Painting Challenge Submission #8 - Deredeo Dreadnought for the Sons of Horus

Lock and load! Deredeo dreadnought for 30k - model from Forge World.

For submission number eight to this edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, the guns come out! 

What might change between now and the 31st millenium? We can only wonder. But if the vision of GW's Horus Heresy sculptors is anything to go by, one thing is clear - in the trying and dark times of the far future, prime authority figures are still going to ask you to MOVE YOUR F*CKING CAR, and do so with extreme prejudice. With this in mind, I present here a Deredeo class dreadnought, painted in the colours of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. This is a model kit from GW's Forge World studio, and is meant for use in its "Horus Heresy" setting. It gives you 15 seconds to comply.

He looks surly...but with all those guns, come on...under that helmet, he is surely cracking a smile...

Many hobby folks are familiar with the background of the 30k dreadnoughts, but in the event you are a reader who is not, a brief recap: dreadnoughts are (clearly) heavy suits of power armour. They have a "pilot", but not the sort that can get in and out of the armour between combat missions. Rather, these armoured units are "piloted" by Marines who suffer terrible wounds in battle, wounds so serious they cannot continue as before - but still not enough to kill them completely. Such casualties are essentially entombed in Dreadnought armour, so they can keep fighting...forever...or until the dreadnought itself is wrecked by by one of the many terrible heavy weapons of the 31st millenium.

Ammo containers, exhaust for power systems (no doubt lots of "green energy" here).

There are many different kinds of Dreadnought armour in the Horus Heresy universe, and different units have different battlefield purposes. One quick look at the Deredeo variant, and a theme emerges - firepower! This thing is here to locate the enemy, and then wreck his sh*t. Big cannons. Missiles. Oh, and a pair of heavy flamethrowers for...I guess, if the ventilated remnants of an enemy get close enough? The pilot needs some sport - he is, after all, inside that thing forever.

Look at those cannons! I love this bonkers thing.

The looks of this Dreadnought variant are polarising. Opinions vary, but tend to be strong. For my part, I love it. "Hey, Mechanicum! We need a thing with lots of guns!". Mechanicum: "0001010010 here you go!" Covering fire galore! There are a number of different weapon options for these Dreadnoughts, but for me, nothing beats the whacko autocannon setup. Keep the enemy heads down while we advance? NO PROBLEM. The lackies of the false Emperor will be filled with all sorts of holes! 

This beast was good for another 20 points - counting as a 28mm vehicle and all. It will be fun to roll all of those dice when it gets to deploy on a gaming table! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more from the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.