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This is the topic for discussion about the Balkurn Dwarven units. Each faction has it's own topic, to keep a clear structure.

The short faction description bt Darvin:

Balkurn: the perfect faction for those who want to build their dream fortress.  Best infantry and siege weapons in the game by a longshot, but little magic and no cavalry.  Balanced archers, compact economy, and a heavy focus on decisive offense compensated by strong defences.  Perfect for players who want act with impunity.

The full faction description by Darvin:

Balkurn Dwarves:
A heavily militaristic clan of dwarves has risen to prominance among their kin in recent years.  Many of the old houses are in decline, and no longer able to protect their own kinsfolk.  The dwarves of Balkurn have since taken up that mantle, and nearly every dwarven citadel in the subcontinent now flies the brown and black banners of Balkurn.  With new successes, Balkurn now dares to venture into territory long abandoned by dwarves.  Their coming is not always welcome.

Build Style:
The dwarves built in very tightly packed cities.  Their structures are tall and have very small bases.  All Balkurn settlements are begin with a basic citadel.  This structure starts small, but can be upgraded several times to give nearby structures large bonuses.  With the exception of new citadels, all structures must be placed next to an existing structure.  In this way, all dwarven settlements are a "chain" of structures that are connected to the citadel.  If the chain is broken, and a structure is cut off from a citadel, the player loses control of it (it stops repairing and functioning, and new structures cannot be attached to it) until it is reconnected to the citadel.  Moreover, the farther a building is from the closest citadel, the more it will cost.  This cost penalty can be alleviated by upgrading the citadel.  All this means that dwarven bases are tightly packed.

Almost all dwarven structures can be built into walls to act as part of the fortifications.  They can allow access to walls for your own troops while depriving that of enemies.  Dwarven bases can also be upgraded with "archways".  Archways allows buildings to remain connected while allowing units to pass in between them.  Archways can also act as an overpass if placed adjacent to a wall.  The dwarf base is an incredibly compact creation with a lot of architectural option, and very potent defensively.  Its downside is that expanding outwards is difficult, and because a new base must be built on every resource site (there are no "mining camps" for the dwarf faction), it means the dwarves are forced to be heavily centralized and to spread out their influence through a few very tightly packed bases.

Military units:
The Balkurn dwarves are a vicious infantry faction.  Their units are built in tightly disciplined regiments and fight well when in formation.  They have excellent siege weapons to complement their infantry.  The dwarves lack mounted units, and have almost nothing quick on the battlefield, making them difficult to use as harassment, and to stop harassment (this is counteracted by their centralized bases, which are difficult to harass in the first place).  Although they are not skilled archers, Balkurn dwarves have by far the best composite bows and crossbows.  Their range units are by far superior at short and mid-ranges, but they don't have longbows for long range assaults.  Although they don't have much in the way of magic, the dwarves have superb leadership, and a select few among them carry the ability to go berserk in combat.  Berserkergang of a lesser extent is fairly common among the ranks of Balkurn warriors, but those who master it become legendary warriors, far surpassing the physical limitations of their small bodies.

Economy:
The Balkurn economy is largely dictated by their centralized base structure.  They can build "mining shafts" overtop any metal deposit to automatically extract it for what it's worth, but like all buildings they must connect this to an existing citadel.  Dwarves are excellent miners, and extract metals with a higher efficiancy than other factions.  Dwarves gain food by building greenhouses.  These greenhouses are large conicle spires which allow sunlight to filter in.  They are very space efficiant, but among the most fragile components of a dwarf base.  Because their shadows can interfere with sunlight collection, these greenhouses cannot be built adjacent to each other.

The dwarven unique resource are trade goods.  These are produced by connecting citadels with roads.  The further a trade cart goes to reach its destination, the more trade goods are produced at the end.  Certain structures can also be added to a cluster to increase its trade capacity.  If two citadels are ever "connected" and become part of the same cluster, they will not trade with each other again unless the link between them is broken. Trade goods can be used in the place of any other resource if there is a shortage.  Traders are vulnerable to harassment by enemies, since they must pass outside of the powerful dwarf defensive barriers.

Some units:


Primary Phalanx (medium melee)
type:      pike
size:      18
The dwarven Phalanx has been in use among all dwarf clans, not just Balkurn, for longer than any histories accurately record.  The dwarves maintain they were the first to implement this famous formation.  Unlike regular phalanx, the unique dwarven body structure allows for a for more dense array of spearheads to block off enemy advance, and leaves this formation difficult to penetrate, even by mobile swordsmen.  The high discipline of this group makes them extremely difficult to flank and outmaneuver, as they are trained to form a defensive circle quickly.  If they are broken, however, dwarven hoplites are very vulnerable as individuals.  The primary phalanx has a special shield mounted on their back that can be slid down on to their arms quickly to block arrows, but this is impractical when using their spears at full length, which requires both hands.

Primary Halberdier (heavy melee)
type:      halberd / spear
size:      18
The halberd is not a traditional dwarf weapon.  However, Balkurn has put their combat engineering to work in enhancing and adapting it for dwarven needs.  The new Halberd has a rebalanced shaft to adapt for the unique dwarven physiology.  It is twice as long as a human's halberd, and is instead held at its middle, with half of the length on either side of the dwarf.  One end is a halberd, the other a spear, and by adopting different stances, the halbardier can use it as either.  The Primary Halberdier completes his equipment with a suit of heavy armour with deceptively functional spikes; when an enemy gets too close, thinking that they're within the effective range of the halberd, a quick lunge can easily impale them.  The halbardier is the only dwarf melee unit that does not have a shield.

Supply Wagon
type:   auxiliary
Balkurn's military is not renowned by being the most mobile on earth.  The logistical nightmares of their rolling behemoth are not their commander's worry, however.  So long as supply wagons can be kept on the battlefield, injuries can be treated and soldiers can recover their strength quickly.  Defending these wagons is critical.  Although replacements can be dispatched quickly, a disorganized Balkurn force is one step away from a catastrophic defeat.

Composite Archers (light support)
size:      18
type:      bow
This ingenious composite bow uses a system of pulleys and a special locking mechanism to make this bow ridiculously easy to draw, aim and fire.  Combined with an excellent offering of armour and light weaponry, the composite archers of Balkurn have proven invaluable in the defence of settlements, as well as on the open battlefield.  Their range is mediocre compared to other archers, but they make up for this with their ease of fire and good aim.

Crossbow Archers (heavy support)
size:      18
type:      crossbow
The dwarven heavy crossbow is one of the most feared contraptions on the battlefield.  Capable of tearing apart charging cavalry and most infantry, very few weapons rival the mechanical prowess of the crossbow.  There is a vicious blade on the end of the crossbow, turning it into a deadly weapon in the melee.  The dwarves using these weapons are usually heavily armoured, and carry a tower shield when advancing against archers, which greatly outrange their weapons.

Siege Engineers
type:   auxiliary
size:   18
Siege engineers are used to man siege weapons.  Most dwarven siege weapons exist as pre-fabricated components which are assembled on site, and then can be moved into position, and disassembled for transporation afterwards.  Sometimes, however, a hasty retreat leaves no time for the disassembly, and siege engineers must abandon their weapons.  These engineers can also produce makeshift fortifications and more powerful stationary siege weapons as need calls for.

No Dwarf-stereotypical axemen?

I'd like to do a concept of those Halberders though, if I can get around to it.

By the way, my post is the 1337 post! 1,337 posts on this forum

Well, that's certainly not a complete list.  There will be berserkers in the Balkurn lineup, and they may well have axes.