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So, a couple of recent threads have called into question a basic assumption of mine, and I'd thought I'd get some feedback from the community to see if I'm way off base.

How powerful do you think drop pod lists are? I think they're a great choice, effective but not broken, but I've been accused of being overpowered before, and recently, told by a couple of people that I was underpowered. What's a guy to do?

So what do you guys think?

For the purposes of this poll, a 'Drop Pod list' refers to a list where over 50% of the army is either Drop Pods or units that have chosen them.

I've seen them used to great effect, as well as being near ineffective in some games. It depends on the player and the opponent on how much use you can get out of them. Over all I feel they are above average performance for the points. If your army needs some mobility, these are your best bet when comparing costs to other transports.

As a SW player I like them as they give options to get up close and personal with a good list

Um, I would say no matter what they are at worst average but can turn out really good. I have brought 3 drop pods to a game once and the guard player had everything in the back and off to a side behind an aegis so I did not get anything good out of it, even though I still one cause he bottle necked himself lol.

They are a big deal though depending on play style and overall build.

I have a question though, I just realized something when reading the rules and reserves, you have to have half your army on the table but units that must arrive from reserves don't count toward this number, in the space marine codex under drop pods it satyrs the drop pod and unit it Carries must arrive from reserves, so by this you can actually start your entire army in drop pods right?

I am going with above average. They gives all MEQ a form of get at them now. The fluff of Space Marines totally supports thier use as well.

But with all non-mobile units, once they are placed on the battlefield, they are easily ignored/focused upon as desired. So an opposing force can choose to destroy them or manuver arround the drop pods accordingly. In the end, like Mycetic Spores, their immovibility balances out the fact they allow another unit to enter the battlefield anywhere.

Above Average. What Pods give you is the complete freedom of where to hit the enemy. It is the ultimate form of counter-deployment, allowing you to hit the weakest point of the enemy line. No other army in the game can react that fast en-masse. They provide a great tactical tool.

When it comes to the age-old 'are Pods better than Rhinos?' debate, I think both are more than fair for the cost, depending on what you do with them. The way I see it, pods get you there faster, Rhinos take longer but give you more options should things turn sour or an opportunity opens up. Hence, I like a bit of both, effectively giving me two waves. The first, in pods, open up a front where I want it, and will have specific tasks assigned, while the second take a more reactive role, pressing an advantage or shoring up a weakness as needed.

Drop Pods are not OP by any stretch, but certainly a very valuable tool in the armoury of the Space Marines.

Dat Guy wrote:

I have a question though, I just realized something when reading the rules and reserves, you have to have half your army on the table but units that must arrive from reserves don't count toward this number, in the space marine codex under drop pods it satyrs the drop pod and unit it Carries must arrive from reserves, so by this you can actually start your entire army in drop pods right?

Sure can!

I love my pods. Glad to see I haven't deluded myself into thinking my good fortune was due to a false perception of quality!

I voted average. I have one Drop Pod and have played about 8 games with it, and it's usefulness is hit or miss. One game I dropped in my Crusader Squad and wiped out a Ork Lootas right off the bat. Another game they got gobbled up in 2 turns by Genestealers. My most recent game, though, I dropped a Tactical Squad split into Combat squads, flamer in one, Missile Launcher in another. Flamer Squad managed to get a hull point on a Hellbrute due to being right behind it, Missile Squad managed to destroy the weapon on a Helldrake later in the game

Average here, once you learn how to use them, they will more or less continue to give, good and consistent results, but they can easily be screwed up by tables that have lots of terrain.

You give up a lot for what you gain with a drop pod list.

I play Tau against Blood Angels, so pretty much worse case scenario for drop pods to be useful. I still rank them above average since they literally give a ton of freedom for you to get wherever you want to go. And interceptor+one turn of close range shooting you eat coming down in the pod before either being locked in combat or shooting your target (which only exposes you to interceptor) is still a lot less punishment than that same unit would have taken getting into position in the first place.

Plus they're intimidating which adds a psychological factor. I know it's sub-optimal and I can probably remove it, but having the ultra smashy rip your face off in close combat dreadnought fall out of the sky next to my fire warrior line always makes me panic for a second.

Drop Pod armies are by nature great spoilers; but they're vulnerable to match ups that can easily counter their alpha strike either through reserves manipulation or mass interceptor. Above Average when used well with an ideal book (SM Salamaders/UM, Wolves, BA)

 dementedwombat wrote:
I play Tau against Blood Angels, so pretty much worse case scenario for drop pods to be useful. I still rank them above average since they literally give a ton of freedom for you to get wherever you want to go. And interceptor+one turn of close range shooting you eat coming down in the pod before either being locked in combat or shooting your target (which only exposes you to interceptor) is still a lot less punishment than that same unit would have taken getting into position in the first place.

Plus they're intimidating which adds a psychological factor. I know it's sub-optimal and I can probably remove it, but having the ultra smashy rip your face off in close combat dreadnought fall out of the sky next to my fire warrior line always makes me panic for a second.

I play Blood Angels against Tau. I agree it's a worst case scenario. Against everyone else however it works well.

I play CSM and am MASSIVELY jealous of drop pods....

Deep striking is just too risky on some tables and at least you'd be able to get some cover from the DPs when you arrive.

Sure sometimes they're useless and just deliver something for you to chew one. But it allows a lot more tactical freedom for you to zerg forward with the remainder of your army or throw the table order out of kilter.

I think it restores some board control to whoever is going 2nd.

Drop pods are high risk, high reward. There are techniques that can be used against drop lists, castling being the big one. But when they do that, you are dictating how they deploy, and setting the pace of the game. That's a big deal. Barring interceptor fire they let you get in the first shot at optimal range. This is also very nice. You can place the right unit at the right spot to hit the right target.

The downside is that they are front loaded. If you want to re deploy, start legging it. As you tend to put short range squads in pods, if the battle moves away from them, there is not a whole lot you can do. Being immobile, they can't do some of the blocking LOS/tank shocking tricks of rhinos.

Overall I'd say they were balanced. Pod lists in general I think are above average for C:SM. We have a lot of stuff that likes to work at close range, and drop pods get us there.

Not only is it front end loaded, but the more drop pods you use, the closer you get towards having 50% of your list reserved. It will never be 50%, unless you are bad at math, but still.

I don't fear C:SM drop lists. The worst they can do is drop in and double tap. Meh? They are by default, within my double tap range and assault range. Space Cheese (Wolves) are better than most because of double special weapons and counterattack and CC weapon. Space Cheese I fear, but mainly because BA are now terrible. With C:SM, I have lots of grav to fire back on my turn.

I am biased but they generally work great in any mission required someone to get across the board. Used in mass they will suck vs air cav lists. Against heavy interceptor which Tau excel in then they are lacking, especially if you bring nothing else to counter the interceptor quickly.

Martel732 wrote:
Not only is it front end loaded, but the more drop pods you use, the closer you get towards having 50% of your list reserved. It will never be 50%, unless you are bad at math, but still.

I don't fear C:SM drop lists. The worst they can do is drop in and double tap. Meh? They are by default, within my double tap range and assault range. Space Cheese (Wolves) are better than most because of double special weapons and counterattack and CC weapon. Space Cheese I fear, but mainly because BA are now terrible. With C:SM, I have lots of grav to fire back on my turn.

You are right about the 50% if you are looking stickily at unit/pod count. If looking at points, you can have 400 point sternguard pods dropping in the first wave, and 100 point assault squads batting cleanup. So you do end up with a larger percentage of your force in position first turn then a strict headcount would show.

Who make the best drop list is something that's been hashed out before, and opinions vary. But I do believe that C:SM can do it, and do it well. Just because you aren't the best at something doesn't mean it's not a viable option. But this thread is more about the viability of pods in general. And the answer to that is "yes".

It's a build that separates the average opponents from the astute opponents. The problem is that the effectiveness of the drop pods goes way down against astute opponents who understand terrain, castling, and bubble wrapping.

Castled up BA are actually pretty mean against this build when they don't face Space Puppies.

Martel732 wrote:
It's a build that separates the average opponents from the astute opponents. The problem is that the effectiveness of the drop pods goes way down against astute opponents who understand terrain, castling, and bubble wrapping.

Castled up BA are actually pretty mean against this build when they don't face Space Puppies.

Yup. In addition to the normal rock/paper/scissors of list composition, drop pods suffer a lot from how knowledgable your opponent is. Against someone who is unfamiliar with how they work, you are going to table them. But if you are going up against someone who knows what they are doing, it's going to be an uphill battle. And because pod lists are all-in, upfront, high risk/reward lists, it's hard to shift gears. When they work, they work very well. When they fail, it gets ugly fast.

I maintain that due to the resiliency of screamerstar, jetseer council, wave serpents, riptides, and FMC, drop pods are going to fall short in critical matchups over many games. Clever players can even mitigate going 2nd against drop pods.

You keep saying this, but I've still never seen it.

Just as terrain, castling, and bubble wrapping are effective tactics against Drop Pods, they are tactics that an astute Drop Pods player knows how to counter, avoid, or work through. I'm not saying that Drop Pods are the be-all-end-all, but I DO think that they're an above average option. It gets harder, admittedly, if your opponent has experience against them, but that's true with ANY list. And if you've never faced an opponent who knows how to fight back correctly, of course you're going to suffer. But once the Drop Pod player has some experience under THEIR belt, it's back to being an even matchup against skilled opponents.

That drop pod just needs to scream and charge up to the highest power level and take its ultimate form.


Which I guess is a Kharybdis Assault Claw?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wait here we go.

They are a decent choice that can be used in great success.
OP? Gimme a break.

If you focus your list around them (full Pod list), they will most likely do well as you get a good start on your game.
If you only field 2-3 Pods, it will be meh.

 Grumzimus wrote:
I play CSM and am MASSIVELY jealous of drop pods....

Deep striking is just too risky on some tables and at least you'd be able to get some cover from the DPs when you arrive.

Sure sometimes they're useless and just deliver something for you to chew one. But it allows a lot more tactical freedom for you to zerg forward with the remainder of your army or throw the table order out of kilter.

I think it restores some board control to whoever is going 2nd.

Join. The. Club.
I dream of one day deep-striking berserkers...

Drop pods in Chaos lists would be TOO amazing!