Brutalis Dreadnought Review

Released alongside the Desolation Marines and the new Primaris Lieutenant in the Strike Force Agastus boxset earlier in the year, the Brutalis Dreadnought is essentially a melee version of the existing Redemptor Dreadnought, trading out the macro plasma incinerator or heavy onslaught gatling cannon to double down on the melee arms.

Credit: Warhammer Community, Games Workshop

There is minimal waste on the sprue, the only options being the fist weapons, the torso weapons, and a choice of sarcophagus plate, with three optional purity seals that can be stuck on. The Brutalis Dreadnought is designed in such a way that it can be assembled stepping forward with either its left or right leg. Positioning of the legs of walkers can sometimes be difficult but the Brutalis comes with pins that make positioning easy, although these can just be snipped off if you wish to go more freeform with your posing. I would not say that it would be an easy task however.

Assembly is relatively painless and doesn't take particularly long. There is not much in the way of clean up required assuming your clippers are sharp. There were no major mouldlines and I only needed to tidy up where the bits were snipped from the sprue. The arms and sarcophagus are assembled in such a way as to allow them to move but I found that there was a bit too much give on the arms so they did not hold positions well. A coat of paint might have been sufficient to lock these up a bit more but I opted to just glue the arms into a position I was happy with. I did the same with the sarcophagus as I see no real value to this being able to be raised. There are obvious sub-assemblies if you are so inclined to make painting easier; legs, torso, each arm, and the carapace-mounted twin icarus ironhail heavy stubber.

Oddly, while the Redemptor and Brutalis Dreadnoughts share many similarities, they are distinct kits. It would have been easy for them to share legs and torsos (even fists), but Games Workshop has taken the opportunity to alter the panels and armouring slightly for the Brutalis, most notably on the legs. The Brutalis fists are also a different design to the Redemptor fists, so while the arms are likely interchangable between dreadnought bodies this will represent an obstacle, alongside the torso weapons.

The Redemptor fist

The Redemptor fist features a thumb and three fingers with an underslung heavy weapon, either a heavy flamer or an onslaught gatling cannon.

The Brutalis fist

The Brutalis fist still features four digits but they are arranged more similarly to a birds foot than the Redemptor's more human hand layout, with only twin bolt rifles being wrist-mounted. The reason for this new layout is presumably to make the alternate melee weapon look better; the Brutalis talon, with the stubby fingers replaced by more aggressive looking claws. This option requires that you forgo the twin bolt rifles however.

The nature of the ranged weaponry is flipped for the torso-mounted weapons, with the Brutalis carrying heavy weaponry there (either two heavy bolters or two multi-meltas) and the Redemptor mounting only two storm bolters or two fragstorm grenade launchers.

Finally, the Redemptor's optional carapace-mounted icarus rocket pod is replaced by a mandatory twin icarus ironhail heavy stubber. I have seen some complain that this ruins the look of the model for them but I do not mind it. I find the use of heavy stubbers in the Primaris range to be a bit strange as it is not a weapon I associate with marines yet but I am not opposed to their aesthetic. The twin icarus ironhail heavy stubber just sits in a hole at the top of the Brutalis which allows it to pivot freely. I knew that I'd just end up misplacing it if I didn't secure it down so I have just glued it into position at an aesthetically pleasing angle. 

All in all, the Brutalis Dreadnought kit is a high quality kit with the usual posing limitations and possibilities you would expect from a modern Games Workshop kit. There was minimal clean up required whilst assembling the model and the instructions were clear throughout.

In game, the Brutalis Dreadnought gains an extra 2" movement and an attack over its Redemptor cousin, whilst also bracketting slower. This is great given its melee focus and will help it reach combat quicker and hit harder. If you go with the Brutalis fists, it actually pumps out a lot of anti-infantry firepower for a "melee" unit; up to 16 S4 AP-1 shots and you can add two heavy bolters to that too. It's nothing spectacular but it's certainly not nothing and can help clear some chaff away. 

Despite their visual differences, the melee profile for the Brutalis fist is the exact same as the Redemptor fist and will allow the Brutalis to swing with 6 S14 AP-3 Dd3+3 attacks on the first turn of combat. Certainly not what you want to be on the receiving end of. However, the Brutalis talons take this up a notch. You can choose to either strike or sweep with those, and if you strike you essentially attack with the above profile but gain an extra AP and can re-roll the wound roll also. If you choose to sweep then you will instead strike with 12 S7 AP-3 D1 which provides some extra horde clearance. Unless you find yourself amongst a blob of 1 wound infantry, you will always be striking with this.

Games Workshop think more highly of the twin bolt rifle shots than I do as I would suggest always exchanging the fists for the talons. The more reliable damage from the strike profile and the versatility of the sweep outweigh the benefits of the bolt rifle shots in my opinion. The multi-meltas are worth upgrading to also, but if you just want to use the Brutalis Dreadnought as a distraction carnifex then keeping it cheap with the heavy bolters and charging it forward will not be a bad move. Do not forget that you can fire these in close combat also - there are few targets that want to eat 4 melta shots at point blank range.

In 9th edition, my view is that equipping the Brutalis Dreadnought with the talons and multi-meltas is the way to go and that is how I have assembled mine. I would plan to get another to run alongside this one to add some redundancy. However, unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that a new edition will be launched in a couple of months and it can be assumed that the Brutalis Dreadnought is likely to be affected quite heavily by it, particularly with the way twin-linking works. The Warhammer Community team have previewed how twin-linking works already; it now provides you with rerolls to wound and can apply to both ranged and melee attacks, with the example used being a Primaris Aggressor armed with two Power Fists with Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets.

Credit: Warhammer Community, Games Workshop

 

Twin-linking could reasonably be applied to every single weapon the Brutalis Dreadnought can be equipped with and that will shake-up the optimal loadout. The fist vs talon dichotomy will need rejigged if both gain the twin-linked rule, as seems logical. The torso heavy weapons are the only ones that might remain as two separate weapons, but we will need to see how Games Workshop handles them.

One thing we do know is the profile for the bolt rifle in the new edition as this was previewed in the same Warhammer Community article. It is reasonable to assume that equipping the Brutalis with fists in the new edition will see it outputting 4 S4 AP-1 shots which can be fired after advancing and can re-roll their wounds thanks to being twin-linked.

Credit: Warhammer Community, Games Workshop

 

Ultimately, the Brutalis Dreadnought fulfills a role that is innately useful to an army and so it is likely to be a solid choice in the new edition. The only thing that can really hold it back is it's points cost and there are frequent enough points updates to the game now that this should't be an issue, at least not for long. I look forward to seeing the new profile as I am keen to add another to my collection but I would advise that it would be wise to see what the new edition brings before deciding on the wargear loadout for any you might have.