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So I've been thinking about taking SM's to Ard Boyz. Now i've got 4 large 10 man units of marines. 2 of them are sternguard and 2 are regular Marines. I have enough rhinos for all 4 squads but I also have 2 Drop Pods. I was wondering which might work better. Dropping a squad of Sternguard and Marines or running them all in rhinos. Now all in rhinos they can support each other. But a dropping squad of sternguard can put a dent in most players plans. So which should I go for and why? Discuss!

Drop 1 squad of sternguard, because you dont run the risk of the enemy having too much AT and knocking you out before you get in killing range.

Id run all rhinos. If you run both drop pods, one would come in first turn and then the next one on turn two. I dont think it would work. Since you land and shoot and then get killed next turn. Id bunker up with the four rhinos.

Don't run Drop Pods unless you're building your army around them. That doesn't necessarily mean running all pods, but it does mean taking advantage of what pods have to offer (such as deep striking off of locator beacons).

Also, smart opponents who win the initial roll-off will stay in reserve and make you go first, pretty much eliminating the advantage of pods in the first place. With Sternguard, that's a lot of wasted points before the game even really starts.

That isnt true. If you take them in Odd Numbers like 1 or 3 they are really beneficial as you get them first turn. The counter to the whole " My army stays in reserve". Drop empty Pods and deploy your troops normally, Keeping 1 unit in a drop Pod to come down later. For instance, Dreadnought , Tactical, Sternguard squad. 2 will come in first turn. Just deploy the Dreadnought and Tactical Squad normally Drop Pods on top of Objectives.

Build your army around that and you will have something decent.

Theyre perfect Alpha Strike units. Also, Not everyone plays with Inquisitors.


edit:

Also, they make good cover for first turn dev squads or set out the dev squad and use the base drop pod to harrass the enemy with terrain.

You don't want your Drop Pods first turn. Smart players will just stay in reserve or castle whatever you want to attack with the embarked squads.

As for dropping empty, you need to announce whether or not the squad is with the Drop Pod during deployment. If they aren't then they roll separately for their reserve rolls. Refer to page 94 of your rulebook.

Not having the element of surprise defeats the purpose of this tactic since your alpha strike gets its balls cut off without a Drop Pod to get into position. Paying 200+ points for a Sternguard squad that ends up on foot is a massive, massive waste of points.

Hulk:
With out a complete list, and using what you have posted I would choose 2 rhinos and 1 drop pod for the sternguard (with multi-meltas to drop behind tanks).

That being said I would buy/Borrow 1 more drop pod. 3 really is the magic number. With 3 you can drop your two units of sternguard on the first turn, leaving one Tactical squad in reserve to drop on control points later in the game.

Danny Internets wrote:You don't want your Drop Pods first turn. Smart players will just stay in reserve or castle whatever you want to attack with the embarked squads.

If a player is going to hold everything in reserve for 2 drop pods let them. If you are talking about a whole army of pods then stop, and get back to the OP conversation.

As for dropping empty, you need to announce whether or not the squad is with the Drop Pod during deployment. If they aren't then they roll separately for their reserve rolls. Refer to page 94 of your rulebook.

This is correct, but if your opponent has already chosen to hold his army in reserves then that means you have the second turn and you can decide to drop the pods empty.

Not having the element of surprise defeats the purpose of this tactic since your alpha strike gets its balls cut off without a Drop Pod to get into position. Paying 200+ points for a Sternguard squad that ends up on foot is a massive, massive waste of points.

With two drop pods no one is going to hold in reserve, just stop talking please.

Clthomps wrote:

With two drop pods no one is going to hold in reserve, just stop talking please.

orly? I've done it with a heavy mech list against someone with a few drop poddign melta's. Depending on the mission of course, it's not always a bad idea.

Exactly if your opponent elects to go second and hold reserve then you can hold drop pods in reserve empty.

Also, I am not talking about putting sternguard on the table on foot, but a tactical squad w/ Missile etc..

If a player is going to hold everything in reserve for 2 drop pods let them. If you are talking about a whole army of pods then stop, and get back to the OP conversation.

Quit playing hall monitor. This thread is about Drop Pods versus Rhinos, which is exactly what my comments pertain to.

This is correct, but if your opponent has already chosen to hold his army in reserves then that means you have the second turn and you can decide to drop the pods empty.

Sure, your idea works 50% of time, but do you really think it's a good idea to potentially and severely gimp yourself the other half of the time?

With two drop pods no one is going to hold in reserve, just stop talking please.

Funny, that's news to me. I guess people around here do it because they play mobile, mechanized armies and know what they're doing. Your mileage may vary.

Could you give us an idea about the rest of your force composition? Although normally I don't think drop pods should be taken unless you have three or you're using them to quickly capture objectives, but maybe it'd work with your force.

Either way, it's a lot harder to make a good decision without knowing what you'll be fielding

Usually
Sternguard Rhino

Sternguard w / drop

Dread w / drop

Tactical w/ Drop

Tactical w/ Razorback

Scout

Landspeeder

Landspeeder

Scout Bike

Whirlwind

Predator

Predator


or some variation there of. Depending on what I am playing I usually drop the Dread to quickly destroy a pesky vehicle with multimelta / and Sternguard to five man and kill something.


If opponent gets to go second and decides hey Ill put stuff in reserve like my whole army. I generally rhino rush forward and get in his deployment w/ troops on my turn two which is why its a bad idea to go reserve . It just depends.


I usually use my tactical as a objective claimer and place an objective way out of the way as much as I can.

I'll be running something like:

Pedro

10 Sternguard in transport

10 Sternguard in transport

6 Assault Terminators in a Crusader

Tactical Squad in Rhino/razorback

Tactical Squad in pod/rhino

2 multi-melta attack bikes

2 typhoons

2 Pred's w/AC and LC Sponsons

Vindicator

So based on that and the fact that I have 3 drop pods that I own what would you guys think was best. Rhinos or drop pods and how many.

Would you be using Kantor for this list? The list looks really solid, just a few questions/comments.

Are you planning to drop the TAC or sternguard on the first turn?

Is the general idea to have the land speeders drop? or is that more of a take things as they come strategy?

I don't like the scout bikers, I could see using a locator beacon for your pods, but they're accurate enough as it is. Also, I could see that potentially you could use them to fill up your opponents deployment zone in case they decide to put everything in reserve. But I don't think they fit as well with the rest of the army as other units would.

That being said, I have no idea what those units would be but perhaps a small unit of regualr bikers would be better to give you more melta weapons in your force.

Aside from that. it seems like a great way to utilize a mix of drop pods and rhino/razorbacks.

Lets say for sake of example that you drop pod in the sternguard, and they blow up what you wanted to blow up.

Ok, now what? They are probably on your opponents side of the board now, they have little to no cover, and they will probably be dealing with a heavy attack soon. Rhinos seem better, you can still get your squads where they need to go, the Rhino can tank shock, and it can provide your unit some cover (Even if it gets blown up in some cases)

Thats why you have to really pick and choose what you destroy with a Sternguard squad and whether you are going to combat squad etcetra.

1 Sternguard squad firing can devastate some armies especially imperial guard as the squadron rules etc..


Space Marine Scout Bikers are awesome and more people should use them.

Hollismason wrote:


Space Marine Scout Bikers are awesome and more people should use them.

I do understand how awsome they are, I just don't think they belong in this army -shrugs helplessly- I don't think they bring anything to the table that this army couldn't find a better source of.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@Hulksmash: I think that the army list you posted would benefit from having all your podding candidates pod in, in addition to a ironclad. Here's kinda what I was thinking

turn 1: Tac squad and sternguard pod in on objectives, or sternguard pod in and pop a tank. supporting fire from preads stuns or weakens big guns.

Turn 2: Iron clad and Sternguard come in, Iron clad pops a tank, sternguard pops a tank or blows a squad of infantry away. This is supported by fire from the preds. Bikers pop tanks

Turn 3: Tanks roll in, vindi starts having fun with infantry or tanks, and crusader termies wipe out targets, etc.


Basically this hopefully keeps your opponent off balance and keeps constant pressure on the player for the first half of the game.