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SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. Faction Pack v1.2 does not reprint this detachment in full, but it amends by name in its Rules Updates section the entries noted on this page, and the remaining lists are read off a community rules mirror that already shows those amendments applied. Where a community mirror is used it is a version behind on its own stamps, recording Faction Pack v1.1 and Munitorum Field Manual v1.2 against the official v1.2 and v1.3, so the official document wins any disagreement. Emperor's Children were part of the 26 August 2026 faction pack reissue, so this is Faction Pack version 1.2 and was one day old when this page was written. Its Detachment Point cost, force disposition, Unique Tag and enhancement points are not in the Faction Pack; they come from the official Munitorum Field Manual v1.3, read on 27 August 2026. This detachment carries no Unique Tag. Only one Emperor's Children detachment does, Frenzied Host, and because no second detachment shares its tag nothing in this faction is blocked by tags at all, so Detachment Point arithmetic is the only thing that can stop a pairing. Enhancement points are dataslate-volatile and are reprinted here only as a planning aid; the Warhammer 40,000 app is the authority.
You can re-roll Advance rolls made for EMPEROR'S CHILDREN units from your army. One clause, no keyword restriction, no cap, and it applies to the whole army. In a faction whose army rule lets units shoot and charge in a turn they Advanced, a re-rollable Advance is a damage rule as much as a movement one.
For 1 CP, target one Emperor's Children unit that has not fought this phase. Until the end of the phase its melee weapons have [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. The detachment's flat damage option, and unusually wide, because it names no keyword beyond the faction.
For 2 CP, just after an enemy unit selects targets, target one Emperor's Children INFANTRY unit that was selected. Until the end of the phase, attacks targeting your unit subtract 1 from the wound roll. The expensive defensive option and the one that keeps a squad alive through a counter-charge.
The 2 DP speed detachment: re-roll Advance rolls army-wide, which in a faction that can shoot and charge after Advancing is a damage rule as much as a movement one.
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 and its force disposition is . It is the detachment that makes the army rule reliable.
For 1 CP, target one Emperor's Children INFANTRY unit that has not moved this phase. Until the end of the phase, if your unit Advances, do not make an Advance roll; instead add 6 inches to its Move. This is the detachment rule taken to its conclusion: rather than re-rolling the Advance, you stop rolling altogether.
For 1 CP, just after an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move, target one Emperor's Children unit, excluding BEASTS and VEHICLES, within 8 inches of it. Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 6 inches. This stratagem's Target section is the entry Faction Pack v1.2 amends by name for this detachment, changing 9 inches to 8 inches, so the trigger range is one inch tighter than an older guide will tell you.
For 1 CP, just after an enemy unit selects targets, target one Emperor's Children unit that was selected. Until the end of the phase, attacks targeting your unit subtract 1 from the hit roll. The cheaper counterpart to Combat Stimms, and the one to reach for first.
For 1 CP, target one Emperor's Children unit wholly within 9 inches of a battlefield edge and not within 3 inches horizontally of an enemy unit. Remove it from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves. The Reconnaissance disposition made literal: a unit that has done its job leaves and comes back somewhere more useful.
Emperor's Children model only. Each time a melee attack targets the bearer's unit, if the attack's Strength is greater than the unit's Toughness, subtract 1 from the wound roll. Melee only, which is the limitation to plan around.
Emperor's Children model only. Each time a model in the bearer's unit attacks an enemy unit below its Starting Strength, add 1 to the hit roll, and if that target is also below Half-strength, add 1 to the wound roll as well. A finisher rather than an opener, and it rewards focusing a target down rather than spreading damage.
Emperor's Children model only. After both players have deployed, select up to two Emperor's Children units and redeploy them, and you can place them in Strategic Reserves regardless of how many units are already there. A pre-game effect on a Reconnaissance detachment, and the best answer in the faction to a bad deployment matchup.
Emperor's Children model only. Each time a model in the bearer's unit makes a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move it can move through enemy models, without ending within Engagement Range of them, and any Desperate Escape test is automatically passed. The cheapest enhancement in the detachment and the one that pairs best with the army rule, because Falling Back through a screen and still being able to charge is exactly what Thrill Seekers permits.
Named in the detachment's own flavour text alongside Infractors as the warbands that traverse the battlefield, and the Battleline body that gets the most out of a re-rollable Advance because it is the unit doing the most moving.
See the box: price and offersAlso named in the detachment's flavour text. A shooting unit benefits unusually well from Quicksilver Grace, because the army rule lets it Advance and still shoot.
See the box: price and offersThe other Battleline unit the detachment's flavour text names. No box is linked because the catalog holds no exact Infractors entry, and the Tormentors box is a DIFFERENT datasheet rather than a substitute.
A generic Emperor's Children character to carry any of the four enhancements, all of which read Emperor's Children model only rather than naming a specific model.
See the box: price and offersExactly 3 DP and entirely legal, despite reading as though it cannot be. Frenzied Host carries the HOST tag and says it cannot be taken with another HOST detachment, but this detachment only has the word in its name and carries no tag at all, and the Reconnaissance disposition the two share is not a tag either. They also fit mechanically: Quicksilver Grace re-rolls the Advance, and Frantic Focus pays your Battleline units +1 Strength for Advancing.
Quicksilver Grace does nothing for a Terminator that teleported in and a great deal for everything else, so this is the pick when the Terminators are your hammer and the rest of the list needs to keep pace with them.
Fights First is worth nothing until the unit arrives. Re-rollable Advances army-wide, plus Honour the Prince to replace the Advance roll with a flat 6 inches, is the most reliable way to get Flawless Blades where they need to be.
Quicksilver Grace: you can re-roll Advance rolls made for EMPEROR'S CHILDREN units from your army.
One clause, no keyword restriction, no cap, no once-per-turn limit, applying to your whole army. Read on its own that is a modest mobility rule. Read next to Thrill Seekers, which lets a unit shoot and declare a charge in a turn it Advanced, it becomes something else: a rule that makes your entire army's offence more reliable, because for Emperor's Children the Advance roll is not a substitute for attacking, it is a prerequisite to attacking well.
A note on the name. This detachment has the word HOST in its name and carries no Unique Tag. See the section below, because this is the most commonly ruled-out legal army in the faction.
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.
[Frenzied Host](/40k/armies/emperors-children/detachments/frenzied-host) (1 DP) plus Mercurial Host (2 DP) is LEGAL, and it costs exactly the 3 DP Strike Force budget.
It reads as illegal because Frenzied Host carries the HOST Unique Tag and its own rules text says it cannot be taken with another HOST detachment, and because this detachment has HOST in its name. A second false signal reinforces the first: both detachments carry the Reconnaissance force disposition, which looks like proof they belong to one restricted family.
Neither signal is a Unique Tag. A Unique Tag is a printed property, not a name, and a force disposition is not a Unique Tag at all. Mercurial Host carries no Unique Tag under Faction Pack v1.2, under Munitorum Field Manual v1.3, or on the community mirror.
The pairing is also genuinely good, because the two rules key off the same action from opposite ends: Quicksilver Grace re-rolls the Advance, and Frantic Focus pays your Battleline units +1 Strength for Advancing. One makes the move reliable, the other makes it profitable. It gets its own page.
Six stratagems, and the detachment's identity is split between making you faster and making you harder to hit.
Honour the Prince (1 CP) is Quicksilver Grace taken to its conclusion. Target an Emperor's Children INFANTRY unit that has not moved: until the end of the phase, if it Advances, do not make an Advance roll at all; instead add a flat +6 inches to its Move. Rather than re-rolling a bad Advance, you stop rolling. On a unit that must reach a specific point this turn, that is the difference between a plan and a hope.
Dark Vigour (1 CP) fires in your opponent's Movement phase, just after an enemy unit ends a move, and lets an Emperor's Children unit within 8 inches, excluding BEASTS and VEHICLES, make a Normal move of up to 6 inches. This stratagem's Target section is the entry Faction Pack v1.2 amends by name for this detachment, changing 9 inches to 8 inches, so the trigger range is one inch tighter than an older guide will tell you. That is exactly the sort of change that turns a reliable reaction into a failed one.
Cruel Raiders (1 CP) removes an Emperor's Children unit wholly within 9 inches of a battlefield edge, and not within 3 inches horizontally of an enemy, into Strategic Reserves. The Reconnaissance disposition made literal: a unit that has done its job leaves and comes back somewhere more useful.
Capricious Reactions (1 CP) and Combat Stimms (2 CP) are the defensive pair. Capricious Reactions subtracts 1 from hit rolls against your unit in your opponent's Shooting phase; Combat Stimms subtracts 1 from wound rolls against an INFANTRY unit in the Fight phase. Reach for the cheaper one first; save the 2 CP for the counter-charge that would otherwise kill a squad outright.
Violent Excess (1 CP) gives an Emperor's Children unit's melee weapons [SUSTAINED HITS 1] until the end of the phase, and names no keyword beyond the faction, which makes it the detachment's flat damage option for whichever unit needs it most.
All four read Emperor's Children model only, so any character can carry any of them, which is more flexibility than most detachments in this faction offer.
Tactical Perfection (15 pts) is the standout and the most distinctive. After both players have deployed, select up to two Emperor's Children units and redeploy them, and you may place them in Strategic Reserves regardless of how many units are already there. A post-deployment redeploy is the strongest answer in the faction to a bad matchup on one flank, and the Strategic Reserves clause turns it into a genuine ambush tool.
Loathsome Dexterity (10 pts) is the cheapest enhancement here and pairs best with the army rule. The bearer's unit can move through enemy models on Normal, Advance or Fall Back moves, without ending within Engagement Range, and passes any Desperate Escape test automatically. Falling Back through a screen and still being able to charge something else is precisely what Thrill Seekers permits, and this removes the risk from it.
Steeped in Suffering (20 pts) adds 1 to the hit roll against enemy units below Starting Strength, and 1 to the wound roll as well if the target is also below Half-strength. It is a finisher rather than an opener, and it rewards committing to a target rather than spreading damage, which cuts slightly against the army rule.
Intoxicating Musk (20 pts) subtracts 1 from the wound roll when a melee attack targeting the bearer's unit has Strength greater than its Toughness. Melee only, which is the limitation to plan around in a game where the dangerous attacks are often shooting.
Tormentors are named in this detachment's own flavour text alongside Infractors, and the Battleline body that gets the most from a re-rollable Advance simply because it is the unit doing the most moving.
Noise Marines are also named in the flavour text, and a shooting unit benefits unusually well from Quicksilver Grace, because the army rule lets it Advance and still shoot. Getting the Advance right is what puts them in range.
Infractors are the third unit the flavour text names. We link no box because our catalog holds no exact Infractors entry, and the Tormentors box is a different datasheet rather than a substitute.
Lord Exultant is a generic character to carry any of the four enhancements, all of which read Emperor's Children model only rather than naming a specific model.
At 2 DP this pairs with any of the three 1 DP detachments for exactly 3 DP.
Yes, and it costs exactly the 3 DP Strike Force budget. It looks blocked because Frenzied Host carries the HOST tag and says it cannot be taken with another HOST detachment, because this detachment has HOST in its name, and because both share the Reconnaissance force disposition. But this detachment carries no Unique Tag under Faction Pack v1.2, Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 or the community mirror, and a force disposition is not a Unique Tag. Nothing is shared and nothing is blocked.
Because for Emperor's Children the Advance roll gates the whole offence rather than just the movement. The Thrill Seekers army rule lets a unit shoot and declare a charge in a turn it Advanced, so a bad Advance roll does not merely leave you short, it leaves you out of range to shoot and out of reach to charge. Re-rolling it army-wide, with no keyword restriction and no cap, makes every unit's turn more reliable.
The Dark Vigour stratagem's Target section changed 9 inches to 8 inches. That is a real reduction in the reactive move's trigger range, and it is exactly the kind of change a page written against the older pack gets wrong, because a stratagem you were relying on at 9 inches will now simply not be available.
Tactical Perfection at 15 points. Selecting up to two units to redeploy after both armies have deployed, with the option to put them into Strategic Reserves regardless of how many units are already there, is the strongest pre-game effect available to this faction and answers the deployment matchups a fast, fragile army otherwise loses to before the first turn.
Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.