Best Dreadnought Kit

[Rapture]

I am looking to pick up a dreadnought today but I am not sure which to buy. I already assembled one Venerable Dreadnought and I really like the what I got for the money. There are a lot of options and some unique pieces (like the hand and the sarcophagus).

I was hoping that anyone who owns one or more of the kits would be willing to tell me what they like about it and what they don't. I play using C:SM, but I am considering all of the kits because I am not shy about converting what is there for my own needs.

So, which do you like and why? Venerable, Ironclad, Blood Angels, or just the standard?

Thanks for any replies!

[darthrex354]

i just buy the black reach dreads and convert them to my needs, you can get them on ebay for about $15-20 usually, although you have to have a sizable bitz box.

[Rapture]

Good point. The only reason I didn't include that as an option is because it doesn't seem very customization to me. Is it compatible with any of the panels and leg armor from the other dreadnought kits? I do like that it come with a nice looking multi-melta arm.

[wittdooley]

The Blood Angels kit is simply gorgeous. It has quite a bit of iconography on it, though if I recall, the majority of it (aside from the Death Co top) would be relatively easy to file off. I don't presently have it with me, but I'm almost ceratin the close combat arms would be easy to vanilla up.

The only problem you may find with the BA kit is that there are weapon options only available to the Blood Angels. I see no reason you couldn't use the force weapon as a Dread CC weapon sub.

[Lerra]

The forgeworld dreadnoughts look awesome and only cost a bit more than the standard plastic. It doesn't have as many extra bits, though.

[chromedog]

They generally don't come with ANY extra bits.

AFAIK, the arms are separate to the body, so you can order body X with Y arms.

I have a mix of plastic basic dreads and metal dreads.
I'm looking at getting a BA dread for my GK in the next month though.

The unneeded BA bits will either be binned or traded to the BA players in my club (I don't play, have never played, and have no intention of EVER playing BA).

I have a FW GK dread. I'd rather buy an Aobr dread than another one (and I'll never buy an aobr one). The amount of cleanup work it required was astounding. Do they just not care about casting quality or mould quality?

[MaltonNecromancer]

Venerable Dread - most bits, most options for conversion. Lovely kit, with some lovely preheresy helmets to boot.

Basic Dread - Lots of weapon options, forms a good bog standard base. Wouldn't bother with it when there's the

Black Reach Dread - beautiful sculpt, much nicer detail than the basic dread IMO. Not compatible with other Dreads, but easy to convert if you have the inclination. I have one with Plasma cannon, one Rifleman, so they're pretty easy to convert. Ridiculously so, in fact.

Ironclad Dread - Good for building Ironclads/meaty Furiosos. The very specific nature of the Ironclad's armaments means they have less conversion potential than you might at first imagine.

Furioso Dread - Love this kit; beautiful sculpt. Death Company Dread is one of the nicest kits GW as produced, and the kit comes with lots of stuff for converting... if you're a BA player. If not, it's really of limited potential.

Forge World Dread - almost all beautiful to a fault, but very expensive, and do not come with arms. Not a problem if you buy another Dread, but will significantly put the price up if you buy FW arms.

Overall, it depends on how many Dreads you want to run, and with what weapons. I'd recommend the Black Reach Dreads as the best staring point, followed by the Venerable Dread, and then the Furioso. I wouldn't bother witht he standard Dread, as the Venerable kit provides all the bits, only better. FW Dreads are pretty, but you need another kit to make the arms.

As for the Chaos Dreadnought? It's an ugly lump of outdated Fail. I'd avoid it like the plague and just convert something awesome instead.

[wittdooley]

As for the Chaos Dreadnought? It's an ugly lump of outdated Fail. I'd avoid it like the plague and just convert something awesome instead.

QFT. Though the FW Chaos ones are cool.

[Rapture]

Appreciate the advice.

I am a huge fan of the FW sculpts. What I am not a fan of is the resin, price, and shipping time. I don't think I would be able to resist if I played chaos though. Those sculpts are so good they make me want to build an army around them.

@ MaltonNecromancer
Thanks for the detailed reply. I have two spots left in my BF case so I will might end up going for a Venerable and an AoBR Dread.

I would still appreciate any knowledge on the hidden potential of any of the kits.

[Ranagar]

IMO The best option for weapons and mod potential is to buy the Furioso.
Since you have a Venerable, you can mix the pieces together to have whatever you want.

I have all of these but as a Space Wolves player they have their own issues:

Venerable Dread - Great kit with a lot of bits and a PLASMA CANNON. but you have one any way.

Basic Dread - Good kit, but the rest are better.

Black Reach Dread - The only place to find a milti-melta. Nice models and a cheap starter army. Started a Salimander army to dump the models that can't be used with my wolves.

Ironclad Dread - Good kit with limited options or conversion with out buying other kits too. Dropped into the Salamanders along with my LS Storm.

Furioso Dread - Great kit, not much that can be used in my wolves. Death Company Dread and several bits from the Venerable would make a quick Chaplin Dread. I just need to add a few bones from a box of skeletons I have around here somewhere. The blood talons make great additions to replace the CCW of any of the other plastic kits to make them look like Bjorn's.

Bjorn - Metal kit that is great for a one option model. Rereleased without adding at least a weapon sprue from one of the other plastic kits in current production?

Metal dread - Again very limited, go with the plastic kits. Converted mine to have a plasma cannon from a metal devistator. No where near as good as the venerable.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Not sure what "hidden potential" we can refer to; some more detail on what you actually want your finished Dreads to be equipped with and affiliated to would be helpful. I mean, I made this:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb183/MaltonNecromancer/2010%20Works%20in%20Progress/PC190288.jpg

From a Basic Dread, a spare Basic DCCW (making the right arm was a proper pain!), a space marine helmet, a few bits from a Cities of Death kit and plasticard; nothing else from any other Dreadnought kit.

What/how do you want your Dreads affiliated/equipped.

[Rapture]

@ Ranagar
Thanks for the input. Now I am bouncing back and forth between the Venerable and the Furioso.

@MN
Your picture is exactly what I was looking for. That dreadnought looks awesome and is very unique. The card work on the panels is simple but really stands out. As far as the load out for my new dread goes, I like to keep the versatile. So I would be doing whatever modifications are necessary for them to be compatible with my current armaments.

[Rapture]

I decided on the Venerable kit mostly for the number of options and spare parts in the kit. Also, I want to try converting the DCCW hand to look a little more dynamic. I do need one more dreadnought though, so as soon as my hobby fund builds up again I will most likely pick up a Furioso.

Thanks for all of the comments. They helped a lot.

[miwashi]

A little OT, but I've always wondered why the venerable dreadnoughts have their head exposed. Would this be a weak point of the dreadnought - blast the head and halt the whole thing?

[MaltonNecromancer]

The same reason SM sergeants don't wear helmets: The Rule of Cool.

In-universe, it's probably because Venerable Dreads are earlier, less well-thought-out versions of Dreadnoughts, based around enhanced suits of Terminator armour or something. They're just so damn tough now because of the skill of the pilot, and because they've been so carefully maintained.

The question I always have is why the Assault Cannon ammo cases are so small! They must carry enough bullets for maybe 2 seconds of fire. If you look at the ammo pack that Jesse ventura carries in "Predator", there's enough ammo in that for four seconds of shooting. Only time I've seen it averted was Vulcan Raven in Metal Gear Solid, and even then, the weapon he carried would be impossible for a human to use, power armour or not.

[Tynskel]

well. Space Marines can spit acid. They can't do that with their helmet on.