Since I did not get any resounding "No" answers or "Yes" answers, I will continue my own personal Warhammer 40,000 lore discussions on Hive! (It is shortened to "40k".
Warhammer 40,000 Dreadnoughts
Let's talk about Dreadnoughts - one of the most iconic things that got me interested in Warhammer in the first place. So, if you don't know what they are, you will at first be impressed by their aesthetic - large, hulking robots with guns and often a big fist. No doubt a powerful unit.
Then, when you dive a bit deeper, you realize how truly GRIMDARK this unit is!
The storyline of Warhammer 40,000 is full of all sorts of pretty dark and grim concepts - its kind of in the name isn't it? That said, even the "good guys" do pretty bad or horrifying things.
Dreadnoughts are one of those things.
Though they are revered and to become a dreadnought is an absolute honor - yes, this robot body is piloted, the person inside the dreadnought has little choice, for they have already died.
I have not covered all the details about Space Marines yet, but veteran Space Marines might have seen decades or even centuries of warfare and accumulated massive amounts of experience. Space Marines do not die of old age and generally die in combat.
But not all wounds are absolute, many Space Marines, especially veterans have bionic replacements for a lost eye or a lost arm. But some are injured so badly that they are very nearly dead and their bodies are too broken to fix, but deemed worthy of the honor or too valuable to lose... these Space Marines become Dreadnought pilots.
The center of the Dreadnought is a sarcophagous, inside entombed the remains of a Space Marine, his arms and legs removed (mostly they were already missing a limb or two), and their torso and brain kept alive with life support systems.
Their brains are wired into the dreadnought body so they can feel and see as though the Dreadnought is their actual body.
Inside
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Thus they are the Chapter's honored dead and warcries of "Even in death, I still serve!" may be heard, bellowed over the loudspeakers that allow Dreadnoughts to communicate.
There has been some evidence in the lore than many Dreadnought pilots feel incredible pain and that painkillers are only lightly administered while they are awake while those that are not in active service are kept in a state of sleep/coma and awakened before the start of a new battle.
Therefore, to this seasoned veteran cripple who is considered to have died, all they know is an unending cycle of being woken from sleep into pain, then thrust onto the battlefield before going to sleep again.
Pretty Grimdark!
Dreadnought
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Here we see a regular Dreadnought. The topmost picture shows a close combat fist while the above, the Dreadnought is kitted out with only guns. In the Lore it depends on what the pilot was good at, which then determines what weapons they favour or are needed to wield.
In the above case, perhaps the marine was a Devastator who wielded heavy weapons.
In the tabletop, you can kit them out as it suits your strategy. These models were among the first to be built as modular models, with all the arms painted up but not glued in so they can be removed and exchanged.
The weapons available to the Dreadnought are quite varied.
Venerable Dreadnought
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A Venerable Dreadnought is an old and experienced Dreadnought. Often, this means they have lived as much time or more time as a Dreadnought than as a Marine.
They generally have higher skills and are more durable.
Ironclad Dreadnought
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The Ironclad Dreadnought is armed for breaking walls and tearing into armored bunkers. Used dependant on the situation.
Space Wolf Venerable Dreadnought
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Different Chapters of Space Marines might have different, Chapter-specific Dreadnought variants. Today I am not going through all of them.
Above is a Space Wolf Venerable Dreadnought, thus a seasoned and old viking-like warrior... who was also a Super Human viking Space Marine. As you can see, the one layout is to equip this dreadnought with Axe and Shield!
In the game there are named characters called Special Characters, above is a Dreadnought... a Venerable Dreadnought that is a special/named character - Bjorn the Fell Handed.
Bjorn is the oldest Dreadnought that we know about, having been there during the Horus Herest 10,000 ago. Bjorn did spend many decades at a time in sleep, often only woken up in the most dire need or once every hundred years to oversee the retelling of the Space Wolves' oral histories retold by the skalds.
On the battliefield, Bjorn can take the role of your army commander and lead an army on his own, that is how exerienced he is.
That's all for now! If you liked this post, let me know in the comments as there is a lot more detail, characters and Dreadnought variants that I have not yet covered!
Until next time.
Cheers!
@zakludick
