Fire Dragons, In-Game Illustration

So, I contend the current paradigm of (usually five or six, so let's say six) 6-man Fire Dragons in a Wave Serpent precludes the consideration of anything else... say, for example - and I'm just pulling this out of thin air here - oh, say 10 Fire Dragons?

Okay, to recap that's the way I use them, two squads at 1850 and nowadays probably three at 2000+.  I contend it gives you a unit that threatens anything!  Now, we're considering them alone, but Eldar more than any other army rely on synergy, so you'd use your Dragons in combination with your Farseer, among others.  Doom, Fortune, Guide - if you're reading this, you don't need me to walk you through the possibilities.

Here's an example from Game 6 of BoLSCon 2009.  Also, be aware I didn't consider this an optimized list; for reasons I won't go into now, I didn't take my Council list.  That said, I did feel like I could present a threat to anyone I played.

I dropped the Dragons on the other side of the forest to take aim at a Daemon Prince.  Note the two Falcons are immobilized - Joe Cherry took first turn and knocked them both out of the air, which was a tough blow to my game plan.  Anyway, not all the Dragons would be in range (12-inches is the big downside of Dragons), so I felt like I needed both squads to assure I torrented enough cover saves to destroy the DP, which I did.  I also wanted to draw Joe forward, since my army relied on the counter-attack... and he was content to stay home, all turtled-up.  I made sure he wouldn't be able to charge both squads when he drove his Raider forward and disgorged his 'Zerkers.  I was actually worried he wouldn't kill the entire yellow unit of Dragons on the charge, since I needed them out in the open to kill off... I needn't have worried, 'cause he did then I did.  I considered it a good trade: one unit of Dragons for a Daemon Prince, 10 Berzerkers, and a Land Raider.

Here's the follow-up.  I was able to push up, given that the left flank was secure (that forward Raider was destroyed).  I was trying to draw Abaddon and his boys out of the other Raider.  The game went on...

Note I'm not advocating for Eldar the way I played them then.  As I move on with this series of articles, I'll talk about what I believe are good options for Eldar in 2010.  I'm actually more in agreement with trends now that maintain Eldar need a fully Mech'd out army.  I have a few twists to offer, perhaps.