New to Thousand Sons

[Tyriks]

I just started picking stuff up for Thousand Sons this week after resisting since they were released. What units are worth prioritizing? I have rubrics and a few cultists so far. I don't know anyone who plays Thousand Sons around here so I haven't seen anything in action yet. I am probably going to pick up some Enlightened Tzaangors tonight, but beyond that I don't really know what works yet.

[Kite Senet]

You'll probably need an HQ:

Ahriman is really good.

Daemon Princes are good. They have access to the Discipline of Tzeentch which makes them valuable for spell that gives you re-rolls.

People say Exalted Sorcerers are not very good but I play three anyway.

Terminator Sorcerers have familiars which make them pretty good at casting difficult spells.

I've heard some preference for standard Sorcerers but I don't understand why to be honest.

Be wary with casting spells with Aspiring Sorcerers. If you Perils, your squad will take D3 mortal wounds and then another D3 for being in range of an exploding psyker. You can very easily lose an entire 5-man rubric squad to a single peril. This is a good reason to have Daemon Princes, so you can re-roll perils without costing yourself CP.

[Skerr]

Welcome to the Cult of Change!

 

Be sure to get your Codex to see what appeals to you and your play style or army build.  A lot of folks here will have some good advice to share based on their own performance as well as what they have seen and others have said.

 

That being said get 1-2 HQs like Kite said suggested.

 

The enlightened have been getting good reviews form folks if used correctly though they can be fragile.  I don't own any and just writing what I have seen about them.

 

Not sure of your meta or game size though a predator or Helbrute might be helpful also to punch some holes.

[Tyriks]

I forgot to mention that I do indeed have 30k Ahriman to use as a sorcerer and some of the chaos guys (and helbrute) from Dark Vengeance. I also expect to pick up at least a few of all the options eventually, I just want to hear what people like running to decide what comes first. Thanks!

[Skerr]

Well my standard core list has been:

 

Term Sorc

DP

Ahriman

 

1 or 2 10 man rubrics with SRC.

2 20 man Tzangoors

1 5 man SOT

 

At this point it goes any direction depending upon game size, who I am playing etc... 

 

I may add more Infantry, psychers or tanks, even Chaos Spawn if I feel I have other niches filled.

 

Good luck sir!

[Tyriks]

FLGS didn't have the Tzaangors so I just picked up Ahriman instead. I have a lot of vanilla marines I'm not using so I will probably proxy them for the moment, until I can pick up more TS models. I know rubricae don't have the best reputation for cost efficiency but the models are too cool not to use them, I think. Between playing AdMech and Necrons I'm very excited to play with some proper transports and psychic powers!

[Sonoftherubric21]

Welcome to the coven brother! 

My sentiments echo the above.  Rubricae overall are fine, they are a little bit overpriced but are far more survivable then other MEQ (marine equivalents) in 40k at the moment.  That and having boltguns with a heck of a kick (ap -2!) 

Tzaangors, Rubrics, and Cultist are all solid troops slots. So we have an advantage with more troops to pick from then most armies which is nice for list building. 

Best HQ in the book is Ahriman (as stated previously) but if you dont feel like using a unique character as some don't Exalteds are fairly cost effective for what they do.  In my personal opinion taking a "basic" sorcerer is a total waste, and I dont really see why others do it in 1500-2000 point games.  

Daemon Princes and Terminator Sorcerers with Familiars are the other "standard" HQ's you see lots of people use, both good, both very cost effective.  None of our HQ's are duds. I often field Ahriman and 2 Exalteds as my HQ's in 2k point games, on occasion swapping things around with any of the above mentioned HQ's 

For non-troops Scarab Occult are great but overlap with Rubrics, so taking them will be somewhat dependent on the rest of your list build. Enlightened as said earlier are just fantastic and points efficient, so having some is a good idea. I own 12 myself (9 with bows, 3 with spears) as well as a Shaman which is all but required if you take Enlightened or foot tzaangors it pays for itself insanely fast. 

our strategems are decent. Our warlord traits are also decent, but theres 1 that is above the rest, get used to seeing the "High Magister" warlord trait; which is +1 to cast. Its almost a no-brainer for us. 

[Tyriks]

Thank you guys for the help! I really like the way Rubrics look and (at least on paper) like All is Dust so I'm glad to see people think the cost isn't a waste. Even if it was I think I'd have to bring some anyway because they look too cool to leave behind.

 

Having built ahriman now, that's a very nice model. I'm much more impressed at the level of detail now than I was before I picked it up. I definitely will need to use him in some games!

[Re'Koleq't]

Welcome to The Betrayed! (Never traitors, no, never that), the greatest Legion of all. Haha

 

All good, sound advice above. I've learned and continue to learn from greater minds here.

 

Pretty much everything you need to get going.

 

I'll only add that I've had good success with Ahriman on foot (I know you built him but hey food for thought) using the Boon of Mutation psychic power - basically roll 2d6 for a random effect as per stratagem....If you roll a 7 you get to choose!

Go straight for esoteric insight (+1 to psychic tests), now Ahriman is +2 to psychic tests! Yum.

 

I'll leave it to you to pore through the grimoire ahem, I mean codex, for juicy little combos.

 

Ours is a Legion that when the parts work in tangent we can move mountains.... as it should be! Mwuhaha!

 

Enjoy. :)

[Zodd1888]

I use my Ahriman from BoP box for that exact reason. Cheaper Magnus.

[Danusta]

Hi all! Hope you don't mind me piggybacking on this thread but i didn't want to clutter up the board with new threads.

 

I too am new to the coolest pysker army in the 40k universe and aside from the advice here, I'm looking for advice on which boxes to buy in order to minimise wasteful purchases which i am prone to.

 

I'm currently looking at getting:
Ahriman
Exalted Sorcs
Rubricae
AoS Tzeentch Battleforce (for those sweet sweet goats)
Chaos Predator

I have a Death Guard army that I haven't painted and am most likely putting away, so I also have:

DP Wings Talons

Terminator Sorc

1xRhino

50~ cultists

1x Helbrute (Multi-melta/fist)

 

 

How does my shopping list look? Anything I'm sorely missing out on? Thanks for any and all input

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to the B&C :tu: Looks like a good shopping/current list to me :)

[Re'Koleq't]

Welcome, welcome!

 

Yes, looks good to me too. I would say that exalteds are not auto buy as you can proxy in s pinch anyway ( unless tourney).

 

I would get 2x rubricae and mix in some warp flamers as super expensive pts but oh so awesome.

[WarriorFish]

Exalted are a great kit for bits and such too, but more Rubrics is almost always useful. My (untested) idea is that a couple of flamers would be worth consideration, as a little bit of discouragement for closer charges as well as some nice damage if you can get within 8".