Preparing for the Underway: Part IV
Miner Tactics

Miners are a restricted (0-1) Core unit that any Dwarf player can take in his army (they are an unrestricted Core unit in an Undgrin Ankor Force). They wear heavy armour, carry Picks (Great Weapons), and are identical to Dwarf Warriors in all but two ways: they cost a bit more (2 points each and their command costs 20% more) and they possess the Underground Advance special rule. Their one disadvantage is that their equipment is set in stone; you can't add a shield or drop their weapon or armour down a notch. A cheaper or more hearty version would be useful in certain roles, but what you lose in versatility, you gain in the element of surprise.

The Underground Advance rule represents the Miners' knowledge of, and ability to use, underground tunnels. They can use these tunnels to turn up unexpectedly on any table edge. This ability would be worth far more than 2 points per model if not for the unpredictable nature of when the Miners arrive. Instead of allowing the Dwarf player to decide when they deploy, the rules state that the Miners have an ever-increasing chance of coming on the table starting on Turn 2. The Dwarf player rolls a D6 at the beginning of his turn to decide whether the Miners show up or not. On Turn 2, a 4+ is needed; on Turn 3, a 3+ is required; and on turns after that, a roll of 2+ will bring the Miners into play. A roll of a 1 will always fail to bring the Miners.

Using Miners

A unit of heavily equipped Dwarfs is always useful, but the ability to appear anywhere on the battlefield gives them uses beyond the standard unit of Dwarf Warriors.

Dispute/Take the Table Quarter: Taking or disputing table quarters is the most basic use for a small unit of Miners. Forget the Standard Bearer, Musician, and Prospector; they will just cost you points that you can use elsewhere. No, just go with the minimum of 10 Miners at a cost of 120 points. The only purpose of this small unit is to pop-up late in the game and stake their claim on an objective or table quarter. Using the standard Victory Points rules, a table quarter is worth 100 points. Gaining an extra 100 points or denying your opponent that much (not to mention denying them the ability to kill 120 points of your troops) is worth the cost of the Miners. Got a fast opponent or one with a deadly ranged attack? A cunning Dwarf player can "conveniently forget" to make the Underground Advance roll for a few turns. If you "remember" and start rolling on Turn 4, there is less than a 0.5% chance of them failing to show up (though such a ploy borders on Goblin-like trickery).

Sack the Artillery: Once your opponent has moved the majority of his army forward, it might be safe for your unit of Miners to appear on your enemy's table edge and sack an artillery piece or two. This tactic allows you to gain Victory Points by dispatching enemy troops and most likely disputing a table quarter. Beware of dangerous artillery like the Hellblaster Volley Gun – many an overconfident unit of Miners has met its end at the hand of this deadly device. Again, timing is important. Entering the fray too soon will give your opponent time to turn around and crush your Miners from multiple sides, thus negating any advantage you might have gained.

Reserves from the Flank: The successful use of this tactic will allow your Miners to hit an engaged enemy unit in the flank or rear. In order to pull this one off, you need to stack the whole of your Dwarf army on one side of the table (see The Enduring Mountain on p. 76 of Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs). Once the enemy unit advancing down the sideline gets close enough to charge (7-8") bring your Miners on. Being Relentless, you can March Move and wheel so that you are facing the back of the enemy unit. Move the Dwarfs on the other side of the enemy unit forward into your charge range. Now, the enemy is committed to charging forward in his next turn. If you survive (make sure you do), your Miners should win the day (or this particular skirmish at least) with their rear charge. Not only will you negate their rank bonus and get a rear attack bonus, but you will get four to six Strength 5 attacks to boot. If you can't win Combat Resolution now, you never will. Use a unit of Miners with at least five fewer models than the other Dwarf unit used in this meat-grinder. Why? You want your enemy to flee back toward his table edge, not through your artillery. To ensure this, your Miner unit must have lower Unit Strength than the other Dwarf unit after this 2nd round of combat. Of course, a few things can go wrong with this plan. Your Miners might not come on when you want them too, your charged unit of Dwarfs might flee before your Miners get to strike, or your enemy might have a fast unit (Flyers) that can distract the Miners. Nothing is fool-proof.

Bait 'n' Switch: If you are playing close to one of the table sides or deployed very close to your own table edge, you can use the Miners to fill holes in your line. Intentionally leaving a gap and then filling it with your unit of 20 Miners can catch your opponent off guard. Your enemy might commit a valuable cavalry unit in hopes of getting behind your lines, only to be cut off by your underground friends. I used this very tactic against Jeremy Vetock's Goblin horde. I allowed the side of my Enduring Mountain to appear vulnerable and two units of Wolf Riders bit. I filled the gap and my Thunderers on the hill behind blasted the Goblins good.

Sit and Stew: Make your enemy sit and stew, that is! Once you've pulled off either of the last two tactics a few times, your opponent will begin to worry when he sees Miners sitting to the side of the table. He might leave part of his army back to protect vulnerable war machines and missile troops. He might keep his army 12" from the side of the battlefield at all times. Put your entire unit of 20 Miners to the side of the board every game, even if you are using only 10 of them or are not using them at all. Also, mix up your tactics so that he protects against all your Miner tactics.

Pitfalls

No Show: While I have had a small unit of Miners in my army since the current version of Warhammer came out, I must admit that I have not been using them to their full potential for this very reason. I can handle a stripped-down unit of 10 failing to arrive, but 270 points (unit of 20 with command) is a lot to waste regardless of how many points you are playing. The statistics tell me that they will arrive (less than 1/1,000 chance of them not showing up in a 6-turn game), but it is tougher to bring them on exactly when you want them to. For people in the same boat as me, you might want to invest in the Rune of Luck. If the Miners come on when you want them, you can use the rune's single reroll for something else.

I Forgot: This happened to me two games ago against Rob Hawkin's Vampire Counts. The game was going so poorly that I completely forgot the Miners sitting there. I remembered on Turn 6, but it was too late to salvage the game by then. In hindsight, they would not have changed the result of the game, but it was frustrating to have forgotten to deploy them.

Painting Ironbreakers | Ironbreaker Tactics | Painting Miners | Miner Tactics