The Leviathan !

There's a new dreadnaught recently released by Forgeworld - the Leviathan !

Here are its stats for Horus Heresy 30k:

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.

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

Here are the rules for its weapon selections:

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 Dreadnaught 101 article the strengths of dreadnaughts 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.

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.