Warhammer 40K: This Week’s Meta Hotness – Telemon Heavy Dreadnought
Let’s take a look at a hot unit that’s been stomping its way to victory, the Telemon Heavy Dreadnought.
In the ever-shifting meta of 40K, armies rise and fall. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about armies that are hot or not, but a lot less time looking at units that are running the show. Today let’s take a look at one of the hottest units currently running around the tabletop.
The Unit
The Telemon is a Heavy Adeptus Custodes Dreadnought walker. This beast of a heavy support unit carried the body of a mortally wounded Custodian to battle. Covered in some of the Imperium’s most advanced armor it can carry a number of deadly weapons and can excel at most close combat and ranged support.
Why They Are Good
The first thing to note about the Telemon is that they are ridiculously hard to kill. In fact, they are one of the most survivable non-knight vehicles in the game. T8, 14 wounds, a 2+/4++/6+++ and minus 1 to incoming damage – let these brutes shrug off just a ton of incoming firepower. You either need some kind of major trick or a lot of dedicated heavy anti-tank firepower to scratch these monsters. Moreover, even though they are a larger dreadnought, they are still smaller than a lot of other big expensive tanks and can hide better. Their one real downside is unlike most dreadnoughts they do degrade as they take damage.
Of course the Telemon isn’t just hard to kill, it’s also pretty deadly in its own right. It has a number of options for loadouts but a few have become pretty common. Most players take at least one Telemon caestus. This makes the Telemon a straight-up close combat killer, with 5 attacks hitting on 2s, wounding most things in the game on 2s and doing 4 damage. It’s brutal. 2d3 auto hits at s6 AP -2 also don’t hurt. Many lists keep the other arm as the base Illastus Accelerator Culverin. This gives you 4 strong D2 shots at long range, making the Telemon great for taking on light vehicles or MEQ. Some builds run it with a Storm Cannon instead, letting it have a little heavier anti-tank firepower/or more anti-horde firepower. The Bolt Launcher they all come with gives you a nice extra 5-10 strong shots. Overall a normal Temelon can put out up to 9-22 shots and then still wade into combat. This makes it an excellent bully unit that can run around on its own and push back enemy units.
A Sample List
Saying a unit is hot is all well and good, but let’s take a look at how players are using it. Custodes lists with Telemons have done well at a number of recent events, including the Orlando Open. One list that really highlights Telemons is the list that Jeremy Stan ran to take 3rd place at both the recent Gateway Open and Flying Monkey COn. (via 40kstats.com)
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Custodes) [98 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Shield Host: Shadowkeepers
+ HQ +
Captain-General Trajann Valoris [10 PL, 190pts]
Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike [9 PL, -1CP, 178pts]: Auric Aquilas, Captain-Commander, Indomitable Constitution, Misericordia, Salvo Launcher, Superior Creation, Warlord
+ Troops +
Custodian Guard Squad [7 PL, 156pts]
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
Sagittarum Custodians [7 PL, 153pts]: Sagittarum Custodian, Sagittarum Custodian
. Sagittarum Custodian: Misericordia
Sagittarum Custodians [7 PL, 153pts]: Sagittarum Custodian, Sagittarum Custodian
. Sagittarum Custodian: Misericordia
+ Fast Attack +
Venatari Custodians [16 PL, 330pts]
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
. Venatari Custodian
. . Kinetic Destroyer and Tarsus Buckler
+ Heavy Support +
Telemon Heavy Dreadnought [14 PL, -1CP, 280pts]: Eternal Penitent, Iliastus Accelerator Culverin
. Telemon Caestus
Telemon Heavy Dreadnought [14 PL, -1CP, 280pts]: Eternal Penitent, Iliastus Accelerator Culverin
. Telemon Caestus
Telemon Heavy Dreadnought [14 PL, -1CP, 280pts]: Eternal Penitent, Iliastus Accelerator Culverin
. Telemon Caestus
++ Total: [98 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++
Using the Unit
This army makes use of the maximum allowed three Telemons, for a brutal in-your-face trifecta of doom. This is a small and highly elite army with just a few units, but each one is super deadly. All three Telemons have been upgraded with Eternal Penitent allows them to re-roll charges and +1 attack. That makes the role of these guys super obvious – they are going to run forward and get stuck-in with their 6 attacks and load of guns. Armed with an Iliastus Accelerator Culverin and a Caestus they can put out some decent shots, but they really shine in combat. Thanks to being Shadowkeepers they can also drop a strat on one to make enemy attacks -1 S, making them even harder to kill. It’s clear that these guys are going to run forward and draw the enemy fire, while the rest of the army grabs objectives and the like.
Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments!
