Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Thousand Sons (section)

===Elites===
*'''[[Rubric Terminators| Scarab Occult Terminators]]''' - Revenge is a dish best served cold. Terminators are now some of the strongest units a Chaos army can take and these guys? They hit harder, and they're even more durable. Only movement 4", but Teleport Strike counters this a bit. These guys are impressive, though it's harder to make the most of a Deep-Strike if you're trying to stay in the character's auras. Just keep them away from melee units with high toughness, multi-wounds as they lack power-fists. 5 guys lets them make 20 shots at up to 24" with AP-2 bolter shots, which will shred most infantry. Add in Veterans of the Long War and you have an infantry shredding salvo which can threaten light-vehicles. The Occult Sorcerer will also be able to chip in with his Smite power or Cult/Discipline of Change power. Don't forget these guys sport the 'All is Dust' special rule like their Rubric brethren, however with two wounds apiece and 4++ they will be drawing more powerful Dakka their way. You really should be Deep-Striking them wherever you can, and be sure to buff them with the attached Aspiring Sorcerer. They really shine in taking the Soulreaper cannon and/or Missile Rack as they don't suffer the penalties for moving; in this regard, they are like loyalist terminators with more resilience, deadlier guns and a psyker leading them.
**In a post-CA2019, post RotD world, these guys deserve a second look. The strats to double their shots and their sorcerer now knows an additional spell. If you want a hard as nails unit that can deep strike and put dakka to make Orks nod in approval, look no further.
**Sorcerous Facade from the Cult of Duplicity is a great power for this unit; as it effectively allows it to redeploy every psychic phase. This lets the unit drop in, mulch some infantry, then warp away next turn to hit another flank. Also RAW it doesn't prevent you using it if you get bogged down in Melee. So it's alot harder for the opponent to tie up the terminators.
*'''Helbrute''' - A good [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]]. With the new 'all vehicles are MC' approach, a Helbrute now requires a decent amount of applied firepower to be put down instead of being a free victory point. Crazed is now a buff only rule, which makes it better than the loyalist Dreadnought. Note that Crazed is a normal shooting attack. So it can shoot all available ranged weapons at any viable target(s). Kitted for ranged combat, it doesn't seem to put out enough damage to be a credible threat, and the things you'll want to throw one kitted out for melee at are the very things that will tear it multiple new ass-holes in no time. However, Helbrutes do have their advantages. For one; they don't suffer from degrading stats compared to things like Predators and Forgefiends. This means Helbrutes move, hit & shoot just as effective at 1 wound as they do when at full wounds. Secondly there are a few stratagems that are usable by Helbrutes, including a Helbrute specific one. Lastly, Helbrutes are fairly economic on points, especially with changes from Chapter Approved. As for armaments it comes stock with a Multi-Melta and Helbrute fist without a Heavy Flamer or Combi-Bolter mounted to it. Due to poor wording of the Big Rule Book FAQ, every unit has a Close Combat Melee weapon in addition to what is on it's data sheet; Battering Assault gives its bonus attack if the Brute has two melee weapons - and not specifically two of the same weapon, meaning that even the stock configuration is at 5 attacks (and why you should never take double fists). For shooting, you should probably immediately upgrade the Multi-Melta to a Twin Lascannon, Twin Heavy Bolter, Helbrute Plasma Cannon or Reaper Autocannon and drop the second arm for a Missile Launcher - this makes for a surprisingly cheap and durable weapons platform; able to throw out a fair amount of shots across a variety of targets. The Twin Lascannon is best deployed as an anti-tank weapon, so if you were looking at brutes to do some of that for your army, take the las, otherwise for a CP you can upgrade the twin Heavy Bolter to -2 AP. 
**Ranged Opinion:'''Stay away from the Reaper Auto-Cannon, it is trash.''' If it were ''D2'' instead of ''D1'' it would be a good choice, and more than just a glorified 4 shot Heavy Bolter. Take either a Helbrute Plasma Cannon, or if you just can't stand that you lose wounds on rolls of 1's to hit, a Twin Heavy Bolter instead.
**Alternate Ranged Opinion: Taking a Reaper is useful to keep the points of any Helbrute build low and keep your investment in your distraction unit to a minimum. A reaper/missile for example combo comes in at 90pts under Chapter Approved 2019 prices, which though not a significant saving compared to the 96pts and 97pts of the Plasma / Heavy Bolter Builds is still a saving that may allow you to fit in more bodies or other units. In small games, chances are your opponent won't have something to deal with this gun platform.
**Melee Opinion: The hammer will usually under-perform due to the accuracy debuff, but it costs as much as a pair of fists; whether you take a scourge (A8 S8 AP-2 D2 25pts) or a fist (A5 S12 AP-3 D3 20pts) depends on what you plan on fighting. Never take a fist without also grabbing a gun to put in it. With the new Chapter Approved 2019 you can take a second fist for for a mere +10 pts, so now you can dual wield for a total of 90pts for a punishing scrapper in melee.
*'''[[Tzaangor Shaman]]''' - Comes in at  90 pts including his force stave, BS 3+, WS3+/S4A4/T4/W4, Ld8, and 6+ save that you will never use because he has a 5++. They hover about on a disk, they buff up the psychic phase using a one-use magical potion that allows them to re-roll a single failed psychic test. Uses powers from the change discipline, casting 1, and denying 1. They can buff Tzaangor units within 6" with a +1 to all their hit rolls. Because his +1 to hit aura affects all hit rolls made by Tzaangors, this means that your base Tzaangor auto pistols become slightly better, but still can't compete with the blades in terms of effective damage output. Aside from in close combat with ground Tzaangors, this aura also really shines with Tzaangor Enlightened, as it makes them hit with either their great-bows or divining spears on 2+, as well as cause auto wounds on 5+. Also keep in mind the aura affects the shaman, meaning he's hitting on 2s in melee with his force staff, so he can hold his own if need be.

====Forge World====

NOTE - Hellforged Vehicles are particularly awkward in '''Thousand Sons''' armies. When they explode they do d3 mortal wounds to nearby units, except for Psykers, who take d6 mortal wounds instead. That even includes basic Rubrics. Ouch.

*'''Chaos Decimator''' - 8th edition has shown our favourite pseudo-dreadnought some real love. Movement is 10" with WS 3+ BS 3+, S7, T7, W8, A5, SV 3+ 5++ with no degeneration as wounds go down. You regenerate a wound at the start of each of your turns, and still gain +1 attack even if you drop a melee weapon (thanks FAQ). It still has all of its old weapon load-outs while sadly losing its cool flamer special rule from 7e. Stock Claw is +2S AP-3 D3 with a Hellflamer doing Heavy D6 S5 AP-1 D2 Auto Hits. The Decimator Storm Laser is as you would expect from last edition, 24" Assault 5 S6 AP-2 D1. The once horrible Soulburner Petard now has some real use with 24" Assault 2D3 S- AP0 D1, causing auto MORTAL wounds on successful hits, while to hit rolls of 1 cause Mortal wounds to the Decimator. It states that you cannot take more than 1 mortal wound a turn via this rule, so you are fairly safe using it due to your regeneration. Butcher Cannon is still reliable with 36" Heavy 4 S8 AP-1 D2 causing -2 LD to enemy unit should a casualty be sustained. C-beam Cannon has also gotten some new life, 72" Heavy 1 S6 Ap-3 D3, you gain +2S and +D3 for every 24" you are away from the target, AND if the enemy suffers a casualty due to your original shot, the same unit suffers 2D6 additional S6 AP0 D1 damage. Overall the Decimator handled the transition to 8th nicely and are more attractive now than they were in 7th even with the lack of Deep Strike capabilities.
**Note that despite visual similarities to Helbrutes and Dreadnoughts, the Chaos Decimator does not have the {{Template:W40kKeyword|HELBRUTE}} keyword.
*'''Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought''' - S7 T7 W10 A4 Sv 3+ (though we can take more of these 'relics' than imperials can), the Contemptor remains as good as it ever was. It has a huge amount of options with your typical Fist (Deathclaw) and Chainfist (Chainclaw) available, as well as some of the more Chaotic choices. New to the menu is the Kheres Assault Cannon which the Chaos Warpsmiths finally found a working version of. As of the FAQ you can now go double guns, should you feel the need - though the melee potential is wasted if you do. Butcher Cannon (36" Heavy 4, S8 AP-1 D2,  causes a LD -2 debuff on enemy units that it has inflicted casualties on) and the Kheres Assault Cannon are attractive choices. On a 5+ it eats an enemy it killed in melee for healing a wound, it has a 5++ against shooting and Overwatch with a 4++ in melee. A solid choice that is a natural step up from your standard Helbrutes. Just keep it away from, well, most your army due to the Containment Breach rule, which punishes regular units with d3 mortal wounds within 6" and Psykers within 6" with D6 mortal wounds instead.
**FW FAQ: Now the Contemptor can replace both arms for ranged weapons if you so wish, and you can take an Havoc Launcher too.
**Also per the FAQ, Chaos Dreads have the Helbrute keyword.
*'''Hellforged Predator''' - Confused to see this in the elites slot? So is everyone else! Anyway, it's a Predator that's an elite with some extra rules and guns. Standard Pred weapons with the ability to choose Flamestorm Cannons (8" Heavy 2D6 S5 AP-1 D2 Flamer), Magna-melta Cannon (24" Heavy D3 S10 AP-4 D6, roll extra dice if in 1/2 range), C-beam Cannon (72" Heavy 1 S6 AP-3 D3, +2S & +D3 for every 24" between shooter and target, causes 2d6 S6 AP0 1D additional hits if you kill a model with your first shot), and Plasma Destroyer (36" Heavy 2D3, S7 AP-3 D2). Can eat people in melee to regain one wound on a 5+, causes D3 additional attacks when it successfully charges, also has the Containment Breach rule, which punishes regular units with d3 mortal wounds within 6" and Psykers within 6" with D6 mortal wounds instead. It's a fine choice if you feel the need to have those special weapons on a Pred platform. The damage charts for this and other Hellforged tanks are distinctive in that they actually get better in melee the more injured they get, meaning the more you need some wounds repaired the more likely you'll be able to eat some, although your movement does suffer so it gets less able to get into melee.
** Note that the extra damage to your own Psykers from a Containment Breach is pretty bad in a '''Thousand Sons''' army. You're better off taking the cheaper Predator from the codex.
** If kitted with Flamers this tank becomes a pseudo-hellhound. Take heavy flamer sponsors to intensify this and throwing out 4D6 auto-hits at 8" at -1 AP D1/D2. Most people won't want to charge it either.
** Thanks to the FAQ 2019, you can't use Killshot with Hellforged Predators
*'''Hellforged Sicaran''' - An even bigger vehicle in the elites slot? No it's not the Warp-dust kicking in, this is real life. The Sicaran is still a beast at T7 W14 3+, but as always we take it for its main weapon. The Twin Accelerator Autocannon is kicking at 48", Assault 8 S7 AP-1 D2, No penalty to shoot at FLY and every wound of 6 is jumped up to AP-3. It can move 14" between 7-14 wounds; letting you fly around the board shooting those Autocannons on 3+ (remember, it's assault, not heavy), ouch! Can eat people in melee on a 5+ to regain a wound, and has the Containment Breach rule, which punishes regular units with d3 mortal wounds within 6" and Psykers within 6" with D6 mortal wounds instead.