By Darmort
Through four Parts, I will be giving you my knowledge of the
Dogs of War, covering the Characters, Core, Special and Rare choices of the
Army.
Part 1 - Lords and Heroes
Part 2 - Core Choices
Part 3 - Special Choices
Part 4 - Rare Choices
Lord and Heroes
In the Dogs of War Army List, you only have 2 Lords and 3 Heroes. 5 Characters
may not seem like much, but you don't need them. Start by taking the Mercenary
General.
He's an all round decent fighter with okay Stats, and there's two ways I would
field a Mercenary General;
1 - Shield, Heavy Armour, Lance, Barded Warhorse. Basic equipment,
and he's still pretty cheap. Stick him in a unit of Heavy Cavalry with Heavy
Armour and use them as your heavy duty flanking force. All in all, though, I
prefer using Heroes on foot;
2 - Shield, Heavy Armour. Okay, while he's not as heavily armoured as the rest
of the army, he does have a 3+ Armour Save in combat, and now he can lead a
more unsteady unit (Pikemen), that way he'll be able
to coffer more Leadership to your troops (which is important) and be able to be
in the thick of the fighting when he's needed. This is my preferred way of
playing a Mercenary General.
And personally, the Dogs of War Army needs a Mercenary General, and should take
one whenever possible. Then again, I play against Vampire Counts, where a High
Leadership is best, although, in general, I'd take one against any army anyway.
Now the Wizard Lord is something nasty. Always give him that extra Level,
unless you're playing Defensive (in which case; why a Lord?). Toss him full of
Dispel Scrolls and Power Stones into a battle, and either give him the Lore of
Fire, Heavens or Life (My favourite Lores, and about
the only Lores worth taking, other than the
specialized Lores.). In any case, I would only use
one in around 3000 Point games; otherwise they're a bit of a waste and a let
down.
Just do yourself a favour, and only take one, maybe two, Level II's instead. Fourth Level Mages are useless unless you
like Magic Heavy (I mean heavy) Armies, which is hard for Dogs to do, in any
case.
Heroes, some of these guys can be vital to keeping your battle line intact. In
fact, I would rarely leave for a 2000 Point game without a Mercenary Captain,
Paymaster, Level I Mage with 2 Dispel Scrolls and a Mercenary Captain.
My Mercenary Captain has basic equipment; Heavy Armour and Shield. If needs be,
I'll toss him a Lance and a Barded Warhorse to lead a unit of Heavy Cavalry
into the flank of a fully ranked up unit to break it quickly, and it will keep
a High-Leadership (ha!) Character alive a while longer, as well
as being brilliant at going loner and hunting Mages by himself. I like
multiple purpose units. He's one of them. The Captain on foot is also like the
General, a key part to leading your force to victory, even with mediocre stats,
he makes up for it in granting a Leadership Bonus for units outside the
12" of the General's radius.
He's an okay leader, and a must in any Army.
The Paymaster is also a must, but then, who else would pay the Dogs of War
Army?
Not many people, or willingly. Now my Paymaster usually receives added
Protection in the Talisman of Protection. I know a 6+ Ward Save isn't good, but
it's not exactly bad, and when you give him Enchanted Shield, Barded Warhorse
and Heavy Armour, along with a Lance (probably made of butter, like all Lances
are in this game), he becomes a hefty price, but hard as nails, and can join a
Heavy Cavalry Unit for more defence, and unless they have Cannons (Sniping gits...), or direct attacks at him in close combat, he's
safe enough, and should be within range of most of your army.
Another arming tactic is a Brace of Pistols and Heavy Armour on Captain or
Paymaster, it's cheap, and with 4/3 Strength 4 Attacks at -2 Armour Save, you
can cause a lot of damage.
Magic: Level I or Level II, it doesn't matter. Toss him a pair of Dispel
Scrolls/Power Stones (former if on his own, if multiples, have a Power Stone
just in case), and then give him the Lore of Fire, Life or Heavens (the ones I
find most useful. Other than the Special Ones Dogs don't get). Of course, you
could go for Beasts or Shadow or Death and be a sneaky little thing, although
my advice is stick with Life and give him Dispel Scrolls. Against most players,
that's the best thing you're going to get for them. Anything else is a waste,
unless you know that Life is useless (in which case, go for Heavens. Fire
against a Tree-Spirit Army without any hills, fortifications or trees, which is
strange on it's own).
Core
Units
Pikemen
Pikemen forms the core of most Dogs of War Armies,
with their mighty pikes giving them huge combat effectiveness if you can
control the enemy charge and protect their flanks. Some feel that a unit of 20
in a 4*5 with Full Command is enough to see off anything. Personally, I'm
inclined to agree, although there are times when I've wanted more in my unit to
stop it being cannon fodder for arrows. In any case, I'd give them Heavy Armour
and Full Command, for the price of 250 Points, and while a whole eighth of any
2000 Points army, it's effective and a well proved working unit. Normally I
take 2 units, both with Heavy Armour and Full Command, and sometimes, when I
need to have some extra punch, a Hero of some description.
Duellists
Lightly armoured, fast moving fighters, Duellists have a variety of options,
from the Pistol to the second blade, to the Buckler to the Throwing Weapon.
Some people don't see any use in the last two options, but I do. Sometimes I
take Pistols, sometimes I take Two Hand Weapons, or sometimes a unit with both,
and sometimes I give them Throwing Weapons (or at least I do with the latter),
although that's usually to soak up points if I can't decide on any other unit.
Buckler's seem to be what you take when you want something cheap and has some
staying power (not much, admittedly, but some). Sorry I can't be more help, but
I've not used Duellists as much as I have other units.
Crossbowmen
Strangely enough, this unit is that can rebuy it's points back easily. A good long range, strength and
killing power, a Crossbowman unit of ten makes not only a good missile-support
unit, but okay flankers as well (I only advice this if you desperately need to
win a combat, otherwise, keep them back, on a hill, and shooting at anything
that you don't like), however, because of their great range, strength, and
flexibility, I'd keep covered. They don't have armour, nor do they have a very
high toughness.
Heavy Cavalry
Well, there's two ways to field them; cheap or not-so-cheap. Give them the
extra armour for a 2+ Armour Save to make them tougher to kill, but at the same
time, they'll become more expensive, or field them without that armour, and
while they may be cheaper, they loose that armour and become easier to kill.
Also, Command can be a very important thing; don't take Full Command in a
flanking unit. If, when using them to flank, use an Infantry unit with Full
Command (Pikemen, in this case) to hold against a
charge, then your Knights come in and act as a hammer. You don't need a
Standard for that. A Musician is optional, and a Champion is extremely useful
in this case.
The other way to field Cavalry is to have about 6 of them ride out in front of
the rest of your army, with all their Armour and Full Command (if you can, a Warbanner wouldn't hurt), and charge an enemy unit (hey,
you could weaken one with your Crossbowmen to soften it up before the charge).
Either way is fine, although a unit of Cavalry in the flank is a pain, in the
rear is more so (think of the Mages! By god! Think of the Mages!!).
Light Cavalry
Ah, one of the most used kinds of units, Fast Cavalry. Normally I'd forget
about these guys in anything but a 2000 Point battle (where I have Points to
spend). When I do take them, I always give them Bows
and a Musician in a unit of 5.
Cheap and quick, it can be used for baiting, getting
rid of not-so-friendly-Skirmishers, and harassing. They're usually quite good
at it. Take a unit with Bows and Musician, and most of the time, they won't go
wrong.
Special
Choices
Dwarfs
What can I say? Slow, tough and they aren't going run
(very far, at any rate). Shields/Great Weapons, Heavy Armour and Crossbows seem
to be the best option for them, although then they cost a lot, and with such a ow initiative, the Great Weapon's the best of the weapons
they can have.. Personally, I'd stay clear of Dwarfs at all costs, lest their
inability to move be your downfall. Movement is vital to pulling off your plan.
And since I play aggressively, I don't use Dwarfs.
Just stick away from these guys, unless you play defensive, in which case, a
Dwarf can be your best ally.
Norsemen
A Multi-Optioned unit. Finally! Well, let's begin with Great Weapons. They
already have the attacks, but they don't have the strength to deal with
anything, so giving them Great Weapons will give them the Strength that most
other Infantry doesn't get, or can't get. In a small unit, such as 10-12,
Norsemen with Great Weapons and a Champion make pretty good flankers, but I
wouldn't suggest a Great Weapons unit to act as an anvil unit.
If you want your Norsemen Armoured and Ranked up, give them Shields, and make a
decent unit of 20, for a 4*5 formation. They're solid, and can hold up to
anything charging them, almost, and then that previous unit with the Great
Weapons charges. The next option is the second Hand Weapon, and one I consider
taking against mass armies, such as Goblin Hordes and Skaven, otherwise,
they're pretty much a waste of Points. I also use these Additional Hand Weapon
Norsemen as Hammer units, IE, small blocks of 10-12.
Flails are much the same as Great Weapons, only one subtle difference; they
don't strike last, but they only work for the first round of combat. Make sure
that, if you use some of these guys, you flank your opponents' unit and break it, otherwise you've got easy Victory Points for the enemy.
As with Great Weapon and Two Hand Weapon armed Norsemen, I'd keep the units
with Flails small, possibly with a Champion.
Ogres (DOW list, not Ogre Kingdoms.)
Big, brutish and idiotic, Ogres fight for one thing; food.
They don't need Light Armour, instead, they just need
either the Great Weapons, or the Two Hand Weapons. If you're going against
Chaos, you are of course, advised to take Great Weapons, while against Skaven,
Goblins or Elves, another sword will do fine.
Command is another problem, for Ogres. In a unit sized 3-5, a Champion and a
Musician will suffice, while in a larger unit, a Standard Bearer could be
useful, but only in a unit with the unit Strength to out number the enemy, such
as 6+. This way the Standard will be able to give the extra Combat Resolution
to make sure your Fear comes into play, and you can overrun your enemy. A unit
of 6 is my preferred unit of play, for the Fear Factor.
Paymaster Bodyguard
Perhaps one of the most useful units you can have, except you can only have
one. That cuts down their effectiveness. Still, they have Halberds, and for an
extra Point a model, they also have Heavy Armour. Any decent General would give
them that. Now for unit size. I tend to find that 14,
17 and 20 work well, with Full Command and Heavy Armour, as well as Paymaster
in a 3*5/6/7 formation. If you must, you can give them 3 Ranks, although I
don't do that, because I use them as Flankers (yet I give them Full Command
just because if they get a frontal charge, without that Banner they'll be
beaten easily, and we don't like that, do we children). Then again, a fully
ranked up unit of 24 with Pay Master is an impressive sight, at 5*5.
Halflings
I am not a fan of Halflings. Not much, anyway. But if I were to use them,
they'd be a unit of 10-12 with Bows and a Musician, and probably hiding in a
wood (unless your friends play with Lore of Life!). I can say that in close
combat they'll be slaughters, but at range, they're one of the best units you
could ever take. Hitting on 3+ without modifiers, and a greater strength bow
than themselves, they'll be taking out light infantry, cavalry, skirmishers and
anything else low toughness and low armoured with ease.
The Halfling Hot Pot
Well, you might ask, what's the use in a group of Halflings flinging soup and
stew at the enemy? I will answer; it's hot, and anyone getting hit by it is
going to have some pains about boiling carrots pelt them. While it's not as
grand as a Stone Thrower or a Mortar, it's cheap, for only 50 Points, and can
damage light infantry effectively, and Light Cavalry and other war machine
crews might take damage as well, due to the Hot Pot's cheapness, usefulness,
and the fear factor that Goblin armies have given it, I think it's pretty well
worth the 50 Points, and if you can boil a bunch of Greenskins,
Rats, Elves, or anything else that's weak and lowly armoured, do so. Remember
that to make the Hot Pot truly worth its points, place it on a hill for maximum
view.
The Cannon
Face an Army of Kniggits, (This is a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference. He means
“Knights”. Me and Gitsnik
are just getting him his medicine, now. – d’Argent) Chariots any Heavy
Infantry? Well the Cannon is the tool for the job. It has the capability of
rending a Chariot to its bear pieces, or hammer a Knight form his saddle. It
can even low holes in Infantry lines, catching one, maybe even two, units. The
best place for a Cannon is always on a hill. The best way of
shooting it? Fire just short of the enemy, as the extra range from the
Artillery die will bring it just enough to catch the enemy. Another nasty trick
is to have a Cannon on both flanks, just have them fire in a cross at a single
unit. Even Knights will have two or three of them numbers hit by the cannon,
and that may be enough to break them that turn. The positioning of a Cannon is
always important, more important than that of the Hot Pot, because the Cannon,
unlike the Hot Pot, has a more direct firing, and the Hot Pot can shoot and
most likely kill anyone, but the Cannon is always tricky to place.
This Tactica is Copyrighted ©
Darmort. Do not copy or reprint without his permission.