How to play Emperor's Children

A small, elite force of hyper-fast Slaaneshi bladesmen, 'World Eaters with finesse.' Glass-cannon aggression with very high damage and speed but little resilience or long range.

Army rule: Thrill Seekers: units may shoot and declare a charge in a turn they Advanced or Fell Back, but cannot target a unit they were within Engagement Range of at the start of the turn. Use it for relentless tempo, falling back out of a bad fight to immediately re-charge a fresh target and chain kills. The Pledge/Pact gamble lives in the Coterie of the Conceited detachment, not the army rule.

Strengths

Exceptional melee output and Precision; elite squads shred even tanks and hunt characters through bodyguards
Best-in-game tempo via advance-and-charge, fall-back-and-charge, and infiltrate/scout
Strong character-assassination toolkit through Lucius and Precision Tormentors/Infractors

Weaknesses

Almost no long-range firepower; Noise Marines cap around 18 inches so you must close
Fragile, with limited invulns and damage mitigation
Self-imposed targeting restrictions force careful sequencing and a narrow roster

Signature combos

Peerless Bladesmen granting Lethal/Sustained Hits on the charge to a transport-delivered melee unit
Noise Marines as the primary ranged threat with Ignores-Cover Sonic Blasters
Fulgrim providing a Command-phase -1-to-hit aura that stacks with cover
Lucius the Eternal as the dedicated character-killer

Gameplan

Win on tempo in the early-to-mid game. Use superior movement to isolate and delete enemy units one at a time, hunt characters to collapse buffs, and trade up in melee before the opponent sets a gunline. Finish fights fast since fragility shows in a long game.

Playing against Emperor's Children

Screen deep-strike and charge lanes and force them into your strongest unit, exploit their fragility with volume fire past 18 inches, and don't over-respect their alpha since 11th's alternating Fight phase removes guaranteed Fights First.

Next steps

Browse all Emperor's Children datasheets → · What to buy → · General tactics →