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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.
Each time an EMPEROR'S CHILDREN unit from your army is selected to fight, if it made a Charge move this turn, select one of [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. While resolving those attacks, the unit's melee weapons have the selected ability. The choice is made per unit and per fight, so you pick after you can see what you are fighting: [LETHAL HITS] against high Toughness, [SUSTAINED HITS 1] against a wide, soft target.
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.
For 2 CP, just after an enemy unit selects targets, target one Emperor's Children unit that was selected. Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit is destroyed, if it has not fought this phase it is not removed; it fights after the attacking unit finishes and is then removed. Note there is no dice roll here, unlike the Slaanesh's Chosen version.
For 1 CP, just before an Emperor's Children unit Consolidates, its Consolidation moves are up to 6 inches instead of 3, provided the unit ends that move within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units. Six inches of consolidation is how a melee unit chains from one fight into the next.
For 1 CP, target one Emperor's Children unit that made a Charge move this turn and has not fought this phase. Until the end of the phase, improve the Armour Penetration of its melee weapons by 1. It stacks with the detachment rule on the same swing, since both key off having charged.
For 1 CP, target one Emperor's Children unit that charged in the previous turn and destroyed an enemy unit in the previous Fight phase. Each enemy unit within 6 inches must take a Battle-shock test, subtracting 1 if below Half-strength, and those units need take no other Battle-shock test in the same phase.
For 2 CP, just after an enemy unit Falls Back, target one Emperor's Children unit within 6 inches, selecting a VEHICLE only if it is a WALKER, that would be eligible to charge that enemy unit. Your unit can declare a charge at it, but receives no Charge bonus this turn. The answer to an opponent who walks away from your melee units.
Emperor's Children INFANTRY model only. Once per battle, at the end of the Fight phase, if the bearer is within Engagement Range of three or more enemy models, it can fight one additional time, and when doing so you select one ability from Exquisite Swordsmanship to apply to those attacks. The most expensive enhancement here and the one that reads directly off the detachment rule.
Emperor's Children model only. Once per battle, at the start of the Fight phase, models in the bearer's unit gain Fights First until the end of the phase. Worth noting if you are also running Spectacle of Slaughter, which grants Fights First to Flawless Blades permanently, because the two do not stack usefully on the same unit.
Emperor's Children model only. Add 1 to the Attacks and Damage characteristics of melee weapons equipped by the bearer. The straightforward character-damage option, and it improves the bearer alone rather than the unit.
Emperor's Children model only. You can target this unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem regardless of any other uses of it this phase; that use is -1 CP, and it does not prevent other uses of the stratagem on other units this phase. This enhancement is the entry Faction Pack v1.2 rewrites by name for this detachment.
The faction's dedicated melee unit and the natural home for a rule that pays out whenever a unit charges. Their Blissblade had its Attacks characteristic changed to 4 in this pack.
See the box: price and offersThe faction's duelist character, and a strong fit for a detachment whose enhancements all improve a single fighting model rather than a squad.
See the box: price and offersExquisite Swordsmanship names no keyword beyond Emperor's Children, so cheap Battleline infantry gets exactly the same [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1] choice on the charge that an elite unit does. That is what makes this detachment work in a wide list as well as a tall one.
See the box: price and offersA generic Emperor's Children INFANTRY character, which is the restriction on Rise to the Challenge, the detachment's signature enhancement.
See the box: price and offersThe cleanest 3 DP army in the faction for a Terminator list. Eager to Kill buys the charge with +1 to charge rolls, and Exquisite Swordsmanship pays out for having charged. One detachment covers arriving, the other covers the swing.
Both detachments are about winning the melee exchange, from different directions: Fights First from one, and a choice of [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1] on the charge from the other. Note that Blinding Speed duplicates Fights First on Flawless Blades, so spend that 25 points elsewhere.
Exquisite Swordsmanship applies to any Emperor's Children unit that charged rather than to an elite keyword, so a wide Battleline list gets the full benefit. A cheap way to give a lot of bodies [LETHAL HITS] on the charge.
The 2 DP melee detachment: any unit that charged picks [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1] after seeing what it is fighting, with no keyword restriction at all.
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.
Peerless Bladesmen costs 2 DP and its force disposition is Priority Assets.
Exquisite Swordsmanship: each time an EMPEROR'S CHILDREN unit from your army is selected to fight, if it made a Charge move this turn, select one of [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1]. While resolving those attacks, the unit's melee weapons have the selected ability.
Two things make this better than a flat bonus. It names no keyword beyond the faction, so your cheapest Battleline squad gets exactly what your best elite unit does. And the choice is made per unit and per fight, after you can see what you are fighting.
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.
The choice is the detachment, so it is worth being precise about when each wins.
[LETHAL HITS] turns Critical Hits into automatic wounds, bypassing the wound roll entirely. It is worth most when your wound roll is bad, which means high-Toughness targets: vehicles, monsters, heavy infantry your Strength does not match. The worse your odds to wound, the more each bypassed roll is worth.
[SUSTAINED HITS 1] generates extra hits. It is worth most when your wound roll is good and your target is numerous, so the extra hits convert into kills rather than into overkill on a single model. Against a horde you will wound comfortably, more hits is straightforwardly more dead models.
The rough heuristic: [LETHAL HITS] against things tougher than you, [SUSTAINED HITS 1] against things softer and more numerous than you. And because you pick per unit, a single Fight phase can reasonably see one squad take Lethal Hits into a vehicle while another takes Sustained Hits into the infantry screen beside it.
The gate is the charge. Everything here requires the unit to have made a Charge move this turn, which is the detachment's real cost. A unit that stands still, or that is charged rather than charging, gets nothing at all. That makes this a poor fit for a defensive list and an excellent one for a list that is already moving forward every turn, which is what the army rule pushes you toward anyway.
Six stratagems, weighted toward the Fight phase, and two of them cost 2 CP.
Cruel Bladesman (1 CP) stacks directly with the detachment rule: a unit that charged this turn and has not fought improves the Armour Penetration of its melee weapons by 1. Same trigger, same phase, so a charging unit can have its chosen ability and better AP on one swing.
Death Ecstasy (2 CP) is the durability answer: each model in your unit that is destroyed before it has fought fights anyway after the attacking unit finishes, then is removed. Note there is no dice roll, unlike the Slaanesh's Chosen equivalent, which makes it strictly reliable and explains the price.
Incessant Violence (1 CP) makes Consolidation moves up to 6 inches instead of 3, provided the unit ends within Engagement Range of an enemy. Six inches of consolidation is how a melee unit chains out of one fight and into the next, which matters in a detachment that only pays out on the turn you charge.
Deft Parry (1 CP) subtracts 1 from hit rolls against your unit in the Fight phase. Terrifying Spectacle (1 CP) fires in your opponent's Command phase off a unit that charged and destroyed something last turn, forcing Battle-shock tests at -1 for below Half-strength on enemies within 6 inches.
Cut Down the Weak (2 CP) answers the standard counter-play against melee armies: just after an enemy Falls Back, a unit of yours within 6 inches, selecting a VEHICLE only if it is a WALKER, can declare a charge at it, though without a Charge bonus that turn. Expensive, and worth it when an opponent is trying to walk away from your best squad.
Four, and one of them reads straight off the detachment rule.
Rise to the Challenge (30 pts) is Emperor's Children INFANTRY model only. Once per battle, at the end of the Fight phase, if the bearer is within Engagement Range of three or more enemy models, it can fight one additional time, and when doing so you select one ability from Exquisite Swordsmanship for those attacks. Note the detachment rule's charge requirement does not gate this second activation, which is what makes it worth 30 points.
Blinding Speed (25 pts) gives the bearer's unit Fights First for a phase, once per battle. Useful, with one caveat worth planning around: if you are also running Spectacle of Slaughter, your Flawless Blades already have Fights First permanently, so this would be 25 points spent duplicating a rule you have. Put it on a different unit or spend it elsewhere.
Distortion (25 pts) adds 1 to the Attacks and Damage of melee weapons equipped by the bearer, improving the character alone rather than the unit.
Faultless Opportunist (15 pts) lets you target the bearer's unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem regardless of other uses that phase, at 1 CP less, without preventing other uses on other units. This enhancement is the entry Faction Pack v1.2 rewrites by name for this detachment, so the wording here is the amended one.
Flawless Blades are the faction's dedicated melee unit and the obvious home for a rule that pays out whenever a unit charges. Their Blissblade had its Attacks changed to 4 in this pack.
Tormentors matter more here than in most elite detachments, and this is the point most easily missed: Exquisite Swordsmanship names no keyword beyond Emperor's Children, so cheap Battleline infantry gets exactly the same choice of [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1] on the charge that an elite unit does. That is what lets this detachment work in a wide list as well as a tall one.
Lucius the Eternal suits a detachment whose enhancements mostly improve a single fighting model.
Lord Exultant is a generic Emperor's Children INFANTRY character, which is the restriction on Rise to the Challenge, the detachment's signature enhancement.
At 2 DP this pairs with any of the three 1 DP detachments for exactly 3 DP. The strongest is Elegant Brutes, on its own page.
No, you pick each time a unit is selected to fight, and each unit picks independently. That means you choose after you can see the target, and a single Fight phase can see one squad take [LETHAL HITS] into a vehicle while another takes [SUSTAINED HITS 1] into the infantry beside it. The rough guide is Lethal Hits against targets tougher than you and Sustained Hits against targets softer and more numerous.
No. The rule requires the unit to have made a Charge move this turn, and that is its real cost. A unit standing on an objective, or one that was charged rather than charging, gets nothing from the detachment rule at all. That makes it a poor fit for a defensive list and a good one for an army that is moving forward every turn.
Not on Flawless Blades. Spectacle of Slaughter already gives friendly FLAWLESS BLADES units Fights First permanently, so spending 25 points on a once-per-battle Fights First for the same unit buys you nothing. If you run both detachments, put Blinding Speed on a different unit or spend the points on Rise to the Challenge instead.
The Faultless Opportunist enhancement was rewritten. It now lets you target the bearer's unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem regardless of any other uses of that stratagem this phase, makes that use cost 1 CP less, and specifies that it does not prevent other uses on other units in the same phase. A guide written against the older pack describes a narrower enhancement.
Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.