Diseased Mortis Alae Putris (Wings of Rot)

Diseased beyond any mortal reckoning, the Mortis Alae Putris, the Wings of Rot,  are a plague brotherhood unlike any other, a squad of 5 seven-foot walking contagions clad in bloated, corrupted power armour that has fused irrevocably with the rotting flesh beneath. They do not march to war so much as shamble with absolute, unhurried certainty, for they have long since made peace with death and emerged from the other side of it as something far worse. Armies that face them report the smell before the sight: a thick, sweet chemical reek that precedes them across the battlefield like a herald of inevitable collapse.

Each warrior in the squad wears armour that tells the story of centuries of accumulated corruption. Circular turbine-like vents and mechanical fans are bolted to their pauldrons and helms, whether these once served as atmospheric filters or now pump noxious gases into the air around them, none can say with certainty. Their chest plates are engraved with bloated skull iconography and layered with hanging chains, votive fetishes, and corroded medallions. Armour seams bulge outward as though the body within has long since outgrown its casing, and tattered cloth hangs from their waists in rotting strips, flickering with each lumbering stride.

The squad's weapon loadout is deliberately varied and viscerally diseased in character. The central champion, distinguishable by a pair of enormous insectoid wings erupting from his back, membranous and translucent like those of a carrion fly, bears raking claw-gauntlets dripping with ichor. His flanking brothers carry a mix of corroded chain-blades, rusted close-combat weapons, and plague-slicked melee tools. Not one weapon in the squad appears to have been cleaned or maintained since before living memory, and that neglect is entirely intentional, the infections they carry are the point.

That winged champion is the visual and tactical heart of the unit. He stands slightly forward of the line, wings spread to an imposing span, his insectoid helm featuring compound lenses that reflect nothing living. He is less a warrior and more a vector, a mobile epicentre of contagion given ceramite and ambition. Where he walks, soil blackens. Where he lingers, walls weep. The diseased charisma he projects is one of absolute inevitability: resistance is not merely futile, it is simply a longer path to the same destination.

On the tabletop, the Mortis Alae Putris function as a resilient, grinding frontline assault squad, difficult to remove, psychologically oppressive to face, and rich with narrative potential for any warband that embraces entropy, biological horror, and the grim poetry of slow, absolute decay. As a hobby project, the squad rewards painters who enjoy rust, slime, OSL effects, and textured basing — a deeply satisfying five-model set with enough surface complexity to keep a brush busy for weeks.

Painting Guide: Mortis Alae Putris (Wings of Rot)

The Mortis Alae Putris reward a grimy, layered approach, lean into texture, rust, and biological horror for maximum impact across all five models.

1. Prime

• Zenithal prime with black undercoat and a light grey or off-white overspray from above (e.g. Vallejo Surface Primer Black + Grey); this immediately establishes depth in the armour recesses and saves time on shading.

2. Armour Base

• Basecoat armour in a muted, sickly green (e.g. Death Guard Green or Vallejo Sick Green) this is the canonical plague-marine palette and reads instantly as corrupted power armour.
• Highlight raised edges with Elysian Green and then a very fine edge of Ogryn Camo or Screaming Skull on the sharpest rims to give the bloated plates a faded, sun-bleached quality.

3. Trim and Details

• Pick out all metallic trim, chains, and mechanical fan details in heavily tarnished bronze (Hashut Copper or Vallejo Tinny Tin), followed by verdigris effects using Nihilakh Oxide stippled into recesses for authentic oxidisation.
• Apply a generous wash of Agrax Earthshade across the entire model, followed by targeted Nurgle's Rot technical paint in joint gaps, armour cracks, and around the hanging fetishes to simulate weeping biological residue.

4. Weapons

• Paint blades and chain-weapons in dark, pitted iron (Leadbelcher heavily washed with Nuln Oil and Typhus Corrosion), then dry-brush sparingly with Necron Compound for worn metal edges.
• For the champion's claw gauntlets, apply a wet-blended slime effect using Moot Green over Castellan Green, with Nurgles Rot pooling at the tips — a vivid toxic-green OSL glow effect using Waystone Green can make these claws sing under display lighting.

5. Weathering

• Apply Typhus Corrosion texture paint liberally across all lower armour surfaces, knee guards, and boot areas; stipple Ryza Rust on top while still wet, then dry-brush orange-brown pigment (e.g. Vallejo Rust Pigment) for deep, authentic oxidisation throughout the *diseased* armour plating.
• Place ochre and brown pigment powders at the base of the model, around feet and lower legs, to suggest churned-up infected earth clinging to the warriors as they advance.

6. Bases

• Base in cracked, corrupted wasteland — apply Stirland Mud or Armageddon Dunes texture paint, dry-brush with Ushabti Bone, then add pools of Nurgle's Rot or 'Ardcoat-sealed green ink in the cracks to simulate toxic groundwater; scattered flies, mushrooms, or small skulls from a hobby bits box complete the putrid atmosphere perfectly.

Merchant tier subscriber of Atlan Forge.