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since the last thread was such an utter failure, I am going to try this again.

P.95 first column, 6th paragraph, 2nd sentence:

in reference to units that have arrived by deep strike

"Vehicles count as having moved at cruising speed."

ergo, no firing any vehicle weapons on the turn of arrival.

Kind of makes deathwind MLs (at 20 pts apiece) pretty useless, afterall. means stormbolters cant fire on the landing either then.

Note: I am talking about the UPGRADE. not the UNIT. if you disagree with my assertion, feel free to post, but keep it civil.

What makes the previous thread a failure? Enough so to make a second thread with vague intent?

MarvinGayeIsMyDaddy wrote:What makes the previous thread a failure? Enough so to make a second thread with vague intent?

because I dont see the reason to have a 3 page post about an issue, where 2 pages is wasted in a flame war.

It has to survive a turn, but as a 12/12/12 vehicle that has moved at cruising speed isn't an easy egg to crack. In close combat it should be all but unbreakable since it has no rear armor, str 8 power fists will need a 6 followed by a 5 or 6 to pen and krak grenades can at best hope to glance with double 6's. The deathwind pod is a cheap distraction that is reasonably hard to kill the turn it arrives and has a good chance to make up its points if it even gets to fire once.

Not to mention its pretty ace for blocking line of sight in places where you need it blocked.

Forcing you're opponent to reposition everything within a 30 inch sphere is pretty damn useful. If they are running away from it then it's payed for itself several times over in utility.

The majority of armies have to dedicate "significant amounts of attention" in order to crack AV12. If they're doing so, they're not cracking your valuable units. If they're not, they're eating a S5 pie plate every turn. It's a crappy choice that makes a 55 pt Kill Point somewhat attractive.

Ok, you now have the entire thread minus the flaming. Your point has also been thoroughly refuted. Deathwind drop pods are drop pods with deathwind launchers. You can not talk about the upgrade alone without talking about the unit because the rocket launcher doesn't float around by itself.

Thread over!

Wonderful summary of why drop pods are useful!

now, should I spend 20 pts apiece on buying them Deathwind missile launchers?

Depends. Do you have something useful to drop? You can be a lot less cautious with a deathwind when you don't need to safely deploy a squad. The deathwind upgrade changes the use of the drop pod entirely, which is what the entire summary of mine and sourclams posts were attempting to state. It is quite capable of forcing an enemy to divert attentions away from your main force, and rear deployment units without good counter vehicle ability like fire warriors, gaunts, genestealers, and guardians will find it exceptionally hard to kill.

A deathwind pod is a utility piece. A regular pod is a more accurate way to deep strike a pod. Everyones advice has been about the deathwind. Seriously. Stop asking for advice on the upgrade specifically, it's all anyone has been giving you.

ShumaGorath wrote:Depends. Do you have something useful to drop? You can be a lot less cautious with a deathwind when you don't need to safely deploy a squad. The deathwind upgrade changes the use of the drop pod entirely, which is what the entire summary of mine and sourclams posts were attempting to state. It is quite capable of forcing an enemy to divert attentions away from your main force, and rear deployment units without good counter vehicle ability like fire warriors, gaunts, genestealers, and guardians will find it exceptionally hard to kill.

Thank you. that is more the caliber of response I was looking for in the first place. if you had started with that, I am sure we would have had a productive conversation in the first place.

ShumaGorath wrote:
Stop asking for advice on the upgrade specifically,

so.... where does one ask for opinions on an upgrade then? Oprah.com?

A deathwind or two is annoying. While I play a heavy battlewagon list so my boyz don't worry too much about them, the knowledge that a death wind drop pod (and the usual accompanying dreadnought that is inside) might go right behind my lines a bit annoying. Str. 5 has a chance of penning my rear Armour, so I usually wait for the death winds to drop before I start moving my wagons in positions where they can be lined up for a tasty rear armor hit. Since I now know they can't fire when they come in I'm a little less worried by them, but they are great for psyching out opponents.

Then again, I'm a bit paranoid since one time a single big shoota on a falling back boy penned one of my battlewagons once.

Since its ap-, you don't really have to worry about those things destroying your trukks. It needs a 4+>6>6 to destroy your vehicle, which are hardly odds worth getting worked up over.

This thread should be locked. The first thread was sufficient to answer the OP's "question".

Short answer: They are useful, you are wrong.

Long answer: Make sure you're not cutting out anything necessary to your list to fit them in. However, if you place your pods right you should have more than enough for that strength 5 large template to hurt on, and it doesn't take very much to pay its points back. 6 hits on a marine (easily accomplished in a single turn) pays back the 20 points on average.

0ldsk00l wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:Depends. Do you have something useful to drop? You can be a lot less cautious with a deathwind when you don't need to safely deploy a squad. The deathwind upgrade changes the use of the drop pod entirely, which is what the entire summary of mine and sourclams posts were attempting to state. It is quite capable of forcing an enemy to divert attentions away from your main force, and rear deployment units without good counter vehicle ability like fire warriors, gaunts, genestealers, and guardians will find it exceptionally hard to kill.

Thank you. that is more the caliber of response I was looking for in the first place. if you had started with that, I am sure we would have had a productive conversation in the first place.

ShumaGorath wrote:
Stop asking for advice on the upgrade specifically,

so.... where does one ask for opinions on an upgrade then? Oprah.com?

Perhaps if you hadn't made an obviously ignorant and shortsighted OP, then followed up by flaming everyone who disagreed with you for reasons quite obvious to those who have ever played with or against a pod with a DWML, you would have elicited responses that were "up to your caliber". However, to say that none of the immediate responses were insightful or productive is a lie, many of the responses on the first page completely and helpfully answered your query. That they were at odds with your stated opinion should not matter.

I also agree with ShumaGorath, asking for advice on a specific upgrade is useless without talking about how it affects the utility and function of the unit it's put on. Deathwind launchers are an upgrade put onto a transport vehicle. What that vehicle is transporting affects how you place the pods, and thus how the launchers on those pods are used. Talking about the launchers as if they exist in a vacuum makes no sense when discussing how the weapon is used on the table. For instance, are you planning on putting them on a pod carrying an Ironclad that will arrive first turn, or on a tac squad that may arrive turn 4? Is it going to be placed right in the centre of the opponents army, or dropped on empty objectives near the end of the game to capture an objective?

Your condescension is out of place here. Your grasp on the matter at hand has been proven flimsy at best, you have no reason to assume that your opinion is better than any of those who have posted here trying to help *YOU* out. Many of us have played using the upgrade you're knocking here, and found it to be very useful *despite* the downside you have mentioned. That you seem unwilling to accept that is your fault, not ours.

You should take it as even if it cant fire squad becomes a 4+ cover save for it so it is very hard

Does your group allow Forge World stuff?

There is a dedicated Heavy choice drop pod that fires butt-tonnes of missiles (or assault cannons) on the turn it drops at ALL models within 12".

And then one target per turn after that at normal distance for the weapon chosen.

I know it's slighly off topic...but I'm throwing it out there.

Otherwise, a +20 point upgrade on two of them is enough to buy a third unarmed droppod. More models = better. I would not buy the death wind upgrade.

You can also use Deathwind pods to up your total number of drop pods to take advantage of the Space Marine "Drop Pod Assault" rules. (Half of all pods arrive on turn one)

Dropping dreadnoughts with Multimelta's next to heavy vehicles is almost a surefire way to destroy/cripple them, and by adding a separate Deathwind Pod for every Dreadnought pod allows you to bring all the dreads in on turn 1 if you desire.