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Hey guys, I'm going to buy the Start Collecting! Space Marines box to expand my DA army because I have no non-named characters, I need another Tactical Squad and most of all because I love Dreadnoughts and I still haven't got one!
So, if I understood correctly, all the units in the box contain the same exact sprues I would find in their own boxes, which leads me to a question... What weapons are available in the Venerable Dreadnought box?
This is going to be my first magnetized model and I would really love to have all the weapons available for WYSIWYG.

For what I could gather:

Left arm:
Power fist w/ storm bolter (included)
Power fist w/ heavy flamer (included)
Missile launcher (Dreadnought kit)

Right arm:
Multi-melta (Black Reach or Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought)
Twin-linked autocannon
Twin-linked heavy bolter (Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought)
Twin-linked heavy flamer
Plasma cannon (included)
Assault cannon (included)
Twin-linked lascannon (included)

Equipment:
Smoke launchers (included)
Extra armour (Ironclad front plate)

Is everything right? I'll probably order the missing pieces from a bitz site as soon as I'm sure about it. Has anyone got any idea on how to represent extra armour?

Thank you guys very much! If anyone wants to post some full sprue pics they would be really appreciated!

The twin-linked autocannons are not included in the Ven Dread box, but it does have an Assault Cannon.

The missile launcher is included in the standard dreadnought box, so ask other SM players for a spare or order one from a bitz seller.
A Multi-melta is available in the form of the Assault on Black Reach (a starter set from 2 or 3 editions ago) dreadnought, but the... spoke? Spindel? Round plug on the arm which the weapon fits onto is a different size to the other dreadnoughts, so it's not easily changable.

The above are the only options available in plastic, all the others require either Forgeworld or kit-bashing / converting.

For the extra armour, I'd suggest an Ironclad front panel and magnetising it to make it swappable (DA can't take Ironclads, so there's less chance of confusion there).

Here are pics of the Ven Dread sprues:

Thanks Quanar, great idea about the Ironclad front plate! I'll just have to look for a Multi-melta (unless I can get my hands on the Black Reach one), then the rest will probably come from Forgeworld... It's gonna be expensive!

EDIT: SW Venerable Dread comes with a multi-melta! It's probably easier to find and adapt than the Black Reach one...

I'll be honest, I completely missed that the SW Dread had that option, that's pretty cool (looks to be the same kind of mounting as the other ven dread weapons), I'd only seen it made with the Helfrost thingy or the assault cannon.

I probably wouldn't bother with the heavy bolters (personal opinion), but the heavy flamers can make for a nasty combo with a drop pod (although slightly wastes the Ven's BS5). Twin Autocannons are also available for the left arm, and depending on how Forgeworld-y your group is, Mortis Dreadnoughts get even more ranged weapons for the left arm.

the only place to get the autocannon is forgeworld

I thought heavy bolters would be good, considering I'm going to play a lot against light armoured Skitarii. Anyway for now I'll just get the Even Dread and maybe a couple bits from the other Dreads. I'll buy the forgeworld parts (Mortis bitz included) after a while... Just a quick (probably stupid) question: should I buy MKIV or MKV arms?

Crowbar90 wrote:
Just a quick (probably stupid) question: should I buy MKIV or MKV arms?

The only stupid question is the one not asked.

I'm not super sure, but I think the plastic dread chassis is the MKV, with the IV being the three-toed version on the FW site. Not sure if there's much of a difference, can anyone else confirm / deny?

With the ven dread kits you can slide the guns into the shoulder, and then just fit them snugly on the the peg, so you don’t need to magnetize. It’s also fairly easy to make a MM arm if you have a spare gun from an attack bike/land speeder. Just trim a little off the back and a touch of filing and it works.

Thanks to both of you! Seeing as the FW MkV dread weapons are made to fit GW plastic dreads I guess they should fit the same way on a ven dread. Great advice Nevelon, unfortunately I don't have a MM lying around but I can find one (along with the heavy bolter) from the SW Dread. Anyway it's good to see magnets are not needed! I'll just use them to swap the front plate and the weapon under the CCW, and maybe for smoke launchers (though I might as well glue them on and simply ignore them if I don't need them).

Smoke launchers are default wargear, so you'll always have them at the start of the game. Though I suppose you could use the magnets to show when they've been used, but that runs the risk of losing the bit.

Oh great, I didn't notice it! Even less magnets needed!