6 dreads...ever a good idea?

[r4wr89]

i realize that the "heed the wisdom of the ancients" special rule allows a ton of venerable dreads, but does anyone actually use that many? the most i've ever seen on a table, i think, is 2..

i'm asking because i've got 1500 points planned for my army, but i'm not sure where to go after that...because my chapter eventually takes heavy casualties, i'm thinking that dreads would be a sensible thing to include. however, it would require my changing one of my chapter's traits [not a big deal], but i would want as many venerables as i could get my hands on because they are a little harder to kill..

so yea i was wondering if anyone here has ever used that trait or fielded more than 2 dreads at a time, and how it works out! :] thanks
-ant

[Perturabo]

From personal experience I wouldnt because Dreadnaughts are such fire magnets and normaly fall before fulfiling any kind of battle field role.
You need a defined role for them, in my Chaos Force they (if I take any) stay at the back as mobile weapons platforms. If you are taking loads of them though a Dreadnaught charge from several CC armed models would be unstoppable-can you try a few practice games at your local club (maybe borrow a few models for the battle). It saves spending a lot of pennies on an idea that might not work!

[masterofweirdness]

Originally Posted by Perturabo

From personal experience I wouldnt because Dreadnaughts are such fire magnets and normaly fall before fulfiling any kind of battle field role.
You need a defined role for them, in my Chaos Force they (if I take any) stay at the back as mobile weapons platforms. If you are taking loads of them though a Dreadnaught charge from several CC armed models would be unstoppable-can you try a few practice games at your local club (maybe borrow a few models for the battle). It saves spending a lot of pennies on an idea that might not work!

Thats a scary thought! 4 Dreadnoughts charing your front line... hope you got some powerfists.

[Perturabo]

They would break pretty much anything they charged-thats quite scary thought. Think of all those monstorous creature attacks whilst being immune to your "normal troopers" attacks.

[experiment 626]

it's definately a very visually appealing thought seeing upto 6 dreads in a single army!

as perturabo points out, it's best to give each dread a specific purpose... for example, a good fire-support dread would have an assault cannon & rocket launcher. he can steadily walk forwards whilst laying down a hail of anti-infantry or anti-tank shots!
for your assaulty dreads, puting them in drop pods is pretty much mandetory... you'll only take one turn of enemy shooting and you can use the pod itself as cover to block alot the enemy's line of sight! heavy flamers are great on these guys as they'll be so up close.

you might want to cheat a bit and use the blood angel 'dex for your list - this way you can get the furioso for that extra close combat punch! (no pun intended!) while you'd have to put up with the death company and give up on the venerable upgrade, it might still work?!

cheers!

[Imperial Commander Gent]

I once used 6 Dreads in a Blood Angels army! That game was fun. For about 750 points, you can do it! Even at 1500, you can still run a cheap commander and 30-40 tactical marines! Also, you will end up with some CC troops (death company)!

[rintinglen]

I think it would be interesting to try, but I am not sure how well it work. Tau would make short work of a "Dreadnoughts-only" army. (The evil swine who felt that Hammerheads should be able to move 12" and still shoot ought to be flogged.) They have stronger weapons and as long as they keep moving 7", only get glancing hits, regardless of their opponents strength of weaponry. The notion of 3 close combat dreads lumbering across the table and shattering an opponent, while aesthetically pleasing, is statistically unlikely to achieve it's intended function.
About the only armies that might be vulnerable would be orks (non-speed freak armies) and, sigh, World Eaters.
(Guess who has about 5,000 points of what army?...)
Tau, Shooty SM, IG, Eldar, even shooty Tyranids would have a pretty fun time shooting armoured sarcophagi into ruined statuary. Even a regular Tyranid army with rending claws should have little problem dealing with them.
The Problem as I see it is that you combine slow movement with moderate armour and unlike the the thrice damned Eldar Wraithlord you don't have three lives to spare. Two penetrating hits and you are most likely toast while the wraithlord or talus takes a licking and keeps on licking.

[r4wr89]

so i talked to ikarus a little while ago and the first thing he said was "DON'T. take 6 dreads"

just to clarify, i never intended to :] haha. but i'm thinking maybe 3, all venerable. as i said before, i'd change one of my chapter's traits and pick up a minor drawback to do it, but it's not a big deal.

as for purpose, probably all shooty. my army [i didn't realize this before] is mostly shooty and so i'm thinking of keeping my infantry and dreads in cover while taking criss-crossing lines of sight through the middle, or strolling around behind the behemoths, things like that..

thanks all
-ant

[Steellegioncpt]

Dont get me wrong 6 dreads would be a fun list to throw up there. Just to say haha hey I have 6 dreads. But I would never play them seriously. Also I love the model but 6 is just unbalanced and what not so... thats a no..

[experiment 626]

hmmmm... this is giving me ideas!

6 dreads is definately a huge challenge because we all know that dreads, while cool and all, just aren't that tough when it comes right down to it!

still, as mentioned earlier, drop pods could help and also keeping your shooty dreads with longer ranged weaponry can help them avoid a fair amount of incoming fire...

dang... i might just have to try this!!!
cheers!

[Perturabo]

If you do please get some pictures as things like this I love to see (and not in the White Dwarf we took 6 Dreadnaughts and pretended we had a battle way-oops did I say that)!
Made me have a think about having a Dreadnaught/Killa Can/Wraithlord/Battlesuit "Arena of Death" scenario!

[Steellegioncpt]

Originally Posted by experiment 626

hmmmm... this is giving me ideas!

6 dreads is definately a huge challenge because we all know that dreads, while cool and all, just aren't that tough when it comes right down to it!

still, as mentioned earlier, drop pods could help and also keeping your shooty dreads with longer ranged weaponry can help them avoid a fair amount of incoming fire...

dang... i might just have to try this!!!
cheers!

No they are tough, but they just need to pick their fights. I mean they are perfect against standard troops. e.i. tactical squads, devs, termagaunts, guard squads (then again anything will work for them hahaha jk).. They are very vaulnerable to power fists thats for sure and anti-tank.. but then again there is alot of that on the table..... blast I had a point though...

[r4wr89]

Originally Posted by Steellegioncpt

No they are tough, but they just need to pick their fights. I mean they are perfect against standard troops. e.i. tactical squads, devs, termagaunts, guard squads (then again anything will work for them hahaha jk).. They are very vaulnerable to power fists thats for sure and anti-tank.. but then again there is alot of that on the table..... blast I had a point though...

lol thanks for the tips...i'm thinking of 3 dreads, maybe...not sure yet. i'll start writing a list for the company soon, as i've decided it's too different from my original army, expanding it to multiple companies.

i'm also thinking of just keeping them super shooty...for fluff reasons one of them will have to be venerable* with power fist/assault cannon though

thanks again all :]
-ant

* all three are going to be venerable anyways

[masterofweirdness]

Originally Posted by r4wr89

lol thanks for the tips...i'm thinking of 3 dreads, maybe...not sure yet. i'll start writing a list for the company soon, as i've decided it's too different from my original army, expanding it to multiple companies.

i'm also thinking of just keeping them super shooty...for fluff reasons one of them will have to be venerable* with power fist/assault cannon though

thanks again all :]
-ant

* all three are going to be venerable anyways

Well, just add some drop pods to those bad boys and you can still have some fun! To bad they probably won't hit the table on the same board.

[r4wr89]

yea, that's what i'm thinking, putting them all in dps..unfortunately that'd drive their base prices up to 155...sheesh! lol

:]
-ant