Colchidian Dragon : It's a Trap [BG]

I like the sculpt. Also bring a new gameplay ascpect with his cancellation power. Generally i dont tend to like those since i like battles , but its better then discard .

I like the "Nessie" sculpt, the artwork is very nice as well!

For 4RP, 8/8 and an initiative skill that also cancels the enemy's attack (basically wasting his/her activation card) isn't bad at all. You really want to hold an activation card when your Colchis Dragon is attacked! And you may even opt to not attack when you can (lying in wait) so your opponent may be tempted to attack because he/she thinks you can't activate the Dragon. Makes for some fun mind games!

Furthermore, 9 vitality, guard and block makes it a very solid monster for its cost. A tough nut to crack!

You'll need some good ranged/aoe attacks to deal with this dragon! He's just begging for you to throw your enemies into him. With good positioning, you can block off entire zones of the map from your enemy.

Disabling talents seems pretty big. Its not just disabling them from being used against him, but being used period. Sounds pretty good when moving into the opponent their gods safe space with their troops and likely a hero or such to buff them and guard the god.

He'd be able to block pretty much everyone save the few that have powers and not talents that allow them to not be blocked. He'd block those who can normally block since they wouldnt have the talent against him.

But removing that guard, that might be the real game changer. With him you can strike at some pesky weak buffer or the enemy god without someone else getting in the way.

Yup, a whole lot of units depend on their talents to do well, especially gods. Disabling these talents is indeed a huge deal.

MaxC wrote:Yup, a whole lot of units depend on their talents to do well, especially gods. Disabling these talents is indeed a huge deal.

Not only that but I consider this units as one of the few units that really makes sacrificing an AoW to search for an activation card worth the cost. After all: if you immediately terminate your opponent's attack, you render his Activation card useless, basically it's lost - and his unit has lost some vitality in the process as a result of the retaliation. As I wrote, when positioned you may keep its Activation card ready in case you want to retaliate.

Of course it has weaknesses: this is a unit you'd want to fight at range. At melee distance it's extremely good for its RP.
May want to combine it with "pull" units like Helios or Rhadamant(h)us.

Teowulff wrote:
May want to combine it with "pull" units like Helios or Rhadamant(h)us.

Pull or Mighty Throw, yes.

I had the hydra as my favorite unit until I saw this monster. It is so strong on the defense.

Two bad things: Not suited for attacking, as you want to retaliate/neuter aggressors. And then the sculpt is to comical for me. The solutions are to know your role, and use the dragon for defenddomg a key area. The other solition is to pick one of the others wurms to represent.

This one... is so powerfull. This one will most certainly be in my army a few times!

I am not a big fan of this mini. (we'll see its size on the board) I would have like a pose more like the artwork with the head more backward, ready to strike.

This certainly is one creature that Perseus would counter perfectly.
The powers don't work on him, and neither would his initiative or block.

Guard seems a bit of a grey area.. I think it would not affect Perseus because it would force Perseus to attack the dragon and not someone else he might be going for?

Either way he might be able to deal some good damage. 7 dice against 8 defence and able to reroll blanks does not seem too bad.
Especially if you combine it with ranged support from other units.

About the stats:
4RPs, 4AC, 8att/8def, 9vit: pretty balanced. It is one of the 4RPs big monsters.
No powers requiring AoW: this is a big selling point ! However, you need AC in hands to use Vigilance retaliation.
Move=1 : clearly a weak point.
Guard + Vigilance: very (very) good God bodyguard.
Sleepless Guardian: the reason to chose it ! Note that only enemies in the area are affected (not allies and not against ranged attacks). Let's see: Block => you can block the unblockables ! Troop boosters (Bolster, Close Protection, Guard, Leader, Phalanx, Sneak Attack) => disabled. Close Combat, Initiative, Monster Slayer, Torment => all these boosts are negated. Mighty Throw => no the Dragon do not move (if range 0).

So this unit seems to be limited by his move. If the enemy God comes to the center of the map, you can attack and pin it there. Otherwise, you can follow your god on Omphalos collection.
Interesting to pair with Helios indeed ^^

Rhalius wrote:This certainly is one creature that Perseus would counter perfectly.

Good catch.

Rhalius wrote:Guard seems a bit of a grey area.. I think it would not affect Perseus because it would force Perseus to attack the dragon and not someone else he might be going for?

Indeed.
I would say the opposite. Guard is not forcing the enemy to attack somebody else (that's Minos trick) but your unit move to take the attack instead. So I would rule that the Dragon can still take the attack (but is it really a good idea with Monster Slayer ?) (no Initiative either).