Dropping In, part 2
A couple of weeks ago I got an email from a Warpstorm reader (Hi H.B!) that had contacted me last year when he was getting started and had some questions. He's progressed quite a lot with his army and developed a feel for the style of combat he prefers. He asked me some questions about how best to put together a drop pod army, and I put together an article about it for him and any others that might be interested in something similar. He wrote back to say that he enjoyed it and that he had some follow-up questions...

Hey it's H.B!

Thanks a lot for putting the article together, it really helped me out. For now, I'm thinking of making my own drop pods so I don't have to break my bank. Once I'm done, I'll update you about them.

After reading your article, I'm thinking about fielding about 4 Tac squads in DPs and a scout squad on the field with snipers to take down anything that rest of my army would have trouble dealing with. Along with that, I'll bring about 3 Dreads with DCCWs and assault cannons to take care of any infantry. My Devies are gonna drop down on some remote corner with missile launchers (maybe lascannons if the points allow it) to pick on any vehicle (or infantry) that shows up on the road. I'm thinking, if a few Tac squads and Dreads drop in the middle of the enemy, he'll be too busy to deal with my heavy weapons and if he does pay attention to them, it means that my semi-kamikaze units can do some nice damage.

I'm thinking about using Master of the Forge (with a conversion beamer. He'll drop in with the Devies) for HQ so I can bring in my Legion of the Damned squad. So far, I find them the best threat/distraction unit that I have. 3+ invul marines with meltas that are fearless are quite a bit of trouble. I'm thinking about dropping them in front of anything dangerous (e.g. Carnifexes, Daemons) since they do have great staying power, especially against specialists. I drop them in the middle of the enemy and they usually stay till the end of the game. Meanwhile, my 4 Tac squads and 3 Dreads can eat up anything they want. As I have painfully learned from my Chaos friend, bodies in power armour are tougher nuts to crack than what most people think. My Tau friend likes to call them cheese saves.

I'm just wondering now, would Deathwind missile launchers be worth the points? If I spend that extra 20pnts, that would mean 15 bolters, 1 flamer, 1 missile launcher, and 1 Deathwind missile shot in one turn. I think that will put a lot of holes in an unit, no matter what it is and large blast templates are always welcome.

So here's my list so far, I haven't calculated any points yet and this is only a rough list.

Master of the Forge: Conversion Beamer

Chaplain Cassius

4x Tactical Squad: Melta Gun, Missile Launcher, Drop Pod

3x Dreadnought: Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod

Legion of the Damned: Melta Gun, Multi-melta, Power axe, Plasma pistol

Devastator Squad: Missile Launcher x 2, Lascannon x 2, Drop Pod

The idea of this list was to have a unit be effective at both killing infantry and tanks. As you have said, if my units are decent at everything, the opponent is going to have a tough time figuring out which unit to attack first. I added Chaplain Cassius just for the raw power of assault needed in my Tac squad. I think he can drop down with the first squad that comes. With his FNP rule, he'll make the squad a bit more resilient too (an extra wound that has FNP? Who wouldn't want that?). I realize, this is more or less a shooty army. I mean, the Dread could crush a bit but other than my Legion, none of my units are combat oriented. How should I deal with quick, assault armies such as Dark Eldar?

One more question, what are your opinions on Chapter Master with Honor Guards? 2+ save marines with 2 base attacks (4 if you charge and have a Chapter banner. Reminds me Khorn Beserkers ) and power weapons could potentially munch on an expensive squad (for e.g Termies) in one charge but the squad itself eats up a large portion of your own army due to it's points.

Again, thank you very much for all the help. H.B

-I'm glad to help, H.B. Let me go down the list and see what I can answer in the order you posed the questions.

Devastators
I have to say, I don't think drop podding the Devastators is a good idea. They are really better off starting on the board and spending the whole game shooting. If you are worried about them getting attacked before most of your pods drop, you can put the scouts in cover in front of them. The scouts will act in a role similar to Tau with a Kroot screen, but with much better saves. On the other hand, it might still be worthwhile to buy a pod for the Devastators, since you can drop the pod empty if you want to add some terrain or block some movement somewhere.

Chaplain
As to the Chaplain, I agree that he will definitely add some choppiness. There is one point to consider, however. You are already planning on using the Master of the Forge. If you take a Chaplain as your second HQ, you won't be able to bring a Librarian, which means your army won't have any psychic defense. You may decide that it's worth the risk, but keep it in mind. In addition, a Librarian is also a pretty good boost in hand to hand for a Tactical squad.

LOTD and Dreadnoughts
I think Legion of the Damned sound like a fine unit to throw in the way of anything nasty. Dreadnoughts with DCCW and either Assault Cannon or Multi-Melta also sound quite good. (Both weapons have their merits, and by podding in, you mostly eliminate their primary limitation: range.

DeathWind Launchers
At 20pts each for a 12" range weapon with no AP value, it doesn't really look like a good deal at first. I did the math to check it out, though. A Stormbolter (what you'd be replacing) gets 2 S4 shots at 24" range. The Deathwind Launcher gets 1 S5 large blast at 12" range for +20pts. The stormbolter gets 0.22DSM per turn, the Deathwind Launcher (assuming that you hit 4 on average) gets 0.88DSM per turn! That got my attention. (Note: I am calculating based on Space Marines being the target, as you mentioned having a hard time bringing down Chaos Marines.) That's a really big difference. Assuming 15pts per standard Space Marine, that's 10pts per turn more damage than the stormbolter. The stormbolter will probably be able to fire more often, partially because it has twice the range and partially because once the Deathwind Launcher kills a Space Marine or two, your opponent will take notice and blast the offending pod. Even if the Deathwind only gets to fire twice and the stormbolter fires 4 times, that's 20pts more damage for the Deathwind. So, from a mathhammer perspective, it is potentially worth it. However, there's also your opportunity cost. You are bringing a bunch of pods. I'm counting about 8 pods in your list above, which would be potentially 160pts worth of deathwind launchers. Assuming they average 2 turns of fire and 4 models under the template, that's 14 dead Space Marines for 160pts. If there is something else that you could bring that would get you more dead Space Marines for 160pts, bring that instead. One final thought for consideration: Deathwind launchers will be much more effective against lightly armored hordes. If you find that the rest of your army struggles against Orks, small Tyranids or IG, the Deathwind might just be that edge that you need.

Where's the assault?
You will be up in people's faces, I think you need to bring something more to beat those faces in. One obvious option would be to simply equip each Tactical Squad with a Powerfist. For 25pts it gives you a solid punch (pun intended) against power armored opponents and vehicles. Over 4 squads, that is 100pts, but it might be well worth the price. That gives you a potential 7 S8+ weapons that ignore armor saves spread out over your 8 frontline units. Your other options don't really look that hot. Vanguard Vets and Assault Marines are moderately expensive and would take away from your shooting options without really doing that much more damage against power armored bodies.

Fast Assault Armies
Fast assault armies (Dark Eldar among them) are definitely dangerous. The best thing to do against them is to make them no longer fast. The best way to do this is by shooting the transports out from under them. If you can also increase the distance they have to walk, that's even better. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first way is to simply set up your army in a castle or wedge formation, leaving the pods empty and dropping them to help block movement. Note that against skimmers, you can't simply drop a vehicle or pod right in front of them to block movement, since skimmers can go over them. On the other hand, you can put it several inches in front of the skimmer, to prevent it from being able to move all the way past your pod. Basically, try to force them into difficult terrain and channel them, then start blowing the skimmers that _can_ move out from under them. The second way is to dramatically increase the distance they have to travel to half of your force. Use a split deployment. Put half of your army close to one corner of your deployment zone, and put the other half close to the other corner. If the enemy army splits, choose one side to be your sacrifice. Focus all of your long-ranged firepower on the units closing on your non-sacrifice side, killing transports and fast units first. The other group will reach your sacrifice side, but you should be able to get rid of their transports and fast units. Once they finish off your sacrifice side, they'll have a long way to walk into the teeth of your guns.

Chapter Master with Honor Guards
A Chapter Master can really do a lot of damage. On the other hand, it would mean giving up either the Master of the Forge or your Librarian (or Chaplain.) That's a lot to give up. The Honor Guards can do a lot of damage and have pretty good protection with 2+ saves. On the other hand, they are also a lot of points and don't have invulnerable saves, so they are prone to death by plasma or powerweapons, which opponents will certainly aim their way. Personally, I think it's too much to risk, but it's ultimately up to you.

Flexibility and Staying Power
Ultimately, I think you've got the basis for a solid force here. You've got a decent number of heavy weapons if you find a foe you want to keep at arm's length. You've got a good number of Space Marine bodies here to absorb damage and to step up and take midfield objectives or simply put pressure on the enemy. You've got a powerful midfield presence with lots of close-range firepower available and some (potentially a solid amount if you go with the powerfists) assault capacity as well. It has flexibility and staying power, which are supposed to be hallmarks of the Space Marines. You won't be able to outshoot a shooty army, or out-chop an assaulty army, but that's the point of flexibility and staying power. You can do whatever the other guy isn't good at and last long enough to make it stick. I'm looking forward to seeing those drop pods when you get the chance to build them, and I'm also looking forward to seeing the whole army, as I think it'll look pretty awesome.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

Return to Warpstorm!