Draconian Armored Dragons or Draconian Samurai?

One of the issues I've been considering while planning out the lore and setting for my fanfiction for Warhammer 40K is the name. Draconis has been decided on since long ago, so no problem there. Yeah, I got the name from Draconis Combine. But it's a fun name and I'm not using Combine anyway. What I'm wondering is whether I should stick with the name Draconian Armored Dragons or change it to the Draconian Samurai? Samurai sounds cool and it does fit in with the Japanese "knights" or warriors theme that I am going with the Draconis regiments, but I also want to throw in a mix of Chinese and perhaps Korean elements, so labeling them all as Draconian Samurai might not sound appropriate. That said, it sounds a lot cooler than Armored Dragons. Well, I'll appreciate any feedback and if anyone reads this, I hope they can tell me what they prefer.

I've to make adjustments to the lore and setting again thanks to further budget restraints. I realize that I can actually save money if I don't buy the Vendettas and buy an Aegis Defence Line instead. Since I need to buy a Hydra for the Steel Host formation no matter what, I'll have a Hydra either way. If that's the case, I might as well swap out the Vendetta for a Hydra and Aegis Defence Line. They're much cheaper than the Vendetta (and I've to buy the Hydra both ways which adds to the cost), and I also save money because I don't need to buy a 2nd Vendetta and then mull over what to take out from my army to fit in the 2nd Vendetta. Besides, 8 twin-linked Strength 7 AP4 shots, 4 of which are fired at ballistic skill 4, might be better than 3 twin-linked Strength 9 AP2 shots all fired at ballistic skill 3. I hope.

It also fits in nicely with the Armor theme. If the Draconian Armored Dragons focus solely on armor, then they will concentrate on nothing but tanks, super-heavy tanks and Imperial Kights instead of aircraft and the like. Having a Hydra fits into the heavy support/armored vehicles theme because they don't look out of place rolling beside the Leman Russ Tanks whereas a Vendetta seems to come out of nowhere. That said, I love Vendettas, and if I ever get the money I'll buy them and incorporate them back into the lore. Right now, all I can say is that we can't always get what we want, and both the Draconians and I have to face the harsh reality of not having Vendettas. Sigh.

Another reason for this change, which makes a lot of sense when I think about it, is that the strength of the Draconian Armored Dragons/Samurai lies in their gun line. They seem more to be the type to siege an opponent with armored vehicles, take up a defensive position by constructing cheap and easily constructed fortresses (Aegis Defence Line), and then throw down a hail of artillery from afar. As such, an Aegis Defence Line and Hydra, with their long range and the former's defensive cover, synergizes better with the Draconian gun-line.

The gun-line itself typically consists of a Shadowsword, a Leman Russ Vanquisher and a Leman Russ Batte Tank with two Imperial Knights escorting them. A couple of Veteran squads will man the Quad-gun at the Aegis Defence Line and use it as a forward base to provide the tanks cover, and a single Hydra reinforces the anti-air support. A powerful Psyker will also reside in the Aegis Defence Line to provide psychic support, perhaps casting Prescience to inform the Shadowsword of the enemy's position. As the Shadowsword's mighty Volcano cannon is a Destroyer weapon, it is absolutely imperative that every shot fired is never wasted.

For urban combat, the Shadowsword will be replaced by a Stormsword because the Stormsword Siege Cannon is more appropriate in flushing out infantry and vehicles hiding in the cover of buildings and other structures than the Volcano cannon which serves as an anti-Titan weapon more than anything else. In fact, the Stormsword is more flexible than the Shadowsword, whose role is pretty limited, particularly when there are no other super-heavy units present. On the other hand, its lack of range means that it will have to advance ahead of the long-range support the Battle Tank and Vanquisher gun-line provides, but then again it has 2 Imperial Knights to escort it. Once again, they will be aided by a Psyker, though not as skilled as the ones supporting a Shadowsword (Primaris Psyker Mastery Level 2 vs. Inquisitor Psyker Mastery Level 1), who will often help the Vanquisher and Battle Tank land their hits on enemy vehicles, tanks and infantry while staying under the cover that the Aegis Defence Line provides, along with anti-air guns from the Quad-gun and the Hydra.

Sometimes the terrain will prove impossible to construct an Aegis Defence Line, or the Draconis regiments simply do not have time to establish a forward defence base, being thrown straight into the fighting. Often these cases require overwhelming firepower, especially once they disembark in a hot landing zone. To back up the overwhelming firepower, and true to the Draconians' reluctance to use infantry, they will send in a single Doomhammer that is loaded up with 2 Veteran squads and a Psyker, which is in turn escorted by 3 Imperial Knights and 2 Exterminators. This is supposed to be a more flexible army that can deal with pretty much anything with overwhelming firepower, but is also able to address stuff such as airborne threats in the absence of an Aegis Defence Line and its Quad-gun as well as a Hydra. This version is pretty mobile as the Exterminators can move up rather than merely sit back and fire from stationary positions like the Battle Tank and Vanquisher. Yet at the same time they possess fairly decent range and do not need to close in on their foes like their Punisher and Executioner brethren.

That doesn't mean the Doomhammer is only used for hot landing zones or aggressive missions. In defensive missions, the Doomhammer will usually be assigned a crew of Techpriest Enginseers and Servitors to repair it from within as it slowly advances forward. Escorted by 2 Imperial Knights and 2 Exterminators, they will pound their enemies from afar as they slowly move in to choke the life out of them. Often they will have a safe forward defence base to fall back to, usually in the form of an Aegis Defence Line with its ever-reliable Quad-gun.

There is no change to the Steel Host. Again, the Draconians rely on their favored Executioners to make up the bulk of their Leman Russ Tanks formations and squadrons, often escorting three Leman Russ Executioners with a single Leman Russ Eradicator, and leaving a single Leman Russ Battle Tank and a Hydra behind to provide long-range support and anti-air. The Tank Commander is clearly identifiable as the only Executioner that has plasma cannons sponsons. This apparently is a sign of the veteran crews' experience and confidence that they won't be blowing themselves up with their plasma weapons any time soon (thanks to Preferred Enemy, but why not make that part of the lore?).

Despite the prominence of Leman Russ Vanquishers and Battle Tanks in Draconian gun-lines, the Leman Russ Executioner continues to be a favorite of many regiments. Sometimes when they lack Imperial Knights (for example, only having one Imperial Knight per company), they will compensate with additional Leman Russ Executioners, usually accompanied by a Tank Commander in a Leman Russ Punisher. These are usually for the more aggressive squads who prefer to advance into their opponents' locations with the siege tank variants (the Leman Russ variants with reinforced rear armor) using devastating plasma rather than slowly pound their enemies to dust with long-range artillery fire. In fact, even if some commanders have enough Imperial Knights (2 or more per company), they will swap out their Hydras and Leman Russ Battle Tanks for Leman Russ Executioners when they deem the air threat negligible, taking confidence in the overwhelming firepower of the Imperial Knights and the Executioners' plasma cannons. Such is the popularity of Executioners among the Draconian Armored Dragons/Samurai that they remain the staple among tank squadrons.

So the only change is that the Vendettas have been replaced by Hydras and Aegis Defence Line, to make the slow, armored vehicles theme more pronounced. This might actually be fun and much more affordable. If I have the money, I'll buy the Vendettas, but most likely I won't because I still need to buy Grey Knights so that I can covert a Terminator into an Ordo Malleus Inqusitor. By the way, I have an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor named Wayne. Wayne is also known as Wayne the Vain because he's a bit fussy over his appearance (always going about how cool his Terminator armor looks). Well, he didn't always have Terminator Armor. He'll start out as the standard Inquisitor with Carapace Armor, Bolt Pistol and Force Sword, and get the Terminator Armor in future. Even after he obtains it, he doesn't always wears it, preferring to don it only when he wants to Deep Strike into the middle of enemy forces. The main character is still Joe, but I'm wondering if I should give him a Japanese name. You know, to fit in with the Japanese theme of the Draconis system and all that.

Ryza is pretty unhappy that Draconis stole (we prefer to use the word "borrowed") and replicated the designs of their revered Executioner, and to add insult to injury mass produced much cheaper versions of inferior quality. Not that Draconis cares - they just carried on and continued to alienate themselves just as they did whenever other forge worlds or Inquisitors complain about their borderline-heretical technological research.

Oh, right. And the Draconians are fanatically loyal to their Emperor (as if you don't know that already). As I hinted earlier, there are rumors that Tzeetch is behind the Draconians' psychic potential and resistance, as well as the drive behind their technological fervor. Again, this fervor is sometimes attributed to what might be the brethren of the dragon the Emperor imprisoned in Mars so long ago (and the Omnissah the Adeptus Mechanicus worships). So it's not all happy stuff for the Draconian Samurai. Despite this, their faith and loyalty to the Emperor might give them the edge over Chaos when Tzeetch or the Dragon comes to claim them.

I was thinking Samurai because they use Imperial Knights, and are sometimes known as Imperial Samurai rather than Imperial Knights because it's more fun that way. And Samurai wear armor, which is kind of fitting considering the Draconis regiments rely heavily on armor instead of infantry. Minimal infantry, and what infantry they have they hide inside the Aegis Defence Line instead of foot-slogging (we don't torture our soldiers, if we really need to move them across the map, we'll get them a Doomhammer - see how nice we are?). For good reason, too. Someone has to man that Quad-gun. 2 squads? Um, well......the 2nd Veteran squad is held back to defend the long-range tanks such as Vanquishers and Battle Tanks, mostly against deep-striking units such as Terminators (wait, their flashlights, I mean lasguns can't do anything to them.....well, they'll just scream "Banzai!" and rush forward with their bayonets to tarpit the Terminators then).

That's all I can think of for now. As always, I'm open to suggestions, and I hope for some feedback before I begin writing this story. I'll focus on The hero's replacment for now, but that's a completely different genre altogether (Japanese light novel styled) and I wonder how I'm going to switch to the grim and dark future of the 41st Millennium. Ha ha. Oh well. For the Emperor!