What units will be in the Emperor’s Children Codex? – The Definitive Analysis

With the recent announcement of an Emperor’s Children Index, alongside the Chaos Space Marine 10th Edition Codex launch, we finally have confirmation that it’s only a matter of time before the Emperor’s Children Codex launches. When that will be exactly is harder to say.

What might we see in the codex though? Speculation on the miniatures, lore, rules and detachments is running rife, and rightly so, but is there anything firmer to draw inference from? To cut a long story short, yes there is.

This is the second in a series of articles where each aspect of what we might see in an Emperor’s Children 10th Edition Codex, and indeed when we may see it, are analysed in-depth. The first covered the big one, the potential release date:

When will the Emperor’s Children Codex be released? Updated April 2024

Next up we have, unsurprisingly for a miniatures focused hobby, the units. What will stay from the Chaos Space Marine Codex, what new units (and models) might we see and how can we be sure of any of this? Let’s find out.

Buckle up, this will be a long one. Though if you want to skip the exposition, and some speculation, feel free to jump straight to the the conclusions.

Which Chaos Space Marine units will be in the Emperor’s Children Codex

Analysis Overview – Faction Comparisons

This is an area we have some fairly firm footing to go on given we have had three prior faction releases similar to our own with World Eaters, Death Guard and Thousand Sons.

We can draw the most inference from World Eaters given they are by far the most recent release, dropping in February 2023 at the tail end of 9th Edition.

Through the analysis each unit will be rated by the likelihood of their appearance in the Emperor’s Children Codex, as shown below. Of course this is out of a total of 6, we couldn’t bear any other that the sacred number of Slaanesh!

The different releases and situations around each would lead one to think there’s little point comparing these and we should stick to just World Eaters as the most recent. That isn’t the case though, let’s look in a bit more detail.

Thousand Sons were first off the block releasing way back in November 2016, followed up by their 8th Edition release in February 2018. This expanded some of their options and, as we will see, brought them largely into line with the other factions. They, uniquely, has some ‘padding’ in the form of Age of Sigmar units, Tzaangors.

Death Guard followed with a September 2017 release, just after 8th Edition. This was a bumper release, being the main antagonists, with extra characters and units compared to the other factions.

There was then a large time gap to World Eaters in Feb 2023 (likely delayed heavily owing to COVID). This was somewhat underwhelming and little disappointing in scale.

It would seem in the surface there’s a distinct lack of commonality here. However when you line them up side by side and apply a little logic there are a lot of similarities. From this we can draw inference and even some conclusions. A template for the various faction releases readily emerges.

Lets run through each of the Codex: Chaos Space Marine units first and see what made it across to each faction codex. Below we’ll have a series of images showing (left to right) World Eaters, Thousand Sons and Death Guard denoted by the respective icon of their Chaos God. These tell us whether that unit is also present in their current Index.

Note that the obvious faction / god specific units have been excluded here as they naturally would (and did) move across to their respective factions. We are concerned only with the more generic units.

HQ – Epic Heroes

There will be no surprises here and we’ll move along quickly, there’s much more to get into with the other unit types.

Excluding the faction specific Epic Heroes (Khârn, Ahriman and Typhus) no other Epic hero moved across with any other release, as you would expect. Lucius the Eternal has been excluded from this list.

• Abaddon the Despoiler
• Vashtorr the Arkifane
• Huron Blackheart
• Haarken Worldclaimer
• Cyper

Fabius Bile

We do have an oddity with Emperor’s Children in that Fabius Bile is a former member and has some more recent lore backing to make this a possibility, but we’ll get to that later in the more speculative section of our analysis.

HQ – Characters included in other factions

Now we have something to get our teeth into. There is significant variation here, this is the unit type with the most differences between the factions.

However there is some logic behind this and thus we can start to gleam the first insights to what we might see in the coming Emperor’s Children Codex.

Daemon Prince

The first entry is unsurprising, both variants (winged and on foot) of the iconic Chaos Space Marine Daemon Prince made it into every faction. The kit itself comes with a multitude of options, as has every previous kit (along with a few faction specific kits) and so this entry is as much a bolted on certainty as is it possible to have.

The next four give serious pause for thought though. Chaos Lords and Chaos Sorcerers, whether in Terminator Armour or Power Armour, are almost as Iconic as the Daemon Prince, yet we are seeing only a smattering of entries. What’s going on?

Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour

With such an iconic unit, how can it be rated just two out six I hear you cry? Well, let’s get into the analysis.

The major detractor is the lack of the inclusion in World Eaters 9th Edition codex or 10th Edition Index, especially when it otherwise made sense to be included. Though we can see commonalities, this is the most recent release and so our best reference point for the Emperor’s Children Codex.

World Eaters do have a Terminator unit and it would seem like a free hit for Games Workshop to include the Iconic Terminator Lord with that. The fact it shares a kit with the Sorcerer Lord is of little consequence when you look at the Thousands Sons inclusion.

The reasoning here can be speculated at. Perhaps there is a future release of the, apparently missing (also more on that later), Red Butcher Terminators which will see a Lord as well.

More likely is the fact the kit is from 2007 and so due a refresh at some point. Notably Terminators themselves released that year, with a refresh in 2019, as did the Jump Pack Chaos Lord, with a refresh just recently.

Perhaps the Terminator characters were delayed due to COVID, though we would have expected to see them with the 10th Edition Chaos Space Marine Codex were that the case. A surprise announcement of such a release would bounce this rating to 4 or even 5 out of 6.

In favour we have the inclusion in Death Guard, depute other Terminator Characters, and the Exclusion from Thousand sons can make sense when they are led by Sorcerer. They also did have the Sorcerer in Terminator Armour included. There is an argument to take the rating to 3/6 perhaps.

Whatever the reason, from the data on hand it’s far from certain we will see the generic Terminator Lord or Terminator Sorcerer in the Emperor’s Children Codex.

Sorcerer in Terminator Armour

The same analysis as above applies here.

If we do see this unit it’s perhaps most likely it would be one one of the surprise unique units (perhaps with a new shtick, such as a noise mechanic). That veers off far into the completely unsupported speculation though, which we will save for later.

BONUS ENTRY – Jump Pack Chaos Lord

This unit isn’t listed below because, currently, is does not appear in the Index and at the time of writing the Chaos Space Marine 10th Edition Codex has not been released (expect a bumper update to this article then!)

However it was recently announced in the Chaos Space Marine Codex reveal and, unlike the Chaos Lord on foot, this is a new unit (well, at least compared to several editions now) rather than merely a new sculpt to consider. So why is this an estimated 50-50 on whether or not we’ll see it in the Emperor’s Children Codex?

This could be a cop out. Simply state that given it’s new and we don’t know we take the middle road, but there’s more thought that that.

The fact it is new lends weight to inclusion somewhat, however that hasn’t been the case for other units in the past so we can only draw a little there.

A major detractor is the lack of jump infantry making it over to the World Eaters release, where they certainly would fit. Again there’s a question as to why this was the case. The same theme emerges, the Raptor / Warp Talon kit is old and out of scale, having released in 2012.

Even worse, the Lord, if you look closely, ties in with the current Raptor miniature style and so may hint that a refresh is unlikely as noted on She Who Thirsts previously.

In the for column, fairly heavily, we have the perfect combination of screaming raptors and the Emperor’s Children, with the Rypax raptor cult in recent lore in Lucius: the Faultless Blade. It feels like they could and should become one of the Emperor’s Children units.

On balance then 3/6. Once the kit releases and we see if there are any Slaanesh bits on the sprue, this may rise to as high as 5/6. A point that applies to our next unit as well.

Chaos Lord in Power Armour

Similar to the Terminator Lord, being left out of World Eaters and included in Death Guard (despite their multitude of units) would seem to detract from the likelihood of inclusion.

The kit itself is fairly new as well having released in 2018 which lends even more weight to it being excluded as this was not a factor in the World Eaters exclusion.

However, Games Workshop undoubtedly knew the new Lord was releasing this year alongside the Jump Pack Lord when the World Eaters Codex dropped in 2023. Excluding the older kit from World Eaters initially would make sense and we may now see it in their full codex.

A power armoured Lord is also one of the potential unique unit options with the Emperor’s Children release, which could see the generic Lord kit dropped in favour of this if so.

Again we are on uncertain footing here. As with the Jump pack lord we may get hints, or more than hints, when the kit releases. If it does not have God specific accessories that may well be the death knell of the generic Lord in faction armies.

Sorcerer

The Sorcerer in Power armour the easiest to address. They have only been excluded from World Eaters, as they have no Psykers whatsoever, but are in Thousand Sons.

Death Guard have the unique Malignant Plague caster as a replacement but, barring that, we would have likely seem them included there as well so unless Emperor’s Children get a unique sorcerer type unit then it seems a very likely inclusion.

The kit is from 2019 as well, so unlikely to be replaced any time soon and excluded for that reason.

Whether the new Emperor’s Children models include a unique sorcerer option is up in the air, but less likely than other potential units. The inclusion of the generic Sorcerer seems a good bet.

HQ – Characters excluded from other factions

Phew, after some heavy lifting on the analysis, and even a bit of speculation creeping in, we have a bit of a palette cleanser before we dive in again. The following units have not appeared in any of the faction Codexes and are unlikely to be Emperor’s Children Units.

• Lord Discordant
• Warpsmith
• Dark Apostle
• Exalted Champion
• Master of Possession
• Traitor Enforcer
• Dark Commune

Elites

The elite section for the most part is devoid of options, aside from the Helbrute and with Terminators as a special case.

There are some fantastic miniatures in here though that I’m sure many of us will be sad to see go with the Emperor’s Children Codex. Hopefully the balm of some new unique units will help alleviate that.

Master of Executions

If ever a unit screamed Khorne, this is it. It’s not surprising we find it in the World Eaters list and nowhere else. Expect to see other generic characters instead of this.

Just a minor note that this may hint at the chance of some on-theme generic units to make it into the Emperor’s Children Codex as well.

Helbrute

At entirely the other end of the spectrum, we have the Helbrute. Since replacing the iconic Chaos Dreadnought the Helbrute has been a mainstay in every Chaos Codex and Index, whether mainline or faction. Expect no changes with the Emperor’s Children Codex.

Generic Terminators

Generic is the key terms here. Thousand Sons and Death Guard (twice!) absolutely have their own Terminator units, but these are unique to them.

It came as a considerable surprise when the same wasn’t released with World Eaters. Where are the Red butchers?

Azrakh the Annihilator would be positively fuming. Long beards who were rocking a 2+ save (on 2d6!) in second Edition with Khorne Terminators only to be left with the, mostly useless in the list, generic unit after 20+ years of waiting must be weeping.

Back to Analysis then. Release dates. The new Chaos Terminators kit was released relativity recently in 2019, after the other factions’ unique kits, so perhaps the new terminators were seen as sufficient.

The Chaos Terminator kit was much older at the time of Thousand Sons and Death Guard released (2007, around 10 years with both) so this may well be the case.

Given this then resources for unique units could have been put elsewhere. Though the anemic World Eaters release didn’t have follow through there and actually increase the number of new kits. More on that later in the new miniatures section. Perhaps they were held back for a second wave. No one really knows.

What then for our Emperor’s Children?

This one will be more of a cop out, it’s truly hard to know, especially since models and lore have been been light for Emperor’s Children.

There are Emperor’s Children Terminators in the recent lore though, and in 30k (the Phoenix Guard). Noise Marine Terminator weapon options were also once a thing once in the rules, if not the models. Rocking some paired high initiative lightning claws was oodles more fun through. However there is no lightning rod there.

The unit itself is 6/6, it’s just a matter of whether we will have generic or unique terminators with the total split between the two.

Honestly this should probably lean more towards 4/6 in favour of generic with the weight attached to the recent World Eaters release, but time will tell.

Generic Possessed

No factions have seen the generic Possessed included so we have safely say they are out, 0/6. When move move on to speculation and rumours though there are whispers for a more unique possessed style unit.

Chosen

This one is painful. The miniatures are absolutely fantastic, the lore around Chosen likewise. The Slaanesh index is even known as the “Chosen of Slaanesh!”.

Within the faction releases there isn’t really a comparable unit either. Perhaps an argument could be made for the extra Death Guard menagerie of characters or Death Shroud Terminators, or the exalted Sorcerers of Thousand Sons, but not really.

Based on prior releases the Chosen are gone and unless we get a surprise unit with the eventual Emperor’s Children models release we are out of luck.

On the positive side they make absolutely fantastic conversion fodder for other units.

Battleline (Troops)

Another easier section. As noted previously the legion specific units within the Chaos Space Marine Codex have been excluded, so no Noise Marines are listed here. They are absolutely on the unique new units list to follow though.

Simply put, factions have their own troops and lose access to most, if not all, of the Battleline options from the mainline codex.

Legionaries

The easiest one of the lot, simple. Legionaries gone, Noise Marines in. Simple, perfection. Just like every other faction! Well yes, but also no, maybe slightly no. Why is this not 0/6? Read on.

There is an argument to be made that Emperor’s Children should retain Legionaries given Noise Marines are a specific cult within the legion, there are far more of more ‘regular’ Chaos Space Marines. (At least in the recent lore, this wasn’t always the case in prior editions)

This contrasts to each of the other legions where all, or the vast majority, of their Legionaries are Berzerkers, Rubrics and Plague marines respectively.

Perhaps this shines a light on the gaps in the Emperor’s Children lore in that there has been no definition of the excess seeking Marines which are decidedly different from our more mundane undivided brethren.

Regardless, there is a small chance we retain Legionaries.

Generic Cultists

As you can see cultists are a mainstay, however they dropped from World Eaters and it’s certainly no issue with the age of the kit given the 2022 release.

it seems likely this is because Jakhals are just too similar with Tazanngors and Poxwalkers being different enough to offer some differentiation in the ‘chaff’ units.

It’s almost certain there will be a unique chaff unit, the question is whether it’s unique enough that we also retain cultists.

On balance it’s hard to see what unique cultists Games Workshops could bring in. Or rather it’s hard to see why it would be worth doing so over the generic options. However that was also the case with Jakhals, so it seems irrespective of this there will be a unique chaff unit.

There’s certainly plenty to go off on the Emperor’s Children lore though. Slaves, drugs, pleasure cults, masochism, arguably as the body horror faction cultists are the prime avenue to showcase that aspect of the legion.

Realistically this could land anywhere between 2 and 4 depending on what you see as most likely. Another in the balance.

Accursed Cultists

‘I thought you said the troops section would be simple?’ Well worry not, from here on out it is. The next three units have not featured in any of the prior factions releases and there is nothing to indicate they will going forward.

Traitor Guardsmen

Fellgor Beastmen

Fast Attack

Are you still with me? Just three more sections to go and we can move into the juicier parts, the new units and (semi) rampant (partially informed) speculation!

Similar to other sections now we see some Iconic units dropped and others seemingly locked in across factions. Remember that note about a formulaic approach emerging from this? It’s hopefully becoming rather clear now.

This is an interesting section with Emperor’s Children Tactics leaning more towards the lightning strike and the ‘Maru Skara’, the precise speedy killing blow, but few units making it across the faction releases.

Raptors & Warp talons

Just as the Master of Executions fit Khorne, how can these two units not fit Slaanesh like an embroidered and bejewelled silk glove?

Zipping through the air, battleshocking enemies (a theme with EC through all editions) whilst screaming bloody murder? Absolutely spot on.

Why then are they only 2/6?

For a start no faction has received them before. Whilst this is fitting for Death Guard and Thousand sons, it certainly isn’t for World Eaters.

Secondly the kit is old. Not quite ancient yet, but 2012 is getting very long in the tooth. This also means they models themselves are out of scale and not in keeping with the detail on newer miniatures.

‘But we got a new Jump Lord!’ Indeed, however he was modelled like the current raptors which indicates no new refresh is likely in the offing for a while.

If true that could be a positive – so far out that they may be included. Or it could be a negative – not imminent, but planned, so they won’t be in the Codex. If this is potentially what has happened with some of the odd gaps in World Eaters it could still hold for us.

The jump lord himself, and possible Eidolon, does lend some further small measure of likelihood these units join us, but not enough to tip the balance.

We may see a Jump unit as part of our unique offerings, but between the locked in units and rumours around others there’s not much space.

Chaos Bikers

Now here we do have a properly actually ancient, kit. First released in 1999, and still in the shadow of their predecessor.

Co-incidentally this is also when a certain Doomrider released which kicked off one of the first waves of rumours about a stand-alone Emperor’s Children Codex.

That’s 25 years for those of you who are counting. The pain of unfulfilled anticipation and pleasure of eventual release, very much on keeping however instant gratification at this point would be everyone’s preference. Enough reminiscing though.

The age combined with the lack of any other faction involvement again sees the rating relegated here.

Should rumours of a bike refresh come to fruition before the new Emperor’s Children Codex release then of course that will change, but with the releases already announced for the Chaos Space Marine 10th edition Codex that seems unlikely.

It also seems unlikely, even with rumours of a mounted unit, that the Emperor’s Children release would be used to launch a wider Bike refresh, which perhaps puts paid to expectations of Doomrider.

At this point Chaos Bikers might be closer to Legends status than anything else.

Chaos Spawn

Just to buck the trend on old kits, we have the Chaos Spawn from 2007. It’s a mainstay of Chaos on the tabletop and the lore admittedly though.

Present in every faction and unlikely to change here 6/6.

Venomcrawler

And straight to the opposite side. One to leave for Vashtorr and his ilk, don’t expect to see this in the Emperor’s Children Codex.

Heavy Support

The penultimate, and largest, section of our our analysis of the mainline Chaos Space Marine units.

Though the largest, it’s also fairly standard. Unless there are unique units coming to knock some of the bolted on entries here off, this is a close as we get to certainty as to what we might see in terms of Emperor’s Children units.

Land Raider

Iconic, ever present, going nowhere. Nothing much else to say here.

Predator (both variants)

As above, very unlikely to see any changes to this.

Defiler

Despite some rumblings about legends for this ancient (2003), awkward to use kit it remains a feature throughout all of the factions. 6/6, in.

Vindicator

Here things get interesting. The Vindicator was included with Thousand Sons, but not in Death Guard, however they had the Plagueburst Crawaler. Both seem to be designated ‘shooting’ factions by Games Workshop.

It isn’t present with World Eaters, who are very much a melee faction, and they did have the Lord of Skulls (though not nearly in the same weight class!)

Emperor’s Children are likely to be melee focused as the counterpoint to World Eaters, but will certainly have a shooting aspect through Noise Marines.

On balance it seems more likely than not that the Vindicator makes it into the Emperor’s Children Codex, but it’s not certain by any means.

Forgefiend / Maulerfiend

Only left off Death Guard as they have additional engines and vehicles, these two likely due to the Mypthitic Blight-Hauler. These both can be expected to emerge as Emperor’s Children units.

Obliterators

Sadly, per prior releases, there won’t be a place for everyone’s favourite gun toting daemon infused firing blobs.

Havocs

Between Sunkillers in the Horus Heresy and Noise Marine Havocs, who had some old rules, it would be fantastic to drop havocs a bone.

However neither of those would be likely to result in the inclusions of generic Havocs, nor are they all that likely at all regardless either. 0/0 we won’t see Havocs in the Empeoror’s Children Codex.

Other Units

We finally reach the last section of the first part of our analysis. Following this we will move onto to look at what new and unique units we can expect, including of course the all important new Emperor’s Children Models accompanying them!

We have just three units in this section and the are all fairly straightforward.

Rhino

What can be said here? If any unit is in, in’s the Rhino. 6/6.

Heldrake

Only missing from Death Guard due to the Foetid Blight drone, the Heldrake will be in aside from the extremely unlikely chance of a unique Emperor’s Children flyer. For that reason, 6/6.

Noctilith Crown

More likely to head towards legends that anywhere else, as certain as we can be about a ‘unit’ not making it across. 0/6.

Summary (Table): CSM units in the Emperor’s Children Codex

And there you have it! It feels like after this mammoth walk through every unit we should be coming to the end, however this wouldn’t be the definitive analysis if we also didn’t cover what everyone is most excited for, the new units!

First, a summary:

Epic Heroes

Abaddon the Despoiler
Vashtorr the Arkifane
Huron Blackheart
Haarken Worldclaimer
Cyper
Fabius Bile

HQ

Daemon Prince
Daemon Prince (with wings)
Chaos Lord
Chaos Lord (in Terminator Armour)
Chaos Lord (with Jump Pack)
Sorcerer
Sorcerer (in Terminator Armour)
Lord Discordant
Warpsmith
Dark Apostle
Exalted Champion
Master of Possession
Traitor Enforcer
Dark Commune

Elites

Master of Executions
Helbrute
Generic Terminators
Generic Possessed
Chosen

Battleline (Troops)

Legionaries
Generic Cultists
Accursed Cultists
Traitor Guardsmen
Fellgor Beastmen

Fast Attack

Raptors
Warp Talons
Chaos Bikers
Chaos Spawn
Venomcrawler

Heavy Support

Landraider
Predator Annihilator
Predator Destructor
Defiler
Vindicator
Forgefiend
Maulerfiend
Obliterators
Havocs

Other Units

Rhino
Heldrake
Noctilith Crown

What new Emperor’s Children Units and models can we expect?

Analysis Overview – Faction Comparisons once again

If we are to draw upon firmer information before idle speculation then we must first begin with the faction comparisons once again.

As you will see this not only gives us an idea of some specific units we can expect to see, but also the number of new Emperor’s Children models and the roles / archetypes they may fall into.

As previously noted, once you break this down (and set aside a bunch of extra death Guard Characters) the recipe for a Chaos faction launch starts to look rather similar / formulaic.

No sections this time, just one large summary.

Faction Unit Comparison Table

Click to see a larger image.

There’s a lot to unpack here, and you’ll note a lot of question marks. Simply put we don’t know what exactly we can expect aside from a few absolutely bolted on units.

We’ll cover what we do know first, and then work through some informed speculation before moving on to the complete flights of fancy.

Overall composition and number of units

Per the above table you can see, with a few minor stretches and putting some additional Death Guard units side, that there seems to be an identifiable structure. This gives is a pretty good idea of what to expect in general terms for the Emperor’s Children release.

How many unique datasheets will we see, and how many new kits that will that translate into, is a bit up in the air (dual kits may be on the horizon folks!). We do have some guidelines though. Lets take a look.

Item description	World Eaters	Thousand Sons	Death Guard
Datasheets	23	26	32 (26***)
Unique Datasheets	8	10**	19 (13***)
Unique Datasheets at Launch	8	6 (9**)	17 (11***)
Unique kits at Launch	6 (5*)	6 (9**)	17 (11***)

World Eaters

* Khârn released in 2016 so technically this was only 5 new kits with their release as well.

Remember the seemingly missing Red Butchers and the Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour from Word Eaters? You can see why they feel hard done by. Two kits having dual purpose and the fewest datasheets of all factions.

They didn’t even get thrown a bone from Age of Sigmar where Blood Crushers or the Slaughterbeast could have buffed out their roster.

Thousand Sons

** It’s not goods news with Thousand Sons as well. 6 kits at launch, 5 of them new. They however had a swift(ish) update in 8th Edition taking them to 9 in line with future releases (mostly).

3 of these kits were not truly unique, nor was the additional Tzaangor Shaman Character in 9th Edition, they are shared with Age of Sigmar.

Death Guard

*** Death Guard had a bumper release with 8th addition. Additional sculpts such as the champions and, later, heroes are not included here. This would take them to 20 at launch, mostly single characters.

With these single sculpts set aside you end up similar to other factions, just with some generic Chaos Space Marine Vehicles replaced by unique vehicles thanks to their bumper release. Their update in 9th Edition saw a single character and a fortification.

Emperor’s Children

Enough of the other flavours of Chaos though, this has pretty obvious and direct implications for the Emperor’s Children launch.

With the excitement of a pending release, our first true release, the temptation is to get carried away. We’ll allow ourselves some flights of fancy later when we speculate on what could be in there.

For now though, lets try and ground ourselves. We are the last to release, all prior evidence points to a small release and much of that can be directly inferred. There is some excitement to be had, and a chance of a larger than expected release as a surprise, be likely not.

This is what we can expect:

• New Kits 5-8 (likely just 5, maybe a bonus character to 6)
• Unique Datasheets 7-9 (dual use kits needed even for the low number)
• Total Datasheets 22-26

World Eaters would give us the most recent touchpoint and so we can expect to be on the lower level estimates.

Given we are not a one phase army (generally, despite being melee focused Noise Marines have always been a mainstay) we could perhaps expect some more total datasheets, but more Emperor’s Children kits is unlikely.

Unless, and here with go with speculation, some World Eaters kits were held back there is a hidden second wave in 10th for them coming, and for some reason the same restriction doesn’t apply to us. Very, very unlikely.

We’ll have our small release, will get a new character in 11th and a second wave around 2030 at the earliest, likely closer to 2034.

Depressing, however we will have new Emperor’s Children miniatures in hand! With so few each then becomes even more important. What will they be?

Extremely likely new Emperor’s Children models

A few of the ‘slots’ we have for new units are as close to certain as it’s possible to get, let’s rattle through those and then move on to the wider speculation.

Primarch – Fulgrim

Nothing surprising here. Fulgrim. Is. Coming. What the sculpt looks like compared to the absolutely fantastic Fulgrim Transfigured from 30k (Horus Heresy) remains to be seen, but we can expect to have a glorious centrepiece.

Rumour has it that the sculpting teams were competing to produce the best miniature. Given Fulgrim Transfigured is arguably the best miniature Games Workshop have ever produced (not that we’re biased) this would be something to see!

A certain, usually reliable rumor peddler has stated he will “Rock you ****ing world”

The 40k version will be, for lack of a better term, ‘chonkier’. 30k / Horus Heresy tend to have finer and more realistic details and proportions whereas 40k leans to a more Heroic / Comic book style. It’s going to have a lot more fiddly detail and ‘bling’ as well as 30k also eschews the Gothic style for, again, a more gritty / realistic view. (Appropriately so given the lore!)

I’m sure everyone with even a passing interest in the Emperor’s Child cannot wait for this one.

Epic Hero – Lucius the Eternal

Again, this is a certainty. As with the other Faction releases our Iconic ‘hero’ will be returning with a new sculpt. It also looks like there will be very few, or no, changes in overall style given his appearance in the recent Warhammer+ animation ‘Eternal’.

Battleline – Noise Marines

In so surprise to anyone, Noise Marines. Outside an upgrade kit, which wasn’t a full specific miniature, there hasn’t been an update on these as full fledged models since second edition. They had better be fantastic. Here’s hoping for something on the level of more recent art and the Death Guard sculpt quality.

Speculation time – other new Emperor’s Children unit archetypes

So, that’s 3 we can be absolutely certain of. If we assume 8 new unique units in total at an absolute maximum what can we expect them to be based on the comparative analysis above?

New Emperor’s Children Units

Second Character
Third Character
Chaff unit
Terminators
Elite Infantry
Elite ‘Powerful’ Unit (x3 Group)
Vehicle / Daemon Engine
Complete Surprise

The eagle eyed among you will note there are 8 entries here with a maximum of 5 slots available. Likely in that scenario we have at least one dual purpose kit as well and perhaps an ‘extra’ character (see Eidolon below).

Four of those however we can be fairly certain of based on prior releases. What those units actually are is where the open speculation starts, but the categories themselves seem fairly fixed between the factions.

The question then becomes which of the following will we receive as the final Emperor’s Children release, should we receive 8.

• Third Character
• Terminators
• Vehicle / Daemon Engine
• Complete surprise

Note that the complete surprise here has several functions. It could be some new unit here, it could be an additional unit outside this analysis or, Games Workshop being how they are, the entire derived structure here could be thrown out and we see something different.

If Emperor’s Children end up as a major story faction or 11th Edition launch Faction (highly unlikely) then there’s a slim chance we could see a bumper release.

Likewise if (as rumoured) we were ready to go at a similar time to World Eaters prior to COVID that disruption that could leave us with a potential extra backlog of miniatures if two scheduled release windows combined.

In that scenario though it would likely be the one extra character that tends to accompany the subsequent edition after a faction release. For thousand Sons this was the Infernal Master. For Death Guard it was the Lord of Virulence. Eidolon for us?

Enough soon and gloom though. Without further ado let’s dive into speculation. Links get far more tenuous at this stage. However, even here, whenever possible we will be drawing upon the following:

• Indications from the Lore, the more recent the better
• Other systems (particularly Horus Heresy)
• Units present in prior editions
• Rumours
• Theme fit, often in combination with all of the above

Specific Emperor’s Children units that might fit the archetypes

Character Units

Let’s cover both of these ‘slots’ off together. One is certain, two is a stretch. Lets get some logic and speculation out of the way first.

An important note – in all prior releases there hasn’t been a second a ‘true’ named character. Lord Invocatus lends weight to the chance of there being a second Epic Hero, but this is a stretch being a second option from a single kit and newly created.

Should we get a dual kit option though there would be a strong chance here of both a generic and Epic Hero in the same theme, just don’t expect them to be someone iconic from the lore if that is the case.

We should also note that the recent Chaos Lord and Chaos Jump Pack Lord releases could make thier way into the codex increasing the character options, we’ll have more indication when we see the kits. Should this be the case it may dampen the chances for other generic characters.

Just as easily though they could be joining the other factions and it’s more datasheets for all with no other change. Death Guard certainly don’t seem to mind filling half the codex with characters after all.

Eidolon

Going completely against the note just above, we have Eidolon. Why a solid 4/6, even pushing perhaps to a 5/6? Several reasons.

[BEWARE SPOILERS AHEAD]

First he has appeared multiple times in the Lore and the overall narrative seems to be shaping up as a reunification of the legion under Eidolon and Fulgrim.

The Phoenix Conclave he leads is repeatedly mentioned in the lore. He also has a Horus Heresy book, Eidolon: The Auric Hammer, releasing in October 2024.

Rumours are lighter here, with no mini confirmed, but his name has been mentioned several times. This seems closer to speculation than rumour though.

As a detraction, it would be odd to release with a character who essentially outshines Lucius in a break with prior releases. In the lore though it should likely be Eidolon as the main release with Lucius secondary, unlikely other legions.

We will see but there is certainly a solid chance we will see Eidolon in the Emperor’s Children Codex.

Generic Character / Lord

Here we have the more likely option. Either as a dual kit with a second character option as a bonus (counting an entirely new ‘Epic Hero’ as generic character essentially here in that scenario), as with World Eaters, or as a single character.

The strongest weighting for this is the recent World Eaters reference point, but even Thousand Sons and Death Guard released with only one true main character and a generic option. (Death Guard got plenty of others, but none on Eidolon’s level in the Lore)

Even if Eidolon should release we can expect that even then there is a strong chance of some type of generic character, likely then below the Chaos Lord level.

Vaust the Bull

‘Who?’ You may ask. Vaust was featured in White Dwarf #275 as one of Lucius the Eternal’s Chosen. The Author (Phil Kelly) was a Games Designer and former White Dwarf writer at the time (now a Creative Lead, still with Games Workshop).

Even this this was then close to canon, and made official when Vaust featured in the Warhammer+ Eternal Episode alongside Lucius.

Another named character seems unlikely, even less so if not Eidolon, but there is a chance here. Especially as a second character should Eidolon not feature or be held back for an 11th Edition release / future narrative.

Fabius Bile

Will they or won’t they? They won’t. But the door is open. Minor lore spoilers ahead.

Bile features prominently in both Emperor’s Children Lore, Chaos Lore and wider in 40k in general.

He has emerged as our answer to Belisarius Cawl and one of his his new men (Primaris style) appeared in the most recent Emperor’s Children Novel – Renegades: Lord of Excess.

We know from the Bile novels he has been courted by Fulgrim and Eidolon (more like they attempted to entrap him), has worked with Lucius, has pure Emperor’s Children Gene seed and has been marked by Slaanesh.

All in all there is a very strong lore link so to why me may appear in the Emperor’s Children codex, or perhaps be the first Epic hero to cross both Codex: Chaos Space Marines and another faction. The chances, after nearly 30 years undivided, are not great, but not zero.

Doomrider

Gone but not forgotten, will we see Doomrider return to our ranks? It seems very unlikely.

Rumours of a mounted Emperor’s Children unit and a Chaos Bike refresh at some point (perhaps more likely now with the Jump lord making it seems Raptors are not due soon) keep this tenuous chance alive.

It’s not much of a chance, but it’s there. There is certainly a cult following for him that would scream for joy should he return. I should know, I’m one of them.

Other named characters

It’s hard to put a 0/6 on anything. This is Games workshop, but for the likes of Julius Kaesoron, Miriael Sabathiel, Savona et al. it’s just not going to happen. Vaust wouldn’t even make a list here, let alone a more prominent chance, had he not featured so directly and recently.

Chaff Unit

After a bumper character section we have the Chaff unit. This seems to be a near certainty but what form it takes is anyone’s guess.

Mostly likely, again referencing World Eaters, is some form of unique cultists. As previously noted whether they are unique enough to also retain generic cultists is the question.

The standard expectation, and very on theme for Slaanesh, is some form of human cult. Be they slaves, hedonists, sycophants, sybarites or masochists. Take your pick with Slaanesh really.

Age of Sigmar gives some clues as to what these could look like. Games Workshop does like recycling names so a Hedonites unit (Hedonites of Slaanesh being the age of Sigmar Slaanesh line) may be a good shout.

Perhaps we could see the Roaring Blades.

This is all to say we will see this unit, but finding something with sufficient detail to make any guesses, especially with Jackals out of nowhere (and Eightbound, more on that later) seems folly. Therefore:

A completely new cultist unit

A different type of unit

Elite Infantry

Let’s jump to another very likely unit. It is only rated 5/6 rather than 6/6 as they are missing from Death Guard and not particularly well defined in Thousand Sons.

Possessed unit

Rumour has it this will be a possessed unit, similar to Eightbound. In which case we could also be seeing an Exalted version in some form of Dual Kit as with World Easters.

Sixbound seems too on the nose, but the lore has shown us what Daemon Possession can look like with Xantine in the Emperor’s Children Novel – Renegades: Lord of Excess. Could this be a layup?

Making their own bodies a playthings for daemons, and body horror / modification in general, has been a fixture of Emperor’s Children lore so this seems very on theme.

Flying Possessed / Jump unit

This is perhaps more of an addendum to the above than a separate unit, but might they be jump or flying units? This is going to delve deep into some stretched speculation and personal musing, but there is basis here and it has been suggested elsewhere.

Raptors fit Emperor’s Children perfectly, but are an ancient kit and likely will not come over to the Emperor’s Children codex. However the Rypax raptor cult exists in recent lore in Lucius: The Faultless Blade (2018, relatively recent).

Eidolon, if included, has a jump pack and would be expected to lead a unit with, one assumes, sonic assault options.

The new Jump Lord also may appear in the Codex, and makes Raptors coming across more likely.

Finally there are rumours that there will be a season of Jump Infantry in Warhammer 40k Kill team. This would certainly fit in with that.

It’s all circumstantial speculation, hence the low 2/6 rating, but there’s enough that it wouldn’t be surprising to see this.

Corrupted Palatine Blades

Games Workshop seems to be leaning away from having named 30k Horus Heresy units in 40k. Having a unit out and out named this way is unlikely. This being the route the unit takes through the lore to reach possessed status (or otherwise) is possible though. Yet we didn’t see Rampagers in World Eaters.

As with the flying possessed, this is not an either – or situation, would could see bladed possessed with the theme / background coming from the Palatine Blades. Likewise they could be a separate unit (better chance in a future Emperoror’s Children Wave 2 release though).

Possible but unlikely.

Something else, or nothing.

It could happen, it did happen even with the bumper Death Guard release (side note on all their characters and named units, Chosen of Mortarion etc., that just didn’t get a unit datacard here though). It seems unlikely.

‘New Men’ of Fabius Bile are worth a mention, but not a full section given the main himself is sitting at 1/6. They actually have previous models, have rules and feature in the recent lore. Mostly likely they will have a release at some point, but not under an Emperor’s Children Codex.

Elite ‘Powerful’ Unit

As we can see these have generally be as a group of three and appeared in every release, we can be fairly certain here the trend will continue, with a few scenarios.

Exalted version of the possessed unit

Straight from World Eaters and into a dual kit. This honestly seems like the most likely option, again given how recent World Easters was released and the rumours shared development timelines.

An elite version of flying Possessed Raptors, led by a Chaos Lord or Eidolon, sounds positively delightful if we can dip into some ‘hopium’.

Slaangor Fiendbloods

‘What are you smoking?’ you might ask, likely followed by ‘Can I have some’ knowing our ilk. Let’s follow this through.

An existing group of 3 large models not particularly played much in Age of Sigmar and looking tailor made to fill a formulaic slot in an army? There seems to be very strong parallels to Thousand Sons.

The counterpoints are many: Games Workshop putting a lot of Horus Heresy miniatures to legends and hence rolling back cross system shared units, seldom having an AoS crossover since Thousand Sons and passing up the same option with the Slaughtherbrute and, arguably (with an upgrade sprue), Skullcrushers / Bloodcrushers.

Possibly but unlikely. They look fantastic though.

Something else

Nothing seems very unlikely here, but there is the chance of something else entirely.

Other Archetypes

These units are all essentially fighting for one slot in our best case scenario if 8 datasheet slots. (5-6 kits, some dual, plus a bonus Character to other releases).

It could be that something here pushes out one of the firmer slots and we do get a surprise, so don’t completely discount these.

Terminators

The big one, another will, they, won’t they. It came as a complete shock to see Faction specific Terminators left out of World Eaters, to the point it seemed their release was at least one unit short. (In reality all factions feel half finished, it’s not just one or two units).

Will we see Emperor’s Children Terminators in 10th Edition? Of course. Will we have an unique Emperor’s Children Terminator unit? 50-50 at best.

Phoenix Guard do appear in the lore, Fulgrim is returning and prior to World Eaters every other faction did receive a unique terminator unit. Sonic Terminators also existed in the past, rules wise at least. This has weight behind it.

However release slots are limited and we may even have exceeded the likely release with more likely Emperor’s Children units above. Please the prior unique releases pre-dated the new Terminator kit.

We will see but this is fair from certain.

Mounted Units

There has been a persistent rumour that we will se a mounted unit accompanying the Emperor’s Children Codex release.

This could slot in anywhere. Light seekers as chaff or marines as the possessed unit. Jetbikes as the ‘Powerful’ Elite option in a group of three. A return / refresh of Chaos bikes and maybe even Doomrider! (OK, too far)

On theme and there are multiple options, however it would naturally knock out one of the others above. A again though, this need not be mutually exclusive. We could have possessed bikes or the like.

The rating here is essentially just the reliability of the source, Valrak once again.

Sonic Helbrute / Daemon Engine

There is previous here, Sonic Dreadnoughts were a thing once upon a time. It seems unlikely the Helbrute mainstay across all factions will be shifted though. There’s just a sliver of a chance this could see the light of day.

Something like this you would expect would be prime leak / rumour fodder and there hasn’t been a whisper as of yet.

All the rest

Most things we could cover now get into the realms of personal wish lists rather than any real speculation. There can always be surprises though. All of the below have been mentioned but are extremely unlikely, but not impossible.

• Sonic weapons vehicle upgrade sprues
• A General Emperor’s Children upgrade sprue (this maybe should be 1 or 2 /6)
• Large noise marine ‘Obliterators’ to fill the 3 man group slot
• Apothecaries, of various varieties (drugs, body alteration etc.)
• Dreadclaw drop pod (Maru-Skara assault style)

Summary (Table): New Emperor’s Children units

After another deep dive into all things Emperor’s Children we have reached the end of our two part analysis. Below you will find a summary table of the potential new / unique units.

In the following and, Slaanesh be praised, final section we will bring the generic and the new together into one master list and settle into a prediction.

Characters

Eidolon
Generic Character / Lord
Vaust the Bull
Fabius Bile
Doomrider
Other named characters

Chaff Unit

A completely new cultist unit
A different type of unit

Elite Infantry Unit

Possessed
Flying Possessed / Jump unit
Corrupted Palatine Blades
Something else / Nothing

Elite ‘Powerful’ Unit

Exalted Possessed (Dual Kit)
Slaangor Fiendbloods
Something else

Other Archetypes

Unique Terminators
Mounted Unit (Bikes, Jetbikes, Seekers)
Helbrute / Daemon Engine
Something else
Nothing from here

Emperor’s Children Units: Overall Summary and Predications

Phew, are you still with us? Perhaps you’ve jumped straight here. That’s fine, half an hour reading through 8000 words of exposition isn’t for everyone, but the detail is there if you are interested. Feel free to agree or disagree in our forums!

Even with the summary tables above things are a little disjointed, lets first put this all together in a single reference table. We’ll be excluding items identified as a 0/6 chance just for ease of use.

Following this summary table we’ll round out with a, potential, full army list. This is essentially a the final She Who Thirsts prediction on what we will see in the the new Emperor’s Children Codex and what new Emperor’s Children units will accompany it.

Even with all this analysis, it’s a guess. A semi-informed guess where we can be reasonably sure of the parameters and ranges of what we might see, but a guess nonetheless.

Potential Emperor’s Children Units – Summary Table

Named Characters (3 Max)

Fulgrim		UNIQUE – New model
Lucius the Eternal		UNIQUE – New model
Eidolon		UNIQUE – New model
Fabius Bile		FROM CSM
Vaust the Bull		UNIQUE – New model
Doomrider		UNIQUE – New model

Characters

Daemon Prince		FROM CSM
Daemon Prince (with wings)		FROM CSM
Chaos Lord		FROM CSM
Chaos Terminator Lord		FROM CSM
Chaos Lord (with Jump Pack)		FROM CSM
Sorcerer		FROM CSM
Terminator Sorcerer		FROM CSM
Generic EC Character / Lord		UNIQUE – New model

Elites

Master of Executions		FROM CSM
Generic Helbrute		FROM CSM
Noisebrute / Daemon Engine		UNIQUE – New models

Terminators (One from the below)

Generic Terminators		FROM CSM
EC Terminators		UNIQUE – New models

Elite unit (One from the below)

New Possessed (Dual kit)		UNIQUE – New models
Flying Possessed / Jump unit		UNIQUE – New models
Other new unit		UNIQUE – New models

Elite ‘Powerful’ unit (One from the below)

Exalted Possessed (Dual Kit)		UNIQUE – New models
Slaangor Fiendbloods		FROM Age of Sigmar
Something else		UNIQUE – New models

Battleline (Troops)

Noise Marines		UNIQUE – New models
Legionaries		FROM CSM
Generic Cultists		FROM CSM
EC Cultists		UNIQUE – New models
New Chaff Unit		UNIQUE – New models

Fast Attack

Raptors		FROM CSM
Warp Talons		FROM CSM
Chaos Bikers		FROM CSM
Chaos Spawn		FROM CSM

Heavy Support

Landraider		FROM CSM
Predator Annihilator		FROM CSM
Predator Destructor		FROM CSM
Defiler		FROM CSM
Vindicator		FROM CSM
Forgefiend		FROM CSM
Maulerfiend		FROM CSM

Other Units

Rhino		FROM CSM
Heldrake		FROM CSM
A new unit is Mounted		UNIQUE – New models
A new unit is Fast Attack		UNIQUE – New models
Unlisted complete surprise		UNIQUE – New models

There you have it, however we don’t quite end here. You’ll note that though we can expect 5-8 kits maximum, likely the lower end with dual purpose kits, and 22-26 datasheets total, the above is sitting and 19 and 46 respectively.

This is because we have listed all the even vaguely likely options. Let’s go further and predict what the potential Emperor’s Children new Codex datasheets could be in their entirety.

Final Predicted Emperor’s Children Codex Units (Table)

Named Characters

Fulgrim		UNIQUE – New model
Lucius the Eternal		UNIQUE – New model
Eidolon		UNIQUE – New model

Other Characters

Daemon Prince		FROM CSM
Daemon Prince (with wings)		FROM CSM
Chaos Lord (2024 release)		FROM CSM
Chaos Lord (with Jump Pack)		FROM CSM
Sorcerer		FROM CSM
Generic EC Character / Lord		UNIQUE – New model

Infantry

Generic Helbrute		FROM CSM
Generic Terminators		FROM CSM
Possessed (Dual kit)		NEW – Mounted / Flying
Exalted Possessed (Dual Kit)		NEW – Mounted / Flying

Noise Marines		UNIQUE – New models
EC Cultists		UNIQUE – New models

Chaos Spawn

FROM CSM

Heavy Support

Landraider		FROM CSM
Predator Annihilator		FROM CSM
Predator Destructor		FROM CSM
Defiler		FROM CSM
Vindicator		FROM CSM
Forgefiend		FROM CSM
Maulerfiend		FROM CSM

Other Units

Rhino		FROM CSM
Heldrake		FROM CSM

There you have it.

• 25 Datasheets.
• 8 Unique Units.
• 7 Kits.
• 6 Kits Excluding Eidolon.

Eidolon being a ‘bonus’ character with the expected Lore narrative direction. We can also assume World Eaters would have had 6 kits if Khârn was not already released prior.

Honorable Mentioned / Likely variations

There are of course a few close calls here and this is certainly an optimistic view. How such a view can be maintained after 25 years of waiting and the dire state of the World Eaters release it’s hard to say, but positive it remains.

Eidolon / an extra Character

Eidolon is a big call, even moreso when also including another non-named Emperor’s Children Character. Perhaps there’s a better chance that he is a second wave release. We see with all Codexes now, and both Death Guard and Thousand Sons before, a single character release is common in an edition following a major release.

Arguably pre-COVID World Eaters and Emperor’s Children were on the roadmap to be released by now with Games Workshop ideation to retail cycle often 2-3 years at least in advance, with planning even longer. So he could end up squeaking through and two release windows clash.

Terminators

This one was a hard call, but the World Eater release and age of the Terminator Lord Kit tipped the balance here. There also just doesn’t seem to be room in the limit set on the number of kits, even if you take Eidolon out.

If there is a happy surprise and we receive one more kit than even the most optimistic projections, then this is the one I would expect.

Mounted and Possessed Rumours

These seem reliable. A possessed style elite unit seem near certain. You would also assume they will be fast, potentially flying, as possessed are fast enough as it is and speed is an Emperor’s Children Theme.

The rumours didn’t indicate the possessed would be mounted though. It was a case of two separate units. Mounted could then be a surprise from the list below. Maybe we don’t get a Dual kit and it’s possessed and Mounted fit the Elite slot.

Hard to know but the prediction doesn’t entirely sit right in this context.

2024 Chaos Lords

Little to go off here, this is just an absolute flier of an assumption, but it seems right. Lords and Sorcerers have made it into other Codexes and there’s nothing that would otherwise prevent their inclusion.

The impression from the wider analysis is that older kits are more likely to be left off the faction releases, even if they otherwise fit (potentially as a refresh of those miniatures is due in <5 years).

The new kit will tell us more, per the analysis above. I would expect these to also appear in other faction Codexes should the release before us. This would essentially confirm it (maybe not Thousand sons though).

Raptors, Warp Talons and Bikes

Raptors and Talons likely have more chance given the above Lord, Eidolon as jump infantry and the absolutely bonkers age of the Biker kit.

The theme fits, the lore fits, other potential miniatures fit. The kit and prior releases do not. We have seen in World Eaters Juggernaut Lords and Lord Invocatus with nothing to lead, likely waiting for a second wave release. The expectation is that this scenario is more likely here too.

Final world and future updates

If you’re still with us here and have consumed this in one sitting more power to you!

A fair amount of the results above mirrors speculation out there in the wider community, but hopefully it adds a decent level of rigour to the backing and reasoning and expands on why some authors of more, shall we say, optimistic wish lists might be set for disappointment.

This article will be maintained and updated as more news and rumours emerge and hopefully we can zero in on what we will be seeing when the Emperor’s Children Codex finally arrives.

Never fear though, the initial prediction shall remain until that wondrous day, perhaps to show the utter folly of attempting to predict the whims of Games Workshop and their design team.

As noted originally this is also the second in a series of planned articles, the first having covered the most pressing topic, when will the Emperor’s Children Codex release?

Next up we will we looking at the potential play-style, rules and detachments we may see. Expect to see more in-depth analysis but, you may hear with some relief, that article will not weight in as heavily as this one.

_____________________________________

If this has sparked joy, or perhaps something less befitting of Slaanesh and you want to remonstrate with the author, you can join your fellow devotees of Slaanesh in our forums.