Furioso Dreadnought

Furioso Cybot of the Blood Angels

The Furioso Dreadnought, is a variant of the standard dreadnought used almost exclusively by the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters for close combat. Other Chapters may use dreadnoughts configured similarly to the Furioso Pattern Dreadnought, although they are not so named and are usually referred to simply as dreadnoughts configured for close Combat. The Furioso, like most dreadnought variants, differs from the standard dreadnought only in its armament and the role it plays on the battlefield. Standard dreadnoughts are always equipped with a single long-range weapon arm, such as equipped with an assault cannon, and a single arm ending in a dreadnought melee weapon, but the Furioso Pattern Dreadnought typically replaces the long-range weapon arm with a second melee weapon.

The Furioso Pattern Dreadnought is nearly unstoppable in close combat, as its heavy armor and powerful weapons allow it to penetrate most types of enemy armored vehicles with ease. The Furioso Pattern Dreadnought is typically equipped with two Dreadnought melee weapons, with the war machine weapons ending in massive versions of standard Space Marine melee weapons such as Powerfists and Lightning Claws. These weapons are used by any standard Adeptus Astartes dreadnought, although standard dreadnoughts typically only wield one such melee weapon.

True Furioso dreadnoughts used by the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters are equipped with versions of these two melee weapons known as "Bloodfists" and "Blood Talons" respectively. However, aside from the differences in names, there are no known differences between these weapons and their stock versions.

The Furioso dreadnoughts of the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters can also be equipped with two Dreadnought-class weapons that are rarely seen in the armories of other Chapters. The first of these is the Frag Cannon, a large ballistic cannon that fires massive frag grenades that are extremely effective at close range, and the Magna-Graapple, a weapon that fires several meters of hardened adamantium chain attached to a powerful magnetic and gravitational field attached is generators. When firing at an enemy vehicle, the Magna-Grapple's tracks form an unyielding bond with the enemy vehicle's hull, allowing the Dreadnought to pull the vehicle in closer and finish it off with its main melee weapons.

The Furioso also possesses several smaller ranged weapons that it can use in combat, such as: B. Storm bolters, heavy flamethrowers, and meltaguns mounted under his fists or installed on the underside of his torso. The Furioso Dreadnought can also be outfitted with additional armor, smoke launchers, and a searchlight.

Variants:

There are several variants of the Furioso dreadnought used only by the Blood Angels and their successor chapters:

• Death Company Dreadnought – Blood Angels dreadnoughts are not immune to the effects of the Black Rage afflicting the Sons of Sanguinius. When a Blood Angels dreadnought falls victim to the Black Rage, it becomes almost impossible for the Order to contain it, and as such it can spiral out of control for days until the Order's Techmarines can manipulate a device to incapacitate it . The Order's Sanguinary Priests can then decide whether the dreadnought's Astartes occupant should be sedated until the next battle, or stripped of his life for another to take his place. If the dreadnought dweller is still healthy enough to follow the instructions, he will be transferred to the Order's Death Company, where his dreadnought body will be able to withstand enormous punishments, and his unending rage will result in the deaths of many enemies .
• Librarian Dreadnought – If a Blood Angels Librarian is critically wounded in combat, it can also be placed in a Dreadnought's armored sarcophagus. These dreadnoughts, known as librarian dreadnoughts, come equipped with built-in psychic hoods and wield a force weapon, usually a force halberd, in place of one of the furioso's bloodfists. Still capable of unleashing their powerful psyker abilities, these dreadnoughts are protected by the dreadnought's thick hull. Librarian Dreadnoughts are extremely rare among the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters, and even rarer among the ranks of other Astartes Chapters.