Age of Sigmar: How to Play Maggotkin of Nurgle
Today we look at how to play the Maggotkin of Nurgle. Get down with the sickness AND the thiccness.
Not all the Chaos Gods are uncaring when it comes to their followers. While it can’t be said that the gods outwardly dislike their followers (though Khorne’s nonchalance towards their death may be worse) no dark power cares more about their followers than Grandfather Nurgle. Offering them his noxious “gifts” and sending them to battle alongside surprisingly jolly daemons, he delights in seeing them thrive and share their pestilence with the world. Here’s a quick rundown on how to get the most out of your plague-ridden warriors, and a few essential units that would make the CDC blush.
Who Are The Maggotkin?
The Maggotkin of Nurgle are the followers of the Plague God. Generous in their distribution of epidemics and loving in the care they have for the foul creations of the Grandfather Nurgle, the Maggotkin seek to bloat the Mortal Realms with rot and contagion.
By allowing diseases to spread far and wide, they herald the coming of life in its most vivid and natural expression. Indeed, if one is to value and cheer at the birth of every maggot and parasites allowed to thrive in raddled corpses, then disease and rot become not the faltering of life towards death, but the overabundance of life. In this, the Maggotkin are the enforcers of the natural cycle, their ever-loving actions ultimately making the circle of life so vividly round that its curves can be seen by mortal eyes, to their greatest displeasure.
Why Play Maggotkin?
Maggotkin are a devastatingly powerful, resilient, and rewarding force no matter how you like to play. While they won’t be winning many foot races, they can dish out a metric ton of punishment and take even more in return. Whether you prefer daemons or mortals, you won’t be disappointed by the results.
Strengths
- One of the most durable armies in the game with an army-wide ward saves and healing every turn.
- You can layer on mortal wounds with a mechanic that has few reliable counters.
- Every turn, your army gets a snazzy buff, thanks to the Cycle of Corruption.
Weaknesses
- You are extremely slow.
- Your army is likely to be very small because of how expensive your stuff is.
Signature Rules
- Diseased – At the end of the movement phase and combat phase, all units within 3+ of a friendly Maggotkin model get a disease point, maxing at 7 per unit. The same happens whenever one of your models rolls an unmodified 6 to hit. At the start of the battleshock phase, you roll a number of d6 equal to the number of disease points on each unit, and they suffer a mortal wound for every 4+, then you reduce their disease points by 1. The best part is, these points stick around forever unless your opponent can heal wounds, in which case they can remove a disease point instead.
- Disgustingly Resilient – All Maggotkin models have a 5+ ward save, and every model heals 1 wound at the start of your hero phase. If that unit is within 14″ of a Great Unclean One, Horticulous Slimux, the Glottkin, or Festus the Leechlord, they heal d3 instead. Since this applies to the models themselves, this makes the GUO and Glotty very hard to shift.
- Contagion Points – Your summoning mechanic for Nurgle daemons. You get 3 CPs for having a unit wholly within your own territory, 3 for having a unit wholly within your opponent’s territory, and 1 extra if there are no enemies there. In addition, each Feculent Gnarlmaw in your army generates 1 if there are no enemies within 3″.
- Cycle of Corruption – A shifting wheel of effects that changes every turn, ranging from dealing out Diseased mortal wounds on a 3+ to shutting down enemy Heroic Actions. A super nasty mechanic.
Terrain Piece
The Feculent Gnarlmaw is a nasty diseased tree that chucks out disease and Contagion Points. Your enemy can shut down the CP generation if they stay close to the tree, but if they do they’re going to catch something. You can also summon Daemons from them, or summon even more to the battlefield, so stock up on a few.
Subfactions
The Maggotkin have six sub-factions, three for daemons and three for mortals. Each one will shift your army towards certain builds, so look them over if you have a specific playstyle you prefer. The Drowned Men are a personal favorite of mine, allowing your fly-mounted knights a pregame move. Never a bad thing.
Key Maggotkin of Nurgle Units
Depending on if you prefer daemons or mortals you’ll be investing in different things, but these are 5 units that will find their way into nearly every list.
1. Lord of Afflictions
Mounted on a bloated Rot Fly, this nasty hero model has a huge weight of attacks and other snazzy rules. Even better, he can take a unit of Blightlords and drop them deep in your opponent’s territory, either to generate CP or set up a devastating charge.
2. Great Unclean One
One of the biggest and most resilient Greater Daemons out there. While not as punchy as the Bloodthirster or Keeper, the GUO can still pull his (considerable) weight in combat, throw out some nasty spells, and even help with summoning if kitted correctly.
3. Putrid Blightkings
A solid battleline that dishes out monumental amounts of damage, the Blightkings are ridiculously hard to put down and will easily kill swathes of single-wound models every turn. Their only downside is their speed, but if they happen to catch their enemy, that enemy will almost surely die.
4. The Glottkin
Probably the best model in the book (and he better be for that cost), and one of the best monsters in the game, the Glottkin will more than earn their points back every turn. They are good at support, magic, and combat, and they excel in whatever role you play them in. Plus, they have the Warmaster rule, meaning they count as a general and can throw out command abilities 18″.
5. Beast of Nurgle
Basically, a combination between a golden retriever and a rabid gorilla, the Beasts of Nurgle are playful rascals that tend to leave their playmates in several pieces. They do damage on the charge, can charge after retreating, can retreat over enemies, and throw out disease when they retreat. Always bring at least a few of these.
6. Harbinger of Decay
The Harbinger of Decay gives the Maggotkin access to a nice, mobile Priest. His Warscroll prayer is alright, allowing for some Bravery manipulation, but getting access to Curse is great for some Maggotkin units with a bucket of attacks. Add in the Roar-like mechanic the Harbinger has, denying Command Abilities in combat, and it’s a real gem.
7. Rotmire Creed
What the Rotmire give the Maggotkin army is a weight of ranged fire, even if it is short-ranged, which dishes out a bucket of Disease points. Unfortunately, this has been hard to balance, and they have received repeated points increases.
8. Pusgoyle Blightlords
The Pusgoyles are decently fast, very resilient, and have a bucket of attacks. Make them Battleline with your Lord of Afflictions, and they can easily be the bulk of a decent army.
Sample Maggotkin Army (2K pts)
Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Blessed Sons
Leaders
Gutrot Spume*
Harbinger of Decay*
Lord of Afflictions*
– General
– Command Trait: Overpowering Stench
– Artefact: The Shield of Growths
Battleline
10 x Putrid Blightkings*
– Reinforced x 1
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords*
– 1x Dolorous Tocsin
30 x Rotmire Creed *
– Reinforced x 2
Units
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords – Single*
3 x Nurglings*
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Maggotkin of Nurgle Tips
Make your opponent come to you, then ruin their day by keeping them stuck in unfavorable combats. Never let up once you’ve got them, and try to stay in both your opponent’s zone and your own.
~Grandfather Nurgle loves you.
