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Drop pods for Chaos?


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Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned has two drop pods we can use. The usual Marine one, inexplicably for three times a loyalist pod, and the Kharybdis Assault Claw, which drops off your guys then acts like a flying Land Raider.

 

Dragonlover

 

 

Not entirely accurate.

 

The normal pod (Anvillus Dreadclaw) does not have inertial guidance, only the Kharybdis does. Both pods come in as skimmers, they don't become immobilized and you are not forced to disembark.

 

Kharybdis can take 25 models.

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned has two drop pods we can use. The usual Marine one, inexplicably for three times a loyalist pod, and the Kharybdis Assault Claw, which drops off your guys then acts like a flying Land Raider.

 

Dragonlover

I know you're just being facetious, but for the sake of fact: the Dreadclaw is nothing like the normal Marine one. It doesn't have Inertial Guidance, but it is a flyer and you're not required to disembark after arriving. Deep strike in, move flat out to get into position, and jink in the enemy turn for some protection. Offload the unit next turn for an assault, then fly off and burn something.

 

The only shame is that it's not a dedicated transport for the units that really need it (Berzerkers and Possessed), so those units need to buy one from our already crowded Fast Attack slots.

For years I've asked, why no drop pods. We know the background supports it, and we know the difference it would make...

 

And now we have these 'pseudo pods'. Feedback on them is mediocre at best. Some people say 'take one' if any at all. They are too expensive and the guidance issues are real.

 

Then I started thinking about it and I don't think Chaos will ever get 'real pods'. I think the army would be too potent. I think it would be extremely potent to have one of the best assault armies and units in the game that did not have gap closing issues. This is the only reason I can think of they haven't given us pods... because financially it makes sense.... it would be SO easy for them to package a pod with a spikey sprue and enjoy the additional sales with nominal effort, but they won't. And now I wonder if that is the reason.

For years I've asked, why no drop pods. We know the background supports it, and we know the difference it would make...

 

And now we have these 'pseudo pods'. Feedback on them is mediocre at best. Some people say 'take one' if any at all. They are too expensive and the guidance issues are real.

 

Then I started thinking about it and I don't think Chaos will ever get 'real pods'. I think the army would be too potent. I think it would be extremely potent to have one of the best assault armies and units in the game that did not have gap closing issues. This is the only reason I can think of they haven't given us pods... because financially it makes sense.... it would be SO easy for them to package a pod with a spikey sprue and enjoy the additional sales with nominal effort, but they won't. And now I wonder if that is the reason.

 

That would imply GW cares about game balance before model sales. I somehow doubt this. Especially when Tyranids, another melee army, just got their pods. I don't know the reason for this but I don't think it's because they think it would be too OP. 

The more fundamental issue is DS is too punished. The risk is too high for something you can't control the timing of- first reserves, then high risk to DS a unit near a board edge or enemy unit, punishing consequences on the table, immobilization for a turn, and the fact that units that get it generally pay for the privilege as if it's massively powerful?

 

I generally only see Marines doing it with pods or homers, and those remove all the DS risks. Tells you the Studio overvalued it by making the penalties too harsh.

 

I think they see pods as an Imp Marine thing. Wouldn't mind seeing Anvillus swap Death From Above for inertial guidance, personnally. That is the real value of pods

Dreadclaw is actually better for Assault I'm finding.

 

With Loyalist Drop Pod:

Turn 1: Land close to enemy, Assault Unit can't Charge, gets shot

Turn 2: Charge with whatever survives

 

With Dreadclaw:

Turn 1: Land somewhere further away behind LOS or in Cover, Jink if shot at

Turn 2: Fly in closer, disembark, Charge with full Squad

 

Edit - spelling

I think GW wants to differentiate their model lines, so they no longer want to introduce shared chaos/imperial kits. (Forgeworld follows a different plan, obviously.) So Choas will not get a drop pod based on the imperial model. Maybe they will make a plastic Chaos specific vehicle in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

I should have preferaced my last post by saying I haven't tried a dreadclaw or the Kharybdis (or whatever it's called).

 

When IA13 came out a lot of people on this forum said at most you could use one pod, they were overpriced, and didn't really work that well. Am I to assume that this opinion has changed???

 

Also, aren't these 'pods' out of the Fast attack category and not capable of bring ObSec nor dedicated transports?

 

I've always wanted to try one for my Crimson Slaughter or World Eaters... but everyone got so negative on them out of the gate.

Thats why you put them on the ground like a pod.

 

 

 

When IA13 came out a lot of people on this forum said at most you could use one pod, they were overpriced, and didn't really work that well. Am I to assume that this opinion has changed???

 

Also, aren't these 'pods' out of the Fast attack category and not capable of bring ObSec nor dedicated transports?

 

I've always wanted to try one for my Crimson Slaughter or World Eaters... but everyone got so negative on them out of the gate.

 

A lot of the first opinions where kneejerk reactions comparing them to SM droppods, and the fact that they cannot be used in the same way. So, I'll break down the differences:

SM Drop pods are an alpha-strike delivery system. You load them up with heavy shooters like plasma or melta, and then land them very accurately next to targets. They're cheap, so you take multiples of them for more alpha strike capabilities. Usually they deliver sternguard or other elite shooty units, or cheap-ish troop types, like tacticals or flamer assault marines. They allow you to put lots of boots on the ground, exactly where you need them.

Dreadclaws on the other hand, are essentially flying land-raiders, in that they are an assault transport for ferrying around elite melee units. You normally don't need more than one because you normally don't have multiple CSM melee units (that arent bikes or spawn or princes or whatever). You take one for the same reason youd take a landraider, for getting your choppy axe lord and his berserker bodygaurd right in the enemy's face on turn one, and then protecting them until they can assault on turn two. And then once a flank is rolled up, picking up another unit and flying it across the board to chop some more fances.

What they ARENT good for is multiple accurate alpha strike delivery, like SM pods are (which is where a lot of people decried their uselessness). 

 

And they can be ObSec for CSM squads, and Chosen (black legion) as dedicated transports.

dreadclaw is an assault vehicle for an assault army.

and it's exactly what chaos needed.

 

The wrong thing is trying to compare it with drop pod that is a completely different unit for a completely different purpose.

Evaluate dreadclaw for what it is.

 

Dropping one unit off, and then being little more then a glorified drop pod...meh. I'll take a normal pod any day of the week, a million times over.

 

Thats why you put them on the ground like a pod.

There is no rule allowing you to remove the flight stand from a flyer during movement.

 

That's not to say you can't play otherwise, just be aware that it's not how the rules are written.

A lot of people take flyers off their flying bases when they are in Hover mode.

 

dreadclaw is an assault vehicle for an assault army.

and it's exactly what chaos needed.

 

The wrong thing is trying to compare it with drop pod that is a completely different unit for a completely different purpose.

Evaluate dreadclaw for what it is.

 

 

Dropping one unit off, and then being little more then a glorified drop pod...meh. I'll take a normal pod any day of the week, a million times over.

After dropping a unit off they become sort of a flying Hellhound; Flying AV12 on all sides, can Jink and still use its S5 AP5 Ignores Cover Heat Blast.

 

 

dreadclaw is an assault vehicle for an assault army.

and it's exactly what chaos needed.

 

The wrong thing is trying to compare it with drop pod that is a completely different unit for a completely different purpose.

Evaluate dreadclaw for what it is.

 

Dropping one unit off, and then being little more then a glorified drop pod...meh. I'll take a normal pod any day of the week, a million times over.

 

Ok, take Abaddon (or Zhufor, or Khârn, or a Berzerkers unit, or a Possessed unit, or a Mutilator unit, or a Chaos Lord...) and stick him in a drop pod.

I'll put him in a dreadclaw for sure.

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