drop pod dreadnought is it a good idea ?

[Ikken]

hello all .

i am just mulling over the dreadnought . for some reason i never seem to make it into my lists .

I am thinking of the basic dreadnought i love the model , and have several including an old bajorn one.

I use to use bajorn wen we were using the old codex , but don't seem to use any dreadnoughts anymore.

I am trying to work one into a list , and was planning on drop podding him . i am keeping him cheap , assault cannon and heavy flamer , 115pts . i have never tried a dreadnought drop pod b4 . does anyone have any experience or advice on them . are they a waste or useful.

i would like to keep him cheap because he will be fighting alone for at least 1 probably 2 turns and likely won't survive long . i could swap the assault cannon for a multi melta for no charge , i have been toying with this as i should be gauranteed a good clean shot with the drop pod assault arrival , but the limited range of the melta has me worried .

and the assault cannon has rending and with 4 shots the chances are decent that i will get at least 1 rending hit . any thoughts on this ?

[Farromeister]

I've used a dread in a drop pod when playing against tau and eldar, in a standard marine army. They are useful for taking out heavy tanks especially as mine have the metlagun and are normally hitting the rear armour. I have played a list with three drop pods two of which had dreads in them - my opponent who was a tau player didn't like the fact I took out his two heavy tanks in the first round! :)

[marine77]

The good part of drop pod dreads has been mentioned by Farromeister. The negative side is that the current metagame means most armies are packing quite a bit of melta in them. So, you dread will pop an transport or tank and then get popped for it's trouble. Now, this is not to dissuade you from using them. I currently run a vanilla list with 3 drop pod dreads in it, but if you are going to use them, you need to either provide something equally as threatening in front of the your opponent so that when your dreads come in, they aren't toasted, or you just get used to the fact that he is going to eat it some games. The only other thing I would recommend is to use his drop pod as advantageously as possible to provide cover when possible.

[Marshal Sibrand]

I find dreads are difficult to use without drop pods. Personally, i like to drop one with AC/HF right in front of ork boyz, firewarriors, etc. The assault cannon does wonders, and heavy flamer sure to do some damage. For antitank purposes, I really wouldn't use anything other than a TLLC/ML dread, if i'm going to use dreadnaught for that role.

[Orphus]

Drop-podding in a Dred can be a good tactic vs things squishy (but then again, what sort of things aren't squishy vs a Dred

:P ) or armies with superior ranged firepower that need to be closed with quickly (eg. Tau, Eldar, some Necron lists, even ORK!!). One of the bad things that could be said for dropping in a Dred is that when using such a tactic could be useful as a means to draw fire from the rest of your army this could leave it vulnerable to some nasty stuff. Keeping the Dred cheap is on way of limiting the loss so not so bad then.

 

Dreds are quite survivable most of the time but you'd be surprised how quickly they drop once fire is focused on them eg. From Ork copters.

 

 I find dreads are difficult to use without drop pods. Personally, i like to drop one with AC/HF right in front of ork boyz, firewarriors, etc. The assault cannon does wonders, and heavy flamer sure to do some damage. For antitank purposes, I really wouldn't use anything other than a TLLC/ML dread, if i'm going to use dreadnaught for that role.

 

Depends on the purpose of the Dred. A shooty Dred in a support role might be more suited up the back than copping un-necessary flack up front. One thing to consider when using a Dred against Boyz is that with bad rolls and without a heavy flamer the Dred could be stuck in combat for 2+ turns depending on the size of the Boyz squad. And when versing Tau quiz your opponent on whether they use EMP grenades or risk a nasty surprise for your Dred. Not to be pessimistic or pushy but I think these things needed to be highlighted.

 

Disclaimer: I do not actually own a Dred (yet) but am judging my opinions on my experiences verses them [all right, just one- multiple times ;)]. Any victories/defeats due to above comments are entirely down to the player's own risk and Orphus will not be deemed responsible for any outcomes as a result of said players reading or noting Orphus' above comments...la,la,la,la,la, I can't here you...

[Sarapham]

I use a Drop-pod Dread with AC/HF in my Krakendoom style force which I think works wonders for not only doing direct damage but also unnerving the enemy which thought it could sit tight and just wait for my rhinos and bikes. Instead it helps to create a small pincer-movement of sorts with my Dread pushing the rearguard of my enemy forwards out of position. For example it loves to roast Lootas. :P

[Haakon Lightfang]

Getting something stompy threatening their lines/deployment zone tends to unnerve many people, causing a large focus of fire on that unit itself. Most of the time, I give it the HF/MM combo and hope to take out one tank before it gets destroyed, as it's basically a suicide squad used to take some of the heat off the rest of my army so they can move up the field relatively unmolested. It's hard to beat the Dreadnought for the cost vs. survivability and power for a drop-podding distraction.

[WG Vrox]

Here is about as good a recipe as your going to get for success of a drop pod dread. First off you need 2 of them which means you will need at least a 3 pod list. Second don't worry about the MM, your standard AC is good enough for rear armor and with rending you have a better average to pen than the MM when not within the 12" 2d6 range, plus an all round better weapon for back line work.

 

2 Dreads AC/HF Extra Armor Drop Pod, a WTN is optional and I suggest you play-test it,

 

I have had varied amounts of success with the dreads, but the best story I can tell you is one Dread popping a LR on the drop then getting assaulted by the 5 TDA SS/TH units inside, I ended up killing 3 of the 5 before they brought him down, but at that point he about tripled his initial point value. Str 8 against AV 12 only gives you a 25% chance to hit and give you a glance pen result which is why I never leave home without a chainfist on my TDA units.

 

but my points is they are much much more effective in pairs and best used to hit a flank or vulnerable area of your opponents deployment. Do not take them anywhere near MC, your better off dropping the pods empty.

[Marshal Sibrand]

I don't disagree with you at all orphus, in fact you make some good points. i have three dreadnaughts, and typically bring 2 of them every game. On the point of the tank hunter, I forgot to clarify that i Wouldn't drop pod it in. Don't want to lose those turns of shooting :lol: .