I will be starting playing again (hopefully) and since I have been using Dwarves and they are my favorite troop choice I would love to make a competitive tournament force with them. I have heard people saying that in the warbands system the Dwarves really lack. I was thinking of allying them with some monsters like Ents or Giant Eagles for objective picking. I also need to ally them with some cheap spearmen for the added attack. Do you think the mid-level Dwarven heroes are a viable option and what is your opinion for King's Champion and Floi?

I haven't come up with even a roughly planned list because I wanted first to know if Dwarves are a total waste in competitive SBG nowadays.

Thanks for your time and your thoughts.

If your heading to a tournament Floi will definitely come in handy, what with all the wraiths and other special rule wielding evil models. All the dwarf heroes cost about the same anyway, despite having a 'low' fight Dain is very able, i like Gimli the most, but just choose whichever hero you like best. I'd ally in minas tirith spearmen but you may have a point about the warband system making dwarves less effective since the spearmen may not start near the dwarves they need to support :/

About the ents and eagles, i would probably advise against it, your numbers will be tight anyway and most dawrf heroes are capable of holding a position to the same effect as an ent, dain or durin could both happily hold an objective from most attackers. Only ally in an ent or an eagle if you want them to be your respective leader, otherwise you'd be losing out on numbers.

I didn't think at all about the fact that the bands may start at separate positions..I was thinking more cost-wise now that I need to include more heroes. I would probably need to ally some cavalry as well, since they come in handy for certain scenarios. The downside is that this will further increase the cost. Yes I agree about your opinion on Gimli, about Dain though I am reluctant to add him due to his F5. And any Minas Tirith regiment is totally not befitting of a fat, perky Dwarf warband lol.

By the way I am talking about 500 and 700 points which seem to be the norm.

Yeah, well to be honest i also think of dain in a derogaroty manner because of his fight 5, BUT i've played against him alot, his extra wound and point of defence come in handy, forcing a standard hero (strength 4) to roll a 6/4 compared to the 6 for defence 8. Fair enough an uruk captain can dent him on a 6 but there are plent of ways to counter encountering an uruk captain. Fight 5 can beat pretty much any evil warrior and most generic captains. If you don't go for minas tirith then finding spear support will be hard without throwing away loads of points, womt are cheap and effective. Gimli is still probably better overall but Dain can wade through warriors with greater ease and can survive longer despite a lower fight value. We'll probably see a boost in his stats when the hobbit comes out representing a young Dain anyway

In 500 points, considering the cost of captains, go for someone cheap like Balin, Gimli, or maybe Floi, over that and you've spent too much :/

For Warbands, 700pts and 1,000pts are the norm. Tourney-sized armies are the latter.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Then I'll come up with a 700 points force and build it from there. Though I must say, it's a real bumper to ally with something that isn't thematic.

You have to break thematics to level with powergamers. I'm sure you can come up with an excuse to ally the two anyway.

You could play as the Dwarves who settled in the Glittering Caves, with WoMT from Isengard (in the 4th age). Or take warriors of Arnor with the Dwarves of Belegost.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

How about Erebor and the Men of Dale, that's pretty thematic. I think the rules for Axemen of Lossarnach would be fun to use, they have the spears you want and their option for using two-handed weapons fits nicely with the Dwarfs who also like 2-handers.

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Titans Wargames Club

http://s10.zetaboards.com/The_Titans/index/

Yes, I hadn't thought of the axemen, plus Forlong is fat which also fits with the dwarfs lol.

Edit: Although to be honest the best solution are WoMT.

Dwarves are awesome!! Just don't spread out!!
I take at 800pts something like 11 kazad, 14 iron guard, 10 bows, some shields,
dwarven basic heroes are solid and don't die easily and when you see the kings champion and floi combo you realise how cool the world can be for a dwarf.

Just watch out for saruman!

Balin with Axe is amazing. With Damrod or Beregond, you could have cheap Minis Tirith spears, even spears and shields. I fielded Khazad Guard w/ Arnor spears and Dol Amroth pikes---so solid: Fight 4, Strength 4, and three Attacks. Swept the field. Slow, but fearless.

How does the Floi Kings Champion combo work? Yes I like warriors of Arnor alot but sadly they come in metal.