Dwarf Military Maxims, Expressions, and Exclamations

[The_Gneech]

"Toss me!"

-The Gneech

 

[mmadsen]

One dwarf underneath a wall is worth ten humans above.
Only a fool seeks battle with an enemy on the open field.
The fastest way to lose is to fall into a trap.

My take:

A Dwarf under the mountain is worth ten Men above.
-- A statement on the importance of fortifications, not just racial pride.

As each Dwarf shields himself with mail of steel, the Dwarf legion shields itself with walls of stone.
-- An admonishment not to go into battle "naked" on an open field when you can protect your force with terrain.

The enemy may dig your grave, but you do not have to jump into it!
-- Many traps, particularly amongst siege-engineer dwarves, involve digging. Don't jump into the trap they dug for you.

 

[mmadsen]

A few of these (from ejja_1) really matched ancient Chinese wisdom with a grim Dwarf voice:

Let all that glitters draw them near, then use their bones for your bread and their blood for your beer.
-- Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

Humans think that we sprout from the ground like plants. Let us show them how right they are.
-- Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

 

[mmadsen]

Bah! Lessons from pointy ears, I think not.

Well, it is quite backhanded...

A lesson from the elves: All war is based on deception. All diplomacy too.

 

[hong]

"Toss me!"

I can see it now, a prestige class called the dwarf tosser.


Hong "would prefer to be a giant tosser, though" Ooi

 

[Zappo]

When marching:

"Dink dink, dink dink dink dink dink dink."

Or, of course, "Ih-oh, Ih-oh..."

 

[Staffan]

Given that the traditional view of dwarves is as a race on the decline (due to constant fighting with orcs and low birth numbers), I would think that dwarven strategy would revolve around using a small number of elite troops to defend against lots of rabble. A lot of classical strategy is based around bringing overwhelming numbers to bear (if not overall, but in each important engagement), and that just doesn't work for dwarves.

As an aside, the same goes for elves too, only that they would be more along the lines of guerillas than spartans.

 

[mmadsen]

I would think that dwarven strategy would revolve around...

Staffan, you may want to check out the other thread I created to discuss dwarven strategy.

 

[mmadsen]

These two excerpts from Sun-Tzu demand dwarven translations:

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

 

[nimisgod]

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

"Burn the forest and the elves will come out of hiding."