Draigo - Does he really work, and why?

[himkano]

I am been playing around with different builds, and I usually go the MSU route. I have 3 Dreadknights, and was thinking of using them, with Draigo and Paladins. They may not work, but thinking about this list made me realize that although it seems to be successful, I just don't see how an army such a Draigo wing, with such low model count, can succeed in 6th (or 5th for that matter). I am thinking a vindicator blast, or several guard tanks /artillery, a Vendetta Squadron, Plasma Vets (and plasma spam in general) - all seem more than capable of doing serious damage to a squad of paladins in just 1 turn (never mind if it takes more than a turn to get to combat), and then, once in combat, they can be tar-pitted by large fearless/stubborn units.

 

I am thinking of trying out a Draigo wing type army, to try to understand, but does anyone know why it works? Is it more complicated than just putting draigo in front of 10 paladins and charging across the board? Is it just because people don't know how to play against it?

[BrotherWasted]

It works because you need to roll twice as many 1s to lose Paladins than you do Terminators. The numbers are in your favor. Most people need 5s to hit you in close combat and you need to roll 1s to fail saves against anything that is not AP2. Most things that are AP2 are not S8 or higher, so you won't be losing many Paladins to Instant Death, either. Most Power Weapons no longer work as well against Paladins due the introduction of AP3 for most of them.

 

Even though you can't abuse Look Out, Sir! anymore, bypassing Draigo's 2+/3++ with Eternal Warrior is no easy task.

 

Yes, it really is as simple as putting Draigo with a bunch of models in Terminator Armor and running towards stuff (making sure to hug cover of course). Shots will bounce off you like nobody's business. All the while you get to lay down constant fire because your entire army is Relentless.

[nurglez]

I'll be honest in that I think a pure Draigowing force is hurt by the changes to 6th, and the biggest change is fearless. Due to only being able to affect a few enemy units due to a low unit count, if you get tied up in combat with fearless troops you are having the majority of your force nullified by a small amount (especially nids with tervigons...).

 

The few games of 6th I've had with my draigowing have gone ok, apart from a few losses. Vs Nid's I'm starting to struggle, and I feel I really need to combat squad more often, however then it will be easier to destroy my squads.

 

Draigo and friends have the same weakness they had to instant death weapons that bypass their save, although not that many armies pack multiples of these, and I normally prioritize these and send my DK's at them, or massed psycannon fire.

 

Also part of playing Draigowing well is understanding your weaknesses, and fighting your opponent where they are weakest. If they are shooty charge in, if they are great in assault back off and gun them up. 6th really is a new kind of beast, and it will take awhile to get used to the slight changes and plan for them. I have 2 tournaments coming up this month (1850 and 1500) and I don't feel as confident as I did in 5th, but as its my only fully painted army I'm committed :)

 

Also most infantry will hit paladins in close combat on 4+, only ws2 models need 5s to hit paladins.

[spartan249]

Draigowing is a very temperamental army, as it requires favorable terrain setups to thrive. Without cover and LOS blocking, draigowing falls hard because their greatest weakness is exposed for all to exploit.

 

Ironically, draigowing requires the most experience and sound decision making of any GK build, as a single mistake can lead to half the army disappearing in a turn.

 

If you can get those paladins into a situation where they are facing a small part of the OPFOR, you are looking at a winning proposition. Any other situation will see them crumble, whether it's fast or slow.

[DK1]

spartan249 has it on the nose...its an easy army to counter if the playing army isnt experienced at using a DraigoWing. Its easy to win with a DWing as long as your enemy isnt preped with lascannons and meltas. The key it using your psycannons to punch holes in the enemys key units. Having only 2 10 man teams means in a 5 turn game your looking at shooting and assault no more then 10 units. so each shot and move needs to make a dent.

[DK1]

Last note i feel a DraigoWing is 2x 10man teams of Palis with Draigo and a Libby...when you start mixing in DKs it becomes less wing and more balanced...and being able to make DKs scoring is awesome...again comes down to planning...make the enemy forget you have screaming paladins heading for him behind DKs firepower and might. I think 6th has made the balance come down to planning and good list building...i havent faced an auto win list yet.

[sirk]

Draigowing is an army where the tactic is very easy but the strategy quite complex.

More than in any other list I've played, the initial placement and pre-game decisions are key to victory. And you have a lot of them: Grand Strategy, Reserves, Scouting move, Outflanking, Combat-Squad.

With such a low model count, you have to know how you think to win that game from the very first turn and start moving accordingly, with your focus not being beating your opponent but simply win the game point-wise.

 

Btw, the most effective solution to fearless/stubborn units is the Brotherhood Banner. Of course there will be times where not even its additional attacks can cleat the opponent, but it really cuts the edges.