Wow... this was a tough one... It came down to my top three favorites Solonavi, Draconum (Gasp! Is it possable to like Solos AND Dracs?) and the Orcs. I finnally came to the decision of..... ORCS! I always have liked these guys... I mean who couldnt like Khan Rava, Khan Harrowblade, Heartdrinker and Bloodhawk? They Rule!

Oh and how do you get Heartdrinker? Its supposed to be "Mail away" but what does that mean? Can you still get him?

You could get him through an Inquest offer. There may still be some for you to get, and he's worth the effort. As a last ditch effort, you could always trade for one :)
-Farchyld

I know you know the game Farchyld. I should have specified that it's in storyline/contructed events that you can't do that. My bad.

Gotta go with the Dracs. I've been a Draconum fan since the Rebellion days. I tried my best to collect them all, and never traded a single Drac away. Heck, I even played Drac pure when the only nons we had were Whelps and Scalesworn Thralls. Being a DHC original has increased my love for the faction substantually as well.

Nowadays, however, I don't need a reason to play Drac pure. The Draconum have finally become a complete faction. They are balanced, and are the best at filling any role. They have the best cheap melee figures in Whelp Monks and to a lesser degree Feral Whelps. They have the best cheap ranged units in Whelp Firecasters***. They have the best riders in the Scalesworn Honorguards and the best mount in the Sky Dragon. They have the best spell casters in Granthkar and the Revered Mystic***. They have tons of melee powerhouses, and no one comes even close to Vithzerai in the area of ranged power. They simply have no weakness.

:bow:

But besides lack of any bow attack types, I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you on some specific points:

1. Best cheap melee figure? No. Zombie Centaur is still the best, hands down better than the feral whelp or whelp monks

2. Best mount? The best sky dragon is EF, and it dwarves the Drac sky dragon in power ridiculously.

Otherwise, yes, Draconum are very powerful and flashy. Emphasis on flashy.

DC...na...Orcs ...na... EF...maybee. I like the Draconum, but personally would find it hard to go solo with them and my collection.
I guess EF, been using them alot lately. Had a great 400 pt army with MOM, Disruptor and a few ***River Chargers on Stags.

Solonavi...why?

They are the most political and manipulative of the factions. It's nice since they don't go military always. It gives variety to the story and I have always played control in other games(L5R Crane...a favor for a favor?). They have a godlike aura around them too.

They have a nice subfaction ability

They have the best beatstick in the game, pound for pound

They have a commanding presence on the battlefield and you rarely see them vulnerable

I can't wait for Corella/Rayevisayla, Heddravalis and Rax Coldstone!:D

At the Risk of sounding stupid... Inquest is a magazine right? If so, what issue was it?

It took a bit of talking and some violence with myself but we decided on NS/DC:D

If i ever make it over to a con, my elves and trolls will be with me.

As it stands I only collect EF and Drac now, with EL and BT in small amounts, and other figures for repaints.

So I guess my faction choice would have to be EF.

The Draconum are the reason I got into the game in the first place. But.....going single-faction with them would be a nightmare. I don't see them as balanced...they've got no :bow: figures, no cheap :hspeed: harassers, no cheap spellcasters, no cheap healers, and only one mount!

If I had to go single-faction, I'd take the Elemental Freeholds. They have the best mounts (Stag and Sky Dragon), some of the best riders (*** Flame Priestess and *** River Charger), harassment (Centaur Shamans), both terrestrial and mounted spellcasting (Tempest Priest, Ciara), an actual useful subfaction (Storm Druids), and wall-to-wall healing!

Quite the contrary. The only reason ANYONE would ever use the EF sky dragon over the Drac sky dragon is the 3 clicks of charge. In fact, the ONLY click the EF sky dragon has an advantage over the Drac version is on the third click, defense.

Before Sorcery, this was a fairly big deal, but it isn't anymore. First, we aren't going to see much MC/C with the rider AND mount anymore. Centaur's Gait cast on a rider will allow it to make 2 attacks. Would you rather have your *Honorguard (since I know you're so fond of them ;)) attacking twice, or your Honorguard attacking once and your mount attacking once? I think we both know the answer to that question...

With Centaur's Gait, the EF Sky Dragon has become obsolete. When it comes to stats, the Drac Sky Dragon is far stronger and more stable and with the rider doing all of the attacking, that is the only thing that matters.

But at what cost does the Drac sky dragon get so much better than the EF one?

Just because a spell exists doesn't mean I'm going to want to waste the pages of my spellbook on it.

What if I don't want to play a sorcerer in my army? What's the minimum cost for a draconum sorcerer with abilty to cast centaur's gait in a Draconum pure army(since that is what we're talking about afterall)?

As a stand alone piece, the EF skydragon is still superior. Would I like my *Honorguard to hit twice in one turn? Course I would, but it really is expensive.

This doesn't even take into consideration that you're probably only going to get to use your MC/C trick once because as soon as you do, Centaur's gait expires. Believe it or not, but I like to use MC/C more than once in most of my games. I realize you can always recast it, but you have to base your sky dragon with your sorcerer or vice versa before you can even do that, and that means either running your dragon away from the fight, or bringing your sorcerer to it.

I'm sorry, you're just not going to convince me that the Drac sky dragon is better than the EF one.

Elven Lords. They have great range peices for both Bow and Wand attack types and cheap fodder. Plus they have some strong sword attacking units and are only second to the Dracs in aerial comabt. Spirit Armor is deadly too, *Flame Priestess doing 4 range damage with Stormfire is so fun, not to mentionthe close comabt units with Spirit Armor AND Hierammen Host spell! EL rock right now and I love to pkay them! They are fun to play and strong as well.

I'd almost be willing to say that Elven Lords may have caught up with the Dracs with soaring control.

Almost, it's still pretty close.