I was toying with a few armies and I wanted a purely dwarf army. I really liked the look of vault wardens and I loved the defense 9 for the Iron Shield. I came up with this at first:

Dwarf Captain w/ shield and throwing weapons
9 Dwarf Warriors 8 w/ shield and 1 w/ banner
6 Khazad Gaurd
6 Iron Guard
2 Vault Wardens
8 Dwarf Rangers 4 w/ bow 4/ throwing weapons

but I thought that I needed a better hero and since I can't have Gimli, who is great, I decided on Durin:

Durin
6 Khazad Guard
3 Vault Wardens
3 Iron Gaurd
14 Dwarf Warriors 7 w/ shield, 1 w/ banner, 6 w/ bow

the second list has more shots, might, and defense 9 while the other has dwarf rangers and more units.

I would say the first is better. Durin won't pay off at 500 points. Though one comment n the first list, I might swap the captain out for Mardin in the first list for the extra might and perhaps give the rangers bows instead of throwing weapons as you are a bit low on bow fire.

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

The second list won't work, it's go too few models.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

While I don't have a lot of experience with dwarves, I don't think that Vault wardens are worth it unless you are trying to hold an objective or something.

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Backlog reduction Oath Participant

Some tips:

- Vault wardens are not very effective in most missions. For one point more you have a iron guard and khazad guard and they are much better to use in most missions. Only in missions with a bridge where really nobody can come with your spearman it is usefull.
- For your hero in 500 points it is better to have something that's not as strong as durin but stronger then a captain. So if you really wants to stick to khazad dum take mardin but when not take balin or gimli.

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

One of the reasons I picked Khazad-Dum is because of the Vault Wardens. I will, however, take Mardin. I'm also only going to use 2 Vault Wardens instead of 3 because they are so expensive. Based on this, what should I go for as shots ( warriors or rangers) should I go for rangers w/ throwing weapons and what else do I need?

Warrios with bow or rangers with bow really depends on the scenario's that you are going to play so do you know what scenrios you are playing.

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

Warrios with bow or rangers with bow really depends on the scenario's that you are going to play so do you know what scenrios you are playing.?

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

I usually only play with my brother and his friend and my friend (though usually not all at once) my friend plays Easterlings, my brother takes either Uruk-hai or Goblins, and his friend plays the army of the dead, if that's any help. I usually play "last man standing wins". I only play friendly games.