My thoughts on dreadnoughts in 5th Edition


Now they come out with the model?
I've already got my two done. Go figure.

Most of you know that as I cruise the FTW Blogroll, I'll occasionally collect things to post about. In this case, dreadnoughts. Over the past month or so, I've seen lots of these guys pop up on a number of different blogs like these guys here:

Sons of Medusa dread from Reinforcements
Khorne dread from Berks Warhammer 40k
Crimson Fist rifleman dread from Dakka Dakka Daz
Dark Angel dread from Archangels
Black Templar dread from The Brethrens Call
Black Templar dread from Templar Vanquish
Ironclad dread from 4th Company

The point is, there are lots of these great war machines out there. They may not be as prevelant as Land Raiders in 5th edition now but it seems like every Space Marine player has one of these guys in their carrying case. Whether or not he see's the battlefield is another story.


I run two in my Deathwing now, but it's always been a crazy affair between me and dreadnoughts. I love the idea of them, the Veteran wounded and placed inside the machine so that he can continue to fight for the Emperor. I used to have 2 in my Black Templar force, but they would come and go as I changed my list over time. Ultimately they were dropped in favor of bikes, but I don't think I knew how to use them back then and I wanted something that "did better."

Jump ahead to now and I still don't know how to use them that well, but there aren't many options in a traditionally "pure" Deathwing army. That and like I've said before,I'm at that point now where I'm going to play with the units I think are cool (Dreadnoughts!) and figure it out from there.


Here a dread escorts the lone survivor to the objective.

If I think about it, they've done remarkably well for me. They've been able to take a considerable amount of damage and keep going. They've even changed the course of the game on a rare occasion. And... there have been the instances where they've been reduced to nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble in the first turn. Such is fate I suppose.

I still love using them, good or bad, worth the points or not, it doesn't matter to me. I don't even have them loaded out any particular way. One of them has a lascannon and the other has a multimelta because that's what he came with. I'm willing to bet it doesn't even matter what the weapon loadout is in the end. That's a whole discussion to itself though.

So, if you're one of those players with a unit (like a dreadnought) you love to use but you find yourself leaving it in your case for something "better," dig it out, make some room in your list and get it on the tabletop. It might take some time to learn how to use it, but I'm willing to bet you'll enjoy your games much more.

As for me, I'm going to keep my two dreads in my list. I'm having too much fun using them to take them out, regardless of how they do. I just remind myself that everything is expendable with Deathwing.

I just need some air support now.


Ron, From the WarpIf you've got any questions about something in this post, shoot me a comment and I'll be glad to answer. Make sure to share your hobby tips and thoughts in the comments below!