Fear the Crab

I had the sudden inspiration to build and paint a specialized Grey Knight Dreadnought, and thanks to a generous gift certificate I was able to at least acquire the model with minimal pocket change. While the previous Dreadnoughts I made were long-range shooty-shooty units (reach out and touch someone), this new model would take on a more intimate and personal approach.

Literally.

GK Dread with Hvy Flamers

GK Dread with Hvy Flamers

This Dreadnought is equipped with a twin-linked* heavy flamer for its right arm, and a close-combat weapon with heavy flamer for its left. This loadout is geared more towards a hand-on assault, dousing nearby units with fire before stomping in to deliver a smack-down. In game terms, this kind of attack is best implemented by a quick tactical insertion as close as possible to the opponent, because flame weapons have a very limited range and you’d want to limit the amount of return fire. To achieve this, I plan to pair the Dreadnought with a flying tank called the Storm Raven gunship (also procured with gift certificate funds).

I’m a bit proud of the right arm, because it’s a customized piece cobbled together from spare parts. The shoulder and bulk of the arm is the standard Dreadnought twin-linked laser cannon, but the fuel tanks and flamer bits are from the Land Raider Redeemer box. I had an extra sprue of its tank weapons and felt the Flamestorm Cannon was the perfect item to represent a beefy Dreadnought arm.

Compare this rendition to the Inferno Cannon offered by Forge World:

Comparing Flamestorm with Inferno

I originally bought the arm because I thought it could well-represent my intentions, but when I finally placed it on the model, it lacked a certain… oomph. It also seemed so out-of-place when paired with the large over-sized fist opposite.

I admit my chop-job isn’t perfect, since there’s a bit of a mis-alignment between the original arm and the Flamestorm barrels, but I believe it gets the point across.

* Twin-linked just means it has a better chance of hitting the target.