Located in the green and verdant lands bordering The Moot is a small community of Dwarven brewers and craftsmen. At the centre of the settlement is Ironfoundersson's Brewery, home of Ironfoundersson's Unbeatable Ale. Founded by Brag Ironfoundersson in the imperial year 1227, the brewery has passed through successive generations of the Ironfoundersson family to it's current incumbent, Snorri Ironfoundersson.

THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN ANVIL:

The Sign of The Golden Anvil (Bryn Grong) is a tavern much favoured by Dwarven warriors and beer convoy guards. In times of trouble, they march forth under their tavern sign, bearing their ancient family axes, and time honoured shields.

Martin de Carcasonne, knight of Bretonnia, raised his grime-splattered visor and surveyed the carnage before him. The field was littered with dead and dying, both Bretonnians and foul Orcs, their bodies strewn up and down both sides of valley in which they were fighting. The valorous deeds of his unit had gradually taken their toll – he was the sole survivor. The brave knights who had taken the field with him had fallen one by one – dragged from their saddles by the savage green beasts they were fighting, their noble steeds beaten and chopped down with crude clubs and axes. Three had fallen at the hand of one particularly large brute, wielding a massive axe nearly twice its own height. Martin himself had eventually delivered the killing blow to the fiend, driving his blade through its warty throat.

It is now a couple of years since the Warhammer Storm of Chaos campaign was launched by Games Workshop, along with its numerous army variations. While the army lists published in the book were intended as themed forces to be used as part of the campaign, many players embraced them in more general terms, and the lists were permitted to be used in tournaments. They were, in effect, entirely legitimate alternatives to the basic army books, although they were not stand-alone (in the sense that you needed the relevant army book in order to make use of the rules in the campaign book).

A Warhammer Fantasy battle report.

Nick (Tomb Kings) vs Pete (Vampire Counts), 2000pts

King Ka'atess ground his teeth together in rage. Though it had been aeons since blood had flowed through his veins, his less-than-vital condition hadn't reduced the depths of his hatred. Other emotions, yes - empathy, affection, humility - but when it came to hatred he was still more than capable. Especially easy to despise were the blood-drinking spawn of Nagash, and especially the Vampire that had just made off with a small but lethally dangerous collection of arcana from Ka'atess' domain. His duty to Khemri and the rest of the world was clear - all Vampires were obviously still minions of the Great Necromancer, and he could not permit any of them to grow more powerful in the arts of Undeath. More than that, though, he relished the thought of removing the arrogant smirk from the death-cheating leech's face, shortly before removing its arrogant head from its death-cheating shoulders and its arrogant heart from its death-cheating chest.

His bony jaw parted slightly in what would have been a grin had he still been alive. Anticipation was another emotion he still seemed to be able to feel fully.

Here then is the first part of the background of my new Dwarf Army! Background for the various units will appear shortly.

IRONFOUNDERSSON'S BREWERY:

Located in the green and verdant lands bordering The Moot is a small community of Dwarven brewers and craftsmen. At the centre of the settlement is Ironfoundersson's Brewery, home of Ironfoundersson's Unbeatable Ale. Founded by Brag Ironfoundersson in the imperial year 1227, the brewery has passed through successive generations of the Ironfoundersson family to it's current incumbent, Snorri Ironfoundersson.

In late 1998 I was in Mil Sims looking at miniatures when I overheard a discussion between a boy and his mother. He was pointing out the which models he was after, and she was told him, “You need to find someone to play with first”. This struck me as kind of sad, and got me to thinking afterwards: why was there no games club in our area?

 It was true that there were several games clubs around town, but Melbourne is a very big place, and they were spread far and wide. I lived in Bentleigh, and the nearest club to me was DWARF¹ in Dandenong – a good 20-30 minute drive away, and a far longer and more difficult journey for anyone unlucky enough not to have a car. The next-closest club was in the centre of the city, above the Games Workshop store in Centrepoint Mall² – almost as hard to get to, and far harder to find.

I was struck by something terrible today. I was idly thumbing through Citadel Catalogue Section Four¹ and I stumbled upon something. The current range of Dwarf miners are in there. Now I don't know exactly when the miners where designed, but Section Four was published in 1994. Doesn't that seem an unusually long life span for a miniature? Sixteen years? Game systems don;t last that long. Space marines are replaced every five or so.

Now let's get something straight - I have nothing against old miniatures per se. Some of them a truly awesome, and I would be proud to own them. The old Beastman in bone armour is a favourite, as are the whole range of 1980's familiars (Of which I own the book on legs. No army should leave home without one.) Some of them are fairly silly (The old Slaan² frogman warriors, the Imperial Guard beast men, and the dreaded Zoats³ spring to mind), but still fun. What I object to is GW's blithe arrogance in assuming we will be content with a whole range of shiny new miniatures, and then some bozzos from '94 who they can't be bothered updating.

As the Hampton Community Center is closed over the Chrismas-New Years break, the club's not on either. Saturday the 9th of December is the last day it's on this year. The club should start up again around the beginning of February - check back closer to then for more details.

As I have said in a previous article, Warhammer has been changing over the years. This should hardly be surprising, as everything changes sooner or later. The years go by, editions come and go, players drift into and out of the hobby, and miniature ranges grow old and are replaced. All of this is to be expected, as things have to change if the game is to grow and retain the interest of those already involved. However, for all that there are many positives involved in these changes, there are also some negatives. More specifically, there are some armies that become victims of the process.

(Or A Rant Against Steam Tanks)

 

I hate Steam Tanks. I hate those hulking, clanking, steaming, grinding, armour-clad monstrosities because they seem to be a regular fixture in many Empire players’ armies, and the only reason not everyone uses one seems to be that not everyone owns one. I hate the fact that every single Empire army I have ever fought in a tournament has had one. I hate them because they’re huge, practically indestructible, and cause Terror for my troops. I hate them because random silly people keep pointing out that any army can field one, because nowhere does it actually say that it must be used in the Empire army. Most of all, I hate them because they seem to break every rule in Warhammer. Nobody can deliberately move out of combat except a Steam Tank. Nobody can inflict up to 15 strength 6 impact hits on a unit except a Steam Tank. Nobody uses the same damage table as a castle except a Steam Tank. We hates it!