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Posting this as a very rough draft, as much to elicit commentary as anything else. I'm still very mixed on the new codex; lots of sexy toys, but I keep building lists with what I consider a really small number of warm bodies on the table.

HQ

Vulkan He'stan 190

Elites

10 Sternguard, 2 Heavy Flamer, Power Fist, 8x Combi-Melta, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 380
Ironclad Dreadnought, 2 Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 195

Troops

10 Tactical Marines, Flamer, Multi-Melta, Combi-Flamer, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 250
10 Tactical Marines, Flamer, Multi-Melta, Combi-Flamer, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 250
10 Tactical Marines, Melta, Multi-Melta, Combi-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 255

Fast Attack

10 Assault Marines, 2 Flamers, Power Fist 225

Totals 1745 if my memories of point costs from perusing the new codex are correct. 51 warm bodies, 5 pods, and a vehicle. Lots of glorious twin-linked flamer and melta fun, but my god that's not a lot of models on the table.

Rough strategy is pick three pods depending on enemy layout to drop on the first turn; attempt to build something of a body/pod wall to protect the Sternguard and deploy them as combat squads and fry two high-value targets on the turn they land. Vulkan rides with whoever he feels like. Tactical squads deploy as combat squads (so the special weapon/sergeant can move separately) while the Multi-Melta runs on landing to secure better positioning with the intent of table control -- Heavy 1 anti-tank in a pod may not be hugely scary, but once they've dropped, you have three two-foot diameter circles of 8/9 hit 8+2D6 penetration shots. The assault marines deep strike in and with help from the Locator Beacons get placed precisely behind pods and then jump over them into assault the next turn.

The Sternguard can also be replaced with another Ironclad (with the same layout) and three speeders, each with a Multi-Melta or dual Heavy Flamers. With Locator Beacons, dual Heavy Flamer speeders look deadly in a pod list -- create some cover for them, DS them in exactly, hit the intended target hard.

Alternate form:

Vulkan 190
Ironclad Dreadnought, 2 Heavy Flamers, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 195
Dreadnought, Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 160
Tactical Squad, 10 man, Flamer, Combi-Flamer, Power Fist, Multi-Melta, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 250
Tactical Squad, 10 man, Flamer, Combi-Flamer, Power Fist, Multi-Melta, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 250
Tactical Squad, 10 man, Melta, Combi-Melta, Power Fist, Multi-Melta, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 255
Tactical Squad, 10 man, Melta, Combi-Melta, Power Fist, Multi-Melta, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon 255
Land Speeder, 2 Heavy Flamers 60
Land Speeder, 2 Heavy Flamers 60
Land Speeder, Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer 70

1745. Less warm bodies, more hulls.

just a quick pick at it, why have wep on the dreads if your going to drop them?
CC wep x2 should work better if theywill end up in the middle of an army, and they are more likely to kill a vehicle in CC too.

JD21290 wrote:just a quick pick at it, why have wep on the dreads if your going to drop them?
CC wep x2 should work better if theywill end up in the middle of an army, and they are more likely to kill a vehicle in CC too.

You don't have the option for extra CC weapons. As well, they're not going to be able to assault the turn they arrive, so some shooting power is useful, and Heavy Flamers are pretty amazing for their cost.

I just now noticed that while Ironclads come with Extra Armor as part of their base cost, normal (and Venerable) Dreadnoughts do not. Extra Armor is pretty amazingly good on dropped Dreads (and an oversight in my above list due to me not noticing the difference in default equipment...), and that halves the difference in cost between the two dreads. Hrm.

Now to see about swapping around some AoBR bits for dreads and hacking together a trio of Ironclads.

Your first list is awefully close to how I'll be fielding my Salamanders right off the bat, since I have all the models (except heavy flamers but should be able to come up with a solution for them)

I am not a big fan of the speeders. You can only move 6" and still fire both heavy flamers. Can't do it from the drop and will rarely be within 6" of an enemy and still live to fire both of em. Same pretty much holds tru with MM and another weapon. I think single weapon speeders is the way to go in 5ed, with typhoons being the exception.

As far as the dreads, I think the iron clad is the better dropping dread: multiple short ranged weapons, extra cc attack, better armor, frag grenade option. However that being said, the MM dread isn't a bad choice by any means, since ranged weaponry is lacking in the list.

I will be putting up a list shortly, you mind if I put it in this thread so as not to spam the board? I don't mind either way.

Why give all the Sternguard combimeltas? I mean, yeah, that's a lot of melta fire, almost too much, but it'll wreck a tank or MC for sure. But don't they lose their special ammo if they take combiweapons?

Also, on the squads, I'd probably take melta, multimelta, combiflamer. Seems like a bit more use, since you want to be able to fire the melta multiple times but will likely only get the one shot out of the flamer anyway.

Combi-weapons can still use the ammo.

winterman wrote:Combi-weapons can still use the ammo.

nice.

You don't have the option for extra CC weapons. As well, they're not going to be able to assault the turn they arrive, so some shooting power is useful, and Heavy Flamers are pretty amazing for their cost.

you can no longer take a dread with CC wep x2? :(

winterman wrote:I am not a big fan of the speeders. You can only move 6" and still fire both heavy flamers. Can't do it from the drop and will rarely be within 6" of an enemy and still live to fire both of em. Same pretty much holds tru with MM and another weapon. I think single weapon speeders is the way to go in 5ed, with typhoons being the exception.

Dunno. If the cost were any more than ten points, I'd agree with you, but I'm thinking the threat of the double flamer attack is worth the ten points; with the pods, you have a lot more safe area to drop in to, and 6" + 8" is a decent sized threat area.

As far as the dreads, I think the iron clad is the better dropping dread: multiple short ranged weapons, extra cc attack, better armor, frag grenade option. However that being said, the MM dread isn't a bad choice by any means, since ranged weaponry is lacking in the list.

Well, I'm not a fan of non-dropping dreads by any means, and the specs for the Ironclads are really nice for a drop unit. I just failed to notice that while Ironclads had it, normal Dreads didn't have Extra Armor built in...

I will be putting up a list shortly, you mind if I put it in this thread so as not to spam the board? I don't mind either way.

Of course; my main interest is creating discussion of actual lists with the new codex. All the gnashing of teeth about the new toys is pointless in my opinion without some discussion of how the lists are actually going to work.

tzeentchling wrote:Why give all the Sternguard combimeltas? I mean, yeah, that's a lot of melta fire, almost too much, but it'll wreck a tank or MC for sure. But don't they lose their special ammo if they take combiweapons?

As mentioned, they explicitly keep the ammo if they take combi-weapons. Not on Storm Bolters, alas .

They have combi-meltas so they can drop and pretty reliably kill or cripple a tank, and then revert to being a strong anti-infantry unit. While conventional wisdom is to focus units on their targets, reasonably-priced combi-weapons are something of an exception -- since they're only fired once, you aren't giving the unit any wasted resources in allowing it to kill two types of targets.

Also, on the squads, I'd probably take melta, multimelta, combiflamer. Seems like a bit more use, since you want to be able to fire the melta multiple times but will likely only get the one shot out of the flamer anyway.

My experience is frequently the opposite; unless you end up specifically with an immobilize result on the melta in a 6"/6" squad, it's likely to never get to shoot it again. One of the big reasons to stack melta weapons, imo -- either the melta and combi-melta in a tac squad or multiple combi-meltas in a Sternguard squad.