Grombrindal, the White Dwarf [Fanmade Rules][Special Character]

[Sarouan]

So I was putting the new White Dwarf miniature on a square base and thinking it would be a shame to play it as "just" a generic dwarf lord. I gathered some old rules for 7th edition and decided to write some for the Old World.

Grobi be warned, for the dwarves go to war with a living ancestor. Khazukan Kazakit-ha !


 

Grombrindal, The White Dwarf

 

Grombrindal the White Dwarf is a King. He may be included in any Dwarfen Mountain Holds army made using any army composition list that includes this option. He must be fielded as presented here.

	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Points
Grombrindal	3	7	4	4	5	4	4	4	10	500

 

Troop Type: Heavy Infantry (character)

Base Size: 25x25 mm

Unit Size: 1

Equipment: Runic Axe of Grimnir, Scaled Armor of Glimril, Runic Cloak of Valaya

Special Rules: Ancestral Grudge, "Are you Dwarves or Grobi Cowards ?!", Gromril Armour, Hatred (Orcs & Goblins), Magic Resistance (-3), Resolute, The White Dwarf

 

"Are you Dwarves or Grobi Cowards ?!"

When Grombrindal's gaze is upon them, no living dwarf would dare to be caught running away !

During the Command sub-phase of his turn, if Grombrindal isn't engaged in combat, he can nominate a single fleeing friendly dwarf unit that is within his Command range. The nominated unit immediately rallies.

 

Scaled Armor of Glimril

After the battle of Thragg where Grombrindal slaughtered 10000 Chaos Warriors while rescuing the reckless Ungi the Unlucky and his followers, a scale was found between the gritted teeth of the Chaos Lord's corpse. It was made of an unknown metal. Intrigued, the Runesmiths called it Glimril, assuming it was forged by the ancestral gods.

The Scaled Armor of Glimril is a Magic Armour granting a armour value of 2+ and a 4+ Ward save to its wearer.

 

Runic Cloak of Valaya

The runes on this cloak are said to have been inscribed by Valaya herself. An old legend tells the ancestral goddess of dwarfen hearths fell in love with the White Dwarf because of his magnificent beard and gave him this cloak as mark of her affection.

The Runic Cloak of Valaya is an Enchanted Item granting the Magic Resistance (-3) special rule to its wearer (already included in Grombrindal's special rules). Further more, its wearer is immune to both the Killing Blow and Multiple Wounds (X) special rules. If the wearer suffers an unsaved wound from an attack with either of these special rules, they lose a single Wound instead.

 

Runic Axe of Grimnir

The heavy axe wielded by the White Dwarf matches the description made of the Runic Axe of Grimnir in several dwarfen myths. Maybe Grimnir himself offered this weapon to Grombrindal ?

	R	S	AP
Runic Axe of Grimnir	Combat	S+3	-3	Armour Bane (2), Multiple Wounds (D3)

 

The White Dwarf

Grombrindal's presence inspires the dwarves with ancestral pride and stubborness. They would rather fight to the death at the sides of this living ancestor than give ground to theirs enemies !

Grombrindal has the Unbreakable special rule. He can join a dwarf unit that doesn't have the Unbreakable rule and if that's the case, the unit gains the Unbreakable rule as long as he's with them. Grombrindal can join a unit of Slayers even though he doesn't have the Loner special rule.

 

 

The White Dwarf.pdf

Edited May 17 by Sarouan

[Double Misfire]

Nice to see he fits on a 25, that's one heck of an Oathstone/tactical rock

Unbreakable on any unit seems a bit strong, even at 500 points. Maybe give him an exception and allow him to remain Unbreakable/stay in combat while the unit he's with flees around him?

Also

58 minutes ago, Sarouan said:

"Are you Dwarves or Grobi Cowards ?!"

59 minutes ago, Sarouan said:

Dwarves

[JerekKruger]

Looks good, though 500pts seems pretty expensive for a movement 3 character. Yes, he's a beast in combat, but most enemies aren't going to have too much difficulty avoiding him. 

I'd agree with @Double Misfire that being able to give unbreakable to another unit is probably too strong. If you changed that I think you could do him to something closer to 400pts and be in the right ball park. 

Personally I really like the older version of his rules, where you could elect to no set him up at the start of the game, then when one if your units flees combat you could have him reveal himself (he was hiding in there ranks), causing them to automatically rally. That is however an extremely powerful ability, as unlike tooled up Kings, who can be easily avoided, your opponent's can't reliable avoid the hidden White Dwarf. If he had something like that I'd stay to think 500pts was worth it.

[JerekKruger]

Just found this blog post giving his 6th edition rules. Notably:

• Disguised: The While Dwarf wears a disguise until be is ready to reveal his true self. This disguise is usually in the form of a huge cloak be wraps around himself to conceal his enormous white beard, a clear sign of an Ancestor!
  If you wish, the White Dwarf may start the game hidden in any Dwarf unit except a war machine and its crew.
  If disguised, the White Dwarf is not placed on the table, but is assumed to move along with the unit within which he is hidden. At the start of the game, make a note of which unit he is concealed in. If the unit is wiped out or flees, then the White Dwarf will be revealed, and will stand his ground even though the rest of the unit may be fleeing or slain.
  The White Dwarf may reveal his true self at the start of any Close Combat phase. At this point he is immediately placed in the front rank of his chosen unit, displacing one of the normal rank-and-file models. If there are no such models in the front rank, then he must be placed in the second rank.
  Once revealed, the White Dwarf operates as any other character.
  Note that if the White Dwarf is the army general, then units only benefit from his Leadership after he has been revealed.
• Has No Fear!: The White Dwarf is so ancient and battle-hardened that he is Unbreakable. He will, however, always maintain his hatred of greenskjns. So fearless is he that if his chosen unit breaks and flees, for any reason, he will stand his ground. If the unit was engaged in combat, he will stand firm and continue to fight while his unit flees.

The latter does what @Double Misfire suggests (Grombrindal never flees, but his unit still can), the former is what I am remembering (though I vaguely remember an earlier version where you didn't need to specify the unit he was in, but that is probably a mistake on my part). I think these two rules would be nice to incorporate.

[Sarouan]

The Disguise rule was at that time where assassins were feared. You always had to note which unit was having him, and it was not necessarily better because choice is usually obvious when you look at the dwarf army on the table.

The 500 points is a wink to the 500th White Dwarf magazine and that's why he's overcosted on purpose.   Yes, he's really expensive, but all dwarf characters are and they are all M3. Yes, you can always avoid him...but there's one point where the opponent will have no other choice. After all, that 500 points can also become 500 worth of victory points you are sure not to give to your opponent if he doesn't want to engage him and his (without any doubt) tough bodyguard unit. Even more if you made him your general (he's a King, after all !).

That's why I made him Unbreakable with his unit. That way, the enemy has no other choice to get his points or his unit points but to kill them to the very last dwarf. And in The Old World...shooting isn't enough most of the time.

He's a fanmade special character and you will use him with your opponent's agreement or in special (narrative) scenarios, not competitive tournaments. It's also a good idea to build a scenario around him.

Edited May 17 by Sarouan

[Sarouan]

If you really like the Disguise rule, I have an idea of a scenario.

Basically, the Dwarf player makes an army list and give his opponent a choice : either he builds his list with the same amount of points, either he gains 250 bonus points or either he gains 500 bonus points. The Dwarf player includes the White Dwarf for free, but he can't take him as the general nor can he deploy him at the start. Instead, he follows the rule below for this scenario :

"A Living Ancestor Fights Amongst You This Day !"

At the start of any Combat Phase, if Grombrindal isn't already revealed and if at least one infantry Dwarf unit is engaged, nominate one of these infantry Dwarf units (they can't be a lone character) and roll a dice, adding a +1 modifier for every 250 bonus point your opponent chose to take as a basis to build his list. On a 6+, the White Dwarf reveals his presence amongst them ! If it happens, this special rule can't be used again later in the game and place Grombrindal in the fighting rank of the unit as if he joined it. On any other result, nominate another infantry Dwarf unit that is not a lone character that is engaged and roll again until all available engaged infantry Dwarf units that aren't lone characters rolled one time this round. If no 6+ is obtained, the White Dwarf doesn't appear this round.

When the White Dwarf is revealed, he's considered under the control of the Dwarf player for the rest of the game. In the case the White Dwarf doesn't appear during the game (this would be a grim day for the dwarves indeed !), the opponent gets half of his victory points.

 

It's basically a gamble and yes it can be unbalanced. I suggest to give your opponent the automatic first turn in this case, but if you'd rather roll, feel free to do so !




 

Edited May 17 by Sarouan