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40k Tactical Review: AWESOME Leviathan Dreadnought

3 Minute Read
Jan 22 2016
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leviathan-horz

BBF swinging through your neighborhood to talk about the new dreadnaught recently released by Forgeworld – the Leviathan !

Hey everybody its your ever friendly BBF swinging through your neighborhood again !  If you are into Space Marines and the Heresy then be sure to check out my blog: Black Blow Fly’s Tactical Blog

Here are its stats for Horus Heresy 30k:

The Basics

leviathan-stats-1

There are also rules for fielding the Leviathan in 40k armies for Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Marines and Space Wolves – note the stats are the same. The Leviathan is a heavy support choice. I’m going to focus on the rules for 30k in this article.

Wargear & Special Rules

Here is the rules for its wargear, special rules and dedicated transport options:

leviathan-stats-2

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LeviathanPatternSiegeDrillClawBundle01SNIP SNIP -DRILL DRILL

Weapon Upgrades

leviathan-stats-3

LeviathanPatternCannonGravFluxBundle01

There is no such thing as TOO-MUCH firepower

Weapon Rules

Here are the rules for its weapon selections:

leviathan-stats-4

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Tactical Thoughts

I’m planning to kit mine with a Grav-flux bombard (GFB), siege claw and armored ceramite. I’ll swap out the GFB for a storm cannon for 40k. The siege claw has inbuilt meltagun and its torso has two heavy flamers to thin down hordes so it won’t be getting tar pitted any time soon. The GFB is quite nasty and can easily deal with 2+ armor saves at range. If you’ve got 15 points to spare the Phosphex discharger (PD) will help soften them up as well. Both the GFB and PD are unique to 30k and have a maximum range of 18″ so using a dreadnaught drop pod to deploy them is a good investment if you select these blast weapons.

I have discussed in-depth in the Dreadnought 101 article the strengths of dreadnoughts and the Leviathan is truly a heavy metal beast that can go toe to toe with Super Heavy Walkers (SHW), Monstrous Creatures (MC) and even Gargantuan Monstrous Creatures (GMC). This is mainly due to the special rule for its siege claw…

Severing Cut:

Each time a non-vehicle model suffers an unsaved wound from this weapon, roll a D6. On a 4+, the model suffers an additional D3 wounds which must be saved separately using the weapon’s profile (note that these wounds do not themselves generate more additional wounds).

The Leviathan has assault grenades and +1 initiative when it charges. It also inflicts two S8 Hammer of Wrath attacks.

As discussed in the previous article MC have serious problems when facing a dreadnaught with front AV13 since their base strength is typically S6 and they must smash to inflict any damage which is only one attack. The Leviathan has a 4++ invulnerable save as well plus four hull points so it can tank damage.

If you’re mainly fighting SHW then a siege drill is your best option for melee since it has the Armorbane special rule.

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It’s not cheap points wise but as I often say you get what you pay for and the Leviathan is truly an arsenal! I am planning to use a dreadnaught drop pod to deploy mine and there is also an option for the Kyhbardis assault claw as well.

My advice Heresy gamers is step into a Leviathan !!!

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Author: Steve Turner
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