Dreadclaw Assault Pod. May be seeing a FAQ coming out to bring it in line with RAI

[Daemonette666]

On another website I had a heated discussion, where no swearing or abuse was said, but it got very hot about being able to easily destroy a Titan in one round of close combat by exploiting an ability or attack such as JOTWW, or Lukas the Trickster's Temporal bomb, or Grey Knights Heroic Sacrafice. Believe me I do not want to go through that "Discussion" again.

On another thread about flyers deep striking and still counting as zooming, the Dreadclaw was mentioned and it was decided by the majority that the fluff section at the top of it s page in the IA Aeronautica did not count so it was a flier and not a drop pod in the first turn. The troops had to stay on board and only disembark from it in the next game turn.

I wanted rule clarification so emailed FW. and they sent a reply stating that it is treated like a drop pod on the turn it arrives and even said that troops disembarked in this way cold assault that turn. This caused some questions about whether they cold even legally assault after deep striking because the rules specifically state you can not. I agreed that it wold be broken, and before that reply was given had already pointed out to FW in a reply email specifically discussing the rules from the new 6th edition FAQ 1.a which says flyers can not deploy passengers on the turn they arrive, and that the fluff section is not legal and could not be used. The assault part was also mention as was a question on whether the Dreadclaw could be upgraded with Chaos Vehicle Equipment from the wargear list.

These are the 2 Email Replies for FW. They clearly state their intent for Dreadclaw was and that they intend to release a FAQ in the near future to correct this over site. I still think it should not be allowed to have the troops assault the same turn that they disembark from the Dreadclaw, but I would like it to be able to mount some of the wargear like dirge casters.

1st reply:

Hi there.

Models that are transported in a Dreadclaw may dis-embark from it on the turn that they land as per the normal rules shown in the Deepstrike section of the rulebook.

They may also assault that turn as per the Assault Vehicle rules.

On 10 December 2012 14:00, <[email protected]> wrote: --

If there is anything further we can do to assist you, or if you have any queries about the information we have requested or provided, please telephone us.

Regards, Forge World

2nd reply:

Hi there.

We have talked to our rules designers and the intention for the Dreadclaw was for it to be a normal, 'non-flyer' unit on the turn that it Deep Strikes (in essence a Drop Pod) and then after this turn it becomes a Flyer.

However, this was missed from it's rules by mistake.

This amendment will appear in a future FAQ for the Dreadclaw.

On 11 December 2012 12:30, Forge World (UK) <[email protected]> wrote: --

If there is anything further we can do to assist you, or if you have any queries about the information we have requested or provided, please telephone us.

Regards, Forge World

I am glad they did not word the replies in the usual GW manner with comments like. "It is good to see such interest in 40k. Have you been you been enjoying the game?", etc before they get round to answering my question. FW replied in a more professional mature way to me, rather than what seemed to me to be the usual sales pitch the GW staff generally greet me with i their emails. Diverging from main reason for this post so I will get back on track.

From this it looks like the Dreadclaw will be getting a FAQ. What it will contain is anyone's guess, but the intent that Forgeworld had when they set the rules out is written in their replies and will most likely be corrected in the FAQ. This would make them a better purchase for both Apoc and normal games, even at 85 points each.

[Learn2Eel]

If Dreadclaws allow assaulting off of deep-strike.....well, let us just say that Khorne armies might just become relevant in a big way again.
That would be nuts.
Chaos tends to lack reliable means of getting their nasty combat units into an assault, relying usually on fast-moving bodyguards such as Spawn or Bikers. Imagine Kharn jumping down and assaulting from a drop pod :eek:

EDIT: Well they do take up a Fast Attack slot, so you can't take them in droves. They also don't deep strike on the first turn like regular drop pods, but instead re-roll scatter. Still.....would solve quite a few issues people have with Berzerkers, Possessed and the like.

[Daemonette666]

That is what I was thinking, and probably explains why the points cost went up from 65 to 85. Berserkers, Mark of Slaanesh CSM units, Possessed, and Dreadnoughts come into a world of their own and change the game dramatically. You still have to survive the overwatch shooting, and you can never be guaranteed you will get the dreadclaw to arrive until turn turn 4 when they automatically arrive.

I did not know they re-rolled scatter, I will have to check the rules again to find that section for my own games.

Since you can only get them as a fast attack choice, it reduces the number you can field, makes them a prime target during "the scouring" missions, and means you can not employ other fast attack choices like bikes, raptors, or fliers lie the Hell Blade, Hell Talon or Helldrake.

I am guessing that they will probably not allow the passengers to assault after deep striking for the Dreadclaw, as this becomes a game changing exception that other armies do not currently have. That being that any unit who are passenger can assault. In some armies like Blood angels, their Elite Vanguard can assault after deepstriking and can even be set up so they do not deviate, but that is one of GWs favourite armies, and only available to the the BAs elite troops, not regular or scoring units.

This change would make it so you could send in Chaos Space Marines, Berserkers ( with appropriate HQ to make them troops), Noise Marines (again with appropriate lord HQ in army), etc all of which can be sent in as part of a Dreadclaw force. Providing you get good rolls for reserves, and do not deviate off target badly you could get a sizable assault group down and take an enemy held objective.

I do not think it will be a game breaker. There are too many variables with reserve rolls, deep strike scattering/ mishaps, and because you may get the reserve units arriving piecemeal you do not have the troops/ units to overwhelm the enemy.

It might distract the enemy enough to break up their game plan or take out a nasty unit like a Space Marine devastator squad with Plasma cannons that is taking your forces apart.

Something to think about though.

[Daemonette666]

I checked the current rules -IA Aeronautica, and the previous verson from IA Apocalypse 2nd ed for the the Dreadclaw. It appears they have removed the special rule that allowed the Dreadclaw to re-roll the results of a deep strike mishap chart.

[Learn2Eel]

Yeah that's the one I meant to say, re-roll mishap not scatter.

Didn't know Dreadclaws were in the Aeronautica lol.

Agreed, not the best thing in the world but still a very useful tactic for those who aren't keen on Rhinos or foot-slogging.

[Vlad78]

....[

I am guessing that they will probably not allow the passengers to assault after deep striking for the Dreadclaw, as this becomes a game changing exception that other armies do not currently have. That being that any unit who are passenger can assault. In some armies like Blood angels, their Elite Vanguard can assault after deepstriking and can even be set up so they do not deviate, but that is one of GWs favourite armies, and only available to the the BAs elite troops, not regular or scoring units.

This change would make it so you could send in Chaos Space Marines, Berserkers ( with appropriate HQ to make them troops), Noise Marines (again with appropriate lord HQ in army), etc all of which can be sent in as part of a Dreadclaw force. Providing you get good rolls for reserves, and do not deviate off target badly you could get a sizable assault group down and take an enemy held objective.

I do not think it will be a game breaker. There are too many variables with reserve rolls, deep strike scattering/ mishaps, and because you may get the reserve units arriving piecemeal you do not have the troops/ units to overwhelm the enemy.

It might distract the enemy enough to break up their game plan or take out a nasty unit like a Space Marine devastator squad with Plasma cannons that is taking your forces apart.

Something to think about though.

The space maine Lucius dreadnought assault pod has the same ability and I feel IT IS a game breaker for games under 2000 points. You almost just point and click to kill one of your opponent key units. If it's a vehicle, it's even better even if it takes a fast atack slot and Dreads have to make a dangerous ground test before assaulting.
I stopped using it unless it's a very big brawl.

10 berzerkers able to drop and assault on your back is just broken IMHO. And you could put even worse things in it. And your opponent just can't react. What does it bring to the game tactically? nothing.

It sounds very cool but I'm not sure it will be that cool for the game at the moment. I'd rather have the like of a drop pod which can redeploy and therefore give mobility thoughout the game.

[Kevlarshark]

If the Dreadclaw was an 85 point way to gain a "heroic intervention" (think thats what the Vanguard Veteran rule is called) type rule for a chaos unit and uses up a Fast attack choice...rather than being a dedicted transport then it would be powerful but not breaking.

It would basically be just be a Storm Raven with no guns.

It would also fill that missing gap in the Chaos codex, which I still suspect lost 2-3 pages on the way to the printers!

[Learn2Eel]

Well if you believe the rumours there was a siege Land Raider planned for the codex that was dropped at the last minute.

[Caitsidhe]

I hope they do it. The Dreadclaw is expensive and comes with its own risks. I expect most CSM players (competent ones) would tool up a single assault unit for use in this manner. Still, don't hold your breath. Forge World is Games Workshop and what they tell you on one day changes the next.

[DrLove42]

Would be cool

Remember theres a marine Drop pod that allows assault of deepstrike

Biggest issue with the Dreadclaw is that it doesn't have the marine "correct your scatter" ability. If it scatters badly it scatters badly. Dangerous terrain, other units, off the table etc. The marine drop pod can correct itself if it mishaps badly

[Daemonette666]

Exactly.

Which is what I was talking about before when I said it would not be a game breaker, but would make the enemy think twice about their game plan.

In addition to the not having the internal guidance ability that space marine drop pods have, you do not get the drop pod assault rule to make up to half the drop pods arrive on first turn. You can never be sure when the Dreadclaw will arrive, except turn 4 when all reserves arrive.

Thankfully if it does mishap, the new deep strike mishap table is a lot more lenient. There is less chance of your transport and passengers being destroyed, and a 50% chance of it only being delayed.

[sfshilo]

Assault vehicles cannot assault out of deepstrike per the main rulebook faq.(page 4)

[Daemonette666]

I know, in fact I told FW this and quoted the relevant page in my email, explaining to them that this is why the Dreadclaw could not do what they had intended it to do as per the fluff paragraph.

I also mentioned that the few units that could deep strike and assault, had rules such as heroic intervention in their codex that specifically override the main rules book. From their reply I understood that they wold be adding rules in the FAQ to specifically allow it to override the BRB.

It sounded like they were going to specifically make it that it was treated like a drop pod on the turn it arrives, and only after it has dropped from orbit does it then revert to being a flier/hover. That means it would not be deep striking as a flier, but as a drop pod and they would add rules to cover this.

Otherwise Space marine drop pods could not deploy their passengers on the turn it arrives. The Space Marine Codex has special rules in it for Drop Pods overriding the BRB, to allow it to deploy troop. The codex forces the troops to disembark and makes it so no one can re-enter it. If not for the rules in its codex, the SM drop pod could not deploy its troops on the turn it arrived because the 6th edition FAQ ver 1.a states you can not deploy passengers after deep striking.

[Lord Krungharr]

Damn, I will have to buy that new IA Aeronautica book if I wanna use the Dreadclaw now! I wish they just had downloadable PDFs per piece. I'd rather pay $5 for that than $40 for a whole book.

I was thinking of the Dreadclaw as a good way to steal objectives by Deepstriking a Troops choice rather than use a Rhino or Land Raider. Plague Marines with Typhus and a Nurgle Sorcerer or Lord with the Burning Brand, for example, could really thin out or erase enemy units of most types on a far objective too difficult to reach with tanks. Daemons can of course do that too, but they can't shoot stuff like Chaos Marines can. Well, hopefully the FAQ for it will come out by March so I can think about using a Dreadclaw in the Adepticon Gladiator....just thinking thus far....

[Belial69]

Emailed them asking the same and got pretty much the same answer, just "these are the rules" rather than " this is what we intended".

Hi,


Thanks for your e-mail. The Dreadclaw deploys exactly like a Space Marine Drop Pod, and its contents may deploy as normal and launch an assault if they so wish.


In subsequent turns, it may act as a Flyer.




If there is anything further we can do to assist you, or if you have any queries about the information we have requested or provided, please telephone us.

Regards,
Forge World

Stuff waiting for an FAQ, this email will do nicely.

[Daemonette666]

I have been discussing this on another website in a similar thread, and mentioned that they could make a ruling for TOs for its general use until a rewrite or FAQ is released. A member who I have heated discussions with replied that he would never allow the Dreadclaw to both un;oad passengers and allow them to assault on the turn they arrive.

I have found him to be a WAAC gamer who has gloated in the past when he beat my army with rules I did not know were out of date, and I had heard he winged when TOs set terrain up with only 2 buildings in his deployment zone and only 25% of the table covered in terrain. He apparently lost a couple battles because he could not set all his IG forces up in cover.

I do not plan to ever play against him again because of his WAAC attitude and his gloating manner, so that will not be a problem, but his response is not one I will reply to in order to avoid another argument between us on that website.

This is his actual response:

Without an FAQ to the contrary, there is no way I would accept assaulting from one in a first turn drop. No rule says this, even hints this, and it flies in the face of 6th ed general mindset. Whilst a future FAQ *might* allow this, you can't tell me the price won't change, the rules won't be tweaked, etc etc as well.

RAW now, at the very least, no assaulting.

Hopefully FW will release the FAQ soon and end the problem of the Dreadclaw not working as intended because RAI and RAW do not match with GWs 6th edition rules and FAQ for said rules. I will be trying to get my local gaming store to allow the Dreadclaw to be run using the FW emails RAI. I

It is not going to be a huge games style changing thing, no guarantee it will arrive when you need it, or if it will arrive at all (if you get tabled before it can arrive). Could deviate off table or into impassible terrain or onto enemy unit, etc. Deep strike mishaps and all the other problems you get with deep striking. Even if the passengers could assault, they could deviate too far to assault, and have overwatch fire to contend with. The points cost for it was increased by 20 points in IA Aeronautica, and it takes up one of your precious FOC Fast Attack slots.

I can see them being used by Khorne players to make their armies into proper World Eater Assault forces to make up for the short falls they get from having very few mid/ long range weapons.

[Daemonette666]

Forge World have removed the Dreadclaw Assault Pod from their website. I checked in the Heresy section, the Chaos section and the Imperial Navy section. Perhaps this is an omen of things to come.

[Caitsidhe]

I'm afraid that I agree that until a crystal clear Faq (or the new book) designates that a unit deploying from a Dreadclaw can assault the turn it arrives from reserve, it cannot do so. I hope that Faq does come as I'm a CSM player and such an ability (however expensive) would make several units viable in this edition.

[Belial69]

Thankfully my group are happy, (or at least no objections, lol), with the reply I received from forgeworld. And a much cheaper way to get them is convert regular drop pods. With a bit of trimming and filling and off course flip the vanes upsidedown, you can make a very passable dreadclaw.

[Daemonette666]

Thankfully my group are happy, (or at least no objections, lol), with the reply I received from forgeworld. And a much cheaper way to get them is convert regular drop pods. With a bit of trimming and filling and off course flip the vanes upsidedown, you can make a very passable dreadclaw.

Hopefully my group will be just as receptive to the email and accept that until the FAQ comes out. I luckily have 3 of the CNC assault pod Kits a FW Dreadclaw built and 2 others awaiting construction since Aug when I got them after my tax refund FW order. They do not play Apoc enough in my area though, which is a pain sometimes, as I have so many lovely super heavy vehicles, Gargantuan creatures, and SH walkers sitting in cupboards. Add in my 24 Apoc formations and I have a fair bit that is collecting dust. I still have components for nearly 2 Battle companies awaiting construction (till I get time, motivation, and the rest of the formation).

At least I will not incur the Wargamer's curse, as I will still always have a few miniatures not painted or not even put together.

I wonder what the disappearance of the Dreadclaw from the FW site means?

[TheJrade]

Think twice about their game plan? Like, do I want to play against a cheeseball of this magnitude?

[Daemonette666]

Not sure what you mean by " cheeseball of this magnitude", but the Dreadclaw has both good points and bad points.

It takes up a fast attack slot, has no weapons to shoot at enemy. Other than when it arrives from reserves via deep striking, if it wants to pick up or drop off units (to redeploy them to hold/ deny objectives), it has to go into fast hover mode, and move no more than 6" before dropping troops off. When it Deep Strikes, it does not have the internal guidance systems that Space Marine drop pods have. It can be immobilised, and have deep strike mishaps. It also costs 65 points per Dreadclaw Assault pod.

The good thing about it though is that the unit that deploys from the DC when it deepstrikes, or when it moves in fast hover mode, is that they can assault. That is the only thing. I would have loved FW to make it possible to add a Dirge caster for 5 points and thus reduce enemy overwatch fire.

I can not see it as cheeseball, more of a risky, expensive, one trick transport that fills a much needed deep stiking assault role that Chaos Marines tactics tend to follow. It may not work that often (scattering too far to assault, deepstrike mishaps, possibility of not coming on till turn 4 [unlike SM drop pods that 1/2 come in on turn 2]), or having the unit shot up from either overwatch fire or intercept weapons, but when it works, it works wonderfully.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

I personally cannot wait for that FAQ to be released. and i believe people forget but before you could deploy and assault from the drop pod.. at least from the dream claw you just had to play the list from vraks. And honestly as a chaos player i don't see how an 85 point weaponless transport thats not as good as a sm drop pod when it comes to landing is suddenly a game breaker or cheese? your paying a hefty points load to transport a single squad. your not guaranteed a first turn strike ala sm. your loosing a fast attack to accomplish that objective so thats one less for a drake. shouldn't ppl be celebrating that the drake will have some competition? and last time i checked you can always put a nasty unit in a land raider and assault as early as turn 1 depending on opponent and deployment and turn order. and if your taking berserkers and a lord in a dreadclaw then your going to be sticking easily 400 points away for an unknown number of turns... So not really seeing how this is broken? SM players could easily take the lucius drop pod and cram in several assault dreads and have at it. those don't mishap unless they scatter off the table your guranteed to get some in first turn for a first turn charge. you can load them up with flamers and melta. so thats truly a guranteed dead tank or dead squad. oh your gonna overwatch against my a13hull please feel free to... and i dont even consider that broken i consider that powerful.

[Caitsidhe]

I think it will be a good addition to the game, and quite necessary. The growth of supercharged gun line needs some additional checks and the Dreadclaw should go a good ways toward that.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

Funny how its suddenly cheesy to be able to assault out of an assault drop pod that costs 85 points.... is a fast attack slot and you can only have a max of 3 per foc... it can only take a 10 man squad or a dread so the points cost of the unit will rise quickly. and because you can assault out of it to ruin your opponents gun line its broken... and op. Strange i don't remember 40k as being an edition of you sit in your bunker or you sit in your terrain until i dig you out. but that's what this edition has evolved into. examples castling tau and any army that relies on cover to win them the game. So Strange no wonder the cry babies are already out in force. Probably the same players who constantly complain about the helldrake and how uber broken it is. Well then mr and mrs crybabies would you rather face 2-3 drakes in every list or deal with less drakes and a drop pod or 2?

[Demonus]

Yep, Ive always said Chaos got Shafted when it came to no drop pods. Besides, its not like you cant shoot whatever comes out of it with a Quad Cannon or other interceptor stuff anyway...

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

Agreed i mean look at what you're giving up and paying for just to get the chance to assault. you still have to roll to charge and if you want that reroll you have to pay point for a standard so your increasing both the cost of the unit and then having to pay the drop counts as but not really a drop pod tax of the dreadclaw. People always forget in the shooting phase you can be shot at with any weapon that has the interceptor rules. i'm not positive if you can get a dirge caster or not so that means you're susceptible to small arms fire via overwatch. there's a lot to factor in before you consider whether or not to take the dreadclaw at all.

[Daemonette666]

I had a look at the tactics I would probably use and the likely opponents, and then worked out what size games I would be better off using the Dreadclaw (providing your opponent agreed to its use). In the end I worked out that you would need games of about 2500 points or more, and atleast a double FOC in order to maximize on other fast Attack choice units.

This is so you will give the enemy too many targets for them to deal with straight up, and then they have the problem of OMG do I shoot the Landraider and Rhinos with noise marines and berserkers, or do I shoot at the Slaanesh Bikers with icon of Excess, or the 2 Hell drakes, or the 3 dreadclaws that have a Hellbrute, a Berserker squad, and a Plague marine squad. You then deepstrike in the terminators obliterators and mutilators with attached characters like Abaddon. You keep enough units like Cultists, some CSM troop uits, Havocs or Obliterators in the rear with maybe a Defiler, and if the game is big enough throw in a Mauler fiend to give the enemy another vehicle to threaten them and make then think twice about which threat is the deadliest.

I tend to go for HQs like a Chaos Lord to make cult troops scoring, Daemon Princes with wings and psychic powers for the annoyance factor, maybe a dark Apostle to make the cultist better, and then either Abaddon because he is so powerful for what you pay for him, or another lord that can unlock cult troops.

The Dreadclaw can not get any upgrades at all. I though it was reduced down to 65 points in the Aeronautica IA book, but I have not checked that out for a while, so I could be wrong.

In a standard game of between 500 and 1750 points, you are better off with bulk troops like CSM and cultist units, some unlocked cult marine units like noise marines, plague marines, etc., Obliterators, Helldrakes, and a decent lord or 2. A Daemon Prince with wings is always nice, and if you want to assault, then maybe rhinos, bikers, and possibly a landraider.

I have not used a Predator, or a Vindicator in a standard game for so long, and the last time I used a Defiler, it was blown up by a SM veteran unit that drop podded in on turn 2, then proceeded to melta gun my defiler, and force me to take care of his denial unit in my deployment zone.

I have found a company that makes balsa wood drop/ assault pods - CNC. The drop pod is very rudimentary, but can be converted quite easily. I already have 3 FW Dreadclaws, but only 1 is put together.

In my friendly games, where my agree to let me use drop pods, I take them instead of rhinos, and play them as a standard SM army would. It does not happen often, but it makes the turn 3 assault in the enemy deployment zone a possibility (drop in turn 2, assault in turn 3 if still alive).

It is a wonder no one has made comment of how "cheese ball" the Blood Angels and their elite assault troops are, especially with their special character (Sanguiness I think). The unit can deepstrike without scattering, and can assault on the turn they arrive, they also get an Apothecary type model so FNP as well. Sure it is a lot of points, but it is guaranteed to get the results, and does not scatter.

I am sure there are other units that can do crazy things similar to this, maybe not assault, but they can get where they want quite accurately drop pod or deep strike accurately in force, and shoot up everything that could threaten them, then assault the next turn.

CSM have traditionally been an assault based force. Some like Thousand Sons, Iron Warriors or Word Bearers, and Alpha Legion tend to use Psychic Powers, and slow moving gun lines, heavy weapons and defensive tactic, bulk Cultists and horde tactics, or stealth and infiltrating tactics, but on average, they have been assault based. Emperor's Children Sonic weapons which used to be assault based not salvo based weapons, Night Lords (who preferred raptors), Berserkers - World Eaters who are the epitomy of close combat, Black Legion who love their Terminators and are the closest to vanilla marines, Death Guard love the slow steady advance and then they would grind the enemy down in close combat.

I know the Chaos Legions have lost a lot of the technical resources need to build nw Dreadclaws, or maintain the hundreds or thousands of DCs they used to have. I know that there a lots of dark Mechanicum about that build lots of Daemon Engines, so I do not know why new DCs can not be built. There are certainly enough standard Space Marine drop pods recovered form the numerous battlefields through out the galaxy to be able to use them as a basis to build new DCs, or a variant of them.

It is a wonder that they have not developed a smaller assault landing flier/fast hover similar to the Storm Eagle.

Oh well I can only dream.

[Archon Charybdis]

It is a wonder no one has made comment of how "cheese ball" the Blood Angels and their elite assault troops are, especially with their special character (Sanguiness I think). The unit can deepstrike without scattering

Just wanted to point out, if any of your opponents have been doing this, they've been cheating their *** off. Dante can allow a unit to Deep Strike without scattering, and Vanguard can assault when deep striking but not if they have any independent characters attached (so no Dante, and no Sang Priest).

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

not sure why having 1-2 units actually being unique in a codex is bad... i mean no one can use supporting fire like tau or strip away cover saves so easily. or raise their own bs. so why is it suddenly broken to have one unit thats from forge world and costs like 90 euros or has to be converted or scratch built. Is so game breaking...

[Kevlarshark]

I honestly do not see the problem with the dredclaw...It just a stormraven with no guns, and lower armour, and less transport capacity and fewer special rules...Nearly all SM can have ravens now.

Its not like we want a to deepstrike a landraider into your deployment zone (that would be silly). :)

Chaos are the one assault based army with no way of getting into assault (barring the rubbish chaos 'raider), the claw should have been in the codex. It would make units like mutilators and possessed a useful choice.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

I know i for once am actually excited and cannot wait for Forgeworld to make these changes if they really do. what little i use for forgeworld doesn't seem to cause any problems. Heck when i first used lucius pods there was no complaints no arguments. it was vostroyans vs my wolves and the game came down to prety much the last turn. So i would say if 2 dreads didnt break the game i don't suddenly see my berserkers breaking the game either. I do know i wish they would give us rules to allow us to use regular standard drop pods. I love the idea of dropping in unit after unit of legionaire into the enemies line. I mean who ever would though about astartes working like astartes...

[Daemonette666]

OMG, have you guys seen the list of miniatures in the Chaos section of the new IA Apocalypse? Did oyu notice that the Dreadclaw Assault Pod is noticeably absent?

I just sent a please explain email to Forge World asking them for a possibly release date for the Re-release of the dreadclaw miniature which has not been on their website for a long time now. I asked them why the promised FAQ has not been released, what about the rumours of a Horus Heresy Assault Pod, and is that going to be the new Chaos Assault Pod. I covered the rumour about GW dropping their online specialty games section on their websites, and the sudden removal of the Aeronautica and Epic range of miniatures from the Forge World website.

I hope they reply back with good news, but I am expecting them to say they have dropped the Dreadclaw from their range, and will not be releasing rules for them in the future. Maybe the Tyranids ate them all up and then ate up all the remaining STC templates for them?

Anything to keep a good Chaos Marine army down and hobbled. Oh well another reason to not rely on GW or Forge World.

[david5th]

There is a Horus Heresy Assault Pod in the works, they show pics at the HH weekender. It looks like a cross between a drop pod and a triarch stalker.

[Daemonette666]

I got the reply from Forge World. It is not good news. They basically said that you can no longer assault from the Dreadclaw on the turn it arrives from reserves via deep striking and that the only way to deploy the unit on the Dreadclaw is to enter from reserves while in Hover Mode. Pity the 6th edition rules force fliers to come in from reserves in zooming mode, and the FAQ has made it so that fliers can not deep strike any more.

It makes the Dreadclaw useless. You bring it on as a weaponless flier with AV 12/12/12, and 3 or 4 HP flying it between 18 and 36", then if it survives to the next turn, change it to hover mode, move a maximum of 6" before deploying the unit, or deploy them before moving the Dreadclaw, then the unit can assault that turn. FW said they did not release the rules in the IA Apocalypse book as they had already released them in the previous 6th edition IA Apocalypse book (which does not make sense to me).

This is their reply for those who want to know about it.

Hi there.

The Dreadclaw rules were not included in the new Apocalypse book for two reasons, these being that the 6th edition 40k rules were already shown in the IA Apocalypse book and also that the model is no longer available to buy from us.

As the rules for the Dreadclaw currently stand it and the unit being transported must enter the board by Deep Strike and so as per the Deep Strike rules any unit entering play in this way can not assault on the turn that they arrive. However, it is not currently stated in the 40k rules what mode, (Zooming, hovering) Flyers count as when the arrive by Deep Strike. As such, without a strict stated ruling, you have the choice of mode when the Dreadclaw arrives and so in order for any transported unit to Disembark it would need to be in Hover mode.

As you can see there is a flaw in FW thinking about which mode a flier arrives from reserves, because the FAQ GW released specifically removes the Deepstrike rule from all the fliers listed in the 40K codexes, and you would expect them to have removed it from the Dreadclaw as well. Either that, or you an deepstrike and not assault on the turn you arrive via deep strike. I would prefer to bring the Dreadclaw in as a flier, moving up to 36" and then in the next turn deploy the squad to move, shoot and then assault normally rather than be forced to enter via deepstrike and have the unit sit around and do nothing.

I do not know whether to feel betrayed and peeved off with FW for this grave error they have made, especially since they did not give what I consider to be a satisfactory reply to my question, or whether I should feel gifted as I half expected FW to make the a give this sort of reply to my question. A reply that answers, but does not answer the question (Yes Minister/Prime Minister should hire their email question jockeys for tips and training).

So for now, my Dreadclaws are going to be boxed up and gather dust. I might even concentrate on my other gaming systems for a while. Dystopian Wars, DZC, and my all time favourite Classic Battletech. Well atleast until the HH Assault Pod rules come out, then I will use them for my Dreadclaws in my games (providing my opponents allow me to use HH rules in normal 40K).

[daboarder]

I dare you to bring this up in the FW apocalypse thread