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dietrich wrote:I can see that. DT - what's the advantage of podding vs. rhino/raider assault? It seems like the main advantage of the pod (not on the board) isn't better than a rhino (can hide troops inside, can move to block LOS).

Good question. The pros of pods is that they give you access to larger squads, hit the enemy sooner, cannot be destroyed before delivering their cargo where you want it, and the second wave can land directly onto distant objectives. The cons of pods are piecemeal arrival and vulnerability to mystics.

The Pros of Mechanized is that they generally start on the table instead of arriving peacemeal. The Con of mechanized is that the transports can be destroyed far from the enemy and the squads inside play no real part in the rest of the battle, and it is very hard to take off after distant objectives late in the game.

As a general rule, as the enemy's ability to destroy your transports at long range increases, pods become an increasingly more effective configuration. So, it can depend on your local metagame. If you play against a lot of genestealer swarms, go mech; if you play against a lot of IG and Tau, go pods.

Playstyle is also very important. Pod armies favor aggressive players who don't mind taking big risks for big gains.

I play both, and I find that pod armies are less reliable but win by greater margins, while mechanized are more reliable but win by smaller margins.

Green Blow Fly wrote:A sw mech as army will beat a sw pod army. Mech army stays embarked and then counter assaults which includes a turn of shooting.

I play a mech BA army and have no desire to go pod. My rhinos are better but the advantage of moving where you want and reliably building armored walls is better for my style. Pods are open topped and will be taken off the table 50% of the time when penned. The razorback is not the tight army to mechanize an assault style sm army.

G

I play pod, and I will also agree that mech armies are the bane of pod armies. HOWEVER, I disagree with you that it's because mech armies are fundamentally "better."

It's more of a rock-paper-scissors argument. Shooty armies are paper, pod armies are scissors, and mech armies are rock.

Against shooty armies, pod armies drop down and rape them three ways from sunday. Shooty armies' protection is the 2 rounds of shooting they get before the enemy reaches them. However, if you deny them that, then they come crashing down like a house of cards.

Against mech armies though, you drop down and that first turn of shooting is wasted blasting into enemy tanks. This is why drop pod armies either need SO much firepower that they can take out the transports AND shred some infantry as well first turn, or they need to drop something that can counter shrug off the shooting (such as ironclads), while still knocking them out of their transports. Playing against a mirror army mounted in rhinos, you would drop down and find yourself 1) against the entire enemy (vs 50% +1 of yours), and it would be THEY having the first turn shooting advantage (after which they can charge, which you couldn't do).

However, remember that shooty armies are also the bane of mech. An IG gunline loaded with lascannons can knock out a tonne of those transports before they reach you, and you will be SOL with your men running up the battlefield.

However, against the sheer number of squads you have, You could easily land on one side of a mech army, use those meltas to knock them out of their tanks, and block off the rest of the army from reaching your troops. This is the true strength of pod armies, being able to engage the enemy anywhere you please, and on your terms.

An excellent evaluation, PirateRobotNinjaofDeath.

Rock paper scissor makes a lot of sense and I failed to see that until you brought it up. Good call.

G