Most likely allies

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

So I'll be getting a box of raptors for christmas and I'm stuck between painting them either as word bearers or alpha legion, possibly a mix, and saying that they are a raptor cult hired by my sorcerers or said Sorcerers are calling on old debts.
Which legion do you think is more likely to work with Thousand sons? part of me is leaning towards the wordbearers as they will be a mice contrast to the Thousand sons, but so would Alpha legion if I do it right.

[Excessus]

I'd lean towards the Word Bearers, they are easier to fool...

Thousand Sons are mostly after knowledge and artefacts and they can just dupe the zealous WB:s into attacking with some daemon puppetry or other "the four gods commands it" shenanigans, then steal the books for themselves while the WB:s are distracted and be home before tea...

But why not have them join the warband proper, and paint their armour in Thousand Sons colours? They are likely to pick a few renegades from here and there anyway in their travels, like Ahriman did in Exile...

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

I was planning on having some part of the armour in repainted in Thousand sons colours, and they will be acompanied by legion Sorcerer, but I admit it is partly because I want a nice contrast with the rubricae in my force as well.

[Excessus]

If you are aiming for contrast, take WB:s. They red would be pretty striking against the blue of the rubrics.

[Dammeron]

Because of the nature and modus operandi of the Thousand Sons, they lend themselves very well to allies from the other legions; even those they despise or are despised by. It is the nature of the Tzeentchian to manipulate and coerce; I imagine the Thousand Sons would use and expend any resource available to achieve their aims, using and sacrificing pawns as readily as their God and his daemons do. In that regard, you could go with anything; any combination of factors would work, depending on how you handle it in background terms.

[Dammeron]

As for those who would be most likely allies in background terms, I can see certain factions within the Alpha Legion getting on well with the Thousand Sons, since they have more than a hint of the Tzeentchian about them anyway. There's also a clear -albeit fractious- closeness between Lorgar and Magnus in the HH books (which, given their respective inclinations, isn't surprising); I can definitely see the Word Bearers being likely allies and/or easily manipulated dupes (all the Thousand Sons sorcerer would have to do is send a Dark Apostle a false vision or omen or something to that effect). The least likely would be the Death Guard, who are religiously and philosophically opposed to the Thousand Sons, and the World Eaters, who generally despise sorcerers and anything requiring subtlety or guile. Even so, a canny sorcerer would be able to inveigle or manipulate such to his cause.

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

Well at the moment I have a sons of horus squad and a noise marine squad, the fluff for both being the sorcerers happened upon them when their ships where crippled by fighting with the black legion (in the case of the Sons of Horus) or a failed attack upon a loyalist homeworld that saw  a whole great company of Fulgrim's children wiped out apart from a few squads a among scattered escort ships that escaped.
For the word bearers, as the Thousand son sorcerer accompanying has a black sword he took for his own after slaying an emperor's champion, it could be an idea that in doing so he saved them, and thus they are now sworn to him which considering he is a young sorcerer created with Tson's gene seed, could be considered by his Prosperonian elders/superiors as an attempt to build up his own power base.  

[Excessus]

Hey, if there are skulls to be had and blood to be shed, I'd imagine the World Eaters would join anything...and the other legions wouldn't be too far off on that tangent either...

 

I'd say the Thousand Sons are more "direct" manipulators, dealing with the persons they are manipulating face to face. In contrast, the Alpha Legion are more "indirect" manipulators, they are rarely, if ever, in contact with their intended target directly.

[*Furyou Miko]

Pretty much the only ones they won't work with are Nurglites, thinking about it...

[Darrell]

I think Tzeentch would work with anyone, so long as he will ultimately gain or they will ultimately lose. I doubt there is a greater joy than having your rival unknowingly further your goals, or help him thwart his own. Everyone can be manipulated by something; love, greed, hate, power, lust or anything else. And there is no greater manipulator than Tzeentch.

 

I think Tzeentch, more than any of the other gods, would be willing to side with other forces. He's willing to take a small hit now for a large pay-off later, even if later is centuries or millenia in the future. He very much takes the long view, while I always see the other gods as being more short-sighted.

 

There are some who would not willingly work for/with the Great Manipulator, but that's why he manipulates to start with. He puts the other warband in such a position that they have to accept his aid (Give him what he wants) or face some nasty consequence due to their precarious situation. Besides, from their perspective, they can always betray the Thousand Sons when they least expect it. Just as planned.

 

From a fluff perspective, you have to ask yourself:

 

1) What does Tzeentch or his servants plan to get out of the alliance?

 

2) What does the allied warband or rival god expect out of the alliance?

 

3) What scheme has led to the alliance being necessary?

 

4) Does one plan to betray the other? If so, how?

 

5) Will it go as planned?

 

Any force, from the Ecclesiarchy to the Death Guard, can be justified with the right answers to those questions. It's a big universe, and there are no absolutes (Except everything is a lie, including this statement). Pretty much any situation can happen, or be said to happen, or thought to have happened, if the story is good enough.

[trevoroftzeentch]

Why not Emperors Children you can figure out the fluff but it isn't hard to see a sorcerer manipulating one of a euphoric/exhilitated state.

[Nusquam]

Trick question! Alpha Legion disguised as Word Bearers! Hydra Dominatus!

[Nehekhare]

according to the Horus Heresy ally chart, Thousand sons (in 30k) are:

-sworn brothers of noone.

-fellow warriors to DA, WS, BA, IH, RG, AL, Mechanicum and Imperial Army

-distrusted allies of EC, IW, IF, NL, WE, UM, SoH, WB, Salamanders

-working with Space Wolves and Death Guard by the Emperor's/Warmaster's command only

[Rasclomalum]

From a religious perspective, Tzeentch is closest to Slaanesh, despised by Khorne and hated by Nurgle, which might influence your thinking as to the level of trust between the allies. As others have said though, Tzeentch is all about pulling the strings and backstabbing, so anything could work given the right justification. Their knowledge and desire for artefacts could be used as a bait; I could even see how promises of revealing the whereabouts of an artefact sacred to Nurgle could make the Death Guard throw in with them, even though both sides kinda know it's going to end in mutual bloodshed* at some point.

 

*Well, pusshed and dustshed as the case might be.