How to Play Maggotkin of Nurgle in Warhammer Age of Sigmar (4th Edition)

The Maggotkin identity in 4th edition is built around the Diseased keyword and a set of army-wide rules that spread and punish it.

• Blessed by the Plaguefather is the engine. Once per turn you choose one effect: infect an enemy unit (usually one in combat with your models) so it gains the Diseased keyword; spread the disease to further nearby enemies; or mutate your diseased victims for mortal damage. This is your core decision each turn.
• Wracked with Disease is the payoff. At the end of the turn, every Diseased enemy unit suffers a chunk of mortal damage (community summaries cite around D3 per unit). The more units you have infected, the more free damage you rack up.
• Desperate Remedies stops the enemy shrugging it off cheaply: if they try to heal or return models to a Diseased unit, that healing is spent removing the disease instead. It taxes their recovery.
• Blighted Regrowth lets you plant a Feculent Gnarlmaw terrain feature during the game (typically near an objective you hold), giving board presence and supporting your disease and buff plans.

The throughline: you are rarely killing units in one blow. You are stacking small, unavoidable damage across the whole enemy army while your own troops soak punishment and heal. Confirm the exact triggers and numbers on your current faction pack, as these are the most errata-prone parts.

Four battle formations are confirmed for the 4th-edition faction. Pick based on how you want to win the attrition race.

• Tallyband of Nurgle amplifies your core damage, boosting the mortal wounds you deal through the disease mechanic (commonly cited as +1 to Wracked with Disease). It is the default "just make the army do its thing better" choice.
• Nurgle's Menagerie leans into terrain and beasts, most notably letting you field a second Feculent Gnarlmaw for extra board control and additional disease vectors.
• Affliction Cyst is the aggressive, mobility-focused option, enabling flying units to deploy up the board (around 9") after normal deployment, letting you threaten objectives and characters early.
• Plague Cyst rewards a Rotbringers-heavy, close-combat list, punishing enemies that fight your mortal units.

Start with Tallyband if you are new: it makes the whole army more consistent. Move to the others as you build around fliers (Affliction Cyst), a beast/terrain plan (Nurgle's Menagerie), or an infantry brawl (Plague Cyst).

• Great Unclean One / Rotigus - Greater Daemon anchors. Durable casters and damage that also recycle daemon units; Rotigus skews toward stronger spellcasting.
• The Glottkin - a heavy-hitting monster centrepiece for lists that want a real damage threat rather than pure grind.
• Pusgoyle Blightlords - flying, hard-hitting mortal cavalry that carry disease around the board; a workhorse in many lists.
• Plague Drones - daemonic flying cavalry, fast objective-grabbers and disease vectors.
• Putrid Blightkings - elite, resilient infantry; a reliable beatstick and holding unit.
• Plaguebearers - cheap, sticky daemon battleline for screening and objective-sitting, recyclable through your Greater Daemons.
• Nurglings - tiny, expendable board-control and screening units.
• Beast of Nurgle - a fun, durable harasser that ties up enemy units.
• Support heroes (e.g. Lord of Blights/Afflictions, Festus the Leechlord, Poxbringer, Harbinger of Decay) - buff, heal, and manipulate control/attrition. Exact rosters and names vary with releases, so check the current faction list.

Maggotkin play the long game. You are not trying to table the opponent by turn three; you are trying to still be standing on the objectives at the end while they slowly rot.

A general gameplan:

1. Deploy resiliently. Screen your key heroes and monsters with cheap daemons (Plaguebearers, Nurglings). You want your important pieces alive into the mid-game. 2. Start the infection early. Use Blessed by the Plaguefather every turn. Prioritise infecting units you expect to stay on the table (big blocks, key threats) so Wracked with Disease pays off repeatedly. 3. Hold the middle. Feculent Gnarlmaws and tough infantry let you plant on objectives and dare the enemy to dig you out. Your durability and healing win drawn-out fights. 4. Spread, don't overextend. The disease damage is passive and army-wide, so you rarely need to charge recklessly. Trade patiently and let attrition compound. 5. Close out on scoring. Because you outlast opponents, prioritise board control and objective points; the disease chip-damage often decides the last couple of turns.

Think of every turn as adding another small tax on the enemy army that they can't easily remove.

• Playing too aggressively. Maggotkin want to grind, not alpha-strike. Throwing units forward for early kills usually wastes their durability advantage.
• Forgetting the free damage. Not maximising the number of Diseased enemy units each turn leaves points of mortal damage on the table. Spread wide.
• Ignoring the clock. This is a slow, decision-heavy army with lots of dice rolls (disease, healing). New players can run out of time; practice a brisk turn sequence.
• Struggling against speed and burst. Very fast armies can dodge your slow line and win objectives before attrition matters, and high-burst opponents can delete key pieces before disease compounds. Screen well and lean on formations like Affliction Cyst for reach.
• Over-relying on one plan. If the opponent can cheaply clear your infected units or ignore objectives, your chip damage matters less. Have a board-control plan, not just a damage plan.