Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I feel like this question is self evident, but would there be any loyal Dearh Guard after the events of Istavann III? I know Garro escaped and became the first inquisition guy, but were all loyal DG killed on Istavann III?

I'm fairly certain all of them were killed.


However Mortarion himself wasn't entirely convinced by chaos himself then. He basically gave Garro all of the get out heresy jail cards he could and was disenclined to kill him off the bat. I imagine many DG stayed loyal, especially the terrains and anyone not born on Barbarus.

A lot of the stuff from Betrayal is written from testimony from Crysos Morturg, a loyal Death Guard who survived Istvaan III. I doubt loads survived, but you could always come up with a Death Guard fleet that was elsewhere that remained loyal, or something like that.

my loyalist DG were off on the edges of the universe in a crusade fleet with some TS (not sure how it all works yet, but that's my excuse for loyalist DG )

Agreed. Even if the bulk of them were killed in the virus bombing, there will have been line companies (although no whole grand companies) deployed off with other expeditionary fleets.

There is a good 70 odd Death Guard loyalists who escaped alongside Garro, who now reside on Luna, but most if not all where killed on Istvaan after the Virus Bombing.

There is hope that like the Iron Warriors, there are other loyalist Death Guard being brought about in the new FW campaign book.

 Fleshrott wrote:
There is a good 70 odd Death Guard loyalists who escaped alongside Garro, who now reside on Luna, but most if not all where killed on Istvaan after the Virus Bombing.

There is hope that like the Iron Warriors, there are other loyalist Death Guard being brought about in the new FW campaign book.

This is assuming that EVERY individual DG element of EVERY fleet out and about managed to make it back to Mortarion in time for Istvaan, which logistically couldn't happen.

There were mentions of a Blackshield force that wore the old Dusk Raiders heraldry of the XIV that repeatedly attacked Traitor forces. They were very likely loyalist Death Guard that struck their colours.

 GreyHamster wrote:
There were mentions of a Blackshield force that wore the old Dusk Raiders heraldry of the XIV that repeatedly attacked Traitor forces. They were very likely loyalist Death Guard that struck their colours.

If this was in the original Index Astartes article...a lot of that has changed. For one, Garro did continue his fight against the traitors...just not in his original Legion colours. The Lord of Flies did crop up - it wasn't Garro. They also didn't revert to the Dusk Raider heraldry either.

Now, if going by various sources....

A number of the books mention Marines that are imprisoned elsewhere from various Legions (including Death Guard and World Eaters) who were pretty much 'traitors' before Horus fell. I believe the concept of these is the 'Marauder' Black Shields...but I suspect a number of them remained 'loyal' so were probably let out on Parole.

There's the small contingent with Garro who went to warn Terra...and as others have said, likely the odd ship here and there. Most of the ones who ended up 'loyal' were assigned as advisors and the like to other Chapters (the loyal Iron Warrior with the Ultramarines is an example of that) so were not aware of what took place.

TLDR - Blackshields. Write fluff as you see fit. They kept it vague enough! They could be stragglers who never got to Istvaan with the main fleet. They could be Marauders who declared for the Emperor and were put on a sort of parole for it. They could be some of Garro's lot. They could be a few squads who were assigned as advisors to one of the Loyalist legions who never got the memo.