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So, we know that the Deathguard encompass all that is Nurgle.

However, I've always found it odd that when I see Deathguard they always looks alike. They all look like they're from the same period of time, which would be the Horus Heresy.
So, I was wondering what happens to Space Marines in the current time that get corrupted by Nurgle and are turned into Plaguemarines?

They don't revert to older patterns of weaponry and armours marks, surely?

I'm asking because I'm toying with the idea of making a post-heresy Plaguemarine army based on a Chapter that's been blessed by Nurgle in the current time, meaning they have all the modern equipment such as better armour marks, Landspeeders, Devastator Squads and Scouts ETC.

Any input appreciated, as I'm no expert when it comes to Chaos.

Well no, but not many marines fall to nurgle. Most would kill themselves before they succombed.
I would imagine the gods just "re-create" the old marines that served them well.

Or perhaps it looks that way because the infection has covered all the features that make them different.

KrimsunBaron wrote:Well no, but not many marines fall to nurgle. Most would kill themselves before they succombed.
I would imagine the gods just "re-create" the old marines that served them well.

Or perhaps it looks that way because the infection has covered all the features that make them different.

But that wouldn't explain why they have older armour marks and weaponry, which you can clearly see on the Deathguard models.
It just seems weird to me.

I get what you're saying about Marines preferring death than to succumb to Nurgle but what if they were caught in a Warpstorm wherein Nurgle did his work without them being able to fight it?

HMM.

They can still kill themselves.
They could use a weapon enrage the wrong daemon use something, they could strangle themselves (Not sure if they still have the reflex that stops that in humans)

It's unlikely they would allow it.
Perhaps there's a rite of passage in using old armours to be elected to be a plague marine. They're quite rare and elite anyway.

Plaguemarines don't take care of their stuff. At least not like most other Marines (even Chaos Marines) do. No polishing, no cleaning, no repair, etc. They let it wear out. That's why it looks old and beaten up. So if a Space Marine who owned a set of Mk VIII armor dedicated himself to Nurgle, that shiny Errant pattern suit would eventually look as corroded and broken down as some far flung relic.

I don't think that's the point, I think he's talking about the helmets from by-gone eras. Or other such symbols that show it to be different armour.

The Death Guard are from a bygone era. How can anyone be surprised that Death Guard wear older patterns of armor?

No, OP clearly says he's talking about Space Marines devoting themselves to Nurgle in M42 ("now"). Here's what they look like:



As you can see, that is not a pre-heresy mark.

Plague Marines are a bit different. As I said, they don't take care of their gear. They don't need armor as much because their very bodies are so tough as a result of corruption. Their stuff looks old, whether it actually is or not.

Manchu wrote:Plaguemarines don't take care of their stuff. At least not like most other Marines (even Chaos Marines) do. No polishing, no cleaning, no repair, etc. They let it wear out. That's why it looks old and beaten up. So if a Space Marine who owned a set of Mk VIII armor dedicated himself to Nurgle, that shiny Errant pattern suit would eventually look as corroded and broken down as some far flung relic.

This.

KrimsunBaron wrote:I don't think that's the point, I think he's talking about the helmets from by-gone eras. Or other such symbols that show it to be different armour.

Old sculpts?

GW's Plague Marine sculpts don't even look like older marks. They're just broken-down-looking.

Also interesting is the possibility of weapons and armour being "warped" by the demonic forces.

In the short story "Daemonblood" there was a Marine who fell to nurgle, and as the story progressed forward (over the course of several years) it was described how his armour slowly changed its form and how it fused with his body. Just one author's interpretation, of course, but I thought it was pretty cool.

That's a good point, which also explains why Plague Marine weapons even work considering how grimy and broken they look.

I think it is just a limitation of the model range, just like how most ork trukks and battle wagons look suspiciously familiar despite the fact that each is supposed to be totally unique. GW can't model everything.

The old Deathguard with their older equipment are the archetypical plague marines, and thus the ones represented in the sculpts. Beyond that, plague marines ARE more likely to be older marines due to their immortality. So again, when designing the model range sculpting older marks of armor made sense.

Other varieties can and do exist, but just like with Ork vehicles, you have to make your own if you really want a unique force.

riplikash wrote:I think it is just a limitation of the model range, just like how most ork trukks and battle wagons look suspiciously familiar despite the fact that each is supposed to be totally unique. GW can't model everything.

The old Deathguard with their older equipment are the archetypical plague marines, and thus the ones represented in the sculpts. Beyond that, plague marines ARE more likely to be older marines due to their immortality. So again, when designing the model range sculpting older marks of armor made sense.

Other varieties can and do exist, but just like with Ork vehicles, you have to make your own if you really want a unique force.

Exactly. As an Ork player I have one trukk model and some converted models so they all look diffrent. In therory GW make the models you need to build the force (Lets not go in to an argument on waves here) but you can convert ones that look diffrent if you want.

As the oldest chapter DA have lots of diffrent modles of PA, so my DA force is full of diffrent types, and I try and keep it as non uniform as I can.

An important thing to remember is that, generally speaking, the chaos marines tend to be from the horus heresy and as a result they all tend to have older equipment. The heresy era legions were huge and as a result account for the near limitless troops chaos marines seem to have. Further, if a marine distinguishes himself the chaos gods bring them back to life. Hence almost all plague marines you see will be from the original death guard. The flexible nature of allegiances within the chaos armies means that former death guard could have chosen to join forces with another chaos warband and thus wear different colors but still be from the same legion.

Chapters falling to chaos is far more rare in the current era. Further with the inquisition ever on the lookout for taint not many chapters that turn to chaos survive long enough to really distinguish themselves and receive blessings form the chaos gods, as they don't have the numbers the former legions did.

That said, it is entirely possible for a modern space marine chapter to fall to nurgle and receive his blessing and become plague marines. I was just pointing out the main fluff reasons why most would end up looking like death guard.

So that is a basic reason why in general chaos space marines look as though they wear older pattern armor including the plague marines. (The real reason is really the limit of 5 unique games workshop models but its at least a try at a reason)

As for the models converting them shouldn't be too difficult especially when it comes to weapons. Normal chaos helmets might also help make them look more modern. I would recommend green stuff, but I have never used the stuff myself and strongly doubt my ability to use it to make custom nurgle models.