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redkeyboard wrote:I've never played against a drop pod army but it is not as bad as a regular deepstriking army because its a free KP.

No it's not, you don't get KP for Immobolised vehicles; you still have to destroy the Drop Pod for the KP. It's easy albeit, but not free (and vehicle damage can really screw you).

Godless-Mimicry wrote:

redkeyboard wrote:I've never played against a drop pod army but it is not as bad as a regular deepstriking army because its a free KP.

No it's not, you don't get KP for Immobolised vehicles; you still have to destroy the Drop Pod for the KP. It's easy albeit, but not free (and vehicle damage can really screw you).

I know you have to destroy it but it is easy so long as the dice gods don't hate you.

Sorry my mistake then; I thought you meant literaly.

No worrys I should have made it more clear what I meant sorry for the confusion.

I run a Kan Wall with lots of boys, warbuggies, lootas, and a couple of min sized units of grotz.

If I'm going against a drop pod marine army, typically I will have the option to go first or my opponent will give me the option to deny me a turn of shooting.

Pitched Battle and Spearhead:

Deploy as usual. Core of Kans supported by KFF's, big units of boys behind, lootas on the center and one on each flank, grots bubble wrapping the lootas. Warbuggies and more boys out at the flanks.

Turn 1: Move forward as much as possible while being careful not to allow any large openings inside my army except possibly right behind my Kan Wall. The reason for the opening behind the Kan Wall is to act as bait, and either force a mishap roll or put one of his units in a position to get crushed on Turn 2. The remaining army will control at least half, if not more, of the board, avoiding terrain. This will greatly limit my opponent's ability to drop pod in as he will have to avoid both terrain and my army.

You have to accept that when he drop pods in, he will get the alpha strike (but only with a portion of his army). However, you will be able to control the charges, which is manifestly important for orks.

Dawn of War:

In general, I don't like DoW. Trying to deploy 120-180 models in a 6" deployment zone is a pain. I've got too much army to perform a refused flank or castle. If you combine with Capture and Control, this can be a real uphill battle for my army (just in general). I prefer to face pod armies in a DoW game, because I'm playing a short/medium range army for the most part (shootas, rokkits), and it allows for faster engagement. Not necessarily a winning engagement, but at least it's not 4 turns of being shot to pieces before I get to swing a choppa.



If you want to make your drop pod army more of a pain against mine, put missile launchers on your pods. They turn from a minor annoyance with the SB to something I have to deal with. And AV12 in general is a tipping point for a walking ork army. Even though it's immobilized and my nob will auto hit with 4 str 9 attacks, against AV12 I still need a 3 to glance / 4 to pen. So, 2 pens and maybe a glance is not a guaranteed kill.

Depending on the speed and footprint of your army you can deny him access to the objectives or deny him any central position. Force him to drop on the periphery and then pick him off piecemeal.

This works well with a EJB based army as your fast and your footprint is going to deny him most of the board.

@Heff: Interesting ideas... I've got orks too so I know where you're coming from.

@DA: Make him fight his way into the important positions... sounds good, but you'd have to have a way to start in those positions (or get the first turn and move there) since half of his force will come down in T-1.

If you're playing the Drop Pod army (which I assume you are, since that's what your Mantis have), typically you will want to go second. This gives you:

1) The Alpha Strike - Half or slightly more of your army will be able to shoot at optimal or near optimal range first.
2) The Turn Advantage - In a five turn game, you'll have five turns of shooting versus his four.
3) Last Move - Important in Objective Games for contesting.
4) Board Control - Most folks here are recommending castling, which is conceding the remainder of the board to your control (at least, initially).

If you're playing against a deep strike army, use the disadvantages of above as much as possible:

1) The Alpha Strike - Deploy so that he can't get into optimal range of your delicate, long ranged shooting units but will have to be in their range. Drop pod armies are generally built around 8" (flamer), 12" (melta or combi-melta), and 24" (multi-melta, bolter) ranges. For example, in spearhead, having my lootas in the back corner will force him to be in range of them to use his shooting to his best advantage.
2) The Turn Advantage - Use the fact that you will control the assault to tie up his units.
3) Last Move - Nothing special you can do here that you wouldn't do against a non-drop pod army to prevent last move shenanigans.
4) Board Control - Force your opponent to have to drop near terrain based on your army deployment.



Lastly, keep in mind that you don't HAVE to drop pod in. You always have the option to deploy on the board instead of in the pod. You can use this when it's advantageous, and use your pods as large movement blocking pieces (like a rhino/razorblack block). If your opponent kills them, great, they're now difficult and possibly dangerous terrain, further preventing them from un-castling (is that even a word?).

All of the above is from my experience playing against drop pods. I don't run SM myself. Ork4life!

I may have a stupid question but it kind of fits with this thread.

How do you know your opponent is podding before the game?

E.g. One of my gaming group often leaves his army under the table untill he finds out if he is deploying first or not giving me no hint as to what he is fielding. A traight he brought across from 40k after years of playing Fantasy. I just put mine on the table straight up regardless then move it after things have been rolled for as its way to much trouble to have it hidden away imho.

Is it within the rules? or am I meant to know whats in his army straight away? Are lists meant to be an open book before the game starts? I would have no idea if he had an entire Deepstrike/Pod army unless he deployed first let alone before the scenery was put down. I've never brought it up as an issue as im yet to lose to him and we always have a fun game, but I thought i'd ask if it was legal or if anyone else has seen this?

While he doesn't have to show you his figures (I suppose), he has to share his list with you. He should also answer any questions you put to him about the abilities of his troops (not his strategy, just what they can do).