Redemptor Dreadnought

Just wait until melee combat

Redemptor Dreadnoughts are the newest additions to the Space Marines' armored lineup, combining the latest innovations of Big Daddy Cawl with the experience of a crippled old veteran. Like all things Primaris, they're bigger and more powerful than their brethren (being at least as large as the Leviathan pattern and trading out its older cousin’s atomantic shielding for more weapons), and certainly a hell of a lot faster.

They're also notably versatile in loadout - one arm packs either a Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon or Macro Plasma Incinerator to shred infantry or melt armour, respectively, while the other has an ECKSBAWKS FUCKHUGE Power Fist designed to punch Bio-Titans and larger daemons apart. It can also pack the Icarus Rocket Pod for anti-air capabilities. The Invictor Tactical Warsuit uses a stripped-down version of the chassis as its base, the Brutalis Dreadnought is a Redemptor that's built for close-combat shredding, and the Ballistus Dreadnought is a Redemptor that focuses on long-range firepower.

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 Dreadnought status, we'll (probably) never know. Times are desperate. Considering the Primaris fought in the Indomitus Crusade in their hundreds of thousands for over a century it may not be as far fetched as it first appears. Also the Ultramarine captain in Dark Imperium said how the Primaris suffered disproportionally large casualty rates early in the Crusade due to lack of actual battlefield experience.

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 12 years (as 9th edition) 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...

However, as "superior" as the Redemptor is supposed to be, it has one major battle barge-sized flaw that will likely establish it as a mere supplement to the existing dreadnought arsenal, rather than a true replacement or upgrade. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, interned Marines are known to die after long periods of extended use inside of a Redemptor. One potential explanation is that Uncle Cawl's minions approached the Redemptor's design with a similar mentality to that utilized on their Onager Dunecrawlers. You know, the vehicle notorious for turning their drivers into disposable living batteries. Another explanation is that the Redemptor could be related in design to 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 from a similar issue due to Cawl not giving any shits about how the neural uplink would affect the pilot.

Whatever the reason, the end result is the same: a dreadnought chassis that fails half the point of using a dreadnought in the first place, burning through pilots like fucking double A batteries, and this is after only a century of service. There's no way the Redemptor can be relied upon to preserve valued veterans and ancients for millennia like regular dreads can, so don't expect any prominent named characters to be put inside one of these and survive.

Unless... those characters are of strong enough 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

The entombed Primaris Space Marine's hatch being opened.

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. With the bolter beta rule, the grenade launchers actually have a shorter maximum damage output.

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 Ultramarines world of Espandor against the forces of the Plague God.

Gallery

• 

  I HAVE LEGS! I HAVE FULLY ARTICULATED LEGS!

• 

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

• 

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