Something funny - Desolation Marines are the top tier choice for Astartes.

[Orange Knight]

I was hearing rumblings from various places in the community - some tournament players were talking about running 30 in their lists.

I've checked out from 9th edition so my tabletop experience is very limited over the last year or so, and I half assumed that they were joking.

 

Turns out this isn't the case at all, and the Desolatotion Marines are the premier Devastator style unit in the range.

 

Auspex did a breakdown in a brand new video:

 

 

It just shows that we can't judge performance at a glance or declare something as inferior without the practical experience. I think we all wrote these off as a fluffy choice and nothing more.

 

10th is coming soon so this could all change again, but it's certainly amusing that we'll be seeing these in a lot of competitive lists in the coming months. I'm quite happy that I have 10 waiting to be painted now, but I can't bring myself to get more knowing that 10th is around the corner and seeing all the new models it will bring.

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I really wish someone would inform GW on the difference between rockets and missiles. It’s always annoying to see them mislabel these things…

[Marshal Valkenhayn]

It's difficult for me to express in words just how badly I want tournament players to buy 30 of these models. I don't care that it artificially inflates the number of sales, I just want them to be stuck with 30 dumb looking guys they can't resell when they get nerf hammered into the dirt. 

 

Not only does it bring me a perverse sort of enjoyment, but they often get resold through my LGS's second hand table, which lets you earn store credit for them selling your junk, which those players then recycle into the next big thing. Keeps my boys afloat in this age of video games.

[Guest Triszin]

A full squad of 10, superkrak Relic master craft on vengor

 

As wolves, strategies keen senses.

 

 

Finally something to punch everything.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I didn't get the impression that Desos were being slept on as a "fluff choice."  Plenty of people made very convincing arguments for the use of suprekrak-armed squads based solely on two data points: first, that S8 is sufficient to wound the majority of models in the game on either a 2+ or 3+ and second that the damage value per shot is d3+3, which is a fantastic middle ground between d6 and a flat, high number.  I won't be buying or fielding any despite being a Heavy weapon fanatic Iron Hands player because I'm a Gravis purist when it comes to Primaris, but my Chapter's other social media groups have been all over this like white on rice.

[Tokugawa]

Mani Cheema is (controversial) famous for accurately spamming "most broken thing" and winning high competitive events with them.

 

I see him as "meta FBI", he had arrested Admech 150 robemen, Orks buggy spam, Nids 18 hiveguards…many people dislike him but he also objectively improved the game balance.

 

Now he won Manchester Open with 30 inner circle terminators and 3 desolation squads. This is self-explaing.

[DesuVult]

Mani Cheema is also not the measuring stick I would use for normal play or even normal competitive play.  He has won in part because of how jank he can run jank lists.

[Tacitus]

Its also a difference between running 30 vs in an edge/skew list vs running 10 in a normal list. 

[Karhedron]

I agree. Any edge-skew list will always be tricky. This is why Knights have become something of a gatekeeper army in TAC lists since any army will potentially need to be able to chew through 100-ish T8 wounds behind a 3+/5++.