Time for another leak and rumor compilation, this time we have Warhammer 40k Death Guard 9th edition codex, rumors, leaks, previews. As with the other compilations the A running compilation of rumors, leaks, sneak peaks for Death Guard 9th edition codex. With new rules, point adjustments, stratagems and units. Compilation will feature both Games Workshop community info and any Internet leaks and rumors as they come!

Check back everyday as new leaks and rumors for Warhammer 40k Death Guard 9th edition codex will be added, without notification.

Pre-orders: January 9th 2021 Release Date: January 16th 2021 2020 

• Death Guard 9th edition codex: $50
• Miasmic Malignifier: $48
• Lord of Virulence: $40
• Cards: $25
• Dice: $35

Codex is out catch up with all the rules at the 9th edition Death Guard Compendium 

9th Edition Death Guard Compendium

Warhammer Community Sneak Peeks

Clad in ancient Terminator armour and with a vicious twin plague spewer in hand, the Lord of Virulence is a supporting commander par excellence with a host of abilities for improving the Marines they lead into battle. As an expert in artillery and long-range bombardment, the ranged Plague Weapons carried by nearby troops reach new levels of efficiency thanks to the Lord’s Master of Destruction ability.

Combined with Plague Weapons’ ability to re-roll wound rolls of 1, your Core units will have an easier time than ever inflicting a barrage of wounds that bypass the flimsy armour of the Corpse-Emperor’s teeming masses. If dishing out mortal wounds is on the cards, their peerless ability to direct artillery fire allows them to reduce the cost of the Blight Bombardment Stratagem by 1CP.

As recipients of one of the Mantles of Corruption, Lords of Virulence are graced by the hand of Mortarion himself, the chosen son of Nurgle, and elevated above their peers to represent the lethal contagions of their spiritual grandfather’s garden. Flanked by thunderous war machines and the deadly legions of the Death Guard, few can withstand the furious torrent of their combined firepower.

1. Mortarion’s Warlord Trait(s)

Back in December, we gave you a first look at the new datasheet for Mortarion – check it out if you haven’t already – but many questions were left unanswered. What, for instance, is his Warlord Trait? We’re glad you asked.

That’s right, the Daemon Primarch has not one, but three traits when he takes to the field as your Warlord. We’ve already seen how tough the chosen of Nurgle are thanks to their Disgustingly Resilient rule, but now that he’s Revoltingly Resilient too** it’ll be even harder to put a scratch on the favoured son of Nurgle. Combined with his Host of Plagues ability giving him a choice of one more Warlord Trait from among the six Plague Companies, he’s stuffed to bursting with special rules to terrorise your opponents with.

2.More durable Poxwalkers

Everybody’s favourite shambling sacks of sepsis have always been a mainstay on the table alongside their Plague Marine betters. What the unwise might have seen as a mere meat shield before are about to become a threat to be respected.

Of particular note is that their close combat prowess is no longer determined by the size of the mob – instead, they hit on a 4+ as standard. Coupled with a new base Toughness of 4, they’re sure to form a dangerous wall of moaning, groaning bodies, daring the enemy to come within their grasp. 

You might think all this newfound power comes with a price tag, but they’re even cheaper than before. There’s truly never been a better time to flood the table with the cursed victims of the Walking Pox.

3. Tougher Death Guard Chaos Lords

Regular Chaos Lords of the Death Guard have cause to rejoice, as they now have the resilience to match their pestilent brothers-in-arms. While originally they had more in common with their unblessed peers among the Traitor Legions, now both Chaos Lords and Sorcerers of the Death Guard have Toughness 5, Contagions of Nurgle, and Disgustingly Resilient to better fit into your armies. No longer will they have to abide such an affront to their pride as matching the Toughness of their False Emperor-worshipping counterparts.

4. More Contagions

Speaking of the Contagions of Nurgle, we mentioned last week that each Plague Company will have its own special brand of ‘gift’ to bequeath unto their Warlord. Here are two more for you to salivate over ahead of the full codex release.

5. Deathshroud Terminators fight harder and run faster

Your choppiest Terminators just got even choppier. While star billing might go to their increased Weapon Skill of 2+, befitting the close combat specialists of the Death Guard, their vicious manreapers won’t be left behind with two new close combat profiles for you to choose from.

Neither Elite warriors nor massed Infantry will interrupt the inexorable advance of these silent messengers of Nurgle, and advance they will. The Deathshroud have clearly been doing their cardio, as their heavy Cataphractii Terminator plate no longer slows them down and allows them to advance just as quickly as everyone else. 

Finally, as true heralds of Nurgle’s plagues, Deathshroud Terminators are equipped to spread his concoctions even further than the rest of their brethren, adding three inches to the range of their Contagions of Nurgle ability thanks to the chimes of contagion. Just in case your opponents needed any more reasons to give them a wide berth.

6. Custom Contagions for your Crusades

An all-new suite of Crusade rules will take your campaigns of corruption to new heights, with wonderfully thematic Battle Traits and Requisitions to upgrade your units. Of particular note, is the ability to craft and customise your own bespoke Plague to spread among your opponents’ armies. By randomly determining a Vector, an Infection, and a Terminus, you can bring all sorts of unholy effects to bear upon your foes.

Like many Plagues, you also have the option of evolving yours over time, but you’ll need to stay tuned to Warhammer Community to find out how you can do that later this week.

7. Foetid Bloat-drones fly into close combat

Finally, another unit we mentioned last week has a new lease on life with an upgraded close combat capability thanks to the fearsome fleshmower.

With a horde-spooking maximum of 12 attacks each*** and a new Weapon Skill of 3+, Bloat-drones will now have to think long and hard about whether they want to spread the gifts of Nurgle up close or from afar. They may have lost a Wound but no longer lose effectiveness as they’re damaged, so you have more reason than ever to fly them right across the field and into your enemies’ ranks

Grandfather Nurgle’s cauldron has been bubbling away for a while now, and it’s almost time to sample the delicious concoctions being cooked up in the new Death Guard codex. We’ve been previewing many of the key changes to their rules over the past few weeks, so today we’re looking back at some of the most important updates ahead of pre-orders opening later this month.

But before that, we’ve got a new tidbit for you. You may remember the introduction of Plague Companies during the Psychic Awakening saga, giving you another way to customize your Death Guard force and bring new Warlord Traits and Relics to the table. These rules will be undergoing a few changes with the release of the new codex, including opportunities to bring further Contagions of Nurgle into play.

That’s right, as well as Nurgle’s Gift – read on to find out more about that – you’ll now have the ability to enhance your Warlord with a second aura of pestilence to debilitate your foes. Each Plague Company has their own personal flavour of Contagion to coat their Warlord with, so make sure to pick up the codex to discover them all.

Just like the Death Guard themselves, we’re never ones to stop marching inexorably forwards, so let’s take a look at the changes to one of their most iconic abilities: Disgustingly Resilient.

In the wake of firstborn Space Marines everywhere finding themselves with an additional Wound, the galaxy reverberated with the sound of plasma weapons overcharging in response. 

Alas, those hoping to quickly dispatch Nurgle’s elite will need to think again. Those 2-Damage weapons will barely scratch the Death Guard, and if you think Plague Marines sound tough, just think about the new and improved 3-Wound Deathshroud Terminators. Truly an immovable object worthy of the XIV Legion…

Fans of the classic Nurgle’s Rot ability will also be glad to see the debilitating clouds of pathogens return with the all-new, all-disgusting Contagions of Nurgle.

Reducing the Toughness of an opposing unit is a powerful ability in its own right and, with the steadily growing aura of Nurgle’s Gift, it’ll only get easier as the game goes on. Regular Space Marines will find themselves wounded by your boltgun fire on a 3+, while the poor, maligned infantry of the Astra Militarum will suffer Wounds on a 2+. Worshippers of the Corpse-Emperor and pitiful xenos alike will fall before your attacks easier than ever before.

Don’t forget, while the Death Guard are typically known for their slow, unstoppable advance, they still have access to fast units like the Foetid Bloat-drones, which are perfect for spreading the gifts of their grandfather across the entire table.

Super-gross, right? And no, we don’t want to think about what sort of vile fluids are being pumped around in there, let alone the toxic fumes being spewed forth from its chimney. But irrespective of your own opinions on the matter, the Death Guard love everything it has to offer! This is no surprise, really, as its presence makes these notoriously tough champions of the Plague God even harder to kill thanks to its Putrescent Fog ability.

Plague Marines

The core of any Death Guard army are the Plague Marines, and now they’re getting even better. Let’s remind ourselves of their stats from the current datasheet.

Toughness 5 Space Marines are nothing to be sneezed at, but what if they had an additional Wound?

Ever since Codex: Space Marines bestowed non-Primaris Space Marines with a pesky extra Wound, Heretic Astartes have been on the back foot. Now Codex: Death Guard makes Plague Marines appropriately difficult to dispatch – and it’s just a taste of what’s to come for Chaos Space Marines in the future. 

As you can see, Plague Marines are also getting an extra Attack. Combine these changes with their new Remorseless and Contagions of Nurgle abilities* and they’re going to be a real force to be reckoned with on the tabletop.

Possessed

The Plague Marines aren’t the only unit getting a close-combat boost. The twisted and mutated Death Guard Possessed are losing their current Writhing Tentacles rule in favour of a flat number of Attacks – four! 

You’ll no longer have to worry about the fickle dice gods abandoning you at a crucial moment. The horrifying mutations that they use as weapons have also been improved, gaining the Plague Weapon ability.

Grandfather Nurgle has also blessed them with an extra point of Toughness as well as granting them the Remorseless and Contagions of Nurgle abilities.

Daemon Engines

The Death Guard’s Daemon Engines have pretty much all been improved across the board, so expect to see columns of Myphitic Blight-Haulers and Plagueburst Crawlers trundling over the battlefield. Just take a look at the new profile for the Defiler – it’s better at shooting, better at fighting, AND it has more Attacks.

As with the improvements to Plague Marines, the upgrades to Daemon Engines will also be carried over to the other Heretic Astartes armies when they get their new codex. The days of the Corpse-Emperor are numbered!

First up, is their Inexorable Advance ability.

Inexorable Advance is a Detachment ability, which means that it applies to units in Battle-forged Death Guard Detachments. One of the notable effects of this ability is that your Death Guard units will usually be able to move and fire their Heavy weapons without penalty, perfect for bombarding your foes, even as you advance on objectives. It also works hand in hand with the Malicious Volleys ability to ensure that your Infantry can make the most of their Rapid Fire weapons, even while they’re on the move.

Next up is their Deadly Pathogens ability. These optional upgrades can be applied to a Plague Weapon wielded by one of your Death Guard Characters for a nominal charge in points/Power. Not only does a Deadly Pathogen add 1 to the Strength of the Plague Weapon, but you can also choose one of seven effects to apply to it as well. Get ready to unleash…

Viscous Death is the perfect choice of Deadly Pathogen for the twin plague spewer wielded by the new Lord of Virulence.

As well as allowing you to re-roll the number of attacks made, Viscous Death will bump up the twin plague spewer’s already brutal profile to Strength 6 too. That means you’ll be wounding anything with Toughness 3 or less on a 2+ and re-rolling any rolls of 1 to wound – that’s some seriously horrible damage output right there!

All of the Core Death Guard Infantry units – namely Plague Marines, Death Guard Possessed, Blightlord Terminators, and Deathshroud Terminators – come with this handy ability.* With Toughness 5 and multiple Wounds apiece, not to mention the effects of Disgustingly Resilient (more on that tomorrow!), these models are hard enough to kill in the first place. 

However, having such hardy troops makes the loss of even one to Combat Attrition more keenly felt. But by the grace of Nurgle, this ability means it’s unlikely you’ll suffer additional losses from failed Morale tests.

That’s right, Grandfather Nurgle has been cooking up an improved concoction of blessings that will further enhance the resilience of his favoured warriors. 

When the new codex launches, the Death Guard will be ignoring one wound guaranteed against any attacks that deal more than 1 Damage. When you consider that Plague Marines, Death Guard Possessed, Blightlord Terminators, and Deathshroud Terminators also gain an additional Wound in the new codex, it makes the legion a true force to be reckoned with. The 2-Damage weapons (super-charged plasma weapons, we’re looking at you) that are the bane of Space Marines of every stripe simply won’t cut it against the Death Guard. In fact, your opponent will need to hit a Death Guard Terminator with a Damage 4 attack or higher to bring one down with a single hit – that’s dedicated anti-tank weapon territory!

Of course, larger, tougher units such as Plagueburst Crawlers and Mortarion will also be harder than ever to drop to their wounded profile levels, let alone destroy. The Death Guard really are set to become more Disgustingly Resilient than ever!

Right from the get-go, this powerful ability has a 1? radius. This may not seem that impressive at first, but it will kick in against any enemies foolish or unfortunate enough to be engaged with your units during the opening round.* 

As the battle unfolds, this debilitating contagion will only become harder for your enemies to avoid. By Turn 4, it’s entirely possible that the Toughness value all of your opponent’s units will be reduced by 1. This really suits the Death Guard style of play – an inexorable advance that the enemy will struggle to repel before they’re eventually overwhelmed by your forces at close-range. 

The key here is that almost all of your attacks will be more effective against enemies that are within range of Nurgle’s Gift. For example, a Toughness 4 Space Marine will be reduced to Toughness 3, meaning your boltgun fire and melee attacks will be wounding them on a 3+ instead of 4+, and Plague Weapons will be even more effective.

Fast and durable units such as Myphitic Blight-haulers, Foetid Bloat-drones, and even Mortarion himself are great options for making the most of this ability. They can quickly close with the enemy battleline and start spreading the contagion as soon as possible, ensuring any target units near them have an even greater chance of taking damage from your ranged fire.

Another useful means to spread Nurgle’s Gift is to field a Miasmic Malignifier. Not only can it be set up a mere 12? from your opponent’s deployment zone, but it always counts as the fourth battle round for the purpose of determining the range of its Contagions of Nurgle ability. It’s a subtle but effective means of area denial – while it may not directly harm any units that advance into range, these enemies will be considerably more vulnerable to attacks made by your other units.