Basics: Drop Pod Defence 2

So,

Previously we covered how to castle up against a single drop pod/deep striker with meltaguns. Now we examine how to defend against Multimeltas and Drop Pod armies (i.e. any army that drops three or more pods on turn 1).

Multimeltas

At once both more and less threatening that meltaguns. More threatening as they are much harder to block off with sight lines and distances, but less threatening because there is generally only 1 of them on a BS4 platform. Here's a few numbers for a half range Multimelta hitting a Land Raider, rounded to the nearest percentage point:

Chance to hit: 66%
Chance to Glance: 14%
Chance to Penetrate: 58%

Put another way, that's a 33% chance to miss, a 28% chance not to cause a damaging hit, and a 33% chance to deal no critical damage even if they pen. Add in a cover save and you cut the odds of a seriously damaging hit down to 33%. That's not good odds for your opponent - the approximate equivalent to rolling 4 saves for a single marine and needing him to live.

What this means is that organising your deployment around total denial of a single MM shot is inefficient at best, foolhardy at worst. Your opponent has managed to dictate your entire deployment based around the threat of a single unit, which he is probably more than happy with. What I would suggest instead is that you focus around gaining a cover save from as many potential drop sites as possible, reducing the risk of being destroyed by a considerable amount. If you manage that, maybe with the help of one or two other units, you can continue to deploy as normal with the rest of your army. It is also important to consider that your Land Raider (or whatever) still needs to do it's job, so if the choice is between doing nothing all game by being sat in your deployment zone, or risking a single MM shot, it is often worth taking the risk, especially if you have smoke available.

Drop Pod Armies

Not often seen because they are rather easy to nullify with one basic tactic: Don't deploy. If you choose not to deploy and hold everything in reserve, it means he basically has two choices: Deploy along your table edge while trying to support each other, or deploy in the middle of the table in a "Pod Bunker".

If he opts for the former, simply roll for your tanks first, choose the flank with the least units on it, and drive on that way. If any infantry are in the way then Tank shock them to clear a space for any infantry units you have. This will put half of your army on one flank, versus one or two drop pods plus their squads. Shouldn't be tricky for you. Your reserves will arrive at an even rate, so you should be able to keep your head start for the rest of the game.

If he goes for the "Pod bunker" approach, then drive on and use your superior mobility to encircle, outmaneuver and outgun the enemy. His pods have Storm bolters. Your tanks have heavy weapons. You can move 12", disembark and shoot. He can move 6" and shoot/assault or move 6" + D6 and do neither. Again, this should not be a tricky situation for you. The only difficulty is clearing pods off objectives, but if you brought appropriate amounts of Power Fists, Meltabombs, Meltaguns and so on, you should be able to claim at least 1 or 2, and contest the rest.