Drop Dread Survival

[Charlo]

So thus far I've not had a dreadnought survive past its initial Salvo.

 

Even when dropping them enmasse, among the enemies lines front AV13 generally means nothing as the opponent can easily get to the side/ rear and Slam 3 Hull points of damage in no time...

 

Anyone got any tips to stop this happening?

 

In terms of performance too, the Fragioso is consistently the best dread I've found. Frag cannon will pretty much delete anything with enough hits and ignore cover rends.

[RedemptionNL]

You could use a Dreadnought Drop Pod, where the Dread can stay inside for a round to avoid being targeted until the Dread Pod itself is destroyed. Or at least use its Shrouded bonus to save some hits - combined with smoke launchers they get a 3+ cover save even in the open.

 

Or just fly in on a Stormraven.

[sebs_evo7]

Only time my furioso survives is when it's dropped in by stormraven straight into a melee

[Jolemai]

Take advantage of the Drop Pod "change" in the Space Marine FAQ and measure disembarkation from the door. If it's a combat/shooty Dreadnought get him into cover. If it's a template Dreadnought you're using it as a suicide/distraction unit anyway so make the most of it whilst you can.

 

Other than that, choose your targets wisely. A flank may offer more survivability rather than a juicy centre target so don't get baited by it!

[Remtek]

Last tournament i never used the DC dreads pod, just dropped it empty. They don't have to kill something each round to be useful and survive much better when footslogging. Of course it depends on matchup, but spending 160-190 points on one risky melta shot dosnt usally seem worth it. Often you can see where units will gravitate towards depending on mission/objectives. Kepe the dread close to one of these so you can counter in your turn. 

 

For example put an objective inside a ruin, put the dread inside the ruin. They do work better in progressive games though as the mission dicates enemy movement more early game. 

[Sir Ovbov]

I have been having a look around on the interwebs and I see different posts and websites where is says the Dreadnought Drop pod is 65 or 50 points and some says that we can't use it outright, I is confused, pls explain if you know.

[RedemptionNL]

The most recent version of the Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod is on page 160 of Imperial Armour II: Second Edition. There it available as a Dedicated Transport for any type of Dreadnought of Codex: Blood Angels (so it could be argued Cassor can't have access to one as he's not in the codex).

 

They're probably thinking of the outdated version of the rules from Imperial Armour Apocalypse: Second Edition, where it was still 65 points and Blood Angels didn't have access to it outside of Apocalypse.

[Jolemai]

I have been having a look around on the interwebs and I see different posts and websites where is says the Dreadnought Drop pod is 65 or 50 points and some says that we can't use it outright, I is confused, pls explain if you know.

 

Did you do a search on the B&C? Sometimes the answer you seek can be found quite near.

 

As for points, just fire up something like Battlescribe if you haven't got the book handy.

[NTaW]

I often field my Fragiosos against the same target, trying to keep their pods as close as possible for rear arc protection. One usually dies but the other often lives on.

 

To be honest it sounds like you're facing someone who knows how to deploy their units appropriately against Pods or you're overreaching out of the pod too far based on scatter or 'not ballsy enough' deployment. If you can't play any more aggressively than you already are I'd say i) check out what you have reinforcing them because they're not offering tantalizing enough targets/not moving fast enough up to support, ii) try something different; your opponents might just be too good for pod tactics to work their best, iii) BUY MORE DREADNOUGHTS.

[Charlo]

Well, I've played two games recently.

 

First one he fragged a 5 man Wraithguard, later died to massed scatter laser fire, but good enough.

 

Yesterday he did take out an entire tank busta squad and truck, then lootas glanced at him... But because of the board set up it was either deploy forward and end something or deeply back and do nothing then die!

 

Hoping next game with the same list will see more insight and maybe one of the 3 dreads making combat!

[Xenith]

Mine die quickly in any game I drop them in alone and unsupported. Putting them into the midfield to toast a unit in turn 2, or maybe going after a lower priority target on a flank sees them live longer.

[Rafen IX]

Agreed, mostly you're choosing between flank and live or priority target/distraction and die. Without target saturation you are forcing the player to deal with the dred and with most of his army there he likely will.

Rolling up an armies flank works for me. My usual opponents flyrant makes a mockery of dreds as he can easily fly over and rear shot him so it's suicide centre line.

R