razorbacks, rhinos, or drop pods

[amrogers3]

Been looking at tournament lists and I see mostly rhinos. Anyone have success with or recommend razorbacks or drop pods?

 

Going to do a poll to see what people use in their own list but I can't seem to figure out how to post a poll :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Fred Johnson the 3rd jr]

Been looking at tournament lists and I see mostly rhinos. Anyone have success with or recommend razorbacks or drop pods?

 

I am relatively new at this, but I've read about it a lot and thought about it a lot. If you can figure out a way to make a strong drop pod list, you are a better man than I. Or 100s of other folks who've attempted it online.

 

 

I use a list with a mix of Rhinos and Razorbacks.

[Grey Mage]

Frater cant post up polls ;).

 

I do well with a Drop Pod list. The key is, that moreso than any other SW list you have to avoid the 'toys'. The fewer points you spend on upgrades that arent needed the more points youll have to get more squads in pods and more boots on the ground.

 

For example, If you work at it you can get 5 fully functional DP units at 1500 with a good amount of support, no problem. I for one prefer 30 GHs, 2x Melta Hunters and 1x Plasma Hunters, a pair of Dreadnaughts, supported by a Pair of Typhoons, a scout pack, and a Rune Priest leading some bloodclaw bikers.

 

Do it right, you wont be giving up anything significant in the way of maneuverability, and youll be short very few units due to DP assault. By maximising your effect, tactically, you can reduce your opponent to roughly equal points before they have a chance to strike, allowing you to mop them up as your reinforcements land.

 

Now, a few things to note:

1) Dont always pod. Even though you paid for the DPs sometimes its better to just deploy back in cover and use your pods to deny LOS and block paths of travel.

2) A late scoring pod can change the game. GHs are great at clearing objectives, and then holding them. Its often better to keep one unit in reserve to alpha strike a unit turn 3 or 4.

3) No one made you an idiot. Seriously. If your opponent deploys in reserve, more power to you. Pod in to advanced positions with good cover, and use your run and perhaps your next move to set up a series of overlap fire arcs and make your opponent deal with having to walk right into your teeth. If advanced cover is hard to find because of the board then deploy your squad normally, and use your pods to deny him places to walk into the board from.

4) I find that Typhoons and Dreads are two key peices to this kind of list- Typhoons let you hunt down enemy armor and artillery that would otherwise pulverise your squads while theyre bunched up, Dreads give you an option to drop near squads that specialise in the destruction of infantry- like howling banshees or wyches. Always, always, keep your DCCW and give him EA+HF. It never fails to be a good investment.

 

Edit: For the record, NO ONE does DPs better than SWs.

[amrogers3]

Frater cant post up polls :devil:.

 

I do well with a Drop Pod list. The key is, that moreso than any other SW list you have to avoid the 'toys'. The fewer points you spend on upgrades that arent needed the more points youll have to get more squads in pods and more boots on the ground.

 

For example, If you work at it you can get 5 fully functional DP units at 1500 with a good amount of support, no problem. I for one prefer 30 GHs, 2x Melta Hunters and 1x Plasma Hunters, a pair of Dreadnaughts, supported by a Pair of Typhoons, a scout pack, and a Rune Priest leading some bloodclaw bikers.

 

Do it right, you wont be giving up anything significant in the way of maneuverability, and youll be short very few units due to DP assault. By maximising your effect, tactically, you can reduce your opponent to roughly equal points before they have a chance to strike, allowing you to mop them up as your reinforcements land.

 

Now, a few things to note:

1) Dont always pod. Even though you paid for the DPs sometimes its better to just deploy back in cover and use your pods to deny LOS and block paths of travel.

2) A late scoring pod can change the game. GHs are great at clearing objectives, and then holding them. Its often better to keep one unit in reserve to alpha strike a unit turn 3 or 4.

3) No one made you an idiot. Seriously. If your opponent deploys in reserve, more power to you. Pod in to advanced positions with good cover, and use your run and perhaps your next move to set up a series of overlap fire arcs and make your opponent deal with having to walk right into your teeth. If advanced cover is hard to find because of the board then deploy your squad normally, and use your pods to deny him places to walk into the board from.

4) I find that Typhoons and Dreads are two key peices to this kind of list- Typhoons let you hunt down enemy armor and artillery that would otherwise pulverise your squads while theyre bunched up, Dreads give you an option to drop near squads that specialise in the destruction of infantry- like howling banshees or wyches. Always, always, keep your DCCW and give him EA+HF. It never fails to be a good investment.

 

Edit: For the record, NO ONE does DPs better than SWs.

 

Great info. Thanks for taking time to post it. I'm new to the pod rules so I have a couple questions. First, pods don't always come out when you want them to right? Based on a roll die. Has this been a problem? Second, do these tactics work on all armies? I could see Tyranids presenting a problem. From what you posted drop pods have various roles you could use them for, i.e. to block line of site. But for versatility, it would seem razorback would be able to provide additional firepower although your squad would roughly be cut in half. There is always a tradeoff.

[Grey Mage]

Great info. Thanks for taking time to post it. I'm new to the pod rules so I have a couple questions. First, pods don't always come out when you want them to right? Based on a roll die. Has this been a problem? Second, do these tactics work on all armies? I could see Tyranids presenting a problem. From what you posted drop pods have various roles you could use them for, i.e. to block line of site. But for versatility, it would seem razorback would be able to provide additional firepower although your squad would roughly be cut in half. There is always a tradeoff.

Drop Pod Assault means that 1/2 of your pods come in turn 1, period. The other half come in via reserves- 4+ on turn two, 3+ on turn 3, and so on as normal.

 

I havent found its often a problem, partially because I dont put everything in a pod- I support them with fast moving units like landspeeders and bikers... vangaurd forces if you will. Between the 1/3 of my points *on average* that I spend on support units like that and the 1/2 pods coming in turn one Im looking at about 80% of my forces on the table, gauranteed, turn 1.

 

I dont give out advice thats specifically targeted at one army when talking about army tactics. Everything Ive mentioned above is something that can be used against most opponents. However, since you asked about Nidz.....

 

Tyranids arent as much of a problem as youd think- again, you dont have to deploy in the pod anymore than you have to deploy inside a rhino. So, I can deploy my GHs and dreads in a battle line in cover, using the dreads heavy weapons and the typhoons missile launchers to take out monstrous creatures while my GHs set up and rain bolter shots on the advancing army. I can even choose to keep a squad in reserve in a pod to come in later to pull me out of any issues that are threatening to overwhelm me- a plasmahunter pack crashing into the flank tends to turn back any assault force, atleast giving me some breathing room.

 

Indeed, its much the same against Orks, and some other assault based armies like Khorne Bezerkers.

 

Razorbacks are interesting, but frankly your more than doubling the price of a transport to cut its capacity in half- thats not a good deal. Their firepower is good, sure enough, but theyre fragile for the amount of attention theyll draw and they are expensive. I dont find that in a SW army its worth it to spam them- Long Fangs give us more firepower per point and are more versatile overall. Ill occaisionally take one for an HQ unit to ride with or Long Fangs for a transport option/third target selection.

 

Rhinos are better than razorbacks, cheaper and capable of bringing in full squads- wich survive longer, have more firepower, and do their jobs better in my experiance. Ill take a 10 man squad in a Rhino over a Razor squad every single time.

[dentonius]

Footslogging !!!!

 

I play footslogging for a while now. I just need to put something fast in my lists like thunderwolves and fenrisian wolves. I just hate that every marine player has rhino's, predator or vindicator and more blablabla. Always copy paste lists, there is no difference between the chapters.

 

For me footslogging is something new and exciting, you also get respect from opponents.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

In my not so humble opinion, I use Rhinos with full ten man packs without Wolf Guard. However if I was going to take Wolf Guard I would drop the squads down to five man squads with WGPL and throw them in a Razorback. The points you save from the squad pay for the cost of the Razorback upgrade.

 

Two 6 man squads can dish out the same or more damage than one 10 man squad, they can divide their attentions to deal with multiple weaker units, and the Razorbacks add another big gun/armoured target to the Space Wolf roster. With the advent of Dark Eldar and their ability to pump out massive anti-infantry fire our Long Fangs may become too fragile to be left outside a tank.

 

I've not tried drop pods, I personally like my tin cans to be mobile and provide a harder shell for the troops inside rather than force them out into the targetting matrix of the enemy. Even armour 11 is more than most basic weapons can hurt, and glancing hits aren't as dangerous as they used to be.