Dreadnaught VS Defiler

[BlOoD_GoD]

Ok, the title pretty much says it all, but id like to know a couple of things as well in adition to your preference.

 

Ok, the main reason i posted this, is because Dreadnaughts are stronger in WS and BS than Defilers are, but unless you can roll a 2-5 most of the time, a Dreadnaught would be a bit useless. So here is what im saying, is it better to get a Defiler which is slightly weaker than a Dreadnaught, or is the risk of Rolling a 1 or 6 worth a Chaos Dradnaughts strength, becaus eif it is, im going to get that sexy Iron Warriors dreadnaught from Forge World.

 

And for all of you saying Dreadnaught, can i please get your preference on what weapon i should have on each arm, unless i find my magnets and get a couple of weapons.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

This probably belongs down in Chaos Ascendant. Anyway, to answer:

 

Pros to the Defiler: they're Daemon Possessed, can be upgraded to having 6 Str 10 attacks on the charge, are Fleet, have a Str 8 AP 3 battlecannon for massive pie plate love, and they do what you tell them to do all the time. Cons are that it's a Guardsman in a box for actual combat rolls, and it's hard to give it Cover because it's so big. It also costs as much as 2 Obliterators, which are a more versatile Heavy Support option.

 

Pros to the Dreadnought: it's smaller and easier to grant Cover to, has a lot of possible weapons upgrades, has MEQ combat stats, and is really pretty (I had a FW Iron Warriors Dread and he was sexy). Cons are that its randomness might cost you (I no longer have said Iron Warriors Dread because he kept murdering my people) valuable units unless you go pure CC with it, it's slower to get into a fight even with Running because it can't Assault after it does so, is susceptible to 1s and 2s on the Damage chart, occupies an Elite slot that could be better used by Outflanking Chosen with a bunch of flamers and meltaguns, and can't drop a huge pie plate no matter what weapons you deck it out with.

 

For modeling purposes, the Dread is easier to paint and will look super sexy, but the Defiler is a more imposing physical specimen on the field. If you don't like getting shot in the back by your Dread, you're pretty much stuck to running the Chaos Furioso Dread build with the two DCCW arms and a stormbolter/heavy flamer as its only shooting weapon. At least with a Defiler, you can opt to stand off and just lob battlecannon shots if there's nothing within charge range for it to scuttle up to and hug to death.

[Roesor]

I would personally go with a shooty defiler and keep it out of the way of non crazy dreads.

[BlOoD_GoD]

Hmm, well thoguht out. I may just go witha Defiler, when i get the money for one (bloody things aint cheap!). nad yes, i should finish off my squad of chosen, thoguh sicne yous aid a good elite choice is chosen with melat/flamer, i might take 2 squads, sicne my curent squad has an IW Converstion Kit Las Cannon.

[Kevlarshark]

I quite often run 2 dreds and 2 defilers in my Nightlords.

 

It more of a modeling challange (as the bits dont come in the Chaos dred kit), but I find it quite useful to equip a missile launcher, DCCW on the dred. And deploy him near the other dred, then if he goes nuts I can get him to shoot relatively harmless frag missiles at his mate, the blood rage result is

not so bad (it can leave hime stranded in the middle of nowhere) but often results in him crashing into the enemy (which is where you want him anyway).

 

The defilers attract way more attention than the dreds, no one wants a walker with a battle cannon creeping

up on their battle lines. But modeling wise you probably want to go with extra close combat arms (the flamer is next to useless, the template barely clears the def's front claws) Havoc launcher looks cool but is a bit weak, only keep the reaper if you want a back up to the battle cannon or want to knock down a few skimmers. The extra attacks compensate for his lower WS and the difference between BS 3 and 4 when shooting a battle cannon or a twin-linked reaper are not so bad.

 

The only problem is those extra defiler close combat arms are very,very ugly (and not in a good chaosy way).