So lets get down to it.

Dwarves are probably the strongest faction in the game.

Their units are incredible, tanky, and do tons of damage!

This guide has an early game that may not appeal to some people but it is a sure way to win on Legendary.

Before we get into the gameplay, lets talk about what you are going to research as these are some of the most important tools you will have in order to succeed.

The first tree you are going to research is up to Dwarfen Emissaries.
Why would I want that you ask...Well it helps A LOT. You can sit in your province for as long as you like and only be at war with the orcs, people will randomly send you military alliance, trade agreements and be open to joining your confederation in no time.

The second tree you want is Autonomy of the Holds, we will get into that why soon.

The rest is up to you but I recommend High Kings Authority as it will help later.

So I will outline the turn by turn as in my Chaos guide in the next chapter but for a basis here is what your strategy will be. Capture your province, and don't leave it. You will want your structure layout to be as so ONCE YOU ARE ABLE TO LEAVE YOUR PROVINCE AS DETAILED IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION

Special thanks to Switchblade for this tip.

Switch out one of the feasthalls for the Slayer building. This provide a good anti corruption bonus which is helpful later on!


Again, sit in your province and wait till you have Engineers Guild Hall.

As the game progresses the orcs will attempt small raids. I recommend having Walls in Squighorn, and Grungi at the start as it really, really helps.

Which Lord?
Thorgrim without a doubt, his quest equips are amazing. And you will never use slayers so the other Lord is literally trash.

The following skill build should be used

Route Marcher - Miners Instinct 3 - Pure-Beard 1 - Iron Willed - Lightning Strike 1

Lightning Strike is the most important skill in this game. GET IT.

You should then do

High King - Full Plate Amour - Scarred Veteran 3 - Hard to Hit 1 - Foe Seeker - Blade Shield 3 - Wound Maker 1 - Deadly Onslaught - Wound Maker 3 - Hard to Hit 3 - Blade Shield - 3 Blade Master - 3

Turn 1

Attack Orc stack.

Build 2 Warriors

Upgrade Clan Barracks, Gem Mineshaft

See Above section for research

Turn 2

Attack Grungi and occupy.

Build 2 Warriors

Build Barley Field at Grungi

Turn 3 - 9001

Keep attacking and SACKING Squighorn to level up your Lord.

Once you have a stack of 19 units in total, go do the mission and get the Runesmith, add it to you army and keep attacking Squighorn now leveling up the Runesmith as well.

On your Runesmith rush Stalwart Rune to level 3 and then get rune of warding if you want. It doesnt matter, once he has Stalwart. Deploy him in your province.

On turn 21 is finally when I occupied Squighorn, build a Barley Field there first then get it to level 2 and build a wall.

Prioritize getting Grungi and Squigorn to level 2 City first, and in each, build a Wall.

This will allow you to leave them and station your main force at Karaz-a-Karak as eventually a stack of 5 or 6 orcs will come for you. The walls allow you to hold on any single stacks for a turn if you need to and make your way over there to kill them. But make sure to move them back to Karaz-a-Karak after.

Lightning Battle will allow you make use of your own force and the garrison against 1 stack that is probably a lot stronger than you allowing you to win. Do this once you are being sieged and only Lightning Battle if you are able to have your Garrison reinforce the battle once they are forced to move away from losing the siege battle.

You can build a second army of a few units if you got lucky and got lots of trade agreements early just make sure you arent in the negative and will have money to afford upgrades!

When you are sure there is no pressure on you head into Use the underway and go to Karag Dron and keep attacking and sacking it for as long as you can! By this point you should have a Thane and a Engineer.

So, why did we just sit in our province for 40 turns?

Well here is what your army will look like


This army is literally auto win and takes almost no losses on auto-battles versus Orcs and Chaos. With this and Lightning Battle you can destroy almost any threat.

For my game on turn 128, (yes I stayed in my province with the exception of occupying Black Crag because I got really bored) there was almost no Orc threat left as Barak Varr had totally wiped them out, this is when you want to Join Confederation. This is when the game REALLY starts.

You will have rebellions on rebellions on rebellions. You will want to have a Wall in Every single capital and prioritize these as the first building possible.

Do not confederate the other dwarves until you are sure there is no major threat and you will be able to hold off the Chaos raids.

Your economy will also sky rocket, but prioritize getting every province built first instead of massing armies. I played with only one or two stacks up until 3/4 of the game.

Once you Confederate, the amount of rebellions will get overwhelming. You will really feel the pressure but as long as you have walls upgraded, you will be able to defend pretty much any attack.

Again, make sure you prioritize your economy before you head out of the southern part to take on Chaos! You should have no problems fighting them off with just one stack as there really is only one entry into the south.

This may seem boring to sit in your province for so long but the small orc raids should keep you bloodthirsty sated for a while.

Again thanks for reading and I wish you all the best of luck! If you have any questions feel free to add me or leave a comment!