Grudge Thrower

Grudge Throwers, also known simply as Stone Throwers or Catapults, are powerful and destructive weapons that lob large boulders high into the air, sending them crashing through enemy ranks crushing limbs and armour alike.

Overview

Grudge Throwers were originally simple stone throwers, used to command the approaches to Dwarf holds for many millennia. It was during the War of Vengeance that the practice of inscribing grudges on the rocks to be used as ammunition developed, so great was the fury of the Dwarfs at the betrayal of the Elves.^[2a]

Even after the war there was no peace for the Dwarfs as hold after hold fell to the Greenskins or Skaven. New chapters were added to the Book of Grudges every year as the Dwarfs fell back to the surviving holds. They brought with them stone fragments of their lost realms and, reviving the older custom, inscribed them with runes describing the injustices done to them and laying curses upon their enemies. During the long siege of Karak Azgal the Dwarfs used these stones as ammunition, literally hurling their grudges back at their enemies. Since then it has become commonplace to carefully select and prepare the stones that are to be fired, with many skilled Engineers espousing their belief that the engine is only as good as the rock it throws — and therefore spend a great deal of time carving their anger directly onto the shaped stone ammunition.^[2a]

Grudge Throwers are still used by all Dwarfholds and over the long years there have been many famous engines whose renown has spread far and wide across the Karaz Ankor and beyond. Perhaps most famous of all was the Gob-lobber, a legendary catapult which drove off a great many greenskin attacks during the Goblin Wars — although this was more down to the crew’s use of live Goblin ammunition rather than pure accuracy.^[3a]