New Drop Pod Shenanigans

[Tawnis]

So... I just noticed that the Drop Pod got moved to the Dedicated Transport slot in the army, which means that it now ignores the rule of 3. 

 

They did loose a bit for sure. No more gun, and no more OC, so they can't do actions for you anymore or hold objectives while the crew runs off.

 

Even so, they did get the ability for units to charge out of it though, which is nice, as well as the ability to carry 12 marines which is amazing! In addition to of that; putting your whole army into Deep Strike and deploying it turn 1 for a big Alpha Strike seems pretty spicy. 

Thinkin about it a little more, I put this list together: 
 

Firestorm Assault Force: 2000 Points

 

Captain with Plasma Pistol / Power First & Forged In Battle: 95pts
Lieutenant with Plasma Pistol / Power Fist & Champion of Humanity: 75pts
Devastator Squad x10 with Multi-Meltas (Sargent with Plasma Pistol / Power Fist): 200pts

 

Vulkan He'Stan: 100pts
Infernus Marines x10: 180pts

 

Adrax Agatone: 85pts
Infernus Marines x10: 180pts

 

Judiciar: 70pts
Bladegaurd Veterans x6: 160pts
Assault Intercessors x5: 75pts

 

Apothacary: 50pts
Hellblasters: 220pts

 

Drop Pod x5: 350pts

 

Jump Intercessors x5: 90pts

 

Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon: 70pts

 

Total Points: 2000

 

The list puts the Combi-Lt onto you home objective to keep it under your control and puts the rest of your army into Deep Strike. (Terminators get to do this normally, then the rest in Drop Pods) 

 

If you get the first turn, you have the potential to get a massive amount of board control, dropping 9" outside of their zone with your whole army alpha striking with huge force. Yes you're functionally paying a 350pt tax to do this, but given the amount of damage you can output, I think it would be worth it. 

 

The Captain/LT and the Devastators go into the biggest threat, you can use onslaught of fire to get the melta's up to 3+, combine that with Oath of Moment and the ability to flip 2 dice to 6's for lethals (1 from the Cherub, and 1 from the Enhancement) and +1 to wound, you're going to delete or at the very least cripple most big things, even if you're not in melta range. 

 

Adrax and He'Stan come down to torch any infantry they can reach. 

 

The Hellblasters go on either the center or your closer objective, whichever one gives them a good firing lane. 

 

The Judiciar/Bladeguard go in front of their largest melee threat, forcing them into a fight as you have fights first and can use Crucible of Battle for some extra punch when they charge you and you've got an extra CP to spare. 

 

Also, the Drop Pods, while smaller in profile now, can still move block a lot of key paths around the board, making them targets your opponent has to chew through to get where they want to go. 

 

Lastly, the Jump Intercessors come down on turn 2 to provide some support where needed or do secondaries.

 

The list certainly isn't foolproof, if an army has a lot of Infiltrate and scout moves, they could screen you out pretty effectively, even if you do get the first turn. (My Kroot army comes to mind as something that would hard counter this list.) That being said, the deployment flexibility and alpha strike potential is very high against most lists. 

 

Thoughts? 

Edited 12 hours ago by Tawnis