Roses are red,
Violets are blue
I have two dreadnoughts
Sucks to be you

Compared to my normal rigid process of painting marines and trying to make them identical, I have discovered the joy of painting Dreadnoughts. As it turns out, being able to make each dreadnought look different is very creatively liberating.

Dreadnoughts, even the reimagined chadmarine variants, are ancient things. Not only that, but each dreadnought is intended to be for a hero of the chapter.

So it makes sense from a flavour perspective that each one would be slightly different. Shoulder pads here, weapon mounts there, decals everywhere.

Compared to my first dreadnought that was all green with no exceptions, this chap has blocked out shoulder pads. This succeeds in two things - it makes him visually distinct, and it allows for my opponents to point at him and kill him without confusing him with his green brother.

Needing three of these (two in my current list) does give me some consternation, though.

Despite the snapfit nature of the model, the posing of the legs is dynamic, and highlights what GW feels they are able to do with the design of new Dreadnoughts.

But I don't like how one looks good, two looks a bit odd and three of them in the same pose looks like they're a dancing troupe of heavily-armed robots.

And while the tactical rock is fine for the first model, the second and third models with the same exact Tyranid goo and sewer outlet starts to feel weird.

To mitigate this problem somewhat, I thought outside the box, and covered it in multiple layers of sand, and then static grass. Lo and behold, it's now a grassy knoll and a much better fit for the generic nature of the army.

Completing this dread takes my 2025 hobby scoreboard to the following:

  • Characters

    • "Azrael"
    • Phobos Librarian
    • Terminator Librarian
    • Lieutenant with Combi-weapon

  • Infantry

    • 15 Deathwing Knights
    • 10 Jump Pack Intercessors
    • 5 Company Heroes

  • Vehicles

    • 2 Ballistus Dreadnoughts

Standing back to take it all in, I've chewed through quite a lot this year - I have almost painted an entire DA Gladius Force - but I am hoping to get a few more units in before the year is out.

Watch this space.

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