Necron Frequently Asked Questions - Do I Give My wraiths guns?

 

Free hugs

There are plenty of commmon necron questions - wraith loadouts is one of them.

The one that I see a lot of is "do I put guns on my wraiths?"  I'll answer that, and I'll also go into the melee loadout while I'm at it.

Guns? No*. But why?

Wraiths are 35pts base, regardless of melee options.  You can pay 5pts to pick up a particle caster (S6, AP0, 1 damage, 12" Pistol 2) or pay 10pts for a Transdimensional Beamer (S4, AP-3, 3 damage, 12", Assault 1).  The particle caster is some decent incidental shooting, and the beamer will knock a hole in something.  

So, why are we leaving them at home?  Four reasons reasons.

1) BS4+ - wraiths just aren't that accurate.  A full squad of 5 (you can take six, but that gets ugly for blast) hits with 5 particle caster shots, or 2-3 beamers.  You're paying 25-50 points for that.

2) Charge range - if you're about to charge, and want to soften up your target, remember that dead models increase charge distance.  Remember that you paid to do this.

3) Wraith Form - you move through terrain without penalty.  This, on top of your T5/3W/3+/4++ defensive profile, means that you can avoid exposing yourself to fire, period.  At 3W, you're relying on your statline more than Reanimation Protocols to not die.

4) How Often You'll Shoot - You might get one turn of shooting.  So, the ideal scenario for wraiths is to sneak up on a target, then charge through terrain and tag it.  If you survive the enemy's turn after that, you should be trying to engage something else and possibly pushing deeper into enemy lines.  You can fall back and charge.  Anyone that knows what Wraiths can do is going to prioritize killing them once they're exposed.

*if you're paying power level, knock yourself out with a gun since points don't matter.

But X makes guns good!

I have seen a few arguments for bringing guns on Wraiths.  I don't really buy them.  It boils down to the fact you're paying points for crappy shooting.

"But shooting can do damage" - Yep.  Absolutely can.  Wraiths aren't reliable at it.  

"But I can shoot those pistols in assault!"  - You can, but how often are you going to do it?  Shooting pistols in assault matters when you're stuck in assault.  Wraiths don't HAVE to be stuck in assault.  Unless you're hitting something that's hidden to everything but the wraiths, you're probably better off falling back, shooting at it with other stuff, and then seeing if it's alive to worry about.

"But the beamer does 3 damage and that's neat" - It does, if it hits and wounds.  A given beamer has a 20% chance to kill a primaris marine, between BS4+ and S4.  It goes up to a little over 50% if you spend a CP on the Techno-Oracular targeting stratagem.  I seriously think you can find better places to spend that CP.

"But I can get to BS3+ with a technomancer and canoptic control node!"  - Absolutely an option.  This is neat if you're doing power level, I suppose.  However, the real fun/mean way to do that is bring a node and a failsafe overcharger to make those Wraiths go from WS4+ and 4 attacks base to WS3+ and 5 attacks base.  That's just bloody hilarious.  And also doesn't really care about the guns.

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost is a $20 term for saying "you brought X instead of Y."  Or, you should compare what you're giving up to get a thing.  Assuming we're paying points, you're looking at 25-50pts for the guns, or the following -

2-4 Necron Warriors

1-3 Immortals

1/3 to most of a Lokhost Heavy Destroyer

~1 to ~2 Lychguard

~1 to ~2 Praetorians

1-3 Scarab bases

Basically, you can fill out other units, or start paying towards something beefier.  Wraiths are unique in that they're a tar pit / potentially killy unit with obscene mobility, but lean into their strengths.

A Note on Scarab Melee Options

While we're here - the melee options are free, and there are two of them.  You can take Vicious Claws, or Whip Coils.  Claws mean you swing 4 times at S6, AP-2, 2 damage.  Whip Coils mean you'll swing 8 times at S4, AP-1, 1 damage.

So, what do you pick?

I lean towards the claws.  Why?  The Necron codex doesn't have a lot of decent multi-damage weapon options (unless you want to drop 1d3 or 1d6, you're looking at Praetorians or assault Destroyer types).  Claws excel at stabbing Marines to death.  They can also do a number on vehicles as well.

This isn't to say Whip Coils are bad - it's just that the Necron book has plenty of options for a volume of low-AP anti-infantry attacks.  Whip Coils also are liable to bounce against targets with decent saves or higher toughness.

Necron Frequently Asked Questions - Which Cryptek(s) Should I Take?

 

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to supporting HQs - the real trick is "which ones should I take, and when?"  The follow-on is "Are there cryptek-specific Arkana worth it?"

The Chronomancer is, without a doubt, the easiest to get mileage out of - but don't sleep on the others.  Except maybe the Plasmancer.

MVP - The Chronomancer

Unsurprisingly, this is a common sight.  The utility is straightforward - you give a <DYNASTY> unit a 5+ invulnerable save, and a re-rollable charge.  Your prime candidates are Scarab swarms and Warrior units.  You make a tarpit unit or a core troops unit even tougher.  

The Chronomancer-specific Arkana is the Countertemporal nanomine, which lets you halve the advance and charge rolls of a unit within 18."  Depending on the unit, you might actually keep them out of a charge.

ADDENDUM - Orikan the Diviner - so if you pay another 30pts over the regular Chronomancer, you get Orikan.  He's got a couple things over a regular Chronomancer.  The most useful thing Orikan does is let you put that 5++ and re-rollable charge on any unit, not just a Dynasty unit - so if you're bringing Praetorians, Orikan's worth a thought.  Otherwise, Orikan might go into his Empowered profile later in the game and be a slightly uglier beat stuck, but that's about it.

The Technomancer - Friend to Infantry and/or Canopteks

Ah, the Technomancer - AKA the old-school cryptek model.  Your baseline ability is with this guy is bringing back 1d3 warriors a turn, or one CORE infantry unit.  It's not as wide-open an ability as, say, an Apothecary, but it's in the baseline cost of the unit and you don't have to pay CP to do it, which is solid.  You can easily get 13-36pts of infantry back a turn.  In reality, getting Warriors or Lychguard back is where this gets good.

From there, you gotta decide whether you stay cheap, or you tech into the Canoptek Control Node or the Cloak.  The Cloak gives you speed, and lets you repair stuff.  The node gives your Canoptek units +1 to hit.  Combine this with the failsafe overcharge node, and THEN it gets real - wraiths and scarabs get ugly when you start hitting on 3s and get +1 to attack.

The Canoptek buff build is pretty reasonable if you tech into a couple Canoptek units.

ADDENDUM - Illuminor Szeras - this guy is technically a technomancer.  Think of him as a naked Technomancer with better shooting, and the ability to use his reanimation powers twice.  If you're going to use him, you're also bringing a couple units for him to buff with his random augmentation.  It's neat, but don't gamble on it.  I'd consider a couple Warrior blobs, and Lychguard, and maybe go from there.

Plasmancer - The Gradual Grinder

Do you like mortal wounds?  That's what this thing does.  It's about all this thing does.  It hands them out reasonably reliably.  

I like this thing for its simplicity, but that makes it a little bit tougher to use.  You'll get the most mileage out of it by sticking it behind a large unit, and just letting it roll mortal wound dice.

The problem with it is, of course, opportunity cost - you're giving up slots that could make your army more durable.  Your major Arkana is more range on mortal wounds.  It's not bad, but it keeps the Plasmancer as a one-trick pony.

The Plasmancer isn't bad - it fills a slot in our army that otherwise, only C'tan and a couple stratagems fill - but you could do better with that slot.  And if you are going to bring one of these, you want to bring it in a larger army so you can hide behind stuff and take your time.

Psychomancer - The Toolbox

The psychomancer gets a bad rap for two reasons.  First off, the kit is not the easiest to build.  Second, it's a wonderful toolbox - but versatility means you pay for stuff you don't use.  You need to get within 12" of an enemy unit during your turn, and then during your morale phase, you can pick from fur fun things - no actions, no ObSec, half advance/charge, or no Overwatch/Set To Defend, and the unit Fights Last.

So, the problem with this is range and timing.  Turning off ObSec can be huge, especially since we specialize in beefy blobs of Obsec bodies.  

Turning off actions is hilariously situational at that range - it will be scenario specific, more than anything.  People build around Scanners, but if someone's familiar with the Psychomancer, they may or may not skip out on the scenario-specific objectives.

Cutting advance and charge rolls can help, but if you're within 12" of them, well, the Psychomancer and the screening unit are still in charging and shooting range.  It's a potential disruption tool, though.  

Making them Fight Last without Overwatch is another nasty thing - that last ability takes setup, but you're playing close.  It's situational, but someone's worried about the charge.

Arkana-wise, it's worth picking up the Atavindicator as well - it's essentially a Smite, though you roll 3d6 and compare to a non-Vehicle target (...note, there's not a character restriction here) and if you beat leadership, it's 1d3 mortal wounds.  

Addendum - The Cryptothralls

These guys are in here because of Crypteks, but you need to keep in mind they do more than turn off snipers.  They are cheap units that can perform actions and hold objectives.  Never underestimate how useful that is.  You can absolutely justify taking 1-2 units of Cryptothralls and never keeping them near the crypteks themselves.

Necron Frequently Asked Questions - Reapers or Flayers?

 The good ol' internet is FULL of lots of questions about necrons.  The most frequently asked question is 'Gauss Reapers or Gauss Flayers' but there are some others.  So, let's take a look.

Reapers or Flayers

Flayers are S4, AP-1, Rapid fire 1, 24" range.  Reapers are S5, AP-2, Assault 2, 12" range.

Short version - reapers are uglier, but need you to think a little more and build a little bit around them.  Flayers are more user-friendly, but give up strength and AP.  Reapers will do more work for you, and you're going to user large squads of warriors in the midfield.

STRENGTH - first off, S4 vs S5 is pretty significant.  Most infantry is T3-T4; reapers are better at wounding them.  Reapers also wound T8 on a 5+ - not always relevant, but bloody important when it DOES come up. (mostly vs. tanks, occasionally monsters.)

AP - not a huge discussion, really - AP-2 beats AP-1.  You have a stratagem to ignore cover vs. a target as necrons for 1CP; use it.  AP matters.  Beefy infantry tends to carry a 3++ or 4++ save - you  want to go against that, rather than their 0+ to 2+ save.  Reaper AP wins out.

RANGE - Here's where people get hung up on stuff.  Flayers shoot single shots at 24", double-tap at 12".   Longer range sounds easier to use, and it is. Let's be real - shooting S4, AP-1 shots past rapid fire is plinking, it's not meaningful damage output.  You average 20-man squad of warriors puts about 3 wounds on a marine stat line outside of rapid-fire.  

UP CLOSE - the meat and potatoes of the comparison is "does S5, AP-2 beat out S4, AP-1 at 12?" and the answer is 'yes' based on pure math.  Assuming equal squad sizes and hit numbers vs. marines, a flayer squad drops 11-12 wounds on a marine statline in range, whereas reapers drop 6-7 wounds.  If you go to T5, the reapers win hands-down.  If you start plinking at vehicles, reaper AP carries the day.

GETTING PAST THE WARRIOR DATASHEET - No army exists in a vacuum.  Neat, so what next?  What matters?

1) Getting into range - first off, most of the fighting Warriors do is going to happen either in your deployment zone or in the mid-board.  Second, 20 dudes with a Veil of Darkness is HILARIOUS.

2) Royal Warden - you're probably bringing `1-3 squads of warriors in a Necron army.  You should consider a Royal Warden to let them fall back and shoot after a charge, especially since you do your best damage within easy charge range.  For extra fun, bring a squad of Lychguard in your list, and let the enemy just guess which thing gets veiled.

3) Dynasty - Mephrit's +3 range makes the reapers a LOT more user-friendly.  15" range is a huge step up.  Nephrekh isn't bad either for the speed.

SHOULD I MIX REAPERS AND FLAYERS IN THE SAME SQUAD?

No.  Don't mix.  Ever.  This is a trap.  You have a squad that is confused in what it wants to do.  Reapers want to walk up and fire, advance and fire at -1BS, or just advance to get into position to fire next turn.  Flayers want to advance if they can't range anything, or walk/stand still and shoot.  The only time both weapons are happy is when you can walk into 12" range and fire.  Make your squads specialists, and go from there.

SHOULD I MIX REAPERS AND FLAYERS IN THE SAME ARMY?

The answer is 'maybe.'  If you're bringing like 3x20 warriors in an army, there's room to consider 2x20 Reapers and 1x20 Flayers.  You will end up with a potential traffic jam, but the flayers might be able to plink and contribute.

SHOULD I USE FLAYERS FOR A BABYSITTER SQUAD SINCE THEY CAN PLINK?

So, if you want a squad to sit on a backfield objective, you should ask yourself a question - do I want 10 warriors or 5 immortals to do it?  The immortals are cheaper, and while you have fewer wounds, you are T5/3+ base.  I'd lean towards immortals because of cost, and it's easier to hide five guys.  Warriors are built to run in squads of 15-20 to capitalize on their durability.  T4/4+ isn't much until it keeps coming back.  If you do go immortals, consider Gauss - it's cheaper, and the Tesla stratagem just needs a shot that you can get from, y'know, a Command Barge or something.

Thoughts on Tomb Blades, or Math Is Weird Sometimes

So, let's say you want your space undead fast and shooty - why not combine them with a bike?

Well, why not - but man, once you read the sheet, you've got some options to think about.  There's the question of which of three guns, and whether or not you're going to add any defensive upgrades onto these things.  After we look at those, we'll look at the Dynasty options.

The Guns

You have three options for guns, and you can mix and match if you really, really want to - you can go with the base Particle Beamer, the twin Gauss Blaster, or the twin Tesla Carbine.  Real talk here - my initial impression is the Gauss Blaster with that sweet AP-2, but we'll take a look at math and see what works out here.

I'm going to make some assumptions about math here - 

1) Run shots without help

2) Run another set of shots with My Will Be Done

3) Run shots in and out of rapid-fire range (when applicable)

4) Run shots in and out of Mephrit's bonus AP range

5) Shots against T3-4 infantry

6) Compare vs. variety of armor saves (2+, 3+, 4+, 4++) for common infantry targets

I'm going to compare the beamer and the gauss rifle.  Note that the tesla carbine has four shots and needs to pull off at least a six and a couple of hits to get the same number of hits as a particle beamer - so its output is similar to or lower than a particle beamer.

The Particle Beamer

Assault 6, S5, AP0, 18" range

Base shots - 6 shots > 4 hits > 2.66 wounds > 0.88 vs 3+, 1.33 vs 4+, 0.44 vs 2+

MWBD - 6 shots > 5 hits > 3.33 wounds > 1.11 vs 3+, 1.66 vs 4+, 0.55 vs 2+

With Mephrit bonus - 

6 Shots > 4 hits > 2.66 wounds > 1.33 wounds vs 3+, 1.77 vs 4+, 0.88 vs 2+

Mephrit + MWBD

6 shots > 5 hits > 3.33 wounds > 1.667 wounds vs 3+, 2.22 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 2+

The Twin Gauss Blaster

Rapid Fire 2, S5, Ap-2, 30" range

NOTE - AP-2 is the same vs 2+ armor saves and 4++; but when you factor in Mephrit, you get -3AP in rapid-fire, so any saves worse than 4+ armor don't matter

Non-Rapid-Fire - 2 shots > 1.33 hits > 0.88 wounds > 0.59 vs 3+, 0.74 vs 4+, 0.44 vs 2+/4++

Rapid Fire - 4 shots > 2.66 hits > 1.77 wounds > 1.18 vs 3+, 1.48 vs 4+, 0.88 vs 2+/4++

MWBD Non-Rapid-Fire - 2 shots > 1.667 hits > 1.11 wounds > 0.74 vs 3+, 0.92 vs 4+, 0.55 vs 2+/4++

MWBD Rapid-Fire - 4 shots > 3.33 hits > 2.22 wounds > 1.48 vs 3+, 1.85 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 1+/4++

 Mephrit Rapid-Fire - 4 shots > 2.667 hits > 1.77 wounds > 1.18 vs 2+, 1.48 vs 3+, 1.77 vs 4+ armor, 0.88 vs 4++

Mephrit MWBD - 4 shots > 3.33 hits > 2.22 wounds > 1.48 vs 2+, 1.85 vs 3+, 2.22 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 4++

What does the math tell us?

The particle beamer's got volume of fire over the other weapons.  This gives you two things - first, you're more reliable just because you throw more dice; second, you get more wounds and force more saves.  The twin gauss is technically a little more effective, but really pulls ahead when you go Mephrit and go My Will Be Done into 2+ armor.  

On Range

So, let's talk about range - first off, you're on a platform with a 14" move and the FLY keyword.  Odds are good you can get into the range you want, unless you're digging a unit out of the corner.  So, let's look at the weapons.

Particle beamer - it's the shortest range at 18", but you're at full effect at 18 inches.  That gets you charged by jump troops, but foot troops are a bit far unless they can advance and charge.

The twin tesla carbine is full effectiveness at 24" - you're arguably the least effective gun, but you're definitely safe - very little in the game gets to you from 24" away in assault.  

The twin gauss blasters really need to leverage rapid fire to do the work - having a 30" range is neat, but rapid fire is the difference between 'incidental gunfire' and 'closed-casket funeral' - 15" is definitely in range to get tagged if someone wants to make it happen.  

Stratagem Considerations

There are two base stratagems Tomb Blades care about, plus the Mephrit-unique one.  Tomb Blades can pay a CP to turn rapid-fire weapons into assault 2, or fire assault weapons without penalty - obviously this is a little better for the tesla and particle beamer.

The other stratagem is just good for necrons in general - Disintegration Capacitors say we auto-wound on 6's to hit.  This again favors volume-of-fire weapons, so the assault weapons pull ahead here.

Finally, we've got Mephrit's Talent for Annihilation - the first three 6's to wound do mortal wounds in addition to normal wounds.  Again, we like volume here - so once again, the assault weapons pull ahead here.

It is worth noting that you could take a single tesla carbine for malevolent arcing - you just need one tesla weapon to target something.  For 5pts, it's an option to get mortal wounds.

Other Gear

You start with a 25pt model - you can go up to 30 if you upgrade from the particle beamer to either option.  You can proceed to dump plenty more points into these guys, but I question whether you'd do that.  Defensively, you are a T5, 2W, 4+ model that takes a -1 to hit vs. ranged combat. 

You can pay 3pts to go up to a 3+ save, or buy a 5++ save for 5pts.  You can also pay 3pts to ignore cover.  You could even, if you wanted to, mix and match the saves.  I think I'd rather get the 5++ or go without - volumes of AP-1 and AP-2 aren't hard to find, but 5++ will at least slow down higher-damage weapons.

I'd consider the nebuloscope's perk for tesla - yes, particle beamers like it as well, but the point of the particle beamer is cost.  Nebuloscope's take that away.

The Configurations

Keep It Cheap - particle beamers, nothing else - take 6-9 for 150-225pts in a unit, throw 36-54 dice at stuff, laugh.  Run mephrit.

Some Quality - Buy gauss, shadowlooms - 33pts a model, pay 198 for 6ea.  You're reasonably durable, you don't care if the inevitable rapid-fire fun coming back is ugly.

Death Guard Testing - Volume 2

 

Got another round in with these guys - and got my Helbrutes painted.  Remember, the mantra for painting chaos is "...where did all this trim come from?!"

The List

The Ferrymen

Lord of Contagion - WL Trait "The Droning", Relic "Ferryman's Scythe"

Malignant Plaguecaster - Relic - Putrid Periapt, powers - Gift of Plagues, Miasma of Pestilence, Curse of the Leper

3x Helbrutes (Multi-melta, combi-bolter, fist)

2x3 Deathshroud Terminators

15 Pox Walkers

14 Pox Walkers

2x5 Plague Marines (Blight Launchers)

2x Bloat Drones (flesh mowers)

5 Chaos Spawn (Grandfather's blessing stratagem)

2x Plagueburst Crawler (entropy cannons)

The Plan

Deathshroud Terminators can start on the board, or drop in where needed.  If the opponet leaves a place to drop them near a backfield objective, I can scramble, I can save a CP for a charge re-roll, or force the opponent to commit something more important than a random backfield squad to hold that objective, since these guys should be able to mulch most objective squads solo.

The Helbrutes and Lord of Contagion are a solid anchor against a variety of targets, and I need the anti-vehicle firepower.

Spawn are hilariously annoying to kill.

I need Crawlers for actual shooting attacks.

My troops hold objectives and take up space.

The Periapt is in there because Gift of Plagues isn't super-relevant after a turn or two, and I'd like to try to use another psychic power after that.  Maybe Curse will do more damage than smite for that CP.

The Lord of Contagion is there because it'll hand out re-rolls and do respectable damage.  I sat around trying to figure out how to make a reasonably kill regular Lord, and they aren't a ton cheaper than this guy.  I go with a couple lightning claws, and...eh?  I take a balesword and a relic for a 2 damage one, which isn't bad.  Or I just go ahead and lean into damage and durability, and the ability to drop this guy elsewhere.  Plus, I wanted to try that silly "swing 15 times with cleave" relic.

Part of my plan was to use the Bloat Drones, Flash Outbreak, and The Droning to try to pin down a chunk of the other army.

The Opponent

I went up against Black Templar.  At a glance, the list included outriders, storm-shield-laden vanguard vets, biker chaplain, a trio of dreadnoughts around a master of the forge (2 venerable multi-melta guys, one plasma redemptor), a brick of hammer/shield terminators in front of Grimaldus and an Apothecary, and a trio of Crusader squads camping in the back.  See Also - half of us will be in your face now, and the other half, immediately thereafter.  Plus I guess some guys brought guns.

Game Summary

I went second - I deployed a touch too far forward, and this let his outriders and vanguard vets get into my lines on one side, annihilate a poxwalker screen (OH NOES!) and tie up a Plagueburst Crawler (...oh, no.).  I also screwed up deployment and lost a Bloat Drone turn 1 (...well, [REDACTED]).  I broke those guys free eventually with the help of the Spawn, and some Blightening and Trench Fighters on the Plague Marines.

Dreadnoughts traded blows in the middle; mine blew up first but had some truly garbage dice.  My Deathshroud secured his home objectives, so he swung into the midfield ones.

By the end, I lost by a few points.  I took Assassinate, Engage on All Fronts, and Scramblers to his Scramblers, All Fronts and Oath - Oath of the Moment racked up the points.  We both Scrambled, and we both did well on objectives and All Fronts, and I'd managed to nail three out of four characters.

Lessons Learned

Plagueburst Crawlers - These are now in the 'hard to leave at home' category.  We need the firepower.  Badly.  We just don't have guns.  T8, 3+/5++ makes them hard to kill - I lost one right at the end when a venerable dread finally got into 12" range and ran hot, and just  barely killed it.  Go ahead and pay 175 for the entropy cannons.

Bloat Drones - Expect these to get prioritized.  Anyone who's played against them more than once knows what they can do - they're fast, they mulch infantry, they heal, they can chew on vehicles, AND they can project Contagion auras.  Also, I have a hard time not starting with two.  I also don't really see the point of the sprays or the gun; the mower is just so much nastier and lets you heal in melee.

Plague Marines - even a five-man squad can spike damage for a few CP.  The Blightening is hilarious when you're engaged - the visual of three guys just dropping grenades at their feet is both great, and getting 18 auto-hitting S4 hits in melee is solid.  Trench Fighters is another winner.

Deployment In General - This army does not forgive deployment errors much at all.  My losses have in part been due to my screw-ups with deployment.

Plague Company Choice - As neat as The Droning sounds as a Bloatie + Flash Outbreak + Gift of Plagues combo, I'm not sure it's as cool in practice.  It goes off on turn two when everyone's moved up, and unless you're locking down slower troops, it's 'eh'.  If it's slow assaulty troops, they may be just fine punching the drone to death - a 2-3" move and an assault is probably still good enough.  

I feel like there are more reliable Contagion auras.  If I keep the Lord of Contagion, I'd tech into the relic Plague scythe that loses the -1 to hit, perhaps.

Lord HQs - I'm still trying to figure out why we'd bother with a regular lord, unless you kept it super-cheap at 85 points.  If so, you're purely getting a re-roll aura and a dude with a chainsword, which is hilariously lackluster.  Demon Princes are expensive, but bring out a ton of lethality and utility between psychic powers and the re-roll aura, and a nice heap of 3-damage attacks.  The Lord of Contagion is, for once, a decent middle-of-the-road choice.  He's about ~20 points more than a regular Lord with a weapon, he's got a neat upgrade, and he starts with a melee weapon that's solidly Death Guard.  Really, you only take a regular Lord or Terminator Lord if you want a combi-weapon.

The Death Guard - Shooting Things, And You

 The Death Guard codex is full of nasty, durable short-ranged stabby things.  It is a little light on ranged firepower - and let's be real, sometimes you just need to bring guns to a gunfight.  With that in mind, let's take a look at what the Death Guard do have for shooting options beyond the standard-issue boltgun and short-ranged spray weapons.  We'll also take a look at the Forge World index, since the 7 January 2021 FAQ decided to let us use options out of that book again.

The Short Version

We've got ~18 options here, once you look at major weapon loadouts for stuff like Predators, etc.  I'm going to pick the highlights here, and explain why -

Helbrutes - they're cheap, accurate, and effective.  Melta/fist, melta/missle, or missile/las are all solid, and we have both HQ support and stratagems to make good use of them.

Blight Hauler - take a missile/MM helbrute, lose accuracy for speed/durability.  Major con is that they compete with Bloat Drones for slots.

Plagueburst Crawler - strong mix of direct and indirect fire, along with durability.  Stuck on the back lines, but whatever.  You can also spike to 3 damage with stratagems.

Chaos Leviathan - strong mix of weapons options, speed, and durability - either sandblast stuff from range with storm cannons, or consider a grav cannon and close combat weapon and jog at the enemy like a demented Kool Aid man full of plague.

Other options tend to be either really pricy, or have issues with support or just absolutely SCREAM to be focused off the board while being pricy.  The Decimator gets an honorable mention for the Soulburner Petards (because mortals can be fun, right?) and the Sicaran Punisher goes BRRT, which is entertaining in its way.

The Long Version - By Units

The Helbrute

The Helbrute trades durability for lethality.  CORE gives you the ability to benefit from a lord's re-roll 1s aura, and the Frenzy rule lets you re-roll 1s to wound when you're under full health.  Combine this with the Fire Fever stratagem for +1 to hit and wound with your hard hitting weapons, and a Helbrute can reach out and touch someone.

PRO - Range, Cost, lethality. 

Consider a missile launcher and either a multi-melta or twin-lascannon.  Without re-rolls, this loadout can knock about 3-4 wounds off the average T7 3+ armor save vehicle, or go up to 4-5 with Fire Frenzy.  It only gets uglier when you factor in Fire Fever and a Lord's re-roll aura.  A missile/melta helbrute is 120; a missile/las helbrute is 140.  Consider the las when possible for the ranged option.  If you need a hybrid loadout and want to punch armor to death, melta/bolter/fist for 125

CON - Survivability, speed

You are T7 with a 3+ armor save and 8 wounds.  Even if you have a passive -1 to damage, you can take a big hit or two and then get chipped down with bolters.  Heavy weapons like other lascannons and missiles will rip through your armor.  At 6", you're fast enough to start out of LOS, and possibly grab LOS on a target.

Myphitic Blight Hauler

They're back, they're BS3+, and they're ready to get close and do some damage.  You get out of the Elites slot and into the Fast Attack slot.  Compared to the Helbrute, you lose some lethality and accuracy for durability and speed.

PRO - Speed, Survivability, Cost, Versatility

These little fellas are zippy with a 10" move, and that means it's easier for them to get the melta into range.  You're still T7 with 9 wounds, but you also pick up a 5+ invulnerable save.  If anyone charges you, you have a few AP-2 attacks and a -1 to hit aura, which matters more when it's not a fist or thunder hammer.  Of particular note is the Belching Fumes stratagem, as it reduces rate of fire by 1 for incoming shots (minimum 1).  A lot of stuff does, especially anything with two shots.  Weirdly, rapid fire doesn't care.  Note also that at 140pts a model they're priced to move - and if there's not a lot of armor, you still have frag missiles and the bile spurt to use versus other targets, and you've got speeed.

CON - Likely to get prioritized, shorter range, FA slot competition

Missile launcher aside, these guys are medium-to-close-ranged combatants.  They have the speed to get there.  Anyone that can do so is likely to prioritize these guys just because it's something in the army that moves faster than 5."  Furthermore, unless you're taking multiple detachments, your fast attack slots are one of the few ways to get, you guessed it, faster units.  (Your other options are transports, or using reserves for positioning).

Plagueburst Crawler

Anyone want to play 'catch'?  Not for long?  That's fine.

PRO - range, durability, output

Hey, we have 36" and 48" high-strength weapons here.  Wait, one ignores line of sight?  SWEET.  For 175 points you can get a crawler with paired entropy cannons.  The entropy cannons are essentially lascannons light; you're only S8 but you ARE 3+1d3 damage, and you hit out to 36" instead of 48" but it's probably enough range.  This is reliable firepower that dictates movement.  The big gun is pretty versatile - while it's 1d6 shots, you're still BS3+ to start with and it's S8, AP-2, 2 damage.  You can spend CP to use Disgusting Force, which gets you up to 3 damage per shot (...save a CP to re-roll you off of that '1' for shots, it's coming.  Trust me.) and threatens mortal wounds to packed targets.

If it's on the table, you probably hit it.  Additionally, our Heavy Support slots aren't exactly that contested.  You're also T8 with a 3+/5++ and a dozen wounds in the backfield, which requires work to kill.

CON - Speed, cost, random shots, wants babysitters

175's not the cheapest option here.  You are paying for 1d6 shots out of the primary weapon, which means you're liable to use a CP re-roll or two on this thing over the course of a game.  Finally, unless you kept the plaguespitters, you probably want a screen - fast bodies will hug this, and it's up to your slugger and side-mounted guns to clean that off.

Chaos Predators

Hey, it's the same predator as everyone else, but with Contagions and a Smoke Screen.  They're serviceable, but our book doesn't really provide a ton of support, and as the one item without -1 damage (and a LOT of long range guns) they kinda scream 'shoot me.'

PRO - range, firepower, surprisingly spry

The annihilator can pick up four lascannons (well, a twin and two singles) for 170 points while the destructor can bring its trademark autocannon and two lascannons for 180.  Go ahead and buy that Havoc Launcher for another 5.  These might be the most expensive dedicated gun platforms in the codex, but they reach out to 48" and will leave a mark on something.  They also move a spry 12", unlike 99.9% of the codex.  You'll probably use that speed to hide out of LOS and then grab a position.

CON - comparative durability, cost, allergic to assault

Outside of guns and the speed you may or may not use, the predators have a couple big issues.  First, they have a glaring neon SHOOT ME sign on them - while they're T7, it's 11 wounds on a 3+ armor save.  Your only other form of durability is the smoke screen stratagem - there's just not a lot in the book that really HELPS these guys.

Defiler

Ah, the angry spider-bot.  It got better and you could theoretically tech into long-range anti-tank shooting with a twin-lascannon and Defiler Cannon.  The defiler cannon's a solid S8, AP-2, 3 damage weapon with 1d6 shots out to 72", and we all love lascannons.  My problem with it is that kitting it out for effective shooting means you're skipping out on melee, and realistically this thing leans better towards melee/smashing stuff.

PRO - Can bring some nasty ranged guns, durability

T7, 14 wounds and 3+/5++ is solid.  You regenerate a wound a turn, and can crank accurate shots out the length of the board - hot rolls on the defiler cannon can outperform the Plagueburst Mortar as long as you can see the target.

CON - versatility, cost

Versatility can be a con - if you are making the most out of your range, you've got around 190 points on something with a defiler cannon, havoc launcher, twin las, and some wicked melee.  And you're just not going to use all of that all the time.  Versatility's not a bad thing per se, but it's also not super efficient.  It would be a decent babysitter, but a squad of 5 dudes with objective secured can flip an objective on it unless your dice go hot.  You take these guys in a demon engine army and enjoy the fact they can shoot.

-The Forge World Options-

Remember, per the 7 Jan 21 FAQ, if it has the <LEGION> keyword and can take the NURGLE keyword, we can take it.  Thank nurgle.

Decimator

Hey, it's a weird demon engine with a variety of guns.  We can get some use out of this thing.  Pay attention to the butcher cannons (4 shots each, S7, AP-2, 2 damage) and the Soulburner petard (only 24" range, but they're assault 2d3 and on a 2+ to wound it's a mortal wound).

PROS - Reasonable durability, range OR mortal wound output, reasonable speed

You're T7 with 12 wounds, 3+/5++ and a regenerating wound per turn.  Sadly, there's no damage reduction but we can't have everything.  Paired butcher cannons are plenty serviceable - 8 shots out to 36" with S7, AP-2 and 2 damage can grind down anything that doesn't have a -1 to damage.  The average vs T7/3+ armor is 6-8 wounds per turn with a pair.  The soulburner petard gets interesting; you lose range (and increase risk to yourself) but average around 3-4 mortal wounds vs. everything, with a range of 4-12 shots a turn.  Also, you move 9", which is nice.

CONS - Degrading statline, little support

This thing isn't that bad, honestly.  The major cons that come to mind is that Death Guard just don't do a ton for generic demon engines outside of, say, a stratagem for a 4++ save and a weird relic for healing them a little.

Chaos Contemptor

You like options?  Welcome to options.

PROS - range and firepower

You're spoiled for choice, but if you really want raw firepower it's two twin lascannons and a cyclone missile launcher.  If you want to trim points you can go for autocannons, but that's your call.  Reach out and touch someone at 48 inches, hard.

CONS - cost, target priority, lack of support

If you go with the all-out crazy firepower, it's around 215 points.  You're T7, 9W, 3+/5++ and your only defense is a -1 to incoming damage, so um.  Yeah.  Be careful.  Note that you also pay a CP to bring the dreadnought as well, and you have neither the CORE keyword nor the HELBRUTE keyword.  That being said, I can definitely see testing these guys.

Chaos Leviathan

You like options and you want them on a vintage, beefy chassis?  Now you're in the right spot.

PROS - Really pretty murderous, some solid options, reasonable speed

Two guns stick out - the storm cannons and the grav-flux bombard.  I would consider two loadouts - paired storm cannons, or a grav-flux bombard and close-combat weapon.  Storm cannons drop eight S7, AP-1, 2 damage shots out to 36" per gun.  You'll chip 5-6 wounds off the average T7 transport, and once Contagions come into play, it gets worse.  The grav-flux bombard is a weird, nasty weapon - it's Heavy 2d3 Blast at S8, AP3, 2 damage (up to 3 damage vs saves of 3+) but it has a max range of 18".  That's one reason I consider a melee weapon - (which is S14, AP-3, 3 damage and has a built-in meltagun because why not).  You're also getting all this on a T7 platform with 14 wounds and a 2+/5++ save with -1 incoming damage.

I skip past the melta lance mostly because it's crazy nasty but not quite as versatile or reliable as the grav-flux. (1d6 shots vs 2d3, 1d6 damage vs. flat).  It can spike, but the bombards engage a variety of targets.

Also remember you've got a pair of heavy flamers, but you could always replace those with volkite calivers for more S5 shots out to 30". (S5, no AP, 2 damage, mortal wounds on 6s.  Man, the 30ks were weird times.)

CONS - cost, target priority, lack of support

You're 220 points base, and a CP - 240 if you went double storm cannons.  You're neither CORE nor HELBRUTE.  Honestly, you kinda don't need either.

Chaos Deredo

Pure shooty classic dreadnought.

PROS - no frills rate of fire

Base model packs 8 shots of S7, AP-2, 2 damage and you're probably buying a missile launcher for 3d3 shots of S6, AP-1 fun as well.  You also get heavy bolters, and have the option to trade your main gun for a six-shot plasma cannon, a two-shot 3+d3 lascannon, or a weird 6 shot S8, AP-2 2 damage gun that drops 2 mortal wounds on 6s to wound. (Volkite! Lightning! DEAD STUFF!)

CONS - Expensive, lack of support

Same thing as the other dreads from Forge World - you're around 200 points and a CP and have minimal support.  You're still kind of nasty.  

Greater Blight Drone

What would happen if someone sped up a Bloat Drone and gave it longer-ranged guns?  This.  This is what would happen.  It gets a plague Reaper autocannon, a spray, and a so-so melee attack.

PROS - cheap

It's 125pts for a bloat drone stat line that got a 14" move and a reaper autocannon that re-rolls 1s to hit.  

CONS - Competes for fast attack slots

It's cheap, but it's not a lot of output.  Bloat Drones cost around the same points and demand attention because they will drop a dozen marine-shredding or vehicle-crippling attacks.

The Sicaran Tank Family

The Sicaran chassis is essentially a faster, beefier predator that costs CP to take.  They're T7, 14W, a 2+ save and a 14" move.  They also start with a hull heavy bolter, and have the option to take sponson lascannons or heavy bolters.  There are three options.

Regular Sicaran main gun - 48" range, 6 shots, S7, AP-2, 3 damage

Venator - 48" range, 3 shots, S12, AP-3, d6 damage (6 if stationary)

Punisher - 36" range, 18 shots, S6, AP-1, 1 damage

PROS - Solid ranged firepower, speed, reasonable durability

All three options can lay on the hurt at range.  The venator looks sick while stationary, but is a bit more swingy due to low volume of shots and the lack of any support.  The punisher actually stays a little more reliable just due to straight volume of fire - it's also the cheapest.  Take your sponson heavy bolters and you end up right at 200pts, and you just sandblast targets to death.

CONS - Price, lack of support

You're going to pay around 200 points for these tanks.  The only real support you have is the smoke screen stratagem.

Rapier Carriers

Do you like crew-served artillery?  Who doesn't.  You have a choice of four weapons -

Graviton Cannon - 36", 1d6 shots, S6, AP-3, 2 damage (3 damage vs. 3+ or better saves)

Laser Destroyer - 36", Heavy 3, S10, AP-4, 3+d3 damage

Quad Heavy Bolter - 36", Heavy 12, S5, AP-1, 2 damage

Quad Launcher - EITHER 24", Heavy 4, S8, AP-2, 3 damage, OR 60", Heavy 4d3, S4, AP0, 1 damage, may shoot at what you can't see

The only one that doesn't call out to me is the Graviton Cannon.  The quad heavy bolter cranks out enough firepower to sandblast stuff to death, but we really like the Laser Destroyer and the Quad Launcher

PROS - firepower

These are all about guns.  Or rather, one big gun.  Get into position, take the shot. 

CON - Mobility, Durability

These things move 4", and are a whopping T5, W5 per model for an 85-120pt model.   You really want to stay back and out of range.

Death Guard - First Game in, First Impressions

 I threw dice with the new book.  Unlike 95% of the community, I didn't drop Mortarion on game one.  I hit up an old buddy's Black Templar.  My list was a little something like this -

Mortarion's Anvil - Battalion

Winged Demon Prince - 2x Claws, Warlord - Gloaming Bloat, Warp Hive, psychic power - Putrescent Vitality

Malignant Plague Caster - Gift of Plagues, Miasma of Pestilence

5 Deathshroud Terminators

2x5 Blightlord Terminators - Flail, Blight Launcher

Plague Surgeon - Fugaris' helm

Foul Blight Spawn - Revolting Stench Vats

Helbrute - Multi melta, missile launcher

Helbrute - Multi melta, fist, combi-bolter

2x5 Plague Marines - blight launcher

2x Pox Walker Blobs

2x Bloat Drones w/ Flesh Mowers

BLACK TEMPLARS at a Glance

Primaris Biker Chaplain

Grimaldus

Primaris Techmarine (master of the forge, relic of 4++ invuln for a turn)

Blob of Hammer/Shield Assault Terminators

Apothecary (WL trait for free revives)

Blob of storm shield vanguard vets w/ a few hammers and a Sword of Judgment

2x MM/bolter Venerable Dreads, Ironclad w/ Hurricane Bolter, 2x Hunter-killer missiles

3x Crusader Squads to babysit objectives

Suppressor Squad

2x Outrider Squads

IMPRESSIONS

OVERALL - This army is slow, durable, and requires careful deployment - unless you're deep-striking or coming in from strategic reserves, you're not going to go that far.  We don't have a lot of shooting or long-range assets, so be prepared to protect those.  Being tough doesn't mean you break cover and walk in the open, daring the enemy to attack you.  2+ saves like cover just like everyone else.

By Assets

Demon Prince - I realize claws are now AP-1; I realized this when I charged storm shield terminators.  I'm lucky I'm not dead.  The sword is 100% the way to go on these guys.  Wings are expensive, but I like the FLY keyword.

Psychic Powers - Miasma's basically an auto-take.  Gift of Plagues depends on your warlord traits, but debuff contagion auras (and Flash Outbreak) along with this are dumb.  Gift of Plagues can do work even as turns tick over, since debuffs are great!

Blightlords - mine are modeled with axes.  I am still reasonably pleased with axes - S6, AP-2 means I'm hitting on 3s and wounding on re-rolling 2s vs most infantry and swords are 3's and 3's.  S6 also lets me grind at vehicles in a pinch.  I'll see if I keep that opinion, but the flail and the blight launcher are obvious keeps.  I'd considered a combi-weapon or two, but didn't miss it much - we're so slow that you might get one productive melta shot, or a turn or two of plasma plinking at best.

Deathshroud - If you're going to bring a brick of terminators and characters, you're bringing a unit of these.  They're murder, though the spray pistols need contagions to kick in for that S3 to be meaningful.  No one really wants to get close to them.

Pox Walkers - if you've got enough other threats out there, people probably aren't going to waste the volume of fire necessary to kill 15-20 of these guys off an objective.  If you're going to tie up stuff, don't be like me and derp out and forget dreadnoughts with hurricane bolters can fire those in assault.

Plague Surgeon - take Fugaris' helm.  That is all.  Seriously.  

Foul Blightspawn - take revolting stench vats.  Seriously.  A 6" no-charge bubble is a lot more user-friendly and harder to avoid than a 3" targeting "you fight last" power.  The spray is a mop-up ability here.

Helbrutes - we get our big guns where we can.  I think most of my lists will start with either a couple of these or a couple Blight Haulers.  These things get terrifying if someone chips a wound off them; Fire Fever means I'm hitting on 2s (and possibly re-rolling 1s) then I'm wounding most armor on a 2 (and re-rolling 1s if wounded).  I really don't care if I have to put a combi-bolter into an armored target for those bonuses.  One of mine got popped early after whiffing, and another smoked the Ironclad, then almost beat a second dread to death (..before someone made a couple 6s to shrug).

Bloat Drones - Our book needs mobility badly - this is an option.  Again, if I'm not taking Blight Haulers, I'm probably take a couple of these.  The heavy blight launcher isn't bad per se, but the flesh mower is just terrifying.  One guy tanked dreadnought multi-meltas (more luck than anything else) and then delayed them; another used the "eat guys for wounds" stratagem, and managed to do some solid work and last the game.  Any sane opponent with guns is going to do their level best to murder these to deny you options.

Hilariously, bloat drones are allergic to AP-1 bolt guns, or 1d6 damage weapons.  

Death Guard - First Impressions of Plague Companies

 

So, we have a pretty solid new codex - and unlike, say, most other books, we're just one chapter.  However, we have seven options for companies.  Each plague company offers us a unique warlord trait, a relic, and stratagem.

So, what do we want to do with these?  Note we already have some solid warlord traits and relics, so you may just be looking at stratagems.

First Company - The Harbingers

SHORT VERSION - The Harbingers are melee-oriented, with a stratagem for helping Pox Walkers and a so-so relic and warlord trait.

LONG VERSION

The meat here is The Wrathful Dead - for a CP, your poxwalkers re-roll hits.  Throw that on top of the Mutant Straint stratagem, and suddenly you're fishing for 6s to hit for mortal wounds with poxwalker mobs.

The Warlord trait is 'eh' at best - it's not bad if you're around multiple minimum-sized units since stuff in Contagion Range (other than vehicles) takes mortal wounds in the opponent's movement phase on 4+s.  You can luck out and drop d3 mortals.

Infected Remains is gimmicky at best - your relic-bearer drops it on an objective marker, which then has a contagion aura as long as the character lives.  Not saying this can't be useful, but we've got a ton of cool relics.

Second Company - The Inexorable

SHORT VERSION - This company's pretty utilitarian; the stratagem is solid for a melee army.  The warlord trait is neat if you're helping out plague marines, and the relic can actually help heal vehicles - which is kinda rare for this book.  (We're more about just not dying, rather than getting better.)

LONG VERSION

Ferric Miasma is 1CP for a flat -2 to charge - you REALLY get to laugh at stuff trying to charge you from deep strike; hitting a 9 isn't bad, but hitting 11s is...unlikely.  Anyone with charge buffs will need them, and anyone without them is in some shape.

The Warlord Trait is useful IF you tech into a quantity of low AP attacks - it's an aura of +1AP equal to your contagion range.  Terminators don't really care about it, but other stuff does.  It's build-specific, but don't keep The Inexorable for just plague marines.

The Leechspore Casket is...I dunno.  You want someone already killy to carry it, and they need to punch models to death in order to heal a vehicle for some wounds.  If you're going to support some front-line demon engines (anything other than your mortars, really) it's an option, but maybe not the first option.

Third Company - Mortarion's Anvil

SHORT VERSION - This has a hilarious durability warlord trait, a defensive strategem, and a hard-to-fight relic.

LONG VERSION

Gloaming Bloat is just sick - it turns off re-rolls to hit and wound in Contagion Range.  You really want to bring Gift of Plagues for a boost to that range.

Relaptic Assault is a neat stratagem because it's going to make folks be careful about positioning - if you've got multiple units next to each other, it's going to be very hard for them to just hit one in assault.

The Warp Insect Hive is good for full hit/wound re-rolls.  A Demon Prince with two claws and Virulent Fever would like this.  A LOT.

Fourth Company - The Wretched

SHORT VERSION - The stratagem and warlord trait aren't terrible utility, but the relic is 'meh' and other stuff has more straightforward utility.

LONG VERSION

You get a Requisition Stratagem - one psyker gets another power, and one free re-roll a turn.  You'll definitely get some economy out of that.  This might let you get away with one psyker.

The Warlord Trait is good for auto-wounds on sixes in contagion range - so it's a turn 2-3 melee buff unless you commit to Gift of Plagues (...which you should.)

Your relic buffs the Pestilential Fallout on a Malignant Plaguecaster.  These guys aren't super durable, and I'd really rather keep 'em away from the front - and real talk, we've got better relics.

Fifth Company - The Poxmongers

SHORT VERSION - Are you leaning into demon engines like the Blight Hauler or Defiler?  Look at these guys.  Otherwise, skip.

LONG VERSION

Your stratagem is all about letting that demon engine fire at point blank range with blast weapons, and a nice +1 to hit as a bonus.  The Defiler and Blight Hauler find this hilarious.

Your Warlord Trait is so-so at best, since it's a leadership debuff and a combat attrition debuff - small beefy units don't care about it, even if we do have a neat -4LD stratagem laying around.

The Relic leans into your demon engines - someone gets a 4++ instead of their 5++.

Sixth Company - The Ferrymen

SHORT VERSION - There's a bonkers warlord trait, a decent buff stratagem for your elites, and a decent relic for your scythe-wielding guys.

LONG VERSION

The Droning is one of the ugliest-looking warlord traits we have - 1/2 movement to enemies in your Contagion Range.  Gift of Contagion is a hard must here, and you need this on a mobile warlord to throw at the enemy - you may lose it (unless it's Mortarion) but you can potential hobble an enemy army for a turn, so there's that.

The stratagem is pretty reasonable - +6" to your FOETIED VIRION (aka - your elite buff guys) auras is a tool you can find a use for - IE, a 9" range for your "you can't fight 'til we're done here" off the Blightbringer is ugly.

The relic isn't quite as insane as some - it's a manreaper that lets you crank three swings on scything swings instead of two, but you also can't dump one of our plague upgrades on it.  Considering our other stuff, eh.  Not too worried, and we have other relics.

Seventh Company - Mortarion's Chosen Sons

SHORT VERSION - Do you like sprays?  Are you bringing lots of Death Shroud?  Then this is your company.

LONG VERSION

The stratagem is pretty specific, and very ugly - plague belchers, spewers, and plaguespurt gauntlets are damage 2.  A unit of five Death Shroud can crank out 6d6 shots (admittedly at S3, but -1T is a thing) and stuff's gonna notice.

The Warlord trait, Nurgle's Fruit, is pretty utilitarian - it turns cover off in Contagion Range.  Not bad, but we're also not the shootiest army - I feel like we can kinda skip this.

Vomitryx is a hilarious-sounding relic - it's a flat 7 shots at AP-3, 2 damage - cool, right?  There is literally only one problem - it replaces a plague sprayer, which means it goes on a Foul Blightspawn, which means it competes with Revolting Stench Vats.  What do you want more?  A really neat flamer, or a an aura of "you didn't charge, you don't fight first" in a slow army. If you're taking two of these guys, maybe this would be cool - but eh.

The Wrapup

Some of these companies lean into certain builds - the first helps your Poxmongers, the Seventh Company is tailor-made for Deathshroud terminators, and the Fifth is all about Demon Engines.  The fourth is...well, it's a plague company.  The remaining ones offer different types of utility, but don't necessarily scream for one type of unit over another.

Death Guard - Picking Through the Plague Marine Datasheet

Options - lots of options

 If you've picked up the new Death Guard book, you may have noticed that the Plague Marine datasheet is a wee bit beefy.  It has lots of options - like, a lot.  A potentially overwhelming number of option.  At this point, my plan is to figure out how I'm going to think about thinking about the datasheet.

Question Zero - Am I taking Plague Marines?

Technically, I don't HAVE to take plague marines - I can take terminators and then take pox walkers or cultists - three terminator squads let me grab three non-plague-marine troop squads, so I could leave these guys at home.  Realistically, you'd taking Pox Walkers for immunity to morale and Objective Secured.

For the purposes of this thought experiment, let's assume the answer is 'yes.'

Question 1 - Small unit or large?

You can take 5-10 guys.  Five-man squads fill out slots, or objective-sit.  If a five-man squad goes into assault, it goes into a fist fight with something it's going in as a mop-up or as part of a group.  My first impression is that the five-man squad should consider a ranged option so they can contribute whenever - also, seriously, Death Guard don't have a lot of guns, so you might as well get that wehere you can.

If you're a larger squad, you've decided you're going to do damage - decide if you want a Rhino, or if you're going to walk up the field.  If you're going to jog up the field, consider guns and a couple melee options.

OVERALL - 5 guys bring a gun, sit on an objective and/or sit behind someone and plink.  10 guys do damage and should realistically kit out for shooting and fighting.

Question 2 - Which guns?

We have access to three types of guns - plasma guns, blight launchers, and meltaguns.  The meltaguns look attractive on a squad of 10 that are moving upfield to attack - you might have to crack armor open, and you might want to slag a monster.

The plasma gun and blight launcher are a little bit closer.  The blight launcher beats the plasma gun for damage, plasma gets it in rate of fire.  I'm a little split, as earlier in the game S7 on a ranged weapon is bound to do more damage early on.  Note that the champ can still take a plasma gun as well, so you can double up on aplsma.

I feel like the plague belcher is definitely an option, but I'd rather focus on what we need help with - the meltagun seems like a more useful option for a couple points.  The plague spewer is I guess an option for a rhino-mounted squad, but if it gets popped early you're choosing between shooting and running since it's heavy. (IE - this is the flamer vs. heavy flamer comparison on a squad that cranks out a bunch of WS3+, AP-1 melee attacks against targets at -1 toughness...)

OVERALL - Realistically, a 5-man squad is a toss-up between the blight launcher and a plasma gun or two, or a double plasma gun.  10 guys should think about the meltagun since they're definitely trying to move and get close.

Question 3 - Sarge's Melee Options

Every squad's got a champ.  The champ can bring melee stuff in addition to that potential plasma gun.

Champ can bring one of three melee weapons - the bog-standard plague knife, a daemonic plague blade, or a power fist.  The plague knife is free, and is AP-1.  The daemonic plague blade picks up a +1S bonus, and appears to be free as well unless it gets FAQ'd, so you definitely take that.  The only real question is "do I pay 10 points for a powerfist."

If you're babysitting the backfield, you skip the 'fist.

If you're moving upfield, consider the fist.  There's very little T9 in the game, and with the Contagions of Nurgle ability you're throwing S8 vs T7 max 99.9% of the time.  As long as you hit with those swings, someone's gonna feel it.

Question 4 - The squad's melee options

Now, it gets interesting.  The squad can take several noteworthy melee options - the flail of corruption, the great plague cleaver, and the mace of contagion (and bubotic axe pair).  Hello, analysis.  These all cost about the same; the mace/axe is ~2pts cheaper.

The Short Version - the cleaver has a chance to spike damage vs. vehicles, and if you bring a nice to-hit buff (hello, Mr. Tallyman) and really need anti-vehicle work, consider the cleaver.

THE LONG VERSION - MATH AHEAD

The Flail of Corruption - S5, AP-2, 2 Damage - swings 2x per attack, so 4 attacks on a plague marine

The Great Plague Cleaver - S8, Ap-3, D6 damage, -1 to hit

The Mace of Contagion - S6, AP-1, 3 damage, -1 to hit

Bubotic Axe - S6, AP-2, 1 damage

So again, the question here is - what do we want to kill?  You've already got a bunch of guys with 2 attacks on WS3+, AP-1, S4, -1T (so T4 infantry are taking wounds on 3+.)

Our concern is going to be heavy infantry (like 2-3W beefy melee guys, IE Terminators or Ogryn) and vehicles.  Part of this concern is going to be what else is in the army - see the meltagun argument.

VS T4-5 heavy infantry -

FLAIL - 2.6 hits > 1.7 wounds > 3.5 damage on average - you'll get a couple 2W guys, or one 3W guy

CLEAVER - 1 hit > 0.83 wounds > 2.9 damage on average - you'll probably get the 2W guy, the 3W guy is a 33% miss because of that d6

MACE - 1 hit > 0.66 wounds > 2 damage average - ok, the damage average is weird here, but the AP (which we're not doing here) makes this thing get wonky depending on what you're hitting.

VS Vehicles/Monsters

It gets interesting here, because we've got an S5, an S6, and an S8 weapon.  The cleaver doesn't care because it's always gonna wound on a 3+.  The flail's wound number changes after T6, and the Mace changes after T7.

CLEAVER - 2 Swings > 1 Hit > 0.83 wounds > 2.9 damage

FLAIL

vs. T6 - 4 Swings > 2.67 hits > 1.33 wounds > 2.67 damage

vs. T7+ - 4 Swings > 2.67 hits > 0.88 wounds > 1.78 damage

MACE

vs. T6 - same as vs. infantry; 2 damage average

vs. T7 - 2 swings > 1 hit > 0.5 wounds > 1.5 damage

vs. T8 - 2 swings > 1 hit > 0.33 wounds > 1 damage

So at this point, real talk - the mace is kinda 'meh' - 3 damage is nice, but it's kind of a trap.  I'd rather bring a lot of attacks via the flail, or I'd rather bring the d6 damage and try to spike it.  S8, AP-3 puts the cleaver head and shoulders above the mace in most matchups I can think of.

Question 5 - Icons, etc.

You also have options for the Icon of Despair and Sigil of Decay.  You can technically take both.

The Icon lets you drop a 1d6 in the morale phase, and each enemy you're engaged with eats a 4+ mortal wound.  If you think you're going to stay in the fight for a while, it's an option - but with a 4+, eh.  I feel like I'll spend points elsewhere first.

The Sigil of Decay lets bolt weapons auto-wound on a 6+.  That's legit interesting, but only on a max squad - it could help with chip damage in the first few turns vs T5+ targets, and realistically, any time you skip rolling dice for guaranteed results is good.

Wrap-up - What do squads look like?

Ok, we've considered guns, we've considered melee weapons - now what does all this analysis look like?

The 5-man squads are building blocks; the 10-man squads are things you build around as a theme.

5-man squads

Keep it simple, keep it cheap - grab a gun or two, sit in the back.  Score.  Try not to die or look too threatening.

5 guys, 2 plasma guns - 130 points - you bring this when you're more likely to sit near a re-roll bubble for a couple turns, but it's solid firepower.

5 guys, blight launcher - 120 points - it's cheap, it can contribute.  It doesn't care about babysitters, and it's a little more reliable at popping 2-wound infantry.

Larger Squads

Real talk - go 10 guys for the max options, or go with a weird mix of stuff.  You want to fight, but you also want to be realistic about just how much you can dictate your fight.  Consider a Rhino as well.

10 marines, fist on sarge, 2 flails, 2 meltaguns - 250pts - advance, try to melta armor, then try to charge in and wreck whatever you can.  It's versatile, it's nasty, it'll leave a mark but man you're light on range.

10 marines, fist on sarge, 2 cleavers, 2 blight launchers - 250pts - your ranged weapons are anti-infantry / able to soften up crap, and your other stuff is decent for killing anything else in melee.

7 Marines - Fist on Sarge, Flail, meltagun - 177pts - eh, 7-8ish dudes is a weird spot, but that's what squads look like.  This kind of loadout is a swiss army tool; you've got anti-armor shooting, but maybe not the ability to spike fresh armor off the shot/charge.

10-man Shooty - Plasma on sarge, 2 plasma guns, sigil of decay - 250pts - ok, real talk here - this is a HUGE commitment for a squad that exists to just dump dice at 24."  Can you do it?  Yeah, sure.  I'm not super convinced you should.  Also, real talk, it needs one of your precious LORDS for a re-roll 1 aura to make the plasma worth it.

Conclusions

The 5-man babysitter squads are definitely a solid objective-holder / tool squad.  The 10-man squads are beefy as hell, but are bound to compete with our solid Terminator options.  I'm not quite 1000% sold on larger squads, but I feel like they're worth a test.

The New Death Guard - And Rampant Speculation For Chaos Space Marines Changes

So, the Death Guard book hit the streets today. There are tons of folks who've already posted thoughts on it, and I'll get around to that. First off, though, I'm going to take a minute and speculate on what this might mean for the other chaos fellas. Remember, Death Guard may have a lot of special toys, but they've also got a bunch of units in common with regular Chaos Marines and other stuff. Some of these changes look pretty solid, and some others might be cause for concern. Also, some just plain confuse me.

The Good 

Demon Engines - I would expect them to go to WS/BS3+ across the board. The Lord Discordant may or may not keep his +1 to hit buff at this point; who knows. The Defiler - it got a better gun; flat 3 damage is something. 

 Helbrutes - Note that in an army full of '-1 damage' these guys have it too, but it's called 'Monstrous Resilience' which is pretty neutral. They get another buff in 'Frenzy' - unlike previous iterations where being wounded meant you killed your buddies, being wounded means that you get to re-roll wound rolls of 1. This combines neatly with the 1CP stratagem 'fire frenzy' which is good for +1 to hit and +1 to wound if you shoot everything at the same target. 

 Chaos Spawn - Their random attacks are a little more reliable; it's now 2d3 a model. The interesting thing is this - there's a stratagem, Grandfather's Influence, that grants them Disgustingly Resilient and T6. Makes me wonder if we're going to see similar god-specific stratagems in the new book. I think it's pretty neat. At 23pts a model, it's a reasonable distraction unit - even moreso if you can get some cool buffs out on them.

Miasmic Malignifier - Hear me out - the SM bunker of 'whatever' was so-so, and the Convergence of Dominion is weird to use.  This thing, though?  This thing is pretty solid, pretty cheap, and pretty usable.  The only potential problem is slapping it in a useful spot on a table.  

Foetid Virion - hey, you have lots of buff characters - and now you get 3 per Elite slot.  Rules like these help with army building, and it continues things we saw with Crypteks in the necron book.

The Bad 

Cultists - Hoo boy. Odds are that you have a pile of these guys laying around. They take a couple hits in the Death Guard book - you have to take BUBONIC ASTARTES units alongside these guys, so you can't just bring Demon Engines and cultists. (Not really a problem since this book's good, but worth noting.) Also, they lost Objective Secured. Really, what this does is mean that a big unit can't take a hit from a few guys and still hold an objective - it hurts, but cultists aren't known for sticking around long when bullets and blades start flying. 

 Lord Restrictions - it's not necessarily bad, but expect restrictions similar to marines and company with respect to HQs.  You get one LORD OF THE DEATH GUARD per detachment.  I mean, you were gonna be bringing psykers for our sweet, sweet powers anyway.  Regular Chaos Marines are bound to have solid variety in the the HQs.

Possessed - So, the downside is that they take 2 slots in a Land Raider, and don't fit in a Rhino.  I'd expect errata extending this to the Forge World transports as well.  So long as Warp Time remains a thing, I'm not sure if regular marines will worry as much.

The Ugly 

Plague Marine / Blight Lord Options - it seriously looks like some of the weapon options got dictated by the kits. I'm not sure what's up with this. I feel like someone, somewhere, was like "Oh, I bet it'll be easier if the weapon options are identical to the kit!" except having one of each combi-weapon on a blightlord squad is just weird - and there's not enough of eithr melee option to kit a full 5 out with each.  It's a little nonsensical.

  The Plague Marine squad is just kinda confusing, and is going to take a minute to sort through, especially if you want a melee squad.  There's a bunch of 1-per-5, so you could somehow end up with a 10-man squad that carried two plague cleavers, two flails, two paired plague knives, two meltaguns, a sigil of decay/boltgun, and a sarge with fist and daemonic plague knife.  (Good luck pulling casualties or rolling melee hits in a reasonable amount of time.)

Splitting Chaos Predator Datasheets - I don't see the relevance myself, but whatever.  I guess it matters if you somehow wanted to run 3 of each.

Overall

This seems like a net positive at first glance for Chaos Marines down the road - some of our stuff is bound to get tweaked, the only thing that really confuses me is the "ooh, maybe let's make options similar to what's in the box, except not always!"  Thank the gods that logic passed the Devastators by, because that would probably punt devs HARD.

More on Iron Hands and 9th - Post 7 Jan Points Tweaks

 

I've had some time to play around with the sons of Ferrus Manus and test some of my initial impressions.  We've also had a points adjustment since then, and a forge world index drop.

The question, then, is what do we do better than other marines, and what's worth building around?  Also, are there things that just look neat, but are somehow not quite as cool for us as others?  And, finally, do we have some hilarious tricks or things?

The Iron Father

Post 7 Jan FAQ, he's 160 points.  That's a significant increase over a regular techmarine, and really, you're paying for his 5++ invuln save bubble.  Unless you're going to push a bunch of Intercessors up the table, I don't think he's really worth it.  Yes, he gives +1 to hit out more freely, but seriously, you've got re-rolls for CORE stuff already.

MOVING OUT - Build around him, or leave at home.

The Relic Character Contemptor of Dakka

Would you like to bury a bunch of heavy weapons on a character that really does NOT care about snipers?  For a little over 200 points and 2-3 CP, you can bring the sniper dreadnought from hell.  Take a Relic Contemptor, drop a pair of twin-las on it, and buy a Cyclone missile launcher for good measure.  Pay a second CP (you already paid one for Martial Legacy) for March of the Ancients, and since he's 9W, he just needs to hang back for Look Out, Sir.  If you REALLY want to have fun, give him the Warlord Trait 'targeting protocols' - he can hand out a re-roll to hit, a re-roll to wound, and a re-roll to damage.

He's not CORE, but you might have a techmarine nearby for a +1 to hit, or you might just buff yourself.  You're kicking out six shots that are probably wounding on a 3-4 and then doing 1d6 damage per shot.  It's a chunk of points, but unless you throw him out too far forward or just get your screens nuked, this guy is bound to have a few turns of ugly, ugly shooting.

MOVING OUT - not for smaller point games, but it's a bloody productive model.

Grav Devastators in Drop Pods

Seriously, the ability to drop in and drop a bucket of accurate dice is solid.  24" is "you have to hide out of LOS, you aren't screening this out" range.  If this unit lives, you can pay a CP and promptly go back into the devastator doctrine.

I suppose you could lean into drop-pod multi-melta if you wanted to, but that seems like overkill and you have other ways to deliver that capability (like, say, Eradicators and possibly strategic reserves).

I suppose you could also use traditional long-range devastators and leverage the "revert to devastator doctrine" stratagem as well, but grav is tasty and demands a response.

MOVING OUT - it's just shy of 200pts and a heavy support slot, and it's not hard to fit into a build.

On Dreadnoughts

Real talk here - I think it's safe to say we do the Redemptor very well; a 6+ shrug on wounds and no stat degradation until we're on 3 wounds remaining?  Come on.  They're  big, they hit hard, and I'm having a hard time not putting 1-2 in my list before looking elsewhere.  They're even more fun when you get a Librarian with Psychic Fortress Up, because now you've got a tasty 5++ save.

Venerable dreadnoughts are in a different spot - 2+ to hit is pretty awesome, but the 6+ shrug they come with is redundant, and they don't degrade.  We lose a touch of efficiency here, but a venerable dread is still a bargain-bin pick for March of the Ancients and guns.

The other dreadnoughts skip out on our ability to basically ignore degrading stats, but they're good with the 6+ FNP.   The core advantage they have is weapons choices - and really, the only standouts are the twin lascannon and the multi-melta.  You trade out a LOT of volume for these - a dozen S6 shots and another 8 at S5, then your small arms fire and possibly that Icarus pod (because at 5pts, why not.)

The Ironclad is worth mentioning because T8 is significant - small arms and most melee shifts to 6+ to wound, and most heavy weapons are on 4+ to wound now.

MOVING OUT - Redemptors are awesome.  It's hard to say not to them because we make them shine.  The biggest competitor is the relic contemptor sniper build mentioned above.

On the Apothecary

So, these guys got a nice buff.  The thing is, we already have half of what an apothecary offers - a 6+ shrug.  So, we bring one to resurrect guys.  A Chief Apothecary is around 100pts and a warlord trait (probably means he's your warlord, and you're spending a CP to buff someone else, or he's getting his trait for a CP).  If you didn't bring a beefy unit of special characters, skip this guy - you want to bring back something like Terminators, Aggressors, Bladeguard Veterans, Eradicators or something else tasty.

If you're bringing him to bring back intercessors, think about what you'd get out of 5 more intercessors on the field right away.

MOVING OUT - Much as I like this model, Iron Hands really want more of a plan for it since the 6+ shrug aura is redundant.

Warlord Traits / Relics of Note

Don't neglect Student of History - it's not really killy by itself, but Paragon of Iron for a more killy trait (like Sword of the Imperium) along with this lets your Warlord back out of combat on your opponents turn, letting you shoot things and then charge or relocate.

Sword the Imperium + Axe of Medusa = bargain thunder hammer on the charge; you get an S8, AP-3 3 damage power axe that hits on 2s.

If you really want to try to make a Repulsor Executioner work (or some other weird, large FW tank) consider a Techmarine with the Iron Stone and Targeting Protocols; -1 damage from your relic, +1BS and a re-roll to hit, wound, and damage is tasty.  It's also a lot of eggs in one basket.

Aegis Ferrum + The Flesh is Weak-- if you really, really, REALLY have to be tanky, you can stack +1W, -1 damage, and a 5+ shrug (that goes to 4+ via stratagem) on a model.  This gets kinda dumb on bike characters (T6, W7 biker captain, T6, W8 biker primaris chaplain) and the captain in gravis armor (T6, W8).  Make sure your character can already do damage with his existing weapons, though.  (Hammer/shield bike, Gravis say "HI!" and then promptly want to beat the hell out of you.)

On Flyers

Look, even though we have a 6+ shrug, I really can't bring myself to recommend more than 0-2 flyers in a list at any given moment.  Marine flyers are a touch flimsy - best-case scenario is they fly across the board, dump bullets into a hard-to-see target, and then get dead.

MOVING OUT - I'll bring them occasionally for fun, but anyone with guns is going to spike them as hard as they can, just because you can take out a lot of firepower for the wounds.  170-220pts for 10W on a T6-T7 chassis that's in short-to-medium range just isn't that hot, even with a -1 to hit.