To Build a Competitive Mono Nurgle Army
I am a long time avid Death Guard player. Today it’s time to build a list to make Grandfather Nurgle proud – and Grandfather Nurgle hates Heldrakes.
I was not a fan of the last codex due to its overall blandness. I am really liking the new codex though. Sure it does not meet the heights of the fourth edition codex but in my mind its at least a few steps in the right direction. While the Chaos Space Marine (CSM) codex is not the most competitive book I think it has all the tools you need to win big plus we have access to daemons again!!! The combination of the two can be very powerful. As always the goal is to design a very balanced army. You’ve got to ask yourself Can I beat the top armies with my list? If the answer is no then it’s right back to the drawing board. Sure it’s easy to design a rock-paper-scissors army and copy another latest and greatest Internet meta list but in a top tournament environment you will probably end up facing your worst nemesis if you make it to a top table… Murphy’s Law, heh !
Most every CSM army has some cultists and you rarely if ever see any Chaos Space Marines in the top armies. Cultists are dirt cheap and seemingly perfect for holding objectives. Chaos Space Marines are quite costly when compared to other units. Daemons can provide you with your cheap troop choices though plus they are all superior to cultists and they don’t need an expensive baby sitter to fight off all the big scary monsters you see flying around these days. You can field Chaos Space Marines as elite units and they score… The combination of daemonic troops and Chaos Space Marines can be highly synergistic just as it was once upon a time in fourth edition.
I think that Chaos Space Marines are still viable but it requires more thought to craft a competitive army list. Death Guard were extremely popular in the last edition back when mech was the king. They are still very good and can do more good things for you than cultists.
Here is an example of my primary detachment:
Primary Detachment – Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Lord – Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Chaos Space Marine Bike, the Black Mace, Power Axe, Blight Grenades, Melta Bombs
Chaos Sorcerer – Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Lvl 3 Psychic Mastery, Power Axe
5x Death Guard – Flamer, Meltagun
Champion – Power Axe, Boon of Mutation
Chaos Rhino – Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher
4x Death Guard – Flamer, Meltagun
Champion – Power Fist
Chaos Rhino – Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher
4x Death Guard – 2x Meltagun
Champion – Power Fist
Chaos Rhino – Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher
The Chaos Lord is my personal variant of a winged Nurgle Daemon Prince with the Black Mace. He unlocks Death Guard as a troop choice which is necessary for this list and he is almost as fast as a winged daemon prince. The one disadvantage is the Black Mace wielded by a Chaos Lord is only AP4. However at T6 he is more survivable and immune to instant death from S10 attacks such as Smash or a demolisher cannon… There is lots of S10 out there too. His speed lets him choose whom he engages in melee and his main purpose is to clobber T3 hordes. I see lots of armies featuring T3 hordes… Gaunts, guardsmen and now eldar again for example. A Lord on a bike is easier to hide behind LOS blocking terrain which also makes him more survivable than a daemon prince. My Lord also has a power axe should he have to square off against anything with a 2+ armor save… Coteaz really hates on him… Heh !
I find the Chaos biker Lord to be a better choice than Typhus for two reasons – first the biker Lord is much faster and second he is overall more survivable. It seems the Typhus-Zombie era has finally come to a close… I didn’t see any of this type of army on the top tables at WGC nor did it fare that well at Adepticon to the best of my knowledge. There are plenty of things that can quickly shred right through cultists and zombies such as the ever notorious Heldrake.
The Chaos Sorcerer is there to provide a tough melee character to support his troops. I have been taking two spells from Biomancy… They are all good and you really hit the proverbial jackpot when he rolls up Iron Arm. Of all the psychic powers available in the Chaos Space Marine codex I like Nurgle the best so it’s all win-win.
The Death Guard are the best elite choice for Chaos Space Marines hands down. Small units such as what I’ve selected can take quite a beating and still dish out the punishment. If nothing else they can be extremely annoying, which is always a lot of fun in an evil way. I prefer meltaguns and flamers since they are assault weapons. The plasma gun is more popular now but there is still some armor out there and meltaguns are as always an excellent deterrent. For those new to Chaos Space Marines here is what you get for 23 points per model:
• Fearless
• T5
• 3+ armor save
• FNP
• 2 base attacks (plague knife & bolt pistol)
• Bolter
• Poison
• Blight Grenades
• 2x special weapon
In many ways Death Guard are the Grey Hunters of Chaos and much better in just about every way… You get what you pay for with these bad boys. For example FNP is really good this edition and if you stop to think about it FNP is a lot like the Necron Reanimation Protocol.
Rhinos don’t last long these days but one full move plus a flatout gets your Death Guard where you need them to be in a hurry. I think the Havoc Launcher is worth the points since there is so much horde out there. One of the biggest weaknesses of the Chaos Space Marine codex is the lack of a reliable and low costed delivery system. Plague Marines can still work as a mechanized unit due to their inherent toughness. Mainly you want your troops in midfield if necessary and this is the cheapest method available even taking Forge World into account.
You probably noticed there are no Heldrakes in my list. I would rather use these points towards monstrous creatures in my daemonic allied detachment plus taking no flyers totally nerfs armies designed with a heavy anti-air component.
So now my choices for the daemonic allies…
Allied Detachment – Daemons
Great Unclean One – Greater Rewards x2, Psyker (Mastery Level 3 – Biomancy)
15x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
15x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
Plague Drones of Nurgle
5x Plague Drones of Nurgle – Rot Proboscis
Plaguebringer – Rot Proboscis, Greater Reward
Daemon Prince – Daemon of Nurgle, Daemonic Flight, Warp Forged Armour, Greater Rewards x2, Psyker (Mastery Level 3 – Biomancy)
The Greater Daemon provides support for the troops or can deep strike versus certain armies and act as a major distraction. If he rolls up Iron Arm even Tau are going to have some problems dropping him in one turn which lets the rest of your army rush forward unhindered. Biomancy is THE psychic lore of choice for monstrous creatures. Big Fatty is the one unit in 40k that can go all the way up to T10 and that’s just crazy. A railgun or demolisher cannon wounding on a 4+… Missile launchers needing 6s… Heh. It’s not always going to be there but when it is use it to the max. Nobody can do Biomancy better than Nurgle. At worst he is T8 with Iron Arm assuming he passes his psychic test and we no longer have to worry about those annoying Farseers anymore!
I prefer two big squads of 15 Plaguebearers versus three squads of ten. They will last that much longer plus you’ve got the Death Guard… Five tough as nails scoring units. Plaguebearers for this type of army are my preferred choice for objective squatting over zombies. To me there is no comparison plus they can deep strike as well. Over the course of a game the Plaguebearers will last longer and this is another reason why I have steered away from the Typhus list. An opponent must first work their way through the Death Guard and other big nasties before they can even start to think about messing with the daemonic troops. Plaguebearers are +1T, 5++, shrouded and have poison versus the zombies plus they will never break as well. I go with quality over quantity.
My last two choices are there to add more mobility to the army that is very hard hitting in melee… Plague Drones and the flying Nurgle Prince. These are two more highly resilient units that can quickly reach out and spread the disease! What’s not to love about Plaguebearers riding giant blow flies?? The Drones have 3+ poison attacks plus the Plague Bringer has a Bale Sword when needed to make short work of any major nuisances. There is also the option to equip the Daemon Prince with the Bale Sword which is an AP2 melee weapon due to Smash when he wields it and that’s pretty nasty when you stop to think about it. Plague Drones are one unit that can go toe to toe with Canoptek Wraiths and that’s really saying something plus they are faster and tougher. Take into consideration the Chaos Lord and you quickly realize this army has a lot of speed when it needs it which is something Nurgle is not known for in the 40k universe… The mobile element takes some of the pressure off the Death Guard so they can get into position to do what they need to do.
The one component lacking from this army is long range fire power but I’m okay with that due to the fast units. It’s my style of army all the way. In conclusion I think this army can work well and there is a lot of synergy between the various units plus i think it has great theme.
So, what do you think? Can it go the distance and take on the scary stuff for Grandfather Nurgle?
