Redemptor Dreadnought

just wait until melee combat

Redemptor Dreadnoughts are the apex of Space Marine warfare, combining the ancient expertise of a renowned hero with new developments in Adeptus Mechanicus technology. Redemptor Dreadnoughts are the largest and most powerful of their brethren, rivaling even the venerable Leviathan pattern and trading out its older cousin’s atomantic shielding for more weapons. Colossal bulk indicates prodigious strength and belies a surprising turn of speed, outpacing their smaller brethren and capable of tearing apart even daemons and bio-titans with one enormous powered fist. This is combined with vast array of weapons designed to allow the Redemptor to focus on a specific target or remain terrifyingly versatile, from the anti-flyer Icarus rocket pod to the armour-melting macro plasma incinerator to the rolling thunder of the heavy onslaught gatling cannon.

Overview

First mentioned in passing in the Primaris Marines FAQ. For no matter how great and glorious they may be, in the grim future even they are not immortal. Though how enough of these brand spanking-new Space Marines were curbstomped just enough to warrant Dreadnaught status, we'll (probably) never know. Times be desperate, yo. Considering the Primaris fought in the Indomitus crusade in their hundreds and thousands for over a century it may not be as far fetched as it first appears.

Then again, there's nothing explicitly stating that only Primaris Marines are compatible with the new dread, especially since it looks like just a standard sarcophagus installed in an upgraded chassis. It's likely that the first batch of Redemptor Dreadnoughts mostly contains regular Astartes. Furthermore, we currently don't know how long the Indomitus Crusade has been going know that by the time of the Dark Imperium novel and by extension the launch of 8th Edition it's been approximately 112 years since the Indomitus Crusade began and is quickly coming to a close. That's a fairly reasonable amount of time for Primaris Redemptor Dreadnoughts to become more mainstream, though considering how old some Dreads are...

They are also shown to have a major flaw. Interned Marines are known to die after long periods of extended use inside of the Redemptor this is due to the fact that for reasons unknown, Uncle Cawl and the Techpriests felt that using the same process utilized on their Onager Dunecrawlers (You know the vehicle notorious for turning their drivers into disposable living batteries) on a really expensive super soldier was a 'pretty good idea for maximizing the Marine's potential'. As you can imagine, this ended up with a Dreadnought chassis that somehow manages to kill more of the people they're meant to protect than vice versa. Seriously, entire sarcophagi are being thrown out like fucking double A batteries.

On the other hand, the Redemptor could also suffer the same fate as the Leviathan Dreadnought given that the Leviathan's fluff states that operating it puts a terrible strain on the pilot, it is possible that the Redemptor suffers a similar flaw due to Cawl not giving any shits about how the neural uplink would affect the pilot. So, unlike past Dreadnoughts, don't expect any named character to be put inside one of these and survive through out the centuries.

Unless... those characters are of strong of will and body to sustain themselves despite the ludicrous strain the Dreadnought puts on them.

Crunch

The Statline has been revealed; for all of you who worried it would replace your leviathan, it hits on 3+ where the leviathan hits on 2+, minus one strength and toughness, and a 3+ save to the Leviathan's 2+. The article also said it has no atomantic shielding, so probably no invuln. no word on its weapons stats yet.

Here is the full statline for your viewing convenience:

M8" WS3+ BS3+ S7 T7 W13 A4 Ld8 S3+

It's movement drops by 2" and WS and BS drop by one for each wound bracket, so it goes down to 6" and 4+ for both at 6 wounds left and 4" and 5+ for both at 3 wounds left. Also its explosion causes D6 mortal wounds instead of the usual D3, so that's something to watch out for.

Stats are in: You have a choice between the anti-infantry dakka of the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon or the anti-heavy infantry/light vehicles Macro Plasma Incinerator. Like other Imperial plasma weapons the latter can be overcharged with the risk of mortal wounding the bearer.

Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon: 30" Heavy12 S5 AP-1 D1

Macro Plasma Incinerator normal mode: 36" HeavyD6 S8 AP-4 D1

Macro Plasma Incinerator overcharged: 36" HeavyD6 S9 AP-4 D2

Then as a secondary armament you can have an Onslaught Gatling Cannon for more dakka (it's shorter range than it's heavier brother at 24" and has half the dakka at Heavy6, but other than that it's the exact same) or a Heavy Flamer, and we all should know what one of those does by now. Since the Flamer and Cannon both have the same strength, AP, and damage, you're mainly comparing the range of the Cannon vs the potential to auto-hit, even after moving, with the Flamer. Also the Cannon is a whopping 1 point cheaper than the Flamer if you need to pinch points.

In addition you can have either a pair of Storm Bolters or Fragstorm Grenade Launchers in the chassis, the former being more consistent and longer range but the latter has a max range (18") just beyond the Storm Bolter's rapid fire range (12") so it's maximum damage output is technically longer than the Storm Bolter's, but the Launcher is Assault D6 so it's number of shots is less reliable, but they can be fired after advancing. Both have the exact same strength, AP, and damage though the Fragstorms are 4 points each while Storm Bolters are only 2.

Last but most certainly not least the Redemptor comes with its own special fist that is the same as the normal Dreadnought fist except it does D6 damage instead of the flat 3, so obviously the potential to dumpster something in one combat but also the risk of tickling it a little. Also of note is that the one extra Strength the Redemptor has over the more common Dreads translates into wounding things of T7 on 2+ vs the usual 3+.

I'll leave the tactical analysis for people for experienced in such things but that's all the numbers.

Notable Redemptor Dreadnoughts

Malcades: Malcades was a Redemptor Dreadnought in service to the Ultramarines Chapter who was the first Primaris Space Marine to fall in battle in the Realm of Ultramar during the Indomitus Crusade. After being placed within the shell of a Redemptor Dreadnought, he fought in the Plague Wars on the Ultramaran world of Espandor against the forces of the Plague God.

Gallery

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  I HAVE LEGS! I HAVE FULLY ARTICULATE LEGS!

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  Like their less crippled brothers. The Redemptor Dreadnought is going to be bigger, stronger and better than their Astartes counterparts in every single way.

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  Say Dave, ever wonder what would happen if I dueled with those fancy chaps over there?