Starting Death Guard

[Astral Claw 126]

Hey Everyone,

well, since I can't really think of ways to add to my Emperor's Children Army (save for Daemons and Zarakynel) and I am set to take my place in the big leagues amongst Slaanesh players (Erus still needs to make me a captain) I have decided to move on to my 2nd Army. Since when I first started playing, it was a very difficult choice for me to pursue the Emperor's Children or the Death Guard, since both are so awesome and full of bad@ssness, I am reverting back to the Death Guard. Now, I want an army that reflects classic death guard tactics (lots of infantry and termies, few tanks and Fast Attack), so I am looking for advice from veteran Nurgle players. Thanks!

[Drax]

well lots of troops would be a start say three squads to begin? few if any rhinos. no raptors, no bikes, heavy support can be havocs - but if so, they should be armed with special, not heavy weapons. tanks are ok.

any of the current elites would be fine - same with hqs.

thats essentially the basis of the restrictions, build a list with those guidlines and we'll take it from there

[Astral Claw 126]

Thanks Drax! My starting list goes like this:

HQ1: Typhus
HQ 2: Daemon Prince with Mark Of Nurgle, Wind Of Chaos

Troops: 4x Plague Marine Squads
-7x Plague Marines Each
- Plague Champ w/ Power Sword, meltabombs
- 1x Meltagun, 1x Flamer per squad


Elites1: Terminator Squad
-6 Termies (with 1 champ)
-4 Power Fists, 2 Chain Fists
- Hvy Flamer, Icon Of Nurgle

Elites2: Posessed Squad
-7 Posessed with 1 Champ
- Icon Of Nurgle

Hvy Support: Obliterator Cult
-3x Obliterators

[Prince of the Night]

Get rid of the possessed and use raptors or bikes with the nurgle icon. This gives you the ability to deep strike with prescission, the termies and the oblits if nessessary. Motr the bikes forward into an area of importance and then next turn deep strike termies or oblits or typhus to flank the H--L out of your opponent. Check out my thread on plgue zombie marines for some ideas if you like.

For 1750 point tourney list I run Typhus.

3 units of 7 plague marines, one squad with rhino.

1 unit of 6 termies

1 Vindicator

5 bikes

2 oblits.

[DuskRaider]

As far as using classic Death Guard tactic, load up on many Plague Marines. I'd say use a DP, but the new rules don't really give much of an option for a Nurglesque DP. Typhus works well, he's killer in combat. Terminators are also extensively used by Death Guard and really serve as the Heavy Support for your army, despite being elite. I do tend to run a Mech Death Guard army, as rhinos are OK and don't really break fluff too much. As I've said prior, a Predator and Defiler work well also.

For a classic DG army, avoid using Fast Attack at all, with the exception of Spawns. Even then, I don't use these... Havocs are alright, but avoid heavy weapons and go more with special weapons (plasma, melta, flamer).

[Astral Claw 126]

Ya, I did a proxy test run of the list (Using my Slaanesh models to represent), and believe it or not the Posessed did good, holding off twice there number of Asslt Marines for the whole game, only going out on turn 6. I am gonna keep it "classic", no fast attack, and very few rhinos. The DP also did well, the Mark Of Nurgle makes him a REAL pain to kill with anything less than heavy wpns (LAscannon or Plasma Cannon) in shooting or another monstrous creature in H2H. The Termies and Oblits were great, proving to be very flexible between anti infantry and anti armor. All in all I am pretty satisfied, tho if I do modify the list, the posessed will go first.

[Dragoon King]

Originally Posted by Astral Claw 126

Ya, I did a proxy test run of the list (Using my Slaanesh models to represent), and believe it or not the Posessed did good, holding off twice there number of Asslt Marines for the whole game, only going out on turn 6. I am gonna keep it "classic", no fast attack, and very few rhinos. The DP also did well, the Mark Of Nurgle makes him a REAL pain to kill with anything less than heavy wpns (LAscannon or Plasma Cannon) in shooting or another monstrous creature in H2H. The Termies and Oblits were great, proving to be very flexible between anti infantry and anti armor. All in all I am pretty satisfied, tho if I do modify the list, the posessed will go first.

In the 3rd. ed. Death Guard could have Rhinos for Fast Attack. I would load up on Rhinos, nice choice with keeping 7 man tac squads (I'm gonna do the same with my DG squad). I would also take Havocs with Flamers, Meltas or Plasma Guns. Chosen too, geared up the same way. Havocs and Chosen both can have dedicated Rhinos, too, hehehe. So that means if you want a massive army you could have 6 tac squads with Rhinos, 3 Havoc squads with 3 Rhinos, and 3 Chosen Squads with 3 Rhinos! I suggest Infiltrating Chosen though. Avoid any type of Fast Attack. Make you HQ choices with Bikes, either Lord or Sorcerer.

[Astral Claw 126]

That is good suggestion dragoon, but I want my guys to be ground pounders overall. No bikes (but would take wings), and few transports (probably for Havocs and/or posessed). Also, hehehe, got a good idea for some apocalypse goodies. Epidemus from Codex Daemons has a really juicy ability for ALL FOLLOWERS OF NURGLE. This means plague marines and other with the MoN, not just Daemons. Muwhahaha. Now, for Armor, what do you guys suggest?

[DuskRaider]

Well yes, all followers of Nurgle... too bad you can't use CSMs are Daemon allies or vice versa. Except in Apocalypse, and I'm starting a campaign where I allow it. It only makes sense. I'd rather take bikes then wings, wings don't seem all that Nurglesque to me... then again, I won't take bikes either. I've been thinking about it, as I can honestly see bloated rotting Plague Marines on motorcycles, but...

[Astral Claw 126]

Good point. And I agree with you on the Apocalypse allied stuff. That is why they have the allies matrix in the book. Anywho, I painted two Plague Marines, one green, one brown. Tell me what ya think!

[hairyyahoo]

those are some seriously slimey marines dude, good work.

[Dragoon King]

Hmmm. For armour, I'd say Preds, I like the Annihilator, but the Destructor is ok too. Depends on what you really need. I'd go Lascannon all around if you want anti-armour punch. Maybe even Autocannon with Lascannon sponsons to deal with light armour. Land Raiders are one of my favs, especially with Daemonic Possession. Just mount some CC termies in it, and barrel full speed toward a weak spot in the enemy lines. Foot slogging is ok for most missions, but you'll be at a bit of a disadvantage for some that require the quick occupation of a objective. Defilers are pretty effective in smaller battles, but beware an enemy with a lot of high Strength, low AP weapons. Obilts are very versatile, and can Deep Strike. Havocs, I'm not a huge fan of, but they can be effective. I'd say Preds, you'll get the most bang for your buck. However, Land Raiders are very good mobile strongpoints, and your strength will probably be defense. Some say they aren't worth the points cost, but I've seen them soak up MASSIVE amounts of punishment, and keep on fighting. For example, in a recent battle, I was playing my friend's Dark Angels, and on turn 2 my Lascannon Pred immobilized his Land Raider, about 20 inches from my main line of resistance. However, I was never able to knock it completely out, and though I poured lots of firepower into it, it still sat in front of me, picking of a few targets with it Lascannons and Heavy Bolter. It survived the entire game of 6 turns, and allowed his other units to close the gap on me virtually unscathed. I ended up winning, but it was a very close affair. So a Land Raider is never a bad choice, imo.

[dunny dnb]

Originally Posted by Astral Claw 126

Good point. And I agree with you on the Apocalypse allied stuff. That is why they have the allies matrix in the book. Anywho, I painted two Plague Marines, one green, one brown. Tell me what ya think!

they look good! i think the green looks awesome. spread the plague!