Best Space Marine Drop Pod Army.

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**iGuy91**

Ultramarines make a strong drop pod army, which I think gets overlooked, if you are running sternguard, and dropping tacs, and you use that tactical doctrine as part of your alpha strike, your tactical marines are essentially all twin linked with all weapons for the turn, and your sternguard re-roll all their gets hot rolls of 1. Since I run my sternguard loaded for bear with x8 combi weapons (usually x4 plasma x4 melta) and my tacs with usual plasma/combiplasma, this makes for a TON of twin linked plasma in your face turn 1.
Then in my second wave, I find a use for the assault doctrine when I drop 5 assault marines in free pods with x2 flamers and a combi flamer in the squad to put the pain on infantry. Since most people run minimum squads, each one of those squads, at 100 points with the pod, will simply delete a troop choice., and then be able to fire and assault next turn.

Thunderfire Cannons and Stormtalons make up the rest of my lists.

**Rommel44**

iGuy91 wrote:
Ultramarines make a strong drop pod army, which I think gets overlooked, if you are running sternguard, and dropping tacs, and you use that tactical doctrine as part of your alpha strike, your tactical marines are essentially all twin linked with all weapons for the turn, and your sternguard re-roll all their gets hot rolls of 1. Since I run my sternguard loaded for bear with x8 combi weapons (usually x4 plasma x4 melta) and my tacs with usual plasma/combiplasma, this makes for a TON of twin linked plasma in your face turn 1.
Then in my second wave, I find a use for the assault doctrine when I drop 5 assault marines in free pods with x2 flamers and a combi flamer in the squad to put the pain on infantry. Since most people run minimum squads, each one of those squads, at 100 points with the pod, will simply delete a troop choice., and then be able to fire and assault next turn.

Thunderfire Cannons and Stormtalons make up the rest of my lists.

Ultramarines can do that true, however compared to other armies they aren't as effective in Drop Pods, and to be frank, have no interest in going the Blueberry Marines at all so I'll leave it at that. Currently am leaning towards Space Wolves right now, as I like there options at what they can do Drop Pod wise, so I will most likely go that rout to start, before expanding to be able to run other Space Marine Drop Pod Armies.

**TableTopJosh**

I voted SW. Not sure if people mentioned this but Grey Hunters get access to wolf standard. This means once you drop them and if you get assualted the next round you get counter attack, and you can use your standard to reroll all ones for that combat phase. That includes when you rapid fire overwatch, and the assualt. Not a bad trick for 10 points that other armies dont have access to.

**G00fySmiley**

spacewolves. they simply put do it better than any other army. dro pin, fire shots, the other army rarely can afford to charge your units with counter charge and banner. oen guiy at our shop always attaches a wolfguard with terminator armor to stand in front and soak fire with a 2+ . just plain a pain in the ass

**StarTrotter**

I personally say Salamanders although I think SW are also very worthy of the drop pod. Simply put, Salamanders pack a nasty punch with Vulkan in your army. Meltas become twin-linked allowing you to pop enemy vehicles with ease (and being decent for causing damage on MC) with Flamers re-rolling their wounding. Heck, sternguard can get heavy flamers meaning you can have a nasty overwatch that would make it very unappealing to the enemy.

**KthuluQball**

I've gotta go with BA. Now, I'm not a tourney player, but when I run a drop pod army, I'm there to slice and dice. Yes, they're going to have to survive at least one turn of shooting, but that's what Sang Priests and a tanking Corbulo are for. The other key to a drop pod army, IMHO, is threat overload. At least 5 pod on turn one.
I've had pretty good success in my "beer and pretzels" group...

**TableTopJosh**

Dropping assualt marines is suicide, and paying for upgrades hoping they survivw makes little sense and seems counter productive.
You can take 7 pods very easily at 1750 in a sw army. Hell st 1850 you can take 7 and take the new dataslate rhat allows SW to take 2 storm talons and 1 stormraven.

**scommy**

obsidiankatana wrote:
Crimson Fists can be effective, but in my experience can't pull the same muscle as Salamanders. Sternguard are great, but are just marines and die all the same. You don't have to pay anything to make the Salamanders better, just take the guns that are already good to take in pod lists.

Fun part is, Salamanders also have good Sternguard - double 5x of them in a pod with 2x Heavy Flamers. Shove Vulkan in the same pod and that's 3x Heavy Flamers. Or drop triple Ironclads running HF/Melta, or spam your Melta/Combi/Multi-Melta tac squads and let Thunderfire Cannons pummel the contents of whatever transport you just evaporated.

But pods only can take 10 models now?

**obsidiankatana**

scommy wrote:
But pods only can take 10 models now?

Poor wording, perhaps. Two pods, 5x Sternguard Each, 2x HF per pod, Vulkan makes 3x for one.

**Rommel44**

TableTopJosh wrote:
Dropping assualt marines is suicide, and paying for upgrades hoping they survivw makes little sense and seems counter productive.
You can take 7 pods very easily at 1750 in a sw army. Hell st 1850 you can take 7 and take the new dataslate rhat allows SW to take 2 storm talons and 1 stormraven.

Really. There is a Dataslate that now allows the Space Wolves to take Storm Talons? Is there a link for this data slate list possibly? Definetly would reinforce me running a SW Drop Pod army for sure if that is the case.

**Tigurius**

Stormwing, I think it's called.

Definitely woth a shout.

Also, less of the Ultramarines hate

**Rommel44**

Tigurius wrote:
Stormwing, I think it's called.

Definitely woth a shout.

Also, less of the Ultramarines hate

Stormwing eh, will have to check it out. And I will insult the Choir-Boy Blueberry Marines as much as I want to mate

. That being said, does that mean that I have to run a Stormraven and 2x Storm Talons if I run the Stormwing formation?

**TableTopJosh**

Yeah you do. They all come in on the same reserve roll and if one of the talons are alive your storm talon is upgraded to bs5. Also prrtty sure it doesnt take up any fast attack or heavy support options. If i were to take it, i would put skyhammer missisles on the talons and mm and lascannon wih hurricane bolters on the raven.

**Rommel44**

TableTopJosh wrote:
Yeah you do. They all come in on the same reserve roll and if one of the talons are alive your storm talon is upgraded to bs5. Also prrtty sure it doesnt take up any fast attack or heavy support options. If i were to take it, i would put skyhammer missisles on the talons and mm and lascannon wih hurricane bolters on the raven.

Makes sense, however I am not sure about the weaponry choice. I would most likely go with the Assault Cannon and Multi-Melta w/Hurricane Bolters on the Stormraven to make it an all purpose vehicle, and place Lascannons on the Storm Talons to go after enemy flyers and such, as they too can be used in multiple ways with that combo.

**Nakor The BlueRider**

I played against a Space Wolf Drop Pod Army in the finals of a 1k5 tournament & I can tell you it is very effective.

6 x 10 Grey Hunters, 3 Squads with double plasma, 3 squads with double melta, 9 Wolf Guard all with combi plasma & a Rune Priests with JtWW/Living Lighting. That's a ton of bodies hitting the table where you want them & is a mean alpha strike, even better you have 6 troops to contest/capture objectives.

SW have uber grit for 15 points & counter attack, meaning assaulting them is a tough option.

**nobody**

One thing to keep in mind is that space wolves are due a new codex, and rumor has it that it's coming out later this year. It's very possible you'll have an army built up and then it'll be invalidated shortly after

Edit: of course this depends on how fast you build up the army, I wouldn't expect a new dex in the next several months.

**TableTopJosh**

Storm raven is tanky and has power of the machine spirit making it a better option in my opinion for lascannon and mm. Also talons with lascannons becme too expensive for something so squishy. I think the majority of people stay away from LC on talons.

**Martel732**

Nakor The BlueRider wrote:
I played against a Space Wolf Drop Pod Army in the finals of a 1k5 tournament & I can tell you it is very effective.

6 x 10 Grey Hunters, 3 Squads with double plasma, 3 squads with double melta, 9 Wolf Guard all with combi plasma & a Rune Priests with JtWW/Living Lighting. That's a ton of bodies hitting the table where you want them & is a mean alpha strike, even better you have 6 troops to contest/capture objectives.

SW have uber grit for 15 points & counter attack, meaning assaulting them is a tough option.

You can't assault them. Let's be honest here.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

TableTopJosh wrote:
Storm raven is tanky and has power of the machine spirit making it a better option in my opinion for lascannon and mm. Also talons with lascannons becme too expensive for something so squishy. I think the majority of people stay away from LC on talons.

That's because the AC is turret mounted, allowing for shots against rear armor. Calling the SR tanky is a bit much AV 12 is pretty bad in 6th ed.

**Crazyterran**

obsidiankatana wrote:
Crimson Fists can be effective, but in my experience can't pull the same muscle as Salamanders. Sternguard are great, but are just marines and die all the same. You don't have to pay anything to make the Salamanders better, just take the guns that are already good to take in pod lists.

Fun part is, Salamanders also have good Sternguard - double 5x of them in a pod with 2x Heavy Flamers. Shove Vulkan in the same pod and that's 3x Heavy Flamers. Or drop triple Ironclads running HF/Melta, or spam your Melta/Combi/Multi-Melta tac squads and let Thunderfire Cannons pummel the contents of whatever transport you just evaporated.

Ironclads don't benefit from Chapter Tactics(Salamanders), so you'd probably be better off with the Sternguard. Of course, Vulkan still helps the Ironclad's Meltas, I suppose...

I have been tempted to get a Sentinels of Terra book, however although the re-rolling of Bolters is awesome, I'm not sure what else they have to offer in terms of how there force organization works out on top of what makes them unique to other Space Marine Chapters. That beings said, I currently have more models to run a Salamander List at the moment, as I currently have 30x Tac Marines and 2x Ironclad Dreads to work with, along with a single Stormtalon w/Twin-Linked Lascannon. But the eventual plan is to build up my army to the point where I can run both the Salamanders and a Space Wolf Drop Pod Army with the same models, as I am creating my own Chapter of Marines. Both have things that I really like: Slamanders ability to upgrade all Flamer and Melta Weaponry, while Space Wolves can make some nasty Drop Pod units with Logan, Wolf Guard, and Long Fangs, which is why I am starting to lean more in that direction as Space wolves can run some nasty shenanigans when going full drop pod.. Might be tempted to even get the Imperial Fist Supplement book just to see what they can do, as I have always been a big fan of the Imperial Fists Chapter.

That being said, some people have suggested that I don't run a pure Army of Drop Pods, as they feel the risk is too great in the long run due to the reserve rolls and due to the inaccuracy a drop can sometimes be. What are your thoughts on that and would it be more beneficial to run some units in Drop Pods, while other units start on the table? Seen some lists where a few squads of Long Fangs start on the table and bombard the enemy with long-ranged weaponry, while the drop Pod Squads come down. Appreciate all the Feedback so lets keep it coming.

All drop pod lists are fine. 66% of your reserves (on average) will come in Turn 2, And the rest should appear Turn 3. If you are getting gak luck with the dice, it doesn't really make much of a difference. In fact, running things on the table could be detrimental to you if you go second; your opponent is only going to have one - two things to shoot with his army.

Remember, you only get upgraded Meltas if you take Vulkan.

**Sir Arun**

Martel732 wrote:
That's because the AC is turret mounted, allowing for shots against rear armor. Calling the SR tanky is a bit much AV 12 is pretty bad in 6th ed.

So Eldar dont have tanks?

**Martel732**

Sir Arun wrote:
Martel732 wrote:
That's because the AC is turret mounted, allowing for shots against rear armor. Calling the SR tanky is a bit much AV 12 is pretty bad in 6th ed.

So Eldar dont have tanks?

Okay AV 12 is mostly bad in 6th ed. Not AV 12 with 60" guns and built in cover saves. And taking up no FOC. For it's price, the Stormraven is quite fragile. For its price, the WS is not.

**Sir Arun**

And yet anything and everything can hit a Wave Serpent with its normal ballistic skill while most AT weapons can only hit the Stormraven on a 6; save for skyfire weapons which usually are S7 or weaker. The Stormraven also can't be assaulted with meltabombs; something the Wave Serpent is very afraid of - its even scared of krak grenades, given the nerf moving skimmers took in terms of being hit by enemies in cc compared to 5th.

**Eowyn Cloud**

Space wolfs, just get them close to the enemy and bam tons of killing will happen

**Martel732**

But WS based lists can eliminate threats much more quickly than SR-based lists. No one can assault WS because no one can live to get there. SR's firepower for the price and forced reserve status is very marginal, imo. You are guaranteed on the board one fewer turn.

S7 is quite good at hull pointing out the SR. S7 blows against helldrakes only because they have a save and regen HP.

Snap fired lascannons with prescience down SR annoyingly well,and we won't get into Vendettas.

**bocatt**

I play Blood Angels, this is what they bring to a DP list:
Fragioso
Assault marines with a free drop pod.

That's about it. I wouldn't bother running them full drop pod.

On the other hand I feel like Space Wolves bring the best of everything. The cheapest combicide squads (wolf guard) with the option for that 5th man Cyclone terminator to lead your Long Fangs. Cheap full Grey Hunter squads with good special weapons, bp/ccw and counter attack and wolf standard and mark of the wulfen for close combat and they can bring pods with the sometimes all powerful Jaws of the World Wolf and that crazy Rune psychic defense and if you're into that kind of thing you can back them up with Thunderwolf Cavalry which are really powerful but can be very expensive. And if you want to you can still bring some podnoughts. But I think they cost about the same as any other codex. And like I said about the Cyclone terminator, bringing cheap, missile launcher Long Fangs is never a bad idea.

**hazal**

My pod army is Space Wolves and Salamanders... win/win

Wolves:
- Greyhunters are one of the best jack of all trade troops in the game. 2 special weapons and above average assault.
- WG - cheap combie weapons
- Thunder Wolves to keep up with the pods
- Rune priest - jaws and defence

Salamanders
- Melta and Flame bonuses
- Master crafted for the sgts, awesome for combie melta/plasma
- Assault squad with flamers = investment at 95 points

Salamanders are better at the alpha strike portion of the drop pod army (and have better toys -flyers-) and the wolves have better protracted combat potential once they touch down. I like to mix, flame and air support from the salamanders, greyhunters and combi-plas from the wolves.