Deadzone Faction Focus: Plague
8th Aug 2018
Dave
The Deadzone Summer Campaign is nearly upon us! To help you get set up, we're going to focus on each faction you'll be able to take in the campaign including background, tactics from the rules committee, and more! Today, we face the horrifying Plague.
First encountered in the so-called 'Death Arc', an area in the Fifth Sphere of the GCPS, the Plague is one of the greatest threats to all sentient life in the galaxy. Whether the Plague is natural in origin or was, in fact, engineered by some ancient alien civilisation is just one of the many questions surrounding this horrific disease. Its link to artefacts of alien origin is established, though their purpose and provenance remains mysterious. It was thanks to the Plague that the Council established both its own authority over the GCPS as well as the Containment Protocols, as they desperately tried to manage the first encountered infestations of Plague.
Wherever it comes from, the Plague seems able to mutate and adapt to new hosts at a remarkable rate. Infected creatures exhibit symptoms within an extremely short space of time, though the exact manifestation of symptoms varies for reasons not entirely clear. Some humans infected by Plague become hideous monsters the size of a combat walker. These beasts seem to act as the control hub of Plague forces, directing lesser creatures which range from razor taloned, leaping hunters to simple, slow moving drones which seem to retain some sense of their former identity and may even be seen operating machinery, weapons and vehicles. In spite of the best efforts of the Council and the Enforcers, every instance of Plague infestation to date has ended in massive losses. The effort to study and understand it continues, but for now, extreme measures like Containment Protocol are the only available response.
The seemingly mindless hordes of infected that make up the Plague must be directed by something as their leaders stride through the battlefield impervious to damage. The speed of the Plague with murderbirds, dogs and teratons can be as shocking as it is destructive.
Keeping you away from melee is tactic 101 for your enemy so get them to focus on your cheap weak models like dogs, 3a’s and zombies. Whilst they are killing these you will be moving closer with your Aberrations, 2a’s, Bursters and Swarms to tear them apart!
You don’t have much shooting in a Plague strike team but some semblance of intellect is retained by your 3a’s so that they can provide useful support to pin down the enemy with HMG, grenade launcher or mortar fire, all designed to give you more time to get up close and personal with your new friends.
If you plan on conquering the galaxy in the near future, at the head of a horde of mutants and monsters, then you should take the Plague as your faction for the Deadzone Summer Campaign! The Plague Faction Starter contains loads of great miniatures for your horde, including zombies, 3rd Gen mutants, plague hounds and the deadly 2nd Gen Leapers! While your core troops may not be skilled, they are numerous and the 3rd Gens can be armed with a variety of different weapons, from flamethrowers to mortars.This force can be lead by either a 1st Generation Plague Lord, or a 3rd Generation Lieutenant and, as always, contains enough miniatures to build a small Strike Team or a Deadzone Campaign army!
A Strider adds some excellent armoured support for your horde. Able to fulfill many roles, you can go with an Assault Flamer and Chainsaw (as above) to add some extra punch in close combat, or a Polaris Cannon to help take down armoured targets that the smaller mutants might struggle with. You could even grab a Heavy Burst Laser Upgrade and use it to lay down suppression to cover your advance. the choice is yours!