Warhammer 40K Hot Mess: Emperor’s Children Index Needs Some Love
CSM players were really annoyed with the 40K 10th Edition Emperor’s Children “Index” release. Who knew Slaanesh’s legion really needed some love?
Goatboy here, and I was really hoping for a true Index Emperor’s Children army with a detachment, enhancement, and strategems that referenced vaguely 80’s heavy metal names. Instead, we just got two datasheets, a promise more stuff is coming, and players are wondering if they can return the leopard print leotards they bought to celebrate the release. Let’s brew some ideas on how to make this more interesting, and we will see if anything matches up with something in the future.
The Emperor’s Children were always an interesting army. As GW broke out the other Legions into their own books the perfectionist Children of the Emperor were left to hang out with the renegades and Black Legion Legionaries. Now while we got a nice little release, we still don’t have a true Emperor’s Children army. We don’t even have a sorta matching detachment that would sync up with the thoughts and prayers we have for those loving 80’s glam rock and big poofy hair.
Emperor’s Children Detachment Needs Work
First let’s figure out a Detachment and a rule that would work for this army. They are known as perfectionists so let’s do a simple option that each unit gets the ability to Reroll a hit or Reroll a wound roll. This is a fixed version of the Aeldari one where you can pick which one to use as you work through your army and while not too fancy I think it is the easiest one to use. Plus – it is a powerful ability that isn’t so chained to having things below starting strength or other weird options.
Emperor’s Children Enhancments Needs Work
Next we should figure out some enhancements to help the Emperor’s Children out. I think a simple upgraded Sonic Weapon, a powerful sword option, fancy armor, and finally someone heavily peacocking their way on the tabletop. For the Sonic Weapon I think a simple option that lets the owner of the weapon target a unit and cause all other Sonic Weapons to hit harder. It’s simple but it pushes the use of Sonic Weapons and could be a cool way to make it happen. For the sword let it get Devastating Wounds, Precision, and an Extra d6 attacks to make it feel like a crazy little thing to murder people with. The fancy armor should give the unit Stealth or some kind of other blinding option when they join a unit. Finally the Peacocking option could be forcing Battleshock tests if they are nearby and just so loud and obnoxious.
Emperor’s Children Strategems Needs Work
Finally, we look at Emperor’s Children Stratagems and these should be easier. We need something better for assault options like guaranteed charges. I think looking at damaged foes and having the army better when hitting them. This could be giving the unit full rerolls or link them up with Sonic Weapon damage. Speaking of Sonic Weapons we should see something where the guns gain Hazardous and more powerful when they shoot at an enemy. Next up, I would expect a Feel No Pain to represent the unit going ham on some special space dust. From there, I wonder if there could be some kind of movement option, like if you get shot you can “encircle” the prey as they get closer. Finally, I wonder if there could be some kind of cool – show of being awesome when killing a character. For example, something that would either cause a wave of Battle Shock or just something unique when their character are being a bad ass.
So do you think these Emperor’s Children changes would be too good? Do you think it works well enough? I know there could be a ton of Dataslates to look at. But I figured it would still be CSM until we get a new book, new look, and new minis that might come in the future. How exciting is it to get CSM on the tabletop too? I can’t wait to get to an event with my new 40K 10th Edition Renegades!
