Actual Point of the Using the Rhino?

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**Razak**

I took a long break from playing my Warhammer 40k armies for a bit and I've just came back. I played a game recently of 1500pts but I left some of my pieces back home so I included a few rhinos to see what would happen (I usually don't use Rhinos that often as I prefer to use the Razorback). It was rather annoying and my two Rhinos blew up due to some unlucky dice rolls which left me rather angry at the sheer "uselessness" of the Rhino.

So leading to the topic question: What is the point of the Rhino? It may be a few points cheaper than the Razorback and have more transport space but is it really worth it?

**Hanskrampf**

It's a cheap transport with 3 HP and Objective Secured (if taken for troops).
What's not to like? The Razorback has same HP and armour values like the Rhino, so they would have also blown up in your game.

**thejughead**

35 point troop shield that moves.

**Sir Arun**

A rhino is as expensive as 2.5 space marines and gives you more protection than 2.5 extra body count ever would. If a Rhino is wrecked, nothing happens to your passengers (except a pinning test). If a Rhino explodes, then you do take some minor damage, but the point is, it gives your squad mobility + protection for dirt cheap (pointswise, not $$$wise).

Also you can use a Rhino as a block of mobile cover for another troop.

**Makumba**

But for the same cost as a rhino+tac, you could take bikers with better range, that are faster and have two relentless gravguns.

**BlackTalos**

The Rhino is a great mobility platform, and when it has dropped its contents serves really well as a shield, Line of Sight-blocking item, and as a Tank shock driver.

My Rhino made a Squad of 3 Obliterators run off the board. That's when you like Rhinos more!

**Thairne**

Not everyone has that option though.
Also, you take Tacs because you need Troops for your CAD/AAD. In that context, a Rhino is a good investment.

If you take bikes as troops, then yes, the fail is not with the Rhino, but with the Tac's it transports.

**Doctadeth**

First of all, rhinos are versatile. essentially you get a transport, and if you choose a storm bolter. Now, you can use it as a shield for either the transported squad, or other squads.

The second good point, is that if taken as a Personal Transport, it will not cost a FOC piece, meaning you have a piece of armor on the field for essentially little cost, it can ignore most low strength shots, (Strength 4 through 5 if you position correctly)

I've won games based on my rhinos. (Took 2 of them against a guard army)

**Xenomancers**

The point of a rhino is to drive your tactical marines directly at the enemies basic troops if they are out shooting you.

**kingleir**

Move 12". Flat Out into cover or fire smoke launchers. At this point there is a fork in the road. Either, your rhino is destroyed, and your marines are placed (hopefully on an objective) mostly unharmed, or, your rhino survives to repeat the process.

**Sir Arun**

Makumba wrote:
But for the same cost as a rhino+tac, you could take bikers with better range, that are faster and have two relentless gravguns.

A single volley can wipe three T5 3+sv wounds off the face of the battlefield.

**DanielBeaver**

METAL BOXES are pretty okay.
Cheap
They make your dudes immune to infantry fire
They protect your dudes from strong fire for a turn or so, especially template weapons (e.g., thunderfire, baleflamers, ion accelerators)
Cheap
Lets you truck around the board and take objectives, or lets you move a stranded unit across the board late in the game (drop pods can't do that)
Has two firepoints, so you can camp and still shoot your heavy/special weapons
Cheap
Acts as a mobile wall for your dudes, especailly useful if you abuse turbo-boost to move after they shoot.
Can tank-shock, which is a highly underappreciated tactic when facing armies with low Ld
Has smoke launchers and a spotlight, which are underappreciated
Can buy cheap dozer blades and then basically ignore terrain
Can un-imobilize itself
CHEAP

Of course, the downside is that there is a little false advertising going on... they are, in fact, CARDBOARD BOXES that explode when the enemey so much as glares at them. The OP's annoyance with them is pretty much par for the course. I've reached that zen where I plan on them all being smouldering wrecks by turn 2, and I do still find them rather useful.

**Charles Rampant**

They were better in previous editions - I spent most of 5th scratching the paint off of Rhino hulls with Ork Boyz - but they are still an effective force multiplier for a bargain price. Basically, there is nothing else that you can take for the same points that will make your basic Troop units as effective, both at surviving enemy fire and at taking objectives.

Dirt cheap Rhinos are one of the reasons that 40k Marine armies are not as cheap moneywise to buy as you'd expect.

**morgoth**

SM transports are just the epitome of transport for me.

For 35 points, you can just do whatever you want to do, transport wise.

Deepstrike anywhere, with a bunker that has a gun and without real DS risk ? check.
Move 18" a turn with a line blocking aluminum foil box ? check.

The only drawback to Rhinos is their cargo, which is currently not as competitive as other choices and thus not that interesting to transport in the first place.

**Vash108**

It's important is very underestimated. Yes it is not very heavily armored but think of it as a small buffer that can get your marines up the board quickly and provide some cover.

When you get out you can maneuver it as a LOS blocking unit to further help you marines.

**jhe90**

Its a very cheap mobile cover save. For 35 points you get a APC with which to get tac sqauds up the board faster.

About 50-55 with HK missile, a blade and other extras if you like them semi tooled up.

And I've found they can be used as ad hoc walls or used to block a line of advance up unless they can blow it up.

**Andilus Greatsword**

Rhinos are awesome, they're so versatile for an extremely low price. They get your troops where you need them, protect them from anti-infantry power (and any damage they might suffer in a wreck is chump change compared to getting nailed with an AP3 blast weapon), provide cover/block LOS, can score objectives without wasting expensive troops for the task, can tank shock (nothing better than running your opponent's Riptide off the table with a Rhino), provide armour saturation, and are generally just a waste of shots for your opponent if you're running a target saturation list.

I might be alone on this one, but IMHO Rhinos are actually better than drop pods. In addition to the above points, you aren't forced to commit everything to an alpha strike that can be easily countered through various tricks (reserving, hiding rear armour, etc), they help you out as long as they're alive and don't leave you stranded after Turn 1. They do require a bit more finesse to pull off successfully though, but as far as I'm concerned, they can do much more as a result.

**undertow**

Do you find that using Rhinos is almost handing First Blood to your opponent?

**Andilus Greatsword**

undertow wrote:
Do you find that using Rhinos is almost handing First Blood to your opponent?

People always say this, but no, I don't. In fact, it's rare for me to see first blood before turn 2... even turn 3 on rare occasions. Sure, if I'm fighting Tau or Eldar then I'm probably going to give it up, but I was likely going to give it up to those armies anyway. Having a bunch of OS Rhinos should more than make up for 1 VP anyway between objective grabbing and good potential for Linebreaker. Of course, if you play on a table with no BLOS cover then that sort of thing makes a big difference.

**Sir Arun**

undertow wrote:
Do you find that using Rhinos is almost handing First Blood to your opponent?

I'd say fielding drop pods is more likely to yield first blood to the opponent.

Of course, if you have a single Rhino in a 1500 point army that's mainly a gunline and you use your Rhino to move one troop forward, then yes, that's first blood. But when used with other stuff advancing, you force your opponent to split his fire.

**BloodAngels Brother**

You have to play them somewhat smart because they are so thin, that does not make them bad it makes you thin a bit more about where you place them. I reun BA army so they are a bit more pricey (totaly worth it seeing there fast) and I have won more than one game because I can sprint him basicly acrost the table in a turn to cap an objective/puch a unit off objective or even just run units off table. it is a very good unit, just use it like it was ment to be used and not try to force it into a IFV role.

**Xenomancers**

Rhino is good for one reason. It is cheap. If there was a stronger more expensive alternative - it would be used. Something in the 90-140 point range that had multiple guns and armor 12 is what a transport needs to be. Rhinos are just cheap - that is all.

**jhe90**

If you want durable get the 200+ point land raider.

Its a rough 5th the cost at least cheaper for a basic rhino.
There thin but they are a reliable basic transport just don,t expect it to kill much or tank tons off hits.

**Martel732**

undertow wrote:
Do you find that using Rhinos is almost handing First Blood to your opponent?

I play for last blood, not first blood.

**Melevolence**

Look at it this way. The Rhino is valued just like the Ork Trukk is valued. Ork Trukks are 30 points base, but usually 35 because you want the ram to redo dangerous terrain. But unlike the Rhino, the Trukk is only 10/10/10 and open topped. Has a transport capacity of 12. Our vehicle can be destroyed by even the lightest of breezes. But most any Ork player will bring them each and every game. Why?

Because they are cheap. They are fast. They get troops where they NEED to be. You don't expect a light vehicle to survive a long time. That isn't their goal. They are not combat vehicles. They are transports. And for 35 points, both Trukks and Rhinos do their job, then die.

If for some reason your transport is not killed, you dump your troops where you need them, and then use the transport as either another (Fast moving) objective holder, or as a mobile shield for other units, or even a 'battering ram' of sorts by tank shocking and detracting fire. Yes, they can be easy kill points, but their role is one of the few that has proved strong over time.

**Beta**

And if they're shooting at my rhinos, they're leaving my predators alone!

**Thorgrim Bloodcrow**

I like them because not only are they shielding my troops inside but I can also use them as mobile cover for my TWC.

**BoomWolf**

Honestly it remindes me the renegades thread when someone tried to claim the flame-sentinals were bad because thy die easy.
Never mind that they cost practically nothing, a heavy flamer infantry dies even more easy.

Even if you look at a rhino as a gun platfom, or abltive wounds-its still better than another body in many cases.
When you factor the ability to zoom around, and the SM ability to make 3 OS units with 1 tac rhino squad, it falls in the wonderland of "assume included unless you got a reason not to"

**Mavnas**

If you take 6-8 of them some will likely survive as no one is going to pop them all in one round and after they will have more important targets. At that point you flat out towards backfield objectives and free up your guys to do something other than sit out the fight.

**thegreatchimp**

Have toyed with the idea of running 2 storm bolters on a rhino. Has anyone had much success with that? I'm weighing it up against a heavy bolter razorback.