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So currently I play orks, so I'm not that used to having a list of useful transports. I'm thinking about starting up a Salamander's army, Vulkan is to good, and I am curious to know which transport tends to work better in lower point games the Drop Pod or Rhino. With the 6th edition nerf to light vehicles it would seem that the Rhino wouldn't be the optimal choice. However if that is not the case then please let me know.

P.S. Sorry if this issue has already been discussed ad nauseam.

Salamanders work well with drop pods. Your favored weapons (flamers and melta) work best at point blank range. Drop pods get you there, no muss, no fuss.

Rhino's have always been fragile. The changes to hull points makes it possible to glance things to death, but it also makes it impossible for a lucky glance to immobilize you, like you could in 5th. Rhinos are there for an extra boost of movement, and to make your opponent use some AV fire to crack them open before they butcher your troops. They still do this. So if you want to mech up, feel free. Particularly if you are going to field more vehicles. Drop pods don't help a whole lot with target saturation, as they are easy to ignore. A full rhino needs attention though, so it will divert fire away from other tanks.

Drop pods are always cool. Ever since the addition of them and razorbacks, there isn't much point to a regular rhino.

Light vehicles still work, but need to be bringing shooting forces to the field normally with the changes to disembarking and assaulting, unless your transport is open topped.

Moving very quickly with a rhino is a bonus, being able to have the unit inside get 18 inches of movement in one turn, followed by a 6 inch move and 6 inch deploy? Very handy for shooters.

No longer however are transports boxes to protect your guys, they die in melee when they used to be indestructible. The transports are for getting from point A to point B.

blacknsilver926 wrote:
So currently I play orks, so I'm not that used to having a list of useful transports. I'm thinking about starting up a Salamander's army, Vulkan is to good, and I am curious to know which transport tends to work better in lower point games the Drop Pod or Rhino. With the 6th edition nerf to light vehicles it would seem that the Rhino wouldn't be the optimal choice. However if that is not the case then please let me know.

P.S. Sorry if this issue has already been discussed ad nauseam.

Rhinos are better all around than a drop pod. A squad in a drop pod is exposed from the moment it hits the ground for the remainder of the game. The rhino can absorb punishment in lieu of the squad its carrying and gives you mid/late game options for redeploying units on the battle field. A Rhino offers you greater in game flexibility for larger squads. Drop pods are situationally better for specific units (notably sternguard) but other than that I'd stick with Rhinos.

I've been actually taking less rhinos. Instead of giving a rhino to every squad, Ive been giving them to every other squad.
The reason is I don't always need to get every squad from point A to point B quickly, but often Ill need to get 1 or 2 squads from point A to point B quickly.
I start outside the rhinos so there is little motivation to shoot them.

When you need to move, you can get some serious movement out of them. Start with them slightly ahead of your squads, but still within 8" of two squads.
* When you want to move a squad, move the squad within 2" of the entry hatch then enter the transport (p78 BRB)
* Move the transport normally 12" forward at cruising speed. (p78 BRB)
* Move flat out in shooting phase 6"
By the end of turn 1, your models will have moved ~20" forward, assuming the rhino was slightly ahead of your unit.
On turn two, do the following
* Move the transport 6" forward
* Disembark the unit, allowing them to move another 6" forward. (p79 BRB)
This is a total of 12" of movement in the turn 2, before any run rolls.

Therefore in two turns of movement, your unit has moved ~32" across the board, and they are still able to shoot on the second round normally.
That's what transports do in this edition. They transport you around. They are not the fire bunkers of 5th edition.