Dogs of War: who can use them?

[deraj]

I have been conversing with a friend lately about using dogs of war, and I have been thinking about GW's lack of love for them. I have had many dicusions about whether or not they can be used, and by whom.

My first thought on who could use them was that every army that had them in their book could use them. What kind of person could actually argue that you aren't allowed to use something in your army book? So which armies state that you can use them?

Dwarfs
Ogre Kingdom
Wood Elves
Beastmen
Tomb Kings
And... roundaboutly... Brettonians? Their army book aknowledges dogs of war ironically by stating they cannot use them. But there is a clause to this. The Gotrek and Felix rules and the Truthsayer rules explicitly state that Brettonians can take them.

So... what has gw stated on this? Not much that I can find. All that I have found were in the most recent Dwarves FAQ a statement about the power dice from a hired wizard and allusions in the ogre faq about ogres from the ogre kingdom book and from the DoW book.

So does that mean all 7th edition armies are left out? Well.... there's no real way to say 'it's in my army book, so I can use it' like a petulant child or a Deraj, but according to my friend:

Everything can still take them, its just the rules for other armies taking them are in the actual DoW rules now, they said they did that so they didnt have to keep repeating themselves in every book and so the rules were in the same place.

The only problem is... where can one find the DoW book? I myself have been unable to find a replacement for the pdf I used to have on my computer, so when I learn more I will expand on this.

The other problem with Dogs of War is that in the rules for several recent GTs GW has stated that Dogs of War may be used as a full army, but regiments of reknown may not be used. Does this mean no more cannons for Beastmen or even aweome orcs with crossbows? It is quite possible.

One could take the easy way and say 'it's up to whoever's running the game you're playing, and your opponent,' but I don't agree with this. It's in my book, so who's to say that I can't use it? I play wood elves, and no one seems to like the Hail of Doom arrow (which i call maybe the... 8th cheesiest wargear in their book...) so does that mean my opponent, or whoever is running the game can ban that too?

Maybe this just means it's time to contact GW itself...

[Norton]

You are bordering on Ham-Sammich material here...

[deraj]

I haven't a clue what that means.

[johnboo]

Alright....in a nutshell - they have pretty much been phased out. The reason GW gave to not include the DoW passage in the more recent army books is that it is redundant & confusing. DoW rules (most recent is the Ravening Hordes PDF) state which state what army may take which DoW unit. Now, keep in mind the DoW rules are now almost 2 full editions old, having been released at the beginning of 6th. Notice GW hasnt done anything with them? Its because they dotn want to answer a million questions on the issues they bring. ( like the Truthsayer-Bretonnian confusion, for example).

The reason they are pretty much opponents permission and tournament organizer allowed is the rules are so discombobulated....the game has passed them by.

I personally own a rather large DoW army, and enjoy breaking it out once in a while. I also like special events like the World Waaugh War day at Boldo's where Ruglud's Armoured Orcs and Ooglah Kahn's Wolfriders show up to crack some heads.

In all, just tell an opponent beforehand you want to add a DoW unit to liven things up. Shouldnt be a big deal. As far as tounrnaments go, assume they are banned unless specifically stated. And if there is a comp system, assume you will get nailed for taking them, even if its just to add flavor and not to actually improve your army.