Rich: A lot of Warhammer Generals out there may be asking at this point; "Why should I take mercenaries in my army when I have plenty of interesting troops already?" That's a good question and it has a variety of different answers which may be applicable. One good reason for taking Regiments of Renown in your Warhammer army is variety. If you are a veteran Warhammer player who has stuck to one army for a number of years, you might be looking at trying out something new. Mercenary troops are the perfect way to do this without investing in an entire new force (not that there's anything wrong with that). Regiments of Renown are great for trying out new tactics and strategies that might be quite uncommon (or even impossible) for some armies and they may make all the difference to the outcome of the battle.

If you participate in a gaming club, having a collection of Regiments of Renown for club use is a fun way to keep things interesting as well as a great project to work on as a group. Mercenaries give your entire gaming group even more options for army building during every game and you can always use the Dogs of War army list to create an all-mercenary army for special scenarios or new players who don't have their armies prepared for battle.

Also, many Regiments of Renown are composed of mighty and often bizarre warriors who possess abilities not found in other troops of the Old World. Bronzino's Galloper Guns and the Birdmen of Catrazza come to mind quite quickly. Imagine your implacable Dwarf army with its dug-in artillery and methodically determined (but consequently slow-moving) Warriors, Miners and Slayers suddenly engaging the enemy in the flank in Turn 2 (!) with the fast-moving light horsemen of Al Muktar's Desert Dogs! That kind of action is what tabletop legends are made of!!!

So, using Regiments of Renown in your army may enable you to spring a quite unexpected surprise on your opponent. However, beware the canny enemy who has also hired a mercenary regiment or two for his own legions or you may have the tables turned on you.

If you are an avid painter and modeller, Regiments of Renown offer some fantastic painting challenges which will enable you to try something a bit different at the painting table. Tired of drybrushing Beastman fur? Then give the skeletal legions of the Cursed Company a go. Want a spectacular centrepiece to tower over the stealthy skirmishers and fast cavalry of your Wood Elf batallion? Hire Asarnil the Dragonlord and his monstrous mount to deal justice to the defilers of Athel Loren!

Finally, the models used for the Regiments of Renown are very useful for adding colourful variant miniatures to your regular armies. What Undead General wouldn't want to add some of the Lizardmen, Skaven, Orc, Dwarf or Elf Skeletons from the Cursed Company to represent defeated enemies raised by his Necromancer for eternal service. The plethora of pikemen available for the Regiments of Renown make great Imperial Spearmen and the Bearmen of Urslo are fantastically brutal Chaos Marauders.

The Marksmen of Miragliano add some Tilean finesse to an Empire army.

OLD WORLD COMBAT FOR FUN AND PROFIT

If you decide to invest in some mercenary troops for your Warhammer army, you'll first need to know what's available. Aside from the 2002 Warhammer Annual (released everywhere in Winter 2001), you can download both the Regiments of Renown list and the Dogs of War mercenary army list here. The Warhammer Annual will also contain the statistics for the Cursed Company if you missed them in White Dwarf as well as anything else we can squeeze in there before it is printed.

You'll notice that in every Warhammer Armies book there is a slot in the Rare troops section for taking a Dogs of War regiment. Dogs of War also means Regiments of Renown so don't be confused by the terminology. They're all mercenaries who would attack their sainted nanny's farm if the pay was right!

All of the models for the Regiments of Renown are available in the various Games Workshop Online Stores as well as over the phones through those same Mail Order services. Simply choose the ones you want and add them to your armies. Over time we will be releasing even more Regiments of Renown such as Ruglud's Armoured Orcs (Orcs with armour and crossbows). Each of these will be described in turn in White Dwarf magazine and then reprinted in the Warhammer Annual for that year.

Here's a list of suggested Regiments of Renown for each army. Please remember these are only suggestions and you are free to use whatever mercenaries you like in your armies (except for the poncy Bretonnians who are too high-falootin' to dirty their hands by hiring Dogs of War).

Regardless of which Regiments of Renown you choose to help you uphold your ideals on the Warhammer battlefield, you can be sure that they will fight just as hard as the regular troops in your army - as long as their pay is on time!

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Dogs of War Miniatures Showcase | Dogs of War Rules