Dread's, how do you kit them/use them

[Kal]

Since 3rd ed, my salamanders have run with a pair of dreadnoughts with TL-LC, DDCW & HF. As long as you hide them completely (rock spires or land raiders are great for this) on deployment, you can pretty much walk out on your first turn and snipe some armour - tho trying to take AV14 is very iffy. Then they generally walk forward slowly sniping and by the end of the game, support any close combats I'm in. I run a mech list, you my opponent has 2 dreads, plus 3 rhino, plus a whirlwind or 2 and 10 assault marines to take out, so usually at least one of my dreadnoughts survives (tho MCs are a deathtrap for dreads).

 

Though with my re-painting of my marines, I'm looking to change things up, so this thread is very interesting :lol:

 

Kal

[kaiserstole20]

I have 2 dreads (both AoBR) but I bought plasma cannons from Forge World as well as HFs from a bitz dealer. Personally, the HFs on the DCCW are a must for me because my dreads act like bodyguards for vindicators in many games. They provide side armor cover as well as fend off any deep strikers, infiltrators, etc.

 

Having the extra reach of the plasma cannons is nice. Once the vindicator(s) get safely in terrain and it looks like there won't be any surprise CC attacks on them they 'float' just looking for the best targets of opportunity.

 

That being said, the MM/DCCW/HF option is great even if you don't use drop pods. If you move forward and pop smoke on the first turn you are a nice fire magnet and on turn 2 you can start popping stuff with the multi-melta.

[Imperial Patriot]

Hi all,

 

This is my first post.

 

I've only played a few games but I was using the AoBR Dread, so I do have something to add.

 

The first game, my first ever game, I ended up taking out an infiltrating Tau suit of some sort, and then was promptly smoked by my opponents smallish hover gunship with some sort of melta gun. It was Annihilation so I still ended up being even on the trade. That and I was able to take his craft down with a ML my next shooting phase.

 

The second game my opponent drove his LC,SS Termies (with one TH) in his Landraider right up to my cluster of guys and my dread popped his Land Raider. Then my dread went to go take care of his Razorback. After his termies had taken out just about two tactical squads, while he lost his TH termie, but neither squad completely, my squads disengaged and the dread tied them up and won the game for me.

 

Honesty, some of the people at my LGS confuse me. Running things up to something with a MM.

 

I think in the lists I'm going to build I'm going to go bikes (with MM attack bike) and some scouts, some land speeders, a whirlwind (as I have a rhino chassis from the battleforce box) and another dread to add to the AoBR.

 

I think the dread is one of those units that's killiness is slightly better then it's vulnerability. I'm not sure of all of the killhammer terms but I wouldn't consider the Dread a glass cannon or alternatively a really earthy kind of unit. I like it's water ability (move and shoot and assault all in one turn) to be able to be where I need support when I need it. My list will have the whirlwind in the back, the dread in a middle layer taking on challengers to my fire support, my speeders running around in the middle helping where needed, and the bikes the point of the attack.

 

I think the only real knocks that I have against it are the average armour and the somewhat high cost for only one model on the board. That being said, it's one of the cheapest ways to get an assault cannon on the table, and as mathhammer has shown, the AsC is new way to take out everything but the heaviest armour.

[Combo]

Simply a Dreadnought with a multimelta. Drop podded behind an enemies tank on the first turn and BOOM.

then

[War Angel]

thanks for youre first post patriot. youre last statement about dreds being teh cheapest way to feild an Assault cannon though, Razorbacks can get AC and so can landspeeders for cheaper... (some where on this site is a topic about getting ahundred razorbacks for APOC.... also includes a bit about getting mix's of razorbacks and landspeeders, followed by a quote of me saying ive orderd several of each and plan to make it a reality...)

[Brother Icipher]

I've used a TL-LC/ML dread since 3rd ed. as a mobile firebase. Its ability to hit armoured targets out to 48" inches means that it can sit back away from the enemy's Meltas and still exert an influence on the game. The reduced effectiveness of Lascannons in 5th has been a bit of a disappointment, so I am thinking of rejigging it to a more aggressive design with an Assault Cannon, Power Fist, and Heavy Flamer (in a pod). Hopefully, while it is getting mucked in, the enemy will be sufficiently distracted to not shoot at the rest of my army as it closes in. I figure that if it survives until the end of turn two, it will have done its job (being a red herring).

[War Angel]

how have las-cannons gotten weaker?

[Gornall]

LCs are "weaker" because of the amount of cover saves and the changes to the vehicle damage table. Assuming that you get a penetrating hit with a LC, you only have a 1/3 chance of destroying the vehicle. That's even less when you factor in cover saves. A melta or other AP1 weapon has a 1/2 chance of popping a vehicle on a penetrating hit, and even has a 1/6 chance of still popping a vehicle with a glance. This isn't to say that LCs are bad... it just means that they're not the best heavy tank popper out there.

[War Angel]

oh i see... they arnt really weaker, there's just alot more situations where they woulnt be at full effecntcy.

[Brother Icipher]

When I said they were less effective, what I meant was that they are no longer the optimal choice for dealing with heavily armoured targets (AV13-14). That and the fact that vehicles can get cover saves now means that the Lascannon is no longer the decisive weapon that it was. They are being used noticeably less these days, as their effectiveness does not justify their cost, which was set for 4th Ed (mostly) when they were the king of AT.

[War Angel]

i think there still preaty good. maybe i havnt noticed the amount of terrain coverage, but really, the only change in that is that i can now shoot at something on the otherside of trees, yes it gets a coversave, but in 4th eddition i couldnt even shoot at it... so its really getting less cover save imo

[Combo]

Lascannons have become an a hybrid light av/anti-TEQ unit in my army, however i have three units with meltas that drop pod in so the lascannons aint that importent.