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.
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