Scourge Test LIst: The Double D

By Billyjoeray (Ian)

Ian here with a list idea that I’ve been kicking around in my head. This isn’t by any means an entirely new idea, it’s more of a re-evaluation of an existing concept: the Double Desolator.

I was never sold on the Double Desolator (Double D) list before because it requires a lot of points going into two units that can’t score focal points and are relatively fragile. The way I looked at it, the second Desolator is basically a suicide bomb unit, and you have to let it go on a rampage until it inevitably dies. It seemed like the wiser option was to invest the second Desolator’s points in other units. But, since the latest card revisions allow the Scourge Jink and Weave card to buff aircraft, I got to thinking that the Double D might be a lot more powerful now, and much better for as all-comers list!

Here is a Double D list I think capitalizes on the rule and card updates. The one update most useful to Scourge players is that command aircraft with commanders can now hold and contest Focal Points. Because of this change, a purely offensive second Desolator seems even more versatile and useful! Now, instead of only hunting down enemy units, you can also use it to contest or even take focal points. Combined with the command card 1.1 changes to Jink and Weave, I have found that Desolators are much more survivable.

The List:

Clash: 1487/1500 points; Standard Army; Standard Roster [1487/1500 pts]

•    Oppressors [395 pts]
  •    Desolator: Desolator(Master) [225 pts]
  •    Desolator: Desolator(Enslaver) [170 pts]
•    Vanguard [429 pts]
  •    Hunter Squad: 6x Hunter, Despoiler(+Twin Plasma Cannons) [312 pts]
    •    ^ Sharing ^ Reaper Squad: 3x Reaper [117 pts]
•    Warriors [299 pts]
  •    Ravagers: 3x Ravager, Harbinger(+Mini Arc Caster) [205 pts]
  •    Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
•    Warriors [188 pts]
  •    Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
  •    Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
•    Occupation Patrol [56 pts]
  •    Minders: 4x Minder, Intruder Beta [56 pts]
•    Attack Swarm [120 pts]
  •    Corsairs: Corsair [60 pts]
  •    Corsairs: Corsair [60 pts]

The Plan:

The general strategy with this list is to send the Desolator with the Enslaver (Desolator Jr.) towards the front lines, while the Master Desolator goes to the midfield to set up an ambush. Alternatively, you could move the Master in tandem with Desolator Jr. to clean up what Junior leaves behind. Depending on how much AA the enemy might have, it may pay off to target the Focus Beam on AA ground units for more powerful, precise attacks. In a handful of turns,  your Desolators could have the freedom to Ion Storm to their heart’s content without any repercussions! The one thing that you need to do, however, is keep your Master Desolator mostly out of harm’s way. You need him for his CV so you can access more cards and roll for initiative with higher odds. Only use him offensively if you can do so without exposing him to too much AA fire.

The Corsairs are there to make attack runs on enemy AA units before the Desolators move in. This forces opponents to risk losing a unit to their attack, or to reaction fire against them first which will prevent reaction fire against the Desolators. They can also tackle backfield threats like Ferrums, whose drones can wreak havoc on this list.

The three Warrior squads are there to claim objectives. However, since there are no exotic infantry in this list, your infantry are especially vulnerable to CQB. You’ll want to avoid CQBs in general. This means only placing your infantry in buildings with objectives devoid of and far away from enemy units (and flame weapons). The Desolators’ primary goal in objective missions is to demolish buildings where the opponent has infantry searching for objectives. The Hunter tank blob and the Despoiler can help with demolition as well since they have a lot of E11, demo-2 shots.

If you can goad your opponent to commit their exotics to one building, that structure becomes a juicy target for your demo weapons. If you can eliminate enemy infantry by dropping the building  they occupy before they move out to tangle with your troops, there is a better chance your infantry will survive to take objective off the table. When playing this list, it might be better to vacate buildings, unless you’re already locked, to bait enemy infantry into a trap.

Keep in mind that  the Hunter tank blob is your main presence on the ground, and should be utilized in surprise attacks after the Desolators have done their work. This is in order to prevent stray ion strikes from hitting your own guys, but more importantly it exposes them to as little fire as possible. Without Jink and Weave, and even with the skimmer bonus, Hunters will get picked off and you’ll end up with no ground forces left.

The Reapers’ main goal is to play offense and aggressively hunt down enemy aircraft like Eagles, Falcons, Firedrakes, Shaltari gates, dropships, etc. I’d be ok with them behaving suicidally aggressive if they have to. It forces your opponent to backpedal and deal with them or risk losing aircraft.

The Harbinger will drop its Ravagers about mid-field to help protect the Desolators from fast mover (FM) strikes, and then it will go dropship hunting. The Ravagers slowly, but they if they set up shop about mid-field, they can cover a big area with AA bubbles.

The minders are meant to be used either in tandem with the Desolators as protection from FM strikes, or to protect your rear light dropships from FMs. Your strategy should change depending on what the mission calls for. Once the Minders set down, they typically don’t go anywhere quickly, so where you put them is where they usually end up all game.

I think this list is really aggressive and it capitalizes on how little AA people tend to take. Most armies I see tend to take two or three dedicated AA units. With this list, you theoretically should be able to eliminate their AA rather quickly, and then let your Desolators have their way with their ground units.

The main threats to this list would be other lists with lots of AA (obviously), but in that case you might be able to utilize the hunters to eliminate those, because if they have lots of AA, they are probably lacking in ant-tank (AT).

A serious threat to this are FMs who can eliminate Desolators pretty well without much help over the course of a game if they are not dealt with.

I will have to test this list out soon and analyze the results. If you have any experience running the Double D, or if you have any other comments, comment below!