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Hi all

So what options do you use on this at the moment? Was thinking of the two ccw weapons but don't see a massive bonus in rerolls of 1s if it's at full health? Is one of the range weapons any good? Thinking it could offer more options?

The Kheres assault cannon would be my choice. S7 means it will be wounding most tanks on a 4+. Combined with its decent RoF that makes it a pretty flexible and dangerous weapon, especially on a BS2+.

 Karhedron wrote:
The Kheres assault cannon would be my choice. S7 means it will be wounding most tanks on a 4+. Combined with its decent RoF that makes it a pretty flexible and dangerous weapon, especially on a BS2+.

Agreed. It doesn't massively matter whether you go for the melta or the kheres though. I can see a case for Salamanders going for the melta. Salamander dreads are very good because it's pretty likely that 1 of your 4 attacks will miss or fail to wound - so their average damage is quite a bit higher.

The main point of contemptors is hitting things with their ccw. They really are a lot better at this than normal dreadnoughts. They are a bit tougher, significantly faster, better at hitting and stronger. Base S7 means that they tend to double out vehicles and wound on a 2+, rather than a 3+. And of course they are better at hitting as well.

But this means that it probably isn't worth spending loads of points on their guns. They should always be moving (though of course they still hit as well as a standard dread standing still) and will often be locked in cc. And to be honest they don't necessarily live all that long, especially if they end up at the front of your army against smite spam.

Overall a contemptor is a very focussed dreadnought. It does cc really well - better than any other type I think. Your best bet is to not pay much for its guns at all.

If you're looking at a relic contemptor then you do have a ton of options. The conversion beamer is pretty bad, but the option of having twin lascannon is pretty interesting.

As the OP has said, paying 40 points for a second CCW just for the sake of rerolling 1s isn't worth it. 10 points more buys you a twin lascannon, and there are other guns you can have for significantly less.

Twin Conversion Beamers are pretty great actually. Versatile, but ultimately basically shooting several heavy flamers at a unit from across the board with backup duty as a lasgun.

I only run mine as Kheres with CCW or The Mortis with 2 Dual Lascannons personally. I have considered trying out the Conversoin Beamers though.

I think I agree that the fist/gun combo is the way to go. Venerable dreads can do the shooty role almost as well for cheaper.

I like the KAC for the gun. Hard to beat for the points and it's easy to get in plastic.

I've also had luck with a twin KAC Relic Contemptor, but as good as it does, it has to compete with Razorbacks and Stormtalons for Assault Cannon duties and I think a quad Lascannon loadout is too expensive, although maybe if you were confident it could be deployed out of LoS and maybe get cover...

I run the Mortis Contemptors with 2 Dual Las because I typically am playign Raptors with RG tactics, so they are much more durable than anything else I can bring 4 Lascannons on. 2 of those plus a regular Contemptor running midfield makes people think about what to shoot at too.

Two C-Beam cannons work fine (BS2+ helps a lot) as a long range anti-vehicle support with bonus ability to softer infantry units. But requires right positioning (faaaaar away).
Also double butcher cannons proved to be useful.

I see that C-beam contemptors can work. They also look cool. I just tend to think that a quad-las contemptor works better most of the time. In the 24-48" bracket even a single lascannon is about as good as a C-beam cannon (better strength, but 3.5 rather than 4 average damage). The C-beam only becomes better outside of 48" - not least because a lascannon can't reach that far.

However, you get two lascannons per arm, and only one C-beam cannon. To me, that makes it pretty clear which one you want to have on your dreadnought. Most of the time, a quad las dreadnought will do twice as much damage as a C-beam cannon - even outside of 24".

Then of course the C-beam guy has to stand still to fire at all, it's very weak within 24", and you have to buy the more expensive relic version because the Mortis can't take C-beams.

Taking all of this into account, I think quad las is the clear choice.

Mandragola wrote:
I see that C-beam contemptors can work. They also look cool. I just tend to think that a quad-las contemptor works better most of the time. In the 24-48" bracket even a single lascannon is about as good as a C-beam cannon (better strength, but 3.5 rather than 4 average damage). The C-beam only becomes better outside of 48" - not least because a lascannon can't reach that far.

However, you get two lascannons per arm, and only one C-beam cannon. To me, that makes it pretty clear which one you want to have on your dreadnought. Most of the time, a quad las dreadnought will do twice as much damage as a C-beam cannon - even outside of 24".

Then of course the C-beam guy has to stand still to fire at all, it's very weak within 24", and you have to buy the more expensive relic version because the Mortis can't take C-beams.

Taking all of this into account, I think quad las is the clear choice.

Isn't that only true if you're shooting anti-tank? C-Beam has the potential to wreck infantry squads in a way that quad las can't. That suggests to me that it's a better all-rounder. The inability to move and fire is a problem, though.

Did they ever fix the Chaos Contemptor's inability to take a twin lascannon?

I submitted the question multiple times since the FW index was released, but only ever got vague answers about looking into it.

Assault cannon and CC weapon w/ storm bolter. Not a bad loadout and pretty versitile. Not as strong at taking out big monsters or vehicles but can wade through infantry and still potentially damage those big ticket items in CC or on a lucky shot.

So, for me, i was thinking of running my two contemptors with 1 twin las and 1 c-beam each.

For me, this split the threat while providing options. Running duel c-beam is nice, until you run into los issues. Having the twin las alongside it allows you to still have some damage output in those turns you may need to move.

Chaos wise, i think it's c-beam + butcher cannon all the way.

That said, there is something that needs to be said in regards to running a double chainfist relic contemptor with grav/plasma up the table, advancing first turn to pop smoke. Taken as Raven Guard it becomes a target that needs to be dealt with, but a massive pain to remove. 2nd turn should see it happily punching stuff. Just a shame it only has 4 attacks.

I run two In my DA forces and while Kheres and fist is great, I have more fun as a relic with dual chainfist with plasma blasters. Ease of rerolls keeps the overcharged plasma pretty relevant and the extra attack is always appreciated. Just keep a spare CP handy in case.

I'd be curious to see the math between Kheres and OC plasma blasters.

I don't think there's much doubt that the plasma version would do far more damage - but also at a much higher cost. For me the strength of the basic contemptor is the mix of low-ish cost with speed, hitting power and durability.