Ironclads- Good without Transport?

[Firepower]

So, I adore my Ironclads.  Big smashy stompy robot box with mortal wound breastplates and two missile launchers, what's not to love?

 

Well, trouble is I always have to take Pods for them to get where I need them to be.  Or, worse, a Raven per Dreadnought.  As I build lists, every time I look at the points required to bring and transport an Ironclad, I cringe a little bit.  

 

However, I work off the assumption that they simply cannot function without being delivered point blank.  Can they function well footslogging?  I imagine this is a situational question, of course.  Some armies are so fast that they can run circles around Marines, much less Dreadnoughts, and since they're built for up close combat, Ironclads suffer more than their fellow Dreadnoughts in that regard.  

 

So I suppose a more accurate way of phrasing the question is: are Ironclads worth taking if you can't afford spending points on their transport(s)?  I don't play often, but from my experience the one time I've faced an Ironclad that deployed without a transport, my Ironclad deployed by Drop Pod and a Hunter Killer missile were enough to nuke it before it even moved.

 

As a side note, I built my Pods and Ironclads when Pods were 35 points a pop and could take Dreadnoughts, but never got to field them under those rules.  So there is probably a bit of bias in my love for them, after spending over 100 hours on the tedium of building and painting the Pods alone. :P

Edited February 16, 2018 by Firepower

[Xenith]

Everything counts in large amounts. 

 

You'll never know unless you try, and answers here may not be valid as metas are different.

[WarriorFish]

Ironclads are solid, they're tough and built to smash (which Dreads are better at, given the -1 to hit penalty on moving with heavy weapons). They tend to delete things when they hit but need support as while they hit hard they don't hit a lot so can be mobbed like most heavy hitters. I imagine an accompanying Crusader Squad would be perfect for that

 

My caveat is that my lists tend to be less focused on transports, and I almost always run a few Dreads (this weekend's list has five) which helps with saturation. That helps a lot as they don't find themselves being left behind but equally I can usually rely on my opponent wanting to come to me so Dreads are a work horse in counter assault especially sending them after the beat sticks my opponent doesn't want facing down with an Ironclad

[The Unseen]

I don't know ironclads specifically, but I've had decent enough time running 2 furioso dreads with a frag cannon, heavy flamer, and fist up the board.

But, they have an 8" move, and were in a list that threw a lot of stuff in the opponents face turn 1, the dreads would advance and pop smoke, and made up the 2nd turn follow up punch.

 

Key thing is to just make sure your opponent either has something more threatening to shoot, or your using the dreads as that more threatening thing to shield something else.

 

Running 2 footslogging surronded by transports would probably work.

If they shoot the rhinos, the dreads make it in, if they shoot the dreads, the infantry get to make it close with no casualties.

[Race Bannon]

You could use the Lucius DP for the Dreads (proxy the flimsy and GIANT Forge World model with the many you have ... oh yes, I remember them).  Sure, all DP costs went up, but they are still cheaper than a Stormraven.

 

IMVHO.

[SydonianDragoon404]

It depends on what you're fighting. Are you facing a Guard, Tau, Admech, etc gunline army that won't be moving forward in any way? No, your dreds won't be able to footslog. If you're fighting non-shooty nids, some chaos lists, Orks, things like this that typically are actually moving forward you might be alright. 

[Cap'm Heckus]

I find they do well when paired with other things that draw fire (Deep strikers, bikes, mobile predators, land raiders) or in duos or trios.

 

Edit: I most recently used mine with a pair of Contemptors to good effect. Their assault cannons hitting on 2+/3+ and invuln. shields were quite nice and allowed my IC’s advance to go mostly unnoticed.

Edited February 16, 2018 by Cap'm Heckus

[Firepower]

Well, as it stands, I don't have much in the way of Deep Strikers beyond the Ironclads.  I'm currently rounding out my Terminator Assault squad, and will eventually get to my Cataphractii, but for now I have three Pods, two of which are taken by the Ironclads.  The rest of my army is only as fast as its Transports, and those new Rhino price tags pile up quickly as well.  What is with the new price on SM Transports anyway?!  

 

So, I suppose I'm partly tied to the IronPod approach because it's the best distraction/backfield unit I have available.  Even though the Dread Pod is cheaper than the standard Drop Pod in C:SM, that price tag piles up quickly.  For the price of two Dread Pods I could almost afford a third fully armed Ironclad (not that I have one ).

 

If I run it alongside Rhinos, an LRC, and Vindicators (don't get me started on those), it gets left in the dust rather quickly.  Maybe I just don't have the sort of army that could effectively and safely foot slog them...hm.

 

Oh, and I do just proxy those regular Pods in place of the Dread Pods, Race.  Any opponent who would give me guff over that can get bent :P

Edited February 16, 2018 by Firepower

[NiceGuyAdi]

Is the footprint of the Lucius pod much different from the regular one?

 

I’ve got two assembled which we’re waiting to be primed when 8th hit and rendered my three Drop Pod idea a bit silly, but for dreadnoughts they might actually get done.

 

Then again I don’t have any dreadnoughts. Yet.

[Firepower]

I haven't one to compare the standard Pod to, but as I understand it the Dread Pod is considerably larger.  It's also not available to purchase at the moment because FW is redoing the mold :P

[Ishagu]

Wait for the Lucius Pod, and use it to block LOS when the Dread comes out :-P

 

Forgeworld are re-releasing it soon.

[SickSix]

I foot slog my dreads. I hid them behind LOS blocking terrain and waited until the filthy xenos got close.

 

Not ideal and not always possible but Ironclads definitely put up a tougher fight than regular boxnought.

 

I say just run them behind your LRC or other vehicle. Or use them to protect your backfield from possible enemy deepstrikers.

[templargdt]

I don't think you can successfully foot slog an Ironclad, no.  I would stick to the drop pod.

[Joukernaut]

I would like to add a question to the topic, one that had been keeping me busy for a while.

If you do stick an ironclad in a pod, do they work?

I remember taking them in pods all the time during 7th, but with the ponder to dreadnoughts I never really considered it.

I'm pretty sure my regular opponents wouldn't mind me proxying a normal pod for a lucius pattern and I do have two ironclads ready for use.

[Ishagu]

They'd work better as it's less turns for you to reach the enemy. You still need to present your opponent with target saturation and drop them in when the most powerful shooting units are either weakened or tied up.

[Firepower]

If you pod them, take at least two. I always take the hurricane and 2 missiles as well. If they don't make the charge, they can at least lay down some fire on the turn they pop in.

 

They've sometimes done great things for me, and other times were abysmal. One thing I have going for me though is Templar charge rerolls, and that's probably the one time I'm always glad I have that CT.

[zero88]

How about White Scars (+successors) footslogging them? Turn one is between a 9 and 14 inch jaunt, and with smoke popped you'd hope they would have a decent chance of surviving. I would assume using two of them like this would work a lot better than one, and you would probably need to saturate with some other big targets or immediate threats as well. Just my thoughts