Citadel Journal 12 (1995), p36-39 — Nurgle Palanquin

The scourge of Chaos

For thousands of years the forces of Chaos have ravaged the lands of Warhammer bringing death and destruction wherever they go. Vile beasts and Daemons do the work of the Chaos Gods who seek to destroy, to corrupt and change the peoples of the world and bring about the downfall of life itself. All over the world secret clandestine meetings take place to worship the Chaos Gods and these are the beginnings of a Chaos infestation in the Old World. Only an ever vigilant watch can keep them at bay.

The Chaos gods are extremely powerful and the four most potent form the biggest threat to mankind in the history of its existence. They bicker constantly, fighting over the spoils of Warhammer as a child fights for sweets. In times of need the Chaos Gods will work together to further advance the power of Chaos but will soon go back to fighting for supremacy. Only time will tell if the Chaos Gods' cosmic game will cost the lives of all humanity, or not.

Nurgle

Let the air turn stale and foetid, let the flies gather like clouds. Let us worship the master of the plague, Nurgle! Nurgle! Nurgle!
— Nurgle cult incantation

Nurgle - The Great Lord of Decay, the Plague God. Nurgle's fascination lies in the lepers and plague ridden people of the world. For amusement Nurgle seeds the world with deadly contagions and plagues such as the nauseating Red Pox and the incurable Nurgle's Rot. Nurgle's power grows strong when his plagues are epidemic upon the good folk of Warhammer, and wanes with the fading of them. Nurgle is a bloated Chaos God whose foul appearance is only matched by the rank stench of decay which surrounds him. His body is green and leathery and covered in running sores and boils. The absolute foulness of Nurgle is beyond description by mere words.

The Greater Daemon of Nurgle, the Great Unclean One is similar in appearance to Nurgle himself; its organs hang outside its body and minor Daemons crawl over the Great Unclean One's body chewing and drinking the foul juices which lie therein.

Plaguebearers are lesser Daemons which carry Nurgle's Rot to the Warhammer world from the Realm of Chaos; their Plagueswords drip with venomous slime which rots and festers in the wounds of those unlucky enough to survive an encounter with them.

Beasts of Nurgle are gigantic slug like Daemons which leave a deadly slime behind them. The Beast's paralysing attacks leave victims stunned and when they reawaken they wish they were dead. The smallest Daemons of all, Nurglings, are miniature images of Nurgle himself, rotund and bloated. Nurglings are weak alone but when they group together they can prove to be a huge writhing mass of annoying and distracting little sods. Like a sea of green corruption biting and chewing at enemies' feet and ankles, Nurglings are in fact capable of overwhelming an overconfident opponent.

Nurgle Palanquins

Each Chaos God gifts his Champions with special rewards. Khorne for example may reward a champion for particularly impressive kills upon the field of battle and will gift him a suit of blood red armour. Nurgle will reward his champions with diseases and plagues but sometimes Nurgle's champions deserve more and for these special champions Nurgle reserves his most powerful reward - Nurgle's Palanquin.

Nurgle's Palanquin is a throne of putrid vileness carried aloft upon a litter which is borne by Nurglings. Nurgle's champion sits upon the throne and commands awe and respect from the lesser warriors under his command. Very few champions are considered worthy of a palanquin and those that are must be favoured warriors indeed.

One such champion is Plaguestrangler Vilestench who single handedly defeated over three score of High Elves in single combat. He was responsible for the destruction of Averheim, a city in Northern Norsca, in only one day. Plaguestrangler has lived for over three thousand years and has risen to fame amongst the ranks of Chaos, having started life as a lowly cult fanatic.

Vilestench's most memorable feat, and the one that earned him the Palanquin, was when he began the Black Fever in the town of L'anguille. Plaguestrangler sailed his Plaguefleet to Brettonia, some five hundred years ago, and passed the plague onto some local peasants and farmers who walked to the Brettonian port and began an epidemic of the deadly contagion. Vilestench defeated several Brettonian armies before Nurgle decided it was time for him to leave and return to the Realm of Chaos to collect his reward. Since then Plaguestrangler Vilestench has commanded great respect from those who fight for him and has become a feared sight upon the battlefields of the Warhammer world.

Plaguestrangler now commands an army which is storming down from the North towards the Chaos Dwarf city of Huzkuluk and the High Pass across the Worlds Edge Mountains into the Empire. If Vilestench were to reach the lands of Kislev there might be another plague infestation in the city of Praag for Nurgle to gloat over the other Chaos Gods with.

Plaguestrangler Vilestench: Champion of Nurgle

If you choose Plaguestrangler Vilestench to be your army general then he replaces the general given in the army list from Warhammer Armies: Chaos.

Plaguestrangler Vilstench	305
Plague Sceptre of Nurgle	100
Nurgle's Cloud of Flies	30
Nurgle's Palanquin	90

The profile (below) includes the Nurgle Palanquin, the Nurglings which bear it and Plaguestrangler who rides upon the Palanquin in battle. This is to make things easy to find in the heat of the game.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	LD
Plaguestrangler	4	8	8	5	6	4	8	5	10
Palanquin	-	-	-	5	7	3	1	-	-
Nurglings	4	3	3	3	3	6	4	6	7

Weapons/Armour: Plaguestrangler wears Heavy Armour and is armed with a Sword and the Plague Sceptre of Nurgle. Vilestench's profile has had the +1 Toughness attributed from being a Champion of Nurgle already included.

Rides: Plaguestrangler rides to battle upon the mighty Nurgle Palanquin (see below).

Magic Items: Plaguestrangler is a Chaos Lord and as such may have three magic items or Chaos Rewards. These must always be the Magic Item Plague Sceptre of Nurgle and the Chaos Rewards: Nurgle's Palanquin and Nurgle's Cloud of Flies.

Special Rule: Noisome Stench. Plaguestrangler has not washed since he was twelve years old and as such has attracted a rather nasty smell over the last few centuries. The stench is so bad that it can knock out opponents if Vilestench gets close enough.

When Plaguestrangler is in combat with a unit all enemy in base to base contact with him must roll a dice. This dice roll is made before any other attacks. On the roll of 1 they are knocked out by his Noisome Stench and cannot attack this turn. They will not count as casualties but they can only be attacked by the Nurglings this turn.

Nurgle's Palanquin Special Rules

Causes Fear: Nurgle's Palanquin is a disgusting and obscene object to look upon and as such it causes fear. Foes charged or wishing to charge the Palanquin must first pass a fear test otherwise they will break and flee, or will be unable to charge.

March Moves: The Nurgle Palanquin may not make a march move and therefore can only move 4" per turn. This may be doubled to 8" when the Palanquin charges.

Daemonic Animosity: The Nurglings are subject to Daemonic Animosity. They must test for Daemonic Animosity if there are Daemons from a rival Chaos God within 12" at the start of the Chaos players and they are not in combat. They may test using Plaguestrangler's Leadership characteristic. See Warhammer Armies: Chaos for more details.

War Altar: The Nurgle Palanquin is a huge inspiration for Chaos troops in battle. All Nurgle units within 6" of the Palanquin are immune to all psychology tests and may add +1 to break tests.

Hits from Shooting		Hits from Hand to Hand
1	Plaguestrangler	1-2	Plaguestrangler
2-5	Palanquin	3-5	Palanquin
6	Nurglings	6	Nurglings

Distributing Damage: When the Palanquin is hit in hand to hand combat or shooting then roll a die for each hit and consult the relevant table above to determine where the blow has landed.

After you have determined where the hit will land then roll to wound as normal. If the Palanquin is reduced to 0 Wounds it is destroyed and the Nurglings which bear it will be crushed beneath its falling debris. If the Nurglings are reduced to 0 Wounds then they are killed and the Palanquin may no longer move. Vilestench may leave the Palanquin if either the Nurglings or the Palanquin are destroyed and move independently. If Plaguestrangler Vilestench is killed then Nurgle will be most displeased and take his gift, Nurgle's Palanquin, away from the earthly plane of existence; remove the model from the table.