It's time to build another Dreadnought and add it to my collection! Of course to be officially included in my Grand Imperial Army, it needs to be painted first! But I will get there!
Let's build a Ballistus Dreadnought!
So for a while now, there has been the Redeemer Dreadnought and then last year they added the Brutalis Dreadnought to the range, with the Brutalis using the Redeemer Chassis, but with twin Close Combat arms and a carapace mounted Iron-Hail Heavy Stubber, this Dreadnought is its opposite.
The Ballistus Dreadnought is a Shooting focussed Dreadnought. All guns. It can still kick you with some solid blows in close combat, but nothing super lethal.
Instead, this guy is best skulking around the rear lines, dropping enemy vehicles and monsters down or even to help focus on elite infantry units that need to be eliminated.
Of course, it has the ability to deal some interesting split fire with its lascannon focussing on a heavy target and the Missile opting for FRAG missiles against troops. Or it can shoot KRAK missiles into a tank.
For medium to large vehicles, it is my playstyle to put both big guns into one target and waste it. If there are two light vehicles then I might consider splitting fire and targeting two units at the same time.
This is because this model has the "Ballistus Strike" Rule. When targeting a unit that is not Below Half Strength, this Dreadnought re-rolls any misses when it shoots at them. Thus it becomes the preferred unit to start a round of shooting with and it is good to consider if it can take a target from healthy to near dead in one round or not.
For a fancy split fire that might be lethal it could take on two light skimmers in one turn. Both arms can fire twice, with a re-roll of a miss, S10 and S14 vs light to medium vehicles is T6-T9 so 3+ to wound and good AP.
The damage? D6 on the missile and D6+1 on the lascannon. Light skimmers are like the Aeldari Venom has only 6 wounds. Striking one down in one shot might be quite awesome or at least striking most of its wounds off and then following up with another unit to finish it off.
If all 4 shots hit and wound, say, against an Oath of Moment target, there is a potential of 6-26 Wounds depending on what I roll for damage. With 16 wounds being the average between the two. Ouch!
I cannot wait to put this guy on the battlefield!
Here is the build sequence:
Sprues
Sprues and Instructions
Leg and hips assembly first.
Legs and hips done.
Get the feet out, legs and base.
Assembled and standing!
Another great pose.
Legs from the back
Torso assembled and mounted to legs!
An additional Armor plate gets added.
Armor installed. Look at the size of this thing!
Engine Exhausts to be added.
Installed exhausts.
Missile Launcher body
Front and back there is a hole plus tab to help install the part the right way around.
Assembled Missile Launcher
Lascannon and Missile Launcher ready!
Fully built!
Lascannon Pose!
The Ballistus Dreadnought, Captain in Terminator Armor, Librarian in Terminator armor and an Inquisitor that I have from my painted collection.
This is the size comparison between the Dreadnought and a mortal human agent of the Imperium. The Inquisitor is wearing power armor but for a human size.
My only issue with this model is that there is only a small connection between the torso and the legs and using the snap-fit method, the whole thing wobbles ever so slightly.
I do not think that the model will break or fall apart, and you cannot really see the wobble too much. But it might wear with the movement over time.
Overall, I think I should just open that part again and use plastic cement to make that joint solid.
Other than that I am extremely happy with this model!
Cheers!
I am currently raising funds for a friend. Please help if you can! Details about the fund raiser HERE
