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I'm back! I love the new direction that GW have taken with DG. Gotten rid of elites like chosen and just made all the DG 'unbroken' as normal CSM's but you can kit them out to be elites especially CC elites as they can pack a punch now with their load out. The only downside is the 'still 1 attack' etc. I mean CC plague marines can pack a punch.

The Death Guard Marines actually have a special rule that gives them an extra attack when you equip them with 2 close combat weapons. I run 2 units with bolters and 2 units with axes and knives. Short ranged meltas and spewers go with the CC units and the plasma guns and blight launchers with the shooting versions.

 Brutus_Apex wrote:
The Death Guard Marines actually have a special rule that gives them an extra attack when you equip them with 2 close combat weapons. I run 2 units with bolters and 2 units with axes and knives. Short ranged meltas and spewers go with the CC units and the plasma guns and blight launchers with the shooting versions.

Yeah but that's not a rule that is just a wargear choice, if you want an elite dakka squad with 2 attacks then you are burdened with two plague knifes and no boltgun.

Plague knives and their close combat weapons do more damage than a bolter, just gotta get them there.

At that point you’re looking at blight lords for both

 Brutus_Apex wrote:
Plague knives and their close combat weapons do more damage than a bolter, just gotta get them there.

At that point you’re looking at blight lords for both

Yeah but if you have two knives then you are a CC unit, not even an elite unit because an elite unit would have 2 attacks plus a bolter. If it was an elite CC unit it would have 2 attacks plus the extra attack for 2 plague knives. They should be able to have 2 plague knives that don't replace a a current weapon, so you can actually make them an elite unite and you even pay for that unite becoming elite. Which would be really cool, because CSM's have had elites, which became chosen, but for the big four I've always seen that plague marines etc. are elites and new recruits, they are a mix of old and new and some squads are specialised as new or old. We've always previously had CSM's as DG and had our elite units like plague marines. I prefer this new formatting of the Legions, but they need to be better formatted. Because it gives us a thematic army, I hated having normal CSM units that look nothing like DG and where just painted green, of course you could just convert-kitbash but that's not the argument. Maybe they'll add eilite units to DG as our codex is obviously not finished as we have no flyer. But I prefer being able to make them, gives so many options. This would be the way to balance as well, you can pay to make your units as OP as they can or points considerate or make them factotums or masters of a trade.

The truth is that Death Guard marines aren't really designed for close combat. They're designed to be a short to mid-range force able to camp comfortably on objectives all game, throwing out decent firepower which whittles away the enemy slowly but consistently.

It is a shame they don't have more attacks, but really if you want some offensive punch maybe invest in nurgle daemons?

In any case, Death Guard already have far too many Elites choices and not enough HQs - it would be nice if some of the elite characters were moved to the HQ slot to allow for more flexible lists. As for the lack of flyers, GW made sure to remove most (if not all) 'fast' units from the codex. They have a very clear idea of how DG are to be run, so I don't think we'll see an updated codex introducing a specific DG flyer.

 Drakeslayer wrote:
The truth is that Death Guard marines aren't really designed for close combat. They're designed to be a short to mid-range force able to camp comfortably on objectives all game, throwing out decent firepower which whittles away the enemy slowly but consistently.

It is a shame they don't have more attacks, but really if you want some offensive punch maybe invest in nurgle daemons?

In any case, Death Guard already have far too many Elites choices and not enough HQs - it would be nice if some of the elite characters were moved to the HQ slot to allow for more flexible lists. As for the lack of flyers, GW made sure to remove most (if not all) 'fast' units from the codex. They have a very clear idea of how DG are to be run, so I don't think we'll see an updated codex introducing a specific DG flyer.

They aren't designed to be a CC army; yes, like WE's, but they are however an Astartes force and they are designed to handle any force they come against so yes they are designed to have CC abilities, just not designed to over specialise in CC units. WE's are specialised in CC but looking at HH, they have many dakka options. Its not right to compare what they are capable just now as they haven't had the same focus like DG, they have of late lorewise become extremely CC oriented, but CSM legions are very different from each other, DG are less focused on their speciality like WE, they are focused at war of attrition etc, but not overtly like WE or with Tousand sons. However DG etc have always been backed up by their CSM undivided, so whether they will be focused on CC or have more dakka options remains to be seen. This is more about making elite option. They do not have far too elites, they have far too many elite characters, saying they have too much elite options isn't true, look at the SW codex and talk to me about too many elites. Can you prove GW intend of not making a flyier because we have lots of fast moving units. The CSM releases have just started, especially with Legion specific armies, they are going to get more units, to say that they are spending so much in producing these and leave them how they are is not realistic. The codex themselves are elite like GK's or DW, the only reason that they have so much in their codex in comparison is the bleed off from already existing Daemon and CSM units. They have a clear idea of how DG are going, you however don't.

Why would you want a bolter marine with two attacks?

Also note that you basically get an "honor guard" by just fielding a Tallyman, Blightbringer, Blightspawn, Putrefier and a Surgeon - all of them have 3 attacks.

 Jidmah wrote:
Why would you want a bolter marine with two attacks?

Also note that you basically get an "honor guard" by just fielding a Tallyman, Blightbringer, Blightspawn, Putrefier and a Surgeon - all of them have 3 attacks.

Why would loyalists want a bolter marine with 2 attacks? Because the legions and chapters in the lore have always had elite bolter marines. Plus considering how important 2 wound models are in 8th edition astartes armies that speaks for itself. You can't get an honour guard in any way shape for form. You can field 5 characters.

So what do you want in terms of 'elite options', because from what you've said all that seems to mean is bolter marines with two attacks, and maybe two wounds. Chaos primaris perhaps? That might well happen - I hear Fabulous Bill has been at work on something twisted.

But I don't feel like this is a particular niche that needs filling. Plague marines already feel pretty elite with their durability and weapon options, and then you have blightlord terminators and deathshroud terminators, both of which are pretty handy in CC. Thousand Sons haven't been given an 'elite' bolter marine with 2 attacks. Are you complaining about the lack of chosen? I too feel a bit sad that a number of CSM options were removed from Death Guard in the transition from Traitor Legions in 7th to their own codex in 8th. But then again, chosen were never really good. Too expensive for what they do, and still only as durable as a marine.

As for flyers, you could be a tad more polite. Ok so I don't know what their plan is for the future of DG, but what makes you think they will get more stuff? The codex has been released for a while now. GW is focusing on releasing the remaining codices, and then presumably SoB at some point. I don't foresee any new DG releases, unless you would like to share your clairvoyant knowledge with us? And if chaos are to get more stuff (which I fervently hope) then it seems likely that the other legions will get more attention to bring them up to the level of DG and Thousand Sons. If you really are feeling that lack of a flyer, look for the greater blight drone on forgeworld.

 Drakeslayer wrote:
So what do you want in terms of 'elite options', because from what you've said all that seems to mean is bolter marines with two attacks, and maybe two wounds. Chaos primaris perhaps? That might well happen - I hear Fabulous Bill has been at work on something twisted.

But I don't feel like this is a particular niche that needs filling. Plague marines already feel pretty elite with their durability and weapon options, and then you have blightlord terminators and deathshroud terminators, both of which are pretty handy in CC. Thousand Sons haven't been given an 'elite' bolter marine with 2 attacks. Are you complaining about the lack of chosen? I too feel a bit sad that a number of CSM options were removed from Death Guard in the transition from Traitor Legions in 7th to their own codex in 8th. But then again, chosen were never really good. Too expensive for what they do, and still only as durable as a marine.

As for flyers, you could be a tad more polite. Ok so I don't know what their plan is for the future of DG, but what makes you think they will get more stuff? The codex has been released for a while now. GW is focusing on releasing the remaining codices, and then presumably SoB at some point. I don't foresee any new DG releases, unless you would like to share your clairvoyant knowledge with us? And if chaos are to get more stuff (which I fervently hope) then it seems likely that the other legions will get more attention to bring them up to the level of DG and Thousand Sons. If you really are feeling that lack of a flyer, look for the greater blight drone on forgeworld.

Nothing in terms of weapons I think we've got enough, just the option to pay for a second attack, giving the option to make a Astartes elite, I'm not being unreasonable, I asking to pay for the option. The onlt other thing I think we need is an entropy cannon Havoc type squad which would be cool as we don't have that much anti-tank stuff, but that's for another argument.

Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

 Drakeslayer wrote:
Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

Irony....

DG won't get Havocs. Ever. GW established this near 20 years ago with the Index Astartes articles. DG did have access to Havocs there but they were limited to Plasma Guns or Meltas as it was part of their fighting style as dictated by Mortarion to lay down a withering hail of fire with Bolters by slowly advancing forward.

The Dreads are meant to cover your AT firepower, that's how GW wants you to play them per the codex.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Drakeslayer wrote:
Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

Irony....

DG won't get Havocs. Ever. GW established this near 20 years ago with the Index Astartes articles. DG did have access to Havocs there but they were limited to Plasma Guns or Meltas as it was part of their fighting style as dictated by Mortarion to lay down a withering hail of fire with Bolters by slowly advancing forward.

The Dreads are meant to cover your AT firepower, that's how GW wants you to play them per the codex.

Sure but its GW, they've never really been consistent in the past lol and entropy cannon marines would be very fluffy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Drakeslayer wrote:
Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

No problem. Agreed, it will probably be a year or two till we get more releases, I think we 'might' get a blight hauler model soon though but I wouldn't bet on anything else, they still have WE and EC to release and I'll be too busy buying making and playing WE's when they are released, so I'm not bothered.

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Drakeslayer wrote:
Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

Irony....

DG won't get Havocs. Ever. GW established this near 20 years ago with the Index Astartes articles. DG did have access to Havocs there but they were limited to Plasma Guns or Meltas as it was part of their fighting style as dictated by Mortarion to lay down a withering hail of fire with Bolters by slowly advancing forward.

The Dreads are meant to cover your AT firepower, that's how GW wants you to play them per the codex.

Sure but its GW, they've never really been consistent in the past lol and entropy cannon marines would be very fluffy.

No they wouldn't I literally just told you why.

GW has gone to great lengths to establish each army's identity over the years (maybe at the cost of Flanderizing them, but that's a different argument). They established long ago that DG infantry do not use heavy weapons and gave the lore reasons as to why.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Drakeslayer wrote:
Ok, that seems reasonable. Personally I wouldn't pay for that extra attack for plague marines, but it would grant the base line troopers some more tactical flexibility.
And yes, a havoc squad with entropy cannons would make up for a serious lack of anti-tank firepower. I'm just not sure that we'll see any of this for a while because of the other things in the pipeline - apologies if I came off as rude or confrontational.

Irony....

DG won't get Havocs. Ever. GW established this near 20 years ago with the Index Astartes articles. DG did have access to Havocs there but they were limited to Plasma Guns or Meltas as it was part of their fighting style as dictated by Mortarion to lay down a withering hail of fire with Bolters by slowly advancing forward.

The Dreads are meant to cover your AT firepower, that's how GW wants you to play them per the codex.

Sure but its GW, they've never really been consistent in the past lol and entropy cannon marines would be very fluffy.

No they wouldn't I literally just told you why.

GW has gone to great lengths to establish each army's identity over the years (maybe at the cost of Flanderizing them, but that's a different argument). They established long ago that DG infantry do not use heavy weapons and gave the lore reasons as to why.

They do use heavy weapons lol They haven't established this, '20 years ago', (guarantee you can't find any other sources other than the index) yeah when they were apart of the standard CSM army, the codex's are unfinished, you have no idea what they'll add in the future. There has been hardly any lore fullstop on Deathguard, unless they are the enemy of other novels, all the GW lore has been written with the context of being elites in CSM armies or having everything in the CSM arsenal including 'havocs' which they can use. They gave them lore contingent on the vanilla stuff so it didn't really matter, anyway DG not having heavy weapons is pretty damn stupid considering how they wage war. Plus if GW change the lore they can add anything they damn well please, they could change them into a CC army for all they like.

I see you've learnt so much from your involuntary holiday from here...

The Index Astartes articles were THE seminal series that laid the foundations for the legions both loyalist and traitor. (So much so that they reprinted one of them in a recent WD with added Primaris bits. They promised to reprint the rest, but I'm still waiting...) on how they tick.

This has influenced every single one of these armies crunch to this very day. DG infantry don't use heavy weapons. Still there. NL use terror tactics and favour Raptors. Still there. WB heavily use Daemons. Still there. Sallies favour Flamer and Melta weapons (and got bonuses for them). Still there (not sure on the bonus part. Not got the loyalist codex).

Some things have fallen by the wayside, such as IH using Termie Sergeants and WS not using Dreanoughts but to dismiss these is just plain disrespectful and stupid. The have laid the foundations for everything that has come after them. They gave info on Legions that nobody knew up until that point. These are the things that defined these Legions to this day and are the blueprint GW still uses.

GW is very big on its army's identities. They refer to them as their "design vocabulary", just like you won't see clunky vehicles in Eldar you won't see sleek Grav vehicles in SM. If you start giving every army the same things then you risk homogenizing them- If PMs had access to heavy weapons (or made into combat monsters) then why should basic CSMs/Zerkers exist when you have an identical unit that is simply tougher and harder to remove from the board?
Loyalist are currently going through this right now. This is why Primaris don't have the same loadout as Tacticals.

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:
They do use heavy weapons lol They haven't established this, '20 years ago', (guarantee you can't find any other sources other than the index) yeah when they were apart of the standard CSM army, the codex's are unfinished, you have no idea what they'll add in the future. There has been hardly any lore fullstop on Deathguard, unless they are the enemy of other novels, all the GW lore has been written with the context of being elites in CSM armies or having everything in the CSM arsenal including 'havocs' which they can use. They gave them lore contingent on the vanilla stuff so it didn't really matter, anyway DG not having heavy weapons is pretty damn stupid considering how they wage war. Plus if GW change the lore they can add anything they damn well please, they could change them into a CC army for all they like.

I just checked the 4th edition CSM codex out of curiosity, and boy are you wrong.

It both references Plague Marines as being part of both the Death Guard and the Black Legion, and it clearly states that they prefer short-ranged firefights over any other style of combat.

You'll also not find a single Plague Marine model that comes with a heavy weapon.

 Grimtuff wrote:
I see you've learnt so much from your involuntary holiday from here...

The Index Astartes articles were THE seminal series that laid the foundations for the legions both loyalist and traitor. (So much so that they reprinted one of them in a recent WD with added Primaris bits. They promised to reprint the rest, but I'm still waiting...) on how they tick.

This has influenced every single one of these armies crunch to this very day. DG infantry don't use heavy weapons. Still there. NL use terror tactics and favour Raptors. Still there. WB heavily use Daemons. Still there. Sallies favour Flamer and Melta weapons (and got bonuses for them). Still there (not sure on the bonus part. Not got the loyalist codex).

Some things have fallen by the wayside, such as IH using Termie Sergeants and WS not using Dreanoughts but to dismiss these is just plain disrespectful and stupid. The have laid the foundations for everything that has come after them. They gave info on Legions that nobody knew up until that point. These are the things that defined these Legions to this day and are the blueprint GW still uses.

GW is very big on its army's identities. They refer to them as their "design vocabulary", just like you won't see clunky vehicles in Eldar you won't see sleek Grav vehicles in SM. If you start giving every army the same things then you risk homogenizing them- If PMs had access to heavy weapons (or made into combat monsters) then why should basic CSMs/Zerkers exist when you have an identical unit that is simply tougher and harder to remove from the board?
Loyalist are currently going through this right now. This is why Primaris don't have the same loadout as Tacticals.

Whatever dude.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jidmah wrote:

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:
They do use heavy weapons lol They haven't established this, '20 years ago', (guarantee you can't find any other sources other than the index) yeah when they were apart of the standard CSM army, the codex's are unfinished, you have no idea what they'll add in the future. There has been hardly any lore fullstop on Deathguard, unless they are the enemy of other novels, all the GW lore has been written with the context of being elites in CSM armies or having everything in the CSM arsenal including 'havocs' which they can use. They gave them lore contingent on the vanilla stuff so it didn't really matter, anyway DG not having heavy weapons is pretty damn stupid considering how they wage war. Plus if GW change the lore they can add anything they damn well please, they could change them into a CC army for all they like.

I just checked the 4th edition CSM codex out of curiosity, and boy are you wrong.

It both references Plague Marines as being part of both the Death Guard and the Black Legion, and it clearly states that they prefer short-ranged firefights over any other style of combat.

Yeah 'prefer' short range fire, whats your point. They have 'long ranged' weaponry, missle launchers, lascannons. So what if they prefer short ranged weaponry. WE's prefer chainaxes and bolt pistols, does that mean they can have any long ranged weaponry. There is a difference between prefer and never use. I mean they are and have been characterised as a very slow moving armie, doesn't stop them from using a lot of fast units.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Lorek wrote:
You'll also not find a single Plague Marine model that comes with a heavy weapon.

What about plague spewers and reaper autocannons...

Plague Spewers- Only came into existence in 8th and not a "true" heavy weapon in the same way a Heavy Flamer is. In any other edition it would be an assault weapon. It's only classed as Heavy due to 8th's rules.

Reaper Autocannons- Only on Terminators, like they have been since RT.

Next question.

 Grimtuff wrote:
Plague Spewers- Only came into existence in 8th and not a "true" heavy weapon in the same way a Heavy Flamer is. In any other edition it would be an assault weapon. It's only classed as Heavy due to 8th's rules.

Reaper Autocannons- Only on Terminators, like they have been since RT.

Next question.

"Plague Spewers- Only came into existence in 8th and not a "true" heavy weapon in the same way a Heavy Flamer is." - proves my point, never was in the Index Astartes but its now in 8th. Its not up to you to decide what a real heavy weapon is, its a 'heavy' weapon, end of.

In any other edition it would be an assault weapon. It's only classed as Heavy due to 8th's rules - complete conjecture.

"Reaper Autocannons- Only on Terminators, like they have been since RT" yeah exactly, been there since RT, before and after the index.

I can't be bothered arguing though, this is just going to end up in a circular 'I'm right; your wrong.'

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:


In any other edition it would be an assault weapon. It's only classed as Heavy due to 8th's rules - complete conjecture.

Do. Your. fething. Research. Before. Spouting. Rubbish!


We're back to the concept of redundancy again that you clearly fail to understand. Weapons such as heavy flamers and plague spewers are classed as Heavy in 8th (unlike every other edition) is due to the existence of plague belchers and flamers. You sacrifice the increased range you get from the latter (as both can be fired after Advancing) for greater strength and AP. If they were assault then there would be no point in taking the latter.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:


In any other edition it would be an assault weapon. It's only classed as Heavy due to 8th's rules - complete conjecture.

Do. Your. fething. Research. Before. Spouting. Rubbish!


We're back to the concept of redundancy again that you clearly fail to understand. Weapons such as heavy flamers and plague spewers are classed as Heavy in 8th (unlike every other edition) is due to the existence of plague belchers and flamers. You sacrifice the increased range you get from the latter (as both can be fired after Advancing) for greater strength and AP. If they were assault then there would be no point in taking the latter.

There is no research that tells you why GW classified weaponry.

"Weapons such as heavy flamers and plague spewers are classed as Heavy in 8th (unlike every other edition) is due to the existence of plague belchers and flamers." this is conjecture (opinion) not research lol

"If they were assault then there would be no point in taking the latter" ever heard of a cheaper option, they could have done that and still made it assault, which GW have done and do.

Honestly, just stop replying to me.

It's been pretty solidly established form 3rd Edition and the Index Astartes articles that Death Guard don't use long-range heavy weapons in their squads, either in Havoc squads (which they don't have) or in their regular Troops units. Those articles were what really laid the foundation for all the Chapters/Legions that hadn't had their own Codex up to that point. The general character of most of the Chapters/Legions was sort of known at that time, but in terms of how it manifested in gameplay those Index Astartes article remain the template to this day. So while you might not find any other source that shows this, you don't need to. The Index Astartes articles were the original source for the templates that are still in use today.

Slipspace wrote:
It's been pretty solidly established form 3rd Edition and the Index Astartes articles that Death Guard don't use long-range heavy weapons in their squads, either in Havoc squads (which they don't have) or in their regular Troops units. Those articles were what really laid the foundation for all the Chapters/Legions that hadn't had their own Codex up to that point. The general character of most of the Chapters/Legions was sort of known at that time, but in terms of how it manifested in gameplay those Index Astartes article remain the template to this day. So while you might not find any other source that shows this, you don't need to. The Index Astartes articles were the original source for the templates that are still in use today.

So exactly what already said.

Almost like I was correct and wasn't just wanting to be confrontational...

Slipspace wrote:
It's been pretty solidly established form 3rd Edition and the Index Astartes articles that Death Guard don't use long-range heavy weapons in their squads, either in Havoc squads (which they don't have) or in their regular Troops units. Those articles were what really laid the foundation for all the Chapters/Legions that hadn't had their own Codex up to that point. The general character of most of the Chapters/Legions was sort of known at that time, but in terms of how it manifested in gameplay those Index Astartes article remain the template to this day. So while you might not find any other source that shows this, you don't need to. The Index Astartes articles were the original source for the templates that are still in use today.

'Marines 'prefer' short ranged firefights** GW could easily add entropy cannons and still be cannon. So saying they 'don't' isn't exactly true. Bezerkers 'prefer' CC weaponry, doesn't mean that GW couldn't make a mid-long ranged unit.

Plus where is it stated in the index exactly? I can't find a mention. Which volume?

White Dwarf 265 (January 2002) wrote: -Plague Marine Havoc squads are the Death Guard's version of conventional Havoc squads. Ever since the Heresy the Death Guard have shown little regard for heavy weaponry and this attitude is reflected in their Havoc squads

...the primacy of the foot soldier remained ever the trademark of the Death Guard. Mortarion preferred to utilise huge waves of infantry, well-equipped and highly-trained on an individual level. He demanded that they be able to function and fight in almost any kind of atmosphere, and gave little emphasis on specialised units using jump packs or bikes. In fact, the Death Guard did not have dedicated Assault and Tactical squads as such; all his Space Marines were expected by Mortarion to be equally adept with bolter, pistol and close combat weapon, to fight with whatever weapon circumstance dictated.

There.

 Grimtuff wrote:

White Dwarf 265 (January 2002) wrote: -Plague Marine Havoc squads are the Death Guard's version of conventional Havoc squads. Ever since the Heresy the Death Guard have shown little regard for heavy weaponry and this attitude is reflected in their Havoc squads

...the primacy of the foot soldier remained ever the trademark of the Death Guard. Mortarion preferred to utilise huge waves of infantry, well-equipped and highly-trained on an individual level. He demanded that they be able to function and fight in almost any kind of atmosphere, and gave little emphasis on specialised units using jump packs or bikes. In fact, the Death Guard did not have dedicated Assault and Tactical squads as such; all his Space Marines were expected by Mortarion to be equally adept with bolter, pistol and close combat weapon, to fight with whatever weapon circumstance dictated.

There.

"Little regard", still waiting for 'never use'.

 Delvarus Centurion wrote:

 Grimtuff wrote:

White Dwarf 265 (January 2002) wrote: -Plague Marine Havoc squads are the Death Guard's version of conventional Havoc squads. Ever since the Heresy the Death Guard have shown little regard for heavy weaponry and this attitude is reflected in their Havoc squads

...the primacy of the foot soldier remained ever the trademark of the Death Guard. Mortarion preferred to utilise huge waves of infantry, well-equipped and highly-trained on an individual level. He demanded that they be able to function and fight in almost any kind of atmosphere, and gave little emphasis on specialised units using jump packs or bikes. In fact, the Death Guard did not have dedicated Assault and Tactical squads as such; all his Space Marines were expected by Mortarion to be equally adept with bolter, pistol and close combat weapon, to fight with whatever weapon circumstance dictated.

There.

"Little regard", still waiting for 'never use'.

I think that's a very dense reading of it if that's all you get from that. Do you only deal in absolutes like a Sith? He's just given you the reasoning right there as to why they don't have heavy weaponry in most battle-line squads. The few heavy weaponry they do use is on the actual linebreaker/siege units, like Plagueburst crawlers, not on normal plague marines.