Switch Theme:

Abyssal Dwarf discussion  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Hi all,

I've been lurking these forums for quite some time, waiting for the time to get into Kings of War (that time being when I find other players...). Luckily, there seems to be some interest starting in my area now so I might finally have my chance! In preparation, I've decided to plan out a list for Abyssal Dwarfs. I've got 2 potential lists and I'm wondering which one will serve me better, or if either has any super glaring newb-y mistakes.

Restrictions/limitations:
To keep this initial investment cheap in case it either never kicks off the ground or I realize I don't like Abyssal Dwarfs or whatever, I'm going to be proxying/converting miniatures I already own. Assume I have infinite dwarf infantry of any armament but no gargoyles, elementals or large models.

Anyways, here are the lists!
List 1:
Horde of Blacksouls with two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiffs
Troop of Blacksouls
Troop of Blacksouls
Regiment of Immortal Guard with two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiffs
Regiment of Immortal Guard with two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiffs
Troop of Decimators
Regiment of Abyssal Halfbreeds with Wine of Elvenkind
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
2 Slave Drivers
Supreme Iron-caster on Great Winged Halfbreed (I know my restrictions say no big gribblies, but I was going to find a suitable Reaper Bones miniature on the cheap for this)

Thought process behind the list: Horde of Blacksouls for damage dealer/anvil double-duty. Troops of Blacksouls act as chaff. Iron-Caster heals the warmachines and with the decimators keep fliers away. Halfbreeds act as the mobile heavy hitters to hit from surprising angles due to the wine.

List 2
Horde of Blacksouls with two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiffs
Regiment of Immortal Guard with two-handed weapons, mutated throwing mastiffs and Pipes of Terror (couldn't find a better use of 15 points)
Regiment of Immortal Guard with two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiffs
Troop of Decimators
Troop of Decimators
Troop of Slave Orcs
Troop of Slave Orcs
Regiment of Abyssal Halfbreeds with Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
2 Slave Drivers
Iron-caster

Same idea as the first list, but Slave orcs chaff + extra decimators to give more of a ranged game. Halfbreeds "downgraded" to just Maccwar's for points, plus Pathfinder may be more useful than Nimble in most games, anyways. Iron-caster doesn't really need a monster so his got dropped.

tl;dr
Are slave orcs better chaff than Blacksouls or will their lower nerve and defense mean they fold TOO quickly?
Which is better for cavalry - Wine of Elvenkind or Maccwar's Potion?
Is a single additional unit of Decimators worth finding the points for or will their extra shooting be mostly meaningless?
Is there a better use of 15 points in the 2nd list than Pipes of Terror on a regiment of Immortal Guard?

Thanks in advance! Can't wait to read the answers!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/29 03:58:05


I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Hello! While I've an Abyssal Dwarf army, it has only seen action twice, so I'm hardly an expert. My preference is for list 1 as it is closer to my previous KoW and WHFB playstyles. For the Horde of Blacksouls, I'd remove the two-handed weapons and mutated throwing mastiff to keep them De 5+, and give them Brew of Courage. (-1 to the Nerve roll when the enemy tests against the target unit. For a Blacksoul horde, that makes then effectively 22/24 provided no natural 12s.) That makes a durable anvil to hold the enemy in place. I like giving a Slave Driver Healing Charm and parking him behind my horde to further frustrate the opponent.

Katsuchan Rocket Launchers have disappointed me, and indirect fire is not as good as in WHFB as you still need LoS. I've fared better with 'Dragon' Fire teams, although one does lose the range advantage.

Abyssal Halfbreeds regiments are good hammers, and while Wine of Elvenkind is a decent choice, I'd prefer a Helm of Confidence in case the opponent gets a lucky dice roll. Alternately, take an Abyssal Grotesque Champion instead. The hero will serve as a source of Inspiring and he has Brutal which will add +1 to the Nerve check. Ideally, the Abyssal Halfbreeds and the Abyssal Grotesque Champion will hit simultaneously.

Have not used Decimators yet, so I don't know if they are worth taking.

Similarly, while I own a Supreme Iron-caster on Great Winged Halfbreed, it has not seen battle. I will say, do not buy the official model. It looks fine from the front, but the head needs pinning and about 1 inch of putty as the head was not meant for the body. (IIUC, the body is for a Dungeon Quest dragon.)

As for Slave Orcs, I don't know if they are good chaff, but they are cheap. Slave Orc Gore Riders interest me, and I intend to try them by proxy sometime. (Gore Riders on the far flank, with Abyssal Grotesque Champion in the center flank, and the Abyssal Halfbreeds regiment near flank).

"Is there a better use of 15 points in the 2nd list than Pipes of Terror on a regiment of Immortal Guard?" You could take the Brew of Courage, but since you've made this unit hitters, it is better to have the Brutal special rule.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Thanks for the reply!

I've taken some of your advice and re-wrote the list. The defensive Blacksoul horde with a healing Slavedriver backing it sounded too good to pass up, so that's included. I've used the points gained from using Slave orcs instead of Blacksoul troops to upgrade the Katsuchan to Angkor Heavy Mortars (I considered dragonfire teams but really would prefer range more than anything else)

I considered the Abyssal Grotesque Champion but decided that the Helm of Confidence would be better for me (both for points and ease of creating a model for). The relative low nerve and their goal of operating outside of inspiring range means the re-rolls will likely be invaluable.

I really didn't know how to fill points so I was basically torn between a Blacksoul troop for no reason, a Slave Orc Gore Rider troop for no reason, or the Supreme Iron-Caster upgrade. I went with the Supreme Iron-Caster because I do think the army needs a "centerpiece" (probably poor tactical reasoning, but...)

So the new list is:

Horde of Blacksouls with Brew of Courage
2 Regiments of Immortal Guard with Two-handed weapons and Mutated Throwing Mastiffs
3 troops of Slave Orcs
Regiment of Abyssal Halfbreeds with Helm of Confidence
2 Angkor Heavy Mortars
Slavedriver with Healing Charm
Slavedriver with War-bow of Kaba
Supreme Iron-caster on Great Winged Halfbreed

Exactly 1500pts.

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






You're welcome. If all goes well, there will be a KoW game tomorrow. Here's my 1500pts Abyssal Dwarf list.

Horde of Blacksouls with Brew of Courage
Immortal Guard Regt.
Decimators Troop
Gargoyle Troop
Horde of Lesser Obsidian Golems with Diadem of Dragon-kind
Regiment of Abyssal Halfbreeds with Blessing of the Gods
2 'Dragon' Fire teams
Slavedriver with Healing Charm
Slavedriver
Iron-Caster with Surge 8
Abyssal Grotesque Champion

What I'd like to do is keep the Iron-Caster behind the golems and near the 2 'Dragon' Fire teams & Immortal Guard as the caster can Heal all of them and has Inspiring for War Engines. The Surge is for the golems. Ideally, they will move forward normally and turn, then use Diadem of Dragon-kind in the Shoot phase, followed by a Surge into an enemy flank. (It might be better to take Mreb's Grimore to boost the Surge to 12, but let's see what happens.) The cavalry, gargoyles and Abyssal Grotesque Champion are for a flanking manuever.

By the way, there's a handy site for KoW army building: http://kow2.easyarmy.com/

Another thought: Slave orc troop + Abyssal Berserker Troop. The former is 125pts for 20 attackers and Ne -/13. As long as they can be protected from ranged attacks (being De3+) they should hit pretty hard. Orcs are only there to soak the ranged attacks of course.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/02/19 04:44:38


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Good luck with the game! I'd be interested in hearing how it goes (if it happens)

Is your favoring of the Dragon fire teams because of their cheap cost? They synergize well with the Ironcaster (moreso than Decimators) but seem to have low damage output and very short range. How early do you find them shooting?

If I get hooked into the army and game, golems are probably going to be my first purchase, and the surge idea sounds like an effective combo!

I had read that slave orcs + berserkers are a good combo but I don't have any suitable proxies (well, I have an army's worth of Slayers from WHFB, but refuse to run them as anything but "good" dwarfs. Blame my sentimentality )

Aye, I've been using the easy army to throw together my lists. It's a nifty tool for sure!

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Thanks. It did happen, but as we had five people instead of two as originally planned, my army was downgraded to 1000pts. Abyssals, Abyssal Dwarfs, and Ratkin for 3000 pts against 3000pts of Elves and Salamanders. The forces of Good won comfortably, killing about 2/3rds of our forces while we only killed about 50% of theirs.

Some notes. Did not have enough units with Piercing or Crushing Strength. Salamanders are just as tough as Dwarfs and Abyssal Dwarfs with De5+ and one De6+ (the Stegagon equivalent). Lots of hits, but few wounds and at least one complete whiff even with the Vicious re-rolls.
The Half-Breeds kept getting Wavered. There's no magic item that gives Fury, and only Dwarven Ale that gives Headstrong. Will use Blessing of the Gods in the hope of getting more hits and so Wavering/Routing opponent before getting Wavered. Expensive in a 1k list, but still doable.
The Gargoyles could not get a flank as intended since the evil forces were packed so tightly.
Dragon fire teams had a mixed performance. Against units/monsters they had problems wounding. However, they did Waver a Salamander Mage-Priest and Salamander Prime Regt. and eventually routed both. The Breath Weapon rule was valuable as the Sallys were hiding in woods so no cover bonus for them. In this specific game, as the Ratkin player took 3 Slave Legions, there wasn't room for mortars or rocket launchers as the evil forces took a full six feet shoulder to shoulder. It would have been a different situation in most games were one might have LoS.
Bad luck on the healing dice turns 5 & 6. Complete whiff. If I'd gotten at lest 3 heals, the Blacksouls would not have routed and we would have had a drawn game.

re: Is your favoring of the Dragon fire teams because of their cheap cost? They synergize well with the Ironcaster (moreso than Decimators) but seem to have low damage output and very short range. How early do you find them shooting? Yes. Also, they have Individual, so they can manuever to get LoS easily. Against an aggressive opponent you should be able to fire turn 2. (Assume Abyssal Dwarfs march 8" and opponent will march 10").

Have used Lesser Golems once and I do like them: 18 attacks and Crushing Str 2 on a Horde. Am thinking about a Greater Obsidian Golem as well since if one takes a Horde, you can get 1 hero, 1 Engine, and 1 Monster. Right now the monster slot is being wasted. Have revised the 1500pt list posted yesterday to use Mreb's Grimore for insurance, as well as giving the Immortal Guard 2 handed weapons. Couldn't afford the Pipes, although if I could I think they'd go on the golems.

Rihgu wrote:
Good luck with the game! I'd be interested in hearing how it goes (if it happens)

Is your favoring of the Dragon fire teams because of their cheap cost? They synergize well with the Ironcaster (moreso than Decimators) but seem to have low damage output and very short range. How early do you find them shooting?

If I get hooked into the army and game, golems are probably going to be my first purchase, and the surge idea sounds like an effective combo!

I had read that slave orcs + berserkers are a good combo but I don't have any suitable proxies (well, I have an army's worth of Slayers from WHFB, but refuse to run them as anything but "good" dwarfs. Blame my sentimentality )

Aye, I've been using the easy army to throw together my lists. It's a nifty tool for sure!

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in fr
Regular Dakkanaut




A few remarks :

- The dragonteam are very nice, but note that as war engine they cannot move at the double, si this can sometimes be a pain to keep them advancing, but note that AD can often play a way that force your opponent to comes to you (with your rocket launchers for exemple), and the dragon fire team are also a decent counter to light units that might try to get a flank of a rear (especially fliers).

- For the gargoyles, when no flank is available, you might want to try moving over your ennemies to get behind them (and eitheir try for a rear charge even if it take one more turn to position or go hunt war engines left alone in the backfield), provided of course that your opponent doesn't have something like dragon fire teams waiting for them ... ^_^

- For the rocket launchers, while it's true that they need line of sight, note that indirect will make them ignore cover. So if you park them behing some of your own infantry, you won't be able to see over their heads other normal infantries (height 1), but anything height 2 or above would be visible (but in cover ... that you get to ignore with indirect), so this means that you could fire at will at cavalry, large infantry and monsters while out of sight of other war engine and most shooting (including most spells).

AD have some of the best indrect war engines in the game, and if you don't use much of the faster components of the army (gargoyles, halfbreedn grotesques), then it's a must to force your opponent to comes to you.

Also, note that the halfbreed champion is a beast, it's one of the most dangerous fighting heroes, and very hard to kill, it's among the few that can go fight a mounted vampire and have a decent chance to win.

He is decently fast, very manoeuvrable thanks to individual, has a good defense, very good CS (even if the number of attacks is rather low), decent nerve, and regenerate, sop it's a pain to kill it.
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Well, it turns out I had less time than I thought to get an army ready so instead of trying Abyssal Dwarfs it looks like I'll be sticking with normal dwarfs for an upcoming slow grow league.
(this is 100% due to not being able to get the parts I need to convert myself some halfbreeds or any of the war machines)

Thanks for your input, though, guys. Despite not being used right away, I now have a spring/summer project to look forward and will hopefully have a better understanding of KoW and army building when I start it!

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Ah ha, so I was cheating in a prior game (not the most recent as my position was forested, so no March move anyway). That does make the Dragon team less useful, although they are still area denial.

Gargoyles and other fliers. Yes, exploiting the move advantage is something I need to do.

Good point about indirect fire that I had not noticed. Assuming the shots hit, that would have been useful against the not-Stegadon (Anklydon Battle Platform, IINM).

In Sunday's game, I did run a half-breed champion, and he did do very well.

@Rihgu. Okay. You'll have plenty of time if you want to prepare for the Mantic KoW summer event (July/August).

jtrowell wrote:
A few remarks :

- The dragonteam are very nice, but note that as war engine they cannot move at the double, si this can sometimes be a pain to keep them advancing, but note that AD can often play a way that force your opponent to comes to you (with your rocket launchers for exemple), and the dragon fire team are also a decent counter to light units that might try to get a flank of a rear (especially fliers).

- For the gargoyles, when no flank is available, you might want to try moving over your enemies to get behind them (and either try for a rear charge even if it take one more turn to position or go hunt war engines left alone in the backfield), provided of course that your opponent doesn't have something like dragon fire teams waiting for them ... ^_^

- For the rocket launchers, while it's true that they need line of sight, note that indirect will make them ignore cover. So if you park them behing some of your own infantry, you won't be able to see over their heads other normal infantries (height 1), but anything height 2 or above would be visible (but in cover ... that you get to ignore with indirect), so this means that you could fire at will at cavalry, large infantry and monsters while out of sight of other war engine and most shooting (including most spells).

AD have some of the best indrect war engines in the game, and if you don't use much of the faster components of the army (gargoyles, halfbreedn grotesques), then it's a must to force your opponent to comes to you.

Also, note that the halfbreed champion is a beast, it's one of the most dangerous fighting heroes, and very hard to kill, it's among the few that can go fight a mounted vampire and have a decent chance to win.

He is decently fast, very manoeuvrable thanks to individual, has a good defense, very good CS (even if the number of attacks is rather low), decent nerve, and regenerate, sop it's a pain to kill it.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Played again this today. Ratkin and Abyssal Dwarfs vs Kingdoms of Men and Brotherhood. 2000pts per side. Victory for evil by a decent margin. Some notes.

1. Dragon-fire teams failed in their intended role. They did act as missile magnets for Brotherhood archers which kept them from firing at more valuable units. However, as jtrowell mentioned previously, an indirect fire weapon would have been more valuable in this game as a Brotherhood cavalry Horde was hiding in the forest and would not engage. If they were dying for free, they probably would have engaged on my terms instead of theirs. Or perhaps not, as there was a healer behind them.

2. Gargoyles were useful as they engaged yet another unit of Brotherhood archers, eventually routing them, then keeping the KoM General tied up until turn 6.

3. Once again, Inspiring is important, as it kept my Abyssal half-breeds in play after they'd taken 17 wounds (snake eyes on the re-roll) and one of my dragon-fire teams.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Congratulations on the win!

I'm thinking that with the additional time to plan acquire bits, I'm going to get a dragonfire team or 2, based on this thread. They seem to be less expensive (points wise, not slot wise ) decimators

Gargoyles also look like they're an inevitability.

Another question has crossed my mind re: Abyssal Dwarves. What are the Abyssal Grotesques supposed to look like? I'm assuming units have fluff entries in the books (not the free PDFs) that kind of describe this stuff but I just have the Historicals book at the moment.

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Thank you.

re: What are the Abyssal Grotesques supposed to look like? In the hardcover, they do not say. Just "Huge Abyssal hybrids, they are tougher and more powerful than other Halfbreeds." The cheap alternative is Reaper Bones. While not quite right, they have two types of arachnid warrior (in D&D driders) and the spider demon (in D&D Lolth the Drow spider goddess). At the moment, I'm using an Ogre as an Abyssal Grotesque Champion as its on the right base. (They aren't quite right as they are all elf-spider hybrids instead of dwarf-demon hybrids, but as Reaper Bones are cheap, I'm not complaining. And dwarfs usually dislike elves anyway, so they are probably inclined to experiment on them instead.)

Incidentally, the Gamer's Edition has no fluff, just complete army lists as opposed to the sample PDF lists.

Gargoyles with Fly and mobility are proving useful. I'm now wondering about whether its worth giving Wings of Honeymaze to an Abyssal Half-breed Champion and adding another Gargoyle Troop for a more sustained attack on rear areas.

While I like the Slave Orc Gore Models, after trying to add them to a cav-heavy list, I'm not sure they are worth it. Taking a regiment of them is costly and they don't unlock a slot.

Still haven't used Decimators. As I own two Troops, I do need to try them.

Rihgu wrote:
Congratulations on the win!

I'm thinking that with the additional time to plan acquire bits, I'm going to get a dragonfire team or 2, based on this thread. They seem to be less expensive (points wise, not slot wise ) decimators

Gargoyles also look like they're an inevitability.

Another question has crossed my mind re: Abyssal Dwarves. What are the Abyssal Grotesques supposed to look like? I'm assuming units have fluff entries in the books (not the free PDFs) that kind of describe this stuff but I just have the Historicals book at the moment.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






That's actually really funny... I was looking at the bones spider-demons and making the mental association between duergar and drow and thought they'd be an adequate fit for the role!

Although it kind of seems like they made the Abyssal halfbreeds based on the old Chaos Dwarf bull centaurs, and when Forge world put out the big bad guys they've got now.... heh...

Is it just me, or is the mantic shop for abyssal dwarves lighter than usual? I swore they had berserkers for sale when I first opened this thread...

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Pretty sure Abyssal halfbreeds = Chaos Dwarf bull centaurs, but I don't know what Grotesques are equivalent too. Only fought 1 Chaos Dwarf army back in the 90s, and don't remember its make-up. Splendid paint job though.

The shop is missing some items, although as far as I know, Mantic has not had Abyssal berserkers. There are regular Dwarf Berserkers. Mantic did get rid of a number of the specialty boxed deals like Slaves to Zarak which was a Halfbreed regiment, a Slave orc regiment and a Slave Driver. Similarly, the Elf cavalry army is gone: I was encouraging a friend who only has Elf infantry to get that set.

Rihgu wrote:
That's actually really funny... I was looking at the bones spider-demons and making the mental association between duergar and drow and thought they'd be an adequate fit for the role!

Although it kind of seems like they made the Abyssal halfbreeds based on the old Chaos Dwarf bull centaurs, and when Forge world put out the big bad guys they've got now.... heh...

Is it just me, or is the mantic shop for abyssal dwarves lighter than usual? I swore they had berserkers for sale when I first opened this thread...

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






The new forgeworld bull centaurs are enormous creatures, as I understand it.

Found some evidence of the Abyssal Dwarf Berserkers! Looks like they may have been regular dwarfs but with an upgrade kit for new heads/weapons.

http://media5.beastsofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Mantic-Abyssal-Dwarf-Berserkers.jpg

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in fr
Regular Dakkanaut




The abyssal berserkers are an old metal kit that is no longer produced, I suppose that there were probably out of scale like the vanilla dwarve ones (they are slightly smaller, closer to historical 28mm than the heroic scale of most fantasy models), even more so if they used the same bodies with different weapons.

Sure they still produce the vanilla model, but the normal dwarves need the berserkers much more than the Abyssal dwarves do thanks to lots of other offensive options.

Also I would not be suprised if the two handed weapons proved to be a pain to assemble, especially if built upon the normal berserker small bodies.

Hopefully Mantic will do someday a plastic dwarven berserker sprue allowing to build both versions, but meanwhile thanksfully angry dwarves models have a decent number of options from other manufacturers.
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Sunday, 12 march 2017: Night-stalkers and Undead vs Twilight Kin and my Abyssal Dwarfs at 1500pts per player. Draw in favor of Night-stalkers/Undead by 215pts.

Dopplegangers are really obnoxious! They destroyed my Blacksoul Horde and Lesser Obsidian Golems thanks to their copying the Number of attacks, and then CS2 from the Golems (this was on different turns). Still 150pts for a unit that could suddenly get a Horde's attacks!

This is the list I used at 1500pts exactly.

Blacksoul Horde(40) Brew of Sharpness 235
Immortal Guard Regt. Brew of Courage
Immortal Guard Regt. Blade of Slashing
Decimators Troop
Lesser Obsidian Golem Horde(6) Pipes of Terror
Greater Obsidian Golem
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
Slavedriver with Healing Charm
Slavedriver
Iron-Caster with Surge 8 and Mreb’s Grimoire of Unspeakable Darkness

The golems performed well although I never got to use the Surge for a flank, so that was my fault for poor deployment. Rocket launchers were "meh" but I'll try them again. Decimators were average to low average in performance. Healing worked well this game: removed about 15 wounds from the Lesser Golems over the course of the game until they got flanked by the Dopplegangers and exploded, While I normally put the Brew of Courage on my Blacksouls horde, an Immortal Guard regt. had it as it was tasked to flank protection out of Inspiring range. As it was the Immortal Guard Regt. with Blade of Slashing performed well, butchering Soul Reaver Infantry, Dopplegangers, and finally the Zombie Legion that had tied up all my golems all game. Will likely use this list again, maybe with turning one Immortal Guard unit into Abyssal Halfbreeds as manueverability was a problem. (My teammate's Twilight Kin had to remedy that lack).

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

For the gargoyles, I found a solution I was really happy with: Jawbats from Titan Forge!



On your list, I really do think that you will want the gargoyles. I love the varied abilities of the Abyssal Dwarf army, and that for me means bringing Gargoyles, and Winged Halfbreed and Abyssal Grotesques to complement my static dwarf blocks. The flying units in particular have been worth their weight in gold!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/04/26 17:00:39


 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






 RiTides wrote:

On your list, I really do think that you will want the gargoyles. I love the varied abilities of the Abyssal Dwarf army, and that for me means bringing Gargoyles, and Winged Halfbreed and Abyssal Grotesques to complement my static dwarf blocks. The flying units in particular have been worth their weight in gold!
You are probably right about the Gargolyes, as they have been useful previously. This is a new army to me and, I'm still experimenting with it: right now it is Golems and Indirect Fire (latter due to jtrowell's earlier post). At some point I'm thinking of trying a primarily fast mover army with Abyssal Half-breeds, Grotesques, and multiple Gargolyes troops, with only a little infantry to shield war engines, assuming I decide to bring them at all. May go with Overmaster on Great Abyssal Dragon instead. As I get a better feel for the A-Dwarfs, my lists can be further refined.

My revised list had reduced the magic items, and replaced an IG regt. with the Half-breeds, but is otherwise pretty similar as the list of 13th March. Will have to use the Half-breeds carefully , as it would be easy to charge out and let them get isolated, and there's no back-up for them. So they'll need to stay close to the main line and sally out in support of it

Blacksoul Horde Dwarven Ale
Abyssal Half-breed Regt. Helm of Confidence
Immortal Guard Regt.
Decimators Troop
Lesser Obsidian Golem Horde(6)
Greater Obsidian Golem
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
Slavedriver with Healing Charm
Slavedriver
Iron-Caster with Surge 8 and Mreb’s Grimoire of Unspeakable Darkness

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Is the Dwarven Ale going to do anything for you with that list? It's not too many points so you probably can't get anything else for the cost but Headstrong as a rule doesn't seem... good.

I've been pondering this, and based on the few Dwarf games I've gotten in... are the actual infantry in Dwarf/Abyssal Dwarf armies worth more than 1 or 2 hordes for cheap-ish unlocks and ability to hold a backfield/midline objective?

Thinking about it it almost seems like I would want 1-2 blacksoul hordes with the brew of courage and a healing slavedriver backing them up, and the rest of my points seem best spent on halfbreeds, gargoyles, and war machines...

Move 4 seems a huge deterrence to wanting to bring infantry at all.

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Headstrong is a lesser ability, but the Blacksouls Horde on the 13th spent two turns Wavered before finally breaking, so the Brew of Sharpness on them was a complete waste. Having a 50% chance of shaking off the Waver is better than nothing. In KOW: Historical there's a "Veteran Ability" that gives a unit Fury, but there is no Fantasy equivalent MI or I'd take that.

Re: Mv 4: Slow is annoying, but one needs an anvil for the hammer of fast units. And the War Engines need some protection.

Re: Grotesques. Had a thought on Sunday. I have two boxes of Necron Canoptek Wraiths currently not in use. They could serve as Grotesques if placed on appropriate sized movement trays. Also, Litko makes formation trays with various round base cut-outs which takes care of that problem.
http://www.litko.net/categories/Customizable-Items/

Rihgu wrote:
Is the Dwarven Ale going to do anything for you with that list? It's not too many points so you probably can't get anything else for the cost but Headstrong as a rule doesn't seem... good.

I've been pondering this, and based on the few Dwarf games I've gotten in... are the actual infantry in Dwarf/Abyssal Dwarf armies worth more than 1 or 2 hordes for cheap-ish unlocks and ability to hold a backfield/midline objective?

Thinking about it it almost seems like I would want 1-2 blacksoul hordes with the brew of courage and a healing slavedriver backing them up, and the rest of my points seem best spent on halfbreeds, gargoyles, and war machines...

Move 4 seems a huge deterrence to wanting to bring infantry at all.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






Tonight, I converted my first Abyssal Dwarfs model. It's going to be an Abyssal Grotesque. I'll post it when it's painted up (which I doubt I'll have time for until this weekend, sadly...)

The mission has begun! I found a relatively easy + good-looking (for certain grotesque definitions...), and cheap, way to get these guys rolling.

The list has gone from infantry heavy to cavalry/large cavalry heavy. I'm probably going to use slave orc gore riders as a screen for my Grotesque hordes. Mostly because they're cheap in points and I have no idea what to do for Abyssal Halfbreeds if I want to keep in theme...

I don't have an exact list written up, but I'm hoping to have 2000pts done by April 22nd to participate in a tournament.


EDIT:
Threw together this list, really hastily.

Horde of Blacksouls with Brew of Courage and Mastiffs
Troop of Gargoyles with Blade of Slashing
4 Troops of Slave Orc Gore Riders
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Brew of Haste
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Wine of Elvenkind
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Maccwar's
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion with Wings of Honeymaze
Abyssal Grotesque Champion with Inspiring Talisman

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/22 01:53:26


I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Rihgu wrote:
Tonight, I converted my first Abyssal Dwarfs model. It's going to be an Abyssal Grotesque. I'll post it when it's painted up (which I doubt I'll have time for until this weekend, sadly...)

The mission has begun! I found a relatively easy + good-looking (for certain grotesque definitions...), and cheap, way to get these guys rolling.
So what are you using as the base for the Grotesque conversion?

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






I decided to stay up late and... well, here's the first official (semi-WIP) model for my Abyssal Dwarfs...

WARNING: Not for the faint of heart... truly a grotesque model...
Spoiler:



I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Omnipotent Lord of Change





Albany, NY

Brilliant

- Salvage

KOW BATREPS: BLOODFIRE
INSTAGRAM: @boss_salvage 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






It is an unusual choice.

Rihgu wrote:
I decided to stay up late and... well, here's the first official (semi-WIP) model for my Abyssal Dwarfs...

WARNING: Not for the faint of heart... truly a grotesque model...]

26 March 2017: 3000pts [Abyssal Dwarfs] vs Varangur and Ratkin. Draw in their favor. Golems worked well and Surge was useful this time. Decimators were Wavered, then Routed, so a waste of points. Rockets also under-performed. Maybe a cavalry/mobile army next time? Or an entirely different species for a change of pace, as Mv 4 infantry is getting dull.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/27 02:24:22


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






as Mv 4 infantry is getting dull.

That's what I'm worried about. Even as a dwarf lover, the fact that every game system cripples them by giving them this role of "sturdy, immobile cannoneers" gets dreadfully boring. Excited for Kharadron Overlords in Age of Sigmar for breaking up this theme (quite traumatically, it seems!) but don't think that's going to spread out too much.

However, this cavalry heavy Abyssal Dwarf army I'm working on might also be a refreshing switch. If you do try one yourself, let me know how it goes

 Boss Salvage wrote:
Brilliant

- Salvage

Thanks! I'm hoping the entire group will be truly terrifying to behold, and strike grotesque fear into my enemies!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/27 03:35:15


I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Abyssal Dwarfs at least have the advantage of two cavalry types, a cheap flying unit, and two characters on flying mounts. So there is a mobile option for AD. Dwarfs only have one cav type, and one cav character with no flying unit or Character. In the Mantic Dwarf forum, I did read that one has to play Dwarf infantry like a Roman legion. Move forward constantly, don't stop, don't back up. I'm assuming that's a simplification since that does not account for threats to the flanks and other negative tactical changes. Since this is the first time I've had any kind of Dwarf army, I don't know how sound that advice is. (While I own a Mantic Dwarf army, it is very much WiP at the moment, and was purchased shortly after the AD army. Both were bought in short order due to clearance sales, otherwise I'd have spaced out the purchases.)

Re: AD Cav army. Yes, I will. We'll see what mood I'm in when we next play. If I'm still in the mood for Surge tricks the Undead would be the better choice. Otherwise I do have a AD cav list already drawn up.

BTW, My teammate in last Sunday's battle was also running AD, but he chose to use three Slave Orc hordes with 1 Blacksoul horde, 2 Half-breed regiments, and two Angkor Mortars. While the mortars were amazingly accurate, in the end he lost all but his characters, which was why the draw was in the opposition's favor. Meanwhile, my Abyssal Dwarfs destroyed the Ratkin facing me, except for his characters and a war engine. So Slave Orcs have a role as chaff, but they can't be relied on as an army's backbone. And Yellow-bellied came up at the wrong time, of course.

Rihgu wrote:
as Mv 4 infantry is getting dull.

That's what I'm worried about. Even as a dwarf lover, the fact that every game system cripples them by giving them this role of "sturdy, immobile cannoneers" gets dreadfully boring. Excited for Kharadron Overlords in Age of Sigmar for breaking up this theme (quite traumatically, it seems!) but don't think that's going to spread out too much.

However, this cavalry heavy Abyssal Dwarf army I'm working on might also be a refreshing switch. If you do try one yourself, let me know how it goes

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in fr
Regular Dakkanaut




Yes indeed, a problem with vanilla dwarves is that the army strength is in having tough and relatively cheap infantry.

Compared to the reference of a shield wall regiment form the Kingdom of Man list (100 point, it's the unit all other infantry have been compared to in order to evaluate their points values), an ironclad regiment cost 10 more points, and get :
- speed -1
- defence +1
- Nerve +1
-I will ignore headstrong and access to very inspiring for now, both can be nice in the correct situation but won't change much in the unit raw power)

With the increased defence and nerve, ironclad are very tough for normal infantry, and the lower speed is what keep them costing so few points.

When you remember that cavalry and fliers have to pay for their speed, you can realise that you have the potential of having a lots of dwarf infantry, and while an ironclad troops or regiment don't have the speed to be where it might be needed to serve as chaff or cheap anvil, it is however cheap enough that you can simply have several deployed around the rest of your army.

For those that have played blood bowl, it's not unlike the old cage tactic, where you advance your expensive units protected by a serie of well placed cheaper units , and the threat of a counter attack by reserve units with a good offensive power (berserkers, dwarves with great weapons, elementals, etc ...)

A slow advance like that, supported maybe by some decent shooting (but if not, then it's more point for your army), can put a lot of pressure and win in the end.

The main problem is that this is more or less the exact opposive of a gunline style of play : a gunline starts doing a lots of damage early, and hope to kill you before you reach melee, or at least do enough damage to cripple you before that, while this turtle strategy means that you probably won't be doing a lots of damage early, but can win by pure attrition over time.

The problem is that playing agaisnt a gunline is usually boring, even if you can win more than half of the time against one, it's usually after several turns where you didn't do much more than simply moving and taking damage.

That's why it's usually better anyway to balance a dwarf army with ranged attacks and/or faster units, if only to make the army more fun to play, and while it's true that Abyssal dwarves have very nice options, vanilla dwarves are not as bad as you might thingk :
- very nice vanguard with ranger and the ranger captain give you an alternative or complement to fast units
- brock riders are among the best cavalry in the game, they have heavy cav movement with the attacks and nerve to rival a horde of infantry
- the berserker lord can be mounted on a brock and be used as a mini missile to intercept fliers, disorder shooting horde or simply add his offensive power to any fight
- the king on beast is slower by still has a decent speed and can be used to closely follow vanguarding rangers and/or brock units.

.. to say nothing of the king with the wings

Remedber than now a flier that is disordered lose flying, so even one wound made be a mounted berserker lord for exemple can pin a dragon or Elohi horde in place for other units to comes help him.

   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






I get that Dwarf units are relatively cheaper due to their limiting speed, but speed is, in my experience of playing, an absolutely enormous factor. More so than defense or nerve, but that might just be the fact that my opponents roll 5s and 6s like crazy so all of my units fold quickly...

I've found that in every game, due to terrain, I can't advance with a line and my shooting has very, very narrow lanes that are easily avoided. In these matches, the more maneuverable enemies get to set the terms of the engagements (and therefore win).

I'd imagine it'd be a different story if we played on a clearer field but as I've played it being able to navigate the board and get flank/rear charges vastly outweighs defense or nerve so it feels like my ironclads are 10-20 points overpriced.

Tonight, I played 1000pt, vanilla dwarfs vs vanilla dwarfs, and my opponent had 2 regiments of brock riders... between not having offensive output, mostly pointless defense, and dwarf shooting hitting on 5s (what... why?) when I even had LoS for a shot, it felt like I was about 200pts short of what my opponent had.
Next game was largely the same, with an Abyssal lord thing, a regiment of abyssal knights, and a unit of trolls (which, with regeneration and good nerve, have a very powerful defense unlike anything I can find in the dwarf list!) Their maneuverability let them trap 3 of my units in an area of terrain from the front with the trolls, then their overlord flew in from the flank and finished me off while the abyssals single handedly overwhelmed the other half of my army (granted, the shooting half), taking 4 wounds total from a cannon, an organ gun, and a regiment of crossbows...

All of this is basically leading into me wanting to get Abyssal Dwarfs up and running quicker than ever, so I've got a few questions about the list...

Horde of Blacksouls with Brew of Courage and Mastiffs
Troop of Gargoyles with Blade of Slashing
4 Troops of Slave Orc Gore Riders
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Brew of Haste
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Wine of Elvenkind
Horde of Abyssal Grotesques with Maccwar's
2 Katsuchan Rocket Launchers
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion with Wings of Honeymaze
Abyssal Grotesque Champion with Inspiring Talisman

1. Are the rocket launchers and the horde of black souls of any value to this list? Or should I replace them with more units of gargoyles/another horde of Grotesques (or more heroes). It seems if I want to go shooting/infantry I need to invest a lot more into shooting/infantry.
2. Are the items that improve maneuverability worth it on the Grotesque hordes? I'm thinking the Maccwar's is but the usefulness of the Wine of Elvenkind seems dubious? Brew of haste seems to have generic usefulness but a Brew of Sharpness and a Blessing of the Gods/improved crushing strength might be better for most/every purpose?
3. Having never used cavalry in Kings of War, and played against only a few units of it, what are the major weaknesses of this type of army? What should I watch out for besides terrain and getting myself isolated without support?

I'm on a podcast about (video) game design:
https://anchor.fm/makethatgame

And I also stream tabletop painting/playing Mon&Thurs 8PM EST
https://twitch.tv/tableitgaming
And make YouTube videos for that sometimes!
https://www.youtube.com/@tableitgaming 
   
 
Forum Index » Mantic Miniature Games (Kings of War, etc.)
Go to: