Dogs of War (for WFB 4/5) was produced by Games Workshop to support their WFB line by allowing those with armies to hire mercenary regiments from this list to augment their own forces. A book such as this might seem initially to be lacking much relevent background material, this book provides a surprising wealth of information.

The Cover

As is standard for these volumes, the cover is a dreadful battlefield painting designed more to catch the attention of your eye rather than keep your lunch down. While the cover is not as dreadful as say, the Vampire Counts book, it is a bit "over heroic" and full of bold, or dare I say "fake", posturing

The inside cover and inside backcover have pictures of miniatures, a matter of little use for those of us more interested in the world than the fantasy battle game.

Dogs of War Introduction

This introduction hints at the possibilities of this product - for its not just concerned with mercenaries, but a range of mercenaries from all around the world and the product makes mention of areas oft neglected by Games Workshop, as well as touching upon Tilea, a locale ignored by GW in the past. Included is a "Ogre Camp Fire Song". What is notable about this supplement are the additional "scrap book" touches throughout the book: wanted posters, songs, legends, short stories, a nice touch that is later emulated in WFB 6th edition. I only wish the little background pieces were better written and a little less "humorous", if you can call them that. It then continues into a dozen or so pages of painted minis! Ugh!

Dogs of War Special Rules

This lists a few special rules to apply to Dogs of War, while valuable to a player of WFB, we're evaluating the book for its background and this portion is of little use... However, it does touch upon the Mercenary General, the Pay Master, and the Money Lender, thus giving us some insight into how the mercenary trade works in the world. Useful.

Mercenaries for Hire

Rules for WFB. Nothing here of note regarding background. To learn more about the troops described in Dogs of War, follow this link to read the Dogs of War-Tactica Background.

Dogs of War Army List

Begins with rules that allow one to field a army comprised entirely of mercenaries. As noted, this is critical for those playing miniatures game, worthless for background material. On the other hand, the rest of the material, the mercenary regiments is the "meat" of the book. Detailed are 15 mercenary regiments, illustrated over two page layouts, somtimes with scrapbook additions to them. They range from Ogres, Araby mercenaries, werebears, to a whole host of Tilean mercenaries. Some are more plausible than others, a few are very detailed and provide a better feel for the world, others less informative.

Special Characters

A section I usually dread, this one a little less so than usual but still well nigh unbearable. "Heroes" and the like are listed, including some facsimiles of real historical figures "Leonardo da Mirigliano". Overall, I found it less informative than the earlier part and some of the figures unwelcome additions to the Warhammer world.

"Extracts from The Art of Statecraft"

A play upon "The Prince" and "The Art of War", it is of little use other than eating up space that was apparently difficult to fill.

Mercenaries of Tilea & The Merchant Princes

This portion of the book might be overlooked by miniature fans, but for those interested in the Warhammer World, this is where the book improves dramatically. The remainder of the book is dense with useful details on the warhammer world and the lives of mercenaries. This section details a bit about mercenaries in the world and Tilea. "The Merchant Princes" gives a overview of the history and role of the merchant elite in Tilea.

The Land of Tilea

Provides about a 12 page description of Tilea, including an overview of the area, a map, a timeline, and detailed accounts of the individual city states. Overall very useful, although the material does not mesh well in some respects with previously published material that appeared in WFRP.

The Age of Exploration

This chapter moves the focus of the book from Tilea to other parts of the world, going much further than previous WFB books in this series at detailing the rest of the world. By using trade routes as a device, it touches upon Norsca, Araby and the Southlands, discusses Tilean ships, and shows a map of trade routes. It also touches upon a historical figure who I don't care for and his "Lustrian Venture". Finally the book concludes with two pages of information on the Silk Road and Cathay.

Worthy of note is some of the art towards the back of the book which is very atmospheric, much in the same fashion as the Mordheim work, dark and quirky and a welcome addition to this book.

Summary

This book is a nice surprise, as it touches upon and reintroduces aspects of the world undeveloped since WFB 3. While some of the history in the game is derived from or inspired by historical figures in a manner I do not approve of and other information contradicts previously published material, I still find this book to be very helpful in fleshing out the warhammer world and shifting the attention of the world from the Empire to other parts of the Old World. Normally I would give this book a "7" rating, but since a painting guide is absent from the book, I'll give it an extra point and make it an "8". This book is not a must buy for the average fan of the Warhammer World, but for those seeking hard to find information on the corners of the Warhammer World, its an excellent addition.

--Rev. Lepper