What Is Combat Patrol: Death Guard (Maggot Lords)?
Combat Patrol: Death Guard — known as the Maggot Lords box, led by Sholgor the Putrid — is Games Workshop's starter set for the Death Guard faction in Warhammer 40,000. Priced at £105, it delivers 13 heavily-detailed, disgustingly resilient miniatures. Note: this box has been listed as temporarily out of stock on the GW website — check availability before ordering.
Box Contents: What Do You Get?
The Death Guard Combat Patrol contains 13 miniatures:
- 1x Lord of Virulence (Sholgor the Putrid) — your warlord, a walking plague engine with devastating ranged plague weapons
- 3x Deathshroud Terminators — elite bodyguard Terminators with plaguereaper scythes
- 6x Plague Marines — the resilient core infantry, slow but extremely hard to kill
- 1x Tallyman (Septimol Fulg) — a support character who generates command points by counting enemy kills
- 1x Rhino — a transport vehicle to rush Plague Marines across the battlefield
Playstyle: How Do Death Guard Play?
Death Guard are an attrition army. They advance slowly but are extremely difficult to remove from objectives. Key traits:
- Disgustingly Resilient: Plague Marines ignore a proportion of wounds, making them far tougher than their stats suggest.
- Contagion: Over the course of the game, Death Guard abilities spread debuffs to nearby enemies.
- Lord of Virulence: A devastating ranged warlord whose plague weapons ignore cover and wound on improved rolls.
- Deathshroud Terminators: Elite melee bodyguards — protect the Lord or crack open elite enemy units.
- Rhino: Delivers Plague Marines to mid-board objectives quickly, forcing your opponent to react.
Play Death Guard by holding objectives, letting enemies exhaust themselves trying to kill your unkillable Marines, then grinding forward.
Value: Is the Death Guard Combat Patrol Worth It?
At £105, this box is solid value. The Lord of Virulence, Deathshroud Terminators, and Rhino are all individually-sold kits. The lower model count is offset by the complexity and quality of each miniature.
Recommended Paints for Death Guard
- Death Guard Green spray as a base coat
- Agrax Earthshade wash for grime and depth
- Nurgling Green highlight for raised edges
- Ushabti Bone for trim, skulls, and bone details
- Nurgle's Rot technical paint for slime and decay effects
Growing Your Death Guard Army
From this core, add more Plague Marines, Blightlord Terminators, or Chaos Cultists as cheap objective holders. A Daemon Prince of Nurgle makes an imposing centrepiece for a larger force.
See all factions compared in our Warhammer 40k Combat Patrol complete guide.