Horus Heresy 3e Review: Nathaniel Garro

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background.

Much has already been spoken of Garro. The former Battle-Captain of the Death Guard. The Captain of the Eisenstein. The person who brought word of Isstvan III to the Imperium. The one who bent his knee of Malcador and became the first of the Knights-Errant. The one who would gather the other unique Knights to his banner.  

Strengths. 

A strong stat line (including WS=6 and 5 attacks) combines with his weapons to make Garro a direct close combat challenge threat. 

Libertas has Duellists edge at 2, and critical hitting supplementing S+1 (for S=5 hits) at AP=2 which is vital for challenges. Eternal warrior also helps him stay in the fight.

At range, his bolt gun is called a paragon bolt gun and fires at S=5 with shred. This is impressive and you need to fire it often. 

Weaknesses. 

The only very mild negative is that Libertas is limited to 1 damage per unsaved wound. 

Overall.

Garro in third edition (Legacies) comes with the Knights-Errant and Loyalist keywords (the former having as much power and impact as the latter - to be clear). He isn't a Death Guard (despite my tag here) and sadly cannot be taken in a pre-Heresy or loyalist Death Guard contingent which makes me sad. He is a solid challenge contender otherwise and a decent high command choice with a more than reasonable points value associated with him. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Mortus Poisoner Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The access to Alchem Flamers is good - but you have to upgrade to these. 

Background.

Within the Death Guard, the Mortus Poisoners were a cadre belonging to the Destroyer companies. Their point of differentiation from their brothers was to carry more, and more toxic chemicals on to the battlefield than even the Death Guard would usually prefer. Accordingly, to be assigned to the Poisoners was something of a condemnation and a sentence passed for disobedience, censure or similar. The members were inevitably subjected to a slow demise thanks to their munitions. Yet there were certainly some for whom this was far removed from a sentence and something they actively enjoyed. 

Strengths. 

This is a squad that has rad grenades as standard. Beyond this though, the real strength is in the upgrades that you can take. 

Firstly, you can take "true grit" in the sense of bolt gun bolt pistol, and chainsword for all eventualities. This is probably not worth it. Nor are the bayonets or chain bayonets. 

Flamers and alchem flamers are where the action is at here. Plus the heavy alchem flamer per 5 models. Power weapons, power scythe, phosphex and melta for the Master are all good options. And the vexilla and other standard upgrades won't hurt either. 

The way to run this squad is therefore as a close range flame unit. They can be backed up with bolt pistol and chainsword too which is very attractive for close combat work. 

Weaknesses. 

Funamentally they are standard 3+ save marines. The question is whether you want an actual destroyer squad or these marines. The foundational way they are better are through the alchem flamers. And it is for this reason that you should really be taking them - the 2+ poisoned rule is very strong. You shouldn't take them without upgrades. 

Builds.

5 Poisoners, 5 Alchem Flamers (80 points).

A surprise chemical flamer unit. The first time an opponent is hit by these chemical flamers will be a surprise. 

5 Poisoners, 4 Alchem Flamers, 1 Heavy Alchem Flamer, Master with Phosphex Bombs and Power Scythe (113 points).

A heavy version of the above with close combat readiness. Take Vexilla to taste. 

10 Poisoners, 8 Alchem Flamers, 2 Heavy Alchem Flamers, Chain Swords All Round, Vexilla, Master with Phosphex Bombs and Power Scythe (237 points).

The fully kitted out unit with flamers and close combat extra potential. You could, of course, just ditch the chain swords and go full flamer, and who could blame you. Take an extra 5 members for fun if you're not taking a rhino or other transport. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Grave Warden Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background.

The second special terminator unit from the Death Guard, these marines were originally synonymous with Typhon and the Terminus Est, but became more of a talisman for the entire legion over time. They specialize in lethal and Geneva Convention defying arms to provide a truly grotesque end to their enemies in the Great Crusade and the civil war of the Heresy. . 

Strengths. 

T=5 here, but that's really the only stat line entry of note. 

They come with vanguard at an impressive (3) level, along with the Death Cloud (whiffs of toxins that linger on their suits and makes you question how they get in and out of their armour safely - maybe they don't). 

The key thing here is the assault grenade launcher which can fire both krak and toxin variants. The Toxin variant is significant for having 3+ poisoned and can therefore ruin many opponent's days given the fire rate of 3. Equally two shots at S=6 from the krak grenades is very strong as well considering each does 2 damage. 

There are a few upgrades here. The heavy alchem flamer is very nice for 2+ poisoned. Chain fists are reasonable and cheap enough to consider, whilst the grenade harness is all but essential. The combi weapon for the master is reasonable enough should you want it, but I'd honestly stick to the grenade launcher. 

Weaknesses. 

WS=4 is notably weaker than other specialist terminators from different legions. 

Builds.

5 Grave Wardens, grenade harness, 2 chain fists (240 points).

Baseline in my opinion. Take with a sneaky Librarian if Mortarion is not around, just because.  

10 Grave Wardens, 2 Alchem Heavy Flamers, 4 Chain Fists, Master with grenade harness (460 points).

Take with a land raider. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Deathshroud Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A solid retinue unit. 

Background.

The best of the legion, and often selected as survivors of squads where all else failed. They effectively give up their identities and remain all but silent as the personal bodyguards of Mortarion himself. A couple of them are never more than 49 paces away from the Death Guard Primarch at any one time. 

To add a bit of old school spice to the above statement, 7 is the "sacred number" of Nurgle. And 49 is 7 times 7. QED.

Strengths. 

Stat line first, they have WS=5 and T=5. But unlike second edition, here they only have 2 wounds each (it was 3 in the previous edition). Eternal warrior here is also very respectable and fluffy. 

The come with power scythes as standard which will enable them to quickly weed out lesser squads. The Alchem caster is a template with poisoned at 2+ which will certainly hit hard against most squads. 

Weaknesses. 

The cost is steep - 50 points each for the first couple, and then 45 points therein. They don't have too many configurations either - you can add melta bombs and grenade harnesses, the latter is recommended. 

Builds.

2 Deathshroud Terminators, 2 Melta Bombs, 2 Grenade Harnesses (120 points).

To accompany your lesser commanders?

7 Deathshroud Terminators, 1 Grenade Harness (330 points).
Seven because, you know. And cheaper than second edition - I think because of one less wound. Great ablative wounds regardless. You just need to get them into combat!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Calas Typhon

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded down. A great character to have, but you get the most out of him if Mortarion is not around so he doesn't have to repress his psychic self. 

Background.

First Captain of the Death Guard and the one who would become Typhus the Traveller in later life aboard his flagship the Terminus Est. A Librarian who subsequently repressed his gifts, he was also among the first to fall to Chaos and spread his taint through the legion thanks to the seven pillared lodge.

Strengths. 

Regarding the stat line first, WS=6 is good, and 5's in many other places are great - most especially T=5. 

His ranged weapon is a template with a magnificent poisoned at 2+ and panic. Called Slaker, it is an alchem projector which has so much potential. 

Lakrimae meanwhile is his scythe which he coats in his own poisonous concoction. AP=2 is vital here, but he also has reaping blow (3) and poisoned at 3+ to add to this. 

As a former Librarian, he is still somewhat attuned, despite repressing himself. The Witch Blood special rule grants him biomancy so long as Mortarion is not on the same team. It also gives a gambit for S+2 and A+2 on a psychic check, but the perils of failing that check are typical (only invulnerable saves at 4+). 

Although it can be overlooked, like Mortarion, he comes with Death Cloud which gives you a free poisoned hit against anyone you are locked with. 

Weaknesses. 

A great, and flavourful leader for the Death Guard! Please do use his biomancy when Mortarion isn't around! In fact, his points cost isn't quite worth it when his Primarch is around to be candid. 

Overall.

Over costed if Mortarion is around. Otherwise a really very good high command character that can go toe to toe with many other primary non-primarch characters in the game through sheer poisonous attrition. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Mortarion

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded down. A super tough Primarch as you would expect!

Background.

Of all of the Emperor's sons, Mortarion had arguably the toughest upbringing of the lot. Cast on Barbarus, he lurched from being adopted by a necromantic giant, through to escaping and forging an army to take on the darkness out of the brave souls that were preyed upon by the dark overlords of that world. He failed. The Emperor had to save him and slay his would be adoptive parent. The darkness never really left him, and Horus persuaded him that the Emperor was really just another tyrant to bring to justice. Mortarion and his own sons paid an exceptionally high price for their heresy.

Strengths. 

T=7 (as well as S, W, and WS) is excellent on the stat line here and immediately puts him on par with Vulkan. 

His weapon, Silence, is a massive scythe that gives reaping blows at an impressive 3 and a critical hit. But with AP=2 and 2 damage at S+1, he is already hitting tremendously hard and can readily take down entire squads of regular marines solo if he put his mind to it. His side arm, The Lantern, is no slouch either with armour bane at S=8, AP=2 and 3 damage - very impressive for a side arm really! You could take out a terminator with this. 

With Shadow of the Reaper, you can pretend his movement is 10 for setting up rushes or charges. This is great. But even better is Preternatural Resilience which limits critical hits against him to 6+. 

As sire of the Death Guard, you get primes for troops when filled with regular tactical squads, and in the first turn your troops gain pinning if they have a fire group of 11 or more. This is actually superbly strong and I almost gave 5/5 stars here. But he's not Vulkan or Horus, or others, so tough. 

Don't forget he also comes with Phosphex Bombs (easy to overlook). And Death Cloud: a free poisoned hit at 3+ is very nice even if your enemy is likely to make their saving throw most of the time. 

Weaknesses. 

Not many realistically. He is slower than his brothers in terms of pure initiative and the modifier that the Silence gives him, but you won't care too much as you tank many wounds against you. 

Overall.

For the points cost, Mortarion is a real gem. I would contend his is actually under costed (at least in my opinion). Can't go too wrong quite frankly as he will certainly do justice (sic) for your forces. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Death Guard Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Rounded down. The rules are mixed. 

Background.

Seen by Horus as one of the few on his side of the conflict as being ever-reliable. Not hard when you have the savagery of the World Eaters or the preening of the Emperor's Children to pick between to start out with I guess? The Death Guard was once a byword for resilience and courage, but toward the very end of the conflict got stuck in the warp and had to take the proverbial knee to Nurgle to survive. They assaulted the throne world in a very different form to when they began this course of action, and probably not to Mortarion's liking either.

Armoury. 

Power Scythe. The power scythe gives reaping blow (2) and breaching in exchange for slower initiate but at S+1. This is generally worth taking and from a rule of cool point of view might be almost a given.

Alchem Flamers (and combi-, etc, variants therein) give you a template with poisoned at 2+. This is almost always worth considering (see Legacies). 

Unnatural Resilience grants W+1 and Eternal Warrior (2) for Prime slots which, again, should almost be a given for characters to make them really have better staying power and make that power scythe worth considering. 

Tactica. 

Remorseless Advance gives you heavy (X) even if you moved a little bit (4 inches). This is okay, but not a stand out compared to other legions. The Death Guard always had a focus on heavy weapons, but in third edition, it is just about okay. They can also ignore negatives caused by difficult terrain. This is also okay.  

Gambit.  

Steadfast Resilience gives you a toughness equal to your opponent's WS. This is incredibly strong actually when used correctly. 

Additional Detachements. 

Reaping Host adds some troops (but not assault squads) and heavy assault plus support. This is very useful overall. 

Advanced Reaction. 

Barbaran Endurance allows you to remove all tactical statuses and gain feel no pain which is great. You then have the added bonus of passing any cool or leadership tests on top of that. 

Overall, the rules for the Death Guard are not a stand out in comparison to other legions, but they are quite sufficient and characterful. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Calas Typhon

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. He costs a lot. But he remains vulnerable to instant death as a strong counter.

Background.

First Captain of the Death Guard and the one who would become Typhus the Traveller in later life aboard his flagship the Terminus Est. A Librarian who subsequently repressed his gifts, he was also among the first to fall to Chaos and spread his taint through the legion thanks to the seven pillared lodge. 

Strengths.

Typhon is a Grave Warden terminator with extra buffs. Or at least that's the best way to think about him. He comes with most things you would expect from that sect of terminators. He has a full grenade harness in place of an assault grenade launcher, some rad grenades as well as the chemical loaded pistol. He is replete with a strong stat line that has WS=6 along with 4 wounds and I=5 which is amazing for this legion. 

His scythe has flesh bane attached to it, and it also swings at initiative which is very strong. His Warlord Trait, Comes the Reaper, buffs flesh bane even further along with poisoned. This is spread to his unit as well, which begs him to be placed with a large blob of grave wardens himself. Movement reaction bonus is amazing here as well. 

He is also a repressed psyker. Witchsense gives him a bonus buff to WS and A which is strong. While Toxin Cloud is a massive blob of flesh bane and pinning. Both are great. But he can't use them with Mortarion on the board. 

Weaknesses.

There are 2 very major points to consider about Typhon. The first one is the price tag. He costs a bomb. Perhaps literally. The points cost is mainly justified, but it is worth considering if a plain praetor might be better if you are at lower points levels and (or) not running Mortarion.

The second major negative is T=4. He is very vulnerable to instant death and to sneaky snipers who can clear him off the board. Seriously invest in a land raider to keep him alive until he's needed!

And just for fun, in 30k, he doesn't have any plague zombies hanging around him yet. 

Overall.

Do NOT take him with Mortarion since he cannot use his psyker powers and this results in points value being not worth it. He is a great choice for a Mortarion lacking army though, albeit an expensive one. 

Difference to First Edition.

No more calling down a chemical bombardment from orbit. Equally, almost every orbital bombardment has been removed from second edition for reasons that I haven't explored too deeply. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Grave Warden Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. The rules are strong.

Background.

The second special terminator unit from the Death Guard, these marines were originally synonymous with Typhon and the Terminus Est, but became more of a talisman for the entire legion over time. They specialize in lethal and Geneva Convention defying arms to provide a truly grotesque end to their enemies in the Great Crusade and the civil war of the Heresy. 

Strengths.

I want to pick out their "Shrouded in Death" special rule first. They produce a thick toxic gas offensively and defensively. In game, this means that any charge against them is disordered. This is therefore one terminator squad that people will always have second thoughts about charging. Add to this a standard stat line with 2 wounds and you have a strong squad.

This is beefed up more with relentless, firing protocols (which is absolutely amazing here), and shrouded (plus stubborn of course). Their death cloud projector provides a handy template poison weapon and the assault grenade launcher is a great krak or toxin medium-short range assault weapon. Power fists round off this unit nicely.

My immediate thought is to put a librarian in here, but that wouldn't be very fluffy if Mortarion is on the table. Otherwise, treat them as you would most other cataphractii squads: use them up close and personal to take out other units. Consider a land raider proteus for transport. 

Weaknesses.

WS=4 is problematic here if you are thinking of close combat against many other legion terminators (even Alpha Legion Lernaeans will have an advantage here if they select against the Death Guard). 

Difference to First Edition.

A bit shuffled around here but mostly rather similar despite the time between editions. 

Builds.

5 Grave Warden Terminators, 2 chain fists (260 points).

Baseline unit. Consider a grenade harness if you are going to be charging. Might also be entertaining to give them Line (e.g., with a Herald) and sit on an objective, but I feel this is a waste.

10 Grave Warden Terminators, 2 heavy alchem flamers, chem master with combi-melta and grenade harness, 4 chain fists (525 points).

The overkill unit to charge out of a land raider with. You're not going to make friends with this one. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Deathshroud Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. The rules are strong.

Background.

The best of the legion, and often selected as survivors of squads where all else failed. They effectively give up their identities and remain all but silent as the personal bodyguards of Mortarion himself. A couple of them are never more than 49 paces away from the Death Guard Primarch at any one time.

To add a bit of old school spice to the above statement, 7 is the "sacred number" of Nurgle. And 49 is 7 times 7. QED. 

Strengths.

Triple wound terminators are terrifying. Marry this up with the Death Guard special rule, relentless and stubborn, and you have a recipe for a very tough unit here. They also come with a natural BS=WS=5 which is more than handy. The alchem pistol is a nice touch to have here, and the power scythe screams out to get into base to base contact with as many enemies as possible.

Weaknesses.

Power scythes are not reliable AP2 weapons. The option to take a power axe along with the legion standard when making a retinue will therefore be tempting. The points cost is also very steep. But balance this statement against battle hardened and realize that they will not be instant death victims. They will stick around a long while for the points cost and tar pit characters for the entire game given the opportunity.

Difference to First Edition.

An extra wound, at the price of no deep striking. They retain their key roles as retinues and escorts, as objective sitters, as tar pits, and as blob killers. Great ablative wounds for praetors and Mortarion alike. 

Builds.

5 Deathshroud Terminators, 1 grenade harness (360points).

If this is a retinue, add on the legion standard upgrade to make for a total of 375 points. There's not many other options here, but melta bombs can be nice given the opportunity. Might as well take a couple?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Mortarion

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars - just. The Primarch of the Death Guard casts his sinister shadow over the Second Edition of Horus Heresy with malice and strong rules. 

Background.

Of all of the Emperor's sons, Mortarion had the toughest upbringing of the lot. Cast on Barbarus, he lurched from being adopted by a necromantic giant, through to escaping and forging an army to take on the darkness out of the brave souls that were preyed upon by the dark overlords of that world. He failed. The Emperor had to save him and slay his would be adoptive parent. The darkness never really left him, and Horus persuaded him that the Emperor was really just another tyrant to bring to justice. Mortarion and his own sons paid an exceptionally high price for their heresy. 

Strengths.

The warlord trait (Sire of the Death Guard) is an army boost that ensure his sons don't worry about Fear or Shell Shock. This is excellent and harks back to first edition very nicely indeed. The added assault phase reaction is fine. 

Mortarion comes with the usual armour (which surprisingly provides no other boons). Poison, rending, and flesh bane have a much reduced effect thanks to another rule though. His weapons are fine without being outstanding. That scythe does have reaping blow (2) though - so ensure his targets are nice and tightly packed.

His stat line is mostly good, with the exception of initiative which will see him swing last most of the time - this is a significant negative. This is made up for by the 4+ It Will Not Die rule, along with a small list of other special rules like adamantium will at 3+ (beautiful and fluffy!) as well as hatred of psykers. 

He signature move (sic) is the Shadow of the Reaper. This allows him to redeploy up to 10 inches - intervening terrain be damned - during a shooting phase AND he can make a disordered assault right after it. I cannot underscore this ability enough. Mortarion has some of the best movement among his brothers. This will allow him to easily choose his targets, and herein is his purpose: he is fundamentally a killer that gets to choose his targets. Select a big blob of back line enemies perhaps? Grind that contemptor to spare parts? Take your pick. Literally. With this ability, you can afford to choose your targets every time. Take him with a unit of terminators or Death Shroud and you're good to start turn 1 with them, but then you will want to depart and get him doing his own deadly thing. 

Weaknesses.

Like some of his other brothers, he is not quite the dueling super star. In fact, he is wasted in this role as much as Alpharius might be and is probably not in the top half of his brothers overall either. Hence he has to be played to his strengths. To be blunt: he has to select his targets and chew through them quickly and in succession. Use an escort to begin with, and go from there. Don't get into Primarch duels with him. He is utterly wasted doing that, although given his toughness and It Will Not Die, he might be able to tar pit them for several turns in the hour of need.

Overall.

Mortarion is strong against large mobs, and backline targets. In fact, he's great against everything that isn't a Lord of War or his brothers. Plus he has army wide boosts and 7 juicy phosphex bombs to let rip (try not to forget about those bombs!). 

Difference to First Edition.

He no longer re-rolls It Will Not Die, nor is he totally immune to poisons, nor spreading stubborn to his sons. Arguably he is therefore a tiny bit weaker in second edition overall.  But it doesn't matter. He will still smash through a unit per turn when played right. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Death Guard Armoury

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. I was a bit torn here. 

The Death Guard have what feels like a miserly choice of 3 items in their armoury, and not a single special consul in sight. The items they do have veer between fine, to rather good, to not sure. 

Alchem Munitions. Swap out flamers to alchem munitions to gain fleshbane at the price of gets hot. This should be an automatic upgrade for every Death Guard armed with such to be candid. The Gets Hot rule is unlikely to do massive damage to you, but the fleshbane - especially when fired by larger squads - will have a bigger impact. 

Toxin Bombs. Almost over powered, these bombs cause a wound against a charging unit 1 in 6 times and only invulnerables count against it. They do cost a modest price, so its worth taking a few here and there in an army. Quite rude really. 

Power Scythes. AP3 at S+2 with some rending and reaping blows. This is fine overall, but can only be taken by characters. Might not be worth it if you're facing lots of terminators. And given this is Horus Heresy, you probably are. 

Difference to First Edition.

Some tweaks, but things are thematically similar. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Death Guard Traits and Rites

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars, rounded down. Only 1 trait out of 3 will be seen on the battlefield outside of specific builds, and only 1 rite out of 2 will be played at all. That rite is hideously over-powered as well, and only for the traitors. 

Warlord Traits.

Death Guard commanders have 3 warlord traits to pick between, with one of them being traitor only.

The Reaper's Visage. They look like death and are able to channel the Primarch's terrible gaze. As a result, the enemy gets -2 to Ld tests within a large bubble. This is surprisingly strong but doesn't affect those accompanied by independent characters or other Primarchs. Nice assault reaction bonus too, but I suspect the utility of this won't be high since it demands an assault based army which the Death Guard are generally not. Suitable for a front line praetor I guess? From experience though, it can shine in lower points value games. 

Witch Hunter. Very fluffy for the Death Guard. But also very situational. The bonuses against psykers during combat (WS and T) are great and the large bubble invulnerable save against powers cast at them is superb. But unless you're facing Thousand Sons, or maybe certain Word Bearers builds, its not going to be that great. Bonus for assault is fine, but again, this feels like an assault trait for a gunline army. 

The Blood of Barbarus. Fluffy again, and this time much better. This destroys bonuses due to rending, murderous strike, and fleshbane on a roll of anything but a 6 against the warlord and his unit. The bonus in the shooting phase is strong. This will be the default trait for all Death Guard commanders. 

Rites of War.

The Reaping. Get heavy support squads as non-compulsory troops as well as veterans as troops. This is a great way of loading up on the heavy weapons as well as toolkit veterans. Beautiful really! Rad grenades for a steal of points available to all characters is amazing - get it on all your terminators. But the problem here are the downsides. No deepstriking, flanking, underground assault, no run moves, and NO REACTIONS IN MOVEMENT are a terrible combination. You're just not going to take this rite of war in anything other than a static gunline army. Perhaps you like the idea of a static Death Guard gunline. I don't - I feel it needs to take advantage of some of its terminators myself. Hence this rite probably won't see much play sadly - the negatives are just far too strong in comparison to the boons.

Creeping Death. The Death Guard bombard the battlefield before play and turn all those nice trees and forests into hideous death traps. The Death Guard don't mind this because they grew up on Barbarus in the main part (certainly after the events of Isstvan 3 where the Terrans were expunged, this became the norm). It results in passing dangerous terrain checks, making their deployment zone difficult and dangerous and those marines in it get a shrouded save; all area terrain becomes dangerous, and grave warden terminators get to be chosen as troops. The army has to have a Centurion or a Siege Breaker, and this rite is for Traitors only. Honestly, this is really strong, and pretty much in the category of you're not making any friends. It is your default choice.

I wish there were a half-way house between the above two, the first is poor, the second is over-powered. 

Difference to First Edition.

Lots of change present here since the original Death Guard was released the maximum number of years ago (i.e., in 2014!). I therefore won't be commenting in depth considering those rules were also in 7th edition 40k style. Suffice to say that I'm mainly unimpressed with the selection here and there's only 1 trait and 1 rite you will be taking in the main part unless you're building a witch hunter Death Guard or something?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Death Guard Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. The rules are rather strong in the right situations and with the right army builds. Just make sure to build to the strength of this army and create a remorseless horde that never stops advancing and shooting its big guns. 

Background.

Seen by Horus as one of the few on his side of the conflict as being ever-reliable. Not hard when you have the savagery of the World Eaters or the preening of the Emperor's Children to pick between to start out with I guess? The Death Guard was once a byword for resilience and courage, but toward the very end of the conflict got stuck in the warp and had to take the proverbial knee to Nurgle to survive. They assaulted the throne world in a very different form to when they began this course of action, and probably not to Mortarion's liking either. 

Legion Rules Review.

Remorseless. The core rule for the legion is very interesting and strong. It allows them to shrug off any movement modifier. This means that they pass through terrain with ease. It also explicitly states they get to ignore being pinned for the sake of moving. This is really strong given that a lot of the meta hinges around pinning for many space marine builds. More than this, they always count as stationary for when they shoot their weapons. This is amazing: just think of those heavy weapon squads advancing without worrying what their BS might have been otherwise. And don't forget Fury of the Legion. As often as possible. Cavalry and artillery don't get this though. This rule calls for the Death Guard to consider taking plenty of heavy weapons coupled with core bolt gun marines to maximally exploit its fire power potential. I like the idea of the heavier volkites all round here as well. Go heavy realistically. Including tanks, but infantry heavy is also perfectly viable if they have big guns. Creep forward and make the enemy pay for every mis-step against them. 

The Reaper's Aresenal provides the unique wargear options, while Sons of Barbarus grants the warlord traits for the Death Guard.

Advanced Reaction.

Remorseless Advance. This is a shooting reaction that not only grants a 4+ feel no pain to the intended target, but also makes them pass morale and pinning test plus allows them to move 7 inches after this. Considering that some terminators move slower than this, its just rude. Facing off against this sort of army is scary when you're trying to gun down close combat enemies and they just got all the closer for you trying!

Difference to First Edition.

It has been a very long time since First Edition for the Death Guard - they appeared in the first Black Book: Betrayal right at the beginning. It might be useful to just regard this as wiping the slate clean and re-writing for second edition than to make a meaningful comparison. I will say that previously they had the closest thing to "And They Shall Know No Fear" out of most of the legions (perhaps alongside the Salamanders). They've lost slightly in terms of never taking fear or pinning tests in second edition, but there remains so many boons here that it arguably doesn't matter too much. Welcome back to second edition the Sons of Barbarus. 

Horus Heresy Review: Mortus Poisoner Squad

Background.
Within the Death Guard, the Mortus Poisoners were a cadre belonging to the Destroyer companies. Their point of differentiation from their brothers was to carry more, and more toxic chemicals on to the battlefield than even the Death Guard would usually prefer. Accordingly, to be assigned to the Poisoners was something of a condemnation and a sentence passed for disobedience, censure or similar. The members were inevitably sentenced to a slow demise thanks to their munitions.

Strengths. 

The access to the flamers with the chemical components is the real attractive feature here. Indeed, multiple hits from either flamers or heavy flamers will spell the death of many units pitched against them. Add in some Phosphex bombs, and this squad is going to be rather deadly in combination with other parts of the Death Guard army. The counter attack rule is just the icing on the cake really. 

Weaknesses.

These marines are still marines. Worse, without upgrades, they are regular bolt gun wielding marines in hardened armour and a rad grenade. Sure, they will still cause carnage, but they just beg to be upgraded further. And this is what is totally recommended here. 

Builds. 

5 Poisoners, 5 flamers with chem munitions. (125 points).  

Something of a distraction squad, but also very effective mobile infantry and an effective entry level squad. Purchase a rhino and go hunting for opponents within cover. 

5 Poisoners, 4 Flamers and 1 Heavy Flamer with chem munitions, Master with power scythe and 1 Phosphex bomb (170 points).

Building on the squad above, this squad adds in a heavy flamer and extra capability from the Master to increase its deadliness value. Very good hunting material here. Take melta bombs to taste, although they are not cost effective here arguably.

10 Poisoners, 4 Flamers and 2 Heavy Flamers with chem munitions, Master with power scythe, artificer armour, and 2 Phosphex bombs (300 points).

A squad for a larger army overall. Take a rhino or other insertion method and get to work. You should probably consider melta bombs here to add to the fun. 

15 Poisoners, 3 Heavy Flamers and 12 Flamers with chem munitions, Master with power scythe, artificers armour, and 3 Phosphex bombs (420 points).

Find a way to insert (read: deep strike) and sit on an objective. Shoot at anything that comes to close, or be a distraction Carnifex to taste. Very good value melta bombs if desired. Might want to cut back on the flamers to exchange them for some bolt guns instead if you need to have a bit more range whilst objective camping?

New eBay Items from my collection

I have made the tough decision to sell off my award-winning Warhammer 40k Death Guard army. Candidly, the reason for selling is to make room for other, newer armies that I am playing more (i.e. 30k legions). I have now not played with this Death Guard army in over 2 years, and therefore the time has now come to part with it, sadly.

I am selling the army in smaller lots, the core of which I have put on to eBay this afternoon. These consist of three "core" plague marine squads, each of which has 8 miniatures and 1 rhino. I used to use these in squads of 5 or 7 and they have proven very effective during their history.

Here are the links:
Death Guard Squad 1 (pictured)
Death Guard Squad 2 (plasma gunner based)
Death Guard Squad 3 (maw rhino)

Most of the miniatures have undergone my characteristic conversion work, many extensively (such as the maw-mouthed rhino!). Many feature metal parts, Forge World parts, as well as zombie parts from Age of Sigmar / Warhammer Fantasy and other esoteria. They are all well painted, as attested by my winning the best painted army prize at a grand tournament. Plus, they did come in the top 10 in a grand tournament a decade or so ago in Australia when I lived there.

In addition, I'm also selling my Death Guard dreadnought (Helbrute) which is a Forge World original.

Whilst I am sad to part with them, I hope they will bring a new owner a lot of joy.

Finally for 40k, and mostly for fun, I am also parting with Pvt. Smith taking a plasma bolt to the head! I hope to get at least one bid on this one! It is, afterall, a piece of Warpstone Flux history!

In other categories, I have just added the Al-Qadim ADnD campaign Land of Fate and City of Delights as a single bundle. These have hardly been used, but there is some wear and tear on them.

Cartoon Bad Guys (and Good Guys)

In this short article, I wanted to briefly talk about a few views that have been developing in the back of my mind with the recent releases that we have seen from Games Workshop -- and specifically the Death Guard chaos space marine faction for 40k.

My long term readers will know that I have owned a Death Guard army of one flavour or another since my youth. In modelling the Death Guard post-Heresy, I have long opted for the green colours of decay mixed in with browns and reds of flowing blood and the occasional purple of diseased flesh. Combined together, they make for a gritty and rather grim interpretation of the downfall of a once great legion and represents the monsters that they have become. Unconcerned with the feelings of the flesh and the dents in their armour, with the odd mutation here and there, they are a particular type of repugnant that only the grim dark can fathom.

In the new releases of the Death Guard, I have become a little concerned that the representation of these notorious bad guys has become a little bit more cartoonish. By this, I mean that the mutations have become almost laughable -- not so much the subtle change here and there, an odd horn growing out of the head or an addition to the armour, but a big gut of teeth and a mouth in the place of a stomach. Not some revealed corrupted flesh where the armour has dropped off, but exposed spines leaking gaseous effluent.

Now before I go further, I will readily concede the point that the ancient Great Unclean One miniature had a belly full of teeth option. So these kinds of changes are not without precedent by any means. The opening of the guts to intestines and the baring of naked spines have long since been with the Death Guard and the daemons of Nurgle in general.

However, the thing that is new for me is the sheer degree and the in-your-face style of these mutations. Many of the newer space marines in the Death Guard seem almost like an exaggerated cartoon of themselves in a number of regards. The over the top tentacles instead of arms. The exposed flesh is on almost every miniature. Combined with the proportions, it all adds up for me as being an army that now looks too cartoonish rather than inherently dark and foreboding. To much Skeletor's assistants, and too little fallen from grace.

Okay. Those are probably controversial views. I suspect that the comments below will soon have people chipping in saying they like the new sculpts. I can see merit in the sculpts, to be clear. But I do wish that not every single Death Guard marine was so over the top with the mutations and naked flesh. Just a little bit more subtle fallen angels please, and less of the cartoon bad guy would make it much better for me.

Let me end by saying something positive. I like the new Mortarion. In fact, I like this interpretation of the primarch even better than the Forge World sculpt. It shows him in his full corruption. Still wearing the battle plate from millennia ago. Still wielding his preferred scythe. Still holding Lantern. Still everything that he was. Yet darker. More grim. A true spectre on the battlefield. With appropriate levels of Nurgle built in along with the wings. His visage is that of a man who has been through a lot and has grudges unfulfilled. I really dig it.

Okay, I'm going to hide from the flak now...

Ramblings about the Death Guard Codex and Miniatures

My long term blog readers will be away that I have various soft spots for some armies, and am an avid collector of others. The latter includes the Death Guard of the 40k era.

Thus far, I have held off purchasing any more Death Guard chaos space marine miniatures. This has been for a number of reasons. Most importantly, I felt that I had completed my Death Guard collection a number of years ago and I had almost everything that I could have wanted to have in my collection (plus or minus some concessions). Vindicators, chaos lords on bikes, predators, plaguebearers, plague marines, and their rhinos were amongst many that I own and have played extensively with over the years and generally not embarrassed myself at tournaments with either. Also, I've been working on other things of later (e.g., my 30k Alpha Legion force) which is approaching a similar level of completion.

However, now that the Death Guard Codex has been announced recently along with the other codex releases (e.g., core space marines, etc.), I am sorely tempted to get back in to the Death Guard. I think the new codex is exactly what the community has been wanting for many MANY years to be honest. Well, even just cult terminators would have made many people happy I think. Myself included. I wonder what other delights the Grandfather Nurgle might have included in that book for us?

How have other people been finding the new miniatures?
At first, I thought that they were a bit dis-proportioned and not quite up to the same quality as the Forge World upgrade set. But now I'm not so sure. I do like the look of the pox walkers to say the least. And an army of shambling plague zombies does appeal at some level. But I'm still torn and not too sure.

Anyway, those are my internal ramblings for today. More in future weeks no doubt!

Battle Report: Alpha Legion vs. Death Guard (1500 pts)

Overview.

With a new mat from Game Mat EU, I had a game of 30k vs 40k with JK last Friday. I brought 1500 points worth of Alpha Legion using the Pride of the Legion Rite of War to make my terminators and veterans in to scoring units (as it means I can take them as troops).

I was using Skorr with a large blob of veterans inside a storm eagle transport and a master of signals. This was complemented by a squad of terminators riding in a land raider. A scout squad with rifles and a heavy support squad with missiles rounded out my list. More can be read about this style of list here which is essentially the same but without the transports.

My opponent was using a double vindicator approach coupled with two plague marine mechanised units (with flamers, melta guns) in rhinos with havoc launchers, a chaos dreadnought, heldrake and a Forge World blight drone. Templates everywhere basically. Oh, and did I mention the chaos lord on a bike with the Burning Brand? No? Well, he also had a pet chaos spawn for laughs. Or a meat shield. 

Set up and Early Turns.

The game was being fought over two objectives placed in the deployment zone of the enemy after regular squads had been deployed. I infiltrated my sniper squad on to my enemies as he castled up in the corner. This, I thought, gave me a tactical advantage. I had my missile launchers in a ruins on the lower right of the picture and kept the storm eagle in reserves.

The Death Guard, meanwhile, were deployed in a "castle" formation with the fliers in reserves. 

The early turns saw some significant damage to my forces thanks to all of the templates that were going around. Plasma carnage from the dreadnought saw off a heavy support marine, and the scouts got repeatedly whacked by a vindicator and havoc launchers. The land raider came through un-scratched though.

Middle Turns.

There was great carnage as the game progressed. My scouts got whittled down. My land raider moved up and disembarked the terminators to kill the rhino that they successfully charged. And the smelly Death Guard oozed out of the wreck to counter attack the terminators. The chaos lord and the spawn joined in the fun.

I immobilised one of the vindicators though from the heavy support squad.

By now though, the plasma dreadnought was truly whittling them down and the heldrake came on to finish a few off. I got a lucky shot in to kill the heldrake thankfully. But this did not stop the blight drone from killing off all my missile launchers a turn later.

Late Turns. 

Some unlucky reserve rolls saw my storm eagle spend a lot of time off the board. But when it finally came on, I disembarked the veteran squad on to the objective in my board zone. 

However, the other side of the board was looking grim. My scouts had been wiped out and the other Death Guard squad sat comfy on the objective inside their rhino. The storm eagle killed the rhino, but I couldn't dislodge the rest of the squad from the objective.

Meanwhile, the chaos marines slew my terminators eventually. The image above shows the near final board situation. We both have one objective each. And there is little that either of us can do to dislodge the other player from these objectives in time.

The game ends on turn 5 with a draw. Both of us have one objective each. If the game had continued, I think the storm eagle might have done more damage to the death guard on the objective. But equally, the blight drone and the chaos lord on the bike would have made it to my veteran's position for some template carnage. 

Overall, a very entertaining, tactical game full of carnage in the middle. And -- this is not our last 7th edition outing either. There's a tournament on Friday that we'll be doing using this (and more) scenery. 

 

Warhammer World: Death Guard of Horus Heresy

The turn of the Death Guard today from the Horus Heresy special exhibit of Warhammer World. Check out all the white armour that has been chipped, scorched and everything else from a plethora of toxic worlds. And the scythes too!