BERSERKERBLADE: Dreadnought

Showing posts with label Dreadnought. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 September 2025

Dreadtober 2025 - Introduction

It's that time of year again. Time to blow the dust off another Dreadnought and replace it with a layer of paint. My painting mojo has been a little lacking of late, so I'm using Dreadtober as an excuse to get the brush moving again. I also have an excess of unpainted Dreadnoughts laying around, so this will hopefully move another one into the painted pile.

With thanks to Marc over on the Dreadtober blog.

I'm going to be doing another Contemptor Dread for my Night Lords Heresy force this time around. I already have three painted, so he'll be in good company. This one is armed with a Gravis Autocannon and Power Fist just because it looks cool.

Built and ready to go.

As you can see from the above, the model is built and undercoated, so all I have to do is slap some paint on it. How hard could that be? Well, I suppose we'll find out.

See you in a week for a progress (or lack of progress) update!

Monday, 15 July 2024

Night Lords - Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness

It's been forever since I've posted here, but I've not been idle. For your amusement I present a selection of miniatures from my ever growing Night Lords Legion army which I've been building since the release of the Horus Heresy second edition.

First up is a converted Chaplain which I made from one of the Praetors which comes in the Age of Darkness box.

Jump Chaplain

I decided to go with an axe on this guy and then field it as a Headsman's Axe in game. I know technically they're supposed to be chain weapons, but my regular opponents can't tell the difference. I added a jump pack so he can support either my assault marines or night raptors depending on which squad is being played.

Pretty pleased with that axe

Next up is Sevatar. Technically my Night Lords are on the road to Terra, so he shouldn't be included as part of the army. But he's a brilliant character and a cool model to boot, so I had to have him in the collection.

Death to the False Emperor!

Speaking of Night Raptors, here's a unit of 5 I added to the army. I have 5 already painted from my forays into the Horus Heresy during the first edition for the game. So generally I envisage that these will be used as a big unit of 10. Clocking in at a whopping 400 points, they're terribly inefficient, but I do love the models and the background.

Lightning claws are always good

I painted a classic box dreadnought which I've had kicking around for years. It's a really nice classic Forgeworld model and I'm glad to have it finished and added to the army.

Old school cool

Last but very much not least. I painted up a super-heavy tank in the form of the Falchion. I got this in a part trade with a friend who had started building the kit but lost enthusiasm. It needed a fair bit of repair work to get it to a decent state and I needed two attempts to get it painted because the sponsons were absolute murder. I'm very jealous of anyone who owns the modern kit which comes with the plastic sponsons.

Big and brutal

I really love the way this thing looks; it reminds me of the old mammoth tanks from Command & Conquer.

I should have added a couple of havoc launchers

Monday, 16 March 2020

Monster March - Adeptus Custodes Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought - Week 3

Sorry for the slightly delayed update, I wasn't able to post over the weekend, so this is going up on Monday. Still, it was a weekend of excellent progress as I'm sure you will agree!

Behold! The finished Dreadnought.

Somehow, I've managed to finish painting this beast in about two weeks. That's got to be some kind of personal best. Not only that, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!

I particularly like the eye lenses.

As you can see, I've followed the same colour scheme as my Vertus Praetors, using purple for some of the armour panels and green for the weapons etc. The sculpted base allowed me to get a bit more green into the model with the small elements of foliage.

Got a bit freehandy with the shoulder pad.

I tried to push myself with the freehand on the shoulder pad. It was only after I had painted it that I realised Voldus is a Grey Knights character. Doh! Oh well, it's probably am pretty common Imperial name right?? Anyway, I was so happy with the way it looked that I didn't want to go back and change it.

Shows the raised areas of the base a bit better.

Thus my Monster March challenge is concluded. But wait, there's two weeks left to go! Perhaps it's time for a little stretch goal.

How about another Dreadnought??

Inspired by my own work on the Contemptor Achillus, I decided to dig out this Telemon Dreadnought and get it built. It still needs a touch of green stuff and undercoat before I can begin painting. Also, trying to do something this big in two weeks is certainly a challenge; but even if I just get a few basecoats on it I'll still be happy.

I'm finding Monster March this year to be particularly inspiring. The other participants are putting in some amazing work and Swordmaster is doing a brilliant job showcasing it over at Path of an Outcast. Keep the momentum going everyone!

That's all for now, come back next week to see if I've managed to make a dent in my second entry this month.

Friday, 6 March 2020

Monster March - Adeptus Custodes Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought - Week 2

Here we are approaching the end of the first week of Monster March. I've been working steadily on my Contemptor Achillus and it's coming along really well.

A bit messy at this stage, but plenty of colours on there.

As you can see from the above, I've got a lot of the basecoats down and started highlighting and detailing the lower half of the model. I managed a bit of work on the left arm last night too and I think things are looking good for only one week in to the challenge.

I'm reasonably happy with the pose.

As far as the model itself is concerned, I was tempted to go for a more complex pose than the one I eventually chose. However, when I considered that this will be a gaming piece, I decided that a simpler pose will be less prone to breakages along the way. Perhaps if I ever get a second Achillus I will be more adventurous with it.

The left leg has had the most work so far.

So that's where things stand at the end of the first week. If I can carry on at this rate then I should have no trouble completing the challenge. That of course, opens up the possibility of a stretch goal.......but we'll see how things progress over the coming days. As usual you can check out my first post of the challenge here.

Tune in next week to see if I've maintained progress, who knows, I might have a second model to announce!

Saturday, 29 February 2020

Monster March - Adeptus Custodes Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought - Week 1

With Squaduary just finished it's time to dive headfirst into Monster March! If you're unaware, Monster March is an annual painting challenge hosted by Swordmaster over at Path of an Outcast. The purpose being for participants to build and paint a suitably large model in the month of March.

I've participated in Monster March since 2017 and it's probably my favourite of the blogger painting challenges. It really gives me the incentive to turn out a big impressive model for one of my armies. You can read my previous posts here.

This year I'll be continuing the theme of Squaduary by growing my Adeptus Custodes army still further with the addition of a Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought.

The Forgeworld example. Isn't it pretty?

The Achillus isn't as large as some models I've attempted in previous years but it's still an imposing and gorgeous centrepiece for the army. If I somehow manage to make excellent progress and finish early, then perhaps I'll attempt a second model within the month.

I've made a rough start building the model.

I started building the model last night and have managed to get the legs and body together so far. The rear requires a tiny bit of green stuff where a couple of the panels don't align perfectly, but otherwise the model is delightful. I'm really looking forward to having a go at posing the arms as they appear to be superbly articulated.

I've also exchanged the standard 60mm base out for a scenic base from Scibor miniatures. Hopefully it will remain in keeping with the rest of my Custodes whilst being suitably grandiose as befits such an amazing model.

Check back next week to see if painting has commenced!

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought - Complete

A few days overdue for Dreadtober, but my Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought is done.

Dead bodies and lightning. Must be Night Lords!

As I said in my last post, this one felt like a bit of a slog to get to the finish line. It was by turns enjoyable and frustrating but, in the end, I'm happy with how it turned out.

I haven't changed the paint scheme much since painting my Night Lords back in 2016. But, I feel my painting ability has been refined somewhat, so I was able to make small improvements throughout.

I think the lightning pattern has improved over my last effort.

I'm not sure when this monstrosity will see the battlefield; but I am thinking of changing my Night Lords Legion force into a Chaos Space Marine army for 40k. So perhaps they will all see some action if that comes to pass.

There's not a lot of interest in Horus Heresy gaming in my local area; which is a shame, because I love the miniatures and the story. It hasn't stopped me buying and painting the things, but it would be nice to use them from time to time.

Chop chop.

So there you have it. I'll leave you with a couple more photos of this beast; hopefully more Night Lords to come in 2020.

Check out the cool red cable on the arm.

Thursday, 31 October 2019

Dreadtober 2019 - Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought - Week 4

So Dreadtober draws to a close and how have I done? Well, truthfully, not as well as I would have liked.

Not bad, but not finished.

Unfortunately, real life seemed determined to get in the way this month. I got sick, which put me out of action for a few days and crucially I lost a weekend of painting progress. I also had to go through the process of buying a new car which proved to be time consuming.

On a happier note, I went up to Warhammer World last week for a day of gaming with some friends. We had a lot of fun, but I could have used that time instead to get some more progress on the Dreadnought. It's all about priorities I suppose.

I'm pleased with the details so far.

Having said all of that, I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along so far. The details are looking decent and with a bit of concerted effort I could probably finish the whole thing off fairly quickly. Hopefully, given another week, I will be able to share the finished article with you all.

I feel sorry for the dead guy hanging off the front.

So, that concludes Dreadtober 2019. My thanks to Joel from Mordian 7th for organising it and for posting all the updates over at the Dreadtober blog.

Friday, 18 October 2019

Dreadtober 2019 - Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought - Week 3

Dreadtober rolls ever onwards and unfortunately my progress has been somewhat stunted in the last week or so.

Still lots left to do.

There seem to be a lot of unpleasant illnesses going around at the moment and I was unfortunate enough to come down with one of them last week. Cue plenty of bed rest and no painting progress. Annoyingly it put me out of action over the weekend when I could have made a good bit of progress. These things happen I suppose, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

I did finish the left arm though.

Anyway, enough of my lame excuses. I did finish painting the left arm and have made a start detailing the body/head etc. I'm pretty pleased with the look of the finished areas, but there's a lot of Dreadnought still to paint and time is running short!

Just under two weeks to go, can I finish the Dread in time? Or will I fall into the ranks of the dishonoured? Here's hoping I find a good chunk of painting time to finish this bad boy!

Wednesday, 9 October 2019

Dreadtober 2019 - Night Lords Legion Leviathan Dreadnought - Week 2

We're just over a week into Dreadtober (where did that week go??) and I've made some progress with my Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought.

Not a lot of progress but it's something.

As you can see from the above, I've done a load of ugly basecoats and made a start detailing the left arm. I've found in the past with Dreadnoughts that I prefer to paint them a piece at a time; so I've basecoated almost everything and now I'll paint a limb to completion. Apparently we're starting with the left arm because of reasons.

What's big, blue and ugly?

Despite not having made fabulous progress, I'm really liking this model. It's got loads of cool details which really evoke the image of the 8th Legion. There's plenty of obvious things like the dismembered body on the front housing. But there are lots of little touches which I've enjoyed discovering as I progress.

Oh, and if you saw my last post, you'll notice that this chap now has a pair of big claws and some heavy flamers. Perfect for a Legion that specializes in terror tactics!

Tune in next week when hopefully I will have made lots more progress as the end of October looms large.

Thursday, 3 October 2019

Dreadtober 2019 - Night Lords Legion Leviathan Dreadnought - Week 1

Welcome one and all to the beginning of 2019's Dreadtober pledge. This time around I will be bringing out a Night Lords Leviathan Dreadnought and trying to finish it before Halloween.

The current state of things. Cue cries of: "He's 'armless!"

This year is a bit different for me. Firstly, because I normally go into a challenge with the models assembled and, as you can see from the above, we aren't quite there yet. Secondly, because I'm doing something for my Night Lords, which is a force I haven't added to in quite some time. Here's hoping I remember how to paint them!

A bunch of bits. Allegedly this will make an arm.

For anyone who is unaware, Dreadtober is an annual event which encourages participants to build and paint a Dreadnought (or Dreadnought like thing) during the month of October. This year being hosted by Joel of Mordian 7th. Thanks for running the event Joel and keeping the tradition going. Now hopefully I can fulfill my pledge and get this beast painted up in a month.

Monday, 20 August 2018

Hobby Update - What have I been up to this Summer?

Things have been a bit quiet around here lately; I think that's due to a variety of different factors. All the usual mundane stuff, work, home life etc etc. I've been trying to work towards a 3000 point army of combined Adeptus Mechanicus and Knights which has consumed all of my hobby time but has been a lot of fun. All of the knights have appeared on this blog and I've really enjoyed painting these amazing models. However, it has left a bit of an unhealthy bias in my army as I hardly have any painted infantry to stand alongside these leviathans!

Time to paint some infantry then!

In an effort to remedy this, I've added a handful of Skitarii to my 3000 point plan and have begun painting them. I completed the chap above sometime in July along with a few of his comrades but I still have another five to do to complete 'the plan'. I love the Skitarii models to bits, but there's something a little unsatisfying about finishing one and thinking 'well, that's another eight points in the list' when the last model you turned out was worth around 500! Still, I will persevere and get some meaningful blocks of troops on the table!

Speaking of on the table, I've managed to play a few games of 40k which continues to be a heck of a good time. Long live 8th edition! The photo below was taken at my FLGS when my Knight Errant took on 500 points of Orks just for a laugh.

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew!

This was the situation after a massive mob of 40 Orks used 'da jump' to pounce on my poor unsuspecting knight. Not a situation I could really prevent but it certainly made me laugh. I actually went on to win the game in spite of being assaulted by these guys and a Shokk Attack Gun armed big Mek rolling two volleys with a strength of 10 or higher!

I also went up to Warhammer World for the Specialist Games open day with a bunch of the lads. It was my first visit to Warhammer World and I was certainly not disappointed! Meeting the designers was a lot of fun and I spent quite some time chatting to the guys working on designs for the Horus Heresy and Necromunda. I also got to meet Louise Sugden who is an incredible miniatures painter working for Forgeworld (go follow her instagram if you don't already).

Titan table at WHW.

I got a couple of games in at Warhammer World, one of which was on top of the amazing fallen Warlord Titan pictured above.

The exhibition at Warhammer World is not to be missed and I took hundreds of blurry photos of all the amazing displays which look surprisingly similar to other photos taken by nerds from around the globe. A couple below for your amusement.

Leviathan Dreadnought wrecking face in the Burning of Prospero

Lizardmen Diorama from back in the day.

A bunch of amazing Eldar.

Other than all of that? I've made a start painting the big boy of the Mechanicus himself - none other than Belisarius Cawl. He certainly is a daunting miniature with all his many arms and appendages but I'm making decent progress so far. A couple more photos below in case you don't believe me.

Half of Big-Boy Belisarius

And most of the other half.

He's progressing pretty well in spite of the complexity of the miniature and I hope to have him finished off in a week or so.

Well there you have it, a brief roundup of my hobbying from the last month or so. Stay tuned for another update next week when I hope to have some proper completed photos of the Archmagos.

Friday, 14 October 2016

Horus Heresy - Night Lords Legion Showcase

A few of these models have been around the blog for a while, but, as I have some fancy new photos, I thought I'd post them up for your viewing pleasure.

Night Lords Tactical Squad - Lead by the legendary Bathinko!

The above is one half of my tactical squad, as always, I'm thrilled with the way these guys turned out. It just goes to show what kitbashing can do to personalize your models and really bring out the feel of a Legion (or Chapter if you're into all that 40k shiz.) The models draw parts from a wide range of different sources: Space Wolves, Chaos Marines, Anvil Industries Exo-Lords and Forgeworld Legion parts to name but a few.

Another photo - I'm most pleased with the models wielding a hand weapon and bolter.

Below are a few more photos of my Contemptor Dreadnought - Honoured Brother Mordo. Nothing fancy here, just the stock Forgeworld kit with a plasma cannon and plasma blaster. Can you say Gets Hot!?

Love this model!

I have a second Contemptor in the pipeline, this time armed with a Volkite Culverin and Kheres Assault Cannon. Hopefully it will bring some brutal firepower to the tabletop! Sadly, construction of this Contemptor will be postponed for a while whilst I work on some Mice & Mystics miniatures and my Sktarii! With any luck I can get all of that out of the way and return to the sons of Nostramo sometime soon!

Ave Dominus Nox!

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Games Workshop - Dreadnought Attacks FAQ

Undoubtedly many of you have seen the faqs being issued by Games Workshop via their Warhammer 40000 facebook page. Generally, I'm delighted that GW are providing faqs for their publications in this manner. It's something the game has needed for a while, and will continue to need as the complexity of the rules and force organizations continues to grow.

Think you're a nerd? My daughter has this on her baby-grow!

However, scrolling to the end of the latest Space Wolves faq, I was met with a surprising and somewhat disappointing 'house rule' for the number of attacks on a Dreadnought stat line.

Before I start complaining bitterly (and believe me, that's what this article will most likely devolve into - feel free to jump out now) let's reminisce a little. Back in the days of 5th edition (actually, 4.5 edition if you had that dodgy pdf download rulebook - does anybody else remember that?) times were simpler. They were heady days of 500 point battles, modest miniatures collections and making the attempt to use whatever you had that was actually painted.

Back then, Dreadnoughts and their equivalents were a pretty big deal on the battlefield. There's only so much you can fit into a 500 point CAD that can even glance a Dreadnought or stand a decent chance of wounding a monstrous creature. Many times these battles culminated in a miniature 'clash of the titans' as Dreadnoughts, Carnifexes and Talos Pain Engines tore eachother apart in the middle of the field. In these clashes, there was only one possible outcome. One combatant would be utterly destroyed; the other would stagger away, horribly damaged, but usually functional enough to be the deciding factor in ultimate victory.

The point I'm trying to make is that, in a one on one scrap, these things were relatively balanced and that made them tense and exciting. The dreadnought would lumber forwards, chipping a wound from the Carnifex with it's assault cannon. In return, perhaps the Carnifex would glance the Dread with it's bio-plasma. Who would get the all important charge? And would it be enough to seal the fate of their opponent? Much trepidation and nail biting ensued as the dice were rolled and the fate of the vanquished party was sealed!

Now, with the sudden enhancement of your average Dreadnought, these types of battles are no longer so balanced, nor, exciting. Four or five power fist attacks will make mincemeat of most monstrous creatures and your average walker stands even less of a chance. A Space Marine Dreadnought charging into a Carnifex or Helbrute looks almost comical as the Dreadnought emerges victorious with perhaps a couple of scuffs to his paintwork. Meanwhile his 'towering opponent' is just a pile of scrap metal (or gooey Tyranid chutney).

Changing the balance of a unit within the game (even one that is considered to be underpowered) can have far reaching consequences. Maybe in these days of super heavies and D-weapons, these types of things are insignificant. But, for me at least, this change damages the cinematography of the game. It takes away what should be an exciting and fluffy tabletop moment; and for that reason alone, it can only be a bad thing.