Back when Horus betrayed the Emperor and took half the legions of Space Marines with him, the good and evil was not so clearly defined as they are now. Some legions joined Horus out of pride, angry at the Emperor for under utilizing them, and abandoning them, a few joined the rebellion because they felt the call of the Chaos Gods. Then there’s the Death Guard.

The Death Guard joined Horus primarily because Mortarion, their leader, felt most comfortable with Horus. That coupled with the corrupted whispers of his second in command, Typhus, sent Mortarion on a downward spiral that led to the corruption of the entire Legion, and servitude to the Chaos God Nurgle.

The Death Guard represents a brutally fun juxtaposition of lore and theme. Nurgle’s demons tend to be exuberant, outgoing and fun loving, they view their diseases and pestilences to be a gift to spread to all the people. The Death Guard are nearly emotionless, seeing anything outside the utilitarian to be frivolous. The mix of debuffing and gross demons mixed with the hard to kill chaos marines of the Death Guard, will make this an army that can challenge any foe.

This is one of the most exciting armies of the new edition, and you can expect to see loads of new and revamped units (you may be able to pick out a few of them from the picture, if you’re not too distracted by just how awesome Mortarion looks leading his Legion).

With the Death Guard Codex coming out in September, Warhammer 40k players who rock Chaos armies will be able to enjoy new options, and a few legendary additions. Judging from the released pictures, we’re going to get to see the Demon Primarch of the Death Guard, Mortarion in action, along side chaos lords such as Typhus!

We can’t wait to see Roboute Guilliman duke it out against Mortarion, in what will definitely be the beginning of a new era of epic powered battles across the tabletop. And this is a great time to join the legion of Warhammer 40k fans out there, as the rules have been tweaked to accommodate smaller forces, making the entry cost lower than ever!

If you’re interested in checking out Warhammer 40k and getting involved, you can download the rules for free here.