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.

Well the idea of mass drop pods was recently stuck in my brain, so I drew up this list. I think it would be pretty fun to play!

Please note that I am making use of DFO.

HQ
Rune Priest 130 (Warlord)
-Terminator Armor, Chooser of the Slain, JotWW, Fury of the Wolf Spirits

Rune Priest 105
-Meltabombs, JotWW, Thunderclap

Rune Priest 110
-Meltabombs, Wolf Tail Talisman, JotWW, Storm Caller

Rune Priest 115
-Meltabombs, Wolftooth Necklace, JotWW, Tempest's Wrath

Rune Priest 105
-Meltabombs, Bolter, JotWW, Muderous Hurricane

Rune Priest 115
-Meltabombs, Chooser of the Slain, JotWW, Living Lightning

Rune Priest 115
-Plasma Pistol, Divination

Troops
8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 175
-Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 175
-Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 175
-Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

Total: 2,000

4 pods (likely with Melta) drop on turn 1, with 3 more to follow based on reserve rolls. 63 Space Wolves in Drop Pods isn't the scariest thing, but it's not the easiest thing to deal with either. 6 castings of JotWW per turn can destroy low-initiative armies like Tau, Necrons and Tyranids (Tervigons and the like).

I have two Choosers of the Slain to avoid the opponent dictating my drop zones with infiltrators. They also make the users of Living Lightning BS5. One of the Rune Priests can get Prescience for some anti-air in a pinch. Yes, this army does not like Heldrakes.

I know that I don't have any anti-air... How could I bring in some anti-air without deploying anything?

With this many Rune Priests you could take a chance by rolling one or two of them on Telekinesis for Obscureation Mechanicum. Or Divination to get Prescience : bless the LL priest and his plasma gunners and see if 4 +d6 S7 TL shots are enough. :-)

Tyrpak wrote:
With this many Rune Priests you could take a chance by rolling one or two of them on Telekinesis for Obscureation Mechanicum. Or Divination to get Prescience : bless the LL priest and his plasma gunners and see if 4 +d6 S7 TL shots are enough. :-)

Hmmmm I really like this idea. I was trying to avoid allying IG for Vendettas or anything like that, as it takes away from my all drop-pod theme. I will change the Rune Priest without JotWW to Divination. The only flyer that I'm concerned with is Helldrakes, really.

I forgot to mention in the original post, but the Drop Pods are going to be scratch-built runic teleportation obelisks, which is one reason why every squad has a Rune Priest (the other reason being JotWW spam). I think it's a neat idea, and it will save me ~$250 on drop pods lol.

Amended original post with an updated list. Any other suggestions or weaknesses?

Well....that sure is a s#$t-ton of RPs

It's a cool idea, but you're seriously lacking in dakka for a 2000 pt game. I hate to say it, but that's due in large part to having SEVEN RPs.

3 plasma and 4 melta guns really isn't going to net you much at the point level. If you're going for pods you really need to get some WG in there loaded up with combis. If your alpha strike doesn't do a significant amount of damage, then you just have a bunch of marines sitting in range of every gun in your opponents army.

You never know though, maybe those 6 JotWW could really do something. It's hard to quantify its effect, but it'd be fun to see in action.

I say take the list and rock it, man. Play a game and let us know how it goes! (preferrably Tau: i'd love to see all those jaws eat up their suits nomnomnom)

Well I could drop a few Wolf Banners and Grey Hunters to pay for some Wolf Guard with a Combi-Weapons. I really like that idea.

Something like this:

HQ
Rune Priest 130 (Warlord)
-Terminator Armor, Chooser of the Slain, JotWW, Fury of the Wolf Spirits

Rune Priest 105
-Meltabombs, JotWW, Thunderclap

Rune Priest 110
-Meltabombs, Wolf Tail Talisman, JotWW, Storm Caller

Rune Priest 115
-Meltabombs, Wolftooth Necklace, JotWW, Tempest's Wrath

Rune Priest 108
-Meltabombs, Storm Bolter, JotWW, Muderous Hurricane

Rune Priest 115
-Meltabombs, Chooser of the Slain, JotWW, Living Lightning

Rune Priest 115
-Plasma Pistol, Divination

Elites
7 Wolf Guard 161
-3 Combi-Plasmas, 4 Combi-Meltas

Troops
8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 170
-Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

5 Grey Hunters 115
-Meltagun, Drop Pod

5 Grey Hunters 115
-Meltagun, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 175
-Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters 175
-Plasmagun, Wolf Standard, Drop Pod

5 Grey Hunters 120
-Plasmagun, Drop Pod

Total: 1,999

A few less bodies (61) but literally twice the amount of Melta/Plasma. I will drop down the large squads first, putting 40 angry puppies in my opponent's face first turn. I like this list a lot better, although I no longer have a Wolf Standard in every squad.

Is the Wolf Standard worth 10 points? Would I be better off taking more Grey Hunters instead?

Wolf Standard is definitely worth it

Wolf Standard is an auto-include in 8+ strong units of Grey Hunters. It's really that good. I wouldn't put it in 5 man units.

Honestly, too many Rune Priests IMO. But to each their own.

It definitely is too many Rune Priests. I just wanted to take a ton of guys with JotWW for the lolz. This list makes almost all Tau players cry. Well... Tau players that rely on suits, anyway.

This is an interesting list. The number of infantry units being dropped in is brutal to face, and the number of rune priests is challenging to respond to. There's a good chance you will get the drop on many armies. At the same time, the lack of heavier firing options is a setback. If your assaults don't go your way, you might have a difficult time recovering.

While I can't speak to how to optimize this list, it is very similar to one I have faced recently with my CSMs (replace some rune priests with long fangs and there you go). I can give you some advice on what to be careful with, that may help with your game.

For reference, my list is described at the end of this post.

1) Don't actually drop all your pods near your opponent's deployment zone. Spread them out as much as possible and feel free to put some troops out of firing range. You do not want to get in your own way, which can happen with this many troops.

2) Do everything in your power to go second. Wait for your opponent to spread out before you arrive.

3) Your units will face challenges, and there are a lot of things with power weapons that strike at a higher initiative. While your Rune Priests are tough, you might be better served with psychic powers other than JotWW. Once you assault, you are not going to be using that. Anything that can increase your initiative is a big deal for characters that face challenges.

The list I ran included:

- 2 10-man squads of noise marines with IoE and full sonics
- 2 10-man squads of MoS Chosen with 5 Flamers and IoE
- 2 units of havocs with lascannons
- a jump pack CL with eternal warrior and a daemon weapon
- a sorcerer with an artefact that does d3 penetrating hits in a large blast radius
- a pair of smaller biker squads

The initial assault did not go well for your brethren. Various units were unable to make charges because they were in each other's way, my armor was able to tank shock units into unfavorable positions, Rune Priests were unable to use some psychic powers because they did not start the movement phase on the table, my overwatch shots were unforgiving, my HQs were able to assault units on their own, and it was very easy to consolidate into positions where my guys could assault the next turn.

The key thing was my opponent was unable to force any morale checks - it would have been different had he been able to double up on his assaults, but that did not work out because of the number of models on the table. I was literally 1 wound away in most cases.

Hope that helps.