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.