Warhammer 40K: Are The New Emperor’s Children Miniatures What You Expected?
Games Workshop has shown off the upcoming Emperor’s Children for Warhammer 40,000. I did not have these changes on my bingo card.
I want to start this off by saying I think the Emperor’s Children miniatures are …fine. I think they have some cool stuff going for them. And they also have some not-great things going on. And, while I do enjoy dabbling in the Chaos side of things, I really have never found Slaanesh to be my cup of tea from the rules-side of things. I personally don’t plan on starting an EC army after this update either as I’m happy with my current setup with Chaos. So, I don’t really have a dog in this fight.
Lucious the Eternal — massive W for Emperor’s Children, imo.
However, I’ve been seeing some “mixed” reactions to these miniatures online and I wanted to talk about that. It seems like folks are surprised at the direction GW went with these new miniatures. I can understand that. I don’t know if I fully understand them either. However, I do recognize a few themes that the Emperor’s Children seem to be leaning into.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll?
First up, let’s talk about the cult troops that are the Noise Marines. These are pretty iconic to the Emperor’s Children. The classic versions had them with literal guitar guns and they were very KISS inspired.
And, to be fair, I think the paint job is doing a LOT of work for this particular miniature. That said, they haven’t been *that* for a very long time.
Games Workshop moved away from the bombastic and “silly” guitar guns and opted for a more uh…grounded(?) approach with their sonic weapons. That’s why we got kits like this in the 2000s:
These were the sonic weapons of the Noise Marines for years. But they don’t look as memorable or as iconic as the Guitar Guns. So I get it. But I also understand why GW would then lean into the “newer” style and really “turn up” the sonic weapons with these new miniatures.
As for the rest of the line, I really think GW has been toning down the “sex” and “rock-n-roll” aspects of Slaanesh for years. But they don’t seem to be shying away from the “drug” part.
Don’t Like The “Combat Stims” But They Sure Like Me
These are the Flawless Blades. They still have the hooves for feet at least. Notice the “Combat Injectors” on their backpacks? Also notice their elongated features? They evoke images of body horror to be and I feel like I’ve seen these things before…
Oh right…The Dark Eldar! They also like their “Combat Stims” and elongated (aka Aeldari) features. They also have a thing for the stretched flesh of their victims. Is it really a surprise that the Emperor’s Children are leaning in this direction, too?
Just based on the lore, Slaanesh was birthed by the depravity of the Eldar. It’s not a surprise that the Emperor’s Children, the Space Marines that are followers of Slaanesh, are taking on those same physical traits. (I don’t know if “Combat Stims” are considered a physical trait or self-medication…but that’s not the point.)
The point is that they are thinner and sleeker than the other Chaos Space Marines. They are Slaanesh Chaos Marines. That much is obvious. GW just happened to want to lean more into Cenobite side of Slaanesh for this batch of miniatures.
40k Slaanesh? Apparently that means Leather-daddies and body horror.
Black, Pink, and Skin All Over. That’s A Tough Paint Scheme
I also think the paint jobs on these new miniatures are doing a lot of the work of evoking these themes, too. I mean look at the Lords Kakophonist’s armor. Why is it veiny? Does it bleed or something?
An army of Black and Pink is a BOLD choice and it’s tough to pull off. I don’t envy the painters on this one. To their credit, I think they did a bang-up job with the materials and directions they had to work with. I’m sure this was quite the challenge to overcome. I’ve painted a yellow army. I’ve painted a red army. But a Black and Pink scheme with shades of purple and flesh, too? Oof. That’s a tall task! Good luck to anyone tackling that scheme.
Not What I Was Expecting
At the end of the day, I don’t know if this was a direction I was expecting GW to go with the Emperor’s Children. I guess I’m also not really surprised. If you want “sexy” go with the Daemons of Slaanesh. If you want to lean into the “perfectionist” themes, then the Hedonites of Slaanesh in AoS might be more your thing. But if you want body horror and “Combat Stims” well, the Emperor’s Children have got you covered.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call this Emperor’s Children direction “Kid Friendly” either. There’s nothing friendly about these guys.
Again, I wasn’t planning on tackling the challenge of a Emperor’s Children army to begin with. But that’s just me. I’m curious to see what the community does with this army. I do think there’s something there to work with. I’m looking forward to see what happens with this army both on the hobby side as well as on the tabletop.
Was this the direction you were expecting GW to go with the Emperor’s Children? What themes would you have leaned into for them?
