CDO Forums

Chaos Dwarf FAQ

This is from scratch, and should fit onto the current normal FAQ for the army.  It is NOT an army update, it just clarifies rules that have changed or become less clear since Ravening Hordes was first published.  The only parts that aren't "rules as written" are marked with asterisks, and those have an explanantion and RAW rules for those who would prefer to keep it entirely that way.  It begins with slightly rewritten versions of the two Q&A from current FAQ.

Q. Can you fire Chaos Dwarf blunderbusses if there is a friendly unit in combat with an enemy in the zone of
fire?
A. No.  Like most armies, Chaos Dwarfs cannot shoot when there is a chance of hitting their own units.

Q. How exactly do Chaos Dwarf blunderbusses work with the stand & shoot charge reaction?
A. The rules are applied exactly as with any other unit.  If the chargers start within 12", then any models within
12" may be hit. If the chargers are outside 12", the charging unit is stopped at maximum range as normal – so in this case only the front rank of the charging unit will be in the zone of fire.

Q. Which Orc and Goblin units can I use?
A. Use the following units and their associated rules from the Orcs & Goblins army book: Goblins, Orc Boyz, Orc Arrer Boyz, 0-1 Black Orcs.  These units count as Special choices.  These units, and also Hobgoblins and Sneaky Gits, use the animosity rules in the Orcs & Goblins army book.

Q. Can Orc and Goblin units take magic banners?
A. Yes, if their unit entry in the Orcs & Goblins army book allows them to.  Since these units are being used in the Chaos Dwarf army, they do not take magic banners from the Orcs & Goblin army book.  Instead, they can only take banners available to the Chaos Dwarf army.

Q. How many models need to be in a rank to gain the strength bonus of a blunderbuss?
A. All the rules in Ravening Hordes for the blunderbuss apply.  When calculating the strength of the blunderbuss, a rank must contain 4 models to count for the +1 strength when shooting.  However, you must still have 5 models to gain a bonus to your Combat Resolution.

Q. What is the points cost of the Common Magic Items for the Chaos Dwarf army?
A. The Chaos Dwarfs use the following point values for their Common Magic Items:
<Any 6th edition rulebook (except Dwarfs) has the same list, and the list is in US-GT rules>

Q. How should I "lap around" with Sneaky Gits?
A. The lap around rules have been removed from the game, the following new rules should be used for Sneaky Gits instead of lapping around.  Sneaky Gits may perform a Free Manoeuver as part of Redress The Ranks, even if they lost the round of combat.  When an opponent wins combat against Sneaky Gits, they may turn to face, but may never increase their frontage.*

Q. Do Bull Centaurs count as cavalry or infantry?
A. Bull Centaurs should use all weapons as mounted, except for hand weapon with shield and additional hand weapons, which are used like infantry.  They are cavalry with 25mm x 50mm bases.  They are not considered mounted for armour save purposes.**


* This is a better wording of the US-GT rules.  The Free Manoeuver is the closest thing in the current rules to the old Lap Around rules and the way they were used by Sneaky Gits.  Using the rules as written, they would not have this rule at all.
**The infantry hand weapon usage brings them in line with Centigors and the 6th ed rules, while keeping the 7th ed change for cavalry use of great weapons.  Using the rules as written, they would use all weapons as if mounted.


Note: I'm wondering if I should bother adding some of the other obvious things like pointing out that they aren't Relentless and that the Earthshaker affects flyers.  The O&G unit descriptions only say that they can have magic banners, I can't find anything that says to use the O&G magic banners.  That is why is went for that answer.  I am  confident about all the others though.

Suggestions for other Q&A are welcome, but requests that involve rules changes are not so ;-)
Any opinions are welcome, but remember that I based these on the rules as written so please tell me if you disagree with my interpretation and explain yours.

I can't imagine that Chaos Dwarfs would care about shooting their own Greenskin troops.
Ideally they should have something like the Skaven "life is cheap" rule, but only against slave troops.

I agree that your rule makes sense based on the current game rules, however.

As for Orcs having magic banners, it always seemed weird to me that slave troops would be able to proudly fly Mork and Gork's magic banners.  It just doesn't make sense.

well no... they may not use magic items from the O&G list...
they may only use items for the CD list... Banner of Slavery or the Warbanner...
tho truth be told they should be allowed neither...

i think this covers everything pretty well...
i'd follow the "BBs in a Building" FAQ for determining S value per rank...

I'd also try to clean up the wording of your BC ruling... something like...
"Q. Do Bull Centaurs count as cavalry or infantry?
A. Bull Centaurs are mounted on a cavalry base and treated as cavalry in all respects except they may benefit from using an additional hand weapon; or the hand weapon and shield bonus as if infantry.**"

Point taken metro.  I think the base size can be left out altogether since there is a chart for that.  I think it is probably best to refer to the "mounted" use of weapons since that is how they are listed, rather than cavalry use (even though it is the same thing) because that is where people have the most confusion.  How about this:

Q. Do Bull Centaurs count as cavalry or infantry?
A. Bull Centaurs are cavalry and use all weapons as mounted.  The exception to this is that they use the following weapons in the same way as infantry: hand weapon and shield, additional hand weapons.  They are not considered mounted for armour save purposes.**

The FAQ on buildings doesn't mention the RH rules and I don't think it overrides them.

Just a quick question. Doesn't your countries tournies support the Direwolf FAQ? I'm in OZ and they use it and it has been updated for 7th ed and is backed by GW.

Cheers,
Matty

Sadly no... What does it say exactly about O&G magic banners in the O&G book.

The Direwolf one still counts as unoffical here in the UK. But its a good guide to go by.

Big 'Uns: "A unit of Big 'Uns may carry a Magic Standard worth up to 50 points."
Black Orcs: "One unit may carry a Magic Standard worth up to 50 points."
clear... nothing indicates they can take banners outside the army's allowance... so they may not...
but the broader question of whether they should be allowed to take banners at all is left alone...
sadly the US GT sloppily only answered the question on one unit...  they have the right idea but for both units...

if BB need to fire in ranks of 5 from a building to gain the strength bonus...
then they should fire in ranks of 5 from the ground to gain the strength bonus...
this is too simple for words... its already been FAQed...
of all the changes in your FAQ... this is the one that we know what GWs position is...
all others are conjecture and speculation...

i think whats problematic with your BC wording...
is that you make a point of saying "all weapons" and then go on to take weapons off the list...
i think it would be better to follow the centigor rules model more closely...
no one ever has issue with the wording of these rules...
which is suprising considering the beast book is one of the most poorly written... ruleswise...

You just did exactly the same thing!  You say they are treated as "cavalry in all respects" then give exceptions.  I'll happily just remove the word "all" from mine to satisfy you.

With regard to the Blunderbusses, I don't think it is clear at all what their intent was with the building ruling.
Were they trying to make the blunderbuss strength bonus the same as for rank bonuses or did they just assume that was the case in 6th ed and make a mistake?  I think the latter is far more likely since they didn't issue any FAQ to change the 4-wide rule in the actual army list.  It obviously wasn't a well thought through answer, since it allows for a single blunderbuss to produce a firezone as wide as the building.  So many assumptions are made about buildings in the rules that using anything other than house-rules (no pun intended) in most cases will often give odd results like that.

As for the other answers being conjecture and speculation, they are the rules.  GW has made their position very clear that we should use the rules rather than guessing the intent of them.

i have followed the centigor rules almost to the letter...
i have not said "they treat all weapons as cav except half the weapons they have"...
i have said "they follow all of the cav rules except these 3 exceptions"...
and the first and third are redundant... and are only included for the denser members of the populace...

whether GW forgot a 6th ed ruling or whether they intended a 7th ed rule change is irrelevant...
they issued a FAQ that says 5 is the number for +1S bonus... GW believes that 5 is the number for +1S bonus...
there is no mystery...

if the goal is not to fix the inconsistancies of the list with 7th ed then this whole FAQ thing is pointless...
by RAW the rules are clear... and there is no need of a FAQ...
you can't change BC rules and sneaky git rules to sort your fancy...
and then ignore the only 7th ed studio info we have on BBs... or the whole army for that matter...
there is far more evidence to support a change to BBs (or green banners) than to change BCs or SGs...
tho yes i believe all 4 of these issues should be delt with...
but of this list BCs are on the bottom... and BBs are on the top...