Dreadclaw Drop Pod Tactics....

[Ishagu]

So... as some of you may know I run Sons of Horus.

 

I've largely overlooked this unit, but have recently realised that it can be taken as a Dedicated transport for Veteran units without having to select some limiting right of war.

 

So, I had an idea of running Horus, 6 Veteran Marines and an Apothecary in one. With Horus, the Pod Can outflank  (No need to Deepstrike) and zoom on to the field and quickly get behind the enemy, and with the new Jink it could be rather hard to shoot down. Following turn I hover it 6" further and charge a unit of my choice.

 

Is anyone else using a Dreadclaw? And if so... how?

[Moonstalker]

I'm not, but if I was I would also look at the Anvillus-Pattern Dreadclaw out of book 3.  It's only a couple points more, can be taken as fast attack, and has a wider range of options for what you can carry in it.  Downside, you can't outflank it, but upside, it has drop pod assault and can come in on turn 1.  It's also got an AoE thing it does when it comes down and when it moves.

[Slips]

You could always get the Behemoth of a Pod known as the Kharybdis Assault Claw...Though it is rather cost-prohibitive money and points wise.

[Moonstalker]

I think the Kharybdis loses out to a Spartan or Storm Eagle in a normal list.  It really only seems like something you might want in a pure Orbital Assault list that's themed on drop pods only, where you're intentionally avoiding Storm Eagles and don't have better things to take in your heavy supports.  Dreadclaws have a niche in being (relatively) cheap transports for assault troops.  Melee vets, terminators, assault dreadnoughts, should all work well in the Anvillus pattern.

[Twizted86]

Do you think it is worth having just one Dreadclaw? I'm a little worried about it coming in turn 1 and being the only thing in combat range.

[Brofist]

I feel the Dreadclaw has potential. It's more survivable than a drop pod and works like a cheaper assault ram. What it has going for it over a regular drop pod is that it's a flier- potentially 6s to hit it, 4+ jink save, 18" - 36" movement, and it can move after deepstrinking. Think of it as a ghetto assault ram:

 

Throw a beatstick Praetor, command squad, or dreadnought into it. Turn 1, deepstrike in anywhere that's 36" away from your target and then move it into a good position for an attack next turn. If it survives past turn 1 (which is pretty likely, since you can hide it behind terrain and it's an AV12 skimmer with jink), you suddenly have 5-10 angry dudes ready to assault anything inside a 18" bubble. If the target is too far away, you can switch it into zooming mode, fly 18" - 36" ontop of it, survive another turn, and then switch to hover for a turn 3 assault.

 

A guaranteed charge on turn 2 or 3 practically anywhere on the table? That has potential for melee builds. I think its a more attractive option than a landraider for smaller units.

[Marshal Loss]

I use them regularly with my Sons of Horus (although I only own 2), and they work well enough. My army is very much built around deep striking/outflanking though so it probably fits in better for me than it would if you shoved it into an army built to fight another way.

[Ishagu]

Thanks guys, some of the advice has been good.

 

I like it because it's a cheap way of getting an already expensive unit into the enemy ranks without having to spend further points on a flyer or limiting myself with a particular right of War.

 

My tactics normally revolve around getting a few units forward as both an attack and a distraction whilst others stay behind to pick off the enemy at range. I run Snipers and Sicaran Tanks...

[Reyner]

What model are you using the represent the SoH dread claw? The Anvillus one or the crazy chaos one?

[Ishagu]

I would use the newer forgeworld release, it nicely matches the look of my SoH army.

 

The ornate looking chaos one looked a bit silly to me...

[Dono1979]

the older model also lacks the flyer stand attachment and looks a little wierd laid on its side 'flying'. I have one of those converted to a Templar dreadclaw, love it, but yeah it is a little weird.

[Ishagu]

The ability to get a unit back inside and fly them someplace else is understated.

[Twizted86]

Well I've been convinced. I'm going to get one for my Contemptor.

[Brofist]

For the price of three rhinos you can charge a dreadnought or 10 man squad into an enemy anywhere on the table, turn 2. That's pretty reasonable.

[Grizwald23]

Just so you know you can no longer use them as dedicated transports for SOH vets they were taken off the list of units that can use it as a dedicated transport in the legions book. You would have to purchase it as a FA choice now for vets. I thought it was a Typo but I emailed FW and they said the new book is right.

[Ishagu]

Well, that sucks.... Also the price is up by 15....

[Kilofix]

If you plan to use shooty occupants:

 

1. Drop Pod Assault - Deep Strike Turn 1 into Hover mode

2. Occupants disembark and shoot

3. Drop Pod Jinks incoming fire as a Skimmer (4+ Cover)

4. Drop Pod takes off into Flyer mode Turn 2 and goes Heat Blast (Fire Sweep) something

 

If you plan to use close combat occupants:

 

1. Drop Pod Assault from table edge Turn 1 in Flyer mode

2. Occupants stay in Pod

3. Drop Pod Jinks incoming fire as a Flyer (6 to hit, 4+ Cover)

4. Drop Pod goes into Hover mode Turn 2 and occupants Charge out

5. Drop Pod takes off into Flyer mode Turn 3 and goes Heat Blast (Fire Sweep) something

 

 

Edit - My question though is - if you had 3 Drop Pods with DPA (and 2 more in Reserve), what would you put in them? I'm still experimenting with configs. Right now, I'm trying 10 man Destroyer, 10 man Flamer, and Contemptor w/Fist & Melta.

[Brofist]

Did they change the rules? In the description of drop pod assault, it says that it enters into play in hover mode. If you can switch it over to flying mode the turn it comes in, the dreadclaw would be go from being a good to great for assault transporting (IMO anyway).

[Kilofix]

Did they change the rules? In the description of drop pod assault, it says that it enters into play in hover mode. If you can switch it over to flying mode the turn it comes in, the dreadclaw would be go from being a good to great for assault transporting (IMO anyway).

 

I treated it as two separate sentences:

 

"Units arrive on controlling player's first turn"

 

"A unit that Deep Strikes may not Assault ... starts off as hovering after it has arrived via Deep Strike".

 

Nothing explicitly states that it can't Zoom in or that it must Deep Strike.

[Brofist]

From book 3:

A Dreadclaw, and any unit it transports, must always be held in reserve and always enters play using Deep Strike rules... after it has landed, it is treated as a flier with Hover Mode (which starts off as hovering after it has arrived via Deep Strike).

In the BRB for hover mode it says fliers coming out of reserves must declare which type of movement the are going to use before coming onto the board. Unless there is a way out of this it sounds to me that we're forced to make it hover instead of being able to switch to zoom mode

Is there a way around it? It would rock if there was.

[Frostmourne]

Im so confused by this now.

So if i had 5 Termies in one of these bad boys, it DS's in Turn 1, And its in Hover mode, so can be shot at normally. Can i still keep the boys inside?

Then turn 2 i can charge out of it according to the rules for a Disembarking a Skimmer right?

[Slips]

Yes.

 

But they can only disembark if you havent used the flame attack in the same turn (not the deepstrike one). After disembarking it can just keep on flying by and burninating things.

[Dono1979]

Can they disembark after Deep Striking? Doesnt DSing move the vehicle at Cruising (or is it combat? whichever is higher) speed and embarked units can only disembark if the vehicle moved 6 inches or less?

 

Units can disembark from Drop Pods because they have explicit rules that allow them to? Or is there a broad rule allowing all units to disembark a DS transport?

[Brofist]

Deep striking units cannot move afterward, from the rules in the BRB, so who knows if you can disembark from it after it 'lands'. I don't know why you would though, because a regular drop pod already does that and for less points. You can, however, move flat out (which happens in the shooting phase and not movement phase). That means you deepstrike in and then flat out 18" in whatever direction you want. Your units can stay inside.

 

The real limitation are the rules for disembarking out of transports. Unless there is another rule that overrides it, the BRB says its only 6". That means 18" movement after deepstriking, then next turn a range of 6" + 6" disembark + ~6" charge for a threat range of 18" turn 2 (potentially 24", but that's pushing it). This is faster than most units can move in a single turn, but a bad dice roll is going to hurt you. It also means the dreadclaw is going to really close to your enemy turn 1.

[Fangbanger]

Anymore thoughts on this bad boy? Looking at getting one with termies assisted by 2 drop pod dreads...