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So I decided to do a drop pod army for my next list I will build, trying to build around the Skyhammer drop force formation. I'm trying to think which codex would be better for an army, but really I can't decide.

Codex Marines can bring a lot more toys with sternguard, but Dark angels can bring Company Veterans for cheaper and build them to be a little more versatile. Plus, Dark Angels can bring banners and other force multipliers, like powerfields and Divination librarians. I really can't decide as of yet, and a little help would be appreciated!

C:SM because of Salamander tactics.

Ultramarines brings amazing force multipliers, as well as other chapter tactics like salamanders, imp fists, etc. The command squads are still cheap and with 5 man units are perfect for sticking the amazing HQ's codex space marines has to offer. Also I believe orbital bombardments in apocalypse are amazing. Which dark angels don't have.

Martel732 wrote:
C:SM because of Salamander tactics.

The place I come from would probably lynch me if I try that. I don't have the skills to repaint. Emperor knows i already am getting picked on for using WS tactics with my DUI Ravenwing. I was thinking more of ultra marines or maybe star phantoms.

C:SM for Salamanders melta/flamer pods, Ultramarines Chapter Tactic Alphas, or Iron Hands Ironclad Dreadnought rain.

C:SW for Grey Hunters, Wolf Priests, and Wolf Guard.

 Tiger9gamer wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
C:SM because of Salamander tactics.

The place I come from would probably lynch me if I try that. I don't have the skills to repaint. Emperor knows i already am getting picked on for using WS tactics with my DUI Ravenwing. I was thinking more of ultra marines or maybe star phantoms.

Why repaint? It's a Salamander successor chapter with your current paint job.

I think DA could actually work quite well. While you don't get some of the fancy toys that SM have (Sternguard, Ironclads), Deathwing work well with pods, able to contribute even more to your opening wave with DWA. Instead of half your army, you could conceivably get 2/3 of it first turn, a significant increase.
Add in the fact that Ravenwing can keep up with a drop list and you could pull off a super-aggressive list, with all sorts in your opponent's face T1.

So no go for the Dark angels? They seem to be able to pack a few more veterans in a list without blowing the point cost up. basically for the same 2,500pt limit I could bring 90 marines from DA along with an uber banner if I choose too. three vets, four squads of tacticals and two full man assault squads. A full Company vet squad w/ all combi-weapons is just 20 points less than a sternguard squad with the same loadout too. Not to mention a banner could still give counter attack or FNP for an army.

Still, can't decide. Chapter tactics are really good, especially salamanders and Star Phantoms

Dakkabanner won't take effect until T2 for a DA pod drop. Your boltguns turn into SALVO 2/4, weapons. On the turn you drop, you disembark from the pod, counting as movement. So you're at the 2 part of 2/4, and at half-range. Which is what a normal boltgun does at half range.

Yea, i know. thats why I didn't think the dakka banner would work unless there was a lot of shenanigans involved =P

Codex Space Marines. Furthermore, Salamanders.

Codex Dark Angels has the 3 Flamer (one combi) Assault Squad where C:SM gets only 2 flamer Assault Squads (no combi allowed), Company Veterans with more spammable combi-weapons, which is pretty good, all things considered, but pretty terrible in the event they don't prove effective and Deathwing, who are flat out iffy to begin with.

Also, stubborn is actually really good because it means you have to be basically wiped out most of the time in an assault to get you off an objective/you can charge onto an objective holding unit and stick there for ages.

Well, scoring DWT, Belial being your HQ would actually be fairly reasonable with DWK as support. The list wouldn't be very consistently effective, though, that's where my doubt would lie.

With C:SM, you're looking at Tacticals (yuck) or Scout LSS squads for troops, which are simultaneously an advantage and a drawback for their mobility and their fragility. Sternguard are fairly effective in a drop pod, but not fantastic.

The main advantages of C:SM are probably the facts that you get arguably more consistently useful Chapter Tactics, access to Tigirius/Vulkan, and ready access to competent AA.

Go with marines or wolves, DA really have nothing of value to a drop pod army.

Marines get chapter tactics (which are infinitely better than stubborn), better flyers, Drop pod TFC and legion of the damned.

Space wolves have grey hunters (which when loaded with 2 special weapons are still cheaper than a loaded out tac squad and get 3 attacks each in cc) and rune priests (JotWW vs tau gunlines anyone?)

Martel732 wrote:

 Tiger9gamer wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
C:SM because of Salamander tactics.

The place I come from would probably lynch me if I try that. I don't have the skills to repaint. Emperor knows i already am getting picked on for using WS tactics with my DUI Ravenwing. I was thinking more of ultra marines or maybe star phantoms.

Why repaint? It's a Salamander successor chapter with your current paint job.

Salamanders don't have successor chapters!! They lost too much of their population in the war! =(
(Obviously you still could do this, it just wouldn't follow the lore! hehe )

I play Salamander tactics for my 1850 tournaments. For drop pods, I think it is easily the strongest C:SM. Followed by Space Wolves for Rune Priests (Jaws). If you're going drop pods, I'd pick Salamanders. The Master-crafted Meltas/Combi-Meltas are too good to pass up. Just last night, I blew up a 375-pt Daemon Prince from Black Legions and Fateweaver in back to back turns. I needed help grounding them with my 2 Stormravens (and 5 snapfiring Pods), but Command Squad with 5 Meltas bubblewrapped by your Stern/Pod placement is too good to pass up!

Good Luck!

Put the banner in a LRC and pull it up to where you drop the majority of your pods. Take azrael and choose extra movement warlord trait to get 24 inches out of the landraider.

It is near on 700 points for that unit but you should be able to hide it behind your pods.

kingleir wrote:
Put the banner in a LRC and pull it up to where you drop the majority of your pods. Take azrael and choose extra movement warlord trait to get 24 inches out of the landraider.

It is near on 700 points for that unit but you should be able to hide it behind your pods.

I just don't see the banner and drop pods working together effectively.

On the turn you come in the marines will count as moving, so will only be firing 2 shots at range 12 (salvo 2/4 range 24 with no relentless) whilst under the effects of the banner. This is actually worse than without the banner, as at least then they would have range 24.
The banner requires you to be very close, (6 inches) yet drop pods are prone to scattering. If you want to fix this then you would have to take a unit of bikers for a teleport homer, this increases the cost even more.
The first turn the landraider will have to go flat out in order to reach the marines to make any use of the banner. This wastes any potential shooting in the first turn.

What you effectively have here is a very expensive tactic which adds nothing to to the drop pod's alpha strike and is severely limited by the army's low maneuverability (once the pods have come down).

700+ points would get you 3 x 10 man greyhunter squads with 2 plasma or melta in each inside a drop pod + a runepriest. I know which one I would rather take in a drop pod list.

The answer is never Dark Angels for pretty much any question except "Which army can provide me with a power field on a librarian?"

I think DA could actually work quite well. While you don't get some of the fancy toys that SM have (Sternguard, Ironclads), Deathwing work well with pods, able to contribute even more to your opening wave with DWA. Instead of half your army, you could conceivably get 2/3 of it first turn, a significant increase.
Add in the fact that Ravenwing can keep up with a drop list and you could pull off a super-aggressive list, with all sorts in your opponent's face T1.

Agree with this. Mix in some DWA with the pods and it gives you a durable "backbone" and threat.
Upgrades and banners can make a difference too.

Deathwing assault units do count towards your reserves limit, so if you plan on using them then you will need to buy other units to put on the board at the start of the game to balance them.

Is it really worth it? A 5 man terminator squad with a CML put out 10 TL bolter shots and 2 TL Missiles when they come in. A SW drop pod will put out 16 bolter shots and 4 plasma shots (statistically more damage), but costs 50 points less.

Drop pods lists SHOULD be star phantoms.
They are simply tailored JUST for that.

A reserve reroll 1 plus a one-time supershooting as the chapter tactics just makes them perfect to land that turn 1 alpha strike followed up with quick dropping reinforcements.

Is it really worth it? A 5 man terminator squad with a CML put out 10 TL bolter shots and 2 TL Missiles when they come in. A SW drop pod will put out 16 bolter shots and 4 plasma shots (statistically more damage), but costs 50 points less.

Its not just about damage output though. Survivability, threat level, force multipliers (drop Belial in with them etc).

Sure cost is a big factor but not the overriding one.

Its not just about damage output though. Survivability, threat level, force multipliers (drop Belial in with them etc).

Damage output is part of the equation that determines threat level. Another would be maneuverability. Terminators have poor damage output from shooting, and limited mobility, their threat level is not great.

In terms of survivability, a 5 man terminator squad is just as survivable than a 10 man tactical squad, the only exception to this is ap 3 weapons. The problem here is that a terminator squad will cost on average 80 points more than the tac squad.

What force multipliers are you talking about? Belial lets a squad drop into a good position for a heavy flamer. 1 heavy flamer template, no matter how good the positioning, is not good value for 420 points.
Force multipliers would be something like a psyker with divination, or a runepriest with a 24 inch deny the witch bubble.

At 190 points a SW list could get 2 rune priests for the same cost.

Now don't get me wrong here. I play DW, and whilst they can be fun in a masochistic kind of way, they are not competitive. To answer the question of who would make the best drop pod list, CA really does not bring much, if anything, of value.
(maybe Bikes for scout move teleport homers).

c sm for sure, I play da and love them but for drop pod list there are so many SM options that are better. Salamander or crimson fists being the best two for it in my opinion

The answer to the question of "C: SM or Dark Angels" will be "C: SM" every time, with the sole exception of "If I want to run an all Terminators army".

Funny thing for me is that I built a drop pod list with my DA going for a green wing. I do have 2 RW command squads and I do have a dakka banner. So far I am 8 wins of 10 testing it out 2 losses to taudar but they were really close games. Sometimes the dakka banner does very well sometimes not so hot. I usually outflank it so it comes in turn 2 and I should have some marines waiting there for it. With 2 libbys casting prescience on two different units in range of the banner you are getting 80 twin linked bolter shots from 2 10 man squads (if you did not lose any). If you also roll perfect timing it can be fun to have the libby join the tacs affected by the banner otherwise I do have auspex on the libbys. This is a test army though and I approached it from how to make greenwing work and not what is best for a drop pod list if I had approached it the other way I may have chosen C:SM.
I am building a storm raven and scouts to add some allied C:SM to the list the allies will probably be a regular Sm libby rolling on biomancy with shield eternal and hope for iron arm and enfeeble. I think enfeeble mixed with rad grenades could be fun taking units like riptides down to T4 would be fun and suddenly biker nobs and SM are getting ID'd by your plasma. T4 units are getting id'd by bolters (paladins would love that =P) feel no pain goes away on allot of stuff. If I got iron arm instead he could tank wounds keeping my plasma talons and banner alive longer.