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Hey Dakka Dakka,

First time poster here and I am new to 40k in general. I have acually not played a game yet, nor have I painted all my models, but that is beside the point on to my question.

I have a dreadnought and I am confounded about what armaments he should be wearing. I am having thoughts about either an TL - AC, a base MM or a PC.

Does anyone have a setup to recommend?

BTW, I am playing Black Templars if that changes anything...

Firstly, welcome to Dakka!

My first point would be to avoid gluing the arms if possible - most of the time they will fit without falling off, leaving you able to change loadouts whenever you like. You could also use magnets for this to help them stay on.

Which kit are you assembling? To my knowledge only the Assault on Black Reach simple dreadnought comes with a multimelta, only the venrible kit comes with a plasma cannon and only Forgeworld do twin-autocannons.

Are you planning to use him in a Drop Pod? If so a MM and a heavy flamer on the powerfist arm are my suggestions.

If you're wanting him to tear up light vehicles, two sets of twin-autocannons. Plasma cannons don't wow me on dreadnoughts, so unless you're having a problem with enemy terminators I'd skip it.

What does the rest of your army consist of? What gaps do you need filled?

Hey great questions, love dreads.

I would say to stay away from the plasmacannon. It just isnt worth paying that much for, and is actually more dangerous to itself. I mean if you roll a "gets hot" you dont even get a save. A regular marine gets a save because hes wearing armor, but a MASSIVE SUIT OF ARMOR doesnt get a single save to ignore that damage.

Anyway. I used to use a MM dread in a drop pod. and sometimes it was amazing, but if it wasnt amazing, it was crap. If it didnt blow something up on first turn it would get destroyed in return. But it was a nice destraction unit, and putting a heavy flamer as the underslung weapon on the PF was always a nice option.

I also sometimes use the TLLC and ML for a long range option.

I’ll second pretty much everything Quanar said above. Welcome, don’t glue, and it depends.

Dreads, like a lot of things in the marine arsenal, can be geared to do a lot of different things. Do you need more anti-tank fire? Heavy stuff, or light armor? Need to kill troops? Basic guys or elites?

The heavy flamer is worth the points to upgrade from the stormbolter most of the time. Sometimes you just need to set things on fire.

MM is good for cracking heavy armor, but you need to be close to use it.
TLLC is also good for killing tanks, and can do it at range. Not as well as the melta though.
TLAC are good for high volume of mid-strength fire. Weapon of choice for monster hunting and light vehicles.
Assault cannon is a good all-around gun, but short range, so drop pods or moving up with the troops.
Plasma is OK for elite troops, but small blasts are kinda meh. I’ve tried it, it works OK, but not a fan.
TLHB and TLHF don’t have easy to get bits, and are bad options anyway.
With dreads having 4 attacks base these day I’m reluctant to remove the fist for a second gun, but if you plan on just hanging back and shooting, you can.

The arms that spend the most time on my dreads are the TLLC and AsC, for what that’s worth.

 Icculus wrote:
Hey great questions, love dreads.

I would say to stay away from the plasmacannon. It just isnt worth paying that much for, and is actually more dangerous to itself. I mean if you roll a "gets hot" you dont even get a save. A regular marine gets a save because hes wearing armor, but a MASSIVE SUIT OF ARMOR doesnt get a single save to ignore that damage.

Anyway. I used to use a MM dread in a drop pod. and sometimes it was amazing, but if it wasnt amazing, it was crap. If it didnt blow something up on first turn it would get destroyed in return. But it was a nice destraction unit, and putting a heavy flamer as the underslung weapon on the PF was always a nice option.

I also sometimes use the TLLC and ML for a long range option.

Don't all vehicles still get a 4+ save against gets hot or did they remove that in 7th?

RE the OP, I think with Dreads you want to capitalize on their new attack profile, 2 CCW and convert them to Ironclads and stomp around smashing stuff with 5 base attacks and 6 on the charge

I have only 1 load out for my one dread and that's Assault cannon and power fist with flamer. the AC's high St and rending make it a good all around weapon for heavy infantry and MC's, the rending is just gravy. i have him with a PF cause i also play Black Templar and CC is where all Templar want to be (even tho he doesn't really get any bonus for being in CC). i often use him as a fire base to move along with my assult squad or one of my crusader squads, hopping in CC if they need him.

understand that i dont play like a pro and i often take units because of fluff/ personal preference even tho they might not be that useful.

A single assault cannon on a model that expensive is a really harsh price to pay. To be honest, none of the dreadnought configurations are really that great.

 More Dakka wrote:

 Icculus wrote:
Hey great questions, love dreads.

I would say to stay away from the plasmacannon. It just isnt worth paying that much for, and is actually more dangerous to itself. I mean if you roll a "gets hot" you dont even get a save. A regular marine gets a save because hes wearing armor, but a MASSIVE SUIT OF ARMOR doesnt get a single save to ignore that damage.

Anyway. I used to use a MM dread in a drop pod. and sometimes it was amazing, but if it wasnt amazing, it was crap. If it didnt blow something up on first turn it would get destroyed in return. But it was a nice destraction unit, and putting a heavy flamer as the underslung weapon on the PF was always a nice option.

I also sometimes use the TLLC and ML for a long range option.

Don't all vehicles still get a 4+ save against gets hot or did they remove that in 7th?

RE the OP, I think with Dreads you want to capitalize on their new attack profile, 2 CCW and convert them to Ironclads and stomp around smashing stuff with 5 base attacks and 6 on the charge

Well how about that! There is a rule for gets hot and vehicles. I have never run a plasma cannon on a vehicle so I guess i never really looked in to it. It is a 4+ save.
But still, thats worse than the marines 3+!!!

Plasma cannon is a bad weapon anyway. Small templates suck. It's the same reason frag missiles fail.

Wow,

Thanks to everyone for the great input, I think I will try to make him a "melee" dreadnought just because of Black Templar fluff, I'm not really getting into serious tournament playing just yet, I'm still on my first 500 points of miniatures.

When I do upgrade to around 1k points I'll stick him in a drop pod and go along with Quanar's sugesstion of the MM and heavy flamer!

Thank you very much again!

TL heavy flamer & heavy flamer is a solid build. Basically a cheaper (but weaker) ironclad.

 minigun762 wrote:
TL heavy flamer & heavy flamer is a solid build. Basically a cheaper (but weaker) ironclad.

That's fair I guess. Very focused though, I prefer a little more flexibility personally.

Assault cannon and heavy flamer, all day. The dreadnought wants to get into close combat and that loadout is the best for getting up close. I use it to support my infantry squads, as they provide the numbers while it provides the killing power.

A plasma cannon isn't awful as you often just want to take potshots with it when the enemy bunches up due to necessity (like after assault or having their transport destroyed) and the dreadnought is mobile enough to get a good angle.

 Nevelon wrote:

 minigun762 wrote:
TL heavy flamer & heavy flamer is a solid build. Basically a cheaper (but weaker) ironclad.

That's fair I guess. Very focused though, I prefer a little more flexibility personally.

Very true. That's why I prefer the Assault Cannon instead because it's very flexible.

Drop pod: either MM and HF, or AC and MM, depending on what other pods you're landing and what your army is short of. Usually I'd want MM and HF though. I think this basic configuration makes for an excellent drop pod dreadnought, and I'd much rather pod a dread in than not.

I think that Dreads are almost-viable all-rounders again thanks to their increased number of attacks, and especially thanks to the possibility of making them obsec and getting free drop pods via the formations in C: SM or C: DA. However, they have the same big vulnerability they always did, which is getting shot. Armour 12 is not that good. Mass S7 or even S6 can take it down, and heavier weapons will do so even more easily.

So, if you're not podding it in, I think you want to pick a weapon that lets you stay in the backfield behind cover (behind a tank works well for this). That means lascannon or autocannon. You can keep the powerfist to countercharge to protect other backfield units and/or to eventually come to midfield (once you've dealt with at least some of your opponent's antitank shooting), or you can replace with a second long-ranged weapon (autocannon, probably). In either case you probably don't need the heavy flamer on this one.

in my opinion it varies on what dreadnaught you plan on using:

if your going to field a:
chaplain dreadnaught
standard dreadnaught
contempor/mortis
iron clad

building for close range work is ideal 24" guns are where its at, as well as flamers. going for long range guns its a waste of points and ill explain why below, these guys excel at podding in to a safe location, then leaping from behind a building and blasting someone with their guns at close range, before then charging into CC to engage with their fists. this includes the MM, heavy bolters, heavy flamer, and to a lesser extent ill even give you the assault cannon

if your fielding:
venerable

a venerable dreadnaught just like the deredeo are your two long range dreadnaughts, with BS5 they can really put the long range weapons too work autocannons, lascannons rise and shine on the venerable because of his superior ballistics skill. the plasma cannon and missles are also good ideas.

his real calling is to stand and shoot at things from the safety of being behind other models when he engages.

The Standard Mortis Dreadnought is a pretty good Anti-Air platform. It is cheap and has a fair amount of shots. Even its base variation, the dual-missile launchers, gets the job done. Once FW updates the rules to be in line with the new codex, it will still have four S6 AP- attacks if it gets in CC.

My own personal Dread has an Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer. I like him well enough, though I have only ever fielded him once in play (where he wrecked a bunch of Deathwing alongside his Contemptor Mortis brother).

Dreads are a hard puzzle to crack. On one hand, they have fairly good ranged weapons, but on the other hand, four attacks.

With the updated profiles just a base dread with a MM, PF, and heavy flamer is a solid investment. Run in a unit of three for a hilariously effective distraction carnifex unit your opponent can't simply ignore.

 Icculus wrote:
Hey great questions, love dreads.

I would say to stay away from the plasmacannon. It just isnt worth paying that much for, and is actually more dangerous to itself. I mean if you roll a "gets hot" you dont even get a save. A regular marine gets a save because hes wearing armor, but a MASSIVE SUIT OF ARMOR doesnt get a single save to ignore that damage.

Actually Vehicles do get a "Save".
A vehicle instead rolls a D6 for each roll of a 1 to hit. On a roll of a 1, 2 or 3 it suffers a glancing hit.

Ass-Cannon with a Heavy Flamer on the DCCW. If I can't afford it, I'll just take the Ass-Cannon.

Still really not worth the risk of losing a hull point, when the plasma cannon is (a) expensive and (b) not that good anyway. Approximately the only time a plasma cannon would be worth the points and self-destruction risk on *any* platform would be if you could somehow give the unit Interceptor, so you could shoot deep-striking elite units before they Ran to move apart. Otherwise you're paying a lot for a shot that is unlikely to hit more than 1-2 models at best.

I'm just finishing painting a dread, this discussion is very interesting... I came to the same conclusions though, I have dual Autocannons, AC/MM and CCW with HF ready to go.

Keep in mind that the Tactical and Devastator doctrines allow to re-roll the 'gets hot' roll on Dreadnoughts, as they now have Chapter Tactics. So the chance of losing a hull point to a plasma cannon is extremely low in a Gladius Strike Force.

Yeah, it depends also which CT you play. WS and BT call for CC dreads, Salamanders call for heavy flamers all around, IH makes them hardier. Ultramarines make them reroll 1s, RG and IF don't really benefit dreads.

 mathaius90 wrote:
Yeah, it depends also which CT you play. WS and BT call for CC dreads, Salamanders call for heavy flamers all around, IH makes them hardier. Ultramarines make them reroll 1s, RG and IF don't really benefit dreads.

IF let them bolter drill the stormbolter under the powerfist. Sure, it’s lackluster, but it’s something.

TLHF already re-roll wounds, so the salamanders gain for for upgrading the one in the fist, but less for taking the TLHF as a main gun. I think they still re-roll armor pen rolls with it, so great for burning DE out of raiders, but not that relevant.