Dreadnought Weapons Part 1

The Rifleman dreadnought is generally considered to be an optimal build for Space Marine dreadnaughts.  This article is going to explore if it really is better as an anti tank configuration than the older Twin lascannon/Missile launcher, aka Dark Angels Dreadnought configuration.  The general wisdom on the internet suggests that the Rifleman should be considerably better. 

TLAC = Twin linked Autocannon
TLLC = Twin linked Lascannon
ML = Missile launcher

Here goes.  Ill work to two decimal places for rounding purposes.  I don't see the point in being more accurate than that, as most dice are less than accurate!

All numbers are assuming a bs of 4.

TLAC                           Chance of Glance        Chance of Pen          Chance of kill
VS AV 10                              13.88%                    41.66%                13.88%
VS AV 11                              13.88%                    27.76%                  9.25%
VS AV 12                              13.88%                    13.88%                  4.44%
VS AV 13                              13.88%                           0%                      0%
VS AV 14                                      0%                          0%                      0%

Obviously, you need to take into account these numbers have four chances of coming up due to the TLAC dreadnought having four shots.  The numbers provided above are per shot.  Please note that this does not mean you add up all the percentages.  It doesn't work that way!

TLLC                           Chance of Glance        Chance of Pen          Chance of kill
VS AV 10                              13.88%                    69.44%                 23.15%
VS AV 11                              13.88%                    55.55%                 18.52%
VS AV 12                              13.88%                    41.67%                 13.88%
VS AV 13                              13.88%                    27.76%                  9.25%
VS AV 14                              13.88%                    13.88%                  4.44%

The TLLC has just one shot.   It has a very high chance of doing something vs low armour, and a chance of destroying anything in the game.  Finally for the ML, its partner in crime.

ML                              Chance of Glance        Chance of Pen          Chance of kill
VS AV 10                              11.11%                    44.44%                 14.81%
VS AV 11                              11.11%                    33.33%                 11.11%
VS AV 12                              11.11%                    22.22%                  7.41%
VS AV 13                              11.11%                    11.11%                  3.70%
VS AV 14                              11.11%                           0%                       0%

As per the lascannon, this only has one shot.  Due to not being twinlinked, the chance of rolling a hit in the first place is lower, which in turn reduces its chances of a glance. 

While the individual shots of the Dark Angels configuration may offer a lot higher chance of killing something, there is less of them.  This in turn leads to less glancing hits.  If you want your dreadnought to lock down an enemy tank by shaken/stunned results, then the Rifleman is both cheaper and more effective/reliable than the Dark Angels build.  If however, you want your dreadnought to actually kill enemy armour, then the Dark Angels design is better. 

This however presents its own issue.  The TLLC arm is less effective as an anti tank weapon than a multimelta. The multi melta is also cheaper, but has a shorter range, and considerably shorter range for its lethal melta rule to come into place.  This will be discussed further in a later article.