No one uses Desolation Marines, why?

[Lathe Biosas]

I've noticed that no one plays with Desolation Marines. 

 

I understand that they are dumb looking and appear to be armed with the Imperium's greatest collection of NERF weaponry, but ugly models are still used if they have good rules.

 

The Marines are essentially armed with a 36" indirect bolter and either a 48" krak or frag missile... and they can use both the 36" and the 48" gun in the same shooting phase.

 

(Tbh, I can't remember what the Sergeant can upgrade his weapon to right now)

 

 

Is it because the current Indirect Fire Rules are bad, or is the nonuse attributed to the fact that 5 models cost 200 points? Or is it a mixture of these, along with the general goofiness of the weapons?

 

[Karhedron]

A bit of both, Indirect Fire is weak and has gotten weaker in 11th edition. Also the S10 krak missiles are not quite powerful enough to cut the mustard as anti-tank weapons. 200 points is just too much for what they bring to the table. If they dropped to 150 points they might be worth considering for the flexibility but not as it stands. Still, there is a new codex coming out in 6 weeks so maybe they will get a bit of attention.

[Tawnis]

They are also exceptionally fragile for their points. While indirect does help with this a bit, 38 point models that are T4 2W 3+Sv won't stand up to much that can close the distance. 

They have gone down to 180 points, from their former 200 for the first unit (Though they are 210 after that, yikes), but I still don't expect to see them much. 

[Tacitus]

For a while, "everybody" did.  They were much cheaper and spamming them was potent.  Which is why they changed to 5 and only 5, for 200.  Additionally it resulted in a bunch of changes to Indirect Fire rules because that tactic/playstyle was getting abused across multiple factions. 

 

For 200ish Points you could get 5 Desolation Dudes who could indirect fire the secondary weapon but not the Primary.  Or you could get a Dev Squad with four lascannon.  They may not be able to Indirect Fire the primary (or anything) either but they came with 12 Ablative Wounds before you started losing the big guns.  For SIGNIFICANTLY less than 200 you could take a Ballistus Dread with 2 Lascannon and two Missiles, two more wounds, T10, and a 2+ armor save.  The weird but most accurate answer is: Most armies aren't big enough to go that far down the Bang-For-Your-Buck matrix and they don't need anything exclusive to the Desolation Dudes. 

[Mazer Rackham]

23 hours ago, Lathe Biosas said:

Or is it a mixture of these, along with the general goofiness of the weapons?

 

For me, yep.

 

[Indy Techwisp]

Regarding the models looking dumb:

They do. The launchers make no sense.

 

That said with the new codex there's gonna be quite a few people who are gonna have a number of officially recommended replacement models to hand already, so let's hope the codex makes their stats better to shore up that side of the issue.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

They’re ugly

[Tacitus]

9 hours ago, Indy Techwisp said:

Regarding the models looking dumb:

They do. The launchers make no sense.

 

That said with the new codex there's gonna be quite a few people who are gonna have a number of officially recommended replacement models to hand already, so let's hope the codex makes their stats better to shore up that side of the issue.

They're still on my pile of shame right now, but my plan is to move the missile launcher box to the pauldron or backpack as a shoulder mount.  I think that looks way better.

[Jolemai]

Personally? Because they aren't Devastators.

[Subtleknife]

I just think they look awful, which is the reason I don't use them. I really liked the missile launcher from the firstborns. I would have just preferred they were all armed with those in different poses.

[Karhedron]

33 minutes ago, Subtleknife said:

I just think they look awful, which is the reason I don't use them. I really liked the missile launcher from the firstborns. I would have just preferred they were all armed with those in different poses.

 

Given that Devastators are now officially intended to be proxied as Desolators, you can do it now. Personally I would like to build them with classic HH missile launchers.

 

[jaxom]

On 8/27/2026 at 4:23 AM, Karhedron said:

the S10 krak missiles are not quite powerful enough to cut the mustard as anti-tank weapons.

This is what boggles my mind. I’m not sure what their variance is, but I feel like either a good turn of shooting or buffed shooting from them should kill at least an APC or Sentinel equivalent.

[BrainFireBob]

What's their ideal target?

 

Is that target currently dominant or common in the meta?

 

Is there a unit that can handle that target that's also strong in the mta?

[Karhedron]

On 9/4/2026 at 2:21 AM, jaxom said:

This is what boggles my mind. I’m not sure what their variance is, but I feel like either a good turn of shooting or buffed shooting from them should kill at least an APC or Sentinel equivalent.

 

Even against T9 and below, they are mediocre. They will put an average of 5-6 wounds on a Rhino with Superkrak. As soon as you go to proper tanks at T11+ (Leman Russ, Big Knights, Repulsor etc) that drops to on 2-3 wounds per volley which is just pathetic. Add to that indirect shooting has been strongly nerfed in 11th meaning that their anti-infantry shooting is not much to write home about either.

 

Yes you can buff them but then you are spending even more points on a unit that costs 180 points to start with. At 120 points they might be viable as they are flexible at least but you can get much better fire support units cheaper. A Ballistus Dreadnought is only 150 points and will put 7-8 wounds on a Rhino or 4-5 on a T11 target. The Ballistus can also switch out the superkrak missiles for superfrag if you want to bombard infantry so it is also flexible (although it does not have indirect fire).

[Karhedron]

A bit of good news, Desolators have dropped all the way to 140 points per squad, and that is with the boost to T5 and their indirect fire going to S5. I think that at that sort of level, they might see some play.

[Lathe Biosas]

Plus, the loss of the Whirlwind means that these guys are pretty much the only indirect fire available to Marines.

 

(Unless I'm forgetting a unit)

[Tacitus]

They only have indirect on one model out of the five.  And then, Only if they swap out their SuperFrag (or Superkrak) on the Sergeant.   Its going to come down to X Points for 5 bases with Super One Or The Other missiles vs Y Points for 1 "base" of Ballistus Dread with 2 Lascannon and 2 Krak/Frag selectable. 

[Karhedron]

10 hours ago, Tacitus said:

They only have indirect on one model out of the five.  And then, Only if they swap out their SuperFrag (or Superkrak) on the Sergeant.

 

Dang, the Castellan Launchers have lost indirect! 

 

Well that'll teach me to read the updated entries more carefully. I will assume this is not a typo or omission since it is still there on the Vengor launcher. Indirect was their main selling point so what is their role now? Load them up with Superfrag and spam S5 shooting (30 shots from a 5-man squad with some BLAST thrown in)? I am not completely sure what to make of these guys in world where HB Eradicators exist. Indirect was their only niche and now even that is gone apparently.

[Indy Techwisp]

26 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

 

Dang, the Castellan Launchers have lost indirect! 

 

Well that'll teach me to read the updated entries more carefully. I will assume this is not a typo or omission since it is still there on the Vengor launcher. Indirect was their main selling point so what is their role now? Load them up with Superfrag and spam S5 shooting (30 shots from a 5-man squad with some BLAST thrown in)? I am not completely sure what to make of these guys in world where HB Eradicators exist. Indirect was their only niche and now even that is gone apparently.

 

Their role is now "flexible direct fire missiles" I guess.

I've seen people both praising and lamenting the loss of mass indirect so I guess the result is neutral?

[Orange Knight]

With the 11th edition codex, I will definitely give them a try again.

 

I'm thinking about 5 in an Impulsor, all armed with Super Krak. Or potentially just run them on the table as a unit in cover.

 

5 guys is 10 Str 5, ap -1 infantry shots, and 5 Str 10, ap -2, D3+3 shots. That's some good damage.

 

I don't see any point in the Vangor launcher now. They should just be used a direct fire unit.

[Karhedron]

OK, so the Castellan Launchers are slightly less powerful than Bolt Rifles so starting with a comparison to Intercessors seems fair. Is a Superkrak missile shot worth around 15 points each? My gut feeling is probably yes.

 

The comparison to a Ballistus Dreadnought remains good. They get a similar amount of anti-tank fire with some anti-infantry fire as backup. The Dreadnought is more resistant to small-arms fire but more vulnerable to a big shot from something like a Lancer or RepEx. The Desolators get Ignore Cover while the Ballistus gets Sustained Hits 1 within 24", both of which are decent rules. The Dread is a bit faster while the Desolators can make better use of terrain. They are probably pretty close now.

[Tacitus]

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

 

Dang, the Castellan Launchers have lost indirect! 

 

Well that'll teach me to read the updated entries more carefully. I will assume this is not a typo or omission since it is still there on the Vengor launcher. Indirect was their main selling point so what is their role now? Load them up with Superfrag and spam S5 shooting (30 shots from a 5-man squad with some BLAST thrown in)? I am not completely sure what to make of these guys in world where HB Eradicators exist. Indirect was their only niche and now even that is gone apparently.

I never liked Superfrag.  It wasn't unique enough to give up the Superkrak.  I suspect eventually they'll just get both missiles in a single launcher and don't have to pick pre-battle.  Of course I also always though the indirect launchers were frosting on the cake, not the cake itself.   I wanted to climb the tower, shoot the super kraks at the tank, and then indirect the other launchers at an infantry unit they couldn't see because they climbed the tower.  

[Orange Knight]

It's hard to say, but the weapon pairs nicely with the missile launcher on the Impulsor.

You would be flying around firing 6 Str10 shots doing 3 + D3 damage, which is substantial. And yes, they can play around cover and terrain better if going on foot.

I think this is a unit that needs to be tested. Keep in mind that it would be a lot more easy for GW to re-balance them with points going forward, as their behaviour on the tabletop is more straightforward.
 

We should compare them to 5 Hellblasters. The Desolators are 25 points more, and they do have superior shooting.

Edited September 21 by Orange Knight

[Tacitus]

1 hour ago, Orange Knight said:

With the 11th edition codex, I will definitely give them a try again.

 

I'm thinking about 5 in an Impulsor, all armed with Super Krak. Or potentially just run them on the table as a unit in cover.

 

5 guys is 10 Str 5, ap -1 infantry shots, and 5 Str 10, ap -2, D3+3 shots. That's some good damage.

 

I don't see any point in the Vangor launcher now. They should just be used a direct fire unit.

Bear in mind the Gatling Grenades (Castellan launcher) is a second weapon to the SuperXXXX Rocket Launcher, and firing point only allows shooting ONE gun per model per Firing point - so the Impulsor gets 5 Rockets or 5(x2) Gatling Grenades, or some mixture adding up to 5.  Desolators are not a good fit in Impulsors. 

[Orange Knight]

I can live without firing the Castellan launchers for a turn, but yes - you do have a point about their split weapon profile.

Perhaps the best way to run this unit would be to invest as little as possible and just position them in the best spots possible.