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So, I'm building up my nurgle army and I have a few actual Chaos peices but I was wondering, can I get any unit and simply Nurgle them up a bit? I haven't played in quite a while and don't yet have my codex so I was just wondering before I try and buy some other units.

If by "Nurgle them up" you meen can you convert them to look rotted and such,then sure,they are your minis'.
If by "Nurgle them up" you meen give them MON,then no..their are units that can't have that mark.

So, I can take a unit and convert them (that's what I meant in the beginning, sorry) and I won't have to worry about it but I can't just take [insert random unit name] and put the MON on them and say "Yeah, that's my chaos army"?

In the CSM codex (which you don't have),there are units wich can take marks or icons,and there are those (obliterators for example) wich have no such option,however,if you wanted to include oblits in your "Nurgle" army you could,by that I meen you could "model" them to appear "Nurgleish",they just wouldn't have any "real" mark.

Alright, so the CSM codex will tell me who can and can't have the MON but I can still include them in my army as long as they go by the codex?

Oh,yes of course,there are no more anomosity rules or "if you take this unit you can't take that unit"... so basicly,If you hypotheticly wanted to take Berzerkers and model them in a rotted "Nurgle" fasion you could..it might raise an eyebrow or two,but it's "legal".
Most units however have the option of taking "icons" wich convey marks upon the sqaud,so if you want Nurgle bikers you take icon and your set.
I should add here that I personaly am not a huge fan of codex CSM as it exist now and much prefer Codex CSM 3.5,but that's a whole different thread.
As it exist,the current codex is still functionable for making a "Nurgle" army,if you want pure Death Guard well,that's a bit harder to do.

Alright. Thank for the help. I'll have to try and get my hands on that codex soon so I can start without worrying about messing something up.

Good luck man, and if I may add,IMO Plauge Marines should be high on your "to take" list,they are tough as nails and very versitile,and besides,what's a "Nurgle" army with out Plauge Marines.

I'll remember that when I'm making my army. Is there a HQ that's better then the others?

Nurgle DP will fit your army well. I gonna also let you know since you plan on converting anyway just get regular CSMs and nurglify them instead of buying the metal plague marines. These will look alot better and be cheaper cause you get 10 guys in CSM box compared to 8 PMs to a box.

Your first HQ choice should most likely be a Daemon Prince. Unless you really want a Lord with a daemon weapon for some reason. And you might want to put the mark of Nurgle on him. Both because you're making a nurgle army and because its good.

Does the MON give any sort of bonus to the unit that wears it or is it more cosmetic?

yes and if you are playing CSM or Demons plague berrers can be converted from alot of stuff my friends army converted alot of imperial gaurd to be really nurglafied and they look awesome. but CSM yes you can only convert choas marines or basic marines to be plague marines or mark of nurgle units. but if your doing like death gaurd nurglfie everything, Rhinos, obliterators,lord a hole theme always looks better then one or too units of plague marines.

It gives them an extra fake toughness point. The reason i say fake is it will look like this 4(5) under toughness value for PMs which means it doesnt apply to certain things that can kill your guys. DP wont have to worry too much about it as they are already high toughness. Any thing that you give an icon to or mark depends on the unit type, you will see the difference when looking at the codex, does something different Nurgle=+1 toughness Khorne=+1attack Tzeentch=+1inv. sav Slaanesh=+1initiative.

I think you guys have to be the most helpful guys (and gals) on the net. I've been trying to get back in and most people who've been doing it for a while give me that 'go to hell' look. Thanks for all the tips.

No problem if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

Yes, any unit can be Nurglefied...loyalists SM, Orks, Tau, Eldar...about the only taboo would be Nurglefied Grey Knights...but in the world of Count As, anything is possible.

Nurgle plague marine bikers (T6)

Bwah ha ha...

Yup...but oh so expensive.

Technically the Death Guard have no working vehicles

They do... just not alot.
Being primarily a footslogger doesn't mean they don't have any vehicles or rhinos, just not as much due to lack of maintainance.

But even the old REAL Deathguard list of 3.5 ed. made it a point to actually include Rhino Plague marine squads.

"Any vehicles that were in possession of the Death Guard at the time of the Horus Heresy have since fallen into disrepair, or have been commandeered by cheeky Nurglings."

-Lexicanum

Not that it's the be all and end all of fluff, but it sounds pretty definitive

And yet the 3.5 Dex allowed them to have rhinos...it was only 5 ...but still, you could have still made a mech list in the OH SO FLUFFY 3.5 day of the CSM Codex.

Hell, then you had dedicated vehicles in the Hvy Support section and dedicated Dreadnoughts which are vehicles as well.

Not that it's the be all and end all of fluff, but it sounds pretty definitive

Why bother typing it? The line seems to cancel itself out.

Definitive? Nurgle's Balls No.

There is a unit in the Chaos codex called "generic lesser daemons". They aren't the world's greatest unit, but they have thier uses, and there's no official model for them, so it's a great chance to convert up some zombified, infected gaurdsmen or civilians, if that's what you're interested in.
Apart from that, you can give the Icon of Nurgle to any normal Chaos Space Marine unit, and the Mark to any HQ. They both increase Toughness. Plague Marines are a seperate choice that are really, really dedicated followers of nurgle- they get the mark and other benefits for free.

Aside from those guys, there's other cult marines- Khorne Berserkers are probably the most useful to a nurgle player. If you paint them up nurgly they'll fit in. Just say they're infected with a 28 Days Later style "rage" virus or something.
Good luck anyway, Nurgle Chaos is fun!