Emperor's Children · combination

Emperor's Children: Elegant Brutes plus Peerless Bladesmen (2,000 Points)

The recommended first 3 DP army: Terminators that charge with a bonus, hit with Lethal Hits or Sustained Hits, leave the table, and come back to do it again.

11th edition

BySprue Sentry

ReviewedAug 28, 2026

SourceFaction Pack: Emperor's Children v1.2 (official GW PDF, legal for matched play from 26 August 2026)

Sprue Sentry strategy commentary for 11th edition, not official rules. Games Workshop updates points and rules regularly; always confirm against the current official rules and latest update before a game.

costs exactly the Strike Force budget, and it is the pairing we recommend to most Emperor's Children players building their first 2,000 point list.

All Emperor's Children detachments Emperor's Children army guide

[Elegant Brutes](/40k/armies/emperors-children/detachments/elegant-brutes) (1 DP) plus [Peerless Bladesmen](/40k/armies/emperors-children/detachments/peerless-bladesmen) (2 DP)

3 DP

The logic is simple, and it is the shape most first armies want: one detachment pays for getting into the charge, the other pays for what happens when you get there.

It is also the most forgiving pairing in the faction, because both halves are keyed to the same trigger, a Charge move, so there is no complicated positioning discipline to learn before the army works.

This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. Written against the official Emperor's Children Faction Pack version 1.2, legal for matched play from 26 August 2026, with Detachment Point costs, force dispositions, Unique Tags and enhancement points from the official Munitorum Field Manual version 1.3, read on 27 August 2026. Enhancement points are dataslate-volatile; the Warhammer 40,000 app is the final word.

Why the two halves fit so precisely

Elegant Brutes' Eager to Kill gives an EMPEROR'S CHILDREN TERMINATOR unit +1 to charge rolls whenever it is set up. That covers deployment as well as Deep Strike, so the bonus is live from turn one.

Peerless Bladesmen's Exquisite Swordsmanship lets any Emperor's Children unit that made a Charge move this turn pick [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1] for that fight, chosen after you can see the target.

One detachment buys the charge, the other pays out for having charged. Nothing is wasted, and nothing needs to be set up in advance.

Then add the cycle. Elegant Brutes' Warp Plunge (1 CP) puts an unengaged Terminator unit into Strategic Reserves at the end of your opponent's Fight phase. When it comes back it is set up again, so Eager to Kill fires again, and when it charges again Exquisite Swordsmanship fires again. The army has a repeatable loop rather than a single alpha strike, which is a much more forgiving thing for a new player to pilot: a mistake costs you a turn rather than the game.

Stack the charge bonuses. Cruel Bladesman (1 CP) improves the Armour Penetration of a charging unit's melee weapons by 1, on the same trigger as the detachment rule. So a Terminator squad that arrives, charges with +1, and fights, can have [LETHAL HITS] and +1 AP on the same swing for a single command point.

One caution on enhancements. Peerless Bladesmen's Blinding Speed (25 pts) grants a once-per-battle Fights First. It is fine here, since nothing else in this pairing provides it, but if you later add Spectacle of Slaughter to your collection, note that its Flawless Blades already have Fights First permanently and the 25 points would be wasted on them.

How to play it

Choose your ability after you see the target, every single time. This is the habit that makes the army work. Take [LETHAL HITS] into anything tougher than you, where your wound roll is bad and bypassing it is worth most: vehicles, monsters, heavy infantry. Take [SUSTAINED HITS 1] into anything softer and more numerous, where extra hits turn into extra dead models rather than overkill.

Do not cycle the squad that is scoring. Elegant Brutes has a Take and Hold disposition and a unit in Strategic Reserves holds nothing. Warp Plunge is for the squad that has finished its work and is stranded, not for the squad standing on the objective you are winning on.

Spend Psychedelic Soulflame on the arrival turn. It gives +2 Strength in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, so a Terminator squad that teleports in can shoot with it and then charge, and the +2 Strength changes which breakpoints your [LETHAL HITS] choice is worth taking against.

Hold Death Ecstasy for the counter-punch. At 2 CP it is the most expensive thing in either detachment, and unlike the Slaanesh's Chosen equivalent there is no dice roll: every model destroyed before it has fought fights anyway. Use it when your opponent commits to killing your Terminator squad in one activation.

Remember the army rule's restrictions. Thrill Seekers stops a unit that Advanced or Fell Back from targeting an enemy it was engaged with at the start of the turn, or one another of your units has already attacked this phase. With a small number of elite units this bites less often than it does in a horde list, which is another reason this pairing suits a first army.

What to buy for it

This list is unusually catalog-poor at its centre, and it is worth being straight about that before you plan a purchase around this page.

The unit the whole army is built on, Chaos Terminators, has no exact entry in our catalog, so we link nothing for it rather than point you at an approximate kit. That is the single most important thing to know before buying toward this list.

What we can point you at:

Combat Patrol: Emperor's Children is the cheapest start, and Battleforce: Emperor's Children is the bulk option if you want an army box rather than a starter.

Lord Kakophonist is the only model that can take Cacophonic Accompaniment, which gives him Deep Strike so he arrives alongside the Terminators instead of two turns behind them. In this pairing that is close to mandatory.

Lord Exultant is a generic Emperor's Children INFANTRY character, which is the restriction on Rise to the Challenge, the best enhancement Peerless Bladesmen has.

Flawless Blades are worth adding because Exquisite Swordsmanship names no keyword beyond the faction, so they get the same choice on the charge that the Terminators do, and their Blissblade went to 4 Attacks in this pack.

Tormentors are the cheap Battleline bodies that hold objectives while the Terminators cycle, which is what stops a Take and Hold detachment losing on points while winning fights.

Common questions

Why is this the recommended first Emperor's Children army?

Because both halves key off the same trigger, so there is nothing to learn before it works. Elegant Brutes gives Terminators +1 to charge rolls when they are set up, and Peerless Bladesmen lets any unit that charged pick [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. One buys the charge, the other pays for it, and Warp Plunge makes the whole thing repeatable, so a mistake costs you a turn rather than the game.

When should I use Warp Plunge?

On the squad that has finished its work and is stranded, never on the squad holding an objective. Elegant Brutes carries a Take and Hold disposition and a unit in Strategic Reserves scores nothing, so cycling too eagerly will lose you the game on points while you win every fight. The payoff is that the returning unit is set up again, which turns Eager to Kill back on.

Lethal Hits or Sustained Hits on my Terminators?

Choose after you see the target, because Exquisite Swordsmanship lets you pick each time a unit is selected to fight. Take [LETHAL HITS] against vehicles, monsters and heavy infantry, where your wound roll is poor and bypassing it is worth most. Take [SUSTAINED HITS 1] against numerous softer targets, where extra hits become extra kills rather than overkill on one model.

Do I need a specific box for the Terminators?

Chaos Terminators have no exact entry in our catalog, so we link no box for them and we are not going to point you at an approximate kit instead. That is worth knowing before you plan a purchase around this list, because the Terminators are the unit the entire Elegant Brutes half is built on. The characters, Battleline and bundle boxes for this army are all tracked and linked on this page.

Rules sources

Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.