The Dwarf Overlord Airship is a large, armoured hull or airship suspended by the hydrogen inside the infrastructure of the airship. Unlike the Dwarf War Balloons, these floating weapon platforms are less temperamental but still contain hydrogen, so even though the crews of the airships are quite large, their filled with reckless volunteers. The Airships are powered by steam-driven propellers mounted at the back of the ship. As like the War Balloons a smoke haze trails behind it from the exhaust funnels. The airship can ascend or descend by altering the amount of gas, and steers by means of rudder flaps. It is capable of moving in any direction except directly into the wind.
The airships are basically weapon platforms, they have turret-mounted gatling cannons and racks of gigantic bombs hang under the airships.
*If failed does twice the damage
MOVEMENT
Dwarf Overlord Airships manoeuvre like sailing ships, and use normal turn template. Like ships, airships cannot move into the wind.
SPECIAL ATTACK
The Dwarf Overlord Airships special attack is to drop huge bombs on its target. Unlike the War Balloons, the airships bombs are much larger and tend to literally sink even the greatest of ships. The bombs can only be used against targets that are at ground level, not against flyers.
The bombs of the airship act in a similar way to a catapult round, but when they are saved the bomb may cause a critical hit.
First nominate the enemy location that you are aiming at. You may only target a high location, unless the target is too small to make the distinction between high and low locations in which case you may target any location.
Once you have nominated the target location, roll a dice on the following table:
| 1-2 | Bomb misses and splashes harmlessly in to the sea. |
3 |
The bombs hit the location immediately in front of the target location. If the target location was the farthest part of the ship, the bombs splash harmlessly into the sea. |
4 |
The bombs hit the location immediately behind the target location. If the target location was the farthest part of the ship, the bombs splash harmlessly into the sea. |
| 5-6 | The bombs are accurate and hit the nominated location. |
If the bomb hits a location, make a -1 save to that location. If the save is failed, the bomb drops to the location directly below. If there are two locations below the unserved location, roll to see which location the bomb hits: odd number — odd location; even number —even location.
Each new location has a +1 save modifier to it, ie.: first location -1, second +0, third +1, etc...
When the bomb is saved, roll a second unmodified save for the location: if saved — location is damaged; if failed — causes a critical.
BOARDING ACTIONS AND CLOSE COMBAT
A Overlord Airship may never close with enemy ships and engage them in boarding actions, as the airship is too unmanoeuvrable.
In close combat against other flyers, a Overlord Airship gets 1 dice + 5, as it has 5 wounds; however, an Overlord Airship may not initiate close combat, but may only defend itself if attacked. As the enemy approaches, a Overlord Airship may use its gatling cannons as defensive fire, and then enters close combat. The gatling cannons do 2 dice damage. However, once in close combat, the most an Overlord Airship can do is fend off the attacker. If the Airship wins a round of the close combat it causes a wound and forces its opponent to break off the attack.
A small number of the Dwarf Overlord Airships were given to the Empire after they sent many allied fleets to the dwarves to slow the attack on Barak-Var by the Chaos Fleets.
Because of their limited numbers they can only dispatch one Zeppelin per 1000 points of the Imperial fleet. The only differences between them and their dwarven cousins is their main allegiance and their liveries.
Additions & Adaptations to Man O' War