Kill Team: The Dolorous Strain (2019), p8 — Legacy of Decay

Amongst the most trusted champions of Lord Mortarion, the kill team known as the Dolorous Strain have spread the malign gifts of Nurgle far across the galaxy. By their foul hand have entire worlds been consumed by rot and pestilence, and the Imperium's mightiest servants reduced to corrupted husks.

M41 Plague War

The Choir of Blissful Agonies

In the depths of the Eye of Terror, Mortarion's Death Guard lay siege to the Slaaneshi stronghold of Qor Luxiss, a nightmarish spire of glass and sinew which channels the haunting cries of a million agonised souls into a melodic chorus. This siren song echoes across tormented space, driving both the daemons of the Dark Prince and their Heretic Astartes allies into an exultant killing frenzy. The Dolorous Strain is given the task of cutting off this signal. Breaching the fortress in a precision teleportarium strike, Gurloch Thrax and his Blightlords fight their way past both Daemons and the depraved warriors of the Flawless Host. At the heart of the structure they unleash swarms of daemonic plague flies into the intricately fashioned workings of the super-structure. The atonal buzzing of the foul insects drowns out the choir of agony, confusing and disrupting the Slaaneshi forces long enough for the Death Guard to force an opening and pulverise Qor Luxiss with a ferocious artillery barrage.

The Lesion Tears Open

Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster of Chaos, unites the warring factions of the Eye of Terror in common cause. The horror and destruction of the 13th Black Crusade shatters the fragile barrier between realities, and the immense warp rift known as the Cicatrix Maledictum tears open across the galaxy. Lord Mortarion leads the Death Guard in an invasion of Ultramar, shining empire of the Ultramarines and the domain of his hated rival, the resurrected Rouboute Guilliman. At Espandor and Drohl the Dolorous Strain strike at the heart of the loyalist defences, clearing the way for the construction of immense plague engines to spread Nurgle's bounty.

The Damning of Drohl

The Dolorous Strain are tasked with destroying the Valentus Hydro-Bastion, an immense wall of rockcrete and gravitic generatorums which holds at bay the diseased waters of Drohl's alpine rivers. Within the belly of this wonder of Ultramarian design they are met in battle by Primaris Intercessors of the Novamarines Chapter. Though the Space Marines fight fiercely, one by one they are cut down by rusted blades and fusillades of bolter fire. Mulgh the Curdled oversees the demolition of several gravitic generatorums, and as the dam collapses under the pressure, a flood of brackish plague-water floods across the southern plains of Drohl.

A New Vector

Roboute Guilliman leads a formidable counter-offensive against Mortarion's forces in Ultramar, driving the Death Guard into retreat. The Daemon Primarch broods over this defeat, but word soon reaches him of a new front that may be worthy of his attention - the isolated world of Vigilus, a furiously contested war zone that is drawing in forces from across the galaxy. The Tainted Sons - and by extension the Dolorous Strain - are despatched to sow the first seeds of corruption...

M41 The Rot From Beneath

Decay From Within

Slipping through the embattled Vigilus blockade upon disguised Imperial vessels, agents of the Death Guard infiltrate several of the planet's major population centres, with the goal of sowing rot and disease throughout the populace and paving the way for a major planetary assault. The Dolorous Strain are one such strike team, armed with the latest biological horrors from the factories of the Plague Planet to test upon the flesh of loyalist warriors.

Tainted Water

Genestealer Cultists of the Pauper Princes lead subterranean ambushes upon infection cells of Death Guard warriors, stymieing the legion's attempts to spread the taint of the Gellerpox across Vigilus. The Dolorous Strain are dispatched to repel the xenos-tainted dissidents. While his fellow Blightlord Terminators butcher scores of Neophytes and Genestealers, Mulgh the Curdled laces several of the local water supplies with a horrendous cocktail of biological agents. The cultist attacks falter in the following weeks, as entire regions of Dontoria are ravaged by bone-breaking agues and other appalling diseases.

Hyperia Burns

Having successfully infected several major population centres of Dontoria, drawing badly needed Space Marine forces into a thankless quarantine action, the Death Guard set their sights upon the Hyperia Hivesprawl, home to the Imperial capital. The Dolorous Strain are at the forefront of this new offensive, but they soon find themselves facing an unexpected foe - warriors of the Thousand Sons, seeking to reignite the bitter rivalry between the worshippers of Tzeentch and those of Nurgle.