Chaos Dwarfs: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
At the height of their empire, before the coming of [[Chaos]], the Dwarfs spread far and wide across the Old World. Ever the diligent workers and miners, they followed the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]] north and dug their holds deep into the rock of the earth. Along the way, they reached a place they called Zorn-Uzkul, the "[[Great Skull Land]]", after all the ancient bones (and especially skulls) scattered there. Though it was rich in minerals, most of them decided that this place was best left alone, but a few were so stubborn, even compared to their fellow Dwarfs, that they decided to live there, to prove that they could. | |||
Like the regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units, backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. | ===An ancient schism=== | ||
These most northern holds kept close contact with their kin in the Worlds Edge Mountains as the Dwarf Empire grew, and the Dwarfs enjoyed an age of properity not seen before or since. With the coming of Chaos, the dominion of the Dwarfs over the Old World was about to dwindle. As devastating earthquakes, brought about by the careless machinations of the [[Lizardmen|Slann]] magepriests, shattered the world, the Dwarfs closed themselves up in their mountain holds to weather out the storm, as it has always been their way. There were those amonst the Dwarfs, lead by their fiercest warrior god Grimnir, who argued that Chaos needed to be fought, not endured. And when Chaos was eventually driven back by the actions of the Dwarfs and their [[High_Elves_(Warhammer_Fantasy)|High Elf]] allies, the Dwarfs looked at their wounded domain and thought their northern cousins lost. Surely nothing could have survived the raw Chaos energies unleashed upon the northern wastes. Tragically, they were wrong. The Dwarfs of Zorn-Uzkul suffered greatly, and in their anguish they cried out to their ancestor gods for salvation, but they did not perish. | |||
Though the Dwarfs that chose to live in the blasted wastes were hardy, even they were not immune to corruption, and they slowly changed over time. The transformation was not simple; for many long years, they only barely survived, as they abandoned or were abandoned by their own ancestor gods, but eventually they found favor with [[Hashut]], the bull-like Father of Darkness, learning the secrets of daemon-smithing in exchange for sacrifices. Soon their bodies showed sings of the growing corruption within their souls, their flesh grey, their eyes red and many of the Dawi Zharr sported horns from their temples while their fangs turned into vicious tusks. Dwarfs have a natural suspicion for unchecked magic and tame their raw energies by binding it to their mighty runes. The Dawi Zharr were relased from these traditional shackles and embraced the secrets about working terrible magic taught to them by their new patron god. Their Daemonsmiths soon learned to combine this arcane knowledge with their own mastery of binding magic and working marvels of engineering into blasphemous amalgams of machine and daemon. | |||
The Dawi Zharr may have survived the coming of Chaos, but their numbers were greatly diminished. From the Zorn-Uzkul they ventured eastwards across the Zharrduk, the Plain of Zharr, to the Mountains of Mourn and the Sea of Dread in the south. These are the [[Dark Lands]], a land of fire, smoke and ash, and the Dawi Zharr claim them as their domain. They were never a numerous people though, and the Blasted Wastes are home to many Greenskin and Ogre tribes. At the heart of the Dawi Zharr empire they built their great city, Mingol-Zharr-Naggrund, the obsidian City of Fire and Desolation, in the Plain of Zharr. The Blasted Wastes are dotted with fortress-citadels, garrisons and watchtowers, from where the Dawi Zharr venture forth to subjugate all living beings to work for them as an endless stream of slaves. | |||
===A twisted parody of Hearth & Oath=== | |||
While nobody would describe the Dwarfs as a friendly people, their unshakeable code of honour, respect for their ancestors and undeniable craftmanship and ingenuity should be consired admirable values make them loyal to a fault. The present-day Dawi Zharr are only a twisted mockery of these noble ideals, they are tyrannical and merciless, cold at heart and driven by a need to subjugate all the lesser races before them, while retaining their mastery of craftsmanship and industry, backed by their natural stubbornness. Where the human followers of Chaos are always driven by thoughtless slaughter and are inevitably doomed to fall in their rampant destruction, their forces spent, exhausted by infighting and stretched thin against to many foes at once, the Dawi Zharr employ their ruthless determination and natural propensity for flawlessness for a slow but grinding dominion across the Dark Lands and beyond. Every Dwarf with a mind set on a goal is relentless in its pursuit, but a Dawi Zharr will stop at nothing and will relinquish no cruelty to see it fulfilled. | |||
Like the regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units, backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. Chaos Dwarf machines often have [[daemon]]s bound inside, and their ammunition may be charged with dark alchemy. To round out the army, Chaos Dwarfs employ legions of slaves, especially [[Orcs#Warhammer|Orc]]s and [[Goblin#Warhammer|Goblin]]s, both as meat-shields in battle and as an expendable workforce in the mines and forges. And yet, a group of six Norscans led by a Chaos Champion can easily slaughter their way through one of their cities (Yet only because the writer of that story gave the Norscans EXBAWKSHUEG Plot Armor). | |||
Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature. As time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this: miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means ''gaining'' a permanent point of Toughness, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool. | Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature. As time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this: miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means ''gaining'' a permanent point of Toughness, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool. | ||
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The Chaos Dwarfs, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse and warriors of chaos in exchange for more slaves to top up their supply. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them. | The Chaos Dwarfs, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse and warriors of chaos in exchange for more slaves to top up their supply. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them. | ||
Chaos Dwarfs are still around in Age of Sigmar. They live in the realm of Aqshy in the Ashcloud Mountains, and use Realmstone in their armor. That's about all we know. | ===At World's End=== | ||
The cataclysmic events of [[The End Times]] obviously didn't exclude the Dawi Zharr. Eventually [[Grimgor Ironhide]] led a mighty [[Waaagh|Waaagh!]] against the Chaos Dwarfs, toppling their cities and crushing their empire to dust, finishing what started when the Black Orcs revolted against their masters. Like all the factions, Chaos Dwarfs are still around in Age of Sigmar. They live in the realm of Aqshy in the Ashcloud Mountains, and use Realmstone in their armor. That's about all we know. | |||
==Units== | ==Units== | ||
Revision as of 13:01, 5 December 2018
"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep."
- – Boromir
"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."
- – James Baldwin
"You can leave your hat on."
- – Joe Cocker
The Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr, as they refer to themselves, or Dawi-Zharr (Dwarfs of Fire) in Khazalid are the dark kin of the Dwarfs, who have been corrupted by the influence of Chaos. They were a faction in Warhammer Fantasy Battle up until 5th edition. Despite how awesome these guys are, they were ditched by GW because they weren't selling as much as vanilla Chaos, Orcs & Goblins or Elves were to newbie players. For ages they existed only as a dim fond memory to the veterans of the hobby; they did one new model set (the Hellcannon and its attending Chaos Dwarf crew) but little else. Lo and behold though, Forge World has flown to the rescue. You can buy some brilliant new Chaos Dwarf models and there were rules to use to play with them in Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos.
History
At the height of their empire, before the coming of Chaos, the Dwarfs spread far and wide across the Old World. Ever the diligent workers and miners, they followed the Worlds Edge Mountains north and dug their holds deep into the rock of the earth. Along the way, they reached a place they called Zorn-Uzkul, the "Great Skull Land", after all the ancient bones (and especially skulls) scattered there. Though it was rich in minerals, most of them decided that this place was best left alone, but a few were so stubborn, even compared to their fellow Dwarfs, that they decided to live there, to prove that they could.
An ancient schism
These most northern holds kept close contact with their kin in the Worlds Edge Mountains as the Dwarf Empire grew, and the Dwarfs enjoyed an age of properity not seen before or since. With the coming of Chaos, the dominion of the Dwarfs over the Old World was about to dwindle. As devastating earthquakes, brought about by the careless machinations of the Slann magepriests, shattered the world, the Dwarfs closed themselves up in their mountain holds to weather out the storm, as it has always been their way. There were those amonst the Dwarfs, lead by their fiercest warrior god Grimnir, who argued that Chaos needed to be fought, not endured. And when Chaos was eventually driven back by the actions of the Dwarfs and their High Elf allies, the Dwarfs looked at their wounded domain and thought their northern cousins lost. Surely nothing could have survived the raw Chaos energies unleashed upon the northern wastes. Tragically, they were wrong. The Dwarfs of Zorn-Uzkul suffered greatly, and in their anguish they cried out to their ancestor gods for salvation, but they did not perish.
Though the Dwarfs that chose to live in the blasted wastes were hardy, even they were not immune to corruption, and they slowly changed over time. The transformation was not simple; for many long years, they only barely survived, as they abandoned or were abandoned by their own ancestor gods, but eventually they found favor with Hashut, the bull-like Father of Darkness, learning the secrets of daemon-smithing in exchange for sacrifices. Soon their bodies showed sings of the growing corruption within their souls, their flesh grey, their eyes red and many of the Dawi Zharr sported horns from their temples while their fangs turned into vicious tusks. Dwarfs have a natural suspicion for unchecked magic and tame their raw energies by binding it to their mighty runes. The Dawi Zharr were relased from these traditional shackles and embraced the secrets about working terrible magic taught to them by their new patron god. Their Daemonsmiths soon learned to combine this arcane knowledge with their own mastery of binding magic and working marvels of engineering into blasphemous amalgams of machine and daemon.
The Dawi Zharr may have survived the coming of Chaos, but their numbers were greatly diminished. From the Zorn-Uzkul they ventured eastwards across the Zharrduk, the Plain of Zharr, to the Mountains of Mourn and the Sea of Dread in the south. These are the Dark Lands, a land of fire, smoke and ash, and the Dawi Zharr claim them as their domain. They were never a numerous people though, and the Blasted Wastes are home to many Greenskin and Ogre tribes. At the heart of the Dawi Zharr empire they built their great city, Mingol-Zharr-Naggrund, the obsidian City of Fire and Desolation, in the Plain of Zharr. The Blasted Wastes are dotted with fortress-citadels, garrisons and watchtowers, from where the Dawi Zharr venture forth to subjugate all living beings to work for them as an endless stream of slaves.
A twisted parody of Hearth & Oath
While nobody would describe the Dwarfs as a friendly people, their unshakeable code of honour, respect for their ancestors and undeniable craftmanship and ingenuity should be consired admirable values make them loyal to a fault. The present-day Dawi Zharr are only a twisted mockery of these noble ideals, they are tyrannical and merciless, cold at heart and driven by a need to subjugate all the lesser races before them, while retaining their mastery of craftsmanship and industry, backed by their natural stubbornness. Where the human followers of Chaos are always driven by thoughtless slaughter and are inevitably doomed to fall in their rampant destruction, their forces spent, exhausted by infighting and stretched thin against to many foes at once, the Dawi Zharr employ their ruthless determination and natural propensity for flawlessness for a slow but grinding dominion across the Dark Lands and beyond. Every Dwarf with a mind set on a goal is relentless in its pursuit, but a Dawi Zharr will stop at nothing and will relinquish no cruelty to see it fulfilled.
Like the regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units, backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. Chaos Dwarf machines often have daemons bound inside, and their ammunition may be charged with dark alchemy. To round out the army, Chaos Dwarfs employ legions of slaves, especially Orcs and Goblins, both as meat-shields in battle and as an expendable workforce in the mines and forges. And yet, a group of six Norscans led by a Chaos Champion can easily slaughter their way through one of their cities (Yet only because the writer of that story gave the Norscans EXBAWKSHUEG Plot Armor).
Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature. As time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this: miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means gaining a permanent point of Toughness, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool.
The Chaos Dwarfs, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse and warriors of chaos in exchange for more slaves to top up their supply. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them.
At World's End
The cataclysmic events of The End Times obviously didn't exclude the Dawi Zharr. Eventually Grimgor Ironhide led a mighty Waaagh! against the Chaos Dwarfs, toppling their cities and crushing their empire to dust, finishing what started when the Black Orcs revolted against their masters. Like all the factions, Chaos Dwarfs are still around in Age of Sigmar. They live in the realm of Aqshy in the Ashcloud Mountains, and use Realmstone in their armor. That's about all we know.
Units
The most up-to-date ruleset for Chaos Dwarfs, sadly, is that found in a Forge World publication; the Chaos campaign Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos, but it's fairly extensive and has some fairly nifty units, so it can stand up on its own. Though the book itself suggests they work best when incorporated into a Warriors of Chaos army, used as part of the Chaos Great Hosts ruleset provided in the book, or used as allies.
Common Chaos Dwarfs, surprisingly, are not the mainstay of the army, being relegated to roles as warmachine crew, even though they have stats for a champion version (the Overseer) included. They're pretty much the same as Dwarfs, even sharing the Resolute and Relentless rules, but they have unique gear in the form of the Hailshot Blunderbuss and a unique rule, Contempt, which means they only take Panic tests as a result of the Breaking or destruction of Chaos Dwarf or Bull Centaur units. This may seem unusual, but since the Chaos Dwarfs are explicitly only interested in slave-taking, it makes sense that the common Chaos Dwarf fights only at the side of a huge death-spitting doomsday machine.
Infernal Guard are the Chaos Dwarf equivalent of Slayers, being Chaos Dwarfs who have suffered dishonor and seek to atone for it. To do this, they forsake their names and identities, strap mask-helmets of bronze and iron heated red-hot over their faces, and fight for the glory of Hashut. Unlike Slayers, the Infernal Guard is not a death sentence - in theory, anyway. They aren't Frenzied fighters like Slayers, and an Infernal Guard who wins great renown has his mask formally removed and is discharged, his old shame forgotten. They go into battle sporting Blackshard Armor, a unique Chaos Dwarf-devised armor that is proof against flame, and wielding Fireglaives, which are basically repeater-rifles with axe-blades on them so the Infernal Guard can split skulls in melee as well. There are two kinds of Infernal Guard; basic ones, who make up your Chaos Dwarf Core units, and Infernal Guard Ironsworn, who use up Special slots but trade their fireglaives for magic handweapons.
Leadership, naturally, belongs to the magi of Hashut; the Daemonsmiths (Heros who use the Lores of Fire, Death or Metal) and the Sorcer-Prophets (Lords who use the Lores of Fire, Death, Metal or Hashut). Miscasts are deadly (suffer a Miscast, then make a Toughness check; failure costs you a Wound, though the first failed Miscast does give +1 Toughness for the rest of the game). These are nasty characters with a lot of special tricks and gear, including randomized unique magical weapons, naptha bombs, and granting re-rolls to your war machines.
Bull Centaurs are the fastest-moving, hardest-hitting infantry the Chaos Dwarfs having, coming in the form of a Special unit choice or the Taur'ruk, a Hero character.
Naturally, the Chaos Dwarfs have a variety of dread, daemon-infested warmachines that fill up the Special and Rare slots; the Magma Cannon, Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher, and Iron Daemon War Engine in Special, and the Dreadquake Mortar and Hellcannon in Rare.
Several twisted beasts are further added to the Chaos Dwarf armies; daemonic bull-things of living magma called the K'daai, burning winged daemon-bulls known as Taurus, magic-eating monsters called Lammasu, and armor-plated Giants modified for use as living seige weapons.
Finally, if all else fails, the Chaos Dwarfs can pad out their ranks with expendable cannon-fodder in the form of Hobgoblin; fleet-footed wolfriders, great mobs, even conniving Khans as Hero-grade characters.
See also
External Links
- Chaos Dwarfs Online, a repository for all things Chaos Dwarf.
References
- Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos, by Alan Bligh; Games Workshop, 2011; ISBN 978-1-90796-465-7
| Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle | |
|---|---|
| Human Kingdoms: | The Empire of Man - Bretonnia |
| Elves: | High Elves - Dark Elves - Wood Elves |
| Dwarven: | Dwarfs - Chaos Dwarfs |
| Undead: | Tomb Kings - Vampire Counts |
| Heirs of the Old Ones: | Lizardmen |
| Greenskins | Orcs - Goblins |
| Ogrekind | Ogre Kingdoms |
| Servants of Chaos | Warriors of Chaos - Daemons of Chaos - Beastmen |
| Skavenkind | Skaven |