Sell me on Rhinos

[Lithanial]

So I am finally coming close to settling on a colour scheme for my marines and now closing on the unit construction and army building. I will be starting off with a tactical marine squad or two but am wondering if a Rhino is worthwhile or not. Squad equipment is going to be heavy bolter, plasma gun, plasma pistol and power weapon.

 

The way I see the unit, they are ideal for holding territory; plant them in cover and they can put out good fire power at 24" and anything coming to clear them out is going to be hurting after rapid fire or a volley of pistols and a charge. What I don't see them doing is a drive-by since it would leave them horribly exposed for only 1 round of fire so I am wondering if a 50 point rhino is worth the points?

 

The only advantage I can see is being able to boost quickly to an objective on turn 1 to set up deeper on the board to cut off movement routes with fire power but after that are they pretty much useless?

[Isryion]

No. They can contest objectives and, with a combat squad of tacticals, capture one. Considering they are also fast, that means you've got 18 inches. Having said that, if you don't plan to transport more than six models, then a razorback is probably the better option.

 

As a side note, I don't see HB on tacticals that often.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

not to mention, the stormbolters. not super weapons or anything, but the extra shots can be useful support for your squad as well blocking routes to the objective you decided to set your squad on.

[igotsmeakabob!!]

There's a reason for that: Two S5 AP4 hits per shot isn't too scary. Go with a plasma cannon or missile launcher.

[Brother Jim]

My friend and I have both used our Rhinos to win games by arranging them so that it was physically impossible for our opponents to move their models close enough to an objective to capture it. For that alone they are totally worth it! :ph34r:

[Droofus]

Go face dual-lash commanded by a competent chaos player. That will sell you on Rhinos real quick! I say this as mostly non-mech guy.

 

More than that, remember that being mechanized will also let your guys live a bit longer. For fifty points, it will require the enemy to dedicate anti-tank firepower to kill the rhino before he can bring his anti-personnel weaponry to bear on the former passengers.

[Leonaides]

And it quite possibly deposits them in cover ready for when he starts popping plasma shots at them.

[Requiem of the Wolf]

And it quite possibly deposits them in cover ready for when he starts popping plasma shots at them.

and against swarms of Tyrannids,your rhino's are tough enough they cant pen it,thus preventing less combat capable units from being overwhelmed by numbers.

Also,and Russ knows I hate helping Blood Angels be even nastier then their codex allows without any effort,but you can put your Priest in a Rhino,thus increasing the radius of the FNP bubble a bit. Also,and this is probably far more important for him,It makes it take longer for him to get wiped out from the focused fire. Also being that its fast,you can zip him around from squad to squad to reinforce the squad that needs the help the most.

[Lithanial]

Hooray, lots of helpful ideas here. Thanks all!

 

First off on the heavy bolter - While I agree the plasma cannon is great, with both a plasma gun and the pistol I think it is pushing it on the gets hot front. As for other choices, I dislike sticking anti-tank weapons on squads such as tacs since you waste the rest of the squads firepower.

 

Further the anti-tank guns only have a 2.5/9 chance to kill an MEQ in cover compared to the heavy bolters 4/9; the plasma cannon can also miss entirely and frag missiles are very "meh".

 

Now onto the Rhino points.

 

1, Survivability

 

I would generally dispute this point since not only do you have to give up your shooting by cowering in the Rhino - you are also adding another potential kill point to your list. I would much rather deploy as fast as I can to use the squads i paid points for than have them hiding away. That said, I can definitely see how this point works for assault squads who do want to get right down the enemies throats and don't have mass shooting to waste.

 

2, Rhino Priest

 

If I wanted a priest to be zippy I would probably take one on a bike, and the whole using the hull for greater range thing just strikes me as unsportsmanlike. I know its a fine and valid tactic, and wouldn't hold it against anyone- I just don't wish to use it for personal distaste. Besides, the rhino will be full with 10 guys already so it is a moot point.

 

3, Movement blocking

 

Now there is a nice tactic; I am going to assume you combine this with tank shocks? I can see the disruption value here, but is it 50 points worth? Especially considering the extra kill point that you are practically feeding the enemy. How many Rhino hulls would you say provide a decent number to act as a disruptive force? Wouldn't some flamer Baal's do the same but better?

 

4, Lash protection

 

Kind of a rarity for me; suppose very much a "mileage may vary". But being able to block LOS to various other nasties for protection is valid.

 

Keep the ideas coming guys! It is much appreciated.

[Requiem of the Wolf]

Hooray, lots of helpful ideas here. Thanks all!

 

First off on the heavy bolter - While I agree the plasma cannon is great, with both a plasma gun and the pistol I think it is pushing it on the gets hot front. As for other choices, I dislike sticking anti-tank weapons on squads such as tacs since you waste the rest of the squads firepower.

 

Further the anti-tank guns only have a 2.5/9 chance to kill an MEQ in cover compared to the heavy bolters 4/9; the plasma cannon can also miss entirely and frag missiles are very "meh".

 

Now onto the Rhino points.

 

1, Survivability

 

I would generally dispute this point since not only do you have to give up your shooting by cowering in the Rhino - you are also adding another potential kill point to your list. I would much rather deploy as fast as I can to use the squads i paid points for than have them hiding away. That said, I can definitely see how this point works for assault squads who do want to get right down the enemies throats and don't have mass shooting to waste.

 

2, Rhino Priest

 

If I wanted a priest to be zippy I would probably take one on a bike, and the whole using the hull for greater range thing just strikes me as unsportsmanlike. I know its a fine and valid tactic, and wouldn't hold it against anyone- I just don't wish to use it for personal distaste. Besides, the rhino will be full with 10 guys already so it is a moot point.

 

3, Movement blocking

 

Now there is a nice tactic; I am going to assume you combine this with tank shocks? I can see the disruption value here, but is it 50 points worth? Especially considering the extra kill point that you are practically feeding the enemy. How many Rhino hulls would you say provide a decent number to act as a disruptive force? Wouldn't some flamer Baal's do the same but better?

 

4, Lash protection

 

Kind of a rarity for me; suppose very much a "mileage may vary". But being able to block LOS to various other nasties for protection is valid.

 

Keep the ideas coming guys! It is much appreciated.

There is also the benefit that it means that you have to shoot the priest twice or more to kill it,and it also means that for one round your priest gets an auto 4+ save. I suppose you could accomplish the same thing by turbo boosting on a bike back and forth between your squads,but that to me seems riskier

[Gridlocked]

Hell you can always use Rhinos as wall in a last ditch effort to hold an objective. Just drive him in like this on the last turn:

 

 

-------x--x--x--x---------- <--- Them. FUUU- THERES AN RHINO IN THE WAY

---------x--x--x-----------

----------------------------

-------=======--------

-------=======-------- <--- Rhino. HI IMA SHEILD

--------o--o--o--o--------

----------o--o--o--------- <---Your guys sitting on objective. YAY WE HAS COVER

[mysteriousmaskedmystery]

you should be combat squading your tac squad so as to make better use of their shooting potential. if you're happy to let them slog across the board, take a razor for 55 points and you give yourself a TL/HB to add to your anti-personel firepower. put one squad in the razor and more forward to funnel the enemy towards the kill zone you create between the two combat squads. anything a rhino can do the razor does better for only 5 points more.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Rhinos are a solid choice for tactical squads. You can pillbox inside while firing your HB & PG. Mech is very popular now and there is a good reason why this is so. As noted you can move quicker & it gives you the benefit of protection from shooting. I like the suggestion to take a razorback instead since it gives you another HB and effectively doubles your S5 AP4 shooting.

 

0b ;)

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Hell you can always use Rhinos as wall in a last ditch effort to hold an objective. Just drive him in like this on the last turn:

 

 

-------x--x--x--x---------- <--- Them. FUUU- THERES AN RHINO IN THE WAY

---------x--x--x-----------

----------------------------

-------=======--------

-------=======-------- <--- Rhino. HI IMA SHEILD

--------o--o--o--o--------

----------o--o--o--------- <---Your guys sitting on objective. YAY WE HAS COVER

your diagrams...i likes them. :angry:

[Lithanial]

Indeed, awesome diagrams :mellow:

 

Think i may have to try 1 squad with Rhino and one without in a few games and see how they perform. You convinced me to at least try them out.

[SGK]

I would try at least two at once, as one Rhino is an easy target and will skew your perceptions. I find that one is easy to crack but two or bettere three are harder as your opponent cannot concentrate light anti tank fire on them. Then you could try the list without and see how you like your list with and without