Post Codex Thousand Sons 8th Edition List
Before the, first and only, Thousand Sons Codex was dropped for Warhammer 40K 8th Edition I had worked out an old army list. Now it is time to see how things match up with my new list I have put together, since Games Workshop have after 8 editions given us a codex. Sadly this list doesn’t have everything I would like in it, such as my Knight. Which is a shame as I really wanted to run those twin avenger gatling cannons.
Batallion +3 CP
HQ: Demon prince – Dark Matter Crystal, Death Hex, Gaze of Fate, Malefic talon, Warp bolter, Wings
Edit: I have now been informed Demon Princes can no longer have Warp Bolters. Whoops.
HQ: Exalted sorcerer on a disc – Doombolt, Warptime, Two power swords
- Rubric marines
– 10 with soul reaper cannon
- Rubric marines – 10 with soul reaper cannon
- Cultists – 10 with a flamer
- Cultists – 10 with a flamer
- Tzangors – 20, blades and Brayhorn
- Rhino – havoc launcher
- Rhino – havoc launcher
Spearhead +1 CP
HQ: Exalted sorcerer – Force stave, Helm of the Third Eye, Prescience, Temporal Manipulation
- Defiler – Defiler scourge, Reaper autocannon
- 1st Predator – lascannon sponsons, twin lascannon turret
- 2nd Predator – lascannon sponsons, twin lascannon turret
- 3rd Predator – heavy bolter sponsons, predator autocannon turret
For 2,000 points Thousand Sons can get a lot of bodies on the board. This list is quite small compared to the Tzaangor spam lists available. In my army list below I have 63 bodies, three of which are HQs.
The spearhead will act as a fire base with the Exalted sorcerer on foot helping hand out rerolls and repairs in the psychic phase. Cultists can screen the Predators or move to claim objectives, as they are likely to be ignored. In the end the Defiler works as a distraction Carnifex, but not bad in a punch up either. Any shots it lands are just a bonus as its Str 16 claw attacks and Str 12 scourge attacks are the real draw.
Spending a CP for an extra relic and grabbing the Helm of the Third Eye seems like a solid choice, it should regain a CP or two.
Originally I wanted a Leviathan Dreadnought or Hellbrute in the list, mainly as I love the models. There was just not enough points to go around sadly. Maybe if I am ever playing this list up to 3,000 points I can add one and Magnus The Red in.
Speaking of special characters I should address the lack of them in this list. While I am fond of the models and stories behind them I rarely actually use special characters. I want to make my own characters and story behind them, otherwise Ahriman would of course make the list.
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So what do you think? Will I go down in flames or will everything go Just As Planned?
I don’t know anything of the Thousand Sons now, but it seems solid to me. I don’t see any real weak choices there. The Defiler is meh, but not terrible. It’s way better than it used to be.
I think the Defiler is something I want in because I love the model so much, in particular mine. But at least the rules vaguely justify it now 😉
Yeah, it’s not completely overpriced and utterly terrible now, so there’s that 🙂
I will take what I can!
Good to see a list up for discussion. Now I’m not the most competitive guy around but I like to imagine that I have some sort of grasp of the game and Thousand Sons. First of all, I like the list, it looks well rounded and you have most of the components you need – from assault to shooting.
The cultist chaff is a absolute must have in my opinion. Good that you included some. They allow you to push enemy deepstrikers away from your vulnerable fire base. I wouldn’t expect them to live very long though. Most armies have ways of cracking screens easily (or should have at least). But they will buy you a turn at least allowing you to move up you Rhinos to intercept enemy units threatening you.
There isn’t much to say about the Tzaangors or the Daemon Prince as they are two of the best units not only in the Codex but the entire game. I would consider another power than Death Hex on the DP. Death Hex is hard to cast and you can’t rely on the DP to pull it off when needed. He just isn’t a strong enough caster on his own. If you count on him casting it you are most likely setting yourself up for disappointment. I would go for Weaver of Fates instead.
I would find space for Ahriman on foot rather than the generic Exalted Sorcerer. For his points, he’s amazing. I get that you want to forge your own narrative, so do I. I run my 30k Ahriman conversion as Count-As. I can live with that.
Hope your list works well for you on the table top.
Thanks for the reply, as a fellow Thousand Sons player I was hoping you would.
I don’t expect the cultists to last long at all, they are cheaper than screening with Tzaangors though. If they survive and hold an objective it is a bonus.
Constantly going back and forth on the Demon Princes powers, Death Hex and CP re-rolls are to help with any crazy strong unit. If, big if Ican strip the save then the predators have a field day.
Ahriman is amazing for his points. I could drop a havoc launcher and bring him easy. Maybe just call him something else…
I love Cultists. I use them all the time. Either as multiple units or as a big blob (80 autogun shots with Prescience and VotLW is no joke). Tzaangors are less of a screen and more of a offensive tool. At least that’s how I would play them. Still an expendable throwaway unit but it has more of a bite (unsupported, which is important).
Fair enough regarding Death Hex, it’s a high risk/high reward strategy going like that. I prefer less risk myself. Thousand Sons don’t have the redundancy that I feel you need to risk failing a critical spell. If you need to pull it off, stack the deck in you favour.
I had Death Hex on my Terminator Sorcerer (High Magister and Familiar) and I still made sure I had more Sorcerers close by so I could use Cabalistic Focus for a massive +4. I just couldn’t afford to fail.
The +4 is pretty amazing. I have been tempted to drop the demon prince in place of something else but not sure what.