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Well, the Serpent is a dedicated transport, as opposed to a Heavy, which is good, it's also cheaper - and considering Fire Dragons are a suicide unit, this is good. I personally use the Serpent for its Scatter Lasers (because I then any unit that pops out of a transport or Land Raider you kill can be shot at by a good anti-infantry weapon, instead of an anti-tank weapon (trust me, your Dragons will obliterate any armour). So I take the serpent for it's anti-infantry ability.
That's a good point the main problem i had with the falcon was points and giving the falcon anti infantry weapons is a good idea also if i did i would probably pick star cannons though
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If you are running a warhost and have the room for it you can take 12 aux so the heavy support slot of the Falcon isn't so much a limiter. If you take the falcon as a squadron it can deep-strike in for some antics in the back field.
The serpent is definitely more survivable against low-shot shots.
The serpent is definitely better anti-infantry with the shield and either base-line cannons (or you could add another chin cannon), or other options.
The Falcon can be pretty nasty anti-anything you want, and if you have 3 of them it's even nastier anti-anything you want. If you take a squad of 3 you also have a pretty nasty no-error DS back-field unit. Dropping 3 falcons into the backfield now puts some High Str Low AP weapons even base line behind a lot of things. Use them to focus-fire at range on 2+ save units, or into the backs of vehicles, or to chew up infantry.
For Dragons, I'd say Falcons, because even the best planning can do little against a Cloudstrike squadron loaded with dragons. At least against a heavy armor army, if you're facing blobs, Serpents with Dire Avengers or D-Scythes are better options.
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Cloudstriking bright lance falcons loaded with BS5 Fire Dragons would be a pretty amazing alpha strike, no doubt about that. Should probably bring an Autarch to make sure it arrives on time, and hey, why not give him a fusion gun as well.
noghri wrote: For Dragons, I'd say Falcons, because even the best planning can do little against a Cloudstrike squadron loaded with dragons. At least against a heavy armor army, if you're facing blobs, Serpents with Dire Avengers or D-Scythes are better options.
I happen to have an example of the (relative) effectiveness of the Cloudstrike:
I have another battle report (v. Meched-up Blood Angels) going up soon.
The falcon is a decent gunboat but considerably less durable than a serpent (serpent shield + no real cost for jinking). I would consider a single falcon with dragons in it the least attractive option. Dragons are short range and too effective to keep at the ranges the falcon wants to stay at. People at going to try to kill the dragon's transport so you are usually paying more for less durability and thus less shooting as the falcon will stay stunned most of the game.
Cloud strike is a totally different proposition. You really need some reserves manipulation but DSing in several aspect units with no scatter and the extra firepower from the falcons can be very effective. It is however very pricey to use in smaller games. This trick does a huge knockout punch against highly concentrated forces however keep in mind you will need appropriate support so you can still handle MSU lists.
Waveserpent is perhaps the best transport if you want a single target dead turn 1-2 and want to ensure the dragons get there to do it. The DE transport with WWP is more assured if you don't care what turn they get there however reserves can give you that unit on turn 4 when you needed it turn 2. The serpent dragons are durable enough that you will almost always get a chance to engage your target of choice. The other nice part is after you deliver the dragons the serpent can shoot ignore cover shots one turn which are somewhat rare in the CWE codex.
DE transports are cheap enough that if you take several dragon squads they can really pay off. The dragons will also survive longer as they can shoot from inside the transports. They can also take a WWPIC to pulls some very nasty shenanigans against imperial knights, though not entirely necessary with battle focus on the dragons. I would highly recommend putting your dragons in raiders or venoms if you take a aspect host of dragons to keep them cheap and brutally effective.
I vouch for the Wave Serpent. It is just as fast, more survivable, cheaper, is a dedicated transport, and does not take up a valuable heavy support slot.
The only reason to take Falcons is for the Cloudstrike formation, and IMO it's too expensive to be worth the risk.
100% wave serpent. Cheaper, more survivable, dont need to worry about whether to shoot or flatout, as you can just flat out most of the time.
Still hate falcons
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