Hello All,
I am continuing on with my catch up trail through the older codex crusade rules. This book is interesting as it marks the first time we see GW introduce army-specific rules that are wider then a single naming or honorific system.
Army Special Rules:
As I said this is the first appearance of a point-based special rule system. It is an interesting point in the history of these rules as it bridges between the older rule sets and the later versions found in Codex Tau, Drukhari, etc.In these rules you begin by determining up to three characters that can be “Plague Carriers” These will be your main distributors of the custom plague that you create randomly. The plague is made up of three different components. The first is the “Vector” which determines how the plague spreads. There are several options to spread the plagues most require you to get really close with varying options form half their weapons range or 3-6″. Next is the “Terminus” which indicates how the plague ends. Some of these require the infected unit to move a certain distance, complete an action etc. Most of these aren’t too imposing but are enough of an inconvenience they can shift your opponent’s plans. Finally you have the infection itself. Some of these options are great though there are only one or two that are consistently useful. The only thing I would change about this would be to give the option to have multiple plagues in the same army as it would give you more utility.
Battle Traits:
In the traits section the Death Guard have a table for their daemon engines and their infantry. he infantry table is okay, broadly useful increases in damage output with only one largely useless option. The vehicle options are much more applicable with all options providing some utility and even giving you a bit of speed (the ability to fall back and shoot can be quite handy!
In addition you also gain access to the Chaos Boon table, which is identical to the one in the Thousand Sons codex. The table varies from somewhat useful (i.e. +3″ movement) to mediocre (+1 A). Honestly I found this to be quite dull. A few of the options are Nurgle-focused but most seem generically chaos-y. Disappointingly, none of the options seem to different then other upgrades you get via the generic crusade tables. I would have liked the option to get a bonus in addition to another battle honor (though you can do this with an agenda) when leveling up but with the chance of getting unhelpful mutations or even spawndom.
Relics:
The relic options are okay. The first basic one is mediocre and highly variable (adding +2 to see if a friendly unit blows up). The Corrupted Emblem is a good utility relic that allows you to manipulate your plague which is handy. On the next level up the antiquity relic is pretty meh, it’s a small mortal wound bomb but is too unreliable given the lack of speed the Death Guard have. The Legendary Relic is also okay, allowing the model to count its contagion ability to be at the top level for every round. While I am not sure this is worth a legendary slot it is very fluffy.
Agendas and Requisitions:
The Death Guard get access to five different agendas. Honor the Patron is a great option for facing horde armies armies giving a unit 1 point of experience for every 7 models killed. If you get 7 units with at least one mark you get a virulence point. Sow the Infection is okay if you don’t like your other options and need Virulence points. It encourages you to stick near objectives which is something you want to do anyway. Turn their Hope to Rot is another option if you are in a tight spot, kill the most valuable enemy unit (in PL) and you get a decent Exp bump and a Virulence Point. Poison the Well requires you to complete an action in terrain and is a good way to get a broad distribution of experience as you get two exp each time (though you need to be in a fresh bit of terrain to do so). Gene Seed Thief is a fluffy option that gives you the chance to get a pretty good burst of exp for Plague Surgeons but other then that it’s ignoble.
Likewise the Death Guard have five different requisitions. There is an option to get a deadly pathogen. Virulent Adaptations is a 1 RP shot to change up your plague. Plague Marked is the way to start adding more plague carriers to your army. Path to Glory is an option to get a Chaos Boon after your warlord kills the enemy warlord and finally there is the standard chaos option to promote a character to daemonhood
Conclusion:
Overall I think this book is quite solid with a lot of fluffy options. There are definitely worse options out there and this book seems to walk the line between balance and power quite nicely.
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