The Six Sweet Sultry Saturday Seductions of Slaanesh

(try saying THAT six times, quickly!) 

I have been waiting for an Emperor's Children codex for YEARS... It was some time during 8th edition that I got it in my head that I should just play CHAOS. I hate having to play my Imperial Guard against other Imperial forces - and there are a LOT of people out there with Imperial forces (between all the marines and guard and Mechanicus and knights, etc). Playing Eldar there is always the possibility of playing against Eldar... (I was still thinking in terms of playing at tournaments at this point). Chaos seemed fun and colourful and they'll fight ANYONE - even OTHER CHAOS forces. So I started working on an Emperor's Children force using the generic Chaos Space Marines codex (only Deathguard and Thousand Sons had their own, at that point).

And I waited... and waited... and WAITED... 

You could play Emperor's Children (sort of) with the Chaos Space Marines... There were Noise Marines (or, rather, you could hunt down old metal ones on Ebay, or buy a conversion kit to convert regular Chaos Space Marines into Noise Marines...) I did a bit of both and amassed THIRTY of them!? Normally they were "elites" but if you were running Emperor's Children, they became TROOPS! 

In Ninth Edition, I THINK there were similar rules... I was playing less during ninth edition and so I didn't buy the Chaos Space Marines codex when it came out... I was REALLY hoping there'd be an Emperor's Children codex eventually... but there wasn't... (World Eaters got their own Codex during Ninth Edition!) 

I've been playing even lass during tenth edition... 

So when they hinted at the end of 2024 that there'd be Emperor's Children in 2025, I... wasn't THAT stoked. I was happy they were finally doing that... but I hadn't played in almost a year and was VERY interested in Age of Sigmar at the moment. 

When they previewed the new minis earlier this year and started dropping hints about the codex and rules and a launch box... I waffled. I didn't really think I'd get to painting and playing with them, as I was still super focused on Age of Sigmar... I did think about MAYBE picking up the launch box...? They are usually INCREDIBLE deals... it would get me the Codex and some of the new minis... I wasn't sure if I really NEEDED any as I have QUITE A BIT of Chaos stuff... and... like THIRTY Noise Marines....

I noted at one point the Noise Marines were going to be sold (and fielded) in units of six, which wasn't a problem, because conveniently thirty is easily divisible by six! Instead of six units of five (or three units of ten). I'd have five units of six (or, presumably, two units of twelve and a unit of six...). Easy Peasy... 

I saw the announcement that it would be coming up for pre-order the following week three weeks ago, and I still wasn't sure... I saw it went up for pre-order two weeks ago and, at that point decided maybe I should pick it up! I'll get back to playing 40K at some point and if ever I think I'd want the new Noise Marine figures, maybe I should. So I contacted my local FLGS and asked if they'd set aside one of the ones they got in for me... and they said all the ones they were getting were spoken for. 

(This has never happened before... for every other game that sold out online within an hour of pre-orders going live - Blackstone Fortress, Cursed City, a few of the Kill Team boxes, etc - I always got a copy! Mind you, I usually asked about them weeks before the pre-orders go live...) 

I checked online and the Warhammer website sold out within minutes. I checked a half-dozen Canadian online retailers, and they'd all sold out as well... 

I snoozed... I losed... 

At that point I decided this was the universe telling me just to give up on it and paint my damned Aeldari if I wanted to work on 40K stuff...

So, I let it go and moved on... 

And ordered a BUNCH of World War Two miniatures... 

Somehow, even though it's been over a year, completely forgot that WE HAVE A WARHAMMER STORE in Saskatoon now and, despite the fact that the Mail Order pre-order sold out... the STORES would be getting copies... and I completely forgot about that until Friday evening... 

...when the local Warhammer Store posted this on their facebook page!!

I had a hard time getting to sleep friday night as I was so annoyed with myself for not having thought of that!? And also there was a bit of me that still kind-of wanted to go and get one... but also a large part of me wished I'd never seen that and was really happy to have moved onto Bolt Action and returned to World War Two gaming and just wanted to let it go... 

I mentioned it to Amanda in the morning and I didn't even propose the idea getting, I just mentioned that the store had some and I felt silly that I hadn't thought of that and recognized that I'd moved on and spent the money on other things.... 

And she said I should just go get one..!?  

So Saturday morning I rode out to the Warhammer Store!

And just before noon, I bought the last of the six copies they had!

I pedalled home as fast as I could and like a little kid at Xmas I  tore into that box!

So many fun things! 

Fancy cards... though... it didn't seem like there were a lot of them...?

Fancy new Special Edition Codex... started flipping through it.

There are not a LOT of Data Sheets (or whatever they're called now)... a LOT of the stuff I have is NOT in the book... Uggggghhhh.... am I STILL going to have to buy the Chaos Space Marine book to field all my things!? Where's he page that says what other chaos things I can take that are in the Chaos Space Marine book...?

(There is NOT such a page...)

My Emperor's Children force went from this... (yeah, there's still a lot that needs painting... ) 

• Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour (1) 95 pts
• Heretic Astartes Daemon Prince (1) 180 pts
• Sorcerer (1) 60 pts
• Master of Possession (1) 80 pts
• Fabius Bile (2) 85 pts
• Accursed Cultists (8) 105 pts
• Cultist Mob (10) 55 pts 
• Cultist Mob (20) 110 pts
• Dark Commune (5) 65 pts
• Fellgor Beastmen (10) 95 pts (which I forgot to include in the picture...) 
• Noise Marines (10) 170 pts
• Noise Marines (10) 170 pts
• Noise Marines (10) 170 pts
• Raptors (5)  90 pts
• Chaos Terminator Squad (10) 390 pts
• Obliterators (2) 180 pts
• Traitor Guardsmen Squad (10) 70 pts (which I forgot to include in the picture...) 
• Traitor Guardsmen Squad (10) 70 pts (which I forgot to include in the picture...) 
• Traitor Guardsmen Squad (10) 70 pts (which I forgot to include in the picture...) 
• Venomcrawler (1) 120 pts

Total: 2430 pts! 

to this... HALF the stuff I have... no longer playable as Emperors Children...

• Lord Exultant (Old Chaos Lord) (1) 85 pts
• Daemon Prince of Slaanesh (1) 195 pts (the old Keeper of Secrets) 
• Sorceress 70 pts
• Tormentors (old Chaos Space Marines - with bolters and plasma guns) (10) 190
• Infractors (old Chaos Space Marines - with bolter pistols and close combat weapons) (5) 95 pts
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts 
• Noise Marines (6) 135 pts 
• Chaos Terminators (5) 175 pts
• Chaos Terminators (5) 175 pts

Total: 1390 pts

(plus the stuff that came in the new box... that adds another 465 points)

Also, if I take one type of Detachment, I can add all sorts of Daemons of Slaanesh - which I have a LOT of! 

DOH!! 

(Oh, they can all still be used in 40K... just not as Emperor's Children, I'd have to pick up the Chaos Space Marine codex and field them as Black Legion or some other "generic" Chaos Space Marine force... Am I going to DO that... probably not anytime soon!)

AND THEN!

Hang on a moment... NOISE MARINES AREN'T "BATTELINE"!??!

THEY CAN ONLY BE FIELDED IN UNITS OF SIX!? 

So.... I went from being able to field units of 5-20 in Eight Edition... and as many units as I could stuff into a detachment... to units of 5-10 in ninth edition (could still do it with the thirty I had!) and could still do so at the beginning of tenth (and, presumably the current 10th Edition Chaos Space Marines Codex still allows it - though I expect an errata will change that with the release of the Emperor's Children). I never picked it up, but I assume there may have been a similar rule that if you were playing Emperor's Children, noise marines would be battleline (therefore allowing you to take up to six units of ten...) 

But now they are definitely no longer Battleline... and just have the six in each unit and cannot be reinforced (to twelve)... So in an Emperor's Children army according to this now codex, I can only field EIGHTEEN Noise Marines... 

I now have FORTY-TWO of them!? 

FML... 

I guess this falls under BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!?

Also the new Noise Marines look like they are going to be HUGE - they will dwarf the old ones... Heck, they look like they're going to dwarf my old Terminator!? 

Do I keep the old ones and just play with those (and put them on the bigger 40mm bases)!? Sell off the new ones? Or build and paint the new ones and retire the old ones...? Or use one unit of three of them... Hang onto the others in hopes there are Apocalypse rules at some point in the future again!?

I'll admit I was a little disappointed upon this realization, but I am not despairing.  

I am trying to stay mostly focused on finishing up forces for Bolt Action. I did assemble the Lord Exultant.