Apocalypse Formations

Apocalypse adds extra dimensions to playing Warhammer 40,000, not least through various additional formations that can be deployed by each army. As my core Death Guard army is nowhere near complete yet, it would be foolhardy of me to embark on setting up any of these formations now. But I can at least plan, and these are the plans that I have already concocted...

• Tide of Spawn: I can technically field this formation but ideally I need seven Chaos Spawn to replace all seven squad members. At the moment I've got six different models (using Beasts of Nurgle as Chaos Spawn as well). If I can get hold of one of the very old Beasts of Nurgle that could be used as a Daemonic Steed then I'll be set...
• Warp Rift: I already have sufficient models to pull together this formation since it required a minimum of one Greater Daemon and three packs of Lesser Daemons.
• Daemon Lord - Scabeiathrax the Bloated: £95 model from Forge World. I'm somewhat put off by it being a named character, but it's a fantastic model and an amazing set of stats in-game so I may pick it up eventually.
• Giant Chaos Spawn: £40 model from Forge World.
• Spined Chaos Beast: £45 model from Forge World.
• Vraksian Renegade Attack Force: I haven't got a copy of Imperial Armour volume 5, so I don't have the rules for these guys which leaves them out for now. But the idea of a supporting infantry force fits nicely with my army so I may ultimately add this to my forces.
• Chaos Annihilation Force: This requires a Chaos Lord in Terminator armour and at least three squads of Chaos Terminators. I can pull that together using unit sizes of less than seven men, but it would be a shame. Sadly there haven't been enough individual Chaos Terminator models made for me to put together a force of 22 of them. I'd have to do some extensive conversion work on some loyalist Terminators (which would be a project for well into the future).
• Chaos Conclave: The minimum force requirements are one named character, four of Daemon Princes / Chaos Lords / Chaos Sorcerers, and five squads of Chaos Terminators / Chosen Chaos Space Marines. The only Nurgle character available is Typhus (which is why he's on my list of potential units for the army) and I have enough other HQ choices. But the supporting Elites... tricky if I want to keep squad sizes of seven.
• The Lost and the Damned: Skaven would make excellent mutants of Nurgle! As a result I plan on building a Skaven army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle at some point, and using them in the Lost and the Damned formation. More details of my plans will follow eventually after I've completed a significant portion of my core Death Guard army.
• Plague of Zombies: For £108 I can field four units of 30 Zombies with a total cost of 630 points (or 855 points including Typhus). Nice. That would be a lovely addition to my infantry-heavy army, and one day I will get the models to do it. (Or for a bit more money, I could also mix in some Imperial Guard components to make the zombies look more appropriate to the time period.)

Rejected Chaos Formations

I have ruled out various options open to a Chaos army since I don't believe that they fit in with the vision I have for my Death Guard force...

• Khorne units: Brass Scorpion of Khorne; Daemon Lord - An'ggrath the Unbound; Banelord of Khorne; Bloodthirster Bloodbath; Doom Blaster of Khorne; Khorne Lord of Battles; Maelstrom of Gore.
• Slaanesh units: Daemon Lord - Zarakynel; Emperor's Children Warband; Slaanesh Subjugator.
• Tzeentch units: Silver Tower of Tzeentch; Thousand Sons Warcoven.
• Large vehicles: Plaguereaper of Nurgle; Chaos Warhound Titan; Daemon Engine Summoning; Daemonic Forge-Host; Defiler Assault Force; Nurgle Plague Tower; Doomsday Device.
• Flyers: Dreadclaw; Hell Talon; Hell Blade; Dreadclaw Talon.