.

===Legendary Heros (Clan Angrund Only)===
All [[Clan Angrund]] has such a strong relationship with their ancestors, they come back as ghosts. like all ghosts, they have a 75% physical resistance instead of magic resistance, With magic attacks, Unbreakable, but no armor and less heath than normal. they have Frear and terror making them good at chasing the enemy off. They themselves are weak to magic attacks, but who takes that much offense magic against dwarfs anyway?

*'''King Lunn Ironhammer:''' is one of the two ghost Thanes, being the offensive one, with slightly more Melee attack than a normal thane.
*'''Halkenhaf Stonebeard:''' the other ghost Thane, being the most defensive of the par with significantly lower melee attack but a very high defense of 65 and silver shield, letting him minge with enemies for a protracted time to proc terror routs.
*'''Throni Ironbrow:''' Mostlickly to take as he is a Runesmith, so someone that needs protection while also being in the front lines.
*'''Dramar Hammerfist:''' the ghost engineer so paying extra for a harder to kill gun lines buffer and better at chasing away those that try to disrupt them.

===Heroes===
*'''Master Engineer:''' Basically a must if you're running more than 2 artillery pieces, buffs artillery, has a decent sniper rifle of his own, not great in a fight with anything beyond hound packs and light cavalry, so don't expect him to be an effective guard for the cannons he's buffing. However if there is another unit nearby casting Entrenchment right before they rout will make the unit hold the line and fight even after being routed. On campaign they also boost your army's mobility. Aaaaaand the Dwarf Rework happened, buffing him even further with the ability of the Vampirate Gunnery Wight to restore lost ammo to artillery pieces for up to five times. Just too good to miss out on if you're bringing a bunch of cannons (and who doesn't, honestly).
*'''Runesmith:''' Basically a squishier version of the Runelord, has many of the same buffs, both passive and active. With the Dwarf rework, these guys have gone from being merely decent to amazing. While utilizing a rune puts every other rune on a shared cooldown, this only applies per caster; having multiple Runesmiths allows you to stack multiple buffs simultaneously or across multiple units without having to wait out the full 60 second global cooldown. They might not necessarily be an auto-include persay, but having one or two of these guys in your army is strongly recommended.
*'''Thane:''' While they still suffer from being slow, Thanes can be used more aggressively than legendary lords. Kit them out with the Rune of Slowness to gimp enemy mobility, or give them the Ironbeard's Ring and coordinate with a source of fire damage: Flame Cannons, Dragonback Slayers, Warriors of Dragonfire Pass, basic Irondrakes, or Brimstone Gyrocopters, all of these will deal serious damage to units inside the debuff aura.

===Infantry===
*'''Miners''': The closest thing to cannon fodder in the Dwarf Roster, miners are cheap AP units. Also give "speed" and breadth to Dawi list by vanguarding.
*'''Dwarf Warriors''': Did you know that a unit of Dwarf Warriors costs 475 gold but can hold against 3 units of Empire Swordsmen, costing 400 gold each, for just over 2 minutes and racking up roughly 90-100 kills before dying/breaking? Dwarf Warriors aren't great, just good, and are very much just a shield wall frontline. Dwarf Warriors are very cost-effective starting units. They will trade positively against most infantry that are tier 1-3 excluding units with high AP values or anti-infantry buffs. Dwarf Warriors aren't the same as elite heavy infantry however, they will break in time, if rear charged, if attacked by great weapon units, if hit with leadership debuffs, or if attacked by characters. This is a unit that buys time for a unit in the second line to get in position to assist, do not assume you can just deploy them as a single line and have artillery sit safely behind them.
**'''Warriors of Dragonfire Pass'''(ROR): Slightly better warriors that deal fire damage in combat, not a guaranteed pick most of the time, but good against any faction that is vulnerable to fire, consider pairing with a Thane carrying Ironbeard's Ring to boost damage.
*'''Dwarf Warriors (Great Weapons)''': You know how Dwarf Warriors can hold frontlines for a time but need a second line unit to assist them, this is cheapest of the second line units. Regular warriors have shields, 40 Melee Defence, and charge defence against large units, Warriors with Great Weapons don't have those defences, they get armour piercing damage which is the kind of offence needed to make up for the vanilla warriors' shortcomings. Don't try and use them as a frontline unit, and replace them when you can with other melee infantry.
*'''Longbeards''': Warriors +1 really, they buff the leadership of other units (it's the generic Encourage passive so no stacking with lords), so consider mixing them with warriors. Cost-wise your mostly paying for better Melee Defence, better Leadership, the leadership aura, and Immune to Psychology compared to vanilla Warriors. A common question is which is better for cost, Longbeards or Warriors, but outside of fighting undead armies that have tons of fear/terror effects, the answer to the question is; use both. While the differences between the two units are obvious in comparison, to the player on the other side of the battlefield it doesn't matter much because a Dwarf line is still a solid formation that is hard to break. Longbeards work good in the wings to buff leadership in the flanks, and having warrior units means you can save gold for more missile units and artillery.
*'''Longbeards (Great Weapons)''': While the difference between shield Warriors and shield Longbeards isn't much, the great weapon variant favours the Longbeards. Being behind the line means you can reposition them to apply their auras and a common occurrence is for fast-moving skirmish infantry to run around the frontline and charge the second line units. GW Longbeards can handle these surprises a lot better than the GW Warriors, but on the other hand, you may not be deploying wide enough to need the aura effects, in which case the Warriors can save you gold.
**'''The Grumbling Guard'''(ROR): Not too bad, stat wise its a bit more armour & melee attack, 10 more leadership, and 13 more Melee Defence, which puts them at a whopping 51 Melee Defence. You don't get any improved damage output with these guys, instead you get an ability that replenishes 9% of vigour for them and nearby allies. This may not sound like much, but fatigue debuffs are crippling for units, and Dwarfs rely on grinding things out so even a small vigour buff to some units is good even if it just moves them from exhausted to very tired. But wait, this ability has infinite uses and a low cooldown so spam it away. While Hammerers do the same job but better, the Grumbling Guard are fantastic for keeping Ironbreakers in better condition than their enemies.
*'''Slayers''': Slayers are kind of weird. They're unbreakable, quick (for a Dwarf), hit hard, and do a lot of damage with no consideration to survivability. This means that they can seriously fuck up higher-tier units but on the same time are vulnerable to cannon fodder. It does not matter if you're a crappy goblin with a crappy spear, it's getting through a Slayer's hide as much as a Chosen's Daemonforged Axe. When using Slayers, hold them back so that other units, especially ones with charge defense, take the brunt of the charge before moving the slayers to counter-attack, and while it might cost you the charge bonus, having them attack through the buffer unit really improves the lifespan of your slayers (Probably much to their chagrin). Note that if you ever leave them in the open, missile units just have to imagine shooting them to wipe the unit, which is an expensive mistake. Also a definite must take against vampire counts and Tomb Kings with all their fear effects but do not ever think about using them against Vampire Pirates because they will get shot to pieces before any fear/terror units get close for the unbreakable to matter. Also, leave them at home against Wood Elves, or if you have fore-knowledge that your opponent likes horse-archer tactics.
*With the Dwarf rework that dropped together with Thorek Ironbrow, they went from terrible in Single Player to a pretty good choice for the early game, since you can now recruit them anywhere as long as your grudge meter is up. It also makes unlimited Slayer Doomstacks lead by Ungrim Ironfist a terrifying sight to behold.
**'''Dragonback Slayers'''(ROR): Slayers with better MA & MD, and they get physical resistance on top of the shield defense. The real value comes with their passive that activates in melee, it gives them fire damage, fire resistance, and applies slow debuff and the flammable trait for weakness to fire (doesn't stack if the enemy already has the flammable trait, but will stack with other effects of a different name that reduce fire resistance). The physical resist, slow debuff and the combo of fire damage and flammable debuff makes this unit a generally better pick over vanilla slayers, note that they do not get the fire resistance outside of combat so getting hit by flaming missiles outside of combat will hurt, the lore of fire spells are still subject to dwarf magic resistance though.
*'''Giant Slayers''': These are just super slayers, too costly to run a lot of. They will instantly blend light cavalry units like Marauder Horsemen or Ellyrian Reavers that dare to charge them, not that you should be using them to counter these units, it's just funny to see happen. Giant Slayers are basically Ungrim Ironfist as many Dwarfs instead of one. What they don't kill will be pretty close to death. Cannon fodder might counter slayers, but Giant Slayers dish out enough melee damage that you only need to worry about elite infantry and high mass units charging them. More vulnerable to shooting as they don't get the missile defense that Slayers get, these guys are expensive but do the job. Not recommended as a staple unit in army builds due to their cost, but good to pick if you're against monster or cavalry heavy armies.
*'''Hammerers''': Your well-armored, AP Damage dealing elite Dwarfs, not the same tank as a Longbeard but will deal serious AP damage. They have two major problems, though: First is the issue that they are not as tanky as their ungodly pricetag might suggest, the second and far worse one is that they are more of an offensive unit meant to break through enemy lines - in a faction whose entire shtick is turtle up and grind it out. In practice they often fall flat because they bring neither the tankiness of Ironbreakers that makes them withstand charges from Black Orcs, Swordmasters and the like, nor do they have the speed and offensive power needed to compete with units they are supposed to go toe to toe with, demoting them to mere chaff clearing duty, for which you have far more efficient options for. It's best to not bother them, sadly.
**Peak Gate Guard(ROR): The ultimate anti-armor unit, they go through heavily armored units like swordsmen through skavenslaves and then let other Dawi also participate in the fun.

===Ranged Infantry===
*'''Thunderers''': Like Empire handgunners, but you don't need to babysit them as much. A very useful unit even in the lategame that won't break the bank.
*'''Irondrakes:''' Where the fun begins. Ridiculously high damage output, solidly armoured. Need positioning to work right, but will absolutely demolish anything that you point them at. Their flamethrowers are considered artillery so they cannot be blocked by shields and inflict morale penalty upon anything they hit. They are surprisingly strong in melee against infantry if not deployed in a thin line because the back row can use their flamethrowers at point-blank, but not against cavalry as they'll pierce till the back row.
**'''The Skolder Guard'''(ROR): Replaces Lava for Steam to be an anti-armor unit. Much tougher than an Irondrakes with Physical resistance which is nice to have when the enemy gets a sneaky charge. They will multch full-plate units quickly given they have an even faster reload speed but watch out as you will also burn through their limited ammunition just as quickly. Against enemies with less armor you're better off using regular Irondrakes.
*'''Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedo)''': the Anti large version of the Irondrakes, having rocket launchers instead of Flammers. Often times Irondrakess can just melt through the armor of most things they are pointed at, sometimes they are Calvary or monsters that have enough armor to shrug off that current of magma.

===Combined Infantry===
*'''Quarrellers''': Boring but practical. Like dwarf warriors, they're able to trade shots with the tier 1 ranged units of pretty much every other faction and winning. They also come with armor piercing, which makes them a budget option for shooting stuff like chaos warriors. However, they do less DPS per gold spent than similar units like empire crossbowmen and darkshards.
*'''Quarrellers (Great Weapons)''': Similar to Quarrelers, except they give up shields in exchange for armor-piercing melee weapons. Won't win much in close combat, but they'll take down more enemies before they're overwhelmed, particularly against squishy units like harpies.
*'''Miners (Blasting Charges)''': take that Cheap miner, then give them a single volley for bomb-throwing. Each model only gets one bomb, so make it count. Turn off ''Fire at Will'' and select the targets manually. A well-thrown Blasting Charge will decimate most charging infantry.
**'''Ekrund Miners'''(ROR): A regiment that Gets 3 Blasting Charges instead of 1. Depending on how well you managed them, that's paying less gold then recruiting 3 Blasting Charge Miners which matter very much in the gold restricted multiplayer.
*'''Ironbreakers''': The fact that Ironbreakers are one of the toughest units in the game would make them a key part of a Dawi late game army. Add to that blasting charges and you have something which can stomp most other infantry into the ground, blowing away a quarter of their hitpoints and ruining their charge before finishing off the survivors. Their only downside is that their damage in hand to hand is not that great, but that's what thunderers, slayers and artillery is for.
**'''Norgrimlings Ironbreakers''':(ROR) Even better Ironbreakers, With bigger model size (so more bombes and unit health), a faster throwing arm, Vanguard, and Immune to Psychology. Overall a more powerful unit that can holds back the hords for longer while dealing more casualties.
*'''Rangers''': Sneaky Dwarf Quarrellers getting Vanguard and Stalk for a surprise Dwarf ambush. They have better speed to help with positioning and catching enemies at least when compared to other Dawi. They're armour is pretty good for most armies, but among Dwarfs they're on the lower end of defenses.
*'''Rangers (Great Weapons)''': Ranger equivalent of Quarrellers(Great Weapons) with one key difference; unlike the great weapon Quarreler the Rangers give up their crossbows entirely in favor of shorter ranged, higher AP throwing axes. Surprise AP flanking is a thing any Dwarf list could ask for. Keep in mind that each dwarf only carries 8 axes, so they'll run out much quicker than other rangers. Once they run out of throwing axes they become a decent anti-armour skirmishing unit, although they're low defense means they need to chose their opponents carefully.
**'''Ulthar's Raiders'''(ROR) a unit your should be more careful with than just normal Rangers with Great Weapons, as they get the [[Witch Hunter]]'s ability to Mark a unit for death. You do get a fair amount of range despite having only infantry speed, being able to strip an enemy of a lot of their protection they had against ranged weapons. Good take if your using a Focus fire strategy, assuming your can keep the Raiders safe while making back their cost.
*'''Bugman's Rangers''' Surprisingly not a ROR. Improved Rangers, having the regenerative and drunkenness properties of Bugman's liquid courage. they are better at fighting off harassers while their improved shooting and HP recovery help them win archer fights. These are to Rangers as Longbeards are to Warriors: a straight upgrade assuming you can afford it. In MP, they can last longer without support and work best if you're good at micro. If not, you're probably better just leaving them at home in favor of more units of regular rangers.

===Cavalry===
Does not exist. See Slayers, Rangers and Air Units if you want something fast, you beardling.

===Artillery===
*'''Bolt Thrower:''' Your cheaper anti-large Artillery. More accurate and shoots faster than a cannon, but outclassed by them in splash and penetration power. Best used to take out elite cavalry and monsters in the early campaign.
*'''Grudge Thrower''': Your first artillery unit. Fills a role like an Empire Mortar as a long-range anti-infantry weapon giving it has the largest radius of splash damage on impact.
**'''Gob-Lobber (Grudge Thrower)(ROR)''': Like the Grudge Thrower, but better. Also has live Goblins bolted to the projectiles. Causes morale penalties to targets, which stacks with the penalty for being hit by artillery.
*'''Cannon:''' Your classic artillery. Slow to fire but harder to dodge, best used as an Anti-large weapon while also killing models in high armor units, through can have difficulties hitting if the enemy zigzags too much like most Artillery units.
*'''Organ Gun:''' An effective horse begone tool, with good armor piercing and a tone of cannon balls flying everywhere, cavalry will quickly and efficiently die off in droves as your foe rages, if there’s no cav to shoot then this things good for pulping infantry and can do a decent job at eliminating chariots.
*'''Flame Cannon''' Jack-of-all-trades artillery. Great area damage to deal with blobs of infantry and while it doesn't cause AP damage its base damage is high enough that it doesn't matter.

===Air Units===
The closest thing to "cavalry". Flying Bombers. Fill a role as the fast-moving guns to shoot at enemy flanks and drop anti-infantry bombs. the rotor blades can also dish out a good amount of melee damage but having almost no melee defense makes them relatively fragile despite having high armor. They are often safe in the air but keep them away from other flyers and AP missiles. Despite this, they are absurdly fast having speed in the 200s to run from most problems (only Pegasus Knights or Hawk Riders could catch them without nets or debuffs). To use effectively will require some mico.

*'''Gyrobomber:''' Your dedicated bomber and sacrifice other aspects to be best at that. As a single mobile dedicated to hovering over infantry to drop annihilating bombs multiple times during a game, they obviously require the most micromanagement. A well placed carpet bombing can absolutely devastate the enemy frontline, and its machine gun can put out Ratling-Gun levels of DPS on a much more mobile platform.
Important to note that on small unit scale the gyrobombers bombs are not reduced in damage. so one gyrobomber becomes an army-shredding machine on that unit scale. and putting 2-3 or even more in every army will be an auto-win for the campaign
**'''Skyhammer(ROR)''': Drops cluster bombs so be aware that the damaged area is greater than the marker shows. Basically the Dwarfs answer to big aoe magic to obliterate chaff and elite units alike.
*'''Gyrocopter:''' Your anti-infantry skirmishers, shooting and bombing out those enemy gunners and artillery that though safe so far in the back. Also good at harassing the harassers that thought they could run a circle around the slowly pivoting Dawi gun lines.
*'''Gyrocopter (Brimstone Gun):''' Switches from general anti-infantry to majority AP damage to harass and focus down targets with more armor. Generally speaking, superior in almost every way to regular Gyrocopters. Fire damage puts a serious dent in units with regeneration (and Wood Elves) and the lower base damage is negliable when you take AP into consideration.

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Dwarfs are one of the most unique factions in the game battle wise with an utter lack of mobility and magic and focusing everything on tanky infantry that can deal decent damage and powerful guns and artillery. Unfortunately for them, this uniqueness means that unless you're fighting other Dwarfs you don't have any balanced match ups against other races. Against some you have a clear, obvious advantage and tend to stomp and against others they give you swirlies in the bathroom for your lunch money. This is why most competitive players think they're one of the best counterpick factions as you can avoid your bad match ups and play in a favorable situation. Anyway, here's how you can satisfy the grudge against the other races:

*'''Beastmen''': A rush faction, Beastmen will have a hell of a time against you if you play your cards right. Their complete lack of armor leaves them quite vulnerable to Thunderer fire on the approach and Bolt Throwers can slice through Minotaurs and Cygors with relative ease. Keep a solid screen of staunch Dwarf Warriors between your ranged units and the enemy and bring (Giant) Slayers to turn the Bestigor and Centigor Herds into ground beef.

*'''Bretonnia''': The peasantry of the Bretonnians can safely be ignored (except Foot Squires, after their buffs they can actually fuck you up pretty good), as they'll struggle to do anything to your heavy armor. Instead, you'll want to focus on bringing down their armored cavalry, particularly the Grail Knights and Grail Guardians leading the charges into you. Trollhammer Irondrakes serve fantastically as a powerful Horse-B-Gone tool and your Giant Slayers can chunk through most of their cavalry so long as they're not the ones receiving the initial charge. Bolt Throwers are, again, a powerful tool to use while the Bretonnian cav is on the approach. Just make sure that you keep your flanks thoroughly secure.

*'''Daemons of Chaos''': Expect khorne furies and a mostly slaanesh-roster. see slaanesh's guide below on how to deal with this. the good news is that since daemons of chaos don't have access to greater daemon lords you 'might' be able to deal with their hero-class lord. But this is mostly a full pain matchup for you due to the access to the slaanesh roster daemons have.

*'''Chaos Warriors''': For Grungni's sake, keep your distance! Chaos Warriors are as tough as you are and hit harder in melee. Stock up on thunderers and cannons, and bring some great weapon fighters to finish them off. Slayers can help as long as you're careful to make sure the enemy can't hit back. Keep your eyes out for flanking cavalry and chariots, and pray to the gods you can shoot those heathens before they reach your lines!

*'''Dark Elves''': This is a really tricky matchup for you; Dark Elves are fast and bring absurd AP damage in melee and at a range. Your biggest advantage is your superior range and you'll need to lean on it heavily to stand a chance. Grab cannons, grudge throwers, rangers, and quarrelers and hope to Grungi you can shoot them down before they get close enough to return the favor.

*'''Dwarfs''': Hopefully you have a general idea on the strengths of this faction, you're playing as them! Anti-Armor, full stop. Organ Guns, take the Skolder Guard and bring some Hammerers to crack open your opponent's can.

*'''Empire''': The Empire can be a tricky one because they're almost as good at artillery as you are while also having good cavalry and skirmishers. You'll need to stock up on gyrobombers to disrupt their flanking cavalry and slayers to take out their knights. Irondrakes can also work well at deleting any aggressive demigryphs or knights. Beyond that, you should double down on your strengths and keep your artillery safe; the human lines will break before yours do.

*'''Greenskins''': As satisfying as it is to bury an axe in a greenskins skull, your better off dealing with these guys from a distance. Quarrelers and rangers are your friends here; quantity is as important as quality when fending off a green tide. Organ Guns and Cannons will be better at dealing with monsters than your slayers, you don't want to send unarmoured units against Arachnarok Spiders or Rogue Idols. Don't forget your irondrakes and/or your flame cannons, they can melt down anything from goblins to stone trolls. And keep your flanks protected from chariots and pump-wagons, they can wreak havoc on your lines and just ruin your day.

*'''Grand Cathay''': This is another instance of a faction that does what you do, only a hell of a lot worse. Yeah, you won't have to worry too much about these guys when they show up. Your missile boxes beat their missile boxes, their Cav is subpar and will get eaten by Slayers, and the only AP infantry that they have is Anti Large, which you don't have. Box up, get some cannons and Quarrelers, sit back and enjoy some Bugmans as the Cathayans desperately try to figure out how the fuck they're getting into your backline. Yes they do have their own little airforce, but do you really think Umgi inventions can compete with Dawi Gyrocopters? No. If they bring Sky Junks send some Gyrocopters after them to pick them down. This faction might get more scary as DLC comes out, but for now this should be an easy win as long as you know what you're doing.

*'''High Elves''': Don't let the War of the Beard fool you, this will be one of your hardest match ups. High Elves have a lot of things that threaten you, but the things to fear the most would be their Chariots, Mages, White Lions and <s>Sisters of Averlorn</s> (they do magic damage so their AP isn't as useful as you think). Seriously, any High Elf player who knows what they're doing is going to spam White Lions and it is going to SUCK. Your best bet is to spam either Gyrocopters or Cannons and spread the field. Force the High Elves to have to either attack your artillery emplacements one at a time, allowing your others to fire freely, or use your air power and artillery to spread them apart and pick off pockets. Hammerers also have a niche in this match up because they beat White Lions pretty hard one on one and with support from guns or chaff they can go toe to toe with Swordmasters (Though don't count on that). Of course, these plans aren't perfect. There's a 99% chance they will bring Alarielle for Tempest and heals to deal with Gyros and they have plenty of mobility to get at your cannons to give the White Lions time to get in. Sadly this is one of those match ups where even if you bring the most optimized Anti Elgi list possible, there's still a pretty decent chance you'll lose. Avoid this match up if you can.

*'''Khorne''': It's Khorne, c'mon. Warriors of chaos with somehow even less ranged and even killier once they reach your front lines. Bring plenty of armor-piercing infantry and ranged. If you want to live, protect your artillery from Khorne's furies and calvary.

*'''Kislev''': Kislev's big weakness is that their ranged firepower is also their melee power due to hybrid units and while this seems great at first glance they sacrifice both elements to have the other. Your artillery and ranged firepower will dump all over kislev, your biggest concern are war bears and sleds to which you should apply slayers. focus down the wizards and you'll out-brutalise kislev in good time.

*'''Lizardmen''': Lizardmen are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, you can scoff at all the skinks as they ping impotently off of your armor (unless they're the Red-Crested variety). On the other, Saurus are just as stubborn as you are and will take days to chew through without good AP. Bring some Hammerers to eek out an advantage in the inevitable grindfest you'll end up in. Take advantage of the Lizardmen's dearth of ranged firepower and massacre their forces with Irondrakes and Thunderers while your Dwarf Warriors hold their front line at bay. You have excellent anti-monster units in the form of your Giant Slayers who absolutely will butcher any big dinosaur thrown into your ranks so long as you have some chaff to help trap and soak the damage the beasties can toss about. Though Skinks will largely prove a minor nuisance at best to a majority of your forces, you will ''definitely'' want to screen your (Giant) Slayers from the Skirmishing variety. Key players to watch out for are going to be the Slann Mage-Priests, Skink Priests and Kroxigors. Slann, especially fire/high slann and Heavens Skink Priests can wreak utter havoc upon your forces with the myriad of vortex spells they can toss out like candy from a parade float and they should absolutely be prioritized if you find them on the field. (Sacred) Kroxigors, if fielded, are surprisingly vicious anti-infantry monsters and will bowl over a majority of the infantry they're pointed at. Giant Slayers and Trollhammer Irondrakes serve as a solid counter, but you'll still want to swamp the Kroxigors in chaff to mitigate the damage they deal in turn.

*'''Norsca''': This is an easy fight for you. All of that monster hunting anti-large equipment the Norscans bring is going to fly right over your head as you bury your axes in their unarmoured pecs. Bring plenty of cannons and bolt throwers to shoot down enemy mammoths and bring some irondrakes to shoot down anything else. Norscans are usually unarmoured, so you can trade your thunderers for quarrelers for the better range. Stick to the basics and you'll do fine.

*'''Nurgle''': Holy shit, a faction that might actually be slower than you! And it seems like you will have a hefty advantage as they don't really have a lot of ways to stop your artillery. The biggest thing you will probably have to worry about is their air force, and Furies and Rotflies will be gunning for that back line. Keep some slayers near your guns and get ready to surround them if they try to land. After that you just got to deal with Nurgle's rush of Plaguebearers and Nurglings, and I hope you're ready for nothing to ever die ever because that's likely what is gonna happen when Dawi and Nurgle clash. On the ground, Plague Toads and Pox Riders will likely be your biggest threat with their anti-infantry, but they're also big models so guns and slayers should do the trick. Expect a Herald as the commander, and if he's dumb enough to bring a Great Unclean One, laugh and shoot it to pieces. With the new debuffs fire damage does to healing it might also be wise to break out the Irondrakes and Flame Cannons -- you'll have plenty of time to lob napalm at those shambling hordes of Plaguebearers.

*'''ogre kingdoms''': this match is either gonna be your easiest or your hardest, this comes down to the skill of you, the ogre player and what units you brought to the table, the ogres have massive charge bonuses, but a lot of your units have charge defense, however unlike other factions the ogres will only lose half due to their ogre charge trait, the biggest threat the ogres bring to you is there artillery, if you let it be, it will reap a devasting toll on your infantry, the good news is however, it that with the exception of leadbelchers, all there artillery are single model, have your cannons and gyrocopters focus them down and your good to go, or so you would think, besides the gnoblers, ogres are all monster units which means two things, one is that your artillery and slayers will have a field day but two is that there shockingly fast speed means there gonna out run you and try to out maneuver you at every opportunity, your army should be a good balance of longbeards or if your pinching penny's dwarf warriors, they all have charge defense and can help hold the charging balls of lubber back, this is one of the match up where having a ton of slayers is a good thing and stack up on them to defend your back lines and cut the ogres down to size, your artillery should consist of 2, maybe 3 cannons to take out artillery and thin there numbers, irondrakes with trollhammer torpedo's won't be a bad call but they are on the pricey end, besides some of their units, bring at least 2 or simply 1 unit of thunderers at most because a lot of their stuff is unarmored, you main missile troop should be quarrelers, there cheap and will have a good time turning ogres into pin-cushions and are strong enough to fend off sabertusks, you cannon priority should look something like this, artillery units (iron blasters first, then leadbelchers), stonehorns and finally everything else, this is the sole match up where you don't bother bringing miners with blasting charges, the only thing theyll have an effect on is gnoblars and strictly that, which is a waste of cash and will earn you a grudge for being wasteful, now get out there and strike out some grudges agaisnt the fat bastards!

*'''Skaven''': This is probably the closest we'll get to a 40k-esque matchup (you know, aside the irony of neither the [[Squats|Dwarfs]] or Skaven being in that setting). Between your guns and artillery and their guns and artillery, most of the damage either of you will be dealing to each other will be done from afar. A majority of the Skaven infantry is quite helpless against your frontline infantry, but you'll have a hell of a time pinning anything down with the Skaven's quicker movement speeds. Grudge Throwers are going to be king against most Skaven infantry builds while Bolt Throwers or Cannons should be fielded to snipe any Warp-Lighting Cannons, Plagueclaw Catapults or Hellpit Abominations they have downfield. Warplock Jezails will be a priority target to focus fire down, as are Warpfire Throwers and Poison Wind Globadiers should they start getting too close. Aside utilizing their missile units against them, Skaven have absolutely no aerial presence, meaning your Gyrocopters will have virtually free reign to gun down rats at will.

*'''Slaanesh''': A bad day for you all around. It's become apparent that if you're unlucky enough to run into slaanesh you're going to want to forego ranged firepower almost entirely, miners with blasting charges and ironbreakers will trade efficiently, maybe a safety pick of thunderers to deal with a keeper of secrets but AP on everything,furies,spawn and chariots will just pulverise your formations in one of the most one-sided setups in the game right now.

*'''Tomb Kings''': The good news is that Tomb Kings don't like fire, and you have fire aplenty. Brimstone Gun-equipped gyrocoptors are your fastest fire-delivery system, but irondrakes and flame-cannons are useful as well. The bad news is that you don't like chariots, and they have chariots aplenty. Use every trick you can to soften up the chariots before they hit your lines; but it's unlikely you'll be able to stop them all. Grab some giant slayers to finish off the ones that survive your barrage and hope it's enough to keep them down. Tomb Kings infantry is no match for you, so you should build your army against their monsters and chariots.

*'''Tzeentch''': Ooh, here is somebody that's going to hate you. Tzeentch units are squishy and their ranged units only have middling range and are better for kiting. He also has no artillery other than Soul Grinders, few big monsters outside of Lords of Change, and relies heavily on spamming spells to activate their army abilities. Bring a Runelord or Thorek on an Anvil of Doom and laugh as their casters explode. Otherwise, pound them into dust with artillery, as they have few answers to an army with better range than them. Just guard the back line against Furies and Doom Knights.

*'''Vampire Coast''': The most common Vampire Coast strategy is to bunker up with a large number of cheap ranged units and heavy artillery. If that sounds familiar it's because it's the same thing you like to do, you're just better at it. Bring plenty of cannons and some slayers to deal with the enemy monsters (hint: kill the necrofex colossi first). Once the big monsters have been dealt with the pirates are basically just an inferior version of you, clumps of quarrelers and thunderers are plenty to take down the zombies. And remember not to bunker up too tightly; you may have magic resistance but Winds of Death will still hurt.

*'''Vampire Counts''': Virtually nothing that makes up the rank and file of the Vampire Counts will pose a significant threat to you. Skeletons and Zombies will only serve to slow down your already plodding advance and only deal any meaningful "damage" to you simply by sponging your limited ranged firepower meant for something else. The only standard units that you'll find yourself at a significant disadvantage against will be the Cairn and Hex Wraiths, given your general lack of magical damage. You'll want to engage them with missile attacks for maximum effect and make sure that you are braced for their charges. The main thing you should be focused on taking down will be the Lords and Heroes leading the army; without them, the undead hordes will quickly fall apart (literally). They also pose the single biggest threat to everything you have, as their Lore of Death casters can delete swathes of your army with a single well placed cast if you are positioned carelessly.

*'''Wood Elves''': Wood Elves are an extremely annoying foe who are fundamentally the exact opposite of you. Their infantry can run circles around yours and they can deal frightening amounts of damage against their intended targets, but you'll snap their twiggy spines if you whip 'em with your beards. In general, you're going to be engaged in a very tedious game of "keep away", where the Wood Elves are going to be dancing just outside of your reach while their Glade Guard and Waywatchers pepper you with AP arrows and occasionally test your flanks for weaknesses via Wild Rider/Great Stag Knight cycle charges. Fortunately, you do have a couple tools the elves don't: Artillery. Grudge Throwers excel against WE infantry and can discourage them from trying to camp too far away while Bolt Throwers and Flame Cannons will make mince-meat of the cavalry/forest spirits that may try to break through your lines. Speaking of forest spirits, irondrakes will ''incinerate'' them. Slayers also help against the bigger tree spirits in theory, but the range power the wood elves bring make them a dicey proposition. As far as their melee infantry options are concerned, the only ones that majorly threaten you are the Bladesingers; their anti-armor magical attacks will scythe through your armor will jaw-dropping speed. Use Thunderers to soften them up on the charge then use Slayers to cut them down swiftly.

===Domination===
General Tier Rank: '''F'''

You are just SO FUCKING SLOW. You opponent is going to get to the point first, no question about it and most armies have plenty of ways to roadblock you in order to stop you from getting on them. While few factions will be able to contest you in a head on charge for the midpoint, once they start going for the side points you will have no way to out contest them. Important to note that there are some maps that you won't get completely dumpstered automatically. The more choke points that are on a map, the better it is for you because then the enemy will be more forced to try to take you head on instead of just avoid direct contact with you in an attempt to cap more points. However, even then there's no way you can outmaneuver your enemy unless they fall asleep at their computer out of boredom. Don't play Dwarfs in Domination until they get some major buffs, a DLC, or rework that will help them move around the map better.

However if you still decide to stay committed to playing dwarfs, the general tip is seize two caps at least and have a squadron of gyrocopters and bombers to harass the foe, ironbreakers are king here, jam them on a point and laugh as your opponent struggles to get them off, rangers and miners are key here as they are the only units with vanguard deployment (this includes the ROR ironbreakers) to delay the foe by brawling with them as your slower units get into position or to reinforce your troops if needed, slayers are necessary here as besides gyrocopters, their the fastest thing you got, bring along 3, 4 if needed, to both delete cav or monsters too big for their britches and do aforementioned delaying tactics, for artillery, on smaller maps, organ guns and flame cannons will be an excellent infantry/cavalry begone tool for clearing out points that are infested with enemy troops, as per the norm, bring a cannon to deal with enemy artillery and snipe monsters regardless of the map size, on longer maps, the grudge-thrower will be a much better alternative for clearing out points, but organ guns and flame cannons are a good deterrent for defending points, as they’ll delete blobs, just make sure there safe from enemy cav and flyers, however the one weakness as listed above, is your slowness, you need to be smart if you want to consistently win domination as dwarfs, assume a box formation as units in said shape, turn about faster and thus let them react to threats flanking around or move to different points faster if it’s necessary (keep in mind, it does not increase movement speed, it just hastens how fast they turn), while it is vulnerable to artillery fire, your cannons should already be firing at said artillery, follow this guide somewhat well and proceed to wipe every smug grin off with an axe, show every YouTuber good or otherwise how wrong they were as you strike out grudges and get vengeance for every domination tier list that put you in F tier!

===Campaign Strategies===

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dwarfs

2022-07-23T17:42:37Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Multiplayer Strategies */

{{Topquote|Kazukhan-kazakit-ha! (Look out, the Dwarfs are on the warpath!)|Game battle chant for Dwarfs}}
This is the tactics page for the Total War: Warhammer version of The Dwarfs.

==Why play Dwarfs?==
*Because you want to sit and watch as your enemies are blasted away while coming towards you.
*Cause you're under 5'5 and want '''vengeance''' for all the short jokes.
*You don't want to do too much micro, so an army without much in the way of mobility and cavalry doesn't bother you as much.
*You enjoy having infantry that won't die after being slapped by a wet noodle.
*Slay everything without a beard!!
*FLAMETHROWERS!!!
*SATISFY THE GRUDGE!!!!

===Pros===
*'''Durability''': You are a tank faction. Most of your units are categorized with high armour, melee defense and leadership. Even your tier one and chaff are very tanky compared to counterparts from other factions. This is further supplemented by the innate magic resist many of your units have, which ''slightly'' compensates for your otherwise complete lack of magic. Additionally, with their naturally high leadership, dwarfs do not usually break unless hopelessly outnumbered or if you screw up massively by getting cavalry charged in the rear. Frankly, your units will hold out forever.
**Your magic resistance got nerfed in the third game to ''only'' resist magical spells. Still useful, but now units with magic attacks, I.E Daemons, are going to be way better at cracking you open.
*'''Range''': Guns, guns and more guns! Dwarfs have some of the best blackpowder units in the entire game. Thunderers and Cannons can lay a whooping on anything they are firing on, and their artillery isn't anything to sneer at. Even their non-AP range units are very good for their price, and it's not hard for them to earn their points back as long as they are defended.
*'''If they get close, Nut 'em!''': As if being being one of the best factions at shooting was not enough, their missile units can also hold their own in close quarters better than most.
*'''Airforce''': Gyrocopters with their anti large can get you control over the air, and their ability to kite monsters into oblivion is a good skill to have. Even Gyrobombers have a niche for their blob killing capabilities after recent buffs.
*'''Runes''': Where other races rely on the fickle Winds of Magic, you have your reliable runes. Runes supply surprisingly good buffs and debuffs that can help your army out, making them a great way to make sure your infantry stays in the fight a bit longer. The fact that they aren't limited by a power reserve also means that they'll remain a viable option well into the latter stages of a fight, where other factions might begin to tap out of their mystical power.
*'''Anti-large''': You laugh when the enemy brings big monsters. With all your AP missiles, Anti Large artillery and slayers, you have the one of the easiest times killing monsters out of any faction in the game.
*'''Strong Economy''': It's campaign specific but yeah, it turns out the species who's renowned for being the best at making shit is also one of the best at making money. The resource building chains go up to level IV instead of stopping at level III, you can mass produce Dwarf Beer anywhere. Putting together Doomstacks of Top Tier Dawi troops is easier.
*'''Good for Beginners''': Everyone was just starting once, if you are new to Warhammer Total War or just Total War in general the Dawi are (ironically enough) forgiving. Something like the Wood Elves is fragile and has a limited margin for error, Dwarfs on the other hand have more of a fudge factor in most match ups. Not to say that it's easy mode playing dwarfs, but the likelihood of things going pear shaped in a second is lower.

===Cons===
*'''Lack of Mobility''': With no Cav, monsters and slow infantry, Dwarfs are the least mobile faction in the game. You will spend the majority of the game standing still.
*'''Lack of Magic''': Though your most recent rework makes your runes a damn good alternative, you don't really have magic. This can pose a problem when you face similarly physically durable armies in battle and lack a reliable, magical alternative for damage. Additionally, though you defensively have a 25% resistance to the arcane, many large vortex spells will still sting quite a bit and your complete lack of magical healing means it'll be hard to bounce back from the damage you do take.
*'''Chariots''': Chariots are the bane of a Dwarf players existence. They don't have any real way to lock them down and, as you'd expect, AP anti infantry can really kill what the Dwarfs want to do on the battlefield. Due to the rework to how bracing and knock down works, this isn’t as bad as before, but chariots can still be a problem
*'''Predictability''': Most veteran players know what's going to happen when Dwarfs are picked. They are going to go for a cheap, numerous and sturdy front line and a lot of guns and artillery. This means that Dwarfs are easy to plan for as they only have one real viable tactic. Building an army around fighting Dwarfs is something players from all races know how to do.
*'''Lack of Good Lord Options''': Do you like the Runelord or Thorek? No? Well you better start because in multiplayer they're your only viable options. Grombrindal is an ok duelist but honestly Dwarf lords in general kind of suck. With no mounts and no way to stick to their targets it's hard for them to get anything done. This problem got better with the Twisted and the Twilight due to the changes to knockdown effects, but sticking to targets will still be hard
*'''Hard campaign''': With all the changes to the factions around them, the Dawi have fallen on some pretty hard times. The lifetime of WH2 dotted the landscape around Karaz-A-Karak alone with a huge number of guaranteed enemies that you will have to look out for, with your most reliable allies in the Empire being very far away. The other subfactions don't fare much better and your slow growth seriously hurts your ability to expand, especially when compared with your most dominant enemies, the Greenskins of the Badlands and Clan Mors further down the road.
*'''Bad in Domination''': Turns out your stubby little legs makes it really hard for you to capture objectives. Due to your lack of mobility you can't effectively capture points since other factions can just out race you to them and get more units on them. As such, you're widely considered the weakest faction in Domination.
*'''DLC''': A con for everyone, but fortunately you get off easier than many others. Unfortunately, a couple of your best units, namely Runelords and Rangers, are in fact locked behind DLC and if you want to really use your Dwarfs to the fullest, you'll need to pay the toll.

==Universal Traits==

*'''The Great Book of Grudges''': The fact that the sacred Dammaz Kron went unmentioned on this pages for so long merits an entry on its own. The Book of Grudges documents every slight committed against your faction, including legendary grudges that you start out with. Whenever something bad happens, i.e. you lose a settlement, get raided or a hostile faction repeatedly traspasses on your turf without you allowing it, it merits an entry in the book. These entries can (and will) accumulate over time, and depending on how much your Dorfs disliked the transgression, will vary in severity, which fills up a meter that gives you some penalties and some bonusses. High severity from unresolved Grudges gives you minor public order and research speed penalties, but it also gives all of your armies a charge bonus (since the Dwarfs are so pissed off) and increases the chance of Slayers and Giant Slayers popping up in your Regiments of Renown pool, where they can then be recruited instantly into your armies. Resolving Grudges and Legendary Grudges (such as retaking Karak Eight Peaks as Belegar Ironhammer) also earns you powerful bonusses (Money, Oathgold, small Buffs for the entire faction ) and special Runes.
*'''Oathgold''': The secondary resource of the Dwarfs. Practically identical to the Mortuary Cult of the Tomb Kings, with the key difference being that the Dwarfs can make much more stuff with Oathgold and that the stuff is much more abundant. Oathgold is earned through resolving Grudges, doing missions and quests, Gold Mines and some special buildings such as the Brightstone Mine in Mount Gunbad. Oathgold, combined with trade goods, can be used to create items for your Lords and Heroes, which makes it downright trivial to kit out every single character on the map with some special gizmos to make them really powerful. Oathgold can also be used to make Character and Banner Runes, the former can be applied as equipment to individual characters (with up to 3 individual runes at maximum), the latter functions like Banners that you can give units to give them special bonusses and abilities.
*'''Expert Charge Defense''': Barring Slayers, every single one of your units has Expert Charge Defense, which nullifies charge bonusses and also the momentum of units charging into your staunch line of angry Dwarfs.
*'''Magic Resistance''': Every Dwarf has a built in 25% Magic Resist (Spell Resist in WH3). Consult the main page for WHFB Dwarfs as to why.

==Legendary Lords and Subfactions==
*'''Thorgrim Grudgebearer:''' The high king himself, and the only large non-war machine unit in your roster, as he is carried on a massive throne sled by some burly dwarfs, Thorgrim isn't huge on offence, better than say mid-tier combat lords, but he's mostly just a hard to kill brick of leadership. Dwarfs in range of him just become slightly harder to break, which isn't saying much given their default morale, and he's not easily sniped. This results in him being kind of underwhelming, you know he's not going to die like a bitch, but you also know that he's not exactly going to recoup even a quarter of his cost. Is kind of safe in campaign play for beginners, but Grombrindal is overall superior. - Pass.
*'''Ungrim Ironfist:''' The Slayer King, bane of anything taller than six feet, Ungrim is the opposite of Thorgrim; all offence, with low defence. Ungrim is actually pretty good in terms of being a hero-killer and monster-hunter, he's not going to solo Tyrion or Kroq-Gar, and don't even think of monster lords like Kholek or monstrous mounts such as a Tomb King on a war sphinx, without a unit to bog them down. The problem with Ungrim is that while he can throw hands and live up to his title, he eats a lot of damage for a dwarf, or just in general for a combat lord, he's easy to snipe with massed missiles if caught in the open, and while he can butcher most things sent his way, he'll only be able to do this once or twice in a battle before he's at serious risk of dying. Don't let that 120 armour & unbreakable make you think he's a tank, Ungrim's Melee Defence is quite low for a combat lord, and that low dwarf speed means he can by kited to death. Thorgrim lacks the damage to recoup his cost, Ungrim lacks the defence to recoup his costs. If playing with an ally that has access to Lore of Life he can be kept alive, but you're asking a lot of resources to support the Slayer King. - Pass.
*'''Grombrindal:''' THE WHITE DWARF, Grombrindal doesn't bring anything really special to the table, he's a decent duelist, although lacking the balls-to-the-wall offence of Ungrim Ironfist, Grombrinal is nowhere near as risky for a combat lord. The flashbomb ability can lockdown mobile heroes and give the white dwarf a few easy hits. Doesn't quite bring much for the rest of the army, but is the best legendary lord for cost-benefit tradeoffs. He can fight, he can survive, and he can make the entire army Unbreakable with a reusable map-wide buff. - Niche but competitive in that niche. In Campaign, he is easily the best LL the Dwarfs offer. His blue skill tree affects ''your entire faction'' and the four blessings you can choose every 20 turns (10 after picking a specific skill) are all very powerful, a whopping +25% Research Rate is no joke, as are +10 Melee Attack and Defense for every unit in Grombrindals army.
*'''Belegar Ironhammer:'''(DLC) Belegar is really just a wall, he's harder to kill than Thorgrim as they have comparable stats, but he has a silver shield for 55% missile resistance. That's all. Just an insanely hard to kill lord, sure his offence isn't terrible, being better than Thorgrim's on base stats and a nice buff can be popped to go higher. But honestly you're paying a lot for a lord that won't die, and generally speaking Dwarfs in Total War: Warhammer aren't a faction that is centred around their generals or heroes. No real wizards to throw high-impact spell effects, no mobile heroes that can exploit small gaps to flank units or hunt down supporting pieces like buffers, wizards or artillery crews. The only upshot to taking Belegar's subfaction in multiplayer is getting access the ancestor heroes who are damned hard to kill, but are also the only dwarf units that are scared of magic damage, which can sort of be a mind-games thing because the default assumption to seeing Clan Angrund picked is that ancestor heroes are on the field, so grab some magic damage to delete them, but then seeing that there are no ghost dwarfs means that the magic damage is actually a big waste considering all dwarfs have 25% Magic Resistance. - Pass.
*'''Thorek Ironbrow:'''(FLC): With the rework comes a new LL and Thorek serves this role, being the latest (and most likely last) new contender in the Lustrian Thunderdome in the Vortex Campaign, and starting at the southernmost tip of the map in Karak Zorn on Mortal Empires. He serves as a supercharged Runelord with access to a unique mount that messes quite a bit with enemy spellcasting and improved Runic Magic on his own part. In the campaign, his legendary conservativeness translates into bonusses for "traditional" Dwarfen ranged units like Quarrelers and Grudge Throwers. Not to worry though, since he starts with a Rune of Burning that makes the Catapult projectiles [[Awesome|FUCKING EXPLODE]] and dramatically increases the combat value of Quarrelers in his own Army quite significantly (arguably making them even better than Thunderers). His campaign goal revolves around finding several lost Dwarfen artifacts, which can then be used to craft powerful buffs for your whole faction. [[Derp|He also can make enemy casters explode.]] - Best Multiplayer lord pick.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===
*'''Dwarf Lord:''' No, just no, he suffers from the same issue that the legendary lords suffer from, being too slow. But wait there's more, the generic lord is easier to kill in combat, provides less army support, and does less damage. He's not even the cheapest option to help save costs. I mean he has a shield, but its only bronze. Unless you've got some kind of bet riding on a battle and there's a specific stipulation that you cannot use any other lord, screw the money because he's too crap. That said compared to generic foot lords in other factions he's quite difficult to kill, which is more advice for fighting Dwarf Lords in campaign really. PASS
*'''Runelord:''' (DLC) Yes, yes yes. The one competitive General in multiplayer, the Runelord is just a walking bubble of passive buffs that make your low tier units good, and your good infantry units even better. Has good active abilities, like Master Rune of Oath & Steel which gives +30 armour to all dwarfs in range, or the Rune of Speed which adds 45% speed and 24 melee attack to all dwarfs in range. This is the lord pick that supports the dwarf army, and don't think he's some kind of wizard that dies when someone looks at him funny, while the melee defence is low at 40, the Runelord has the same 120 armour as the other lords, plus up to 35% missile resistance, sharing 20% of that with nearby allies. Slapping him on an Anvil of Doom gives a special ability that causes enemy casters to automatically miscast for minor damage when near him. TL;DR fucks magic, gets buffs. - Good if you want Thorek but a bit cheaper.

===Legendary Heros (Clan Angrund Only)===
All [[Clan Angrund]] has such a strong relationship with their ancestors, they come back as ghosts. like all ghosts, they have a 75% physical resistance instead of magic resistance, With magic attacks, Unbreakable, but no armor and less heath than normal. they have Frear and terror making them good at chasing the enemy off. They themselves are weak to magic attacks, but who takes that much offense magic against dwarfs anyway?

*'''King Lunn Ironhammer:''' is one of the two ghost Thanes, being the offensive one, with slightly more Melee attack than a normal thane.
*'''Halkenhaf Stonebeard:''' the other ghost Thane, being the most defensive of the par with significantly lower melee attack but a very high defense of 65 and silver shield, letting him minge with enemies for a protracted time to proc terror routs.
*'''Throni Ironbrow:''' Mostlickly to take as he is a Runesmith, so someone that needs protection while also being in the front lines.
*'''Dramar Hammerfist:''' the ghost engineer so paying extra for a harder to kill gun lines buffer and better at chasing away those that try to disrupt them.

===Heroes===
*'''Master Engineer:''' Basically a must if you're running more than 2 artillery pieces, buffs artillery, has a decent sniper rifle of his own, not great in a fight with anything beyond hound packs and light cavalry, so don't expect him to be an effective guard for the cannons he's buffing. However if there is another unit nearby casting Entrenchment right before they rout will make the unit hold the line and fight even after being routed. On campaign they also boost your army's mobility. Aaaaaand the Dwarf Rework happened, buffing him even further with the ability of the Vampirate Gunnery Wight to restore lost ammo to artillery pieces for up to five times. Just too good to miss out on if you're bringing a bunch of cannons (and who doesn't, honestly).
*'''Runesmith:''' Basically a squishier version of the Runelord, has many of the same buffs, both passive and active. With the Dwarf rework, these guys have gone from being merely decent to amazing. While utilizing a rune puts every other rune on a shared cooldown, this only applies per caster; having multiple Runesmiths allows you to stack multiple buffs simultaneously or across multiple units without having to wait out the full 60 second global cooldown. They might not necessarily be an auto-include persay, but having one or two of these guys in your army is strongly recommended.
*'''Thane:''' While they still suffer from being slow, Thanes can be used more aggressively than legendary lords. Kit them out with the Rune of Slowness to gimp enemy mobility, or give them the Ironbeard's Ring and coordinate with a source of fire damage: Flame Cannons, Dragonback Slayers, Warriors of Dragonfire Pass, basic Irondrakes, or Brimstone Gyrocopters, all of these will deal serious damage to units inside the debuff aura.

===Infantry===
*'''Miners''': The closest thing to cannon fodder in the Dwarf Roster, miners are cheap AP units. Also give "speed" and breadth to Dawi list by vanguarding.
*'''Dwarf Warriors''': Did you know that a unit of Dwarf Warriors costs 475 gold but can hold against 3 units of Empire Swordsmen, costing 400 gold each, for just over 2 minutes and racking up roughly 90-100 kills before dying/breaking? Dwarf Warriors aren't great, just good, and are very much just a shield wall frontline. Dwarf Warriors are very cost-effective starting units. They will trade positively against most infantry that are tier 1-3 excluding units with high AP values or anti-infantry buffs. Dwarf Warriors aren't the same as elite heavy infantry however, they will break in time, if rear charged, if attacked by great weapon units, if hit with leadership debuffs, or if attacked by characters. This is a unit that buys time for a unit in the second line to get in position to assist, do not assume you can just deploy them as a single line and have artillery sit safely behind them.
**'''Warriors of Dragonfire Pass'''(ROR): Slightly better warriors that deal fire damage in combat, not a guaranteed pick most of the time, but good against any faction that is vulnerable to fire, consider pairing with a Thane carrying Ironbeard's Ring to boost damage.
*'''Dwarf Warriors (Great Weapons)''': You know how Dwarf Warriors can hold frontlines for a time but need a second line unit to assist them, this is cheapest of the second line units. Regular warriors have shields, 40 Melee Defence, and charge defence against large units, Warriors with Great Weapons don't have those defences, they get armour piercing damage which is the kind of offence needed to make up for the vanilla warriors' shortcomings. Don't try and use them as a frontline unit, and replace them when you can with other melee infantry.
*'''Longbeards''': Warriors +1 really, they buff the leadership of other units (it's the generic Encourage passive so no stacking with lords), so consider mixing them with warriors. Cost-wise your mostly paying for better Melee Defence, better Leadership, the leadership aura, and Immune to Psychology compared to vanilla Warriors. A common question is which is better for cost, Longbeards or Warriors, but outside of fighting undead armies that have tons of fear/terror effects, the answer to the question is; use both. While the differences between the two units are obvious in comparison, to the player on the other side of the battlefield it doesn't matter much because a Dwarf line is still a solid formation that is hard to break. Longbeards work good in the wings to buff leadership in the flanks, and having warrior units means you can save gold for more missile units and artillery.
*'''Longbeards (Great Weapons)''': While the difference between shield Warriors and shield Longbeards isn't much, the great weapon variant favours the Longbeards. Being behind the line means you can reposition them to apply their auras and a common occurrence is for fast-moving skirmish infantry to run around the frontline and charge the second line units. GW Longbeards can handle these surprises a lot better than the GW Warriors, but on the other hand, you may not be deploying wide enough to need the aura effects, in which case the Warriors can save you gold.
**'''The Grumbling Guard'''(ROR): Not too bad, stat wise its a bit more armour & melee attack, 10 more leadership, and 13 more Melee Defence, which puts them at a whopping 51 Melee Defence. You don't get any improved damage output with these guys, instead you get an ability that replenishes 9% of vigour for them and nearby allies. This may not sound like much, but fatigue debuffs are crippling for units, and Dwarfs rely on grinding things out so even a small vigour buff to some units is good even if it just moves them from exhausted to very tired. But wait, this ability has infinite uses and a low cooldown so spam it away. While Hammerers do the same job but better, the Grumbling Guard are fantastic for keeping Ironbreakers in better condition than their enemies.
*'''Slayers''': Slayers are kind of weird. They're unbreakable, quick (for a Dwarf), hit hard, and do a lot of damage with no consideration to survivability. This means that they can seriously fuck up higher-tier units but on the same time are vulnerable to cannon fodder. It does not matter if you're a crappy goblin with a crappy spear, it's getting through a Slayer's hide as much as a Chosen's Daemonforged Axe. When using Slayers, hold them back so that other units, especially ones with charge defense, take the brunt of the charge before moving the slayers to counter-attack, and while it might cost you the charge bonus, having them attack through the buffer unit really improves the lifespan of your slayers (Probably much to their chagrin). Note that if you ever leave them in the open, missile units just have to imagine shooting them to wipe the unit, which is an expensive mistake. Also a definite must take against vampire counts and Tomb Kings with all their fear effects but do not ever think about using them against Vampire Pirates because they will get shot to pieces before any fear/terror units get close for the unbreakable to matter. Also, leave them at home against Wood Elves, or if you have fore-knowledge that your opponent likes horse-archer tactics.
*With the Dwarf rework that dropped together with Thorek Ironbrow, they went from terrible in Single Player to a pretty good choice for the early game, since you can now recruit them anywhere as long as your grudge meter is up. It also makes unlimited Slayer Doomstacks lead by Ungrim Ironfist a terrifying sight to behold.
**'''Dragonback Slayers'''(ROR): Slayers with better MA & MD, and they get physical resistance on top of the shield defense. The real value comes with their passive that activates in melee, it gives them fire damage, fire resistance, and applies slow debuff and the flammable trait for weakness to fire (doesn't stack if the enemy already has the flammable trait, but will stack with other effects of a different name that reduce fire resistance). The physical resist, slow debuff and the combo of fire damage and flammable debuff makes this unit a generally better pick over vanilla slayers, note that they do not get the fire resistance outside of combat so getting hit by flaming missiles outside of combat will hurt, the lore of fire spells are still subject to dwarf magic resistance though.
*'''Giant Slayers''': These are just super slayers, too costly to run a lot of. They will instantly blend light cavalry units like Marauder Horsemen or Ellyrian Reavers that dare to charge them, not that you should be using them to counter these units, it's just funny to see happen. Giant Slayers are basically Ungrim Ironfist as many Dwarfs instead of one. What they don't kill will be pretty close to death. Cannon fodder might counter slayers, but Giant Slayers dish out enough melee damage that you only need to worry about elite infantry and high mass units charging them. More vulnerable to shooting as they don't get the missile defense that Slayers get, these guys are expensive but do the job. Not recommended as a staple unit in army builds due to their cost, but good to pick if you're against monster or cavalry heavy armies.
*'''Hammerers''': Your well-armored, AP Damage dealing elite Dwarfs, not the same tank as a Longbeard but will deal serious AP damage. They have two major problems, though: First is the issue that they are not as tanky as their ungodly pricetag might suggest, the second and far worse one is that they are more of an offensive unit meant to break through enemy lines - in a faction whose entire shtick is turtle up and grind it out. In practice they often fall flat because they bring neither the tankiness of Ironbreakers that makes them withstand charges from Black Orcs, Swordmasters and the like, nor do they have the speed and offensive power needed to compete with units they are supposed to go toe to toe with, demoting them to mere chaff clearing duty, for which you have far more efficient options for. It's best to not bother them, sadly.
**Peak Gate Guard(ROR): The ultimate anti-armor unit, they go through heavily armored units like swordsmen through skavenslaves and then let other Dawi also participate in the fun.

===Ranged Infantry===
*'''Thunderers''': Like Empire handgunners, but you don't need to babysit them as much. A very useful unit even in the lategame that won't break the bank.
*'''Irondrakes:''' Where the fun begins. Ridiculously high damage output, solidly armoured. Need positioning to work right, but will absolutely demolish anything that you point them at. Their flamethrowers are considered artillery so they cannot be blocked by shields and inflict morale penalty upon anything they hit. They are surprisingly strong in melee against infantry if not deployed in a thin line because the back row can use their flamethrowers at point-blank, but not against cavalry as they'll pierce till the back row.
**'''The Skolder Guard'''(ROR): Replaces Lava for Steam to be an anti-armor unit. Much tougher than an Irondrakes with Physical resistance which is nice to have when the enemy gets a sneaky charge. They will multch full-plate units quickly given they have an even faster reload speed but watch out as you will also burn through their limited ammunition just as quickly. Against enemies with less armor you're better off using regular Irondrakes.
*'''Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedo)''': the Anti large version of the Irondrakes, having rocket launchers instead of Flammers. Often times Irondrakess can just melt through the armor of most things they are pointed at, sometimes they are Calvary or monsters that have enough armor to shrug off that current of magma.

===Combined Infantry===
*'''Quarrellers''': Boring but practical. Like dwarf warriors, they're able to trade shots with the tier 1 ranged units of pretty much every other faction and winning. They also come with armor piercing, which makes them a budget option for shooting stuff like chaos warriors. However, they do less DPS per gold spent than similar units like empire crossbowmen and darkshards.
*'''Quarrellers (Great Weapons)''': Similar to Quarrelers, except they give up shields in exchange for armor-piercing melee weapons. Won't win much in close combat, but they'll take down more enemies before they're overwhelmed, particularly against squishy units like harpies.
*'''Miners (Blasting Charges)''': take that Cheap miner, then give them a single volley for bomb-throwing. Each model only gets one bomb, so make it count. Turn off ''Fire at Will'' and select the targets manually. A well-thrown Blasting Charge will decimate most charging infantry.
**'''Ekrund Miners'''(ROR): A regiment that Gets 3 Blasting Charges instead of 1. Depending on how well you managed them, that's paying less gold then recruiting 3 Blasting Charge Miners which matter very much in the gold restricted multiplayer.
*'''Ironbreakers''': The fact that Ironbreakers are one of the toughest units in the game would make them a key part of a Dawi late game army. Add to that blasting charges and you have something which can stomp most other infantry into the ground, blowing away a quarter of their hitpoints and ruining their charge before finishing off the survivors. Their only downside is that their damage in hand to hand is not that great, but that's what thunderers, slayers and artillery is for.
**'''Norgrimlings Ironbreakers''':(ROR) Even better Ironbreakers, With bigger model size (so more bombes and unit health), a faster throwing arm, Vanguard, and Immune to Psychology. Overall a more powerful unit that can holds back the hords for longer while dealing more casualties.
*'''Rangers''': Sneaky Dwarf Quarrellers getting Vanguard and Stalk for a surprise Dwarf ambush. They have better speed to help with positioning and catching enemies at least when compared to other Dawi. They're armour is pretty good for most armies, but among Dwarfs they're on the lower end of defenses.
*'''Rangers (Great Weapons)''': Ranger equivalent of Quarrellers(Great Weapons) with one key difference; unlike the great weapon Quarreler the Rangers give up their crossbows entirely in favor of shorter ranged, higher AP throwing axes. Surprise AP flanking is a thing any Dwarf list could ask for. Keep in mind that each dwarf only carries 8 axes, so they'll run out much quicker than other rangers. Once they run out of throwing axes they become a decent anti-armour skirmishing unit, although they're low defense means they need to chose their opponents carefully.
**'''Ulthar's Raiders'''(ROR) a unit your should be more careful with than just normal Rangers with Great Weapons, as they get the [[Witch Hunter]]'s ability to Mark a unit for death. You do get a fair amount of range despite having only infantry speed, being able to strip an enemy of a lot of their protection they had against ranged weapons. Good take if your using a Focus fire strategy, assuming your can keep the Raiders safe while making back their cost.
*'''Bugman's Rangers''' Surprisingly not a ROR. Improved Rangers, having the regenerative and drunkenness properties of Bugman's liquid courage. they are better at fighting off harassers while their improved shooting and HP recovery help them win archer fights. These are to Rangers as Longbeards are to Warriors: a straight upgrade assuming you can afford it. In MP, they can last longer without support and work best if you're good at micro. If not, you're probably better just leaving them at home in favor of more units of regular rangers.

===Cavalry===
Does not exist. See Slayers, Rangers and Air Units if you want something fast, you beardling.

===Artillery===
*'''Bolt Thrower:''' Your cheaper anti-large Artillery. More accurate and shoots faster than a cannon, but outclassed by them in splash and penetration power. Best used to take out elite cavalry and monsters in the early campaign.
*'''Grudge Thrower''': Your first artillery unit. Fills a role like an Empire Mortar as a long-range anti-infantry weapon giving it has the largest radius of splash damage on impact.
**'''Gob-Lobber (Grudge Thrower)(ROR)''': Like the Grudge Thrower, but better. Also has live Goblins bolted to the projectiles. Causes morale penalties to targets, which stacks with the penalty for being hit by artillery.
*'''Cannon:''' Your classic artillery. Slow to fire but harder to dodge, best used as an Anti-large weapon while also killing models in high armor units, through can have difficulties hitting if the enemy zigzags too much like most Artillery units.
*'''Organ Gun:''' An effective horse begone tool, with good armor piercing and a tone of cannon balls flying everywhere, cavalry will quickly and efficiently die off in droves as your foe rages, if there’s no cav to shoot then this things good for pulping infantry and can do a decent job at eliminating chariots.
*'''Flame Cannon''' Jack-of-all-trades artillery. Great area damage to deal with blobs of infantry and while it doesn't cause AP damage its base damage is high enough that it doesn't matter.

===Air Units===
The closest thing to "cavalry". Flying Bombers. Fill a role as the fast-moving guns to shoot at enemy flanks and drop anti-infantry bombs. the rotor blades can also dish out a good amount of melee damage but having almost no melee defense makes them relatively fragile despite having high armor. They are often safe in the air but keep them away from other flyers and AP missiles. Despite this, they are absurdly fast having speed in the 200s to run from most problems (only Pegasus Knights or Hawk Riders could catch them without nets or debuffs). To use effectively will require some mico.

*'''Gyrobomber:''' Your dedicated bomber and sacrifice other aspects to be best at that. As a single mobile dedicated to hovering over infantry to drop annihilating bombs multiple times during a game, they obviously require the most micromanagement. A well placed carpet bombing can absolutely devastate the enemy frontline, and its machine gun can put out Ratling-Gun levels of DPS on a much more mobile platform.
**'''Skyhammer(ROR)''': Drops cluster bombs so be aware that the damaged area is greater than the marker shows. Basically the Dwarfs answer to big aoe magic to obliterate chaff and elite units alike.
*'''Gyrocopter:''' Your anti-infantry skirmishers, shooting and bombing out those enemy gunners and artillery that though safe so far in the back. Also good at harassing the harassers that thought they could run a circle around the slowly pivoting Dawi gun lines.
*'''Gyrocopter (Brimstone Gun):''' Switches from general anti-infantry to majority AP damage to harass and focus down targets with more armor. Generally speaking, superior in almost every way to regular Gyrocopters. Fire damage puts a serious dent in units with regeneration (and Wood Elves) and the lower base damage is negliable when you take AP into consideration.

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Dwarfs are one of the most unique factions in the game battle wise with an utter lack of mobility and magic and focusing everything on tanky infantry that can deal decent damage and powerful guns and artillery. Unfortunately for them, this uniqueness means that unless you're fighting other Dwarfs you don't have any balanced match ups against other races. Against some you have a clear, obvious advantage and tend to stomp and against others they give you swirlies in the bathroom for your lunch money. This is why most competitive players think they're one of the best counterpick factions as you can avoid your bad match ups and play in a favorable situation. Anyway, here's how you can satisfy the grudge against the other races:

*'''Beastmen''': A rush faction, Beastmen will have a hell of a time against you if you play your cards right. Their complete lack of armor leaves them quite vulnerable to Thunderer fire on the approach and Bolt Throwers can slice through Minotaurs and Cygors with relative ease. Keep a solid screen of staunch Dwarf Warriors between your ranged units and the enemy and bring (Giant) Slayers to turn the Bestigor and Centigor Herds into ground beef.

*'''Bretonnia''': The peasantry of the Bretonnians can safely be ignored (except Foot Squires, after their buffs they can actually fuck you up pretty good), as they'll struggle to do anything to your heavy armor. Instead, you'll want to focus on bringing down their armored cavalry, particularly the Grail Knights and Grail Guardians leading the charges into you. Trollhammer Irondrakes serve fantastically as a powerful Horse-B-Gone tool and your Giant Slayers can chunk through most of their cavalry so long as they're not the ones receiving the initial charge. Bolt Throwers are, again, a powerful tool to use while the Bretonnian cav is on the approach. Just make sure that you keep your flanks thoroughly secure.

*'''Daemons of Chaos''':

*'''Chaos Warriors''': For Grungni's sake, keep your distance! Chaos Warriors are as tough as you are and hit harder in melee. Stock up on thunderers and cannons, and bring some great weapon fighters to finish them off. Slayers can help as long as you're careful to make sure the enemy can't hit back. Keep your eyes out for flanking cavalry and chariots, and pray to the gods you can shoot those heathens before they reach your lines!

*'''Dark Elves''': This is a really tricky matchup for you; Dark Elves are fast and bring absurd AP damage in melee and at a range. Your biggest advantage is your superior range and you'll need to lean on it heavily to stand a chance. Grab cannons, grudge throwers, rangers, and quarrelers and hope to Grungi you can shoot them down before they get close enough to return the favor.

*'''Dwarfs''': Hopefully you have a general idea on the strengths of this faction, you're playing as them! Anti-Armor, full stop. Organ Guns, take the Skolder Guard and bring some Hammerers to crack open your opponent's can.

*'''Empire''': The Empire can be a tricky one because they're almost as good at artillery as you are while also having good cavalry and skirmishers. You'll need to stock up on gyrobombers to disrupt their flanking cavalry and slayers to take out their knights. Irondrakes can also work well at deleting any aggressive demigryphs or knights. Beyond that, you should double down on your strengths and keep your artillery safe; the human lines will break before yours do.

*'''Greenskins''': As satisfying as it is to bury an axe in a greenskins skull, your better off dealing with these guys from a distance. Quarrelers and rangers are your friends here; quantity is as important as quality when fending off a green tide. Organ Guns and Cannons will be better at dealing with monsters than your slayers, you don't want to send unarmoured units against Arachnarok Spiders or Rogue Idols. Don't forget your irondrakes and/or your flame cannons, they can melt down anything from goblins to stone trolls. And keep your flanks protected from chariots and pump-wagons, they can wreak havoc on your lines and just ruin your day.

*'''Grand Cathay''': This is another instance of a faction that does what you do, only a hell of a lot worse. Yeah, you won't have to worry too much about these guys when they show up. Your missile boxes beat their missile boxes, their Cav is subpar and will get eaten by Slayers, and the only AP infantry that they have is Anti Large, which you don't have. Box up, get some cannons and Quarrelers, sit back and enjoy some Bugmans as the Cathayans desperately try to figure out how the fuck they're getting into your backline. Yes they do have their own little airforce, but do you really think Umgi inventions can compete with Dawi Gyrocopters? No. If they bring Sky Junks send some Gyrocopters after them to pick them down. This faction might get more scary as DLC comes out, but for now this should be an easy win as long as you know what you're doing.

*'''High Elves''': Don't let the War of the Beard fool you, this will be one of your hardest match ups. High Elves have a lot of things that threaten you, but the things to fear the most would be their Chariots, Mages, White Lions and <s>Sisters of Averlorn</s> (they do magic damage so their AP isn't as useful as you think). Seriously, any High Elf player who knows what they're doing is going to spam White Lions and it is going to SUCK. Your best bet is to spam either Gyrocopters or Cannons and spread the field. Force the High Elves to have to either attack your artillery emplacements one at a time, allowing your others to fire freely, or use your air power and artillery to spread them apart and pick off pockets. Hammerers also have a niche in this match up because they beat White Lions pretty hard one on one and with support from guns or chaff they can go toe to toe with Swordmasters (Though don't count on that). Of course, these plans aren't perfect. There's a 99% chance they will bring Alarielle for Tempest and heals to deal with Gyros and they have plenty of mobility to get at your cannons to give the White Lions time to get in. Sadly this is one of those match ups where even if you bring the most optimized Anti Elgi list possible, there's still a pretty decent chance you'll lose. Avoid this match up if you can.

*'''Khorne''': It's Khorne, c'mon. Warriors of chaos with somehow even less ranged and even killier once they reach your front lines. Bring plenty of armor-piercing infantry and ranged. If you want to live, protect your artillery from Khorne's furies and calvary.

*'''Kislev''':

*'''Lizardmen''': Lizardmen are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, you can scoff at all the skinks as they ping impotently off of your armor (unless they're the Red-Crested variety). On the other, Saurus are just as stubborn as you are and will take days to chew through without good AP. Bring some Hammerers to eek out an advantage in the inevitable grindfest you'll end up in. Take advantage of the Lizardmen's dearth of ranged firepower and massacre their forces with Irondrakes and Thunderers while your Dwarf Warriors hold their front line at bay. You have excellent anti-monster units in the form of your Giant Slayers who absolutely will butcher any big dinosaur thrown into your ranks so long as you have some chaff to help trap and soak the damage the beasties can toss about. Though Skinks will largely prove a minor nuisance at best to a majority of your forces, you will ''definitely'' want to screen your (Giant) Slayers from the Skirmishing variety. Key players to watch out for are going to be the Slann Mage-Priests, Skink Priests and Kroxigors. Slann, especially fire/high slann and Heavens Skink Priests can wreak utter havoc upon your forces with the myriad of vortex spells they can toss out like candy from a parade float and they should absolutely be prioritized if you find them on the field. (Sacred) Kroxigors, if fielded, are surprisingly vicious anti-infantry monsters and will bowl over a majority of the infantry they're pointed at. Giant Slayers and Trollhammer Irondrakes serve as a solid counter, but you'll still want to swamp the Kroxigors in chaff to mitigate the damage they deal in turn.

*'''Norsca''': This is an easy fight for you. All of that monster hunting anti-large equipment the Norscans bring is going to fly right over your head as you bury your axes in their unarmoured pecs. Bring plenty of cannons and bolt throwers to shoot down enemy mammoths and bring some irondrakes to shoot down anything else. Norscans are usually unarmoured, so you can trade your thunderers for quarrelers for the better range. Stick to the basics and you'll do fine.

*'''Nurgle''': Holy shit, a faction that might actually be slower than you! And it seems like you will have a hefty advantage as they don't really have a lot of ways to stop your artillery. The biggest thing you will probably have to worry about is their air force, and Furies and Rotflies will be gunning for that back line. Keep some slayers near your guns and get ready to surround them if they try to land. After that you just got to deal with Nurgle's rush of Plaguebearers and Nurglings, and I hope you're ready for nothing to ever die ever because that's likely what is gonna happen when Dawi and Nurgle clash. On the ground, Plague Toads and Pox Riders will likely be your biggest threat with their anti-infantry, but they're also big models so guns and slayers should do the trick. Expect a Herald as the commander, and if he's dumb enough to bring a Great Unclean One, laugh and shoot it to pieces. With the new debuffs fire damage does to healing it might also be wise to break out the Irondrakes and Flame Cannons -- you'll have plenty of time to lob napalm at those shambling hordes of Plaguebearers.

*'''ogre kingdoms''': this match is either gonna be your easiest or your hardest, this comes down to the skill of you, the ogre player and what units you brought to the table, the ogres have massive charge bonuses, but a lot of your units have charge defense, however unlike other factions the ogres will only lose half due to their ogre charge trait, the biggest threat the ogres bring to you is there artillery, if you let it be, it will reap a devasting toll on your infantry, the good news is however, it that with the exception of leadbelchers, all there artillery are single model, have your cannons and gyrocopters focus them down and your good to go, or so you would think, besides the gnoblers, ogres are all monster units which means two things, one is that your artillery and slayers will have a field day but two is that there shockingly fast speed means there gonna out run you and try to out maneuver you at every opportunity, your army should be a good balance of longbeards or if your pinching penny's dwarf warriors, they all have charge defense and can help hold the charging balls of lubber back, this is one of the match up where having a ton of slayers is a good thing and stack up on them to defend your back lines and cut the ogres down to size, your artillery should consist of 2, maybe 3 cannons to take out artillery and thin there numbers, irondrakes with trollhammer torpedo's won't be a bad call but they are on the pricey end, besides some of their units, bring at least 2 or simply 1 unit of thunderers at most because a lot of their stuff is unarmored, you main missile troop should be quarrelers, there cheap and will have a good time turning ogres into pin-cushions and are strong enough to fend off sabertusks, you cannon priority should look something like this, artillery units (iron blasters first, then leadbelchers), stonehorns and finally everything else, this is the sole match up where you don't bother bringing miners with blasting charges, the only thing theyll have an effect on is gnoblars and strictly that, which is a waste of cash and will earn you a grudge for being wasteful, now get out there and strike out some grudges agaisnt the fat bastards!

*'''Skaven''': This is probably the closest we'll get to a 40k-esque matchup (you know, aside the irony of neither the [[Squats|Dwarfs]] or Skaven being in that setting). Between your guns and artillery and their guns and artillery, most of the damage either of you will be dealing to each other will be done from afar. A majority of the Skaven infantry is quite helpless against your frontline infantry, but you'll have a hell of a time pinning anything down with the Skaven's quicker movement speeds. Grudge Throwers are going to be king against most Skaven infantry builds while Bolt Throwers or Cannons should be fielded to snipe any Warp-Lighting Cannons, Plagueclaw Catapults or Hellpit Abominations they have downfield. Warplock Jezails will be a priority target to focus fire down, as are Warpfire Throwers and Poison Wind Globadiers should they start getting too close. Aside utilizing their missile units against them, Skaven have absolutely no aerial presence, meaning your Gyrocopters will have virtually free reign to gun down rats at will.

*'''Slaanesh''': Fast, and tons of armor-piercing to crack open your lads. Slaanesh does not have air units other than furies so bring some gyrocopters to bleed them on the way in. Try to destroy Slaanesh's hedonites with ranged firepower before they get close and hump their way into the Dammaz Kron. Slaanesh's units don't have much armor, which makes destroying them with ranged easier, but also means leaving the great weapons and thunderers for axe-and-board and quarrelers. Speaking of which, this may be one of the only matchups where you want to bring great weapon quarrelers + rangers. It's unlikely you'll keep your perimeter completely airtight against 50 speed daemonettes and 100+ speed cavalry + chariots especially since slaanesh can root your own screening units in place with a net of amauntok equivalent spell.

*'''Tomb Kings''': The good news is that Tomb Kings don't like fire, and you have fire aplenty. Brimstone Gun-equipped gyrocoptors are your fastest fire-delivery system, but irondrakes and flame-cannons are useful as well. The bad news is that you don't like chariots, and they have chariots aplenty. Use every trick you can to soften up the chariots before they hit your lines; but it's unlikely you'll be able to stop them all. Grab some giant slayers to finish off the ones that survive your barrage and hope it's enough to keep them down. Tomb Kings infantry is no match for you, so you should build your army against their monsters and chariots.

*'''Tzeentch''': Ooh, here is somebody that's going to hate you. Tzeentch units are squishy and their ranged units only have middling range and are better for kiting. He also has no artillery other than Soul Grinders, few big monsters outside of Lords of Change, and relies heavily on spamming spells to activate their army abilities. Bring a Runelord or Thorek on an Anvil of Doom and laugh as their casters explode. Otherwise, pound them into dust with artillery, as they have few answers to an army with better range than them. Just guard the back line against Furies and Doom Knights.

*'''Vampire Coast''': The most common Vampire Coast strategy is to bunker up with a large number of cheap ranged units and heavy artillery. If that sounds familiar it's because it's the same thing you like to do, you're just better at it. Bring plenty of cannons and some slayers to deal with the enemy monsters (hint: kill the necrofex colossi first). Once the big monsters have been dealt with the pirates are basically just an inferior version of you, clumps of quarrelers and thunderers are plenty to take down the zombies. And remember not to bunker up too tightly; you may have magic resistance but Winds of Death will still hurt.

*'''Vampire Counts''': Virtually nothing that makes up the rank and file of the Vampire Counts will pose a significant threat to you. Skeletons and Zombies will only serve to slow down your already plodding advance and only deal any meaningful "damage" to you simply by sponging your limited ranged firepower meant for something else. The only standard units that you'll find yourself at a significant disadvantage against will be the Cairn and Hex Wraiths, given your general lack of magical damage. You'll want to engage them with missile attacks for maximum effect and make sure that you are braced for their charges. The main thing you should be focused on taking down will be the Lords and Heroes leading the army; without them, the undead hordes will quickly fall apart (literally). They also pose the single biggest threat to everything you have, as their Lore of Death casters can delete swathes of your army with a single well placed cast if you are positioned carelessly.

*'''Wood Elves''': Wood Elves are an extremely annoying foe who are fundamentally the exact opposite of you. Their infantry can run circles around yours and they can deal frightening amounts of damage against their intended targets, but you'll snap their twiggy spines if you whip 'em with your beards. In general, you're going to be engaged in a very tedious game of "keep away", where the Wood Elves are going to be dancing just outside of your reach while their Glade Guard and Waywatchers pepper you with AP arrows and occasionally test your flanks for weaknesses via Wild Rider/Great Stag Knight cycle charges. Fortunately, you do have a couple tools the elves don't: Artillery. Grudge Throwers excel against WE infantry and can discourage them from trying to camp too far away while Bolt Throwers and Flame Cannons will make mince-meat of the cavalry/forest spirits that may try to break through your lines. Speaking of forest spirits, irondrakes will ''incinerate'' them. Slayers also help against the bigger tree spirits in theory, but the range power the wood elves bring make them a dicey proposition. As far as their melee infantry options are concerned, the only ones that majorly threaten you are the Bladesingers; their anti-armor magical attacks will scythe through your armor will jaw-dropping speed. Use Thunderers to soften them up on the charge then use Slayers to cut them down swiftly.

===Campaign Strategies===

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dwarfs

2022-07-23T17:38:48Z

2601:204:201:9A00:D63:2CC:E1FD:9534: /* Tactics */

{{Topquote|Kazukhan-kazakit-ha! (Look out, the Dwarfs are on the warpath!)|Game battle chant for Dwarfs}}
This is the tactics page for the Total War: Warhammer version of The Dwarfs.

==Why play Dwarfs?==
*Because you want to sit and watch as your enemies are blasted away while coming towards you.
*Cause you're under 5'5 and want '''vengeance''' for all the short jokes.
*You don't want to do too much micro, so an army without much in the way of mobility and cavalry doesn't bother you as much.
*You enjoy having infantry that won't die after being slapped by a wet noodle.
*Slay everything without a beard!!
*FLAMETHROWERS!!!
*SATISFY THE GRUDGE!!!!

===Pros===
*'''Durability''': You are a tank faction. Most of your units are categorized with high armour, melee defense and leadership. Even your tier one and chaff are very tanky compared to counterparts from other factions. This is further supplemented by the innate magic resist many of your units have, which ''slightly'' compensates for your otherwise complete lack of magic. Additionally, with their naturally high leadership, dwarfs do not usually break unless hopelessly outnumbered or if you screw up massively by getting cavalry charged in the rear. Frankly, your units will hold out forever.
**Your magic resistance got nerfed in the third game to ''only'' resist magical spells. Still useful, but now units with magic attacks, I.E Daemons, are going to be way better at cracking you open.
*'''Range''': Guns, guns and more guns! Dwarfs have some of the best blackpowder units in the entire game. Thunderers and Cannons can lay a whooping on anything they are firing on, and their artillery isn't anything to sneer at. Even their non-AP range units are very good for their price, and it's not hard for them to earn their points back as long as they are defended.
*'''If they get close, Nut 'em!''': As if being being one of the best factions at shooting was not enough, their missile units can also hold their own in close quarters better than most.
*'''Airforce''': Gyrocopters with their anti large can get you control over the air, and their ability to kite monsters into oblivion is a good skill to have. Even Gyrobombers have a niche for their blob killing capabilities after recent buffs.
*'''Runes''': Where other races rely on the fickle Winds of Magic, you have your reliable runes. Runes supply surprisingly good buffs and debuffs that can help your army out, making them a great way to make sure your infantry stays in the fight a bit longer. The fact that they aren't limited by a power reserve also means that they'll remain a viable option well into the latter stages of a fight, where other factions might begin to tap out of their mystical power.
*'''Anti-large''': You laugh when the enemy brings big monsters. With all your AP missiles, Anti Large artillery and slayers, you have the one of the easiest times killing monsters out of any faction in the game.
*'''Strong Economy''': It's campaign specific but yeah, it turns out the species who's renowned for being the best at making shit is also one of the best at making money. The resource building chains go up to level IV instead of stopping at level III, you can mass produce Dwarf Beer anywhere. Putting together Doomstacks of Top Tier Dawi troops is easier.
*'''Good for Beginners''': Everyone was just starting once, if you are new to Warhammer Total War or just Total War in general the Dawi are (ironically enough) forgiving. Something like the Wood Elves is fragile and has a limited margin for error, Dwarfs on the other hand have more of a fudge factor in most match ups. Not to say that it's easy mode playing dwarfs, but the likelihood of things going pear shaped in a second is lower.

===Cons===
*'''Lack of Mobility''': With no Cav, monsters and slow infantry, Dwarfs are the least mobile faction in the game. You will spend the majority of the game standing still.
*'''Lack of Magic''': Though your most recent rework makes your runes a damn good alternative, you don't really have magic. This can pose a problem when you face similarly physically durable armies in battle and lack a reliable, magical alternative for damage. Additionally, though you defensively have a 25% resistance to the arcane, many large vortex spells will still sting quite a bit and your complete lack of magical healing means it'll be hard to bounce back from the damage you do take.
*'''Chariots''': Chariots are the bane of a Dwarf players existence. They don't have any real way to lock them down and, as you'd expect, AP anti infantry can really kill what the Dwarfs want to do on the battlefield. Due to the rework to how bracing and knock down works, this isn’t as bad as before, but chariots can still be a problem
*'''Predictability''': Most veteran players know what's going to happen when Dwarfs are picked. They are going to go for a cheap, numerous and sturdy front line and a lot of guns and artillery. This means that Dwarfs are easy to plan for as they only have one real viable tactic. Building an army around fighting Dwarfs is something players from all races know how to do.
*'''Lack of Good Lord Options''': Do you like the Runelord or Thorek? No? Well you better start because in multiplayer they're your only viable options. Grombrindal is an ok duelist but honestly Dwarf lords in general kind of suck. With no mounts and no way to stick to their targets it's hard for them to get anything done. This problem got better with the Twisted and the Twilight due to the changes to knockdown effects, but sticking to targets will still be hard
*'''Hard campaign''': With all the changes to the factions around them, the Dawi have fallen on some pretty hard times. The lifetime of WH2 dotted the landscape around Karaz-A-Karak alone with a huge number of guaranteed enemies that you will have to look out for, with your most reliable allies in the Empire being very far away. The other subfactions don't fare much better and your slow growth seriously hurts your ability to expand, especially when compared with your most dominant enemies, the Greenskins of the Badlands and Clan Mors further down the road.
*'''Bad in Domination''': Turns out your stubby little legs makes it really hard for you to capture objectives. Due to your lack of mobility you can't effectively capture points since other factions can just out race you to them and get more units on them. As such, you're widely considered the weakest faction in Domination.
*'''DLC''': A con for everyone, but fortunately you get off easier than many others. Unfortunately, a couple of your best units, namely Runelords and Rangers, are in fact locked behind DLC and if you want to really use your Dwarfs to the fullest, you'll need to pay the toll.

==Universal Traits==

*'''The Great Book of Grudges''': The fact that the sacred Dammaz Kron went unmentioned on this pages for so long merits an entry on its own. The Book of Grudges documents every slight committed against your faction, including legendary grudges that you start out with. Whenever something bad happens, i.e. you lose a settlement, get raided or a hostile faction repeatedly traspasses on your turf without you allowing it, it merits an entry in the book. These entries can (and will) accumulate over time, and depending on how much your Dorfs disliked the transgression, will vary in severity, which fills up a meter that gives you some penalties and some bonusses. High severity from unresolved Grudges gives you minor public order and research speed penalties, but it also gives all of your armies a charge bonus (since the Dwarfs are so pissed off) and increases the chance of Slayers and Giant Slayers popping up in your Regiments of Renown pool, where they can then be recruited instantly into your armies. Resolving Grudges and Legendary Grudges (such as retaking Karak Eight Peaks as Belegar Ironhammer) also earns you powerful bonusses (Money, Oathgold, small Buffs for the entire faction ) and special Runes.
*'''Oathgold''': The secondary resource of the Dwarfs. Practically identical to the Mortuary Cult of the Tomb Kings, with the key difference being that the Dwarfs can make much more stuff with Oathgold and that the stuff is much more abundant. Oathgold is earned through resolving Grudges, doing missions and quests, Gold Mines and some special buildings such as the Brightstone Mine in Mount Gunbad. Oathgold, combined with trade goods, can be used to create items for your Lords and Heroes, which makes it downright trivial to kit out every single character on the map with some special gizmos to make them really powerful. Oathgold can also be used to make Character and Banner Runes, the former can be applied as equipment to individual characters (with up to 3 individual runes at maximum), the latter functions like Banners that you can give units to give them special bonusses and abilities.
*'''Expert Charge Defense''': Barring Slayers, every single one of your units has Expert Charge Defense, which nullifies charge bonusses and also the momentum of units charging into your staunch line of angry Dwarfs.
*'''Magic Resistance''': Every Dwarf has a built in 25% Magic Resist (Spell Resist in WH3). Consult the main page for WHFB Dwarfs as to why.

==Legendary Lords and Subfactions==
*'''Thorgrim Grudgebearer:''' The high king himself, and the only large non-war machine unit in your roster, as he is carried on a massive throne sled by some burly dwarfs, Thorgrim isn't huge on offence, better than say mid-tier combat lords, but he's mostly just a hard to kill brick of leadership. Dwarfs in range of him just become slightly harder to break, which isn't saying much given their default morale, and he's not easily sniped. This results in him being kind of underwhelming, you know he's not going to die like a bitch, but you also know that he's not exactly going to recoup even a quarter of his cost. Is kind of safe in campaign play for beginners, but Grombrindal is overall superior. - Pass.
*'''Ungrim Ironfist:''' The Slayer King, bane of anything taller than six feet, Ungrim is the opposite of Thorgrim; all offence, with low defence. Ungrim is actually pretty good in terms of being a hero-killer and monster-hunter, he's not going to solo Tyrion or Kroq-Gar, and don't even think of monster lords like Kholek or monstrous mounts such as a Tomb King on a war sphinx, without a unit to bog them down. The problem with Ungrim is that while he can throw hands and live up to his title, he eats a lot of damage for a dwarf, or just in general for a combat lord, he's easy to snipe with massed missiles if caught in the open, and while he can butcher most things sent his way, he'll only be able to do this once or twice in a battle before he's at serious risk of dying. Don't let that 120 armour & unbreakable make you think he's a tank, Ungrim's Melee Defence is quite low for a combat lord, and that low dwarf speed means he can by kited to death. Thorgrim lacks the damage to recoup his cost, Ungrim lacks the defence to recoup his costs. If playing with an ally that has access to Lore of Life he can be kept alive, but you're asking a lot of resources to support the Slayer King. - Pass.
*'''Grombrindal:''' THE WHITE DWARF, Grombrindal doesn't bring anything really special to the table, he's a decent duelist, although lacking the balls-to-the-wall offence of Ungrim Ironfist, Grombrinal is nowhere near as risky for a combat lord. The flashbomb ability can lockdown mobile heroes and give the white dwarf a few easy hits. Doesn't quite bring much for the rest of the army, but is the best legendary lord for cost-benefit tradeoffs. He can fight, he can survive, and he can make the entire army Unbreakable with a reusable map-wide buff. - Niche but competitive in that niche. In Campaign, he is easily the best LL the Dwarfs offer. His blue skill tree affects ''your entire faction'' and the four blessings you can choose every 20 turns (10 after picking a specific skill) are all very powerful, a whopping +25% Research Rate is no joke, as are +10 Melee Attack and Defense for every unit in Grombrindals army.
*'''Belegar Ironhammer:'''(DLC) Belegar is really just a wall, he's harder to kill than Thorgrim as they have comparable stats, but he has a silver shield for 55% missile resistance. That's all. Just an insanely hard to kill lord, sure his offence isn't terrible, being better than Thorgrim's on base stats and a nice buff can be popped to go higher. But honestly you're paying a lot for a lord that won't die, and generally speaking Dwarfs in Total War: Warhammer aren't a faction that is centred around their generals or heroes. No real wizards to throw high-impact spell effects, no mobile heroes that can exploit small gaps to flank units or hunt down supporting pieces like buffers, wizards or artillery crews. The only upshot to taking Belegar's subfaction in multiplayer is getting access the ancestor heroes who are damned hard to kill, but are also the only dwarf units that are scared of magic damage, which can sort of be a mind-games thing because the default assumption to seeing Clan Angrund picked is that ancestor heroes are on the field, so grab some magic damage to delete them, but then seeing that there are no ghost dwarfs means that the magic damage is actually a big waste considering all dwarfs have 25% Magic Resistance. - Pass.
*'''Thorek Ironbrow:'''(FLC): With the rework comes a new LL and Thorek serves this role, being the latest (and most likely last) new contender in the Lustrian Thunderdome in the Vortex Campaign, and starting at the southernmost tip of the map in Karak Zorn on Mortal Empires. He serves as a supercharged Runelord with access to a unique mount that messes quite a bit with enemy spellcasting and improved Runic Magic on his own part. In the campaign, his legendary conservativeness translates into bonusses for "traditional" Dwarfen ranged units like Quarrelers and Grudge Throwers. Not to worry though, since he starts with a Rune of Burning that makes the Catapult projectiles [[Awesome|FUCKING EXPLODE]] and dramatically increases the combat value of Quarrelers in his own Army quite significantly (arguably making them even better than Thunderers). His campaign goal revolves around finding several lost Dwarfen artifacts, which can then be used to craft powerful buffs for your whole faction. [[Derp|He also can make enemy casters explode.]] - Best Multiplayer lord pick.

==Units==
===Generic Lords===
*'''Dwarf Lord:''' No, just no, he suffers from the same issue that the legendary lords suffer from, being too slow. But wait there's more, the generic lord is easier to kill in combat, provides less army support, and does less damage. He's not even the cheapest option to help save costs. I mean he has a shield, but its only bronze. Unless you've got some kind of bet riding on a battle and there's a specific stipulation that you cannot use any other lord, screw the money because he's too crap. That said compared to generic foot lords in other factions he's quite difficult to kill, which is more advice for fighting Dwarf Lords in campaign really. PASS
*'''Runelord:''' (DLC) Yes, yes yes. The one competitive General in multiplayer, the Runelord is just a walking bubble of passive buffs that make your low tier units good, and your good infantry units even better. Has good active abilities, like Master Rune of Oath & Steel which gives +30 armour to all dwarfs in range, or the Rune of Speed which adds 45% speed and 24 melee attack to all dwarfs in range. This is the lord pick that supports the dwarf army, and don't think he's some kind of wizard that dies when someone looks at him funny, while the melee defence is low at 40, the Runelord has the same 120 armour as the other lords, plus up to 35% missile resistance, sharing 20% of that with nearby allies. Slapping him on an Anvil of Doom gives a special ability that causes enemy casters to automatically miscast for minor damage when near him. TL;DR fucks magic, gets buffs. - Good if you want Thorek but a bit cheaper.

===Legendary Heros (Clan Angrund Only)===
All [[Clan Angrund]] has such a strong relationship with their ancestors, they come back as ghosts. like all ghosts, they have a 75% physical resistance instead of magic resistance, With magic attacks, Unbreakable, but no armor and less heath than normal. they have Frear and terror making them good at chasing the enemy off. They themselves are weak to magic attacks, but who takes that much offense magic against dwarfs anyway?

*'''King Lunn Ironhammer:''' is one of the two ghost Thanes, being the offensive one, with slightly more Melee attack than a normal thane.
*'''Halkenhaf Stonebeard:''' the other ghost Thane, being the most defensive of the par with significantly lower melee attack but a very high defense of 65 and silver shield, letting him minge with enemies for a protracted time to proc terror routs.
*'''Throni Ironbrow:''' Mostlickly to take as he is a Runesmith, so someone that needs protection while also being in the front lines.
*'''Dramar Hammerfist:''' the ghost engineer so paying extra for a harder to kill gun lines buffer and better at chasing away those that try to disrupt them.

===Heroes===
*'''Master Engineer:''' Basically a must if you're running more than 2 artillery pieces, buffs artillery, has a decent sniper rifle of his own, not great in a fight with anything beyond hound packs and light cavalry, so don't expect him to be an effective guard for the cannons he's buffing. However if there is another unit nearby casting Entrenchment right before they rout will make the unit hold the line and fight even after being routed. On campaign they also boost your army's mobility. Aaaaaand the Dwarf Rework happened, buffing him even further with the ability of the Vampirate Gunnery Wight to restore lost ammo to artillery pieces for up to five times. Just too good to miss out on if you're bringing a bunch of cannons (and who doesn't, honestly).
*'''Runesmith:''' Basically a squishier version of the Runelord, has many of the same buffs, both passive and active. With the Dwarf rework, these guys have gone from being merely decent to amazing. While utilizing a rune puts every other rune on a shared cooldown, this only applies per caster; having multiple Runesmiths allows you to stack multiple buffs simultaneously or across multiple units without having to wait out the full 60 second global cooldown. They might not necessarily be an auto-include persay, but having one or two of these guys in your army is strongly recommended.
*'''Thane:''' While they still suffer from being slow, Thanes can be used more aggressively than legendary lords. Kit them out with the Rune of Slowness to gimp enemy mobility, or give them the Ironbeard's Ring and coordinate with a source of fire damage: Flame Cannons, Dragonback Slayers, Warriors of Dragonfire Pass, basic Irondrakes, or Brimstone Gyrocopters, all of these will deal serious damage to units inside the debuff aura.

===Infantry===
*'''Miners''': The closest thing to cannon fodder in the Dwarf Roster, miners are cheap AP units. Also give "speed" and breadth to Dawi list by vanguarding.
*'''Dwarf Warriors''': Did you know that a unit of Dwarf Warriors costs 475 gold but can hold against 3 units of Empire Swordsmen, costing 400 gold each, for just over 2 minutes and racking up roughly 90-100 kills before dying/breaking? Dwarf Warriors aren't great, just good, and are very much just a shield wall frontline. Dwarf Warriors are very cost-effective starting units. They will trade positively against most infantry that are tier 1-3 excluding units with high AP values or anti-infantry buffs. Dwarf Warriors aren't the same as elite heavy infantry however, they will break in time, if rear charged, if attacked by great weapon units, if hit with leadership debuffs, or if attacked by characters. This is a unit that buys time for a unit in the second line to get in position to assist, do not assume you can just deploy them as a single line and have artillery sit safely behind them.
**'''Warriors of Dragonfire Pass'''(ROR): Slightly better warriors that deal fire damage in combat, not a guaranteed pick most of the time, but good against any faction that is vulnerable to fire, consider pairing with a Thane carrying Ironbeard's Ring to boost damage.
*'''Dwarf Warriors (Great Weapons)''': You know how Dwarf Warriors can hold frontlines for a time but need a second line unit to assist them, this is cheapest of the second line units. Regular warriors have shields, 40 Melee Defence, and charge defence against large units, Warriors with Great Weapons don't have those defences, they get armour piercing damage which is the kind of offence needed to make up for the vanilla warriors' shortcomings. Don't try and use them as a frontline unit, and replace them when you can with other melee infantry.
*'''Longbeards''': Warriors +1 really, they buff the leadership of other units (it's the generic Encourage passive so no stacking with lords), so consider mixing them with warriors. Cost-wise your mostly paying for better Melee Defence, better Leadership, the leadership aura, and Immune to Psychology compared to vanilla Warriors. A common question is which is better for cost, Longbeards or Warriors, but outside of fighting undead armies that have tons of fear/terror effects, the answer to the question is; use both. While the differences between the two units are obvious in comparison, to the player on the other side of the battlefield it doesn't matter much because a Dwarf line is still a solid formation that is hard to break. Longbeards work good in the wings to buff leadership in the flanks, and having warrior units means you can save gold for more missile units and artillery.
*'''Longbeards (Great Weapons)''': While the difference between shield Warriors and shield Longbeards isn't much, the great weapon variant favours the Longbeards. Being behind the line means you can reposition them to apply their auras and a common occurrence is for fast-moving skirmish infantry to run around the frontline and charge the second line units. GW Longbeards can handle these surprises a lot better than the GW Warriors, but on the other hand, you may not be deploying wide enough to need the aura effects, in which case the Warriors can save you gold.
**'''The Grumbling Guard'''(ROR): Not too bad, stat wise its a bit more armour & melee attack, 10 more leadership, and 13 more Melee Defence, which puts them at a whopping 51 Melee Defence. You don't get any improved damage output with these guys, instead you get an ability that replenishes 9% of vigour for them and nearby allies. This may not sound like much, but fatigue debuffs are crippling for units, and Dwarfs rely on grinding things out so even a small vigour buff to some units is good even if it just moves them from exhausted to very tired. But wait, this ability has infinite uses and a low cooldown so spam it away. While Hammerers do the same job but better, the Grumbling Guard are fantastic for keeping Ironbreakers in better condition than their enemies.
*'''Slayers''': Slayers are kind of weird. They're unbreakable, quick (for a Dwarf), hit hard, and do a lot of damage with no consideration to survivability. This means that they can seriously fuck up higher-tier units but on the same time are vulnerable to cannon fodder. It does not matter if you're a crappy goblin with a crappy spear, it's getting through a Slayer's hide as much as a Chosen's Daemonforged Axe. When using Slayers, hold them back so that other units, especially ones with charge defense, take the brunt of the charge before moving the slayers to counter-attack, and while it might cost you the charge bonus, having them attack through the buffer unit really improves the lifespan of your slayers (Probably much to their chagrin). Note that if you ever leave them in the open, missile units just have to imagine shooting them to wipe the unit, which is an expensive mistake. Also a definite must take against vampire counts and Tomb Kings with all their fear effects but do not ever think about using them against Vampire Pirates because they will get shot to pieces before any fear/terror units get close for the unbreakable to matter. Also, leave them at home against Wood Elves, or if you have fore-knowledge that your opponent likes horse-archer tactics.
*With the Dwarf rework that dropped together with Thorek Ironbrow, they went from terrible in Single Player to a pretty good choice for the early game, since you can now recruit them anywhere as long as your grudge meter is up. It also makes unlimited Slayer Doomstacks lead by Ungrim Ironfist a terrifying sight to behold.
**'''Dragonback Slayers'''(ROR): Slayers with better MA & MD, and they get physical resistance on top of the shield defense. The real value comes with their passive that activates in melee, it gives them fire damage, fire resistance, and applies slow debuff and the flammable trait for weakness to fire (doesn't stack if the enemy already has the flammable trait, but will stack with other effects of a different name that reduce fire resistance). The physical resist, slow debuff and the combo of fire damage and flammable debuff makes this unit a generally better pick over vanilla slayers, note that they do not get the fire resistance outside of combat so getting hit by flaming missiles outside of combat will hurt, the lore of fire spells are still subject to dwarf magic resistance though.
*'''Giant Slayers''': These are just super slayers, too costly to run a lot of. They will instantly blend light cavalry units like Marauder Horsemen or Ellyrian Reavers that dare to charge them, not that you should be using them to counter these units, it's just funny to see happen. Giant Slayers are basically Ungrim Ironfist as many Dwarfs instead of one. What they don't kill will be pretty close to death. Cannon fodder might counter slayers, but Giant Slayers dish out enough melee damage that you only need to worry about elite infantry and high mass units charging them. More vulnerable to shooting as they don't get the missile defense that Slayers get, these guys are expensive but do the job. Not recommended as a staple unit in army builds due to their cost, but good to pick if you're against monster or cavalry heavy armies.
*'''Hammerers''': Your well-armored, AP Damage dealing elite Dwarfs, not the same tank as a Longbeard but will deal serious AP damage. They have two major problems, though: First is the issue that they are not as tanky as their ungodly pricetag might suggest, the second and far worse one is that they are more of an offensive unit meant to break through enemy lines - in a faction whose entire shtick is turtle up and grind it out. In practice they often fall flat because they bring neither the tankiness of Ironbreakers that makes them withstand charges from Black Orcs, Swordmasters and the like, nor do they have the speed and offensive power needed to compete with units they are supposed to go toe to toe with, demoting them to mere chaff clearing duty, for which you have far more efficient options for. It's best to not bother them, sadly.
**Peak Gate Guard(ROR): The ultimate anti-armor unit, they go through heavily armored units like swordsmen through skavenslaves and then let other Dawi also participate in the fun.

===Ranged Infantry===
*'''Thunderers''': Like Empire handgunners, but you don't need to babysit them as much. A very useful unit even in the lategame that won't break the bank.
*'''Irondrakes:''' Where the fun begins. Ridiculously high damage output, solidly armoured. Need positioning to work right, but will absolutely demolish anything that you point them at. Their flamethrowers are considered artillery so they cannot be blocked by shields and inflict morale penalty upon anything they hit. They are surprisingly strong in melee against infantry if not deployed in a thin line because the back row can use their flamethrowers at point-blank, but not against cavalry as they'll pierce till the back row.
**'''The Skolder Guard'''(ROR): Replaces Lava for Steam to be an anti-armor unit. Much tougher than an Irondrakes with Physical resistance which is nice to have when the enemy gets a sneaky charge. They will multch full-plate units quickly given they have an even faster reload speed but watch out as you will also burn through their limited ammunition just as quickly. Against enemies with less armor you're better off using regular Irondrakes.
*'''Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedo)''': the Anti large version of the Irondrakes, having rocket launchers instead of Flammers. Often times Irondrakess can just melt through the armor of most things they are pointed at, sometimes they are Calvary or monsters that have enough armor to shrug off that current of magma.

===Combined Infantry===
*'''Quarrellers''': Boring but practical. Like dwarf warriors, they're able to trade shots with the tier 1 ranged units of pretty much every other faction and winning. They also come with armor piercing, which makes them a budget option for shooting stuff like chaos warriors. However, they do less DPS per gold spent than similar units like empire crossbowmen and darkshards.
*'''Quarrellers (Great Weapons)''': Similar to Quarrelers, except they give up shields in exchange for armor-piercing melee weapons. Won't win much in close combat, but they'll take down more enemies before they're overwhelmed, particularly against squishy units like harpies.
*'''Miners (Blasting Charges)''': take that Cheap miner, then give them a single volley for bomb-throwing. Each model only gets one bomb, so make it count. Turn off ''Fire at Will'' and select the targets manually. A well-thrown Blasting Charge will decimate most charging infantry.
**'''Ekrund Miners'''(ROR): A regiment that Gets 3 Blasting Charges instead of 1. Depending on how well you managed them, that's paying less gold then recruiting 3 Blasting Charge Miners which matter very much in the gold restricted multiplayer.
*'''Ironbreakers''': The fact that Ironbreakers are one of the toughest units in the game would make them a key part of a Dawi late game army. Add to that blasting charges and you have something which can stomp most other infantry into the ground, blowing away a quarter of their hitpoints and ruining their charge before finishing off the survivors. Their only downside is that their damage in hand to hand is not that great, but that's what thunderers, slayers and artillery is for.
**'''Norgrimlings Ironbreakers''':(ROR) Even better Ironbreakers, With bigger model size (so more bombes and unit health), a faster throwing arm, Vanguard, and Immune to Psychology. Overall a more powerful unit that can holds back the hords for longer while dealing more casualties.
*'''Rangers''': Sneaky Dwarf Quarrellers getting Vanguard and Stalk for a surprise Dwarf ambush. They have better speed to help with positioning and catching enemies at least when compared to other Dawi. They're armour is pretty good for most armies, but among Dwarfs they're on the lower end of defenses.
*'''Rangers (Great Weapons)''': Ranger equivalent of Quarrellers(Great Weapons) with one key difference; unlike the great weapon Quarreler the Rangers give up their crossbows entirely in favor of shorter ranged, higher AP throwing axes. Surprise AP flanking is a thing any Dwarf list could ask for. Keep in mind that each dwarf only carries 8 axes, so they'll run out much quicker than other rangers. Once they run out of throwing axes they become a decent anti-armour skirmishing unit, although they're low defense means they need to chose their opponents carefully.
**'''Ulthar's Raiders'''(ROR) a unit your should be more careful with than just normal Rangers with Great Weapons, as they get the [[Witch Hunter]]'s ability to Mark a unit for death. You do get a fair amount of range despite having only infantry speed, being able to strip an enemy of a lot of their protection they had against ranged weapons. Good take if your using a Focus fire strategy, assuming your can keep the Raiders safe while making back their cost.
*'''Bugman's Rangers''' Surprisingly not a ROR. Improved Rangers, having the regenerative and drunkenness properties of Bugman's liquid courage. they are better at fighting off harassers while their improved shooting and HP recovery help them win archer fights. These are to Rangers as Longbeards are to Warriors: a straight upgrade assuming you can afford it. In MP, they can last longer without support and work best if you're good at micro. If not, you're probably better just leaving them at home in favor of more units of regular rangers.

===Cavalry===
Does not exist. See Slayers, Rangers and Air Units if you want something fast, you beardling.

===Artillery===
*'''Bolt Thrower:''' Your cheaper anti-large Artillery. More accurate and shoots faster than a cannon, but outclassed by them in splash and penetration power. Best used to take out elite cavalry and monsters in the early campaign.
*'''Grudge Thrower''': Your first artillery unit. Fills a role like an Empire Mortar as a long-range anti-infantry weapon giving it has the largest radius of splash damage on impact.
**'''Gob-Lobber (Grudge Thrower)(ROR)''': Like the Grudge Thrower, but better. Also has live Goblins bolted to the projectiles. Causes morale penalties to targets, which stacks with the penalty for being hit by artillery.
*'''Cannon:''' Your classic artillery. Slow to fire but harder to dodge, best used as an Anti-large weapon while also killing models in high armor units, through can have difficulties hitting if the enemy zigzags too much like most Artillery units.
*'''Organ Gun:''' An effective horse begone tool, with good armor piercing and a tone of cannon balls flying everywhere, cavalry will quickly and efficiently die off in droves as your foe rages, if there’s no cav to shoot then this things good for pulping infantry and can do a decent job at eliminating chariots.
*'''Flame Cannon''' Jack-of-all-trades artillery. Great area damage to deal with blobs of infantry and while it doesn't cause AP damage its base damage is high enough that it doesn't matter.

===Air Units===
The closest thing to "cavalry". Flying Bombers. Fill a role as the fast-moving guns to shoot at enemy flanks and drop anti-infantry bombs. the rotor blades can also dish out a good amount of melee damage but having almost no melee defense makes them relatively fragile despite having high armor. They are often safe in the air but keep them away from other flyers and AP missiles. Despite this, they are absurdly fast having speed in the 200s to run from most problems (only Pegasus Knights or Hawk Riders could catch them without nets or debuffs). To use effectively will require some mico.

*'''Gyrobomber:''' Your dedicated bomber and sacrifice other aspects to be best at that. As a single mobile dedicated to hovering over infantry to drop annihilating bombs multiple times during a game, they obviously require the most micromanagement. A well placed carpet bombing can absolutely devastate the enemy frontline, and its machine gun can put out Ratling-Gun levels of DPS on a much more mobile platform.
**'''Skyhammer(ROR)''': Drops cluster bombs so be aware that the damaged area is greater than the marker shows. Basically the Dwarfs answer to big aoe magic to obliterate chaff and elite units alike.
*'''Gyrocopter:''' Your anti-infantry skirmishers, shooting and bombing out those enemy gunners and artillery that though safe so far in the back. Also good at harassing the harassers that thought they could run a circle around the slowly pivoting Dawi gun lines.
*'''Gyrocopter (Brimstone Gun):''' Switches from general anti-infantry to majority AP damage to harass and focus down targets with more armor. Generally speaking, superior in almost every way to regular Gyrocopters. Fire damage puts a serious dent in units with regeneration (and Wood Elves) and the lower base damage is negliable when you take AP into consideration.

==Tactics==
===Multiplayer Strategies===
Dwarfs are one of the most unique factions in the game battle wise with an utter lack of mobility and magic and focusing everything on tanky infantry that can deal decent damage and powerful guns and artillery. Unfortunately for them, this uniqueness means that unless you're fighting other Dwarfs you don't have any balanced match ups against other races. Against some you have a clear, obvious advantage and tend to stomp and against others they give you swirlies in the bathroom for your lunch money. This is why most competitive players think they're one of the best counterpick factions as you can avoid your bad match ups and play in a favorable situation. Anyway, here's how you can satisfy the grudge against the other races:

*'''Beastmen''': A rush faction, Beastmen will have a hell of a time against you if you play your cards right. Their complete lack of armor leaves them quite vulnerable to Thunderer fire on the approach and Bolt Throwers can slice through Minotaurs and Cygors with relative ease. Keep a solid screen of staunch Dwarf Warriors between your ranged units and the enemy and bring (Giant) Slayers to turn the Bestigor and Centigor Herds into ground beef.

*'''Bretonnia''': The peasantry of the Bretonnians can safely be ignored (except Foot Squires, after their buffs they can actually fuck you up pretty good), as they'll struggle to do anything to your heavy armor. Instead, you'll want to focus on bringing down their armored cavalry, particularly the Grail Knights and Grail Guardians leading the charges into you. Trollhammer Irondrakes serve fantastically as a powerful Horse-B-Gone tool and your Giant Slayers can chunk through most of their cavalry so long as they're not the ones receiving the initial charge. Bolt Throwers are, again, a powerful tool to use while the Bretonnian cav is on the approach. Just make sure that you keep your flanks thoroughly secure.

*'''Daemons of Chaos''':

*'''Chaos Warriors''': For Grungni's sake, keep your distance! Chaos Warriors are as tough as you are and hit harder in melee. Stock up on thunderers and cannons, and bring some great weapon fighters to finish them off. Slayers can help as long as you're careful to make sure the enemy can't hit back. Keep your eyes out for flanking cavalry and chariots, and pray to the gods you can shoot those heathens before they reach your lines!

*'''Dark Elves''': This is a really tricky matchup for you; Dark Elves are fast and bring absurd AP damage in melee and at a range. Your biggest advantage is your superior range and you'll need to lean on it heavily to stand a chance. Grab cannons, grudge throwers, rangers, and quarrelers and hope to Grungi you can shoot them down before they get close enough to return the favor.

*'''Dwarfs''': Hopefully you have a general idea on the strengths of this faction, you're playing as them! Anti-Armor, full stop. Organ Guns, take the Skolder Guard and bring some Hammerers to crack open your opponent's can.

*'''Empire''': The Empire can be a tricky one because they're almost as good at artillery as you are while also having good cavalry and skirmishers. You'll need to stock up on gyrobombers to disrupt their flanking cavalry and slayers to take out their knights. Irondrakes can also work well at deleting any aggressive demigryphs or knights. Beyond that, you should double down on your strengths and keep your artillery safe; the human lines will break before yours do.

*'''Greenskins''': As satisfying as it is to bury an axe in a greenskins skull, your better off dealing with these guys from a distance. Quarrelers and rangers are your friends here; quantity is as important as quality when fending off a green tide. Organ Guns and Cannons will be better at dealing with monsters than your slayers, you don't want to send unarmoured units against Arachnarok Spiders or Rogue Idols. Don't forget your irondrakes and/or your flame cannons, they can melt down anything from goblins to stone trolls. And keep your flanks protected from chariots and pump-wagons, they can wreak havoc on your lines and just ruin your day.

*'''Grand Cathay''': This is another instance of a faction that does what you do, only a hell of a lot worse. Yeah, you won't have to worry too much about these guys when they show up. Your missile boxes beat their missile boxes, their Cav is subpar and will get eaten by Slayers, and the only AP infantry that they have is Anti Large, which you don't have. Box up, get some cannons and Quarrelers, sit back and enjoy some Bugmans as the Cathayans desperately try to figure out how the fuck they're getting into your backline. Yes they do have their own little airforce, but do you really think Umgi inventions can compete with Dawi Gyrocopters? No. If they bring Sky Junks send some Gyrocopters after them to pick them down. This faction might get more scary as DLC comes out, but for now this should be an easy win as long as you know what you're doing.

*'''High Elves''': Don't let the War of the Beard fool you, this will be one of your hardest match ups. High Elves have a lot of things that threaten you, but the things to fear the most would be their Chariots, Mages, White Lions and <s>Sisters of Averlorn</s> (they do magic damage so their AP isn't as useful as you think). Seriously, any High Elf player who knows what they're doing is going to spam White Lions and it is going to SUCK. Your best bet is to spam either Gyrocopters or Cannons and spread the field. Force the High Elves to have to either attack your artillery emplacements one at a time, allowing your others to fire freely, or use your air power and artillery to spread them apart and pick off pockets. Hammerers also have a niche in this match up because they beat White Lions pretty hard one on one and with support from guns or chaff they can go toe to toe with Swordmasters (Though don't count on that). Of course, these plans aren't perfect. There's a 99% chance they will bring Alarielle for Tempest and heals to deal with Gyros and they have plenty of mobility to get at your cannons to give the White Lions time to get in. Sadly this is one of those match ups where even if you bring the most optimized Anti Elgi list possible, there's still a pretty decent chance you'll lose. Avoid this match up if you can.

*'''Khorne''': It's Khorne, c'mon. Warriors of chaos with somehow even less ranged and even killier once they reach your front lines. Bring plenty of armor-piercing infantry and ranged. If you want to live, protect your artillery from Khorne's furies and calvary.

*'''Kislev''':

*'''Lizardmen''': Lizardmen are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, you can scoff at all the skinks as they ping impotently off of your armor (unless they're the Red-Crested variety). On the other, Saurus are just as stubborn as you are and will take days to chew through without good AP. Bring some Hammerers to eek out an advantage in the inevitable grindfest you'll end up in. Take advantage of the Lizardmen's dearth of ranged firepower and massacre their forces with Irondrakes and Thunderers while your Dwarf Warriors hold their front line at bay. You have excellent anti-monster units in the form of your Giant Slayers who absolutely will butcher any big dinosaur thrown into your ranks so long as you have some chaff to help trap and soak the damage the beasties can toss about. Though Skinks will largely prove a minor nuisance at best to a majority of your forces, you will ''definitely'' want to screen your (Giant) Slayers from the Skirmishing variety. Key players to watch out for are going to be the Slann Mage-Priests, Skink Priests and Kroxigors. Slann, especially fire/high slann and Heavens Skink Priests can wreak utter havoc upon your forces with the myriad of vortex spells they can toss out like candy from a parade float and they should absolutely be prioritized if you find them on the field. (Sacred) Kroxigors, if fielded, are surprisingly vicious anti-infantry monsters and will bowl over a majority of the infantry they're pointed at. Giant Slayers and Trollhammer Irondrakes serve as a solid counter, but you'll still want to swamp the Kroxigors in chaff to mitigate the damage they deal in turn.

*'''Norsca''': This is an easy fight for you. All of that monster hunting anti-large equipment the Norscans bring is going to fly right over your head as you bury your axes in their unarmoured pecs. Bring plenty of cannons and bolt throwers to shoot down enemy mammoths and bring some irondrakes to shoot down anything else. Norscans are usually unarmoured, so you can trade your thunderers for quarrelers for the better range. Stick to the basics and you'll do fine.

*'''Nurgle''': Holy shit, a faction that might actually be slower than you! And it seems like you will have a hefty advantage as they don't really have a lot of ways to stop your artillery. The biggest thing you will probably have to worry about is their air force, and Furies and Rotflies will be gunning for that back line. Keep some slayers near your guns and get ready to surround them if they try to land. After that you just got to deal with Nurgle's rush of Plaguebearers and Nurglings, and I hope you're ready for nothing to ever die ever because that's likely what is gonna happen when Dawi and Nurgle clash. On the ground, Plague Toads and Pox Riders will likely be your biggest threat with their anti-infantry, but they're also big models so guns and slayers should do the trick. Expect a Herald as the commander, and if he's dumb enough to bring a Great Unclean One, laugh and shoot it to pieces. With the new debuffs fire damage does to healing it might also be wise to break out the Irondrakes and Flame Cannons -- you'll have plenty of time to lob napalm at those shambling hordes of Plaguebearers.

*'''ogre kingdoms''': this match is either gonna be your easiest or your hardest, this comes down to the skill of you, the ogre player and what units you brought to the table, the ogres have massive charge bonuses, but a lot of your units have charge defense, however unlike other factions the ogres will only lose half due to their ogre charge trait, the biggest threat the ogres bring to you is there artillery, if you let it be, it will reap a devasting toll on your infantry, the good news is however, it that with the exception of leadbelchers, all there artillery are single model, have your cannons and gyrocopters focus them down and your good to go, or so you would think, besides the gnoblers, ogres are all monster units which means two things, one is that your artillery and slayers will have a field day however thereshockingly fast speed means there gonna out run you and try to out maneuver you at every opportunity, your army should be a good balence of longbeards or if your pinching penny's dwarf warriors, they all have charge defense and can help hold the charging balls of lubber back, this is one of the match ups where having a ton of slayers is a good thing and stack up them to defend your back and cut the ogres down to size, your artillery should consist of 2, maybe 3 cannons to take out artillery and thin there numbers, irondrakes with trollhammer torpedo's won't be a bad call but they are on the pricey end, besides some of their units, bring at least 2 or simply 1 unit of thunderers at most because a lot of their stuff is unarmored, you main missile troop should be quarrelers, there cheap and will have a good time turning ogres into pin-cushions and are strong enough to fend off sabertusks, you cannon priority should look something like this, artillery units (iron blasters first, then leadbelchers), stonehorns and finally everything else, this is the sole match up where you don't bother bringing miners with blasting charges, the only thing they,ll have a smidgin of effect on is gnoblars and strictly that, which is a waste of cash and will earn you a grudge for being wasteful.

*'''Skaven''': This is probably the closest we'll get to a 40k-esque matchup (you know, aside the irony of neither the [[Squats|Dwarfs]] or Skaven being in that setting). Between your guns and artillery and their guns and artillery, most of the damage either of you will be dealing to each other will be done from afar. A majority of the Skaven infantry is quite helpless against your frontline infantry, but you'll have a hell of a time pinning anything down with the Skaven's quicker movement speeds. Grudge Throwers are going to be king against most Skaven infantry builds while Bolt Throwers or Cannons should be fielded to snipe any Warp-Lighting Cannons, Plagueclaw Catapults or Hellpit Abominations they have downfield. Warplock Jezails will be a priority target to focus fire down, as are Warpfire Throwers and Poison Wind Globadiers should they start getting too close. Aside utilizing their missile units against them, Skaven have absolutely no aerial presence, meaning your Gyrocopters will have virtually free reign to gun down rats at will.

*'''Slaanesh''': Fast, and tons of armor-piercing to crack open your lads. Slaanesh does not have air units other than furies so bring some gyrocopters to bleed them on the way in. Try to destroy Slaanesh's hedonites with ranged firepower before they get close and hump their way into the Dammaz Kron. Slaanesh's units don't have much armor, which makes destroying them with ranged easier, but also means leaving the great weapons and thunderers for axe-and-board and quarrelers. Speaking of which, this may be one of the only matchups where you want to bring great weapon quarrelers + rangers. It's unlikely you'll keep your perimeter completely airtight against 50 speed daemonettes and 100+ speed cavalry + chariots especially since slaanesh can root your own screening units in place with a net of amauntok equivalent spell.

*'''Tomb Kings''': The good news is that Tomb Kings don't like fire, and you have fire aplenty. Brimstone Gun-equipped gyrocoptors are your fastest fire-delivery system, but irondrakes and flame-cannons are useful as well. The bad news is that you don't like chariots, and they have chariots aplenty. Use every trick you can to soften up the chariots before they hit your lines; but it's unlikely you'll be able to stop them all. Grab some giant slayers to finish off the ones that survive your barrage and hope it's enough to keep them down. Tomb Kings infantry is no match for you, so you should build your army against their monsters and chariots.

*'''Tzeentch''': Ooh, here is somebody that's going to hate you. Tzeentch units are squishy and their ranged units only have middling range and are better for kiting. He also has no artillery other than Soul Grinders, few big monsters outside of Lords of Change, and relies heavily on spamming spells to activate their army abilities. Bring a Runelord or Thorek on an Anvil of Doom and laugh as their casters explode. Otherwise, pound them into dust with artillery, as they have few answers to an army with better range than them. Just guard the back line against Furies and Doom Knights.

*'''Vampire Coast''': The most common Vampire Coast strategy is to bunker up with a large number of cheap ranged units and heavy artillery. If that sounds familiar it's because it's the same thing you like to do, you're just better at it. Bring plenty of cannons and some slayers to deal with the enemy monsters (hint: kill the necrofex colossi first). Once the big monsters have been dealt with the pirates are basically just an inferior version of you, clumps of quarrelers and thunderers are plenty to take down the zombies. And remember not to bunker up too tightly; you may have magic resistance but Winds of Death will still hurt.

*'''Vampire Counts''': Virtually nothing that makes up the rank and file of the Vampire Counts will pose a significant threat to you. Skeletons and Zombies will only serve to slow down your already plodding advance and only deal any meaningful "damage" to you simply by sponging your limited ranged firepower meant for something else. The only standard units that you'll find yourself at a significant disadvantage against will be the Cairn and Hex Wraiths, given your general lack of magical damage. You'll want to engage them with missile attacks for maximum effect and make sure that you are braced for their charges. The main thing you should be focused on taking down will be the Lords and Heroes leading the army; without them, the undead hordes will quickly fall apart (literally). They also pose the single biggest threat to everything you have, as their Lore of Death casters can delete swathes of your army with a single well placed cast if you are positioned carelessly.

*'''Wood Elves''': Wood Elves are an extremely annoying foe who are fundamentally the exact opposite of you. Their infantry can run circles around yours and they can deal frightening amounts of damage against their intended targets, but you'll snap their twiggy spines if you whip 'em with your beards. In general, you're going to be engaged in a very tedious game of "keep away", where the Wood Elves are going to be dancing just outside of your reach while their Glade Guard and Waywatchers pepper you with AP arrows and occasionally test your flanks for weaknesses via Wild Rider/Great Stag Knight cycle charges. Fortunately, you do have a couple tools the elves don't: Artillery. Grudge Throwers excel against WE infantry and can discourage them from trying to camp too far away while Bolt Throwers and Flame Cannons will make mince-meat of the cavalry/forest spirits that may try to break through your lines. Speaking of forest spirits, irondrakes will ''incinerate'' them. Slayers also help against the bigger tree spirits in theory, but the range power the wood elves bring make them a dicey proposition. As far as their melee infantry options are concerned, the only ones that majorly threaten you are the Bladesingers; their anti-armor magical attacks will scythe through your armor will jaw-dropping speed. Use Thunderers to soften them up on the charge then use Slayers to cut them down swiftly.

===Campaign Strategies===

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}