Get ready to fuel your inexorable advancing Death Guard with more tips and tactics that aid you in spreading the plague of Nurgle!
Chosen of Nurgle, rejoice as we delve deeper into the Codex: Death Guard in this Tips and Tactics session. We will be giving an in-depth review of datasheets, psychic powers, relics, traits, and more to help give you Death Guard players an edge against your opponents.
There are even new models you can take or will; be able to once they are available, If you are looking for a general overview of this codex, please check our Unboxing post.
That said, it is time to dive right into the Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, Contagion Discipline, and more to see what’s hot and what looks promising. Here is a quick and dirty sample of our Tips and Tactics breakdown.
For the complete Tips and Tactics breakdown, be sure to scroll down and press play on the full video below.
Overall, we fell that there are two solid ways to play Death Guard and you will have to gear your army completely around either way. You can use Mortarion in any list or have 3-4 Lords of War in a detachment on their own and do very well with it. There are solid options for Death Guard players presented by this codex. One of the key components about these two army builds is that you are going to want to have as many Command Points as possible.
Concerning Relics, there are only two that we see being the most useful. Suppurating Plate gives the bearer 2+ save. The attacking model can then suffer a mortal wound after all of it attacks have been resolved with a die roll of a 4+ for each save the bearer of the relic made. The Fulgaris Helm will increase the range of any aura abilities on the bearer’s datasheet (such as Nurgle’s Rot, Toxin of Misery, etc.) by 3″. Both of these relics have great potential and you may want to have a Command Set aside to equip both.
For your Contagion Discipline, Gift of Contagion will be situational yet useful as it can give an enemy unit within 18″ of your psyker a random debuff with a successful warp charge of 7. Even though the randomness of the D3 roll can be annoying, the debuffs given are solid with a -1 Strength, Attack, or Toughness being doled out. Miasma of Pestilence is a solid one to take as it reduces all hit rolls by 1 made against a friendly Death Guard unit with a successful warp charge of 6. The keyword with Miasma is that it can only be used on Death Guard units and not Nurgle demons.
Now, our very own Rob Baer has noticed that players have been taking Poxwalkers to screen. He believes that Plaguebearers are better suited for this. They may cost a point more per model but with units of 20 or more you can use their own Cloud of Flies ability to make them hard to hit with a -1 to hit rolls. When they are hit, they have the Daemonic ability which will grant them a 5+ invulnerable. Add to that Disgustingly Resilient, their plagueswords re-rolling 1s to wound, the Daemonic Icon ability that will have slain models return to that unit on a roll of D6 if a their roll for a Morale test is a 1, and you have a more persistent and deadly screen than Poxwalkers.
To see how this and more comes together, be sure to watch our complete Tips and Tactics video below.
Codex: Death Guard: $40
The Death Guard are the Traitor Legion most favoured by Nurgle. Utterly devoted to spreading the Plague God’s hideous diseases across realspace, they are living plague vectors whose bloated bodies and rusted war engines boast grotesque resilience and firepower. They are a walking pestilence, a living plague of destruction and horror. Their heavy tread heralds the end of hope, and the damnation of all who oppose them. Their touch withers all, and spreads seething corruption that swallows worlds. They are the sons of Mortarion, the chosen of Nurgle; fear them , and despair.
Codex: Death Guard contains a wealth of background and rules – the definitive book for Death Guard collectors. Within this 104-page hardback, you’ll find:
Background
– The Wages of Heresy: a detailed history of the Death Guard’s descent into absolute filth and corruption, driven into a grotesque damnation by the cold ambition of Mortarion, and a description of their homeworld and their enormous, rotting Plague Fleets;
– The organisation of the Death Guard: a surprisingly organised and coherent Legion, for all the rot and bloat, with 7 Plague Companies at the head of a vast and diverse force;
– The Chronicle of Virulence: a timeline of the Death Guard’s ten-thousand-year war of sickness waged against the servants of the false Emperor, with an annotated map showing key war zones;
– Heraldry and colour schemes for a variety of vectoriums and warbands;
– Background and details on each character and unit available to a Death Guard army;
– A showcase of beautifully painted Citadel miniatures, depicting the colour schemes of the Death Guard expertly painted by the ‘Eavy Metal team.Rules
Everything you need to get a Death Guard army primed for games of Warhammer 40,000 is in here:
– 33 datasheets containing rules for every Death Guard unit;
– Army abilities reflecting the Death Guard’s methods of war;
– Gifts of the Plague God: wargear both ranged and close-combat used by the Death Guard;
– Points values for all miniatures, weapons and wargear for use in Matched Play games;
– Scions of Mortarion: rules for Battle-forged armies:
– 6 unique Warlord Traits,
– 14 unique Stratagems (with a focus on the psychic might of this army),
– the Relics of Decay (6 rare artefacts unique to the Death Guard),
– the unique Contagion psychic discipline, available to all Death Guard psykers;
– 6 unique Tactical Objectives.
Datacards: Death Guard: $15
Designed to make it easier to keep track of Tactical Objectives, psychic powers and Stratagems in games of Warhammer 40,000, this set of 60 cards – each featuring artwork on the reverse – is an indispensable tool in the arsenal of any Death Guard gamer. Included:
– 7 psychic power cards – 6 from the Contagion psychic discipline, along with Smite;
– 14 Death Guard Stratagems available to any Battle-forged Death Guard army as found in Codex: Death Guard, along with 3 Stratagems – Command Re-roll, Counter-Offensive and Insane Bravery – from the Warhammer 40,000 rules, available to any army;
– 36 Tactical Objectives, including the 6 Death Guard specific Objectives from Codex: Death Guard.
The Codex: Death Guard is available now online and in local Games Workshop stores. Be sure to press play on our Tips and Tactics video below for the full codex breakdown.
For more on the Codex: Death Guard and all things Warhammer 40k, visit Games Workshop!
