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My armies past and present (Lizzies, ogres, orcs and goblins etc.) have always been all about the fisty cuffs of combat. So I thought it would be interesting (for me at least) to try something completely alien to me, lots of shooting and lots of artillery.

Having said this, I started looking at my options, and although empires are good at it, the ability to still be handy in combat swayed my decision and I’ve decided on dwarfs.

Having a quick look at the book, I have decided I love Bugman so he will be in the army. I wanted a proper gunline army, so I came up with this (please be gentle, first time ever writing a dwarf list), also any points errors please let me know:

Lord

Runelord- Spelleater Rune, Spellbreaker Rune, Master Rune of Challenging- 240
(Provides magic defence)

Heros

Bugman- 155
(Because I love the fluff and the various characterful models for him)
Thane- BSB, Runic Standard of Slowness- 140
(Reroll and the slowness may cause a failed charge so I gain an extra round of shooting the target)
Dragon Slayer- 50
(Partly spare points, partly I love the idea of having effectively a Ginger fanatic I can wind up and let him go flying at a unit)

Core

30 Longbeard Rangers- FC, GW’s, Throwing Axes, Runic Standard of Grungi- 465
(Bugman’s unit, I know they can scout but depending on opponent, may simply form part of the battle line, standard for extra shooting protection)
30 Quarrellers- FC, GW’s- 415
(Longer range and ability to take GW’s made these guys win out over Thunderers)
30 Quarrellers- FC, GW’s- 415
(Longer range and ability to take GW’s made these guys win out over Thunderers)

Special

Grudge Thrower- Accuracy, Penetrating- 130
Grudge Thrower- Accuracy, Penetrating, Burning- 135
Grudge Thrower- Accuracy- 105

Cannon- Forging, Burning- 130
Cannon- Reloading, Forging- 135
Cannon- Forging- 125

Organ Gun- 120
Organ Gun- 120
Organ Gun- 120

Total- 3000

CC please guys?

- your Runelord makes me nervous. He's got a lot of points sunk into him, and nothing in the way of defense. I'd consider dropping one or two of those Runes for at least a shield, Resistance, and Stone (2+ re-rollable for 33pts).
Also, the Master Rune of Balance is probably The Best anit-magic rune. Not that it can replace a Spellbreaker/eater, but it's generally more useful.
Lastly, with such a stationary army, most people would try for an Anvil and some halving-movement and/or Miner-charging action. But that's up to you. I don't think the Anvil is worth its points, usually.

- your BSB has no protection either. I'd consider dropping Slowness (you could put it on an elite unit, like Longbeards) for the Master Rune of Gromil at least.

- I wouldn't bother with throwing axes on the Rangers. They're potentially good, but...not much.
Also, you'll need at least one unit of regular Warriors before they can be Longbeards. Unless Bugman's unit is different?
And finally, these Rangers don't count towards the one unit you're normally allowed to have, so you could always have two. Kinda' feels like a waste of Bugman's potential, otherwise.

- I am a big fan of the crossbow/big axe combo. My Skaven hate those guys.

- 3 each of 3 war machines? Eh. It's okay, I guess. I'd at least make one of the 'Throwers into a Super-Thrower (Accuracy, Penetration, Penetration), because it's awesome.

- The Rune of Reloading is almost entirely worthless on a Cannon, since Forging makes Misfires! so rare in the first place. I suspect you put it on there just to have a third cannon. I would suggest just having two. Cannons are only really good at taking down Monsters and other war machines, and with two Forging-cannons, you'll probably take them down pretty fast.

- the Organ Gun is even more specialized than the Cannon. I'd drop down to one, maybe two.

- I say this on every Dwarf-thread, but here goes: I'd consider investing in an Engineer with a Brace of Pistols on a Cannon or two. It's a sneaky little trick your opponent won't see coming. For 20pts, you get an extra Wound, BS4 (for firing Grapeshot), two S4 AP shots when those little units charge the machine, and two more Attacks in Close Combat. It makes the machine A Lot harder to bring down.

- also, with all these war machines, why no Master Engineer? He would be able to help you out tremendously.

- a Gyrocopter could go a long way to delaying the enemy and filling them full of S3 AP bullets.
On that note, a small unit or two of Miners would do something similar.
Also, small units (10-15) of Warriors or Quarrelers can force your opponent to make poor charges and give you the option to fall back, rally, and shoot s'more.

Ok thanks for the reply.

So dropping throwing axes will sort the runelords armour.
I believe bugmans unit is exempt from standard longbeard rules. If not then they are bugmans quarreller rangers?
I want 3 good units for gun/battle line, dropping 1 organ gun gives me points for second ranger unit.
Sorry I meant forging, got that and reloading mixed up, again 1 less organ covers rune cost.4

Bugman's Rangers don't count towards your Ranger limit, but I think they still count towards your Longbeards limit.

Not sure what you mean about Forging/Reloading; you've got both one one Cannon. What I'm saying is, Reloading is a waste of points since you already have Forging. I'm assuming that you took Reloading so you could avoid the Rule of Pride or whatever, and have three Forging-Cannons. If that's the case, I say that three is probably unnecessary.

If they are rangers then you can have more Longbeards than Warriors-So, in this list you could have Bugmans unit, another LB Ranger unit and regular LB unit-and only need 1 warrior unit...

As soon as a unit is designated as rangers it does not count one way or the other for the Longbeard/Warriors split. So warriors upgraded to rangers don't count as warriors, and Longbeards upgraded to rangers don't count as Longbeards.

In addition, as you know, Bugman's rangers don't count towards your 0-1 cap for rangers.

SO...

If you lead the army with a Dwarf Lord, you could have Bugman's Longbeard rangers, a normal unit of longbeard rangers, and a unit of Longbeards (royal blood rule) and NO units of normal warriors.

Edit: To be complete, here's the relevant quote from the FAQ

Q: If a unit of Warriors or Longbeards is upgraded to Rangers, does
the unit continue to count as part of the ratio which restricts players to
not having more units of Longbeards than they have Warriors?
(p33)
A: No.