Crazy Idea: Techmarine Dreadnought

[SotonShades]

Got on to my laptop now, so here he is; Aereus Getrievun, Iron Father Patrius, Harbinger of the Omnissiah. A Dreadnought techmarine of the Iron Hands chapter.

Mortally wounded during the Moirae Schism, Iron Father Aereus Getrievun had already served the Iron Hands for over 250 years; nurturing their mortal and machine spirits with an air of unbroken, authoritative precision. Indeed, the damage that ended his life was dealt while he ministered to a damaged Predator tank amidst the chaos of a battle against his former brothers that had sided with the Ur-Council of Nova Terra. A Lascannon blast destroyed the noble machine while Getrievun had his arms deep within the bowls of its engine. The shrapnel from its armour plates shredded what little of his mortal flesh that still remained and shattered his bionics beyond repair. As the Great Clan Council exiled the dissidents from the Chapter, the mortal remains of Getrievun were interred within the sarcophagi of one of the Dreadnought chassis he had administered to for his dedication to his brothers and the Omnissiah.
For a full century Getrievun slumbered, unable to be roused for war by the Techpriests and Iron Fathers of the Iron Hands, no matter what methods they tried. Just as the Great Council came to the decision that his entombment was a mistake, Getrievun brought himself out of his artificial hibernation, powering up his systems and declaring in Binaric cant that he had been in communion with the Omnissiah. He insisted upon returning to his duties as an Iron Father and to that end his chassis was modified to carry dextrous tools to once again tend to his wards.
Enshrined within his adamantine hull, Getrievun claimed an almost unique connection with the Omnissiah and took a pilgrimage to Mars, taking with him a retinue of Medusan Servitors. There he learned the greatest secrets of the Adeptus Mechanicus and shared what he had learnt from his meditation with the Machine God. Although the priests of the Martian cult petitioned him to join their search for hidden Archeotech, Getrievun refused, simply stating that his place was with his battle-brothers.
His return to the Chapter heralded an unprecedented era of success in the history of the Iron Hands. While recovering their losses from the Moirae incident, they achieved victory after victory, guided by Getrievun, recovering repositories of cached technology.
In more recent times, Getrievun has led many techno-crusades in to the Eye of Terror to destroy the Daemon Forges and blasphemous machines within. A regular attendee of the Great Clan Councils, his advice and wisdom accumulated over more than five millennia is sought after by Iron Fathers and Commanders from all of the Iron Hands Clans and their successor chapters. In battle, Getrievun is a sight to behold; an avenging harbinger of the Omnissiah, equally adept at repairing stricken Imperial vehicles or wreaking destruction up on those of the enemy.


Getrievun is a HQ choice for an Iron Hands Space Marine army.

////////////////////|---Armour---|//////////
WS...BS...S...Front...Side...Rear...A
5......5....6.....13......12.....10...2(3)


tioUnit Composin:
• 1 Venerable Dreadnought (Unique)

Unit Type:
• Vehicle (Walker)

Special Rules:
• Venerable
• Blessed of the Omnissiah
• Omnissiah’s Guidance

Wargear:
• Dreadnought close combat weapon (with built-in Meltagun)
• Dreadnought close combat weapon (with built-in twin-linked Plasma Pistol)
• Carapace mounted Kheres Assault Cannon
• Smoke Launchers
• Searchlight
The extra attack for having two close combat weapons is included in the profile given.

Options
• Getrievun may take a unit of Medusan Servitors for 30 Points (See unit entry below). They do not take up any Force Organisation Chart selections, but are otherwise treated as a separate HQ unit.


Blessed of the Omnissiah
An Iron Father before his interment into a Dreadnought sarcophagus, Getrievun insisted that he be able to continue his duty to the Iron Hands and the venerable machines he administered to. The many artificers of the chapter acquiesced to his request, crafting a multi-limbed weapon mount to his chassis and granting him the dexterity required to maintain their most prized relics.

If Getrievun is in base contact with a damaged vehicle in his front arc at the start of his shooting phase, he can attempt to repair it. He may not fire his Meltagun or plasma pistol, but may fire his Kheres Assault Cannon as normal. He may not attempt to make a repair if suffering the effects of a Crew – Stunned or Crew – Shaken damage result or if he is locked in combat.

To make the repair, roll a D6. On a 3+, either a Weapon Destroyed result or Immobilised result (owning player’s choice) will be repaired. If a Weapon Destroyed result is repaired, that weapon can be fired in the following shooting phase.

Getrievun cannot use this ability to repair himself, or if both of his Dreadnought close combat weapons have been destroyed.


Omnissiah’s Guidance
A master of machines and privy to many of the greatest secrets of Mars, Getrievun can use his knowledge to wreak havoc upon enemy vehicles, as though the Omnissiah itself were taking vengeance upon their infernal hulls.

Getrievun always rolls 2D6 for armour penetration instead of the usual D6.


Kheres Assault Cannon
Originally intended for the Contemptor pattern Dreadnought and a relic of the Horus Heresy era, Getrievun had a Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon affixed to his armoured carapace after having a leg sheared off in battle against the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Tiamet. Unable to extol his revenge upon the hideous xenos that swarmed beyond arm’s reach, he vowed to never again be so debilitated.

The Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon uses the profile given below;
Range....Strength.....AP.....Type
24”............6..........4.......Heavy 6, Rending


Medusan Pattern Servitors
Unlike many Space Marine Chapters, the Iron Hands see Servitors as having an unparalleled union with the Omnissiah. Battle-Brothers who are mortally wounded in battle, but unable to be interred with the adamantium sarcophagus of a Dreadnought are often transformed into Medusan Servitors. More capable and survivable than normal Imperial Servitors; they possess a spark of their former selves and are thus able to act more autonomously. Despite this, they see Getrievun as their spiritual leader and often flock to him in the midst of battle to do what they can to prevent him from falling again.

WS...BS...S....T....W....I....A....Ld...Sv
3......3....4....4....1.....3...1.....8....4+

Unit Composition:
• 3 Medusan Servitors

Unit Type:
• Infantry

Wargear:
• Servo-arm

Special Rules:
• Mindlock
• Chosen of the Iron Father

Options:
• May include up to 7 additional Medusan Servitors
.............................................+10 Points per model

Chosen of the Iron Father
Medusan Servitors automatically pass their Mindlock test if they start their movement phase within 6” of Getrievun. In addition, if they are in base contact with him at the start of their shooting phase they may attempt to repair him instead of running. For each Medusan Servitor in base contact with Getrievun, roll a D6. For each 6 rolled, either a Weapon Destroyed result or Immobilised result (owning player’s choice) will be repaired. If a Weapon Destroyed result is repaired, that weapon can be fired in the following shooting phase. Medusan Servitors cannot attempt to repair Getrievun if they have gone to ground or are falling back.


I haven't made a model for Getrievun yet, but rest assured I know exactly what he looks like in my mind, and it is deffinitely a project I plan on getting too quite soon, along with a good sized squad of Medusan Servitors!


As for background reading, also check out 'Know No Fear', the latest Hruos Heresy novel. Decent amount of story is dedicated to how one of the Ultramarine's Dreadnoughts experiences life, both during battles and between times.

Shades

[MaltonNecromancer]

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

The core book:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Warhammer-40K-RPG-Deathwatch-Rulebook/dp/1589947789/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1331999207&sr=8-4[/url]

The supplement with detailed Dreadnought rules:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Deathwatch-Battle-Fantasy-Flight-Games/dp/1589947819/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1331999207&sr=8-3[/url]

As I say, massively expensive, but really rather good.

As for VDR, the problem for me has always been theone the design team pointed out, which is that is relies on the assumption that a mathematical formula can adequately account for the relative tactical utility of given stat ratings across all armies. Which is total nonsense.

AV 14 is worth FAR more to the Dark Eldar because they dont have access to it. BS 5 is worth FAR more to the Orks, because they just don't have access to it. Access to the Melta rule is worth FAR more to the Tyranids, because they don't have access to it.

A set of VDR rules would have to have a different set of points costs tailored to each army, based on the relative worth of each value to that army, relative to that army's accessibility to it.

Also, the big problem with VDR is that by and large, people design vehicles to have... well. let's jst say I've seen a lot of VDR "vehicles" that were basically an ugly box covered in spare weapons from the IG Heavy Weapons Team sprues at random angles, without rhyme or reason, other than "My tank has the most guns!!!!111!!!"

They you ask "So, what's this vehicles batlefield purpose? Is it an MBT, IFV, APC? Does it provide fire support, what does it do?"

And nine times out of ten, the answer boils down to "It lets me win without having to use tactics".

The sort of characterful vehicle design would be awesome to see, but any set of "official" VDR would be so complex and ultimately game-breaking on every level as to be pointless. Which is a shame, because it used to be quite fun to design vehicles back in 1st edition.

I suppose there's always Apocalypse - the VDR rules of "Just play with it and work out what it's worth" seem the best to me, though the lack of hard and fast rules undeoubtedly put many off.

[TheStrategist]

@ SotonShades: Great fluff and rules. Kudos for the hard work.

[Grenadier]

Soton:

That's absolutely awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. When you get that model built be sure to share pics!


Malton:

I agree with your view on the VDR's failing. I myself only use the VDR as a basic guideline. Being terrible at math means I don't want to fool with the formula and trying to figure out the vehicle's points. But my method of using it appears to work well and thus far my efforts have created reasonable vehicles that serve a purpose but are not "super-killy game winning death machines."

I think the best way to approach VDR is as follows:

1: Decide what race your vehicle will belong to. And then only choose weapons and characteristics found in that race.

2: "Keep it real" to your race. If you're making something for the Ork army then don't jack up the BS to 5 or some other un-Orky thing. The whole point is to create something in keeping with your army.

3: Decide what role the vehicle has. Plan it out in your head and on paper. Do you want it to be an assault tank? Is it a tank killer or a troop killer? What is its purpose?

4: After deciding on the roll only equip it with weapons that support that role. Likewise only give it the kinds of upgrades and traits that make sense for that role.

My Mastodon for example: I wanted an big ugly ponderous tank that looked like it was built only to transports Ogryns. This meant it was going to be an assault vehicle. So I worked out the weapons based on what this tank would be doing on the battlefield. It's hauling my boys into a hail of gunfire. So it needed to have strong armor. And since my boys then disembark to maul the enemy in hand to hand it made sense to me that it's armament should be anti-infanty. So I gave it an eradicator cannon and two twin linked autocannons. Now it's strong enough to shake the enemy out of their roost and thin them down some. And just in case the bad guys are lurking in a bunker it has a multi-melta it can use when it gets close enough.

This tank was perfect for its role in my opinion.

5: Points: the best thing to do with this is find some comparable existing vehicle if possible and use the points for that model. If your model is much better than it then you tack on additional points. To be fair err on the side of too many points being added on to it. Be willing to pay over the points to make it fair.

For example, the Landraider is closest to what my Mastodon does. And the Landraider is better than my Mastodon for many reasons. But they're essentially very similar. With this in mind I feel 255 points is a suitable amount to pay for my Mastodon. After all, it is pretty powerful for its designed role. But it is also at the mercy of enemy armor. And it lacks the BS 4 and P.O.M of the Landraider.

6: Just like the original VDR says don't go into it with the idea of creating the ultimate machine. It's better to take an existing model and modify it. Players do go overboard. With my Mastodon I was not tempted to go overboard because although it was a new machine it was purposefully designed for one certain role.

7: Test it out extensively. If its too awesomely powerful and kills everything in sight without so much as getting a dent you've went too far.

[Brother Dvorn]

There are some quite good rules spartan249 made over on the bolterandchainsword, they also seem pretty well balanced in my opinion too

[URL="http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=219918"]http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=219918[/URL]

[pyroclasm]

Hmmm.... a dreadnought Techmarine. That sounds like he should definitely be unlocking other dreads as Heavys and Elites, like a Master of the Forge. And one arm conversion beamer, one arm that looks like a weird 4- pincer servo-harness. I feel that that would look so awesome. And very grimdark if you make the servo-harness hand reminiscent of a torture device. I really liked the servitor rules. Maybe make Techmarines not use a slot at all, if they are picked with a Dreadnought? Sounds like a lot of fun.

[gendoikari87]

well most high ranking members of the machanicus are basically machines with brains. Basically just small versions of dreds.

as to combat ability, There's even warrior techpriests that make even grey knights shudder in fear.

[Vangrail]

Id love a tech marine dreadnought my sons if medusa would be so happy. I would have a lot of fun modeling it too. Base of it would be a contempter dread make it a massive harness with big versions of all the normal guns (heavy flamer, plasma gun or cannon?) two extra dread cc weapons. Then model it with a massive tech marine axe or thunder hammer........i might have to do this lol i feel really inspired to do so

[Lane]

B the fluff marines that are badly wounded, and exceptionally skilled, may be made into a Dreadnaught. I would say the criteria would be if they need greater than 60-75% bionic replacement parts.

Techmarines OTOH will often chose to take bionic replacement even if not needed. In the Deathwatch RPG at higher levels they can also take a Machinator Aray which boost strength, toughness and allows weapons on servo arms. The Machine Body upgrade is also an option which adds to natural armor. He can also get skills that allow firing heavy weapons when moving. The net result is a Techmarine that can fight like a Terminator or better. A fully upgraded Techmarine in Deathwatch could be the 40K equivalent of T7 with better armor than a Terminator.

[Emerett]

Looks like fun, but I think it would take quite a bit of play testing to see if it's viable.