Chaos Dwarfs

NO HAT SHALL BE GREATER THAN MINE!

"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 marched 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.

100% Chaos, 100% Dwarf, 200% trouble.

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 and 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 fail 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. From time to time, a Chaos Dwarf host will be assembled to leave the Dark Lands in search for a valuable treasure, specific sacrifices for their ever-hungry diety or simply more slaves, if the regular hunting grounds are exhausted. Alas, the Daemonsmiths like to test their newest creations against the defenses of the lesser races to optimise their catastrophic potential. 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.

The Domain of the Dawi-Zharr

Between the Worlds Edge Mountains in the west, the Mountains of Mourn in the east and the Sea of Dread in the south lie the Dark Lands, a barren wasteland of ash and dust, devoid of plants or sunlight, the air thick with volcanic smoke, and the Dawi-Zharr claim dominion over it. Most Chaos Dwarfs dwell within this godforsaken realm, but some clans have established exclaves in further regions, like Norsca and the Chaos Wastes.

The Dark Lands

The Dark Lands are a vast area of nothingness, and not even a force as mighty as the Dawi-Zharr could ever hope to truly dominate it.

Zorn-Uzkul, the Great Skull Land

In the north, the High Pass from Kislev leads through the Worlds Edge Mountains into the Zorn-Uzkul, the Great Skull Land, where the ancestors of the Dawi-Zharr first settled. Here, the Road of Skulls to the Chaos Wastes leads through a great plateau littered with bones, many of them skulls of mighty beasts long perished, giving the forbidding area its name. The Dwarfs discovered rich deposits of ore in the ground, but most of them ultimately abandoned the obviously tainted region and returned west. Those who stayed and founded Uzkulak in the north or went on eastwards to the Mountains of Mourn were eventually corrupted by the increasing influence of Chaos and became the ancestors of the Dawi-Zharr. Today, Zorn-Uzkul is the northernmost part of the Chaos Dwarf empire, and to follow the Road of Skulls in the shadows of haunted Uzkulak is a very dangerous endeavor.

Zharrduk, the Plain of Zharr

When the waters of the River Ruin roar down the Falls of Doom from Zorn-Uzkul, they first enter the Plain of Zharr, a vast meteoric crater in the north-east of the Dark Lands and the heartland of the Dawi-Zharr empire. The earth is rich in minerals and precious resources, and the Chaos Dwarfs have turned the whole of Zharrduk into one gigantic industrial complex. The ground is riddled with pools of boiling oil and molten metal, rivers of steaming lava crisscross its broken crust, the sun is hidden behind a thick layer of smoke and ash; no living thing is to be found as far as the eye can see. At its center the Dawi-Zharr have erected Zharr-Naggrund, their great capital, and the plain of Zharr is littered with smaller outposts, workshops, foundries and forges. Unabating is the sound of mighty steam-driven forgehammers and the anguished cries of the tortured slaves throughout Zharrduk as the Dawi-Zharr mold their atrocious empire day and night.

The Blasted Wastes

The Blasted Wastes in the west of the Dark Lands, between the Worlds Edge Mountains and the Gates of Zharr, are a vast desert and sustain very little life. They are mostly home to nomadic Goblin tribes and other ravaging hordes, but they also house a great number of Black Orc tribes, most notably Grimgor Ironhide and his elite clan, Da Immortulz. Needles to say that the Chaos Dwarfs view the area mostly as hunting grounds for their slave pits.

The Howling Wastse

East of the road from Zharr-Naggrund to the Tower of Gorgoth lie the Howling Wastes. Where the Blasted Wastes are a sparse desert, the Howling Wastes are covered by an eternal mist, carrying thin voices and a wailing clamour of an forgotten age. The ground is mostly marshes and swamplands, and traversing it is almost guaranteed to get the unwary swallowed by the land, if not accompanied by an experienced guide.

The Desolation of Azgorh

Before the age of Dwarfs, the mighty volcano of Azgorh erupted with such a mighty crescendo that it split the mountain and rent the ground around it asunder. The ash cloud could be seen in distant Khemri and the elves in their Old World colonies registered the resulting earthquakes. The great upheaval reformed the landscape into an almost impenetrable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks and vents of toxic fumes, but it also unearthed a most precious mineral wealth, which infinite numbers of slave now dig out of the rock in the mines around the Tower of Gorgoth.

Dawi-Zharr Strongholds

Many are the fortress-citadels, garrisons and strongholds of the Dawi-Zharr empire. Most of them are found on the Plain of Zharr, some are more remote, but they greatest and most important one is Zharr-Naggrund, the gruesome capital of the Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr.

Zharr-Naggrund, the City of Fire and Desolation

At the heart of the Plain of Zharr lies Mingol-Zharr-Naggrund, the great capital of the Dawi-Zharr empire. It is a gigantic ziggurat of black obisidian, bristled with armed towers and the chimneys of thousands of furnaces and forges. Incessant are the clouds of black smoke and ash vomited from the workings deep in the bowels of Zharr-Naggrund, where untold numbers of slaves toil unremittingly for their cruel masters. The lowest ranks of the Chaos Dwarf society live at the bottom of the ziggurat, whereas the higher echelons are found closer the top, where, at its pinnacle, lies the great Temple of Hashut. Huge gates are found at the four sides of the great ziggurat, their battlements studded with great engines of destruction and guarded by a fearsome battalion of elite warriors. The northern gate allows in the River Ruin, re-routed through the city by the Dawi-Zharr to cool their forges and to siphon away the toxic industrial waste and the corpses of dead slaves through the southern gate. So heavy is the pollution from the city, that nothing can live in the River Ruin beyond it. Two broad streets plated with gold and brass lead to the inner tower from the eastern and western gate over large bridges, under which the Dawi-Zharr live and work in the perpetual twilight of their furnaces.

Uzkulak, the Place of the Skull

Uzkulak, the Place of the Skull, is the seat of the ancient Dwarf settlement in the Zorn-Uzkul, before the coming of Chaos. It is the northern most Dawi-Zharr stronghold and the most important slave port. Uzkulak sits at the southern branch of the Sea of Chaos, where the slave ships of the Dawi-Zharr sail forth to far away places to still Zharr-Naggrund's insatiable hunger for slaves. The Chaos Dwarfs have greatly expanded the vast underground tunnel connecting the Sea of Chaos with the River Ruin by the Falls of Doom and installed a sophisticated lock to allow ships to traverse it in both directions. Uzkulak is a strange and haunted place, even by Dawi-Zharr standards, and its shunned lower levels are forbidden grounds, except as punishment for oath-breakers and blasphemers.

The Tower of Gorgoth

The massive Tower of Gorgoth sits at the junction between the Blasted Wastes, the Howling Wastes and the Desolation of Azgorh. The tower itself stands on the plateau of a volcanic mountain range, harboring the greatest network of mines in the domain of the Dawi-Zharr. As the seams reach deep in the rock, over the centuries more and more slaves were needed to excavate the precious ore from the unyielding mountains. Over time, more and more slave trading clans have made base around the Tower of Gorgoth, which also serves to replenish the hordes of slave fighters in the Chaod Dwarf armies. Since the Tower of Gorgoth is quite remote from the Plain of Zharr and the might of Zharr-Naggrund, it is regularly attacked by Skaven, Greenskins or Ogres, who think it an easier target. However, the Tower of Gorgoth is manned by a sizeable garrison of Dawi-Zharr and the citadel has never fallen to the enemy. On the contrary, most assaults in the end only accomplish to swell the number of slaves in the endless mines beneath the Tower of Gorgoth.

The Gates of Zharr

Halfway between Zharr-Naggrund and the Tower of Gorgoth lie the Gates of Zharr, a massive archway of black stone and iron. Thousands of slaves in endless streams are forced through it every day, the shouts bellowed by their overseers harsher and the lashes of their whips even stronger in the shadows of the towers flanking the mighty testament of the Dawi-Zharrs' claim to the Dark Lands. Passing the Gates in neither direction would mean an end to the suffering for the poor souls, they are either herded towards the Tower of Gorgoth to spend the remainder of their lives, usually a short and painful one, in the mines beneath the volcano, or their destination is Zharr-Naggrund, where they will meet a much quicker end but under even greater agony. A warhost from Zharr-Naggrund to raid the lands beyong the Mad Dog Pass or Death Pass will also march below the Gates of Zharr, the rhythm of their beating drums and blaring horns mirrorer by thousands of warriors beating their weapons on their armor, their standards held high, so the world shall know no respite from the wrath of the Uzkul-Dhrath-Zharr.

The Black Fortress

The eastern entry into the Dark Lands, south of the Mountains of Mourn, is guarded by the Black Fortress. In a land already blessed with a surplus of bleak desolation, the Black Fortress still stands out as place of hopelessness and grim determination. Unlike the Tower of Gorgoth, the Black Fortress does not oversee huge mining activities or large groups of the ever valued slaves, its purpose is purely militaristic and the deployment to the Legion of Azgorh is often viewed as a punishment and exile. In fact, the Black Fortress is home to the Infernal Guard, a warrior-cult for dishonoured Dawi-Zharr who have to redeem themselves in the eyes of their harsh society or find solace in death. Their names and past deeds are shorn away, as are their faces sealed shut behind hot-iron and bronze helmets.

Units

Dawi-Zharr 101: Tall hat, braided beard, spiky armour, wicked weapon, evil mind.

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.

With all the typical Chaos generosity, you'd not be surprised if you saw this while walking down to the grocery store one day.

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

• Tactics/Legion of Azgorh

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