The Highborn Prince and Nobles are the leaders of the Highborn and other noble factions of the Elf / Aelf armies. in this section we will have a look at the Highborn Princes, Draconis Dragon Nobles, and several named Aelf heroes.
Why do we need a Hero?
In Age of Sigmar games you do not need to have a leader leading your army. However Heroes are the best fighters, have special/magic items that are better at killing your foe, and usually have Command Abilities that are better that the standard Inspiring Presence command ability.
Draconis and Highborn in one article?
Yes, this is a house rule around our way. The different Highborn factions are too small so we treat Highborn and Draconis as the same keyword and interchangeable. After a bit of play testing this seems to work well. If you want to take on the same house rule , great! otherwise ignore any tactics that assume that this is the case.
Aelf High Elf Prince on Griffon Tactics
If you have the Warhammer Fantasy Battles 8th edition box set ( Islands of Blood ), or the Spire of Dawn box set then you will have a lf Prince on Griffon.
The Griffon that the Elf Prince rides makes this a Monster and a hero. However this is an Elfish monster, sleek, elegant, and cuts like a razor. The upside of this is that the Prince on a Griffon is fast. The downside is that they will take damage quickly if they are attacked.
Griffon movement
Un-wounded the Prince and Griffon can fly 16″ a turn. This is a huge reach, but beware, this speed means that it is very easy to be caught out in the open without support. However this speed means that you can fly from one part of the table to another, supporting different units in your army or sniping at targets of opportunity. Just think ahead before you make your move!
One last note about movement is that the Griffon has a special rule when it comes to assault, the “Predatory Leap”. This rule allows you to leap 6″ when piling in. This should allow you to strike first in many assaults. Which leads us to…..
Prince on Griffon Weapons
All the prince’s weapons are combat weapons. This means that there is little advantage in holding back. He has quite a number of attacks too. 13 attacks per combat round when he is un-wounded. Most of these attacks wound 33.33% of the time, but many have -1 rend! This large number of attacks and minimal rend makes the Prince a good tool for taking on packs or swarms of smaller creatures rather than taking on Monstrous Creatures, even then the Prince will work better with assistance.
Prince on Griffon Command Ability : Glittering Charge
The Prince on Griffon makes for a good general. As such he come with an signature Command Ability “Glittering Charge” if you have the Prince as your general, and you use this ability in your command phase then near by Highborn units can re-roll either, or both charge roll dice if they charge before your next command phase. Remember that the Prince is always within 16“ of himself!
Aelf Dragon Prince Tactics
The Aelf Prince came as a box set of with a Dragon Prince on horse and a Dragon Prince on foot, or BSB (battle standard bearer). Game Workshop have added rules for including these models in Age of Sigma games.
If you have the downloaded the first warscroll pdf’s this model was listed as an Aelf Highborn Prince.
The Dragon Noble can be on foot or on horseback.
Dragon Nobel on Foot
The Dragon Noble on foot is armed with either a Starblade sword or a Enchanted Polearm.
Dragon Nobel on Horse
When mounted on a horse can take a Starlance instead of the Starblade or Polearm. If you are building your Dragon Prince have a think about your playing style before you stick the model together.
The Starlance has a 2″ reach so you will be able to attack the enemy over the top of any front line troops. The Starlance does wound less often (33.33% chance of wounding) but does have the -1 rend and a certain 2 damage.
Placing your Dragon Prince on a horse gives the Prince double speed at 12“ in the moment phase. The horse also gets in to the fight in the combat phase dishing out 2 attacks each with 25% chance of wounding.
As your Dragon Prince on horseback is much faster than your foot troops you will need to be careful that you don’t leave your Prince undefended. If you have other mounted troops you may want to make that unit a bodyguard for the Dragon Prince.
Dragon Prince Command Ability : Might of the Dragon
If you use this ability then the selected unit can re-roll failed hits. Remember that you can select the Dragon Prince himself. The best unit to select would be one that you are expecting to do a good deal of shooting or combat attacks. Another way to use this command ability is to choose a war machine where hitting the target delivers a large amount of damage.