This is the big one! New Death Guard datasheet rules changes are here in their 9th Edition codex- check out how your games might change!
First spotted over on Imgur, now all of these rules can be found in the latest codex reviews on YouTube as well. Sprues & Brews released a video going over the entire Codex and talking about some of the changes.
Check out the video below and make sure to sub to their channel.
Death Guard Codex Datasheet 40k Rules Changes LATEST!
Check out all our breakdown of all the new rules below!
- Death Guard Warlord Traits
- Death Guard Stratagems
- Death Guard Army Wide Special Rules
- Death Guard Psychics & Relics
- Death Guard Plague Companies & Secondaries
- Death Guard Codex Datasheet 40k Rules Changes
GW has also covered everything from army-wide rules to individual units with confirmed rules releases, which you can check out here. For now, let’s dive into the latest new rules from the Death Guard codex itself!
New Death Guard Codex Datasheet Changes 40k Rules!
For the Datasheet changes, we’ve picked out 5 datasheets that have relevant or high impact changes. These are Poxwalkers, Mortarion, Death Shroud Terminators, the Lord of Virulence, and the Miasmic Malignifier.
The Lord of Virulence is one of two brand new models for the Death Guard. He gives Core units within 6″ re-rolls on hits of 1, plus anytime they have a ranged plague weapon roll a 6 to wound, that attack gets an additional AP tacked on. Overall this character has great weapons and pretty good auras, especially if you load up the list with ranges plague weapons.
Poxwalkers got much better this time around. They’re now WS 4+ and T4, making them much better in general. They also have the super unique ability Uneding Horde which lets them keep their previous 6+ FNP while most other DG units have lost it. Overall, Poxwalkers got much better all while at essentially no cost.
Three big changes came to Deathshroud Terminators. First, across the board statline buffs. They now have 5” movement, +1 attack, and 3W but keep T5 and 4+ invulns. They lost their wound soak ability but traded it for a new Bodyguard Aura, this makes it so any friendly character (9 wounds or less) within 3″ of the Deathshroud can’t be targetted with ranged attacks.
Finally there Scythes got a second profile giving them extra small attacks, making them much better against chaff. In general, Deathshroud are MUCH better now.
Mortarion the Death Guard Primarch, saw humungous buffs. Now he sits at a comfortable T8. He gets a staggering three Warlord Traits, and at the start of the game, you can pick a Plague Company Warlord Trait to give to him. If that alone isn’t enough, the traits he gets are arguable some of the better ones. Arch Contaminator gives full wound re-rolls on plague weapons, Revoltingly Resilient gives himself a 5+ to ignore wounds, and Living Plague denies enemy models from benefiting from their own auras if the model is within 3” of Mortarion.
He is going to be a beast in tournaments. Without a doubt, he will continue to be one of the best solo models in 40k.
The last model we will cover is the new terrain piece, the Miasmic Malignifier. It has two pretty good abilities in Toxic Presence which makes your contagions get max range as if it were battle round 4, and Putrescent Fog which gives friendly Death Guard Infantry within 6” Light Cover or -1 to be hit if they already had light cover. Another great thing about this terrain piece compared to other factions’ terrain pieces is that this essentially gets to deep strike in during deployment, meaning you can potentially place it further up the board for your next turns.
New Death Guard Codex Point Values!
Cultists went back down to 5pts each, however since they don’t have Objective Secured, they are much worse than the drop would suggest. Poxwalkers are also only 5pts each, making them way better than they previously were, and now also much better than cultists. Plague Marines stay at their 21pts each base, meaning they’ll probably be great with their buffs to 2 wounds and attacks.
New MKII Design- Get it Now!
Defilers went up 30 points but got some buffs along with it like 3+ WS/BS and the cannon is now 3 flat damage. It will be interesting to see how CSM defilers are also changed. Plagueburst Crawlers had slight point adjustments, but with the buffs they received, it is most likely well worth it. Both Terminators sit at slightly more per model than they were previously but received great changes, which probably makes them well worth it in-game.
Which datasheet/point changes are your favorites? Are you excited to finally have some new Death Guard rules?
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About the Author: Andrew Schrank
Andrew Schrank
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
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Bio: Aspiring diplomat, Lord of Fluff, and Master of Ice Hammer. Andrew joined the Spikey Bits team in 2018. He mainly covers releases from Games Workshop, along with some previews and hobby posts. He loves Star Wars, Chaos Undivided, and Gundam.
During his free time, he hunts Platinum trophies on PS5 and reads international news. On weekends, he can be found playing commander and cEDH games, often with unique strategies that push the limits. He believes that each day presents a new opportunity to grow and be challenged.
