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I was recently confronted with the 4th Ed version of the rhino rush army. At first I thought it stupid, "thats hardcore? No way." But then it occured to me that its the drop pod army that keeps on giving. So here it is my semi-mech Space Marine list.

Note Traits: Clense and Purify, See But Dont Be Seen

Drawback: the one where i have to give up a fast attack slot for every rhino

Epistolary wt Terminator Armour, Storm Shield, Fury of the Ancients, Might of Heroes, Adamantine Mantle—199

Command Squad wt 5 Terminators, 1 wt Assault Cannon, 1 wt Hvy Flamer—235

Canoness wt Eviscerator, Rosarius, Brazier of Holy Fire—105

Bodyguard wt 9 Celestians, Vet. Sgt., 1 wt Hvy Flamer, 1 wt Flamer—146

Rhino wt Smoke Launchers, Extra Armour—58

 

ELITES

Dreadnought wt Smoke Launchers, Extra Armour—113

 

TROOPS

Tactical Squad wt 9 Marines, 1 wt Plasma Gun, 1 wt Meltagun—160

Rhino wt Smoke Launchers, Extra Armour—58

Tactical Squad wt 9 Marines, 1 wt Plasma Gun, 1 wt Meltagun—160

Rhino wt Smoke Launchers, Extra Armour—58

Adepta Sororitas wt 12 Sisters, Vet. Sgt., 2 wt Storm Bolters—156

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator Squad wt 9 Marines, 4 wt Missile Launchers, Infiltrate—242

 

# of Models: 55

Faith: 4

Total: 1690

Let me know what you think.

id start by dropping all the witch hunters stuff that saves you 465 pts (roughly) there not going to help you out i mean 1 less toughness isnt a gain its a loss and woopdy doo for faith points there not going to affect half ur army put in more marines and put vt sgts in marine squads mounted in rhinos and give them teleport homers making ur command squad alot more accurate also swap the special weopons in the TAC squads so that uve got 2 meltas in in 1 squad and 2 plasmas in the other then y have you got infiltrate on the devestators theve got a 48 inch range so infiltrate isnt worth it then either take 2 assault cannons in ur command squad or 2 heavy flamers id take the assualt cannons and whats with the storm sheild hes got a 5 plus invunerable save in the first place if you want him to have a 4+ invunruble id go iron halo. aslo where does the dreadnought fit into all of this its not really going to be supporting any thing if ur marines are in rhinos and ur command squads probly going to be deep striking. 1 last thing y did you say that drop pod armys keep on giving when uve planned ur army out to take rhinos (makes no sense) and can you please tell us what you expect to VS so that we can help you out a bit more

Its supposed to be a tournament army.
I agree with everything you said about the sisters but, none the less, if you look at what im getting with that 465 id say its just as good as what i could take in the space marine armies. Thing is, for one less toughness I gain the ability to make my save invulnerable, against some opponents that's much more useful since most ap3 or better weapons are strength 6 or higher where the extra point woouln't make a difference. This means that Ive got a few units to soak up MEQ killing fire, units that are cheaper and more numerous than the marines.
I think I know where youre going with the special weapons change. I like redundancy, it doesnt make for good composition scores but it does tend to work better in my expiriance. True, neither unit will fufil its functions as well as what youre suggeasting, but since they wont be woking alone that doesnt bother me as much. In point of fact the only reason I have the meltaguns in the squads is just so I can instant kill characters and knock down Dreadnoughts.
I know its a lot of points but the infiltrate on the Devastators is actually very useful. No I dont need it to get close to the enemy but it allowes me to deploy after everyone else and take up whatever position I like (since I dont want to get close) for taking out tanks, and avoiding enemy fire for as long as possible. Basically the infiltation is a counter to the Devastator's inherant flaw that they cant move, not perfect but it works for me.
The same idea as tactical squads applies to the command unit. No they arent as focused on their goal as they could be but the strength of a unit that deepstrikes is its ability to multitask. That and I dont have a second assault cannon model, but even if i did id probably still take the flamer cause I like em. The storm shield is so i can take an adamantine mantle, its pretty handy to fail a 5+ against a lascannon and then remind your opponent that he's not quite dead yet. The 4+ is because i dont normally pass the 5+ and in combat id like to live longer than two minutes against power weapons and power fists. With the mantle I can fail a 4+ without it being the end of the world. Also, what else should I take?
The dreadnought thing I also agree with, in fact ill get rid of it and take your earlier suggestion of adding some vet sgts and teleport homers. I normaly dont like to use them cause random is more useful to me than the ravenwing style rush, but I can see it coming in handy from time to time (by which I mean a lot). I also dont know why I had the dreadnought in the first place.
I actually said that the rhino rush army is the drop pod amy that keeps on giving. As in the drop pods drop and then the rest of the game is ether spent mopping up or trying to stay alive. I thought my gammar was pretty clear but maybe you missed it, or perhaps youre too used to internet writing. Nice punctuation