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Working on a new Emperor’s Children list and think I may have optimized this to the best potential build given my play style and approach. Looking for any suggestions or input.

1250 Emperor’s Children

----Battalion---- (+3 Command Points)

HQ
• Chaos Lord on Bike: Combi Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Lightning Claw – 124
• Sorcerer on Bike: Combi Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Force Sword – 144

Troops
• Noise Marines x 8: Champion Bolt Pistol Chainsword, 6 x Sonic Blaster, 1 x Blastmaster – 180
• Noise Marines x 8: Champion Bolt Pistol Chainsword, 6 x Sonic Blaster, 1 x Blastmaster – 180
• Noise Marines x 10: 8 x Sonic Blaster, 2 x Blastmaster – 248

Transport
• Rhino: Combi Bolter – 72
• Rhino: Combi Bolter – 72
• Rhino: Combi Bolter, Combi Bolter – 74

Heavy Support
• Havocs x 8: 4 x Plasma Gun – 156

So the approach here is pretty straight forward- the two smaller units of noise marines go in rhinos and advance up the field while the larger unit does so on foot. Havocs jump out and do horrible things with 4 plasma (wanted to have these as Chosen but not sure they’re worth the extra points). Two HQ units are on bikes so they can run around and give 6” re-roll 1’s bubble and cast warp time/prescience where needed.

The sonic weapons in particular just seem hilarious if they’re hitting on 2’s AND re-rolling 1’s, and of course there’s the overcharge on the plasma if the lord is nearby. Seems to be the flavor of this edition.

Thank you for reading and appreciate any feedback!

The list doesn't seem very able to take hits - particularly on the Noise Marines, any damage is going to start taking away expensive models pretty quickly. How would you feel about dropping a few bolter havocs to take a unit of cultists or spawn? Even if they die on the first turn without doing anything, that's a round where something isn't shooting at the actual killy squads.

First of all; I'm not as think as you drunk I am. (irony intended)
May have had a few, today was a funeral, and I feel my uncle would've climbed back out of his grave to slap the living sh*t outta me, if I hadn't abused the open bar in his memory.

-But regardless of my state of drunkenness, there's a few flaws in the logic here.

by designating the largest unit as the footsloggers you're neutering your largest points investment. that unit has to kill back just shy of 250pts worth of enemies. popping off occasional distance shots is not the way to ensure this happens. those rhinos want to carry the noise marines. all good rock-stars have a convoy of tour buses.

To which end; plug the gap in your list for anti-tank by upgrading those havocs with some ranged attacks. I'm feeling Lascannons. Lascannons bring the hurt in 8th. maybe more so than a handful of plasmas. Let's face it; no-one's stupid enough to let a truck fulla plasma get to infront of a nice juicy target. in rapidfire range? not a chance. that rhino's gonna die early, and you'll never get an alpha-strike volley in. you'll pop off a few shots as you footslog from the remains of your dead tank.

Consider losing a few ablative havoc wounds in order to put combi-meltas on your rhinos. they'll also step-up your ability to deal with armour?

-No champ in the big unit? leadership and a hidden powerfist? just thoughts. wouldn't want my 250pts of power armour fleeing into the sunset, the light gleaming from their beautiful pinkpurple armour.

just my thoughts, feel free to discard at will.
Good luck,
GamerGuy

I have been enjoying great success with my noise marines just foot slogging them across the field.
I know that the rhinos seem like a good idea, but they with get popped early, and they represent 248 points which could be much better spent.
Don't be too afraid of taking casualties to shooting. Remember that the music of the apocalypse rule gives you free shooting, in your opponents' turn no less, every time a model dies. Even better, you can target whoever is in range. Opponents get tired of that pretty quickly. Keep a daemon prince nearby and you get to reroll all hit rolls of one, (which is brutal, especially combined with prescience) plus the prince can do a little smiting to add insult to injury.
I agree that the havocs are kind of a waste. Maybe try dumping them and the rhinos for a couple dakkafiends ( they can put out the hurt, and distract enemy shooting nicely.) Move everyone up together keeping your prince close to as many units as possible, or at least whoever needs rerolls the most.
I hope this helps.

Wow just had a chance to check this thread out and a lot of good points here, thank you very much for the feedback. I guess I'll respond in order-

jbeil- I am perfectly fine with model loss being expensive, mainly because each model is a threat and should be dealt with accordingly. Never was a fan of taking chaff units, if I'm going to take the time to buy, build, and paint something I want it to actually do something rather than take up space for a couple minutes before going right back in their case. This should lead you to no surprise when I say Cultists = no. I like my CSM to be a little more M and less R & H. The Spawn idea however, is not awful. Definitely going to consider that. And ya know, possibly buy a couple since I have none atm....

GamerGuy- I tip my hat to you for throwing a fellow nerd some food-for-thought after the day you just had. Pint glass raised to you and your Uncle (will do so literally later on today). I like your thoughts on the tour busses, I set it up this way mainly to try and balance out what I have in Noise Marine models, which is about 20 Sonic Blasters and 4 Blastmasters. So Possibly stuff 2 squads of 10 fully loaded 8 and 2 in rhinos, and then have one smaller on foot as skirmishers? Would take all 3 large but ran outta dudes.

Agree with the anti-tank. Took the havocs only because they were cheaper than chosen. Lascannons are defintely a good idea, maybe some ML's too. I usually do 2 and 2 in the heavy weapons department so I'll mess with that a bit.

Combi Meltas arent a terrible idea. Originally had Havoc Launchers on them but got shaved to save points.

Champ is there, he's just carrying a blaster like a good metal head.

Chaos Legionnaire- Like i said before, I dont mind losing a few to shooting. Its a war game, tiny plastic people die. Often. Every turn even. And sometimes its worth the loss to have the laugh. Will probably ditch one rhino from the list, I just always play some variation of mech-based so it was kinda habbit to begin with. Also as above it'll be the havocs losing their ride, save that for the band. MotA only triggers in CC, no? Dont have a Daemon Prince or I would. The Lord will do for now, and backed up by the sorcerer should still bring some pain. Originally was going to be 2 sorcerers instead but I'm still hashing things out. Also dont have any fiends, but I do have 2 (old pewter) hellbrutes. Might consider bringing them along for kicks.

Alternative idea- I also did consider drafting some of my bikers from my "loyalist" marines. The modelling won't make ANY sense though, as they are all Mad Max / Road Warrior -tastic. https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/715221.page

Thanks again for the response, will post an updated list when I re-work the hell out of it. Cheers!

I look forward to seeing your new list.
As per the latest FAQ, MotA triggers in any phase that your models die, and they may shoot at whomever they wish.
Kinda nice actually.

So taking people’s suggestions into account I have reworked this idea- a couple times, and a few different ways. Only things that really change are the Lord, Sorcerer, and Hellbrute. It basically comes down to the fact that I can take 2 of those choices, but not all 3. Plus the wargear changes a bit depending which ones I do take. Unless I can find roughly 150 pts of extras I could take out, but I don’t see that happening. Moving on:

1250 Emperor’s Children Version 1

----Battalion---- (+3 Command Points)
HQ
• Chaos Lord on Bike: Combi Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Power Axe – 120
• Sorcerer on Bike: Combi Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Force Sword – 144

Troops
• Noise Marines x 10: Champion Bolt Pistol Sonic Blaster, 7 x Sonic Blaster, 2 x Blastmaster – 248
• Noise Marines x 10: Champion Bolt Pistol Sonic Blaster, 7 x Sonic Blaster, 2 x Blastmaster – 248
• CSM x 10: Champion with Combi Plasma, 2 x Plasma Gun – 171

Transport
• Rhino: Combi Bolter, Havoc Launcher – 83
• Rhino: Combi Bolter, Havoc Launcher – 83

Heavy Support
• Havocs x 6: 2 x Lascannon, 1 x Missile Launcher – 153


1250 Emperor’s Children Version 2

----Vanguard--- (+1 Command Points)

HQ
• Chaos Lord on Bike: 2 x Combi Bolter, Power Axe – 122

Troops
• CSM x 11: Champ with Combi Plasma, 2 x Plasma Gun – 184

Elites
• Noise Marines x 10: Champion Bolt Pistol Sonic Blaster, 7 x Sonic Blaster, 2 x Blastmaster – 248
• Noise Marines x 10: Champion Bolt Pistol Sonic Blaster, 7 x Sonic Blaster, 2 x Blastmaster – 248
• Hellbrute: Hellbrute Fist, Hellbrute Plasma Cannon – 142


Transport
• Rhino: Combi Bolter, Havoc Launcher – 83
• Rhino: Combi Bolter, Havoc Launcher – 83

Heavy Support
• Havocs x 5: 2 x Lascannon, 1 x Missile Launcher – 140

Version 3
Same as version 2 except swap the Lord for a Sorcerer, and I (sadly) lose the Havoc Launchers on both Rhinos.

So its somewhat the same approach, but with some noticeable and important tweaks. Took the plasma off the havocs, dropped a squad plus their ride, and gave them Las and Missiles. Then as I mentioned the choice is Lord – Sorcerer – Hellbrute, pick 2. CSM is there for some bodies that won’t make me very sad if I lose them, and gave them some plasma so they have something to do.

Dropped down to 2 squads of Noise Marines but made them both 10 strong, and with a band that big you definitely need a party/tour bus. Also that allows you to bring 2 bassists (which I am in the real world) so that makes me smile. Expensive guns but they seem worth it. Champs also have Sonic Blasters, lead guitarist needs his axe too.

Any further advice from here will be strongly considered and appreciated. Thanks again Dakka!

I would go for Version 1, because I like having enough men on the board that the force can survive being knocked around a bit. I'd suggest running two Rhinos right up the board and keeping the Sorceror pedalling behind them and using Warptime to get as high up the table as humanly or daemonically possible in the first turn, ideally into something that qualifies as cover. Whichever squad isn't in the Rhino will probably be able to sneak up unnoticed, and the Havocs may even get completely ignored if your opponent is afraid of the metal boxes.

One note though, next week you can pre-order the Chaos Marines codex, which has the Emperor's Children in it - apparently they're going to be really big on close combat so any advice we can give you might be out of date in two weeks!

Wow thanks for the advice and the heads up! Had no idea codex was that soon (i have 5 armies ive been bouncing around with getting caught up changing rosters etc) so wasnt paying too much attention. And im glad my rewrites look as promising as they do.

The drive straight up and warptime was part of the plan all along. And if i go with version 1 thats a lot of shots that can get the prescience bonus plus re roll 1s if the lord is nearby. Wanted that last heavy weapon on the havocs but just could not find the points. Liked possibly using the hellbrute, but no tears will be shed keeping the double hq and therefore brigade formation. Will let you know how it goes when i take it for a spin, although I might have to go up to 1500. This is a great starting point though thank you kindly