30K Drop Pod Disembarkation rules

[Dono1979]

so I contacted FW about the rules ommission of the automatic disembarkation of the Drop Pod, in 40K units immedaitely disembark under the Transport special rule. In the 30K version there is no such rule, A pretty significant change to the Drop Pod rules if people hadnt picked up on the wording in the HH books, FW have just confirmed units do NOT need to automatically disembark the turn a Pod lands, allowing them to stay on board and then able to Assault from it the following turn (Open Topped vahicles are Assault Vehicles).

 

Just a quick question in relation to the rules for Drop Pods in the 30K Horus Heresy setting. The standard Drop Pods appear to differ from the 40K equivalents in that they do not have the section of the rules which forces the embarked unit to disembark the turn they land, instead it simply says the doors open (Open Topped justification) and reinforces that they cannot assault the turn they arrive.

Is this an intentional omission to bring the standard Drop Pods in line with the Lucius Pods (which likewise do not force the Dreadnoughts to disembark)?

 

Hi,

         Thank you for your email.  The Legion Drop Pod rules were designed to bring them in line with the Lucius Dreadnought Drop Pod.  So, in the Horus Heresy the way the Drop Pods work is that you do not have to automatically leave it when it lands.

[BassWave]

That is huge! Now your enemies have to chew through the pod before they can shoot at the guys inside. Orbital assault armies just became very interesting.

[GhostMalone]

That is huge! Now your enemies have to chew through the pod before they can shoot at the guys inside. Orbital assault armies just became very interesting.

And I'm excited

 

In the pants region

 

@_@

[Hyaenidae]

Dang. A SoH orbital Reaver army would be utterly lethal.

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Dono!  (Should I say, Dono Arigato?  :P )

[Moonstalker]

Yeah, that ruling would completely change the currently nigh-unworkable Orbital Assault RoW.  Having protection from intercepting tactical blobs and the like (or at least forcing your opponent to destroy the pod first) is pretty big.

[depthcharge12]

Or how about dropping in a full squad of plasma support guys and just leaving up the doors?

 

 

AV 12 to protect you as you just fire through an open top vehicle...all that double tap yumminess

[Slips]

Could...Could you Fury Of the Legion out of a Drop Pod before disembarking? By the Emperor/Gods...the implications if you could.

 

 

Also makes despoiler/dedicated assault units much better since they don't have to stand there and get shot for a turn anymore....

[Brofist]

I still feel that the dreadclaw is a better choice since you have a sweet sweet jink save the turn you drop in and your assault is pretty much guaranteed turn 2. Costs more than double the points though...

[Slips]

Unless a Sicarian decides to try and take a shot at it (which is kinda likely since those + contemptors seem to be mainstays in more general purpose lists), then bye bye jink save.

[depthcharge12]

Could...Could you Fury Of the Legion out of a Drop Pod before disembarking? By the Emperor/Gods...the implications if you could.

 

 

Also makes despoiler/dedicated assault units much better since they don't have to stand there and get shot for a turn anymore....

 

You can't fury if you've moved or deep striked. It wouldn't be too bad as it's only 10 guys, but yeah.

[Slips]

Argh shame....though if the pod didn't die and you stayed embarked...could you? I don't remember reading a restriction such as using Fury from an Open Topped vehicle.

 

Though I don't think the downsides of doing something like this would outweigh the benefits, no?

[hisdudeness]

1) I'm not 100% sold on this. While it doesn't say the unit must disembark or cannot re-embark, the dread droppod specifically says a dread doesn't have to exit. If we can, it's not game breaking, but is scary.

2) depthcharge, I'm not sure what difference keeping the doors closed would have, but the rules do say all the doors are opened and not in a fluff way. Opened or closed means nothing, it's still open-topped.

[Brofist]

Unless a Sicarian decides to try and take a shot at it (which is kinda likely since those + contemptors seem to be mainstays in more general purpose lists), then bye bye jink save.

For sure, but you can deepstrike it anywhere, and its a flier in hover mode- so you can avoid most Sicarains pretty easily and then pounce out and charge 2nd or 3rd turn.

[corai]

 

Unless a Sicarian decides to try and take a shot at it (which is kinda likely since those + contemptors seem to be mainstays in more general purpose lists), then bye bye jink save.

For sure, but you can deepstrike it anywhere, and its a flier in hover mode- so you can avoid most Sicarains pretty easily and then pounce out and charge 2nd or 3rd turn.

But for nearly 3 times the cost and no inertial guidance rule I struggle to see why you'd ever take a dreadclaw over a normal pod if the option is there

[Telhdrat]

Probably for its ability to move around later. Or to carry contemptors.

 

Anyway, I'd personally be a bit wary of keeping guys inside a drop pod after its come down. Sure, it offers protection from incoming fire, most notably  of the intercepting kind, but its also very much a potential death trap. You'll usually want to come down within rapid fire but that also means that you are within the enemy's assault range. If they charge you and roll high enough on their charge to surround the drop pod (and they might not need a very high roll) your squad will die if they destroy the pod, and even if  they don't you will be unable to come out.

 

Just something to keep in mind with this rule.

[Brofist]

 

 

Unless a Sicarian decides to try and take a shot at it (which is kinda likely since those + contemptors seem to be mainstays in more general purpose lists), then bye bye jink save.

For sure, but you can deepstrike it anywhere, and its a flier in hover mode- so you can avoid most Sicarains pretty easily and then pounce out and charge 2nd or 3rd turn.

 

But for nearly 3 times the cost and no inertial guidance rule I struggle to see why you'd ever take a dreadclaw over a normal pod if the option is there

 

They added a guidance type rule into the entry, its also a flier in hover mode, so it has no issue with terrain when it comes down.

 

I'm of the opinion that the dreadclaw is a budget assault ram. Yes, it costs about 3 times as a drop pod, but if you have a kitted out melee squad, its the cheapest way to get a near guaranteed assault on turn 2 or 3 without haveing the ceontnets shot to pieces standing in the open for a turn.