Blunderbusses
When a Blunderbuss regiment fires a volley the whole zone to its front is filled with spinning razor sharp pieces of iron which spread out covering a broad front. As the enemy are hit and slain, more slicing metal plows into the ranks behind, causing untold devastation to all foes unfortunate enough to be close. Blunderbusses have a very short range, as all the energy of the shot is dispersed over a short distance, but within this range they are deadly.
The Blunderbuss armed Chaos Dwarfs are also ferocious
hand-to-hand fighters. Their preferred tactic is to give their enemy
a single blast and follow up by charging into close combat.
| Chaos Dwarf Blunderbusses | 14 points |
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| Ballistic Skill |
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Summary
2. Roll to hit each model within the fire zone. It is convenient to deal with each target unit at a time, rolling the appropriate number of dice to establish hits, then resolving wounds and saves as normal. Finally remove the appropriate number of casualties.
3. Proceed until all potential hits have been resolved.
4. Chaos Dwarf Blunderbusses may not move and fire in the same turn.
5. The strength of the hit is 3 for one full rank, increasing to 4 for two full ranks and a maximum of 5 for three full ranks. Ranks which are not full do not count, and save modifiers are adjusted according to strength as per normal.
6. It is possible to concentrate
fire against a single target if it is the only target in the fire zone
or if it is closest target. Resolve damage as you would for normal
shooting, rolling once to hit with each Blunderbuss in the front rank.
Rules:
A regiment of Blunderbuss armed troops shoot
in a unique way. The weapon has a range of 12" and the regiment may
only shoot if it did not move during its movement phase. Work out
the results of shooting as follows.
Draw an imaginary line from the extreme left hand side of the regiment which extends 12" directly in front of the regiment. Now draw a similar line on the left side. Draw a line across to form an area which extends across the regiment's entire frontage and 12" in front of it. Every model within the regiment's fire zone is a potential casualty, even models which are behind other models, or behind cover. Only targets which lie on the other side of a hill or building are protected from the Blunderbusses. It makes no difference how many Blunderbusses are firing, the important consideration is the fire zone covered by the unit. The number or ranks in the Blunderbuss unit also has an effect. It is assumed that the models behind poke their weapons forward and add their fire to the volley. The effect of extra ranks of Blunderbusses is described later.
Roll a dice for each potential casualty to determine if you are hit. It is easiest to do this unit by unit, rolling a handful of dice at one go, for each unit. For example, if there are 16 potential casualties in an enemy unit, roll 16 dice to determine how many are hit. Some enemy units will inevitably lie only partially within the area described, in which case you must use your judgment to decide if they are potential hits or not. The general rule is that a model is a potential hit if it's base is at least halfway within the fire zone -- in the same way as a target from a war machine or spell template. Of course, some judgment will be required, as it is never possible to exactly measure the proportion of a model's base covered by a template, so if there is any doubt you will have to reach agreement with your opponent or decided the matter with a further dice roll.
Roll to hit each potential target using ballistic skill (BS) of the Chaos Dwarf as normal. None of the usual to hit modifiers apply, except for cover (-1 soft cover and -2 hard cover). This reflects the fact that the volley represents a massive wall of fire, where individuals are hit because they are in the way rather than they have been specifically aimed at. As Chaos Dwarfs have a BS of 3 this will mean targets are usually hit on the roll of 4.
Resolve each hit in the normal way using the To Wound chart. The Blunderbuss has a strength of 3, but this is increased by +1 for each full rank of Chaos Dwarfs behind the first up to a maximum of 5 (i.e. -1 if S4 and -2 if S5). No additional modifier applies as it does for hand guns on account of the rapid dispersal of the Blunderbusses' energy. Once you have established the total number of wounds inflicted on a unit, remove casualties exactly as normal.
Proceed with each potential target unit or individual model unit you have resolved all casualties.
Targets With Several Wounds
Once the total number of wounds inflicted has
been calculated remove casualties form target units exactly as you would
for normal shooting from bows, crossbows etc. So if you fire at a
unit of 20 Ogres of which 16 are potential hits, roll 16 dice to hit, resolve
the number of wounds as normal, and then remove the total number of casualties
as appropriate. So, if you cause 6 wounds you will remove 2 models
(they have 3 wounds each) just as you would for bow shots.
This may seem obvious, but it is an easy mistake to assume that just because
you roll a dice for each potential target that the wounds would have to
be distributed amongst all those targets -- this would be unbearably tedious!
Characters and Monsters
In the case of enemy characters and single models
with many wounds, only one dice is rolled and only a maximum of one wound
is normally suffered. If a hero is mounted on a monster then both
are potentially hit if they lie within the fire zone. In the case
of characters and war machines, each crew member, each horse or wolf pulling
a chariot, and the machine or chariot itself are each potentially hit assuming
they lie within the fire zone. This is effectively the same as if
the war machine or chariot were hit by a stone thrower template which covered
them.
If a monster with several wounds, a character and monster, a war machine, or a character model is either: 1) the only model in the fire zone, or 2) the closest target in the fire zone measuring from the unit's front, then the Blunderbusses may elect to Concentrate Fire on this target alone. This is bad news for a target concerned as the concentrated volley is the most devastating of all.
When firing a concentrated volley, roll one dice to hit for each Chaos Dwarf in the front rank, applying modifiers only for cover exactly as described above. Resolve all hits against the target as you would for normal shooting with the addition of the strength bonuses as before. If the models being fired at consist of a chariot, character riding a monster, or other multiple targets, randomly distribute hits exactly as you would with normal shooting
Friendly Units in the Fire Zone
This is generally a bad idea as you can imagine.
The flying shards of iron, hot coals and other debris fired from the Chaos
Dwarfs' Blunderbusses does not discriminate between friend and foe.
It is therefore vital for the Chaos Dwarf general to position his Blunderbuss
units appropriately.
Stand and Fire
A Blunderbuss armed unit can stand and fire against
a charging enemy unit if it starts its move more than half its own charge
distance away as per normal. The Blunderbuss armed Chaos Dwarf hold
their fire until the last moment. Then they concentrate fire on the
charging foe in the same manner described for firing at isolated characters
and machines. Roll a D6 for each Chaos Dwarf front ranker ignoring
the to hit modifiers as usual for Blunderbusses (the -1 which generally
applied to troops shooting at charging troops does not apply for Blunderbusses).
Work out wounds and remove casualties as normal, applying the strength
modifier for a second or third rank. When a Blunderbuss unit stands
and fires it only shoots at its chargers, not at other troops within its
fire zone, because the Chaos Dwarfs wait until their enemy are so close
that they absorb all the energy of the shot!