Heresy-Era Iron Warriors Contemptor Dreadnought

The stand-out star of my 500 point list I'm using for the Zone Mortalis Horus Heresy list is the Contemptor Dreadnought. When we first started playing test 500 point games, it soon became clear that Dreadnoughts could be absolutely devastating. For our first game someone even managed to squeeze two regular Dreads into their 500 point list!

When composing my own list for the campaign, I really wanted to squeeze a Contemptor in, their front armour of 13 and 5+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks would ensure they were hard to destroy at range, and their wide range of weapon options would ensure that it was able to take on just about anything.

As always, click any of the photos to view them full-size.

This Contemptor was converted from an Emperor's Children Contemptor model. I replaced the head with the one that comes with the Cyclone Missile Launcher, and shaved off all of the Emperor's Children insignia, leaving just the studs and Aquila in place.

The two arm weapon mounts have been magnetised using 3 mm x 1 mm magnets so I can swap weapons around between games. The fist and ammo containers on the wrist have also been magnetised using 2 mm x 1 mm magnets, so I can swap out the Heavy Flamer for a Combi-Bolter if needed.

The loadout was designed to take on anything in close confines of a Zone Mortalis board. The Heavy Flamer and Dreadnought CCW give it a lot of punch up close, and the high number of shots and rending of the Kheres Assault Cannon ensure it can do some damage at range to practically anything.

Kheres Assault Cannon, showing hazard stripes typical of the Iron Warriors Legion.

The Contemptor has the been star of my list so far in the campaign. I've played five games so far and it's only been destroyed once, while it's racked up quite a tally of kills:

• 7 Breachers
• 1 Centurion
• 4 Myrmidons
• 9 Tactical Support Marines
• 1 Dreadnought
• 1 Castellax

It only has two attacks in close combat, so it can get overwhelmed fairly easily, but it performs really well against single targets.

Contemptor Power Fist Mounted with a Heavy Flamer

The Contemptor was painted using the Vallejo Model Air, Model Colour and Panzer Aces ranges. It was then weathered using Mig Washes, AK Interactive Streaking products, sponge chipping and and Mig Pigments.

If I had to change one thing about the paint job, it would be the hazard stripes on the shoulder. When applying the masking tape for the lines I started in the centre and worked outwards. In hindsight I should have started at one edge and worked across, as the final result seems out of line.

The base was painted with Vallejo German Camo Brown, drybrushed German Camo Beige and scattered with various brown Mig Pigments to break up the colour of the base.