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as fast as the plot demands.

 tauist wrote:
what about Land Speeder entry times then? I'd imagine them being forced to a much slower descent from orbit, since the speeder itself is open-topped and exposes the marine crew.. I can imagine the drop pods heavy outer shell to withstand the heat buildup, but I'd think a regular marine power armour cannot cope with the same..

Drop pods has a speed of 15,000 km/h, to my knowledge land speeders doesn't reach that speed, so it would take a very long time.
Maybe they'll be inspired by the Virgin Galactic reentry system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VuCzjGhcao

I didn’t think speeders did the full orbital drop. Honestly no proof for that. I always assumed they reached the planet the same way bikes and other light equipment did. Which I think is Thunderhawks.

 Nevelon wrote:
I didn’t think speeders did the full orbital drop. Honestly no proof for that. I always assumed they reached the planet the same way bikes and other light equipment did. Which I think is Thunderhawks.

Some do - like the Tempest, but it's not a standard thing.

 Nevelon wrote:
I didn’t think speeders did the full orbital drop. Honestly no proof for that. I always assumed they reached the planet the same way bikes and other light equipment did. Which I think is Thunderhawks.

I was surprised to read about as well. IIRC it was mentioned in some 40K wiki that land speeders can glide down to their operating altitude (of up to around 100 meters above ground) from orbit.

No idea if they only meant the Land Speeder Tempest can do it.. Actually it'd make sense if that was the only variant that did it since it's not open-topped.

If anyone has solid intel on the matter I'd appreciate it as I'm considering fitting "special helmets" to my land speeder kit after finding out they are capable of dropping in from orbit (ie. the same helmets I'm going to use for my Inceptors)

 tauist wrote:
I was surprised to read about as well. IIRC it was mentioned in some 40K wiki that land speeders can glide down to their operating altitude (of up to around 100 meters above ground) from orbit.

I seemed to recall that they dropped in from high altitude, if not orbit, but that's hangover memory from old editions and it could be I'm remembering wrong or it's been retconned since. In any case, it looks like there's some conflicting info, as some wikis I've found have these (one even has both in the same article):

"The grav-drives of Land Speeders do not function at high altitudes, but they can be used to perform a controlled descent suitable for deployment via overflying Thunderhawk gunships.

"While it is capable of reaching altitudes of up to 100 metres and is capable of gliding down to a planetary surface from orbit, it is much more suited to skimming the ground."

These both refer to the standard model, not the Tempest specifically.
Now, I do have just one concern with the idea of it dropping in from orbit. The Land Speeder's going to be much lighter than whatever it drops from - meaning it'd have to expend quite some significant thrust effort in order to then "glide down" from orbit. Orbit by its very meaning being that the transport craft is in gravitic equilibrium with the planet, so the Speeder's not going to magically fall by itself from that same height just thanks to gravity, without outside force it'd float away instead.

 Super Ready wrote:

Now, I do have just one concern with the idea of it dropping in from orbit. The Land Speeder's going to be much lighter than whatever it drops from - meaning it'd have to expend quite some significant thrust effort in order to then "glide down" from orbit. Orbit by its very meaning being that the transport craft is in gravitic equilibrium with the planet, so the Speeder's not going to magically fall by itself from that same height just thanks to gravity, without outside force it'd float away instead.

No, if a ship in stable orbit simply "let go" of a speeder, it would stay in that same orbit. The mass of an object makes no difference here, only its speed does.

To de-orbit, the land speeder needs to slow down, which is actually easier to do for a light object because it hass less inertia to eliminate.

yeah, all you need to to is slow to a speed lower than the rotational of whichever planet your descending to and gravity(always the answer) will do the rest.

Aha... I stand corrected. Well, sort of. I double-checked and looked into it. Mass does have an effect on orbit, but in the case of things like spaceships and Land Speeders their mass is so small compared to the planet dictating the gravitational pull, that the effect would be so small as to not matter.
But yes, agreed, that means getting a Land Speeder to drop from orbit would actually be quite possible.

Still not sure what to make of the conflicting quotes, though. Unfortunately despite getting them from wikis I couldn't get a source for either so I can't date them - so I have no way to tell which was original and which is the retcon.

The answer for whenever you come across conflicting answers (which happens a LOT) is to go with whatever you think sounds cooler.

It might mean your headcannon is different from someone else’s, but everyone has the cool version to them. Anyone gives you flack you just tell them what path you chose. All but the most vigilantly researched rivet counter is just going to shrug and roll with it.

Alright, then. In that case I'm rolling with: Land Speeders can technically drop from orbit, but the practice is deemed heretical and the information suppressed.
Which is why only the Space Wolves still do it, to fling gak at the Mechanicus.

 Super Ready wrote:
Land Speeders can technically drop from orbit, but the practice is deemed heretical and the information suppressed.
Which is why only the Space Wolves still do it, to fling gak at the Mechanicus.

...FAINTS!!!! This is EXACTLY what I've been looking for, for over a decade! Yes! The final piece of the puzzle has fallen in place!