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Blight Drones

In the Warhammer 40,000 setting, Blight Drones are a type of Daemonic Engine: an unholy merging of Daemon and machine. These particular monstrosities fly above the ground on whining rotors, spreading Nurgle's filth. They are related to Foetid Bloat-drones.

Forge World both wrote the background and rules and produced the model for this particular creature, as part of their Imperial Armour series of publications for Warhammer 40,000.

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009)

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009), p35

Blight Drone

Nurgle Blight Drone, encountered in sector 592-440 and banished by Grey Knights squad Mattan.

Blight Drone

Nurgle Blight Drone, engaged during the battle for Armory 59-44. Swarms of Blight Drones infested the area through which the 30th line korps advanced.

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009), p151 — Blight Drones: The Bilecysts of Nurgle

During the final, mightmarish stages of the Siege of Vraks, many dark and terrible engines of war were unleashed by the Chaos forces to contest this benighted world. Staggering in their diversity and blasphemous in their malignant design, many were old foes of the Ordo Malleus, while others had been considered nothing more than fearful rumours until they appeared on Vraks. A few had never been encountered before (or at least none had lived to tell the tale of meeting them), and of this latter category on Vraks amongst the most unique and horrific were the Blight Drones.

Seemingly a weird conglomeration of insect larvae, flying machine and daemonic entity, the Blight Drones quickly became a terror in the poison-choked skies above Vraks. The maddening, incessant droning buzz of their rotor disks echoing from the murky fog of war quickly became recognised as an omen of death by the Imperial Guard troops. Stories from the maimed and rotting survivors of Blight Drone attacks quickly spread through the ranks. The fear of the negative effect on morale from these rumours was such that it became a serious concern for the commissars. Such rumours were judged to be a morale threat in-and-of themselves. By the end of the campaign those found to be repeating such stories faced arrest and transportation to penal units.

Unfortunately for the Imperial forces, the Blight Drones' macabre and deadly reputation was more than matched in dreadful fact by their effectiveness on the battlefield. Armed both with rapid-firing light cannon and a maw-like weapon capable of spewing jets of corrosive toxic bile strong enough to eat through metal and liquefy flesh in seconds, they proved deadly both to entrenched infantry and light vehicles, while troops caught in the open stood little chance against their swooping assaults. The Blight Drones' squat, bloated form also proved unusually resilient to weapons fire for a skimmer of their size, a factor attributed to their seemingly 'living' flesh and rusted armour plating, as well as the will of whatever dark intelligence guided them.

When first encountered, after action reports by scattered and often terribly maimed survivors led to misidentification of the Blight Drones either as conventional flying vehicles of some kind, or indeed huge Warp-mutated insects, but as the Inquisition's savants and intelligence staff pieced together the evidence, the truth that they were facing some new form of Daemon Engine became abundantly clear. The Blight Drones themselves were often encountered in clusters and swarms, acting much in the manner of carrion flies and ambush predators, drawn it appeared to ongoing bloodshed and concentrations of the dead on the battlefield as much as they were 'ordered' into combat by any directing force. Imperial psykers and Inquisition seers could readily detect the decaying spoor of the Daemons of Nurgle in their passing. Where ever they were encountered, the air grew thick with poisonous fumes and the soil of Vraks blistered and rotted beneath them as their corpulent flesh wept continually with dripping ichor.

Unconfirmed reports spoke of these Daemon Engines coming down to rest on piles of corpses seemingly to 'feed', liquefying the carcasses of the dead and the dying, and sucking up the decaying sludge, perhaps to fuel themselves or maintain their presence in the physical universe. But others claim that no evidence could be found of the Blight Drones landing or needing any form of mundane maintenance or base of operations.

Although the war on Vraks was the first confirmed encounter with the Daemon Engines codified as Blight Drones by the Imperium, and their origin remains unknown, it was not the last. Since the Vraksian conflict Blight Drones have been encountered in several battles, notably fighting alongside the renegades known as the Purge and several Death Guard splinter factions. Additionally, unconfirmed reports have placed these obscene weapons as part of the daemonic incursions in both the pongoing conflict in the Charadis Rifts and during the Thirteenth Black Crusade.

Blight Drones

Blight Drones

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009), p153 — Blight Drone of Nurgle — Points: 125

 Armour
 BSFrontSideRear
Blight Drone2121110

Unit Composition:

Unit Type:

Wargear:

Options:

Special Rules

Explosion of Pus

When a Blight Drone is destroyed, it invariably detonates in a shower of bile and pus. Treat all Destroyed - Wrecked results on the Vehicle Damage table as Destroyed - Explodes results instead.

WeaponRangeStrAPSpecial
Mawcannon
– VomitTemplate64Assault 1
– Phlegm36"83Assault 1, 5" Blast
Reaper Autocannon36"74Heavy 2, twin-linked

Fast Attack: A squadron of Blight Drones is a Fast Attack choice for a Chaos Daemons army or a Chaos Space Marine army that includes at least one unit of Plague Marines.

Blight Drones

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009), p189 — Scenarios

Blight Drone

Nurgle Blight Drone, vanquished during the second assault upon the Citadel. Note the advanced state of decay and unknown leakage.

Imperial Armour 7: The Siege of Vraks, part 3 (2009), p210 — Blight Drone Infestation

Points: 100 + Models

The horrific Blight Drones of Nurgle are like daemonic carrion flies to the carcasses of the dead, drawn to death and suffering; they swoop down to rain death upon the feeble mortals that oppose them. During the Battle for Vraks and in many major incursions by Chaos forces since, the skies have choked and bled to the colour of a rotting wound and incessant droning as if from a million insects has presaged these nightmarish creations' attack.

Formation:

3-5 Blight Drone swarms, each of which must comprise three Blight Drones, one of which must be designated as the Command Cluster.

Special Rules:

Strike Force: All units in the Blight Drone Infestation must be deployed within 12" of the Command Cluster or, if coming on from Reserve, they must enter the table within 12" of the point entered by the Command Cluster.

Death from the Skies: If, at the beginning of your turn, all the models in the Blight Drone Infestation are within 12" of the Command Cluster, the entire infestation can choose to become Flyers until the beginning of its next turn. However, the Blight Drones in the swarm may not fire their weapons in the turn they fly.

Baleful Presence: The swirling mass of daemonic energies that empower the Blight Drones gather and twist around the governing intelligence of the Command Cluster at its heart like a malign vortex. As a result, unless they are counted as Flyers for that turn, the Blight Drones of the Command Cluster count as having Personal Icons (see page 81 of Codex: Chaos Space Marines) which may be used by their allies.

Black Crusade (2011)

Blight Drone

Imperial Armour: Aeronautica (2012)

Imperial Armour: Aeronautica (2012), p74 — Blight Drone of Nurgle — Points: 125

Bizarre and nightmarish fusions of machine and daemon insect, Blight Drones are hovering killers, their horrific weapons capable of sending swathes of enemy infantry to an unspeakably vile death. Often encountered in clusters and swarms on worlds falling to Chaos, Blight Drones act very much in the manner of carrion flies and ambush predators, drawn to ongoing bloodshed and concentrations of the dead. First encountered during the later stages of the bitter war for the apostate world of Vraks, unconfirmed reports spoke of these daemon-machines coming down to rest on piles of corpses seemingly to 'feed', liquefying the carcasses of the dead and the dying, and sucking up the decaying sludge.

The dull, maddening buzz of their droning engines in the poisoned fog of Vraks' skies rapidly became a fearful omen of doom to the Imperial forces, a sound dreaded even above the howls of Khorne's Berserkers or the whistling scream of incoming shells.

Since the Vraksian conflict, Blight Drones have been encountered fighting alongside the renegades known as the Purge and several other Death Guard splinter factions, as well as in Daemonic incursions in both the Auralis war zone and the fall of the Hive world of Mitra Prime during the 13th Black Crusade.

 Armour 
BSFrontSideRearHP
21211102

Unit Composition:

Unit Type:

Special Rules

Wargear:

WeaponRangeStrAPType
Mawcannon
(Vomit)Template64Assault 1
(Phlegm)36"83Assault 1, Large Blast (5")
Reaper Autocannon36"74Heavy 2, Twin-linked
Explosion of Pus

When a Blight Drone is destroyed, it invariably detonates in a shower of bile and pus. When a Blight Drone loses its last Hull Point it explodes as for the 'Explodes' Vehicle Damage Table entry rather than becoming wrecked.

1-3 Blight Drones are a Fast Attack choice for a Codex: Chaos Daemons army, a Servants of Decay army (see Imperial Armour Volume 7), or a Codex: Chaos Space Marine army that includes at least one unit of Plague Marines.

"All things must wither and die. Let root rot and bower blight, to feed the pestilence of abandoned hope."
— Aghalor, the Bringer of Poxes

The Tome of Decay (2014)

The Tome of Decay (2014), p90 — Pyurultide

Dissection Record 83162-Gamma, Third Attempt (Specimen 3724-g, Mid-sized Drone)

Third attempt to determine source of specimen's abnormal toxicity begins. Removal of carapace progressing at 5% increased rate over second attempt. Improving at this. Must remember volatility of specimen's bile gland.

Bile gland now visible. Must Remember failure of second attempt. Exposure to air corroded all servitors in 7.77 metre radius. Attempting to remove gland now.

Punctured pouch again. All Servitors in 7.77 metre radius once again corroded. Will dispose. Again unharmed despite apparent toxicity. Will run autoanalysis protocols.

Must Remember. Failure is progress. Persistence is success. Fourth attempt to commence upon acquisition of specimens...

— The Entomancer

Blight Drone

Nightmarish flying creatures of hideous proportions and terrible intent, these horrific entities have begun to appear on Pyurultide. Poorly understood by the inhabitants of the world, the Pox Tribesmen believe them to be little more than an awful new form of creature spawned in the depths of the great Living Seas. But the truth is far more horrific.

Blight Drones are Daemon Engines, fuelled by the esoteric energies of the Warp. Appearing as an eerie jumble of insect, flying machine, and Daemon, a Blight Drone buzzes through the polluted skies of Pyurultide on rusted and decayed rotor blades. Often accompanied by vast swarms of "mundane" creatures drawn from the Living Sea, Blight Drones spread fear and death wherever they are found. These entities are known to attack any and all Pox Tribesmen they encounter. Tales of them disgorging awful, corrosive acids, and other, less identifiable fluids onto lone targets, and then settling over the remains to draw them up inside their protective body cases are rampant across the planet.

The Entomancer has become particularly fascinated by the Blight Drones and is eagerly seeking to determine where they have come from and, more importantly, why they have appeared.

Blight Drone (Elite)
WSBSSTAgIntPerWPFelInf
25343416615216435207-

Movement: 8/16/24/48

Wounds: 40

Armour: Machine (11 All)

Total TB: 16

Skills: Awareness (Per), Dodge (Ag) +10.

Talents: Blind Fighting, Two Weapon Wielder (Ballistic).

Traits: Auto-Stabilised, Daemon Engine (5), Explosion of Pus†, Fear (3), Flyer (8), Machine (11), Nurgle's Blessing††, Size (7), Toxic (4), Unnatural Toughness (5).

Weapons: Mawcannon Vomit (Heavy; 20m; S/-/-; 1d10+8 E; Pen: 5; Clip: -; Rld: -; Toxic [5]; Spray), Mawcannon Phlegm (Heavy; 200m; S/-/-; 3d10+8 E; Pen: 8; Clip: -; Rld: -; Blast [5], Toxic [3]), Reaper Autocannon (Heavy; 300m; S/4/-; 3d10+8 I; Pen: 6; Clip: -; Rld: -: Reliable; Twin-Linked).

†Explosion of Pus: When a Blight Drone is destroyed, it explodes in a shower of rancid filth and pus. In addition to any other effects generated by Table 3-9: Daemon Engine Critical Hit Chart (see page 96), any characters within 7 metres of the Blight Drone when it is destroyed must make a Hard (-20) Agility Test or suffer 3d10+8 Energy Damage with the Corrosive, Irradiated (2), and Toxic (2) Qualities.

††Nurgle's Blessing: A Blight Drone is a Daemon Engine of Nurgle, and is always Aligned to Nurgle.

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned (2014)

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned (2014), p131-133 — Blight Drones

Bizarre and nightmarish fusions of machine and daemonic insect, Blight Drones are hovering killers, their horrific weapons capable of sending swathes of enemy infantry to an unspeakably vile death. Often encountered in clusters and swarms on worlds falling to Chaos, Blight Drones act in the manner of carrion flies or ambush predators, drawn to ongoing bloodshed and concentrations of the dead. First encountered during the later stages of the bitter war for the apostate world of Vraks, nothing akin to Blight Drones had ever been faced before by the Imperium, or at least none had lived to tell the tale of meeting them.

When first encountered, after-action reports by scattered and often terribly maimed survivors led to misidentification of the Blight Drones either as conventional flying vehicles of some kind or some form of huge, warp-mutated insects, but as the Inquisition's savants and daemonologists pieced together the evidence, the truth that they were facing some new form of Daemon Engine became abundantly clear. Wherever they are found, the air grows thick with poisonous fumes and the soil blisters and rots beneath them as their corpulent flesh weeps continually with dripping ichor.

The maddening, incessant droning buzz of the Blight Drones' rotor discs echoing through the murky fog of war has become an omen of death to Imperial Guard troops. Reports of Blight Drone attacks spread quickly through the ranks, the negative effect on morale such a serious concern for the commissars that those found to be repeating such stories face arrest and redeployment to the penal units.

The Blight Drones' macabre and deadly reputation is more than matched in dreadful fact by their effectiveness on the battlefield. Armed with rapid-firing light cannon and a maw-like weapon spewing jets of corrosive toxic bile strong enough to eat through metal and liquefy flesh in seconds, they are deadly to entrenched infantry and light vehicles, while troops caught in the open stand little chance against their swooping assaults. The Blight Drones' squat, bloated form is unusually resilient to weapons fire, a factor attributed to their seemingly 'living' flesh and rusted armour plating, as well as the will of whatever dark intelligence guides them.

Unconfirmed reports speak of these Daemon Engines coming down to rest on piles of corpses seemingly to 'feed', liquefying the carcasses of the dead and the dying and sucking up the decaying sludge, perhaps to fuel themselves or maintain their presence in the physical universe.

Since the Vraksian conflict, Blight Drones have been encountered in numerous battles, notably fighting alongside the renegades known as the Purge and several Death Guard splinter factions. Unconfirmed reports have placed these obscene weapons as part of the daemonic incursions in the Auralis Wars, the Charadis Rifts and the fall of Mitra Prime in the opening battles of the 13th Black Crusade.

Blight Drones — 150 Points per model

 Armour 
 BSFrontSideRearHP
Blight Drone21211102

Unit Composition

Unit Type

Wargear

Special Rules

See Codex: Chaos Daemons for details.

See page 191 for additional weapons rules and profiles.

Explosion of Pus

When a Blight Drone is destroyed, it invariably detonates in a shower of bile and pus. When the Blight Drone loses its last Hull Point, it always explodes as per the Explodes! Vehicle Damage table result rather than becoming Wrecked.

Mawcannon

The noisome mawcannon has the following profile:

WeaponRangeStrAPType
Mawcannon
(Vomit)Template64Assault 1
(Phlegm)36"83Assault 1, Large Blast (5")

Warhammer 40,000: This unit is intended for use in 'standard' games of Warhammer 40,000, within the usual limitations of Codex selection and your chosen form of army selection. As with all our models these should be considered 'official', but as your opponent may not be familiar with them, it's best to make sure they are aware of their rules before you play a game.

Blight Drone

Blight Drone, observed engaged in counter-evasion operations, Siege of Vraks, 828.M41

Blight Drone of The Tainted

Blight Drone, believed summoned by Sorcerers of the Tainted, Siege of Vraks, 830.M41. Banished by Grey Knights in final battle for Sector 593-440.