Thursday, July 14, 2016

Horus Heresy Review: Contemptor-Cortus Class Dreadnought Talon

Background.
These machines were born out of necessity during the Ullanor campaign. Salvaged from the remains of the Contemptor "Prime" and the Mortis pattern, these machines were field-constructed and unstable. Plus inferior to the regular contemptors. They were accordingly phased out of existence. But then the Heresy happened, and that changed, because needs must and all that.

Strengths.
These contemptors are cheaper than the regular variants and offer the self-same array of weapons choices -- even the heavy conversion beamer if desired. As such, they should be looked on as a way to save some points, whilst retaining the same amount of fire power and accuracy.

Fleet is nice, as is move through cover as special rules. Plus the ability to deliberately overcharge the reactor to provide an additional rule (+1 Initiative is particularly attractive to me in this regard!) is a small price to pay for a 1 in 6 chance to lose a hull point at the end of the turn. I actually like this rule a lot and it provides for a good amount of tactical flexibility.

Weaknesses.
These guys have a lower Strength characteristic. But you won't care about that if you're running chain fists, or similar to be honest.

Their invulnerable save is only in a frontal arc. So they can be vulnerable to outflanking marines with specialist weapons if the controlling player is not situationally aware enough. But then again, considering the points reduction, perhaps the best way to think of the Corus class is a replacement for the regular (boxy) dreadnoughts, and play accordingly. Sure, they cannot have things like missile launchers, but I doubt such weapons will be missed if one is taking twin Kheres.

Other than that, always having to sweeping advance is not a huge drawback, but potentially not scoring might sometimes be an issue depending on the nature of the game being played.

Overall, look at these guys are cheap contemptors that are cost-efficient with some draw backs that can be played around. I personally like them!

Builds.
I thought here that I would show the exact same builds as I have put on the contemptor reviews. If nothing else, it'll highlight the points savings.

Contemptor dreadnought, 2 multi-meltas, extra armour (145 points)
A vehicle killer. Plonk inside a drop pod if possible and deep strike near its selected target. The extra armour is to help survive vehicle explosion blasts and other incoming firepower should the need arise.

Contemptor dreadnought, 2 twin linked las cannons (185 points)
Another vehicle killer. Or monstrous creature. Blast away from the back lines.  Good luck!

Contemptor dreadnought, 2 twin linked auto cannons (145 points)
A good deal of withering firepower to build an anti-infantry dreadnought out of.  Probably nicer to take the Kheres cannons (below) instead though.

Contemptor dreadnought, 2 Kheres Pattern assault cannons (165 points)
I regard this one as the de-facto standard build for firepower. Regular dreadnoughts cannot take this option, so one might as well use the advantage of this contemptor option and put it to good use. Heavy 6 rending is really, really significant. Two of them can be devastating. Well worth the points, even on a contemptor with no other upgrades.

Contemptor dreadnought with 2 close combat weapons, each with an inbuilt heavy flamer (155 points)
A classic close combat dreadnought. Replace the heavy flamers for other weapons (plasma blaster, melta gun, graviton gun) to taste. Add on a havoc launcher if you have the points, and place inside a drop pod.

Contemptor dreadnought with 1 heavy conversion beamer, havoc launcher and close combat weapon (185 points)
The conversion beamer and havoc launcher have overlapping ranges (unlike many of the other weapon combinations) and can provide a nice synergy. This guy sits at the back and blasts away - assuming a good line of sight. The close combat weapon is to deal with pesky infiltrators and the like, making for a fully flexible dreadnought role.


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