Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm wondering how folks deal with an opponent with a drop pod army from a defensive perspective... mainly deployment and opening strategy. My kids and I have 7 different armies between us so I'm interested in ideas from just about anyone. Please tell me what kind of army you run (i.e mech guard, hoard ork, nidzilla, etc.) and how you handle the challenge. Do your tactics change significantly given the scenario (assume basic BRB choices) or does a standard response seem to work well?

Thanks!

Some people will just reserve everything. Personally, I'll deploy in or behind area terrain. They can't assault the turn they come in, so if you can weather their shooting then they're sitting ducks.

Refused flank if its anhillation - he'll have to spread out or be clumped then BOOM!

Either than or counter reserve.

When I face my friend who uses a master of the forge drop pod list at 2000 points-ish I would always set up second and set my army up togetherso that he had to deep strike within my threat range of my anti tank which then after a measly bet of shooting a couple lasscannons an assault cannon and a few melta's I'm normally ok and then sic my winged princes and chosen toting melta guns on them while the rhinos with thousand sons in when hunting the tacticals squads after being meat shields for the anti dread stuff.

Of course if the are using a non fun army, I'd counter reserve most times, otherwise set up in cover.

I run Vanilla Marines

The stratgies are easy.

Bait with expendables and castle everything else. The bait sets up where they will go, if they go after your castle, then your army will get to chew on theirs.

The main thing to NOT do is panic. Understand going into a game with a Drop Pod army that you will not be able to fully control where they drop and they will be in your face early. That's as good a thing as it is a bad thing.

Example: Space Marines have Bolters. Those bolters are instantly at max effectiveness when a drop pod full of other marines lands near by.

Just don't panic and make sure you have mutual support among your units.

It really depends on the composition of your army. I run Mech IG, FWIW.

I'm assuming that you're talking about Pitched Battle and to a lesser extent, Spearhead. DoW changes everything. Anyway, I played a game vs. Drop Wolves in which I went full reserves as I didn't have a blob or anything of that nature to take the hit.

Nowadays I run a blob. I would probably deploy the entire army, minus Vendettas, against the table edge. Then, deploy the blob in a line abreast as far forward as possible. There isn't enough room between the blob and the tanks to fit a pod and have the guys disembark in coherency, so your opponent's pods are likely going to be out of 6" maximum-melting range. Then, pop smoke across the board. S8 1d6, even with AP1, really isn't so hot against things with a coversave.


You could do something similar with Marines. If you have Assault Marines, Grey Hunters, or Tactical Marines, and you're mostly mech'ed up, just deploy them ahead of the rest of your army then hop into transports the following turn, or assault them. Worst case scenario, you lose a few Marines.

Great ideas so far gent's...

OK, so ... the most popular strategies for appear to be either going into reserve yourself to negate the impact of the drop, or some kind of castling strategy so after they drop they have to face the full wrath of your army.

Putting the infantry in front of your vehicles to prevent the close range melta attacks is slick. Seen Tau do this myself.

We have GK (which is new for me so I don't have any esperience) and several Xenos armies between my kids an I (orks, eldar, nids crons). Any suggestions there? More of the same or do these armies adopt different approaches?

Thx!

GK have it easier than any other army in the game against deep strikers, and pods are no exception.

We have basic troops and fast attack that can cast a 12" deep strike mishap zone around themselves, and an HQ that gets to shoot anything that outflanks or deep strikes too close to his unit.

For GK that don't carry strike squads or Coteaz, you need to reserve or castle up like other armies.

GK are the bane of Drop podders.
Personally with my Orks I spread out covering as much board as possibly making sure my AV Is covered.
If running a Kan wall just castle up in the corner he will drop close try and kill some Kans and you just advance from then on.

Mechanized or Fast Eldar builds should be able to eat droppod lists for breakfast.

I usually include an Autarch just for having an answer to alpha strike armies like drop pod marines, scout moving valks / vendettas, etc.

Go second if possible, but in any event put everything in reserves. The drop pod assault requires that half of his army comes in on turn one with nothing to alpha strike, and if you went second half of his remaining units also don't have anything to alpha strike.

Then you start coming in from reserves on a 3+ if you are using an autarch. Move your Serpents and take advantage of your mobility to then alpha strike the space marines. You'll mop em up in pretty short order.

I've tried 'podding' and it never worked out for me. Stuff would shoot me up before I got anything positioned after landing. It was terrible for my Devs. Also by the time my other pods would be coming out, their choice of spots would be very minimal due to the opponent's positioning.

Against a pod list, I make sure the terrain is to my advantage. I always take two square pieces of LoS blocking terrain, either a building or a ruin, and put it near opposite corners of the board. This gives me an L shaped area to deploy all my Raiders and Ravagers. I'll generally keep the valuable stuff near the center of the L, and sit empty Raiders sideways on the edges of the formation to give everything inside a cover save. Usually the squads that would normally be deployed in those Raiders is deployed in the terrain I'm using to block LoS for most of my army. Then I will give the other player the first turn. He drop pods 3 or 4 pods in and has a choice. He can shoot at the valuable stuff that's behind the terrain and cheap vehicles, and give me a cover save (if he can see it at all) or he can shoot at the cheap stuff I don't care about him shooting (that still has a 5+ flickerfield save) or he can shoot at the foot soldiers deployed in the ruins, who will have a cover save and FnP. Then on my turn, my skimmers can just go right over the terrain, and get into optimal firing/assault positions to take care of whatever he sent my way. Half his army in a close quarters firefight with an full army that has no less than one liquifier gun per squad, plenty of rapid firing splinter weapons, and Wracks for a nasty assault.

This tactic has (almost) backfired only once, and that was because my opponent had taken a naked chapter master and deployed him and only him. He tried to use the Orbital Bombardment to make short work of my paper-mache castle, but I got lucky and it scattered off the board.

What do you do at a tournament when you can't control the terrain?

Full reserve is the way to go I find with all armies. As drop pod armies have very limited mobility and range once they land. Then come on in a blob and refuse flank them. So about 50% of your army comes on and clears a corner, then hopefully the other enemy units can not reach you.

Even walking onto to the board with a dev. squads means you miss a round of shooting but if you can place them out of the 24'' ranged guns the drop army has brought with them then you are fine.

I spread nasty rumours about them until it affects their self esteem and causes their in-game performance to suffer.

What do you mean by the phrase "refuse flank them"?

Sounds to me like 'bring everything on in the same place on a flank and kill everything within reach, then dare the remaining Marines to come get some'...

I know when you're dealing with two static lines of infantry, refusing the flank is an orderly withdrawal or backwards wheel behind the center of the line facing out... which refuses the flanking maneuver of an opponent. In this context though... that doesn't seem to be what people are referring to.

DakkaDakka wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:I know when you're dealing with two static lines of infantry, refusing the flank is an orderly withdrawal or backwards wheel behind the center of the line facing out... which refuses the flanking maneuver of an opponent. In this context though... that doesn't seem to be what people are referring to.

Deploy a strong force on one flank, then put up fast units on the other one. If the first wave of pods drops in near the flast flank, your main force blasts them. If they go for the main force, sandwich them. Just make sure they cover each other and have good angles of fire. For added messing up, bubblewrap your tanks with infantry to prevent the 6" melta. Works a treat both with my guard (hybrid mech/nfantry) and my squeaky waagh (grot bubblewrap + defrollas and kans).

Don't the grots get in the way of your deffrolla's, or do you just run them over?

Refused flank and reserving work well enough against them, especially if you have a well rounded force. That's about all I can advise however as I play Grey Knights, so we just take the lazy route and cast Warp Quake with 3-4 units

Gitsplitta wrote:Don't the grots get in the way of your deffrolla's, or do you just run them over?

1) They can move 6" before the defrolla starts rollin'. Just make sure that if you use two units, you can position them so that you create a 12" corridor towards the most likely LZ

2) Podders usually have flamers and meltas (Ironclads come to mind). Casualty removal tends to help out

For IG, deploy a Officer of the Fleet to slow the arrive of the drop pods and blast they as they come in.
Haven't used this against Maine, but used it against a DE deepstrike list to almost silly effect.

DakkaDakka wrote:

depends on the opponent, and which army I am using,

as orks
if it is BW bash i keep my rear armor at the table edge and everything in kff range that i can.

if green tide then keep coherency and cover the board, once at in my green tide with my 180 boys list my opponent did all drop pod and had nowhere good to drop the pods

as space marines I try to keep in cover since he can't assault, and try to get charges my turn. also krak missles help alot.

as eldar... I'd probably just cry a little on the inside since I play footdar and space marines would destroy most my unit in close combat short of my wraithlord avatar and possibly harliquins >_<

Che-Vito wrote:

The Mad Tanker wrote:For IG, deploy a Officer of the Fleet to slow the arrive of the drop pods and blast they as they come in.
Haven't used this against Maine, but used it against a DE deepstrike list to almost silly effect.

Wouldn't work against Drop Podding Marines, since they do not use Reserve rolls for Drop Pods.

It does however, work well against Daemons, Dark Eldar, Dark Angels, and jump-pack or outflank heavy lists.

Actually both of you are wrong; only half of the Drop Pods automatically come down in turn 1; the rest roll for reserves as normal.

Lots of good ideas... thanks!

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.

DakkaDakka wrote: