This model was something of a labour of love. I saw this Ironclad Dreadnought on eBay and decided I needed to have it. It came with a hurricane bolter for its right arm, and a choice of Seismic Hammer or Chainfist for the left arm.

The purpose of an Ironclad Dreadnought is to get into CC with things, preferably vehicles and wreck them.

Ironically, I rather liked its original colour. The grey was a good match for my Astra Militarum forces, but not for the Imperial Fists Space Marines it would join.

So, I did a dirty coat of white to cover the old paint scheme.

Getting an even coat of yellow over the formerly grey was really tricky. I find painting any models yellow is a labour of patience and persistence.

I didn’t like the stats of the Seismic Hammer. It’s 2X Strength (so, 12+D6 damage)  and AP1, and unwieldy and comes with a built-in meltagun. Reading a few reviews, many recommend replacing the seismic hammer with a chainfist. The difference is that the chainfist is only AP2, but has armourbane which means its damage will 12+2D6. Another recommendation was to replace the meltagun with a heavy flamer. I think this makes a lot of sense because the meltagun’s effective range is within charging range of its dangerous CC weapons, and the heavy flamer gives this dreadnought some potential anti-infantry punch, especially on overwatch! Both substitutions are points neutral.

As an Imperial Fists dreadnought, I imagined it really needed to have a fist, in particular, a Power Fist! Most tactics blogs I read recommended ditching the hurricane bolter in favour of a power fist.

I got a power fist from eBay and it fit nicely on the left arm.  However, the chainfist arm I had was also meant for the left arm. Since the hand would look weird flipped, I decided to modify the arm so it would go backwards and fit on the right arm. It took a lot of glue and liquid green stuff, but I think it looks almost like it fits on that arm now.

The hunter-killer missiles on the shoulders aren’t the most competitively functional items. At 10 point each, two 1-shot S8 missiles may not make their value back, especially if they miss. But, they looked too cool not to keep.

 

 

 

 

The name “Fort” has a double meaning. Fort is a boys name, and could be the short form of Fortuanto. Fort can also be a short for fortification. And lastly, in Italian and French, fort(e) means strong, which makes sense for such a large beast of a machine.

At 155 points including the 20 for the two hunter-killer missiles, it’s a big sink for points. But, if I can get in range of a few enemy tanks and rip them apart, it will definitely be worth it.

Actually getting it into combat may be a challenge. Without a drop pod it will have to walk to the enemy tanks. Its front and side armor of 13 are impressive, but I still don’t want it in the open too much or it will be destroyed before it sinks its chainfist into heretic, traitorous and/or xenos enemies.