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I've been searching, and can't find any hits... I keep hearing that going second is the new going first (Actually Drop pods were better going 2nd in 4th ed ).. can someone tell me why? I feel like I'm missing something (I have yet to play 5th ed, BTW, so maybe I just need to see it in person to get it..)

Thanks

Well, if you go 1st, you choose your deployment zone first, then you deploy your entire force at once. Your opponent gets the other deployment zone and deploys his entire army after you're done. Then the 2nd player gets a chance to seize the initiative and go 1st.

Going 2nd allows you to deploy in response to your opponent's deployment, which is great if you can guess what his/her battleplan might be. For a drop pod army, you're probably going to have a lot of drop pods (otherwise you're not really a drop pod army!), so going 2nd means your opponent's 1st turn can be wasted through clever deployment, holding your non-pod units in reserve, or just putting everything in pods.

I don't see any tactical reason why you'd be worried about going first or second with a DPA army, unless your enemy will be also using a DPA army, in which case you want to be able to jump on his head, not the other way around. DPA vs any kind of deepstrike army always has risks. No matter what you do, first turn or second turn, something is going to fall on your head soon, and there's no real way for you to not-be-there when it happens. All you can do is hope that they botch it, or that what you have still comming to land on their heads is much, much worse.

A DPA happens as part of your first turn, so it's not like you're deploying your drop pods during your deployment phase. You start the game with nothing on the table(assuming you're full DPA) and it's during your actual turn that the pods come in. So even if your opponent has infiltrators, even those will go down(if they aren't flanking) before your drop pods come down. The only things that won't be on the board during your initial DPA will be units that are also deepstriking, but unless they ar DPA deepstriking, there isn't much you can do about it as far as going first or second.

The only advantage I see in going second turn, is the same advantage that has always been around. You get the last turn, so you get this one final turn where you can go balls to the wall, knowing that no matter what you do(barring assaults) nothing is going to be able to hit you back for it.

An all drop pod army going 2nd has two advantages (igoring what the actual build is)

1) Barely touched on above is the big reason. You can get one more turn of effectiveness then your opponent. Essentially if an army is all drop/deepstrike, then your opponent isn't going to be able to do anything till after you arrive. So if using the new SM dex, your opponents gets to twiddle his thumbs first turn cause none of your models are there, while the pod army gets half their pods in and shooting 1st turn.

5ed changes this dynamic some because now an opponent can choose to be all in reserve in any mission and can negate this advantage, almost turning the table on the drop pod army. This comes at a price though, being forced to come in piecemeal.

2) As mentioned above, 2nd turn is great for objective missions, as you are the last to act.

Other points
-The reason a non drop pod army may elect to go 2nd is to see his opponents deployment. However a drop pod army will always get this advantage regardless so it is of negligible value.

-The main reason to go first would be to get to objectives first, which can be a notable advantage at times but is nothing compared to the advantages above.

HTH

Always second imho these days. You know where the enemy are, they waste a turns shooting if you start with a lot off the board. It's a good plan

On the flip side, if you are playing against a DP army, always go second if you can!

Keep your army off the board in reserve, half the DP's are forced to land in turn one - you now see where they are and you can either bring units on near them in force and wipe them out, or avoid them if you prefer.

The advantage to going first as a pod army are also there and must be considered

1) If the opponent elects to have everything in reserve you get 3/4 of your force on the ground, in his deployment zone (or wherever) before he arrives. This means he comes in peicemeal while you have a sizable force down.

2) more importantally you can prevent him from moving out of his deployment zone as quickly. If you drop right next to him he must deal with you, he cant ignore you and grab objectives. If you drop second he has a full extra movement phase to go toward the objective(s) and bunker up.

I still think a Drop Pod army needs to go second. Dropping into your opponent’s DZ, if he has chosen to start with his army in reserve, is just asking to be shot/assaulted as he comes onto the table. It’s literally giving your opponent the advantage you paid points for. If he goes after objectives and spreads himself out, he allows you to isolate and destroy pieces of his army, exactly what a podding army wants.

In general, I think a DPA should opt to go second.

I don't think that going first is necessarily a tactical disaster, whether the opponent starts with everything on the board or not.

I do like the idea of trying to use your DPA going first vs. a 'all in reserve' army to control their DZ. But, you have to be canny about it and not just throw stuff out there. If it's possible to use terrain to limit scatters off the board and also limit assault lanes (along with the pods), it's a lot more feasible. Also, if they're a non-melee army, it may force them to deploy away from the pods (Tau, I'm looking at you) since they don't want to walk on the board, shoot, then get assaulted by marines, lose, and run off the board.

I could also see that against some armies, you may want first turn to try to meltagun some fast transports.

I'd prefer to go first vs. Drop Pods with my Daemons. Just a matter of deep strike real estate.

It really depends on what kind of opponent I'm facing and how they're deployed.

If they start with everything on the board, I prefer to go first because his deployment is going to be more packed together and my combat squadded sternguard can blow up a tank and also dent some infantry on the same go.

Likewise, if they start with *nothing* on the board, again I prefer to go first because I can set up a big castle with 75% of my army in his deployment zone on the turn that 50% of his stuff comes in.