Dreadnought

A Ultramarines Venerable Dreadnought. Have to admit, it looks badass.

Dreadnoughts are the siege walkers of the Space Marines. They're piloted by a Space Marine who almost died, but survived only with the Emperor's grace and loads of plot-armor favoritism. If the apothecaries managed to save the life of a marine from wounds that would out-right kill a Space Marine (Which is saying a lot since they can take as much punishment as a heavy battle tank), but can't be restored to battle-capable condition anymore, the marine has the option of being interred into a Dreadnought and pilot it from the confines of his armored sarcophagus.

Dreadnoughts are incredibly tough and their pilots even tougher; they're totally fearless and won't mind that they're gonna die a painful death under the hail of anti-armor fire. In fact, the only way to technically kill a Dread is by destroying the Sarcophagus or blowing it up completely. Some Dreadnoughts contain the oldest warriors in the Imperium; at least one, Bjorn of the Space Wolves, is older than the Horus Heresy. As such, they generally have a ton of combat experience.

Tabletop wise, Dreads are an effective all-rounder and are fairly cheap to boot. They're good at any role they're tooled for, whether that's punching tanks to pieces or mowing infantry down from a distance with weapons like the assault cannon or lascannon. You can also deep-strike them in Drop Pods, ensuring hilarity when you get lucky and they end up where they precisely need to be.

Do note, however, that many enemies focus anti-armor weapons on them (especially if there isn't a Land Raider to distract them. A footslogging Dread, without heavy use of cover, probably won't get very far, relying on the deep striking Drop Pods to get them where they need to go.

Dreadnought Variants

There's a whole bunch of Dreadnought variants that do different things. There's also Wraithlords, Deff Dreads, and Helbrutes, which used to be called Eldar Dreadnoughts, Ork Dreadnoughts, and Chaos Dreadnoughts, respectively.

Yes, this is a Contemptor of the Grey Knights. And yes, they do have them.

• Furioso Dreadnought: Heavily armored Blood Angels dreadnoughts, designed to RIP AND TEAR lots of troops in brutal close combat. Sometimes they put a blood crazed maniac from the Death Company inside, which turns Furiouso to unholy uncontrollable and unstoppable rape machine.
• Ironclad Dreadnought: Even more heavily armored melee dreadnoughts with close combat weapon, designed to put giant holes in tanks and bunkers.
• Siege Dreadnought: Specialized bunker-busting Dreadnoughts. If they manage to come close enough to any building, no matter how fortified, they would wreck it and burn the shit out of anyone inside.
• Venerable Dreadnoughts: Simply put, they're really old Dreadnoughts that have been locked up for a long time and as such are better at fighting and... stuff. Also tend to get sleepy and lose their keys.
• Chaplain Dreadnoughts: Some Chapters have Venerable Dreadnoughts that used to be Chaplains. This basically means they have all those special effects that Chaplains do... in a Dreadnought body.
• Contemptor Dreadnoughts: Really old Dreadnoughts from the Horus Heresy that are bigger and stronger than "modern" Dreads. A few Chapters still have them and deploy them to the field. They look a little like Dreadknights, but they weren't made by Matt Ward, so it's all good. Also, they have a bunch of mysterious cybernetic/AI stuff, which probably means they're a source of heresy.
  • Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnoughts: The Dark Angels have a special Contemptor Dreadnought that puts out a massive amount of dakka... so massive, in fact, that modern autocannon Dreads live in jealousy. Also, they have targeting arrays to fire at flyers.
• Furioso Librarian Dreadnoughts: Blood Angels like to lock psykers up in Dreadnoughts, creating unholy amalgamations called Furioso Librarians. In addition to the badassery above, Furioso Librarians are capable of flying. WAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD.

Meme

Even in death, the mighty Astartes warrior still serves for the Emperor.

"Even in death, I still serve" was a phrase scattered throughout Warhammer 40k, but it didn't become a meme until the original Dawn of War game, where it's one of the Dreadnought's more common quotes.

The making of a Dreadnought

1: Take 1 outstandingly badass Space Marine

2: Shoot him in the kneecaps, puncture a couple of his lungs, break some bones, and make sure he is good and properly fucked up.

3: Leave the dying body on the doorstep of some Adeptus Mechanicus guy

4: ???

5: PROFIT!!! DREADNOUGHT!!!

Gallery

• 
  After his internment into a Dreadnought, Brother Koolaidius has specialized in dynamic entry at any location, usually attending to battle brothers with refreshment needs.
• 
  Fear the fucking Breadnought.
• 
  Even in death, I still fuck your army.
• 
  I have come to destroy your anus.
• 
  The Dreadnoughts of the Angry Marines are also known as the Belligerent Engines.
• 
  Suck it.

See Also

• Tankred
• Donovan
• Chaos Dreadnought, the evil (well, more evil) version
• Grandpa Dreadnought
• Bjorn the Fell Handed, of the Space Wolves, and the oldest living Space Marine in the Imperium.
• Davian Thule, of the Blood Ravens, also known as Davian Cool.
• Belligerent Engine, a catch-all term for the Dreadnoughts of the Angry Marines.
• Spared, a short story about a Dreadnought and some Tau.
• Entombed, a not-so-short story about a Dreadnought.