Deathguard and fast units?

[Bat33.1]

Hi, just wondering what people here think about Death Guard and fast moving units in an army.

 

I know the reaping RoW is designed to show DG as a relentless mass of steady troops moving forwards but they are still legiones astartes with the same statline, speed and initiative as any other legion. So that said why would they not use all the tools available to them including Javelins, speeders, bikes? In fact in 40k DG (nurgle marked) bikes used to be a very popular as a solid unit. So do any of you use less stereotyped units in a DG list, or throwing it wider any of the other legions less thematic unit choices?

 

I'm thinking about building a list without a RoW which will still use legion specific units but with some FA units, probably just a couple of Javelins or possibly some MM attack bikes? Am I 'power gaming' or going outside the spirit of the 30k setting by taking or even thinking of using these units?

[Brother Pheidias]

The Death Guard, like all Legions, would use whatever tool nescessary to acheive victory, and while they aren't particularly well-known for using bikes and speeders, they would definitely use them. Also, Legions are huge, plenty of space for the idiosyncracies of the various commanders and captains to come to the fore.

[Bat33.1]

I think I might just be getting hung up on RoW for the legions when list building. Every legion has its specific rules but I end up looking at the legion RoW as a way to build a list and often forget generic RoW or no RoW are options too.

 

I see the 'Rout' are looking at armoured spearhead to build a decent list with the issues they have of taking lots of HQ's and the difficulty of buffing units with HQ's that can't share your transport. I'm not looking at taking a full army of FA and speedy units but no running or flat out feels like a tough limitation on play style which could go stale after a few games?

[Kais Klip]

Not a fan of the above "Legions were big", it always feels like a slight thematic cop out to me.

 

Javelins and Speeders would still viable in the terrain Mortarion prefers; infantryman's weather on infantryman's terrain, be it thick forest, steep mountain, snow-drowning tundra or in the depths of an ocean trench.

 

If anything, they would be more valuable in their use to coralle and herd the enemy into appropriate killing grounds.

 

Think of them as the cavalry of the Spartans; they wouldn't be used as aggressively as their counterparts, due to their inexperience compared to the cavalry of the other nations, and in fact they would be held in the back until the enemy cavalry would be committed or cancelled out from battle, but they are nonetheless helpful in routing an enemy that much more faster.

 

Fluff wise, write them up as the mechanical version of the Mongolian horse; slower and less flashier than other breeds, but markedly more reliable and easily serviceable.

[Charlo]

I always thought a DG Scout company would be a neat idea, they form the "pole" of the scythe, if you will. They lead and draw in the enemy to the all-consuming and relentless blade at it's end.

 

Plus this image from the visions books is just great:

 

https://www.dakkadakka.com/s/i/at/2008/1/20/893a99c208bf1b02cff32400a45b4874_594.jpg__thumb

[DuskRaider]

There's talk of XIVth Scouts in one of the first four HH books from BL... the first assault on Isstvan III. They're not technically fast, but I can definitely see Death Guard Seekers. Storm Eagles would also be used, they're a transport that is also orbital so they'd see a lot of use just getting infantry to their destination. Obviously Dread Claws would be used as well. I've always had a problem with Bikes in general in the far future, it makes no sense.

[Charlo]

Anything that places reliance on the single man, is sewn in to the 14th's nature - so anything that makes them fast is just another tool to help the basic dood.

[ThatOneMarshal]

To me, a large part of the death guard M.O is in a form of trench warfare but with more chemical weapons. With assault squads and such, just treat them as trench raiders, fast movers to shock and awe an entrenched force while the main force comes a strong the second wave. Not unfluffy to me.