Points down — now it's time for Dreads

[Maggotlord]

Hi all, 

 

with the new points values Dreads seem to be back on the menu. At least for me. I really like Dreads of all kind. Therefore a question:

 

Which Legion should I choose to run lots of Dreads (Space Wolves are out as I don't really like them)? 

 

 

[Karhedron]

Shame as Space Wolves are particularly tasty on the Dreadnought front. However if the Wolves of Fenris are not your cup of tea, here are a couple of suggestions:

 

Blood Angels: As well as the regular Dreads, there is the Librarian Dread in HQ meaning you can run and all-Dread list if you want. There are also the Furioso and Death Company Dreads for variety.

 

Salamanders: Rerolling a Wound roll for every unit is handy with units like Dreads that rely on a low number of high powered attacks.

 

Iron Hands: Really good with the new Balance update as you can stay in the Devastator Doctrine all game meaning all those Dread heavy weapons can reroll all 1s to Hit. This frees up your HQ slots for things like Techmarines to repair those Dreads and carry the Wardon of the Ancients WLT.

[Minsc]

"New point values"? Am I missing something?
Dreads where barely touched, and depending on the loadout you might actually end up with a Dread that costs just the same as before - except this time without AoC.

Contemptor went down by 10 points but lost AoC. Fair enough.

Redemptor stayed the same but IRP and OGC are now free upgrades, so technically 10 points cheaper if you equip those - and lost AoC. Fair enough.

Regular Dread, Ironclad and Venerable all stayed the same basecost, but with free wargear, so now it depends on how you equip them;
- If you give them for instance Assault Cannons and Stormbolters (Dread/Venerable) or Meltagun and Stormbolter (Ironclad), their basecost remains the same as before, but now they don't have AoC. It's a pure nerf and nothing else.
- If you give them for intance Twin Lascannons and Heavy Flamers (Dread/Venerable) or Dual Heavy Flamers, 2 HKM's and IAL's (Ironclad) they went down by 25 pts which compensates for AoC and then some, but that's also taking their previously most expensive wargear just for the heck of it and it might not actually be the weapons you actually want on them.

(And sure, the Invictor did go down by 20 points which is fair compensation for loosing AoC, but that's technically not a Dread and has no -1 damage taken and it honestly needed to go down in points.)

Not trying to be a downer (I actually like alot of changes made to SM to compensate the removal of AoC), but Dreads didn't really come off great imo. Middling at best. 

As for which chapter to pick, I'll echo what Karhedron said above; Blood Angels, Salamanders or Iron Hands all make good picks.
- Blood Angels have unique Dreads that other chapters lack. More focus on CC-punch.
- Salamanders re-roll a wound trait synergizes well with Dreads, and most Dreads having Flame-and-or-Melta weaponry plays well together with their Super Doctrine (Tactical) which you can now remain in for gameturn 2-5 instead of just 2-3. 
- Iron Hands and Dreads just get along, especially now when they stay in Devastator Doctrine the entire game if you so wish.

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Minsc

[Chaplain Augustus]

100% IH. All the heavy weapons dreads bring being more killy is excellent and you can still make one a character which can be pretty clutch.

[Galron]

Can one of the box dreads ride in a drop pod or do you need Dreadnought drop pods of dread claws?

[Captain Idaho]

The points reductions aren't something to be considered as which unit benefits, rather how is the army internal balance going to fair in the new status quo of the army as a whole.

 

So on that basis I consider Dreadnoughts such as the Ironclad and Venerable variants to be much worthwhile within army selection.

 

A trio of Ironclads heading up the table whilst Redemptors and Contemptors apply firepower on the table will be very good potentially. Venerable Dreadnoughts are surprisingly powerful and survivable for such a relatively cheaps points investment.

[Tankus Wokus]

I take two Venerable Dreadnoughts with Las, one has a Missile Launcher and one has a Combat Weapon. I play Fists and they do quite a bit of work for me.  

[Captain Idaho]

Yeah I find my Venerable Dreadnought puts in a good shift most games.

[Grim Dog Studios]

I'm glad to hear Ven Dreads are performing well, it makes me feel justified in spending silly money buying 3 Ebay rescues of the various OOP Forge World Dreads I am currently stripping paint off.

[XeonDragon]

On 1/19/2023 at 3:28 AM, Captain Idaho said:

Yeah I find my Venerable Dreadnought puts in a good shift most games.

 Me too - the 2+ BS/WS makes them so reliable whilst alive, unlike say, the redemptor which degrades. 

[Kallas]

I've loved my VenDreads with Heavy Plasma Cannons, though their value is a little down since the points (since the better options are now the same cost). But yeah, WS/BS 2+ is really nice, and using them alongside Land Raiders meant that it was an armour-saturated list meaning it was hard to focus down all of it at once; though again, losing AoC has meant the value is reduced.

 

Personally, I'm considering a list which is 3x VenDread, 3x Ironclad, because I think it would fulfill a similar principle: heavy armour saturation as well as multi-threat platforms meaning that 3 pairs of Ironclad/VenDread could split up as needed and support each other reasonably well, or just be a big hammer all together.