How to run Emperors Children

[General Strike]

It seems like Emp Children are a bit odd in rules, with the legion trait being melee focused, but the cult troop being shooting focused. How do you guys build your Emperors Children?

[Gederas]

So the way I look at it is like this:

Noise Marines can be run as shooty, which is what they're better at due to their weapons. They can ALSO be built as melee, which they're also good at due to their wargear options and Legion trait.

 

I myself build Noise Marines solely as ranged, haven't yet made a melee squad. But their Legion Trait could mean they're a very good melee army, or a surprise switch-hitter, because most armies that are really good at shooting have middling at best melee, whereas Emperor's Children do not.

[Slan Drakkos]

Emperor's Children aren't really odd when it comes to melee. They're just a bit different than the norm. You could arm your Noise Marines with chainswords and bolt pistols. It's not really what they're meant for, but you could. Keep in mind, CC Noise Marines also get to pop off pistol shots into their own fight as they die. The sad thing though is that the EC only really excel in melee when going up against an Imperium army and outside of that, they're not amazing.

[Panzer]

Just go with ranged. 40k is  ranged game, most of our units are ranged ones and the EC trait isn't even that good to begin with.

[Pearson73]

I run a force focussed on ranged capabilities, the legion trait is just a nice surprise if engaged in a drawn out combat.

[WarriorFish]

The correct answer is: fabulously :P I don't think it's a mismatch as EC like any other Legion are more than their signature unit :) So while the Noise Marines are shooty that just means they can provide good fire support while your combat forces close in for the kill. They're not useless in combat but they're much better off shooting as aside from having unique weapons fire support goes a long way, and as panzer said 8th leans more towards shooting so your combat units will appreciate the help.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

The correct answer is: fabulously :P I don't think it's a mismatch as EC like any other Legion are more than their signature unit :) So while the Noise Marines are shooty that just means they can provide good fire support while your combat forces close in for the kill. They're not useless in combat but they're much better off shooting as aside from having unique weapons fire support goes a long way, and as panzer said 8th leans more towards shooting so your combat units will appreciate the help.

I've seen one or two people on here talk about the new Chosen loadouts as being decent for EC. You can run 2x5 in a Rhino, jump out, lay down 40 shots w/Combi-Bolters, and then charge w/Power Swords. Not amazing, but apparently serves to bridge the shooting/CC gap and clear chaff for your heavy hitters to do work.

 

You will not get the same shooting performance as NM, but it'll be enough and you'll get extra in CC. They also won't compete with NM for a slot in an EC army.

[Daemon Prince Marbas]

Noise Marines built for shooting with Sonic weapons only. Possessed with an Icon of Excess shine in Emperor's Children if accompanied by Fabius Bile and a Sorcerer with a Jump Pack casting Delightful Agonies and Warptime. Send them against GEQ or MEQ units and if they perform well use the Excess of Violence stratagem. You can also use Veterans of the Long War on tougher enemies.

[Mekhitar]

The ability to fill my troops slots with guys in power armor means that EC are one of the few armies that can field a good number of marines without completely gimping themselves.  That's a good part of the reason why I like them; you get your battalion CPs from taking decent units, and not being shoehorned into cultists on the one hand or (sad, sad) CSM squads on the other.

To be honest the Legion trait doesn't get a lot of use for me.  It's fun when the enemy tags my noise marine squads to stop them from shooting, but I get first blow on their chaff.  (At 2A each, they are actually pretty good at putting decent hurt on non-CC focused enemy units that tag them, or at polishing off the last wound on an enemy character or unit nearby with a well-timed charge - even if you don't kit them out for melee at all).  This is great, because as we all know the charge phase is really just the second movement phase, ;) and since they are obsec, noise marines love to charge onto objectives.

 

I get my only real, heartfelt mileage out of swinging first from my daemon princes, though.  They are beasts in close combat, but can suffer from the "rocket tag" effect of CC, which is frequently he-who-goes-first-wins.  When the enemy is executing multiple charges, it's fun to be able to cut in with no CP cost.  Or, heaven help them if you consolidate through combats for multiple rounds, always going first.

I really wish the trait applied to "everything" because tbh the units of mine that ususally end up in multiple-round combats - because they're tanky enough to take it - are defilers, and sadly, they don't benefit from the legion traits.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Noise Marines built for shooting with Sonic weapons only. Possessed with an Icon of Excess shine in Emperor's Children if accompanied by Fabius Bile and a Sorcerer with a Jump Pack casting Delightful Agonies and Warptime. Send them against GEQ or MEQ units and if they perform well use the Excess of Violence stratagem. You can also use Veterans of the Long War on tougher enemies.

I've had very good results with Slaanesh Possessed supported by a Sorcerer. I second this.

[WarriorFish]

The correct answer is: fabulously I don't think it's a mismatch as EC like any other Legion are more than their signature unit So while the Noise Marines are shooty that just means they can provide good fire support while your combat forces close in for the kill. They're not useless in combat but they're much better off shooting as aside from having unique weapons fire support goes a long way, and as panzer said 8th leans more towards shooting so your combat units will appreciate the help.

I've seen one or two people on here talk about the new Chosen loadouts as being decent for EC. You can run 2x5 in a Rhino, jump out, lay down 40 shots w/Combi-Bolters, and then charge w/Power Swords. Not amazing, but apparently serves to bridge the shooting/CC gap and clear chaff for your heavy hitters to do work.

 

You will not get the same shooting performance as NM, but it'll be enough and you'll get extra in CC. They also won't compete with NM for a slot in an EC army.

Chosen were something I've wanted to do, but the ability to take a full load out on each Marine was what made them appear on my radar proper. If Chapter Approved can give us some point drops also then I reckon they might make a bit of a come back. At the least I'll be fielding some

[Dr_Ruminahui]

 

I get my only real, heartfelt mileage out of swinging first from my daemon princes, though.  They are beasts in close combat, but can suffer from the "rocket tag" effect of CC, which is frequently he-who-goes-first-wins.  When the enemy is executing multiple charges, it's fun to be able to cut in with no CP cost.  Or, heaven help them if you consolidate through combats for multiple rounds, always going first.

 

My understanding (or at least the way I've been playing) is that our legion trait doesn't apply to demon princes, as they are not infantry, bikes or hellbrutes, which are the only type of units that get the legion trait.

 

I suppose if you have a slaneshi demon detachment, you could get a demon prince in that detachment that essentially had the same rule, but given the context of the thread I'm assuming you are talking about a Chaos Space Marine demon prince.

[40kChrista]

 

My understanding (or at least the way I've been playing) is that our legion trait doesn't apply to demon princes, as they are not infantry, bikes or hellbrutes, which are the only type of units that get the legion trait.

 

 

2nd page of the CSM FAQ, 3rd entry down on the left... Demon Princes were added to the list of units that can use Legion Traits.

[TwinOcted]

 

 

I get my only real, heartfelt mileage out of swinging first from my daemon princes, though.  They are beasts in close combat, but can suffer from the "rocket tag" effect of CC, which is frequently he-who-goes-first-wins.  When the enemy is executing multiple charges, it's fun to be able to cut in with no CP cost.  Or, heaven help them if you consolidate through combats for multiple rounds, always going first.

 

My understanding (or at least the way I've been playing) is that our legion trait doesn't apply to demon princes, as they are not infantry, bikes or hellbrutes, which are the only type of units that get the legion trait.

 

I suppose if you have a slaneshi demon detachment, you could get a demon prince in that detachment that essentially had the same rule, but given the context of the thread I'm assuming you are talking about a Chaos Space Marine demon prince.

 

 

 

I'm fairly sure that legion traits were FAQ'd to include Daemon Princes.

 

Ninja'd.

[40kChrista]

Noise Marines/Helbrutes/Oblits/MoS anything for the shooting strats

 

Possessed, Raptors and Bikes for the Icon of Excess with psychic support... Delightful Agonies for the durability, maybe Hysterical Frenzy for your Possessed/Warp Talons

 

Maybe a crazy expensive Chosen squad for both? Combi-flamers/combi-plasma,  and as many power weapons as you want. 

 

Or run them as Slaanesh renegades with the Move, Advance, Assault for the faster movement AND Slaanesh shooting strats.

[Drudge Dreadnought]

The EC legion trait isn't great on noise marines, as others have mentioned. Unfortunately, sonic blaster marines in general just aren't quite worth their points, because S4 ap0 is not efficient against any target. Possessed with buffs are good. EC Noise Marines have the advantage of being troops, but the possessed are better off as Slaaneshi renegades or Iron Warriors even. Noise Marines are less durable for their points than pretty much anything else, including cultists. Having a couple squads to camp objectives can work if you have other units to throw  into the opponents face to draw their attention.

 

The real point of an EC detachment is to take sonic helbrutes. Double Blast Master + Doom Siren + Power Scourge is amazing, and you can use Fire Frenzy with it. Take 3 of them and run them into the face of the enemy with a Daemon prince. Move in Noise Marines and cultists as support.

 

Also worth noting is that the slaaneshi shoot twice stratagem gets the biggest benefit from squads with a lot of firepower. That means combi-plas terminators, or quad las havocs. Quad las havocs + prescience + re-roll 1's aura + VotLW + shoot twice strat nearly kills a Knight in 1 turn of shooting. Both these units also work better as a chapter other than EC. So having an EC detachment for noise marines + sonic dreads and another detachment for everything else is probably the way to go.

[Sersi]

The Third Legions prided itself in perfection in all aspects of warfare. Noise Marines should always take sonic weapons.  But they still make good use out of the Flawless Perfection, both for defense and to route shooting units with a charge. Sonic Dreadnoughts are similarly dual use, good at shooting and combat. For my melee forces, I just take a detachment of Daemonettes and Heralds.  Their just superior in every to melee CSM or Noise Marines in melee ability. Their faster with Advance and Charge, and can Deep strike with their stratagem.

They hit at the same S4 within 6" of a Herald. But critically do so at AP-1 and AP-4 on a 6+ to wound. The Heralds with 4X S5/AP-1/D2 attacks are excellent as well Most importantly they have a 5++ save and cost a mere 7 pts. You can take a Slaaneshi Daemon battalion for 342 pts and gain +5 CP.

[Daemon Prince Marbas]

You should definitely take a harem, I mean a detachment of Slaanesh Daemons.

[Mekhitar]

Even if your buffed havocs wound all 8 times with lascannons (my experience tells me they usually fall short by 1 or 2, those 1s are sneaky), you aren’t likely to kill a knight. 8wds -> rotate for 4++ -> 4 go through -> 3.5 dmg each, for a total of 14 damage. You’ll knock it down a tier.

 

And heaven forbid they took the 4++ warlord trait like everyone does.

 

I used to field those havocs all the time, but I rarely do these days...

 

I really do like noise marines. They do not have the points efficiency of cultists - which is why competitive csm lists spam them cultists - but they get a lot of shots that ignore cover and can do some serious horde clear. In cover themselves their 2+ allows them to weather quite a bit of return fire, especially against enemies (like other csm or tau) who are relying on weight of low AP dice. And when they die, hilariously, they strike back. Which can really ruin someone’s day.

 

My favorite “moments” are charging at an enemy character, dying in overwatch, and then killing them with Music of the Apocalypse as you go down. *snorts*

 

I also enjoy noise marines because if they die in the enemy psychic phase, they can snipe the psykers.

[Panzer]

Best thing about Noise Marines is that you can fill your Troop slots with actual Marines without feeling you're gimping yourself too much imo. ^^

[Mekhitar]

Best thing about Noise Marines is that you can fill your Troop slots with actual Marines without feeling you're gimping yourself too much imo. ^^

Amen!

 

I signed up to play CSM, not cultists and daemons :p

[Gederas]

Best thing about Noise Marines is that you can fill your Troop slots with actual Marines without feeling you're gimping yourself too much imo. ^^

Amen!

 

I signed up to play CSM, not cultists and daemons

It's the reason why I like playing my World Eaters and Death Guard. Yes, I HAVE almost 200 poxwalkers. I don't USE that many unless I feel like being a jerk :lol:

 

The cult troops are really good, even if you don't get as many as you can with Cultists/Daemons.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

The cult troops are really good, even if you don't get as many as you can with Cultists/Daemons.

And even if you don't get as many, all four of those units can be run in a large brick with layered buffs and be pretty scary that way.

[SmiteThemAll]

 

Best thing about Noise Marines is that you can fill your Troop slots with actual Marines without feeling you're gimping yourself too much imo. ^^

Amen!

 

I signed up to play CSM, not cultists and daemons

It's the reason why I like playing my World Eaters and Death Guard. Yes, I HAVE almost 200 poxwalkers. I don't USE that many unless I feel like being a jerk

 

The cult troops are really good, even if you don't get as many as you can with Cultists/Daemons.

 

 

I just wish black legion still had the option to take chosen and terminators as their "cult" troops. Fingers crossed for the next chapter approved !

[ChazSexington]

It's not exactly Emperor's Children, but I run Renegade Chapters/Red Corsairs MoS CSMs in two ways - 10x CSM (2x plasma, 1x combi-plasma) and 10x CSM (B&C, 2x flamer, 1x power axe, IoE), both in Rhinos.

 

I've not really been able to make it work. Plonking the ranged squad in cover isn't too bad, but there are better options for VotLW/Endless Cacophony. The others always seem to underperform. 18A 3+ S4 and a power axe is underwhelming, even with DttFE. The cost of the CSMs and the Rhino just doesn't cut it for getting them into CC - the few that get in rarely seem to be enough to cut through even a few Devastators.