Here to help you infect as many people as possible with Nurgle's Rot. There should be something in here for everyone and comes from my experience of playing the Plague Champeeyon. Please don't be offended by anything I write
The Plants shall Wither and Die
As default, cover is your best friend. Seriously, stick to it like superglue in engagements. Heavy or building is of course ideal for the PC but Light is still very useful especially in the early game. You are king of the cover-to-cover attritional firefights in the first few minutes of games as even a PC and CSM and worshipping heretics mean time spent with, for example, your CSM in heavy cover shooting at tacs in heavy cover is a win for you, as you can heal when needed. If you're going to get pushed early (e.g. against Orks, Tyranids and to some extent IG in lane games), you should really consider getting a second CSM out quickly or another heretic. Field presence is a big part of the PC's game. So don't get forced off unnecessarily.
For the PC himself, remember your hp is only 680, which on a Speed 4.5 hero ain't gonna get you anywhere in a hurry - that includes back to base when things go pear-shaped. It's stating the bloody obvious, but retreat early against melee units if you can't beat them, especially banshees, where you retreat extra early
What you ideally want to create, and 2 CSM or 2 havocs really help for this, is a sort of "No Man's Land" in T1-T1.5 between your opponent and you where he really doesn't want to cross on foot to reach you because of the focus fire he will take. This will help you stall and get through the critical point in the game which is the T1-T2 transition, where you will get pushed out of the game if you screw up and your opponent knows what he's doing and isn't a total retard. Basically you want to tempt him into getting jump infantry, because your biggest strength through the whole game is counter-initiation. More on dat later. Your second biggest is genbash potential, but if you are convincing your opponent to come into melee with you when you want him to, you are on the path to sweet Victree.
With this I shall Rot out this Entire World
The Bile Spewer (Poogun, whatever) is your best weapon hands down. It is the best genbasher in the game and is on your hero, so can be bought as soon as you win an engagement and can push for power, or for the really pr0 among you, buying and cancelling it through engagements close to your opponent's power so you can genbash at lightspeed and get out without retreating. And for God's sake attack ground with it, don't attack gens individually it's so nub. It also comes with an overlooked but awesome ability that snares infantry movement in a really good sized area. Combined with the Spewer's natural debuff on enemy damage and received damage, and this weapon is king against melee units that like to run at you. Which makes it a godly counter to Nobs, Clawminators, Baseball bat-wielding Chaos Lords, Warbosses, and the like. Overlooked because of player stupidity.
Waffa's Pro Tip #1 - Heretics are cheap, don't be afraid to rebuy them. I regularly deliberately lose 4-5 models on a heretic squad early on (enough so they get out of the engagement in one piece) and detonate the rest until there's just one model left at base. Move him so that when he starts worshipping the heal *just* reaches units healing at the front of your base and heals them for a good few seconds while they retreat in too. You'll grow to love this little fucker and he massively reduces how punishing retreats are for you. He even heals vehicles that head back to base when damaged, and can repair if needed too. If for example your natural req or power gets decapped, when you push your opponent back off send him out on his own to cap it, then retreat and get back to business. The upkeep is so pathetically low he's practically nonexistent in your army comp. Seriously I regularly see him worshipping for 20+ minutes straight. Plus it's fun Doomblasting away 2 or 3 heretics, knowing it's actually gonna be very useful for you. Just don't Doomblast the whole squad lulz. Don't leave home without him.
Shiny Green Sword
Best T1 melee weapon dps-wise against heroes, tacs, sluggas, banshees, raptors etc.. as it ignores melee resistance with 50.01 power_melee dps. Now gives +70 hp too so doesn't have to be bought with Fetid Armour (which is still good, but no longer mandatory for this build) and if you can keep him on his feet he'll do serious work against anything. Trouble being you still only have 750 hp, but if he's sending T1 melee units (which can swarm and gangrape him, his biggest weakness) into melee with your PC with a Plague Sword, you should be winning anyway. This makes it a great weapon alongside 2x havoc builds where jump infantry are the best solution *note not vs Eldar*.
Waffa's Pro Tip #2 - Don't be afraid to buy the Bile Spewer if you've already got the Plague Sword and you have the oppurtunity to genbash. You only need to kill 1 gen and it's practically paid for itself. You can change between bought weapons for free remember so it's no real handicap.
Plague Fist
A bigger Plague Sword. Has an ability that stuns and is one of the best in the game for capping under serious fire, but as a weapon it's basically counter-initiation like the Plague Sword and you use it in a similar way. Except with Armour of Pestilence it's quite a good deterrent to Bloodcrushers, Deff Dreads and the like. It's not as good damage-wise as the Commissar's or FC's fist and you aren't as fast, so chasing tanks (or Chasing Cars - great song) is not as good. Even stuff snared by a lascannon often moves only slightly slower than you. Overpriced in terms of not fitting well into your economy, although I guess for its all-round effectiveness 50 power is probably justified. Would change to 45 but that's personal opinion.
Fetid Armour
Don't like it anymore. It's only 100/20 but almost always I can think of somewhere better those resources should go. Now that Plague Sword doesn't depend on it to function in T1 it really seems like a luxury purchase that slows down your tech unnecessarily. It pales in comparison to the Armor of Pestilence, which takes knockback out of the equation for you, although it can be useful still for locking down Jump Infantry once they've landed so you can hit them with your sword.
Let Flesh run like Pus
Get it. Not always immediately, but some point, when resources permit. You move at a snails' pace but the extra hp, immunity to knockback and charged ability is priceless. Unless your PC is an exclusive ninja genbasher (I do not recommend this as he ain't exactly Usain Bolt. Or a howling banshee. Banshees are probs faster lulz) this just makes him so much more of a problem to deal with. If I have to elaborate further plz stahp reading nao.
Waffa's Pro Tip #3 - General point on Chaos - don't get the Land Raider against a FC or Eldar, no matter how tempting it is unless you have a unique oppurtunity (e.g. Eldar has used shitons of Red, FC is dead in the dirt and he is req starved). FC can always get the Rapefist if he really wants it and Eldar have Eldritch Storm. Phobos hp is only 2,000 and a big base size means it's easily knocked out by a Storm, especially since Farseer can use Time Field, Warp Spider grenades, Warp Spider Exarch Phase Shift..yeah you get the picture. Any hard follow-up to a teleporting FC is likely to kill it too. Unless your reactions are like lightning and you can trigger Dirge Caster in about the half second after he teleports and before FoS hits.
Nurgulz Toyz
Blight Grenade is good, works in tandem with the Bile Spewer quite well as you can slow targets to hit with the grenade. Again, it's first and foremost a counter-initiation tool, although it can also function as area denial. Throw at your feet if surrounded by melee infantry for maximum effectiveness. Again though, weigh up if the resources are better elsewhere and if you're really going to be getting that extra mileage out of the grenade. Definitely try it if you haven't already (hue hue hue).
Mucus Discharge is solid, an aoe heal that's usually used to heal the PC + 2x EW CSM in T1. This mini-blob is locked down by suppression but becomes very hard to bleed, especially under heretic support (grenades are ideal here as a soft setup counter). Rarely a bad choice now the cost is down to 25 power tbh. You can also force melee your blob against melee units that reach you if they cross No Man's Land (note - do not force melee with the PC, he is better supporting with his bolter or Bile Spewer) as you deal pretty decent damage despite definitely being decisively vulnerable to special attacks. Hope you like the Ds
Icon of Nurgle is a bit meh. It's best against swarmy melee units but you already have so many counters as the PC I can't see how this is worth 25 power. I know quite a few PC players like it but it just makes you a bit better at doing the same job, which you're probably going to succeed/fail at the same independent of whether you have this or not. Doesn't do enough to justify the cost. Therefore don't get it. [This is a contentious POV however and I'm sure Indrid or someone may voice another opinion.]
Chosen Plague Marines
Did some labbing on these guys. Take this with a pinch of salt as it of course is not reflective in any way of a real engagement, but the results were still pretty surprising (ability used in all fights):
[*]They rape Banshees and do it comfortably. It's good to watch
[*]They faceroll Sluggaz.
[*]They rek all jump troops, unless Vanguard Veterans get ridiculously lucky with Thunder Hammer specials.
[*]They have precisely 0 chase potential (Speed 4 so OP. Caeltos plz nurf). It all comes from the zombies they make, which ofc have the same speed as the unit they're attacking.
Otherwise:
[*]80 req to reinforce means don't lose them, although their regen is beastly.
[*]Their death explosion is long overdue for normal Plague Marines too
[*]Are brilliant in combo with the Bile Spewer debuffing enemy units.
Nurgulz taint shall Shroud Dis Wurld
Touch of Nurgle - this should almost exclusively be used on AC melee heretics to turn them from a unit that should never see battle from T2 onwards into a monster threat that is extremely difficult to control. They become a supreme anti-melee unit - ideally you want the casualties (thus causing the damage, knockback, and heal) to be from the Doomblasts as this will also suppress units, slowing down their attacks and giving Doomblast that vital extra second to recharge so it can be used again. It's brilliant and easy to use. Double edged sword however as you will bleed a lot and if you have the AC you are gonna want more models generally. But it can turn big engagements all on its own.
Noxious Cloud - Anti-blob, spawns quickly and if you feel like being a sneaky son of a bitch place it under things like Shoota Boy Nobz and in the middle of blobbed units so it's harder to see until it starts choking them. Best used to punish a losing fight by your opponent and make him take extra casualties. Don't forget about your other units while moving it however, this is such a common mistake. Can also be used to pick off lone survivors in retreat as it does 15 heavy melee damage p/s, although this takes some skill and is not as easy as dark flames. Can be used against vehicles in exceptional circumstances.
Chaos Lulminators - Don't use them like "normal" Terminators because you aren't as tough as loyalists and worship doesn't do much for you, unlike Khorne or Tzeentch. As default try to bully squads like Warp Spiders, Guardians, tacs without a ML or plasma gun, basically stuff that won't put a lot of pressure on you and STAY CLOSE TO THE PLAGUE CHAMPION. Do not go Rambo with them. I cannot stress this enough. In the modern metagame there are more ways than ever to kill Terminators and the little fat boy is your insurance against them dying. Bile Spewer, Plague Fist, Armor of Pestilence are great ways to save them from swarming melee. With the tankiness of Armor of Pestilence you can show off your totally pr0 micro and charge straight at the stuff shooting your termies to distract fire.
If you buy the Autocannon, which unbelievably is usually worth it at 80 frikkin power, remember to force melee kiting tanks as the autocannon will usually shoot at them and they have to worry about pathing etc.. because your power fists are there. Teleport is for a) emergencies b) very occasionally offensively for sniping stuff like fire prisms with the autocannon c) emergencies. Clawminators are for the Sorcerer, who has Warp to support them so you can use the teleport offensively, but obviously they're so good at what they do there will be times when 210 power_melee dps + splash is too tempting to refuse. Just be careful and don't think they're godmode.
Empyreal Abyss - Used for retreat spiking, and occasionally for cap denial. Don't use it offensively seriously unless your opponent is a spasticated monkey or Easy Computer Player or something he's going to move his ass when he sees a bigass red abyss to the warp opening up underneath his army. As one does. The worst nuke IMO. You have no bad globals now Chosen Plague Marines exist except this one. Obviously a nuke is a nuke, it is 200 heavy melee dps so yeah, there's exceptions to every rule and there will be times when the more creative among you will see an oppurtunity to make good use of this without spiking, but those occasions are rarer than a 40-year old virgin (jokes film btw, Steve Carrell's lulz) so put it this way: they may be rare, but they're a sight to behold.
Waffa's Pro Tip #4 - Chaos' economy is considered one of the weakest, mainly because of a lack of requisition in T2. Playing a PC build of a worshiping heretic at base, an EW CSM, 2 havocs and possibly a 4 model heretic squad in-field for worship can lead to req spikes in T2 onwards. Hope to lose 1 model on each of the havocs, you only want the heavy weapon and the 3rd extra member is no way worth what like 42/5, like seriously he gives you absolutely nothing but extra upkeep. Occasionally he'll be the only survivor if you're overrun but in that case you probably deserved to lose the squad anyway so count your lucky stars you screwed up your eco management. This makes Chosen Plague Marines (if you got the red) and quick dreadnoughts very viable for the PC. Chosen Plague Marines bodyguard the spread-out havoc squads - the jumped one will have to retreat but it won't bleed and the more expensive jump unit is now exactly where it doesn't want to be.
Turret
Cannot be kb'd like a havoc, cannot be suppressed, you control the target and it never de-setups because of a misclick on the target where you've clicked the ground *this* close to it (we've all done it), can be repaired so is great for digging in. The lascannon upgrade is the hidden gem - it's a monstrously hard-hitting AV weapon that doesn't have that long a break between shots. Use it for vehicle sniping. However turrets are seriously vulnerable to fire damage so a flanking tac squad rapes your 200/30 investment backwards. Serial wankers use them on maps like Argus Desert Gate 3v3.
Shrine to da Plague God
Gives access to Chaos' only on-field reinforcement. The heal is a % not a set value, which makes it excellent support for Terminators. Don't get it vs IG who can knock it out with a Manticore Strike and there's jack shit you can do, c'est la vie. Contrary to how it looks, heretics are NOT worshipping when praying to the shrine, so can retreat straight out or start worshipping to give better support to Daemons or vehicles. The 'pulse' suppresses enemies and of course triggers twice as often with heretics worshipping, so if units are overwhelmed and retreat by the shrine there's a good chance chasers will get suppressed, or the heretics can just doomblast and fall back. Situational but a gamewinner if you use it right.
Waffa's Pro Tip #5 - Fast teching to T3 with the Plague Champion is perfectly viable, but should be about opening up your options rather than going for a set unit as your T2 often has more cost-efficient solutions. In 3v3s, where I can genbash with the Bile Spewer like every game, I regularly go T3 then get Plague Marines for AV. If you've controlled your req well (see last Pro Tip) this shouldn't be hard at all, and your economy should still be in a good state to look at getting a T3 unit out. Ultimately a good army comp to end up with is TCSM, Chosen Plague Marines, Plague Marines and Autocannon Terminators. Aside from the fact it all looks fucking awesome in Death Guard Elite colour scheme, these units alongside a PC complement each other really well and are perfect for fighting cookie-cutter non-SM/GK.
So go on, spread the Plague. I wanna see moar 1 model heretic squads worshipping at base!
