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I realise the answer is "VERY LOUDLY" but I have a genuine curiosity.

I haven't read any SM fluff, how is the speech handled? Are there any books I can check this out in?

If the body is effectively shut down, does the speech come from an entirely digital creation, linked to thought using the various systems? Do they still speak using their vocal chords and it is translated or boosted?

As a result of their great age, many Dreadnoughts, known as Venerable Dreadnoughts, are not only approached by their Battle-Brothers for support in combat, but also as advisors in the governance of their Chapter.

That makes sense, but I cannot imagine a group of Asartes standing around while a dreadnought booms through its speaker system.
In those instances, would they use vox or just dial it back down?

The reason you think they only speak loudly is because you've probably only seen them on the battlefield. No one speaks like they do when they're shouting orders and attempting to rally forces. Dreadnoughts are no exception. Yes there's still the mechanical gravel-like voice, but they can certainly control its volume.

I haven't seen them anywhere, I was more wondering if in an indoor situation they'd need a speaker at all, or if the biological body is totally ignored.

My understanding has always been that their 'body' is now entirely enclosed in the sarcophagus. They can pull the sarcophagus out for maintenance and swap dreadnaught chasis, but what's left of their body is entirely sealed up within the sarcophagus. Speakers would be a must, since no sound would really escape the pod.

Regarding if it's their voice or just a digital replica, that could depend on the extent of damage their body took before being interred. I'd imagine a lot of dreadnaught pilots' bodies have had some vocal or lung damage, which could render their natural speech impossible.

In the Dawn of war PC games the Dreadnoughts speak with an obviously synthetic voice. Like a digital Brian Blessed.

I believe that in the Battle of the Fang you get a chance to see Bjorn Fellhanded communicating outside of combat. As I recall he uses conversational tones. Deep, resonant synthesized tones, but still...

My two cents.

It depends. Most have a synthesised voice and either speakers or radio transmitter.

Murderfang has a head and can scream, and MK IV & Contemptor dreadnoughts have obvious heads / helmets.

Iron Hands dreadnoughts are linked into their version of the noosphere.

In one of the HH books (one with loyalist Iron Warriors) they pull the marine out of a dreadnought and plug him into power armour to keep him alive, so he's not that badly wounded. In another HH book they unplug a Dark Angel from his dreadnought and plug him into a siege engine.

The Unforgiven by Gav Thorpe has a dreadnought character in it and this aspect is covered. The interred marine speaks in a way very similar to a normal battle brother with his helmet on (but the dreadnought pilot doesn't speak as such, it would be digital as pointed out) and just as with a powered armoured marine can increase and decrease the volume of the projected voice.

This is all really useful (even Brian Blessed), thanks guys!

Having an open helm seems very very vulnerable to me.

Space Wolves seem to have some grudge with helmets... Something about being feral and wanting to use their senses or some other shenanigans.

Dreads are like the awesome, but also kind of elderly family uncle for Space Marines.

They don't have great hearing anymore so they tend to shout so they can hear themselves.

I would assume that when the space marine is interred into a dreadnought that it get plugged in via its black carapace and something similar to a Matrix head jack. Allowing the space marine to control the dread with mental impulses. I would guess this system would also vocalize the mental command for talking and produce the necessary sounds.

Thanks even more folks. I know very little about the black carapace, sounds like something I should read up on and then work up form there.

My curiosity is mostly about how conversational one could be. Whilst I realise they wouldn't be like the DoW slogan-chanting automatic robots, but on the other hand, many SM and such seem to me to be beyond general chatting with folk, especially humans.

 clamclaw wrote:
Space Wolves seem to have some grudge with helmets... Something about being feral and wanting to use their senses or some other shenanigans.

Judge Dredd: I was wondering when you'd remember you forgot your helmet.
Anderson: Sir, a helmet can interfere with my psychic abilities.
Judge Dredd: Think a bullet in the head might interfere with them more.

Bloody viking marines.

The ones in the Night Lords trilogy and The Emperor's Gift are pretty chatty. A lot of my dreadnought questions are answered in those books.

EVEN IN DEATH I STILL SERVE!
PURGE THE UNCLEAN!

Best lines ever by a dreadnought are from Cassor the Damned in the Deathstorm book.

They will have a vox caster hooked up to their mind directly. Their physical vocal cords are likely destroyed or atrophied to uselessness.

But if they can directly mentally control their machine body why not its external speakers?

The Marine's shattered frame interfaces with the Dreadnought chassis using an MIU (Mind Impulse Unit).

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Mind_Impulse_Unit

The MIU allows the Marine to control the Dread. It also allows him to control the vox systems. His 'voice' is effectively sent from brain to speaker instead of from brain to mouth.

There are numerous references to MIUs in the fluff. Titan Princeps, hardwired pilots, etc all use MIUs.

If you're looking for examples of Dreads speaking with 'normal', non-booming voices, check out the first several chapters of Prospero Burns. You won't realize it until later, but the 'Cormac Dodd' guy the main character is talking to in the dark is actually a Dreadnought.

 Captain Blood wrote:
In the Dawn of war PC games the Dreadnoughts speak with an obviously synthetic voice. Like a digital Brian Blessed.

Yeah, they made it sound like ED-209 from robocop

I am guessing with some sort of ancient text to speech device... if only the emperor had one

Thyhadras wrote:
I am guessing with some sort of ancient text to speech device... if only the emperor had one

Emperor doesn't need one, he can beam thoughts directly into people's heads. Ultimate psyker, and all that.

In Fallen Angels, a Dreadnought named Titus regularly converses with members of a squad that saved his bacon a few times. He seemed to particularly like the Veteran Sergeant, iirc. It doesn't really mention him having a "booming" voice, as he is always using squad-level and helmet-to-helmet vox channels (he uses a "normal" voice 24/7).

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I realise the answer is "VERY LOUDLY" but I have a genuine curiosity.

Goddamnit, BC you called me on my smartass answer before I even had chance to give it!

Given that the vast majority of the occupants of a Dreadnought would be mostly crippled, I would think some kind of system that scans the Marine's brainwaves and then translates it into speech and emits that through built-in speakers. Maybe something a little less high-tech like what Stephen Hawking uses these days. He can now only move his eyes, so uses them to look at a virtual keyboard and spell out what he wants to say. He can only communicate very slowly now.

Dusara take a look at "emperors text to speech device" on you tube

Judge Dredd? Robo-Cop? In a thread about Dreadnoughts?

Careful guys, there might be too much awesome here...

Thyhadras wrote:
Dusara take a look at "emperors text to speech device" on you tube

stupid rebellious teenage phases

 clamclaw wrote:
Space Wolves seem to have some grudge with helmets... Something about being feral and wanting to use their senses or some other shenanigans.

Gets in the way of the beard, they just wont admit it.

 Grimmor wrote:

 clamclaw wrote:
Space Wolves seem to have some grudge with helmets... Something about being feral and wanting to use their senses or some other shenanigans.

Gets in the way of the beard, they just wont admit it.

Oh I'm sure they'd definitely admit it cramps their style in that department, plus the whole senses thing.

 Lord Corellia wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I realise the answer is "VERY LOUDLY" but I have a genuine curiosity.

Goddamnit, BC you called me on my smartass answer before I even had chance to give it!

Given that the vast majority of the occupants of a Dreadnought would be mostly crippled, I would think some kind of system that scans the Marine's brainwaves and then translates it into speech and emits that through built-in speakers. Maybe something a little less high-tech like what Stephen Hawking uses these days. He can now only move his eyes, so uses them to look at a virtual keyboard and spell out what he wants to say. He can only communicate very slowly now.

Reading how a Titan connects to people, I can imagine something similar applies to Dreadnoughts.

What stops them going crazy like the folk in the Titans, though?

Thyhadras wrote:
Dusara take a look at "emperors text to speech device" on you tube

Out!

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Reading how a Titan connects to people, I can imagine something similar applies to Dreadnoughts.

What stops them going crazy like the folk in the Titans, though?

Only being awoken very seldomly, and being in hibernation or stasis otherwise. Some do go crazy though, like Murderfang or just about every Chaos Dreadnought.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:

What stops them going crazy like the folk in the Titans, though?

As said, dreadnoughts aren't usually awake for very long periods of time. Someone like Bjorn, for example, is left sleeping until there's great need and otherwise only woken up about once in a hundred years for some grand feast where he can tell stories of Leman Russ. How he must hate it by now...

http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Bjorn_the_Fell_Handed