Dwarf Navy
The Dwarf Navy covers all types of Dwarf vessels. All modern Dwarf ships are made of iron and powered by enormous steam engines that use paddles to move them through the water. [5a]
Contents
Air Power
The Dwarfs are able to field a well-structured airforce to protect their own ships as well as attack enemy vessels. Small steam-powered Gyrocopters armed with Gatling Cannons and Dwarf War Balloons make up the bulk of the naval air support available to a Dwarf Admiral. [4a] Larger versions of the Gatling Cannons used by the air-force are mounted on the ships themselves to provide additional protection. [4b]
Captains
To be allowed to command a vessel, a Dwarf must prove themselves skilled in both battle and engineering, memorised the Book of Armaments and the Book of Charts as well as being knowledgable of all the secrets of Dwarf ships. Only then will they be taught the rune-codes that open the hatches. [3a]
Charts
The Dwarfs have an extensive library in Barak Varr with the earliest looted from the Elves during the War of Vengeance. Later charts were purchased from the Tileans and together this has mostly eliminated the need for Dwarfs to explore - they prefer to always know where they are going! [5b]
Dwarfen Engineers
Many dwarfs of the Dwarf Engineers Guild find employment working with or on ships. These include:
History
Ghazen-Harbark were ancient Dwarf vessels, mainly used on rivers replacing the venerable Grubark which were used extensively before contact with the Elves. As trading began between the two races they were able to shift large quantities of goods to the new Elf cities. [2a]
The Dwarfs later set sail across the seas in great silversteel vessels, powered by ancestor turbines and steam engines with the centre of shipbuilding being the great sea-fortress of Barak Varr. [1a]
Mungrun Steelhammer accompanied an expedition by Estalian privateers to Lustria in one of his submersibles, hoping to explore the sunken city of Chupayotl. His charts were able to direct the fleet to its location but only one Dwarf survived to return, rescued thirty years later from an Arabyan galley. All he would speak off was webbed claws and great, black eyes. [1a]
By the early 2500s they had several hundred ships in their navy. Dwarf Master Engineers such as Brokk Gunnarsson seek to conquer the oceans including theird depths with their powerful machines. [1a]
Ship Types
- Grudgebreaker-class battleship: The largest class of Dwarf warship, they are able destroy a cities defensive walls on its own. [1a]
- Dreadnought: Even larger than Ironclads, and each is a floating fortress, complete with massive cannon turrets, far larger than anything seen on land. Very few engineers are capable of creating a Dreadnought and the enormous cost prevents them from being built in large numbers. The greatest Kings of Barak Varr have marked their reigns by commissioning a Dreadnought and each is a mechanical marvel. The first Dreadnought was created by the legendary engineer Hengist Cragbrow and every one since has owed something to his vision. [5b]
- Ironclad: The typical Ironclad is the equivalent of other race's larger Men O' War. [3a] There are relatively few Ironclad vessels in existence, and most can grouped into broad categories with Ironclad sometimes being used as a 'catch-all' phrase to describe all iron ships. Each ship is a testament to the skill of the engineer who built it and they are able to reach Lustria when fully provisioned. [5b]
- Monitors: Monitors are smaller than Ironclads being the equivalent of other races ships of the line, [3a] often found patrolling rivers and inland lakes. They are rarely seen outside of the Black Gulf and the Tilean Sea. [5b]
- Nautiluses are capable of travelling beneath the waves. The first Nautilus was created by Hengist Cragbrow's one-time apprentice, Mungrun Steelhammer. Steelhammer wanted to make a name for himself, but knew that he couldn't match the scale of a Dreadnought, so built something completely different instead. Other Nautiluses have been built since, but it was and still is, an invention way ahead of its time. [5b]
Gallery
Grimnir's Thunder, a Grudgebreaker-class battleship. [1a]
Miniatures
Sources
- 1: Dreadfleet rulebook
- 1a: Red Brokk Gunnarsson, pg. 54-55
- 2: Grudgelore
- 2a: Dwarf Shipping, pg. 49
- 3: Man O War Rulebook
- 3a: Dwarf Fleet, pg. 43
- 4: Sea of Blood Rulebook
- 5: White Dwarf 307 (UK)