Dracolines

[Milano]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Especially your comment Dog on keeping them a whole unit of 6 is very valuable, as it is an ongoing discussion in sc discords wether a single or two units are better playable. 

[stato]

So my game last night (first proper game in AoS.3 so ill not share the full battle as its not relevant) and thoughts on Dracoline.

I was playing Lumineth and was losing units every turn to various mortals so had to get into combat ASAP.  2 units of 3 Dracoline, only got 3 into combat against a unit of 20 Sentinels due to opponent using table/faction terrain to restrict charge space. Did reasonable damage but couldnt fully buff up and had de-buffs applied, if id had a unit of 6 they may have finished the Sentinels with Celestial Lightning, Not sure 6 would have had the maneuverability but I can see the pros and cons of both 2x3 and 1x6.

They would really benefit from a ward against mortal wounds. I think thats always been the biggest challenge for me with AoS.2 and .3

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by stato

[stato]

I should also add,  2 units of 3 dropping from Scions gives 2 chances to make the 9" charge, with 2 re-rolls due to Thunderous Pounce. 4 chances in total. Thats pretty important I think.

Edited February 3, 2023 by stato

[Milano]

Had a game with a 6 block of Dracolines yesterday. Against StD. Positioned very defensively to invite him being very aggressive in deployment and then I took the first turn - taking him by suprise - I launched the Draco block with Lauchon directly into 9 Varanguards. His units being unbuffed and him rolling some bad saves, it was devestating. Especially the Celestial Arc resulting in 11 mortals.

Interesting fact was that I squeezed in 5 models to fight due to a “corner” enemy model constellation. So one extra model.

My resume:

If you need your Dracolines to be a hammer. You need a unit of  six.

If you want them to be flanking units killing off easier targets - and the core will be covered by Fulminators/Dragons- then take 2x3.

[Milano]

6 hours ago, stato said:

.They would really benefit from a ward against mortal wounds. I think thats always been the biggest challenge for me with AoS.2 and .3

I had Gardus with me last game. So with save stacks (Mystical Shield/AoD/Astreia Buff) + Gardus Ward Bubble (5+) they were very, very tanky. One moment my opponent managed to exactly kill one model…but Astreia braught the Draco back with 1 wound 😅

[Dogmantra]

6 hours ago, stato said:

I should also add,  2 units of 3 dropping from Scions gives 2 chances to make the 9" charge, with 2 re-rolls due to Thunderous Pounce. 4 chances in total. Thats pretty important I think.

I'm really not sold on dropping them - a 9" charge with a reroll is about a 50/50 chance to make it, with two units that's 75% chance at least one of them gets in, which is a pretty good chance of leaving 500 odd points sitting there. You're also giving up the chance to cast empower which really increases their damage output, and to mystic shield them. If you want a unit to drop with Scions, I really can't see a reason you'd go Dracolines over Annihilators. Same cost for grandhammers, they get a 7" charge with a reroll which is a much higher chance of succeeding, even if they fail they possibly do a little mortal wound bomb, and they have similar damage output.

1 hour ago, Milano said:

I had Gardus with me last game. So with save stacks (Mystical Shield/AoD/Astreia Buff) + Gardus Ward Bubble (5+) they were very, very tanky. One moment my opponent managed to exactly kill one model…but Astreia braught the Draco back with 1 wound 😅

Sadly Gardus and Astreia's buffs are mutually exclusive - Gardus's ward only works on Hallowed Knights and Astreia's only works on Hammers of Sigmar. You do probably have a 6+ ward from Hammers if you're going that route though.