Death Guard, 2000 points

[MarkedByChaos]

I love the idea of a heavily armored and resilient hoard slowly crossing the field, a pestilent glacier scoring the land as its decay consumes all life.
Death Guard armies have limited resources via their fluff and unit selection. Ironically, the largest variety availible to choose from is in Heavy Support.
Aside from unit selection limitations the only other significant weakness is a lack of long range firepower. Fortunately the Death Guard have staying power allowing them to usually cross the distance and unleash lethal salvos.
So this is my simple list. Fluff wise there is little individuality within the army, because I like to think of the whole of it as a hoard rather than a bunch of small units acting independently I can not bring myself to naming units or characters. Their strength is in weight and purpose rather than a variety of abilities and personalities.

Nurgle’s sacred number is 7

HQ: 105 points
Lieutenant: MoN, D. Talons, D. Strength, D. Mutation, D. Aura. (I usually keep him near a unit of possessed, in fact he is designed to be a advanced variant of them)

Elite : 672 points (224 X 3)
3 X Favored units of Possessed with MoN, D. Talons, D. Aura, D. Strength, lead by aspiring champions with same. (all 21 models cost 32 points each)

Troop: 790 points (158 X 5)
Alpha
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 plasma guns, and everyone else carries a Bolter and CCW (units are 158 points each)

Beta
2 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 Meltaguns, and everyone else carries a Bolt Pistol and CCW (units are 158 points each)

Heavy Support: 435 points (145 X 3)
3 X Chaos Predators, each has turret mounted twin linked Lascannons and 2 side sponsons with Lascannons (145 points each)

1 independent character
8 units of 7 infantry
3 vehicles
60 models
2002 points

As an alternative I am thinking about a list that includes Plaguebearers. This list is more mobile and numerous, it basically sacrifices all the rending the possessed brought for a lot of Nurgle’s Rot and D. Venom.

HQ: 273 points
Lieutenant: MoN, D. Talons, Nurgle’s Rot
Favored Retinue of Chosen, 3 with Bolt Pistol & CCWs, 2 with Meltaguns and an Aspiring Champion with D. Talons, Rhino transport

Troop: 810 points ((158 X 3) + (112 X 3))
Alpha
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 plasma guns, and everyone else carries a Bolter and CCW (units are 158 points each)

3 X Favored units of Plaguebearers

Fast Attack : 624 points (208 X 3)
Beta
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 Meltaguns, and everyone else carries a Bolt Pistol and CCW, Rhino Transport (units are 208 points each)

Heavy Support: 290 points (145 X 2)
2 X Chaos Predators, each has turret mounted twin linked Lascannons and 2 side sponsons with Lascannons (145 points each)

7 units of 7 infantry (4 mounted)
3 units of 7 daemons
6 vehicles
76 models
1997 points

any suggestions? (I already have all the models painted/Wysiwyg and then some so the limitations are in the list itself not in what I can field)

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

I think the second list is better playing-wise, but fluff wise, it would have to go to the first. Just a big lump of Plague Marines lumbering across the field, unleasing death with big, sharp, pointy bolter rounds.

Mortarion and the Death Guard were often the anvil upon which Horus struck his hammer. They were meant to keep the enemy where they were by being a solid, unbreakable wall. I think the first list would do this well. But for faster armies and more tactical options and maneuverability (the kind that might come in handy in a tournament), the second would be my choice.

[MarkedByChaos]

see and I want to fluff in it. that and there is true joy in seeing the look in my oponents face at the end of Deployment. the fact that i field so many hardy little models (proportionatly more than most SM, CSM players especially would) for this size of list is a great demoralizer and I gladly produce copies of my army list for any who think I might be fubbing.

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

see and I want to fluff in it. that and there is true joy in seeing the look in my oponents face at the end of Deployment. the fact that i field so many hardy little models (proportionatly more than most SM, CSM players especially would) for this size of list is a great demoralizer and I gladly produce copies of my army list for any who think I might be fubbing.

That's also a great thing about this list! Killing 57 Marines and 3 tanks is hard enough, but when you're talking about toughness 5 Marines, I think many opponents would blanch at the sight! It's like Tyranid hordes: if your enemy thinks "There's no way I can kill all that," then you've already won.

[MarkedByChaos]

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

I love the idea of a heavily armored and resilient hoard slowly crossing the field, a pestilent glacier scoring the land as its decay consumes all life.

Originally Posted by Inquisitor Rosenadel

I think many opponents would blanch at the sight! It's like Tyranid hordes: if your enemy thinks "There's no way I can kill all that," then you've already won.

the ultimate goal is to win before game starts reguardless of my playing abilities. I wanna make em sweat even though I have some very obvious flaws. (like no range what so ever if you take out my tanks)

[MarksmanCypher]

Ok, I'm going to do a rundown of these two lists. The first list will be in RED and the second in GREEN. General comments in blue.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

HQ: 105 points
Lieutenant: MoN, D. Talons, D. Strength, D. Mutation, D. Aura. (I usually keep him near a unit of possessed, in fact he is designed to be a advanced variant of them)

Good. But, I might recommend one or two things. The first is to give him Nurgle's Rot. You might think it does very little, but, when you are in combat with 32 hormagaunts... well, things start to die quickly. Also, I would remove the Talons from him. I would give him a Manreaper - you could represent it as talons, though. This makes him better than rending against ordinary troops. Trust me - if my Emperor's Children saw a Lord with Talons and a Lord with a Manreaper, we'd be shooting the Lord with a Manreaper.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Elite : 672 points (224 X 3)
3 X Favored units of Possessed with MoN, D. Talons, D. Aura, D. Strength, lead by aspiring champions with same. (all 21 models cost 32 points each)

Now, the fact you have three units is niggling at something in the back of my head. 32 points a model? I think that this could be a little too much. I would suggest dropping one - or two - of these units.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Troop: 790 points (158 X 5)
Alpha
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 plasma guns, and everyone else carries a Bolter and CCW (units are 158 points each)

Do you know what works particularly well in a Death Guard army? Infiltrate. If you took infiltrate on all of your units, you would have some seriously hard stuff on the table. Truly, it works miracles.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Beta
2 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 Meltaguns, and everyone else carries a Bolt Pistol and CCW (units are 158 points each)

Good, but I would consider Infiltrate again.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Heavy Support: 435 points (145 X 3)
3 X Chaos Predators, each has turret mounted twin linked Lascannons and 2 side sponsons with Lascannons (145 points each)

What happened to the Horde? You can't have a horde with these things in it! Have you ever considered dropping one or two units of Possessed, and taking three havoc squads with Infiltrate and either Meltaguns or Plasmaguns, perhaps one with Flamers?

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

HQ: 273 points
Lieutenant: MoN, D. Talons, Nurgle’s Rot
Favored Retinue of Chosen, 3 with Bolt Pistol & CCWs, 2 with Meltaguns and an Aspiring Champion with D. Talons, Rhino transport

Again with the HQ - I would say make him a Lord with a Manreaper. Remember what it says about Daemon Weapons - they don't *have* to be the scythe or glaive or sword or axe, they can look however you want. I've seen a Khornate lord with a pair of double-edged swords for a Glaive. I've seen a Slaaneshi lord with a snake wrapped around his naked body for a Lash of Torment. I've seen a Tzeentchian lord with floating orbs for the Warp Blade. Having the Manreaper represented by long, rotting fingernails or claws... hell yes.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Troop: 810 points ((158 X 3) + (112 X 3))
Alpha
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 plasma guns, and everyone else carries a Bolter and CCW (units are 158 points each)

Again, I will suggest you consider Infiltrate.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

3 X Favored units of Plaguebearers

Hmmm... A little too many. Drop a unit and take some Nurglings. You can be shocked at what they can hold up in combat.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Fast Attack : 624 points (208 X 3)
Beta
3 X Favored units of Death Guard with MoN, Aspiring Champions have D. Talons, each unit has 2 Meltaguns, and everyone else carries a Bolt Pistol and CCW, Rhino Transport (units are 208 points each)

Now we're talking. This part will help you alot in your tank busting and mobility.

Originally Posted by MarkedByChaos

Heavy Support: 290 points (145 X 2)
2 X Chaos Predators, each has turret mounted twin linked Lascannons and 2 side sponsons with Lascannons (145 points each)

In this list, I agree.


I like the second list better, but my suggestion is Infiltrate on everything that can take it. This will get your Daemons into combat faster and will help you with your mobility, getting units into combat before they can shoot the Rhinos. You might not think it "fluffy" to take Infiltrate, but what about saying "They couldn't be seen through a thick cloud of flies" or "the crawled out of holes in the ground"? Just my opinion, anyway.

Please consider what I said about Havocs.

[DeAd_cOmMaNdO]

Originally Posted by Inquisitor Rosenadel

if your enemy thinks "There's no way I can kill all that," then you've already won.

I love that
though as true as that is i cant see the 1st army doing much. Itll take you two turns of moving just to get within rapid fire range, or you can wait for the enemy tocome to you which if youre playing a cheese-filled army, will never happen.

though the 3 preds are cool and only marginally less nurgely than dreads. shame nurgle has no other choice of AT, because destructor preds with havoc launchers are actually better against marines than annihilators (and much much better against hordes)

I do like the feel of the army and its refreshing to see a DG list without infiltrating (im guilty of that one too!)

[luciuseternal]

OK I don't play Death Guard but I do play Wordbearers and have used Plaguebearers. While a decent unit I find units of 7 do not last long enough and do not earn their points. The other daemon squads are alot better.
If using plaguebearers would consider squad of 14 instead, still the magic number

[MarksmanCypher]

Squad of 14? Um, no, not good.

I used to use my Daemonettes for my Emperor's Children in a unit of 12 - bad scatters befell me and I lost them all quite frequently.

Use them in two squads of 7. It will thus take twice as much fire to bring them down, they will be able to attack twice as many targets, and, in close combat, if they charge together, your opponent is forced to split his unit's attacks. Not a good thing for them.

Plaguebearers are cheap and effective, they are PERFECT for diverting fire from your Marines. When I see two units of 7 plaguebearers, I'm tempted to rapid fire the hell out of them instead of the Death Guard Marines behind them... despite the fact that the marines have better armour, and special weapons such as meltaguns and plague swords.

Your best bet is to maintain the usage of two squads of 7. They can attack different sides of the board, and attack seperate units. Being able to move and assault on the turn they arrive, I would throw them against Talos, Wraithlords, Wraithguard, Avatars, and the like without even blinking.

It's OK when a Devastator squad with heavy Bolters shoots at a unit of 7 plaguebearers. When they shoot at a unit of 14? Expect that unit to fall... quickly.

[Rogue_Banana]

The main problem with the above tactic is that two different squads of Plaguebearers may summon at different times, or suffer badly from things like instability in different ways. Your first unit can't sit around waiting for the other unit to summon - they're melee combatants, they have to be in hand-to-hand whenever possible. As result, you may only have one of those seven man squads getting into combat.

Don't get me wrong, this is still better than a 14 man unit, but it still has its drawbacks.


Happy Puking!
R_B

[MarksmanCypher]

There's always drawbacks. I use my Daemonettes in two squads of 6 and it generally works pretty well. though they might come on a different times, they can strike at different opponents. There is NOTHING more amusing than seeing someone kill a unit of daemonettes...

"Hooray! I did it! I killed them all!"

Next thing they know, they've got 18 MORE rending attacks on their behinds.

[experiment 626]

honestly, i think you're putting a little too much faith in rending, especially to take down nasty things like wraithlords and 'fexes...

i'd make sure to give the champs power fists. yes it's predictable, but it's also very effective and it means you'll always have the tools to deal with any opponent...
either that or grab some melta bombs to handle dreads...

i'd also consider flying possessed (maybe go for 2 units instead of 3) to give you some speed... yes they'll die in all likelyhood, but they'll be able to tie-up some units, and fudge around lines of sight thereby allowing you to get your much more resiliant troops into fire-fight range with even more numbers!

cheers!