Drop Pods and Units not Embarked (while entering play)

[MasterHQ]

Hey, just a quick question. I have researched this in the rule books as much as I can and this is what I want to do --

 

I want to take 2 drop pods with locator beacons and then drop them, empty onto the battlefield following normal drop pod assault rules. But I want them empty, no troops embarked.

 

The reason is two fold -- first, they create nice, obstructing terrain for my guys to hide behind while the prepare to assault the enemy. Second, they will provide teleport/deep strike anchors for large parts of my army (10 terminators, 10 vanguards, etc). I want to use pods because I know they will land in a good place, thanks to interial dampening system, plus I doubt the enemy will waste time on killing them when provided with so much juicier targets.

 

But my question is, because the pod is a dedicated transport, does it have to enter play with the unit embarked, or can I deploy the unit and leave the transport empty? Page 67 of the core book says that a dedicated transport may only carry the unit it was bought for when it enters play, but it does not say that the transport must carry the unit. Thoughts?

[JamesI]

You do not have to put the units in the drop pod.

[wheelballer]

It is very common to have people drop empty pods onto the table for the exact purpose you described. And as JamesI stated, it is completely legal.

 

As a side note, whenever I play with/against pods my group agrees that pods don't completely block LOS, they merely give a cover save to units behind, because they are open topped vehicles. But that's just the way my group plays.

[MasterHQ]

Thanks!