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I'm principally a 40K player, but I did play in a AOS 3rd Ed tourney in late last year where I took Blades of Khorne to a last-place finish. I enjoyed the games, though, so when the next tourney was advertised I signed up. I have a couple of AOS 1st Ed starter boxes that I bought on sale a few years back as a hobby project along with some SCE odds and ends that I had added for the few games of AOS 2nd Ed that I had played. I really like the look of the new dragons and I got two boxes over Christmas and birthday. Yes, I'm that guy.

I planned my Hammers of Sigmar list a month ago as follows: Knight Draconis (General), Lord-Relictor, Stormdrake Guard x 2 with Lances, Stormdrake Guard (single), Fulminators x 4, Longstrikes x 3 and three squads of five Liberators for objective control. A couple of test games showed me that the big squad of Fulminators was awkward with any reasonable amount of terrain so I dropped two and was looking for something to fill the role (Retributors was one option). The balance change landed this week that made my list potentially cough up 3 VPs. I figured I wasn't going to panic and stuck with my list, although at the last minute I put in Gardus Steelsoul and changed to Hallowed Knights. I had one Gardus as a door prize at the last tourney so maybe it was sign?

My rough design was to use the two-strong Stormdrake Guard to put pressure on one flank with Gardus, the Fulminators and a Liberator Squad dropping in behind them. The Knight and single Stormdrake Guard would be my fire brigade.

The format of the tourney was a little weird in that two players could form a team each brining 1000 points of any allegiance. No abilities could cross over etc, Otherwise it was three rounds at 2000 points.

Game 1 - Marking Territory vs Blades of Khorne and some Trolls

He had Skarrbrand, Bloodcrushers and some Reavers along with a variety of Trollish looking things. This mission is interesting - you win a Major Victory by controlling all objectives on or after the 3rd Turn. I gave them first turn. I refused my left flank while pushing hard on the right. The Fulminators failed their charge roll from the drop, but the Dragons held for a turn which was enough. The Fulminator charged on my following turn and destroyed his Troll general. On my left flank Skarrbrand ran through some Liberators but was left exposed to my Knight and single Stormdrake who promptly killed him. I now had three objectives, and my opponents had abandoned their objective on my left flank. A Translocate prayer into the open and some hard fighting to clear out my left flank gave me the major victory.

I lost one Dragon to the Troll leader, but Gardus' Ward Saves kept the squad alive. The overall design and plan worked.

Game 2 - First Blood vs Seraphon and Slaves to Darkness (must have a deep fake operation?)

They had a huge 30-man Chaos Warriors Squad along with some chaff plus a variety of Seraphon with that giant Croakus dude as the centrepiece. The table had lots of hills what would canalize movement. I gave them first turn and they sent their big Chaos squad towards the pass on my right. He had a big Carnasaur who hung back, perhaps afraid of Longstrikes and Dragons. I then went hard on my right with the same rough design as my first game. He could deploy six or seven wide in the defile, but this also meant that my flanks were secure. The two-strong Dragon squad hit the Chaos Warriors but once again the Fulminators didn't make their charge from drop. The Chaos Warriors were quite resilient (even to Mortal Wounds), but they couldn't really hurt me in return. Once the Fulminators charged into the fight the casualties started to mount, and by turn 3 the Warriors were gone. My General, lone Dragon and a squad of Liberators (brought back with Call for Aid) kept the other two objectives mine or contested. On Turn 4 my Dragons and Fulminators charged into Croakus, killing him. What can stand against such reckless hate?

My General would have been well-served going into the Warriors to use his mount trait (a squad cannot receive orders in the battleshock phase), but I was otherwise happy with my play.

Game 3 - Tectonic Interference vs Stormcast Eternals

He had Yndrasta, two Dragons, two squads of Annihilators, two squads of Vigilors and a big brick of ten Justicators. He had fewer drops and made me go first. He had left his Dragons exposed and sent my two-strong unit in to trade, killing both. My other shooting cleared out the Vigilors protecting the Justicators but my Fulminators failed their charge from drop. My opponent killed my two-strong Dragon squad while his double shooting into my exposed Fulminators was quite effective, although he did fail his charge with a squad of Annihilators that had come in on my right flank. He then got the double turn and things looked bleak. His shooting killed my Fulminators and his Annihilators came in. My lone dragon and Gardus somehow survived, helped by the 5+++ Ward save. The lone dragon killed two (one with her wings). My counterattack with my General finished off both Annihilator Squads.

I then got the double-turn and went after his Judicators with both Dragons, killing six and forcing the other four to flee (my Mount Trait helped). I was now way ahead on VPs and my opponent had a single squad left with a character.

This win put me in first place with 3 Major Wins (18 teams). Not going to lie, I had a very strong list. Most of it was stuff I have had since 2018, but still. I guess I am that guy now. I was happy with my overall design and plan for each game. I was lucky to not face a list with strong shooting - the last match was the toughest in that respect.

So Dragons are really good. The move in the Hero Phase can be really strong, perhaps even more important that the Knight Draconis' trick of having one squad use its breath in the Hero phase. Their combination of mobility, firepower and protection is great. I had lances on the two-man unit because I like the look (I played lots of Joust as a kid), but I think that swords are better. The Fulminators were decisive in two games, but they do need support to pull off their charge. In 2nd Ed I paired them with Gavriel for the shortened charge - that is gone now. Gardus' re-rolled charge ability is still them trying to reroll a 9 - not something to plan for. Having them move in behind the two-man Dragon squad, though, gave them the security to have their charge hit home for the decisive strike.

The Longstrikes were scary, but I think take 6 or don't bother? The Lord Relictor was great, moving Liberators around and healing stuff from time to time. The Liberators were money in the bank. I have up 2 VPs in the last game when I lost Stormdrake Guard and Fulminators, but those were a drop in the bucket.

So its back to Blades of Khorne for me, or maybe Slaves to Darkness.

Seraphon and Slaves to Darkness? How exactly did that work...?

Great rundown! And yeah, by sheer accident you managed to land on a whole bunch of meta picks

That said, they still wouldn't have worked if you didn't use them well. Especially that third game you earned the win.

Rihgu wrote:
Seraphon and Slaves to Darkness? How exactly did that work...?

It was a trial format to allow two friends to team up regardless of their armies. Lore-wise I struggled explaining that game - my Draconiths seemed quite angry by their cousins' betrayal.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Great rundown! And yeah, by sheer accident you managed to land on a whole bunch of meta picks

That said, they still wouldn't have worked if you didn't use them well. Especially that third game you earned the win.

Thanks! And yeah - I felt a little guilty bringing that list. The Fulminators were a result of me winning the Codex Casino game - used them back in 2nd when they were OK and now they are amazing! I bought the Dragons initially as a Christmas hobby project, and then bought two more and suddenly they were on the table. I couldn't help myself... Pro tip - watch out when checking line of sight etc - lots of pokey bits on those Dragons and they also catch on everything...Transporting them is also a challenge.

I wouldn't bring this list to AOS Wednesday games unless somebody asked me to bring it. I might bring the Fulminators and not feel quite as bad, even though the Fulminators are really hard hitting. Would drop the Longstrikes as well for casual games.

Were I to head to another tourney (not here) I might run that list again but with the Longstrikes subbed out for Judicators(?) (the dudes with longbows). I have also been toying with more Fulminators but with Prosecutors (the wings with hammers dudes) as a screen in front and forgo the charge out of deepstrike attempt.

TangoTwoBravo wrote:

Rihgu wrote:
Seraphon and Slaves to Darkness? How exactly did that work...?

It was a trial format to allow two friends to team up regardless of their armies. Lore-wise I struggled explaining that game - my Draconiths seemed quite angry by their cousins' betrayal.

Ohh, sorry. I missed that explainer the first time. So did you compete 1v2? Or did you have a friend who also had Stormcast?

Rihgu wrote:

TangoTwoBravo wrote:

Rihgu wrote:
Seraphon and Slaves to Darkness? How exactly did that work...?

It was a trial format to allow two friends to team up regardless of their armies. Lore-wise I struggled explaining that game - my Draconiths seemed quite angry by their cousins' betrayal.

Ohh, sorry. I missed that explainer the first time. So did you compete 1v2? Or did you have a friend who also had Stormcast?

The TO added the option to "team-up" as some folks had requested it. I already had my list done up so I went solo. About a third of the sides were composed as a team. I was curious how it would work out - it can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. I think, though, stick with either 1v1 or 2v2? Still, it added to the variety of list types that I faced!