My 9ed experience so far.

[McElMcNinja]

After playing a few 9ed games and with the points changes I have come up with the following list. It's a modified list from what I was using at the end of 8ed, I had to drop my Drones and a couple support characters while adding in the Daemon patrol detachment. So far I've taken on orcs, GK, Dark Angels, guard, Harlequins, and a soup of AdMech, DW, Custodes.

2 games ended in the second round, DA and Harlequin. These were very aggressive armies and tried to take on my PM's in melee. Turn 2 I got charged by 10 Knights (and I warned him he wouldn't be striking first), I had Blades up and played the new strat Trench Fighters. He played trans-human, but I did well over 30 mortal wounds. He had a unit of 10 Terminators sitting behind them who were the recipients of blight grenades and he called it at that moment. The harlequin players charged also and met a similar fate.

 

3 games ended in the third round, the soup, guard and orcs. Board control helped here as the soup had s drop pod to do teleport tricks and 3 bike capt. I was able to keep him out in front of me and when he came to fight more mortal wounds. The guard player worried me with lots of tanks, but the new terrain rules meant I could hide my deredeos. I was able to damage his tanks enough to slow them, staying out of range of his flamers while I could throw grenades 12".

 

GK's were the biggest challenge, but while he focused on trying to remove the deredeos I was capturing objectives and raising flags. Wormspitter for the win here, tagging a unit of Paladins with it and then shooting them with deredeos re-rolling wounds is very helpful.

 

The overall all star of the army is Sevenfold Blessings, being able to re-roll 1 dice for every test is so good. With the new CP re-roll you have to roll both dice, it costs a CP, and you can only do it once per turn. Instead I spend the 1CP upfront, potentially saving me up to 5CP over the coarse of the game and alllows me to use the re-roll on my other caster.

 

Anyway, sorry I didn't include full battle reports, I may update that later.

 

++ Battalion Detachment ++

Death Guard

Plague Company: The Wretched

 

+ HQ +

 

Chaos Lord: Bolt pistol, Balesword, Contaminated Monstrosity (-1CP), Wormspitter

 

Malignant Plaguecaster: Miasma of Pestilence, Blades of Putrefaction, Sevenfold Blessings (-1CP)

 

+ Troops +

 

Plague Marines x20

Plague Champion: Boltgun, Plague knife

17x Plague Marine w/Boltgun

2x Plague Marine w/Blight Launcher

1x Plague Marine w/Flail of Corruption

 

Poxwalkers x20

Poxwalkers x20

 

+ Elites +

 

Biologus Putrifier: Warlord, Arch-Contaminator

Foul Blightspawn

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Hellforged Deredeo Dreadnought x3: Butcher cannon array, Greater havoc launcher, Twin heavy bolter

 

++ Patrol Detachment (-2CP) ++

+ HQ +

 

Poxbringer: Shrivelling Pox

 

+ Troops +

 

Nurgling Swarms x5

[DominikB]

Glad to see you doing well, and I really like the list (theme wise too).

 

Would you consider the Fugaris Helm on the Putrifier to just stretch the aura a bit more especially with such a big blob?

[McElMcNinja]

That's not a bad idea, I'm pretty conservative with my CP, so starting with 7 vs 8 shouldn't be too horrible.

[Iron Sage]

I like your list. It looks fun to play. Weak against armoured spam in theory, but I see you could handle guard. Our warriors are really strong in the Fight phase and 9ed improved that for us a lot.

 

It was very interesting to read your experience with the Seventhfold Blessing. I have yet to have had the chance to try it out. I have been "lore-friendly" in that I have painted my army are "Mortarion's Own", and I figured they had okay special rules so have just gone with that (would be different if I was in a tourney, but have yet to play that in 9ed). I have only played 3 games so far though. 2 games against Word Bearers and 1 game against Dark Angels, but so far I have found 9ed to improve our army in general. It is easier to use our specialiced melee troops now, and I had success just walking in Blightlords against the Word Bearers (which arguably is a weak chaos army when it comes to special rules, but the player behind it was skilled). The Foul Bligthspawn is now so incredibly strong.

I think one of our greatest weaknesses is snipers, we do rely on characters to improve our army significantly with buffs and area denial. I have yet to play against Raven Guard etc. in 9ed, but would probably have to improve some to fight character assassination armies.

 

Anyway, thanks for your post, was an interesting read.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Iron Sage

[McElMcNinja]

Being sniped is a concern, that's why I made the Putrifier my warlord. I felt like I couldn't lose both Arch-Contaminator and my Plaguecaster, Blightspawn, or Wormspitter with a lucky pop-shot. Losing any one hurts, but I feel losing the Putrifier is the least detrimental to the list as a whole.

I've used the Wormspitter to tag Leman Russ tanks and then getting full wound re-rolls from the deredeos has been enough to take them out. In conjunction with that I've used the strat to make bolters plague also and doubled their fire. 68 shots and 4 blight launcher shots, with wound re-rolls is pretty good taking out armor or at least lowering its efficiency.

And as silly as I thought it would be, I got charged by 20 boyz and spent the CP to both overwatch and throw grenades. It was 120 grenades, hitting on 6's re-rolling 1's, but I killed 17. I will add my Blightspawn wasn't going to be in range to keep them from striking first.

Overall it's a fun list that I feel like can compete with most armies. I don't think it will win any tournaments, but I'm not going to win the DFL trophy either.

I've got 3 more games this weekend, really looking forward to giving this a few more tries.

[McElMcNinja]

While I'm thinking about it, Nurglings. With the Wretched company you get the 1CP strat to summon after moving. The other benefit is you roll a d6 and add 7 for you summoning roll. I chose to spend the 2CP to bring detachment, 1 Poxbringer and 5 Nurglings. For those points I could summon in 9 bases and save a CP. But, I thought having access to some strats would help. The first 1 being Nurgle Infestation, for 1 CP roll a d6 for each base lost during a phase and get any back on a 5 or 6. Funny thing here is, I've never had a chance to use it. I also wanted access to the strat that makes them take 2d3 MW when they perils. I figured I would see more re-rolls on tests increasing my odds to see someone not have a re-roll for any perils. Funny thing is, no one has periled, not even against GK's, twice, (golly gee!). At least I got to use the strat to bring back the whole Nurglings unit when they died to GK's.

I almost gave up and just about took them out of my list. Then I came to realize, they start on an objective, they are an additional screen for my PM's, and I've used the Poxbringer to lower units T. The lowering of T can be significant now that you can only increase your to wound roll by 1.

Ramble over...

[Special Officer Doofy]

It's only hit and wounds that cap at +/- 1 now right? It sucks because DG could stack them, but probably better overall for the game now that it's capped.

[MegaVolt87]

It's only hit and wounds that cap at +/- 1 now right? It sucks because DG could stack them, but probably better overall for the game now that it's capped.

 

Having multiple stacks eliminates detrimental modifiers though so not all bad. eg- If you have a -2 stack of total modifiers and something is +1 to hit, you still get your -1 to hit and invalidate the +1 to hit bonus against you with your -2 stack as a basic example. 

[McElMcNinja]

They should have made it max modifiers per unit, not per interaction. For example, if an infantry unit with heavy weapons move they are at a -1 to hit shooting. A unit of 20+ plague bearers with Miasma on them is -2 to be hit, but the max modifier would make that a -1. That would still be a total of -2, one modifier coming from the shooting unit and one coming from the unit being shot. Now the heavy weapons aren't penalized for moving and shooting at the PBs nor are vehicles shooting while in engagement range, etc. If that made any sense.

[WickedJester1013]

Ninja if I’m understanding you correctly that’s exactly how it currently works. Say you have a unit that’s -2 to hit, like plagueblobs, they move and get a total of -3 to hit them the cap kicks in and you get -1. The cap of negative or positive 1 is after all modifiers are applied.

[McElMcNinja]

Yes, one unit could be -3 to be hit and the other -3 to hit for total of -6, but it's capped at -1. I was suggesting that the to be hit could be capped at -1 and to hit capped at -1, for a total of -2.

[TrawlingCleaner]

I'm yet to play a game with my DG yet in 9th ed and all of the claims about DG so far is that they'll hold the mid ground and win that way and be an anti-charge block essentially. How did the PM do? Did they need much setting up to do well?

 

The Fugaris helm on the Foul Blightspawn is not something I'd even thought about before but definitely something I want to try now!

[McElMcNinja]

Cloud of Flies on the Marines, the 1CP gained at the beginning of each turn is used for that. I cast Miasma on the Poxwalkers to increase their survivability and Blades on the Marines used as a deterrence to any potential charges. Once the screens are gone, I start casting Miasma on the Marines and have used the strat to increase their DR roll. I believe the most I've lost from that unit in a phase is 3.

 

I tried other options, like the 5++ relic, the surgeon for the DR re-roll (also upgraded to 1's and 2's), etc..., but they didn't seem to impact the unit enough to justify the CP. They didn't come under much fire and when they did it was usually 1D and -1 or -2 AP. My deredeos take most of the high damage/high AP shots. That may change as people start to realize troops win games.

 

I don't think there is much setup to do, use your buffs, screen well, and use CP efficiently. It is important to keep all your Marines far enough inside the Blightspawns aura that anyone in their engagement range is also in it.

[de Selby]

Do you think there's a hard counter out there for the plague marines?   One big buffed unit that mortal-wounds things to death when they get within 12" seems somehow risky to me, even with Cloud of Flies.

 

 

 I had Blades up and played the new strat Trench Fighters. He played trans-human, but I did well over 30 mortal wounds. 

 

Wait, am I missing something?   20 plague marines with bolters would be 1 attack base, 2 in the first round of combat, plus 1 for the new trench-fighters strat makes 3 each.   Striking first because of the Blightspawn.   Hitting on 3s, re-rolling ones for the Chaos Lord.   Death to the false emperor gives extra to hit rolls on sixes after re-rolls.   Wounding on 4s, re-rolling all failures for plague knives with Arch-contaminator, then plus one to wound for Blades of Putrefaction, 7s are mortal wounds.   Ignoring the flail and champ for simplicity.

 

20*3*(4/6 + (1/6 * 4/6))*(1 + (1/6 + (1/6 * 1/6)))*(1/6 + (3/6 * 1/6))

=60  * 28/36 * 43/36 * 9/36

=60 * 7/9 * 43/36 * 1/4

~14 mortal wounds

 

How did you get well over 30?   Just really good rolling?

 

PS. Writing all that out made me feel the pain of strategem-hammer.   I'm not at all sure that I got it right but 30+ still sounds really high to me.

[McElMcNinja]

It is a lot of points in one big unit, screening is a must. The best counter for getting to them is removing my screens. I usually start with the Nurglings and a unit of Poxwalkers, as they start to be whittled away I move up my second unit of Poxwalkers. I keep my deredeos close to use them as well, but only after everything else is gone. Another big counter is anything that could cause the PM's to swing last (after all other combatants), like the Judicar.

 

And while your math looks very calculated, I don't understand it. I had used Trench-Fighters, got quiet a few DttFE attacks, and rolled well on my to wounds. I may have added in my flail wounds to the MW count. I just remember he didn't roll any saving throws for the knife attacks because they were all dead.

 

As a side note, don't forget you replace the models bolters with the flail, so he still has a plague knife he can use in conjunction with Trench-Fighter.

[de Selby]

I'm not 100 percent on the maths, but I have been operating under the belief that each plague marine attack with Blades of Putrefaction and all the buffs could be expected to yield around a quarter of a mortal wound on average.   I wanted to make sure there wasn't another buff I was missing.

 

I just tried rolling 60 attacks myself and only got 10 mortals!   So clearly there is a lot of variation.

[McElMcNinja]

I would like to add that if you take a Tallyman from Mortarions Anvil and give him the relic Tollkeeper that you basically get DttFE against everything and 2 extra hits against emporium units. Yes it cost a CP, but the potential extra hits are worth it to me.

[McElMcNinja]

I've been able to get more games in, but 2 games in particular against GK we're very interesting as they had two totally different results. We did play with the same armies, the same mission, and he won the roll to go first both times.

He took 2 10x Paladins, 1 10x Terminator, 10x Strike Squad, Dreadknight, and some characters.

First game he took 3 objectives, killed most of my Poxwalkers, and destroyed a deredeo on his first turn. I countered by grabbing 1 objective and killing most of his Strike Squad that he played the moral strat on so they wouldn't run. I looked at the table and he was setup to max primary and most of his secondaries. DG are too slow, well my army is too slow, to have made that game interesting so I called the game. After grabbing lunch and talking tactics we went at it again.

This time I put my PMs and Putrifier in reserves and hid my units better. First turn was a lot different, while he did grab 3 objectives again, he failed to do a single wound. On my turn I also grabbed 3 objectives and killed a Paladin.

Turn 2 he gated a character up to contest an objective that had a deredeo on it and did a bunch of MWs to it. He destroyed a deredeo sitting on another objective and also killed 13 Poxwalkers out of 1 unit. On my turn I moved my Blightspawn in range of his character challenging my deredeo whom I proceeded to douse with much plague spewage. I had moved my damaged Poxwalkers up to within 7" of his strike squad and played the Dead Walk Again. I also brought in my reserves near that same Strike Squad, but nearby also sat a unit of Paladins and Terminators. My deredeo shot the Strike Squad off the table giving me 10 Poxwalkers back. I then plague bombarded the Paladins off the table which brought my Poxwalkers back to full strength. I then charged the Terminators with the Poxwalkers and PMs (with Blades and Trench Fighters). I did below average on my mortal wounds only getting 13, but had scored many attacks and he failed enough saves to wipe them. I was sitting on 5 objectives and he had a damaged Paladin unit, his dread knight, and a couple characters left. We talked over what he could do and ended up calling the game at this point.

Full disclosure, we agreed up front that once a player felt like they couldn't win that we would call it and play again.

 

Sevenfold Blessings, I rolled a 5 and a 1 for Blades. I can't afford to have it denied, so I re-roll the 1 into a 4 and he proceeds to roll an 8. Nice!

 

I have changed my list, the biggest of these is I dropped my Daemon detachment for Typhus. Having T4 Poxwalkers (and in some cases T5) has really helped. Having faced many Marine armies I've learned T3 is not good, not good at all.

Edited August 10, 2020 by McElMcNinja

[McElMcNinja]

I was able to get several games in (8) and I've gone 5-3. My losses were to White Scars, Dark Eldar, and Custodes, wins were to Harlies x2 (different players and lists), Guard, GK, and SW.

I've changed up my list some so I'm going to focus on my last game here, SW. I tried a Hellbrute with double fist, 5+++, and for most of the game a 5++. He survived 3 turns getting hit by Long Fangs w/5 lascannon, 3 Razorbacks w/twin assault cannons, and a unit of 3 guys with 24" melta guns (can't think of their name right now). He was my MVP, taking so much fire and able to charge a Razorback and kil it. My next MVP was a Plaguecaster who was able to kill another Razorback, a unit of 3 new bikes, and a Wolf-lord on wolf. His MW output was so good, doing 1+d3 MW's per cast plus casting Curse of the Lepper and Smite, he did between 8 to 12 MWs per turn.

My list also includes 60 Poxwalkers, 2x20 and 2x10 units that I keep within range of Typhus and Necrosis. They are getting the +1S/T and re-roll 1's for DR. I usually hit 1 unit with the +1S/T and another with -1 to be hit while 2 units are hidden or far enough back they can't be meaningfully targeted. I've also been able to take up enough space with them that no one has made it into my deployment zone.

The biggest change for me has been my lack of shooting. I have 2 units that can shoot over 12" and other then characters I have a unit that can shoot 6". In my last game I lost my 2 Blightlord units, my Hellbrute, and a unit of Poxwalkers. With my lack of shooting I still managed to kill 3 Razorbacks, 1 drop pod, 1 unit of 5 Terminators, 3 units of troops (1x5 and 2x10), 2 characters on wolves, and 1 unit of the new bikes.

I still need to tweet my list, but I am happy with where DG are and their potential.

[Zombs]

Thanks for the write up! Always nice to hear some experiences instead of the usual theorycrafting.

 

Do you have the feeling that your games have been One sided? I have had mixed reviews from other people, but a lot of them say that if someone grabs the objectives First and starts scoring, then it's really hard for the other to catch up.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Zombs

[McElMcNinja]

I think it's an a advantage to go first, especially if you have the ability to grab objectives straight away. Against SWs he went first, but only grabbed 1 outside his deployment. I was able on my turn to advance my Hellbrute onto 1 and summoned Nurglings on to 2 more. After our game we both agreed that was what lost him the game, well that and my Hellbrute soaking up all his firepower for 2 1/2 turns.

When I played against WhiteScars he went first and was on top of all the objectives with Repulsors. Turn 2 he crashed into my lines and I was screened from grabbing or even contesting them.

Against the Harlequins it was split on who went first, but I could easily remove their troops from objectives.

I have learned I must control at least 2 objectives a turn for my 10 points, even if they max at 45 I've still gotten 40. Then I have to choose secondaries that I can achieve while trying to stop them at theirs.

[Special Officer Doofy]

I've been watching alot of DG batreps Ninja and that's pretty much what I observed. Going first still seems like a big deal. At least we are death guard and can soak up some firepower haha.

[McElMcNinja]

I've tried lists where I am aggressive and try to take the fight to them. We are too slow and we can be kitted pretty easily. I noticed (except for 1 game) that most of my units were still alive, but I couldn't get in to position to do the damage. I've switched it up and went defensive, making myself as tough as possible with multiple waves of units. When I'm getting my Poxwalkers shot at by lascannons, I think I'm doing something right.

[Zombs]

What Is your new list atm?

[McElMcNinja]

This is my most recent list, although I've been contemplating whether or not the Hellbrute is a viable unit. Just not sure what I might take, maybe Spawn.

The Wretched

Plaguecaster w/Sevenfold Blessings, The Putrid Periapt

Necrosius

Typhus w/Harbinger of Nurgle

2x Poxwalker x20

2x Poxwalker x10

10x Blightlord Terminators w/ Combi-bolter x8, Flail of Corruption x2

5x Blightlord Terminators w/ Combi-melta x4, Flail of Corruption

3x Deathshroud Terminators

Foul Blightspawn

Helbrute w/Contaminated Monstrosity, Helbrute fist x2

Noxious Blightbringer w/The Daemon's Toll

Reinforcements 100pts

8CP/2,000 points