SW Drop Pod list lessons learned

[Bloody Legionnaire]

Wolf brothers! I know in 6th edition, more and more are seeing the benefits of how well space wolves do drop pod lists. Today I had my 3rd drop pod "list" but I have been using at least one drop pod since my first game in every list. These are some of the lessons I have learned so far, and those of you that like to run Drop lists please share what you have learned as well.

 

In 6th edition, getting troops where they need to be is a make or breaker in many cases. For an opponent... Not being able to see how most of your force is deployed can create big problems, especially if they go first. Dropping my drop pods in and putting a large sized force where my opponent isn't ready or isn't expecting, or in a tactical vantage point has given me a huge boost on the table top.

 

The game of warhammer as well as real world combat is all based on troops, boots on the ground wins wars... This in the game more troops is generally better, since this is well known for friend and foe alike, this begs the issue of how we support these valuable troops. There are all kinds of beasts and weapons known to man in the 40k universe that will devastate even our heart troops, is the best answer to this more troops? In a drop pod list (and 40k in general) I'm starting to think that Death Star units are not only not necessary, but a wasted of points... Would you agree?

 

By all of that I really am referring to up close drop pod support, as when it comes to heavy support I don't believe our long fangs can be beat (yes I am finally a believer, for those of you who have read my rants against Long Fangs), although I still don't think missiles cut it for me... Heavy bolsters and plasma cannons have worked wonders. Long Fangs are so dynamic, and being able to custom tailor your squads for any specific need is a huge advantage as far as battle implement goes.

 

Areas of confusion for me...Elites and FA. Do you all really recommend maxing out troops? Are there any options in the Fast Attack or Elites slots that are potentially critical to success?

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I typically don't field anything from our FA slot. I have used the Storm Eagle a couple of times but have never found it worth its points cost. TWC are meh to me but that just may be because I don't use them enough to get good at it. My typical lists usually include at least three GH packs. I typically drop them in so that they can support each other barring a bad scatter. I have been tinkering with the idea of using bikes to support my pods. They aren't great at shooting but they can wreck some face in close combat.

 

If I use elites, it is always a WG pack with combi-weapons to alpha strike something that has to die on my first turn. I don't like mixing WG into my GH packs. The LD buff is nice but I don't like losing the second special weapon. 

 

I am a big fan of troops because they win games. The philosophy, "boyz before toyz", is one that I adhere to all of the time.

[Bloody Legionnaire]

Hail brother!

 

I usually am a close combat guy... But I don't know how well CC treats marines in this edition. I do like TWC, however, like I said in my first post... In not convinced a Death Star unit has enough merit, I definitely think shooting is the way to go... Following up with fully loaded GH units for when the opponent is brave enough to assault. My ideal list would be at least 5 pods of GH's, I've flirted with the idea of a list that includes 7 Pods, 2 of which are shooty dreads for snooty support. I'm starting to wonder if something like land speeders would be better shooters. So far I'm loving heavy bolters and auto cannons.

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

Hail brothers,

 

While I haven't used Space Wolves yet (building up my army slowly but getting there) I have used drop pods for my DA and I love the Assault Cannon Heavy Flamer loadout. It isn't anything to write home about but if you drop them near enough to a tac squad the support each provides the other is actually fairly good I've found.

 

I only assume GH with two dreads as support in pods should be excellent I would think. Yes the Dreads will die but Assault cannons seem to be fairly awesome I've found and if you keep them at the 24" range suddenly your enemy needs to decide if they want to deal with the dread or the GH squad at 12". Two different weapons admittedly but usually the target priority is messed up.

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

Land speeders are the only fast attack I use in my pod lists, and I usually hold then in reserve to deep strike them as well.

 

At this point I am pretty convinced that space wolves in 6th are a mid rabge army and pods compliment that enormously. Due to army wide counter attack we benefit more from being charged than charging (due to overwatch and those lovely wolf standards) and as pods are a good way to get close for a good round of rapid fire followed by a good overwatch if you get charged.

 

As for elites I have done both dreads and tda wolf guard, and I like both alot. Heavy flamer multimelta dreads make a nice mess even if they don't make it past turn 2 or 3.

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I fully agree about SWs becoming more midfield. The nice thing about drop pods lists is the flexibility they give us. Against charge and assault you armies they give us the ability to be defensive, shoot me up, and let em charge, against sit back and shoot armies we are very aggressive and can be in their face when they really don't want us there.

 

I had to mod my list I used yesterday because the guy I played against wanted to try out his 2500pf nids (about 200 models) and I only have about 45 GHs and 5 pods so I had to be a little creative. I only have one dread right now, and I dropped it in on turn one with 2 GH pods, it was a lot of fire power in one spot. Dread was a plasma flamer type which worked pretty well and kept a little more distance between me and the nids. I'll try other variants when I have additional units and weapons.

 

Another lesson I learned was picking up HB razorbacks for long fang packs if the points are there. GREAT, shooting platform... Against shoots armies it may have gotten blown up early, but against nids it was shooting things all over the place.

 

I'm starting to wish SWs had some kind of artillery unit for long range bombardments... Or even mortar long fangs... I really dislike missiles, and I'm about to fire all my missile guys.

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I agree wholeheartedly that SW are a midfield army. In my current list I have five pods of GH. Four of them are 10 strong and one is only five with a flamer. I really like dropping 30 GH on the table where I need them on my first turn. I have experimented with dropping dreads but they have only performed so-so for me. My play style prefers to try and overwhelm the enemy at what I think is the decisive point by either killing what I perceive to be the biggest threat keeping him occupied in his own deployment zone to deal with my attack supported by LFs and IG infantry squads with autocannons. The company commander did sterling service manning the quad gun in last night's game, shooting down two stormtalons when they came on the board. I haven't faced a lot of AV 14 so I don't know for certain how my list would handle that other than the melta GH pack and the vendetta.

[raiders13]

I agree wholeheartedly that SW are a midfield army. In my current list I have five pods of GH. Four of them are 10 strong and one is only five with a flamer. I really like dropping 30 GH on the table where I need them on my first turn. I have experimented with dropping dreads but they have only performed so-so for me. My play style prefers to try and overwhelm the enemy at what I think is the decisive point by either killing what I perceive to be the biggest threat keeping him occupied in his own deployment zone to deal with my attack supported by LFs and IG infantry squads with autocannons. The company commander did sterling service manning the quad gun in last night's game, shooting down two stormtalons when they came on the board. I haven't faced a lot of AV 14 so I don't know for certain how my list would handle that other than the melta GH pack and the vendetta.

I run something very similar to this. I love that I can drop 3 pods turn one in his face and I still have my blob squad to take objectives in my half of the field. If the mission is the relic, its game over for him. I drop two pods in front of it and one to the side of it, basically cutting off any hope they have to grab it. If I don't take allies I run a 9 pod list with two dreadnoughts for heavy fire power.  

[Lord Ragnarok]

For your pod lists what are you bringing for anti air?

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I'll be honest, other than the one game where my opponent wanted to test out his new hell-turkey, there really aren't many flyers in the meta where I play.

I would probably end up using my long fangs, however, I may eventually break down and get a fortification, we'll see.

I noticed in another thread someone brought up using land speeders against flyers... does anyone know if they would be able to fire at full BS at a flyer? I don't know of a rule that would prevent this. They could possibly be our cheapest anti-flyer answer? I'm really starting to get intrigued by them.

The list I would like to start running (once I get some more pods) includes 7 pods 5 full of troops, the other two with dreads for support. Turn 1 20 troops and two dreads all in one area are pretty nasty... 30 troops coming in after that is nasty in and of itself as has already been posted. My HQ consists of 3 rune priests... I haven't play tested it yet, I REALLY want to though.

Do you guys have any other HQ recommendations that you like in a pod list? Any success with Runic Armored Wolf Lords or WGBLs?

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I have not seen anything that would suggest that skimmers could fire at full BS at a flyer. In hover mode this is possible, but while it is zooming around you either need another flyer or something with the skyfire special rule.

 

I run a hybrid list of pods, LFs and IG allies. My primary anti-air platform is the trusty aegis with quad gun and a vendetta. I haven't had too many issues handling the flyers that I have faced. I was lucky last night that my friend's two stormtalons came in separately so I was able to shoot them down before they could really do anything. 

 

Three RPs are nasty but it's also 300+ points for three dudes and they suck up pod space so reduce the special weapon load out of the GHs. You could throw them in with the WG but then they become an even larger priority target for your opponent to focus on.

 

The biggest challenges I face with my army are mechdar and mech vet IG. The former is hard to pin down and the latter has so much firepower that packs seem to melt away.

[Sohail187]

 

I agree wholeheartedly that SW are a midfield army. In my current list I have five pods of GH. Four of them are 10 strong and one is only five with a flamer. I really like dropping 30 GH on the table where I need them on my first turn. I have experimented with dropping dreads but they have only performed so-so for me. My play style prefers to try and overwhelm the enemy at what I think is the decisive point by either killing what I perceive to be the biggest threat keeping him occupied in his own deployment zone to deal with my attack supported by LFs and IG infantry squads with autocannons. The company commander did sterling service manning the quad gun in last night's game, shooting down two stormtalons when they came on the board. I haven't faced a lot of AV 14 so I don't know for certain how my list would handle that other than the melta GH pack and the vendetta.

I run something very similar to this. I love that I can drop 3 pods turn one in his face and I still have my blob squad to take objectives in my half of the field. If the mission is the relic, its game over for him. I drop two pods in front of it and one to the side of it, basically cutting off any hope they have to grab it. If I don't take allies I run a 9 pod list with two dreadnoughts for heavy fire power.  

I also run similar amounts of GH in pods. However i feel that GH in todays game are not cutting it as much as they used to. I am curious to know how some of you guys deal with the big toys with an all comers list.

[raiders13]

In my 9 pod list I run two dreadnoughts and in my list with IG I run a vendetta and manticore. I find that these help out a lot and there is always the option of running WG with combi meltas

[Sohail187]

ye i normally have 2 squads of 4 or 5 WG ith melta. need to work on my allies detachment. 

[d@n]

im a big fan of swift claws in the fast attack slot. I run them bare, apart from melta bombs and maybe an axe. there's so much jinks/cover saves iwnd ect ect trying to shoot vehicles is a pain.

 

swift claws are also a nice unit to mop up after you have whittled down a unit with shooting.

[frostclaw222]

If I use Elites, it's Wolf Guard (either portioned out as Pack Leaders or as TDA packs, or both), or Wolf Scouts. No, they can't assault when they OBEL anymore, but a infiltrating a pack forward with sniper rifles and a heavy weapon, especially if they're in cover and about to get drop pod support and there's something that's a bigger fire magnet in the front of my deployment zone...let's just say they're still useful, and leave it at that. And the OBEL squad can still do alright if there's sufficient terrain to come in and find cover in that first turn. I may toss in a dread in a Lucius, but lately they just haven't been as effective as I'd like. 

 

Fast Attack-wise, I don't have Swiftclaws yet, and my TWC isn't up to two packs in size yet. My impressions based on batreps here and elsewhere is that the single TWC pack is a little too glasshammer these days unless they're all toting stormshields, and that two packs allows for dissipating suppression fire a bit more beneficially. I have about two packs of Skyclaws, but to make them even remotely effective, you need to attach an IC to them, and I just can't justify it. That leaves Storm Eagle and Land Speeders. The Eagle isn't put together yet (anyone who has one knows why...oh, the dread). 

 

Speeders, I think, are actually quite in line with our tactics. Think of how wolves actually hunt a pack of prey creatures. They either attempt to encircle, or they sneak close and then give chase, nipping at the flanks. This is how I see Speeders utilized in a Wolves army. And it fits, philosophically. Light, fast, hard-hitting on the flanks. 

 

I've promised myself that I need to try Swiftclaws, and I will, once I get enough of those FW bikes to do them up right. But right now, FA slot is Speeders for this Wolf Lord.