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Hi all.

So, in most drop pod lists, dreadnoughts are usually the first wave. But which one do you take? Lets have a look at each:

Dreadnought
So, 105 points base, equip with a Multi-Melta and storm bolter / DCCW. The Multi-Melta has a range of 24", and a 2d6 pen roll range of 12". Also has a 2 S10 attack in CC. Armour: 12, 12, 10

Ironclad Dreadnought
Here is the difference, 135 points base, with 2 DCCW with 3 attacks base. Also has a build in melta gun, with a 12" range and a 2d6 pen range of 6". Also Stormbolter. In CC, the ICD has S10, with a seismic hammer, he can +1 on the damage chart and with a chainfist he can have an additional d6 to roll for pen. Armour: 13, 13, 10

Now, when it comes to putting them in a drop pod, and alpha striking, your effectively sending 50% of your army (assuming they are all in drop pods) against 100% of the enemy's army. The idea behind dropping the dreadnoughts is to take out their armour, but which dreadnough does this more efficiently?

If you drop the ICD, he has a 12" range (6" melta range). Albeit your not likely to scatter more than 12" away from your target, you have a limited range. Compared to the Dreadnought, who has 24" with 12" melta range, the normal Dreadnough would be a better choice.

Now survivability. The ICD has av 13 on front and side, and the normal dreadnough has av 12. Now the ICD is better, but, lets say you dropped within 6" of them for the melta hit. The enemy only has to move 6" to get behind you to hit av10. But with a dreadnough, you can drop around 12" away, where the enemy cant drive behind you and get you with av10. The ICD also has Extra Armour. This will come in really handy, it will allow him to ignore shaken and stunned results and charge into CC with tanks next turn. But like i said before, if your effectively dropping 50% of your army down, then they will out number you with anti armour shots, so they are likely to just keep shooting untill they destroy it. Yes the same thing will hapen with a normal dreadnought, but its 30 points cheaper, not much at first glance, but in the grand scheme, it all adds up.

But the DCCW on the ICD is better, i hear you say. Well, yes it is, but when you deep strike, you can enter assault untill the next turn. You have to sit there and take all of the shots, hope and pray that he will live untill the next turn then charge. But, for 30 points less you can have 2 +1 attack for the charge at S10. Thats penatrating a LR on a 5+, and av12 on 3+. It's still increadably reliant.

Now thats just some thoughts going through my head when i try to decide which dreadnough to take in a drop pod. Which dreadnought do you take? How successful is it? What experiances have you had with both? Is there something else to consider that i haven't mentioned?

Zambro

Which Drop Pod or which Dreadnought? I'd take a Dreadnought which can make damage upon arrival in the shooting phase if necessary. Popping a tank would be useful.

There are a few points you're overlooking that may help you decide between the two variants.

- For both variants, the storm bolter can and should be upgraded to a heavy flamer. This gives the Dreadnought the option to threaten troops with shooting as well, in case you don't have a tempting vehicle target to shoot.
- Both variants can take out a vehicle in the Shooting phase, the Ironclad just needs to be closer to do it. If you plonk your Drop Pod down right next to the target, the combination of Inertial Guidance, 2" disembark and the Dreadnought's footprint should mitigate all but the worst scatter rolls. So that's a wash.
- Or is it? The Ironclad can take 2 Hunter Killer missiles, which makes for a much heftier alpha strike. It improves the chances that that vehicle you want dead will be very, very dead. Nothing sucks more than dropping down and missing with the meltagun (meltas are, somehow, the least accurate weapons in my army by far).
- The Ironclad is obviously the better choice for CC, between the extra attack, higher AV and the +1 to vehicle damage chart from the seismic hammer. The Ironclad is also a credible enough threat in CC that, worst case scenario, you could just pop smoke on the turn he drops and prepare for a Turn 2 assault. AV13 with cover is a tough nut to crack.

You aren't pluralizing Dreadnought, so I'm assuming you're talking about dropping a single Dread. In that situation, the choice for me isn't between a Dreadnought and an Ironclad, it's between a Venerable Dread and an Ironclad. VDs (don't laugh) work better with a multi-melta, because their higher BS really ups the chances of hitting. Their higher WS means they hit MEQ on a 3+ in CC, which makes them harder to tarpit in assault (still a danger though). Finally, their ability to re-roll damage results is invaluable, and worth more than the Ironclad's AV13 in most situations. Of course, this comes with a higher price tag. I usually run the Venerable Dreadnought just because he's such a fire magnet - it takes a lot of fire to bring him down when each penetrating hit only has a 1/9 chance of destroying him.

It comes down to the role you'd like your Dread to fill. If you want to cause maximum damage on the turn you drop, an Ironclad with 2 HKs is the way to go. If you want to stick a thorn in your enemy's side that will take some effort to dislodge, go for the VD.

I'd personally rather have an Ironclad than a normal Dreadnought in a Drop Pod. If you block off the rear armour with some clever placement and/or by using the pod as an obstacle you force your opponent to face AV13 as opposed to 12, which is one hell of an upgrade. Odds are that you're going to be in melta range even if you've only got 6" as opposed to 12".

You also forgot to add that Ironclads can take HK Missiles for added alpha-strike power. Not saying it's a must-have, but it might come in handy.

Ironclad. It kicks ass. Give it a heavy Flamer in place of the Storm Bolter and it threatens everything. AV13 also makes a big difference to survivability.
Also with a Meltagun being at S8 if you are aiming to hit rear armour which is usually AV10 you only need 2+ to glance so being over 6" away isn't the worst thing to happen.

Peace Out!
Jonny!

Personally I always use plain Dreads. The points difference is something I can better spend elsewhere.

If you want a dread spam list, normal dreads.

Otherwise, ironclads or venerables.

Ironclads have 1+ armor, come with move through cover and extra armor for free and have more attacks than the rest of the dreads, that are better at killing vehicles

Venerables have that handy dandy damage re-roll, combo with smoke and laugh all game long. BS 5 means they hit more, WS 5 means their CC attacks hit more often. They also get more ranged weapon options than the ironclad.

I'd take the regular dread with multimelta for two reasons.

- If you are dropping into meltagun range with your dreadnought, you're dropping into meltagun range of your opponent. Savvy players castle, which means that that +1 AV on the front isn't doing much against meltaguns. Plus, with the multimelta, you have the option to drop from a little further away and still be in melta range, slightly limiting your opponents' ability to rush straight into melta range against your dread with their own stuff.

- You're more likely to get into melta range. As mentioned, good players will put a lot of padding around their vehicles to stop exactly the strategy you'll be trying to use against them. It's really not that difficult to force an opponent to deepstrike further than 6" away (especially with the free 1") if they really want to. Castling in such a way where multimeltas can't get in melta range is much more difficult, especially for lower model count armies. Furthermore, the drop pod will prevent you from crashing, but it won't prevent you from scattering. If you scatter 6" in the wrong direction, you might not even be in range at all with the meltagun, much less in melta range. With the multimelta, it's impossible to scatter completely out of range (unless you're doing something very wrong), and it's still rather difficult to scatter out of melta range.

If the whole point is to surprise something with melta, then the regular dread does this job better for cheaper.

Thanks everyone for your reply.

Im getting mixed responses about which dreadnought, i've never really paid attention to Venerable Dreadnoughts. Just assumed they were too costly for a suicide unit.

@wuestenfux. Not Dreadnought OR Drop Pod, Dreadnought or Ironclad Dreadnought.

Why don't you take the Dreadnought Assault Pod, then you could assault on the turn you came down, and start the killing straight away?