Calculating Drop Pods

[MechSpacewulf]

After the release of the new Space Marine Codex I went crazy and made 4 drop pods and started experimenting with how many to use and I found that for every 750 points you should use 2 drop pods for best balanced results. That is of course with the missle launcher upgrade so that means 110 points out of 750 for place it were you want to havoc in an instant. I usually play 750 to 1000 point games once a week so this has been gone over quite a bit.

 

Would like to have your thoughts and comments.

 

BTW- I usually load up one of the Pods with a Ven Dred and then mix and match the other pod depending on my opponent.

[Warp Angel]

1 drop pod gives you a suicide unit/very threatening unit (high and low point games respectively)

2 drop pods in small games means a large portion of your force is in reserve and not helping you. In large games, the second drop pod is usually of little impact in the larger game scheme.

3 drop pods provides a vicious attack in smaller games, but lacks enough oomph in larger games.

4 drop pods is sorta silly. Too much not on the table in either small or large games.

5 drop pods is a good number in games that they fit in. You get a large portion of your forces in where you want them, with enough left in reserve to reinforce the first droppers or land on/near objectives

6 is less efficient than 5.

7 let me know if you ever get to and use 7 in a non-Apocalypse game.

 

All of the above vary based upon personal strategy and playstyle.

 

My own personal rule is go 1 or go 5. Might go 3 in a dreadnaught heavy list.

[Koremu]

Odd numbers of Drop Pods are always preferable, as this maximises first turn landing impact. 1 gives you an unpredictable flash-front or vantage seizure. 3 gives you a decent stronghold drop point on Turn 1, especially if a Dreadnought is included, and a throwaway grab unit (i.e. a Tactical Squad). 5 gives you a superior landing force and 2 strategic drop units.

[MechSpacewulf]

So what it sounds like the figure should be closer to one Drop Pod for every 250 points. Since I play the Wolves and they are very costly I rarely have a throw away squad...maybe a pack of Scouts with a Wolf Guard Leader, a flamer and a Combi flamer for Orks, wouln't waste any more points on weapons because thay will probably be gone in the opponents shooting phase-that equals 97 points or the cheapest is 4 Scouts with one flamer for 62 points without the WGLeader, that should buy some time for the pod to start using its missles in the next turn. Good stuff, I will try out this new calc and tactic and see how it works.

 

Thanks!

[Reinholt]

I don't think there is any figure that accurately represents how many drop pods you want in your army that is related to points, honestly. It strikes me as similar to worrying about how many heavy bolters I should take per left elbow in my army; it's just not the right measure to be looking at.

 

I run a 2000 point army with a single drop pod for a sucker punch. I also run a 1750 point army with 5 drop pods at times. Both of them are very effective army lists. What you should worry about is two things:

 

1 - Ratio of Drop Pods to Units in your army (you either want it to be close to 100% of your units having drop pods, or not more than three having drop pods, as mostly drop pod but not all tends to be awkward, in my experience)

 

2 - Take an odd number of pods to maximize your landing power on turn one. Otherwise, you are going to come onto the board piecemeal for the entire game, and this can really screw up even the best battle plan.

[MechSpacewulf]

On that note are you tricking out the pods with Launchers and homing beacons...I understand the odd number ratio you are using and it makes sense and anything in reserve is up to the dice gods so I always plan on the worst which works out good... I have also noted the lack of poker faces when I am able to get that pod in from reserve and I start looking for a place to drop it in to support the other troops...I put the marker die on the table and scan the LOS and what squads will have range and what squads I will have range on me ( and taking in the potential for the scatter ) and if I notice a tell it stays...if I notice a tell like gleam in their eyes like I missed something and/or anxiousness to get to me I reconsider. That has worked very well for me especially against my brothers with decades of experience because until I roll that scatter die the advantage is mine. But I digress, I will apply the tactics in the next game and post the results.

 

Thanks

[Koremu]

Beacons are worth taking on a couple of your initial wave pods, to guidance for later waves.

 

You shouldn't need more than 1 or 2 Beacons, and IMO you shouldn't fit both a beacon and a launcher onto a single pod.