Chainfist vs Seismic Hammer

[akinghorn]

I just picked up an Ironclad Dreadnaught for my Black Templars army and am debating loadout. The intention is to use him in a drop pod and throw him down behind enemy lines to wreck havoc and try and divert fire from my other squads as they attempt to close on the enemy. I have yet to play with a dreadnaught in any of my games and have no idea which would best suit what I need.

I'm thinking that the chainfist will allow me to target enemy high AV mech and still be manageable in CC with infantry while the seismic hammer's biggest plus seems to be the ability to lower the opponents initiative which would enhance survivability and damage output in CC.

Any opinions or experiences?

[GravesDisease]

As a walker, it will hit at initiative anyway which mean getting value from the hammer's ability a bit of an edge case. As a result most people go for the fist, despite it looking rubbish.

[Xenith]

Seismic hammer is AP1, so does better on the damage table.

The chainfist rolls 2d6 pen, which is pretty much an auto-penetrate vs anything.

The hammer needs to roll 4+ to glance a land raider, but will do more damage per pen

The chain will probably get more pens.

Against most vehicles, however, you'll be hitting against AV10, in which case, both auto-pen and the AP1 is an advantage.

I would personally go with the reliability of the chainfist. guaranteeing a penetration is better than +2 on the damage table, imo.

[Ivarr]

Seismic Hammer is one of the things you may see used more with the arrival of Imperial Knights.

[akinghorn]

Why's that?

[Xenith]

Getting a 6 on the table means you do extra HP damage.

Thing is, the chainfist penetrates generally all the time, while the hammer does nothing 1/3 of hits.

4 attacks, 3 hits, probably 1 glance 1 pen from the hammer, 2 pens if youre lucky (adds 2 to table, (3-6 does extra damage)
4 attacks, 3 hits, probably 3 pens, adds 1 to damage table (4-6 adds extra damage).

Still a toss up, reliability vs max potential.

[George Labour]

Worth noting that A LOT of the new fortifications are AV:14 or 15. So taking them out can require the same level of firepower used on a Land Raider only they're cheaper and so can be taken in lots using the rules in Stronghold Assault.

[akinghorn]

On a similar note - anyone done heavy flamer conversions for the dreads? The little piddly ones that come in the box look like standard issue marine flamers...I was hoping for something a little more robust to represent 'heavy' flamers. I have the flame storm cannon sponsons from the Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit and was hopeful, but they are huge in comparison. Unless I can find a way to make them work, I need something in the in between stages.

[mysterex]

On a similar note - anyone done heavy flamer conversions for the dreads? The little piddly ones that come in the box look like standard issue marine flamers...I was hoping for something a little more robust to represent 'heavy' flamers. I have the flame storm cannon sponsons from the Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit and was hopeful, but they are huge in comparison. Unless I can find a way to make them work, I need something in the in between stages.

Off topic but have a look at using half of the twin linked chaos defiler ones. Possibly a little too big though.