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Scarab Occult unit reviews: Basing this on playing results, and not a lot of theory-hammer (never been a fan of it), I think people are going to actually like these terminators... IF you love terminators. In every army I've played, competitively, or semi-competitively at least, I've gravitated towards Terminators and asked; How do I make this work? So far my favorite terminators are Death Guard variants with access to combi-weapons. T5, and FnP make this an exceptionally resilient, and flexible unit. All is Dust is nice, but situational. I wish it was more of a 'feel no pain' mechanic personally but it is a unique power for us, but I find educated opponents rarely 'waste' the common fire power on Scarab Occult that would otherwise benefit from All is Dust. (My second favourite used to be the Cataphractii Ultra variant.) Loadouts and Psychic Consideration: (I won't repeat what's already common codex knowledge) They basically break down into tactics. - A straight 5 man squad is solid, netting you a built in 2 wound Sorc, but it needs support. The problem with "All is Dust" is that it affects a small pool of weaponry. Something like "Disgustingly Resilient" is game wide, even mortal wounds can be saved by it. For this reason I am not a big fan of solo 5 man squads. Multiples are good, and offer tactical options. - If you're goofy about Terminators like I am, a 10 man wall of these guys is maximizing drops (to increase your chance of going first) while maximizing your psychic potential on survival powers. Think of Glamour of Tzeentch, or Weaver if Fates or offensively speaking; Veterans of the Long War and Prescience for example. - Heavy Warpflamers are a pretty good idea, but the funny thing I find is it's REALLY hard to do this option when you're probably within 12" with your AP-2 super bolter anyway. Here the strength of the shot, and the fact it overwatches well is the real beauty of the weapon. BUT is it worth 20 points difference in the two weapons for that luxury? - Hellfyre Missiles are a must. You MUST take this weapon because it's going to fill a huge gap in the army plus with 8th edition's split fire, there's no wasting of the precious S8 shots. - The Soulreaper cannon is something I used a lot in 7th edition. I think they look super cool, and since there are so few options, I often took them. So far in 8th I have found it just unnecessary use of points. We're looking at a 12 point difference to get one extra strength, and one extra AP, and 2 more shots. It's something I add in at the end of making a list when I simply can't fill 12 points otherwise. Considering the nominal difference this weapon has in actual play, I probably would have placed it at a 6 point upgrade to the Inferno Combi. The Scarab Occult Sorcerer in this codex gets the advantage of picking up a 'real' power. Unless you're using Magnus, I find this unit, and Rubrics are pretty good targets for Weaver of Fates. Tactical Considerations: I think a big trap to newer Thousand Sons players is taking a lot of shiny elite units, and not having enough board coverage or ways to keep the elite, expensive units alive. (I'm not talking about Magnus here, this is about expensive Astartes units.) Consider layers of back up, and plan your counter assaults. I have used Tzaangors since they were a legal choice for us. I still think a unit (any size) with blades is the number once choice in the codex for me to counter my diminished footprint size by taking units like Scarab Occult Terminators. Consider this when making a list. Keeping Terminators relevant in your games. There are two major reasons I personally think prevent Terminators from being a 'tier 1' option in competitive environments: One is the amount of multi damage weapons as armies get developed is very high. For example an Ork Boy with a big choppa kills a Scarab Occult Terminator with a failed save in the same way a Rubric marine would die from the same wound. (All is Dust is negated in this scenario, and the weapon does a flat 2 damage). The second reason I think we can now alleviate: movement. Terminators are often stuck in limbo. That is to say 9" away from were you'd probably LIKE to be, but unable to get anywhere quickly. If you get the chance to go after what you want, great, but chances are they may be out of the rest of the game if you're playing against a savvy opponent with good board control. In this codex we get the Black Matter Crystal relic which combines with "Warp Time" to keep the unit relevant throughout the game. I love the Crystal, and I think it's something that allows me to keep playing Scarab Occult. It's my favourite way of using the relic. Let's hear your experiences with the Thousand Sons' Scarab Occult Terminators.