Warhammer 40,000 Death Guard Origin and History
Since Warhammer 40,000’s beginnings, Nurgle has been a mainstay of the Chaos Marine range. There have been many editions of the Death Guard through the years, so it’s easy to lose track. Sometimes referred to as Plague Marines, their form has been updated many times.
A new set of collectible Space Marine Heroes was released by Games Workshop last year (2023), featuring the Death Guard. If you look at the previous models, these new ones are slightly taller and thinner.
The Lord of Virulence joined us on the Death Guard in January of 2021. He actually proves to be a very formidable beast in 10th Edition.
The eighth edition of Death Guard began with the latest Plague Marines and Codex Death Guard, which featured updated design libraries for Nurgle. It featured classic elements such as tattered armor, asymmetrical horns, bells, Nurglings, chains & censers, and medieval knight faceplates. This new set was rolled out in 2017.
Warhammer 40,000 Death Guard Origin and History
According to the Community Board, “The previous Plague Marines are ancient, first appearing in the 3.5 Chaos Space Marine Codex from 2002. Nurgle does indeed endure… Here we see the twisted fleshy armor and damaged equipment motif, but not much else. Games Workshop has come a long way in 15 years.”
Plague Marines came in two lines back in 2nd edition. One standard plastic kit of identical Death Guard to bulk up your force, and the other a range of metal miniatures for special weapons and leadership.
Plague Marines had their own plastic “kit” in 1994. Gloved feet, cloven guts, and pickelhaubes, were the “classic Plague Marine” models. the days of sprue-bases and slotted bases.
The Nurgle Marines originated in this era of flux, as a result of the Realms of Chaos books that described Chaos in the late 1980’s. Numerous marines were dedicated to specific Chaos gods, some of which are confining to you as you read them.
