How to play Drakes
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General Drake Strategies
On the first turn when you have a random opponent it is good to get a mixture of units. A Scout, Fighter, Burner, Clasher, and Skirmisher would be an example of such a recruit. When you discover what faction your opponent is, go to the appropriate section below for more advice. Drakes generally win by dealing the most damage. your units are big and deadly, but they're also more expensive than most. Take advantage of having the best mobility in the game by placing your units in hard-to-access places such as behind mountains or across water from your opponent. You'll have the advantage by being able to decide when and where battles will happen. Your major disadvantage is how easily your units will take damage. Because of this you'll usually want to be the aggressor in battle to kill a unit or two, get damaged, and then flee to heal. Having a mobile healer helps with this if villages are sparse.
Since you trade your defense for other abilities, Fighting battles where your opponent has low defense will give you a greater advantage than it will any other faction. If your opponent refuses to leave 70% defensive terrain you'll probably want an Augr or 2 to attack at night.
Drakes v. Undead
Playing as Drakes in this matchup is some of the most fun for me. The deadliest matchup in Wesnoth, this game will result in lots of casualties, and quickly. Both factions are incredibly offensive and of opposite alignment. Skeletons are weak to Fire, Adepts to melee, and Drakes are weak to Pierce and Cold. Basically, whoever is left standing wins.
Drake Burner
You'll want a coulpe of these to burn any Skeletons, Ghosts, Bats, WCs, Ghouls, well, basically any unit it can burn other than Adepts. Even burning Archers at daytime isn't a bad idea as it's the most effective way to kill them. The most expensive unit you can recruit, you'll want to recruit them sparingly and keep them alive.
Drake Clasher
With Strong Clashers dealing an awesome 9-4 Pierce damage during the day, these are great Adept butchering units, as well as damage soakers. Due to their price you'll want to avoid recruiting too many. Level one of these into Gladiator and skeletons won't pose a threat anymore, even at night.
Drake Glider
Dealing Impat melee and Fire ranged, these guys won't be worthless at any point, but their damage is still very weak compared to what the rest of your army can do. If you get one to level 2 you'll be able to take advantage of a current glitch if the unit.cfg that removes the unit's weakness to Cold. Even with the presence of the glitch, recruiting more than 1 isn't smart.
Drake Fighter
A good Adept killer moreso for their mobility than damage, the presence of a Fire ranged gives them some slight flexibility in their usage.
Saurian Augr
Don't recruit this unit when fighting Undead.
Saurian Skirmisher
This little guy actually plays a very crucial role in your army against Undead. If the Undead didn't have Adepts you'd simply roll right over them. Well, since Adepts are such a necessary unit in their attack against you you'll need to take them out, and you'll need to be able to do that under any circumstances. The Skirmisher gives you a weapon that not only can hustle around enemy units to strike protected DAs, but he also gets better at night - the time when you'll want them to be dead the fastest. Having a couple of these guys around can really save your ass.
Tactics
On the first turn you'll want a couple Burners, a Fighter or Clasher, a Skirmisher, and another useful unit. If your opponent gets mass Skeleton Archers, get Clashers and Burners. If he gets lots of Adepts get Skirmishers and Fighters. If he likes Ghouls & Ghosts, you'll want Burners.
Deal as much damage as you can at day, because you won't be dealing much at night. Keep Burners in front as they'll do great return damage to any Adepts that try to counter-attack you during your daytime assault: they'll do 12-2 while you do 7-4. Adepts have 28 base hp.
At night simply retreat out of Adept range and have Skirmishers ready to take out any that get too close. Even if you have to retreat from a village to avoid Adepts it's worth it. You may lose a few gold, but it shouldn't add up to the 16+ you'd lose for a lost Drake. If your opponent takes the village and moves closer he'll also be closer to your new recruits to counter-attack. As day turns chase them away and you should net some gold for the units your opponent will have to replace.
Drakes v. Rebels
Playing Drakes in this matchup can be difficult. Your units have low defense and are weak to Pierce where the Rebels have high defense and use Pierce. You'll want to recruit a mix of drakes and saurians so that their neutrality doesn't become an advantage at any time of day. Take cheap shots when you can, because they will alwyas be taking cheap shots at you.
Drake Burner
This unit is a great weapon to take out Elvish Fighters and they absolutely massacre Woses. Effective in both melee and ranged combat, this unit is always useful against Rebels on attack or defense. He costs 21g though, and there are other units you will need to recruit to be sucessful.
Drake Clasher
The only drake without a weakness to Pierce, this unit is great against Rebels. He will tear through Archers and he will beat EFs in a fight. He will overpower any Rebel and it's essential to have these guys in your force.
Drake Glider
Good for their movement, and can be useful to get to those hard to reach hexes to get extra shots at Archers or Shamans. Recruit according to map need for scouts.
Drake Fighter
Useful as a mobile fighter, the Fighter is what you'll want if there are 2 deperate battlefields within close flying range of each other. The ability to leave one battle to help the other is quite useful, which is true of Burners as well, though they move slower. For pure fighting power the Clasher is better, and he is hardier. If mobility is necessary on the map though, get 1 or 2 of these guys.
Saurian Augr
I find these guys essential to fighting Rebels. This guy is the only easy way yuo'll be taking elves out of forest. Augrs have incredibly low hp, so keep them behind the line to heal your power units, or stick him in forest hexes your opponent will want. Using these guys as your first attackers at night will allow you to get their damage in and then move other units in fron of them and consequently heal.
Saurian Skirmisher
Useful mainly against Scouts, Archers, and Mages at night, don't recruit too many of this unit even if you're tempted. They're fragile units
Tactics
On the first turn you'll want to recruit a Clasher, a Burner, an Augr, and a mix of other units like a Scout, another Clasher, or a Skirmisher. During daytime you'll want to deal as much damage as possible, as that's when you'll have the advantage. Elves fighting you will suffer massive return damage during the day. To help you out, keep your units away from places where the Rebels can use forest to attack you from, and remember to have your Augr(s) heal.
At night you can still be aggresive with Augrs. You'll probably want to retreat your drakes slightly and put any Skirmishers (or even Clashers) you have up front on good terrain. Don't be afraid to keep a mobile unit up front either if it can survive 1 round of attacks; if it can do this and survive it will slow the progress of your enemy and you can easily fly the unit back behind your line to heal. Always make sure that the front line cannot be attacked from forest hexes if possible, though this won't be as big of a deal if you have several Augrs to cut through their defense. Don't be afraid to trade a Skirmisher for an Acher if you get a chance to kill one on poor terrain: you'll get a gold advantage as well as taking out the most dangerous unit the Rebels have against you.
Another strategy is to strike hard at day and then completely retreat at night. Keep your units just out of reach of your opponent and allow them to come closer to your recruits to make your counter-attack swifter and more deadly. This strategy is often quite effective as it prevents your drakes from fighting at unfavorable TOD and it allows you to decide how tohe first battle takes place.
Generaly your targets to kill will start with Archers, as they are the most deadly unit to your forces (especially to Clashers). Next you'll want to get rid of any low hp units your opponent has and any units on poor terrain making themselves targets. Try to keep your Clashers away from Shamen if possible (free Slow), and ignore Fighters if another unit presents itself as an equally appealing target. Elvish Fighters can't deal significant damage to your drakes without taking a good amount of return damage, so let them hurt themselves on you while you take out units that you won't receive much return damage from (Burners on Fighters at day though can be quite devastating).
Genreally, pick your spots where the advantage presents itself when you can deal the most damage with little return damage if possible. Keep Elves from Forest hexes if possible, and use your advantagrous mobility.
Drakes v. Northerners
This matchup can be rather interesting. The main thing you generally worry about is the cheap northerner units and the expensive drake units. Drakes have much better units but unfortunately they are expensive. Usually when I lose vs. Northerners it is because of the sheer number of units they are capable of sending.
Drake Burner
A very useful unit during the day and even effective at night vs fighters and whelps and wolf riders due to their lack of ranged defense. And with at least 7-2 melee, they have the ability to defend their melee attacks. Be very careful with the number of burners you recruit though because they are rather expensive and you need to be able to defend against the shear number of units northerners are able to send.
Drake Clasher
I prefer the drake clasher over the drake fighter in most cases and especially when playing against northerners. The clasher is best to defeat those pesky and annoying assassins. Even though they cannot defend ranged attacks, their 6-4 pierce attack will definitely hurt an assassin as the assassin has -20% to pierce. Clashers have high amounts of HP and can are very effective in fighting northerners, even though it will normally be melee against melee much of the time.
Drake Glider
Personally, I use maybe one or two gliders in the original recruiting to get to villages quickly. I usually use them afterwords as a quick unit that can run around and aid in damage in order to kill and level other units. I'll also use them for gaining info on recruits. Perhaps I'll use one to capture an enemy village in hopes to distract an area that i feel i may be losing dominance in.
Drake Fighter
I try to stay away from fighters but if you need a unit and can't wait for an extra turn, fighters are good to recruit because they are quicker then clashers and have at least minor defense with their ranged attack, and occasionally offense when you just need to deal that little bit of extra damage to make the kill and can't afford to risk with your melee attack.
Saurian Augr
These units are pretty effective and very useful but do not keep them in the front of the battle. Use them behind other units to heal and to finish off with magical attacks. These units are easy to level and very effective with 8-3 magical and heal. Be careful with saurians because they do not have large amounts of hp.
Saurian Skirmisher
Because of their small amount of HP you should try to refrain from using skirmishers however they can be helpful at times. I generally get a couple in battle and attempt to level them. They are pretty effective level 2 units.
Tactics
Your first depend highly on the map, exp percentage, gpv. As a general rule of thumb I try to get all villages on the 3rd turn and then recruit depending on the units i see from my opponent.
Drakes v. Drakes
This is possibly the deadliest mirror match in the game. Saurians have low hp, but deal good damage to their Drake counterparts. You'll want a good mix of both units as you'll likely be fighting at all times of the day.
Drake Burner
Generally bad recruit in this matchup. Burners cannot do significant damage to other Drakes, though they do get free shots on Clashers. They can also torch any Saurians found on bad terrain, which is unlikely, though this is probably their greatest use.
Drake Clasher
This unit should be the majority of your forces. Dealing heavy Pierce damage and having the most hp out of any recruit (as well as not having a negative Pierce resistance), makes him the beast of burden in this matchup. Hope that yours get the Strong and Resiliant traits and his get the Quick and Intelligent traits. He will beat Fighters and Burners 1v1, and the only units he needs to fear are Augrs and other Clashers, and Skirmishers at night.
Drake Glider
As like the Burner, this unit is just a poor recruit. It has no upside other than the inconsequential Marksman on his breath attack. Do not recruit them unless the map is huge.
Drake Fighter
Not the best recruit, but he can be handy if the map makes Clashers slow. They can also tear Augrs to pieces, so if Augrs become a problem a few of these are an alright recruit. Also good as a replacement for the Glider for village grabbing, especially if Quick.
Saurian Augr
An essential unit. Their Cold magic deals 9-3 damage to Drakes at night, ripping them to pieces. Their healing will also be essential if used properly, as this is a bloody fight. Be careful not to over-recruit these guys, as they are quite weak in defense against any unit.
Saurian Skirmisher
These guys are also a good force to have, but again, not too many. Your Pierce damage should mainly come from your Clashers, but a couple of Skirmishers to attack opposing Augrs as well as Drakes at night can prove very valuable, especially with their high defence. Their ability to get behind the enemy lines gives you more hexes to attack the enemy from.
Tactics
On the first turn you'll want several Clashers, a couple Saurians, and possibly a Fighter or Glider to grab villages. Village distribution will determine if you need a Glider or not, as well as map size.
At night, use your Augrs on the opposing Clashers first, using your Clashers and Skirmishers to finish up. Make sure to protect your Augrs though, as they die easily, even at night. Killing a Clasher will remove a major threat come daytime, as well as net you 19g. If you must trade a Skirmisher to kill a Clasher at night, it can often be worth it.
At day you'll want to attack first with your Augrs again. Their Cold magic will do 6-3 in daytime to Drakes, which is still quite powerful. Follow up with your now incredibly deadly Clashers: Strong Clashers in day will deal 10-4 to any non-Clasher Drake.
Genreally, this is the danger level of your enemy units: Clasher, Augr, Skirmisher, Fighter, Burner, Glider. You may choose to either target the deadliest units first (Clashers being easy targets for Augrs), or go for the weaker units first to give yourself a monetary advantage quickly, while receiving little retaliation damage. Either strategy can work, and levelling an Augr can prove exceptionally deadly to your opponent. Intelligent Augrs level within 2 kills. Whichever strategy you use, be sure to kill, and not just hurt your opponent, because your opponent will flee and have the unit return to fight again.