[Orks] Waaaagh! Nobrot!: Deff Dred

Hey all,

It's been a while since there's been a blog update, and I keep forgetting to take pictures of my recent painting fest, so I thought I'd start working my way through the Nobrot articles, and since he did so well in the last game I played, my looted Deff Dred will take the honours this week.

So here he is in all his hastily painted glory:

He was made about a year ago, before there was even a mention of the (awesome) Plastic Deff Dred being released. I'd seen hundreds of people cobble some scrap onto Space Marine Dreadnaughts and call it a Deff Dred, but that didn't appeal to me. Since one of the regular MAWS players, Angryman, was playing a particularly nasty Tyranid army at the time, chock full of Carnifexes, I thought "Surely the Orks would respect a Fex for being a Stomping and Killing machine" and then had a poke around the Internet and saw a fair few conversions dotted about. Some ranging from the Bog standard fex with some glyphs, to awesomely detailed ones with Cockpits, Mechanical Legs, Resculpted Terminator style faces and whatnot.

Me being me, I went for a quicker approach - If the Orks are going to be able to get hold of a Fex long enough to shove a Remote Control reciever in it's Brain then they're going to have to hack off a few limbs... Which is where his Wrecking Ball arm and Mechanical leg come from. The rider was a bit more for Comic value than to justify anything fluffwise. Since he'd have no chance if the Carnifex went mental.

On the table, I've found the arc of his Claw and Mechanical arm works well as Armour facing. Also at the time, he was a bit bigger than a Metal Kan, so in the world of True LOS I was helping some people out. I've never had anyone have a problem when playing against it and it's pretty clear what everything is...

In The Game
Now, down to how I actually use my Deff Dred...

When looking through the Codex it was clear with his poor Ballistic Skill, the shooting work was best left to his smaller cousins, the Killa Kans. This guy was made for out and out carnage. The one real long range shooting option I would ever consider giving him would be 2 Big Shootas, since with the number of shots, he would actually hit something. By that point however, you've caused yourself issues with target selection and you would probably have just been better running...

I run the Deff Dred with an Extra Close Combat Weapon (his Talon) and a Skorcha (Acid Maw). The extra CCW really helps him in either whomping vehicles or taking down Monstrous Creatures. The Skorcha is there for a guaranteed hit on enemies and helps when dealing with Hordes. Also, it's a pretty cheap upgrade, meaning if this guy gets blown up, it's not a massive deal.

I've found that some people really aim to just kill him, whether it's a bit of "Rabbit in the Headlights" syndrome, "kill that big thing" or "that's a pretty nice mini, if I kill it, maybe he'll get a bit teary eyed". Backed up by Killa Kans for fire support, and a Big Mek to keep him going, used correctly the Deff Dred is absolutely awesome. Just remember to pick your targets well and not to expect miracles from him.

The key thing with Deff Dreds is know your limitations. Remember the amount of attacks and the initiative. If you charge a Monstrous Creature that is attacking before you, expect to get smashed. Also, if you charge Thunder Hammer terminators, you will only maybe kill 2 or 3 and you'll be getting the remaining attacks smashed back at you....

What do you guys do with Deff Dreds, and Non-Ork players, how do you feel about playing against Deff Dreds?

Peace,
SB.