Chaos Dreadnoughts are very rarely taken in CSM armies...why?
1) The model is fucking awful, lol.
2) Crazed means your Dreadnought does something you can't control 33% of the time.
3) They don't really have much in the way of character to make up for points 1 + 2 even in 'Fluffy' armies.
What they need to be viable.
1) A decent model would be nice.
2) Crazed needs a total rethink, Fire Frenzy needs dumping.
3) Some way of making Dreadnoughts of a particular god a bit more characterful.
I like to think of Chaos Dreadnoughts being quite assault orientated therefore the 'default' configuration is going to be biased towards that, with options to make it shooty if that's your preference. I've also changed a few things like the Reaper Autocannon profile and how Dirge Casters work (these changes will end up being consistent across the board for all units so if you don't like them now is the time to complain).
Chaos Dreadnought - 105 Points.
Dreadnought WS 5, BS 4, S 6, F 12, S 12, R 10, I 4, A 2/4
Unit Type - Vehicle (Walker)
Wargear
Smoke Launchers, Searchlight, 2x Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon c/w Twin-Linked Bolter.
Special Rules
Crazed *, Bonded for an Eternity **
* Crazed - A millennia locked in the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought gradually eats away at the sanity of even the strongest mind - At the beginning of each turn roll a die for each Chaos Dreadnought, if the result is 2-6 the Dreadnought acts normally. Should the roll be a 1 however, the Dreadnought becomes subject to the 'Rage' and 'Fleet' special rules until the beginning of the next controlling players turn.
** Bonded for Eternity - The Dreadnought and pilot have endured an eternity of constant warfare and can shrug aside damage that would incapacitate a lesser construct - All 'Crew Stunned' results are reduced to 'Crew Shaken'.
Options
The Dreadnought can exchange either or both arms for any of the following options. It loses an attack for each Dreadnought close combat weapon exchanged and the attached Twin-Linked Bolter. If the Dreadnought is left with no Dreadnought close combat arms it obviously no longer gets the bonuses for them.
If two of the same options are taken then the 2nd selection uses the higher points cost.
- Reaper Autocannon - 15/25 points ***
- Twin-Linked Lascannon - 25/35 points
- Multi-Melta - 15/25 points
- Plasma Cannon - 25/35 points
- Missile Launcher - 10/10 points
*** Reaper Autocannon - Range 36", S7, AP 4, Heavy 3, Twin-Linked.
A Twin-Linked Bolter may upgraded to a Heavy Flamer for 5 points.
May be equipped with a Havoc Launcher for 10 points.
May take a Dirge Caster **** for 5 points
**** Dirge Caster - Emits a terrifying mix of Screams, Wails, Scrapcode and unholy prayers to the Chaos Powers - Any enemy unit within 6" suffers a leadership modifier of -1, Any friendly Unit within 6" becomes 'Stubborn'.
Marks
May take one of the following Marks.
- Mark of Slaanesh : +1 I, counts as being armed with Assault Grenades - 10 points.
- Mark of Khorne : Gains D3 Attacks for charging rather than the normal 1. In addition a Dreadnought with the Mark of Khorne fails its 'Crazed' roll on a 1 or 6 - 20 points.
- Mark of Nurgle : Counts as being armed with both Assault and Defensive Grenades - 15 points.
- Mark of Tzeentch : May select a single psychic power from those available to the Chaos Sorceror (obviously I haven't made these up yet, lol) and Counts as Ld. 10 for the purposes of taking psychic tests - 25 points
A Dreadnought that has taken the Mark of Slaanesh may take any of the following upgrades
The Dreadnought can exchange either or both arms for any of the following options
- Blastmaster - 15 points
May exchange any Twin-Linked Bolter for a Sonic Blaster for 5 points
May exchange any Twin-Linked Bolter for a Doom Siren for 10 points
A Dreadnought that has taken the Mark of Tzeentch may take any of the following upgrades
- Inferno Bolts for Twin-Linked Bolters - 5 points per Bolter
- Inferno Bolts for Heavy Bolters - 15 points per Heavy Bolter
This one took a lot of thought and therefore is probably most open to debate.
The debating floor is now open...
You have read this article Chaos Space Marines /
Fixing C:CSM
with the title Fixing C:CSM - Part 7 - Chaos Dreadnoughts.. You can bookmark this page URL http://llourenzzo-putta.blogspot.com/2010/06/fixing-ccsm-part-7-chaos-dreadnoughts.html. Thanks!
