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Greetings!

Anyone use them for anything particular?

I was thinking a small counter assault group w/ power halberds and storm shields...

I think the best use for them is with Deathwing and put in Drop Pods. They come down with the Deathwing, loaded up with combi-plasma/melta and target the things that will in turn hurt the Deathwing; their job is to take out as much of the enemy's AP2 potential as possible, so they need the high firepower to make sure their one chance of an attack before the Deathwing are shot at sticks.

A counter-assault unit is not a way I'd personally run them, but it could work in a gunline list. The only issue is if you run up against a shooty army like Tau or Imperial Guard, then they're forced to either run forward unsupported or hang back and wait for an assault that won't come. They could make a nice counter-attack unit against assault armies, though, so there's certainly merit to your ideas. I wouldn't give them all Storm Shields, just one or two, as otherwise they get expensive too fast.

Also, welcome to Dakka!

Thanks, and good points (especially about the assault that never comes)

I had considered a squad with all combi-flamers... my primary opposition plays orks and ig... so mass blobs are kind of a thing...

If you play a lot of hordes, then combi-flamer Drop Pod squads might be very, very good, anything that can drop multiple templates can rack up some major damage (I have an IG army with several 4x Flamer squads, they never let me down). Again, they'll work better if you have other drop elements as well, but even as an almost throwaway squad they'll be a real pain for your opponents.

On a slight side note, taking 5 Assault Marines, swapping their Jump Packs for a Drop Pod and adding a Deathwing Missile Launcher might be something you want to look at, 2 templates and a S5 large blast is a lot of horde-killing for just over 100 points!

the assault squad + Drop Pod is actually a great idea,

primarily I am looking for a "foot" unit that would work well with a ravenwing build
I figured something that the ravenwing could use as a strong anchor point would be good so it was either 3 dreadnoughts or a really kitted out vet squad w/ LR (variant of some sort)

figure RW moving around the board w/ a strong central location (either fire base or counter assault unit) they can "rest" at for a second before rushing off to poke a hornet's nest with a sharp stick

so I might make the squad: 2 Storm Shield + Halberd, 2 combi-flamer, and 1 flamer(or would a plasma-gun work better for the occasional meganob?) in a drop pod, land it next to a nice piece of terrain and control the middle of the board

btw: appreciate the advise...

Seems a good enough setup, and is fairly cheap compared to some options. Personally, I'd swap out the halberds for Power Mauls, against orks and IG the extra strength is more useful than the AP, as you'll be ignoring their armour even with AP4.

I'm not sure the squad could become an anchor point with only 5 models, I'd use them more in a precision strike role, dropping in and taking out a target of opportunity on the drop with the flamers (remember a Drop Pod can't Mishap so you can get really close) and then hopefully draw some fire and then charge something the next turn.

If you want a real anchor that won't go down easily at all, then get a Land Raider Crusader with some Deathwing Knights and an Interrogator Chaplain in, it's pricey but will murder Orks/IG and the Knights are a lethal assault unit.

Sounds good, thanks for the suggestions!