Sunday Preview: A putrescent crop begins to bloom
Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle
The servants of Nurgle bring rot and ruin to the Mortal Realms with smiles and sneers. They view the maladies and diseases they spread as munificent gifts from the Grandfather, an inevitable step in the cycle of life sure to lift spirits and rescue people from the pain and drudgery of their wretched existences. If you fancy spreading joy, reckon you’ve got a bit of a green thumb (not the gangrenous type), and love the grinding attritional warfare practised by the mirthful and maudlin servants of Nurgle, then hold your nose and dive right in.
You can cultivate your own army of mortals and daemons with Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle – a 106-page guide to the Plague God’s bloated and pestilent legions, their diseased domains, and the battle for the Realm of Life that continues to wax and wane.
All of this lore is supported by art and miniatures galleries that celebrate the loathsome appearance of the Maggotkin of Nurgle. Then, tap into the Grandfather’s blessings on the battlefield with updated battle traits, enhancements, warscrolls, two Regiments of Renown and two Armies of Renown, a new Spearhead, and Path to Glory rules.
This book will also be available in a smaller gamer’s edition, which includes a full set of 56 reference cards. This version will be available only while stocks last.
Festus the Leechlord
Leading the slow yet steady charge into battle for the Maggotkin of Nurgle is Festus the Leechlord. A former plague doctor who has since been twisted into an alchemist of virulent and supernatural diseases, Festus has ascended to daemonhood and slithers into battle atop the back of the great beast Gathoblyt.
He debilitates foes with vile poisons and toxins, conjuring parasitic leeches to drain the life from enemies and transfer it to his own bloated body. This plastic kit is suffused with diseased detail, and comes with a choice of two heads for Festus.
Sloven Knights
A dark parody of honourable and gleaming cavaliers, Sloven Knights are dread figures riding atop miserable and plague-ridden steeds. Wherever they ride a grim aura of despair follows, causing enemies to fall into an indolent torpor as Nurgle’s knights charge into their prey and smash them into a pulp with brutal, blunted weapons. This plastic kit builds three Sloven Knights, with a variety of head options.
Putrid Blightkings
Some of Nurgle’s most devoted servants become the bloated brutes known as Putrid Blightkings. These mortals swell to overwhelming size with rot and disease, their putrid flesh becoming a bulwark against all but the most vicious of attacks.
Their pious proclamations and noisome stench warps reality around them, causing the spells and prayers of wizards and priests to falter on their lips. This plastic kit builds five Putrid Blightkings, with an alternate head for the champion, and the option to turn one into a standard bearer.
Rotswords
Jittery and wracked with fever, Rotswords rush into battle soaked with sweat and exuding an overwhelming stench that causes even the staunchest of warriors to falter. They delight in carving open their foes and spreading Nurgle’s gifts, eager to burn out their supernatural fever through acts of desecration and perhaps one day be accepted into the ranks of the Blightkings.
This plastic kit builds 10 Rotswords, with unique options for a champion, musician, and a standard bearer who has a choice of two icons. The kit includes 12 interchangeable heads, 10 interchangeable weapons, and 10 interchangeable shields.
Pestigors
Pestigors are beastmen who worship Nurgle as Father Blight, and use his pestilent gifts to bring ruin to civilization. Hunchbacked, potbellied, and racked with illness, these nomadic creatures are vectors of contagion, and fight with a frenzied vigour when desecrating enemy territory. This plastic kit builds 10 Beastmen, with options to build a champion, standard bearer, and musician.
The Court of Gelgus Pust
First available in Warhammer Quest: Darkwater, Gelgus Pust – the Prince of Sores – has ventured out of the Jade Abbey to aid the Grandfather in his bid for dominion over the Mortal Realms, polluting the land and crushing his foes in combat.
He is joined by Belga the Cystwitch, who causes diseased foes to suffer even more with each death summoning Plaguebearers, and Shaman Foulhoof, who enhances the combat prowess of Pestigors and uses his sorcery to weaken enemy weapons. All three are push-fit, single pose miniatures.
The Cankerborn
A pair of ancient daemons once said to have been part of a group of seven, the Cankerborn are summoned from the Garden of Nurgle when an act of foul desecration is committed upon the land in Nurgle’s name. When the battlefield is polluted, either by Gelgus Pust or the Pestilent Pollutants that often manifest alongside them, they can flicker out of existence and reappear elsewhere in order to cut their foes down with colossal, seeping blightblades.
This push-fit plastic kit contains two Cankerborn and two Pestilent Pollutant tokens, which were previously available in Warhammer Quest: Darkwater.
Pox-Wretches
Outcasts and mutants who have found succour in the worship of Nurgle, Pox-Wretches are lowly followers of the Plague Father who cover themselves in filth and embrace disease with an unhealthy hunger. Their vile and rot-encrusted forms attract slimy Mire Kelpies to them, which help the Pox-Wretches spread disease with greater efficacy.
This plastic push-fit kit builds 14 Pox-Wretches and six Mire Kelpies. Each group of seven Pox-Wretches has two build options, so you can build a full set of 14 unique miniatures.
Spoilpox Scrivener
Miserable and officious, Spoilpox Scriveners are Plaguebearers who have been charged with cataloguing the tally reaped by their allies. Little alleviates their foul mood, but browbeating other daemons into performing their task more effectively brings them some modicum of mirth. This miniature, previously available in the Maggotkin of Nurgle Spearhead, is returning as a solo release.
Regiments of Renown: The Pustules
One of the two Regiments of Renown in Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle is The Pustules, a tallyband of Plaguebearers charged with spreading disease across the land. They seed a Feculent Gnarlmaw when they arrive, providing them with healing and regeneration, and a Spoilpox Scrivener ensures they get on with their important work without delay. This box is available while stocks last.
Spearhead: Bubonic Cell
Bring the Grandfather’s gifts to the closely-fought battlefields of Spearhead with the Bubonic Cell. Ordered by Nurgle to cultivate tendrils of his garden far and wide, this force combines daemons and mortals into one effective package. A Rotbringer Sorcerer commands a delegation of Rotmire Creed, two packs of three Nurgling bases, and a rambunctious Beast of Nurgle. They draw on the power of the cycle of corruption to overwhelm their foes.
Spearhead: Helforge Host
The Helsmiths of Hashut believe that all the resources of the realms are merely riches for their taking, and smaller detachments like the Helforge Host are sent to extract them from their enemies. Originally available in the Helsmiths of Hashut Army Set, this Spearhead contains a War Despot, 11 Infernal Cohort, a Dominator Engine and a Tormentor Bombard. It also contains a Helsmiths of Hashut transfer sheet containing 450 decals.
Maggotkin of Nurgle Warscroll Cards and Dice Set
Focus on spreading contagions far and wide without pause with a set of 45 reference cards, which contains all of your warscrolls and the cards needed for the Bleak Host and Bubonic Cell Spearheads. A set of 16 Maggotkin of Nurgle dice, cast in a pale green swirl colour with brown pips and the faction icon on the six face, will help complete your corrupted collection.
Verminslayer
In the heart of Ghyran, Greywater Fastness pulses with industry, its foundries and metalworks pouring soot and pollution into the air. It suffers from repeated raids by the Dreadwood Sylvaneth, and its streets are no safe haven. Into this already fraught situation arrives Gotrek Gurnisson, looking for answers about his waning Fyreslayer rune. Instead, he discovers that a Skaven menace festers deep below the city, building something terrible...
Verminslayer by David Guymer returns in paperback, and will be available to pre-order on Saturday.
Grombrindal: Ancestor’s Burden
You can look forward to more tales of duardin derring-do in Grombrindal: Ancestor’s Burden, by Chris Thursten. This anthology collects six short stories together with the short novel The Maker’s Promise, tracing the story of Grombrindal and the Oathbreakers – a group of duardin who are desperate to lift an ancient curse that afflicts one of their number.
This book is available to pre-order in paperback on Saturday.
Dropsite Massacre (French Edition)
French readers will be able to relive the event that broke three whole Legions and set the stage for Horus’ march on Terra in Dropsite Massacre by John French, a fresh new perspective on the most notorious betrayal of the Horus Heresy. This retelling of a pivotal event in the Age of Darkness is available to pre-order in eBook format next Friday or in paperback format next Saturday for French-language readers.
