I did some projected army lists for my Chaos Dwarfs... The points add up REAL quickly!!!
They do indeed. It is very much of an elite force, a high contrast to an army like your Tomb Kings.
@NIGHTBRINGER do you run Fireglaives or Blunderbusses? Thoughts on the Blunderbusses? Successes using them? Not sure about the buffs you get when you have the bigger units... seems too impractical considering they are M3....
I have yet to field my Chaos Dwarfs, so everything detailed below are theoretical musings based on general experience and what I have read.
Many people consider the plain hand weapon and shield option to be the best value relative to their points. They seem to be a fair value, while the upgrades themselves seem slightly over-costed. That said, I've heard different people advocate for each of the options available, none of which are bad, but a little pricey. Historically I've been a sucker for GWs, but I've been rethinking that a bit as of late (due to the results from the CC tournament and background calculations I've made for other scenarios). One of the simple issues with the GW option is that the shields of the Infernal Guard (IG) are wasted in combat. I wish Forge World would have made the IG 11 points with the option to pick up a shield for 1 point extra. That way, HW&S builds would still cost 12 points, but GW builds could forgo the shield and come in at 14 points. Still, if you need some anti-armour or anti-toughness in your list, the GWs can prove to be worthwhile.
The Fireglaives look really cool and are an interesting middle ground between GWs and Blunderbusses. 5 points is a pretty steep upgrade price though. For the cost of 30 Fireglaive IG, you could pick up 30 HW&S IG
AND 30 Hobgoblin Cutthroats with bows! The bows definitely lack some of the Fireglaive's firepower (S3 no AP vs. S4 with AP), but they have greater capacity in terms of maximum range and you get more bodies onto the field (two units instead of one!). As you said, points run out mighty quick, so filling out the army can be an important consideration. Not saying that it is a better option, but it is something to think about. You can see from my listed posted in this thread that I have chosen to go this route. I have seen Fireglaives in smallish units of 10-20, with enough frontage to ensure that all of them get to shoot... and they can put in some work!
As for Blunderbusses, they are a bit of a gamble in my opinion. There is a great deal of variability built into Multiple Shots (D3). On the flip side, this also provides the advantage of psychological warfare against your opponent. Does he want to charge that unit of 20 Blunderbusses that have the potential to fire 60 shots? Against the right target they can be devastating. I saw a battle report where they put in some very serious work against Dark Elves. In my opinion, if you are going to run Blunderbusses, they should be in a large unit to take advantage of their special rules (which is what you are paying 6 points a model for):
- no penalties for firing at long range (which is good, because they only have a range of 12")
- no penalties for firing as part of a stand & shoot reaction (ideally you're aiming to get two round of shooting in before taking the charge, once when you get into range and a second time as a stand & shoot)
- re-roll failed To Wounds! (this is big, as all of a sudden that S3 looks a bit more menacing)
They can obliterate low toughness and lightly armoured units. With re-rolls to Wound, they are wounding at a rate of 75% against T3 opponents. Keep them away from big armour saves as S3 with AP only goes so far. Wonderful against Elves and other similar units though. I would field them as one large unit with a few extra bodies to ensure that a couple of casualties don't put me below the 20 model mark. Field them 10 wide (to help maximize the number of models who can shoot) and include a Dark Castellan BSB to ensure that you stick around should they be charged while sacrificing their rank bonus (and then reform after the first round of combat).
You've already hinted at their weakness. They are only M3 with a 12" range. With these guys the game is to force the enemy to you. Luckily the Chaos Dwarfs are pretty good at doing this, as few people want to take Deathshrieker, Magma Cannon or Hellcannon templates to the face for very long. Once they close the distance, let the Blunderbusses fly. A costly option, with some considering them too over-costed while others swear by them.
