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Moving from a highly mobile army (pods, speeders, jumppacks etc) to a armored one has been a fun transition. However, I am having a hard time figuring out good tactics to deal with deepstriking armies packing lots of melta.

I run Coteaz in my CCS's chimera sometimes to try and pop some plasma shots at them when they drop in, but its a very soft response to something that can cripple me early on.

How do you handle it?

(currently have a executioner, thunderer, sentinelsx2, vets+taurox2, ccs+chimera, vendetta + a whole bunch of marine/inquisition stuff).

Not sure how many tanks and vehicles you're running, but if you know a DS army is coming you could castle in a corner behind an ADL. Should keep them from getting your back armor and give you a cover save to buy you more time to get rid of the Melta guys.

Very true... time to use the tactic wave serpent spam lists have used against my Pod lists... I gotta relearn this game :/

3x legion of the dammed melta lists still ruin my day

Agreed - my IG friend makes this mistake against my GK all the time. He runs a mech veterans list, and he always keeps the vets inside their chimeras. Against a DS army, you want those vets outside their transports dictating where the enemy gets to DS.

Oh, your vets are going to get incinerated to hell and assaulted?Boo, hoo - they weren't going to do anything against the Terminators anyway. What they can do is give Pask another turn or two to rain rending death down on everything.

If you don't already, I suggest investing in Carapace Armour for anyone inside a Chimera, it will hugely help against the explosion that are hard to shot and mean that the unit can still function decently outside of their metal box.

It it's not a pod list, or at least not all units are in pods, you should look at bringing as many blasts as you can, preferably ones with decent S and AP. If you can protect it, Coteaz with a bunch of Servitors with Plasma Cannons and some apes can ruin any DSer's day, and no 2+ unit will DS near you without a pod if you have a Demolisher on standby to paste them next turn.

Space out your tanks but keep them in formation so that you can protect weaker side/rear armour but also deny as much of a Drop Zone as possible, leaving as much as a 3-4" gap between them will still be enough to deter DSers, while also covering a good area.

Consider investing in some chaff units for cover saves, Conscripts are best at this but cheap Acolytes can work in a pinch as well.

The last answer is to bring some DS yourself and counter-strike. Load up with some Scions or Pod Marines, aim to go second, and drop in behind whatever just hit you. This doesn't neccessarily prevent the threat, but it does mean you still have ample power to hit back afterwards.

pitch a tent in a corner and wait, if i know i'm going against a deep strike army i'll bring some sort of shell lobber (basalisk,wyveren, MOO) and just keep pounding their line until the DS units come in, then i react

50 conscripts + 2 priests? Bubble wrap your full line out to 6" to prevent melta hurting too badly.

 Paradigm wrote:
If you don't already, I suggest investing in Carapace Armour for anyone inside a Chimera, it will hugely help against the explosion that are hard to shot and mean that the unit can still function decently outside of their metal box.

It it's not a pod list, or at least not all units are in pods, you should look at bringing as many blasts as you can, preferably ones with decent S and AP. If you can protect it, Coteaz with a bunch of Servitors with Plasma Cannons and some apes can ruin any DSer's day, and no 2+ unit will DS near you without a pod if you have a Demolisher on standby to paste them next turn.

Space out your tanks but keep them in formation so that you can protect weaker side/rear armour but also deny as much of a Drop Zone as possible, leaving as much as a 3-4" gap between them will still be enough to deter DSers, while also covering a good area.

Consider investing in some chaff units for cover saves, Conscripts are best at this but cheap Acolytes can work in a pinch as well.

The last answer is to bring some DS yourself and counter-strike. Load up with some Scions or Pod Marines, aim to go second, and drop in behind whatever just hit you. This doesn't neccessarily prevent the threat, but it does mean you still have ample power to hit back afterwards.

- Carapace armor for sure, given they are my main objective takers they need to survive some bolter rounds if possible
- May consider getting an additional Chimera for Coteaz to run in by himself, since they have the 5 shooting out the top. Their PC servitors are also cheaper.
- I guess a straight forward solution would be Marines -> Librarian + LSS (jamming beacon) + assault squad (or dread) in a pod.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've been expecting you vs Jamming Beacon.

What has more value?

deploy outside your transports. get in a corner. tanks in the corner, max range your troops apart behind an aegis or void shield generator.

when he drops a squad down in front of a pod, put a taurox on each side of the pod making a box. ram a chimera down the middle and crush them with no escape.

...................TAUROX
CHIMERA--->.........POD
...................TAUROX

And take demolitions on your vets. stick the guy all the way in the back of the squad so he's last to die. walk him over, and watch the BOOM.

That taurox box squish looks amazing... must try that.

Clearly, you need a bauble wrap. A platoon with conscripts and priests/comissars is one of the best things in entire game you can get for this job.

Or you could invest in ADL and cammo nets.

If you don't want to go with a trouble of buying lots of guardian bodies, you could deploy close together and disembark one squad bauble wrapping the others with empty transport blocking the path too. This and something like 5 ratlings...and you've got a melta-protection. It's all situational and depends on terrain, though. The most reliable way is still a blob with conscripts.

You could go with bubble wrap which will help prevent losses, but for deepstriker dissuasion/ removal I personally have SWS's with demolition packs and meltas.

If they drop in Termis/Infantry - Demo pack eats them
If they drop dreads etc. - Meltas eat them.

Weirdly enough, most people don't actually want to suicide what they're deepstriking.