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After look over at Black Matt's Blog I decided to make this list. C&C welcome. Five Drop Pod on turn one should be interesting. Going to hit Ebay next to get this list up and running

1750 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Dreadnought Drop Pod

HQ: Master of the Forge (1#, 115 pts)
. . 1 Master of the Forge @ 115 pts (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Artificer Armour; Servo Harness; Bolt Pistol; Power Sword)
. . . . 1 Servo Harness

Elite: Ironclad Dreadnought (2#, 200 pts)
. . 1 Ironclad Dreadnought @ 200 pts (Extra Armor; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Meltagun; Seismic Hammer; Heavy Flamer; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Deathwind Missile Launcher)

Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 180 pts)
. . 1 Dreadnought @ 180 pts (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Assault Cannon; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Deathwind Missile Launcher)

Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 180 pts)
. . 1 Dreadnought @ 180 pts (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Assault Cannon; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Deathwind Missile Launcher)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)
. . 9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Flamer; Heavy Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Sergeant (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Bolt Pistol; Chainsword)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)
. . 9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Flamer; Heavy Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Sergeant (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Bolt Pistol; Chainsword)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)
. . 9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Flamer; Heavy Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Sergeant (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Bolt Pistol; Chainsword)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 160 pts)
. . 1 Dreadnought @ 160 pts (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Deathwind Missile Launcher)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 160 pts)
. . 1 Dreadnought @ 160 pts (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Deathwind Missile Launcher)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 140 pts)
. . 1 Dreadnought @ 140 pts (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter; Drop Pod)
. . . . 1 Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Validation Report:
c-1. File Version: 1.05c For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission; 1. Chapter: Codex Chapter
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Total Roster Cost: 1750

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I'd do another troops choice. Other than that. Good amounts of anti tank with the ability to get it in close right away. Personally I'd want an assault squad in there, but the way you have the list I'd say they would be close to redundant.

Looks nasty!

I think that this is... actually a pretty well balanced list a really fast army may give you trouble though. Then again, most fast armies rely on transports and you've pretty much got your anti-tank option covered.

Also, i think that you've got a more than adequate amount of troops. Though maybe i'd replace one of the TAC squads with a cloaked sniper squad. I realize that this would mean that you only have 4 drop pods coming in on the first turn, but you'd have more points to spend on .... something... and you'd also have a squad (or maybe two if you decide to split it in half) parked on an objective on your first turn and providing covering fire that you could use to divert some anti tank rounds. That's about the only change that I would make for now, but it's not an urgent or even necessary one.

I think you're going to have a blast with this list, especially against mech armies,

I'd say that maybe you should lose one deathwind to give every dread a heavy flamer, makes the MM dreads hard for horde players to ignore.

Awesome though, will be fun to play as/against, and hard to beat!

Looks balanced and solid I have nothing to add to the comments above except to concur with rdlb on the Heavy flamers on the MM Dreads.

Yah the extra heavy flamer are probably better but I love the deathwind launchers because they add another fairly serious threat to infantry. The new Tervigon lists are gunna hate it. Opponents are gunna focus on killing the dreads while the Drop Pods just lay down plate after plate hmm.. 12" range immobile... heavy flamer... need find 30 more points somewhere... Thanks for the replies everyone

Actually I have quite a few concerns with the list, but none that are really that bad.

One "issue" is that you have 6 dreadnoughts drop podding, and only 3 tac squads. This just means that you will not be able to place all 6 down the first turn, only 4. Now, if you were to say, grab a 5 man assault squad that comes out to 100 points you could have 5 dreadnoughts drop podding on turn one.

Another thing is that I think that you shouldn't have an Ironclad. If you are dropping that close to an opponents, well within meltagun sweet spot, will +1 armor really help in most situations?

Also, the assault cannons. If you are dropping that close, why not jut have a bunch of MM's and rely on flamers to mop up. Heck, your tac squads should do just fine. I also think that dropping the Deathwind to get all your dreads heavy flamers is extremely necessary.

I would only put Deathwinds when you have all of this above done, if you choose to change what I suggested.

Good luck

EzeKK wrote:One "issue" is that you have 6 dreadnoughts drop podding, and only 3 tac squads. This just means that you will not be able to place all 6 down the first turn, only 4. Now, if you were to say, grab a 5 man assault squad that comes out to 100 points you could have 5 dreadnoughts drop podding on turn one.

9 droppods = 5 on the first turn. Your confusing me what the heck does a Assault squad have to do with the Drop Pod Assault rule?

Another thing is that I think that you shouldn't have an Ironclad. If you are dropping that close to an opponents, well within meltagun sweet spot, will +1 armor really help in most situations?

Yes that one extra point puts you out of range of anything strength 6 (i.e. frag grenades) hurting you in an assault. Plus Ironclad just crush anything in it's path.

Also, the assault cannons. If you are dropping that close, why not jut have a bunch of MM's and rely on flamers to mop up. Heck, your tac squads should do just fine. I also think that dropping the Deathwind to get all your dreads heavy flamers is extremely necessary.

Have you seen the new Tyranid codex yet?

General_Chaos wrote:

EzeKK wrote:One "issue" is that you have 6 dreadnoughts drop podding, and only 3 tac squads. This just means that you will not be able to place all 6 down the first turn, only 4. Now, if you were to say, grab a 5 man assault squad that comes out to 100 points you could have 5 dreadnoughts drop podding on turn one.

9 droppods = 5 on the first turn. Your confusing me what the heck does a Assault squad have to do with the Drop Pod Assault rule?

Another thing is that I think that you shouldn't have an Ironclad. If you are dropping that close to an opponents, well within meltagun sweet spot, will +1 armor really help in most situations?

Yes that one extra point puts you out of range of anything strength 6 (i.e. frag grenades) hurting you in an assault. Plus Ironclad just crush anything in it's path.

Also, the assault cannons. If you are dropping that close, why not jut have a bunch of MM's and rely on flamers to mop up. Heck, your tac squads should do just fine. I also think that dropping the Deathwind to get all your dreads heavy flamers is extremely necessary.

Have you seen the new Tyranid codex yet?

Sorry about the assault squad thing didn't explain that clearly enough. Okay, the reasoning behind the assault squad is to add to the number of drop pods you have available, but I now realize that you would have to have 11 Drop Pods to get all of the dreads down on the first turn. The assault squad costs about 105 points for it + 2x flamers. If you grab 2x you could have all 6 dreads coming down on the first turn. At this points level though that might not be the best thing, it might benefit you if you move up to say, 1850. In short its a cheap way to get a drop pod.

Yes the +1 armor on the IC helps vs. things like frag etc. but look at it this way, you are dropping down to get within 12" of the enemy. If you are facing an army with meltaguns (which every army that can grab them I guarantee you will have them) it really won't make that much of a difference. The only real change you will see is in CC and you aren't guaranteed to get into it. The ironclad upgrade is nice, for sure, but it should be saved when your enemy can't just go behind you easily when you drop in. In simpler terms, it's to easy to get behind an Ironclad that has dropped in to truly make that upgrade worthwhile.

I've read the nid dex it multiple times. It's not that scary, it's just balanced. Multi-Meltas will help you vs. the big nids, while the flamers clean up the small ones. Duality. If you're not versing nids, you have a hell of a lot of melta shots to bust the enemy out of their vehicles on the first turn DPA so they can't outmaneuver you. I've used assault cannons extensively and MM's extensively in my Deathwing and truly the MM's always outshine the Assault Cannons due to their being able to destroy tanks with efficiency, take out high toughness opponents, and ignore the armor saves of those big guys.

Most of the new MC's that nids have have an armor save of 3+ and a toughness of 6. With the assault cannon you are hitting 2.67 shots and wounding 1.33 shots and he is failing .44 times. You have a .45 chance to rend. Rough math, but it should help you to get the picture. You're chances of hitting a MM shot is .66 and wounding is .56 and they automatically fail the AS on almost everything but like a Zoanthrope. Really the MM will wound more often and will benefit you more often.

Also, I jut noticed the loadout on your tactical squads. It should be Flamer / MM / ML or Meltagun / MM / ML and add in combi-meltas or flamers at your discretion. A MM will take out the nasties, Boltguns + Flamer will take care of the hordes. A heavy bolter has such limited use it's really crap.

EzeKK wrote:blah blah blah

thanks for the "advice"

General_Chaos wrote:

EzeKK wrote:blah blah blah

thanks for the "advice"

No problem.

The only problem I see is the same problem you get with any all pod or pod heavy list... The opponent going second and reserving his whole army.

So what is the Master of the Forge going to do? Keep him in Reserves?

Marshal_Gus wrote:So what is the Master of the Forge going to do? Keep him in Reserves?

Drop with a Tactical Squad. Doesn't really matter what he does. Only reason I took him was for the extra Dreads.

Why are your regular dreds not loaded out with heavy flamers? Just curious what your reasoning is for taking storm bolters over heavy flamers is.