Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Death Guard (section)

==Wargear==
===General===
===Weapons===
====Ranged====
*'''Autogun -''' 24" Rapid Fire 1 S3 AP0. (18 inch rapid with Inexorable Advance. Deathguard cultists still use the Deathguard codex datasheet, not the Chaos Marine one).
*'''Boltgun -''' 24" Rapid Fire 1 S4 AP0. As mentioned above, that extra 6" of Rapid Fire range is a bigger difference than it looks for Plague Marines. 
*'''Blight grenade -''' Frag Grenade (6" Grenade 1d6 S3 AP0 D1) that rerolls 1s To Wound. Just about every unit in your army that would normally take Frag Grenades gets these instead, and they can be buffed from a surprising variety of sources.
*'''Krak grenade -''' 6" Grenade 1 S6 AP-1 D d3, always better than the bolt pistol/gun shot it replaces.
*'''Blight launcher -''' 24" Assault 2 S6 AP-2 D d3 plague weapon. A hard-hitting anti-infantry weapon that's also good against light vehicles. It can very well substitute plasma weapons if you want some more range in exchange with AP. It also has some really nice combo with Arch Contaminator. Now four points cheaper thanks to Chapter Approved!
*'''Plague Belcher -''' 9" Assault D6 S4 AP0 D1. Standard flamer with an extra inch of range and the plague weapon special rule. Don't underestimate that extra inch- it'll let you Overwatch more effectively than a basic flamer. (Deep striking units need to be placed outside of 9" so this flamer still cannot hit)
*'''Plague Spewer -''' Same as the Plague Belcher but with heavy D6 S5 and AP-1. The plague equivalent of the heavy flamer. Stronger, but keep in mind that you still can't shoot it after advancing, which is pretty important given your slow movement. It also comes at an ungodly price.
*'''Plasma Gun -''' 24" Rapid Fire 1 S7 AP-3 D1 or S8 AP-3 D2 and you die if you roll a 1. You know it, you love it. Say goodbye to anything but the toughest units. The decision here is whether you want the launcher, to rip apart infantry units, or plasma for those pesky tanks and TEQ's. Remember that you can also fire it twice if you are within 18".
*'''Meltagun -''' 12" Assault 1 S8 AP-4 D d6. If you're within half range, roll two damage dice and take the highest. One of the very few options the Death Guard have in dealing with large, tough units. Their pitiful range is somewhat mitigated by your ability to run and shoot them every turn with no penalty. Consider packing a model or two with a Great Plague Cleaver or Mace of Contagion, as you must be in charge range to use them anyway. Rhino delivery system optional, but recommended.

====Melee====
*'''Plague Knife -''' A basic CCW with the Plague Weapon special rule. It’s free, so shut up and take it.
*'''Plaguesword -''' A straight upgrade for your Plague Champions, <s>stolen</s> [[Blood Ravens|Gifted]] from a Plaguebearer. Like a Plague Knife, but rerolls all failed To Wound rolls instead. It's cheap at least...?
*'''Bubotic Axe -''' S+1 AP-2 D1, standard power axe but with the Plague Weapon special rule.
*'''Balesword -''' S: User, AP-3 D1, so a power sword, but, you guessed it, with Plague Weapon special rule. Note that this is the only plague weapon that the standard Chaos Lord can have.
*'''Power Fist -''' You know it, you love it. -1 To Hit, but doubles your Strength, has AP-3 and deals D3 damage. Your Plague Champions seem to have a fetish for them, but a Chaos Lord can use them, too.
*'''Flail of Corruption -''' The new hotness. Up to 2 Plague Marines per squad and 1 in 5 Blightlord Terminators can take these babies. D3 hit rolls per attack, S+2, AP-2, D2, Plague Weapon, and any excess damage it causes rolls over between targets, a tasty morsel of crunch very few units can get, so it has the best of all worlds: Lots of attacks, high AP and damage, and it's not a waste to use against single-wound models. Practically auto-include on anything that wants into melee, really. Pretty sad that characters cannot take it but whatever, perfection is Slaanesh's thing anyway. 
**Designed for fucking over GEQs. S+2 means you're S6 (wounding on 2s), AP-2 means they don't get a Save and the Damage carrying over means that W1 doesn't mean shit.
**A very good reason to remember Death To The False Emperor, as every 6 on your first wave of hit rolls against Imperium armies generates an extra attack, each of which gives you D3 more hit rolls.
*'''Great Plague Cleaver -''' A Power Fist but with Plague Weapon and D6 damage. The main reasons not to take it are its horrendous points cost and the fact that only Plague Marines with their paltry single attack can take one. Best skip this, though cleaving a tank in two could be fun. It would be better if Champions had a fetish for this weapon instead of the Power Fist.
**''Alternate Take:'' The Death Guard don't really have any other options for dealing with close-range melee juggernaut units like Dreadnoughts or Monstrous Creatures outside of the very expensive Deathshroud. While Meltaguns can do alright, they don't really work if the squad gets locked in melee (and considering how slow your units are, you will get locked in melee). The Great Plague Cleaver can actually do fantastic work against these kinds of units, provided it's properly supported with a Tallyman or Lord. Combined with a Power Fist and some Plague Knife dudes to eat wounds, your Cleavers can work wonders as a counter-charge unit, dealing with those hard-hitting single units with ease. Combine it with Blades of Putrefaction and Veterans of the Long War and laugh as you smash chunks of wounds off of these units with a unit that costs a fraction of the price.
*'''Mace of Contagion -''' A flat 3 damage, S and AP buffs and, since it comes paired with a Bubotic Axe, also bestows a second attack. The downside is the -1 To Hit, but when hit rolls are that important, you just use the Axe instead. A bit expensive to swing both around, though.
*'''Manreaper -''' For a reasonable price we got a S+3 AP-3 Dd3 Plague weapon. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
*'''Plaguereaper -''' S+2 AP-3 D3 plague weapon, only Lord of Contagion can have it, but given his hefty price he is probably better off with a Manreaper anyway.
**It's now only 3 points more than the Manreaper,  so if you need the flat 3 damage,  go for it

===Relics of Decay===
Note that Relics no longer cost points. Instead, you get a single free relic per army (if it is battleforged), and can pay CP to get 1-2 more. However, you can't put more than one relic on one guy. Also, because they mostly replace weapons, you can't give most of them to Daemon Princes.

*'''Plaguebringer:''' Replaces a plague knife, plaguesword, or balesword. SUser, AP-2, D3, Plague Weapon, and a 6+ to wound causes an extra mortal wound. Actually has worse AP than the balesword it could possibly replace, but if you want to improve the melee capability of a Biologis Putrifier, it's a flat upgrade over the free plague knife you could already take. Not so great in other situations, but of particular note when combined with the Blades of Putrefaction power (a termi sorcerer can wield this by replacing a power sword, or you can always buff the wielder with a separate caster); in that case, it will deal 1 mortal wound when you roll a 5 on the die, and ''2'' when you roll a 6.
*'''The Suppurating Plate:''' Grants a 2+ armor save, and in the Fight phase, if the bearer passes a save, the unit that caused the saved wound takes a mortal wound on a 4+. GW has noted that against melee tarpits such as Ork Boyz, this leads to an amusing game of "quit hitting yourself" that combos very nicely with a Daemon Prince's T6, 8 wounds, and Disgustingly Resilient.  Also, remember that the wearer of the plate deals mortal wounds on ''any'' successful save, including invulnerable ones, which is going to ruin hordes and tarpits when combined with the "quit hitting yourself" effect.  Just remember, only saves trigger it - the higher your toughness, the less often it will go off, because fewer wounds will reach your save.
*'''The Pandemic Staff:''' Psykers only. Adds +1 to Psychic tests to manifest Smite. A flat buff that lets you inflict more mortal wounds, especially on a Malignant Plaguecaster, since it makes it easier to get that 7+.
**Takes the wielder's average output from 1.79 mortal wounds to 2.08, on top of making him harder to Deny and triggering the Malignant Plaguecaster's special rule more frequently.
*'''The Dolorous Knell:''' Noxious Blightbringer only. At the start of the morale phase, roll a d6 for every enemy unit within 7"; on a 6, that unit takes a mortal wound. Additionally, when taking morale tests within that range, the opponent must roll 2d6 and discard the lowest. Perfect for when you need just one little push to make a squad break.
*'''Fugaris' Helm:''' Improves the range of aura-based abilities <s>ON THE CHARACTER'S DATASHEET</s> (now errata'd to include warlord traits, etc) by 3". As most of your auras are 7", this will boost them to an impressive 10", while it will effectively double the auras of most of your Elites slot characters. Also covers your plague ridden face, making you feel pretty. 
**Consider combining this with the '''Living Plague''' warlord trait, as it will double said trait's range. 
*'''Plague Skull of Glothila:''' A 7" Grenade 1 weapon that can only be used once per battle. If it hits, roll a d6 for each model in the unit that was hit, re-rolling 1s - on a 6, the unit takes a mortal wound, ''for each 6 rolled''. Effectively a single-use Plague Wind that doesn't need a psychic test and is more likely to cause mortal wounds, thanks to that built-in re-roll, so use it on that 50-man conscript blob and watch it melt into disgusting goo.
**It goes without saying this should only go on a BS2+ model, preferably that re-rolls 1s/misses, as you really, ''really'' need this weapon to hit the one time you throw it, if you're going to use it.  Assuming it's a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince throwing this thing, its expected output against that 50-man conscript blob is 9.45 mortal wounds, which gets worse as the target unit's model count goes down, so use judiciously.

The following relics can be found in Psychic Awakening: War of the Spider
*'''The Ague Stone:''' Lord of Contagion Only. Enemy models within 3" of the bearer subtract 1 from their strength characteristic
*'''Allwyther:''' Replaces a balesword. Strength +1, AP -3 D 2. It counts as a plague weapon and invulnerable saves cannot be made against its damage.
*'''The Daemon's Toll:''' Noxious Blightbringer only. Friendly DEATH GUARD Units, not infantry, UNITS, within 7" of the bearer gain a 5+ invulnerable save. Does not apply to cultists and poxwalkers.
**Combine this with the Contaminated Monstrosity Stratagem to create some truly hideously durable vehicles.  
*'''The Epidemicyst Blade:''' Demon Prince only. Replaces a Hellforged Sword. You gain +1 strength, the plague weapon rule, and Unmodified hits of 6 scores 1 additional hit.
*'''The Putrid Periapt:''' PSYKER only. The bearer knows one additional psychic power. Once in each of your psychic phase, after a psychic power is resolved that was manifest by a model with this relic, the bearer can regain up to D3 wounds.
*'''Wormspitter:''' Replaces a bolt pistol. While it has decent range and ap for a pistol, its main draw is its special rule. A unit hit by the pistol becomes "corroded" for the rest of the turn. Any Death Guard unit (including vehicles) that target a corroded unit with attacks gain the benefit of the plague weapon rule. This applies to both melee and ranged weapons.
#* Some builds will love this: it allows blade of putrification+arch-contaminator for poxwalkers and possessed, lascann predators, shooty hellbrutes and mephitic blight howler to be a lot more efficient. We are talking about huge damage buff here. Just shoot this knight and unleash hell on it! 
#* The big issue is it's short range and the small number of units able to carry it. Best choice is the chaos lord. 
#*You need a real team work here: your short range rhino rush can take position for your shooty units to do the job for example... And here the question: where do you put your arc-contaminator? Near the shooty units to use this to the fullest? Near the plague marines with the insane grenade combos? There is several options here... But it will always be an issue.
#* It can be a good idea to use overwelming generosity to add 6" to the weapon range. Note that a chaos lord coming from a rhino have a 30" range control zone with that. Enought to insure that you can take your turn one focus if needed.