Citadel Journal 9 (1995), p5-6 — Bubonis, Daemonic Plague Titan of Nurgle

Since the dark days of the Horus Heresy the renegade Titan legions have dwelt in the Eye of Terror. For thousands of years they have been proving themselves to the Dark Lords in the hope that the most worthy of them might be granted the ultimate reward, Daemonhood!

Bubonis is one such Titan, once the command of Grand Master Marnic Bubon, man and machine have become one and now lead the much feared Festering Death Titan legion to war against all comers.

The legion of Festering Death, formally known by the Imperium as the Silver Scythes, had been based on the rim of Imperial space when the Heresy swept the Imperium into civil war. Overlooked by many and far away from the bulk of the fighting the Legion's commanders quickly succumbed to the lure of Chaos and entered the fray, siding with the Lord of Decay. The Legion set about bringing famine and pestilence to the worlds on the rim and unleashed ancient plagues upon the planets, thus winning their Lord's favour.

Special Rules

Bubonis is a Greater Daemon and all normal rules apply. The Titan is entitled to 3 chaos cards and he may use these to negate the effects of a hit; the card must be played before damage is rolled. Any units charged by Bubonis may not shoot him in the first fire phase and must take a morale check or go on to Fall Back orders.

Whenever Bubonis moves he leaves a trail of sticky contagious slime behind him; the slime trail is 4cm wide and the template that is provided on the back inside cover should be used to represent the slime. The slime remains in play for the rest of the game and any troops who are not his minions will take a single hit with a -2 save modifier if they touch the template. Also any models that are in close combat with Bubonis will take a hit on a 4+ with a -1 save modifier before combat is resolved.

Bubonis was once a Warlord class Titan and as such he can make one 90 degree turn during his movement. He has 6 void shields to protect him from incoming fire.

1200 years ago Nurgle rewarded Bubonis for his loyalty and devotion with special plague cannon. These are barrage weapons that fire a festering ball of rotting waste that's infused with many sickening diseases. This hits its target and splatters over a wide area hitting anything underneath with 8 barrage points; any model that is hit suffers a -1 save modifier. After shooting has been resolved leave the template in position and roll on the plague outbreak table at the beginning of your movement phase.

Weapon	Range	To Hit	Save
Plague Cannon	100cm	8BP	-1

Plague Cannon Table

1-3	The plague seeps into the ground and dissipates. Remove the template from play.
4-5	The mess of rot and disease starts to fester. Leave the template in play; anything that touches the temaplte will be hit on a roll of 4+ with a -1 save.
6	The plague starts to spread at an alarming rate. An outbreak is imminent! Any model that touches the template will be hit on the roll of a 3+ with a -1 save and anything within 6cm will be hit on a 5+ with a -1 save.

Bubonis is also armed with the revolting Rot Spitters. Many writhing tentacles protrude from the Titan's carapace. These end in gaping mouths that shoot large gobbets of Rot and Goo at the enemies of Nurgle, while the huge gaping mouth that dominates the Titan's body can spit long streams of corrupted slime at anything that gets too close. Bubonis' mighty plague cannon are gripped and aimed by decaying Claws of Nurgle. These are treated as a single power fist in close combat. You may not fire the plague cannon and use the claws as a power fist in the same turn.

Followers of Bubonis

If you take Bubonis as a greater daemon you must also buy him followers. Bubonis must have at least 3 minion cards following him. Bubonis also allows you to purchase a Titan battle group; this battle group must be made up of Titans from the Legion of Festering Death and may be picked from the Titan Legion cards at the end of the article, as these are Bubonis' followers. Titans from the Legion of Festering Death can have general Chaos attributes and Nurgle specific Chaos attributes.

If Bubonis is destroyed then any Titans from the Legion of Festering Death will lose all of their general Chaos attributes. Nurgle specific attributes are not affected.

(Any Titan bought as a minion card for Bubonis will come from the Legion of Festering Death.)