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A Plague o' Both Your Houses - A 40K Death Guard Log


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Hi all,

So, new edition, new models, new project. I ended up with this one kind of by accident; a friend had agreed to split a Dark Imperium box with me and take the Death Guard to bolster his existing Nurgle Chaos force, but with the advent of the new edition opted to try something cleaner and pointier with an Eldar force instead.

I've always been put off doing Chaos Marines in the past simply because I think most of the model range is crap, but things have been travelling in the right direction (in my opinion) since Dark Vengeance, and the recent Thousand Sons release proved that GW can do decent plastic Chaos infantry models if they choose to. Having gone back and looked over the Death Guard portion of Dark Imperium properly, I actually quite like the models and figured it might be nice to paint something properly nasty for a change!

Initially it will just be the models from Dark Imperium and First Strike (when it comes out), but I'll definitely add the DG Terminators when they eventually get released, and possibly Mortarion as well, subject to price. I'm also thinking about adding a Daemon contingent (probably just a Start Collecting box worth) and a couple of kitbashed monstrosities; I was thinking a Maggoth Lord kit might make a good basis for a Daemon Prince.

Anyway, no WIP log is complete without an image, so here's a quick one of the first 10 Pox Walkers with a few washes splashed on them.

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Thanks for looking!

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A few shots of some closer-to-finished guys.

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First ever attempt at doing anything like this really, with lots of fiddly details and lots of fleshy textures. Reasonably happy with how they've come out (and they'll do for tabletop standard).

For the main Death Guard marines, i'm leaning towards a scheme pretty similar to the studio one, which is something I rarely do. I think normally I would have gone for an off-white with green trim, calling back to the pre-Heresy Death Guard scheme, but I feel it's a bit too close in terms of style to my BA successors (which are also off-white with lots of weathering). I'll not be starting those until I get my hands on some of the Death Guard Green spray later this week!

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  • 2 months later...

Another Halandaar-style massive delay since the last post. So in between painting up my Dark Imperium Primaris and playing far too much Total War, I managed to get to this point with the Death Guard!

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By no means a great photo, but demonstrates the progress made so far. The Bloat-Drone, Blightbringer, Plaguecaster and Lord of Contagion are done, along with 3 of the Plague Marines and 18 of the Poxwalkers (the other two need additional parts after I kitbashed some to add a bit of variety). Don't really have any close-up shots to hand, other than this one of the Blightbringer;

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I admit I found the wait for all the new Death Guard releases to finally happen unnecessarily tedious, and wanted to get stuck in to something in the meantime, so armed with my Codex and the prospect of a friendly 1000 point game at the end of the week, I pondered how best to add to my Dark Imperium forces whilst also being cost effective and (hopefully) relatively straightforward to paint. Answer? Daemons!

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A few of these dirty gits will help fill out the slots for a Batallion and help rack some extra CPs, and I'm intending to do them with a simple washes-over-white scheme similar to the Poxwalkers to get them ready nice and fast.

And because more new stuff is always fun, these chaps arrived in the post today;

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All just in time for Call of Chaos!

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So with a game organised for Saturday night just gone and my own personal distaste for fielding unpainted models, I was working overtime to get the Daemons and Plague Marines finished off in time. Sadly, I massively underestimated how long it would take to get through all the boils on the Rot Flies and in the end I ended up just fielding the Plguebearers with a single coat of wash. I also completely forgot that my Nurglings weren't even built, so had to sub in some freshly assembled Poxwalkers to make up the points difference!

Aaaanyway, I know it's a WIP log, but I thought I'd chuck in a rough overview of my first game with the Death Guard as well.

So the game was 1000 points, with my Death Guard facing off against a Heresy-era Iron Warriors force (using the Iron Hands rules from Codex: Space Marines). Both armies were assembled entirely from models we just happened to own rather than any particular list tailoring, so both forces would be considered non-optimal. My list was:

  • Lord of Contagion (Warlord)
  • Malignant Plaguecaster
  • 9 Plague Marines - 1 Blight Launcher, 1 Plasma Gun, Champion with Plasma Gun & Power Fist
  • 14 Poxwalkers
  • 15 Poxwalkers
  • 11 Plaguebearers - Daemonic Icon, Instrument of Chaos
  • 3 Plague Drones
  • Foetid Bloat Drone - 2 Plaguespitters

The Iron Hands/Warriors force consisted of;

  • Captain in Cataphracti Armour - Combi-Melta, Chainfist
  • Techmarine - Power Axe
  • 5 Tactical Marines - Plasma Pistol & Thunder Hammer, Heavy Bolter
  • 5 Tactical Marines - No Upgrades
  • 10 Tactical Marines - Lightning Claw, Combi-Plasma, Heavy Bolter
  • 5 Tartaros Terminators - Heavy Flamer, Plasma Blaster, Power Sword, 3x Lightning Claws
  • Contemptor Dreadnought - Multi-Melta, Power Fist
  • Vindicator

It was our first experience of playing a Maelstrom mission with the Tactical Objectives, and overall I found it to be really enjoyable to have those objectives changing all the time. Deployment looked like this (sort of; the Terminators were on the board for this picture but were actually held in reserve)

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TURN 1 - None of the objective cards I'd drawn required me to actually hold (or take) any physical objectives, so I just started marching up the board towards the enemy. Both Poxwalker units rolled pretty well for their advances, managing to keep pace with the Plague Drones my right flank.

My opponent had drawn 3 objective cards requiring him to hold particular sites at turn-end, and those were the one in dead-centre, the one in the building in my deployment zone, and the one on the hill. With no meaningful firepower on his left-most Tactical Squad, he opted to gamble on a good advance roll to secure the objective on the hilltop, promptly rolling a 6 and securing the objective marker.

Board state after Turn 1:

Score: Iron Warriors 1-0 Death Guard

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TURN 2 - I carried on moving up the board, firing at the hilltop Tacticals with the Plague Drones before charging in. The Plaguecaster used Putrescent Vitality on the nearby Poxwalkers, gaining a victory point for doing so. The Plaguebearers charged the Contemptor, hoping to tie it up and prevent it from smashing the Bloat-Drone, which had fired into the Tactical Squad ahead of it, killing one before charging in itself. The Plague Marines had a completely ineffective round of shooting into the large Tactical Squad in the centre of the board. My opponent drew the card requiring him to claim the objective his large tactical squad was sat on, and secured another with his Techmarine.

Board state after Turn 2:

Score: Iron Warriors 3-1 Death Guard

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TURN 3 - I finally managed to grind down the Tactical Squad on the hilltop with the Plague Drones to secure First Blood. The Plague Marines moved up into the cover of a ruin and this time managed to lay down some more effective fire, killing 4 Tacticals in the centre squad. The Plaguebearers continued to chip away at the Contemptor while refusing to die in numbers to it's return attacks. They really did feel disgustingly resilient! The Bloat Drone secured another kill, but took some heavy damage from the Sergeant's Thunder Hammer in return.

The Iron Warrior Terminators were deployed in the read of my army on the right flank, managing to do just a couple of wounds on the right-hand Poxwalker squad and then failing their charge roll. The Tactical Squad in the middle withdrew slightly, and then alongside the Vindicator managed to savage the Poxwalker Squad in the middle, bringing it down to just 4 guys remaining. The Cataphractii Captain sped over to my left flank, hoping to set up a charge on the Bloat-Drone next turn and finally bring it down.

No Picture for end of Turn 3!

Score: Iron Warriors 3-2 Death Guard

TURN 4 - Deciding that I couldn't have a unit of Terminators romping around in backfield, I turned the larger Poxwalker unit and Plaguecaster around and moved up towards them. The Plaguecaster then managed to deal a combined total of 7 (praise Nurgle) mortal wounds against them using Smite and Curse of the Leper before the Poxwalkers charged in to tie up the remaining members of the squad. The Plague Drones and smaller Poxwalker Squad charged the Tactical Squad in the middle, the the Lord of Contagion still ambling up the centre of the field hoping to get into combat. The Plague Drones secured a couple more kills on the Tactical Squad in the centre, with the Poxwalkers suffering another 2 casualties.

Board State after Turn 4:

Score: Iron Warriors 3-2 Death Guard

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TURN 5 - With the Lord of Contagion FINALLY in range, he moved up to set up a charge against the tactical squad in the centre. Adding his significant melee ability to the fight, the squad was finally eliminated, scoring another victory point for destroying a unit with a Plague Weapon. The Poxwalkers at the back brought down another Terminator, while the Plague Marines moved up alongside the shipping containers, ready to open fire on whatever survived combat with the Bloat Drone in the following turn.

The only remaining unengaged units on the Iron Warriors side were the Vindicator, which backed up to give itself firing options against the mass of my units in the centre, and the Cataphractii Captain, who made his charge against the Bloat Drone. Finally defeated, I used the Putrid Detonation stratagem to ensure it exploded, splattering a mortal wound onto the Tactical Squad, Captain, Contemptor and Plaguebearers.

No Picture for End of Turn 4!

Score: Iron Warriors 3-3 Death Guard

TURN 6 - At this point, I drew the objective which gains you a victory point if no enemy unit is within 6" of the centre of the battlefield, or D3 if there are none within 12". Given that no units were in range I was guaranteed the D3 at the end of the turn, which felt pretty lame actually. It was pure luck that I was getting those extra points and it pretty much took the game out of my opponent's hands. I opted to see if I could secure the win on my own terms and opted for an extreme distance charge with my Lord of Contagion against the Cataphractii Captain. With the aid of a Command re-roll, he made the charge and proceeded to smash the captain down in a single turn of combat, securing not only Slay the Warlord for 1 VP, but also the Kingslayer (D3) objective buffed by Priority Orders Received (3) for a grand total of 5 extra VPs. Fortune favours the brave!

Final Score: Iron Warriors 3-11 Death Guard

Thoughts

  • In spite of the fact that the Lord of Contagion did contribute significantly to the outcome of the game, once he's painted, there's no reason not to take Typhus over the LoC. The cost difference is negligible and for the extra points, ranged attacks, +1S on the weapon, psychic powers and the passive buffs to nearby Poxwalker units is just ridiculous. Either Typhus should cost more, or the LoC should be a lot cheaper. I'll be sure to get him finished in time for my next game.
  • As they are, Poxwalkers feel a little overcosted; sure there are a lot of attacks but they crumble under any kind of firepower, and for just 1pt per model more Plaguebearers feel a lot more durable and they feel like they do more damage as well. But I guess when the Poxwalkers are supported by Typhus (+1S/+1T) and he's then buffing them with Putrescent Vitality (+1S/+1T again), their cost looks like a bargain for the attacks they can put out. Just need to keep the unit intact enough that it benefits from the +1 to hit when it finally arrives in combat.
  • Everything is slowwwww. Maybe a winged Daemon Prince would make a nice addition.

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