Pre-heresy thousand sons tactics

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Dantioch**

So I want to start a small pre-heresy 1k sons army now that forgeworld is releasing their HH books and I started wondering wht kind of regular tactics and units the legion uses. Of course they have their psykers as their speciality but they should still have some favoured methods of engaging the enemy beyond walking up the front to the enemy and hitting him with sorcery until he crumbles.

So my question to you is what kind of operating procedures do the 1k sons use and what units, except psykers, do they favour?

**SRSFACE**

I couldn't tell you from the books. However, rumors are book 4 or 5 is the Fall of Prospero, which will detail both the Thousand Sons and Space Wolves. I guarantee we'll get it then!

I also think it's safe to say whatever unique Rite of War they get will mean you have to bring a Psyker Consul as your secondary HQ. There's a good chance they get wargear to turn sgt. units and ICs into level 1 psykers, as well, kind of like how Word Bearers can make their guys daemonic.

Personally I can't wait til we get pre-heresy Ahriman. He's the only good sculpt these ages past from 2nd or 3rd Ed whenever it was, but a Forgeworld one is likely to be just total aces.

**Void__Dragon**

Dantioch wrote:
So I want to start a small pre-heresy 1k sons army now that forgeworld is releasing their HH books and I started wondering wht kind of regular tactics and units the legion uses. Of course they have their psykers as their speciality but they should still have some favoured methods of engaging the enemy beyond walking up the front to the enemy and hitting him with sorcery until he crumbles.

So my question to you is what kind of operating procedures do the 1k sons use and what units, except psykers, do they favour?

I actually made a thread a while back about which Legion/Chapter had the coolest approach to warfare, and chose the Thousand Sons. This is my post:

Void__Dragon wrote:
A pretty simple opinion thread, of any of the myriad Spehss Mehreen factions within the 40k universe, whose combat doctrine did you find coolest/most interesting/sexiest?

For me, it would definitely be the Thousand Sons, pre-Heresy at least. When Magnus led his sons into battle, he used his psychic power to form the focusing point (The "mind") of a huge psychic web, essentially turning the Thousand Sons at the battle into a huge pseudo-hive mind (no relation). Those of his sons that were part of the Athanean cult (Telepaths) were used to glean information from the enemy for tactical gain or pinpoint enemy ambushes as well as bolster the speed and efficiency of telepathic messages sent by Magnus to the rest of the army (And of course to break the enemies' minds into tiny pieces). The Corvidae (Divinators) served as Magnus' eyes and ears, reading the immediate future to react to events before they can come to pass. The Raptora (Telekines) primarily serve a defensive role, using kine shields in response to prompts from the Corvidae or Athaneans to better withstand enemy fire, and could of course use their telekinetic powers offensively to kill or detain the enemy. The Pavoni (Biomancers) and Pyrae (Pyromancers) served as the Thousand Sons' main offense, blasting foes with fire (In the case of the latter) and bio-lightning (The former) and other varying yet equally devastating powers to cripple and obliterate the foe. The Pyrae in particular have a detachment of Marines who specialize in the mental command of powerful archaeotech automatons, bolstering their numbers and overall efficiency further. And of course, the use of these abilities is used in tandem with the more mundane martial abilities and good old bolter violence of your "typical" Marine. It is these factors that enabled the Thousand Sons, a Legion considerably smaller than average, to still be an effective fighting force.

I've included a poll that I hope would have your picks, including all the founding Legions as well as several non-founding chapters that some might be inclined to choose. If your incredibly obscure pick isn't on there, I am sorry, lol.

**Seb**

You should read A Thousand Sons and Prospero. I liked both, and they explain a lot about the 1K Sons.

As far as chapter tactics go, they should be very close to the Grey Knights : teleport in the enemy lines and witchfire them to death. Bring a pariah, and they're toast.

**MrBlackledge**

agreed thousand sons and prospero burns are 2 of my favourite HH books, they give a perspective to the fighting that makes it a bit tragic for both sides and makes you feel a bit sorry for all involved anyway wont get too much into it but their tactics from those books seem pretty standard. they dont really use psykers as much as you would think due to fear of discovery and being shunned but i can only relate them to just standard marines, there isnt too much about tactics im afraid they just sort of shoot while being directed by the corvidea and have psykers about which always end up turning the tide in their favour

**Dantioch**

I've read both books and thought they were realy good but they still don't give much informations about the actual units they use beyond psykers. My question is mostly about their actual tactics, eg do they use fast units to surround and destroy, do they walk up the centre and whack the crap out of the enemy or do they do an armoured assault to get close and fight them in close combat. So what kind of actual tactics do they use and what units beyond psykers, do they favour, like BA favour jump packs and IH fabouring rhinos.

**Seb**

From A Thousand Sons, I only recall PA guys walking in front of the wolves and killing them via massive witchfires or force weapons blows.

The thing you need to understand is that a regular 1K son is like a lvl 3 psyker in todays meta. You can imagine it helps a lot without having to bother with tactics.

**Kallimakus**

From the books, I don't recall assault marines even mentioned. I'd imagine that they wouldn't do armoured assaults, preferring to fight on foot to maximise the number of psykers they can bring to bear. Most likely they would fight at bolter range so that
those brothers without destructive psychic abilities could support those that had such powers. In the books they had Devastators and robot maniples, but few other specialist squads were mentioned.

**Seb**

Kallimakus wrote:
From the books, I don't recall assault marines even mentioned. I'd imagine that they wouldn't do armoured assaults, preferring to fight on foot to maximise the number of psykers they can bring to bear. Most likely they would fight at bolter range so that
those brothers without destructive psychic abilities could support those that had such powers. In the books they had Devastators and robot maniples, but few other specialist squads were mentioned.

From the books, I do not recall any guys without psychic potential ?

**Kallimakus**

Seb wrote:
From the books, I do not recall any guys without psychic potential ?

True, but I was referring to those whose abilities tended towards telepathy, divination or telekinesis, who were depicted fighting with bolters (and using their own abilities in support of their brothers.)