Jump to content

Tournament results from Saturday/Death of Drop Pods


Captain Talon

Recommended Posts

Played at Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie Maryland. about 18 players, nice mix of armies. Maybe only 3 were in contention for best painted. ( I needed one more day to fix some models and highlight a couple figs....<sighs> ).

 

My list was something like this: WGBL in TDA with wolf claws, saga of Warrior Born.

 

Rune Priest TDA with Jaws and LL.

 

WG in TDA mixture of weaponry, all with storm shields and an assault cannon ( cyclone not painted at all so I took the AC).

 

GH in DP with 2 meltas, standard,PF

 

GH in Rhino with 2 plasmas, PF

 

Inquisitor with Null Rod, Tarot.

 

BC in DP, power weapon with Arjac.

 

Dread in DP with multi-melta

 

Whirlwind

 

2 Vindicators.

 

The following will mostly be highlights and notes.....I've played wolves for years, and recently with my Templars I've been winning, but I felt like a noob with this force....dumb mistakes all around.

 

Game 1 vs Space Wolves

 

My opponent is a really nice guy whom I've played before, but he plays slow ( not intentionall). Mission was cleanse....

 

1. Don't put Arjac with Blood Claws because of majority WS on return attacks. Ugh.

2. WGBL with claws and saga is a killing machine.

3. Not enough terminators to foot slog. They got mowed down by 2 GH squads.

4. a Pod backed by Rhino squad and a couple of landspeeders for combined mass bolter fire is deadly.

 

Tom deployed 3 of his GH rhinos across the table. I dropped Arjac and the BC and the dread over there and popped one of the rhinos and a Typhoon. He then dropped in 2 pods with WG and killed the Vindis.

I then dropped a pod in and gunned down one pod Squad to 4 models, and the WG termies took care of the other. The WGBL split off to finish off the 4 models ( +4 attacks woohoo).

 

Tom then dropped in another GH squad, and the third rhino squad moved in and the two gunned down the WG termies. Arjac and his BC squad got whittled down by plasma fire, but they eventually took out two GH squads. Arjac eventually died to a storm bolter. UGH

 

End of the game...my plasma gun squad held a quarter, my pod squad held a quarter, and I had successfully killed off all but one of Tom's Troops.

 

Game 2...vs Mechdar. My opponent had something like 5 Dire Avenger squads, 3 5 man Fire Dragon squads all in Wave Serpents, 3 fire prisms, an autarch and a psychic dude. Mission was Kill Points.

 

Lessons

1. You must have long range fire power.

2. Drop Pod armies are useless against a smart opponent who starts everything in reserves, especially in skimmers.

3 My opponent misplayed his army, but I still had no chance.

 

As I stated...my opponent started everything off the table. And with his mobility and my short range fire power, I saw no way for the DP squads to contribute, so I dropped everything near some ruins and hunkered down, hoping to score at least 3 KP's somehow ( he was inevitably going to kill the DPs....) Oddly enough, instead of staying far away, killing the pods and keeping out of range of my army, he got near enough so that by turn 5 I was one KP behind. At this point though he scored something like 4-5 more ( both Vindies, the whirlwind, the dread, and my RP...). I have some thoughts on how to properly use DP's now....Drop Long Fang squads in first with missile launchers, then drop in meltaGH squads later when his stuff is on the table.

 

Game 3....vs Blood Angels. Mission..seize the center

 

The youngster I played made a classic mistake...he spread his army out across the table. I deployed a couple units to the left ( objective and troop killing were secondary objectives), but concentrated everything else to my right.

 

In the center went his BA termies with a captain and librarian. I matched my WG and Vindies with him and moved forward. My GH melta squad dropped and took out a landraider full of death company. My dread dropped nearby but scattered to the other side.

 

So basically here's how the game went. My plasma gun rhino squad wiped out his left side devs and tacticals. My right side vindi took out his honor guard squad. His death company wiped out the GH but only 3 were left....his DC Dread dropped behind my Vindies and took them out....Arjac and the Blood Claws took out his chaplain and assault squad....

 

And....

 

in 2 turns of shooting, 4 stormbolters and an assault cannon killed off 5 WG termies, a rune priest and a WGBL.

 

Lesson : RUN the DAMN TERMINATORS. Had I done that I might have made it into HtH in turn 2. Instead, I failed armor saves left and right.

 

Now....I was really tired, and my opponent thought we were in turn 5, so we rolled and the game ended. At this point I didn't care, but we were really in turn 4, and he also was not holding the center ( no troops near it) and I could have moved Arjac over....I'd have to survive some incoming fire but who knows how the game would have ended.

 

All in all a fun day. I think the main lessons learned is Drop Pod Alpha Strike really is dead and you reallllllly need long range fire power.

 

I really liked Tom's army....If DP's weren't useless and if you did not have to follow the DP assault rule, you could really make a nice combo unit of a Rhino oving forward, a DP coming in, and some augmenting firepower from some landspeeders or attack bikes. I prefer movable firepower to long fangs, but you do need 48 inch range weaponry....

3 Questions:

 

1) If the eldar player deployed in reserves why didnt you drop into a castle formation?I see... you did, it just didnt have teeth. Still, only his fire prisms outranged you by any distance at all. GHs range is greater than anything else in that army.

2) What point value was this?

3) How big were his dire avanger squads, and do you recall what the exarch was equiped with?

Hey Captain! I was the other Space Wolf Player who had the thunderwolves playing game two on the table next to yours. I had drop pods in my army too but not like Tom's all pod army. The key like Grey mage stated was to drop in castle formation. That means to drop all of your pods together making a living wall of cover and LOS blocking terrain. When the Eldar player (Mike) I think, comes in, he can't get too many shots off on your guys. At this point you will need to maneuver for objectives, position, territory, etc.

 

@ Greymage 2000 points army lists. The games used a 4th edition mission system with some 5th edition rules and Vice-versa . Like One game I played against a Nid player. I lost 9 Fenrisian wolves for the whole game, smoked most of his army, but I lost the game due to him having a table quarter and mine being contested.

Whats a Castle Formation?

Instead of deploying aggressively, when theres nothing to really B E AGRESSIVE towards..... you "castle up" by deploying your forces either:

1) Out of their DPs if your going second... allowing you a normal deployment

or 2) You drop your heavy weapons and GHs into a single, or at most two nearby, strategic locations with decent cover.... and bunker down. Eldar cant obliterate you if your safely out of the way, and now that they have a target... known as "bait" in certain circles... you can then fight them on more even terms by forcing your enemy to either deal with all of your army or none of it instead of allowing them to use the best skimmered unit for the job each and every time.

 

Because frankly, for any given job, eldar have the best unit for it in the game- expect killing 'ard boyz... those kill eldar, but we dont have them. Instead we need to play smart.

 

This same tactic is what you do against ANY player whos dumb enough to deploy his forces in reserve against you. DOW deployment means atleast his stuff will come on first turn- again allowing you to set up good firing positions half way up the board- but any other deployment just means now your army is consistantly in and HIS army is coming in peicemeal while you rip to tasty gribbly bits.

 

@ Mar: 2k?

 

Base price for a DA squad with a waveserpent is 247pts.... 5 man fire dragons+transport is 180... fire prisms are 115pts, but most people put them in at 160 with "basic" defensive equipment... plus atleast a 75pt farseer.... and the autarch is 70pts naked in his shorts.

 

So, Im hoping talon tells me that those DA squads were mostly 5 strong aswell, or there was a serious issue with that eldar players list.

I know the eldar player and I played against his 1850 list which is similar:

 

HQ

Autarch w/Fusion Gun, Mandiblasters, Scorpion Chainsword

Farseer w/Doom, Runes of Warding

Troops

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lance, Spirit Stones

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lance, Spirit Stones

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones

10 Eldar Guardians w/Scatter Laser, Warlock, Embolden

Elites

9 Fire Dragons w/Exarch, Dragons Breath Flamer, Crack Shot

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones

Heavy

Fire Prism

Fire Prism

Fire Prism

1847

I kno the eldar player and I played against his 1850 list which is similar:

 

HQ 190

Autarch w/Fusion Gun, Mandiblasters, Scorpion Chainsword 95pts.

Farseer w/Doom, Runes of Warding 95pts.

Troops 1046

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend 162pts.

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lance, Spirit Stones 145pts.

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend 162pts.

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lance, Spirit Stones 145pts.

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon, Shimmershield, Defend 162pts.

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones 145pts.

10 Eldar Guardians w/Scatter Laser, Warlock, Embolden 125pts.

Elites 308

9 Fire Dragons w/Exarch, Dragons Breath Flamer, Crack Shot 183pts.

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones 125pts.

Heavy 345

Fire Prism 115pts.

Fire Prism 115pts.

Fire Prism 115pts.

1847

 

1889pts. And certainly not 5 dire avenger squads and 3x5 fire dragons.

 

At, the expected, just over 300pts per DA squad, thats 1500pts there. Assuming no exarch, 3x5 Fire Dragons is another 240, The HQs come in at 190.... leaving one with 70pts for the fire dragons transports AND 3 fire prisms.

 

Something is rotten in the state of denmark.

Whats a Castle Formation?

Instead of deploying aggressively, when theres nothing to really B E AGRESSIVE towards..... you "castle up" by deploying your forces either:

1) Out of their DPs if your going second... allowing you a normal deployment

or 2) You drop your heavy weapons and GHs into a single, or at most two nearby, strategic locations with decent cover.... and bunker down. Eldar cant obliterate you if your safely out of the way, and now that they have a target... known as "bait" in certain circles... you can then fight them on more even terms by forcing your enemy to either deal with all of your army or none of it instead of allowing them to use the best skimmered unit for the job each and every time.

 

Because frankly, for any given job, eldar have the best unit for it in the game- expect killing 'ard boyz... those kill eldar, but we dont have them. Instead we need to play smart.

 

This same tactic is what you do against ANY player whos dumb enough to deploy his forces in reserve against you. DOW deployment means atleast his stuff will come on first turn- again allowing you to set up good firing positions half way up the board- but any other deployment just means now your army is consistantly in and HIS army is coming in peicemeal while you rip to tasty gribbly bits.

 

@ Mar: 2k?

 

Base price for a DA squad with a waveserpent is 247pts.... 5 man fire dragons+transport is 180... fire prisms are 115pts, but most people put them in at 160 with "basic" defensive equipment... plus atleast a 75pt farseer.... and the autarch is 70pts naked in his shorts.

 

So, Im hoping talon tells me that those DA squads were mostly 5 strong aswell, or there was a serious issue with that eldar players list.

 

I've always thought that was the no brainer tactic when fighting against the all reserve tactic. Drop behind cover/pods in the best firing positions and close to objectives(if played). This is why I love WG termies in GH packs with cyclones.

I've always thought that was the no brainer tactic when fighting against the all reserve tactic. Drop behind cover/pods in the best firing positions and close to objectives(if played). This is why I love WG termies in GH packs with cyclones.

Thats because your an intellegent individual whos thought about it a bit eh?

 

Trust me... it comes up as a novel idea in alot of DP threads down in Tactica.

Keith! I gave you a copy of my list!

(Reprinted below for you guys)

HQ

Farseer w/Doom, Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones, Mind War

Autarch w/Mandiblasters, Fusion Gun, Scorpion Chainsword

Troops

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Dual Shuriken Catapults, Bladestorm

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lances

10 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Dual Shuriken Catapults, Bladestorm

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lances

7 Dire Avengers w/Exarch, Power Weapon & Shimmershield, Defend

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Bright Lances

Elites

5 Fire Dragons

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers

5 Fire Dragons

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers

5 Fire Dragons

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers

Heavy

Fire Prism

Fire Prism

Fire Prism

 

Now, as to answer why I decided to move forward, when I clearly did not need to. To be honest, Keith only had 5 weapons that could reliably hurt me. (2 Vindicators, a Multi-melta, an assault Cannon, and Living Lightning) He deployed/moved everything into a ruin in one corner of the table. At this point, I believed that a win was inevitable. His list was designed in such a way that a lot of his units could not threaten me at a distance. Knowing this, I decided to play a little recklessly and move some things into his range. I traded a unit of FD's and a serpent to remove his vindicators. His multi-melta did pretty good and took out at least 1 vehicle. Once the vindicators and dreadnought were removed it was easy to run around the table.

 

Keith,

You put a ton of points into your wolf guard unit, I would rethink that in the future. Someone mentioned long fangs. I think they would perform better than your vindicators.

My list is annoying, but it is not invincible. If you want some list building advice, I would be happy to help you.

 

Mar Bloodaxe, you obviously know me, but I am not certain to your identity. Reveal yourself!

 

Greymage, do that math again!

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones 145pts. (scatter lasers dont cost as much as bright lances! 125)

9 Fire Dragons w/Exarch, Dragons Breath Flamer, Crack Shot 183pts. (9 including exarch is 161)

1847. I'm legal baby!

 

-Mike Somerville (Saint Omerville on other forums)

Keith! I gave you a copy of my list!

.....

Greymage, do that math again!

Wave Serpent w/Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers, Spirit Stones 145pts. (scatter lasers dont cost as much as bright lances! 125)

9 Fire Dragons w/Exarch, Dragons Breath Flamer, Crack Shot 183pts. (9 including exarch is 161)

1847. I'm legal baby!

 

-Mike Somerville (Saint Omerville on other forums)

I can see that- youll note though that Mr. Talon there did not give me an accurate description.... your short about 23 dire avengers and two wave serpents from what he told me! :P. Glad to hear that it was memory problems though and not any issues on your part. :)

 

I do not recall anywhere in the Space Wolf Codex that forbids the use of allies.

 

-Mike

Thats because there isnt ;). Even the 3rd edition one didnt stop us from the use of allies... we just couldnt take allied HQs because of our special FOC system.

Wow lots of responses...

 

1. Mar I just read the other thread on the resin wolves and thought that might have been you.

 

2. Ok ok I was off on Mike's list, so shoot me...I was close!

 

3. Castling would not have been effective unless you have LOS blocking terrain that could encircle the pods 100%. All Mike had to do was sit back and shoot the pods. There was no way to protect them. In the end, I think he only killed one squad, but thats because I risked moving it out to get some plasma shots....

 

4. Again, I didn't have the wg termie with cyclone painted, so I did not use him.

 

Nothing changes my mind about DP's not being the alpha strike component they used to be. Mike was smart and did what he should have done. Against most other armies, you could drop across the table and hit the units as they come in piecemeal...with skimmers it would have been impossible ( especially with mostly 24 inch range weaponry).

Capt. Talon

 

I will concur that Drop Pods have lost a lot of their advantage as of late.

 

How do you plan on changing your list. (If you plan to at all)

 

Grey Mage,

I play Blood Angels, Witch Hunters, Guard, Alpha Legion, Daemon Hunters, Eldar (I also have a foot-based Iyanden army), and Daemons.

 

-Mike

Mike, I use drop pods in conjunction with fast elements included in the army. They don't work well for Alpha striking but they still have their uses. I am working on a list with 7 pods with Dreads, Grey Hunters, wolf guard, scouts, and two units of Swift claw bikers led by wolf priest and one led by a Wolf Lord. In the game against the IG player last weekend, I actually choose to drop my pods with guys in them rather than empty as I had been. The guy had two tanks that had 5 plasma cannons and a las cannon. Pods are situational.

 

I use them for cover for my Thunder wolves. That's how I rolled up the Tau player at the tourney. :) And I use them as decoys. The bikes in my new list will be the "stars" of the show. Supporting the GH, and Dreads when they come down. Though I admit pods aren't optimal, but they are a lot of fun.

Capt. Talon

 

I will concur that Drop Pods have lost a lot of their advantage as of late.

 

How do you plan on changing your list. (If you plan to at all)

 

Grey Mage,

I play Blood Angels, Witch Hunters, Guard, Alpha Legion, Daemon Hunters, Eldar (I also have a foot-based Iyanden army), and Daemons.

 

-Mike

 

Easy....put in units that are more..multipurpose. This does not work as much for wolves as codex marines, but here's the gist of what I would do...

 

For Codex Marines I'd drop 3 pods, one with a dread, one with a tank killing heavy weapon and then keep the pod with the melta gunner(s) (like a command squad or sternguard) in reserve to come down and pop something big that's shown up on the table. This way you can drop in early with 2 units that can melta-death something, or if they hold back in reserves, drop in with 2 long range squads that can shoot when the reserve units come on the table. If you go 4-5 pods, you can add another tac squad or dread. I'm really not a fan of dreads, but they are a cheaper option. So are dev squads...theoretically you can drop in a 5 man dev squad with a combi-melta hitting at BS2 for 115 points...

 

Space Wolves have a harder time, since GH don't have a heavy weapon, unless you put in a WG TDA with cyclone. But you can also take 3 man Long Fang Squads with missile launchers. Yes, they are fragile, but you mitigate that by having stuff advancing towards the enemy, so he either has to shoot what is far away, or the close stuff.

 

2...for wolves maybe a dread and a LF squad, followed by a pair of GH squads in pods, if the enemy keeps in reserve. If they stay on the table, drop the GH with double meltas....or a melta and 2 krak missiles....

Have you thought about Meching up and getting a few more Rhinos?

 

They are the same point cost as Drop Pods, but provide you with great protection, even if you are coming in from reserve. (Smoke)

They also assist you if you need to drop some mobile melta against faster armies (Eldar variants, some Tau, some Guard)

 

Have you given any consideration to Land Speeders? They are pretty popular nowadays (especially with Vulkan, whom you can't get)

 

-Mike

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.