Reviews: Traitor Legions - The Death Guard

Last on the list for Traitor Legion review is the Death Guard

Content sourced via the Combat Phase podcast and SpikeyBits

The Death Guard

The Death Guard are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his mutational "gifts" they have become Plague Marines; Astartes who are eternally rotting away within their Power Armour and infected with every known form of disease and decay but who are immune to all pain or minor injury. When the XIVth Legion was first raised on Terra by the Emperor, its Astartes were known as the Dusk Raiders. After the XIVth Legion was reunited with its Primarch Mortarion on the world of Barbarus, he renamed the Legion the Death Guard.

What makes a Death Guard Detachment?

To be a Death Guard detachment, much like what we saw in the Wrath of Magnus there are a number of restrictions:

• The army can have none of the Chaos Space Marine unique characters with the exception of Typhus.
• All models who can purchase a Mark of Nurgle or Daemon of Nurgle must do so.
• No model can come with or purchase a Mark of Chaos a Mark of Chaos or Daemon of Chaos other than Nurgle.
• All models that can purchase Veterans of the Long war (VotLW) must do so, but for free.

So what do I get for being a Death Duard Detachment?

If your detachment is a Death Guard detachment then you get the following special rules:

• Gift of Nurgle: Units with VotLW gain Fearless and Feel No Pain, but have a -1 to Initiative (this does not affet Typhus of Plague Marines).
• Inexorable Advance: Models with VotLW gain Relentless
• Lords of Plague Host: Plague Marines gain the Troops battle role

Death Guard Warlord Traits

1. Warlord gains Feel No Pain
2. Warlord gains It Will Not Die
3. Warlord gains +1 W
4. Warlord gains Eternal warrior
5. Warlord has their Poison weapons improved by 1
6. Units within 7" gain Contagion

Death Guard Relics

• Puscleaver (10 Points): Poison 2+ Melee Weapon
• Plague Skill Glothia (15 Points): Once per game, Range 8", S1, AP–, Assault 1, Poison 2+ , Large Blast
• Pandemic Staff (30 Points): Poison 2+ Staff with dual profiles:
• Ranged: Template, S1, Ap5, assault 1, Poison 2+
• Melee: S+2, AP4, Melee, Concussive, Poison 2+
• Dolorus Knell (25 Points): Start of any friendly fight sub phase give units fear or give a model fear.
• This sounds a little off, for 25 points I would expect more from this. Giving a single unit Fear is not worth 25 points, not by a long shot.
• Poxwalker Hive (20 Points): at the start of each turn, pick a friendly Cultist unit within 7". They can't run or shoot for the remainder of the game but have Fell No Pain and Fearless, in addition they immediately recover D3 Cultists from earlier in the game.
• Kind of a mini Typhus ability, turning Cultists into zombies.
• Plaguebringer (35 Points): AP3, Poison 4+, Deamon Weapon
• I am a fan of Daemon Weapons on the most part, and being not only Poison 4+ but AP3 at Initiative, this is a reletavily solid relic.

Death Guard Formation Based Detachment (FBD)

• Disgustingly Resilient: re-roll Fell No Pain rolls of a 1
• Cloud of Flies: Ranged hits from more than 18" away grant you the Stealth rule for resolving the attack.

Core Choices:

• Chaos Warband: As per Traitor's Hate
• Plague Colony: 
• Typhus
• 3-7 plague marines
• Units gain Fear and enemy units within 7" reduce their Initaitve and Weapon Skill by 1 during the fight phase. If there are 7 plague marines in the unit, then also -1 from the enemy's Toughness

Command Choices:

• Lord of Legion: 1 of the following; Chaos Lord, Sorcerer, Dark Apostle or Daemon Prince

Auxiliary Choices: 

• Lost and Damned: As per Traitor's Hate
• Helforged Wrack: As per Traitor's Hate
• Daemon Engine: As per Traitor's Hate
• Heldrake Terror: As per Traitor's Hate
• Cult of Destruction: As per Traitor's Hate
• Fist of the Gods: As per Traitor's Hate
• Raptor Talon: As per Traitor's Hate
• Terminator Annihilation Force: As per Traitor's Hate
• Spawn: As per Traitor's Hate