Death Guard Flyblown Host Detachment Guide (11th Edition)

Flyblown Host gives your Plague Marines a forward-deployment ability - reported as letting a couple of units deploy past the halfway line (Infiltrators-style), with some sources also citing Scouts/Stealth-type abilities. Either way, the effect is the same: your tough, contagion-spreading troops start the game already up the board instead of trudging forward for two turns.

For Death Guard this is transformative. Their biggest weakness is that everything arrives late - contagion auras, guns and bodies all take time to reach the fight. Flyblown Host front-loads that, letting you contest the midfield objectives immediately and put Afflicting auras on the enemy from turn one. It trades some of the army's cautious grind for genuine early pressure. Confirm the exact deployment distance, unit count and any keyword grants on your current Faction Pack, as these specifics vary between sources.

Expect Flyblown Host's stratagems to support its aggressive, infantry-forward identity - broadly, tricks that protect your advanced units (they will be exposed early) or amplify their contagion and combat once they are in the enemy's face.

The discipline here is different from a normal Death Guard game: your forward units will draw fire immediately, so save durability and damage-reduction stratagems for the turn the enemy tries to clear your infiltrators off an objective. Don't push so far that a single unit dies for nothing. As always, confirm current CP costs on the 40k app before relying on a stratagem.

Enhancements go on Characters, so for Flyblown Host favour ones that make a leader who accompanies your forward Plague Marines more durable or more threatening - your advanced squads are the heart of the plan and want a good bodyguard character.

Bear in mind that a character leading an infiltrating unit may or may not deploy forward with it depending on the exact rule, so check that interaction before you build around it. As a cheap 1 DP detachment, Flyblown Host is often splashed alongside a core detachment; decide which detachment's enhancement pool you actually want. Verify the current list and points on the Faction Pack.

The detachment is built around your troops:

• Plague Marines - the direct beneficiaries; forward-deploying them is the whole point.
• Characters (Lord of Contagion, Biologus Putrifier, Plague Surgeon) - to lead the advanced squads and keep contagion and buffs where the fighting is.
• Poxwalkers - cheap screens to protect your forward units from being swept off early.
• Support daemon engines - held back to provide covering fire while your infantry hold the line up front.

The list wants a real core of Plague Marine units to make forward deployment matter; a single infiltrating squad won't dominate the midfield on its own.

Take Flyblown Host when you want to play Death Guard aggressively and contest the midfield from turn one - especially against opponents you don't want to give free early objectives to. At a reported 1 DP it is a cheap way to add real board presence to a Plague Marine list, or to build a dedicated forward-pressure army.

It is the wrong pick for a passive gunline or a vehicle-heavy list - those want Contagion Engines or a hold-and-grind detachment. Flyblown Host asks you to expose your troops early, which rewards confident, board-aware play. If you like Death Guard's toughness but hate their slowness, this is the detachment that fixes it. See how it compares in the army guide.