There has been much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair over the fate of Nurgle's chosen. The Fourteenth have lost a lot of their durability. And while they can still get -1 Damage in melee, other factions seem to have more powerful versions of this rule. But from what I've seen in previews and games so far, of which we've gotten a lot, Death Guard has traded their durability for damage. They've got powerful weapon keywords sprinkled all throughout their datasheets. Let's see if that hold with what's left of their Index. This will likely be a quick one since we've covered so much already.
Update: I don't know why I read Poxwalkers the way that I did. It's not that Typhus makes them go boom, it's that when he kills things with the Eater Plague you get Poxwalkers back.
ARMY RULES
Nurgle's Gift is a powerful rule when facing infantry in melee. With -1 to Toughness, even the vaunted physiology of the Emperor's Chosen starts to fail. It may not seem like a lot, but there are a lot of Strength/Toughness breakpoints that matter for smaller units. Guard start getting wounded by bolters on 2s, Space Marine on 3s, and Terminators on 4s. Where it helps less is on the new, higher Toughness profiles. Toughness 9 barely notices anything, with melta now wounding on 3s but that's about it. Toughness 10 is actually slightly more impacted with S5 and S10 weapons suddenly hitting new break points. But that pattern continues for T11 and T12 monsters and vehicles too. The number of weapons that benefit start to drop off. And this only matters at close range.
So one of the things I'm going to be doing as I go through so many of these datasheets again is look at what weapons are most effected by these break points. We've covered so many already, but I want to give Death Guard some proper focus now that their Index is up.
One thing that is still feeling underwhelming though is Spread the Sickness. This rule only matters when you're shooting with longer range weapons at opponents that are trying to outflank you. The problem here is that this is almost always happening on your opponent's turn, when your responses are much more limited. So we'll be looking for datasheets that are good recipients for Overwatch or have other ways to fire on your opponents in their turn. Hopefully this rule will get some love, but I'm worried Death Guard might have to wait for new Detachment rules.
Ferric Blight
Okay, wow . . . I'm starting to feel where Death Guard players are coming from. The number of conditions on this strat are a thing. So improved AP is good, and that makes this strat worth it no matter what. But to get the full benefit, your opponent needs to be in Contagion Range of an Infected Objective marker. That means they have to have tried to take the Objective and failed. So that's pretty specific circumstances. And even then, you only get further improved AP on Crit Wounds. I guess it's nice to have the potential for the bonus, but man those are some hoops.
Disgusting Resilient
I just don't understand why this is only in melee. This honestly should be in any phase.
Sanguous Flux
Okay, this one is much better. Since you can use it in your opponent's Fight phase, you can use it to try and counter a Charge on your objective. You then get SUSTAINED HITS 2, which is pretty potent. This feels much more powerful.
Gift of Decay
This is another one where the synergy with Spread the Sickness is much stronger. A flat 3 wounds healed for an important model is very good. So right now that's only one strat that isn't playing this synergy well.
Boil Blight
This is actually really good for Death Guard. This one strat basically gets rid of all the penalties for Indirect Fire. So if you've got an enemy that needs to get shelled by Plagueburst Crawlers, you pop this and fire like you've got line of sight.
Cloud of Flies
Honestly this might be the weakest stratagem. But -1 to Hit on command when your opponent is trying to shoot you is still useful.
Living Plague
We've already seen this one, but it might be worth trying to spot characters with good Auras for it.
The Droning
Dishing out some mortals when an opponent fails Battle-shock is a nice little bonus. We've already seen a few ways Death Guard can do that.
Deadly Pathogens
We've seen a lot of Enhancements like this. In this case, you'll want to pick a model that is going to be trying to storm the center of the board and hold it. Not the best set of circumstances for a melee bruiser, but it will definitely come up.
Shamblerot
Oh! This might be my favorite of these! Giving an opponent a Charge penalty is great!
Honestly, I'm getting the complaints. There's really nothing bad here, and the basic idea behind these rules is, "You're going to take and hold objectives." And how do you win a game of 40K? You take and hold objectives. But on the surface the Spread the Sickness rules feel awkward and, by extension, weak. I think we need to see how these rules play out on the table.
DATASHEETS
Again, we've seen a lot of these. But unlike Daemons, I'm going to be searching through them again for Strength/Toughness breakpoints and potential to shoot in the enemy turn.
Death Guard Daemon Prince
Contagions are going to help this piece some, with that sweep wounding Space Marines on 2s and the strike hitting wounding T9 targets on 4s. But the main synergy here is that 6+ FNP. Not sure why it couldn't be a 5+. But this makes the Daemon Prince a potential, and appropriate, recipient for Living Plague.
Death Guard Deaemon Prince with Wings
One of the stranger reveals from Kansas City, this one also gets the same benefits of Contagion. But this one needs them less due to its DEVASTATING WOUNDS ability.
Typhus
Typhus would benefit well from Contagion, but he also has LETHAL HITS. He's still good tech.
Death Guard Chaos Lord
All of the standard Space Marine wargear benefits well from Contagion, even with that liberal sprinkling of LETHAL HITS. He grants a nice buff of re-roll Hits of 1 to his unit, and hands out mortals to nearby enemies. Not a bad pick to lead Plague Marines, though Death Guard are a bit spoiled for choice.
Death Guard Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour
Whoah! That's a thing! The abilities are exactly the same! Their both good abilities, but this is a bit weird considering GW has been trying to give all the various models specific reasons for you to take them over their counterparts.
Lord of Virulence
The plague spewer misses some key breakpoints, though being able to wound T5 on 3s and T10 on 5s are both nice. The plague fist benefits more. Still, its that re-roll 1s and targeting for your Plagueburst crawlers that you want.
Lord of Contagion
Again, S5 and S8 have the same breakpoint problems and benefits. He grants full re-rolls to wound though, which is nice for those LETHAL HITS. And should the enemy get through the Terminators, he can deal out mortals as he takes damage. If he survives, hit him with Gift of Decay to rain even more down.
Death Guard Sorcerer in Terminator Armour
Mortarions unwanted sons get all the same benefits from Contagion that we've seen for Space Marine wargear, and that's a lot. Curse of the Leper really like it, wounding SMEs on 2s. He can give his unit another source of -1 Damage in the fight phase, for a potential -2 Damage total. He can also amp up the Strength and Damage of Curse of the Leper once per battle.
Malignant Plaguecaster
This model also has some pretty good breakpoints.
Plague Marines
Ditto. In particular, melta really likes wounding T10 on 4s.
Death Guard Cultists
Oh! Finally got one! I was wondering if some really basic units might not have special rules. Well, I mean technically this gets Scout, but it doesn't have its own rule. Still, these will love Contagion.
Pox Walkers
And here they are! Every Death Guard players favorite chaff infantry! They get LETHAL HITS and wound SMEs on 4s. They get their 5+ FNP, as they should, but otherwise die to a stiff breeze. But that's fine, because when you destroy enemy models you get to bring back Poxwalkers. This combos particularly well with Typhus, who gets to have them do mortals when they die!
Noxious Blightbringer
The plague bell loves its break points, but that's not why you bring him. You bring him because he be a second leader for Plague Marines, grants them re-rolls on Advance and Charge, and subtracts a whopping -2 from Leadership to units in Contagion.
Foul Blightspawn
This one doesn't get the same love from breakpoints as we've seen on other Death Guard weaponry. But you're taking him for Fights First. BTW, if you missed it (cause it was kinda thrown out there before we get the document) you cannot have more than 2 leaders on a Unit.
Biologus Putrifier
This guy gets benefits a little bit more. But he doesn't really care about Contagion. He's all about getting those LETHAL HITS on 5s. He also just gets free grenades once per game.
Tallyman
Another one at awkward break points.
Plague Surgeon
Ditto. But that doesn't change the fact he brings a Plague Marine back once a round.
Blightlord Terminators
While the blight launcher and combi weapons love Contagion, the rest are all at awkward break points. Though re-roll Wounds means it matters less.
Deathshroud Terminators
In contrast, Deathshroud absolutely love Contagion! Especially since they get to laugh at Marines taking Wounds on 3 and 4s while their opponents need 6s.
Death Guard Helbrute
The generic Chaos Helbrute was real good. This one is oddly a synergy piece for your army. It gets to pick one unit every time it shoots or fights and just put it in Contagion range. This is great for all those characters that Debuff units this way. It also has some nice Strength for break points on many of its attacks. Finally, it gets that nice mortals on the Charge ability.
Death Guard Chaos Sp-AH NOGHLR!
It's a Chaos Sp-AH WHAHGHL! Hopefully they're cheap filler.
Myphitic Blight-haulers
The Blight Hauler has a melta. Thus it love Contagion.
Foetid Bloat-drone
There are some pretty good break points here. Though the Plaguespitter already Wounds all Infantry on 2s.
Plagueburst Crawler
The gun that matters the most loves Contagion. Hopefully you'll be able to spot close enough to give it that benefit.
Death Guard Land Raider
You bet those lascannons loves -1 Toughness. But who cares! You're here for Advance and Charge!
Death Guard Vehicles
We're in the "Insert Faction Name" Vehicles section. It won't come up often for that predator lascannon, though wounding a Monolith on 3s is nice. Everything else loves Contagion the same way most Space Marine wargear does. Reaper autocannons may not like it as much, but they get DEVASTATING WOUNDS so the awkward breakpoint isn't as bad.
Mortarion
The thematic Strength 7 on Rotwind and Silence's sweep doesn't love Contagion as much. But for all that other synergy, you can pop Toxic Presence. But I still think the most awesome thing about Mortarion in this edition is his ability to just turn of penalties for his sons.
Death Guard Icon Bearer
Plague Marines are really spoiled for choice. Still, you'll want this guy to help some keep control of a vital objective. He also gets to really spread out Contagion for you.
Miasmic Malignifier
Just a flat -1 to Hit. We'll really need to see points costs and how well Fortifications work with popular terrain formats. This one at least has Infiltrators.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It really is easy to see why Death Guard players feel let down. But I really do believe this is a side grade. No, Death Guard is not as tanky as they used to be. But they're still pretty tough, and they just have so many ways to deal damage. I think if you play the primary, and choose your secondaries wisely, you'll naturally find your army doing what you want it to do.
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