Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

It is made quite obvious in GW lore that the Emperor's Children have turned very much to sex, drugs, rock and roll. But would there be a possibility of a warband that had stuck much closer to the original pursuit of perfection?

Say they had known Fulgrim was turned into a Daemon Prince and because he was their Primarch, and thus what they thought to be exemplar, they started pursuing Daemonic recognition. Hoping to be blessed with mutation, or better, possession.

Say, a warband that is obsessed with finding the perfect ways to please Slaanesh on the battlefield as opposed to just doing it for the sake of what Slaanesh represents?

Thoughts?

That to me actually sounds really good, and it's what the Emperor's Children should have been. Not necessarily deamonic possession, but the pursuit of perfection? That is something that I can agree with. I like it.

Flawless Host, IIRC?

 Ashiraya wrote:
Flawless Host, IIRC?

Not quite, they're aren't a break-away warband of EC, they originate from a formerly loyalist chapter called the Shining Blades. They suffered a fate similar to the original EC where their hubris led to them going traitor as they saw themselves as perfection incarnate.

 War Kitten wrote:
Not necessarily deamonic possession, but the pursuit of perfection?

I know it's not quite right, but I added that because I just got a Dark Vengeance for cheap and I needed some excuse for the excessive green stuff over all the imperial iconography. Also had to make it make sense so I added the whole 'Fulgrim being perfect and he's a Daemon now, so we should all be Daemons too right?'.

From what you are saying TheManWithNoPlan, you remind me of the novel: Daemon World..... The Violators where well organized and ruled the planet slaving large portions of the civilians towards slaanesh goals relating to the collection of Eldar Skulls. I vaguely remember a stain glass ceiling of some importance being broke in that too. They're ruled by the Daemon Princess Lady Charybdia. It's a sad end though for Slaanesh in that read. But they had things very well composed and locked down for awhile. The Violators gained pleasure threw electrical stimuli to the brain.
I disagree with you on the whole GW Lore going towards Sex, Drugs and Rock N' Roll though. It just frustrates me hearing that label again and again. In Fulgrim the novel; writing, poetry, art, impressionism, sculpting, opera, beauty and grace are very pronounced along with marshal fighting and glory of course. Sure they're a few sultry scenes in the novel all of about maybe three pages and of course not very involved but you can take pleasure in all kinds of acts. Dueling/Masochism(Lucius), Painting(Serena), Baqua(Singing/Opera). Drugs & Music come in the same boat in my mind they're just stimulants to try and reach a better perfection I guess. Everyone wants to be emotional moved to paint better or fight better. Everyone wants to physically get juiced(drugs) to find that better state of perfection. I honestly feel that label's stuck since the old clown noise marine models and its just stuck sense. Gahhh....

 Viridian wrote:
From what you are saying TheManWithNoPlan, you remind me of the novel: Daemon World..... The Violators where well organized and ruled the planet slaving large portions of the civilians towards slaanesh goals relating to the collection of Eldar Skulls. I vaguely remember a stain glass ceiling of some importance being broke in that too. They're ruled by the Daemon Princess Lady Charybdia. It's a sad end though for Slaanesh in that read. But they had things very well composed and locked down for awhile. The Violators gained pleasure threw electrical stimuli to the brain.
I disagree with you on the whole GW Lore going towards Sex, Drugs and Rock N' Roll though. It just frustrates me hearing that label again and again. In Fulgrim the novel; writing, poetry, art, impressionism, sculpting, opera, beauty and grace are very pronounced along with marshal fighting and glory of course. Sure they're a few sultry scenes in the novel all of about maybe three pages and of course not very involved but you can take pleasure in all kinds of acts. Dueling/Masochism(Lucius), Painting(Serena), Baqua(Singing/Opera). Drugs & Music come in the same boat in my mind they're just stimulants to try and reach a better perfection I guess. Everyone wants to be emotional moved to paint better or fight better. Everyone wants to physically get juiced(drugs) to find that better state of perfection. I honestly feel that label's stuck since the old clown noise marine models and its just stuck sense. Gahhh....

Except that, at the end of Fulgrim, the EC go full on "sex, drugs, and rock and roll". You know, raping and destroying entire cities while the rest of the Chaos Legions are trying to get gak done (First Siege of Terra, anyone?)

why not make your own DIY composed of these perfectionist then?

 TheManWithNoPlan wrote:
It is made quite obvious in GW lore that the Emperor's Children have turned very much to sex, drugs, rock and roll. But would there be a possibility of a warband that had stuck much closer to the original pursuit of perfection?

Say they had known Fulgrim was turned into a Daemon Prince and because he was their Primarch, and thus what they thought to be exemplar, they started pursuing Daemonic recognition. Hoping to be blessed with mutation, or better, possession.

Say, a warband that is obsessed with finding the perfect ways to please Slaanesh on the battlefield as opposed to just doing it for the sake of what Slaanesh represents?

Thoughts?

Fabulous Bill still seeks Perfection, although I'm not sure if he actually ever went over to Slaanesh.

 Grimskul wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:
Flawless Host, IIRC?

Not quite, they're aren't a break-away warband of EC, they originate from a formerly loyalist chapter called the Shining Blades. They suffered a fate similar to the original EC where their hubris led to them going traitor as they saw themselves as perfection incarnate.

Yea but since the the EC split into warbands, you could easily make an EC offshoot just like the Flawless Host, who think they are the only pure ones following Fulgrim's original vision of perfection (or alternatively, the only ones deserving of Slaanesh's attention, with Fulgrim and the others being distracted from true perfection). They have pretty similar colour schemes too.

So instead of getting high on combat drugs all day (or only with the purpose of improving), they constantly seek more efficient (but also elaborate) ways to slaughter their foes (kinda like how Alpharius used to plan AL operations to the point of excess, always causing massive casualties and taking longer when it wasn't strictly necessary).

I always liked the idea of making a Traitor warband that looks uncorrupted, perhaps just more ornate and antique looking to reflect the fact they're 10,000 years older than their modern days cousins. Kind of like a faded glory of what they once were rather than the tentacles and obvious corruption of chaos. I think that's why the Thousand Sons with the Rubricae appeal to me.

Alpha Legion and even Night Lords you could go with that sort of idea.

Emperor's Children in particular could work well - still traitors to the Imperium but loyal to the idea of Fulgrim rather than Fulgrim himself so to speak.

Just deface the Imperial iconography on them, you wouldn't even need to go full Slaanesh if you raised up the original Fulgrim as their object of worship. You could even do something cool if you want to "deface" the actual Marines like they've tried to cosmetically alter themselves to resemble Fulgrim before his fall from grace.

Obviously the psychotic part of all this is they're obsessed with an unachievable goal so it spurs them on constantly to greater excesses to try and achieve their version of perfection which actually plays into Slaanesh's many hands.

So in their heads they're still the shining beacons of Imperial perfection that sailed out from Terra on the great crusade from a cosmetic point of view, like that's what they see in the mirror. Their beliefs have shifted entirely towards the original Fulgrim's pursuit of complete perfection.

The reality is a somewhat shattered view of the original form, ruined faces carved to resemble Fulgrim's, lank dirty white hair, broken Aquilas and antique armour and weapons. Striving for a goal they can't ever attain.

Or you could give them all guitars and let them rock out across the Eye of Terror

^This is a really cool concept, especially this part

 foostick wrote:
So in their heads they're still the shining beacons of Imperial perfection that sailed out from Terra on the great crusade from a cosmetic point of view, like that's what they see in the mirror. Their beliefs have shifted entirely towards the original Fulgrim's pursuit of complete perfection.

The reality is a somewhat shattered view of the original form, ruined faces carved to resemble Fulgrim's, lank dirty white hair, broken Aquilas and antique armour and weapons. Striving for a goal they can't ever attain.

Has the right balance of the original EC quest for perfection and the dark undertones of Chaos corruption, while remaining completely oblivious to how far they've fallen because of their vanity. I like it.

I mean, if youre going emperors children, you really dont even need to deface the emperors iconography on your marines. Its a very EC like thing to do to keep it there just for the smug benefit and mockery.

I think it seems you want to play Alpha Legion, a Legion known for its pride and hubris. E.g. at Tesstra Prime they let the defenders ready their defences rather than strike immediately just so they could demonstrate how much better they are at warfare than anyone else. They absolutely massacred the defenders through sabotage, infiltrating, traps etc.

This is pretty much the only way I'd play EC. That or some straggling loyalists who stayed clinging to their original ideals.
I do get the feeling that quite often EC/Slaanesh are just pegged as noisy pervs, when excess and pride encapsulate a lot of aspects of life other than those.