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What it says on the tin. With the codex leaks/release changing Abaddon from being able to lead legionaries to chosen, I wanted to discuss how people might be running him. To catch up anyone who doesn't know, chosen and terminators remained unchanged from their index datasheets, but abaddon was nerfed slightly. His dark destiny only grants the CP now if you pass the LD test on 7+, and he lost all the specific god keywords and only has chaos undivided(this is only relevant for the pactbound zealots detachment, but it still is a nerf). Datasheets only: Chosen: -Give Abaddon adv & fallback, shoot & Charge -Benefit more from Abby's warmaster ability -Can embark inside landraider with a full squad -570pts for 10 man+Abby Terminators: -Can deepstrike -Better melee if you max powerfists -Slightly better shooting -680pts for 10man+Abby, or 495 for 5man+Abby Personally, I think I'll be running him with Chosen has they are cheaper and benefit more from his warmaster ability. I don't know how relevant detachments will influence people's choice but I wanted to point out some cool things. -Fellsiege hammer would greatly benefit both, but footslogging chosen get the most. -Running deceptors and using from all sides could give Abaddon and Terminators a 6" charge from deepstrike if setup correctly -VotLW black crusade would be cool on max squad of terminators -If you commit to a landraider, you could run Soulforged warpack and use Unstoppable Rampage to bust through a terrain piece and charge with Chosen and Abaddon. That's my thoughts, but I definitely want to hear yall's opinions on this

Given that I have a bunch of nicely painted terminators from the Space Hulk box, I've been looking into ways of using them in my lists with the new codex. Naturally I noticed the Strike of the Archangels strategem, and was both excited and a little disappointed. Rerolling ALL hits until the start of your NEXT turn (so your turn, then your opponent's turn) seems great. But at the same time, I like to maximize. And I usually run my terminators in deep strike reserve, then set them up somewhere to provide a strongpoint/reinforcement to battleline squads. So I can reroll shots when I come in from deep strike, but making a charge after deep strike is...unlikely as we have all experienced by this point. So it maybe that you can only reroll one round of shooting when you use the strategem. But if you CAN get into combat on the turn you activate the strategem, you get to reroll close combat attacks on you turn AND your opponent's turn. So I did a bit more thinking, and started looking into the pre- requisites to use the strategem, "Use this strategem immediately after a BLOOD ANGELS TERMINATOR unit from your army is set up on the battlefield". So I started looking around for things that "set up" units on the battlefield and I noticed disembarking from a transport used the EXACT same terminology "Any unit that begins its Movement phase embarked within a transport can disembark...When a unit disembarks, SET it UP on the BATTLEFIELD". So in essence brothers, we can load up a terminator squad in a transport, disembark them from that transport near a unit we REALLY wanna delete, activate the strategem and get rerolls to hit on all those juicy close combat weapons. Suddenly, those power fist & thunder hammer attacks are gonna hit a lot more. And if you took tactical terminators, you'll REALLY be able to clear some chaff when all your stormbolters shots are suddenly hitting. Wanted to share that wisdom with you all, cause that makes the transport & terminator combo very potent in my opinion. I wouldn't even want to add any characters into the mix because that strategem is so strong, any of the auras we have would be better used elsewhere. Has anyone had any experience with this strategem yet? Any other creative ways of employing it?

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.