Traitor Legions: Emperors Children

Dec by greysplinter

Rumors are out in force now for the new Traitors Legion supplement for
CSM and I am quite excited, both for 40K players who use CSM and for the
game as a whole, since it appears that each legion is getting legitimate
Relics, WL Traits, detachments, and chapter tactics unique to it.
One of the first things that caught my eyes is the special rules made
available to the Emperors Children. Here are the special rules for
Emperors Children we have seen so far:
Emperors Children Restrictions/Requirements
*Lucius is the only Unique CSM character they can take
*All units that can must take Mark of Slaanesh or Daemon of Slaanesh if
they can
*All units that have access to it get VotLW for free
*All Psykers have access to the Slaanesh Psychic Discipline

Special Rules
*All units with VotLW gain Fearless & FNP (6+) (units with Icon of Excess
get FNP (4+))
*All units with VotLW get 1 immediate :free attack if slain during the Fight
sub-phase
*Noise Marines are Troops choice

Warlord Traits
[1] Eternal Warrior

[2] +2 Initiative
[3] Add 1 to FNP of WL and his unit
[4] Gain Fear and opponents locked in CC with WL/his unit take fear on
3D6
[5] +1A each time you lose a wound (lose this if wounds are re-healed)
[6] Can auto-pass Look out Sir! rolls

Relics
[1] Intoxicating Elixir (25 points) Make D3 rolls on combat drugs table
(cumulative)
[2] Shriek Wave (20 points) 12 S8 AP2, Assault D6, Mental Trauma
(before shooting, Target takes Ld test and, if failed, this attack re-rolls to
Wound rolls)
[3] Soul Snare Lash (20 points) Ranged 6 S4 AP5 Assault 2, Soul
Snare; Melee S: User AP5 melee, Soul Snare (Soul Snare: To wound roll of
6 is AP2/Instant Death)
[4] Endless Grin (10points) Model has Fear and enemies within 6 have -1
Ld
[5] Bolts of Ecstatic Vexation (15 points) Bearers Bolt Weapons gain
Blast, Ignores Cover, and Pinning
[6] Blissgiver (30 points) S: User AP3, Catatonic Trance (target must pass
Ld test/per wound or be removed)
Unique Emperors Children Detachment Rules
*Re-roll WL Trait
*Combat Drugs (roll on table for all non-vehicles before game starts):
1- +1 WS

2- +1 BS
3- +1 I
4- +1 S
5 +1 T
6- +1 A
-Core Choices: Chaos War Band, Kakophoni (Lucius/Chaos Lord, 3-6 Noise
Marine; get Split Fire and all Sonic Weapons gain Shred; if you take 6
squads of Noise Marines, they also get +1S to their Sonic Weapons)
-Command Choices: Lord of Legion (Lord, Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or
Daemon Prince)
-Auxiliary Choices: Lost and the Damned, Hellforged Warpack, Heldrake
Terror Pack, Cult of Destruction, Fist of the Gods, Raptor Talon, Terminator
Annihilation Force, Spawn, Daemon Engine
Slaanesh Psychic Discipline (Updated)
[Primaris] Sensory overload Witchfire 24, S4, AP4, Assault 4, Blind,
Concussive, Pinning
[1] Hysterical Frenzy (WC1) Blessing 12, Friendly units rolls on table
for either +1I. +1S , or +1 A
[2] Delightful Agonies (WC1) Blessing 12, Friendly unit gains FNP(4+)
[3] Symphony of Pain (WC1) Malediction 21, Enemy unit loses -1
BS/WS and any Sonic Weapons shooting this targeted unit add +1S
(cumulative)
[4] Sonic Shockwave (WC1) Nova 9, S5 AP4 Assault D6, Pinning,
Ignores Cover
[5] Aural Onslaught (WC2) Beam 18, S8, AP2 Assault 1, Mental
Anguish (before attack, target takes Ld test and if fails you reroll to-wounds
here)

[6] Apoplectic Glee (WC2) Witchfire 24, S: Special AP- Assault 1,

Ignores Cover, Ecstasy (no roll to wound, rather all non-vehicles hit
themselves using their own unmodified strength)

Based on all this, I think there are a lot of excellent possibilities, but what
has me really interested is something like this:
(CORE) Kakophoni Formation with Terminator Lord (Mark of
Slaanesh), 6 x 10 man Noise Marine squads (all with Sonic Blasters, dual
Blastmasters, and Icon of Excess)
(COMMAND) Terminator Lord (Mark of Slaanesh)
(AUX) Terminator Annihilation Force with Terminator Lord (Mark of
Slaanesh), 3 squads of Terminators with Combi-Meltas, Power
Mauls/Power Fists, Icon of Excess, Mark of Slaanesh)
Right out the gate, this gives you 6 squads of Noise Marines with Fearless,
FNP(4+), S5 Sonic Blasters with Shred, and a roll on the Combat Drugs
Table to form a very potent firebase anvil for any CSM army you are
building. On top of that, you have 3 x Terminator squads with attached
Terminator Lords, all with 2+/5++, Fearless, FNP(4+), Combat Drugs, and
lots of Melta to take out vehicles/MCs when they Deep Strike in as a close
combat hammer element of your army.
What I really think makes all this work, despite the somewhat high cost of
Noise Marines with Sonic Weapons and Terminators with Combi-Meltas, is
that they are automatically Fearless (mitigating their lack of ATSKNF
compared to loyalist Astartes) and they have FNP(4+), which basically
doubles their survivability against any S7 and below attacks. Finally, they
have solid offensive punch, with lots of I5 in close combat, S5 AP5 Shred,
Ignore Cover, Sonic Blasters, S9 AP3 Small Blast, Ignore Cover, Pinning,
Blast Masters, and combi-Meltas.