I would desire to play EF but...even with the addition of the EF Sky Drac, (they gave us no relic sword type riders) they have a severe lack of Sword type hitters that can carry relics.

I would have to choose Dracs since of all the factions they are the most solid and have, wth Sorcery, enough hitters, small fries and Wand types to vary it up a bit.

The factions don't have equal hitters and they don't have equal playability. I LOVE the EF but I couln't take getting whupped up on just because my faction hasn't been built solid enough to stand on it's own.

So, with the realization of being able to play only one faction and wanting to be competitive I would be left with only Dracs, DC and Solonavi as factions to really play and of those Dracs would be my favorite.

I hope some day they slow down the Magic Healing and Stormfire and give EF some sword type relic carriers and a few power hitters with relic space so that I can say:

I WILL ONLY PLAY EF!!!

..and still be competitive. SO hear me Wizkids:

GIVE EF UNIQUE TROLLS!!!!

Thanks for listening...*grumble*

Hey Folds, mrdbeau, this is not a debate...

Elemental Freeholders.

Fair damage, good healing, good spellcasting, incredible mobility (see Mask of Mysteries :p).

Plus (Forest Alliance) faires and trolls fighting together?! I'd like to see the offspring of these barracks-sharers!!

I'm a dragon-freak, but i have to admit, the dracs have no potential fodder. I think EF is the best, with Mask of Mysteries and Book of Lightning... :p

Without playing my new beefy Sorcery EL figs yet, I'm going to go with Atlantean Empire.

I can field cheap hordes and decent Uniques/LEs in the same army. Even when they lose (often, in my hands), you get a feeling of satisfaction. Of course they also have some cool subfaction abilities and sculpts. And lastly, there's just something about General Volkare that all but begs me to use him in just about every Atlantean-pure army.

Before Sorcery, I would likely have gone with the Elven Lords. They have a decent selection of "cannon fodder" swarm figures and decent enough Uniques and Relics to give them an edge. Sorcery adds to that (and gives them a very potent Unique to boot).

However, with Sorcery, I think I can honestly say that my "favorite" faction can now be used in Faction Pure armies and be successful.

The Shades, while a little more expensive than High Elven Warriors, are still decent cannon-fodder swarms. On their own, their abilities aren't too shabby, and since they can "steal" abilities from other figures, they could make a decent stand. The Soulshredders aren't bad either - the Green ones have earned my respect, even if they aren't as potent as some of the other figures. The Oracles can cast some decent spells, and of course we can't forget their "leaders" like Varatrix and Vextha. If we lump retired figures in there, the Drones and Channelers would make a very nice addition to everything, as would the original 5 nasties.

That being said, I do admit some potential downsides - however, with careful planning, they could be shored up. The Solo's have no bow-type figures, thus, their range can be hampered in many cases. If you don't include the retired stuff, our healing capabilities are limited (however, some relics and spells can get around this. And an Oathsworn and Lady Wyrdranna can heal. And you could potentially "borrow" it from your opponent if they have it). However, the Solo's have a decent depth of Soaring figures. Maybe not quite to the level as the Dracs, but they can hold their own.

So, while I do admit bias, I do think that with Sorcery, the Solonavi can form good armies, even if you have to be more careful with them to keep from getting blindsided.


Incidentally (and this isn't a "proof", but just an aside): I played my brother last week - he had an all Drac army - a Magna Champion (the *** one with Defend) surrounded by a bunch of Feral Whelps (various levels, I think there were 6 in all) and a Whelp Master. I had 2 shades (* and **) 2 Soulshredders (*), an Oracle (* I think) wielding a spellbook. I did have 2 non-Solos - a Frost minion and a Regal Skymage. I cast Mechanoid on myself with the Oracle, and cast Stonewarp on the Frost Minion to get him to the other side of the board for a back-door attack. I thought I was going to get romped - however, my Shades proved that the Mind Tap ability is very useful (Kept borrowing Vampirism, Soulshredder, or Weapon Master, or Charge, and I think I even borrowed Regeneration once). My skymage did squat. She did a little bit of damage against the Whelp Master, but got pounded by a couple whelps. My Frost Minion did help defeat the Magna Champion, but got pounded by some whelps, too. In the end, because of the ability to borrow Vampirism and Weapon Master, my Shades cleaned up, and my Soulshredders got some good hits in. At the end, my Oracle came up and did some clean-up work on her end, too. With 50 seconds to go, I had wiped him out, and still had my Oracle, both Shades, and one Soulshredder left (the Shades were still fairly healthy, as was the Oracle).

Anway, my point is that even against the Dracs (at least in THIS PARTICULAR case), A predominantly Solonavi army can be quite good. I can't speak for what may have happened had I replaced the Skymage and Frost Minion with more Solos, but I think I could have done pretty good, as well. Spells really help make up the difference in shoring up weak points, and relics could as well.

Just my take :)

Sorry Chaimwitz, but I have to state my opinion real quick. I'll try to keep an argument from brewing. Any further comment, Folds, please make to me via PM.

First off, I really don't think the lack of a
:bow: figure is really that important. Yeah, it would be nice to have that option open, but I really doesn't hinder the faction significantly.

As for your first point, I really don't characterize the Zombie Centaur as melee figure. They are more of a harasser in my opinion. When talking about melee prowess, the Whelp Monk trumps the ZC easily. They sport higher attack values and more damage potential, with a further strike range. Their dials are a little shallower, but their toughness more than makes up for it. As icing on the cake, they have dial full of Stealth that enables them to easily get into position for an attack.

In response to your second point, I am as adament in my case as mrdbeau is, but for different reasons. The EF Sky Dragon is only superior if and only if its rider is a Scalesworn Honorguard/Neph Pike (another Drac). With a ranged rider, the Draconum Sky Dragon is vastily superior. Since there are more ranged riders than melee riders capable of riding the Sky Dragon, the Draconum version is overall better IMHO. Also, putting a Scalesworn Honorguard/Neph Pike on a Draconum Sky Dragon is more viable in certain build types. One, like mrdbeau said, would be if you planned on using Centaur's Gait. Another would be if you planned to take advantage of the Draconum's faction domains. There really isn't any reason to put a ranged rider on an EF Sky Dragon. Maybe if you wished to exploit the EF faction domains, but those aren't nearly as powerful as the Draconum domains.

Sorry guys, I hadn't realized we weren't really allowed to discuss our opinions past our faction choice.

Anyway, Outlaw and Mrd, I'm fine with not further debating the point. We can always agree to disagree, but let me just say that I've never seen a Drac Sky Dragon played competitively. Maybe that'll change with sorcery, but I doubt it.

I take it you're partial to BPR? Don't feel bad, I'm partial to them too. :D

I think it's still okay. I don't have mounted figures but I make do with what I have. Barely anybody can beat Solos and Dracs in close combat. Flight guarantees we can hide from most bounders and strike at a good moment. Besides, we might fear other factions for their figs but did it ever occur to you the effect it would have on a player who is facing a Varatrix or a Chroma with the proper relics attached?:D

(Points at Avitar then at sig)

Draconum of course!

My first Starter had two uniques in it, a Storm golem and a Mistic Draconum. (tecnicly I never drew a Drac after that exsept for Heros...)

Personaly I think that the Dracs may be a little point heavy buton the other hand look at what you get! Dragon Mystics can prity much cast any spell they want, and why do we need archers? In his day the Magus Draconum was king of the hide and blast because no one could do it back if you used terane. (Starts droning on and on:D Jk)

Any way the long and short of it is a pure Drac army in the hands of a person that knows how to use it is brutal.

Personal expereance: Never let a Vithzerai user use Dragon's gate, 16 to 17 attack at range is very scary!
:wing: :wand: :mi: :starburst

I'd go with draconum (my favorite faction). They're strong, fast and they get the job done. Not to mention they look really cool. Back in the days of 1.0, the thought of a draconum-pure army was ludicris since the faction was mainly made up of uniques that cost close to 100 pts. (quite a few significantly more than that) with a few token nons sprinkled in. Ever since 2.0 came out, the draconum are getting a much greater variety of pieces (not to mention full-sized draconum that are non-uniques :)).

What better time to start building a draconum pure conquest army?

I'm going to have to go with the dracs.... I have thought long and hard and have played quite a few games over it... Pathis is fast becoming one of my favorite figs just for kicks and giggles we did a little sealed tourney with our cases of sorcery and I ended up winning even after Pathis was palmed by Magus Alment Lan for 6 clicks of damage...

yes it is when your facing a lot of :mi: figs... and sorcery is flooding with them. even spell resistance is already a pain.

Dracs still have many ranged units with a :sword: attack type. Whelp Alchemists, Whelp Firecasters*, and Pathis Arcana all are completely unaffected by :mi: and Spell Resistence.