The Words of Faeit is a weekly post, dedicated to my thoughts on the strategy and tactical side of the game. They are not to be written in stone as "No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (or "no plan survives contact with the enemy"). Quoted from Helmuth von Moltke.
I have been using them in the configuration above for the most part. I have tried moving my heavy support psyriflemen to become venerable, but it just seems like overkill.
Here is how I have been using the Grey Knight Venerable Dreadnought.
Assault cannons with psybolt ammunition and sometimes with a heavy flamer. This way they are equal to a psycannon, and hit on 2+ with the Venerables BS5. I have been using them successfully to walk upfield firing as they go, and giving my purifiers a protective anti-psyker defense with Reinforced Aegis. Doing this, they often times get into close combat late game, usually round 4 or 5. Because they are amongst my purifiers they have generally been a low target priority for my opponents, which greatly has added to the venerables survivability.
The big question is... is he worth it. He is sitting right around 190-205pts. The last 3-4 games, I have fielded one ven. dread, and it has taken out a full unit in melee in the last two rounds of play. Shooting wise, some damage was done. However, with a full array of psyriflemen in the backfield though, the venerable dread loses some of his punch.
So what it comes down to, is what else could fill the 200 pts the dread is taking. After all, a little bit of cutting here and there, another full unit of purifiers could jump in.
I am on the fence with the Venerable Dreadnought. One one hand, with a cover save and fortitude, this dreadnought is nearly indestructible. Since I have a hard time getting rid of my venerables in my lists, I figured I would try to hear other peoples opinion and experience with them.