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I've been toying with starting a thousand sons army - what are some strengths and weaknesses of them? What's a good way to get started, and are there any units that are especially good or bad? I'm not looking to have any kind of ball-busting tournament crusher, but I'd like to get started in the right direction.

I generally know how rubric marines and scarab occult termies can/should work, but how are tzangors? last edition they seemed terribad, but now they seem decent.

What about vehicles and heavy support?

A great place to begin would be here: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/727574.page

Wait for the new 'dex to come out for a bit, then once things have settled, you'll be able to get a much better idea of what to get and/or what to steer clear of. While much of it has leaked, the might still be some tidbits that are going to change what's good or bad.

Be warned that GW has had a hate boner for the Thousand Sons for a long time though, so any positive changes are likely accidental...

Edit: Actually, wait until the FAQ is out a couple of weeks after release, then all the good stuff will get nerfed and the bad stuff will be left untouched and you won't have to bother collecting them at all.

 Drasius wrote:
Wait for the new 'dex to come out for a bit, then once things have settled, you'll be able to get a much better idea of what to get and/or what to steer clear of. While much of it has leaked, the might still be some tidbits that are going to change what's good or bad.

Be warned that GW has had a hate boner for the Thousand Sons for a long time though, so any positive changes are likely accidental...

Edit: Actually, wait until the FAQ is out a couple of weeks after release, then all the good stuff will get nerfed and the bad stuff will be left untouched and you won't have to bother collecting them at all.

Ahriman, Scarab Occults, and Tzaangor Enlightened seem like the winner units in the new codex. Rubrics are bad, unfortunately.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
I've been toying with starting a thousand sons army - what are some strengths and weaknesses of them?

Their strengths : psychic powers, psychic powers, psychics powers. There's a Psychic power for basically anything.

Their weaknesses : psychic powers, psychic powers, psychics powers. You know how Astra Millitarum can buff all their units automatically and pull crazy shenanigans with no risk of failure ? Well, that's not how it works for us. We live and die by our dice rolls. An unlucky Psychic phase (or your opponent bringing a Culexus, Sisters of silence, Tyranids or Farseers) will ruin your game and send you crying in Tzeentch robes.

We're probably as reliable as Orks. Some of our powers could deal 9 Mortal Wounds with a single cast while others could turn you into a Chaos Spawn...

Always keep a CP at hand for a re-roll. Always take a Daemon Prince with Gaze of fate (or swap it with Chaos Familiar).

Well, from what we can see I'd say the power armor portion is generally the least viable as of now. Which can change of course, but as of now that looks to be the case.

Personally, I'm looking to pick up some skyfires/enlightened and shamans, but that's also partially because of what units I already own due to being a general CSM player (and owning some basic gors from last edition). Generally all of the gors look good right now. The shaman can really buff all types a great deal, and a shaman+skyfires gives your army a glass cannon that can target just about any unit type and do well.

Cultists remain boring but useful CP generators who I almost forgot to mention.

Vehicle/heavy support wise, predators are a bit of a glass cannon but generally the best ranged support, though forgefiends can be useful with the right buffs/support. Mauler fiends were a solid melee beatstick, but the new vortex beast may put them to shame, though it doesn't have the same offensive power as a mauler with lasher tendrils going off the leaks.

HQs probably deserve a mention, as the DP seem fairly straight upgrades to the exalted sorcerers so far as we've seen. Ahriman is also excellent.

Magnus will probably still be good but that's a little up in the air.

Start by mentally preparing for the most tedious, decorated models to paint.

Tsons have a ton of gold trim and little edges that meet with comoletely different colors. I couldnt imagine trying to batch paint them

nateprati wrote:
Start by mentally preparing for the most tedious, decorated models to paint.

Tsons have a ton of gold trim and little edges that meet with comoletely different colors. I couldnt imagine trying to batch paint them

I recommend basing with a gold spray, saves alot of time / frusteation..

nateprati wrote:
I couldnt imagine trying to batch paint them

I'm currently batch painting 20 Rubrics and 5 Scarabs... It is, indeed, a pain in the "back".