[v.2]

What? *pffft* Marines don't have Special Forces, KhorneAD9! Silly Chaos player, go back to your flesh hounds.

But wait.

This is not the "OMG POWERGAMER PODS!" army. I seriously want this to be driven by fluff.

All Hell Jumpers Units, sans Deep Striking Land Speeders, assault in Drop Pods.

They're named Hell Jumpers because, well, it's got to be pretty hot inside those drop pods while you're plummeting through the atmosphere, right? So since Hell = hot, I figured why not?

[hr]
Dutiful and Sombre

Advantages:
Cleanse and Purify- Plasmaguns, yay!
Honour Your Wargear- Plasma Cannons, yay!

Disadvantages:
Death Before Dishonour- There is no retreat- this also can work in their favour since they might arrive a few turns late, right?
Aspire to Glory- Instead, since they are only one small company chapter, they do not have the resources to call upon for Dreadnoughts and Tactical Dreadnought Armour.
(cannot take vehicles other than drop pods)

[hr]
Let me get that list goin' for ya...

Comments?

[Hunter]

If you want to, then go for it.

Well, I'm not to keen on what the best traits combination are. Do these seem to be groovy?

[Wrathbringer6]

Hmmmmmm, I like the fluff. The only thing that I'm not sure on is the Dreads if your force supposedly cannot count on support from outside the company, I doubt the Dreads will be maintained very well. But then again it depends on how many you take because then it could be feasible that one company would be able to maintain a small number.

What kind of colour scheme or conversion possibilities are you looking at? I was personally thinking something that made them look very intimidating to the enemy, possibly displaying something from the dead of the enemy like the Flayers from the Necrons.

[Waldo_Pepper]

Here are my thoughts:
* The fluff is interesting though a little over-the-top given the basic fluff on how long it takes to train SMs, what makes a dread, etc. The major drawback that fits your fluff best IMO is the first one (I can't remember the name but it's the one that involves limited #'s of dreadnoughts and termies. If you read it, it fits the description you give perfectly.
* You could follow the examples given in the recent WD articles showing the SM chapter that's all shot-up from constant battles. It would fit the fluff well and give you some interesting looking models.
* Your fluff isn't too far off what the Raven Guard were originally - a pure drop army. Now they're just a pure assault army which sucks b/c they completely changed the character of the army.
* Pure drop pod armies are a dime-a-dozen nowadays (keep in mind that you have to have models for each drop pod) so your emphasis on fluff is a good idea: Hence I think not using dreads and termies would make the army stand-out in the sea of drop marines.
* Drop assault armies are typically DOA - you can't assault on the turn you arrive and thus they get shot to pieces. So I would drop the word "Assault" from your idea and think more about rapid fire and special weapons.

So, the trait I would choose would be: Cleanse & Purify (lots of special weapons, very few heavy weapons which is good for a drop army since you can move and shoot) along with whatever you like for a second trait.... Trust your battle brothers is OK though again that only works if you are assaulted (which is a distinct possibility with drop troops).

If you want to go dreadnought heavy that's fine but just keep in mind that other than your fluff, your army will look exactly like every other drop marine army out there: Tons of dreadnoughts with assault cannons and troops with multiple special weapons raining down from the skies.

If there's one thing I don't like about your idea, it's the name: Hell Jumpers just sounds.... goofy IMHO. The Hell part is fine... I just don't like the "Jumpers," although the "Hell" does give it a hint of chaos taint which would probably get you exterminated by the Inquisitors.

Wow, thank you! ;D

They're named Hell Jumpers because, well, it's got to be pretty hot inside those drop pods while you're plummeting through the atmosphere, right? So since Hell = hot, I figured why not?

If thats the norm [alot of dreads] then I guess I'll take your advice.

*brainstorms*

"ding"

Okay, here we go. I almost redid the whole fluff here:

Advantages:
Cleanse and Purify- Plasmaguns, yay!
Honour Your Wargear- Plasma Cannons, yay!

Disadvantages:
Death Before Dishonour- There is no retreat- this also can work in their favour since they might arrive a few turns late, right?
Aspire to Glory- Instead, since they are only one small company chapter, they do not have the resources to call upon for Dreadnoughts and Tactical Dreadnought Armour.

Comments?

[Hunter]

This sounds a lot better, a shooty Drop pod army. Very good.

Originally Posted by Hunter

This sounds a lot better, a shooty Drop pod army. Very good.

Umm...ok, thnx! ;D

Sorry, with my recent experience on SN...*shudder*

Hmm...Is it possible to, before a game starts, announce to your opponent that, although your marines bear the ultramarines chapter symbols, they are infact helljumpers?

Thnx!

[Waldo_Pepper]

It's better but I still have more thoughts.

First to your question: Yes. In fact you should always give your opponent a list where your traits are clearly labelled. Just don't try taking the UM special units & characters and then mixing those with the "Hell Jumpers"

Ok, now on to the suggestions:
* Please, I'm begging you, don't take plasma cannon devastators. They're a HUGE point sink. Plasma cannons stink in the 4th edition b/c of the need to center the blast template on a model. Only dumb people and newbies will let you catch more than 1 model under the blast. A missile launcher is a LOT cheaper and just as effective in most cases (you've got plasma guns to deal with termies). Heavy bolter and missile launcher devastators (and I like HBs much better with devastators) are the only ones worth taking IMO.
* Aside from that those units won't be able to shoot when they come down - I would stick to the special weapons for dealing with tanks.
* Melta guns for drop troops work AWESOME. Trust me, if you play aggressive with your drops (right on top of units and vehicles) they'll often end up within 6" of vehicles. They're better than plasma guns when you're up close b/c they don't overheat. I've been using the rapid fire, 2 plasma gun teams lately and they're hard to use - they literally are tempting fate when they rapid fire those plasma guns and I've lost both marines with the PGs in a unit on a single unlucky round of shooting (lost 3 out of the 4 PGs that turn!!!).
* Trust your battle brothers isn't a bad 2nd trait considering that it will improve your marines chances in CC (at least the ones you spend the 3 pts on) when they're assaulted. No Mercy, no respite is another possibility b/c it would make your assault marines VERY nasty (just protect them when they drop!)
* For HQs I would definitely take a librarian since those powers are great, especially up close (Fear of the Darkness is a MUST have). Adding a commander as a 2nd HQ is probably a good choice since he'll boost the whole army's LD.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by KhorneAD9

Hmm...Is it possible to, before a game starts, announce to your opponent that, although your marines bear the ultramarines chapter symbols, they are infact helljumpers?

Somebody has some repainting to do? Just think how much practice you have now.
What colour scheme do these guys use?