Spreading like a living tide of corruption and decay, the followers of the Chaos God Nurgle attack the Imperium from the Eye of Terror. Among the hideow machines they send to war are the Plague Towers and Contagion Plague Engines, built with the single purpose of spreading suffering and death amongst all who oppose the might of Chaos.
The Army of Nurgle
Nurgle is the Chaos God of decay and pestilence. The followers of this foul deity revel in the destruction of the universe and the continual ruination that is part of existence. Nurgle himself plans for the time when the universe dies, and he sends his armies of followers out to speed this time to ultimate victory.
In his role as god of pestilence, it is NUrgle and his followers who spread disease and despair throughout the galaxy. Cultists of Nurgle poison entire Hive Worlds by releasing terrifying toxins into the water and air filtration systems. Enire planets have been swept bare of life by the Death Guard - Chaos Space Marines of Nurgle, who kill with infection and disease as well as missle launcher and boltgun.
Cavalcade of Pestilence
When a Chaos host gathers for war followers of Nurgle congregate together, performing depraved ceremonies for their diseased master. The rituals echo across the warp, their dark chants reverberating through the army like the ache on an insistent tumour, gradually building in malignancy and power. When their performance reaches its crescendo, the adepts of Nurgle are gripped with unholy ecstasy. They cavort around the altars of skulls and heaps of disease-ridden flesh which writhe with maggots. Huge swarms of flies gather, buzzing aroound the macabre festivities, covering the supplicants in a living mass of small black bodies. THe air crackles with energy and the daemons of Nurgle appear. Through the tear in reality a tide of tiny Nurglings surge, followed by the energetic Beasts of Nurgle. Then, in solemn procession, march the victims of Nurgle's Rot - the Plaguebearers of Nurgle. Finally, as the ceremony reaches its climax, the Great Unclean Ones enter, their huge, bloated bodies spilling filth in their wake.
With the arrival of the daemons, the construction of massive engines of war begins. Overseen by the Nurgle acolytes, thousands of twisted and corrupted slaves toil to build the awesome machines of destruction that will spread the plague of Nurgle to a hundred worlds. Massive Plague Towers are erected, the Chaos Magi binding the souls of dead slaves into them to power their engines. The festering altars are used to provide ammunition for the disgusting Contagion Plague Engines. ANd all throughout this frenzied activity the constant buzz of insects and the stench of rotting bodies permeated the air.
Tide of Despair
When the war engines of Nurgle are ready, the pestilent Chaos army sets forth upon its dark crusade. Like a terrible, cancerous growth the armies spread from world to world, from star system to star system, corrupting and destroying everything in their path. It is at these times that the Imperium is hardest pressed, when the Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Titan Legions must fight together with all their strenght and are counted among the fortunate merely to survive the terrifying onslaught.
Contagion Plague Engine
As the worsippers of Nurgle advance across the battlefield, the terrifying scream of plague catapults fill the air. Behind the mad headlong charge of the Chaos followers, rows of Contagion Plague Engines launch their pestilent ammunition at the opposing army. The main weapon of the Contagion is the plague catapult, a huge armament which bombards the ememy with chunks of Chaos-saturated stone, clusters of decaying corpses and other disease-infested filth.
When these vile bombs impact they spray ichor and infected debris across a wide area. The pestilential aura that surrounds the site of these bombardments fills the air with corruption and the malaise of Nurgle's Rot spreads across the battlefield. Those who survive the initial attack soon contract a variety of virulent diseases. Their wounds turn gangrenous and they die swiftly, wracked with pain.
Plague Tower
As a Chaos army surges towards the enemy lines, the massive Plague Towers thunder forward amongst the Beastmen and Chaos Marines. The Plague Tower itself is driven along by the power of trapped souls, the victims of some hideous disease. These unfortunate beings are imprisoned within the bowels of the Plague Tower and their raw agony and terror feeds its arcane engines, sending it rumbling across the battlefield to grind the bodies of the dead beneath its gigantic wheels. Inside the Plague Tower are hundreds of Chaos worshippers, who whip themselves into a killing frenzy and howl with delight at the prospect of the slaughter to come. When the massive drawbridges are finally thrown down a horde of screaming, fanatical warriors pours across to swarm around the enemy in a swirling mass of corruption and death. Taken from WD 188