Far from home...

[Kaldoth]

So, I'm currently deployed in Afghanistan. Been here for about the past six months, and much to my surprise I've learned we have a new codex! Now, ever since the last editions horrid codex, I've been very skeptical of actually playing my chaos marines. Back home, I've got about seven squads of plague marines (most still needing to be built), a box of termies, obviously Typhus, some FW upgrade kits, and a couple of LRs/Rhinos lying around. All in all, around 2500-3000 pts of Nurgly death waiting to hit the battlefield. But, as stated before, I hated the previous edition codex so I focused mainly on the building and painting side of things. But, now that there's a new codex, there could be a little light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

 

So, for our beloved Death Guard, what kind of changes have been implimented? Any new toys/powers/unit options? Did they fix the old problems with the dex? Or are we dealing with yet another terrible book? Given the fact that I'm going to have nothing but time on my hands for the first few months I'm home, I would love to hit the tabletop again with a fully painted DG army. Please, tell me chunking out the change for more minis will be worth it this time!

 

Cheers,

-Kal

[Circus Nurgling]

Two words: Zombies!

[Vesper]

That's one word, actually.

Zombies are pretty badass, yeah. Balanced, fun and reliable.

[Circus Nurgling]

It's two words, actually ;) Plague Zombies

 

You fell right into my trap Muaahahahahahaa!

[Serricus]

I started csm (and 40k) earlier this year so didn't have a ton of time with old dex, but I can say it is a welcome improvement. I play pure nurgle (no lash princes in my old list) and I love most of the changes. My wife's BA don't roll over me anymore (and I actually get more wins).

 

Biggest changes that are good for us?

 

1: zombies. although not an unstopable kill machine they can annoy your opponent and cling to an objective forever. I love a good 30 man squad.

 

2: free champ. Although our price went up 1 pt per model our champ is free. So if you used to run one your unit price is cheaper till you add your 16th plague marine.

 

3: More a change with 6th but our codex made it better. Nurgle bikers. T 6. not 4(6), just 6. New dex made our bikes real cheap too.

 

4: Typhus. just wow. lvl 2 psyker, scythe is ap2, str +1, force, daemon weapon. terminator armour and makes zombies (see 1). That and a well placed destroyer hive can ruin someones day (goodbye terminators).

 

All in all it is looking great for nurgle. My only complaint is no nurgle only artefact to hand my biker lord, but the anathame is cool.

[Circus Nurgling]

Ok, on a more serious note, Serricus is correct. I played a themed Nurgle list before, and now it's pretty much a viable (if not competitive) list. Plaguemarines are seriously well-rounded. Bikers, again like Serricus said, are a good, tough option. Even Spawn are decent! There are some flops, like Warp Talons and Mutilators, and possibly Maulers, but overall it's a decent 'dex.

 

With the meta changing in response to vehicles becoming much weaker, and in turn, less heavy anti-vehicle weapons, Land Raiders are more viable imo as well (though there are hold-outs that are still taking a lot of melta/multi-melta). This may change as the pendulum swings back to balance it out, but more people are foot-slogging it for now, and the weapons choices are reflecting that.

[Kaldoth]

Wow, we did get lots of nifty things! I like the sounds of it so far ^_^ My DG force consists of the following:

 

Typhus w/6 man terminator retinue (I know, not the greatest Deathstar in the world, but it was meant to be fluffy rather than competative). My only concern with fielding this unit is Typhus' survivability. Last Ed. he got eaten alive by lascannons and meltas. Made no sense to me that they didn't give him EW. Is he more survivable now?

 

6 squads of plague marines. Two squads were kitted out with flamers, which rode in the Land Raiders. Two squads with Plasma Cannons, and Two squads with LCs. I usually ended up taking the PC squads to hold objectives, using two rhinos as mobile cover, while the LC squads planted in cover somewhere near objectives to rain down a wall of lead into incoming troops and lasers for heavier vehicles.

 

Now, I realize that's not a lot of anti-tank (the LCs on the LRs and the two floating squads literally being all I had, plus the PCs for light vehicles), but given their high toughness the list got the job done in friendly to semi -competative games.

 

So, given the list I had above, how is it looking for 6th ed? And what's this I hear about zombies? :P Without dishing out all the specific rules and such, what are they all about? And what exactly is an Anathame?

 

Cheers,

-Kal

[Circus Nurgling]

He's T5 not T4(5) now, so las and melta won't insta-kill him. He turns cultists into Plague Zombies, and they get Feel No Pain, Fearless, and Slow&Purposeful. Get Necrosius (Forgeworld) and they'll have Furious Charge :P.

 

Are you having the 'dex shipped to you? I recall if GW ships to APOs...

[Serricus]

well plague marines cannot take lascannons ore plasma cannons, so you will need to change those. Plasmaguns are what most people take (I always take a flamer group to sit on an objective. Wall of death is great). We can also take meltas, so that is your anti-tank option. I'l be honest, I prefer my bikers handling anti-tank.

 

Terminators are ok retinue for Typhus, I like shooty ones (reaper and some combi-plasma/flamer). I've had horrid luck with CC oriented ones. I think Typhus works well in a zombie blob. Great ablative wounds, and then you don't have to feel bad releasing the destroyer hive and killing your own guys when things get rough.

 

As far as his survivability, I have yet to lose Typhus in a game. T5, 2+/5++, fnp works pretty well. And if you roll gift of contagion for one of his powers even dedicated cc units are given pause. (I once killed off 5 hammernators of my wife with him. Liquifying ague + destroyer hive is great. 3 dropped first turn and they couldn't get a wound through. manreaper took the other two down and they gave me one wound in return).

[Iron Sage]

It's two words, actually :) Plague Zombies

 

You fell right into my trap Muaahahahahahaa!

 

lol, bad jokes (or should I say defense?;) ) indeed, but you got me grinning broadly :tu:

[Iron Sage]

Wow, we did get lots of nifty things! I like the sounds of it so far :) My DG force consists of the following:

 

Typhus w/6 man terminator retinue (I know, not the greatest Deathstar in the world, but it was meant to be fluffy rather than competative). My only concern with fielding this unit is Typhus' survivability. Last Ed. he got eaten alive by lascannons and meltas. Made no sense to me that they didn't give him EW. Is he more survivable now?

 

6 squads of plague marines. Two squads were kitted out with flamers, which rode in the Land Raiders. Two squads with Plasma Cannons, and Two squads with LCs. I usually ended up taking the PC squads to hold objectives, using two rhinos as mobile cover, while the LC squads planted in cover somewhere near objectives to rain down a wall of lead into incoming troops and lasers for heavier vehicles.

 

Now, I realize that's not a lot of anti-tank (the LCs on the LRs and the two floating squads literally being all I had, plus the PCs for light vehicles), but given their high toughness the list got the job done in friendly to semi -competative games.

 

So, given the list I had above, how is it looking for 6th ed? And what's this I hear about zombies? :tu: Without dishing out all the specific rules and such, what are they all about? And what exactly is an Anathame?

 

Cheers,

-Kal

 

For the Plague brethren, life is pretty good now. Nurgle is arguably still the strongest of the "God-lists! (and stronger than before at that!).

 

The Deathstar unit you have with Typhus, is superior now to what it once was. Your terminators will not get FNP, but they will be T5, and no longer do you need to fear a mark being sniped off (Marks are permanent upgrades now, and finally, I might add). Because of that, and changes to power weapons (few weapons can deal with AP 2 now, and it seems terminators are really only beatable with torrents of fire in this edition, or in the very rare instances that two termi units hack each other to pieces), terminators are 31 points (one point up), and their upgrades are slightly, slightly more expensive (still better than before, despite that, due to changes I mentioned above).

 

Plague Marines: Same as before, but with ONE important change. That is not to the unit itself, but to 6ed (you should get the rule book), where poisoned now mean that you re-roll to wounds on models with lower, OR same toughness, as your strenght (as Plagues are Str 4, this means that tyou re-roll to wound not only against hordes which once was the bane of P. marines, but also the hated loyal Adeptus Astartes). And all that, for one extra point (that is, Plague Marines are now 24 instead of 23 points).

 

In addition. You have Nurgle sorcerers. When you get the codex, you will understand why these are way, way better than before.

Raptors are cheaper, and I mentioned that marks were permanent?

Bikers, lol. Slightly better than raptors over all, and MoN makes then T 6 for lulz. Bikes are very, very cheap, almost arguably too cheap. 20 points per model base, then extra points per model for MoN.

 

Daemon Prince: This critter is very good actually, and arguably way more lethal than ever. However....He has taken some nerfs as well.. No longer cna you field these guys at low points battles (they cost 160 points with NO upgrades except MoN). Also, they play very much differently now. Extremly expensive, they do not at first glance look good at all. Oh, but they are... The key lies in their sorcery and abillity to take the Black Mace. But again, these beast are too expensive for low point battles.

 

 

Chaos lord. Very, very good and also cheap.

 

Spaws. Yes, thats right, the most useless unit of all time is no longer useless. Used to cost 40 point per spawn, now they cost 30 point with no marks (can take marks) and are classified as Beasts, which in this edition is equalent to super cavalry (that is, they move 12 inches just like bikes, and has the abillity to completly ignore movement nerfs when the unit moves through cover.

 

Ah, yes...Zombies... Lol...50 points for 10 man (imp guard infantry stats, no ranged weapons at all, and only one cc), and 4, I repeat, 4 points for extra models up to 35. They also happen to be Fearless and have Feel no Pain.

So use your Plague marines and terminators as your spearhead, and cover yourself with irremovable zombies at the back:)

 

Other stuff: Defiler is more expensive, but has some funky rules. Many think its too expensive, some dissagree.

Predator: Do NOT let your eyes just skim over this old, boring and trustworthy vehicle. It now is super duper cheap... Full Annihilation pattern (tr-las) is....140 points! Dakka is even cheaper of course, but IMO the Tri-Las pred is too cheap to discard.

 

Dragon flier. Expensive (170 points), but comes with a terror weapon that is borderline broken against marines. Str 6, AP 3, Torrent rule (ignores Cover like ordinary flamers, and works like this: you place the flamer templare up to 12 Inches away, the big end, no closer to the dragon than the narrow end). Disgustingly effective weapon. Also happens to be 12, 12 10 and has daemonic possession.

You will noticed some people complaining about this flier being "Under gunned" (has only one gun), but IMO thats ridiculous considering the attrocity that is the Balefire Flamer.

 

Hmm, yeah. More or less it. Might have forgotten some stuff ;)

 

Have a good trip back from Afghanistan :P

[mstersmith]

I also just returned from the Stan and will say the codex is great. Yes I have complaints. Bikes with MON are now true toughness 6! Great alpha strike. Also as said PM are damn near unkillable but are more expensive, cheap MoN Marines are good cannon fodder also. I will be adding some purge Marines as recruits to my ranks.

[zyl-]

Also noteworthy would be the nurgle obliterators and hovocs. They will be more resiliant than many tanks in this edition due mostly to core rulebook changes, so those lascannon plague marines will not have to go to waste at all! I believe missile launchers and autocannons are far more popular, but our codex offers cheap lascannons these days.

 

As for typhus getting dead, he has been a tremendously resiliant dude in my test games so far, and though the gift of contagion power is cool, weapon virus is definately funny against some armies (tau). I'm overly not impressed with the Nurgle psyker powers he HAS to take when compared to the BRB powers, but the plague zombies he makes are just a horrendous bullet sponge/tar pit.

 

If you are looking for uber power cheap kill death cheese, Codex Chaos Daemons can be allied with our armies, and the dreadful "Tally List" can be made. At least for now. It is well predicted that the Tally List will go by the wayside with an upcoming FAQ or codex release.