Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Death Guard (section)

===={{W40Kkeyword|Infantry}} Squads====

*'''[[Blightlord Terminator|Blightlord Terminators]]''': While the Deathshroud are best suited to acting as a bodyguard and heavy melee unit, the Blightlords act more like classic Chaos Terminators with a few Nurglite twists. Like the Deathshroud, they've got Cataphractii armour with all the benefits that brings them. While they don't get Manreapers, they can equip just about anything else a Plague Marine can use, as well as Reaper Autocannons, allowing them to fill any kind of niche. 9th edition brought some changes for these boys: Plague Spewers can now be taken 1 per 5 models in addition to 1 per 5 Blight Launchers or Reaper Autocannons. Combi-weapon spam is now no longer possible, as you can only have up to 1 per 5 of each combi-flamer/melta/plasmas. The positive is that all of the weapon choices are now quite cheap.
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*'''Bubotic Axe:''' S+2 Ap-2 D1, Plague Weapon. Courtesy of Nurgle's gift, these will wound almost everything on a 2+ with rerolls of 1. Mathematically identical to the Balesword against MEQ's (gaining +1 to wound at a cost of -1ap) and GEQ's, the axes have an advantage against T7, anything with toughness 4+ and 4+ armour or worse, and anything with a decent invuln.
*'''Balesword:''' S+1 AP-3 D1, Plague Weapon. Identical to the axe against MEQ's and GEQ's, gains an advantage against low toughness, high armour targets (without decent invulns, so many t3 characters are out) like sisters or aspect warriors. 
*'''Flail of Corruption:''' Doubles your attack output (and your base A is 3, which is quite scary) with S+1 AP-2 D2, pretty much the best melee weapon you can grab, although it does replace your combi-bolter, unlike the other options, so only take if you know your Blightlords will be in melee. Alas it does not spill excess wounds anymore <strike> but we now have a stratagem to put this bad boy to good use </strike> . On average dice you're killing an extra 2.5 guardsmen, per flail (max 2), for 2cp. No.
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*'''Blight Launcher:''' Effectively a short-range blaster with 24" Assault 2 S6 AP-2 D2 and Plague Weapon, meaning you can fire in any circumstance and it can blow out anything MEQ. Probably just a bit weaker than the reaper autocannon in general but why not take both?
*'''Reaper Autocannon:'''Our longest range infantry weapon. With 36" Heavy 4 S7 AP-2 D1 you will ruin many an infantryman's day and with some luck even shred light vehicles. All things considered, between this and the blight launcher, a foot slogging squad of deathshrouds is not such a bad idea.
*'''Plague Spewer:''' The Heavy Flamer of to the Plague Belcher's Flamer. The issue here is that it's not gaining anything from Inorexable Advance since it auto-hits and it won't fire if you advance. If you mean to deepstrike your blightlords then absolutely grab one of those, you will not regret it.
*'''Combi Plasma:''' Remains stronger on most accounts compared to the blight launcher if you overcharge it. However, the changes to Gets Hot alongside the lack of Plague Weapon does hurt the odds of ever taking this unless you absolutely need to blast marines. If you don't overcharge it then a plague launcher is straight up better most of the time. I would suggest to never fire both profiles at once, it almost never is worth it.
*'''Combi Melta:''' Deepstrike and then say goodbye to that wreckage. What wreckage? *FWAAAAMP* That wreckage. Same thing as the combiplasma regarding the double fire but even more so since you are using this mostly to shoot at big stuff. Alternate take - This wont be at under half range on the turn you Deepstrike, and if you do Deepstrike you'll want to make it into combat ASAP instead of standing around taking potshots with a melta. Reasonable if you've got 5pts spare, but don't expect the world... Or wreckage, unless the opponent runs a lot of 3W vehicles.
*'''Combi Flamer''' Strictly worse than the plague spewer but if you really need more flames then go for it.
*'''Combi Bolter''' last but not exactly least we have the "totally not a storm bolter but for chaos". Can always double-tap and will shred light infantry, but will struggle against anything remotely protected. 
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*'''[[Deathshroud|Deathshroud Terminators]]''': A returning favourite from the Death Guard's 30k version, and still a potent bodyguard after 10,000 years. They can deep strike. Between their 2+/4++, their ability to mask W9 or less Death Guard Characters within 3" from snipers, Disgustingly Resilient, and having three wounds, they're practically a requirement for keeping your Warlord as indestructible as possible. In battle, they're no slouches themselves, thanks to their Manreapers and Plaguespurt Gauntlets (a Hand Flamer, but a plague weapon, and if you take their Chimes of Contagion, once they reach max contagion range, targets will be down a point of toughness). They cost 50 base. Their scythes have either a Power fist profile (S8 AP-3 D2 but -1 to hit) or a more ex-scything one with double attacks but weaker.
**A Deathshroud champion is an excellent carrier of the Virulent Fever pathogen - put it on one of his plaguespurt gauntlets, then keep him within an Arch-Contaminator aura so you can re-roll all wounds that aren't sixes, even successful ones. 
**Alternative Opinion: Put Virulent Fever on his scythe, and that's 10 attacks in melee (8.33 will hit) looking for mortals instead of the risky d6 (3.5) shots of the gauntlet.   The only downside is needing to get into melee first.
*'''Possessed''': Possessed had a rough time in 8th edition. They were widely seen as unplayable for a long time before the ability to stack multiple buffs led to the inception of the dreaded "possessed bomb," an un-targetable nightmare of a deathstar. Such days are long past, and Death Guard Possessed finally seem to have found something of a middle ground as a fast, CORE, dedicated melee unit. Thanks to their Daemon save, they are slightly tougher than a normal Plague Marine, while enjoying the same range of defensive benefits. No longer burdened by a mediocre D3 attacks, they benefit from a flat 4 attacks at strength 5, ap -2. As an added bonus, they now count as having a Plague Weapon, unlocking many new combos to be explored. Finally, their 7-inch move makes them the fastest infantry unit in a traditionally slow army.
**Possessed boosted by a Noxious Blightbringer's Sickening Vitality Aura (+1 to movement and advance) can have a surprisingly effective range on the first turn. Being able to move 10-15 inches and get on top of an objective can be worth it in the right circumstances.
**If Possessed have one major flaw, it is the change to make them have the same transport limitations as Terminators. This prevents them from riding in rhinos and, barring land raiders, means you will likely be footslogging them across the battlefield.
**Note: while they can still benefit from being near a Herald of Nurgle, doing so will turn off your Contagions of Nurgle ability.
*'''Gellerpox Infected:''' Kill Team Annual 2022 brought back these zombie mutants as a special unit available only to the Death Guard and other Nurgle-aligned marine detachments as not-quite Agents of Chaos. This unit in particular is split between the S4 T4 mutants with frags and AP-1 melee weapons and the three Nightmare Hulks, each toting S5 and 5 wounds and wielding even meaner melee weapons, with one of them also getting an S4 AP-1 gut-flamer as well. This alongside the old 5+ FNP save makes these guys a touch more effective than the poxwalkers, but those zombies are far more numerous. However, the Elites Slot has always been rather overcrowded for Chaos, and the Foetid Virions being Elites does not help in any detachments outside of the Arks of Omen.
**'''Mutoid Vermin:''' The hordes of chittering insects and cyber-Nurglings are their own separate unit, but they won't take up a slot if you also took the Gellerpox. Naturally, these swarms are utterly pathetic and only get a 6+ save and 6+ FNP to protect them, but you can resurrect d3 of the buggers each Command phase, making them more of a hassle to get rid of.