Poxwalkers

Poxwalkers are a form of Chaos-infected, mutant undead similar to Plague Zombies who have been cursed by one of the Chaos God Nurgle's Warp-derived maladies, the so-called "Walking Pox," so that they can serve as unliving weapons for the Death Guard Traitor Legion and other mortal servants of the Plague Lord.

Some Inquisitors of the Ordo Sepulturum -- the new Ordo Minoris of the Inquisition dedicated to battling the undead -- claim that the Walking Pox is a variant of Nurgle's Rot, since unlike zombies, the victim's flesh often mutates even after physical death, growing horns, tentacles and spikes similar to those of Nurgle's victims who become the Lesser Daemons known as Plaguebearers.

History

Darktide

On the Hive World of Atoma Prime in the Moebian Domain, in the hive city known as Hive Tertium, a Nurglish Chaos Cult called the Admonition unleashed a Zombie Plague which created an ever-growing horde of Poxwalkers.

When the Moebian 6th Regiment of the Astra Militarum, which had been sent back from the front lines of the Fringe War to help put down the Chaos infestation, actually turned Traitor and began to aid the cultists, the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition under the command of Inquisitor Grendyl intervened and deployed its agents and operatives to Hive Tertium aboard the requisition Rogue Trader vessel Mourningstar in the hope of eliminating the Chaos corruption before it could consume the entire planet.

Role

Shambling across the battlefield in reeking hordes, Poxwalkers engulf their enemies in a rotting tide. They are the cursed victims of Nurgle's plagues, transformed into the unliving weapons of the Death Guard and other servants of the Plague God. Amongst the countless diseases propagated by the Death Guard and Chaos Cults of Nurgle, none is more fearsome than Nurgle's Rot. This perfect plague is both spiritual and physical in nature, inflicting a drawn-out and horrific decline upon the victim that eventually erodes their soul, while leaving their body as a plague-ridden husk.

Yet Nurgle's Rot is but one of the diseases that churn within the innards of the Heretic Astartes of the Death Guard and Nurgle's other faithful, and saturate every world upon which they tread. The Destroyer Plague -- that which tormented the Primarch Mortarion's gene-sons and delivered them to Nurgle during the Horus Heresy -- still lurks in their rotting flesh. The Zombie Plague, the malady of unliving abomination for which Typhus the Herald is the vector primoria, has variegated into countless strains since the Great Rift yawned wide at the dawn of the Era Indomitus. The Weeping, Mutterflux, the Slithering Scourge and countless others spread before the Death Guard, and it is a cocktail of these appalling maladies that breeds the Walking Pox.

Victims of the Walking Pox find their bodies rotting and shutting down until death eventually takes them. Yet this is not the end. The sufferer remains cruelly conscious and aware, unlike a zombie, trapped within their corpse as it reanimates with a rictus grin and staggers off in search of the living. Their flesh mutates even after death, sprouting bloated, pulsating tentacles and horn-like growths from their skulls similar to those of Nurgle's Daemonic Plaguebearers.

Simply hearing the mindless, groaning cacophony of the Poxwalkers is enough to infect the souls of all but the most faithful Imperial citizens, leading to massed outbreaks even within fortresses and cities that appear inviolate. Countless souls have been lost in such a way to this malady, every one becoming another heretical abomination intent on murder. By the time the Death Guard move to attack a world so afflicted, they have an army of the dead waiting to aid them.

Though most commonly utilised by the vectoriums of the Death Guard's 1st Plague Company, Poxwalkers are used as cannon fodder and terror troops by most Death Guard warbands. In particular, the Carrion Hounds vectorium utilises vast hordes of these fell, pestilent creatures to screen the advance of their Heretic Astartes. The warriors of this vile host hold a great affection for the shambling, undead monsters, and often assemble morbid "collections" of infected souls, such as defeated Astra Militarum regiments or entire noble families.

Poxwalkers display rudimentary coordination in battle, wielding battlefield debris as crude weapons, and although they are clumsy and slow, they are also inhumanly resilient. In large numbers, these slouching corpse-mutants are capable of overrunning enemy lines, gnawing, bludgeoning and ripping apart in orgies of mindless violence those that may once have counted them amongst their allies.

Unit Composition

• 10-20 Poxwalkers

Wargear

• Improvised Weapon

Pox Burster

A Pox Burster is a Poxwalker who maintains a small degree of lucidity through Nurgle's blessing and now carries explosive canisters such as grenades and even Melta Bombs wrapped around their bodies.

Poxbursters slowly lumber towards their target and emit a distinct ticking sound. Once they get closer, this ticking grows more frequent until they get close enough to sprint at their victims with a final burst of speed and trigger their explosives. The explosion knocks back anyone in the radius and can inflict Nurglish corruption by spreading the Plague Lord's various diseases.

Pox Hound

The Walking Pox can infect more than just Humans. Once-loyal canids can also be turned into corrupted, undead walking corpses called Pox Hounds, as was discovered during the Inquisition's operations against the Nurglish forces assaulting Hive Tertium on Atoma Prime. They are tough, fast, and can pin even a massive Ogryn with their pounce attack. Once their victim is pinned beneath their bulk, they proceed to maul them until they are dead, at which point they seek fresh prey.

There is a variant of the Pox Hound found among their packs known as a Pox Hound Mutator. This is a variant differentiated by a different cry as the pack begins its hunt. They are aesthetically less putrescent and decayed than their standard counterparts, have less-developed mutant spikes, and possess glowing eyes that leave a brief trail as they run.

Pox Hound Mutators are significantly weaker than the standard Pox Hound. They make up for this with their sheer numbers, spawning in packs comprised of multiple dozens of these undead that then arrive in waves to attack their prey.

See Also

• Zombie Plague
• Zombie
• Lost and the Damned
• Chaos Cults
• Ordo Sepulturum

Sources

• Codex: Heretic Astartes - Death Guard (8th Edition), pp. 17, 22, 29, 43, 76
• Dark Imperium (Game), Death Guard Booklet, "Poxwalkers," pg. 9
• Warhammer Community - Part 5: Painting the Poxwalkers
• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (Video Game)