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I've always loved the Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons and shortly after reading the novel I went and created a Grey Knight army with that theme, complete with Prospero Spire Guard Henchmen.
But after their current rules came out I lost interest but now I can build a proper army thanks to all the new plastic kits including the Thousand Sons one in November!
So my aim is to begin planning and building a standard 30k army of maybe 1000pts so I can then add any themed units that come out with the new book later on.



So I'm looking for advice on where to start and what units or “Rites Of War” (is that right?) I should be looking at? Plus answers to the following questions....

1) Veterans or Bulk Infantry?
First off is the big choice to either field tactical squads or go for a more elite army, the latter certainly seems more suitable to the Thousand Sons style but is it worth it? It's made more appealing by the fact with a few tweaks I'd have a veteran squad and terminators ready to go straight away?

2) Transports?
I've had a look at a lot of battle reports online and most of the time the only transports are 1 land raider and maybe a rhino or two. Are vehicles a must and are drop pods worth considering in 30k?

3) Suggested units?
What units do you consider a must have for a 30k army? So far the following units have caught my eye: Quad Mortars, Leviathan Dreadnought and Twin Assault Contemptor?

I'm grateful for any advice that can be given as I'm eager to jump into 30k?

I'll help best I can. As I am also starting my Heresy Thousand Sons. So this info is a collection of friends that have played for years and others who have already done heresy thousand sons.

For Rites of war, TS have none yet. I believe the only thing we can take it all of us are "Stubborn". If you have none in the current books, you can pick Stubborn or Furious Charge. TS are pure range so stubborn is best we get.

You do want tac squads. While they were fairly elite, they had lots of tac squads. Plus you need the bodies, and tac squads are good in 30k. My plan is to make 4 squads of 10.

For Transports, I don't plan to use any really. Maybe later down the road a rhino or two. 30k seems more foot slogging. But that's also army dependent.

For units.

Tac squads,
Contemptor dreads with assault cannon (one of their fav weapons)
Consul Libarians
Terminators (scarab guard)
Heavy support with rotor cannons (another fav weapon, even though its not that good)

Stroodles is right, they used a lot of tacs and had the Scarab Occult (http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sekhmet) who were the elite bodyguard for Magnus.

They also had "the Hidden Ones" (http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Hidden_Ones) but there's not much on them really.

I've basically always taken either Termies or Terminator Command and a unit of Vets with the Scout to Outflank as the Hidden Ones. Other than that you HAVE to take a psyker.

I know it's expensive and I've yet to feel they provide the same value as other stuff but you do have to. Otherwise there's no real point in taking Thousand Sons.

Or wait a couple of weeks cause I don't think it'll be long till book 7 is out and then we'll hopefully know more!