Dark Angels Review: Dreadnought

The humble dreadnought makes a welcome appearance in the elites section of the Dark Angels codex.  Although I feel it will be outshone by other selections (Deathwing Terminators, Deathwing Knights), it still has a role to play. For a reasonable price, the dreadnought is still a vehicle with a solid weapon load out and (unlike the chaos analogue) is easy to point and click in the right direction. I know many will argue that they're straight forward to take out in close combat, and maybe that's true for certain setups, but in the current infantry based meta, they can be deadly against squads that are not ready for them (or worse: can't hurt them).

There are many options for the dreadnought, ranging from venerable to make it extra-hardy, through to their weapon load outs and deployment tactics (i.e. drop pod).  Below are a few builds that I liked:

Venerable Dreadnought, 2 twin-linked autocannons, extra armour (155 points)
A prolific shooter of S7 casings, this guy is a great support option for the back to middle field, adding some much needed firepower to (perhaps) a Deathwing team, and can reliably(!?) stick around for a while.  Ditch the extra armour to save on points if needed.  Think about an assault cannon instead?

Dreadnought, twin-linked heavy flamer, replace storm bolter with heavy flamer, drop pod dedicated transport (150 points)
For your anti-horde needs, a flaming dreadnought inbound for trouble at the heart of the enemy.  Flame away and then enter the fray with the power fist.

Dreadnought, plasma cannon (110 points)
Look, I just like plasma cannons on dreadnoughts, okay?  And its fluffy now, because Dark Angels have all the retro-tech and like to abuse and use plasma lots.  But more seriously, the template provides some needed low AP back up for the army if it is primarily regular power armour based.  Move up the board to threaten infantry and others with the power fist as required.