The Guilds Subfaction

Because of their kinship with the Element of Earth it is unsurprising that Dwarves are the most accomplished stone masons, miners, smiths and jewelers in the world. These guilds are known as the Earth-Trades and as cities and commerce flourished, they grew to become rich, powerful leagues. Included in the Guilds are the secretive Rhundra Society, which maintains a stranglehold on rune-magic, and the Stonemage Fellowship which comprises the grand-masters of earth-magic. The influential Order of the Gøderguard is a holy brotherhood of Dwarves dedicated to the Vættir gods. Most renowned of the order are the Einherjer – warrior-ascetics who bring battle to the enemies of the gods and who stand guard upon the northern border of the Runewall.

The Mercantile guild consists of hardy traders and includes the Fimbul Toughborns. This fellowship of Dwarven scouts is so renowned for protecting caravans and trade routes that bands of Toughborns have become prized mercenaries. Their network of secret fortresses enables Nordgaard to strike deep into hostile lands such as the barbarian tundra wastes and the Shadow Trolls’ Empire of Dusk.

Runegate Keeper

Background

The first members of the Einherjer were the personal thanes of the patron god of Nordgaard – Haldan Bergthor. This Dwarven hero-cult brotherhood honoring the Asrae Gods of the humans grew into a warrior brotherhood with chapter-houses and banks spread across Ghorn.

As the centuries passed they also inherited the onerous honor of defending the Jotunwall fortification which forms the border with the hell-scape of the Northlands beyond. In ancient times the Lord Keepers of the Runegates were the trio of wardens incumbent at each of the three Runegates which lead to the perilous arctic wilderness, but today the title is largely symbolic and denotes a military commander of the order’s greatest lodges.

As veteran commanders of the Einherjer, Runegate Keepers are all mighty warriors of renown, and legends in their own right. The Runegate Keepers are encased in celestial orichalcum armor and wield enchanted weapons blessed by the gods.

Game Role

This Dwarf is a very hard melee killer. There are other warlords which are more offensive, but the Runegate Keeper is one of the hardest warlords to take down. With DEF13 and ARM10 he is already tough as hell, but he can also take talismans and armor items, and he has tactics to improve DEF and ARM. These defensive tactics are primarily for buffing friendly models, but he could use them on himself, gaining a potential ARM of 12. In addition, his subfaction ability gives him a 5+ protection role against mortal wounds.

His first tactic can give a unit +1 Def and the other can give +! ARM. He is an idealwarlord for leading Einherjer due to being from the same subfaction, and also these protectic tactic which can make them incredibly tough. His third tactic buffs the subfaction ability to a 4+ protection roll against mortal wounds.

Killing enemies allows the Runegate Keeper to pass free action tokens to nearby units, and friendly models within his LEAD range become fearless.

So far he is very tough and very useful, but add to this his basic MEL of 9 and a POW of 7 or 8 and you have an awesome warlord. Compared to the Warsmith, the Runegate Keeper is more defensive and a better fighter, so he naturally costs 15 points more.

Throw him into the melee as early as possible and let the opponent concentrate lots of attack on him. Or use him as a great buffer, especially in combination with the Brewer of Odrorir.

Einherjer

Background

Despite their traditional duty of defending the Jotunwall, the order’s efforts are focused primarily on spreading worship of Nordgaard’s founder Haldan Bergthor and the other Vættir gods, and secondly vanquishing the enemies of the Vættir.

In order to take the fight to their foes across Ghorn, the Einherjer founded chapter-houses in the mountain ranges of the Southholds, but their headquarters remains ever in Nordgaard.

The order’s military might and wealth, along with their strange customs have made them at once feared and respected, loved and hated within Nordgaard. Most controversial is their devout worship of the human Vættir gods. Distinguishing them from other Dwarves physically are their shaved heads which they expose to the elements, shunning helmets.

Game Role

The Einherjer are an elite melee unit. With a basic MEL of 7 and POW of 7, they hit most times, and kill frequently with one strike. Defensively they are even more impressive, with an ARM of 9 and 8 life points each

With stats like that, tactics are not so important, but they have one to reduce the action-token cost of their first attack each round and the ability to pile on extra direct damage.

Undead and Ethereal models beware because they carry enchanted weapons.

Besides that, they are immune to fear, horror and bravery tests, and more importantly other models which cause fear or horror suffer horror from Einherjer.

Get them stuck into the melee as fast as possible and buff their already good defences to make them almost unkillable.

Fimbul Toughborns

Background

The renowned fellowship known as the Fimbul Toughborns is a guild of mercenary scouts who patrol the trade routes of Nordgaard, and who act as caravan guards and explorers. So accomplished are they that several High-Kings of Nordgaard established permanent regiments of Toughborns as rangers to patrol the extensive, porous borders of the kingdom. Today, perhaps half of their number patrol the lucrative trade routes which link Nordgaard with the rest of Calydorn or even pioneer new ones – for Nordgaard produces valuable goods such as weapons, armor, jewelry and tools which are in high demand.

Toughborns are expert in mountain climbing and hiking across glaciers, tundra, and dense pine-forest, as well as swimming, caving, and other wilderness survival skills. Long-range Toughborn patrols penetrate deep inside enemy territory of the Troglodytes, Banebrood, Wyldfolk and the tundra-barbarians. The Toughborns’ primary weapon is a compact crossbow which has a fast reload rate due to its clever mechanics. When left no other option, they engage foes in melee using their large hunting knives to good effect.

Game Role

Toughborns are an unusual Dwarven unit. Firstly they can cross difficult terrain at normal speed and they have the ability to lay nasty traps.

This is primarily a missile unit, and their weapon is a mini crossbow which can be fired twice per round. One neat trick is the Stand Ready tactic which allows them to target a zone and shoot whenever models enter that zone.

This is definitely not a melee unit, so they need to be kept away from the fight, which is not difficult since their crossbows have a long-range of 20 inches.