Elysian drop army

[LemanRussCommander]

has anyone put together a drop army? If so any pros and cons would be much appreciated thnx

[George Labour]

I posted a list for the force I'm building but have yet to play with the rules from Imperial Armour 8.

The biggest issues are the apparent lack of special weapons for command squads, no autocannons except on vultures, and a lack of heavy armour.

However, since Vendettas are still fast attack, that leaves heavy support for the vulture and skytalon both of which can serve as anti horde. The fact most infantry squads can take regurlar valkyries might alleviate that issue as well.

Finally the drop sentinels with multi meltas seem to be the perfect semi disposable platforms. Cheap, droppable, with move through cover and can be transported by a sky talong. They also can be taken as part of a platoon so count as a troops choice when deploying. The fact they have multi meltas (or H.bolters) and two of them are easier to fit on the board than a infantry squad make them more practical for deep striking rather than being in a vehicle or deploying normally.

Right now I'm working with the idea of a minimally equipped command squad, a big platoon for blobbing and potential deep strike overload, with veterans and vendettas serving as the blitzkrieg. D.sentinels would drop in where they could and try to nuke any heavy armor thus leaving infantry and light vehicles to missile, and melta vets.

I don't expect to win much. but there's only so much armored fist overload people will play against.

I'm also planning on using the Steel Legion line of models to save on cash since I have an armyr from way back from codex armageddon. Though I plan to get a few elysians in the future, especially the rather nifty Tauros Ventator.

[DrLove42]

Think george has covered most of the points there in term of gameplay.

The biggest con for me (cos i love the idea) is the sheer cost. With needing 5 or so Valks, which would include the FW special ones even for a 1500 point list it gets rather expensive

[Tynskel]

Friend of mine has a 1000 point army.

Loves it---- he just loves the models and the silly things that go on when you deep strike--- Oh Noes, a squad mishaped! Got 10 more from where that came from...

[George Labour]

Think george has covered most of the points there in term of gameplay.

The biggest con for me (cos i love the idea) is the sheer cost. With needing 5 or so Valks, which would include the FW special ones even for a 1500 point list it gets rather expensive

The cost is reason two I'm using regurlar GW minis. Only conversions I need to do are to turn a sentinel's flamer into a multi melta and I'm good to go. So I can assemble a 1500 point force with minimal cash output and they still are fairly WYSIWIG.

Though, I'm stumped as to an alternative for the Tauros Ventaors so those will likely be purchased from FW. If you save up enough cash you can also buy a lump of models all at once, and save on shipping. Something like 50 bucks a month for six months would net you most of the vultures and Tauros you might need.

Which brings up some potentially good advice for this kind of army. Take it slow, play with proxies, and plan out what you'll need to invest in. Also, be ready to deal with the potential problems that comes with working on resin models

[LemanRussCommander]

to george:

how are the Tauros' the models are amazing, def gonna get some just to be sentinels if nothing else, but are they effective?

[Tynskel]

Which brings up some potentially good advice for this kind of army. Take it slow, play with proxies, and plan out what you'll need to invest in. Also, be ready to deal with the potential problems that comes with working on resin models

Don't forget the potential awesomeness that Resin models have too.

Hot water, cold water, and bending!

[George Labour]

Go to the FW site and have a look at them. They seem to be one of those models people either love, or find something to dislike due to some preconceived notion on how 40k vehicles should look.

As for how awesome they are, it's a personal choice. To be honest, they're not on my to buy list, but only because I'm trieing to keep it simple and so am mostly using models I can pick up easily and cheaply since this is one of my side projects.

Both the regurlar Tauros and its big brother the venator have saves against both immobilization and dangerous terrain checks. They're also both fast, scout vehicles which means they can get in on people's flanks, or be used for outflanking. You can also load them up in Valkryies or skytalons (venator requires the talon) if you wanted to, and had spare points for more aircraft.

Weapon wise the tauros has a 36" range two shot grenade launcher, or H.flamer. The venator can pack a TL multilaser or lascannon and both can carry two HK missiles. Keep in mind this is all on a fast vehicle with a scout move.

Points wise, a squadron of three is more than a single vendetta, but they're easier to manuever, and obviously have a different role to play.

They're also open topped with armor only slightly better than an ork buggy. But again, that immobilization save can keep them alive when squadroned up.

Did I mention they look kewl yet?

AS for the awesomeness of resin, I do like my smaller scale resin models for games like Heavy Gear, but I really don't like working with complex kits for larger scale games. Though if I can't find a suitably Steel Legionized alternative elsewhere I will likely grab a squadron of Venators early next year.

And while we're still on the topic of awesome. The long range ground scanner the elysians can get is pretty epic too. It's vbasically either an anti infiltrator, or an extra order giver that lets one unit a turn reroll a miss if they make a 4+ roll. Though it does require a bit of splurging on vox casters to get the most use out of it as otherwise that reroll ability only has a 12" range.

[Hyperion]

The cost is reason two I'm using regurlar GW minis. Only conversions I need to do are to turn a sentinel's flamer into a multi melta and I'm good to go. So I can assemble a 1500 point force with minimal cash output and they still are fairly WYSIWIG.

Though, I'm stumped as to an alternative for the Tauros Ventaors so those will likely be purchased from FW. If you save up enough cash you can also buy a lump of models all at once, and save on shipping. Something like 50 bucks a month for six months would net you most of the vultures and Tauros you might need.

Which brings up some potentially good advice for this kind of army. Take it slow, play with proxies, and plan out what you'll need to invest in. Also, be ready to deal with the potential problems that comes with working on resin models

Stumped? Really?

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/photopost/showfull.php?photo=1289

http://www0.uk.shopping.com/Mcfarlane-Toys-Halo-3-Series-1-Warthog-Vehicle/info

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Halo-Action-Clix-Warthog-Vehicle/dp/B000UIP92G

[George Labour]

If I was doing cadians that'd be ace. But Steel Legion have a slightly differnt look. I needs something boxy and enclosed.

Probably going to go for some old Crow models once I make a decision on the issue.

Also I've little reason to get any until I'm over 1500 points, as I keep looking at throwing in a bunch of deep striking sentinels for shee fun value.