Even before the Horus Heresy, the Death Guard did not manoeuvre fancifully, or concern themselves with confusing their opponents; they picked the best ground upon which to fight, then smashed their foes after they had broken themselves against the Death Guard line. There was no environment which Mortarion, their Primarch, or the Death Guard feared. Thanks to their superhuman ability to resist poison and disease, no toxic smog or corrupted atmosphere deterred their course. What Mortarion and his adepts could not devise means to compensate for, the Death Guard overcame through sheer resilience. The Warmaster Horus above all others recognised the value of the Death Guard; he would often place Mortarion and his Legion in the centre of his battle line, counting on the enemy’s inability to oust them so that he could either lever his advance from the rock of Mortarion’s immovable position, or use it as the anvil upon which his hammerblow assault would break the foe.
How This Supplement WorksOn this page you will find special rules unique to armies from the Death Guard that reflect their tactics on the battlefield. You will also find Warlord Traits, Chaos Artefacts and Tactical Objectives that you can use when fielding your Death Guard army in games of Warhammer 40,000, and an exclusive Detachment – the Vectorium.
Books
FAQTraitor Legions
Death Guard Special RulesAny Detachment with the Chaos Space Marines Faction can be from one of the nine Traitor Legions. A Death Guard Detachment retains the Chaos Space Marines Faction and is treated in all ways as a Chaos Space Marines Detachment, with the following modifications:
Gifts of NurgleUnits that have the Veterans of the Long War special rule have the Fearless and Feel No Pain special rules, but reduce their Initiative characteristic by 1. Typhus and units of Plague Marines are unaffected.Inexorable AdvanceUnits that have the Veterans of the Long War special rule have the Relentless special rule.Lords of the Plague HostUnits of Plague Marines are Troops choices instead of Elites choices.Tactical Objectives
Presented below are six Tactical Objectives to use in your games of Warhammer 40,000, which are exclusive to Death Guard players and reflect the foetid and utterly relentless nature of the Death Guard in battle. If your Warlord is from a Death Guard Detachment or Formation, you may replace the Capture & Control Tactical Objectives (numbers 11-16) described in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules with the Tactical Objectives on this page.If a Warhammer 40,000 mission has the Tactical Objectives special rule, players use the normal rules for using Tactical Objectives with the following exception: when a Death Guard player using these Tactical Objectives generates a Capture & Control objective (numbers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16), they instead generate the corresponding Death Guard Tactical Objective, as shown in the table to the right. Other Tactical Objectives (numbers 21-66) are generated normally. DEATH MARCH The slow, inexorable advance of the Death Guard has been the death knell of worlds beyond count. 11 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least 3 of your units are within your opponent’s table half. Type: DEATH GUARD PAIN IS FOR THE WEAK Nurgle despises physical frailty and blesses his followers with bloated bodies filled with decay that they may forever forgo its touch. 12 This Tactical Objective is achieved if you make at least 7 Feel No Pain rolls in any single phase. You immediately score 1 Victory Point. Type: DEATH GUARD NURGLE’S GIFT Nurgle enjoys little more than watching his followers spread his diseases upon the mortal races. 13 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least one enemy unit was completely destroyed by a weapon or psychic power that had the Poisoned special rule during that turn. Type: DEATH GUARD SPREAD PLAGUE AND CONTAGION The lords of the Death Guard have survived for countless centuries, enduring to spread disease to every world they invade. 14 When this Tactical Objective is generated, nominate one of your Death Guard characters. Score 1 Victory Point at the end of the game if this character is still alive and on the table. Type: DEATH GUARD SYMBOL OF THE FLY-LORD The symbolism of the three-eyed fly holds great meaning to the worshippers of the Plague God. 15 Score D3 Victory Points at the end of your turn if you control exactly three Objective Markers – no more, no less. Type: DEATH GUARD DEATH BEGETS LIFE To the followers of Nurgle, the endless cycle of sowing death that new life may bloom is nothing less than a sacred act. 16 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least 7 enemy models were slain during your turn. If at least 14 enemy models were slain during your turn, score D3 Victory Points instead, and score D3+3 Victory Points if at least 21 enemy models were slain during your turn. Type: DEATH GUARD Warlord TraitsWhen generating his Warlord Traits, a Warlord from a Death Guard Detachment or Formation may choose to roll on the table below instead of those found in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules or Codex: Chaos Space Marines.
DetachmentsDeath Guard VectoriumThe Vectorium allows you to represent the typical structure of a Death Guard army on the battlefield. Whether you wish to bring death and destruction with the full might of a Chaos invasion force, or field an elite warband tasked with some dark purpose, the choices below offer a great way to pick your army. A Vectorium is a special type of Detachment that can be included in any Battle-forged army. Unlike the Detachments shown in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules, it has a Force Organisation Chart whose slots are a combination of specific Formations and Army List Entries instead of Battlefield Roles. However, it still has compulsory and optional elements, as well as Restrictions and Command Benefits, just like any other Detachment.Although units cannot normally belong to more than one Detachment, units from a Formation that is part of a Vectorium are an exception. They count as part of both their Formation and the Detachment, and have all associated Command Benefits and special rules. If your Warlord is part of a Formation or an Army List Entry that makes up part of a Vectorium, the entire Vectorium is your Primary Detachment.  Command
0-4  Core
1+  Auxiliary
1+
This Detachment must include at least one Core choice and one Auxiliary choice. It may include up to four Command choices and any number of additional Core or Auxiliary choices, in any combination. Only the datasheets listed here can be included in this Detachment and all units must have the Chaos Space Marines Faction. COMMAND BENEFITS Cloud of Flies: If an enemy unit targets a unit from this Detachment that is 18" or more away, the target unit has the Stealth special rule while that attack is resolved. FormationsPlague ColonySPECIAL RULES
• Fear Nurgle’s putrescent blessing hangs heavy in the air about the Death Guard’s most sacred relics, and proximity alone is often enough to infect those who breathe deep of their noxious foulness. Only one of each of the following items may be chosen per army, and only one may be chosen per model. Units in a Death Guard Detachment or Formation that can normally take Chaos Artefacts in Codex: Chaos Space Marines can choose to take items from the Chaos Artefacts of the Death Guard list below at the points cost shown instead.
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