BUBONIC ASTARTES
The Death Guard are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his mutational "gifts" they have become Plague Marines; Heretic Astartes who are eternally rotting away within their power armour and infected with every known form of disease and decay but who are immune to all pain or minor injury.
When the XIVth Legion was first raised on Terra by the Emperor during the First Founding, its Astartes were known as the Dusk Raiders. After the XIVth Legion was reunited with its Primarch Mortarion on the world of Barbarus, he renamed the Legion the Death Guard.
The Death Guard are a Traitor Legion entirely steeped in the power of Nurgle, the Chaos God of death, disease and despair, their very essence the epitome of all that vile Chaos God stands for. Their bodies are hives of filth and decay, their flesh eternally rotting away even as it is renewed by the ceaseless process of death and rebirth
DEATH GUARD SPECIAL RULES
DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR
The hatred that the Traitor Legions bear for Mankind’s distant master is eternal. They despise those who serve him, and will redouble their efforts against such foes, their every vicious assault another blow struck in the Long War against the weakling Imperium.
Each time you roll a hit roll of 6+ for a model with this ability in the Fight phase, it can, if it was targeting an IMPERIUM unit, immediately make an extra attack against the same unit using the same weapon. These extra attacks cannot themselves generate any further attacks.
CHAMPION OF CHAOS
| It is not unusual for the Chaos powers to bestow strange boom and mutations upon those who kill in their name. Not all of these boons are beneficial - the dark ones are as fickle as they are inscrutable, and even their most ardent followers are little more than pawns in a celestial game. |
Whenever a character with the Champion of Chaos special rule kills an enemy character, you must immediately check to see if the Dark Gods reward him. To do this, roll a D66 on the Chaos Boon table below - by this we mean roll two D6, one after the other, counting the first dice as ‘tens’ and the second dice as ‘units’. Then refer to the table below to see what boon (if any) your champion has gained.
So, if you roll a 3 on the first dice and a 5 on the second, you would get a D66 roll of 35 - your champion would now benefit from the Mechanoid Chaos Boon. This boon lasts for the rest of the game; make a note of it on your army roster next to that character’s entry.
If a boon is rolled that tile character already has, the roll has no effect. If an enemy character dies as a result of multiple Wounds being allocated to it simultaneously, and one or more o f those Wounds were caused by the champion, that champion still rolls on the Chaos Boon table. Note that destroying models in a Sweeping Advance does not confer a roll on the Chaos Boon table.
Chaos Boon Table
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PLAGUE WEAPON
Revolting toxins and infectious slime weeps from this weapon in a ceaseless stream. Even shallow cuts or glancing blows will leave the enemy’s flesh seething with incurable diseases.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon, re-roll a wound roll of 1.
REMORSELESS
The Death Guard are never perturbed, for there are few things more horrifying than they, and they know the Plague God smiles down upon them.
Each time a Morale, Leadership, or Fear test is taken for this unit, ignore any or all modifiers.
CONTAGIONS OF NURGLE
The Death Guard are carriers of countless infections and contagions, each a gift from Nurgle. Whenever they march to war, these diseases spread, contaminating all around, sapping the strength of its victims, draining them of energy, withering their muscles and overwhelming their immune system. Such is its malefic nature, they can even undo metallic bonds, alien psychic materials and all manner of other elements and components, rendering even armoured vehicles vulnerable.
If every unit from your army has the DEATH GUARD keyword (excluding UNALIGNED units), this unit gains the following ability:
Nurgle’s Gift (Contagion): While an enemy unit is within Contagion Range of this unit (see below), subtract 1 from the Toughness characteristic of models in that enemy unit.
DISGUSTINGLY RESILIENT
Those favoured by Nurgle are inured to pain, their rotting bodies shrugging off all but the most traumatic damage with ease.
A model with this ability receives the Feel No Pain (5+) special rule.
Contagion Abilities
Contagion abilities affect enemy models or units within Contagion Range - this changes with the battle round number, increasing as the battle progresses, as shown in the table below. The effects of multiple, identically named Contagion abilities is not cumulative (i.e. if an enemy unit is within range of two models with the same Contagion ability, that Contagion ability only applies to the enemy unit once). Note, that while similar in many regards to Aura abilities, Contagion abilities are not affected by abilities that affect Aura abilities, and vice-versa.
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FOETID VIRION
Few lords of the Death Guard go to war without a council of advisors, expert plague spreaders and contagion brewers.
You can include up to three FOETID VIRION units in a DEATH GUARD Detachment while only taking up one Elites Battlefield Role slot. Each of these units must be from a different datasheet.
INEXORABLE ADVANCE
The Death Guard trudge towards the enemy at a relentless pace, guns hammering in a staccato roar.
- This unit counts as having Remained Stationary if it did not Fall Back or Advance in your previous Movement phase.
- If this unit has the INFANTRY keyword, it can ignore any or all modifiers to its Move characteristic, Advance rolls and charge rolls. Their movement characteristic is 5” instead of the normal 6” for Infantry units.
DEADLY PATHOGENS
If your army is Battle-forged and includes any DEATH GUARD Detachments, then when you are mustering your army, you can upgrade any of the following models in your army by giving them a Deadly Pathogen:
- DEATH GUARD CHARACTER models
- BUBONIC ASTARTES models that have the word ‘Champion’ in their profile
Each time you give a model a Deadly Pathogen, select one plague weapon that model is equipped with to upgrade (this cannot be a Grenade weapon or a Relic). In addition to the effects listed for that Deadly Pathogen (see below), add 1 to the Strength characteristic of that weapon. The points value of that model’s unit is also increased by the amount shown on the table below. Make a note on your army roster each time you give a model a Deadly Pathogen, as well as which of that model’s equipped weapons has been upgraded with it.
Named characters cannot be given Deadly Pathogens. Each model can only have one Deadly Pathogen. An army cannot include the same Deadly Pathogen more than once. Deadly Pathogens are not considered to be Relics for any rules purposes - this means a CHARACTER model can be equipped with both a Relic and a Deadly Pathogen.
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ACIDIC MALADY
The acids that coat this weapon eat through armour with terrifying ease.
Improve the Armour Penetration characteristic of this weapon by 1.
EXPLOSIVE OUTBREAK
This pathogen attacks its victim with incredible speed.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon, a hit roll of 6 scores 1 additional attack with this weapon.
VIRULENT FEVER
When this pathogen finds a victim - either being or machine - it rapidly replicates, causing horrific damage before burning out.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicts an additional wound on the target in addition to any normal damage.
BEFOULING RUNOFF
The pathogen manifests itself as a viscous liquid with a stench so foul it can make lungs bleed. When it seeps into cover or terrain, the landscape is rendered utterly useless to enemy troops.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon, the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack.
UNSTABLE SICKNESS
Those affected by this pathogen explode in a shower of deeply infected gore.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon, if any enemy models are destroyed by that attack, roll one D6: on a 3+, that model’s unit suffers an additional S5 AP4 hit. If any models are killed by this ability, this ability does not trigger an additional time.
CORROSIVE FILTH
No armoured fighting vehicle is durable enough to withstand the corrosive power of this specially formulated pathogen.
Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a VEHICLE unit, re-roll all failed penetrating hits.
VISCOUS DEATH
Filthy slime fills the rounds of this weapon and coats them. When fired, the explosive splashes spread the pathogen in all directions.
Each time you roll to scatter this weapon, you can re-roll the result.
