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 Tim:
Greetings once again, fellow worshippers of the god of Disease
and Decay. Once again, I have set aside my paintbrush in order
to assist my fellow plague-lords in converting their Death
Guard armies over to the new Codex.
Unlike the Emperor’s Children army list, the changes to the
Death Guard are relatively minor. A few points tweaked here
and there, some extra wargear, a couple of different units,
and that’s about it. However, the changes are still worth
discussing.
The only real rules change to the Death Guard is the limitation
on the number of Rhinos you can take in your army, and where
units with transports appear in your Force Organization chart.
Previously, you could have up to six units of Plague Marines
in Rhinos in a Death Guard army as Troops, which definitely
goes against the spirit of the Death Guard army - the Death
Guard are supposed to be heavily infantry-based. The new rule
is simply this: only two units of Plague Marines in Rhinos
count as Troops - the rest count as Fast Attack. The rule
is not unreasonable in smaller games, and still allows for
a reasonable number of transports in larger games.
There are a couple of other minor changes to the list, the
first being no more Plague Knives for Plague Marines. Personally,
I’ve never successfully used the ability of a Plague Knife,
so no big deal to me, anyway. However, to make up for the
loss, you now get the True Grit ability: carrying a bolter
gives you an extra attack in hand-to-hand (just like a bolt
pistol does), although units with True Grit never get the
bonus for charging. This doesn’t seem like much of a bonus,
but remember, with the new Assault rules, if your unit fires
its weapons you won’t get that charge bonus anyway!
The selection of available units did not change much, as
the only units no longer available to Death Guard armies are
Nurgle Daemonic Beasts and Cavalry. However, you can still
take Plaguebearers (which are much stronger now, IMHO) and
Nurglings for Daemons. You also have access to the Defiler,
which supplies Chaos armies with a much-needed Ordnance weapon.
In addition, a Death Guard army may now take a fourth special
weapon in its Havoc squads - a nice bonus indeed - and a second
special weapon in Plague Marine squads. Another nice addition
to the list is the ability to take Nurgle Possessed, rather
than just plain old regular Possessed. The new Possessed are
much more powerful (on average), and much less random - not
that I really disliked the old rules.
Certain Death Guard units get cheaper under the new rules
- Cult Terminators are 5 points cheaper, and your basic Plague
Marine is 1 point cheaper. Daemon Princes will also tend to
be a little cheaper, unless you really tool them up! Unfortunately,
Plaguebearers are a little more expensive, but gaining Nurgle’s
Rot and Daemonic Venom - the ability to wound anything on
a 4 or better - more than makes up for the small point increase.
There are more Gifts of the Gods available to Death
Guard armies now, too (in fact, all Chaos armies). In
addition to the Plague Sword, Plague Banner, and Blight
Grenades, you may also want to look at Manreaper, Pandemic
Staff, Nurgle’s Rot, and Nurgling Infestation. Manreaper
gives a Chaos Lord D6 extra attacks, the Pandemic Staff
causes large numbers of wounds on weak units, as does
Nurgle’s Rot, and Nurgling Infestation can give your
Nurgle Chaos Lord some extra attacks in hand-to-hand.
Most of the wargear is a little cheaper, as Aspiring
Champions now buy it using a separate set of point costs,
rather than the same costs as paid by Independent Characters.
Power weapons and power fists are now 5 and 10 points
cheaper for Aspiring Champions (respectively); Daemonic
gifts are generally cheaper for Champions as well, though
your selection tends to be a little more limited.
While some things get cheaper, other things have become
more expensive. As noted above, some units increase
a little in price. Also, special weapons in squads now
cost slightly more, as you can get two of them in every
Plague Marine squad. Blight grenades are a little more
expensive (instead of 3 points a model, you pay 25 for
the Champion to have them). Overall, not a big deal.
Well, enough chatter! On
with the lists!
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