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Being new to Chaos and Death Guard , I need help on how to get a Helldrake into my Death Guard army.
I just got a new Helldrake. Nurgle style.

What is the best way to include a Helldrake ?
Should I just take the command point hit and take an AUXILIARY SUPPORT DETACHMENT?

Helldrake is a flyer. - all standard detachments permit 0-2 flyers.

I don't think Death Guard can take a flyer ?

Unfortunately the Heldrake is not in the Death Guard list in the Index, which I would imagine will persist in the codex version of their army list. You have to take it as a non-Death Guard model to take it at all.

Oh ouch - yer I don't have the new CSM codex. Interesting to see how the DG codex looks then - no flyers is a bit rude lol

OK thanks
Ive added it to my list as an Auxillary detachment for now.
Hopefully the DG codex lets me take one without the -1CP.

Why not just take a Patrol detachment and get a little something out of it. You could grab a nice Warpsmith for camping with your vehicles and some Cultists for more objective camping, and then the Heldrake.

Or just take the flyer detachment and go all out with 3 of them.

maybe you guys can clarify something for me.
The only penalty to not being on the death guard unit list is the fact that it can't have the death guard keyword. Why does that matter? You can still take it using the chaos keyword.
You will lose some keyword ability benefits but that's not too bad.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
maybe you guys can clarify something for me.
The only penalty to not being on the death guard unit list is the fact that it can't have the death guard keyword. Why does that matter? You can still take it using the chaos keyword.
You will lose some keyword ability benefits but that's not too bad.

The Death Guard codex is coming out in like two weeks, you might as well build your list as if souping will kill your legion tactics now.

Keeping detachments battle-forged to retain benefits is a recurring theme now, so unless the Death Guard Codex brings in Heldrakes (or they make up a new flier for DG) you'd probably lose any DG 'chapter tactics' type benefits by taking non-DG options in the same detachment.

to be battleforged though dont you only need 1 common keyword?

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
to be battleforged though dont you only need 1 common keyword?

Yes, but you need a faction-specific detachment to benefit from some abilities/buffs from my understanding, like Chapter/Legion Tactics. For example:

“If your army is Battle-forged, all PSYKERS in GREY KNIGHTS Detachments gain this ability. You can add 1 to Psychic tests and Deny the Witch tests taken for such a unit."

So you could pick 'Imperium' as your common keyword and make your detachment battle-forged, but it wouldn't be a Grey Knights detachment and you'd lose out on any "Grey Knight detachment" specific abilities. Applies the same to Chapter/Legion Tactics.

They're not being specific enough cause we don't exactly have a simple term for the level of Keyword matching yet. 'If all models in the Detachment have the <restrictive keyword> then those units get (rule)' is how it usually plays out. That might very well be Disgustingly Resilient or something just as good, so that would be a pretty serious loss. Yes you're Battle-Forged but you have to be nitpicky about Keywords still per Detachment to get the full value.

Currently you could just include it in a mixed Chaos detachment and be fine.

Once the codex drops doing so will cost you Legion tactics and objective secured on your troops.

So with that in mind you have a few options.

1.) Take the CP hit and take an Aux support detachment (this also costs you a detachment if you are tight on your limit of 3 if your meta limits them)

2.)Get 2 more and take the air wing detachments - probably not a great idea but you could.

3.) Determine if their are any other units that are denied in a death guard detachment, and take another type of detachment (havoc squads? terminators? nurgle daemons?)

gotcha, sorry all.
i hope i didn't derail things to badly

so now that the book is out is there any reason not to take a heldrake?

Death guard don't have any benefits for being made up entirely of keyword death guard models that i'm aware of.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
so now that the book is out is there any reason not to take a heldrake?

Death guard don't have any benefits for being made up entirely of keyword death guard models that i'm aware of.

They gain Inexorable Advance. They can move a fire heavy without penalty and advance and shoot assault without penalty. They also rapid fire at 18" instead of 12"

Personally, I would run the Heldrake with a single Chaos Lord and a unit of Cultists. Use them as Alpha legion to camp an objective

and plague host... damn its in such an odd place.
i knew i was forgetting something.
thanks Kharne.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
so now that the book is out is there any reason not to take a heldrake?

Death guard don't have any benefits for being made up entirely of keyword death guard models that i'm aware of.

As others mentioned their "legion trait' is inexorable advance and plague host. I would never give up inexorable advance, 18" rapid firing plasmaguns is something that everyone always underestimates when it comes to threat ranges. Also I've found some real utility in a min unit of plague marines with 3 meltas, advancing and shooting at full bs is very handy (blightbringer nearby for extra range).

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
and plague host... damn its in such an odd place.
i knew i was forgetting something.
thanks Kharne.

I forgot about Plague Host, thank you