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I have taken to using droppods in 6th and I have had some success with both a kitted sternguard drop and DC drop (against DE and Nids), however I was wondering which of the two would you find more intimidating or effective for the points.

Sternguard Droppod
Librarian - Divination - Prescience+???
Brother Corbulo
8 Sternguard
Total: 440 points

DC Droppod
Reclusiarch - infernus pistol
9 DC - PW/PF/ 2 infernus pistol
Total: 430 points

Sternguard with the librarian get reolls to hit at range (with special ammo) and cc, FNP, FC. Corbulo stands out front and takes small arms fire like a brick wall (seriously 3+, 2+ FNP is amazing on him)
Death company get relentless, rage, FC, FNP and with the reclusiarch get rerolls to hits and wounds on the charge. Rapid fire, followed by 4 attacks eat on the charge, at S5 rerolling everything seems a whole different type of scary.

So what the better pick? Is it even probable to run both at 2k?

I'd say Sternguard. Against DE or 'Nids you'll be against low-AV armour or high T monsters. The Sternguard can be given Combi-Flamers/Meltas to deal with these threats, and can still be effective even after the Combi has been used, thanks to S4/AV10 for DE and poisoned Hellfire Rounds against the 'Nids. The only thing te DC have against them are Power Fists. I would recommend dropping Corbulo and just take a regular Sang Priest, and give te Sternguard some Combi's.

Well, I'd opt for Sternguard if you would give them some combi-weapon, say 5 combi-plasma or -meltas. Then you could combat-squad them to full effect upon landing.

I'm going to say the DC is a better choice. The former is a better unit for immediate damage but only because of the inclusion of the Librarian AND Corbulo. You're also lacking any heavy weaponry in there - so you're paying a lot of points for something of a one-trick pony that's going to have trouble if I send a Dreadnought into it. You would be better throwing some combi-weapons in there - it's more points, but they are cheap at this point.

The DC, on the other hand... they would have to weather that first turn before getting to charge, so you need them that big. However once they get to charge they're going to break face. You also have all your bases covered - they can take on hordes with their rerollable basic attacks, armour with the power fist and Infernus pistol, and the sheer weight of attacks will also work well against 2+ saves. However - I believe it's only one special pistol per 5 DC, so you only get one Infernus.

The DC are also much better for one important reason you've already touched on - intimidation. I'm liable to ignore and try to outmaneouvre a Sternguard unit with two characters attached and attempt to take out everything else first. However, the DC are a very scary unit both to those who know them, and those who don't - and with the changes to Rage they just got a lot scarier. Any opponent with half a brain is going to be heavily distracted by them.

Also, I wouldn't kit the DC out THAT hard...

I would use 10x death company, with 1x power fist and 2x power ax, the rest bolters.

Don't bother with the reclusiarch, the squad is deadly without him. They can rapid fire when they come down, and you can probably fit 2x pods in your list this way instead of just 1.

I threw the Resularch in to make the point values between the two more comparable as a HQ+mid range combat option.

I usually place 3 combie meltas in my sternguard, I find that's the amount needed to pop one piece of armor sufficiently.

I would need to take Astro to run more than 1 DC company, and I personally would avoid it due to there inability to score.

I would have to take the sternguard without librarian/priest to combat squad them, and there would loose a good deal of reliability without them (no rerolls, bullet sheild or fnp)

If I am running a librarian or a sternguard unit in close to there firepower, corbolu is almost a requirement. He can take the amount of wounds that would otherwise fell all the sternguard, and he can accept challenges where the librarian would not.

In short: I agree with all the comments in one way or another. The Sternguard are more costly but more useful against more things, the DC are cheaper and can instill a tad more fear...

A couple of possibilities to consider on that Reclusiarch:

1) He IS a HQ choice, so could fill the mandatory if you don't feel like taking any others, or if you're using this setup as allies. However, for the former, not wanting to take a Librarian or a special character along is a bit mad.
2) The Chaplain or Lemartes makes for a cheaper choice to get your rerolls (though, the former will take up a valuable Elite slot).

Super Ready wrote:A couple of possibilities to consider on that Reclusiarch:

1) He IS a HQ choice, so could fill the mandatory if you don't feel like taking any others, or if you're using this setup as allies. However, for the former, not wanting to take a Librarian or a special character along is a bit mad.
2) The Chaplain or Lemartes makes for a cheaper choice to get your rerolls (though, the former will take up a valuable Elite slot).

Can Lemartes go in a drop pod now? Infact, I might as well be asking can Jump Infantry embark in any transports now now that have the Bulky special rule (take up two places) - obvoiusly you can't take a Dedicated transport with the JPs, but can they now embark into vechicles?....

D

evildrcheese wrote:

Super Ready wrote:A couple of possibilities to consider on that Reclusiarch:

1) He IS a HQ choice, so could fill the mandatory if you don't feel like taking any others, or if you're using this setup as allies. However, for the former, not wanting to take a Librarian or a special character along is a bit mad.
2) The Chaplain or Lemartes makes for a cheaper choice to get your rerolls (though, the former will take up a valuable Elite slot).

Can Lemartes go in a drop pod now? Infact, I might as well be asking can Jump Infantry embark in any transports now now that have the Bulky special rule (take up two places) - obvoiusly you can't take a Dedicated transport with the JPs, but can they now embark into vechicles?....

D

He can go in Drop Pods, as they don't prevent JI from riding in it, yes.

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

evildrcheese wrote:Can Lemartes go in a drop pod now? Infact, I might as well be asking can Jump Infantry embark in any transports now now that have the Bulky special rule (take up two places) - obvoiusly you can't take a Dedicated transport with the JPs, but can they now embark into vechicles?....

D

He can go in Drop Pods, as they don't prevent JI from riding in it, yes.

That is excellent news. I didn't realise that. Do you have a page reference for that? Just in case anyone questions me? If that the case I'd rather be able to show someone proof rather than saying 'the internet told me'...

So anyone know if jump Infantry can embrark on other transports such as Rhinos or Land Raiders for instance?

D

evildrcheese wrote:

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

evildrcheese wrote:Can Lemartes go in a drop pod now? Infact, I might as well be asking can Jump Infantry embark in any transports now now that have the Bulky special rule (take up two places) - obvoiusly you can't take a Dedicated transport with the JPs, but can they now embark into vechicles?....

D

He can go in Drop Pods, as they don't prevent JI from riding in it, yes.

That is excellent news. I didn't realise that. Do you have a page reference for that? Just in case anyone questions me? If that the case I'd rather be able to show someone proof rather than saying 'the internet told me'...

So anyone know if jump Infantry can embrark on other transports such as Rhinos or Land Raiders for instance?

D

On second glance, I was wrong. Page 78 (Transport Capacity) states that JI may not embark on transports unless noted otherwise.

Bum. I knew it was too good to be true.

If I could drop pod Lemartes that would be great. Nevermind.

D

No, they can not. Transport vehicles can only carry infantry unless otherwise stated(rulebook under transport about pg 78)

Codex and FAQ say nothing about the drop pod being an exception.(it does cite the exception of being able to carry a dreadnought for example)