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So since the Contemptor pattern was in use prior to the Horus Heresy and the Black Rage didn't show up until after Sanguinius died would their be any Death Company Contemptor Dreads? Would the Blood Angels if in possession of such a machine use it as a Death Company dread considering the ability to not create any should it become destroyed?

Might seem like a silly question but I couldn't seem to come up with an answer in my own head so I figured I would see what Dakka thought.

I am talking purely from a fluff standpoint, I know I could make one if I wanted to regardless.

Blood Angels don't really choose to use a dreadnought as a Death Company dreadnought, the only ones that exist in the fluff are ones that fell to the Black Rage after they had already been interred. So it stands to reason that the marine inside a Contemptor could fall to the Black Rage and that dreadnought would become a Death Company Contemptor.

I say go for it. In terms of fluff the moment Sanguinius died, he imprinted the Black Rage on all Blood Angels, past and present. So it would be reasonable to assume that even Contemptors made before the heresy would be susceptable to it.

As for the timeline, just remember that Bjorn exists in a MKV dread, and he's suppose to be the Imperium's oldest dreadnought.

Dreadnoughts can sometimes be repaired and reused after their occupant dies. So just because the dreadnought itself is from before the heresy doesn't necessarily mean the marine inside it is.

Can't the Techmarines just swap the occupants of Dreads between missions, depending on the task needed? For example we know that Bjorn rides in a MKV, but would it be feasible for him to be put in an Ironclad, if the nature of the engagement dictated it?

Not really. The occupant's nervous system is wired into the dreadnought, and it isn't a simple process. Once they're in there, they don't get removed until they're dead.

 Orblivion wrote:
Not really. The occupant's nervous system is wired into the dreadnought, and it isn't a simple process. Once they're in there, they don't get removed until they're dead.

Oh, ok. I always thought that the internal coffin with the occupant could be removed and placed in another unit.