6th Ed Thousand Sons

[Zeratil]

So with the codex now out in the wild I was wondering what people were thinking of running for their Thousand Sons list. Honestly looking through the codex I'm having mixed feelings, while the codex as a whole feels balanced I think that undivided is going to be the strongest and there are some real facepalm moments due to the new wargear format. Oh if anyone has questions about the codex, please see the New Thousand Sons thread, I shall try to answer them there.

 

However, I don't want to whine in this thread, I want to hear your ideas now we have the actual codex floating around to look at, my initial impressions follow:

 

HQ:

Sorcerer The go to choice, very cheap as standard and has access to all the good stuff in the chaos armoury. The points do add up quickly though, and there are a couple of wierd costings, for example, unless you take an Aura of Dark Glory or Terminator Armour, the MoT is flat out bad since it's been nerfed to confer a 6+ Inv on models without an existing one, while that's fine on normal units (it's dirt cheap on them) HQs still pay half the cost of the old mark for it. You can bump your Sorc up to mastery level 3 and give him all the old options like bikes, steeds etc. as well as combi-weapons, chain axes (?) and some cool (if expensive Chaos Artifacts). Importantly he gets access to a familiar that lets you re-roll psychic tests for a not exorbitant price.

Daemon Prince Pure beatstick these days, and now lacking EW as rumoured. Much more expensive than before but will tear through just about anything on the battlefield in CC. Unfortunately you've got to get him there first. I'd take him in larger games as a second HQ maybe, but otherwise I would say pass.

Ahriman Less expensive than before and better. Mastery level 4, 3 witchfire powers a turn and infiltrates d3 Infantry units. You're still paying quite a lot for him though, naturally like the sorc w. MoT Ksons are troops when you take him, he also has an AP4 CC weapon and must accept/initiate challenges, so I'd avoid CC!

Lord Can't make KSons troops, so a marginal choice, he is however, cheap with more options than you can shake a Wolf Lord at.

 

Troops:

CSM Cheap, but no ATSKNF, can get Fearless but it's pricey and you can take them in squads of 20. Loads of options on these guys including marks (per model), special or Heavy Weapons, icons. A solid choice I feel with a lot of customisability.

Cultists Super Cheap, autoguns are extra, but only the smallest amount, can take marks (also very cheap and per model), no dedicated transport however. Special weapons are also cheap. Another good choice and mix well with the harder, more expensive troops choices.

 

Elites:

Chosen Lost Infiltrate and a point of Ld, gained an attack, costs are pretty much the same as before except the AC is free (same stats as a normal chosen). A bit meh tbh, although not a terrible way to get hold of lots of meltaguns/plasmaguns/Combi-weapons I suppose.

Terminators A point more expensive than before, CC weapon options slightly cheaper. MoT+Combi weapon is a point more expensive than a vanilla SM terminator, I think these will be an okay choice overall, particually if you want a bodyguard for your terminator sorcerer. Shame they can't get inferno bolts or be made scoring.

Thousand Sons Really wish I had better news, but no matter how you swing it these are gunning for the 'worst cult troop' award again with a vengeance. IMO better than they were in 5th, still way overpriced. Sorc is mastery level 1 and can't take the re-roll psychic test familiar, the sorc can take melta bombs and a mutation, the squad can take the Icon of Flaming Awfulness* and a Rhino. You're stuck with Tzeentch powers, but hey they'll play well with infiltrate from Ahrmian at least.

 

Fast Attack:

Bikes A lot cheaper but the MoT is weirdly pricier than Khorne or Slannesh despite not being very useful for them. Might make a nice escort for your jetbike Sorc or Lord though.

Spawn Still rubbish, but probably not a contender for Worst Unit Ever anymore.

Raptors Cheaper, now cause Fear. MoT goes back to being the same price as Slannesh and Khorne but is arguably less useful than both.

Warp Talons Very few options, same price as the old base termies, MoT is a hair more than a flamer but does give them a 4+ inv. They're not terrible, and with infiltrate could be pretty nasty through outflank and their inv to keep them alive with infiltrating.

Heldrake A bit meh in all honesty, going to be tough to kill it ofc, but str 7 vector strike isn't fantastic and again another pricey option. Can choose between a hades autocannon and a balefire flamer, I think the flamer is the best option, making it an expensive if efficient means to get rid of pesky devastator squads in the backfield with its S6 AP3 goodness.

 

Heavy Suppory

Havoks 1.) Take one much cheaper squad. 2.) Take 4 much cheaper autocannons 3.) Profit. Flakk Missiles also available for a stupid price.

Oblits 5 points cheaper, can take marks. Nuff said

Defiler Way more expense, harder to kill, blasts are better. Probably a wash, but other options have improved more.

Maulerfield More expensive than a dreadnought/helbrute, has fleet and move through cover but I3 and AV12. Not fantastic

Forgefiend GW have learned from the psyfleman, this is quite a bit more expensive but is a daemon with It Will Not Die and lots of guns. The price listed in White Dwarf is not far off it's base cost, subtract a powerfist and you're there. Still very good I feel, Heavy support overall is full of nice choices.

Land Raider Cheaper, same options

Vindicator Cheaper, but more expensive than a loyalist

Predator Cheaper, moreso than the loyalist in some configs.

 

 

 

The basic KSons list then I think will be a sorcerer with some options depending on point level, some squads of sons, some cultists, a forgefiend or two, some havoks and build from there.

[*Furyou Miko]

Personally, I like the Tzeentch Warpsmith as my second HQ, with Scrolls of Magnus. Yes, he's only ML1, but he can take the spell familiar and Aura of Dark Glory, so with a 4+ invulnerable and rerolls on psi-tests, he can be pretty survivable. Plus his own innate powers are pretty nifty. The only downside I see is that for whatever reason, he's twice the price of a Sorcerer give or take a few points and, unless you give him a daemon weapon, always strikes at initiative 1.

[Tenebris]

Possessed with Mark of Tzeentch can work as an improvised melee bodyguard for a Sorcerer with their 4++ save and Mutilators, while horrendous in point cost, can be reasonably tough with the 4++ save. All in all I think that MoT is best used on units with a natural ++ save and thus made them a bit tougher than their basic variants. For fun I also tried to field an unit of cultists with MoT and while unreliable a chance to roll for a save even against the strongest weapons can be a lifesaver from time to time.

 

Unfortunately Tzeentch got the short end of the stick in 6th edition and probably the Daemon allies are the only way to make a competitive army list. As a curiosity in my gameclub the players who dusted off their Chaos armies play mostly Nurgle, Slaneesh and Khorne and those few who had TSons left them in the box or are selling them. It is a sad day for a follower of the Raven God.

[Shadowvast]

I took pure a t-sons list to a local tournament and did reasonably well with it. At 2k points it looked like this:

 

Ahriman

9 tsons, rhino

2x 9 tsons

2x20 cultists w/2 heavy stubbers

10 cultists with 2 flamers

2 obliterators

2 heldrakes

Storm Eagle flyer from IA aero (IA units allowed locally)

 

While I didnt win every game my opponents sweated bullets dealing with 27 sons in their grill. I ran Ahriman to get 3 rolls in telepathy and got invisibility in all 3 games. As long as I hugged cover I had a 2++ which we all know is tough to crack. Pure tzeentch or unmarked, and reach to deal with anything short of mass termie armor and airforces.

[Iron Sage]

Personally, I like the Tzeentch Warpsmith as my second HQ, with Scrolls of Magnus. Yes, he's only ML1, but he can take the spell familiar and Aura of Dark Glory, so with a 4+ invulnerable and rerolls on psi-tests, he can be pretty survivable. Plus his own innate powers are pretty nifty. The only downside I see is that for whatever reason, he's twice the price of a Sorcerer give or take a few points and, unless you give him a daemon weapon, always strikes at initiative 1.

 

Is that even legal? I am asking an honest question here. I had assumed that Scroll of Magnus (what a wonderful name) was psyker only, as it says nothing about making anyone mastery lv anything as far as I know. If it`s actually legal, you just gave me a nice tip for how I can use my warpsmith. I always assumed the scroll was for the tzeenthcian daemon prince, and was a tad dissapointed when only the khorne axe was clarified.

 

Still, I dont really think it is legal...

[Excessus]

Well, theoretically you can give the scrolls to a warpsmith, but since he is not a psyker and he doesn't have a mastery level he doesn't gain any warp power, thus he can't cast the spells he gets...

 

...feels like something Tzeentch would do for laughs though, lol

[Iron Sage]

Well, theoretically you can give the scrolls to a warpsmith, but since he is not a psyker and he doesn't have a mastery level he doesn't gain any warp power, thus he can't cast the spells he gets...

 

...feels like something Tzeentch would do for laughs though, lol

 

Yupp, thats what I thought :/

 

Sad for Miko though, and incidently sad for me, since I liked her idea...

[*Furyou Miko]

Uh, let me double-check that. I'm pretty sure it said he casts it as mastery 1 psyker.

 

... no, he just generates it as if he was. Well, he's a model with a leadership score who generates a power as a ML1 psyker, so until someone calls me on it in-game, I'll keep playing it as if it was meant to be that way... just like I played it with the Daemon Prince and Scrolls.

 

It makes sense to me that if the God of Magic says you have a power because you have his awesome daemon artifact, you can use it.

[JeffJedi]

Warp Talons seem like a cool idea for the 4++, hmmm. Plus I'd get to use the extra heads and chainswords for something.