Blood Angels Unit of the Week series Unit of the Week: Drop Pod

[Jolemai]

 

Welcome to part four of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week series!

 
Following the release of the 10^th edition Index, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will discuss the units from the units found within Index: Blood Angels, parts two to four will discuss Index: Space Marines, part five will be Imperial Armour, and part six will be Legends.
 
Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.
 
Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

 

Drop Pod

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you play a Drop Pod?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? 
• Which Detachment are you using?
• What weapon choice are you using?
• How are you making use of its Transport Capacity?
• Stratagem synergy of note?

 

Over to you.

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread), then submit a photo here please.

 

(Once I work out how best to float it!)

 

***

 

As an aside, the thread setup may change over the coming weeks until I'm happy with them. This includes the photos.

[DemonGSides]

I want to love them but as model counts go up and up and up, finding solid deep strike that can hold not only the drop pod itself but also the 10 guys strapped into it, can get pretty difficult especially with terrain the way it is.

 

Add on that it's hard capped at 10 so no max units with their leaders, can be kinda iffy. I've got some whacky ideas on some weird uses (3x3 eliminators and then a Combi LT dropped on an unsuspecting corner to just hammer an enemy from the flank and hopefully do some back field shenanigans) but I think it's still just not good enough to bother any more.

 

If it allowed something beneficial like the pod itself has to be outside of 9 but the dudes inside can get as close as 6, well that would be mighty interesting and I'd probably run it constantly.  As is, Ive used it to drop a unit of infernus marines who barbecued some guys one time and then they all died cuz marines are pretty low in the defense department. 

[terminatorAM]

I'm still trying to figure them out. I like them in concept as they enable an all deep strike army so long as half your army fits within 3 pods.

 

They can potentially be used to score VP on turn 1 from Behind Enemy Lines and Deploy Teleport Homers. But your opponent will see it coming a mile away and block you out of their zone, which is really easy to do with the footprint of a pod and it's squad. Trust me, it looks good on paper, but is a waste.

 

Drop pods also look good for alpha striking a turn 1 charge by using rapid ingress. But you can only use that stratagem once, meaning your unit is gonna get blasted in turn 2.

 

The one useful trick I've found is that the pods themselves tend to be ignored. And they can still score points from controlling objectives in no man's land and for Cleanse or Deploy Teleport Homers. So I think they're useful to have.

 

Jury's still out on how useful 3 are together, but 1 opens up tactical options for scoring points.

[Jolemai]

https://assets.warhammer-community.com/eng_09-07_warhammer40000_other_rules_space_marines_drop_pod-ubd1ln59ih-pw3qzixxxo.pdf

 

Well this changes how Drop Pods are played...

[Karhedron]

The ability to charge out of a Drop Pod is a significant change. It means it is now worth considering them to deploy some of our melee-focussed infantry. But a 9" charge is still pretty unreliable so you won't necessarily want to count on it. This works for units that have some balance of shooting and melee. You can drop in a shoot stuff and if you fail the charge, it is not the end of the world.

 

One good option I think is DC with Bolters. The crucial point is that they have access to free Heroic Intervention. This means that even if you fail your charge, you are not necessarily useless.  Consider comboing them with some BGVs and a Character with Fights First (either a Judiciar or Character with the Speed of the Primarch enhancement).

• Character of choice
• 6 BGVs
• 5 DC with Bolters and melee weapons to taste.

Drop the Pod and try to deploy the BGVs for a 9" charge with the DC a bit further back. Shoot with the DC, 10 bolter attacks can soften up a target or put the heat on something more distant. Then make the charge for the BGVs. If they make the charge, great! If the BGVs fail the charge, your opponents will have the usual risk of charging a Fights First unit but they will also have the risk of the nearby DC piling in using their free HI. The DC will also strike first when using HI as they will count as Charging.

 

This will throw a serious spanner in the works of melee armies, particularly things like World Eaters who will find this combo to be quite a speed bump.

[Karhedron]

A more pedestrian use is to use the Pod to bring in the normal 10-man + Character unit and then have Mephiston ride in the spare seat. Although he only probably won't get many 1st turn charges, you can still get him into a good position to become a real nuisance to the enemy from T2 onwards.

[Jolemai]

It's worth pointing out that you are unable to use RI to have the Pod come in in your opponent's T1. The is due to how the Out of Phase rules work (and was even FAQd for the Pariah Nexus Missions Pack).

 

For example, it's the same way how Fire Overwatch doesn't trigger any bonuses that work in the Shooting Phase - RI just allows a unit to arrive as if it was your Movement Phase, but the special rules that allow it to arrive T1 don't apply.