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Chapter Traits: combat weapon and pistol for squads, two special weapons
Major Disadvantage: 0-1 fast attack stuff
Minor Disadvantage: Can't use infiltrate

Epistolary Librarian, bolt pistol, Fear and Fury
Command Squad: 7 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xmeltagun, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 315pts

Dreadnought, heavy flamer, extra armor
Drop Pod 150pts

8 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xMeltagun, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 205pts

8 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xMeltagun, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 205pts

8 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xFlamer, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 196pts

8 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xFlamer, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 196pts

8 Scouts,  pistol combat weapon,Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 162pts

Whirlwind 85pts

Whirlwind 85pts

Whirlwind 85pts

Army Total: 1684pts

This is my first try at a Podding army, feel free to comment and criticize.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =" urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice?><?xml:namespace prefix = o />

1) More Boys less toys. 10 man squads is where you need to be. Any less and you won't have enough marines left after the drop to make a difference.

2) I don't like the Dread. They die too easily to shooting because you don't have much else with armor on the table where it can be shot. Drop the 150 points here to add 10 more marines. I think it'll be much more effective for you.

3) 6 meltas and 4 flamers. Beautiful. I like it. Great special weapon selection.

4) Like the scouts, but they need to be 10 men strong. Especially them.

5) Whirlwinds are interesting. Something to definitely make someone think AND you get to keep stuff in your own deployment zone. At first read I hated it, but then it began to grow on me. It gives you shooting in round 1 that can pin, and gives your opponent something to keep him from castling. Interesting...

The first thing I would suggest is that the whirlwinds might be dropped in favor of other stuff. If you dropped all three, you could get a unit of 5 terminators with 2 donkey cannons in a pod for 270 (255 from the whirlies, 15 from the 16 points you have left). If you want to keep the whirlwinds, then you dont need two flamer squads and should find some points to make one of them double plasma or double melta (probably double melta).

Me-Person,
But take a look at how the synergy works. Normally, you hope you don't scatter off something with a whirlwind and you hope the other guy doesn't castle. Take 3 whirlwinds, and all of a sudden, people have to think a little harder about what they're going to do. 5 terminators won't make an opponent think any harder about deployment, but 3 whirlwinds does. It's definitely an interesting choice, and I kind of like it.

Thank you both for the input, I will be dropping(from the army) the dread and replacing it with 10 man squads in all but the command squad as Im short 10pts.

The Whirlies came about due to my lack of Dreads, and a nice conversion idea for the Whirlie Missile Pods.

Good choices for the Traits!

For me it's the cookie cutter feel of the army.  Everything looks like everything else.  I'd have a hard time giving top marks for presentation if this was in a tournament. Give some vets a power weapon, or throw some plasma guns into the mix to give it a better feel.  The same goes for x3 whirl winds.  You're heavy into deep striking how about some multi-melta land speeders? Very fast and help take corners!

Since this army's power is focused on the turn that it comes down, then why not give your Vet. Sgts some combi weapons? Bolter/Flamer?  Widely over looked as it's got only 1 shot.  However that's what YOU are all about- one BIG shot at close range. 

Terminators are another good choice. Also maybe vetrans with Tank Hunter skills to be dropped in.

Combi-weapons, ick, except in terminator squads.

Land Speeders don't do that well in drop pod armies (oddly enough).

If you want a different look/feel, then consider different close combat weapons in each squad. Axes, Maces, swords, hammers, etc... That would change up the appearance. Add some green stuff flame and what not, and you really tweak up the appearance.

The other thing you can do is make sure there are squad markings, and perhaps make them really stand out. Quartered pattern on a shoulder pad would be an example, with each squad having a different pattern.

Seconding Papanurgle about landspeeders.

Bp/CCW is way, way better for this army - agreeing there also. I know because bp/ccw, meltas and flamers is basically my army I get fine marks on painting/theme btw. Uniform armies are aesthetically pleasing in their own right.

I use squad markings on each guy's shoulder plate that matches the squad marking on their drop pod. Helps me keep them separate.

You should not need more than one whirlwind. I don't use any but it's not a crime to have one. they are very useful for sniping certain types of foes - tau, ig, nids, etc. although your flamers should handle that.

This list works best with either dreadnoughts or terminators in pods instead of whirlwinds, etc. Also, I recommend highly against the scouts. they will die the moment they hti the ground, due to the 4+ save. Normal marines are infinitely tougher for this list and only a tiny bit more expensive. Just take the bp/ccw trait

Version 2.0:

Chapter Traits: combat weapon and pistol for squads, two special weapons
Major Disadvantage: 0-1 fast attack stuff
Minor Disadvantage: Can't use infiltrate

Epistolary Librarian, bolt pistol, Fear and Fury
Command Squad: 7 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xmeltagun, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 315pts

Dreadnought, heavy flamer, extra armor
Drop Pod 150pts

Dreadnought, heavy flamer, extra armor
Drop Pod 150pts

10 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xMeltagun, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 235pts

8 Marines, Bolter, 2xPlasmagun, Veteran with combi-plasma,power weapon
Drop Pod 210pts

10 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xFlamer, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 226pts

10 Marines, pistol combat weapon, 2xFlamer, Veteran with Powerfist
Drop Pod 226pts

Whirlwind 85pts

Whirlwind 85pts

Army Total: 1697pts

This list has a little bit of each, and only some copy-paste units. I will probably try the list with the 3rd WW and scout squad since I dont have 2 Dreads yet.

It's now a tiny bit more comp friendly, but what can I do more without severely compromising the armys effectivenesss?

The army colours are black (easy/fast to paint) with red crosses and green laurels. Kinda like a more somber version of the Black Templars, knightly but not overly zealous.

By the way, would it be ok to have scouts in the marine squads like the BT neophytes but counting as regular marines? It would be explained to my opponent (no its not BT's) and I could then still use my painted scouts.

Thank you for the comments all of you, and the idea was very much stolen from you Longshot...

Looks really good but I would consider dropping some extraneous marines and swapping those plasma for meltaguns again. You're gonna be light on antivehicle punch - assault cannons are just unreliable at it.

I think if you find a way to get bulkier shoulder pads on the scouts it would be fine. Personally I like the bp/ccw scout models a lot, but they're lacking in big fat shoulderpads.

Somethings else to consider.

Land speeders don't need to deep strike- 24 inch movement gets them in place by round 2. you don't need to be firing every round to achieve critical success.

For one of your flamer units, you might consider bolters instead of bp, ccw. Yes this sounds strange, but the flamers are anti-infantry, so that's a dedicated AI unit. Why not use bolters and get x2 the shots off you would normally? Keep this unit as close ranged fire support. Definitely keep the rest of the units bp/cww.

The list definitely looks better!

bp/ccw will do better than bolters. If you're paying for a powerfist, you should always use it. Your squads should be, after the drop: Move shoot charge. Always.

Something people forget about playing drop pod armies is that you're screwing yourself if you can't charge. That extra 6" of free movement is huge.

And that is why plasma sucks, and why bolters suck, for the pod list. Taking bolters means 1 extra shot on the drop. Thereafter you're denying yourself the equivalent of 2 bolter shots per dude from CCW attacks and 4 powerfist attacks any time you don't charge.

You also can't shoot ANYTHING if you want to charge in later turns which means if you have to charge some genestealers or a tough enemy squad, you can't soften them up with another round of flamers.

So 5 man squads with 2 specials for not charging...that's fine. I use a 5 man squad of bolters/meltaguns for sacrificing (speedbumping assault units, killing tanks and then dying, shooting elite infantry, etc).

But never put bolters on a large squad with a powerfist unless it is plasma (since you can't charge after shooting plasma anyway).

No, I'm not forgetting anything. Drop pod armies are all about the punch they deliver on the turn they arrive; everything else is gravy. They have to- since there is no sure way to get them all down at one time. You have to soften up the restistance as much as they can or they get wiped out next turn because the enemy can concentrate their entire force on the few units tha landed. So, it's the rapid fire that will deal the damage you need to keep your enemy realing until your HTH forces can charge. They'll need that breathing room since they can't charge the turn they arrive. Not to mention that bp ccw/4 power fist attacks isn't going to make a lick of difference vs a hoard of orks of bugs. A balanced mix of close ranged fire power and nasty assault will be your best bet. That's all I have to say about it this, so I wish you luck.

If you think that you obviously have not played a drop pod army

I used to think that, when I started I played all 6 man squads with meltas/flamers, then some dreads/terminators and a choppy chaplain squad mixed in. The problem was my squads were too weak on their own, dependent on each other.

Drop pods are at their best when it really does not matter what comes in. That's why my army is the best drop pod army out there. It does not matter what my reserve rolls are really. It helps or hurts a little, but when it comes down to it I will have 6-7 pods full of guys by turn 3 and they all have powerfists and can move, shoot and charge.

Having your force divided up between HTH and not HTH squads is foolish.

If you think that the powerfists/bpccw don't make a difference against bugs and orks, you again have not played a drop pod army very much. My powerfists and melta/flamer combo has won the game for me numerous times I would have otherwise lost against Tyranids and Orks - move, double melta and charge the Carnifex and kill it in one turn instead of 3, and deny it shooting. Move, double flamer and charge the orks. Or simply have double the attacks when the orks charge you (and they will).

If your army doesn't have apothecaries and plasma you are an absolute fool to take any bolters on your squads, unless they are suicide squads (And even that is questionable; bp/ccw will win you a lot of fights you wouldn't otherwise, and let you tie up enemy shooting on turn 2).

If you take a look at the drop pod lists that are winning, they are almost all consisting of a bunch of troop slots that can do the same job (or a bunch of terminators and dreadnoughts that can accomplish the same jobs). Redundancy is the name of the game here.

You are correct in creating an army that's a "snake with no head". Then again most successful armeis are this way and not just drop pods.

I may not have the experience with the dp army, but I have experience with orks. So, yes, bring on that extra pf attack, it means nothing.

As for mixing the squads being "foolish", we are going to have respectfully disagree and leave it at that.

Have you played against a drop pod army even? More than one kind?

If you've got some experience I'll repsectfully disagree. Otherwise, I will derisively disagree with your baseless opinion.

Yes, I've played against heavy and light DP armies. One of my local players uses a heavy one, and I've played against a variety of lists at RTT and Golden Gargant events.