Dragons, a proposal

Warning: this is an opinion piece and talks about future game design, not the current one.

A few days ago, one of the more prominent Salamander players posted in the Fanatics page about his leagues proposed change to fliers, that Monsters and Horde units would lose the automatic nimble bonus given to fliers.  This brought up a bunch of hubbub and discussion, and prompted me to think about how dragons can be treated in future editions to allow for more design space moving forward.

50mm square. just sayin.

Before I state my thoughts, I want to clarify what a dragon type unit is, typically it's a Hero, can fly but may have an option to be walking only (krudger, Daemonspawn, etc.), has some form of CS and TC combined to 3-4, and costs over 270ish at least (240 for the revenant king on wyrm).  They also will typically have some sort of secondary ranged attack or spell, like LB5 or Breath attack 10-16. 

These units are the biggest baddest units an army can muster, and will hit like a train.  However they have very low attacks for points, and are a serious investment in your list.  In my experience they get better the more you use, 1 is good, 2 is great, 3 depends highly on the list, but can be really good. The nerve is also typically about 17/19, with the lowest being 15/17. 

This is what I think is the best style of dragon in the game.  Why you might ask? because he is not just there to fly around and kick ass, but is a proper centerpiece unit with support options as well.  The Daemonspawn has rallying 2, and should be using it to full effect to get the best out of him. It can take out units and threaten flanks, but carries a significant value to being by the army, and not being thrown around. It also avoids getting items, meaning the issues of pre-CoK17 with def 6 dragons and regen dragons could be avoided.  Also worth noting it has the option to fly, rather than having it forced. 

Should the suggestion that there be 2 distinct types of fliers happen in 3rd edition, smaller units with nimble, and larger units without, adding more dragons in the vein of the current living legends as large support and centerpiece units would complement that change.  So rather than having these highly maneuverable and killy monsters, they are better designed to get into the thick and support their armies from the center, or be the center of a flank force buffing/debuffing everything around it.  Lastly this change would bring a very distinct difference from the dragon and the griffon.  Currently a griffon or Pegasus mounted character is just a cheap knock-off dragon, and doesn't really offer anything other than being that, while they might be good, they don't do anything different design wise.  Turning dragons into proper centerpiece units makes them distinctly different, especially if there is a change to nimble and fly in 3rd edition.