Death Guard do what?

Beware! Here follows a sordid and tiresome tale, verbose and rambling and signifying nothing.

Our uninspiring story begins with an innocent question, asked with the best of intentions: 'Would you like to play against my Death Guard tomorrow?'

'Sure!' said I, in the same spirit. 'I haven't played 40K in a while, though, and from what I hear the Drukhari (which I play) are badly outmatched by armies with a codex, of which Death Guard are rumoured to be especially tough. I expect that you shall thrash me!'

'Nonsense!' cried a Nearby Chorus of Meddlesome Voices. 'Why just the other day I beat a 2000 point Death Guard army using nothing but 5 wyches barely out of basic training, one of whom was sick with the stomach flu! The Drukhari are fine, and with the right strategy you shall prevail.'

'As you say, o Meddlesome Voices,' said I, trusting in their wisdom.

So it was that on the appointed day I set up with what I thought was a reliable plan, believing that the meringues of Nurgle would be slow and could be dealt with by isolating them and picking on a single unit at a time. And that's when it began... 'These guys teleport here, and these ones teleport here, and these ones can advance and shoot, and these ones will try to charge... oh, a double 6! And another double 6! And I can re-roll all of my dice until I'm happy with the result. And now I'm going to use something called a 'Blight Bombardment'...'

I'm not sure what happened then. It was a sensation not unlike diving off the high board and twisting my foot at the last moment, hitting the water at the wrong angle and taking the blow on my face, followed by the disorientation of not knowing which way is up, and possibly a nosebleed.

When it was over I looked around the table and saw a tragic landscape of death and devastation. 'What happened?' I asked.

'Ha ha, you lost!' Jeered the Meddlesome Voices. 'All your guys are dead! You are foolish, and smelly!'

I fixed my opponent with a baleful stare meant to strike terror in his heart and freeze the blood in his veins. 'Of course you know, this means war!'

'Spare me, o wrathful one!' he should have said, but instead he just said, 'Next week?'

So... any tips? I've been thinking about it and I've come up with two possible lists, but I'm perfectly willing to tear them up and try something completely different:

LIST 1

Battallion Detachment

• Belfrit Vayne - Archon. Blaster, Huskblade, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
  Venom
  Farseer Fionna - Farseer Skyrunner. Singing Spear, Phoenix Gem, Doom, Mind War
  5 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster
  5 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster
  Venom
  10 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Dark Lance
  Raider, Dark Lance
  10 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Dark Lance
  Raider, Dark Lance
  5 x Kabalite Trueborn, 4 x Blaster
  Venom
  

Supreme Command Detachment

• Morbith - Haemonculus. Crucible of Malediction, Flesh Gauntlet, Stinger Pistol
  Terrise - Haemonculus. Crucible of Malediction, Flesh Gauntlet, Hexrifle
  Durga - Haemonculus. Crucible of Malediction, Flesh Gauntlet, Stinger Pistol
  Raider, Dark Lance
  

or LIST 2

Battallion Detachment

• Belfrit Vayne, Archon. Blaster, Huskblade
  Venom
  Farseer Fionna - Skyrunner Farseer. Phoenix Gem, Doom, Executioner.
  5 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster
  5 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster
  Raider, Dark Lance
  5 x Kabalite Warriors, Blaster
  Venom
  

Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment

• The Broken, Wraithknight. 2 x Heavy Wraithcannons, Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon
  

Vanguard Detachment

• Morbith, Haemonculus. Crucible of Malediction.
  Sslyth
  SSlyth
  5 x Kabalite Trueborn, 4 x Blasters
  Venom
  

Any help will be much appreciated!

Probably too many hq's which aren't very good and a lack of some of the better firepower units if I'm being blunt. Could be very fixable if you want to wipe the literal crap eating grin of the plague ridden follower that whooped you

First thing, warriors and venoms are cool but their damage against nurgle is very mediocre. You could use some things like razorwings or ravagers. You have a list of models you got?

Also if you are using some eldar, some shining spears or reapers if you got them would reallllly go a long way.

A list of what I have:

Belfrit Vayne (Archon)
Barking Agatha (Succubus)
2 x nameless Succubi
Lelith Hesperax
Morbith (Haemonculus)
2 x Haemonculi (Terrise & Durga)
1 x Formerly known as Duke Sliscus (Archon?)
30 x Kabalite Warriors, 2 x Dark Lances, 2 x Splinter Cannons, 4 x Blasters
30 x Wyches
10 x Incubi
10 x Mandrakes
5 x Wracks
5 x Beastmasters
4 x Grotesques
5 x Kabalite Trueborn, 4 x blasters, 1 x blast pistol
2 x Lhameans
2 x Sslyth
2 x Ur-ghuls
2 x Medusae
1 x Clawed Fiend
10 x Hellions
3 x Khimerae
2 x Razorwing Flocks
9 x Reaver Jetbikes
5 x Scourges
1 x Cronos
1 x Ravager
1 x Talos
1 x Razorwing Jetfighter
1 x Voidraven Bomber
5 x Raiders
4 x Venoms

Craftworld Allies:

Fionna, Skyrunner Farseer
The Broken, Wraithknight
3 x Windrunner Jetbikes

Harlequin Allies:

2 x Skyweavers
6 x Troupers (almost finished)

Good luck. I barely won against them due to playing the mission and stealing the mission maker even BEFORE they got a codex.
My only idea would be as many small warrior troops in venom or raider as possible together with the ravager.
Is the knight still so good?

Knight’s not that great, still good, but a little bit overpriced.

As a player of DG and DE, I can say that the only thing that we really hate are those damned Blightdrones! They are fast, and hit as a truck with theylir spitters (expecially for us). They fly so no matter about CC, and they auto-hit so no Venom or Razorwing will help us.
Take a good amount of Lances (not blaster) for them.
...and helps even against Blightlords and Morty itself (and against DaemonPrinces if you can shoot them)


Poison is great against Mortarion, Plague Marines (not in cover) and even helpfull if you concentrate a large amount of it against poxwalkers or Cultist (but don't do this if he is triggering the "Deaths walk-thing" stratagem!)

Some Dissies will help a lot against Plague Marines, and a bit against Blightlords.

So basically:
1) Deny any DS with some sacrifical units (2xLhymerae, 5 Kabals etc..). Remember that their plasma shoot double at 18", so keep these units at 10" from yours (if you can with the deploy).
2) Take down those Foetid Blightdrones! Bring your Lances against them at first (if you're not facing Mortarion of course,otherwise shoot him).
3) Deploy your objectives at the edges of the table. You're fast, he is not. If you push him to spread himself with DS or moving it's nearly done.
4) Again: you're fast! He can DS but you can run away. Don'r play as a fortress, and don't put all of your objectives near themselves.
.And good luck (:

@Barking Agatha
Aside from the tactical stuff, I do love your storytelling.

Gelmir wrote:

@Barking Agatha
Aside from the tactical stuff, I do love your storytelling.

Thanks

Thanks for the help. I won! This is what I used in the end:

- Belfrit (blaster)
- Morbith
- 3 x 5 Kabalite Warriors (blasters)
- 5 Trueborn (blasters)
- 5 Scourges (dark lances)
- 2 x 5 Mandrakes
- 3 x Raiders (dark lances)
- 1 Venom
- 1 Ravager (dark lances)
- 1 Razorwing Jetfighter (dark lances)

In other words, as many dark lances and blasters as I could squeeze in. Then I just stayed far away from them and shot them up, avoiding the death guard like... the plague (ha!).

I was helped by a couple of things:

a) He failed his 9" charges with the tellyporting terminators and Typhus, even with re-rolls.

b) For some reason he decided not to bring the flying eggs this time, and traded them for more terminators on foot and plasma guns, which was not a good idea.

c) He overloaded those plasma guns to shoot at the Venom and the Razorwing, which was an even worse idea. (With a -1 to hit, 2s become 1s!)

d) I was very lucky with the Razorwing! The way it moves, you can't really keep it away from harm and also keep it from flying off the table. It got charged by a Demond Prince, shot at with plasma guns, and targeted by psychic powers until it was left with just one wound, and they still couldn't bring it down

e) Mandrakes are amazing. Their baleblasts are obviously really good, but they're not bad at all at close combat either! They probably won't be killing loads of meringues that way, but he charged just two Mandrakes with a big bunch of cultists and we wiped them out in two turns.

f) While the rest of his army advanced ever so slowly toward my Raiders, he left the Demond Prince behind to deal with the Mandrakes and Scourges in his own zone. The poor thing kept bouncing back and forth like a pinball machine between these mandrakes, those mandrakes, the Razorwing, and the scourges, never quite finishing any of them off. I just fell back from combat each time (you have to, with the Razorwing!) and shot him up. Then as the surviving Death Guard began to get close to my Raiders, I just left him there and flew away, and Belfrit finished off the Demond Prince with almost contemptuous ease.

g) We didn't lose a single squad or vehicle! Total loses: 4 Scourges, 3 Mandrakes, another 2 Mandrakes, and... that's it.

So now I know that it can be done, but to be honest I didn't really like playing this way. I want to use my Wyches and Incubi. I want Barking Agatha to tear through them with her archite glaive. I want my own bag of dirty tricks and surprises. I want to run right up to them, hit them hard, and then zip away before the others can strike back!

Playing it like this may be effective, but it's a little dull, dontcha think?

Barking Agatha wrote:

So now I know that it can be done, but to be honest I didn't really like playing this way. I want to use my Wyches and Incubi. I want Barking Agatha to tear through them with her archite glaive. I want my own bag of dirty tricks and surprises. I want to run right up to them, hit them hard, and then zip away before the others can strike back!

Playing it like this may be effective, but it's a little dull, dontcha think?

And this is why I am not playing until the codex arrives. Too Dull.