Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I asked my friend what would happen if a regular human used a drop pod. He said this:
''So imagine jumping down from a giant space church in a massive bucket while wearing armour and then slamming into the ground really hard. It's like that.''

The Endymion has some explanations for it

Drop pods actually have thrusters for decelaration, this can be seen in the Dawn of War opening.

By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

I had a similar rant the other day, as I'm using a flesh tearers strike force to give my guard pods. The only possible explanation I can think of is maybe some sort of inertia field like they'd need for rapid acceleration in space? But I can't see people using that for something as disposable as a pod.

*Unpossible*

:p

Drop pods DO slow down past terminal velocity, you know.

pax_imperialis wrote:
I had a similar rant the other day, as I'm using a flesh tearers strike force to give my guard pods. The only possible explanation I can think of is maybe some sort of inertia field like they'd need for rapid acceleration in space? But I can't see people using that for something as disposable as a pod.

If they had an inertia manipulation field, they wouldn't need the warp for FTL.

Don't see the problem with pods and normal humans. Russians space capsuls land on solid ground unlike the american ones that land on water. Doesn't seem like russian astronauts turn in to mush.

Ah, but you're forgetting Stalin's super-human programme involving Ape DNA:

 jer155 wrote:
So I asked my friend what would happen if a regular human used a drop pod. He said this:
''So imagine jumping down from a giant space church in a massive bucket while wearing armour and then slamming into the ground really hard. It's like that.''

Seems about right.

Makumba wrote:
Don't see the problem with pods and normal humans. Russians space capsuls land on solid ground unlike the american ones that land on water. Doesn't seem like russian astronauts turn in to mush.

Yeah, but space capsules descend really slowly on a parachute, they do not slam into the ground like drop pods do.

I also see no problems with drop pods, it would be perfectly viable, as long as you can soften the force of impact enough not to harm the people inside. Space capsules do this, and drop pods could do it in a different way.

 Selym wrote:
Ah, but you're forgetting Stalin's super-human programme involving Ape DNA:

It had nothing to do with Stalin. It was a crazy scientist's failed experiment, and he was arrested. He had no connection to Soviet leadership whatsoever, the Soviets did not have a super-secret plan to create man-ape supersoldiers or anything.

the_scotsman wrote:
By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

Not really. The Drop Pod has reverse thrusters and begins decelerating way before it hits the ground, the marines are also suspended in harnesses. There could also be gravity manipulation going on here.

On top of that, their bodies are way more durable than a normal human and can withstand much higher G-forces. Sure, a normal human would still get pulped by the stop, but a marine's body can handle it.

Just remember that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I thought it was actually canon that you needed power armour to survive a drop pod?

It may not have a life support system. Entry from orbit will heat the pod enormously, and unless it can keep its inhabitants cool, they'll die.

It certainly would help.

I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

Did I accidentally start a huge discussion?

Ubl1k wrote:I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

Back in one of the early editions of Epic you could use a drop pod to make a special sacrifice attack to try and take out a titan.

the_scotsman wrote:
By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

oh you mean like the rift cannon a weapon so strong it breaks the color spectrum and can tear voids in space time, and yet somehow things like tau battlesuits can survive such a blow

 Grey Templar wrote:

the_scotsman wrote:
By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

Not really. The Drop Pod has reverse thrusters and begins decelerating way before it hits the ground, the marines are also suspended in harnesses. There could also be gravity manipulation going on here.

On top of that, their bodies are way more durable than a normal human and can withstand much higher G-forces. Sure, a normal human would still get pulped by the stop, but a marine's body can handle it.

Just remember that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I think its very safe to say Drop Pods have a lot going on to make them survivable. Like many Space Marine aircraft and Land speeders, Drop Pods have Suspensor plates mounted to the outside of the hull. These are basically anti-gravity plating that reduce the weight of these different vehicles. So they aren't hitting the ground hard enough to liquefy.

The FAA's study on traumatic high altitude falls in the 60's found that a short duration impact (.0004 to .0006) in combination with physical conditioning (or luck) could make falls from extreme heights survivable, while durations greater or lesser to a point were not. So if super humans such as space marines trained themselves for it they could survive high altitude drops at high speeds as long as the drop pod did enough to attenuate their mass while ensuring the duration of the impact was very precise. That is an extreme scenario, obviously if the drop pod goes far enough technologically beyond that it behaves more and more like a harrier jet landing.

Going back to the suspensor plates if the technology was advance enough that these anti-grav plates can completely negate the vast majority of the weight of the drop pod, with a mass approaching zero so does the impact force... Going further IF the cancelling of mass by the suspensors was sufficient enough and the engines capable enough, the relative inertia would be so low that the drop pod engines might actually be accelerating the drop pod to beyond terminal velocity just to reverse thrust in the last moments. The only g forces the marines experience is relative to the mass the drop pod can't cancel out.

 Ubl1k wrote:
I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

I wish they could be shot out of the air, rather than having to wait for them to land and everyone getting out before firing at them .

 aka_mythos wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

the_scotsman wrote:
By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

Not really. The Drop Pod has reverse thrusters and begins decelerating way before it hits the ground, the marines are also suspended in harnesses. There could also be gravity manipulation going on here.

On top of that, their bodies are way more durable than a normal human and can withstand much higher G-forces. Sure, a normal human would still get pulped by the stop, but a marine's body can handle it.

Just remember that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I think its very safe to say Drop Pods have a lot going on to make them survivable. Like many Space Marine aircraft and Land speeders, Drop Pods have Suspensor plates mounted to the outside of the hull. These are basically anti-gravity plating that reduce the weight of these different vehicles. So they aren't hitting the ground hard enough to liquefy.

The FAA's study on traumatic high altitude falls in the 60's found that a short duration impact (.0004 to .0006) in combination with physical conditioning (or luck) could make falls from extreme heights survivable, while durations greater or lesser to a point were not. So if super humans such as space marines trained themselves for it they could survive high altitude drops at high speeds as long as the drop pod did enough to attenuate their mass while ensuring the duration of the impact was very precise. That is an extreme scenario, obviously if the drop pod goes far enough technologically beyond that it behaves more and more like a harrier jet landing.

Going back to the suspensor plates if the technology was advance enough that these anti-grav plates can completely negate the vast majority of the weight of the drop pod, with a mass approaching zero so does the impact force... Going further IF the cancelling of mass by the suspensors was sufficient enough and the engines capable enough, the relative inertia would be so low that the drop pod engines might actually be accelerating the drop pod to beyond terminal velocity just to reverse thrust in the last moments. The only g forces the marines experience is relative to the mass the drop pod can't cancel out.

Heck there are not an insignificant number of cases of people freefalling from altitudes in excess of 10,000 feet and hitting the ground and surviving, sometimes with only minor(relatively speaking) injury.

Space x had a capsule that uses thrusters to guide and slow its descent to land on the ground.

Maybe they figured out how to break physics as well?

 Ubl1k wrote:
I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

The Kharybdis Assault Claw can do this on enemy vehicles and buildings. It's S, too.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 aka_mythos wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

the_scotsman wrote:
By newtons laws basically anything organic would be liquified hitting the ground that hard. Space marines would be space soup in their space boots.

I find it funny that space marine players accept everything physically impossible in the setting including power weaponry, space marine augmentation, space marine flyers, space marine tanks, and they can suspend their disbelief for allllllllll that

But hey man when someone uses a space marines extra special toy that's *unrealistic* man that's impossible.

Not really. The Drop Pod has reverse thrusters and begins decelerating way before it hits the ground, the marines are also suspended in harnesses. There could also be gravity manipulation going on here.

On top of that, their bodies are way more durable than a normal human and can withstand much higher G-forces. Sure, a normal human would still get pulped by the stop, but a marine's body can handle it.

Just remember that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I think its very safe to say Drop Pods have a lot going on to make them survivable. Like many Space Marine aircraft and Land speeders, Drop Pods have Suspensor plates mounted to the outside of the hull. These are basically anti-gravity plating that reduce the weight of these different vehicles. So they aren't hitting the ground hard enough to liquefy.

The FAA's study on traumatic high altitude falls in the 60's found that a short duration impact (.0004 to .0006) in combination with physical conditioning (or luck) could make falls from extreme heights survivable, while durations greater or lesser to a point were not. So if super humans such as space marines trained themselves for it they could survive high altitude drops at high speeds as long as the drop pod did enough to attenuate their mass while ensuring the duration of the impact was very precise. That is an extreme scenario, obviously if the drop pod goes far enough technologically beyond that it behaves more and more like a harrier jet landing.

Going back to the suspensor plates if the technology was advance enough that these anti-grav plates can completely negate the vast majority of the weight of the drop pod, with a mass approaching zero so does the impact force... Going further IF the cancelling of mass by the suspensors was sufficient enough and the engines capable enough, the relative inertia would be so low that the drop pod engines might actually be accelerating the drop pod to beyond terminal velocity just to reverse thrust in the last moments. The only g forces the marines experience is relative to the mass the drop pod can't cancel out.

Heck there are not an insignificant number of cases of people freefalling from altitudes in excess of 10,000 feet and hitting the ground and surviving, sometimes with only minor(relatively speaking) injury.

Exactly. Train a super human and then add just enough technology to do it reliably with the fewest casualties.

 aka_mythos wrote:

Ubl1k wrote:I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

Back in one of the early editions of Epic you could use a drop pod to make a special sacrifice attack to try and take out a titan.

I can't be the only person who would love to see a drop pod slam into a eldar titan and just annihilate it, am I?

Maybe add this as a house rule to Pods.

Thunderous Impact: If a drop pod would scatter onto a unit, instead of using Inertial Guidance to avoid the collision, the Drop Pod may chose to make a Thunderous Impact. Any model under the drop pod must be moved the minimum distance possible to be 1" away from the Drop Pod. Any models moved as a result of this suffer a Str10 AP2 hit with the concussive rule. The Pod then also suffers a Str10 AP2 hit. If a model under the pod is a Super Heavy or a Gargantuan Creature, move the pod according to the rules of least disturbance instead of the super heavy or gargantuan creature. In addition, if the model under the pod was a super heavy or gargantuan creature the Pod instead is immediately destroyed from the shock of the impact, the passengers may disembark as normal but the unit suffers D6 str5 hits from the impact.

 Ubl1k wrote:
I seriously wish drop pods could come down and smush doods that were on the battlefield I mean its a giant bucket from space ffs id literally just pack them full of bombs and drop them next to any big baddy and go "booooooooom" motherfether you dead, they are disposable so may as well get the best out of them.

You can kind of do that at least.

Fires that whirlwind launcher at all units within 12" the turn it lands then fires like a whirlwind for the rest of the game after that. And that's all units, both the enemy and yours.

Orks love it.