Rhinos: How to get the most out of your transports

The humble Rhino is the mainstay of the Legiones Astartes, and is by far the most common form of transport you are likely to see in games of Horus Heresy. This guide will give you advice on how best to use your Rhinos when fielding them, as well as some more advanced ideas and applications for them.

## Overview

The Rhino is a 10 man transport that lacks the Assault Vehicle special rule, so is instantly not suited for melee-focused units at first glance. It is equipped with light armour and clocks in at 35 points before any upgrades, so is incredibly cheap for what it does. Able to take standard vehicle upgrades and wargear, the Rhino is an extremely flexible transport option for your forces.

It is a dedicated transport for the majority of the Legiones Astartes infantry choices, but the main drawback is that units with the Bulky (and larger) special rule cannot embark in it, which means that essentially you've got power armour or artificer armour riding in these and that's it.

The Rhino is excellent for rushing infantry to forward positions on the battlefield, as it can ferry a simple Tactical Squad to an objective, then provide covering fire for them whilst they secure that objective. They can also be equipped with heavier weaponry, such as Multi-Meltas which turns them into effective gun platforms and viable anti-armour threats. The big problem with this though is that they snap-fire like all other vehicles when they move over 6" in distance, so if you want to have them fast moving and pumping out shots regularly, you'll need to field an Armoured Breakthrough company.

Dozer blades are an absolute must on this, no exceptions; if you can't afford the 5ps that a Dozer blade costs, make room for them. The only players who are not required to take these are Covenant of Fire players (as all their units gain Move Through Cover), Death Guard players using the Reaping (same reason) or Dark Angels players using the old Ironwing Rite of War (as they can ignore the first failed dangerous terrain test).

## Preparation

### Loadout options

There are two main forms of Rhino in terms of wargear loadout; the gunboat or the cheap transport. They are as follows.

* Cheap Transport (Dozer Blades)
* Gunboat (Dozer Blades, Multi-Melta)

Additional upgrades can be taken if you really want, but they aren't necessary. The auxiliary drive is hotly contested upgrade, as some people say it's a must-take, and others won't touch it with a 10-foot bargepole. The problem with the upgrade is that it's fairly expensive, and only ignores an Immobilized result on a 4+. This might seem great, as it gives you a 50/50 chance of still moving, but the main issue is the Rhino has an ability to repair these results on a 6+ during the Shooting Phase natively, so it's not completely stuck if it suffers this. Also, it does nothing to protect from Crew Stunned results, so that's an upgrade wasted if you suffer that.

Extra Armour is good if you want to keep moving, and for 5pts (or free in Hammer of Olympia lists) it's worth considering if you have the room for it.

### Rites of War and Rhinos

The obvious choice for this is Armoured Breakthrough, as your Rhinos gain the Fast type, which allows them to move 12" a turn and still shoot 2 weapons at their normal Ballistic Skill. This means a gunboat Rhino can cruise around the board at maximum speed and still crank out a Multi-Melta shot every turn. This increases the threat range from 30" to 36", which may not sound like a lot, but when you consider the Melta threat range increases from 18" to 24" that's a much more significant change, especially considering you tend to start 24" away from each other at the start of the game. This means a Rhino in an Armoured Breakthrough list can be in Melta range of a vehicle turn 1 if they are deployed close enough to each other.

As a side point, if you choose not to fire you can flat out 12" rather than 6", which means you can cover 24" in a single turn. Absolutely brilliant for closing the gap after a bad deployment or other problem.

## Application

### Outflanking

If you take a Rhino as a dedicated transport for a unit with the Scout, Infiltrate or Outflank special rule then you have the ability to deploy the Rhino via Outflank later in the game. If you combine this with Armoured Breakthrough with Veterans taking the Stalker trait for example, you can have an Outflanking gunboat with excellent mobility and a potentially deadly payload within it. Bring combi-weapons inside it and you have a threat the opponent cannot ignore willingly.

Alpha Legion and Raven Guard players can also excel with this with a variety of units due to their infantry having Infiltrate (most of the time).

### Mobile cover & disembarkation

The Rhino is a big vehicle compared to an infantry squad, and is more than capable of obstructing them from view. This can either negate shooting entirely, or give them a 5+ intervening model cover save, which can be a lifesaver from plasma weaponry or rad-based weapons that normally cut through power armour. Consider placing your Rhinos carefully when disembarking, as your cargo will appreciate this added protection when disembarking. Don't forget, you can either move 6" and disembark, or disembark before moving, then move as normal. Think ahead with what you want your Rhino to do after the occupants disembark, as this will influence how you move before disembarking.

### Charge screening

In conjunction with the previous point, you can position your Rhino so that it is between a hostile unit and a unit you want to protect. This might not completely block a charge, but it will absolutely make it harder for your opponent, and they may have to commit a lot more force to removing the Rhino before dealing with their original target.

***Please Note:** If you have a Rhino (or any transport) and it is destroyed in the Shooting Phase, the unit(s) that killed the transport can charge the occupants if they are able to charge in the Assault Phase.*

### The sacred rule

There is a saying amongst Legiones Astartes players, "Never disembark from your metal box unless you need to". This is vital to remember, and it could mean the difference between your occupants living or dying. If you disembark without a reason to, then your troops are now able to be killed by anti-infantry weapons, artillery or other nasty surprises. If they are able to stay inside their transport however, they are immune to bolter fire, and radiation-based weapons. The Rhino is exceptional in this regard, as you can still fire two weapons from the top hatch, which means if you have a Veteran Squad with 2 missile launchers, they can sit on an objective to protect it (not necessarily score it though) and provide anti-armour fire from their position.

The biggest reasons to disembark however are as follows.

* To deliver a lot of firepower (such as combi-weapons or massed rapid fire)
* Prepare for a charge the subsequent turn
* To score an objective
* The transport needs to move elsewhere with its cargo

As long as you restrict your disembarkation to these reasons, you will minimise unnecessary loses amongst your Rhino-borne infantry forces.

## Conclusion

The Rhino is a versatile and reliable transport option for the Legiones Astartes, and is always worth considering when building lists. Avoid footslogging infantry wherever possible (unless you have a plan or want massive squads), and never disembark from your metal box unless you need to.