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How do plague zombies actually work?
In the fluff, I think it's a disease (kinda like in World War Z), that people like Typhus or the Necrosius can spread and which then spreads like a "traditional" zombie apocalypse.
But how are zombies controlled on the battlefield?
Why don't they kill all the Khorne cultists in my IA:13 Renegades and Heretics detachment?
Why don't they all mob up in a huge horde like those guys in the walking dead?
Why don't they charge all of those juicy guardsmen to infect them instead of just sitting on an objective if there's no big Nurgle sorcerer to order them to do it in my army? (personal theory: their creator can order them to obey someone else.)

How do generals tactically control them?
Is it telepathy? Is it spells? Is it verbal commands, or only intents that the zombies don't actually all have to hear (they probably already lost most of their sensory organs anyway)?
Can they order their zombies to obey subordinates, or do they have to be controlled by their creater.

Disclaimer: I understand that because zombies are stupid, they are limited in what orders they can receive. the question is, who can give them those orders, and how? And where do the zombies come from exaclty?
Sources appreciated, as I never really read anything with a lot of zombies in it.

Most of it is explainable by game mechanics.

They could recognize the corruption inherent in the followers of other Chaos Gods.

The person responsible for their birth could be able to issue them rudimentary commands.

As for them just sitting there on objectives its just because of game mechanics.

In fluff they are just Zombies.

Well in my Losts And Damned Codex I described them has mindless yet capable of following orders and more, capable of recognising follower of Nurgle (those who bear a Mark or an Icon of Nurgle) which they never attack and those who follow other gods of Chaos who they attack only if they can't see any ennemy unit. The unexplained reason is actually linked to the way zombies see the world around them everything is blurry, but servants of their gods are easy to recognise and are comely, those of other Chaos God fairly normal and xenos and servant of the emperor monstruous and repulsive (if tasty).

For the real answer, I have absolutly no clue.

epronovost wrote:
Well in my Losts And Damned Codex I described them has mindless yet capable of following orders and more, capable of recognising follower of Nurgle (those who bear a Mark or an Icon of Nurgle) which they never attack and those who follow other gods of Chaos who they attack only if they can't see any ennemy unit. The unexplained reason is actually linked to the way zombies see the world around them everything is blurry, but servants of their gods are easy to recognise and are comely, those of other Chaos God fairly normal and xenos and servant of the emperor monstruous and repulsive (if tasty).

For the real answer, I have absolutly no clue.

This is kind of how I imagined it. It's chaos, don't think there is much science behind it, it is because Grandfather Nurgle wills it to be.

Also it should be noted that the plagues of nurgle are often metaphysical in nature. They aren't some normal virus that jumps from coughs and sneezing, they can spread by people simply holding doubt in their mind or infect anyone who doesn't hold absolute faith in the God Emperor.

 Wyzilla wrote:
Also it should be noted that the plagues of nurgle are often metaphysical in nature. They aren't some normal virus that jumps from coughs and sneezing, they can spread by people simply holding doubt in their mind or infect anyone who doesn't hold absolute faith in the God Emperor.

Yeah, kind of like how all chaos seems to spread. Belief in the emperor protects just as doubt in him or belief in chaos corrupts. In a lot of the books simply looking at a chaos symbol has an effect on the mind.