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Howdy Dakka
Right, so I'm starting an IH successor army and need some advice. The list I have in mind is hybrid pods and AV. So far I have built two full tac squads, two rhinos, a storm talon and a dreadnought. This is what I'm thinking:

Hq
Master of forge bike 110

Troops
2x 9 tacs plasma combi plasma rhino 186
10 tacs plasma combi plasma melta bomb drop pod 205

Elites
2 x ironclad melta hf pod 180
Rifleman dread 120

Fast attack
2x stormtalon skyhammer 125

Heavy support
2x predator autocannon las sponsons 115
Rifleman dread 120

Total 1747

Now I have some models to purchase so would like a decent list to aim for. Also, I am magnetizing all weapon options so anything will go. I don't like vindicators as I feel they may clash with a drop pod list, also I prefer long range guns. I also don't like land raiders as it turns into an all eggs in one basket deal. I try to keep each units price moderate so I can run more units giving me the ability to balance.

Am I on the right track here guys?

Please offer any advice or criticisms you have.
Cheers

Any ideas please?

I'm working towards an Iron Hands list myself. I've been on the Xenos side of the house though for the past 2 editions but I'll try to give you some input.

Hq
Master of forge bike 110

I am not a fan of this guy. Does he have a conversion beamer? or is he just all alone on a bike?

What is his purpose, He will be your warlord but he is only 2W T5 alone on a bike

Troops
2x 9 tacs plasma combi plasma rhino 186
10 tacs plasma combi plasma melta bomb drop pod 205

I'm not a huge fan of them in this list, just because of your forces layout. but we will keep them the same for a follow on list.

Elites
2 x ironclad melta hf pod 180
Rifleman dread 120

I'd say double heavy flamer both Ironclads. yes at a range they can't do much against vehicles but a major weakness of Pod dreads is just getting tar pitted by infantry. so double HF's will let you roast a squad and then scare people with overwatch. you can also charge them into vehicles.

Rifleman is solid, as always

Fast attack
2x stormtalon skyhammer 125

I don't like them in the list. I think you should take a bike squad, that way your MotF can have an outlaw biker gang. it will also give you some elements to move up an assist your units that pod in.

Heavy support
2x predator autocannon las sponsons 115
Rifleman dread 120

Solid

now I think your best bet are to do the changes I suggest. and then in a perfect world would work like follows.

you deploy your Preds and Riflemen for ranged fire support. your Rhino squads the bike squad with Motf then are in a position to move rapidly across the board to assist your pod units.

you drop your 2 Dread pods and they roast Devastators or other valuable target that is not in a vehicle. the rest of your force advances. next turn your other pod lands and you go to town on killing the heretic, burning the mutant and purging the unclean

-Toeko

Thanks for reply!
Your suggestions make a lot of sense, especially regarding my warlord. I've been tinkering and updated the list to 1850pts.

Hq
Captain on bike shield eternal thunder hammer

Troops
2x 10 tacs plasma combi plasma rhino
6 tacs melta melta combi melta drop pod
5 bikes 2 grav gun combi grav

Elites
2x ironclad hf hf drop pod

Fast attack
2 x stormtalon skyhammer

Heavy support
3 x predator autocannon las sponsons

Comes to 1847

I really want to keep the talons as my only anti air. I swapped the mof for a kick ass captain who also gets to ride with a grav bike squad. I ditched the riflemen for the points and took another pred as av13 is better than av12, plus a bit cheaper.

Thoughts?

Looks Solid imho.

Good luck with it!

I would drop the SKyhammers for Typhoons. They do better vs everything.

Also, Plasbikes are better than Gravbikes against most things, unless your Meta has a lot of Riptides/Wraithnights/Iron Arm Nids

Also, for some assistance to your turn 2 Pods, I would suggest a squad of Legion of the Damned with Melta(or Plas if you prefer, they cant take Grav)/Multimelta. they are SnP, so can march around melting stuff, and re-roll Scatter, so can land on target. They also ignore cover, so can easily shift things like Pathfinders or anything manning an ADL

I like it. Though it would be nice if you could find the points to upgrade the Captain to a Chapter Master. Would give you more wounds to give you more time to abuse 'It Will Not Die' and the pie plate he brings can ruin someone's day (especially since he can fire it on the move from a bike). I think if you wanted to go that route you'd probably have to drop a predator and go with something else a little cheaper (maybe a speeder).

Thanks for replies guys.
I agree with everything you both say.
The list is fairly tight tho and dropping anything from it to free up points really destroys its balance. At first glance removing a predator seems obvious, but, those preds are the only guns I have on the ground and dropping one would be the wrong thing to do.
Believe me, I really want to upgrade to cm but just can't afford it. If I go up to 2000 that would be the first thing I do, along with bolstering my troops and adding a couple more bikes.

Cheers everyone

I would try and get a 3rd pod in so you get 2 coming down turn 1. Otherwise the unit which comes down solo turn1 will be lacking close support.


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Maybe a rhino for a pod.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
My bad - ignore! Just seen the x2 before the ironclads. Oops

No probs Poly Ranger, thanks for looking

Ok so I looked at my list and realized I don't really have anything to deal with mass infantry. I've rewritten the list to fit in a tfc. I dropped one pred for the points, this way I've still got three units on the ground that can put out some range. I've attached the third pod to the tfc do I don't have to send a small unit of tacs to their certain death. Squeezed in an extra unit of bikes too for more mobility.

Hq
Captain on bike shield eternal powerfist

Troops
2x 10 tacs plasma combi plasma rhino
2x 5 bikes 2 grav guns combi grav

Elites
2x ironclad hf hf drop pod

Fast attack
2x stormtalon skyhammer

Heavy support
2x predator autocannon las sponsons
Thunderfire cannon drop pod

1850 on the dot

I'm happier with this list, everything seems to sit better, I'm stoked I got two bike squads too. Scoring mobility seems important now. Plus they can move to areas of threat quicker than rhinos.

Thoughts and criticism welcome.

Cheers

I would say try to get a couple of MultiMelta attack bikes with your bikers if you go up to 2000, before upgrading to CM. A MultiMelta will help you massively with destroying vehicles with those bikes

Thanks. Good idea. I guess this why we post on forums. It helps us think outside the box. After thinking about it cm upgrade is a huge points sink, extra points should be spent on another unit do yeah cheers.

Any more ideas please?

Well, post a 2000 point list including our changes, and we will go from there