(Relatively) Inexpensive Starter Army for the Thousand Sons

[Zodd1888]

I decided to take a look at what GW was promoting with the Arcanite Changecult as a primer for the Thousand Sons and I wanted to build a list around it. I immediately felt that internet hate as I reviewed comments throughout the salty sea of feeble verbiage. I braved through the GW page to browse said horrid contents but stopped to relish a moment in warp-fuelled glee. The value of the box and what you could fit around it had been discounted as the dollars saved! Why not treat this as a starter set list for future aspirants? Just as planned, no doubt.

 

While I was continuously reminded of all the Imperium laden Propaganda towards the Blue Billed Goats, the contents needed to be broken down to usable parts before I decided on how to use this kit for this list. We have 4 Troops, 2 Fast Attacks, and a Elite at minimum. 20 Cultists (Arcanites), 20 Tzaangors, with 6 Enlightened to be your Boats or Spaazgors, and the Shaman are a great base to the army out of the Codex. $200 Canadian at $350 value if everything was bought seperately.

 

A $350 value? GW never offers a discount, but when they’ve got a good idea you’ve got to capitalize. Out of the box you’ve only got Arcanites who don’t quite fit 40k, though I dig them, but don’t let that hold you back. I'm sure you could cut a bolt pistol to attach on the Arcanites to make them more suitable. I'm sure you could find some of those bolt pistols somewhere for 20 cultists; maybe later in this post?

 

Keep in mind Tzaangors are mutated humans. Maybe Arcanites are the devoted of Tzeentch changing into Tzaangors. Perhaps these Arcanites, turned Tzaangor, have then lost their mind in the transition? Blue skin counts as Tzaangors, or mixed units? That could work in a friendly game. Hey, what if Tzaangors then mutate further into reborn Rubrics?! They’re growing their brothers back! Sneaky Ahriman, always the green warp-filled thumb trying to cut corners.

 

Now what's to be said of Thousand Sons without the Rubrics? Two ten man Rubric squads would satisfy my needs for the boys in Gold ‘n Blue. Get a Soul Reaper and some Flamers in a good ratio between squads so you can march right through the Webway. $120 for both boxes for the investment up in the Great White North. Another pair of boxed Goats for $110 gives you decently sized squads made for grazing on chaff.

 

Now the question of who leads? Ideally we want a decent amount of CP in with the 1KCrew.

 

Ahriman is an obvious choice, but you can spend the dollars be more effectively. $70 CND gets you three Exalted Sorcerers, and I'd argue you could build a counts as Ahriman. If you’re not down for that he's $50, or on eBay from 30k courtesy of Prospero, so you can show off his horned worth under Magnus' chesty superiority.

 

Seeing as points are tight, the wallet is no longer, we're looking at pulling in bang for buck, without Magnus, a Daemon Prince is a solid choice. Farm a RR, guard your lines, cast another power, and tickle some friends with Malefic Claws for $50 bucks. Lastly, save some CP, and get a boost, with an undercosted Terminator Sorcerer at $30 for that +1 on the first cast, or +2 if he's the Warlord with the High Magister trait. These two offer incredibly strategic tools tools to work with your Webway drops.

 

This leaves us with only a few hundred points remaining. We've only got a few more options, and we've got to define the focus of the list. We see moving out in blocks of units, denying space for our enemies with medium and large sized chaff troops. We see entering assault with the Tzaangors or Cultists to allow the Rubrics to drop in, then capitalize, on whatever they're after as a primary target with the Terminator Sorcerer.

 

Maximizing on your Tzaangors is key in this list. This makes the Mutalith an amazing option due to the re-roll for charges, or +1 Strength, or -2 Rend. Not only does it make your first strike incredibly focused or strong but you also have a big ol' bullet sponge to get your assault units in. Heck, take two. They're a high cost at $100 a piece, but they're beautiful if you're into that kind of tentacular thing.

 

The list you’ve got to work with:

 

The Manifest Maester’s Masterful Warp Beast Warring Battalion

 

HQ

 

Ahriman on Disc of Tzeentch

Exalted Sorcerer

 

Troops

 

Rubric Marines - 4 x Inferno Bolt, 4 x Warpflamer, 1 x Warpflame/Plasma Pistol

Rubric Marines - 4 x Inferno Bolt, 4 x Warpflamer, 1 x Inferno Bolt Pistol

Chaos Cultist - 10 x Auto Pistol and Brutal Assault Weapon

 

Heavy

Mutalith Vortex Beast

Mutalith Vortex Beast

 

Gaggled Goats Goaded by Tzeentch, Gilded God of Golden Hooves

 

HQ

Daemon Prince of Tzeentch - Wings, Warp Bolter, and Malefic Talons

Terminator Sorcerer - Inferno Combi-Bolter, Force Stave, and Familiar

Troops

Tzaangors - x 20 with Tzaangor Blades and Brayhorn

Tzaangors - x 20 with Tzaangor Blades and Brayhorn

Chaos Cultist - 10 x Auto Pistol and Brutal Assault Weapon

 

Elite

Tzzangor Shaman

 

Fast Attack

Enlightened - x 6 with Fatecaster Greatbow

 

Total $ CND: Total $830 15 15% Typical Online Discount from Whomever - $705.50

 

A little bit on the costly side, but still pretty inexpensive overall given everything given the initial cost, with discount, for a Battalion with the Changecult is $238. That’d be enough to get you the Change Cult box set, Ahriman or a Daemon Prince, and a Terminator Sorcerer to deep strike. 4 Troops, 2 Fast Attacks, 2 HQ, and an Elite for that low of a buy-in is pretty solid.

 

You get to choose at the start of the match who you’re going to be put in the Webway to be counter your opponent, Tzaangors or Rubrics. Cultists screen Rubrics or Goats, Tzaangors or Dust Bunnies then Screen Mutaliths, and the Enlightened are to play objectives or pick-up on out of position units. The combinations with this load-out is pretty incredible, even considering removing a Mutalith for a further Exalteds, or dropping the walking Exalted for larger units of Tzaangors are good examples.

 

Make sure to take a Black Crystal and Helm of Third Eye to play some power games.

There are numerous combos that would work well with the above list, and these relics are essential for the variety of options. Beyond this, 9 CP and the theft from the Helm of Third Eye generally will net you 12 CP on average when facing another Double Battalion list.

 

Yes there are much better options out there that we could play with, but this an introductory with what GW has shown us. All in all, there are a lot of options to build around this Changecult box for the Forgotten Sons of Magnus, so what are some of your recommended army lists for new players to start with? Where would you go after the Changecult box?

Edited February 5, 2018 by Zodd1888

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

One important thing: 

 

Tzaangor boxes come with extra heads and arms.  Tzaangors are the same base size as Kairic Acolytes. Tzaangors have a wide variety of crazy mutations, so maybe human legs and torsos wouldn't be out of place. Chop up some head/arm bits, slice the needed parts off the Acolytes, and grab some green stuff.

Edited February 6, 2018 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Something I forgot:

 

Instead of a second box of Rubricae, get a Start Collecting: Chaos Space Marines box. This gets you a Helbrute and a Terminator Sorcerer (built from all the options in the Lord kit), who comes with a Familiar. There are also enough extra bits, between the Tzeentch Champion Head/Shoulder/Icon and the one Rubric box you have, plus the extra parts from the Exalted Sorcerer box, to elevate the baseline CSM kit into something worth using, especially since you get 10 Flamers and 10 bolters in the Rubric box, plus 12 heads. 7 heads come in the Exalted Sorcerer box you're already buying. Of those, 4 are suitable for Rubricae with slight modification.

 

Managed correctly, you can end up with a 10 man Rubric Squad, another 5 man (maybe with Flamers), plus roughly 5 sorcerers on foot. Alternately, a little bit of chopping and the use of the collar bits from your Exalted can make 3 more Rubricae, and you can use the Tzeentch Champion head for one of the Aspiring Sorcerers. Your Exalted will need to have bird heads, some of the CSM heads, and/or exposed heads, but it should work. There's your two Rubric squads. A little lighter in detail, but still Tzeentchy since you can spread the parts around together with the CSM bits, plus less expensive AND you got a Helbrute and a Termie Sorcerer.

Edited February 6, 2018 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[Zodd1888]

Super valid, I didn't consider the kit-bashing options with a Start Collecting, but now it definetly feels like something you could pull off between swapping shoulders, extra bits from Exalted kits, and the extra weapons from the Rubric kit.

 

I just want people to feel comfortable enough to start a TS, or expand it, using an option like the Arcanite Changecult. Even though everything may not work, you can mix and match pretty effectively and have it happen.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Zodd1888

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Super valid, I didn't consider the kit-bashing options with a Start Collecting, but now it definetly feels like something you could pull off between swapping shoulders, extra bits from Exalted kits, and the extra weapons from the Rubric kit.

 

I just want people to feel comfortable enough to start a TS, or expand it, using an option like the Arcanite Changecult. Even though everything may not work, you can mix and match pretty effectively and have it happen.

Yeah. I wasn’t suggesting Start Collecting instead of Changecult, but rather instead of the 2nd box of Rubricae AFTER working with the Changecult.

 

Tzaangor parts can mix with Acolytes and Rubrics with CSM and you can really stretch your money.

[Zodd1888]

I think TSons are a rough, or intimidating, army to start. My hopes with this thread, if it progresses, is that we can provide some tips for new/existing players to grow their collection and stretch those hobby dollars.

[Skerr]

These are some really good ideas on kitbashing and producing a great base to start from.

[Xenith]

With a little GS skill, the basic CSM models can be converted to have crests with few problems You just need to rustle up the heads with horns.

 

There's a few in my Chaos Plog. It's what you had to do before they released TS models - convert every single one, or simply paint CSM in the TS paint scheme (as in the v3.0 chaos codex).