Black Dwarfs

Grade: 1c
Source: Border Town Burning (PDF)
Setting: Border Town Burning

Few scholars know how exactly these Dwarfs came to be the evil and twisted creatures of Chaos they are now. A long and slow warping process has changed them forever. Sundered from others of their kind, trapped in underground holds on the ash-choked Plain of Zharr, darkness swept over them. From a worship born out of desperation, the bull-shaped god Hashut became their saviour and the Dwarfs of Karak Vlag became a perverted mockery of their former selves. Through infernal pacts with their mysterious daemon deity this bitter race has endured and gained an unnatural mastery of foul magic. They practice bloodthirsty rites which involve throwing captives into burning cauldrons of molten metal.

The Black Dwarfs constantly trade armour, weapons and machines forged out of precious metals with their hammers and vile sorcery, for fresh supplies and victims. Those condemned souls are brought back to the Dark Lands. Deep beneath the the ziggurat shaped obsidian tower they are sentenced to toil in the labour pits of Mingol Zharr-Naggrund, the City of Fire and Desolation.

Fell Sorcerer Priests mastermind tactical raids harvesting prisoners on the Silver Road to expand their labour force. Scouting for rich mineral veins and metal ores while scouring the land for wyrdstone deposits, has led detachments of the Children of Darkness to Mordheim.

Special Rules

The following special rules apply to all warriors in the warband excluding Informers:

Hard to Kill: Like their uncorrupted brethren, Chaos Dwarfs are tough, resilient individuals who can only be taken out of action on a roll of 6 instead of 5-6 when rolling on the Injury chart. Treat a roll of 1-2 as knocked down, 3-5 as stunned, and 6 as out of action.

Hard Head: Chaos Dwarfs ignore the special rules for clubs, maces, etc. They too are not easy to knock out!

Armour: Chaos Dwarfs never suffer movement penalties for wearing armour.

Hired Swords: A Chaos Dwarf warband may hire the following Hired Swords: Ogre Bodyguard, Pit Fighter, Warlock, Imperial Assassin, and Hobgoblin Scout. They may hire any Hired Sword described as all may hire, or allowed by Orc warbands and Chaos warbands. They may never hire Elves of any sort!

Choice of warriors

A Chaos Dwarf warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns which you can use to recruit and equip your warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband is 15.

Sorcerer: Each Chaos Dwarf warband must have one Sorcerer – no more, no less!

Bull Centaur: Your warband may include one Bull Centaur.

Gaolers: Your warband may include up to two Gaolers.

Chaos Dwarfs: Your warband may include up to five Chaos Dwarfs.

Informers: Your warband may include any number of Informers.

Starting experience

A Sorcerer starts with 20 Experience.

A Bull Centaur starts with 10 Experience.

Gaolers start with 8 Experience.

Henchmen start with 0 Experience.

Characteristic increase

Characteristics for warriors may not be increased beyond the maximum limits shown here for Dwarfs and Bull Centaur (Black Dwarfs). Informers are a mixture of races, half-breeds, and mutants. They use the maximum characteristics for humans from the Mordheim rulebook.

Chaos Dwarf Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed	Special
Sorcerer	✓		✓	✓		✓
Bull Centaur	✓			✓
Gaolers	✓	✓		✓		✓

Chaos Dwarf special skills

Chaos Dwarfs may choose to use the following skill list instead of the standard skill lists.

extra tough

A Chaos Dwarf with this skill is notorious for walking away from wounds that would kill a lesser warrior. When rolling on the Heroes Serious Injury chart for this Hero after a game in which he has been taken out of action, the dice may be re-rolled once. The result of this second dice roll must be accepted, even if it is a worse result.

chaos engineer

The Hero has great technical skill and can use this to craft wicked armours and weapons. Whenever a Hero with this skill searches for Chaos armour (including Mechanical Suits) or Obsidian Weapons, he gets +3 on the roll. This represents the Engineer’s ability to craft these items himself. The Hero ignores the Rarity and Gift of Chaos special rules and may never wear the Chaos Armours.

thick skull

The Hero has a thick skull, even for a Chaos Dwarf. He has a 3+ save on a D6 to avoid being stunned. If the save is made, treat a stunned result as knocked down instead. If the Chaos Dwarf also wears a helmet, this save is 2+ instead of 3+ (this takes the place of the normal Helmet special rule).

resource hunter

This Chaos Dwarf is especially good at locating valuable resources. When rolling on the Exploration chart at the end of a game, the hero may modify one dice roll by +1/-1.

tyrant

This skill is for the Chaos Dwarf leader only. This Priest of Hashut is renowned for his tyranny. His word is absolute so his own warband fears his cruelty more then the enemy. When making a Rout test, and if led by a leader with this skill, the leader may inspire his warband to stick around. This skill allows the leader to re-roll any failed Rout test, as long as the leader is not knocked down or stunned. If re-rolled, the new result will apply even if the new result is worse. If the leader is taken out of action the warband must make an immediate Rout test.

true grit

Chaos Dwarfs are hardy individuals and this Hero is resolute, even for a Chaos Dwarf! When rolling on the Injury table for this Hero, a roll of 1-3 is treated as knocked down, 4-5 as stunned, and 6 as out of action.

Chaos Dwarf equipment lists

The following lists are used by Chaos Dwarf warbands to choose their equipment.

Starting warbands receive special prices on the Mechanical suit and the Engine of Chaos. These special prices represent the lower rarity of these items in the Dark Lands. When attempting to manufacture these items in Mordheim or anywhere else outside Zharr-Naggrund, Chaos Dwarfs pay the full prices, and must roll to acquire them as normal.

Chaos Dwarf Equipment List

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Mace	3 gc
Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc
Steel Whip*	10 gc
Double-handed weapon	15 gc
Man-catcher*	25 gc

* Gaolers only

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Pistol	15 gc (30 gc for a brace)
Blunderbuss	30 gc
Handgun	35 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc
Light armour	20 gc
Heavy armour	50 gc
Mechanical Suit**	175 gc

** Sorcerer only

Miscellaneous Equipment

Item	Cost
Engine of Chaos	125 gc

Informer Equipment List

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Mace	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Spear	10 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Sling	2 gc
Bow	10 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc
Light armour	20 gc

chaos dwarf special equipment

This equipment is only available to the Chaos Dwarfs, and no other warband may purchase it.

Item	Cost	Rarity
Man-catcher	25 gc	Rare 10
Mechanical suit	225 gc	Rare 14
Engine of chaos	195 gc	Rare 10

heroes

1 Sorcerer

85 gold crowns to hire

It is the Priests of Hashut who administrate insidious edicts on behalf of the Chaos Dwarf race. This includes orchestrating trade agreements with the savage Northmen and Ogre tribes. From out of the Dark Lands they frequently lead warbands to plunder the Silk Road.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	3	4	3	3	4	1	2	1	9

Weapons/Armour: The Sorcerer may be equipped with weapons chosen from the Chaos Dwarf Equipment list.

SPECIAL RULES

Leader: Any warrior within 6“ of the Sorcerer may use his Leadership when taking Ld tests.

Wizard: The Sorcerer is a wizard and follows the rules for wizards in the magic section. Sorcerers may cast Rituals of Hashut.

Priest: The Sorcerer starts with two rituals. One of them is the Sacrificial Ritual. The other spell is determined as usual from the Rituals of Hashut.

0 – 1 Bull Centaur

100 gold crowns to hire

Bull Centaurs are keen witted creatures with the upper torso of a Chaos Dwarf and the body of a bull. They are the most favoured disciples to the Father of Darkness. In his divine image these mutated centauroids are fewer in number than Chaos Dwarfs, more powerful and swifter in battle.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	8	4	3	4	4	1	3	2	9

Weapons/Armour: Bull Centaur may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Chaos Dwarf Equipment list, but may never use any missile weapons.

Special Rules

Large target: Bull centaurs are large creatures and therefore make tempting targets for archers. Anyone shooting at the Bull Centaur gains a +1 ‘to hit’ and may shoot at it even if it is not the closest target. As large targets a Bull Centaur adds an extra +20 to the warband’s rating.

0 – 2 Gaolers

50 gold crowns to hire

Of all the Black Dwarfs it is the wicked Gaolers who are the most infamous. The minds of these merciless fiends are bent on inflicting pain and their repulsive methods strike fear into the hearts of men. Gaolers delight in the torture of their prisoners for whom death never comes quick enough.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	3	4	3	3	4	1	2	1	9

Weapons/Armour: Gaolers may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Chaos Dwarf Equipment list.

Special Rules

Nasty Reputation: Gaolers are known for their brutality. The dreaded sight of them and the very thought of being captured causes fear in Humans.

henchmen

(Bought in groups of 1-5)

Informers

15 gold crowns to hire

For those imprisoned in the foundries of Zharr- Naggrund, the fires of industry burn night and day. There is little reward for a spy, only deceitful promises of freedom. Lies are enough to motivate these treacherous informants into betraying their own kind for small dispensations.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: Informers may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Informer Equipment list.

Special Rules

Drudgery: Informers have had their will broken by their masters. Informers may never become Heroes. Re-roll all results of ‘The lad’s got talent’ for them.

0 – 5 Chaos Dwarfs

40 gold crowns to hire

These resentful creatures toil in the forges of their city stronghold. To boost the production of weapons and Chaos armour in the foundries they set out on expeditions armed with blunderbusses to bolster the labour force kept shackled in pits beneath the earth.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	3	4	3	3	4	1	2	1	9

Weapons/Armour: Chaos Dwarfs may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Chaos Dwarf Equipment list.