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Hello everyone,

I'm pretty new, and digging through the Death Guard Codex to whip up something utilizing Mortarion. I'm focused, of course, on a fast assault list, as it seems pretty difficult to do otherwise without either having Mort focused down and/or having a bunch of tanks without bubblewrap. The plan is to be all-out aggressive, with a non-DG Sorceror casting Warp Time on Mortarion, everything else engaged in close combat save for my Cultists who will cap objectives. I hope to close fast enough that I can cut through opposing hordes and still have Mortarion/Blightlords hanging around to carve through armor in CC. I still have a lot to figure out, and a pretty tight budget, so any comments are welcome. I'm focused primarily on Power when making my lists, as that is what our LGS follows, however if you have comments regarding the points (which may be over 2k), that would be great too.

Death Guard - In Yer Face - 7 CP Total - 99 Power Total

1st Detachment - The Fast Attack One (Death Guard) +1 CP

Demon Prince with Wings, Double Claws, Suppurating Plate (Curse of the Leper, other stuff) - 8 power

3x Feotid Bloat Drones, Plaguespitter - 24 Power

2x 5 Blightlord Terminators, Combi-Bolter + Axe - 28 Power

1x Mortarion (with Miasma, other stuff) - 24 Power

2nd Detachment - Brigade (Alpha Legion)

Sorceror (with Warp Time and Prescience) - 6 power

3x 10 Cultists, each with the Stubber - 9 Power

I've also considered downgrading the Demon Prince to a Terminator Lord, and using the remaining Power to change my Cultists to Plaguebearers. I'd lose out on range, and instead get more resiliency in holding objectives possibly. I'm really not sure how much more squishy Alpha Legion Cultists would be compared to the Plaguebearers however, and furthermore I'm not sure how much attention they will get when all of my assault guys are bearing down on my opponent, not to mention that I love the Demon Prince sooo much, so I could definitely use some feedback regarding this issue, and probably many more. Thanks in advance!

Deathguard Deamon Prince cannot get wings, this might solve your issue.

 fartherthanfar wrote:
Deathguard Deamon Prince cannot get wings, this might solve your issue.

Well, if you check Deamon Prince datasheet in DG Codex you will see that it can take wings for +1 PL. There is no cost in points in codex. So until faq'ed wings on Deamon Prince cost +1 PL / 0 pts (i myself, when making a list i pay cost in points from index, tho).

I use the index cost also.

 fartherthanfar wrote:
Deathguard Deamon Prince cannot get wings, this might solve your issue.

They sure can. It is in their wargear section. You have to consult the index for points cost.

Dang, I sure would appreciate some real feedback, any takers? Other than correcting the first replier's lack of literacy, I got nothin'.

Sure.

This list doesn't stand up to heavy weapons. Someone is going to come at you with Laspreds or Eldar Trickery and take out your Bloat Drones quickly, which will leave Mortarion exposed.

This list lacks long-range punch. There are no Lascannons to return any favors on first turn.

The way I see it, this is 2 armies: the things that move fast and the things that are slow and trodding. There's not a lot of synergy between them and I am not sure how it's going to play on the tabletop.

All that said, Mortarion is a beast, I got him down to 4 wounds in my last game after he tore up my best units. But if he failed one more Disgustingly Resilient roll it would have been over for my opponent.

If I wanted to make this stronger, I would:

- Get some Defilers, Laspreds, Forgefiends or that new DG tank. You need to be shooting things.

- REALLY think hard about the Terminators. That's a quarter of your army for some tough guys, but you have a lot of other tough stuff in there. Obliterators might be a better option.

- Forget about the cultists and load up on Poxwalkers. 10 man squads of cultists are not there to be an offensive threat, they are there to take wounds. Poxwalkers are better at that.

- Strange to be saying this, but that Sorcerer seems superfluous without a jump pack or Terminator armor.

Cultists are bad if you are going to make a separate detachment. You can make them Alpha Legion and stratagem one unit in to help with Alpha strikes vs Mortarian.

Thanks for the comments!

Against heavy weapons, I was hoping to have either my Bloat Drones or Mortarion survive to get into close range, and then Mortarion and/or deep striking terminators would take out opposing heavy weapons platforms in CC. Not counting my Terminators, for which I was hoping Deep Strike would play a big part, the only 'slow and trodding' units I have, which is 15/100 Power, are the Sorceror and Cultists. The Sorceror is because I've been reading that Warp Time is a big deal for Mortarion and I wanted to be able to get one off on him so he can get into CC ASAP. The Cultists themselves are just for objectives so I wanted to keep them cheap, but in the event that I need them for battle I thought they'd be in combat range faster than Poxwalkers due to their guns.

Here is my train of thought while working on the army list, if you guys could help give me direction (or correction ):

Mortarion takes up a lot of points, but you also need other big targets or he will be focused down too fast. BUT, it also seems that, if I go with some Predators or PBCs (DG Tank), I then either have to choose between bubble wrap for my tanks or more close combat buddies to go with Mortarion. Since tanks without bubble wrap will be tied up in CC by deep strikers, I decided to go with close combat buddies for Mortarion and forgo the tanks, hoping that Terminators and Mortarion can represent my tank busters. So, then it appears that units that deep strike, or Bloat Drones with their flying, are what I have available to keep up with Mortarion. The Sorceror is basically being used for the 1 Warp Time that will hopefully get Mortarion into CC range, and the Cultists are for the troop tax for CP but also so that I can actually control objectives.

I appreciate the help so far, and look forward to any further guidance!

Your Blightlords can't be tankbusters with their current gear. Neither combi-bolters nor bubotic axes are going to do much against anything with T6+ unless you use Veterans of the Long War (and even then they need a 4+ to wound, not to mention that combi-bolters have 0 AP). From what I can see they are the biggest weakness in your list. Sure, they're tough, but they don't pose a significant threat compared to the points you have to invest in them so they can be safely ignored. Either give them proper tankbusting gear (in a Power Level list you can give all of them combi-melta's for free) or replace them with something else.

With regards to Mortarion, don't confuse him with Magnus, he's a beast and does not go down fast.

In my first game against him, it took the entitreity of my Black Legion army shooting at him to take off 14 wounds, and he was still eating units after that in cc. For reference, here's something similar to the list I played against him with.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/739627.page#9604681

I really think the 2 Terminator squads are overkill, and dropping one will be the start of a better army.

Thanks for the feedback so far! I have incorporated suggestions into three possible lists; the first employs 2 Plagueburst Crawlers in place of 5 Blightlord Terminators, the second list keeps the 10 Terminators still, and the third list replaces 5 Terminators with 2 squads of 5 Plague Marines in order to have more guys on the table (all lists include Combi-Meltas with the Terminators for tankbusting). I really, really like the PBCs, however I have a special place in my heart for terminators, and I'm new enough that I'm not really sure how important the decision between one or the other is. I worry that, if I go with the PBCs, that my Poxwalkers will end up screening my tanks all game and will miss out on capturing objectives. I dropped the CSM detachment that I had been running for Warp Time - trying to keep my Sorceror in cast range of Mortarion means not using the full value of his movement, anyway, so I gave up on the idea. Instead, I've decided to use Typhus - he will not slog up the board with the Poxwalkers, but rather join my Blightlords when they DS in to help Mortarion and my Bloat Drones. I'll let the Poxwalkers catch up while screening my PBCs. I appreciate any additional feedback, which of these lists have potential, particularly as a TAC build.

List 1 - 99 Power, 6 CP
1x Demon Prince with Wings - 8 Power

Typhus - 9 Power

5x Blightlord Terminators with Combi-Melta and Bubotic Axe - 14 Power

2x Foetid Bloat Drones with Plaguespitters - 16 Power

2x PBC Tanks with Mortar and 2x Entropy Cannon - 16 Power

1x 20 Poxwalkers - 6 Power
2x 10 Poxwalkers - 6 Power

Mortarion - 24 Power

List 2 - 100 Power, 6 CP
1x Demon Prince with Wings - 8 Power

Typhus - 9 Power

10x Blightlord Terminators with Combi-Melta and Bubotic Axe - 28 Power

2x Foetid Bloat Drones with Plaguespitters - 16 Power

2x 20 Poxwalkers - 12 Power
1x 10 Poxwalkers - 3 Power

Mortarion - 24 Power

List 3 - 100 Power, 9 CP
1x Demon Prince with Wings - 8 Power

Typhus - 9 Power

5x Blightlord Terminators with Combi-Melta and Bubotic Axe - 14 Power

2x 5 Plague Marines, with Plasma where applicable - 14 Power

2x Foetid Bloat Drones with Plaguespitters - 16 Power

1x 20 Poxwalkers - 6 Power
3x 10 Poxwalkers - 9 Power (I split the squads up like this to get extra CP from troops)

Mortarion - 24 Power

Splitting them up like that doesn't work. You need 6 troops 3 hq, 3 fast attack, 3 elite, 3 heavy.

Battleforged and 2 of the Troop ones. I just didn't split them up right on 'paper', sorry.

Right. I'm not trying to be a pain. In order to double battalion you will still need a couple hq's. Or if you try and brigade with 6 troops choices you will need 1 hq, 2 elites 1 fast attack, and 3 heavy support to get 9 cp. Unless I am missing something.

You should look at the number of HQ choices each detachment requires, a Battalion is two HQ and three Troops, minimum.

Flying daemon princes are also 9 power points, not 8.

2 PBCs seem way better than 5 Blightlords, so that makes List 1 an even 100.

Thanks for the corrections . It seems that, of what I've brainstormed, List 1 is best. So... Is it good? I don't want to drop $300 on utter crap - 2 special needs kids constantly draining my wallet means this may be the only models I get to buy for the year.

I just want a list that runs Mortarion, some Blight Drones, and a squad of terminators, and that is a good TAC list for a mostly casual environment; so if anyone has a suggested list that they are working on that is like that I would really love to see it. I don't need to roll tournaments, I just want to have a well-rounded list that has a chance of holding its ground in most matches. If my first list fits that description, then that sounds great. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions.