OVERVIEW:
As of General's Handbook 2020, the rotten backbone of any ROTBRINGER list got a nice price cut to 140 pts for 5 Putrid Blightkings, and have a horde discount that no one will ever use at 400pt for 20. If you take NURGLE as your allegiance, these 'Kings count as Battleline. The plastic kit came out during the End Times of Warhammer Fantasy and costs you $57 USD retail. 5 Putrid Blightkings also come in a Start Collecting Maggotkin of Nurgle box which is $95 USD ($157 USD value).
You can grab your own Putrid Blightkings by grabbing a Start Collecting Maggotkin of Nurgle box with the Amazon link below. You support the blog, and get a discount off MSRP.
THE WARSCROLL:
The Stat Wheel - The Move of the the Blightkings is 4", which is a little deceptive. Nurgle units can become incredibly fast and catch your opponent on the wrong foot if they are not expecting it. To boost the Move of the Blightkings you can do a few things right off the bat. The Cycle of Corruption's Unnatural Vitality adds 2" to the Move characteristic of all NURGLE units on the board. This is fantastic. So that gets the Putrid Blightkings up to 6". Pretty good for a unit of fatties. Next we get to place a FECULANT GNARLMAW anywhere on the battleground (with some restrictions). If you place in the middle of the board, you'll probably be able to use it 1st turn. Any NURGLE unit who is within 7" at the start of the charge phase can attempt to charge even if it ran that turn. Fantastic! If your Putrid Blightkings unit includes an 'King with a Sonorous Tocsin, you add 1 to run and charges. Soooo, 4+2+1+D6. Thats an average of 10.5" a turn. If you use At the Double command ability, which can be free once per turn in a Blessed Sons army, a unit of Blightkings is moving 13"! Lightning fast for a unit whose warscroll just shows 4".
The Wounds characteristic of the Putrid Blightkings is 4. If you promoted a Blightking to a Blightlord (unit champion), that model gets 5 wounds instead of 4. Bringing 5 models for 140 pts to 21 wounds. This is incredible points efficient. The only thing that really comes close are the cheap chaff units like Death Skeletons, Skaven Clanrats or Moonclan grots but they have a better Save. There is a way to increase the Wounds characteristic of each model in the unit and that is with The Glottkin's warscroll spell, Fleshy Abundance. This gives each model +1 Wound until the your next Hero phase. Not too useful on a unit of 5 or 10 as it is on 40 Chaos Marauders or 40 Skaven Plague Monks.
The Save characteristic of the Putrid Blightkings is 4+. Which is good. Its expected on heavy infantry. We don't have a way to increase this besides using Mystic Shield or All Out Defense command ability. Please note that the Chaos Warshine's Protection of the Dark Gods no longer protects non-Slaves to Darkness units, so Putrid Blightkings will have to look at the Harbringer of Decay for after-save protection. Speaking of the man himself, the Harbringer of Decay is an excellent addition, nigh auto-include into a ROTBRINGER list. The Harbringer of Decay's command ability, Morbid Vigor, allows any NURGLE MORTAL unit within 7" to ignore mortal wounds or normal wounds on a 5+. This ability increases the durability of the Putrid Blightkings by 33% for a single command ability and can affect multiple units. If you're taking Blightkings, he's a must-take in my opinion.
The Bravery of Putrid Blightkings is 8. Which is fantastic for mortal type units, aka non-Demon or non-Undead units. If your Blightkings unit contains an Icon Bearer, the Bravery goes to 9. Combined with high Wound count and 4+ Save, this makes the Putrid Blightkings functionally immune to Battleshock tests.
The Weaponry - The only weapon that Putrid Blightkings have are the Blighted Weapons. 3 Attacks at Range 1", 3+ to Hit, 3+ to Wound, no Rend and 1 Damage. This super basic for a heavy infantry battleline, better than some, worse than others. Until you read the Blighted Weapons ability.
This one rule takes the Putrid Blightkings from Okay straight to Disgusting (pun intended). Making any hit roll of a 6 explode, mathematically speaking moves the average of 10 hits into 16.24 hits, a 62% increase!
The Hit roll can be buffed by two Heroes by my count. The Lord of Plagues and the Lord of Afflictions. But would allow the Putrid Blightkings to reroll failed Hit rolls of 1 if the Blightkings unit is within 7". The Lord of Afflictions affects any ROTBRINGER unit, while the Lord of Plagues only affects Putrid Blightkings specifically. It is worth mentioning that the Lord of Afflictions' aura is larger due to the LoA being on a 60mm base to the Lord of Plagues 40mm base increasing the aura size by 0.79 inches.
The Wound roll can be only be buffed by the Cycle of Corruption's Fecund Vigor gives all NURGLE units +1 to Wound.
The Rend characteristic can be modified in two ways. The battalion Blight Cyst will give all the Putrid Blightkings' Blighted Weapons in that battalion -1 Rend. This will take the average damage of your Blightkings from 5.5 wounds to 7.4 wounds against a 4+ Save model. One by Festus the Leechlord's warscroll spell Curse of the Leper, causing a target unit to subtract 1 from Save rolls for the whole game, effectively giving every unit in your army -1 Rend.
The Abilities- The only ability we haven't discussed so far is Virulent Discharge. In your Hero phase, roll a D6, for each unit, friendly or not within 3", on a roll of a 6, they take D3 mortal wounds! but if they are NURGLE, (why wouldnt they be) then they heal D3 wounds instead. Outstanding if you can roll those 6s. It's easy to forget and seems like a waste of time most of the time you pull that casino lever. But when you get the jackpot and deal those final wounds to free up your Putrid Blightkings to move or you heal the wounds that were just put onto one of your 'Kings you'll be happy you rolled for it.
BATTALIONS:
Blight Cyst - 140 pts. 700 pts minimum. Blightkings in the battalion get -1 Rend. All units in the battalion ignore cover, which include the Lord of Blights, a Harbringer of Decay and a Sorceror if you included them in the battalion. When the Lord of Blights gives out his Munificent Bounty, he can give the Munificent Bounty Death's Head to each unit of Putrid Blightkings within 3" instead of just 1. This sounds game changing if you can use it well, but it really isn't. But it does make your Putrid Blightkings feel like cowboys.
Plague Cyst - 140 pts. 700 pts minimum. This gives another pull of the casino lever for Virulent Discharge-like effect to deal D3 mortal wounds to non-NURGLE units within 3". The reason you take this battalion though is for the full reroll of failed hit rolls for Putrid Blightkings within 7". This sounds great, and it is but this depends on having your Lord of Plagues within 7" of a unit of Putrid Blightkings. There are 3 units of Blightkings minimum in the battalion, chances are one or maybe two units will be out of range and basically get nothing for the battalion. This battalion's rerolls can also get "turned off" if the Lord of Plagues is killed. When Blessed Sons super battalion was still available (unsure at this point since the battalion didnt make it to the points section of GHB2020), this was great. Now, I think Blight Cyst is the only way to go for a ROTBRINGER army with lots of Putrid Blightkings.
PROS & CONS:
+ Cheap
+ Can be Fast
+ Durable
+ Great models
+ Mortal Wounds on a 6 in Hero phase
- Can be Slow without support
- No native Rend
- Expensive cash-wise
WRAP UP:
If your into a small elite army of Nurgle fatties running around the board at lightning speed, ripping and tearing the enemy apart, you can't go wrong with lots of Putrid Blightkings. 10-10-5-5 is how I like to take my Blight Cyst and the Blight Cyst Blightkings can fight way above their weight (which is considerable). Sell your kidney to the black market and sell your soul to Nurgle.
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