2000 PT Plague Marine Spam: Bolters and Blight Launchers

[DemetriiTZ]

Having seen quite a bit of success at a local level in competitions in using massed Plague Marines with the new bolter rules, I have dropped the Aegis and fancy HQs, and decided to continue building around the idea. I dropped the Aegis, and a lot of other bells and whistles, and added a Putrifier, who will be used as my Warlord -- rather than make use of Grenades aggressively, they are there to punish anyone attempting to charge my lines. Chaos Lords are interspersed into groups of 4 x 7 Plague Marines to cover the most ground, and the Sorcerer is simply a source of flexible psychic powers. Everything which can pick up a combibolter has done so, as 2 points for 4 shots at 24'' / 18'' is a very good investment, after the buff.

 

I know this isn't the ideal place for posting a list, but it is a rather unusual one, and I figured it'd get more discussions going here, rather than elsewhere. I will be posting battle reports here whenever I have an opportunity, and some pictures of the army as it nears completion (nearly 5,000 points of Death Guard, finally painted, after 14 years of playing!)

 

Without further delay, the army list in question. Feast your many eyes, Brothers!

 

BATTALION: DEATH GUARD (+5 CP)

 

HQ:

 

1 x Daemon Prince: 156

*Malefic Talon x 2

*Arch-Contaminator (Warlord)

*Gift of Contagion (fishing for -2 T on key enemies)

 

1 x Chaos Lord: 80

*Combibolter

*Power Maul

 

TROOPS:

 

6 x Plague Marine x 7: 134

*Blight Launcher x 2

*Combibolter

 

ELITES:

 

1 x Biologis Putrifier: 60

*Fugaris Helm

 

BATTALION: Death Guard (+5 CP)

 

HQ:

 

2 x Chaos Lord: 80

*Combibolter

*Power Maul

 

TROOPS:

5 x 7 Plague Marines: 134

*2 x Blight Launcher

*Combibolter

 

AUX.: Daemons of Nurgle (-1 CP)

 

1 x Poxbringer: 70

*Balesword

*Withering Curse

 

2000 PT, 13 CP, 16 drops

 

(That's 77 Plague Marines, plus a smattering of aura-providing supporting characters, with 15 combibolters adding another 30 shots at 24''. Not inconsiderable!)

 

(EDITED: I dropped a squad of Plague Marines in order to provide a stronger choice for Warlord, and add in a Poxbringer. -1 Toughness is simply too good against T8 when you're packing as many bolters as I am, and while it isn't essential in every game, the games where T8 is a problem will more than make up for it. Chaos Lords ended up acquiring power mauls, making them slightly more competent at chewing up screens of chaff and basic stuff, but their primary goal is still to spread the reroll auras around and snipe cheap stuff at range with even cheaper combibolters and 2+ Ballistic Skill.)

[WickedJester1013]

What about 1-2 blight haulers for some cover?

[WickedJester1013]

Would love to see success with this kinda list. How would you play, generally speaking. Slowly march to objectives and camp them?

[DemetriiTZ]

So far, the army claims midfield by T2 and dares people to approach. It has outshot T'au and Imperial Guard so far, as well as as Space Wolves.

[MrFlutterPie]

Very excited to see this thread develop.  The idea of a massive swarm of plague marines  is so damn fluffy it warns my rotten heart(s).  

[Dallas Drake]

I basically did something similar to this idea for my last mini tournament. I played 3 games and won them all, played GSC, Ultramrines, and IG. 

 

My list was;

 

Lord (Arch-contaminator) Fulgaris helm

Plaguecaster

3 x butcher Contemptors

6 x 5 man PM squads with dual blight launchers

3 x Blight haulers

3 x spitter PBCs

 

the 30 PMs huddled around the MBHs and put out so much hurt, 12 blight launchers re-rolling 1s to hit, re-rolling wounds... just damn nasty.

[WickedJester1013]

Curious about the 3 blight haulers. Share your thoughts on them? Why did you choose them, how did they preform for you, etc,

[garetheves]

Not sure if its even your reason for taking it, but Fulgaris Helm cant increase the Aura of Arch-Contaminator. Obviously it does increase the range of the re-roll 1s aura though, which may in fact be your reason for taking it :)

 

I basically did something similar to this idea for my last mini tournament. I played 3 games and won them all, played GSC, Ultramrines, and IG. 

 

My list was;

 

Lord (Arch-contaminator) Fulgaris helm

Plaguecaster

3 x butcher Contemptors

6 x 5 man PM squads with dual blight launchers

3 x Blight haulers

3 x spitter PBCs

 

the 30 PMs huddled around the MBHs and put out so much hurt, 12 blight launchers re-rolling 1s to hit, re-rolling wounds... just damn nasty.

[Dallas Drake]

Curious about the 3 blight haulers. Share your thoughts on them? Why did you choose them, how did they preform for you, etc,

 

With the CA price changes they're actually reasonably priced, I already had 30 PMs so I figured that giving them a 2+ save wasn't a bad start, when I actually put the models on the table I was surprised that the 7" range is actually pretty big and I was able to get 4-5 of the squads completely within 7" of a MBH. In the games the MBH did well, the multi-melta and missile launcher complimented the rest of the army well and came in pretty handy against Leman Russ tanks etc. I only felt them dip when I lost one and then the BS4+ kinda hurt them. I am toying with dropping a Dread to get a Heretic Astartes Sorcerer as I think Prescience and Death Hex could really elivate them to new levels, 3 multi meltas & 3 kraks hitting on a 2+ with re-roll 1s, pretty decent IMO and gives me options against Knights. In all honestly, the best thing about MBHs is they're a unit of 3, throw Miasma on them and they're all -1 to hit, pretty great unit really. If I was dropping anything from the list it wouldn't be them.

 

 

 

Not sure if its even your reason for taking it, but Fulgaris Helm cant increase the Aura of Arch-Contaminator. Obviously it does increase the range of the re-roll 1s aura though, which may in fact be your reason for taking it

 

I basically did something similar to this idea for my last mini tournament. I played 3 games and won them all, played GSC, Ultramrines, and IG. 

 

My list was;

 

Lord (Arch-contaminator) Fulgaris helm

Plaguecaster

3 x butcher Contemptors

6 x 5 man PM squads with dual blight launchers

3 x Blight haulers

3 x spitter PBCs

 

the 30 PMs huddled around the MBHs and put out so much hurt, 12 blight launchers re-rolling 1s to hit, re-rolling wounds... just damn nasty.

 

 

Yeah I know thanks, although it's a stupid rule & clearly not RAI. It was the re-roll 1s I desperately wanted as getting 3 Dreads, 3 PBCs, 3 MBHs and 30 PMs within the aura is hard/impossible... although 10" is better.

[WickedJester1013]

Why does the helm not matter for the warlord trait?

[DemetriiTZ]

People read it as only buffing native auras, but the WH Design Team claims they treat it as all auras in office.

[garetheves]

Why does the helm not matter for the warlord trait?

Rules As Written says it affects Auras on the units Datasheet, and unfortunately the Warlord trait isnt on the datasheet :( I agree its a bit of a stupid rule and cos i only play casual games i usually check with my opponent and see if they are happy for me to use it that way. Most often than not they are ok, but in competitive games, store games, competitions etc you wouldnt be allowed to use it currently.

[DemetriiTZ]

Just finished up a game against 2000 points of Scions, with ITC Champion rules.

 

Opponent’s list, from memory:

 

Yarrick

Some kind of buffer HQ for a Vigilus requirement

6 squads of 10 Scions

3 Valkyries with 1 Lascannon + 1 Missile Launcher

6 Taurox Primes

 

We played the ITC mission with 5 objectives, and rolled the man-mode Dawn of War (the weird table-quarter thing where you can start 18’’ apart from one another, and 9’’ from the center). I didn’t bother waiting for him to go through the “I Go, You Go” steps of deployment – I occupied my quarter as close to the 18’’ mark as I could, left the Borewyrm on my table quarter’s objective, and planned on pushing towards midfield.

 

The Scions fanned out with their Taurox, and deployed 3 squads of Plasma + Hotshot Scions in Valkyries, planning on Gravchute Insertion + Gravchute Commando deployment, and deployed on their own line as well, hoping for Turn 1. They had fewer drops, but I rolled a 6 to his 3, and he failed to seize.

 

On Turn 1, I did as I planned, and marched all 11 squads upfield, occupying the middle objective and my own table quarter’s objective with a Borewyrm. One Chaos Lord summoned in a Poxbringer.

I Smite’d and Withering Curse’d one of a pair of Tauroxes I was targeting, and then hosed down said Tauroxes with blight launchers and bolters – few bolters were within rapid-fire range, and he burned Prepared Positions, but I did still manage to chip a total of four wounds off Taurox Primes with Bolters, and Blight Launchers finished off the pair of them, earning me 2/4 for my Big Game Hunter secondary. Remaining Blight Launchers and Bolters fired into the Valkyries, and one managed to suffer 11 wounds. One Taurox exploded, dealing 3 wounds on another Valkyrie, 3 on a Taurox, and 1 on another Taurox.

 

The Scions responded with some pretty withering firepower, and most of my army was out of cover. Nonetheless, even with 3+ saves, I weathered a remarkable amount of firepower from his remaining 4 Taurox, only losing 6 Plague Marines overall to over 80 shots bolter-equivalent shots, with another 32 striking at AP-2. The real pain came in the form of the GravChute Scions, who unloaded 3 x 8 plasma overcharges into my front lines, and due to special rules from Vigilus, gained +1 to their hit rolls on top of Vengeance for Cadia rerolls, and additional shots on 5’s and 6’s. After all 3 squads had fired, I had lost 17 Plague Marines. One squad held on with 1 model remaining (a Blight Launcher), and another 2 held on with 4 Marines remaining in each.

 

On my second turn, I opened up with my remaining Marines, and actually managed to do quite a bit of work with Blight Grenades and the upgraded Fugaris Helm’d Biologis Putrifier – I had five squads within range of enemy squads of T3 models, vehicles, and even a Vigilus Commander. After Withering Cursing and then Curse of the Leper’ing 6 Scions to death, I opted to throw a grenade with a bolter Marine whenever one happened to be within range, resulting in an entire squad evaporating, and the wounded Valkyrie being brought down. Another squad Blight Bombard’ed a second Scion squad, and my remaining firepower managed to kill another Taurox, the third Scion squad, and both Yarrick and the Vigilus Commander, who were hiding behind the gravchute Scions.

 

Scion Turn 2 consisted of aggressive deepstrikes of his remaining 3 squads into my backfield, but without his reroll auras and Gravchute +1 To Hit bonus from a Valkyrie insertion, he actually lost four plasma gunners to overheats, and only managed to kill a total of 9 Plague Marines, leaving me with over 40 Plague Marines remaining – he even decided to split some hotshot lasgun fire into the Borewyrm, but only managed to deal a single wound! The Borewyrm went on to score 3 times, and was definitely an MVP in terms of value for point investment. I’ll never look back on my little buddy, who is represented by the Phosphex bomb-carrying Nurgling from the Mortarion sprue.

 

My Turn 3 felt largely like mop-up – all combi-bolters and Chaos Lord combi-bolters were within rapid-fire range, and I simply stood still and unleashed Hell, completely annihilating all of his remaining Scions, two Tauroxes, and 2 Valkyries, leaving nothing on the board remaining besides a pair of Taurox Primes in his backfield. At this point, he shook my hand, and we called it.

 

Thoughts:

 

Scion Plasma hits really hard, but he probably should not have kept his army in deepstrike reserve, and severely underestimated my resilience – he expected to go first, and expected to kill more than he did with his Taurox firepower, but several ended up largely whiffing, and his plasma, while withering, did not utterly cripple my gunline – he lost more firepower with each exchange than I did.

He probably should have kept his Yarrick and Vigilus Commander a little better protected by Taurox bodies, rather than ahead of his vehicles and behind his Scions – he placed them much too aggressively.

 

I learned that you measure gun distances to the base of an airplane, but check line of sight to the model. This seemed counterintuitive, and I’m surprised I did not know this.

 

Borewyrms are absolutely amazing for 12 points. I wish I could free up enough for a pair. My secondaries were Big Game Hunter, Head Hunter, and Ground Control, but I could easily see choosing Recon and stashing a little Borewyrm in the corner of someone’s deployment zone. Very flexible.

 

Blight Launchers are fantastic. Arch-Contaminator is a requirement – they are “okay” outside AC range, but absolute murder within, and accounted for 80% of damage dealt to vehicles.

 

Blight Grenades are wonderful opportunistic weapons against people who want to get close, and people do not seem to expect single Marines and Chaos Lords chucking grenades, so they tend to dodge it a little less often – I was able to probably throw around 40-50 grenades in this particular game, but only Bombarded a single squad of Scions – single Grenade throws accounted for around 50% of those 40-50! Biologis is a defensive hero, not an offensive one, similar in function to a Blightspawn – he punishes people who get too close for comfort with your gunline, allowing you to absolutely end the exchange with a Blight Bombardment, but he can also be seen as a guy who buffs a single Bolter in every unit nearby to be a 6’’ range d6 shot, S4, D2, Mortal Wound’ing Plague Weapon.

 

Plague Marines in melee would have been perfectly fine here, but it never came to that – no squad survived more than a single turn within range of bolters.

 

Daemon Prince did his job and never got his hands dirty in melee, but accounted for 11 dead Scions from Curse of the Leper, and countless others due to his reroll wound aura and reroll 1’s aura.

Chaos Lords were fantastic value – they threw 3 sets of grenades, and boltered down around 10 Scions over the course of 3 turns, while ensuring reroll auras were spread to all squads in the game. Bargain.

 

Poxbringer made Curse particularly scary on Scions, and also weakened a Taurox for a first kill. Great. -1 T is excellent, even against armies that you do not necessarily need it against – dropping 4-6 Mortal Wounds on 10-man squads with a Leper + Withercurse combo worked very nicely.

Cover makes you ridiculously hard to shift – going second is not a death sentence, because

 

Prepared Positions is a thing. If you do get Turn 1, however, make a beeline for the nearest available cover, and lay down supporting fire until you arrive. I have yet to run into a scenario where I wanted to Advance, but a particularly cagey opponent keeping their distance might demand it.

 

A borewyrm cost me 12 points, and scored 3 objective points and soaked 80 points of fire, surviving. I would never leave home without him, currently. Disproportionate impact is an understatement.

 

Stay tuned for more battle reports!

 

[DemetriiTZ]

Forgot to mention the inclusion of a Borewyrm in exchange for dropping Chaos Lord power mauls. Best 12 points I've ever spent.

[Charlo]

Sounds like an incredibly fun list - I'm surprised the bolters did so much, though against T7 with that weight of fire you're bound to get some wounds through. T8 will be the hardest thing to crack here I bet though.

 

Plague Marines certainly seem to be best in large numbers with the supporting characters in tow, if you're running the minimum 21 in a battalion and expecting results then that is probably a mistake, but you seem to have found a winning formula here.

[DemetriiTZ]

Yeah, T8 is why I include a Poxbringer. Against Knights, I aim Gift (d3 table stat. debuff) and Withering Curse at a Knight, and reroll the d3 to fish for an additional -1T. -1 is sufficient to allow bolters to bury Knights, but -2 means Launchers wound 75% of the time, and that's $.

[Charlo]

Yeah, T8 is why I include a Poxbringer. Against Knights, I aim Gift (d3 table stat. debuff) and Withering Curse at a Knight, and reroll the d3 to fish for an additional -1T. -1 is sufficient to allow bolters to bury Knights, but -2 means Launchers wound 75% of the time, and that's $.

That's awesome. Great strategy!

[D00M]

Hey  DemetriiTZ

 

Really love this idea as i started to collect Death Guard in the first place because i LOVED the idea of plague marines.

 

However regarding your list - you have given each Aspiring Champion/ Plague Champion a combi-bolter, however they do not have the option of taking this in the unit entry :( - could not see that this has been changed in the FAQ.

 

Also are you using the new sculpts for all those plague marines? - i am sticking with the old CSM/ SM models as i have TONS of them - would love to build up a force of 70 like you.

[D00M]

Ah i have read your reply in the "Improved Bolters" Thread- you are taking combi-bolters from the index.

 

Hmm i would only do this if an opponent agreed to it - i have an Ynari opponent who house rules Eldar corsairs into lists so could get away with it easily there. 

[DemetriiTZ]

Yeah, GW is releasing updated Indexes, rumor has it, and Index is perfectly legal at all major GTs and local RTTs I attend, so it's never been an issue.

[D00M]

Yeah, GW is releasing updated Indexes, rumor has it, and Index is perfectly legal at all major GTs and local RTTs I attend, so it's never been an issue.

 

Interesting, i like the idea of the Palanquin of Nurgle on Chaos Lords to make them closer to PM's in stat-line - what do you think? Too much of points sink? - Updated indexes will bring updated points values

[Charlo]

So the issue with the Chaos Lord is that i don't think you can use the index Chaos lord profile for Death Guard, as it is technically for a different faction...

[DemetriiTZ]

Should be able to. It's listed under allowable units in the DG Index unit list. The PalSorc was added in a FAQ as well.

[Charlo]

My bad, didn't know there was a list!

 

Unless it's in the list in the index you mean? Been a while since I looked at them.

[DemetriiTZ]

Yep, the Index lists the usable DG units at the beginning of the DG Legion section. Shades of 7th Ed. Bookkeeping.