fluff question regarding death guard

[Aspiringchaoschampion]

Can they create new marines? And would they automatically become plague marines

[Strazhakov]

I'm not sure why they wouldn't be able to. They still must have some apothecaries/unholy gene forges/broodchamber etc. like most other Traitor Legions but I don't think their new recruits become Plague Marines immediately. Gotta prove yourself to Papa first. 

[Dammeron]

The older background points out that there are new fleets and ships arriving on the Plague Planet every day, so it's likely that there are myriad new Plague Marines. As for the Death Guard specifically, likely not; there was a very, very brief bit of background in Fabius Bile's old Index Astartes article in which he proclaimed their gene seed "corrupted beyond use." Then again, maybe Mortarion and his Plague Sorcerers do have a way. There's nothing terribly specific or certain. Also, the imagery of the Death Guard performing vile surgery on mortals, implanting them with their own diseased organs, is fairly cool.

[Aspiringchaoschampion]

Thanks guys I was thinking of making my Plague Marines be from a Death Guard "successor" chapter for lack of a better term so I was wondering how they get around the whole marines being killed thing

[Captain Tezdal]

In my personal head canon they do indeed recruit new aspirants, wither using their corrupted geneseed or else infecting other legions geneseed as mentioned in the "Tome of Decay" Black Crusade supplement, the whole blurb about the Germinatoris, apparently fallen apothecaries that bless the geneseed of the dead using the "viscous fluids that ooze from their rotting innards in order to ensure the propagation of Nurgles putrefying influence"

 

I can slo see Death Guard and splinter warbands being very accepting of renegades and such also joining their bands, after all the Father of All is willing to embrace anyone.

[Aspiringchaoschampion]

Excellent thanks gu

[Leif Bearclaw]

The Plague Marines entry in the current codex kinda addresses this. Those who swear loyalty to Mortarion will receive the Plague Marine disease. Outside of the DG, a favoured few sorcerers of Nurgle know the secrets of Plague Marine creation, most of which work for Abby. So most Plague Marines will be DG-affiliated (but then 'the Legions are Dead' so your 'successor' idea is basically a DG derived warband). As for new recruits, why wouldn't they be able to recruit? older fluff has Fabius lending his expertise to all the Traitor legions to replenish their ranks, not 'everyone but the DG, because Nurgle (which Fabius would probably take as a challenge anyway)'.

[Xenith]

The Legions of old are now a mutable beast.

 

All of the original death guard became plague marines, however as other warbands pledge their allegiance, not all of the current deathguard will be, if you see what I mean.

 

Same with the Thousand Sons. Other warriors may swear to fight for them, and take their colours, and they will be Thousand Sons, however they will not be Rubric Marines.

[bozo69pd]

I figure the progression/transformation of the Plague Marine is like this: 1. Create a new astartes using gene seed. 2. Have him partake in the worship/rituals/exposed to corruption of Nurgle so that he gets a mark of Nurgle. 3. After he has endured enough pain and plague while championing Nurgle's cause he eventually gets grossly mutated into a Plague Marine. Otherwise there wouldn't really be much sense in vanilla CSM of Nurgle fluffwise.

[Chaeron]

As others have alluded to, even with their enhanced physiology and blessings of Nurgle, there will inevitably be reinforcements. I think of them as more the diehard, shock troops, rather than those that are only affiliated to Nurgle or worship him.

[Tenebris]

There is mention in a recent Fantasy Flight Games Black Crusade book, of a cabal of Apothecaries and Sorcerers who roam around he Expanse and infect the people with vile diseases and rot, thus spreading the blessing of Nurgle and making new Plague Marines on the way. 

 

I think that Bozo has the right of it and his theory is quite probable to be on spot. My opinion is that to become a Plague Marine is way more than just be of the Death Guard, I think that to be a Plague Marine is to ascent a multiple tiered hierarchy, to submit yourself wholly to Nurgle, to become a paladin of the Prince of Flies and to be a devoted believer first and also an astartes. Remember the maladies of Nurgle as as much spiritual as they are physical, in some cases even "magical" so I think that an individual marine has to "break" some concepts in his mind, he must be willing to go further and further in his devotion to the Plague God before he will even be considered a proper Plague Marine. 

 

As for the Death Guard itself, well I dare say that its most ancient elements are real Plague Marines, the ascended brothers are marines worthy of the Mark of Nurgle, while its vast ranks of marine are either converted or newly fleshforged astartes who are only just exploring the mysteries of the Cult of Nurgle and the countless dogmas of the XIVth legion, be it as part of a warband or a Plague Fleet.

 

But new astartes are made, many more I suspect are resurrected or restored by infernal magicks of the Sorcerers. Remember Nurgle will keep you alive, at the cost of your soul...

[Rain]

Fabius Bile creates new Astartes for any traitor warband that is willing to pay him in whatever currency he happens to require. Newly created Chaos Marines can then be made into Plague Marines by infecting them with various diseases and then undergoing some rituals done by Nurgle Sorcerers as per the Plague Marine blurb in the codex. Also, ships that are lost in the warp are sometimes contaminated by Nurgle's diseases and such ships are inevitably carried back through the warp to the Plague Planet, with any passengers becoming zombies, Plaguebearers, or Plague Marines depending on whether they were humans or Astartes.