Warhammer 40K: Emperor’s Children – Two Detachment Previews
Games Workshop is showing off two of the Detachment rules for the Emperor’s Children. Plus some more 40k rules for them, too.
The Emperor’s Children are getting six new Detachments in their upcoming Codex. GW is previewing two of them plus the army wide rule as well. It’s time to check on your ascent to perfection with the Emperor’s Children!
Emperor’s Children Army Rule
First up, we’ve got their army wide rule: Thrill Seekers.
“This focus on agility and graceful movement sets the Emperor’s Children apart from other Chaos forces, with plenty of ways to flow around the battlefield maximising damage. Each of the six detachments then indulges in one of their chosen aspects of war.”
While being able to shoot/charge after an Advance or Fall Back move is pretty good. But they do have some limitations on those for their target choice. This is an interesting variation on this type of ability. You’re basically going to want to close ground and charge quick. But in the following turns you’ll fall back and then charge or shoot other units. I’m curious to see how this plays out with the rest of the army rules from the Detachments.
Emperor’s Children Detachment – Coterie of the Conceited
I like the idea of calling your shots for the Emperor’s Children. They seem like an overly confident lot — but not entirely without reason. I do wonder if you can choose zero for the first round as you may not have the range on the enemy. Anyhow, if you meet or beat your pledge, you gain Pact Points which provide bonuses listed on the chart above. It’s worth noting that those bonuses are cumulative!
However, if you miss your number your Warlord will end up paying for the failure by suffering D3 Mortal Wounds. Honestly…not that big of a price to pay. I like this mechanic and the payoffs aren’t too shabby!
The Coterie of the Conceited also has more ways to juice things up. As a Detachment, you can expect their own sets of enhancements and stratagems. Above are just two examples.
So far, the Coterie seems like a fairly straight forward option to play for the Emperor’s Children. Call your shots, take out the targets, earn points, and profit.
Emperor’s Children Detachment – Slaanesh’s Chosen
“The Emperor’s Children wouldn’t be a Chaos faction without some (un)healthy rivalries competing for their god’s favour, and Slaanesh’s Chosen are all about the grind for the Dark Prince’s approval. Internal Rivalries mark your Warlord as the top dog from the start of the game, but all of your other Characters are eagerly waiting to steal their thunder and claim the valuable Wound
re-rolls for themselves.”
For starters, this really makes your Emperor’s Children Characters mobile. Note the wording on the rule, too. You basically get to keep bonuses to your move and ignore any penalties. That’s great for these characters.
The rest of the rule is kinda weird. Your Warlord starts as the Favoured Champion. But this can move around as the other characters start to get kills and destroy units. The benefit is that the Favoured Champions unit can re-roll their wound rolls. So that’s a nice boost in general. I can see why these characters would want to fight over that title.
Naturally, this Detachment’s stratagems lean into this character heavy mindset. Above are two more example stratagems they will have access to. Enemies of Slaanesh’s Chosen be aware of these as they can surprise/punish you for picking off character targets…
Other Detachment Teasers
While we don’t get all the rules we do get a few teasers/summary along with the names of the other Detachments.
Mercurial Host – “surrender to their whims and dart around the battlefield, putting their warp-fuelled speed to good use covering ground and dodging attacks.”
Quicksilver Grace – has Advance re-rolls baked into their Detachment.
Rapid Evisceration – “trades legpower for horsepower, bundling its troops into a selection of powerful transport vehicles while empowering those who disembark with the Detachment rule Mechanised Murder.” This one really leans into the mechanized movement aspects.
Peerless Bladesmen – “Charging units show off their Exquisite Swordsmanship…” This Detachment is focused on Close Combat and even has a way for your Characters to fight twice in a Fight Phase.
Emperor’s Children and Slaaneshi Daemons?
The final bit of news we get is for the Emperor’s Children and any Daemon allies they take to the tabletop:
“Slaaneshi forces that enlist the aid of daemonic forces whip up a Carnival of Excess, bringing screeching Daemonettes and supercilious Keepers of Secrets into the material world to fight alongside mortal warriors. Look out for a future article about how daemonic allies for the Emperor’s Children work.”
Anyone else curious to see how GW is treating Daemonic Allies in their respective Chaos Cult books this go around? I know I am!
Which Detachment has your interest from the Emperor’s Children?
