Alarielle: Incarnate of Life and Star Dragon Prince

[Ladril Caledor]

I was playing around with the idea of building a new Eternity King list, using Alarielle and her 12" regrowth bubble. I realized that I could just about squeeze in a tooled-up Star Dragon in a 2400 list. Here it is:

Alarielle: Incarnate of Life

Prince on Star Dragon with Ogre Blade, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Potion of Toughness and Dragon Armour.

Master BSB with Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak and Shield (sea dragon cloak gives him the edge over a Noble)

9 Silver Helms with standard (3x3 bus, 9 attacks and 2+ save - elite chaff/combat support)

15 Darkshards with shields and musician (3x5, martial prowess, murderous prowess makes this unit cheap and deadly, 30 AP shots, 15 attacks, re-roll 1's, 5+ armour and 4+ regrowth with backup 6+ ward)

18 Darkshards with shields and musican (3x6, all else as above)

28 White Lions with full command and banner of the world dragon (5x6, Alarielle and BSB go here)

Total: 2399 points

The Darkshards would flank the white lions, and all would hang back in the deployment zone, shooting and spamming magic. Alarielle would try for Dwellers early in each magic phase (hoping to roll enough dice) followed by Throne of Vines and Flesh to Stone to buff the units. Later in the game she could restore casualties with Regrowth and Storm of Renewal (the latter should easily catch all friendly units if directed carefully). With level 5 and re-rollable power dice through her Loremaster ability, she is going to get off a lot of spells.

I'd keep the dragon out of sight behind some large cover if possible, out of sight of cannons, and ready to swoop in and support the infantry when the enemy gets close. The Silver Helms can attack enemy chaff (they should be superior to most chaff units with 9 S5 attacks on the charge and 2+ armour) and go war machine hunting if necessary. Later they could look for flank or rear charges to support the infantry.

This army should be tough to kill. If the Dragon is in the bubble, the Prince has a 2+ re-rollable save, 4+ regrowth (with backup 6+ ward if the regrowth gets flamed out...unlikely given his 2+ save against flaming attacks) and stubborn (from the banner). The regrowth makes the other units pretty tough as well, while the Darkshards and Dwellers Below should wittle down the enemy ranks nicely, while Alarielle can restore my own casualties through her magic.

I'd also consider sending the Dragon in behind enemy lines once the enemy have sufficiently advanced, to mash through his ranged support and set up some rear charges.

This is a completely different style of list to what I usually play (highly mobile MSU) but I've been looking for a way to use my dragon competitively, and I think this list could be really effective.

[RE.Lee]

The idea of loads of multiple wound monsters to go along the Everqueen is a tempting one, but keeping them all within 12" of the lady is defeating their purpose a bit.

Actually, the Avatar of Isha might be a better idea - grants a 5+ ward and gives access to a lot more spells, including Apotheosis that you'll be able to recast over and over and over again. Add a couple of Phoenixes and you've got yourself a monster mash!

[Ladril Caledor]

The list only has one monster, not loads. The dragon can still move around a lot as necessary, particularly to eliminate war machines, but key to this list is the infantry hanging back with shooting and magic, then the dragon swooping in on the rear or flank of the enemy once they reach the infantry, bringing all units within the 12 inch regeneration bubble, as well as restoring the dragon and princes wounds rapidly through Alarielles ability and the life magic attribute.

I think the 4+ regeneration with 6+ ward is superior to the 5+ ward, although the spell versatility of the Avatar of Isha is certainly a tempting prospect, as High Magic could boost the main units ward, and Drain Magic and Deadlock could be very useful against End Times magic. The ability to handle herself in close combat and the Loremaster ability to re-roll all power dice is huge though, I'd say the Incarnate of Life is superior overall (although of course she is more expensive). Going with the Avatar instead of the Incarnate also means losing murderous prowess, which is pretty huge. I would love to get a High Mage in there with a dispel scroll, but I couldn't find the points without losing essential elements.

I do wonder if the list could be even better with Caradryan or an Anointed on Frostheart phoenix, which (if the dragon is removed) would leave enough points for yet another Frostheart in rare. Frosties were already such great monsters and they are even better now with 4D6 winds of magic (almost certain positive result on their table). The list would gain some versatility but couldn't hit nearly as hard as with the Star Dragon. Personally I just really want the dragon in there as it's my namesake Prince Ladril Caledor and the beast is my golden centerpiece to my red and gold Caledor-themed models.

I'm not sure about going with phoenixes in addition to the dragon, at least at this points limit. I can't lose any more points from core, and the big White Lion unit is the key central anvil. I also like armies to be balanced and versatile, and I find monster mash can either be devastating or weak, depending on the opposition.

[pk-ng]

- Easier army to beat.
- You say your Dragon will go war machine hunting but your dragon will be the 1st priority once it pops out from cover
- You have a 24" range threat which in short is short. If you versus a gun line army you'll be force to go to them...
- You have 0 chaff units meaning for you to get into combat (at least for your WL) it'll be dedicated by the enemy as you cannot redirect unless you use the darkshards
- You have a slow army (M5) with a fast expensive supporter that has a limited movement range with war machines...

[Ladril Caledor]

Good points here. Perhaps the silver helms could be dropped for a couple of small units of dark riders or reavers. These could work as chaff re-directors and war machine hunters.

Not so concerned about the 24" range of the darkshards, normally one or two moves will put them within range if my opponent wants to hang back. With 66 armour piercing shots a turn, re-rollable level 5 dwellers below, flesh to stone, army wide regeneration saves, regrowth and storm of renewal, I haven't seen many armies that could beat this in a shooting war.

Your totally right about the problem the Star Dragon has with artillery. This happens every time I put a dragon based list together. The star dragon prince is devastating against almost everything, but is so vulnerable to a cannons and a gunline strategy. This is the reason my beloved dragon model keeps getting left on the shelf...anyone have a good strategy for how to use a star dragon against a gunline?

[RogueSun]

I feel like treekin/treemen will benefit most from her regen and wound healing. Treekin, albeit not as good these days, are still decent heavy infantry, especially so when every model is healing a wound every turn. Sure it's more incentive to bring fire against them, but who isn't going to do that in the first place? Might as well let them benefit from some Regen just in case your opponent can't bring their fire to bare.

[Curu Olannon]

Star Dragon + Allarielle - 1200
BSB BOTWD - 172
Silver Helms, big unit - 440
2x5 Reavers - 160
Frostheart - 240
Army total: 2212. Some points left over to buy Allarielle a unit to hide in. She does not synergize that well with the nature of this army.

I suppose the bigger question is do you think this will be the best way to spend points if ET lists are allowed? Consider this:

Malekith - 1000
Cauldron of Blood BSB - 300
Witchelves, big unit with flaming banner - 450
Dark Riders with xbows - 150
Phoenix Guard with AP banner - 450
Great Eagle - 50
Army total - 2400

It basically just marches across the table super-fast. Malekith can boost the movement of the most vital unit (depends on what your opponent is packing) with his OP innate ability and both PG and WE grind insanely hard with his abilities.