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How do!

Very random one from yours truly. Experienced Dakkanauts may wish to roll their eyes and check out now.

But this is a thought that just plopped itself into my head, as I start considering how I wish to pose my 7th Contemptor Dreadnought for my burgeoning Heresy Forces. And it’s going to be my first close combat dedicated chassis.

What? You thought 7 Contemptors were enough? *laughs raucously in Heresy*

But it’s the particular posability of that kit that fired off my sad little neurons.

See, compared to all other Dreadnoughts, barring the Wraithlord (do not make my Uncle Albert. I will if you press the matter, and then I win by default) are…blocky. Not just the kit options, but the “in-universe” limitations the kit sets.

And now finally I kind of vaguely get to my point. Ish.

See, at least for Space Marines and Eldar? The Dreadnought shell becomes an extension of the body. Both have their own version of Mind Impulse Unit, where the pilot thinks it, the body does it.

But going back to the Contemptor chassis? It clearly has a significant edge on the Castra Ferrum Dreadnought. Long legs, additional joints. Heresy specific, we’ve a Blood Angels variant chassis with a (limited use) jump pack assembly.

Kit aside for once and for all within this thread? Are there any in-canon examples of a Dreadnought, particularly the Contemptor chassis or Wraithlord not just being relatively lumbering battlesuits, but instead being properly athletic? I’m thinking jumping/leaping, rolling/tumbling, being more Martial Artists than Heavyweight Boxer.

Wraithlords and Wraithknights in DoW3 are pretty agile and jump around doing supersmashes. But that game also has the infamous terminator backflipping jump attack so it's dubious how canon it is

Not sure if Jaq Draco could ever, ever be considered in canon, but in that series, the Master of the Callidus temple* was a dreadnought covered in blades that snuck up on you.

So, probably not.

*Actually, ex-master, entombed in a dreadnought chassis to protect him from other Callidus sent to end him. Ian Watson was wild.

Da Butcha wrote:
Not sure if Jaq Draco could ever, ever be considered in canon, but in that series, the Master of the Callidus temple* was a dreadnought covered in blades that snuck up on you.

So, probably not.

*Actually, ex-master, entombed in a dreadnought chassis to protect him from other Callidus sent to end him. Ian Watson was wild.

Love those books though! Excellently imaginative and wierd.

I'm sure they are agile for what they are. Probably no combat rolls, but jumping and moving with frightening speed is totally possible.

Their arms are most likely capable of bearing their full weight, which would open up pushing off of surfaces and getting some momentum. Keeping in mind that they are still a multi-ton vehicle so anything they bear their weight on will suffer accordingly.

Their reflexes are probably very sharp, so they could move their arms and rotate very fast to face threats.

Most dreadnoughts are probably fairly fast at linear motion considering the length of their strides and the power behind their legs but as for agility? Jumping might be possible but much more than that I doubt.

The exceptions being Custodian dreadnoughts, particular the Achilles and Galatus, which particularly in the former's case given it nimbly wields a halberd are probably very coordinated and agile. And of course the Eldar equivalent Wraith constructs which like most Eldar material are very lightweight and lithe for their durability and strength and should be very nimble for their size.

I always thought wraith lords were considered fairly nimble, just not in comparison to living eldar. If memory serves, they used to be initiative 4, which put them on par with a space marine in terms of agility/reflexes.

I always got the impression that they tended to stride around a bit ponderously because of wraith sight. If you get them close enough to a spirit seer or the enemy, I imagine they move pretty quickly for their size.

I chopped up and angled the legs of my plastic one to have a pretty agile pose, so apparently my ynnari wraith lords are rather nimble even if the rest in the galaxy aren't.

To answer the question, one has to first determine which is more authoritative: game stats or various fictional accounts?

Because I never bought any of the books, I consider the game rules to have greater authority.

Dreadnoughts originally had a move stat of 6, doubled on the charge or run. This put them in same movement class as the Nids, who were justly famous for their rapid speed.

While their "cruising speed" (normal move) was slower than most vehicles, it was considerably faster than leg infantry, and coupled with a 360 degree turning capability, ability to fire on the move and incredible accuracy, there was a reason they featured so prominently in various player collections.

Another aspect was their ability to tear their way through bulkheads or building walls.

Much of this was downgraded by later editions, and I'm not sure what they do now.