Potential New Models for Thousand Sons

Analysis, July 19, 2020

What would it look like if we see Thousand Sons receive new models in 9th edition?

A Glass Half Full

Ever since the initial codex launched for Thousand Sons in the early stages of 8th edition, the army has been standing proverbially on half a leg. While Death Guard received a whole years worth of releases and new models to fill out their ranks, the chosen of Tzeentch had to sit by and watch what could have been for them. Then, remaining legions of the Chaos Space Marines received units such as the Master of Possession, the Lord Discordant, and Greater Possessed. While it’s clear, these units in their given form don’t really fit in with the Thousand Sons army, a model or unit with similar rules certainly could. Let’s take delve into how that could look in 9th edition.

With Tzeentch, There Is Always Hope

While the Thousand Sons received Tzaangors; Tzaangor Enlightened; Tzaangor Shamans; and the Mutalith Vortex Beast; they remain an army with many lacking areas. You can’t say that about the HQ options so, the purpose here is to look at how these models from recent releases (or other games) could bolsters the ranks of other roles.

The Gaunt Summoner

Let’s start right off with a model that has been used in “counts as” form with Thousand Sons for a while. Fitting the aesthetic of the army to a “T”, the Gaunt Summoner could help introduce the rules of the Master of Possession to the Thousand Sons without having to be called “A Master of Possession”. Since we know the Thousand Sons aren’t big fans of the flesh change or possession in general, unless it serves their immediate needs, we could see the Master of Possession in a role to help boost Demons of Tzeentch synergies within the army. Who would that apply to?

Furthermore, if the summoning rules from Age of Sigmar are introduced at some point in 9th, this model could play a central role to powering that within the army.

Ogroid Thaumaturge

Another model seeing lots of play in a “counts as” role is the Ogroid Thaumaturge - many likening them to the appearance of Demon Princes. Instead, these models could give the Thousand Sons a Character Hunter much like the Chaos Space Marines received with the Master of Executions. While many of the HQ options in the Thousand Sons have the ability to be quite strong in close combat, a model dedicated to assassinating other characters could fit right in without the heavy cost of a Demon Prince.

Kairic Acolytes

Next up is yet another model that receives play today as “counts as” Cultists, the Acolytes from Age of Sigmar would make the perfect replacement for the aging models in Thousand Sons. Coming in cheap enough to play the roll of a “meat shield” and a 4++ (due to their shields) gives the Thousand Sons something else to think about as a troop option. While their offensive output would be less than Cultists, their defensive capability comes in just like a unit of Pink Horrors. They would sit right along side Tzaangors, which remain your offensive close-combat troops and Rubric Marines, which maintain the core role.

The Curseling

One of the big miss-outs in recent releases was the introduction of the new Dark Apostles along with their rules. The key here is that a model exists in Age of Sigmar that could stand in perfect within a Thousand Sons army and produce the same kind of abilities. Getting some kind of bonus such as +1 to invulnerable saves at the start of the turn offers a huge benefit when you have models such as Magnus the Red or Land Raiders waiting to get going. The key is it allows you to get these bonuses before your opponent even starts firing on you.

Now, some might think giving Magnus a 3++ might be too much but, keep in mind, invulnerable saves can’t be improved beyond that. With the new Strategic reserves of 9th, you can already now guarantee that he will get this benefit from Weaver of Fates. So, why not have the option to start him on the table turn one, still subjected to the full onslaught of the opponent. Alternatively, you can just stick with whats possible today and stuff him into reserves.

Khenetai Occult

The Khenetai Occult are Marines that existed in the days of the Thousand Sons before the Burning of Prospero (never forget). They were a unit of psychically connected warriors able to harness their powers together as a group. This would fit in perfectly post-Rubric with the Aspiring Sorcerer and subsequent Rubric Marines all connected together and armed with Force Swords.

An upgrade pack that currently exists on Forgeworld would easily help upgrade your Rubric Marines to Force Sword maniacs. In a product sense, this means GW could easily convert the sculpts (perhaps even updated) into a single sprue swapped out for the “Guns” sprue in the standard Rubric Marines box.

Better yet, this gives the Thousand Sons something to deliver in a Land Raider or Termite Drill with a purpose.

Ammitara Occult

A role that existed pre-Heresy for the Thousand Sons were snipers - also known as the Ammitara Occult. Helping to provide an infantry Heavy Support option, these units could act very much like Eliminators (being able to ignore line of site with a 36” range) but with a profile more in line with the Silencer Sniper Rile of the Sanctus found in Genestealer Cults. This anti-psyker role would provide a much needed boost to hunting other characters to balance out some of the restrictions imposed by the new Look out Sir rules of 9th. While this is much more of a “Dream” option than likely, I think this is the kind of unit that has precedence in the lore that could find itself represented in the army at some point in the future.