Drop and pop

[ImperialReaper]

What it says.

 

In a recent 1750 pts game vs Chaos I dropped my furiosos into the enemy army to mess up his deployment.

 

But I rolled badly - first one missed with his melter and got immobilized and his melter got destroyed. Next one did hit - destroyed one land raider weapon and got destroyed himself afterwards.

 

So I was planning to drop Dante and a Squad of Sanguine Guards with infernus pistols into enemy lines and try to popp a landraider. Problem is - Dante and his Squad would come out at 475Pts. A land raider is 250. If my Squad gets destroyed after they popped the tank this would be a bad investment. If I drop a normal Dreadnought with twin linked lascannons and a multimelter the chances to popp a landraider are pretty low.

 

As a BA player this question is somehow important for me since I want to get close and assault his troops. I but realized that most of the players are sitting around on objectives or their deployment zones in their vehicles. So I have to get them out of their hard shell somehow....

 

Any advices on this problem?

 

Cheers Tony

[Erasmus of Baal]

If you have an extra Elites slot, a Techmarine can fill the role at around 65 points. Other than him, though, you're talking about dropping squads and that gets expensive fast. It would be inadvisable, but you could use Dante solo or a lone Captain or Librarian to get the job done well.

 

Me, I depend on Lascannons to pop tanks, so this is all theory.

[Judaz]

If you want a cheap unit with melta, just drop 5 ass marines with a melta down there. DoA makes 'em quite accurate. Thats 110pts. They drop, pop that target and dies.

 

But I don't think you should be wasting a unit to pop a landraider. AV14 makes you wanna hit him, not with a single unit, but atleast 2 units. Drop 2 furiosos on that LR, the first one shoots, if he pops it, great, flame the meatbags riding the LR with your other furioso, if the LR still runs, shoot with the other furioso.

 

Or you could use some devs from way back.

 

Or the storm raven, that bird carries alot of firepower.

 

Or a VV with some PF's or TH's.

 

Edit: as Erasmus said, a tech marine is even cheaper if you have an elite slot open.

[Morticon]

Matey,

 

Statistically you have to look at a few things.

 

Firstly, what are you likely to destroy a LR with?

Secondly, why is it a threat?

Finally, what firepower/assault is needed to kill that unit.

 

A Dante led Assault squad is perfect. Pricey- sure. Add a priest, make their life hell. Make them tougher to take down.

 

The trick however is you really need to make sure that what is moving up the lines towards the enemy presents as great a threat as Dante et al in their lines.

 

eg: DC in rhino led by chaplain or mephiston or libby led assault squad, or anything.

 

If you use your DS unit JUST to pop while the rest of your army sits back, youre possibly going about it the wrong way though!

[bulley]

Honor Guard w/ x4 Melta Guns.

 

DS in near the tank - chances are you'll be within 6" for at least a couple of of the shots - they then have FNP for a bit of added survivability.

[Aeterni]

Personally I ignore LR unless I have to absolutely destroy it. Then I go about it 2 ways. Sticking a guy with a melta bomb infront of the tank for a Death or Glory while assaulting it from multiple sides, or I just overwhelm the tank by throwing anything with a Str 8 or higher.

[breng77]

Statisically speaking

 

Honor Guard w/ x4 Melta Guns.

 

or

 

Sternguard with 2 metla guns and 3 combi-meltas, are most likely to destroy a tank upon landing..

[Red Fury]

MM attack bikes will get a turn 2 shot off at the latest and only cost 50 points each.

They start on the board though, so if you really want to drop pod or deep strike in, you would be well off with 1st turn pods loaded with either sternguard (expensive) or double melta RAS or even melta + combi-melta tac. None of those sound that great for BAs, but worth thinking about. If it can wait until turn 2, just combat squad one of the RAS and drop in 5 guys with 2 meltas and maybe even a Ipistol too. That should do it and is only half of a 250 point squad.

[SamaNagol]

I always take 3 MM Attack Bikes in 1500pts games. They are fantastic.

[Dakez]

i've been doing what aeterni says and ignoring it. if i'm forced to i usually engage with a 10 man asm equipped with 2 meltas a pf and a MB. unfortunately the contents are usually assault termies so when they pop out if i destroy it my asm's are usually not so happy.

[shatter]

Dread with melta arm, magna grapple and frag cannon is one of the best anti-vehicle pod choices. The frag cannon temple(s) gives sooo much more to the unit for alpha podding and is significant versus almost any list type.

[jbarket]

Like my two like minded friends above suggested, HG with 4x MG is how I handle things like this. They'll have to survive the next turn of shooting, so put some thought into what you throw them at. Taking out your opponent's second deadliest piece of armor and knowing that with FNP and a marine armor save that you'll survive unscathed is generally better than taking out his deadliest piece of armor and watching your > 200pt HG squad get hosed.

 

After the turn where they drop in, survivability is no longer a big issue. Jump over to a transport, blow it up and then assault what comes out.

 

They also work well as a distraction. If you drop in and, with no effort at all, blow up something he was really counting on, he's going to waste his next shooting phase on them, ignoring your RAS which are the real threat.

 

If you play jumpers, I consider a unit like this a must.

[skawolf]

For under 350 points you can have 10 sternguard with combi-meltas x10 in a droppod. combat squad them when they hit the ground and pop two tanks.

[Grey Mage]

For under 350 points you can have 10 sternguard with combi-meltas x10 in a droppod. combat squad them when they hit the ground and pop two tanks.

Better???

 

Drop them in, but have 5 C-M and 5 C-P, pop the tank and then rapid fire plasma on whats inside....

[Chaplain Admetus]

If you're feeling really brave, solo librarian with jump pack, blood lance and shield of sanguinius as his psychic powers. Deep strike, blood lance a problem tank (preferably plural if there's more than one), and then shield against incoming fire in the next turn, before jumping away. If nothing else, he's a phenomenal distraction :). I've tried it on one or two occasions and its worked beautifully.

[skawolf]

For under 350 points you can have 10 sternguard with combi-meltas x10 in a droppod. combat squad them when they hit the ground and pop two tanks.

Better???

 

Drop them in, but have 5 C-M and 5 C-P, pop the tank and then rapid fire plasma on whats inside....

 

 

Good one, but I think I can keep the combi-melta and just fire vengence rounds or no cover save rounds, unless the goodies inside are termies that is. I am really the only marine player out of my group so most of my tactics lean towards destroying I-guard so the plasma thing never crossed my mind.

[shatter]

If the OP was to add magna grapples and frag cannons to his existing models, he'd do much much better. The magna grapple alone almost doubles the chance for either to pop stuff. The frag cannons can shred multiple low armour vehicles and occupants should the dreads' targets oblige. The rending on the frag cannons is pretty uber.

[biglou666]

yes! i love my frag cannons, all of my furiosos have it. i wreked a land raider with one the other day! then, a game later, polished off a sqaud of 20 orks with the frag and a heavy flamer... in one turn! :)

[Quixus]

Or a VV with some PF's or TH's.

Can the veterans even assault in the turn they deepstrike? yes they can with Heroic intervention. I forgot about that part, I only thought about the reduced scatter.

[biglou666]

hey, a small idea of mine, on another thread, very recently, someone pointed out that techmarines servitors can also take jump packs, so why not take a techy with two multimelta servitors? (all with j-packs) and deepstrike behind the desired target? at a cost of... 130 pts, not too hefty on the points to completely discounted as a tactic... and with a 2+ save on the techy, the servos might even last for a second round of shooting. ^_^

[shatter]

The jump packs, even if they're possible on servies, would consume the servo arm which means there's no way to upgrade to MM... plus, MM are heavy weapons so couldn't fire the landed turn. They'd need to come with 2 servo arms and be relentless.

[ImperialReaper]

yes! i love my frag cannons, all of my furiosos have it. i wreked a land raider with one the other day! then, a game later, polished off a sqaud of 20 orks with the frag and a heavy flamer... in one turn! :D

 

To wrek a land raider you need to roll a 3+, a 6+, another 6+ and a 5+. Sound pretty unlikely to me even with 2 shots :lol:

[breng77]

Actually it is a template so it auto hits. That said it still only has about a 2% chance of destroying a Land Raider. It would be pretty good against lower armored Vehicles though since it auto hits (and could hit multiple vehicles if they are close enought.)

[biglou666]

consider, all i need is a 6, followed by a 5 (cos its +D3), and then a 5. not impossible. still, but not likely either. it put a smile in my face though! ;)

 

100/6= 16.5(approx) , 16.5/3 = 5.5, 5.5/3 = 1.8

 

1.8*2 = 3.6

 

so, a 3.6% chance of ending a land raider with a frag cannon! trust my luck! ;)

[shatter]

3.7% You rounded too soon.

...which works out to around 30 attempts to have a 66.66'% ("probably") chance to kill at least one LR.