Dropfleet Commander/Tactics/Scourge

They talk of democracy, freedom, fairness. Those are the creeds of cowards. The ones who would listen to a thousand opinions and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power, and power through strength! They have lost!

Why Play Scourge

High damage weapons

Wolfpack tactics

Special Abilities

Scald: Scourge weapons with this ability reduce armor rolls against their damage by 1 while within the ship's scan range.

Corruptor: Scourge torpedoes that achieve successful penetration unleash a hot, steamy load of Razorworms inside their victim's defenseless hull, starting "Fires" every turn.

Ships of the Line

• Light Tonnage:
  • Nickar-class Corvette: Scald makes these tiny ships very nasty at just what their fluff says they do - hunt enemy strike carriers. They evaporate under return fire though.
  • Gargoyle-class Strike Carrier: Scoring unit and generally unremarkable as strike carriers go.
  • Harpy-class Gun Frigate: Fun sized Oculus Beam platform. Pair with a bigger ship to finish off cripples if the big guns don't quite kill their target.
  • Djinn-class Close Action Frigate: Nasty little killer that can hide in atmosphere before pouncing. Do so; it'll be shot to pieces in moments if you try to make the run in normal conditions.
  • Charybdis-class Bombardment Frigate: The Scourge bombardment platform is this tiny thing. If you go for a bombardment strategy then don't linger with them; shoot, then move on to the next cluster. You have the advantage of being able to bombard while in atmosphere, meaning the enemy will have to send corvettes after you or try to hunt you with strike carriers. Note the UCM strike carrier actually can do this!
  • Scylla-class "Submarine" Frigate: Play tower defense games with your opponent by dropping these into atmosphere and using their Reverse-Grav cannons to act like a mobile Military Sector!

• Medium Tonnage:
  • Yokai-class Light Cruiser: Scourge light cruisers have paper-thin defences and rely on silent running and speed to get in close, fire their guns, and theoretically get out again. The Yokai doesn't have the hilarious CAWs of the Strix and has the slight advantage of some range on her guns, so is marginally more survivable. Like UCM light cruisers, has the advantage that it doesn't need Weapons Free to get max damage output.
  • Strix-class Light Cruiser: Must be hard to get life insurance if you crew this ship. The Strix puts out a devastating CAW volley and then dies the moment an enemy sneezes on it. Enemy frigates can call Strixes. Buy them in pairs, don't expect them to survive, and sell their lives dearly.
  • Chimera-class Troopship: Poorly armed but hauling troops, much like the San Francisco. The major difference being that Chimeras are faster and flimsier, so it can be a challenge to keep them alive long enough to drop bulk landers into a midfield cluster over several turns. Handle with care.
  • Hydra-class Fleet Carrier: Scourge bombers have the Scald rule and can be quite nasty; the Hydra that carries them into battle is another paper-thin Scourge cruiser. Remember launching gives you a minor spike, and make sure the enemy has something else to worry about.
  • Ifrit-class Cruiser: Carries a set of the Scourge dual-mode Burnthrough Lasers. Toss a pile of middling dice looking for that sweet 8 damage spike, or throw a single die with pinpoint accuracy to light the target with Flash and possibly land a crit chain.
  • Wyvern-class Cruiser: The standard Scourge cruiser, with decent gunnery and okayish defences but really needs to use silent running until ready to make the kill. Best used so their CAWs can finish off a damaged enemy. The Wyvern's weaknesses are the usual Scourge tinfoil armour and the way it has a shorter scan range than its main enemies.
  • Sphinx-class Cruiser: A less-crazy Strix, cruiser-grade defences mean the Sphinx is more likely to survive an attack run - but they don't come in pairs. Use if you actually need some cruisers to survive for some reason.

• Heavy Tonnage:
  • Raiju-class Heavy Cruiser: Now we're getting nasty. Scourge heavy cruisers are a BIG step up from their lighter brethren, particularly in defence. The Raiju can actually survive sustained return fire long enough to get shots with the Scourge dual-mode burnthrough weapon. Don't be afraid to take the flash option early in a turn, your occulus-armed ships can benefit greatly from the range boost.
  • Shenlong-class Heavy Cruiser: Covered in Occulus Beam Arrays and packing Stealth + Partial Cloak, it can put out a lot of firepower . But it lack the extra shots and complete immunity to spikes found on the Akuma for 35 points and doesn't have the Daemon's complete Fuck-You package, so for now this class is stuck with the unfortunate title of Third-Best Pricey Beamspammer.
  • Akuma/Basilisk-class Battlecruiser: OMG OVERPOWERED! The Akuma/Basilisk has both Full Cloak and Stealth, making it completely immune to spikes while above 50% Hull and able to fire a 3 shot Phalanx on Silent Running. Because of their ability to strike with a tiny zone of possible return fire and negate most of the risks of going on an all-out offensive, you'll see at least one of these in every competitive Scourge list at the moment.
  • Banshee/Manticore-class Battlecruiser: Plasma Tempest CA bruiser and Scourge Torpedo carrier. Struggles to live up to its brother's hyper-efficient reputation since it pays for Stealth and Cloak but doesn't have to go Weapons Free to fight at full power, and can't utilize a Silent Running+Stealth shot and launch its torpedo in the same turn.

• Superheavy Tonnage:
  • Dragon-class Battleship:
  • Daemon-class Battleship: Beams, Beams, and more Beams, with a side of two BTLs and Plasma CA. Caps out at a potential 22 damage on Weapons Free before counting Close Action. Its massive damage ceiling and improved armor don't quite make up for lacking the Stealth and Cloak shenanigans of the Scourge Battlecruisers, but it's a good looking ship and a fine bruiser in a less-competitive game.

Building a Fleet

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Tactics

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Counter-Tactics

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Common Playstyles

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