The new Death Guard detachment in Warhammer 40,000 brings a significant shift to the battlefield. With their allegiance to Nurgle, the Chaos God of decay and plague, the Death Guard are known for their unyielding resilience, unholy durability, and plague-infused weaponry. The updated detachment rules introduce fresh tactics and synergy options, making this army more dynamic and menacing than ever before. Whether you’re a long-time Death Guard player or new to the grimdark future of Warhammer 40K, understanding the latest changes is essential to building an effective army list and dominating your matches.
Overview of the New Death Guard Detachment
What Makes the Detachment Unique?
The new Death Guard detachment is tailored to emphasize the faction’s core strengths resilience, attrition, and area control. It leans heavily into their thematic identity, granting buffs that align with spreading contagions and holding objectives through sheer toughness. The detachment provides updated stratagems, warlord traits, and relics that synergize well with Plague Marines, Foetid Bloat-drones, and Daemon Engines.
Core Detachment Rules
A defining feature of the new Death Guard detachment is its revised Contagions of Nurgle rule. This now scales more effectively with army composition and provides layered benefits as the battle progresses. The detachment rule, often titled Pox-Ridden Advance or something thematically similar, rewards aggressive board control and punishes enemies for staying too close.
- Enemy units within contagion range suffer a penalty to Toughness
- New stratagems grant mortal wounds upon failed morale or wound rolls
- Additional bonuses for units that remain in contagion range for multiple turns
Updated Stratagems
Enhanced Tactics for Nurgle’s Warriors
The updated stratagems in the new Death Guard detachment give commanders powerful tools for battlefield manipulation. Many of them focus on bolstering units in key phases or punishing enemy proximity. These changes make strategic positioning even more important.
- Virulent Surge: Boosts the effectiveness of Plague Weapons, granting bonus damage on unmodified hit rolls of 6.
- Nurgle’s Grasp: Prevents enemy units from falling back without taking damage, forcing tough decisions.
- Rotten Resilience: Grants a temporary Feel No Pain ability to one infantry unit during the opponent’s Shooting Phase.
- Choking Spores: Used in the Movement Phase, reducing enemy Advance and Charge rolls within contagion range.
Strategic Layering
Combining multiple stratagems over several turns is key to the Death Guard’s new playstyle. For example, using Choking Spores followed by Nurgle’s Grasp can trap key enemy units in melee, where the Death Guard thrive. Layering Rotten Resilience with cover benefits makes Plague Marines nearly impossible to dislodge.
Warlord Traits and Relics
New Tools for Corrupted Commanders
Warlord Traits in the new Death Guard detachment enhance both offense and defense. Some traits improve aura abilities, while others directly enhance the toughness and killing power of the warlord. These additions make HQ choices even more impactful.
- Blight Incarnate: Increases contagion range by 3′ and adds mortal wounds to nearby enemies at the start of each turn.
- Nurgle’s Favor: Grants a 4+ invulnerable save and rerolls failed saves against Blast weapons.
- Unnatural Vitality: Allows one friendly unit within 6′ to re-roll wound rolls of 1.
Relics have also been updated to complement the warlord traits. These ancient and cursed items bring a mixture of durability, damage, and plague synergy.
- The Rusted Bell: Once per game, the bearer can activate the bell to reduce enemy WS and BS by 1 in a 6′ radius.
- Spore-Infested Carapace: Grants 1 extra Toughness and deals a mortal wound on a successful saving throw of 6.
- The Blight Reaper: A corrupted scythe that deals flat 3 damage and ignores invulnerable saves on unmodified wound rolls of 6.
Unit Synergy in the New Detachment
Core Units
Plague Marines and Deathshroud Terminators continue to be the backbone of the Death Guard. Their synergy with the new rules and stratagems makes them even more viable as frontline holders and contagion spreaders.
Daemon Engines and Support
Foetid Bloat-drones and Myphitic Blight-haulers benefit greatly from the updated rules. Their mobility and plague weaponry create deadly pressure zones that punish enemy units for moving forward.
Psychic Support
The Malignant Plaguecaster has grown in utility with new contagion interactions and psychic powers that align with battlefield denial and reinforcement disruption. Psychic buffs now support contagion aura expansion and mortal wound output, making psykers a must-include in most lists.
Playing the New Death Guard Detachment
Game Plan and Objectives
The core gameplay loop revolves around area control, durability, and attrition. Early game goals should include advancing into key objectives and spreading contagion influence as far as possible. Mid-game, the focus shifts to locking down enemy units and punishing attempts to reposition.
Strengths
- Highly durable units with multiple defensive layers
- Powerful area denial via contagions
- Consistent damage output through plague weapons
- Strong melee potential against both infantry and vehicles
Weaknesses
- Generally slow movement across the board
- Vulnerable to long-range firepower if unsupported
- Limited objective mobility compared to faster armies
Building an Army with the New Detachment
Sample Unit Choices
A well-rounded army using the new Death Guard detachment might include:
- 1x Lord of Contagion (warlord)
- 2x Malignant Plaguecaster
- 3x squads of Plague Marines with varied weapons
- 2x Foetid Bloat-drones (one with plague spewers, one with flesh mower)
- 1x Myphitic Blight-hauler
- 1x unit of Deathshroud Terminators for bodyguard synergy
- 1x Biologus Putrifier for added plague buffs
This list leverages resilience, mortal wounds, and board control while still having offensive reach and psychic support. Tailoring your army to mission type and opponent is always important, but this composition provides a flexible foundation for most engagements.
The new Death Guard detachment brings renewed power and tactical depth to Nurgle’s chosen. With updated contagion mechanics, improved stratagems, and potent relics, the Death Guard stand as one of the most formidable attrition-based armies in Warhammer 40,000. Whether you’re looking to dominate local tournaments or immerse yourself in thematic battles of decay and disease, mastering the synergy of this new detachment will set you on the path to victory. As always, careful planning, strategic positioning, and devotion to Nurgle will reward you with unholy success on the battlefield.