To drop or not to drop

[Hades Alpha]

Should tactical marines drop with drop pod or should they ride in rhinos/razorback? I’m still working on my list and I’m having hard time choosing between those two transports mode.

I understand that once the drop pod has landed, your marines are quite stranded. But at least they are where you want them. Also, with drop pod it’s easier to get a grip on those infernal gun lines. However it’s always more suicidal to drop your guys far from any support.

Whereas with the rhinos, you can move them around as much as you want. On the plus side, you can build rhino wall which is a great to block LoS. On the negative side, once the rhino is destroyed your marines are walking and they might not be where you want them to be. Also, charging gun lines with rhinos is quite suicidal as well.

So there it is. I’d like to have your opinion on this topic. Do you think a mix of both is viable or should you go all drop pod or all rhino? What do you field? In your local tournament, what do you see most?

[Chumbalaya]

It depends on how the rest of your army is set up.

If you have mech, use Rhinos, if you use DPs, use DPs. Bring them in the second wave to secure objectives while your alpha strikers do their thing.

Remember that Tac squads are not terribly killy and are better at holding objectives than going on the offensive. You have much better units for aggressive roles.

[Dingareth]

I use Drop Pods for my 2000 point list with 30 Sternguard, 20 Tacticals, Pedro, and Tigirius. I use my Pods to put pressure on them from turn 1, it throws a lot of people off, especially if you play closed list like we do. It allows yourself to position you exactly where you need to be, whereas Rhino only give you more mobility, allowing you to eventually get where you need to go.

How many points is also a factor. If you're playing a large enough game where you can afford for 150 point of your army to do nothing all game besides block LOS, than go for Pods, but in a small game, Rhino and Razorback can tank shock squads without Fists and Melta.

[Kloud]

The minimum number of Drop Pods used in an army should be 3. If you only have 1 drop Pod, Buy 2 more, or trade it away.

I play with 3 pods, and even then it can be a bit sketcky. I offset this by using Capt. Sicarius. Here is What I do.

1 Iron Hands Captain Glau. (he is heavily converted with Bionic parts, and has the head with half skin gone, and metal head unerneath. but he Counts as Capt. Siccarius.)
2 tac squads in Drop Pods
1 tac squad in Rhino. (Captain Siccarius confers the USR "Scout" onto this unit.)
1 Dreadnought with CC Weapon/Hvy. Flamer/and Plasma Cannon. (debating ordering a FW Multi Melta for this one.)

Then I'll buy rest of Army with Remaining points.

What happens is, If I get first turn, I aim Rhino at the objective on opponents side, or at weak spot in opponents line. before game starts, Rhino gets it's Scout move of 12", Turn 1 starts, 2 Drop Pods land near where the Rhino is headed, Rhino moves 12" again, and tac squad disembarks. I now have 3 tac squads, or 2 tac squads and a Dread in Rapidfire range of something.

That much firepower in my opponents face right off the bat, is usually enough to punch hole through their line. Once I've done this, my opponents don't often leave their deployment zones. Also the rest of my army recieves hardly any notice, and recieves very little returning fire.

If I get 2nd turn, I'll either risk Siccarius's special 2 attempts a siezing the Initiative, or just put Rhino in reserves, and flank march with it.

This list works well with additional units that can deepstike.

note, if you face IG and they have that guy in the command squad who messes with reserve rolls, Drop the Dread next to them on first turn, and Flame, and Plasma cannon them. If your lucky, you can kill that guy.

[kire]

first i don't do all pods so keep that in mind relative to my tactics. i like to use tactical squads in pods as my "second wave" i will drop hard hiting units like dreadnoughts and stern guard with drop pod assault and then put a tactical squad in to fill the pod(s) that come from reserve. i have a several reasons for this.

1. tactical squads score it you drop them on to an objective you now have to kill the squad to the man

2. tactical squads used for scoring are best if they arrive late game making it hard to kill them all in he time remaining

3. tactical squads benefit immensely from cross support with other squads there for dropping them after other elements of your army have advanced makes them more effective

4. tactical squads a versatile and a well equipped tactical squad will help in any situation so bringing them in late by pod an help bolster a faltering piece of your army or make up for an abysmally bad roll.

as for the idea that podding them in will leave them hung out to dry this is bad tactics (unless there bait). pods can be put almost anywhere safely so there is no need to drop them far from the action they should be placed somewhere where they can support and be supported by your army.

in regard to your question i think tactical squads in pods are valuable but should be a part of your army sported by mechanized tactical squads as well

[Dingareth]

A great unit I've found to stack your pods with is:

5 Tactical Marines
Power Fist
Combi-Flamer
Drop Pod

It's cheap, it's scoring, and can do good damage when it arrives. Also, if you keep it in the second wave, it's one of the cheapest ways of getting that extra Pod in the list in order to stack your first wave.

Also, if you don't go full Drop Pod, buying a Thunderfire Cannon a Pod and deploying it empty is a great way to contest objectives and a cheap way to give you an odd number.

[Kloud]

Dropping an Empty Pod is kinda cheesy, and I think a waste of points.

However, I have also started putting a Librarian in with one of the Tac squadsin a Drop Pod, and I use the "Avenger" power to make a better dent in the enemy upon landing. then I also use the "Force Dome" power (I think that's what it is callled.) to give his Tac squad a 5+ Inv save. It can help vs Rapid firing Plasma ect being fired back at your squad.

If you want a Cheap, and Effective choice to fill a Drop Pod, for a couple more points than a Thunderfire Cannon, or the 5 man Tac with PF, And Combi, Put a Dreadnought in a DropPod.

The Dreads in Pods when Dropped with other Pods, often make it into combat. I find Dreads to be a fantastic supporting units to Tac Squads that have also Podded in.

[Dingareth]

Dropping an Empty Pod is kinda cheesy, and I think a waste of points.

However, I have also started putting a Librarian in with one of the Tac squadsin a Drop Pod, and I use the "Avenger" power to make a better dent in the enemy upon landing. then I also use the "Force Dome" power (I think that's what it is callled.) to give his Tac squad a 5+ Inv save. It can help vs Rapid firing Plasma ect being fired back at your squad.

If you want a Cheap, and Effective choice to fill a Drop Pod, for a couple more points than a Thunderfire Cannon, or the 5 man Tac with PF, And Combi, Put a Dreadnought in a DropPod.

The Dreads in Pods when Dropped with other Pods, often make it into combat. I find Dreads to be a fantastic supporting units to Tac Squads that have also Podded in.

70 points to make sure my 1200 points of Sternguard and Characters come in on the first turn? Not a waste of points at all to me.

Remember, that Force Dome is used at the beginning of the turn, so you can't use it the turn you Drop In.

Also, an Ironclad in a Drop Pod is great, but it take up an Elite choice that people use for other choices. Also, if you're dropping your Tactical Squad and Dread along side each other, than what's the third choice to get those two in on the first turn?

[Kloud]

70 points for half a tac squad, or 35 more points for Regular Dread. I'll take the Dread every time. As I said earlier, it's a much better support unit to anything else being dropped in.

And Librarians "Force Dome" is done at begining of Librarians Movement Phase. So is Deep Striking. Nowhere does it say you cannot Deep strike, then use that Power.

And with Troops now the only scoring unit, People don't often run out of Elite, Fast, or Hvy Slots anymore.

[Dingareth]

And Librarians "Force Dome" is done at begining of Librarians Movement Phase. So is Deep Striking. Nowhere does it say you cannot Deep strike, then use that Power.

And with Troops now the only scoring unit, People don't often run out of Elite, Fast, or Hvy Slots anymore.

Unfortunately, you need to Deep Strike to be on the table to use the power, so by the time you have preformed your Deep Strike, it is no longer the begining of the movement phase- i.e. before models are moved.

[Kloud]

The Librarians movement phase doesn't begin till he disembarks from Drop Pod.

Nothing says he can't cast then.

PS. I do however completly respect your opinion on the subject, and hope that the worse that comes of this is that we politly agree to disagree. Besides, I could be completly wrong. but same for you too.

[Hades Alpha]

PS. I do however completly respect your opinion on the subject, and hope that the worse that comes of this is that we politly agree to disagree. Besides, I could be completly wrong. but same for you too.

Well that's good spirit :D

Honestly, apart from this whole discussion about the librarian, you guys had really good ideas about drop pods.

So what I understand is that you can't really have less than 3 drop pod. If you do, your alpha strike won't be effective. Also, tactical squad alone aren't offensive enough to be in this alpha strike and won't cause the havok you're looking for. However, if they are joined by some sort of elites (Sternguards, Dreadnought or Terminators) they could be viable.

I'm I right?

[Dingareth]

1 Pod on its own may actually be alright if you're dropping something like an Ironclad next to some Orks. Two Heavy Flamers and no chance of Melta back could actually create quite a problem for the Orks.

Any ideas what you're planning to run yet, Hades Alpha?

[Hades Alpha]

Any ideas what you're planning to run yet, Hades Alpha?

I don't know yet. I must say that I like the Sternguard in drop pod. But I find them expensive and I'd rather keep some points for my terminators. Also I find that, without Kantor, they are a bit less appealing. Don't get me wrong, they are still awesome.

Right now, there's two option I'd like to try out.

1- One tactical squad full of meltas in one Drop pod. I'll drop this one on the enemy weak flank to cause a bit of havok, hoping that my opponent will focus (some of) his attention on them. They will die, but with some luck they might take out something big.

2- Have two Dreadnought (Ironclad if I can afford them) be my alpha strike and have a third pod with the same guys from above (10 man tactical squad with meltas). This option would give me more flexibility. I could drop hard with the Dreads and destroy/kill/tie any bothersome unit. The third pod could be dropped on the weak flank again or grab any objective.

I must say that those two option will be backed by at least one land raider full of assault terminators. So, as soon as my opponent is finish with my dropped unit, he will get smashed with those lovely unit... hopefully :rolleyes:

What do you think? So far, all of you had good opinions. I'd like to hear them.

[jason]

The Librarians movement phase doesn't begin till he disembarks from Drop Pod.

Not true. The Librarian begins his movement phase inside the Drop Pod, and disembarks. After disembarking, it's technically no longer the beginning of the movement phase. Reread the Disembarking rules.


Nothing says he can't cast then

The fact is, you'd need something that says he can cast them. Maybe I can't find something, but the rules are fairly clear on this. I only mention it because it's a big difference depending on how you rule this.

[CrimsonFist1149]

well if you need support for your tactical marines in drop pods, just put some dreadnoughts in drop pods too.

[Chumbalaya]

You've got the right idea, Tacticals work best in the 2nd wave to secure objectives and shore up your lines. Sternguard and Dreads are the tip of the spear.

I find Sternies better without Kantor really, stubborn does not benefit a shooty squad like combat tactics does.

[Kloud]

Because I use Siccarius, with 3 drop Pods, I have two arrive first turn, and I have a scouting Rhino right beside those two Pods. So I have 2 Tac Squads and a dread, or even 3 Tac Squads all sitting on my opponents side of the board. So, I like my tac squads equiped with Flamers, and a Multi-Melta. Because I have all those Bolters close to the enemy, I want to put them to use tearing into my opponents softer Infantry choices, and the Flamer works well with the Bolters. The Marine with Multi-Melta will only get to shoot Pistol on turn he lands anyway. Hopefully after I've shot, I will have made a hole in the enemies line, and there is now at least 2 sometimes 3 Multi Melta's and possibly a Combi-melta or two sitting where part of his army was.

So now his Armour is not shooting because it's trying to get out of range of the Melta weapons, or Troop transports are thinkin twice about apraoching my Drop Zone.

My Dread I really only have to try and take out IG command Squads. The Hvy Flamer, and Plasma Cannon should put the hurt on. I don't need the "Master of the Fleet" messin with remaining reserve rolls.

And Don't forget, if you have lots of Reserves that also Deepstrike, don't forget a Locator Beacon works with ALL Deep Strikers. (Vanguard could be handy here.) or even deep strike a Land speeder with Hvy. Flamer, and MultiMelta. Good Vs Armour, or Infantry.

[Vince]

You cant use psychic powers that are used at the start of a the game or the movement phase if you are off the board. They have to happen first. Since you do something your window is over.

[imperialsavant]

[QUOTE=Hades Alpha;4807]Should tactical marines drop with drop pod or should they ride in rhinos/razorback? I’m still working on my list and I’m having hard time choosing between those two transports mode.

:) As a Black templar Player I just love Drop Pods full of C/C Crusaders to take objectives. I back them up with Jump Pack assault troops & yes 2 or more Pods are more powerful.
With rhinos you have more chance of the Transports being zapped & leaving your Tactical Marines in No Mans Land! ( jmho)

Barry H.

[Spanklet]

I feel dropping peace-meal will get you killed most of the time.

Even if you plan it well you probably will only get half your force on the board considering the 50% chance turn 2 reserve entry and those 9 rail TL rail guns the Tau (just an example) broadside groups pack will insta pop your 1st turn dreads/armor.

With all the 9/10 strength weapons out there killing regular termies like they are nothing I had to come up with some tweaking to overcome that stuff.

So I created an army that can control objectives yet land about 80-90% of your force on the enemy turn 2.

Using this method overcomes the problem of dropped forces not getting on top of the enemy in large enough numbers fast enough. Piecemeal = fail

Most armies can seriously hamper an assault shock force dropped all over them if it comes in piece-meal. The only way to keep the 90% reserve force usefull was to make sure most of it entered together. To accomplish this I made Tigurius the HQ, doubling the success rate of reserve entry. He has other bonuses such as being able to cast all possible psy attacks and can use 3 a turn. Unfortunatley it appears that he cannot use termie armor / storm shield like the regular librarians so he will initially deploy with the Sternguard.

Extra Info:
A. Normally I would have put Lysander with 8 or 9 regular termies using storm bolters or a termie librarian with asslt termies but I cant afford Lysander since Tigurius was key to making the deep strike work.
B. All units deep striking except for the two sniper scout groups (outflankers).
C. The Sternguard will split into two squads upon deployment.
D. The Asslt termies and the Sternguard will attempt to be within 24" of eachother at deployment so Tigurius can join the asslt termies as soon as possible (3+ inv saves) and warp them around to fights if needed. It also takes fire off the much easier to kill Sternguard that he dropped in with. If the Sternguard are not getting pounded too hard he should stay with them.
E. TAC squad will be forced to drop turn 1 and will try to stay out of sight on my side of the board, emerging on turn 2 when main contingent lands. Primary job is objective holding and shooting as much of the enemy as possible before the run on objectives (if any) starts. Same applies to the scouts.
F. Too many insta pop weapons out there to make your regular termies die too quick but asslt get the 3+ invul save making them an excellent fire soaker. Preserving the Sternguards and Tigurius is of the higest priority so moving him to the termies will pull fire off SG and prolong the life of your HQ vastly.
G.Your Sternguards are going to be on the enemies sh** list right away so tie up his/her forces as fast as possible.
H. Army based on SM Codex

HQ:
Chief Librarian Tigurius 230 pts
(Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Hood of Hellfire; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Rod of Tigurius; Force Dome; Machine Curse; Might of the Ancients; Null Zone; Quickening; Smite; The Avenger; The Gate of Infinity; Vortex of Doom)

ELITE:
Terminator Assault Squad 200 pts
4 Terminator Assault Squad (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x4
1 Sergeant (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x1)

Sternguard Veteran Squad 295 pts
9 Sternguard Veteran Squad (Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x3; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Combi-Meltagun x2)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition)
1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

TROOPS:
Tactical Squad 205 pts
9 Tactical Squad (Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer; Multi-Melta)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades)
1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Scout Squad 75 pts
4 Scout Squad (Bolt Pistol x4; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle x4)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle)

Scout Squad 75 pts
4 Scout Squad (Bolt Pistol x4; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle x4)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Sniper Rifle)

FAST ATTACK:
Assault Squad 140 pts
4 Assault Squad (Bolt Pistol x4; Chainsword x4; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Power Fist)

Assault Squad 140 pts
4 Assault Squad (Bolt Pistol x4; Chainsword x4; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Power Fist)

Assault Squad 140 pts
4 Assault Squad (Bolt Pistol x4; Chainsword x4; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Power Fist)

Anyway this list is still evolving as time goes on so any input is always welcome.

[Majorcrash]

not having played space marines since 3rd ed, but I do play both IG and Eldar. i can tell you from experience, that having a couple of Drop pod drop right on top of me even with with just plain tact sqds is a real attention getter. Sure they get wiped out but I can't afford to let them live and with BS 3, it usually takes most of my army to wipe them out. In the meantime the rest of the army is advancing towards me and I only have a turn or two at best to prepare a defense. Worse still is a landraider assault!:eek:

[Ultran]

i think you have to use a 10 man tactical squad to buy a drop pod. i dont have my codex at hand but im failry shure the cheap 5 man squad isnt feasible to be dro poded :)

[EmperorEternalXIX]

I consider myself an afficionado on Marine tactics so I'm going to weigh in on this.

Firstly. I will just go on record: No amount of drop podding stuff on the first turn is going to make up for the fact that half your forces will have to withstand the fire of the entire enemy army, most likely. Nothing in the marine codex is that tough, and all of it is a little overcosted in today's grim-dark "horde armies are the best" meta game.

An average marine army is at BEST, 60 models (and is usually closer to 50). Some people trying to go "horde" might crank it to 70, but that's it -- it is going no further, really.

Many players fear the whole drop-podding ironclad thing but without the ability to assault and geared for versatility (i.e. melta gun and HF) he is only going to do livable damage to one target before standing around like a giant robo-tard and getting blasted. Congratulations, you have just flushed 200 points down the toilet (because the pod he showed up in isn't worth a damn either). If you do the common 3-pod approach (so two drop) you are likely also sending a 300+ point sternguard squad to its death, too.

Drop podding is terrible. There, I said it. The only reason I could find it useful is podding onto an objective later in the game, but the Drop Pod Assault rules actually FORCE you to drop on the first turn if you only take one. Doing it en mass does nothing but waste points on very unusable units...our enemies like to argue for its utility and how it can "get you where you need to go turn 1" ... you don't need to go ANYWHERE turn 1. The only time in 40k you need to be concerned with going ANYWHERE that critically, is when it's turn 4/5 and the objective you need is far away.

Drop pods' most useful feature is putting them in front of annoying long-range models, or blocking obvious paths of deadly vehicles. They will be ignored often, and so the odds are if you dump one near an objective, it will contest it for you and maybe win the game. But beyond these bizarre uncommon isolated situations and a complete moron for an opponent, these things will do nothing but get you killed early.


ot having played space marines since 3rd ed, but I do play both IG and Eldar. i can tell you from experience, that having a couple of Drop pod drop right on top of me even with with just plain tact sqds is a real attention getter. Sure they get wiped out but I can't afford to let them live and with BS 3, it usually takes most of my army to wipe them out. In the meantime the rest of the army is advancing towards me and I only have a turn or two at best to prepare a defense. In the first turn, most of your army wiping out 50% of a drop pod force is perfectly acceptable, and is part of the reason I'm advising against the list.

To the OP: If you are going to use Tigurius and a Sternguard squad, you should keep them together, and have Tigurius use one of his powers each turn to give them an invul. Tigurius himself is worthless in combat; you want him out of assault at all times. He is two wounds with no invul and is easy insta-kill bait. In the sternguard squad it will need to suffer 10 wounds before he starts to get hit, and he can beam them into or out of rapid fire range as necessary (using his third power to add some assault4, Str4 AP2 firepower to the sternguard as well).

Putting him with the Assault Terminators is a bad idea. The Gate of Infinity is a deep strike, so you can't assault afterwards; they have no weapons to shoot with while Tigurius does; his attacks are pitiful compared to the termies themselves; and ultimately his reserves re-roll means nothing when half your army is going to be out there alone getting ripped to kibble before it gets used (and I also think you can't use it unless he's on th table, as well, though I might be wrong).

*sigh* The Space Marine codex makes me wish we didn't have to take HQs...

[Spanklet]

Yeah, by the time this post came up I had abandoned the plan in favor of something more efficient. Its getting hard for SM to avoid having most rhinos / armor out of action by turn 2 nowadays especiallty vs Tau or other armor pop races.

I saw this army posted elsewhere and it seemed to be a work in progress that had potential to work:

HQ 850

-Marneus Calgar, Lord Macragge
-Armor of Antilochus

-Captain Cato Sicarius

-9x Honour Guard Squad
-Combat Blade
-Chapter Banner
Drop Pod


Troops 630

-10x Tactical Squad
-Meltagun
-Multi Melta
Drop Pod

-10x Tactical Squad
-Meltagun
-Multi Melta
Drop Pod

-10x Tactical Squad
-Meltagun
-Multi Melta
Drop Pod


Elites 520

Ironclad Dreadnought
Drop Pod
-Locator Beacon

Ironclad Dreadnought
Drop Pod

Ironclad Dreadnought
Drop Pod


Plan is to drop in the first Ironclad right on top of their face and with the Locator Beacon drop the other two down too. Depending on what I'm facing I'll then drop Calgar and Sicarius' Honour Guard or a Tactical squad making up my 4/7 drops on turn 1.

Since I have Sicarius I can give one of my tactical squads Tank Hunter and also reroll the dice for first turn if needed. I wanted a really "In your face" Ultramarine list that utilized some of the cool new Special Characters and I think I may have achieved it.

[EmperorEternalXIX]

Just remember that the locator beacon doesn't apply the turn it arrives. I believe the codex specifies it has to have already landed.

Also, Calgar and Sicarius in the same army is a pretty massive waste of points. Just my two bolter shells' worth, but I would cut Siccy. He is almost as expensive as Calgar and is half as impressive. Plus with Calgar's ability to pass or fail all leadership tests, there is really no need use for Siccy making everyone Ld10. Having them together in a combat will certainly be devastating to the enemy, of course...but I dunno if it's worth 400 points.

Then again the fact that they are landing early and are buffered by such a huge wall of 2+ armor with that squad could prove to be pretty epic.

It'd be tough to win with this list but I think the other guys you face will still grow to hate and fear it. lol

[Aya]

One thing you should never do when play Drop Marines is to put one guy out in the middle of nowhere with no back up. If you decide to do drop pods try and keep you first wave close together to maximize fire power (because we all know deep striking Dreadnoughts always roll ones) and make your army harder to whipe out. Then you can bring in the second wave to back them up or place on objectives while the rest of your army does it's thing.

This of course, is just one tactic and doesn't always work for everyone. It has surved me well for a while though.

[Samwise158]

I have 3 pods in my army list and I typically run it as such at about 1500 points.

I like to take 2 tac squads with a multi melta, melta gun, and a combi-melta for the sarge, both in pods
I also like to take a Dread with a multi-melta and heavy flamer, also in a pod.

I tend to put locator beacons on the pods.

I then like to run 2 squads of terminators with either a librarian or captain.

If I have points left I will spend them on scouts with sniper rifles to hold objectives in my backfield

The plan works like this, The pods arrive on turn one, usually one tac squad and the dread. I usually sick these on enemy tanks at close range, but also at targets of opportunity. This lets me potentially wreck the tanks and use them as cover against the inevitable counter attack. Then the enemy usually tries to hit the podding squads as hard as they can and get into assault. This however, usually leaves them open to a mean counterstrike at the hands of the terminators and final pod.

This approach can work pretty well, especially as the enemy must constantly be on alert for more deep strikers.

[ggg]

I love drop pods. I find that drop pod games have higher kill counts and are quite dramatic. It is great fun playing against Daemons - counter deepstriking one another! planet strike could not look cooler.
The ability to block lines of sight is handy. There is no better way to deliver melta death on turn one. You can dictate the battle to a greater extent. You are recreating the classic marine army image - Death from above!

I currently run three pods and one rhino with scouts in a speeder storm and thunderhammer termies for really stubborn stains. Typical tactic is to send elites in the first wave (sternguard and dread) to melta landraiders, vindicators etc and to place the reinforcing (scoring) troops seperatley with the terminators for support.

I believe that for pods to work you need range- and mobility throughout the army- the pod delivered guys are slow so they need to be supported. Rhinos and pods work, pods and footsloggers don't.

[burning crome]

This is the evil pod list that I currently working on (need the swap the dread pods for the new assault one in the AI2 update) to countered his (my mate's) equally cheaty five nob squads of doom in battle wagons backed up with mass mobs list. I not to friend but quite fun to play.

HQ
Forgefather vulkan He’stan 190pts
Master or forge 100pts
HQ Total 290pts

Elites
Ironclad dreadnought 135pts replace storm bolter with heavy flamer 10pts and drop pod 35pts total 180pts
Ironclad dreadnought 135pts replace storm bolter with heavy flamer 10pts and drop pod 35pts total 180pts
Ironclad dreadnought 135pts replace storm bolter with heavy flamer 10pts and drop pod 35pts total 180pts
Ironclad dreadnought 135pts replace storm bolter with heavy flamer 10pts and drop pod 35pts total 180pts
Elite Total 720pts with one take a HS slot.

Troops
Space Marines tactical squad plus for five extra members in a drop pod Total 205pts
Space Marines tactical squad plus for five extra members in a drop pod Total 205pts
Troops Total 410pts

Fast Attack
Space Marines Assault Squad plus power weapon and flamer in drop pod Total 125pts
Space Marines Assault Squad plus power weapon and flamer in drop pod Total 125pts
Space Marines Assault Squad plus power weapon and flamer in drop pod Total 125pts
Fast Attack Total 375pts

Heavy Support
Deathstorm drop pod 75pts
Deathstorm drop pod 75pts
Heavy Support 150pts

Total 1945pts 55pts to spend on upgrades

[Johan]

i think you have to use a 10 man tactical squad to buy a drop pod. i dont have my codex at hand but im failry shure the cheap 5 man squad isnt feasible to be dro poded :)

You are right, you have to buy 10 marines before you can take a pod.