The Maggotkin of Nurgle are on the march as we speak, buzzing clouds of flies heralding their arrival. With a bounty of vile new rules, just one of the chief offerings in their new battletome, today is when we look at all the ‘fresh’ and revamped units.
Get the salt out, because riding into battle on a giant slug-looking thing named Gathoblyt is Festus the Leechlord. Once a plague doctor, Festus has been turned into a maniacal daemon by the Plaguefather, essentially granting him an eternity to tinker with his Vile Poisons and Debilitating Toxins. If Festus is in combat, and didn’t charge this turn, he can attempt to deal damage by hurling concoctions at his foes. The twist is that you and your opponent make a roll, and add it to your respective Control characteristic.
Once Per Turn (Army), Any Combat Phase
VILE POISONS AND DEBILITATING TOXINS
Festus is a master-mixer of deadly potions and virulent concoctions.
Declare: If this unit did not charge this turn, pick an enemy unit in combat with it to be the target. You cannot pick a MANIFESTATION or terrain feature.
Effect: You and your opponent must roll off. Add this unit’s Control characteristic to your roll and the target’s Control characteristic to your opponent’s roll. If your roll is higher, apply the corresponding effect:
If the target is a HERO or MONSTER, inflict an amount of mortal damage on the target equal to the difference between your roll and your opponent’s roll.
If the target is a non-HERO non‑MONSTER unit, 1 model in the target unit is slain.
KEYWORD: RAMPAGE
Festus starts with a Control characteristic of 5, which is nothing to sniff at. But at the end of any turn, if Festus has destroyed units in combat with him, Gathoblyt chows down, and you gain D3 leech points for the rest of the battle. That’s called Annelid Engorgement, and each leech point also boosts Festus’ control score by one.*
By casting The Leechlord’s Curse, Festus also snares a free leech point and fills his enemies with parasites, which deal mortal damage on a roll of 3+ when their hosts use Core abilities. Any damage done this way also heals Festus, who has 14 health, a 4+ save, and a 5+ Ward. That’s pretty chunky.
THE LEECHLORD’S CURSE
Your Hero Phase (6)
The unfortunate victim finds themselves host to parasitic leeches that drain the vitality from their very soul.
Declare: Pick a visible enemy unit within 18" of this unit to be the target, then make a casting roll of 2D6.
Effect: This unit gains 1 leech point. Until the start of your next
turn, each time the target uses a CORE ability or command, after that ability has been resolved, roll a dice. On a 3+, inflict 1 mortal damage on the target. Then, if any damage points were allocated to the target by this ability, Heal (1) this unit.
KEYWORDS: SPELL
Our newly elevated daemon doctor isn’t the only hefty lad in the new battletome. Draped in fine robes and ribbons, crowned with glorious antlers, and swollen with unnatural disease, the regal Putrid Blightkings are here and ready to turn priests and wizards into a fine paste.
Their Discomfiting Stench is so powerfully overwhelming that nearby wizards miscast spells when casting rolls include a double 1, 2, or 3, and priests fumble their prayers on a chanting roll of 1 or 2, while also forfeiting D3 ritual points. If that wasn’t enough, their Pox-blighted weapons also have both Anti-Priest (+1 Rend) and Anti-Wizard (+1 Rend).
PUTRID BLIGHTKINGS
DISCOMFITING STENCH
Once Per Turn (Army), End of Any Turn
So disturbing is the Blightkings’ odour that it can cause those with arcane or divine might to lose their focus.
Declare: Pick a visible enemy WIZARD or PRIEST within 12" of this unit to be the target.
Effect: Roll a dice.
If the target is a WIZARD and the roll exceeds the target’s power level, until the start of your next turn, each time a casting roll for the target includes 2 or more rolls of 1, 2 or more rolls of 2 or 2 or more rolls of 3, the spell is miscast.
If the target is a PRIEST and the roll exceeds the target’s power level, until the start of your next turn, each time your opponent makes an unmodified chanting roll of 1 or 2 for the target, the prayer fails, its effect is not resolved and your opponent must remove D3 ritual points from the target.
Desperate to ascend to the heady heights of the Blightkings, Rotswords are the fevered and sweaty footsoldiers of the Rotbringers. In reverence, they nail antler fragments to their helmets and wade into combat Sweat-Soaked and Reeking, their burgeoning aroma causing foes who charge them to recoil in horror, making them unable to use commands on a roll of 3+.
Sloven Knights are their mounted superiors, contagious cavaliers who canter into battle atop dismal-looking steeds. Armed with brutal weapons that are chosen for their bludgeoning power, they exude a Pall of Exhaustion that inflicts Strike-last on an enemy unit they’re in combat with – an ability that becomes more effective if the enemy is already in combat with other Rotbringers.
ROTSWORDS
SWEAT-SOAKED AND REEKING
Any Combat Phase
The Rotswords’ clammy stench is a weapon in its own right, seeing foes recoil in horror the moment it reaches their nostrils.
Declare: Pick an enemy unit that charged this turn and is in combat with this unit to be the target.
Effect: Roll a dice. On a 3+, the target cannot use commands for the rest of the turn.
SLOVEN KNIGHTS
PALL OF EXHAUSTION
Once Per Turn (Army), Any Combat Phase
A cloud of gloom rests heavily on any who approach the Sloven Knights.
Declare: Pick an enemy unit in combat with this unit to be the target.
Effect: Roll a dice. Add 1 to the roll if the target is in combat with any other friendly ROTBRINGERS units. On a 3+, the target has STRIKE‑LAST for the rest of the turn.
There are plenty of other changes across the warscrolls of the Plaguefather’s legions that you can read all about in Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle, which is available to pre-order on Saturday. Tomorrow, we’ll be taking a look at how the court of Gelgus Pust play.
* An annelid is a type of segmented worm, such as a leech. So Gathoblyt isn’t a slug. Hurrah for learning! Maybe Festus’ title was a clue…
