Plaguebearer

Because nurglings weren't tall enough to hurt big things or smart enough to count diseases, Papa Nurgle decided to give his most well-behaved kids arms, legs, rusted swords and big brains for numbering sores, pustules and festering wounds. They sit at tables counting all sorts of disgusting things and unlike most of Nurgle's daemons, they are somber and focused on their work, and even in battle they incessantly count the number of people they've killed. Your average plaguebearer (judging from the models and artwork featuring them) is almost nine feet tall and looks like the corpse of a drowned human with almost skeletal limbs, two-toed feet (or three-toed feet), a horn (or three), and a single eye (or three, but only if arranged like Nurgle's symbol).

Uniquely among daemons, plaguebearers are formed from the souls of mortals, specifically, from the victims of Nurgle's Rot. As the victim grows physically sicker, his soul begins to decay as well, forming a monstrous pod-like structure in Nurgle's garden which breaks open to form a new plaguebearer as soon as the victim either accepts Nurgle's "gifts" or succumbs to the disease… whichever comes first.

The souls of mortals which survive the longest before finally giving into Nurgle's Rot go on to form the Heralds of Nurgle.

On the tabletop these guys excel at holding objectives, especially those in cover, but are otherwise a mixed bag. They are 9 point infantry that can literally kill ANYTHING in the game, but that doesn't change the fact that small groups of them struggle in combat against guardsmen.

Notable Plaguebearers

• Epidemius is the Tallyman of Nurgle, his most favored plaguebearer. A regular Herald of Nurgle on the tabletop aside from his Tally. Every turn that passes, it will make you more and more annoying and your opponent will rage, devoting a lot of aggression to getting rid of this palanquin-riding fatboy. Unless he's playing Grey Knights, in which case you shouldn't even be playing with him.