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I play 1k sons CSM, and the old rules for slow and purposeful made rhinos a must, but now rubric marines move at the same speed as regular infantry, so they aren't a must. That fact, along with the addition of hull points, which has resulted in many first bloods for my opponent, just makes rhinos less attractive. Whats the community's thoughts on the matter, do rhinos, or other transports for that matter, still have a place in 6th edition?

If you can't afford to lose 1 VP, you're playing the wrong game. Rhinos are rolling cover, they add some survivability to an ktherwise foot-slogging unit.

Metal boxes are as important to marines as power armor, even more so for a shooty unit like 1k sons.

Absolutely. Firstly they add an additional layer of much needed protection.

They also provide great ways to mitigate LoS.

and thirdly, they work great to stop/slow down an advancing foot unit.

All for 35 points, while also letting my heavy weapons fire from them.

If I'm not using Drop Pods, I'm using as many Rhinos as possible.

Rhinos are transports, and they are great at just that -- transporting your units across the board.

Being able to push a squad 18" a turn is a significant advantage, and its probably worth the 35 points.

Try a few games without them though. See how much they actually are helping you.

I've found I don't need them. I run squads of 15 or so csm and have found I'm still getting them to where I need to be.

On the subject of transports in general, I have a friend who's named his Razorback 'First Blood' due to the amount of opponents that target it first turn.

1 vp can make a huge difference in a game.
If both sides have castled, with 1 objective each, with the warlords well protected then it can decide the game on occasion.

They're less important for Thousand Sons than for any other army, but you probably still want one or two to try and keep up with those damn raiders and stuff.

Still very viable, just no longer the auto include it was. For Chaos, dirge casters and havoc launchers both give rhinos extra utility.

You need to consider the rest of your list when deciding to include rhinos or not. If your only vehicles are 3-4 rhinos, then the entirety for your opponents AT fire will target and destroy them. The rhinos are the most efficient target for them and will screw you the most by being destroyed. If you have rhinos, try to bring other armor to distract the rhinos will survive quite a while.

I run a space marine list that 3 Las/Plas Razorbacks. In a vacuum, razorbacks should be destroyed every game. But in the big picture of my list and how it functions on the tabletop, these 3 razorbacks sit behind 3 vindicators. Sometimes I bring a pair of TL Autocannon Dreads for supporting fire as well. The end result is most opponents will target my vindicators (AV 13 takes a while to crack) in preference to shots against my razorbacks. The point is more threatening armor assets can protect your rhinos just by virtue of existing.

1 VP can absolutely make or break a game in 6th, at the very least it can set the tone of a game. If you end up with a game that has very few available points such as Emporer's Will or Relic..giving up that one VP forces the opponent to come to your side of the board.

I've won a number of games by making first blood incredibly difficult to take, and stealing it from the opponent by popping a vehicle or flyer. Combine that with deep striking an obliterator squad and having it take linebreaker gives you 2 victory points almost guaranteed and forces your opponent to play aggressively. This is important because it will allow you to know how your opponent is going to play, and then plan accordingly.

I loved rhinos in 5th but I dropped them and never looked back. Though if you are running an aggressive and mobile Chaos list, I can understand sacrificing first blood for Dirge Casters as they are amazing and Land Raiders are mediocre.

PredaKhaine wrote:
I've found I don't need them. I run squads of 15 or so csm and have found I'm still getting them to where I need to be.

On the subject of transports in general, I have a friend who's named his Razorback 'First Blood' due to the amount of opponents that target it first turn.

1 vp can make a huge difference in a game.
If both sides have castled, with 1 objective each, with the warlords well protected then it can decide the game on occasion.

If you're castling, then why are you bothering with transports in the first place?

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
If you can't afford to lose 1 VP, you're playing the wrong game. Rhinos are rolling cover, they add some survivability to an ktherwise foot-slogging unit.

If you can afford 1 VP, you're playing the wrong players. Rhinos are no longer necessary to the point that I've been leaving my rhinos at home for all my chaos lists. Rather invest those points on extra units/upgrades to make your troops last longer

For my khorne army, I take 2 rhinos just for the dirge casters. 40 point metal box that lets me ignore overwatch? K thanks done.
Also a great delivery ssytem for my double melta/plasma squad o CSM to go dakka the thing they want to dakka.

I guess it really depends on how fast you need to take out your opponent and what you're up against. I've found my Rhino transporting my Tactical Squad halfway across the board to shoot up any CC units quite helpful.

Yet at the same time, I do see some complications in taking the Rhino, with it being pretty vulnerable to melta shots.

But in truth, go with whatever makes your army work, my friend.

Sure they are... they still block line of sight and still can get troops to a point quickly but now you DO have to think about giving up 1st Blood with them. Just think about what you need them for.