Some success with a Dragon list

[Demetrius]

Just come back from Cancon, Australia's largest tournament at 120 players with 8 games. it was Swedish 10-16 with 150 VPs awarded per comp difference.

I finished equal 4th, with three points behind the winner, so was super stoked

Thought I would post the list for people to have a look over and potentially give people some ideas. The obvious main strength of the list was the three flyers that were able to apply pressure in several areas on the board, and then combo charge into a target and take it off. I can expand on things if people are interested.

Dark Elves
2400 points
Swedish 14.9

Dreadlord: Armour of Destiny, Obsidian Amulet, Other Tricksters Shard, SH, SDC, Lance, Black Dragon 553

Master: Battle Standard, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation, HA, SDC, Halberd, Dark Pegasus 207

Master: Dragonbane Gem, HA, SH, SDC, Lance, Manticore, Iron Hard Skin 263

Sorceress: Lore of Heavens, Level 2 Upgrade, Scroll of Shielding 130

9 Dark Riders: Full Command, Shields, Crossbows 210

22 Corsairs: Full Command, Repeater Handbows, Banner of Swiftness 287

10 Darkshards: Musician, Standard 140

6 Cold One Knights: Full Command, Gleaming Pennant 215

War Hydra: Flaming Breath 180

Bolt Thrower 70

Bolt Thrower 70

5 Harpies 75

Total: 2400

[T.D.]

I finished equal 4th, with three points behind the winner, so was super stoked

Nice

Thought I would post the list for people to have a look over and potentially give people some ideas. The obvious main strength of the list was the three flyers that were able to apply pressure in several areas on the board, and then combo charge into a target and take it off. I can expand on things if people are interested.

Definitely interested.

...and good to see you put the magnificent Manticore into action

[Amboadine]

Congratulations on the positioning. Not up on my Swedish comp but looks an interesting mix in the list. Dragon, Manti, Hydra and Peg is not something seen often.

[T.D.]

Dragon, Manti, Hydra and Peg is not something seen often.

It's a good anti-Wood Elf build in particular

[Lord Drakon]

Hi Demetrius I am very interested in how you used your list. You have some uncommon combinations and units (which I also included in my tourney list). Is there a possibility for battle reports? 4th place and so close to 1th of so many players is an big achievement ! Otherwise, can you tell a little bit how your list works together besides the three flying units.

Why did you choose for heavens for your lvl 2 (I am using heavens also for my lvl 4)

How did you kept your manticore alive ? How effective was the dragonbane gem and no further protection besides armour ? How killy or non-killy was your manticore ?

How did you survived magic phases ?

[Demetrius]

Thanks guys!

I don't have time for battle reports because there are eight games, but I will expand on the tactics to the list.

Re- Drakon

1- I chose heavens magic for the lvl2 because of its versatility. Iceshard is amazing and is relevant in just about every turn of the game. On top of that, you have a good chance of picking up thunderbolt or comet which can give you some solid ranged damage output.

2- The manticore was great. I actually really like him to be fairly bare bones so he is cheap as chips for what you get. I put him on a flank by himself most games so he can come up the side and put pressure on the enemy lines, kill chaff and missile troops, then combo charging in mid-late game. He can also take challenges from the dragon which is important. I only lost him in 2/8 games, this is due to opponents targeting the dragon with their ranged attacks.

3- Prioritising to dispel the opponents most crucial spell is very important with only +2. But I only played against three level 4 casters in the 8 games- One was Kroak who doesn't really threaten the monsters; another was a High Slaan which again doesn't has great spells for killing monsters; and against Kairos who I just had to suck up and prioritise my dispel attempts.


A few more points I'd like to make:

The 6 Cold Ones were super solid. I deployed them in the centre of table most games. They are hard to shoot off because they won't panic, and they put out a solid amount of damage on the charge. Lots of s4 attacks are also good for grinding out enemy infantry.

The corsairs were amazing. They always deployed 5 wide, with the peg BSB in the front rank who would fly off when he needed to get somewhere. A couple of times they fought with the peg in the front rank, so he blocked attacks and they had ranks, to make a formable line unit. What was crucial was the corsairs ability to swift reform into two deep and nail a unit with their hand bows- I did a few wounds to a Bloodthirster this way so I could kill him in combat. Put simply, the corsairs really surprised me.

The Hydra was actually pretty good as well. I found him super useful because of the breath weapon. Ld6 was never a problem because of the dragons L10 bubble, but also making sure he was always out of 6" of other units.

Three flyers are so much better than two. I was considering putting the BSB on a steed instead of the peg because the swedish comp would be a heap less, but I am glad I didn't do this. Flyers can't be diverted, and when you have three of them, they can basically do whatever they want.

Harpies are crucial, they are just that good at redirecting. I didn't use them for a long time after the 8th ed book dropped due to points increase and DRs getting so much better. Now, I will never leave home without five because of their ability to hang back behind your units until the crucial moment when you need to protect yourself from a charge.

[T.D.]

Thanks for the round up!

Tournament magic phases would scare me without a L4 and a scroll, but you obviously made it work!

The corsairs were amazing. They always deployed 5 wide, with the peg BSB in the front rank who would fly off when he needed to get somewhere. A couple of times they fought with the peg in the front rank, so he blocked attacks and they had ranks, to make a formable line unit. What was crucial was the corsairs ability to swift reform into two deep and nail a unit with their hand bows- I did a few wounds to a Bloodthirster this way so I could kill him in combat. Put simply, the corsairs really surprised me.

That is really interesting to know ...and a nice use of the Peg's durability.

Harpies are crucial, they are just that good at redirecting. I didn't use them for a long time after the 8th ed book dropped due to points increase and DRs getting so much better. Now, I will never leave home without five because of their ability to hang back behind your units until the crucial moment when you need to protect yourself from a charge.

Yay for Harpies! 75 points for a flying redirector is always worth it IMO

'Grats again on your success at Cancon

[Khaleth Blackheart]

Congrats on a very good result
Nice to hear you doing so well with the dragon and manticore especially. And thank you for some insight into your build and choices.

[Mikael.k]

I could see shadow and fire beeing good for this list aswell. Having mindrazor would be sweet and miasma is always useful. The fire mage for the fireball, functions as a "third bolter" kinda, even sweeter vs warmachines and skrimishers/small units.

[flatworldsedge]

Really enjoyed reading your notes l how the units work together. Really interesting list and tactics which has made me think. Congratulations on the placing too!

[Ajattaro]

It is astonishing to see this kind of list perform so insanely well. You had good matchups in magic though, although that dragonlord build is brilliant with MR2!

Your core selection still puzzles me. What was the purpose of darkshard unit and large dark riders? Why you did not take 2x5 DR for double fleeing? Darkshards could have been incorporated into corsair unit, although they seem to do various little roles in this list

Did you face any cannons? Manti and the rider seem to dead after one succesful hit. You have good amount of target saturation for cannons anyway, but no realible way of dealing with them.

This is so confusing yet couraging to use manticore. I have made couple of lists, but bever really tried them

[Demetrius]

It is astonishing to see this kind of list perform so insanely well. You had good matchups in magic though, although that dragonlord build is brilliant with MR2!

Your core selection still puzzles me. What was the purpose of darkshard unit and large dark riders? Why you did not take 2x5 DR for double fleeing? Darkshards could have been incorporated into corsair unit, although they seem to do various little roles in this list

Did you face any cannons? Manti and the rider seem to dead after one succesful hit. You have good amount of target saturation for cannons anyway, but no realible way of dealing with them.

This is so confusing yet couraging to use manticore. I have made couple of lists, but bever really tried them

Hey mate. You have to remember that the list is still quite strong for the comp band it is in. I also really like the MR2 on the Dragon, anything to keep it alive is a gold.

The core was trying to keep low on Swedish while being relatively effective. The dark shards were a bunker for the level 2, they weren't great but yeah, they were occasionally useful for shooting fast cav or whatever.

The Dark Riders are efficient under Swedish, -10 for 9 fully kitted DRs is a good deal, they can pump out decent firepower and threaten light units in combat. The champion is also good to issue challenges. Having 9 models means they are hard to shoot off completely and can get to war machines more reliably. They can still set up for bait and flee charges. They can't be used for chaff I guess, but thats what the harpies are in the list for.

First game I played two cannons that shot the dragon dead turn 1, the rider lived and held the points, I got the 20-0. I played Empire with a cannon and Demons with a cannon, both did damage to the dragon but failed to kill it completely because I made sure I took them out as quickly as possible. The Manticore was never really the target of ranged attacks which let him fly around unharmed.