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What to stuff in a drop pod?

870 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  XeonDragon 
#1 ·
Hi all

What I want to do is use drop pods to deploy a ‘carnifex distractor’ squad of ‘old’ marines (so no hellblasters) with the aims of:
(1) obtaining a degree of board control / blocking
(2) deleting or at least very badly depleting some of my opponents heavy/elite infantry units and/or
(3) heavily damage enemy vehicles.

My goal is to do the above with from medium range, rather than melee. So not really look to drop a ‘smash captain’ and his buddies, if that makes sense. So I’d like some advice on three options.

Plasma party

The first is what I will call the ‘bringing a plasma party to the party’ option. As I see it, there are three ways to do this: (A) Devastators, (B) Veterans or (C) sternguard veterans.
In terms of devastators, I am leaning towards at least one squad of Devastators as follows: Sergeant with combi-plasma, four marines with plasma cannons and Armorium cherub.
I’ve seen people suggesting taking a couple of extra marines as ‘ablative armour’. Would having a storm-bolter on the drop pod act in the same way, by making the pod itself a target, and thereby splitting incoming fire between the squad and the pod? Or would I still need a few bolter-only ‘ablative armour’ marines in the squad?

Another option is using plasma-equipped company veterans. My thinking was a squad of 5 marines as follows: Sergeant with combi-plasma and the other veteran marines with combi-plasmas.

Finally, what do people thing about using a sternguard plasma party loaded out as: Sergeant with combi-plasma, 2 marines with plasma cannons and 2 marines with combi-plasma’s or would you go all the other 4 marines loaded out with combi-plasmas?

I’ve also seen people suggest having a ‘re-roll factory’ to boost the durability and damage output of the squads. Two common combos are captain (re-roll 1s to hit) and lieutenants (re-roll 1s to wound) or an ancient (pop off another shot when being killed) and / apothecary (revive fallen marines).

So what is your thinking about re-roll factories? Would you prefer:
• two squads of 5 devastators/veterans/sternguard veterans as per above, or
• go a larger squad and a re-roll factory or
• one squad of 5 devastators/sternguards, a squad of 3 veterans and a small re-roll factory?

If you did go a re-roll factory, would you go the captain/lieutenant with both being armed with combi-plasmas or ancient (armed with combi plasma) / apothecary, or all four? (or is that overkill?). Do you see any value in having a librarian armed with a combi-plasma?

Groovy gravity group


The second over-arching theme I am considering for my drop-pod ‘carnifex distractor squad’ is to use some grav weapons. I’ve read some interesting articles here and elsewhere (including math hammer related) suggesting that grav weapons can, in some circumstances, produce better anti-heavy infantry outcomes than plasma. Given that one of the primary aims of these drop-pod squads is to liquidate some of my opponents heavy/elite infantry, I was thinking of a couple of different options: devastators or stern guards.

The first option would be to again use Devastators, but have the four marines equipped with grav-cannons and grav-amps, and the sergeant with a combi-plasma. So, as with the plasma party party, would you take 2 x 5 squads, or a larger squad with some ablative marines and a re-roll factory?

The second option would be to go with stern guards with the following load out Sergeant with combi-plasma, 2 marines with grav-cannons and grav-amps, 2 marines with combi-plasmas.
Would you go 2 x 5 of the above squads, or a single larger squad and a re-roll factory?

So, now that you’ve read my essay of options, would love to hear your thoughts! by way of a bit of background, I’m a fairly new player, I play a custom chapter (stealthy and master artisan chapter tactics), and I’m just looking to have some fun with a drop-pods and deep striking. I’d like to be competitive locally, but this is more about having a decently competitive and FUN list to play with more than building a meta-winning list, if that makes sense.

Anyway, all comments and thoughts appreciated. Thanks for reading.
 
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