1k sons

[InfestedKerrigan]

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Cicatrix Maledictum, some of the Emperor’s most hated foes are about to receive their first ever codex (can you believe it?).

The Thousand Sons have long been an iconic part of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, growing from a reference in Rogue Trader to the Rubric Marines to the first army to receive a Primarch in the new era of Warhammer 40,000. Now, the Thousand Sons are being transformed into a faction in their own right, replete with unique units, rules and much more besides.

Codex: Thousand Sons contains in-depth insight into how the sons of Magnus fight, as well as what life looks like on Soritarius. Inside, you’ll find a wealth of material to inspire your army and Stratagems, Relics and more to help you realise your dream force. Want to build a coven of sorcerers with Magnus the Red at the centre? With 18 psychic powers across three Psychic Disciplines, you’re spoilt for choice. Fancy a chittering horde of Tzaangors and other beasts of Chaos? With new rules for the Tzaangor Enlightened, Tzaangor Shaman and Mutalith Vortex Beast, you can do just that.

Indeed, to help you add Tzaangors to your army, we’re making the Tzaangor Upgrade Pack available separately. You’ll be able to use this to arm any Tzaangors in your collection with autopistols and chainswords – indeed, combine a few of these with the Changecult Battleforce set and you’ll be able to transform it into a very fluid Warhammer 40,000 force.

You’ll be able to pre-order the latest Adeptus Custodes and Thousand Sons releases next week – in the meantime, the Allarus Custodians and Trajann Valoris are available for pre-order right now, and if you’d like to find out more about the Thousand Sons, there is a wealth of Black Library fiction starring them, from the Horus Heresy novel ‘A Thousand Sons’ to John French’s Ahriman trilogy, which you can pick up in a handy omnibus edition.

[Guest]

Awesome. We're getting that Mutalith Vortex Beast in 40k!!! Love that model, always thought it should be in 40k in addition to being AoS. Kinda want to play Tzeentch now....

[Psilence]

Grey knights in the pic will take 'em all out anyway.

Oh well.

;)

[InfestedKerrigan]

3 minutes ago, Psilence said:

Grey knights in the pic will take 'em all out anyway.

Oh well.

;)

Get thee behind me, Matt Ward!

[Psilence]

[InfestedKerrigan]

Faction Focus: The Thousand Sons

After decades of waiting, the Thousand Sons are finally receiving their own codex. It’s been a long journey for the Thousand Sons. From a passing mention in the early editions of Warhammer 40,000, they’ve evolved into a fan-favourite faction, seeing a growing number of unique units, a distinct and unusual range from Forge World representing their forces in the Horus Heresy and, of course, being the first Traitor Legion to receive their Daemon Primarch in plastic.

Now, the Thousand Sons are receiving a codex of their own, designed to represent how this brotherhood of sorcerers, automata and beasts masters the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. Your codex will be a toolbox, allowing you to create any Thousand Sons army you see fit, whether you’re looking to field a traditional force of Rubricae, a coven of warp-fuelled sorcerers or even a chittering horde of beasts and mutants.

First and foremost, Thousand Sons players will be rewarded for their dedicated list building with Brotherhood of Sorcerers, a special rule designed to help them capitalise on their psychic powers.

That’s not all. To further reward players who choose to use the sorcerous might of the Thousand Sons, the new codex gives you not one but THREE new Psychic Disciplines to draw from. In addition to the full Dark Hereticus discipline from Codex: Chaos Space Marines (reprinted for convenience in this codex), you’ll be able to take advantage of the Discipline of Change, a set of powers designed to enhance your own units or excoriate the enemy with a storm of mortal wounds.

The Glamour of Tzeentch power, for instance, allows you to shield a nearby unit – handy for stopping Magnus meeting an inglorious demise at the end of a lascannon or for keeping a large unit of Rubric Marines on an objective.

If you’re looking to isolate a particularly dangerous enemy unit, the Doombolt psychic power both restricts their movement and deals some mortal wounds to boot:

Daemonic sorcerers in your Thousand Sons army – that’s Daemon Princes of Tzeentch and Magnus the Red himself – can also take advantage of the Discipline of Tzeentch from Codex: Chaos Daemons, again reprinted for your convenience in Codex: Thousand Sons. By combining these disciplines, you’ll be able to truly dominate the Psychic phase with dizzying barrages of psychic might.

Of course, the Thousand Sons aren’t just known for their Sorcerers, and in the new codex, you’ll have a range of new tricks to use with your infantry and vehicles, too. Want to use a unit of Rubric Marines with warpflamers but don’t want to risk them as they cross the table? Simply use the Webway Infiltration Stratagem, followed by the Warptime psychic power, to get them close enough to your enemy to unleash hell. Should any foe manage to charge you, simply use the Dark Matter Crystal and teleport somewhere else…

Warpflame Gargoyles, on the other hand, has the potential to cause mortal wounds to any enemy units that think your Rhinos will be a pushover in close combat, while particularly cunning generals may want to use the large footprint of a Land Raider or Defiler to hit multiple units at once.

Of course, if you’d rather make use of the various bestial monstrosities that fight alongside the Thousand Sons, this codex has plenty of options for making your Chaos Spawn and Tzaangors fight even harder. If you’re intending to use a large unit of Tzaangors, you’ll want to make use of the Cycle of Slaughter Stratagem – ideal for wiping out a particularly stubborn foe or catching anyone you managed to consolidate into.

Meanwhile, Fated Mutation makes Chaos Spawn a little more reliable – after all, you don’t want to get caught with extra AP when you needed more attacks!

Finally, in one of the most thematic Stratagems in the book, you’ll be able to represent the horrific effects of the flesh-change (or just imploring Tzeentch’s favour at the wrong moment) with the aptly named The Flesh-Change Stratagem.

While we can’t guarantee this will win you games, it’s certainly very grimdark – and a great way to punish any foe that thinks he’s got the drop on a Sorcerer with one wound left…

We’ve just scratched the surface of what you can expect to find in Codex: Thousand Sons, and we’ll be back later in the week with a look at what the new units in the book mean for your army, while Warhammer Community’s Eddie (longtime Magnus-did-nothing-wrong activist) will be sharing some of his insights next week. In the meantime, why not check out the Thousand Sons range right now and start planning your army for the new codex? Maybe you can get some inspiration from Black Library’s fiction starring the sons of Magnus, such as Ahriman: Exile and Battle of the Fang.

[InfestedKerrigan]

New Units in Codex: Thousand Sons

With the first ever Codex: Thousand Sons, your tactical toolbox is about to get a lot bigger. As well as new ways to use classic units like Rubric Marines, powerful rules to benefit your Sorcerers, and a dizzying array of psychic powers, this codex shines a spotlight on some of Tzeentch’s most aberrant servants. We thought it was worth taking a closer look at Tzaangors in the new book, alongside the grotesque Mutalith Vortex beast:

Firstly, even “normal” Tzaangors are receiving some new toys in the Thousand Sons codex. As well as being able to make use of Stratagems like Webway Infiltration (discussed in our Faction Focus earlier this week), they’ve even got a Stratagem on their own in Cycle of Slaughter:

As if getting hit by a herd of 30 Tzaangors wasn’t scary enough! While this costs a couple of Command Points, Tzaangor-focused lists won’t have to worry about these too much, possessing some pretty easy ways to fill out troops slots in larger detachments (such as taking even more Tzaangors).

The Enlightened are those Tzaangor who have finally caught the attention of Tzeentch in their quest for knowledge. While most who draw the eye of Tzeentch are turned into abominable Chaos Spawn, a few are gifted with arcane weapons, strange artefacts, and maybe even constant mental communion with Tzeentch himself. These Enlightened wield divining spears, fatecaster greatbows or simply the chainswords and autopistols they fought with in their earlier lives in battle.

Tzaangor Enlightened behave much like their brethren, with a few bonuses. Representing their uncanny connection to fate itself, every hit roll of 6+ that you make with this unit will result in an automatic wound – great for stacking up damage on tougher targets. Their weapons are pretty powerful, too; the fatecaster greatbow allows you to use them as a versatile ranged harassment unit, while a flock equipped with divining spears will deal deadly damage on the charge.

Finally, mounted as they are Discs of Tzeentch, Tzaangor Enlightened possess the Daemon keyword, making them eligible for a range of bonuses from nearby characters – we’d recommend using the Boon for Change from the Discipline of Tzeentch.

If you’re looking to use Tzaangors in your army, you’ll want to include at least one Tzaangor Shaman in your force. While these guys are nifty little casters in their own right, occupying an Elites slot and wielding powers from the Discipline of Change, you’ll want them for their Bestial Prophet Ability:

From helping you score more automatic wounds with your Tzaangor Enlightened to just making your hordes more reliable, we think he’s a solid choice.

Mutalith Vortex Beasts are a pretty terrifying prospect on the tabletop, as well, thanks to a suite of strange and arcane abilities. Include this mutant monstrosity in your army, and you’ll be able to pick one powerful effect per turn – or throw yourself on the mercy of your dice and get TWO random ones:

These abilities work particularly well with Tzaangors, further enhancing their prodigious combat capabilities, and are also very handy if you’re using other close combat units. Indeed, anything with the Tzeentch keyword is a viable target, from a Lord of Change to an an allied unit of Warp Talons from Codex: Chaos Space Marines – the choice is yours. These abilities even stack, meaning taking multiple Mutalith Vortex Beasts could pay dividends – just make sure they don’t explode while they’re still in the midst of your forces.

Whether you’re looking for some mobile units to secure objectives alongside the main bulk of a more traditional force of Thousand Sons, or want to field an entire army of chittering Chaos beasties, you’ll want to get your hands on the new Codex: Thousand Sons – make sure to pre-order yours tomorrow. In the meantime, if you’re looking to pick up a herd of Tzaangors for your army, you can hardly go wrong with the Tzeentch Arcanites Changecult Battleforce – get yours here.

•  

[InfestedKerrigan]

Sorcerous Power and Unwavering Vigilance

The forces of Chaos get even more powerful this week, as Codex: Thousand Sons arrives. As with all the current Warhammer 40,000 codexes, it’s packed full of ways to customise your army and bring ruin to the lackeys of the Corpse Emperor. First up are the datasheets – 26 of them, allowing you to use the full range of Thousand Sons models, including the mighty Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red and cunning Tzaangors. Build a Battle-forged Detachment and you can benefit from a massive suite of special abilities and other exciting rules, including 22 Stratagems, 6 Sorcerous Arcana, 6 Tactical Objectives, 6 Warlord Traits and no fewer than 18 psychic powers, as befits the denizens of the Planet of the Sorcerers.

Of course, the codex is also filled with background on the Legion, brought bang up to date with what they’re up to in the Dark Imperium, and loads of uniform guides, variant colour schemes, artwork and inspirational battle scenes. Available in hardback, eBook and iBooks Enhanced editions, you can also pick up the deluxe Collector’s Edition, which features a soft touch cover with unique artwork, black page edging and a black marker ribbon. The original codex art is also included inside the book. Whichever edition you choose, you can pre-order it now.

While you’re ordering your codex, you can also grab the Datacards: Thousand Sons set, which includes 80 cards covering all the Stratagems, Tactical Objectives and psychic powers available to armies of the XV Legion.

The full Thousand Sons miniatures range is already available, but you can pick up a new Tzaangor Upgrades pack, featuring autopistols and chainswords to arm your Tzaangors for battle in the 41st Millennium. 

[InfestedKerrigan]

Looking through the codex. It's colorful!

[InfestedKerrigan]

4 troop choices

[InfestedKerrigan]

Most daemons not 1K son keyword.

[InfestedKerrigan]

18 psychic powers to choose from

[Guest]

8 hours ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

Looking through the codex. It's colorful!

So, which units from the CSM codex do they lack? I'd be tempted to switch some of my models to TS if enough of my CSM models can just be repainted to become this faction. 

[InfestedKerrigan]

Uhhhhh.....how about a list of what they have, instead

[Guest]

Just now, InfestedKerrigan said:

Uhhhhh.....how about a list of what they have, instead

Don't care what they gain. I want to know which models I won't be able to field if I switch to TS. The switch is a lot more affordable if I don't need to buy lots of new model kits. 

[InfestedKerrigan]

[InfestedKerrigan]

That took me less time and effort to do than break out both lists and compare them. 

[InfestedKerrigan]

They are missing Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, Black Legion, World Eaters, Red Corsairs, and a few others off the top of my head. Oblits, too.

[Guest]

Thank you very much.

[InfestedKerrigan]

 Part 3: Magnus

Gamer, painter and member of the Warhammer Community team, Eddie Eccles has been waiting for Magnus the Red to come to Warhammer 40,000 battlefields for more years than he cares to remember. This third in his series of articles about using the new Codex: Thousand Sons (check out the first two, on Rubric Marines and Tzaangors, if you haven’t already) is dedicated to the Primarch himself:

---

Greetings, fellow seekers of knowledge. This Thousand Sons article focuses on the big guy himself – Magnus the Red – and some options for how you might use this incredibly flexible Character in your games – specifically, how to choose psychic powers for him, and then get the most from them.

The Magnus the Red datasheet has changed a little in its new incarnation in Codex: Thousand Sons. He still has, of course, an impressive stat profile, as befits one of his demigod brotherhood, and a lot of special rules. One notable change is the loss of the aura ability to re-roll saving throws of 1s for friendly nearby Thousand Sons units (including himself), but this is more than compensated for by several new bonuses in the Psychic phase – most importantly, the sheer flexibility that comes with his plethora of new options for psychic powers.

As masters of diabolical Tzeentchian sorcery, the Thousand Sons have access to a massive 18 psychic powers – and as the master of the Legion and first in the art, Magnus has access to all of them. Magnus, as standard, comes with an up-gunned version of the Smite power, but deciding which of the other 18 possible powers you want to go alongside this is probably the trickiest pregame decision for any player who has included the Crimson King in their army.

There are so many options for him that I think you can reasonably use Magnus in your game in a variety of different ways. I’ve suggested 3 broad themes that you might want to try out:

– Death Hex
– Diabolic Strength
– Warptime

It is quite possible to bend Magnus’ psychic force into physical might. Warptime is a staple of many a Chaos Sorcerer’s arsenal of tricks, but it is arguably best utilised with Magnus, thanks to his fearsome profile, high speed, and bonuses to manifest. Diabolic Strength grants bonuses to both Strength and Attacks, which might feel like overkill, and sometimes is, but is pretty handy if you’re up against other super-heavies or even Titans. Finally, Death Hex is amazing for helping Magnus tear through elite enemy troops – thanks to this power, even units like Terminators, Hive Tyrants and Custodians will fall like the feeble weaklings they are before the blade of the Crimson King.

– Glamour of Tzeentch
– Temporal Manipulation
– Weaver of Fates

Magnus is going to draw a lot of fire, so you could use his psychic might to help keep him alive as long as possible. This combination of powers makes him both harder to hit and better at making those invulnerable saves. It also lets him heal himself, which is always handy if your opponent is already having to work hard for every wound removed.

– Bolt of Change
– Doombolt
– Infernal Gateway

This is probably my favourite – using Magnus as a pyrotechnic powerhouse of mortal wound output in the Psychic phase.

Doombolt and Bolt of Change can both pick any visible enemy unit, meaning you can combine these two to deal 2D3 mortal wounds to a Character or kill off those pesky support models like Apothecaries, Banner Bearers and officers (and if they die from Bolt of Change, they also turn into a Chaos Spawn, which is fun). Doombolt has the added benefit of slowing the enemy, which is great against fast combat foes like Greater Daemons or even Magnus’ brother Primarchs.

Infernal Gateway is entirely less subtle – it just blasts the closest portion of the enemy army with a bucket of mortal wounds. If you can cast it on a 12+, it’s doubly deadly, which is easier than you might think, thanks to Magnus’ innate +2 to manifest powers, the fact you can re-roll 1s to manifest, and the Cabalistic Focus Stratagem. To be extra sure, have a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch cast Gaze of Fate too, for a chance to re-roll any 2s or 3s when manifesting.

Rather unhelpfully, I’m going to tell you that I don’t think there is a “best option” for Magnus’ powers – it’s going to come down to what you’re likely to face and what your army needs him to do. Try out the combinations above, try out some different ones with other spells, and find what works for you.

Remember, if you have Magnus in a pure Thousand Sons Detachment (pretty easy when one Lord of War can be a Detachment) Magnus also benefits from +6 to the range of all of his powers, and if he’s your Warlord, he even gets an extra spell.

There are a few Stratagems that are handy to remember, regardless of which you pick. The Great Sorcerer, for a bargain single command point, lets you manifest another power (that’s 4 a turn!), while Chaos Familiar can let you get the drop on your opponent by replacing one of Magnus’s spells with one they weren’t expecting (“Surprise! Infernal Gateway – Shazam!”).

I hope that has been helpful to all you potential Magnus fans out there.

One final thought – don’t despair if Magnus dies. You’ve spent a lot of points to bring Magnus to the table, and to get the best out of him he often needs to be in the thick of the fighting making his points back. Whether slain early in a rain of heavy weapons fire or finally dragged down by desperate hordes later in the game, he is going to die in a lot of your games.

Know this, plan for this, have contingencies in place. Make sure your army works, can kill, and can achieve objectives without him. Just his presence likely buys the rest of your force a relatively untroubled couple of turns, so make the most of it. When Magnus falls, make sure you are already in a position to capitalise on your enemy’s myopic Primarch-focus and win the game

[Guest]

Picked up a copy of this book. Going to use them as allies for the Khorne to solve my psyker issues. 

[InfestedKerrigan]

Panhandlers.

 

Change for the Blood God.

[Guest]

Let's see, so in review, this faction has some issues. For example, no Havocs or infantry heavy weapon team option. No jump infantry (Discs, yes, but no deep striking units other than terminators). No bikes, no regular terminators, and so forth. Army mainly relies on psychic powers and vehicles to deal with tough enemy units. Army is by far the least compatible army with unaligned Buildings that I've seen, as most of the army would be nerfed by being inside a transport and only able to shoot out. 

Codex has 18 psychic powers, but in reality, 13 of those are reprints from other books. It has the 6 Tzeentch daemon powers, the 6 hereticus astartes powers. Then the 1 tzeentch hereticus astartes power mixed a new mono-thousand sons disapline with 5 new psychic powers. Of these, only the Daemon Prince of Tzeentch and Magnus gain access to all 18 of the psychic powers (to choose from), while other HQ psykers only have access to 12 and the elites/troops psykers have only access to 6. It is notable that only the group with the 5 new powers is Thousand Sons specific, so they can buff other Tzeentch or hereticus astartes units with the other 12 powers - makes them solid allies.  

Codex also lists lots of Tzeentch daemon reprints, like the CSM codex does. These notably lack the Thousand Sons keyword, so their inclusion will prevent access to the Tzeentch Stratagems and legion traits...These are included only as references for summoning. 

Legion Trait-wise, all psyker units add +6" to psychic power range and troops gain objective secured. That's it. Nice for psykers, but this means that this legion trait affects less units than most of the legion traits for CSM. Lots of units within the legion also have invulnerable saves or better invulnerable saves, but this is not tied to legion trait. Unlike CSM, qualification to stratagems is tied to legion trait (Thousand Sons).

Stratagems include a mix of new and more restrictive CSM versions. In example, TS has the Linebreaker Bombardment, but it's only TS, not <legion>. 

Magnus is really strong and probably underpriced, but only one can be taken and he is a LoW. He's really the only gem in the codex. The others are good, but nothing screams amazing. The main thing is that there's lots of psychic powers for support, so army will have strong synergy with itself - I suspect the potential synergy of the codex is where the strength lies. Lots of ally potential too.

Artefacts and warlord traits are pretty much what you'd expect. Most of them buff psykers in some capacity. There's some neat melee and mobility options too. In general, I think the artefacts of 8e are weaker than they were in prior editions.