Dreadnought success/failure

[Grimtooth]

So I am enjoying my new list to which I added a TDA Wolf Guard in a drop pod as a heavy infantry unit. The unit has served its purpose being a hard as nails unit on the board, where I want to place them on turn 1. This is my current list, just basic idea, not itemized:

 

Thunderlord, th/ss, fenrisian wolves x2

Rune Priest, chooser, MoR, Living Lightning, Tempest Wrath

 

Wolf Guard in TDA x5, drop pod

 

Grey Hunter x10, melta x2, MoW, Wolf Standard, powerfist, rhino

Grey Hunter x10, melta x2, MoW, Wolf Standard, powerfist, rhino

Grey Hunter x10, melta x2, MoW, Wolf Standard, powerfist, rhino

 

Fenrisian wolves x10

 

Long Fangs, ML x5, Pack Leader

 

Now I was wondering about dropping the WG TDA and instead adding two dreadnoughts with plasma cannons. Possibly podding them as well. Of course I can drop empty pods and start them in my deployment or have them come in one at a time, on a needed flank or close combat hotspot.

 

So I see the plus of them being AV12, able to move and shoot, and then str10 in close combat. What I see negative about them is that they are only AV12, only two of them, and if I choose to pod them, they come in one at time.

 

How much success are people seeing with dreadnoughts now? I get the feeling that this is an instance where you either go 2 or none at all. Kinda like Land Raiders. Before I head out and buy a couple of dreads, I just want some input.

[fandon]

I've been running one venerable with a melta and heavy flamer, basically pick a tank with units in front and melta and flamer the tank. Flamer does nothing to the tank but adds wounds to a squad and the melta usually pops a tank. The problem is the dread becomes a suicide unit so basically be ready to give up some kill points. I've tried the plasma cannon and I liked it, dealt some damage to light armor and killed some units. I've never run two but I'm sure it would be fun. Sometimes my Dread doesnt do much other than soak up fire but sometimes thats enough, makes its points more often than not though.

[Karack Blackstone]

I consider myself something of a Dread specialist. Let's see how I do:

 

Pros:

- AV 12, hard to punch for most things, depending on what you fight. SM's of any sort can typically do alot with a Fist.

- Options. Weapons loadouts are incredibly diverse. Plasma Cannons are arguably the best, just above Assault Cannons for usefulness.

 

Cons:

- AV 12 won't hold up well against Lascannons and Railguns, so again, depending on what you're fighting, Venerable can be worth it.

- One model per elite slot, and it's a pretty hefty conversion rate. Points-for-points, Grey Hunters are a better bet. However it looks like you have that one down.

- Redundancy is covered, though often required.

 

Other thoughts:

- There's always something that can be used to drop a dread. Either due to maneuvering or just shot placement, even Bjorn can be caught on AV 12, even 10 depending on what happens. It's a balance between what you have and how much (points) you're willing to put into a Dread to protect it.

- CC is a pain, but if you know the rules, ALL dreads/Walkers take hits on their front armor value. Bjorn is quite useful for this. However, Bjorn is also 270 points with a Plasma Cannon and has to work to make his points back.

- I'd also like to point out that Plasma Cannons are heavily anti-troop, so any on a Dread are an easy target. The upside is no overheats on a one (one or more) with Long Fangs. For the record an overheat on Long Fangs with a PC is one test, even if both come up one.

 

If you go with the loadout I favor on my Dreads of 140 points, basic, with DCCW, SB, EA, WTN, PC there's alot they can do. I used to use four Dreads, one Bjorn. I'm now rethinking this list core concept a little.

 

Drop pods I haven't used, I might want to build mine (in separate bits) to test some out.

 

If you have further questions feel free to ask. Dreads are pretty soft in the armor category, but with a Rune Priest nearby for Stormcaller cover saves it may work out. Just attach him to some GH's in a Rhino and run them as a tactical unit. Might work well. I haven't tested this yet, could prove interesting.

[Grimtooth]

Well my Long Fangs have had much success in popping transports in all my lists. With a Rune Priest attached, I can split 3 ML shots to one target and 2 ML plus d6 STR7 Living Lightning shots on another target. So troops are getting put on the ground in a hurry sometimes. All these troops, bunched up from disembarking seems an opportune time to drop some mini plasma blast markers.

 

Of course I have my Grey Hunters mounted in Rhinos for shooting and assaulting, but a 36" plasma blast seems to be a nice idea to soften up the enemy before finishing them off in close combat with my GH.

 

Ideally, I am looking for a heavy infantry type unit to fill the gap between my long range firepower, my flexible troops, and assaulty wolf lord. Wolf Guard in TDA worked nice and I think dual plasma cannon dreads might work as well.

 

As for cover, I was thinking of using a combination of terrain and even my advancing Rhinos to provide a cover save. Of course also have Smoke if cover needed outweighs the need to shoot.

[Karack Blackstone]

Sounds like you have it all figured out in theory. It's the practice that's going to be hard.

 

Dreads are fine if they stay up; it's losing them that can be an issue. WG have multiple wounds if there's trouble. Dreads can only be Venerable, and always have only one wound, effectively.

 

For you, Brother Ramses, WG may work out better with more consistent gameplay. Dreads are nothing to sneeze at however. The problem is getting them to last until they can make back their points. Long range weapons tend to help this a great deal.

 

I say try them. That's because I think I have a pretty solid idea as to what to expect from them. I've played them alot, and losing one is a pain. Having backups is a great thing, and as that is part of your plan, it's worth noting that two Plasma Cannons that won't overheat on the firer is a real plus.

 

Just watch out for those misses...

[Matt D]

never mind

[JMac]

You definitely don't need two. One can be successful, but if it is your only armor on the field it will be difficult to keep him standing. Run him with a Vindicator, Pred, LR, another Dread, whatever works for you.

 

With your list and its lack of high AV, I would stick with the TDA WG. Especially if it is working for you. With another 500 pts or so then I would introduce a few more AVs and another troop choice.

[Grimtooth]

You definitely don't need two. One can be successful, but if it is your only armor on the field it will be difficult to keep him standing. Run him with a Vindicator, Pred, LR, another Dread, whatever works for you.

 

With your list and its lack of high AV, I would stick with the TDA WG. Especially if it is working for you. With another 500 pts or so then I would introduce a few more AVs and another troop choice.

 

I am a big redundancy nut which I why I am going with 2 dreads. Makes my opponent either focus fire on one, leaving the other untouched or splitting fire between two, and lowering chancea due to less shots. Both instances are ignoring the GH filled Rhinos speeding forward, which you will also notice are kitted out with the same redundancy mindset.

 

I do run AV14, but barely starting at 2000pts. I toss in a LRR with either terminators with wolf priest, GH with wolf priest, or Blood Claws with wolf priest. The heavy AV just doesn't fit in my playstyle at the lower point levels.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

Two dreadnoughts? What madness is this? I field four. :D

 

Bjorn and 3 friends in a 1000 point game against Imperial Guard (three Leman Russes). We were playing a scenario where I got the Daemon ability to come in on the first turn.

 

Unfortunately I didn't roll the Dreadnought half, but regardless. When you can move onto the board with a meltagun and power fist within 6 inches of a tank... it's not a pretty picture.

[Maximus-92]

i once saw a marine list with 10 scouts a motf and 5 dp dreads in 1200. that was a hilarious list.

[Thylacine]

I love the idea of Dreadnoughts, I have fifteen of them but since the new codex was released I have only used dreads in two games!

 

This may change, but for the moment I really don't have a use for them, (Looks at the two resin Dreadnought DP's sitting on the shelf) I find myself using more speeders and Razorbacks under this codex!