Blood Angels Unit of the Week series Unit of the Week: Ballistus Dreadnought

[Jolemai]

 

Welcome to part four of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week series!

 
Following the release of the 10^th edition Index, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will discuss the units from the units found within Index: Blood Angels, parts two to four will discuss Index: Space Marines, part five will be Imperial Armour, and part six will be Legends.
 
Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.
 
Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

 

Ballistus Dreadnought

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you play a Ballistus Dreadnought?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? 
• Which Detachment are you using?
• What delivery options are you using? 
• What deployment options are you using?
• Stratagem synergy of note?

 

Over to you.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Jolemai

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread), then submit a photo here please.

 

(Once I work out how best to float it!)

 

***

 

As an aside, the thread setup may change over the coming weeks until I'm happy with them. This includes the photos.

[DemonGSides]

Feels like I bring it to every game I play. Great points for what it does; exist as a distraction carnifex that can so just obliterate one enemy medium armor unit before succumbing.

 

Mines got 3 Doomstalker kill tallies, one of which involved kicking a doomstalker to death. Pretty cool. 

[Cleon]

I find the Ballistus invaluable, it's Ballistus strike rule makes it so flexible for striking outside the oath of moment target as long as you remember to shoot it first so it's target is relatively undamaged.  I need to find a way to slide a second one into the paint queue.

[Karhedron]

I have not tried mine yet but I think the Ballistus looks good on paper. It's firepower compares well with a Devastator squad and this is important as Dev squads are one of our cheapest sources of anti-tank.

 

The Balllistus costs 20 points more than a Dev squad for a similar level of firepower but is significantly tougher and brings its own rerolls which is handy for when you need to shoot at a target that does not have OOM. Also Devs are in trouble if tagged in melee whereas the Ballistus can still shoot thanks to BGNT. It loses out a bit on flexibility compared to the Devs as it has a fixed loadout but it is a pretty good loadout so I don't have too much of a problem with that.

 

Another big advantage of the Ballistus is that it is Primaris. We don't know if/when Firstborn are going to be completely phased out. If we lose the Devs and Predator, the Ballistus will pretty much our default option for cheap, long-ranged anti-tank work.

[DemonGSides]

I do hope a stand alone kit is incoming. Possibly with some weapon variants. Not that it's necessary, as I find it plenty strong for it's points. But I wouldn't mind some options!

Edited December 5, 2023 by DemonGSides

[Paladin777]

I wish I liked the model more, because its firepower would certainly be a welcome addition to my list!

[Karhedron]

43 minutes ago, Paladin777 said:

I wish I liked the model more, because its firepower would certainly be a welcome addition to my list!

 

What do you dislike? It is pretty much a straight update of the classic Las/missile boxnaught.

 

One alternative if you do not like the Primaris Dreads is to convert the HH Leviathan Dread as this is pretty much the same size and comes on the right base. The Brutalis is easy but the Ballistus might be harder. Maybe convert the Stormcannon arm into Lascannons and the Grav Flux Bombard into a missile launcher.

[Paladin777]

I always thought the old las/missile dread looked a little odd too. 
 

I think it's the fact that both "arms" are little stumpy turrets. The fact that the legs are longer on the balistus only emohasizes that.

 

The leviathan might be a way to go though. Having the weapons on the end of legit arms would help. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Paladin777

[Spyros]

While I would have preferred to use a Gladiator Lancer as pure A/T goodness, the Ballistus dreadnought is 20 points cheaper and that's enough to fit in my preferred list.

On paper it wins me with its 2+ save, and compensates the power and re-rolls of the Lancer with more shots and the anti-infantry versatility of the missiles.

However, there have been games where it has dramatically failed to do any damage (bad rolls)...