So...Let's Talk about That Dragon (Emperor)

Photo from Gamespot - still one of the best movies ever made

Hey Reader!

So Defence of the North is finally here! We've been hearing about this supplement for quite some time, and as someone who has collected Easterlings since 2012 and has wanted to collect Dale for quite some time (I like Erebor as well, just not a high priority right now), I am so excited to finally have my hands on this book! Shipping across the Pond takes a while, but grateful for the team at GW for their work to get it through customs to us.

One of the most previewed models from the supplement was The Dragon Emperor, with constant discussions about what his profile should look like, what his special abilities should be, and how to fit him into an army that already has good mounted heroes (Amdur and Khamul), good secondary damage heroes (Dragon Knights and now Rutabi), and the balance between mounted forces and an infantry pike block (oh, and archers - believe it or not Easterlings have archers, too). And as information slowly trickled out two things became clear:

First, they were trying to sell a new model. Now it should be noted that I don't mind this, as GW is a company, and they need to sell models. Totally down with him having bonkers stats and abilities both in-world as he's the best that the Easterlings will probably ever get, and also out-of-world from a business perspective. So I've got no issues with the mercantile reasons for making a new power hero for the Easterlings: everything checks out.

And second, and perhaps more so, he's a very interesting fit for Easterlings, serving as a "centerpiece" model (not that Easterlings lacked that before - more on that later) that has both offensive firepower and support abilities (not that Easterlings lacked that either, but we're getting ahead of ourselves).

So how does he hold up? Is he worth the monetary and points investment (as both are high: $190 USD and 170 points in-game)? And is he actually undercosted as some have claimed? Let's take a look.

I.  Offensive Profile: An Infantry Non-Monster Monster

Photo courtesy of ForgeWorld

So to get started, this guy is a beast: he's got the F6 with 3 Attacks at S4 that everyone loves, and the addition of an elven-made spear (that can also Feint, but not Stab interestingly enough, so no Stab option against a F7+ creature) puts him in that very small category of evil heroes that can go toe to toe with elves and not worry as much about tying on Fight Value. This is also about as good as you're going to get with human heroes - short of a Numenorean champion, F6 3A S4 with 3 Might is where you live.

Of course, if he wins a fight, he's actually better than this, as you're adding X S3 attacks to wound as well, where X = the remaining wounds on the palanquin (which starts with 6, one for each guy carrying it). So he has as many as 18 dice to wound, assuming that you can trap your opponent while the palanquin is at full health (which is an assumption, but it does happen sometimes, even with infantry heroes). And since he is a 12" banner with no penalty to the dueling roll, his chances of winning the fight do go up thanks to an automatic reroll all the time (so long as the palanquin is still around).

He has no ranged attack, but to be honest, very few Easterling profiles do, and those that do (Khamul's Black Dart, the Easterling Warrior with bow, Brorgir's Tremor) either have a hard time going off (5+ or 6+ cast) or have a low chance of wounding (S2 bows). So in reality you're not missing much here - Easterlings are not known for shooting, and that's to be expected (even if the lore indicates that perhaps they should be better at shooting, but it's fine). So offensively he's very good for the army he's in.

Add onto this the benefits of allies (Bladewrath and Enchanted Blades from Brorgir, just Bladewrath from a war priest, and a potential Transfix from Khamul), and his chance of killing things is a good bit higher than his stats convey. If you need to grind things to dust, he's a pretty good grinder for his cost.

II.  Defensive Profile: Good Enough

Since he has heavy armor with no shield he's D...7? Yes, that's correct: even though he should be D6 like Amdur, apparently he's D7, presumably from the Helm of the Dragon Emperor that he gets (more on that later), though that isn't stated, so even if someone uses Shatter on the helm you're still D7. Kinda weird and it doesn't make sense, but okay. 

Point is, even in a high Defense army like Easterlings, this is good enough: not as good as Khamul, but in the running with the best of the best for the army. Add onto this the chance that an attack will hit the palanquin instead, and he's quite survivable. As far as Defense goes, this is perfectly respectable for the point cost.

There's a drawback, though, to the palanquin blocking for you: if the palanquin suffers 4 wounds it's movement drops to 3" (which hurts mobility - more on that later), and if it suffers 5 it cannot move at all. All of this makes sense, and it's perfectly reasonable, but it does mean that saving your emperor may actually make it harder for him to do his job, so keep that in mind, as a very slow or immobile killer won't do much slaying for you. 

And if he ever dismounts (as he's allowed to do that), the palanquin is then removed and replaced with the number of Black Dragon warriors that were "still alive," so you'll lose the benefits of the palanquin if you want your movement back. That's...not great, as a lot of the reason you'd take the Dragon Emperor over, say, Rutabi, is because of the palanquin's auric benefits.

He also has the 3 Wounds and 3 Fate you expect from a power hero, before factoring in the 6 wounds on the palanquin, so his survivability is not bad so long as you're not getting trampled by a mumak (those dang war beasts) or hugged by a shapeshifter. He also gets Resistant to Magic off of the Helm of the Dragon Emperor, which means even if the palanquin is destroyed he gets at least one dice to resist the magic coming his way. This is a good form of protection, and is excellent on an Easterling hero.

So for a hero of his points range, he's decently survivable. Not great, but not bad.

III.  Strategic Profile: Anvil Support

This is, I think, where things get interesting. On the one hand he's the best support character in the Easterlings list, and possibly in all of the Forces of Evil, thanks to getting a 12" banner and improving the Fight Value of Easterling warriors within 6" of himself (so long as they can see him, so beware those urban maps and other terrain features that may block line of sight). That's a huge auric bonus. So naturally you're incentivized to put him in the battle line or adjacent to the battle line to maximize his impact.

But that's also the thing: he's on such a massive base that putting him in the battle line will dramatically limit his movement options, and if you put him adjacent to the battle line he has more room to maneuver, but he's also easier to evade (which can deny him melee targets, which is a big part of why you take him).

His battlefield-wide Stand Fast is also great, though admittedly Easterling Courage isn't that bad to start with. Were you leading orcs, this would be a game changer. But why tempt fate if you don't have to, right? If you don't have to make a roll to see if you stick around, why would you? So I'm not going to complain about this.

So overall assessment? Great model, and definitely worth the points. If we assume 6 Black Dragon warriors (60 points), plus the auric bonuses (easily another 70 points in value), you're paying close to nothing for a really good fighting profile. The question now is, is it worth the points to take him over and against other options in the army roster? Let's find out.

IV.  Drawbacks: Reduced Killing Power v. Other Heroes

I think the biggest issue with this profile is that it's actually harder to kill things (ironically) if you take the Dragon Emperor than if you take other heroes. Most of the other Easterling heroes are mounted (sans Rutabi and Brorgir), and thus they are getting extra attacks and knocking targets prone when fighting infantry, and not risking those effects when fighting cavalry. Add onto this their enhanced mobility for getting to the targets you want and the difficulty of escaping them, and there's a good reason to run a mounted hero like Amdur already, let alone the cost savings you get from running him.

Even heroes like Rutabi have bonuses to wound when targets are trapped, which is easy enough to do against infantry by charging a kataphract into the fight, but even in a pike formation you have a decent chance of trapping a foe depending on who controls combat resolution. And while Rutabi, a Dragon Knight, and an Easterling Captain can be run alongside the Dragon Emperor, 170 points will get you an extra hero and more guys if you pass on him.

I wanted to start here because a common refrain for Easterling players is that they have trouble killing things. I think this is partially due to using Easterling Captains wrong, but I think this is more due to the fact that Easterlings fight in a S3 phalanx formation (compared to, say, a S4 uruk pike formation). Even their cavalry are capped at S3, which means if you hit D6+ (which is your ideal opponent, as they are probably okay with throwing a block of infantry against yours) you're wounding on 6s or worse, which makes chewing through the enemy very slow. Bladewrath helps, sure, but it can't be relied on in every fight unless you're bringing 2-3 War Priests, and even then it's only going to help your power killers, not your troops.

So since Easterlings have to get killing power out of their heroes, realize that your killing power goes down with the Dragon Emperor compared to other hero choices. Amdur gets 3-4 Attacks at S4 (with a guaranteed banner reroll), moving 10" to engage his target (compared to 0-6" depending on how damaged the palanquin is), and if he knocks the target prone or traps them (which is easier for him to do as you save points by fielding him) that's 8 Attacks at S4 for less points (so you can field more bodies to help him out). The Dragon Emperor has 3 Attacks at S4 (with a guaranteed banner reroll if the palanquin is still around, which is not always guaranteed), and if he wins he's only guaranteed 3 dice at S4 (as you can't assume you'll trap someone) and anywhere from 0-6 attacks at S3. And unlike with Amdur, spells like Bladewrath, Enchanted Blades, and other benefits to Strength aren't shared between the palanquin and the Dragon Emperor: they would only apply to the Dragon Emperor. So you're getting less attacks to win the fight (assuming a charging Amdur, which is a good assumption), potentially less dice to wound (and definitely less dice to wound if we factor in more infantry for the extra points you save), and lower chances to wound, all for more points.

Ditto the same thoughts regarding Khamul on a fell beast (who costs the same as the Dragon Emperor, by the way), except extend the movement advantage to 12" with the Fly special rule, access to monster brutal power attacks, and effectively always having Bladewrath on him as long as he's on the fell beast. Oh, and as long as you're wounding things you're getting Will Points back, so you can cast more spells and keep fighting. Oh - and he also gets an In the Way from his fell beast, admittedly not with 6 wounds, but hey - it's a convenient similarity.

It gets worse: for the same cost as the Dragon Emperor you can get two mounted dragon knights - this is 3-4 attacks on the charge for each of them (so 6-8 attacks per turn, compared to 3 with a reroll for the Emperor), moving at 10" (so it's harder to escape them), with F5 and Strike (so basically the same chance at a high Fight Value), and if they knock you prone or trap you that's 12-16 dice to wound at S4. That's a loooooot of killing power that can be in two places at once for the same cost (technically 10 points cheaper, so you can field an extra guy, but that's just nuance).

Admittedly the Dragon Emperor is more resilient than these guys, but if your issue is killing things, these guys are your ticket to killing stuff far more than than he is.

There's also, as we mentioned above, the question of base size: he's not only 6" move (which is less maneuverable than a horseman, and gets worse if you take substantial wounds on the palanquin), he has a massive base, so maneuvering him through the line is not as easy as it appears on paper. When you factor in terrain (which can also cause him not to give his +1 Fight Value bonus if people can't see him), enemy formations, the need to take jump/climb tests (which I don't think he can do on the palanquin) - there's a lot of ways to hinder his movement, and that can reduce his killing power.

One final thing, because of how it's worded: apparently, when it comes to the strikes from the palanquin, "These Strikes are always resolved after those of the Dragon Emperor," meaning that, in an Assassination scenario, it's possible that the palanquin may deal the final wound to the assassination target. I'm not sure if that would count as being your "Assassin" if the Dragon Emperor is your assassin (which would require you to have another Legend guy in the list, but that's very possible considering both a favorable alliance matrix and the presence of Amdur in the list), or whether they are separate for every other consideration, and thus the wounds are not being done by the assassin. I have no idea, so I'd love to see other people's thoughts on this.

Conclusion

I like the Dragon Emperor, and by the way, anything I've said so far that's "negative" is also a positive for the game. In a world where the newest stuff tends to be the most powerful stuff (looking at you, Warhammer 40k), often outdating and antiquating what came before, I love the fact that some of the older heroes for the Easterlings are still quite good in comparison to a beautiful, awesome, new model. So a huge thank you to Jay Clare, Rob Alderman, and the rest of the GW Middle Earth team because you designed this model very well. It's good, but not the clear winner over the others. Everyone still has a place, and I'm grateful.

And I don't think he's undercosted, either; if he was more expensive you'd see less and less reason to take him over and against other hero options in the list, and since he only has a 6" move he is easier to avoid than the other heavy hitters in the list. I think 170 is about right: it's well costed, sure, but I don't think it's undercosted (and definitely not overcosted) for what you get.

For my Easterling force, my choices are pretty clear: Khamul or Amdur to start (depending on whether I want a flying monster) because I want mobility on my slayer, followed by Brorgir, followed by Rutabi, followed by a Dragon Knight, followed by a captain and a war priest. So I don't see myself using him anytime soon, but that's because he doesn't fit into my playstyle, not because he isn't valuable.

If you have thoughts, let us know down below!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane - yes, with humans alongside me if I must." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone