Question about Drop Pods in a chapter / warband

[Julgolax]

Getting right to the point, would a Space Marine Chapter or Chaos Space Marine Warband make use of Drop Pods for every engagement rather than flying in and dropping off troops, securing a drop zone, and committing tanks and speeders to advance lines? 

 

I mean to me, the "Angels of Death" are no better personified in this universe than dozens / hundreds of armored Drop Pods plummeting planet-side to deliver tank armored warriors right into the fray. Why would they both expend and risk tons of armored resources and time to find, take and hold a drop zone and commit tanks and Thunderhawks to a warzone; when instead they could just pile into pods and drop right on-site? I thought that's one of the many functions and uses for Scouts, bikes and Land Speeders, aside from reconnaissance and fast strikes, they drop teleport homers in key places to make dropping pods and teleporting Terminators much less risky.

 

I dunno, maybe a good chapter or warband for me would be a Raven Guard successor / traitor force, but I'd like to get a word on this. :)

[Lord Pariah]

I think it depends, If memory serves; someone said that the initial strike may be just drop pods, but if they're there for a campaign, they are going to unload heavy armor.

 

don't forget, in the grand scheme of things, a single company/ war band cannot win a campaign in its own. However, vehicles perform much of the heavy lifting when marines are down on the ground. It's alright to launch them down, but getting them back to orbit to send them back down planet side is a waste of resources.

 

on the other hand, it is completely down to how the chapter/warband operate: iron warriors/iron hands would want to bring as much firepower while not sacrificing maneuverability and astral claws/raven guard would not wish to get bogged down with all the extra logistics and vulnerabilities that Astarte vehicles present.

 

in short, Depends on too many factors such as time, enemy composition, resources (fuel, munitions and such) available, and who is operating in the same theater. while epic does paint a good picture of how a chapter would operate with vehicles, they're most likely would not get into said engagement and, in this heretics humble opinion, would ere on the side of flexible, infantry heavy compositions. also great to note, air units would be a must take...and strategist cannot underestimate aerial superiority

 

as such, I have tried to enforce my 19th to only carry things that they can move without armor support: havoc without predators..

 

hope it helps.

[Julgolax]

I see what you're saying about the logistics of it. It's interesting to think what wars could have been won though if the Astartes didn't bother with landing megatons of tanks and artillery, and just dropped in bolters blazing. And the same with the heretics. Personally, I like the idea of a chaos force dropping in and causing terror among the enemy, just because they're Chaos. Tactically speaking, I guess dropping your units in unsupported would be a really bad idea but then again, they're power armored. Technically space marines of any kind should be able to withstand small arms fire of all but the most deadly kind, so I don't know why a 100-man drop pod assault couldn't decimate the enemy completely.

 

If I had the money, I'd buy myself a 3000 point CSM army with chaos drop pods and roll the dice on landing them in a nice group on top of the enemy's fortification. Khorne would be so pleased at the carnage of 100 of his followers colliding with a company of Black Templars defending a chapter keep :D

[Lord Pariah]

If I had the money, I'd buy myself a 3000 point CSM army with chaos drop pods and roll the dice on landing them in a nice group on top of the enemy's fortification. Khorne would be so pleased at the carnage of 100 of his followers colliding with a company of Black Templars defending a chapter keep

guilty of this line of thoughts.. but I have too many cannon fodd- loyal sons of the dark gods to finish before anything... then maybe a xeno army.

as for everything else, don't forget that there is a massive disconnect between the fluff and the crunch. in (fantasy) reality, a CSM war band would not even go down to the surface unless they really had to, given that sub-orbital logistics is very demanding on a band that is surviving on scraps.. legions would have less problems.

and with an loyalist company, they would not have enough numbers leap into the (literal) abyss, unless they were sure that they can commit..

an interesting thought to entertain when space wolves dropped behind my line of renegades would the support of their tanks (to busy running from a daemon prince, anywho) and got wiped out from sheer force of numbers... a humbling and hilarious moment.

but the galaxy is what you make of it, and a entire planet is a large place to get stranded