Deathguard Daemonic Ritual Summoning....

Edited! 

But leaving up my wrong assumptions as I was wrong!

To be clear, I now appreciate that the unit you summon requires the Daemonic Ritual rule to allow you to summon them, this reduces the initial lists (although you can see the updated list at the very bottom in yellow highlight)

The aim of leaving this wrong article up is to show people that we can all make mistakes! As  I didnt want to post something then be accused of hiding my mistakes, I ain't infallible! 






With the Deathguard firmly in my sights as both a good opponent for my Ultramarines, and as my second army I have turned my head towards some considerations for their army lists, and specifically what they can look to summon as part of their Daemonic Ritual.


I do have a few questions meandering around my head (so any thoughts or opinions are welcomed).


First up lets look at the wording





The above rules doesnt read clearly to me, but I had it pointed out to me that the unit you summom must have the Daemonic Ritual ability- - feels like a bolding or something in the rules bit above would fix this so nuggets like me dont get these things wrong!  


So that's straightforward enough, meaning the maximum power level I can summon is 18 (which would also inflict D3 mortal wounds), although...add to that the following stratagem



and technically you can roll a 24 - which gets you our very own Primarch - yes its roughly a 0.08% chance, but still! 

Here is the list of what I believe I can summon:


Codex Deathguard


  1. Nurgle Daemon Prince (Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon) - Power Level: 8 / 9
  2. Plaguebearers ( Faction Keyword - Nurgle & Daemon) - Power Level 4 / 8 / 12
  3. Nurglings (Faction Keyword - Nurgle & Daemon) - Power Level 3 / 6 / 9
  4. Beasts of Nurgle (Faction Keyword - Nurgle & Daemon) Power Level 2 - 18
  5. Possessed (Faction Keyword Nurgle & Daemon) Power Level 6 / 11 /16
  6. Foetid Blight-Drone (Faction keyword Nurgle & Keyword - Daemon) - Power Level 8
  7. Myphitic Blight-Haulers (Faction Keyword - Nurgle Keyword - Daemon) - Power Level 7 / 14
  8. Plague Drones (Faction keyword Nurgle & Daemon) - Power Level 6 / 11 / 16
  9. Plagueburst Crawler (Faction keyword Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon) - Power Level 8
  10. Defiler (Faction Keyword Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon) - Power Level 11
  11. Mortarion (Faction Keyword Nurgle, Daemon) - Power Level 24
Index Chaos 

  1. Great Unclean One, Faction Keyword, Nurgle, Daemon, Power Level 12
  2. Herald of Nurgle, Faction Keyword, Nurgle, Daemon, Power Level 4
  3. Epidemius Faction Keyword Nurgle, Daemon, Power Level 5
  4. Forgefiend Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 10
  5. Maulerfiend Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 9
  6. Obliterators Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 10
  7. Helldrake  Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 10
  8. Warp Talons Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 9 / 18
  9. Mutilators Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword Daemon - Power Level 10

Its worth noting that 4-9 all also have the <Legion> keyword, but technically can't be Deathguard, so I suspect that they shouldnt be allowed, although reading the rules at the moment they could be (providing they had the Nurgle Keyword).

Forgeworld Index Chaos


  1. Greater Blight Drone - Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 11
  2. Chaos Decimator - Faction Keyword <Mark of Chaos>, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 8
  3. Plague Hulk of Nurgle - Faction keyword Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 12
  4. Mamon Transfigured - Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 9
  5. Cor'bax Utterblight - Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Powel Level 12
  6. Plague Toads of Nurgle - Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 6 / 12 / 18
  7. Pox Riders of Nurgle - Faction Keyword - Nurgle, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 8 / 16 / 22
  8. Spined Chaos Beast - Faction Keyword - <Allegiance>, Keyword - Daemon - Power Level 10
Concerns
Now I say what I believe I can summon because it requires some clarification. You see sometimes a datasheet has the Nurgle & Daemon words in the Faction Keywords, sometimes it has Nurgle in Faction, and Daemon in Keyword. 

In all cases the words are separated by a comma (so the Keyword isn't Nurgle Daemon as far as I can see). 


If its just the combination of these two words that is required, then the list above shows what I can summon.


If it requires Nurgle & Daemon in the same type of Keyword, then the list does shrink somewhat


Flexibility
Is truly outstanding here, if the volume of units I found are actually available then this would make the Deathguard very versatile, especially with Daemonic Ritual available to be cast on multiple characters, and once with 4D6. 

But imagine being able to get a Chaos Decimator on the table top, in charge range, having had it immune to enemy fire until that point... even if that got ruled out because of Keyword location, the Great Unclean on is definitely an option.

Or how about (assuming you survived 2k of an enemies shooting vs your reduced points) summoning in 10 of those Plaguebearers for late turn objective grabs - Objective Secured being in place as well. another cursed mistake! Plaguebearers can't be part of a Deathguard detachment as they dont have the deathguard keyword... and I am not sure how it interacts if they are summoned.... I imagine the same happens for other chaos legions... including daemons would break the detachment! 

In Principle

All i need to do is come up with a list that is around the 1200 - 1500 point mark, and allocate the rest of my points of reinforcements, which will then allow me to summon a wide range of models, in essence 'deep striking them 12" further forward than my battle lines, and 9" away from the enemy.

If I was lucky enough to roll the 4D6, it would technically mean Mortarion is within range for a turn 1 / 2 charge, without the enemy having any chance to have shot at him! 


That is beyond huge! 


To be fair this could be easily translated to other Chaos Index / Codex and means they really should be one of the most versatile lists out there as you could in effect try to tailor your list on the fly!

What do you think, is this over thinking the amount of summoning available, will they rule that you have to have Nurgle & Daemon in your Faction keywords?

So obviously this post needs tweaking with my mis-understanding cleared up, I am definately able to summon:

Plaguebearers
Nurglings
Plague Drones
Beasts of Nurgle
Epidemius
Great Unclean one

Forgeworld
Pox Riders of Nurgle
Nurgle Plague Toads
Plague Hulk
Chaos Spined Beast
Cor'bax Utterblight
Mamon Trasnfigured

Comments

Anonymous said…
You have still missed out that the daemon unit has to have Daemonic Ritual.

This dramatically reduces your list.

it did take me a couple of read through.

You do also have to pay the points for them out of your list and they are held in reserve so it not like you can extra free units.

It runs the same way as it does in Age of Sigmar

Kraggi said…
Hiya, yeah that was my mistake, and was the attempt of the yellow highlighting in the updated post to say Oops... I got it wrong!

It does dramatically reduce the list, but even with that the list is pretty decent (and makes a lot more sense to be honest :D)

I know you dont get free units, but my plan had been to write a 1500 point list, and then play it at 2k, summoning the models I need for the mission from the list available.... I have a prototype list coming up in the next few days!