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critique time

Lords and Heroes
-Mercenary General: 126pts
w/ Lance, Heavy Armor, Shield, Barded Warhorse

-Paymaster: 87pts
w/ Lance, Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Barded Warhorse

-Hireling Wizard: 155pts
w/ Dispel Scroll x2, Warhorse

-Hireling Wizard: 155pts
w/ Staff of Sorcery, Warhorse

Core
-Pikes 22: 272pts
w/ Full Command, Heavy Armor

-Pikes 22: 272pts
w/ Full Command, Heavy Armor

-Crossbowmen 10: 80pts

-Crossbowmen 10: 80pts

-Duelists 8: 72pts
w/ Pistols

-Duelists 8: 72pts
w/ Pistols

-Duelists 8: 72pts
w/ Pistols

-Duelists 8: 72pts
w/ Pistols

-Ricco's Republican Guard 24: 348pts
w/ Full Comman

-Voland's Venorators 6: 219pts
w/ Full Command

Special

Rare
-Cannon: 85pts

-Cannon: 85pts

Okay, just some quick thoughts:

You have a lot of static units, i.e. anvil, but not a lot of hammers to smash with. You have one small-sized unit of knights.

First, your Paymaster needs a ward save. Yes, I know that the Amulet of Protection is just shy of useless, but your entire army takes a panic test if he dies. He needs all the protection he can get. A better outlay for your Paymaster is Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Talisman of Proteciton, on foot. Put him in one of the pike units then, to help beef up their combat ability, and give you a LD 8 bubble.

Also, along those lines, Dogs of War are hell-of-a limited on their access to magic weapons. Instead of a lance for your general, get him a Sword of Might. +1 to strength, and it'll give you some ability to hit magic-weapon only enemies. And it's cheap.

Next, I'm assuming the 22-strong Pike are for the mounted General and Paymaster to sit in? It's cheaper to just get 23 pike, and keep your general / paymaster on foot. Just as something to think about, Heavy Armor is better on protracted fights, than the initial surge.

What might work better for one of your pike units, would be save some points, and get the Alcatani Fellowship. Yes, they only have light armor, and WS 2, but who cares. They're pike. Everyone gets to jab at something. The Alcatani also have Roderigo, so they have LD 8, making them actually kinda brave. And, you can put your Paymaster in with the Alcatani, to somewhat lure enemies to them too as well as increase the combat ability of the pike.

Also, Ricco's boys... not worth it. Too expensive, and they don't really have any pizzaz. Who cares for WS 4 when you're using pike. Quantity has a quality all it's own. Instead, I'd swap them for some Lost Legion. Solid Pike with the front-row of crossbows. Or downgrade the Republican Guard to just a heavy-pike unit, and save some 70+ points.

Thinking of crossbows, musicians in those units would serve them well. You might also want to consider getting a unit of Dwarven Heavy Crossbows (12 - 16 strong) with full command, to replace one of the crossbow units. They're dwarves, so they can act as a gatehouse unit for your line, or to protect your warmachines. They can even reform to soak an enemy charge.

Something to consider for the duelists would be to swap one of those units out for a unit of Lumpin's Boys. Brave at LD 9, they can screen your cannons with their ability to skirmish, freeing up your duelists for other stuff. And Lumpin's Fighting Gamecocks are about the same price as one of your units of Duelists.

Don't forget that the DOW cannons are the smaller type. If you can find it, a Galloper Gun is a huge weapon, and would be a wicked-sweet way to replace one of the cannon.

You might want to get a unit of generic ogers. You really do lack anvil units. Generic Ogers are pretty cheap, and give you a second unit to attack with.

You have a lot of static infantry, and not a whole lot of bite. While pike can be used to attack, they are more meant to defend, and contest table quarters. Lacking a lot of mobile units, your enemy can dictate the tempo of the game, and just harry your lines while gaining table quarters. As such, even a 2nd unit of generic heavy knights would serve you well, as it would increase your mobility, and let you go on the offensive there-by letting you seize the initiative.

Just some quick thoughts.

i know the paymaster can die easy but i won't really mind as all my units will then hate that unit that killed him meaning that unit could die pretty quick soon after.

dropping the lance for sword of might is def a diff idea. i would've done it but didn't have points.

halflings or dwarves are a nice idea but i'd prefer to keep my army to humans and maybe ogres

the galloper gun is ok but i don't really like it. yes it's mobile, but they're expensive, range 24 and they are only S7. i like wounding dragons on a 2+ from across the table, not right in my face on a 3+

it's funny that you said ricco's are bad because everyone i know what plays DOW says they are way better than any other pikes. also Ws 4 is honestly the best armor save in the game. i'll play around with some other builds for that unit then.

thanks for the suggestions i'll have to draw a new list up once i get a look at the ogre book and the price of those units

Just some quick thoughts for you to chew on.

Okay, understood about wanting to keep the army "human", and not use the demi-humans.

With the paymaster, don't forget, your entire army has to take a panic test first, when he dies. With the LD 7 - 8 range you have, that means you'll have several units that will break and run. Yes, you'll have a couple get "hate", but the benefit of it won't be able to overcome the fact that ~1/3 of your army will be fleeing.

You should be able to get a Sword of Might, if you drop the lances on your heros, and have them walk on foot too.

For the Galloper Gun, some things to think about. Both the Galloper Gun and the Cannon wound on a 2+, until you get to T6 or better. There isn't a whole lot in the game that is T6 or better. And the Galloper Gun is still strong enough to auto-destroy chariots. Next, your most-often cannon ranges are 16 - 30 inches... well, within the Gallopers ability to reach out and touch someone. Don't forget the cannon ball skips too, so, you have a max range of the gun of actually 44 inches... not bad. The Galloper Gun also comes with a built-in hero, giving it LD 8, and the ability to have the hero detach from the cannon... and the hero can counter charge, giving your cannon one more shot, or the ability to move away. Lastly, even if you don't have a target, that 16" of movement is not to be overlooked. Within 2 turns you can get getting flank shots, if not rear shots at your enemy units. Flank shots with your cannon are huge! If your opponent ignores the cannon "because it's just Str 7, awesome! Just flank/rear shot away. If he doesn't ignore it, he has to send something that has 16" or better movement. Because if they get close, your cannon can limber up, move to a new spot (not fleeing to it), and play "Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Man" games all day. OH! Don't forget that the Galloper also gives you one more unit that you can use to claim / contest table quarters with a last turn 16" move.

Yes, the Galloper Gun is a "small" cannon... but its HUGE when you start using that 16" of movement it has.

Now for the Republican Guard, WS4 on pikemen isn't that big a boost because the Pike strike first. WS3 only really suffers when your opponent has WS7 or better... not a whole lot of guys have WS7... and those that do, still get hit first from the pikes, and will still have to contend with the +5 static CR pike tend to generate.

As far as I'm concerned, the best pike unit is actually the Alcatani. Cheap so you can get a slew of them, and they have LD 8. Quantity has a quality all it's own. The next best would be the Lost Legion because of their mixed formation. That's 6 - 7 crossbows that will never get attacked. Ricco's and the Leopards, for me, rank as a poor YMMV. Both have a huge initial point sink, and neither are really good at their bonus. (If you haven't take a look at the 4 articles I posted about various ways of making the Regiment's of Renoun more competitive in the DOW list... might give you some ideas to chew around.)

Anyway, just something else for you to consider.

ok i might have to reconsider the galloper gun then. thanks for the insightful comments man as no one else seems to want to. i think justt eh title dogs of war scares the hell out of them.