Dwarf Treasure Hunters

Grade: 1a
Source: Town Cryer #4, revised in Mordheim Annual 2002 (PDF)
Setting: Mordheim
Author: Mark Havener

Lore

Dwarfs are a grim and exceptionally proud people. They respect three things above all else: age, wealth and skill. It is no surprise then that these grim warriors can be found in Mordheim searching for fame and fortune.

Occasionally, a Dwarf noble will find himself in desperate times. His family hold may have been overrun by Goblins or Skaven, or he may have somehow disgraced himself and been banished. Other Dwarfs know these warriors as the Dispossessed. Dwarfs are a proud race and it is against a Dwarf’s nature to lose himself in despair. Instead, a noble who finds himself in such dire straits will gather together a group of his closest friends and kin and go treasure hunting, hoping to accumulate a large enough hoard to establish his own holding. At this time, the largest source of wealth in the Known World is rumoured to be a city in the Empire. The city is known as Mordheim…

Special rules

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

Armour: Dwarfs never suffer movement penalties for wearing armour.

Hate Orcs and Goblins: All Dwarfs hate Orcs and Goblins. See the psychology section of the Mordheim rules for details on the effects of hatred.

Grudgebearers: Dwarfs hold an ancient grudge against Elves from the days when the two races fought for supremacy in the Old World. A Dwarf warband may never include any kind of Elven Hired Sword or Dramatis Personae.

Incomparable Miners: Dwarfs spend much of their lives underground searching for precious minerals, and they are the best in the world at this kind of work. In the city of Mordheim they apply similar skills to the search for wyrdstone. When checking for wyrdstone at the end of a game, add +1 to the number of pieces found for a Dwarf warband.

Choice of warriors

A Dwarf Treasure Hunters warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns available to spend. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 12.

• Dwarf Nobles: Each warband must have 1 Dwarf Noble: no more, no less!
• Dwarf Engineers: Your warband may include up to 1 Dwarf Engineer.
• Dwarf Troll Slayers: Your warband may include up to 2 Dwarf Troll Slayers.
• Dwarf Clansmen: Your warband may include any number of Dwarf Clansmen.
• Dwarf Thunderers: Your warband may include up to 5 Dwarf Thunderers.
• Beardlings: Your warband may include any number of Beardlings.

Starting experience

• The Dwarf Noble starts with 20 experience.
• The Dwarf Engineer starts with 10 experience.
• Dwarf Troll Slayers start with 8 experience.
• Henchmen start with 0 experience.

Dwarf Treasure Hunters Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed	Special
Dwarf Noble	✓	✓		✓		✓
Dwarf Engineer	✓	✓				✓
Dwarf Troll Slayer	✓			✓		✓

Dwarf Treasure Hunters Special Skills

Dwarf Treasure Hunters Heroes may use the following Skill table instead of any of the standard Skill tables available to them.

Master of Blades

This Dwarf’s martial skills surpass those of a normal warrior; he has fought unscathed against hordes of Orcs and Goblins. When using a weapon that has a Parry special rule, this hero parries successfully if he beats or matches his opponent’s highest ‘to hit’ roll, not just if he beats the roll. In addition, if this warrior is using two weapons that have the Parry special rule, he is allowed to parry two attacks (if his two dice match or beat the two highest Attack dice against him) instead of the normal maximum of one. Note that if this Dwarf has two Dwarf axes (as detailed above) he can re-roll any failed parries.

Extra Tough

This Dwarf is notorious for walking away from wounds that would kill a lesser being. 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.

Resource Hunter

This 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.^❓

True Grit

Dwarfs are hardy individuals and this Hero is hardy even for a 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.

Thick Skull

The Hero has a thick skull, even for a 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 Dwarf also wears a helmet, this save is 2+ instead of 3+ (this takes the place of the normal Helmet special rule).

Ferocious Charge

The Slayer may double his attacks on the turn in which he charges. He will suffer a –1 to hit penalty on that turn.

Monster Slayer

The Slayer always wounds any opponent on a roll of 4+, regardless of Toughness, unless his own strength (with weapon modifiers) would mean that a lower roll than this is needed.

Berserker

The Slayer may add +1 to his to hit rolls during the turn in which he charges.

Dwarf Treasure Hunters equipment lists

Pricing:

Dwarf Warrior Equipment List

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc
Dwarf Axe	15 gc
Double-handed weapon	15 gc
Spear	10 gc ❓
Halberd	10 gc
Gromril Weapon	3 x Price ❓

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Pistol	15 gc ✏️ (30 gc for a brace)

Armour

Item	Cost
Light Armour	20 gc
Heavy Armour	50 gc
Gromril Armour	75 gc
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Thunderer Equipment List

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Pistol	15 gc (30 gc for a brace)
Crossbow	25 gc
Handgun	35 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Light Armour	20 gc
Heavy Armour	50 gc
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Special Equipment

Dwarf Treasure Hunters have access to the following special equipment when purchasing items from the Trading Post, outside their starting list:

Dwarf Axe

Cost: 15 gc
Availability: Rare 8

Dwarf axes are smaller-hafted weapons made of lighter (but stronger) materials than normal axes. Dwarf Warriors are specially trained in their use and are able to use them as deftly as a Human warrior might wield a sword.

Range: Close Combat
Strength: As user

Special Rules

Cutting Edge: Dwarf axes have an extra save modifier of -1, so a model with Strength 4 using a Dwarf axe has a -2 save modifier when he hits an opponent with the axe in close combat.

Parry: Dwarf axes offer an excellent balance of defence and offense. A model armed with a Dwarf axe may parry blows. When his opponent rolls to hit, the model armed with a Dwarf axe may roll a D6. If the score is greater than the highest to hit score of his opponent, the model has parried the blow and that attack is discarded. A model may not parry attacks made with double or more its own Strength - they are simply too powerful to be stopped. A model may not parry more than one attack in a single Close Combat phase; a model armed with two Dwarf axes (or a Dwarf axe and a sword, etc) does not get to parry two attacks but may instead re-roll a failed parry.

Heroes

1 Dwarf Noble

85 gold crowns to hire

Dwarf Nobles are fortune seekers who have recruited a band of like-minded Dwarfs and set off from their stronghold in search of riches. A Dwarf Noble is well respected by the members of his warband. Often he is a member of one of the noble families of the lost Dwarf strongholds, dreaming of collecting enough treasure to restore the former glory of the Dwarf Kingdoms.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	3	5	4	3	4	1	2	1	9

Weapons/Armour: Dwarf Noble may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Dwarf Warrior Equipment List.

Special Rules

Leader: Any models in the warband within 6" of the Dwarf Noble may use his Leadership instead of their own.

0 – 1 Dwarf Engineer

50 gold crowns to hire

Dwarf Engineers are respected members of Dwarf society. It is they who design and build the complex war machines and devices which have made the Dwarfs famous.

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

Weapons/Armour: Dwarf Engineer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Thunderer Equipment List.

Special Rules

Expert Weaponsmith: A Dwarf Engineer is a master of mechanical devices. By using stronger construction materials and time-tested secrets of Dwarf engineering, a Dwarf Engineer can increase the distance the warband's missile weapons can shoot. Missile weapons bought from the warband's basic equipment lists have their range increased by 3" for pistols and 6" for crossbows and handguns. Range increases only apply in battles in which the Engineer takes part (though they do apply even if he is yet to enter the battlefield or has already been taken out of action in this battle). He has no effect on the equipment of Hired Swords.^✏️

0 – 2 Dwarf Troll Slayers

50 gold crowns to hire

Troll Slayers are members of the morbid Dwarf cult obsessed with seeking an honourable death in combat. Having committed some unforgivable crime or been dishonoured in some way, a Dwarf will forsake his home and wander off to die fighting the enemies of Dwarfkind. Troll Slayers are insanely dangerous individuals, psychopathic and violent. There are however few better fighters in the Known World, so they are much sought after by Dwarf treasure hunters.

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

Weapons/Armour: Dwarf Troll Slayer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Dwarf Warrior Equipment List.

Special Rules

Deathwish: Troll Slayers seek an honourable death in combat. They are completely immune to all psychology and never need to test if fighting alone.

Slayer Skills: Troll Slayers may choose a skill from the Troll Slayer Skill table instead of the normal Skill tables when they gain a new skill.

No Missile Weapons or Armour: Slayers may never carry or use missile weapons or any form of armour.

Henchmen

(Bought in groups of 1-5)

Dwarf Clansmen

40 gold crowns to hire

These are Dwarf warriors in their prime: tough, stubborn and brave warriors who can be relied on to hold their own against any foe.

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

Weapons/Armour: Dwarf Clansman may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Dwarf Warrior Equipment List.

0 – 5 Dwarf Thunderers

40 gold crowns to hire

Dwarf Thunderers are experts at using missile weapons. Many an Orc or Goblin has died by the sting of a crossbow bolt or a roaring handgun bullet shot by a Dwarf Thunderer.

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

Weapons/Armour: Dwarf Thunderer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Thunderer Equipment List.

Beardlings

25 gold crowns to hire

These are young Dwarfs who have joined the retinue of an experienced Dwarf treasure hunter hoping to make their fortune.

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

Weapons/Armour: Beardling may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Dwarf Warrior Equipment List.