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I have 9 unbuilt, what's the way to get the most out of them?

Big unit, MSU? Special Weapons? All chainblade? Set up programming?

I use all Ferrox + Chainblade, because I think they're both scarier and cheap that way, as well as the most important reason: I feel that that is the most fluffy bodyguard for my Archmagos Ordinator.

That said, giving them a Phased Plasma Fusil I think is the "meta" way to run them, taking the best advantage of their Djinn Sights and Relentless rules.

I'd not considered them as bodyguard, do you give the HQ a jumppack then?

No, actually. I run a Centurio Ordinatus detachment, with three Engines and an allied detachment of an Archmagos Ordinator and 5 Thallax. I figure the fluff is that the Ordinator is the 'overseer' of the deployment of the Engines, since I feel like the Centurio Ordinatus would send someone very important to look after them.

Also, since he's being deployed to a battlefield, he needs a bodyguard, and while the Scyllax, in the fluff, are usually the bodyguard units for Magi, I don't think they would trust a non-sentient automaton to truly understand the value of the engines they're working with, while the Thallaxi seem like good hybrids between automata and truly (in)human intelligence. So I figured the most likely bodyguards, if an Archmagos Ordinator could get them, would be Thallaxi.

So it's entirely for fluff reasons. A better bodyguard would be, perhaps, Myrmidon Destructors with Rad Engines, which I also used profusely back when I played my Forge World's Taghmata rather than my Centurio Ordinatus unit.

Always in multiples of three for the special weapons. I either run 3-man units with melta and tank hunters for drop in tank hunting, or 6-man units with plasma to just kill stuff.

I haven't tried the close combat stuff, as I feel they just don't have enough punch to decisively win combats, making them more like tarpit units, and I'd rather they jump around shooting stuff to death.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Always in multiples of three for the special weapons. I either run 3-man units with melta and tank hunters for drop in tank hunting, or 6-man units with plasma to just kill stuff.

I haven't tried the close combat stuff, as I feel they just don't have enough punch to decisively win combats, making them more like tarpit units, and I'd rather they jump around shooting stuff to death.

I like the model with melta, but ACeramite turns me off that. Also I wonder at the statline for just hopping about like that, what with being jump ogryns, I feel like they could smush face more. As a 1 melta shot trio, don't you feel the points wasted a bit?

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Always in multiples of three for the special weapons. I either run 3-man units with melta and tank hunters for drop in tank hunting, or 6-man units with plasma to just kill stuff.

I haven't tried the close combat stuff, as I feel they just don't have enough punch to decisively win combats, making them more like tarpit units, and I'd rather they jump around shooting stuff to death.

I like the model with melta, but ACeramite turns me off that. Also I wonder at the statline for just hopping about like that, what with being jump ogryns, I feel like they could smush face more. As a 1 melta shot trio, don't you feel the points wasted a bit?

I think the melta is one of the worst options, though I don't mean to disparage other players' choices. I personally would rather have the multilaser if I am going cheap.

As for face-smashing, I've found they're quite good at it. A mob of 5 with chainblades and Ferrox have 20 attacks on the charge, at WS3 admittedly but at Str 7 AP4 with rending, which is phenomenal and actually considerably better than Ogryns.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Always in multiples of three for the special weapons. I either run 3-man units with melta and tank hunters for drop in tank hunting, or 6-man units with plasma to just kill stuff.

I haven't tried the close combat stuff, as I feel they just don't have enough punch to decisively win combats, making them more like tarpit units, and I'd rather they jump around shooting stuff to death.

I like the model with melta, but ACeramite turns me off that. Also I wonder at the statline for just hopping about like that, what with being jump ogryns, I feel like they could smush face more. As a 1 melta shot trio, don't you feel the points wasted a bit?

S8, AP1 is still good when you deep strike behind a tank with tank hunters, regardless of ceramite. But, I don't run them
like that often, anyway. I'm just not a fan of using Thallax for assault. Might as well just run Ursarax instead.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Always in multiples of three for the special weapons. I either run 3-man units with melta and tank hunters for drop in tank hunting, or 6-man units with plasma to just kill stuff.

I haven't tried the close combat stuff, as I feel they just don't have enough punch to decisively win combats, making them more like tarpit units, and I'd rather they jump around shooting stuff to death.

I like the model with melta, but ACeramite turns me off that. Also I wonder at the statline for just hopping about like that, what with being jump ogryns, I feel like they could smush face more. As a 1 melta shot trio, don't you feel the points wasted a bit?

S8, AP1 is still good when you deep strike behind a tank with tank hunters, regardless of ceramite. But, I don't run them
like that often, anyway. I'm just not a fan of using Thallax for assault. Might as well just run Ursurax instead.

Usarax aren't compulsory troops though, and I think are considerably more expensive (175? for 3? I can grab my book but I have the lazy).

Also, hilariously, thallaxi can ride Triaros while Usarax aren't, and the Jump-Shoot-Jump makes them excellent for hopping out, lighting something up with their lightning guns (which really aren't that bad. It's not like Ferrox makes them lose their Rending, Shred Str 7 guns), and jumping behind the wall-like Triaros, which inevitably absorbs the incoming fire. The Thallaxi can then easily charge afterwards, without getting shot up. To take a Triaros with a unit of Usarax means they can't use their guns (which, admittedly, are awful anyways, compared to Lightning Guns) since they can't jump back behind it, and requires another unit to take the Triaros as a dedicated transport.

Additionally, the sheer power of the lightning gun means the Thallaxi can can-opener transports before charging the contents. My unit of 5 can pretty reliably wreck a Rhino, especially if some other gun has nicked it before (like the Mauler Bolt Cannon on their triaros, or the Triaros's fantastic ram!), and then charge the contents with 20 Str 7 AP4 Rending attacks. It's really not that bad.

In sub 2000 point games i use them in 3 unit cohorts to get as many scoring units as possible on the table of late, but i think 6 unit cohorts benefit from the increased kill necessity for the 25% Ld check.

I always take a single cohort of three units with a phased plasma fusil to plonk in the middle of my deployment zone to push infiltrators away and intimidate power armour dudes.
A 6 unit cohort with two phased plasma fusils can reliably force Ld checks on infantry in a single round of shooting, but i tend not to do this because of my 'meta'.

When deepstriking, i keep them in three unit cohorts because then i can move them around the original base if the first model lands by a wall or something, but i've got to admit that i end up deepstriking thallax a lot because they are so much more effective against rear armour and i like being able to choose where they need go.

A great side effect of having a lot of deepstriking thallax is that they get around the artificer armour sargent that seem to grace the front of just about every legion infantry unit.

I like thallax with the ferrox upgrade, but that seems to skew them toward infantry fighting and they don't do so good there - melta bombs are 5 ppm and they absolutely terrify spartan owners when teamed with the destructor augment.

Also - The lightning gun is full of surprises when used with the destructor augment.

Photon Thrusters are good, too. You see enough 2+ saves sprinkled in a legion army that a volley of reduced-cover AP2 is definitely worth it, and with lance they can pull their weight against tanks if they absolutely have to.

One or two squads of 6 with 2 special weapons. I don´t trust msu that much.