With rheumy eyes and bile-slick grins the corpulent warriors of the Death Guard trudge into the fray under the buzz of flies and tolling of rusted bells. Notorious for their inflexible approach, the sons of Mortarion actually express a fair bit of tactical nuance: there are six Detachments in the new Codex: Death Guard, so strap into the hazmat suit out and take a closer look.
The army rule – Nurgle’s Gift – has been upgraded to allow for effects previously exclusive to the Plague Company detachment. The Skullsquirm Blight causes foes to subtract 1 from their hit rolls, Rattlejoint Ague worsens their Save characteristic, and the Scabrous Soulrot provides a triple malady of worsened Move, Leadership, and Objective Control.
NURGLE'S GIFT (AURA)
The Death Guard are warriors of the Plague God Nurgle. Their bloated bodies are riddled with corruption, and their mere presence causes the foe to sicken and wither in the grip of supernatural diseases while the battlefield falls to rot and ruin around them.
If your Army Faction is DEATH GUARD, while an enemy unit is within Contagion Range of one or more DEATH GUARD models from your army, it is Afflicted (see below).
CONTAGION RANGE
Contagion Range changes over the course of the battle:
1st Battle Round: Contagion Range= 3”
2nd Battle Round: Contagion Range = 6”
3rd Battle Round Onwards: Contagion Range= 9”
AFFLICTED
During the Declare Battle Formations step, select one of the Plagues below. Until the end of the battle, while an enemy unit is Afflicted, subtract 1 from the Toughness characteristic of models in that unit, and that unit has the effect of your chosen Plague.
Skullsquirm Blight
This horrifying affliction sees the minds and senses of the victim gnawed gradually away from within.
Each time a model in this unit makes an attack, subtract 1 from the Hit roll.
Rattlejoint Ague
Limbs shuddering with fever palsy, bones turned brittle as glass, these warriors can barely act to defend themselves.
Worsen the Save characteristic of models in this unit by 1.
Scabrous Soulrot
Victims of this insidious ailment become glassy eyed and morose as their very animus and essence decay.
Worsen the Move, Leadership, and Objective Control characteristics of models in this unit by 1 (this rule can only worsen a model's Objective Control characteristic to a minimum of 1).
PACT OF DECAY
The daemons of Nurgle are not native to realspace, but instead must be summoned through the rotting veil by way of generous sacrifice and acts of foul worship.
When mustering your army, unless specifically stated otherwise, you cannot select PLAGUE LEGIONS as your Army Faction.
This frees Detachments up to offer new tools, without losing access to those important debuffs.
For instance, the slow advance of the Death Guard can make it tricky to trap agile enemies, but Mortarion’s Hammer will unleash Miasmic Bombardment to afflict distant foes regardless of how safe they think they are.
DETACHMENT RULE
MIASMIC BOMBARDMENT
In the wake of preparatory bombardment by artillery weapons both forbidden and foul, the surviving foe are left reeling amidst clouds of plague smog. With their flesh running like tallow and their weapons rusting in their hands, they will be hard-pressed to fight back.
At the start of the battle round, select a number of enemy units more than 12" away from every model from your army that is on the battlefield. Until the end of the battle round, those enemy units are Afflicted. The maximum number of units you can select in this way depends on thebattle size, as shown below.
BATTLE SIZE / UNITS
Incursion: 1
Strike Force: 2
Onslaught: 3
The Eye of Affliction enhances this longer-ranged approach and ensures Afflicted units find no safe haven across a busy battlefield, while the Font of Filth provides a vehicle of your choice with the Assault keyword to reposition and unleash feculent fusilades into enemies with weakened constitutions.
ENHANCEMENT
EYE OF AFFLICTION
Peering at the world through this bloated yellow orb, the bearer of this vile gift sees the souls of the sickened burning brightas targeting flares no matter how their victims try to hide.
DEATH GUARD model only. Ranged weapons equipped by models in the bearer's unit have the [IGNORES COVER] ability while targeting an Afflicted enemy unit.
FONT OF FILTH
MORTARION'S HAMMER - STRATEGIC PLOY STRATAGEM
As though afflicted with some awful vomiting sickness, this vehicle's weapons retch an endless stream of fire at the enemy, heaving themselves empty even as it storms into the enemy lines.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One DEATH GUARD VEHICLE unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, ranged weapons equipped by models in your unit have the [ASSAULT] ability.
This Detachment is sure-fire winner for tank fans – with five of six Stratagems specifically targeting your armoured vehicles – but if you lean the other way and want to bury your enemies under a rolling carpet of rotting flesh, the Shamblerot Vectorium gets you a lot of bang for your buck.
The humble Poxwalker might not be much of a threat on their own, but swarms of them can drag down the greatest of champions, and they’re even better when they’re practically free to deploy. The Numberless Horde Detachment rule replenishes your ranks constantly throughout the game, bringing fresh squads groaning onto the battlefield that you can casually toss into a thankless meat grinder without worrying about the ‘cost-benefit analysis’ or other boring business terms.
DETACHMENT RULE
NUMBERLESS HORDE
No matter how many Poxwalkers the enemy gun down or tear limb-from-limb at close quarters, more groaning mutants keep coming from every side.
In your Command phase in each of the following battle rounds, depending on your chosen battle size, add a new POXWALKERS unit with a Starting Strength of 10 to your army, in Strategic Reserves.
BATTLE SIZE / BATTLE ROUNDS
Incursion (2,3)
Strike Force (2,3,4)
Onslaught (2,3,4,5)
All of the Enhancements support those heroes lumped with Poxwalker duty,* letting them sacrifice their thralls for extra damage, zip behind enemy lines with a rotting tide in tow, or – in the case of the Witherbone Pipes – turn their bodyguard into some genuinely capable and disciplined troops. The Stratagems are equally Poxwalker-themed, and our personal favourite puts decomposing bodies in front of enemy firepower as a startlingly effective Shambling Wall.
ENHANCEMENT
WITHERBONE PIPES
This sinister artefact emits a reedy dirge to which Poxwalkers seem drawn and by whose mournful notes they appear energised and lent an echo of purpose.
NOXIOUS BLIGHTBRINGER only. While the bearer is leading a POXWALKERS unit, add 1 to the Objective Control characteristic of models in that unit, and each time that unit takes a Battle-shock or Leadership test, add 1 to that test.
SHAMBLING WALL
SHAMBLEROT VECTORIUM - STRATEGIC PLOY STRATAGEM
Lacking even basic self-preservation instincts, Poxwalkers make excellent walking shields.
WHEN: Your opponent's Shooting phase just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
TARGET: One DEATH GUARD unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit's attacks, and one friendly POXWALKERS unit within 3" of your unit and visible to both your unit and the attacking unit.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time you would allocate an attack to a model in your DEATH GUARD unit, if your POXWALKERS unit is visible to the attacking model and is an eligible target for that attack, no saving throw is made for that attack; instead a number of POXWALKERS from your POXWALKERS unit equal to the Damage characteristic of that attack are destroyed.
The other four Detachments cover a range of interesting tactical options. The Virulent Vectorium retains the old Plague Company’s ability to keep objectives under your control, while the Champions of Contagion get to switch their chosen plague every battle round.
The Tallyband Summoners pair the Death Guard with the Nurgle Daemons included in the Codex to expand their Contagion Range even further, and the Death Lord’s Chosen empowers Terminator companies with a particularly deadly plague and ample Stratagem support.
So no matter how much everyone thinks you just march forwards and cough at people, the new Codex: Death Guard gives you plenty of new ways to spread the gifts of Grandfather Nurgle. Pre-order yours this Saturday.
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