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.

Plague surgeon, because he gets the helmet anyways.

That said, I'm not sure that bringing arch-contaminator is worth it anymore.

This is correct. It is so narrow in who it affects and even at what range. I don’t include it any longer.

So working on my new competitive list. It takes much of what I have read here from others and incorporates it.

Death Guard - Strikeforce - Grand Tournament ( 6CP - 1999PT - 1PT )

Death Guard Battalion Detachment ( 3CP - 1959PT )
SUB-FACTION: Inexorable
HQ
WARLORD: Lord of Contagion (125) Manreaper, Orb of desiccation
TRAITS: Ferric Blight
RELICS: Reaper of Glorious Entropy
Malignant Plaguecaster (95)
PSYCHIC POWERS: Gift of Plagues, Miasma of Pestilence

TROOPS
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker

ELITES
Blightlord Terminators (205)
1x Blightlord Champion
3x Blightlord Terminator
1x Blightlord Terminator: Flail of corruption
Deathshroud Terminators (150)
1x Deathshroud Champion
2x Deathshroud Terminator
Deathshroud Terminators (250)
1x Deathshroud Champion
4x Deathshroud Terminator
RELICS: Plague Skull of Glothila
STRATAGEMS: Champion of Disease
Deathshroud Terminators (150)
1x Deathshroud Champion
2x Deathshroud Terminator
Foul Blightspawn (75)
TRAITS: Arch-Contaminator (Aura)
RELICS: Revolting Stench-Vats
STRATAGEMS: Gifts of Decay, Plague-Chosen
Tallyman (70)
TRAITS: Living Plague (Aura)
RELICS: Fugaris' Helm
STRATAGEMS: Gifts of Decay, Plague-Chosen

FAST ATTACK
Chaos Spawn (69)
3x Chaos Spawn
STRATAGEMS: Grandfatherly Influence
Foetid Bloat-drone (135)
Foetid Bloat-drone (135)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Plagueburst Crawler (175)
Plagueburst Crawler (175)

STRATAGEMS
Champion of Disease (1CP)
Plague-Chosen (1CP)
Plague-Chosen (1CP)
Grandfatherly Influence (1-2CP)
Gifts of Decay (1-3CP)
Gifts of Decay (1-3CP)

Total Command Points: 9/15
Reinforcement Points: 1
Total Points: 1999/2000

I really love that list. Meshes up with a lot of my thoughts on how the army should be played. Look forward to hearing how you do with it.

if i can give you a suggestion...take off 3 deathshrouds and add some extra blightlords, they work fine in big unit, enhanced by tallyman,keep the 2x3 Ds and add a full squad of BL. You might also try use a patrol for 2x3 deathshrouds+your malignant, with mortarion choosen sons company, so you have 2D flamers, 2 wounds make a big difference in actual meta.

Can someone remind me why chaos contemptors are garbage compared to SM? Vaguely recall everyone heralding the post 9th FW Dreads as just better in SM flavor - similar to the apples to apples between Chaos Knights and SM Knights for most of 8th (SM knights just had more relics, better households, etc. - again 'in general').

I was thinking of running 3x twin volkite contemptors with the tallyman relic - the exploding 6's look interesting on a core unit - and he can buff the Contemptor up to 2+ from 3+ - finally if shooting with a PBC first you can get reroll's to wound rolls of 1 which is nice when looking for the mortals on 6's. Finally, as inexorable - it makes up for the 0 AP slightly - and even if 1-3 saves are failed per volley the damage might add up(?). The dreads naturally benefit from the 1 dmg reduction... the reason to put them in the deathguard is really the tallyman and the ability to add reroll wounds of 1 alongside the inexorable AP.

Current list spec something like:
Inexorable battalion:
Lord of Contagion (Ferric blight)
Malignant

10 pox
10 pox
10 cultists

3x deathshrouds
3x deathshrouds
Contemptor with vulkite
contemptor with vulkite
contemptor with vulkite
Tallyman (Tollkeeper)

Drone with Fleshmower
Drone with Fleshmower

PBC
PBC
PBC

Toying with bringing a 3rd drone to help get the contagion on opponent - as the drone is the most likely source early to mid game - with the deathshrouds hopefully enabling later... Not sure 3 PBC are really necessary - i could drop to 2 - bring a prince and another drone for the cost which i am leaning towards - giving the prince a spewer still allows WWSWF with the 2 PBC and prince which looks favorable...

 blackmage wrote:
if i can give you a suggestion...take off 3 deathshrouds and add some extra blightlords, they work fine in big unit, enhanced by tallyman,keep the 2x3 Ds and add a full squad of BL. You might also try use a patrol for 2x3 deathshrouds+your malignant, with mortarion choosen sons company, so you have 2D flamers, 2 wounds make a big difference in actual meta.

I have tried 10x Blightlords and 2x squads of three Deathshroud in previous lists and wasn’t impressed. I have just found the only thing Blightlords are good at is not dying because their damage is terrible. I would rather just take Mortarian. Their bad damage per point is the reason I decided to go with a unit of five BL and DS each. The DS are just soooo much better and it allows me to threaten multiple locations simultaneously. I will run the units of x BL and DS up the table, flanked by the spawns/ Fleshmowers, and deepstrike in my 2 units of 3 DS to disrupt their back lines. Then the poxwalkers secure and contaminate objectives while the PBC pound units from a distance.

I really want to find a way to add a biologus putrfier and some PMs for some grenade shenanigans and giving units 6+ MWs. It is just hard to find stuff to cut for him and the PMs. I would also like to add more units of spawn. They are very solid choice for so few points!!

In regards to the Mortarian’s Sons, giving a single unit 2D STR 3 flamers doesn’t really excite me. I would rather the AP-1 for their flamers and scythe attacks.

I’ll let you know how this list turns out, but it has a solid punch, speed, and disruptive capabilities.

Think about a 10 man unit of blightlords with 2-3 3 man deathshroud teams is the way the go. You need buffs to make blightlords work, but with them I’ve found them to be effective enough. Being able to clear chaff off of far away objectives is always nice, and you’d rather have things shooting at blightlord than anything else (every list wants units that absorb fire well).

Deathshroud, meanwhile, want to only be shot after they’ve charged something. To that end you always want to be hiding the deathshroud behind terrain. Having limited smaller units helps with that, so that’s what I tend to prefer not having more than 3 in a unit.

Hi
During the autumn I run a spawn heavy list at 1k points as Death Guard (I otherwise used them in a Nurgle CSM) and they were rather successful due to the 5++ (THE DAEMON’S TOLL) and old 5+++ Disgustingly
Resilient (from strategem). I have just briefly looked through the codex and it looks like they can still be rather good.
They lose 1 attack the first round in CC from that HATEFUL ASSAULT is no more, but 2d3 is .5 more than 1d6 in average, so not that bad.
The new CONTAGIONS OF NURGLE sounds great for a CC unit!
They got a own stratagem, that also sound good and give some back of the lost resilience.
They are not CORE that deny may of the buffs like the re-roll 1 from Lords or DP.

Are there any other synergy or stratagem that I missed and are particular good for them?
Thanks for reply
BR

they work good with flash outbreak, and for 23pts can deliver decent damage, helps with secondaries like engage on all fronts.

 Nora wrote:
Hi
During the autumn I run a spawn heavy list at 1k points as Death Guard (I otherwise used them in a Nurgle CSM) and they were rather successful due to the 5++ (THE DAEMON’S TOLL) and old 5+++ Disgustingly
Resilient (from strategem). I have just briefly looked through the codex and it looks like they can still be rather good.
They lose 1 attack the first round in CC from that HATEFUL ASSAULT is no more, but 2d3 is .5 more than 1d6 in average, so not that bad.
The new CONTAGIONS OF NURGLE sounds great for a CC unit!
They got a own stratagem, that also sound good and give some back of the lost resilience.
They are not CORE that deny may of the buffs like the re-roll 1 from Lords or DP.

Are there any other synergy or stratagem that I missed and are particular good for them?
Thanks for reply
BR

It is spring 2021 now. The new codex strongly recommend to play 1 unit of spawns(if any), preferably with 3 models. 1 or 2 could also be good for performing actions or holding objectives.

But bring big units and giving them heavy-lifting job? That just don't works. Spawns is such kind of units: if you don't care about their performance, they would easily earn their value back. If you CARE about their performance, they will fail you.

broxus wrote:
So working on my new competitive list. It takes much of what I have read here from others and incorporates it.

Death Guard - Strikeforce - Grand Tournament ( 6CP - 1999PT - 1PT )

Death Guard Battalion Detachment ( 3CP - 1959PT )
SUB-FACTION: Inexorable
HQ
WARLORD: Lord of Contagion (125) Manreaper, Orb of desiccation
TRAITS: Ferric Blight
RELICS: Reaper of Glorious Entropy
Malignant Plaguecaster (95)
PSYCHIC POWERS: Gift of Plagues, Miasma of Pestilence

TROOPS
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker
Poxwalkers (50)
10x Poxwalker

ELITES
Blightlord Terminators (205)
1x Blightlord Champion
3x Blightlord Terminator
1x Blightlord Terminator: Flail of corruption
Deathshroud Terminators (150)
1x Deathshroud Champion
2x Deathshroud Terminator
Deathshroud Terminators (250)
1x Deathshroud Champion
4x Deathshroud Terminator
RELICS: Plague Skull of Glothila
STRATAGEMS: Champion of Disease
Deathshroud Terminators (150)
1x Deathshroud Champion
2x Deathshroud Terminator
Foul Blightspawn (75)
TRAITS: Arch-Contaminator (Aura)
RELICS: Revolting Stench-Vats
STRATAGEMS: Gifts of Decay, Plague-Chosen
Tallyman (70)
TRAITS: Living Plague (Aura)
RELICS: Fugaris' Helm
STRATAGEMS: Gifts of Decay, Plague-Chosen

FAST ATTACK
Chaos Spawn (69)
3x Chaos Spawn
STRATAGEMS: Grandfatherly Influence
Foetid Bloat-drone (135)
Foetid Bloat-drone (135)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Plagueburst Crawler (175)
Plagueburst Crawler (175)

STRATAGEMS
Champion of Disease (1CP)
Plague-Chosen (1CP)
Plague-Chosen (1CP)
Grandfatherly Influence (1-2CP)
Gifts of Decay (1-3CP)
Gifts of Decay (1-3CP)

Total Command Points: 9/15
Reinforcement Points: 1
Total Points: 1999/2000

This is very very similar to the list I plan on running.

I've managed to get only one game with the new codex so far. I'm interested if anyone has experience with the following combinations and how did they perform:
1. Lord of Contagion with Gloaming Bloat. The Contagion is pretty powerful but my single game was against IG and I only used Flash outbreak on Great blight drone to prevent artillery and tanks from rerolling. The Lord of Contagion was hanging around some footslogging terminators in the mid-field but didn't see combat.
2. Plague surgeon with Living plague and Fugaris helm. I didn't use this but the helm sounds great on a Surgeon in the front line with either kind of terminators to strip auras from enemy melee units. But I'm not sure if it's actually necessary if I just use Gloaming Bloat to prevent rerolls. Are both of them together overkill?
3. Blightspawn with revolting stench-vats and On droning wings. I suppose many have used this but I'm wondering if the default range is enough or should I play Ferrymen instead of M's Anvil just for this stratagem. It sounds extremely powerful defensive tool against Space wolves which I usually play against.

2. Plague surgeon with Living plague and Fugaris helm. I didn't use this but the helm sounds great on a Surgeon in the front line with either kind of terminators to strip auras from enemy melee units. But I'm not sure if it's actually necessary if I just use Gloaming Bloat to prevent rerolls. Are both of them together overkill?

I played a list with both, gloaming bloat and living plague, having 2 drones and 5 spawn i can flash outbreak what i need more.

 blackmage wrote:

2. Plague surgeon with Living plague and Fugaris helm. I didn't use this but the helm sounds great on a Surgeon in the front line with either kind of terminators to strip auras from enemy melee units. But I'm not sure if it's actually necessary if I just use Gloaming Bloat to prevent rerolls. Are both of them together overkill?

I played a list with both, gloaming bloat and living plague, having 2 drones and 5 spawn i can flash outbreak what i need more.

Living plague is an aura ability. It can't be used with Flash outbreak.

yes i meant gloaming bloat sorry.

Huh, only just realised we can't run sorcerers anymore. That sucks.

why? you can run sorcerers in termy, they are good with double claw.

 lare2 wrote:
Huh, only just realised we can't run sorcerers anymore. That sucks.

Why, and how? Due to lack of DR and T4, "basic" sorcerer was already a subpar choice in 8th. In 9th it just annexed by the "plaguecaster" category. You can still use your model(maybe swap a sword to a stick, for tournament requirements) if you like.

ok. I ended up facing a deathguard list. lol mirror match which I lost, so I ain't even mad. Anyway, my observations.

1. Blightlords and deathshroud are better than PM. But I will still continue to experiment with some, because the blightening strategem is awesome with PM. Suddenly a squad of 5 basic PM can throw out 18 autohit shots from just 3 models. Its amazing. Even unsupported by the Biologus, its amazing. But with the Biologus, it becomes even better of course. This is the thing, if you don't bring any PM, and only being poxwalkers and terminators, then you can't use Blightening strat because terminators have no grenades anymore.

2, Seems like 3 PBC is all the ranged anti-tank we will need. Hard to kill, can hide, but if opponent leaves them alive, they can be a constant threat to vehicles are other stuff alike. But to take out 3, you need to devote a massive amount of shooting. Unlikely you can even take out 2 in one turn, especially if they start hidden correctly. But their damage is very RNG. Because of the d6 on mortar and because it all depends on whether their entropy cannons score or not.

3. Poxwalkers are great.

4. Chaos spawn are pretty tanky with that stratgem. my 3 T6 spawn got charged by a squad of 5 blightlords, and one actually survived! I was kinda shocked.

5. FBD got taken out by 2 shots from entropy cannons. It didn't do anything.

6. Hellbrutes are ok, But have to bring weapons with more shots to benefit from tallyman. Because it feels bad when I roll 1 on number of shots for the plasma cannon. Feels like they would be best with twin heavy bolters because you get 6 shots. but then again... see next point.

7. Don't bring too many 2D weapons, against a mirror match of DG, all the 2D becomes 1D lol.

 tokugawa wrote:

 lare2 wrote:
Huh, only just realised we can't run sorcerers anymore. That sucks.

Why, and how? Due to lack of DR and T4, "basic" sorcerer was already a subpar choice in 8th. In 9th it just annexed by the "plaguecaster" category. You can still use your model(maybe swap a sword to a stick, for tournament requirements) if you like.

Mainly because I'd kitbashed a Nurgle sorcerer that I was really quite proud of... hey ho. Perhaps he'll return one day. Also, although he wasn't much cheaper than a MP, it came in handy having a sorcerer for some lists when you needed something cheaper.

Is investing in a Land Raider worth it? I was thinking of getting one for possessed transportation purposes, but since it's pretty expensive both points and money-wise, how well does it fit into a DG army overall?

 ArcaneHorror wrote:
Is investing in a Land Raider worth it? I was thinking of getting one for possessed transportation purposes, but since it's pretty expensive both points and money-wise, how well does it fit into a DG army overall?

One of the most typical "white elephant unit" in 8th. In 9th the situation just got much worse. Do you know how many eradicators and attack bikes kits are sold to Imperium players everyday?

Well, between inexorable advance, better heavy bolters, smoke screen and new terrain rules it isn't an an auto-lose unit if you really want to bring one, but it's definitely not a very competitive option. For any unit it could drive into combat, you could also just add 300 points worth of models to that unit and still have it fight in turn 2.

No one mentioned possessed ? I just realised that they move 7 inches, same as spawn. But the blightbringer buffs possessed because its Core and infantry while spawn cannot be buffed by the Blightbringer.

+1 move and +1 advance means possessed are moving 9+d6 on a move advance. And since they got zero shooting, doing a move advance is a no brainer. I kept on thinking about PM squads with flails and stuff and then I realised a 5 man possessed squad's melee output would put a 5 man PM squad's melee output to shame. And possessed are by default plague weapons in melee.

The Blightbringer only ever gives +1 regardless of whether you move or advance.

I don't think there's anything wrong with possessed - its just unclear you'd take them over alternatives - even if they can get buffs in a way say Spawn can't. I think the issue is their 1 damage means there is a range of targets they don't deal with very well.

By contrast while say spawn are more vulnerable to 2 damage weapons you kind of feel if they are taking these shots its not the end of the world. While their damage output is significantly more variable, it should tend to be quite a bit higher - and with two damage they can put a dent in most things.

With that said, I wonder if there is a potential build out there with say a load of Deathshroud/Spawn/Possessed+buff characters and some rear-area Poxwalkers. With all those units going forward it could be quite nasty to deal with even with essentially no shooting. But in terms of competitive play I think secondaries remain the issue.

Two questions, interested in hearing what success people are having with secondaries. Nothing is really coming through as an obvious pick which is making it harder for me to commit to building a list around them. I've generally been going with spread the sickness and either engage our dominate depending on the number of objectives.

There seems to be loads of MWs mechanics in the new codex, I started a list of all of them and was gonna try to build an army that really doubled down on just throwing out a ton of them. Was wondering if anybody has investigated that themselves to save me a little work!

Yeah I have done the same! My main list is a Wretched list using Typhus and two plague casters, that’s a ton of mortals just from the plague casters and typhus’s warlord trait. Then you also run 60 pox walkers and use their strat for mortals, flash outbreak the MW contagion from typhus on bloat drones up front, auto explode them for more mortals. Take a bell boy with an extra WL trait for the mortal wound aura and have him take the helm. The list tries to not die and score passive secondaries.

 Brymm wrote:
Yeah I have done the same! My main list is a Wretched list using Typhus and two plague casters, that’s a ton of mortals just from the plague casters and typhus’s warlord trait. Then you also run 60 pox walkers and use their strat for mortals, flash outbreak the MW contagion from typhus on bloat drones up front, auto explode them for more mortals. Take a bell boy with an extra WL trait for the mortal wound aura and have him take the helm. The list tries to not die and score passive secondaries.

Nice. Cheap characters seem good for the MW fart strat and exploding death strat.
How are you using typhus' warlord trait in a wretched detachment? Or are you running two detachments?