Age of Sigmar: An Oppression of Dragons
It makes sense that dragons would be hard to crack, but this is a little ridiculous.
It’s a tale as old as the Realms; when a new edition drops, one or two armies become a real problem while a few more fall behind. However, as balanced as 3.0 has been overall, one standout force of oppression has been, unsurprisingly, Stormdrakes. Sons of Behemat are a problem as well for all their big guy shenanigans but recent meta discussions have shown even these mighty behemoths lagging behind the scaly boyes. But what is it that makes the Stormdrake Guard so deadly, and is it too much to deal with? Here are three things about the brand new dragons that make them the deadliest monsters on the battlefield.
Army of Monsters
3.0 is staged firmly in the beastial Realm of Ghur, where Monsters reign supreme. As such, almost all the Battle Tactics and many of the scenario objectives give you extra points if you score them with a Monster. In a Stormdrake army, that’s everything you have. Now, a Sons of Behemat army could conceivably do this too, but the Stormdrake edge them out in two categories: cost and resilience. While the Sons are the biggest monsters in town, they also have a massive price tag. Stormdrakes, on the other hand, are relatively cheap for all the punishment they can dish out, and in a 1000 point game you’ll get a lot more value out of your dragons without sacrificing the Monster keyword. In addition, even though they are Monsters, Stormdrakes don’t deteriorate, and no matter how much damage they take, their combat effectiveness stays the same. Plus, since all your units have at least two models, you have the benefit of Rally. Once a Son is down, they’re down for good.
Out of Phase Actions
Probably the nastiest thing the Stormdrakes can pull is all their out-of-phase shenanigans. Every unit of Stormdrakes can, once per game, make a normal move of 12″ in the hero phase. Then, if they’re within 12″ of an enemy, they can attempt to charge on a 2+. Since this is happening in the hero phase, the opponent can’t respond with Unleash Hell or Redeploy, two of the main defenses against massed charge. In addition, the Knight-Draconis can, once per game, allow a nearby Stormdrake Guard unit to shoot. The nasty part of this is it doesn’t prevent them from doing it again in the shooting phase, much like the Shootcast lists of old.
Stormcast Shenanigans
Perhaps the most heinous crime of all committed by the Stormdrakes is all the stuff they got from Sigmar. At base, they can ignore enemy spells and endless spells on a 4+, making them even harder to bring down. Since they are all Thunderstrike, if you are lucky enough to bring one down, it’s going to throw out a ton of mortal wounds in retaliation. Because the Guard aren’t behemoths, you can take them as “troops” in battalions. That could potentially mean a one drop dragon list, which you don’t want. Beyond that, if they are from the Celestial Vindicators, they get exploding 6s to hit on the charge, making them even deadlier. Alternatively, the Hammers of Sigmar give them a 6+ ward save while they’re near an objective, increasing their staying power. Basically, no matter how you like to play, the Dragons will find a way around it.
So the question is, will you try to beat them? Or join them?
