What would be a good 1500 point Dwarf WOTR army to field?

Hi, I've been wondering the same thing and have been playing around with the points to try to come up with a strong Dwarf army recently. I'm not experienced in playing the game, however, so will let others propose a full list.

A few starters for discussion...

- Do you want it to be a fully Dwarf army or would you be happy to include Allies to try and overcome the inherrant lack of speed/cav/magic in a Dwarf army? I'm thinking Knights of Minas Tirith and Radagast may be good to include?
- The starting point surely has to be a couple of Formations of Dwarf Warrior Kinbands with Shields? 4 Companys each spends 320 of the 1500 points.
- Balin looks to be a very economical choice as your Leader? A further 100 points.
- The Kings Champion is a cool model and I would want to include at least one of them - are they any good though? Another 175 points.
- Finally, Khazad Guard - they are awesome, but are they worth the 10 points per Company over standard Dwarf Warriors with two handed weapons? If they are a Formation of 4 Companies is 200 spent.

So with these things you will have spent 795 points leaving 705 points to spend on other things and Allies - over to you guys....

What about smt like this:
EPICS:
Floi
Balin
Gimli
Faramir

COMMON:
4c Dwarf Warrior Kinbad
4c Dwarf Warrior Kinbad
4c Dwarf Warrior Kinbad
2c Dwarf Archer Kinbad
3c Dwarf Archer Kinbad

4c Knights of Minas Tirith w shields
4c Knights of Minas Tirith w shields

RARE:
3c Khazad Guard

1500 points, 8 formations, 28 companies, 13 might

Keep in mind I have never played with dwarves.

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http://noddwyr.wordpress.com

Personally, I'd drop the shields on the knights and upgrade those Archers to be Rangers with bows. The Knights are there to be cheap and fast (with the leftover points, you could also get a musician for one formation of knights to make them faster still), whilst the range of the short bow is too poor to be of use and you don't need the extra defence on archers because your warriors are there for combat. Just my comments on the above list.

How about this...

Epic Heroes
Balin (100)
Gimli (175)
Ally - Faramir (90)

Common Formations
4 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Shields (160)
4 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Shields (160)
Ally - 4 x Knights of Minas Tirith Company, Shields (120)
Ally - 4 x Knights of Minas Tirith Company, Shields (120)

Rare Formations
4 x Khazad Guard Company (200)
4 x Khazad Guard Company (200)
King's Champion (175)

I'm keen to hear what people think about the King's Champion? Would another Formation of Dwarf Warriors (perhaps with 2HW's) be a better use of these points?

I prefer Dwarves in formations of three companies, rather than four.

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

I played Dwarves a couple times. I like their high Khazad Guard/Epic Rampage Combo. I'd try this maybe.

Epic Heroes
Dain
Gimli

Common Formations
4 x Dwarf Warriors w/Shields
4 x Dwarf Warriors w/Shields
2 x Dwarf Archers
2 x Dwarf Archers

Rare Formations
4 x Khazad Guard Company (200)
4 x Khazad Guard Company (200)
2 x Dwarf Ballista
2 x Dwarf Ballista

Fortune
Counterspell

I prefer the hardier Archers over the Rangers anyday and saved those points to afford the Counterspell.

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http://drinkingwotr.blogspot.com/ - Links to my CrAzY House Rules, Games and 'poor man's' terrain.

Why do you prefer 3 over 4?

i think im always in favor of bigger formations, it makes you so much harder to kill (imagine a 6c unit of dwarves... you could hit it turn after turn doing little, all the while they wollop you back...)

Here's how I see it -

Advantages of a few Big Formations over multiple Small Formations:
1) Each formation can absorb more damage.
2) Each formation presents a greater threat to your opponent.
3) Epic Heroes and formation upgrades apply to more companies.
4) Smaller percentage of models lost due to "Hope is Lost" rule.

Advantages of multiple Small Formations over a few Big Formations:
5) You have more tactical options.
6) You present more threats to your opponent.
7) Because each formation is a smaller percentage of your entire force, it's less of a problem if one is (for whatever reason) unavailable.
8) Small formations are easier to manoeuvre.

Now, Dwarves don't have trouble absorbing damage, so #1 isn't an issue. Because of that, I think multiple small formations slightly have the upper hand for Dwarves.

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

As said, Dwarfs (especially with shields) are best in companies of three. They're resilient enough to deal with it. With the example of a 6 company formation, spells can stop ot dead. Two companies of three prove as difficult to kill and can't be negated by a single spell either - they also have the bonus of being safer from artillery attacks and you have the possibility of flanking with one, whilst the other anchors. They have the durability anyway, so give them the flexibility. If they have two-handers, 4 companies is fine, but three should still do the job.

I still stand by having Rangers with Bows over Archers as well - the extra range as well as the throwing weapons to lob in before you charge if the enemy does get to them make them far more suitable than archers. If they're in 18", you woun't get many kills before combat and the extra point of defence isn't overly helpful.

Okay, been playing around with the options some more and have come up with this...

Epic Heroes
Balin (100)
Gimli (175)
Ally - Elladan (35)
Ally - Elrohir (35)

Common Formations
3 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Shields (120)
3 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Shields (120)
3 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Shields (120)
4 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Two-Handed Weapons (160)
4 x Dwarf Warrior Company, Two-Handed Weapons (160)
Ally - 3 x Knights of Minas Tirith Company (75)
Ally - 3 x Knights of Minas Tirith Company (75)

Rare Formations
4 x Khazad Guard Company (200)

8 seperate threats including 5 serious threats thanks to two-handed weapons and lances. I think the Elven Twins are well worth taking to allow the slow dwarfs to ATD where needed or to ride with the Knights to get them in behind the enemy.

That comes to 1375 points and I would look to use the remaining 125 points to bring in a 5th Epic Hero, here is what I'm considering...
1) Thranduil - brings some much needed Magic to the army (to counter Pall of Night) as well as the useful Epic Shot ability and a respectable F7.
2) Haldir & Deorwine - 5 more Might points with Epic Shot (Haldir) and Epic Sacrifice (both), allows a 5th and 6th Formation to ATD.
3) Faramir - 4 more Might points and Valour Unbound - would have 35 points left to take the Counterspell Fortune or give the Knights shields.

Any thoughts or suggestions for improvements?

I'd get another company for the both of the Knight formations to make them tougher. After that, perhaps Erkenbrand?

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

I think you forgot one

9) with smaller more numerous companies you are more likely to get to charge, and more likely to be able to counter charge.
Since this game seems to me to be about charging and epics you need to be able to get as many charges off as you can. With 2 x 3c formations ,if one formation gets charged you would still get a counter charge with the other if you maneuver properly, plus getting a flank charge in is even better. One large formation of 6c would not be able to do these things.

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richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

I'd say that would fit under either #5 or #8. Interesting though, perhaps I should start a thread on the differences between big and small formations...

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