Age of Sigmar: Stormcast Eternals Regiments of Renown – High Mobility Vs Dragons
All the Grand Alliance: Order armies are going to get access to these two regiments. But which one would you choose?
At first glance at the title you’re probably thinking “Dragons. Just use Dragons.” And yeah… I don’t think that’s a BAD option for sure. Especially if you consider they can fly and are basically “High Mobility” units, too. But maybe not in the same way as the other option. At the same time it’s worth diving a little deeper into the options to see what benefits they provide. You need to know what they are bringing to the tabletop before you commit to them. What’s the point of bringing them if they don’t do something your army already does?
Valnir’s Stormwing
“The aerial Stormdrake Guard are the stuff of legend, and the Knight-Draconis Adlus Valnir and his bodyguard Ortana are infamous for their exploits. They often lend their particular brand of fiery vengeance to a wide range of allies. Plunging from on high in a manoeuvre known as the Hour of Retribution, Valnir’s Stormwing can add 1 to their Wound rolls and Save rolls once per battle.”
So just right off the bat, we’re going to start with those dragons. This unit is already good. Stormdrakes hit hard, have a 12″ move, 9 health each, and plenty tough. Just look at their Warscroll:
Now imagine taking them in your non-Stormcast Eternals Order army. And then remember they get to add 1 to their wound rolls and armor save for a turn! Yeah…That’s hard to argue with. Does this unit make sense for your army? That’s going to depend on your list. Bear in mind that a unit of two of them currently costs 340 points from the most recent Battle Profiles update. We don’t know the cost of this Regiment of Renown, however. I have a feeling they are going to be in that ballpark for the points regardless. So is 340-ish points of these dragons worth it for your list? That’s a question you’ll have to answer for yourself.
The Horizon Seekers
“Three Vanguard-Palladors and five Vanguard-Hunters follow in the slipstream of their Lord-Aquilor with a Hunters’ Cohesion when Tyran chooses to Ride the Winds Aetheric, redeploying elsewhere in the blink of an eye.”
Perhaps the less obvious answer is this Regiment of Renown. The Horizon Seekers have some crazy high mobility with the Ride The Wings Aetheric power. And their version is a bit juiced up. If they aren’t in combat, you can basically lift and shift this entire Regiment of Renown anywhere on the board outside of 9″ from an enemy. That’s actually not too shabby considering they have some decent ranged attacks:
And the Lord-Aquilor is no slouch either:
And if they are targeting a hunted unit, that’s another +1 to their hit rolls, too. That’s actually a lot of firepower that can just pop-up and start blastin’ at a target. Plus, if they get dug in there, the enemy is still dealing with Stormcast armor saves.
Points-wise, we don’t know what this Regiment will cost you either. But, if they use the same points as the current ones, then it totals out to 550. That’s just over a 1/4 of your army dedicated to a “pop-up and shoot” unit. There are certainly some armies that could use the mobility while others don’t really need help in that department.
But Do They Fit?
I think at the end of the day it’s really going to circle back to the question of “do they do something for your army that it can’t already do for cheaper or better?” If you already have a “pop-up and shoot” unit available to you, are The Horizon Seekers giving you any tools you don’t already have? At the same time you’ll also want to ask “what’s the game plan if I do add them to my list?” While a cool brick of hard hitting dragons would be useful to a lot of armies what if that’s not a part of your game plan?
For example if you just want to blast your enemy with Magic all game, does a 340-ish point sink make sense? Or would that be better spent on something else that enhances your current plan of attack?
Or you could just throw all that advice out the window and play with the models you want in your Order army because “Dragons look cool.” I mean, I can’t really fault you for that one.
When is “Bring More Dragons” the wrong answer to your tabletop woes?
