Thousand Sons Year in Review - 2021
It’s been a wild year for 40k and a big one for fans of the XVth legion. With a new Codex and a new model, let’s take a look back at the year that was 2021 for Thousand Sons.
Welcome to 9th Edition
Despite everything going on in the world, we started this year off in a weird place. It had been about a year since Thousand Sons had received their last update during the Psychic Awakening series. At the time, these books were intended to help shore up armies that were struggling. Without a doubt, Ritual of the Damned added a lot of viability back into the Thousand Sons codex along with bringing back the usefulness of Rubric Marines. Shortly after its launch, 9th edition was announced and right away a new era of the haves and have-nots was started.
That brings us up to the start of 2021 where many Thousand Sons fans had no idea when we’d see the 9th edition book. Not to mention, things were not looking good on the matched play front where Thousand Sons were floundering with one of the worst win/loss records of any army.
As the data shows above, Thousand Sons had been hovering around/below the 40% win rate level - which is quite bad. Despite the short-lived pop up to 50% during the early-edition codices, the amount of games played (sample size) was quite small relative to other armies. Thus, this pop in success was more of an anomaly than anything. As sample size increased getting later into the year, the data reverted back to the 40% range right up until the new codex was released.
The New Codex
Towards the end of the summer, the new Thousand Sons codex landed and we arrived at our current state - which will be the focus of the rest of this article. The new book introduced a few important concepts that have become front and center staples of any list that hits the table. Heres a high level summary of whats new:
- All psykers get +1 to cast
- All marine units get a 5+ invulnerable save
- Rubric Marines and Terminators gain Fearless and Objective Secure
- Cabbalistic Rituals
- Faction-specific secondaries
Cabbalistic Rituals
Right off the bat, the biggest introduction to the army are the new Cabbalistic Rituals. These represent the Mono bonus (what you get for have 100% of your army from the same faction) that let Thousand Sons armies take their psychic powers to the next level. In essence, they let the Thousand Sons player decided how to apply small, but very impactful, bonuses to the psychic powers. Most importantly, most of these allow the player to apply them after the psychic power has been rolled, which is quite powerful.
How these tend to play out on the table can easily be under-appreciated, leading some folks to think that souping Thousand Sons is still a strong alternative. The importance of rituals with Thousand Sons is paramount, as it gives the army tools to remain viable against other armies with very strong counter mechanics - such as Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle, and the new Black Templars. If your opponent has one of the classic stratagems to deny your power on a roll of 4+, you have a way to block it by making your power undeniable. If they have psykers with +1 to deny, stay outside of 24” and use the +6” range ritual to hit your target from long range using powers such as Perplex. If you rolled a 9 for Smite and need an extra +1 to get that Super Smite, theres now a ritual for that.
How many Cabal Points are enough?
This has really become a big question, specifically when it comes to list/army design. Most lists generate somewhere between 10-20 cabal points and on average probably end up somewhere around 15. The kicker with rituals is that you can only use each one once per psychic phase - which means you can’t just spam the good ones over and over. While there are plenty of them worth using in just about every game, there are a two that should be considered for any list you run:
- Cabbalistic Focus (8) - makes a power unable to be denied. Perhaps the single most important ritual the Thousand Sons have. Use it to ensure that key power doesn’t get thwarted. More frequently, you will find that players will try to deny your psychic actions, such as Warp Ritual or Mutate Landscape (our faction-specific action). Rituals can be applied to psychic actions and preventing your opponent from denying you points is critical.
- Pact From Beyond (7) - auto pass a power at the minimum required value. Clutch for those late game moves you have to make.
The key is really understanding how many you will need to ensure you have access to these in later rounds. As you lose psykers, your Cabal Points dwindle, and its much more likely that you will lose your Rubric Marines and Terminators through the game than your key psykers such as Exalted Sorcerers and Daemon Princes. So, here is my recommendation for starting out:
- 2 selections: Exalted Sorcerer, Daemon Prince
- 1 selection: Sorcerer, Terminator Sorcerer, Infernal Master
My personal preference is either 2x Exalted Sorcerers and an Infernal Master or an Exalted Sorcerer, Daemon Prince, and Infernal Master. Regardless of what you decide, using this approach ensures that you have 8 Cabal Points in the bank so long as you don’t lose any of your HQ units. This lets you focus on playing the mission and taking objectives with the rest of your army without having to play overly cautious to preserve your points. Everything else after that core 8 points is just gravy.
Faction-Specific Secondaries
Like all new codices in 9th edition, Thousand Sons get a range of secondaries unique to the army. Without a doubt, the most common one taken is Mutate Landscape as it’s very easy to achieve and guarantees you between 12 and 15 points depending on the mission. Obviously, it’s not something you take every game, as some missions (such as Battle Lines) only have 4 objectives, meaning the most you can score is just 12 points. In addition to that you have plenty of of matchups, such as Drukhari, where getting to the other side of the board may not be a viable approach. Still, Mutate is one of the best secondaries in the game right now and should be at the top of your list of options each game.
Unfortunately, the other secondaries become much more situational. Wrath of Magnus can be really great when your enemy has just a single psyker. Killing just one model is typically all you’ll need to do - such as throwing a smite into some chaff models or even marines. Burn Empires is a much more “ballsy” version of Raise Banners, and there are only a couple missions where this is viable such as Vital Intelligence and Retrieval. Again, this really just depends on your match up, specifically if you think you can score a bunch early. Finally, Sorcerus Prowess is really something that will likely never come up, unless you and your opponent are both playing Thousand Sons and just want to have a throw down.
Amongst the other secondaries, some common ones that function great for the army:
- To the Last
- Stranglehold
- Retrieve Octarius Data
- Warp Ritual
Unit Updates
Along with the new codex Thousand Sons saw their first new model introduced since Wrath of Magnus way back in 7th edition. While I’ll dig into the new Infernal Master in a moment, it’s worth nothing that there were changes made to just about every unit in the book - some good, some not so good. Scarab Occult Terminators are going through something of a renaissance right now but other units, such as Magnus, are still on the shelves. I’ll be honest, while I was very hopeful at the launch of the codex, many of the same problems plaguing Thousand Sons still exist - specifically lack of options. The army-wide 5+ invulnerable takes a major step toward making the army feel more cohesive however, those gains are minimized by the new <CORE> mechanic. More specifically, the lack of units that gained the <CORE> keyword really inhibits the interactions of the army.
The New Infernal Master
Chaplains and Dark Apostles have been a thing for a while and it’s great that the Thousand Sons finally have something in this category. Like our other HQs, the Infernal Master plays a hybrid Chaplain/Psyker, something very unique on the 40k landscape. At 90pts, he’s priced right and trades that 2nd psychic power for a chance to activate a pact (prayer) in the command phase. These pacts offer a wide range of abilities outside of whats available from psychic powers and stratagems.
Malefic Maelstrom: hands down the most sought pact, this is used heavily with Scarab Occult Terminators to boost their output.
Glimpse of Eternity: getting a ‘free’ re-roll to use anywhere during the game is extremely useful.
How He Shines
The Infernal Master fits right in with the 9th edition matched play missions. His single cast makes him excellent for psychic actions, since you’re only giving up 1 psychic power to begin with and you can still get your pact. The pacts are good and have their uses - but most likely you’ll be sticking with Malefic Maelstrom. Having a stratagem to ensure it goes off when you really need it is great because we all know how unreliable a 3+ can be.
How He Disappoints
Beyond Malefic Maelstrom, many of the pacts are quite underwhelming. While Capering Imps and Bladed Maelstrom have some useful scenarios, in a tournament setting they will be irrelevant in most games. Couple that with the fact that you only can activate a single pact per turn with no way to improve it, as the only relic available for the Infernal Master (Pentakairic Armor) becomes pretty much useless.
Some Things Change For the Better
Rubric Marines and Scarab Occult Terminators are at the core of the legion and represent the best units currently in the codex. The move to two and three wounds respectively has really bumped their usefulness on the table. Couple that with the fact that they are now Fearless and you suddenly have a really great recipe. However, the cherry on top of all the improvements here is the stratagem Unwavering Phalanx…
Perhaps, the best stratagem in the book, it allows Rubrics and Terminators alike to survive efficient 2 damage firepower, by way of getting All is Dust on top of their already great defensive profiles. Sit them in cover and you’re looking at a 1+ and 0+ save as your starting point - meaning that without any additional buffs it takes AP-5 and AP-4 weapons to get them to their invulnerable saves.
In addition to these improvements we also have upgrades that can be applied to various units. Importantly, the Rehati and Dilettante upgrades fit into just about any list. Being able to pay for a relic with points, to save command points, or improve the amount of casts you get from an Exalted Sorcerer are fantastic options. The upgrades don’t just stop there though, Rites of Coalescence being an auto-take if you’re bringing a 10-man Terminator unit. Why? Well, it ensures you that your unit is healed to full health so that when you cast a power on a 9+, using Warped Regeneration, you’re guaranteed to bring back a terminator.
Staple Unit: Scarab Occult Terminators
- 10x Scarab Occult Terminators
- 2x Hellfyre Missile Racks
- 2x Soulreaper Cannons
- Rites of Coalescence
Honorable Mention: Chaos Cultists dropping to 5 points each make a great cheap filler unit to fling into the middle of the board and either take an objective or serve as an anchor point for your other models to move forward. Give them Glamour of Tzeentch and Weaver of Fates and watch your 5 point models tank even the best of firepower.
Some Things Stay the Same
Many things didn’t get much stronger but also didn’t get nerfed with the new book. Front and center in this category were Chaos Spawns - which were seeing a steady increase in play in the late stages of 8th edition. Chaos Spawns offer some of our best counter-assault output and are one of the few units that can still be given Temporal Surge (Warptime). Since the new codex, we’ve seen most lists on a steady diet of at least one unit of 5x Chaos Spawns with many opting for more. What makes them so great? To start, their profile (S5, AP-2, 2 damage) is incredibly good against units that don’t reduce damage. Next, despite the fact that they hit on 4+, each chaos spawn gets 2D3 attacks, or an average of 4 attacks each (20 for a squad).
This is before you even factor in their bonuses, which Thousand Sons have tools to control. Perhaps in the running for most useful stratagem in the book, Fated Mutation lets you pick the bonus you need: more attacks, re-roll wounds, or AP-4. In most cases, you’re going to want to opt for the re-roll wounds or more attacks bonus. But wait, theres more! In addition to getting to pick your bonus, you also get an additional attack for each chaos spawn model, bringing the attack average up to 25 per unit of 5. This many attacks can be enough to put the hurt on just about any enemy model - even pesky vehicles.
Staple Unit: Chaos Spawns
- 5x Chaos Spawn
- Use Fated Mutation to maximize their output
- Give them Weaver of Fates to tank just about any return combat
- Presage also can help boost or counter -hit modifiers
Ahriman
Ever a staple in lists, Ahriman continues to be a viable choice, despite his hefty increase in points. He offers a few key things that some find are worth paying for:
- Re-roll psychic tests
- Casts 3 powers
- Denies 3 powers
The key is that unless you opt to take a Rehati Exalted Sorcerer, with the Forbidden Lore warlord trait, no other psykers lets you pack that many casts into a single model. This might not seem important however, there are three key powers which you’re always going to want:
- Weaver of Fates (7)
- Glamour of Tzeentch (6)
- Presage (7)
His re-rolls ensure that these powers should reliably be cast each turn you need them - whether this is worth the cost is really up to you.
Demon Prince
Rounding out our notable units that have stayed about the same is the humble Demon Prince. Through all of 8th edition, the Demon Prince was the go-to HQ choice is many lists, with many opting to take 3 of them. In the new codex, detachments are limited to just a single Demon Prince each, making it much more expensive to take more than one in your list. Still, they offer a threatening melee profile, retain their 2 casts, and re-roll aura (but now just for <CORE> units).
On one hand, he loses the ability to move twice with Temporal Surge. On the other, he gains some potency with the new relics and warlord traits available.
Staple Unit: Demon Prince
- Hellforged Sword
- Conniving Plate
- Undying Form
- Twist of Fate, Presage, or Tzeentch's Firestorm
Honorable Mentions:
- Exalted Sorcerers
- Sorcerers / Terminator Sorcerers
- Helbrutes
- Tzaangors
Some Things Change For the Worse
Now we come to the frustrating part - all the things that have fallen into a category where we either don’t know what to do with them or they just lack the return for investing in them. Sadly, its a large list, including the Primarch himself - which is where we’ll start.
Magnus the Red
Magnus the Red is in a bad place. To demonstrate this, let’s compare Magnus the Red attacking a strong target - an Imperial Knight. Without trying to factor in any buffs, de-buffs, or stratagems that could come into play - he will average 18 wounds through a round of combat. If you factor in a good smite for 6 additional wounds, he will just barely kill the knight.
At 445pts, this sounds about right on paper when you consider that knights will cost around the same amount in points. The problem is - how are you going to get him there? Magnus is 18 wounds, which means he can’t hide on any typical terrain layout. Even with -1 damage and a 4+ invulnerable save (which can no longer be improved) he is incredibly fragile to incoming fire and no longer has a way to get across the table on turn one. This means that you’re going to take a round a fire before he gets into combat and that means he’s likely going to die before you get to use him. Most armies have more than enough fire power to easily dispatch of Magnus without even having to move during their first turn. Even strategic reserves offers little help as you’re then committing Magnus to sitting out of half the game - not a great idea before you even bring up the 3CP it costs to reserve him.
Sadly I think this means that Magnus will remain on the shelves and out of competitive play for the remainder of 9th edition. It will take some significant changes to alter his ability to survive or be delivered before we see him in play again.
Demon Engines
I came in with so much hope for these. Improving their ballistic and weapon skills to 3+ is something players have been begging for over the yeas. Now that we finally get this improvement, they lose much of the other support they had which would have made them viable. The Maulerfiend offers some potential as a line-breaking assault unit, which can ignore the terrain penalties you get from woods/craters - commonly used to shield back-field units from this type of strike. Their large size and inability to traverse through walls however, will keep things difficult to get to and easy to be screened out. You no longer have the ability to Temporal Surge or even use the Cult of Duplicity power to “jump” them. Delivery is the issue.
Forgefiends have a lot of potential, especially with 3x Ectoplasma Cannons. Unfortunately, without <CORE>, they have no way to get re-rolls or, more importantly, ignore damage modifiers by way of Egleighen’s Orrery. Without this they miss out on the damage potential possible with other, better, options like Contemptor Dreadnoughts and even Helbrutes (both of which have CORE).
Defilers saw some play early in 9th edition when the cost was cheaper than they are now. The 3+ “tax” enacted on them has put them back into “no way” land without any real sign that they’ll see play sometime soon. Their points are so out of alignment that even a “balance tweak” to encourage them won’t be enough to bring them back to reality. They don’t have any damage reduction built in and only a 5+ invulnerable to protect them. With their big spider legs they also present another issue where moving them around the table can, in some cases, be quite impossible.
Finally, we have the Heldrake. No longer just a flyer, they have now been officially converted into Aircraft - giving them -1 to be hit and unable to be charged by units that don’t fly. When it comes to excitement with the Heldrake, thats about it. They don’t offer much offensive output for their hefty price tag of 165 points. Should Aircraft become a big thing, they do offer a good counter now that the total amount of Aircraft you can take has been capped at 2. Outside of this however, they won’t offer much damage potential and will be easily dispatched with by opponents.
Vehicles
This is one area of the codex where I think theres a good chance of some improvement (via balance changes in the future). It would be quite easy to add CORE to the Predators, Vindicators, and possibly Land Raiders. As these are some of the few units that have quite good offensive output (higher damage weapons) it would make a huge difference to be able to have them interact with the Orrery.
For now, sadly, these options will need to remain on the lower end of the spectrum simply due to points/costs. These options are over priced across the board and in some other cases, such as Lascannons, Melta, and Demolisher Cannons, we also have to deal with the swinginess of he weapons.
There is one bright spot however, the humble Rhino. While it’s not the most spectacular unit, it makes up for it in utility. It also compliments our slower Rubric Marines that need help getting up the field early in the game. Rhinos can give you extra movement to launch from (3”) in your movement phase by disembarking 3” and moving 6” and potentially advancing on top of that. Toss a Melta onto your Rhino and you have a chance at sneaking in some good damage.
Staple Unit: Rhino
- Inferno Combi-Melta
- Inferno Combi-Bolter
- Advance and fire the Melta
- Give your Rubric Marines an extra 3" of movement to launch from
- Move block your enemies from easily reaching targets or objectives
Forgeworld Stuff
For those who like to adventure into Forgeworld there are a few units that are shining right now with the new codex. At the top of the list is the Contemptor Dreadnought (aka Volcon). Armed with two Twin Volkites they are tailored for countering targets such as the Drukhari Raider, which have a decent toughness and a high invulnerable save. This means the lack of AP on the weapon doesn’t really matter since the target already has such a high save. Couple this with getting 16 shots per Dreadnought and 6s to wound you’re doing a mortal wound in addition to the flat 2 damage and you have a recipe for something I expect to get reigned in with the upcoming Chapter Approved. Most will admit, for the points, Dreadnoughts (Volcons) are outperforming.
In Thousand Sons however, the Contemptor is right at home since its one of the few models that sports the CORE keyword. This not only means you get re-roll auras but also the very important Orrery aura which I have mentioned a few times already. The ability to get past damage reduction with these models is huge.
Vying for the Volcon’s top spot is the Plasma Contemptor, armed with two Plasma cannons. Where the Plasma Contemptor gives up volume, it makes up for in quality - being able to dish out S8, AP-3, 3 damage wounds. This profile, while also slightly cheaper than the Volcon, matches well into the Drukhari Covens lists as well as Knights (which have been making a steady comeback lately).
Staple Unit: "Volcon" Contemptor Dreadnought
- 2x Twin Volkite Culverins
- Hellforged Cyclone Missile Launcher
Honorable Mentions:
- Leviathan Dreadnought
- Rapier Carrier (Laser Destroyer)
- Vindicator Laser Destroyer
- Terrax Termite Drill
The Cults
Introduced in Ritual of the Damned, these have been a huge expansion on the detail and options for fielding the Thousand Sons. They add a unique flavor to the army, like many other sub-factions, which can make facing each Thousand Sons army a different experience. Theres good and bad with the Cults right now - the good being that your decision making should be pretty easy here. Unfortunately, that means the bad part is only two of the 9 Cults are really showing any kind of strength on the table.
Cult of Duplicity
Duplicity is the hands down top dog right now for lists. The Warlord trait to re-deploy and the psychic power to re-deploy anywhere on the board are incredibly powerful and well suited for any match. While 9th edition has shut down jumping anything (no longer works with Vehicles), the core units still work well with it - including Demon Princes and Mutaliths.
Staple Unit: Exalted Sorcerer (Orrery)
- Master Misinformator Warlord Trait
- Egleighen’s Orrery
- Umbralefic Crystal (Optional)
- Weaver of Fates, Glamour of Tzeentch, Presage
Cult of Time
Showing a little bit of play lately is Cult of Time, specifically for their ability to resurrect additional Terminators/Rubric Marines as well as the auto-casting Exalted Sorcerer with their Warlord trait. In most cases, lists typically pair Cult of Time with Duplicity as the mobility provided by it is very hard to give up.
Staple Unit: Auto-Casting Exalted Sorcerer
- Athenaean Scrolls
- Immaterial Echo Warlord Trait
- Tzeentch's Firestorm, Gaze of Hate
- Disc of Tzeentch (Optional)
- Chronos Tutorum (via Dilettante, Optional)
The Competitive Landscape
Competitively, its tough to figure out where Thousand Sons are right now. A few players have been able to pilot them to very respectable results in the US, Europe, and Australia. More broadly speaking, it’s been a struggle for players to crack the upper ranks of the big events. Overall, the army has a solid 50% win rate within the current meta. So, where does that put us? I’m not so sure yet but perhaps LVO will give us a better glimpse of where things are.
Heres what we do know - these are staples in just about every list these days.
- Exalted Sorcerers
- Rubric Marines
- Scarab Occult Terminators
- Chaos Spawn
- Contemptor Dreadnoughts
Jony’s Duplicity Contemptors List
- Cult of Duplicity Battalion
- Exalted Sorcerer: Glamour of Tzeentch, Weaver of Fates, Egleighen's Orrery, Master Misinformator, Warlord
- Infernal Master: Presage, Glimpse of Eternity, Malefic Maelstrom, Umbralefic Crystal
- Sorcerer: Tzeentch's Firestorm, Doombolt
- Rubric Marines (x6): Pyrix Flux, 5x Warpflamers
- Rubric Marines (x5): Temporal Surge, 4x Inferno Boltgun
- Rubric Marines (x5): Temporal Manipulation, 3x Inferno Boltgun, 1x Soulreaper Cannon
- Rubric Marines (x5): Temporal Surge, 4x Inferno Boltgun
- Rubric Marines (x5): Twist of Fate, 4x Inferno Boltgun
- Cultists (x26): Autoguns
- Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought: Hellforged cyclone missile launcher, 2x Twin volkite culverin
- Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought: Hellforged cyclone missile launcher, 2x Twin volkite culverin
- Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought: Hellforged cyclone missile launcher, 2x Hellforged heavy plasma cannon
- Scarab Occult Terminators (x5): Temporal Surge, Hellfyre missile rack
- Scarab Occult Terminators (x5): Twist of Fate, Hellfyre missile rack
- Chaos Spawn (x3)
Mani’s Duplicity/Time List
- Cult of Duplicity Patrol
- Ahriman: Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Doombolt, Presage
- Rubric Marines (x5): Gaze of Hate, Warpflame Pistol, 4 Warpflamers
- Rubric Marines (x5): Gaze of Hate, Warpflame Pistol, 4 Warpflamers
- Rubric Marines (x5): Temporal Surge, Warpflame Pistol, 4 Warpflamers
- Scarab Occult Terminators (x10): Empyric Guidance, 2x Hellfyre missile rack, 2x Soulreaper Cannon
- Chaos Spawn
- Chaos Spawn
- Cult of Time Patrol
- Infernal Master: Warlord: Aetherstride, Relic: Umbralefic Crystal, Pacts: Glimpse of Eternity, Malefic Maelstrom, Powers: Baleful Devolution
- Rubric Marines (x10): Weaver of Fates, Warpflame Pistol, 9x Inferno Boltgun
- Rubric Marines (x10): Glamour of Tzeentch, 9x Inferno Boltgun
- Scarab Occult Terminators (x10): Rites of Coalescence, Temporal Surge, 2x Hellfyre missile rack, 2x Soulreaper Cannon
- Chaos Spawn
Liam Hackett’s Time List
- Cult of Time Battalion
- Ahriman: Disc of Tzeentch, Weaver of Fates, Glamour of Tzeentch, Presage
- Exalted Sorcerer: Warlord: Immaterial Echo, Umbrelyfic Crystal, Gaze of Hate, Doombolt, Tzeentch's Firestorm
- Rubric Marines (x10): Temporal Surge, Soulreaper Cannon
- Rubric Marines (x10): Temporal Surge, Soulreaper Cannon
- Rubric Marines (x10): Temporal Surge, Soulreaper Cannon
- Rubric Marines (x10): Temporal Surge, Soulreaper Cannon
- Scarab Occult Terminators (x10): Empyric Guidance, 2x Hellfyre missile rack, 2x Soulreaper Cannon
- Chaos Spawn (x5)
- Chaos Spawn (x5)
- Chaos Rhino:1x Inferno Combi-Bolter
- Chaos Rhino:2x Interno Combi-Bolter
Some Closing Thoughts
At the time of writing this, Chapter Approved was waiting in the winds, expected to drop sometime in January. Most players don’t expect much change in it (for Thousand Sons) due to the fact that the codex is relatively new. I would also agree with this and expect that if there were going to be balance adjustments made they would come during the summer of ‘22’.
I expect Contemptor Dreadnoughts to remain a strong choice, especially in the US meta where Knights and Drukhari Covens are being run in big numbers. Volkite however, is going to take a hit and I suspect plasma will be what takes its place as the top load-out.
While our competitive unit choices are slim pickings, the ones we do have are quite good and seem to be setup in a way that they should be able to survive shifts in the meta over the next year. Knights are probably going to have a strong run so, I wouldn’t be surprised to see less Rubric Marines and more Tzaangors/Cultists filling out the troop slots.
Overall, I really like the codex. It’s designed with tools that seem like they should work no matter what type of armies are dominating the landscape. On top of that, the units that are good are the ones I think most fans want to be top picks within the army - Rubrics and Terminators specifically.