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I'm currently modelling some Dwarf warriors now and have been looking at other Dwarf army lists for referance. While doing so I noticed a mix of people choosing great weapons over shields and vise versa for their warriors.
So I wanted to know what is the army synergy that you should consider when choosing how to equip your warriors? Thanks!

The general wisdom is Great Weapon warriors are superior to shield warriors. This is due to the new stepup rules in 8th edition that ensures that the warriors get some attacks no matter how many guys they may lose to the initial attacks.

Overall the warriors T4 and heavy armor should protect them enough that their massive number of return great weapon hits should more than make up for any losses.

I'm not saying the shield warriors may not have their place but my thinking is that most shield warriors exist more as a holdover from the previous edition than as a purely optimized choice.

TLDR: IMO build them as Great Weapon Warriors.

Per the current rules, GW warriors are superior. But this a GW game, so that's bound to change, either with the next Dwarf book or the next revision of the rules.

So build them however you think is cool, and figure that over the next five odd years they'll be optimal about as often as they'll be sub-optimal.

sebster wrote:So build them however you think is cool

I agree in this sense - assemble them however you want and just proxy whatever is the opposite. My 60-odd warrior models are a mix of shields and GWs, but I only ever equip GWs on them. But i don't single out the GW models when putting them on trays, I pretty much just play whatever 40 models I grab first and just tell my opponent its all GWs and no shields. ...which I suppose answers your question, OP - GWs > shields! (or at least for now, as prior posters have said)


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oh, but let me specify, GW horde > shield (horde or deep for steadfast).

The main point is that the GW horde kills so fast and the T4/5+ save keeps them up fairly well, so the opposing unit having steadfast usually isn't even an issue, at least in my experiences. The opponents steadfast may last 1 or 2 turns of combat, depending on their size and formation.

As for your own fleeing, I haven't ran GWs in a deep/steadfast unit since I began playing last summer. And I don't even remember the results. But I don't ever remember my 40-man GW warrior horde fleeing from combat (usually has Lord and BSB in it anyway).

The only reason I add Shield warriors (usually a unit of 25-35) for using as a organ gun guard lol.

I've brought shield warriors to all my tournaments, but now I'm getting the itch to just bring two units of 30-35 GW warriors and leave the shields at home, or beside the empty kegs.

Thanks for the reply guys. I am inclined to model the figures with shields because I like the look of it. Their usefulness would be then in holding objectives and defending seige weapons? Also for future referance are most tournaments wysiwyg or could you declare a block of units have gw?

I have just started to field the front row of guys with what "THE UNIT" is carrying.... All my models are GW Warriors but If I want shields, Ill just put 6-8 Shields in the front row.... so looking head on, you know whats in the unit.... Simple and versatile.

All you need is about 10 guys max of the other type and your golden.

I use a unit of each. I think you'll find the great weapons to be more generally useful, but I've gotten some mileage out of my shield warriors too. You have to work a bit harder on your matchups, though. And yes, I think the shields look better.

A unit of Warriors with shields can make a good tarpit. Just be aware that tarpitting is about all it's going to accomplish, because S3 isn't going to kill very much. They are also going to swing last against most opponents (Sauruses are the only unit of note I can think of with I1), so being able to hammer them with S5 is golden. Remember, breaking a unit is unlikely until you outrank them. Your goal is to grind them down as fast as possible, which requires killing models.

I'd include no more than one unit of Warriors with shields, or none at all if you plan on running Ironbreakers.

Since I've had about 40 clansdwarfs with shields from 6th edition, I've tried to make sure to use one unit of shields to supplement all of the models that I already have with great weapons (Rangers, Longbeards, Hammerers, Miners). Dwarves have tons of great weapons as is since most of those choices are required, so I figured having one large unit with an oath stone thane isn't a bad thing to counteract pure spam. TBH, I kindof hope next book they get a little variation in different units particular GWs.

Shields work slightly better as a Hero / Lord-bunker than Great Weapons. 4+ / 6+ save increases the unit's durability, but it really is a marginal gain (4 dead to 10 S3 attacks versus 6 dead from 10 S3, 5-6 dead to S4 versus 8, etcetera) and you're probably losing active combat resolution of your own with the -2 Strength.

what you need to consider is that dwarfs have an initiative of 2 (lord /heroes slightly better, but not much) so you're gonna strike last in combat almost always. So taking great weapons isn't that much of a drawback, because you are already striking last anyway. The +2S is good, it will kill more, even elite troops.
So you then need to think on how to run such a unit, GW in a big unit so it can soak some damage and smaller units use handweapon + shield to keep them alive longer.
I currently like the 5 wide unit with GW and 6 or 7 ranks deep, this will make them steadfast (on Ld 9 or 10) and they will slowly pound pretty much everything into the ground.
Banner of grugni close by for that 5+ ward against shooting makes for a very solid block.