Crazy Idea: Techmarine Dreadnought

[Grenadier]

There's a Librarian and Chaplain Dreadnought out there. So why not a Techmarine one?

First off: there's an argument for it and against it in terms of story:

For:

Techmarines, having a strong association with the Priesthood of Mars, may well view becoming a Dreadnought as a step bringing them closer to the Omnissiah. Since it seems every techpriest's goal in life is to be more machine than man why not extend this to Techmarines?

Against it:

Since Techmarines are basically the mechanics and armorers of any Space Marine chapter one would imagine their daily tasks would be much more difficult to perform if they were now a Dreadnought. And since a Techmarine occupies a very special status, which is also affected by his association with the Adpetus Mechanicus, it is unlikely one would be able to become a dreadnought. After all, it seems to become a dreadnought you have to be a warrior of such skill that you're talents must not be allowed to die. I assume the person who determines who is allowed this honor is the chapter master. And he may well regard Techmarines unworthy of the honor due to that special status they possess.

But then this raises the question: Is not a techmarine's skill MORE valuable to a chapter than any warriors? Without him the chapter is going to be in a lot of trouble. And do not Techmarines fight just as fiercely as any warrior, especially when it comes to recovering vehicles? Clearly a Techmarine has just as valuable combat skills on top of his vast knowledge.

Technological point: Techmarines replaces their limbs with all manner of gizmos. They also have the servo harnesses. And we can assume they too can create those mechanical tentacles the techpriests use. So if you think about it even in Dreadnought form he'd be able to perform repairs to things. Of course on the battlefield he's now a bigger target. And surely a huge machine stomping around in the workshops onboard Space Marine ships isn't practical. He likely still could contrail servitors in his Dreadnought state as well to assist him. Still, it's an interesting idea to explore.

So what would one look like?

I'd imagine he'd be the baddest of them all in Dreadnought terms. His armor would be stronger than the other variants. As would his weaponry. A conversion beamer would likely be one potential weapon carried by them. Or maybe a modified Thunderfire cannon. In addition to all the other weapons available. I assume Dreadnought are capable of swapping out arms before battles so the possibilities are endless.

But I would imagine he would also have a lot of demolition and repair equipment built into him. After all, who knows better how to take out a bunker or tank than a Techmarine? So he likely would have a dreadnought sized servo harness mounted to his hull. Or perhaps his close combat weapon is some horrific thing consisting of plasma cutters, saws, pneumatic hammers, and other gadgets.

What kind of abilities would he get in game terms? A boost to destroy tanks? Or perhaps some enhanced repair capability?

Just for the sake of fun I'd like to build a Techmarine Dreadnought.

[karlthepagan]

I've always wanted techmarines to have more capabilities. Maybe another rank that improves their ability to command multiple servitor units, orders, buffs for vehicles, and of course... dreadnought upgrade.

It would make for a really cool model. I guess that it could be unique enough to merrit just being an IC.

[bloodangel 83]

Hey Grenadier, that would be interseting and i would like to see some pics when you do built him. BA83

[Kawauso]

Would make a neat model - I love the Chaplain dread from FW and have one in my vanilla marine army.

I'd love to see better rules for regular techmarines, also. They're really neat, but they don't really do much on the table, in my experience...
They should be more reliable when it comes to repairs...or maybe buff vehicles passively/all the time in some way - an aura like Sanguinary Priests, maybe? I dunno. Just waxing philosophical.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Something like these?

I made them back in 2007 for an AdMech project; sold two of them on eBay as I wasn't too happy with them.





I keep toying with the idea of making a proper AdMech army now and again. Seriously: the fluff is, was, and ever shall be made up. Make up what you like; 40K is about models first, fluff second. If the model is awesome, the fluff goes with it. You want a Techmarine Dreadnought? Make the damn thing, then post pictures! If it's cool, who cares if there are rules or not?

Forge World certainly don't...

[MaltonNecromancer]

Here's a better shot of the front of the first Dreadnought.

[Grenadier]

Malton you're the man! Those look great. Tell me, the first one..is that just an ordinary assault cannon? It appears to be a bit beefier and meaner. Did you go go with some VDR thing with it?

Yes, those are along the lines of what I'm thinking. But when I make one I think I'll focus more on non-weaponry attachments. Treat it more like a walking repair vehicle. With the VDR rules I think it's possible to tweak a Dreadnought to be able to act as a wrecker or even a recovery vehicle. A Techmarine Dreadnought might be a better supporting unit as opposed to one which fights directly. It could make an excellent defense unit as well. And as Karl said maybe it could buff vehicles. Perhaps it could act as kind of mobile targeting system and could bestow some kind of benefit to tanks in the shooting phase.

Either way, Dreadnoughts are fascinating things I think GW has not fully explored their potential. Also, I'd like to know more about them in terms of the experience becoming one. For example, when a marine is mortally wounded is he offered the honor? Does he get a choice? Or does he simply wake up one day and discover he's now a Dreadnought?

I imagine its not easy for a Marine to undergo the transformation. I assume a lot of his body is amputated to fit him in the sarcophagus. So he's nothing more than a torso and head connected to all sorts of things. He probably has to be trained by Techmarines in terms of getting used to his new body. How to walk. Before a battle is he arbitrarily assigned a weapons load out? Or does he get to pick? I would think outside of battle, when they sleep, a dreadnought's main body is just a shell. The sarcophagus removed and put in stasis. Weapon mounts are modular. It makes sense a Chaplain would devote extra attention to the Dreadnoughts to keep up their morale. After all, now they no longer can sense the world like a normal Marine. No longer can that participate in things their brothers get to. Like feasts and so forth. And at the same time I'd imagine they have an incredible sense of power and invulnerability that needs to be reigned in sometimes.

[MaltonNecromancer]

It's a styrene rod and plasticard scratchbuild. Very simple conversion. No VDR (and aren't they about seven years out-of-dae anyway, on account of being horribly broken and totally ineffective as a game design tool?). It's just a regular assault cannon in-game. I couldn't care less if it makes my Dradnought a bigger target. I just hate the stupidly small assault cannon Dreadnoughts come with Where do they keep the ammo?! In real life, miniguns need an appalling amount of ammunition to keep them going (to the point where the ammo storage is usually three or four times the size of the weapon.

For those who haven't seen the A-10 Avenger Cannon, it's worth seeing:



Now, I hate Metal Gear Solid, but I like this:



I mean, that just looks awesome. Insanely impractical, but not if you're a power-armoured supersoldier.

Hence, giant assault cannon. It's not going to help me win, but it is going to help me suspend my disbelief a little better. (Though notice, not actually succeed in suspending my disbelief; it is still 40K, the most unrealistic setting this side of Narnia.)

I think GW has not fully explored their potential. Also, I'd like to know more about them in terms of the experience becoming one. For example, when a marine is mortally wounded is he offered the honor? Does he get a choice? Or does he simply wake up one day and discover he's now a Dreadnought?

I can tell you've not read Fantasy Flight's Deathwatch game and supplements. "Rites of Battle" has about five pages of rules and information on effectively roleplaying a marine who becomes a Dreadnought. It can be boiled down to "You're really good at killing stuff, but otherwise your life sucks in every way imaginable". Because, you know, you're a multiple amputee who can never see anyone, touch anything, eat anything, drink anything, interact with anyone on a human level any more (because humans are terrified of you, and your marine brothers worship you as a relic of the Chapter. You have total sensory deprivation, don't sleep, but are never truly awake, experiencing life as a kind of eternal waking nightmare composed of eternities of doing absolutely and feeling nothing with brief interludes of statistical data about how many things you're killing. And the only reason you can survive and not go stark raving mad is because your religious fanaticism is too jealous a madness to let any other mania take hold.

To quote Warren Ellis' excellent comic "Global Frequency", I suppose they might be kind enough to put a little wire into your brain to simulate sexual pleasure when you kill people, but that would be about it. But yeah, being a dreadnought basically sucks.

If you've not read "Deathwatch" or "Rites of Battle", well, even by GW standards, they're expensive books, but worth reading; you should give it a go.

[Grenadier]

I've not read any of that no. I've only recently began collecting 40k books.

I do agree the assault cannon is rather small. And what better gun to be inspired by than the mighty GAU 8? When I was in the Air Force my job was going to be working on the weapons of the A-10. But I ended up getting a different assignment before being discharged for medical reasons. But what a mighty weapon eh? I love that roar it emits. "Bwwwwwaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!" In my humble opinion the A-10 is the king of ground support aircraft. Rugged and durable and armed to the teeth.

As for VDR I refuse to abandon them when making custom vehicles. I would like to see a new VDR that is not broken but that's unlikely to happen. I do find the basic guidelines presented in them to be helpful. And of course, as it say, the best thing to do is to modify existing models as opposed to just dreaming up a super killing machine of vast power.

[SotonShades]

Way ahead of you. I actually wrote a special character iron hands iron father dreadnought as part of the application process for the assistant games developer job in the design studio. Must have been pretty decent as it's got me through to the final interview stage. Not on my computer at the moment, but will post the rules and background for him soon as I can