oday I’m bringing you a list from a player who went to Worlds and won all five of his games, scoring more points than any other Dwarfs player.
It’s the French player, Maxhammer.
Congrats on your results, Maxhammer.
This isn’t just a list; it’s an analysis of the context, the list, and its variations—so you can adapt it to your personal style.
With this list I’m kicking off a series of The Old World lists that I think will be very useful.
If it helps and you want to support the project → Don’t do it yet—what if the post’s a dud…
Read it first, and I’ll drop a link at the end of the post.
Let’s dive in.
General context and constraints the list was built for
Event format and structure
This list was created for an eight-player team event where pairings are arranged beforehand (it’s possible to “protect” certain lists. For example, if a teammate brings no magic defense, it’s very possible to “shield” them so they never face a magic-heavy list in any round, which affects list composition and makes them differ from a singles event where you can’t “dodge” a pairing no matter how rough it looks).
General army restrictions
- Maximum 500 points in a single character or unit.
- Allied are not allowed, but Mercenaries are.
- Your army may only include 0–2 Level 3 Wizards and/or 0–1 Level 4 Wizard.
Category limits
0–3 Characters: Character subtypes listed under the same unit entry (e.g., Chosen Lord, Exalted Champion, Aspiring Champion) are considered part of the same unit entry for this rule.
0–4 Core
0–3 Special
0–2 Rare and Mercenaries
If the same unit entry appears in multiple categories (e.g., Special and Rare), all of them count toward the most restrictive applicable limit. Example: Cathay can only take 2 giants at most, no matter how many Shugengan they include to field them as Special instead of Rare.
Character mounts count as part of the corresponding unit entry if that mount exists as a standalone unit (e.g., Heavy Chariots).
Named characters are exempt from all restrictions.
Secondary objectives and victory conditions
All games last 6 turns—no Break Point or variable game length (if you don’t know what I mean, here are the victory conditions from the Matched Play Guide explained).
Secondary objectives: The list is designed to play a total of 4 combined secondaries in each game (Domination or quadrants count as 2).
For example, one round might be baggage trains (1) + 2 strategic locations (1+1) + special feature (1), while another might be domination (2) + 2 strategic locations (1+1). In both cases there are 4 total objectives combined in different ways.
This is crucial, because lists are tweaked around the pack and would be different if you played all secondaries at once each game, or only 1 secondary per game.
Line of sight special rules
Large targets are only blocked by other Large targets. Neither hills nor impassable terrain block (at the event this list was built for) large targets.
Dwarf Army List for Warhammer: The Old World
85 – Burlok Damminson, General
162 – Dwarf Engineer, Great Weapon, Handgun, Master Rune of Bursting Flame, Rune of Rapid Fire, Battle Standard Bearer, Rune of Courage, Expeditionary Marksmen
127 – Dwarf Engineer Sappers, Great Weapon, Handgun, Rune of Rapid Fire, Rune of Concussive Force
97 – Dwarf Engineer Sappers, Great Weapon, Handgun, Rune of Rapid Fire
126 – Runesmith, Heavy Armour, Shield, Great Weapon, Master Rune of Calm, Rune of Passage
120 – 2 Scout Gyrocopters (core)
120 – 2 Scout Gyrocopters (core)
120 – 2 Scout Gyrocopters (special)
211 – 14 Thunderers, Shield, Great Weapon, Veteran, Handgun, Standard Bearer, Musician, Expeditionary Marksmen
211 – 14 Thunderers, Shield, Great Weapon, Veteran, Handgun, Standard Bearer, Musician, Expeditionary Marksmen
110 – Cannon, Function Over Form, Rune of Reloading, Stalwart Rune
105 – Cannon, Function Over Form, Rune of Reloading
105 – Cannon, Function Over Form, Stalwart Rune
120 – 2 Gyrocopters, Steam Gun
120 – 2 Gyrocopters, Steam Gun
60 – Gyrocopter, Steam Gun
How to play this list—and against the Old World Expeditionary Force
This list runs 11 Gyrocopters, 28 Thunderers, and 3 Cannons.
I’m guessing it won’t surprise you when I say it’s a gunline.
The plan is to shoot a ton while slowing the enemy and redirecting with Gyrocopters so they arrive as late as possible—and whatever does make combat is so thinned out it can’t really hurt you. In lists like this it’s sometimes necessary to sacrifice something to keep the rest alive, and that’s what the lone Gyrocopter is for (the other Gyrocopter units are only 120 points, so they can be sacrificed too if the moment calls for it).
Keep in mind that large targets see over your Gyrocopters and can threaten your Thunderers no matter what you place in front of them.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the moment an entrenched unit (or war machine) moves, it loses the benefits of being entrenched.
This list does a ton of damage to dragon lists and to lists without shooting, given its mobility and the 3 Cannons, which are genuinely reliable. Those would be the preferred pairings.
The baggage-train mechanic seems to be very popular in the community, and some events repeat it across multiple rounds. The units of 2 Gyrocopters (counted as Monstrous Cavalry) have Unit Strength 6, so if your opponent slips up you can easily burn their baggage train with any of them.
Combos of the Expeditionary Force in The Old World
Dwarf Thunderers with Marksmen: The long-standing issue with handguns has been that they can’t move and shoot (in TOW they’re at -2 to hit if they do). For just one extra point per model, in the Expeditionary Force they gain the Expeditionary Marksmen rule, letting them move and shoot with NO PENALTY. They also don’t take a penalty when Standing & Shooting as a charge reaction thanks to the baseline “Dwarf Crafted” rule.
Sound like a lot?
It is.
But wait—on top of all that, the unit with Burlok Damminson (the special character who costs a measly 85 points) also doesn’t suffer long-range penalties.
Plus Burlok can make this unit—or another within his Command Range—reroll 1s or the artillery die each turn (just like the cheap engineer you see in the list).
It’s nuts.
Burlok and an Engineer + Cannons with Rune of Reloading: The characters can let the Cannons reroll their artillery die, and the Rune of Reloading lets them always fire despite issues. That makes them truly reliable—effectively three shots a turn as long as the Cannons stay alive.
Non-negotiables in any Dwarf Expeditionary Force list
- Burlok Damminson is incredibly good even if he gets nerfed by house rules.
- All three Engineers take the Rune of Rapid Fire. It’s really strong.
- All three Cannons take “Function Over Form.” It’s always worth losing a point of Toughness when what you gain is moving the cannon 3 inches before firing—letting you close the distance to use grapeshot at the right moment, back away from an enemy charge, or find a better angle to see your target.
- 3 Cannons better than 2: If your local meta isn’t full of double-dragon lists or similar, you might consider only 2 Cannons for singles events where your role isn’t necessarily to be the teammate who faces the enemy team’s big targets every round.
Possible variations for your Old Word Dwarf army
The Gyrocopters that aren’t Scouts carry Steam Guns here. Keep in mind this is a team-event list that can influence pairings (to a point). For a singles event, swapping them to Clatterguns could be a solid option (in fact, at this very event other players preferred Clatterguns).
Core units of Rangers are also a very valid option: they can deploy on objectives, shoot at long range, and Stand & Shoot as a reaction regardless of the enemy’s distance thanks to their throwing weapons. They also have a 3+ save in combat. Very good.
Rune of Forging: Some players like to include it, others think 15 points is too much—but it’s definitely worth considering.
Rune of Courage: This player doesn’t want a double-6 Terror test to ruin his team’s event, and I get that. But you can go without it.
Rune setups on characters: several are covered in posts I’m linking below so I don’t repeat myself (rapid fire + bursting flame, balance/calm/spellbreakers…). Keep in mind characters are Marksmen too, like the Thunderers, so they don’t need to buy any rune in this Legacy to move and shoot without penalties.
Thane instead of so many Engineers: The Thane is a viable option many Dwarfs players prefer and can also be the Battle Standard Bearer (and take the Rune of Grugni, which is also very interesting).
More Artillery!: This list only shows Cannons, but other mixes with Organ Guns or Grudge Throwers are interesting (e.g., 2 Grudge Throwers and 2 Cannons, or 2 Organ Guns and 3 Cannons). I don’t think the Flame Cannon, Goblin-Hewer, or Bolt Thrower have much of a place, but the others do (I’ll leave a post below where I explain all the war machines).
Units of 1, 3, or 4 Gyrocopters: When deciding how many gyros to field in a unit, ask yourself first: what job will this unit do in my list? Dwarfs players at Worlds varied the unit sizes for Gyrocopters—we saw everything.
Adapt it to your style.
Hats off to France’s player, Maxhammer. Five games at Worlds, five wins, top score among all Dwarfs players… that’s not just a good list (which it is).
I have no idea how much his team protected him in pairings, but even if they did, he still put up a ton of points—it’s crazy.
I hope this breakdown helped you better understand Dwarf Expeditionary Forces, an army that pretty much ignores half the game’s shooting rules and can be tricky to wrap your head around.
In any case, now yes—if you think this project deserves support, here’s the link where I explain 5 ways to support ToW for free, and I hope I can finish the next list analysis soon—it’s a lot of work, but it’s awesome.
Related posts I promised to link
How to support The Old Warrior for free
🍺 Best Dwarf Runes combos in The Old World
🍺 Dwarf Anti-Magic Options in v1.5
How to support The Old Warrior for free
Warhammer The Old World Battle March: The New Skirmish Mode
Slayer Hosts in The Old World | War of Settra’s Fury
If you think there’s an error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com, and I’ll review it. Hope you enjoy ToW!