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Martel732 wrote:
No, they wouldn't. I wouldn't consider using such a model above 20 pts. You are literally teleporting yourself into the enemy kill box.

You're teleporting yourself anywhere on the battlefield and placing a unit down which than get's to shoot and charge. The pod itself then blocks line of site, enemy movement, and secures backfield / enemy deployment zone / objective points. It isn't just a one and done hunk of metal that deploys a unit or two and then stops being relevant to the game.

You say that, but it kind of is irrelevant.

It's a crappy charge, as well.

I'm assuming my opponent isn't a fool and won't let me drop anywhere in his back field.

It is worth noting that with the meta being so focused on lots of infantry it makes it harder to justify any deepstriking, let alone paying so much for it. Against more elite armies it is easier to leverage the ability to hit the backfield or vulnerable areas.

Martel732 wrote:
You say that, but it kind of is irrelevant.

It's a crappy charge, as well.

I'm assuming my opponent isn't a fool and won't let me drop anywhere in his back field.

I'm with Martel on this one.
The Drop Pod has to be nine Inches away from any enemy model, the disembarking unit has to be nine inches away from any enemy model - even Grey Knights can space well enough on an 8x4 table to prevent Drop Pods being landed in their deployment zone on the first turn.

I sit in the fifty point margin...they're waaaay too crippled to be a hundred point model but at twenty points they would be amazing in matches like The Relic in spite of being rubbish transports.

I also agree. SM units that can use a drop pod are not close combat monsters. So you get a long distance charge for a unit that is not particularly killy.

Drop pods could only woth for allowing some short range weapons to be in range turn 1 like flamers and meltas. But since it cannot happen only plasmas and multimeltas can benefit from a drop pod, maybe grav cannons or a unit with 10 storm bolters, but drop pod usefulness is limited to a few number of combinations. And tipycally a single pod is enough. Tanks are way better now, and even cheaper.

I'd go as far as saying that drop pods ought to be a stratagem, not an actual part of your army at all. You're essentially just giving deep strike to units that couldn't do it before. That ability is in the craftworld and GK codexes, for a CP cost rather than a points cost.

Once deployed, a drop pod ought to be treated as a piece of terrain. That would get around the nonsense of having them capture objectives.

Right now there's just no point at all paying nearly 100 points to let a unit of marines deep strike, when loads of other units already can. Deep striking assault troops seems like it flat out doesn't work, because the charge is so unreliable and the penalty for failing it is so high. If you want deep strike plasma you've got vanguard vet gunslingers for only slightly more points than a command squad costs, even before you pay for the pod.

Out of curiosity - does anybody feel sympathy for the people who splashed out for Pods for Gladius or Ragnar's Great Company?

SW players i know who had 9 from 5th got to use them for 3 editions. Could be worse.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Out of curiosity - does anybody feel sympathy for the people who splashed out for Pods for Gladius or Ragnar's Great Company?

No more than I would for anyone who bought lottery scratch-offs, ice cream, concert tickets, or any other ephemeral source of novelty..

I have a regular opponent that uses them quite effectively as deployable terrain, deploys a line of them with infantry behind between buildings blocking your line of sight and movement into his half of the table for at least one turn while he moves in to cover around objectives. In that respect they should be considered not as spending points on vehicles but on fortifcations.

IG doesn't care. They aren't that hard to kill for their cost, even. They are REALLY bad.

I just don't see the value in a drop pod as it use to be points wise.

razorback is literally cheaper with an Assault cannon...and when you disembark from them or rhinos you can charge plus you get another 3 inches. It also isn't immobile.

Wow, crazy. I didn't think I'd be so alone in this crowd for liking my pods. For me, getting a bunch of models into a favorable position without any risk of them being killed getting there seems worth a couple hundred points.

Like, I could spend a few hundred points on some Devastators and have them get wiped off the table before I even get to go. Or I could spend more points to make them immune to enemy fire, deploy in reaction to my opponent, and get first strike. I get why people think they're expensive, but boy they sure have some benefits.

 Insectum7 wrote:
Wow, crazy. I didn't think I'd be so alone in this crowd for liking my pods.

I'm honestly not surprised. And I don't mean that with any disrespect to you.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Out of curiosity - does anybody feel sympathy for the people who splashed out for Pods for Gladius or Ragnar's Great Company?

Nobody used Pods like 95% of the time for Gladius...

 Insectum7 wrote:
Wow, crazy. I didn't think I'd be so alone in this crowd for liking my pods. For me, getting a bunch of models into a favorable position without any risk of them being killed getting there seems worth a couple hundred points.

Like, I could spend a few hundred points on some Devastators and have them get wiped off the table before I even get to go. Or I could spend more points to make them immune to enemy fire, deploy in reaction to my opponent, and get first strike. I get why people think they're expensive, but boy they sure have some benefits.

The problem with pods is they got badly nerfed, not only 3 times more expensive. Now you can't transport units with flamers or meltas because they have to arrive out of range, in 7th edition there wasn't such restriction. You could also carry wulfen or dreads, now you can't.

Being more expensive (they cost more than other transports) they're not ideal to carry cheap troop anymore, having the 9'' limitation they are not ideal to carry flamers or meltas and they also can't carry wulfen or dreads. Those restrictions allow only a few units to get some synergy with drop pods.

You could take a pod, or you can take a Stormraven for not too much more than two pods (less than the cost of a third one, at least) and carry a Dread and twelve infantry models, and come with more firepower to add on.

Compared to a Drop Pod, that has a stormbolter.

They were too cheep before, and too expensive now. The points boost and the hard nerfs were a double whammy they didn’t need.

I think they still have a spot in fun lists. Mostly for units like sternguard, who like to be close, but not flamer range close. Most of out assault units can natively DS, so don’t need the pod. Tactical squads can get some use out of them, but not enough to justify the price over a rhino.

I still work mine into lists, but am mostly playing friendly games vs. my son these days, and we are both pulling from my collection. And if he wants to grab all my rhinos, then it’s fun with drop pods.

You could take a pod, or you can take a Stormraven for not too much more than two pods (less than the cost of a third one, at least) and carry a Dread and twelve infantry models, and come with more firepower to add on.

Compared to a Drop Pod, that has a stormbolter.

I'm trying to work the Sternguard squad tactic into my army, but playing against Eldar, Orks, and Tyranids, I'm really struggling to see how I can make it effective. The Captain, Sternguard, and Drop pod add up to 334 points, and while they can quite effectively delete an infantry unit in one round of shooting, they also suck down a Command Point.

They can't reliably kill a squad of Nobz or Meganobz in the shooting phase, although they might be able to finish up in the assault phase. With Eldar, you'll have a really hard time putting them within 9" of something that they can destroy in a single round that's worth the cost.

Like everyone else keeps saying, if the cost of the Drop Pods were back at 35 points (or even 55 points), it would be a real question of "do I take them or not?" At 95 points, that's not the question, it's more "what can I do with this that's worth what it costs?" Sadly, the answer at 95 points is "not very much if my opponent is reasonably in the game."

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Out of curiosity - does anybody feel sympathy for the people who splashed out for Pods for Gladius or Ragnar's Great Company?

I do have sympathy for myself, yes. I had 7 pods and a dread pod. Just sold 2 pods for basically pennies. Going to convert some into the FW shooty pods. I've got my fingers crossed that the SW codex might bring changes to drop pods in some way shape or form. Maybe longer range on guns when disembarking, or re-roll charges on the turn you get out of a pod.

Self pity aside, I feel like drop pods are a big chunk of 40k strategy that has been axed for 8th. Sure you always had to worry about risky deep strikes in your back lines or wherever, but if your opponent had pods, it would change everything. They could thread the needle and drop between 2 baneblades with no issue. Now, as others have said, they lost what made them scary. They got a big points jump like rhinos, but don't offer the same usefulness. Rhinos block LoS, move troops quickly around the field, and can offer light fire support.

Pods drop the kids off at the pool and yell at the neighbors with a stormbolter while they sit in a lawn chair and do nothing but hope no one tips them over. I could see some uses for pods in maelstrom at a casual level, but not in competitive games.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Out of curiosity - does anybody feel sympathy for the people who splashed out for Pods for Gladius or Ragnar's Great Company?

Got to be me, from the first time I got the Space Marine Codex in 2012, I've loved the Droppod, and bought a total of 5 during these 5 years of Marine collection and more often than not based my strategy around at least taking 3 of them whenever I play game with 1000pts or up in 7th. Shame on them in 8th, the Droppod is a troblesome model in construction and painting ......

Back to the topic, I think currently there is only one build that would worth taking Droppod: Take one pod transport 2 units of 5 men Devastators with 4 Grav Cannon and 1 Cherub, AND DO TAKE Guiliman, TAKE Guiliman. The point that make the Droppod over Rhino or Razorback of this build is, your opponent knows what 4 Grav Cannons in vicinity of Guiliman will do, and they would avoid them as much as they in deployment or just destroy the transport before you get those Grav Cannons into position. With Pod, your opponent won't know where the pod will be and cannot shoot at them before they come in. Moreover, you might be able to stay a little further from your opponent and better, behind your screen of scouts, so they are safer.

Typically, one of the Devastator Squad in this build will inflict around 10 wounds (damages) against typical Monsters / Heavy Vehicles w T6/7/8 Sv3+, 13 wounds if you use the flying baby. So for 2 of these squad, you will almost certain destroy Banblade, Wraith Knight, Land Raider. For Mortarion (4++/5+++), you gonna knock down 10 wounds from him with two squad combined, which very few unit in the whole game could do. Want to hide somewhere to avoid being shot? You have to stay 42 inch away from Guiliman. Bubble warp to avoid being shot at? Good luck bubble warp against 24 inch range. Still, the pod is overcosted, along with maybe over 70% of the Space Marine units are overcosted in this edition. But at least, 2 Devastator squads with Grav Cannons in a list with Guiliman might be the only best use of Droppod.

I think I'm convert my black n silver Iron Hands pods to dreadclaws for the Iron Warriors. Not sure about my Wolves' pods. Concensus about them is Plasma Wolf Guard are decent in pods. My Grey Hunters might like to be promoted to Wolf Guard.

Neophyte2012 wrote:
Back to the topic, I think currently there is only one build that would worth taking Droppod: Take one pod transport 2 units of 5 men Devastators with 4 Grav Cannon and 1 Cherub

Cherubs are now models with a stat line and everything so they take up a space in the pod - two squads with cherubs won't fit :(

I'm kinda hoping to see a reboxing of all the unsold Drop Pods ported to CSM players simply by adding the Chaos vehicle sprue.

 General Helstrom wrote:

Neophyte2012 wrote:
Back to the topic, I think currently there is only one build that would worth taking Droppod: Take one pod transport 2 units of 5 men Devastators with 4 Grav Cannon and 1 Cherub

Cherubs are now models with a stat line and everything so they take up a space in the pod - two squads with cherubs won't fit :(

For fun you could do the Devastators + Cherub, minimum 3 Veterans with Plasma Guns, and 2 HQ of some kind. Would look good at least.

I just finished putting a pod together, and plan to use it in friendly games for delivery of my BT HQ's. Captain, Emperor Champ, an LT, and perhaps Grimaldus. I do agree that for what they provide, the point cost is far too high. It would be a much better option at 50-60. Perhaps 50 plus a wider range of weapon options?

Heck, with their limited transport options, maybe lifting its primaris restriction would help make it more valuable? Really, lifting most of those unit restrictions would help.

The way 8th plays, it's a 20 pt model. No more.

I wouldn't argue with GW dropping it down to 20 points, but I really doubt that will happen.

I'd run out and buy another 2 or 3 of them if they dropped the point cost that low. I have a couple crusader squads that would love to have a drop pod! For now the Rhino will have to suffice.

dadx6 wrote:
I'm trying to work the Sternguard squad tactic into my army, but playing against Eldar, Orks, and Tyranids, I'm really struggling to see how I can make it effective. The Captain, Sternguard, and Drop pod add up to 334 points, and while they can quite effectively delete an infantry unit in one round of shooting, they also suck down a Command Point.

They can't reliably kill a squad of Nobz or Meganobz in the shooting phase, although they might be able to finish up in the assault phase. With Eldar, you'll have a really hard time putting them within 9" of something that they can destroy in a single round that's worth the cost.

Like everyone else keeps saying, if the cost of the Drop Pods were back at 35 points (or even 55 points), it would be a real question of "do I take them or not?" At 95 points, that's not the question, it's more "what can I do with this that's worth what it costs?" Sadly, the answer at 95 points is "not very much if my opponent is reasonably in the game."

Do this with a Rhino and a Rhino Primaris instead. Just Advance and smoke till you are in range turn 1 or 2. Use the +1 to hit from the Primaris along with the stratagem and now you are looking much better. Even more so if you are IF or CF for that stratagem. Or do what every other SM player seems to be doing and just go RG for 1 CP drop pods that are better.