emperors children?

[Tinasbuddy]

trying to make a Slaanesh space marine and the customization is abysmal. whats the deal with the lack of helmets and missing factions for chaos?

[Fatman311]

Yeah I was surprised by this as well as the Emperors children are my favourite chaos warband. The word bearers are missing as well. Maybe they're going to be in future DLC?

The customisation is fine but the menus are bloated to say the least.

[Dan D]

Emperors Children and Slannesh are probably gonna be avoided for this and any future games, because they are a “problematic” part of the Warhammer lore. Like the game journalists are already upset because the game doesn’t let you be lady Astartes, could you imagine the collective pearl clutching if they put in the the transvestite god/goddess of rape and drugs and her legion. It’s the same reason GW seems to have no love for them these days.

We can hope that changes soon, cause EC are pretty cool.

[Rylanor the Unyielding]

The idea that the Emperor's Children (EC) and Slaanesh are being avoided because they're "problematic" is a bit exaggerated. Warhammer 40k as a whole thrives on its "grimdark" setting, where nearly every faction is morally reprehensible in some way. If Games Workshop (GW) or its licensees tried to cater to "morality police" concerns, they would need to sanitize every faction, which would strip 40k of its identity.

It's worth noting that the Orks, often regarded as comic relief, are still horrifying in concept—they're a race of biological weapons driven by violence and destruction. The Imperium of Man is a dystopian nightmare of authoritarianism and xenophobia, and even the Aeldari (arguably one of the more "civilized" factions) have their share of atrocities in the lore. Every faction in 40k is problematic by design.

The controversy about female Astartes also deserves some context. Games Workshop has been clear that Astartes are genetically and biologically male due to the lore of gene-seed compatibility. The existence of female Astartes contradicts this foundational aspect of the setting. This isn’t a commentary on inclusivity—it’s a lore-based decision. For inclusivity, the Imperium offers other factions, such as the Sisters of Battle or Adeptus Mechanicus, which feature strong female characters.

Game journalists upset about this aspect of the game are likely a vocal minority and don’t represent the 40k fanbase. GW has no obligation to change core lore to satisfy outside critics, especially those who don’t engage with or purchase the content.

Regarding the game, it’s important to clarify that Space Marine 2 is a live-service game, which means additional factions like the Emperor’s Children are very likely to appear in future DLC or expansions. The EC were already featured in the first Space Marine game, so including them in a sequel would not be out of place—it would, in fact, be a "return to form," as you mentioned.

[mike]

Originally posted by Brother Krieg:

The controversy about female Astartes also deserves some context. Games Workshop has been clear that Astartes are genetically and biologically male due to the lore of gene-seed compatibility. The existence of female Astartes contradicts this foundational aspect of the setting. This isn’t a commentary on inclusivity—it’s a lore-based decision. For inclusivity, the Imperium offers other factions, such as the Sisters of Battle or Adeptus Mechanicus, which feature strong female characters.

yeah the same way custodes were previously just "sons" of the nobles of terran houses and whatnot. probs space marines gonna get retconned too lmao

Originally posted by Tinasbuddy:

trying to make a Slaanesh space marine and the customization is abysmal. whats the deal with the lack of helmets and missing factions for chaos?

all jokes aside if you follow the commotion on the warhammer community webpage, emperors children will soon be released as a refreshed range on tabletop along with their codex, possibly demon Fulgrim new sculpt and so on. As such i imagine emperors children will arrive in space marine 2 as well in some time after if not coincidentally with the tabletop release. A similar thing can be said about thousand sons whose pauldron icon some of you could've seen already in the research centre that accidentally got added in a patch before. Further, if you look at the heretic heraldry you will see there are 2 slots still missing in the heraldry wheel - those of Word Bearers, Emperors Children and Thousand Sons, and if you cross reference that to the planned space marine 2 roadmap we just might be getting more chaos customisation early in 2025. (take with a grain of salt)

[Rylanor the Unyielding]

Originally posted by mike:

yeah the same way custodes were previously just "sons" of the nobles of terran houses and whatnot. probs space marines gonna get retconned too lmao

Well, regarding the Custodes, it's important to note that they're genetically perfected humans, designed to be enhanced in every possible way. Unlike the Astartes, there’s no inherent lore-based biological reason why Custodes couldn’t include women. The original lore stated that the first Custodes were recruited exclusively from the sons of Terran nobility, which was more of a cultural policy rather than a biological necessity. It’s entirely plausible within the setting that this policy could have shifted over time to allow for female Custodes, given their status as the Emperor’s chosen elite.

That said, the introduction of female Custodes in the lore was indeed handled rather sloppily. Custodes are portrayed as grizzled war veterans who embody hyper-masculine qualities like unwavering duty, martial prowess, and stoic endurance. Introducing a female Custodes raises the question of whether it adds meaningful diversity to the faction or if those feminine qualities often associated with women would simply be crushed under the hyper-masculine tone of their role and setting. If the result is simply a female Custodes indistinguishable in character and role from her male counterparts, it feels redundant and tokenistic rather than an authentic addition.

In contrast, Astartes are fundamentally different. They are essentially sanctioned mutants, created using gene-seed that is explicitly incompatible with female biology. This difference is not just a cultural choice but a foundational aspect of their creation process. Changing that would require rewriting the core mechanics of the Astartes program, which would undermine one of the defining elements of their lore.

[Longjohnathan]

Originally posted by Brother Krieg:

Originally posted by mike:

yeah the same way custodes were previously just "sons" of the nobles of terran houses and whatnot. probs space marines gonna get retconned too lmao

Well, regarding the Custodes, it's important to note that they're genetically perfected humans, designed to be enhanced in every possible way. Unlike the Astartes, there’s no inherent lore-based biological reason why Custodes couldn’t include women. The original lore stated that the first Custodes were recruited exclusively from the sons of Terran nobility, which was more of a cultural policy rather than a biological necessity. It’s entirely plausible within the setting that this policy could have shifted over time to allow for female Custodes, given their status as the Emperor’s chosen elite.

That said, the introduction of female Custodes in the lore was indeed handled rather sloppily. Custodes are portrayed as grizzled war veterans who embody hyper-masculine qualities like unwavering duty, martial prowess, and stoic endurance. Introducing a female Custodes raises the question of whether it adds meaningful diversity to the faction or if those feminine qualities often associated with women would simply be crushed under the hyper-masculine tone of their role and setting. If the result is simply a female Custodes indistinguishable in character and role from her male counterparts, it feels redundant and tokenistic rather than an authentic addition.

In contrast, Astartes are fundamentally different. They are essentially sanctioned mutants, created using gene-seed that is explicitly incompatible with female biology. This difference is not just a cultural choice but a foundational aspect of their creation process. Changing that would require rewriting the core mechanics of the Astartes program, which would undermine one of the defining elements of their lore.

Female custodes is beyond cringe no matter how it's sliced. They just cut the head off a man and placed a very ugly-body building-woman on it. They couldn't even make her like the Sisters ffs.

[Chaoslord 87]

Originally posted by Longjohnathan:

Female custodes is beyond cringe no matter how it's sliced. They just cut the head off a man and placed a very ugly-body building-woman on it. They couldn't even make her like the Sisters ffs.

To be honest, they should have given the Sisters of Silence a massive overhaul in Lore and Models they deserved.

But no, they took the lazy route again.

[Erikkustrife]

Originally posted by Longjohnathan:

Originally posted by Brother Krieg:

Well, regarding the Custodes, it's important to note that they're genetically perfected humans, designed to be enhanced in every possible way. Unlike the Astartes, there’s no inherent lore-based biological reason why Custodes couldn’t include women. The original lore stated that the first Custodes were recruited exclusively from the sons of Terran nobility, which was more of a cultural policy rather than a biological necessity. It’s entirely plausible within the setting that this policy could have shifted over time to allow for female Custodes, given their status as the Emperor’s chosen elite.

That said, the introduction of female Custodes in the lore was indeed handled rather sloppily. Custodes are portrayed as grizzled war veterans who embody hyper-masculine qualities like unwavering duty, martial prowess, and stoic endurance. Introducing a female Custodes raises the question of whether it adds meaningful diversity to the faction or if those feminine qualities often associated with women would simply be crushed under the hyper-masculine tone of their role and setting. If the result is simply a female Custodes indistinguishable in character and role from her male counterparts, it feels redundant and tokenistic rather than an authentic addition.

In contrast, Astartes are fundamentally different. They are essentially sanctioned mutants, created using gene-seed that is explicitly incompatible with female biology. This difference is not just a cultural choice but a foundational aspect of their creation process. Changing that would require rewriting the core mechanics of the Astartes program, which would undermine one of the defining elements of their lore.

Female custodes is beyond cringe no matter how it's sliced. They just cut the head off a man and placed a very ugly-body building-woman on it. They couldn't even make her like the Sisters ffs.

Why wouldnt they look like body builders that are women? No matter what the inclusion of female custodies is still a massivly less lore breaking thing than The entire existance of primius marines.

[Rylanor the Unyielding]

Originally posted by Erikkustrife:

Originally posted by Longjohnathan:

Female custodes is beyond cringe no matter how it's sliced. They just cut the head off a man and placed a very ugly-body building-woman on it. They couldn't even make her like the Sisters ffs.

Why wouldnt they look like body builders that are women? No matter what the inclusion of female custodies is still a massivly less lore breaking thing than The entire existance of primius marines.

Fair point about Primaris Marines being a lore mess, but the issue with female Custodes isn’t just about breaking lore, it’s about execution. If they’re indistinguishable from the male Custodes in terms of role and character, it feels tokenistic, like just slapping a female label on the same hyper-masculine archetype.

That said, Custodes are supposed to represent the pinnacle of human evolution. When I think of the pinnacle of the female form, it’s not a butch bodybuilder physique, it’s something more akin to Alederia: precise, agile, and elegant, but still deadly. A female Custodes should feel unique and embody that ideal in a way that complements their role, not just mirror their male counterparts.

[SquidMann]

I don't think we'll be seeing them until they get their range refresh now that GW's manning up a little after the debacle with Gathering Storm.

[i_kill_pikachus]

F*male Custodes don't exist. If a Custodes starts to lose his reaction time by even fractions of a second he retires. F*male Custodes are already well below that threshold just by definition, but are still around? No.

F*male Custodes don't exist.

That said people need to realize that GW is all-in on the DIE cult and actively despises its own products and customers and has been desperately sanitizing the setting for Modern Audiences(tm) for a decade now and continues to actively make it worse and worse with every new release.

[Erikkustrife]

Originally posted by Brother Krieg:

Originally posted by Erikkustrife:

Why wouldnt they look like body builders that are women? No matter what the inclusion of female custodies is still a massivly less lore breaking thing than The entire existance of primius marines.

Fair point about Primaris Marines being a lore mess, but the issue with female Custodes isn’t just about breaking lore, it’s about execution. If they’re indistinguishable from the male Custodes in terms of role and character, it feels tokenistic, like just slapping a female label on the same hyper-masculine archetype.

That said, Custodes are supposed to represent the pinnacle of human evolution. When I think of the pinnacle of the female form, it’s not a butch bodybuilder physique, it’s something more akin to Alederia: precise, agile, and elegant, but still deadly. A female Custodes should feel unique and embody that ideal in a way that complements their role, not just mirror their male counterparts.

The militeristic peak human form you mean. Actual peak human form would probably be more fingers, a extremly lean human around 160 pounds, and faster thinking.

[Slaanesh Servant]

the "problem" with anything related to Slaanesh is that people are too focused on sex and nudity part. Slaanesh is about perfection, beauty and other things, but thanks to gooners, weirdos and tourists that don´t want to learn or read, it is what it is. GW ain´t helping on that department as they bow their knee to more ABC-mafia every year

[Bait]

Originally posted by Slaanesh Servant:

the "problem" with anything related to Slaanesh is that people are too focused on sex and nudity part.

Say that after you get rid of the borderline porn in your pfp lmao

Common Chaos L

[Rylanor the Unyielding]

Originally posted by Erikkustrife:

The militeristic peak human form you mean. Actual peak human form would probably be more fingers, a extremly lean human around 160 pounds, and faster thinking.

Militaristic peak is the peak in 40k, because survival and dominance are the ultimate metrics of superiority. Extra fingers, faster thinking, or a lean build are meaningless if you can’t endure or overcome in combat. Evolution favors what survives and thrives under pressure, and in 40k, that’s military might. The Custodes weren’t built for lab experiments, they were built to crush any threat to the Emperor's will. That is the true pinnacle.