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Emperor's Children Tactics [PROOF READING]

Submitted By: Date: August 22, 2004, 03:00:31 PM Views: 3293
Summary:  


The Emperor's Children

 
Once a Legion dedicated to perfection in all its pusuits, the Emperor's Children succumbed to the call of forbidden knowledge. Their drive for perfection was perverted to an obsession with excess, and the members of this Legion will stop at nothing to gratify their basest desires. Chaos Space Marines of the Emperor's Children make war into an art form; a riot of sounds, sights and sensations. Doom Sirens wail and implements of torture slash as these followers of Slaanesh are driven to further extremes in order to stimulate their overloaded senses.

The Emperor's Children is perhaps the most versatile of the four pure Cult Legions, being able to field any unit except for Chaos Raptors. They can specialize in either shooting or close combat, or both, meaning that a well-equipped Emperor's Children force can take on any opponent on its own terms. This guide will list the different squads and units utilized by the Emperor's Children and how they may be put to work on the battlefields of the 41st millennium.


Wargear of Slaanesh


Slaanesh's Cult armory is filled with various colorful items, including a pair of Daemon weapons. Naturally, this armory will be available to any Champion of an Emperor's Children force, so it may be a good idea to go over them and decide what you want to spend your points on.

Allure of Slaanesh: This is a very expensive skill, and I don't use it as I consider its points cost too high for what it does. Granted, it gives you a chance of assaulting an enemy character or unit if they're too far away (certainly not a good idea to pick this if your character can assault further than 6"), but at maximum range they MUST roll a 6 on the dice (if they fail the leadership test) for infantry to charge them. Another idea is to use this as a tag-team move, dragging your opponents into easy assault range of another squad, though I don't think that that sort of situation will arise often enough to justify it. If you plan to use it, try taking something like a Warp Amp to make the job easier.

Aura of Acquiescence: This ability is rather interesting, though if you like using Warp Amps, I wouldn't recommend it. Basically, use it to keep shredded enemies in combat so you can destroy them during their turn and not end up open to shooting if they run away after being assaulted.

Combat Drugs: Now this is a piece of Wargear worth its points. Sure, you can injure or even kill yourself, but the benefits outweigh the off chance. The abilities it bestows could make the difference in a tough combat.

Doom Siren: Basically a Flamer that doesn't require hands, and that bestows the nifty ability of counting as having Plasma Grenades while charging. Not a bad investment, unless you need the points for something else.

Lash of Torment: This weapon isn't so bad as some make it out to be. The ability to kill anything within 2" means that you can easily hide your character behind a meat shield of Chaos Marines and have your full complement of attacks without risking your character.

Needle of Desire: Now this is a weapon with very little practical use. Sure, you wound on a 2+! But a pumped up Slaanesh lord could wound on a 2+ against normal infantry anyway. Just give him a Dark Blade- it even counts as a power weapon. So that means that the Needle's main use is against high toughness monsters. But those guys usually have good armor saves, cutting the effect down. And, they also tend to have good leadership, cutting it down some more. I wouldn't use the Needle under any circumstances, there are plenty of other Daemon Weapons that can do better.

Rapturous Standard: This is the Slaanesh Chosen Icon. It costs a heckuva lot for the special ability of granting Feel No Pain to surrounding models. It may or may not make up its points depending on how many people you affect and how useful Feel No Pain proves to be that turn. If you want to take a risk of losing points, you may want to try it out.

Steed of Slaanesh: Not too shabby, it comes 5 points cheaper than the combination of Daemonic Gifts it bestows, and gives you some modelling opportunities. I've never used it myself as I dislike the Steed model, but you may want to try it out.

Slaanesh Minor Psychic Powers: In my honest opinion, Slaanesh's Minor Powers are the best of the Cult powers, including Tzeentch, the 'Master of Sorcery'. Let's have a look:

Fuelled by Pain: Not bad, if your Sorcerer has good armor, he can keep the hits coming for a good while. Not so useful compared to some of the others, though.

Siren: Easily the best Minor Power around. If you succeed in getting this power, a Sorcerer who's an HtH monster can stroll the battlefield with impunity, picking his fights and ignoring weapons fire.

Beam of Slaanesh: So-so. It can be handy to keep your Sorcerer from being blown to pieces, but heavy weapons squads, the only ones affected too adversely by this, tend to stay far away.
 
Touch of Slaanesh: Definitely useful in CC. More hits=more kills. Combat Drugs' +1 WS can combine with this to make hits land home far more easily.

She Who Thirsts: Slaanesh is definitely one of the best armies for people who want to force their opponents to run away. Not mind-blowingly amazing, but fair enough.


HQ Choices


Chaos Lord: These guys are very dangerous when used in an Emperor's Children force- you can build the so- called Slaaneshi Killing Machine. With the Mark of Slaanesh, they are Fearless and for all intents and purposes, count as having I6 in close combat. With the multitude of Daemonic Gifts and nasty weapons available to Chaos characters,  as well as Combat Drugs, Slaaneshi Lords/DPs are just evil in CC. Just don't put too many points into this guy, or he might just overdose or get shot to death before he can make them up.

Chaos Lieutenant: Not as many Daemonic Gifts as a Chaos Lord, but still a nasty character, and you can have two. I usually field one Lord and a Sorcerer Lieutenant, not a bad combination.

Keeper of Secrets: The Greater Daemon of Slaanesh. Impressive fluff, less-than-impressive rules. Honestly, I've never been interested in fielding him; he costs a bundle and can't fly. Not to mention the new GD rules means he can be shot at wherever he goes- but on the plus side, he's just plain nasty in CC. His high toughness and invulnerable save, along with a good allotment of wounds, allows him to take a good deal of punishment, and he can dish it out with good WS, Strength, and Attacks. His Initiative, while not as high as most characters, benefits from his Warp Scream.



Elites Choices


Chosen: Chosen are versatile, but expensive. They can be placed in three different categories:

a) Shooty Chosen: these guys hang back and shoot. As the Emperor's Children has no lack of heavy support, I never used them, though if you wanted to you could have a Sonic Death squad, with most models packing Sonic Blasters or Blastmasters.

b) CC Chosen: I have used a tooled-up unit of Chosen consisting of three Aspiring Champions, one more free Aspiring Champion, and a regular Marine as a retinue for my Chaos Lord. They were impressive, but didn't make up their points. CC Chosen's only real advantage over regular CC Marines is their ability to take multiple Aspiring Champions, so you should take at least two (maybe one more with the Sacred Number rule) and outfit them with CC equipment. You could also put them in a Rhino to get stuck in faster.

c) Terminator Chosen: These guys are the only real use I have for Chosen in my army, aside from forming a retinue for my Lord. Chosen in Terminator Armor can move and fire Blastmasters (they can have two if they have six members, the Favored Number) in their Heavy Setting, and provide an excellent force for counterattack, able to put out a demolishing amount of fire with their relatively cheap Sonic Blaster upgrades and Blastmasters, and also have excellent assault ability.

Possessed Chaos Space Marines: Possessed are extremely tough, coming with the Daemonic Strength and Aura abilities built in, as well as the ability to take one more Daemonic Gift and a Champion. I normally field six Possessed with Daemonic Talons in a Warp Amped Rhino and they have always done wonders in CC. I advise getting these guys a transport and giving them Talons- combined with Warp Scream, they absolutely slaughter most opponents in CC. If not, try Daemonic Visage, which is the only other Gift worth its points.


Troops Choices


Chaos Space Marines (Noise Marines): These are the basic troop type for the Emperor's Children. They cost a lot of points per model, but they come with Warp Scream and the ability to take Sonic Weapon upgrades.

Shooty Noise Marines: These guys are tasked with standing back and pouring out punishing waves of fire, a task they can easily perform using Sonic Weapons. It does take a fair amount of points to outfit a pure sonic squad (i.e. every member with a Sonic Blaster or Blastmaster) but they are worth every point if you can get into at least 24" of your opponent. Even Space Marines will begin failing saves when you bombard them with enough fire, and six Noise Marines can put out more shots at longer range than a full 10-man Tactical squad while on the move. These guys are best fielded in squads of 6 so you can have a free Champion and keep down the points each squad eats up, allowing you to field more squads with a Blastmaster each. Remember that these guys are not restricted by the regular shooty squad dilemma: shoot or move? They can very easily do both, and Blastmasters on the move are still very devastating with the ability to pin targets.

CC Noise Marines: Slaaneshi troops also excel at close combat due to the Warp Scream ability. They have excellent strength, toughness, armor, and WS and can have two base attacks with the option of a BP/CCW combination. Combined with lowering enemy initiative, even a small 6-man squad can do a great deal of damage. The sacred number is very useful as it gives you a free Champion to kit out, as well- I like a Power Weapon/Daemonic Strength combination to exploit the Warp Scream, but you may prefer Powerfists- there's nothing wrong with them either. You can give smaller squads a Rhino, and bigger squads can walk. Two more options you may want to explore are special weapons and Veteran Skills- Doom Sirens/Plasma weapons/Meltaguns give them a good ability to weaken enemy units, and Veteran Skills such as Furious Charge or Counter-Attack will make them more effective in combat while skills like Infiltrate or Move Through Cover will get them there faster. One more thing is I've noticed some people like giving CC squads Blastmasters, and there's nothing wrong with that either- with an Assault profile, the Blastmaster is a solid choice, though you lose an attack for not having a pair of CCWs.

Daemonettes: Slaanesh's Daemons are excellent melee fighters, and come with a reasonable price. I usually use a pack of 12, who have enough numbers to take out anything they meet, from Dreadnought to Wraithlord to Tactical Squad. It would be very advisable, though, to summon them close to the enemy to take full advantage of their abilities and to cover them from fire- with T3 and a 5+ Invul save, they are very fragile against shooting.



Fast Attack Choices


Slaanesh only possesses one of these, so the choice is relatively simple...

Chaos Space Marine Bikers: Bikers are tough and can deliver solid firepower, but they need numbers. Numbers are important. You're not going to do anything with 3 Bikers except deliver a couple of twin Bolter shots and then get shot to pieces in return. Mass is always best. You can't go halfway equipping Bikers, especially expensive ones with the Mark of Slaanesh. Make the squad larger and able to withstand more casualties. Make it larger so it can deploy a respectable amount of fire. Make it larger so you can have a better chance in CC.

Remember that Slaaneshi Bikers can upgrade their combi-bolters to Sonic Blasters for an inexpensive cost- and as they always fire as if stationary, theoretically they can use the Heavy setting whenever they wish. Join that to the Chaos Bikers' natural combat ability and Warp Scream, and you have an excellent all-around unit that can deploy fast and do well in shooting and combat. A few options to consider using are special weapons to let them hurt vehicles and kill heavily armored enemies more easily, and maybe a Champion to give them a more decided CC edge. You may also give them a Veteran Skill, and I recommend either Furious Charge or Skilled Riders.

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