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So after my T/L Lascannon w/ Missile Launcher Dread put up an abyssmal performance in my last game, I've been rethinking this unit's role in my army. I think I'm going to swap out his arms for something else, and probably put him in a pod. I already run a podding Dread with Ass Can/HF, and he has always made his points back for me. I gave duplicating this load out some thought, then came up with a different idea. I'm thinking about putting this guy in a pod, with 2 T/L Autocannons. I realize that one of the greatest strengths of the autocannon is its 48" range, but try this idea on for size.

Dread can shoot the turn he comes in, so anywhere to put him, with his range, he can probably reach out and tag something across the board.

The pod would make it easier to get shots on rear/side armor, which is a HUGE boost for an autocannon, especially against things like Predators and Vindicators.

I could pod him down in my opponents back corner, giving my foe the choice of coming back to kill the Rifleman, or continue on, exposing his rear armor.

Lastly, he doesn't have to be in his pod, so if the army I'm facing doesn't favor it, I can always deploy him on the ground and use the empty pod to bring in my other Dread or Sternguard at my choosing.

Your thoughts, Dakka?

I think that sounds like a great idea.

I don't really have pointers (because I've never actually played a game yet) but your plan sounds good to me.

if you're only running two pods thats a minor drawback it can drop from t2-5

Good idea! 2 auto cannons with re roll are cool.

If you wanne change things up a bit you might consider doing plasma cannon or rocketlauncher and auto cannon. If things are in cover that is not aria terain then those pie plates will mess with his head. And hitting with a plasma cannon at str 7 is a lott like hitting with an autocanon at str 7, although you would not do it that consistantly.

Perhaps if you have 2 dreads that try this tactic?

I was thinking of doing this as well, especially against say DE who like to hide their transports if they don't get turn 1. Pod the rifleman and combine it with (for BA) a scout moving Baal pred and you can wreck his mobility right quick.

Also remember Drop pod assault rounds up, so three means two come down on the first turn.

Quick Question: Can infantry fire heavy weapons on the turn they come down?

EmilCrane wrote:

Quick Question: Can infantry fire heavy weapons on the turn they come down?

No.

As for the tactic, I see it being useful in spearhead games as well, if you can put the thing in one the no-mans-land corners. In addition to possibly getting some side armors, he'll have to do something about a unit harassing his flank that he cant just deal with with a meltagun or two. He'll have to devote some long ranged firepower, or send a unit to go deal with it.

On the whole, I like the idea.

Not a bad idea, just be careful where you drop it. No one likes to have something assaulted turn one.

You can only deploy the unit the pod was bought for inside of it. It's a dedicated transport, and you can only embark a squad in another squads transport after the game begins.

If you run pods, you want to run an odd number, to maximize them coming in early. I don't see that big an advantage to droppping the rifleman, to be honest. A scatter can take you out of side arc anyway, or worse yet off the board. It adds a kill point to your army, and costs points. The rifleman has sick range and can move and shoot. Why give those up?

Now, some people have had success dropping MM/ML dreads, which have medium range and 2 S8 shots. it's far better against hard armor, a little cheaper, and needs the pod more.

Or you can just run MM/HF or an iron clad.

Polonius wrote:You can only deploy the unit the pod was bought for inside of it. It's a dedicated transport, and you can only embark a squad in another squads transport after the game begins.

If you run pods, you want to run an odd number, to maximize them coming in early.

Oh I'm aware of this. I already run 3 drop pods, but one of those pods has a tactical squad that typically stays in reserve, bringing my AssCan/HF Dread and Sternguard in turn 1.

Polonius wrote:I don't see that big an advantage to droppping the rifleman, to be honest. A scatter can take you out of side arc anyway, or worse yet off the board. It adds a kill point to your army, and costs points. The rifleman has sick range and can move and shoot. Why give those up?

For me, it comes down to side/rear armor shots, as well as disruption of my opponent's plans.

Polonius wrote:Now, some people have had success dropping MM/ML dreads, which have medium range and 2 S8 shots. it's far better against hard armor, a little cheaper, and needs the pod more.

Or you can just run MM/HF or an iron clad.

See, what I'm debating this against is an Iron clad with Meltagun and 2 HK's. It would be more survivable once it's down, and hits harder in close combat.

Only drawback is the range once HK's are used, and the increased cost.

Hmmm...

Keep in mind that the drop pod can still scatter off the board. Using a pod to deploy in a corner can be risky.

I run one with a lot of my FT (BA) forces... Though to be honest, the pod is almost always dropped empty with a beacon right next to the enemy lines for my follow on forces to hit right on top of them... Surprising how often people ignore the empty drop pod when the other pod with say, a Librarian or Furioso hits somewhere nearby...

Rifle Dreds definitely don't need a pod. 48 inch range is a weapon you usually don't even need to measure to shoot. You want to keep them away from danger as much as possible so just put them back in your deployment zone and spray 4x st7 all game. You'll get side shots all over the place naturally if you run a gun line. I'd say of all the dreadnought combination this one needs the pod the least and benefits the least as well.

Yeah, the pod is a huge waste, if he's not making his points back you may want to reconsider what you are shooting at with him. It sounds like an identity crisis within you army, and you may be too used to be playing with the close combat oriented dread.

I'm iffy on it. I can see the perfect situations for it, but I can also see those aren't the most common situations- like someone said, spearhead deployment = awesome, but I can see that pod dropping down on its own alot. Maybe if it has a beacon and you are using it to guide, maybe, but overall i think that pod could be used somewhere else more effectively.

A Rifleman has absolutely no need to ever use a Pod, it has 48" range and no need to be in close. Even if you reserved it you would still be in range of whatever you want the turn you enter as you can come on anywhere along the long edge. The long range means that deployed correctly (in the corners) you will be getting side armour quite often anyway and I'm not sure how wise dropping Pods in down the edges of the table is that wise in any case. Considering the main targets of Autocannons tend to be AV11-12 transports (which are probably the most common vehicle type in the game) I don't really see why you need side armour anyway (unless you face heaps of mech IG I guess), anything tougher than that is why you bring melta.

The only reason I would give a Rifleman a Pod is for first turn Drop Pod assault adjustments. Most people advocate taking an even number of Pods so you can get all your damage dealers down for a first turn alpha strike. However if you can manage it a better way to do this is to take an EVEN number of Pods, with half of them been given to units which don't need them at all (Riflemen, Devs, Thunderfire Cannon, Tacticals to a lesser extent). If the enemy castles up you can just drop a whole bunch of empty Pods in their face with the deployed half of your army providing fire support until the big hitters arrive later (when their formation has hopefully been broken up).

the only reason i would give him a pod is if you need an Odd Pod to bring other things down turn 1 and don't have better things to spend those points on.

i would probably put Deathstrike missiles on the rest of my pods before getting another for a unit that won't use it.

I am a big fan of Rifleman Dreadnoughts in a pod.

It does a short list of awesome things in the Space Marine Army. It is an effective way to get around drop pod assault, and actually take drop pod units you want to come on turn 2 or later. The rifleman doesn't loose anything by drop pod assaulting, it actually gains quite a lot. The ability to effectively deploy in Dawn of War missions, react to enemies deployment, and take the "low" str anti-tank weapons and apply them to side armor.

I recently built a super shooty Marine list with them as a foundation. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/331731.page

You can always deploy the rifleman regularly and have the pod drop empty. You can use it to block off some movement from the enemy, or hold it in reserves to let your other stuff come in first.

Seems like buying a rifleman dread a pod is a good idea and either having it come down where you need it or allowing other stuff to come down first.

I'm not to sure what giving a rifleman dread a pod gives you besides another pod to count toward drop pod assault.

You say you are thinking of dropping behind enemy lines for side/rear armor shots. Why not a regular MM/CCA dread? The MM actually benefits from being up close and having a CCA benefits the dread whiles it's so close to the action. Swap out the storm bolter for a HF and you have something the enemy really has to pay attention to.

If you are concerned with having just one shot (from the MM) maybe go TLAC/CCA. That way you have two twin linked autocannon shots and still have the option for the close combat arm and a heavy flamer.

A dread in a pod is always useful - but I'm not clear why a long-ranged build like a Rifleman particularly suits podding, as opposed to shorter-ranged builds which would benefit more from getting to deploy at closer-than-normal range.