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 koooaei wrote:
BTW, Ultramarines with Calgar have proven to be the most effective full droppod army in GT.

I think the reason they're not so prominent in the poll is the cost of Calgar and the relative difficulty of running them. They're more finesse than point and click.
The plus side for Ultras is empty pods for offsetting the initial deployment (devastators with pod). Calgar is also a beast and has an orbital bombardment.

I still prefer BA personally, but that's because they're easier to play generically.

When i do a drop pod army i will magnetise and paint in a generic colour to mix and match.

Find space wolves to be a solid drop pod army, especially when you use the wolves unleashed detachment so you can count on getting at least one unit on a turn. Given they have counter attack, and Grey Hunters can take a CCW for 2pts, it means that should your opponent decide to charge your packs, you are have three attacks in the first round, so having to drop down, shoot and wait isn't as big a problem as it can be for other chapters

 BlackArmour wrote:
with 3000 points if you had the models to run it then it becomes BA almost hands down thanks to Angels Fury Spearhead force formation

3x Storm raven + 3x Tac squad that then allow the drop pods to DS without scattering, so long as they land within 12in of two Stormravens (the formation rolls for reserves from turn 1 and can re-roll) and the unit inside can then Assault turn 1.

a Bunch of assaulting units out of pods plus 3 Stormravens and 3 tac sqauds in your face turn 1 is a lot to deal with, however it only works in large games of really at least 2000 points.

Lower than that and the BA really only have the 4x melta drop pods which while nice aren't enough to make it the best at all.

Yes, this is what I was referring to. The more points your game, the more this can be abused, because Angel's Fury scales exceptionally well with some great BA detachments that are drop pod friendly in high point games -- Flesh Tearer's strikeforce and Archangel's strikeforce both come to mind as highly abusable (especially combining them).

3000 points is really where it gets scary, and 3500+, you can drop enough furiosos and killy charge units to just pick out extremely disruptive T1 kills.

Just with troops choice sw hands down. Overall though I'd say blood angels edge it. 5man heavy flamer or 10man quad flame with 5man double meltas assault squads gives you good cheap options at minimal size. Even the furioso with frag canon and heavy flamer can be quite effective vs some forces.
Play it right and have dc or dc dreads pod close and line up a charge next turn you give your opponent a real headache of target ppriority.
They have a lot of tools for a lot of armies.


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That's from both a guard/ork perspective of playing them and from a sw ba perspective of using them.
Luckily I often play sw and ba together anyway which since the new codex doesn't feel like the sw are carrying the ba

Let me make this more clear: I have never lost to a BA drop list. Ever. Not in 5th. Not in 6th. The one I faced in 7th, I tabled it. Not enough has really changed for them since 5th for it to be viable. Yes, they get a few extra guns, but that's not enough.

In contrast, I have lost to SW drop lists at a high rate. They are just better at it because of how they work.

Going for SW, not just because of the 2x special weapons, and 30 attacks when charged or on the charge. I am putting in for SW because they also have some of, if not the, best dreadnoughts for a drop pod list.
Axe/Shield dreadnoughts are amazing in drop pod lists. They are very durable threats that must be dealt with, or they will walk through just about anything in their path.
Wolves also have the less popular option of Wolf Guard with full combi weapons. It gets expensive, but you can really make sure something dies on turn 1.
Drop pods also allow you to drop where you want, making the wolf standard amazingly useful (suddenly each GH squad has 40 attacks each)
I also feel that if you wanted areal support, the Stormwolf is better than a Stormraven.

Martel732 wrote:
Let me make this more clear: I have never lost to a BA drop list. Ever. Not in 5th. Not in 6th. The one I faced in 7th, I tabled it. Not enough has really changed for them since 5th for it to be viable. Yes, they get a few extra guns, but that's not enough.

In contrast, I have lost to SW drop lists at a high rate. They are just better at it because of how they work.

Thats what I have heard about the Blood Angels, however I feel that they can be successful, just depends on what you decide to run for there units. The reason I have had so much success with the Sentinels of Terra is that unlike most Drop Pod Armies such as BA and Salamanders that make use of Dreadnoughts usually, the Imperial Fists is primary a troop heavy force. Granted Dreadnoughts have there uses, but not many armies in the game can stand up to having 50x to 60x Marines Drop in Turn 1 right in there face. SW I do like, but like I mentioned earlier, sometimes I find it kinda wasteful that running 3x w/Melta wastes the other 7x's chance to do anything that round of shooting, but they do by far have the best Tactical Squad in the game as they can do everything very well.

Martel732 wrote:
Let me make this more clear: I have never lost to a BA drop list. Ever. Not in 5th. Not in 6th. The one I faced in 7th, I tabled it. Not enough has really changed for them since 5th for it to be viable. Yes, they get a few extra guns, but that's not enough.

In contrast, I have lost to SW drop lists at a high rate. They are just better at it because of how they work.

Bit of an ignorant post, I've beaten a three wraithknight list with orks recently, this doesn't makes orks better just meant the eldar player was tactically unless. Like wise I've beaten serpent spam lists with guard loads of times, same again.

I think sw have the better army overall but playing both I've found ba slightly better for pudding. Just my opinion as they fit my play style of loads of pods with mostly 5man teams teams or dread. That and mephiston podded causes havoc

dark_red wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
Let me make this more clear: I have never lost to a BA drop list. Ever. Not in 5th. Not in 6th. The one I faced in 7th, I tabled it. Not enough has really changed for them since 5th for it to be viable. Yes, they get a few extra guns, but that's not enough.

In contrast, I have lost to SW drop lists at a high rate. They are just better at it because of how they work.

Bit of an ignorant post, I've beaten a three wraithknight list with orks recently, this doesn't makes orks better just meant the eldar player was tactically unless. Like wise I've beaten serpent spam lists with guard loads of times, same again.

I think sw have the better army overall but playing both I've found ba slightly better for pudding. Just my opinion as they fit my play style of loads of pods with mostly 5man teams teams or dread. That and mephiston podded causes havoc

I guess I'm just not getting at all what BA are supposed to be doing better than SW at drop pods. Is the marginal increase in firepower worth turning off the chapter tactic?

I just feel ba fit the specific rolls better where as sw are more of an all rounder so it depends what you want from an army

I always see this game like chess and each unit has it roll On the table. If I want to take a tank out 5man ba assault squad is 115 for three meltas which has a very good chance of taking out a vehicle. To me that's a fair trade and I don't mind if they die But being a small team I can hide them If needs be.
Sw on the other hand you pay much more for the same unit as you need 10 guys but they then have assault capabilities next turn. It's all a trade off and each fits a play style. Just feel ba are more flexible overall with pods. I happily play both so as long as one wins I'm happy

Martel732 wrote:

dark_red wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
Let me make this more clear: I have never lost to a BA drop list. Ever. Not in 5th. Not in 6th. The one I faced in 7th, I tabled it. Not enough has really changed for them since 5th for it to be viable. Yes, they get a few extra guns, but that's not enough.

In contrast, I have lost to SW drop lists at a high rate. They are just better at it because of how they work.

Bit of an ignorant post, I've beaten a three wraithknight list with orks recently, this doesn't makes orks better just meant the eldar player was tactically unless. Like wise I've beaten serpent spam lists with guard loads of times, same again.

I think sw have the better army overall but playing both I've found ba slightly better for pudding. Just my opinion as they fit my play style of loads of pods with mostly 5man teams teams or dread. That and mephiston podded causes havoc

I guess I'm just not getting at all what BA are supposed to be doing better than SW at drop pods. Is the marginal increase in firepower worth turning off the chapter tactic?

The way I look at it it boils down to what the BA player is fielding. Sure 5x Man Suicide Squads allow you come down and pop a vehicle, but they have a lot of other things going for them that make them to many people serious contenders for being one of the top Drop Pod Armies. To start off:

* Flesh Tearers Formation: Allows you to toake 6x Assault Marine Squads and 4x Tac Squads still in Drop Pods, giving you access to more Pods and more bodies which are crucial in a Drop Pod List.

* Tac Squads come equipped with Heavy Flamers base, which is very nasty against anything that isnt a 3+ armor save, and can be kitted out with even more Flamers or even Plasma giving you a Jack-of-All Trades unit when they come out of the Drop Pod.

* Furioso Dreadnoughts: Can have Frag Cannons or Blood Talons w/a Heavy Flamer and a Meltagun built in, giving you another solid unit both good against Infantry and Anti-Tank.

* Assault Marines seem to be the biggest reason for all of the Blood Angel Hype. Granted they are only equipped with BP's and Chainswords, however they are the only Assault Squad with access to Meltaguns and Inferno Pistols, making them a very useful, cheap anti-tank unit which allows you to use your Tac Squads purely for Anti-Infantry. Plus as mention, the Flesh Tearers FOC makes them even more flexible.

Thats what stands out to me anyways about the Blood Angels and why people like them so much. Plus they are the new "Hot" Army at the moment for Space Marines so that also has to play a factor. I have looked at Space Wolves but the issue I keep running into is on what other units besides Grey Hunters should I run and how would I equip my Grey Hunter Squads, as I am loathe to waste shots, even if they are from regular Bolters. And like dark_red mentioned, BA just overall are more Tacitcally Flexible compared to the SW, which is why I currently am going with the SOT book for my Drop Pod list.

 koooaei wrote:
BTW, Ultramarines with Calgar have proven to be the most effective full droppod army in GT.

*Insert Marneus Calgar Spongebob Squarepants song here*

ODST Vets are quite fun, triple meltaguns/plasma guns with a 2x plasma pistol Sergeant if you want. Cheap cannon fodder with the extra guys. Add in a Demo charge for extra fun. How has this not had many more suggestions?

I have lost 100% of my games against Blood Angels (1 game) and I have never lost a game against Space Wolves (since I haven't played against them) so does that mean that everyone should agree with me and take my experience for truth?

Sisters must be Schrödinger's army. I've simultaneously never lost to them, and never beaten them. They must therefore be both OP and trash at the same time!

On a more serious note, if there was an army I'd never lost to, but played regularly, I think my list would probably change.

I'm still not seeing BA as a good drop list. Someone is going to have to prove it to me. All the bullet points above just seem very meh to me.


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SGTPozy wrote:
I have lost 100% of my games against Blood Angels (1 game) and I have never lost a game against Space Wolves (since I haven't played against them) so does that mean that everyone should agree with me and take my experience for truth?

Okay then, I'll entertain a thought experiment. Explain to me how they are so good and why they should be feared.

It's an Apoc game. FOC or allies doesn't matter. You can bring whatever Ultramarine force you want or imperial fist unit you want and drop pod them. It doesn't matter if it's a SW or BA drop pod. It's apoc!


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Put your dreadnoughts in lucioius pattern drop pods. Drop them turn one, keep them in the drop pod and assault out of it turn two

Martel732 wrote:
I'm still not seeing BA as a good drop list. Someone is going to have to prove it to me. All the bullet points above just seem very meh to me.


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SGTPozy wrote:
I have lost 100% of my games against Blood Angels (1 game) and I have never lost a game against Space Wolves (since I haven't played against them) so does that mean that everyone should agree with me and take my experience for truth?

Okay then, I'll entertain a thought experiment. Explain to me how they are so good and why they should be feared.

Just because you cannot see it it doesn't mean it isn't true. 33 people believe that Blood Angels are the best drop pod list. Just accept that your opinion isn't the dominant opinion.

They are Space Marines+1 when it comes to drop pod lists. That is why they should be feared.
Another point is that half of the armies in the game have an armour save of a 4+ or worse on their basic troop, so heavy flamers on every squad will make back its points 50% of the time in one turn.

SGTPozy wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
I'm still not seeing BA as a good drop list. Someone is going to have to prove it to me. All the bullet points above just seem very meh to me.


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SGTPozy wrote:
I have lost 100% of my games against Blood Angels (1 game) and I have never lost a game against Space Wolves (since I haven't played against them) so does that mean that everyone should agree with me and take my experience for truth?

Okay then, I'll entertain a thought experiment. Explain to me how they are so good and why they should be feared.

Just because you cannot see it it doesn't mean it isn't true. 33 people believe that Blood Angels are the best drop pod list. Just accept that your opinion isn't the dominant opinion.

They are Space Marines+1 when it comes to drop pod lists. That is why they should be feared.
Another point is that half of the armies in the game have an armour save of a 4+ or worse on their basic troop, so heavy flamers on every squad will make back its points 50% of the time in one turn.

If it's true then please explain specifically why it's true. Don't just say they are marines +1 for drop lists and not explain why. I still think that there is no list that can be made from C:BA that can't be done better with C:SM or C:SW. Kinda why I don't like the codex much.

There's 26 votes for SW and 26 for Salamanders, so 34 votes is far from a "dominant" opinion.

And to make my previous comment more general let me rephrase it this way. I'd much rather face drop BA than drop SW. I don't understand what drop BA are doing that's so great to make up for turning off their chapter tactics when drop SW gets the most out of theirs.

Martel732 wrote:

SGTPozy wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
I'm still not seeing BA as a good drop list. Someone is going to have to prove it to me. All the bullet points above just seem very meh to me.


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SGTPozy wrote:
I have lost 100% of my games against Blood Angels (1 game) and I have never lost a game against Space Wolves (since I haven't played against them) so does that mean that everyone should agree with me and take my experience for truth?

Okay then, I'll entertain a thought experiment. Explain to me how they are so good and why they should be feared.

Just because you cannot see it it doesn't mean it isn't true. 33 people believe that Blood Angels are the best drop pod list. Just accept that your opinion isn't the dominant opinion.

They are Space Marines+1 when it comes to drop pod lists. That is why they should be feared.
Another point is that half of the armies in the game have an armour save of a 4+ or worse on their basic troop, so heavy flamers on every squad will make back its points 50% of the time in one turn.

If it's true then please explain specifically why it's true.

The majority agree so YOU need to discredit the common view that Blood Angel drop pod armies > Space Marine drop pod armies with some facts and information that isn't just from your own experience.


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Dominant = ruling, so yes, yes Blood Angels are dominant.

Because Heavy Flamers, tripple Melta, and en-masse S5 charge threats podding in are all things many armies fear. A lot. And Blood Angels can do all three cheaply and in decent/large numbers. And their special Dreads are just a little extra

The advantages of other Chapters don't add up to those.

Bharring wrote:
Because Heavy Flamers, tripple Melta, and en-masse S5 charge threats podding in are all things many armies fear. A lot. And Blood Angels can do all three cheaply and in decent/large numbers. And their special Dreads are just a little extra

The advantages of other Chapters don't add up to those.

That's it? Okay.

Can't charge from drop pods, and the turn after a drop is usually a massacre for the drop list.

Triple melta is significanlty less reliable than in 6th, and so I'm not sure why non-LR lists are scared of that.

Blood angels can charge out of drop pods after toasting the unit, flamer hits will destroy xeno armies with ease due to ap4 and the fact your basic troops have access to them is silly powerful.

The common view is they are the best, youre entitled to your view of course (though it is wrong as the poll shows). Saying that blood angels arnt good at drop pods is like saying tau arnt good at shooting, or grey knights don't all included 2 dk minimum its just the way they are

Sallies are up there because of their flamer/melta affinities. BAs simply do both better.

Space Wolves offer some competition.
10man Tacs with double Special are better for Melta dropping than 2x 5man Tacs, but 5man ASMs do the same Melta, but for cheaper.

Double special Flamers are OK, but can't compare to heavy flamer/flamer Tacs. And then there are Hand Flamers.

For Melee, against melee armies, SW might kill a few more when charged, but BA will kill more when charging, and have massively better overwatch with more/better flamers. Against generalists or snooty armies, BA are *much* better on the charge.

SW podded Dreads may be better distractions, but I'd think BA dreads would be much better at dakka. I'd call this one a wash.

So, of their two competitors, it dominates the first one (Salamanders - the podding Codex Astartes purists), and is basically the other competitor +1 when Podding (SW, the SM+1 army for furries!).

I don't see how they aren't the best podders.


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If they kill every t4 3+ you pod in t1, after you torched your targets, you probably aren't running a real drop pod army. If you are, they either got lucky, or something is very, very wrong.

Bharring wrote:
Sallies are up there because of their flamer/melta affinities. BAs simply do both better.

Space Wolves offer some competition.
10man Tacs with double Special are better for Melta dropping than 2x 5man Tacs, but 5man ASMs do the same Melta, but for cheaper.

Double special Flamers are OK, but can't compare to heavy flamer/flamer Tacs. And then there are Hand Flamers.

For Melee, against melee armies, SW might kill a few more when charged, but BA will kill more when charging, and have massively better overwatch with more/better flamers. Against generalists or snooty armies, BA are *much* better on the charge.

SW podded Dreads may be better distractions, but I'd think BA dreads would be much better at dakka. I'd call this one a wash.

So, of their two competitors, it dominates the first one (Salamanders - the podding Codex Astartes purists), and is basically the other competitor +1 when Podding (SW, the SM+1 army for furries!).

I don't see how they aren't the best podders.


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If they kill every t4 3+ you pod in t1, after you torched your targets, you probably aren't running a real drop pod army. If you are, they either got lucky, or something is very, very wrong.

They don't have to kill them all. Just cripple the list and in the case of BA, spoiling assaults make the list completely fall apart.


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 total0 wrote:
Blood angels can charge out of drop pods after toasting the unit, flamer hits will destroy xeno armies with ease due to ap4 and the fact your basic troops have access to them is silly powerful.

The common view is they are the best, youre entitled to your view of course (though it is wrong as the poll shows). Saying that blood angels arnt good at drop pods is like saying tau arnt good at shooting, or grey knights don't all included 2 dk minimum its just the way they are

I don't think they are a good drop list. I stand by this. Furious charge is basically wasted in a drop list, as they can NOT charge out of pods. 70+ people voted NOT BA. BA is the plurality vote, but far, far from a majority. It's a very split decision.

They try to spoil assaults, sure. But you, first, get your podded dakka, where you should be crippling the enemy. Then, they have to spoil your assault. Unless they move 12" or more, just walking away from the nearest squad shouldn't be enough. And even if they do, any heavy/etc weapon just moved. So they need to kill enough to keep you back, too. Or enough to not fear an assault. And it doesn't take many BAs to threaten things from most armies.

If they do move 12"+, then it only really helps if they weren't surrounded.

I'm not saying podding is an always-winning strategy. I'm just saying that its not suicide if most of the list pods in. Against lots of pods, there should be plenty of assault threats on turn 2. And that is one more place where BAs simply do podding better.

I haven't seen a list that would be crippled by BA drop dakka in quite a while. That's precisely my point! BA can't cram enough dakka into their drop pods to do enough alpha strike damage. There is almost always going to be enough left alive to shoot the BA out of assault range and/or spoiling assault.

Remember that Serpent Shields in defense mode (yes, it exists!) completely neuters melta drops.

"70+ people voted NOT BA. BA is the plurality vote, but far, far from a majority. It's a very split decision."

so what if 70+ people voted not BA? BA are still winning! Like I've said earlier, Blood Angels ARE the majority as they have the most votes!

You do not compare BA voters with non-BA voters as that is not how it works.

Indeed but 34 people voted for blood angels, so obviously there all wrong and youre right because... Reasons right?

As said you're entitled to your opinion but obviously most disagree with you. Even if they cannon charge they still are excellent at what they do, what do you expect from them if you think they are that bad? I can only think you're using them wrong and hunting t6 models with flamers

 total0 wrote:
Indeed but 34 people voted for blood angels, so obviously there all wrong and youre right because... Reasons right?

As said you're entitled to your opinion but obviously most disagree with you. Even if they cannon charge they still are excellent at what they do, what do you expect from them if you think they are that bad? I can only think you're using them wrong and hunting t6 models with flamers

Most don't disagree with me. 70+ people voted for non-BA. There is no majority.


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SGTPozy wrote:
"70+ people voted NOT BA. BA is the plurality vote, but far, far from a majority. It's a very split decision."

so what if 70+ people voted not BA? BA are still winning! Like I've said earlier, Blood Angels ARE the majority as they have the most votes!

You do not compare BA voters with non-BA voters as that is not how it works.

That's a plurality, not a majority.