Emperor's Children: Elegant Brutes Detachment Guide (11th Edition)

The signature effect rewards Terminators for arriving aggressively — reporting from the Faction Pack points to a flat bonus to charge rolls on the turn a Terminator unit is set up (for example after a Deep Strike or disembarking). That single buff is deceptively strong: the biggest weakness of deep-striking melee is the unreliable 9-inch charge, and shaving the odds in your favour turns a coin-flip into a plan. In practice it means you can hold your terminators in Reserves, drop them where the enemy is softest, and charge with real confidence. Combined with the Thrill Seekers army rule, it makes your elites both the anvil and the hammer. Treat the exact bonus value as indicative and confirm it in the live rules.

The detachment's standout trick, per current reporting, is a stratagem in the vein of Warp Plunge — letting an unengaged Terminator unit redeploy back into Reserves after your opponent's Fight phase. Use it to escape a losing grind, to reposition toward a new objective, or to set up a fresh charge next turn using the detachment's charge bonus again. That's a rare and powerful tempo tool for an elite army: your best unit is never truly stuck. Save it for the moment it swings a game — pulling a battered squad out of a fight it would lose, or teleporting away from a counter-charge you can't win. Always confirm the stratagem's exact CP cost, timing and eligibility in your Faction Pack before relying on it.

The detachment's enhancements sharpen the terminators' offence. Reporting highlights an option in the mould of Frenzied Ferocity, adding Sustained Hits to the bearer's unit — meaning extra hits on critical rolls, which scales beautifully with a large, high-attack terminator block. Put your damage-boosting enhancement on the squad you most want to swing a combat, typically your largest terminator unit or the one carrying your key melee weapons. As always, enhancements cost points and are limited in number, so pick the one that reinforces your single decisive unit rather than spreading thin. Verify the current enhancement list, effects and points costs in the app — enhancement wording is a common target for balance updates.

This is a Terminator-centric detachment, so your core is Chaos Terminator squads — ideally taken in larger blocks to make the charge bonus and Sustained Hits enhancement pay off. Support them with a leading Character who can join the unit for extra melee punch and a bodyguard's resilience, and lean on the rest of the Emperor's Children roster for screening and objective-holding so your terminators are free to strike where they matter. The detachment doesn't need a wide toolbox; it wants a couple of excellent terminator hammers delivered precisely. Check current datasheets, wargear and unit sizes on the Emperor's Children army page.

Choose Elegant Brutes if you love the terminator aesthetic and want an Emperor's Children army that's more durable and more forgiving than the fragile-elite norm. It's excellent for players who find the standard glass-hammer style too punishing, and its redeploy stratagem rewards thoughtful, patient play. It's less ideal if you want a wide, mobile board presence or a horde of cheap bodies — those wants point you toward Frenzied Host instead. In larger Detachment Points budgets, Elegant Brutes pairs naturally with a Battleline-focused detachment that screens and takes objectives while your terminators do the killing. Confirm the 1 DP cost and any interactions in your current Faction Pack.