Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Thousand Sons (section)

==Unit Analysis==
The common keywords for this army are {{W40kKeyword|Chaos}}, {{W40kKeyword|Heretic Astartes}}, {{W40kKeyword|Tzeentch}}, {{W40kKeyword|Arcana Astartes}}, and {{W40kKeyword|Thousand Sons}}.

===HQ===

*'''Daemon Prince of Tzeentch:'''  No longer the one man army he used to be, though his melee is still rather powerful. Use him to support other units with his 6" bubble and psychic powers. 8 wounds means he can't be targeted by shooting if he's not the closest unit, so keep him behind another unit that can match his 8" move speed. As a psyker, he knows ''Smite'' and two powers, and you have quite the options to pick from.
**It should be mentioned that Daemon Princes don't have standard equipment, which means that they can't be given all of the relics since some of them require a weapon to be exchanged.
**With the reshuffling of keywords and buff auras, you now ''need'' to use the TS Prince datasheet because you cannot replace {{W40kKeyword|<LEGION>}} with {{W40kKeyword|THOUSAND SONS}}.
*'''[[Exalted Sorcerers|Exalted Sorcerer]]:''' The strongest sorcerers, and likely your go-to choice for Warlords.  Knows two psychic powers from the Discipline of Change or Vengeance. Can cast two powers and deny one.  Their main strength is that they have the combat stats (not necessarily equipment, but not far off) of a Chaos Lord with the Psychic power of a Sorcerer. Like Ahriman and the DP they get a native 4++ and '''Lord of the Thousand Sons''' which provides re-rolls of 1s to hit to {{W40kKeyword|<GREAT CULT> CORE}} units (Rubricae, Scarabs, Helbrutes, and Contemptors) within 6", which more than makes up for it in most circumstances. 
**Ahriman is a better version of an Exalted Sorcerer, casting thrice and getting a bonus to cast, ''but'' an Exalted Sorcerer is an actual Cult member, can be upgraded with Cult Upgrades, and can pick and choose WLT and Relics. Dilettantes have a lot of utility now that they don't pay CP for the relic, and you can easily make them the center of any Egleighen's Orerry/Umbralefic Crysal castle. 
**Can take a Disc of Tzeentch for mobility, gaining M12, {{W40Kkeyword|fly}}, and {{W40Kkeyword|cavalry}} while losing {{W40Kkeyword|infantry}}.
**Starts off with a Force Staff for melee, but you can buy him a khopesh, which is a master-crafted power sword (i.e. a force sword but better, as it doesn't roll for damage), and if you buy him a disc, he gets an extra attack at S4 AP0 D1.  The khopesh doesn't replace the staff, so you can still use it when it would be better (which is at its most common against daemons).
**Starts off with an inferno bolt pistol, but you can buy him a warpflame or plasma pistol instead.  Remember, he doesn't re-roll 1s to hit.
<tabs>
<tab name="Rehati (Upgrade)">
Want to be even more of a super-wizard? Grab this upgrade for an immodest 20 points/+1 PL to let him cast an additional power. Expect to be bullied even harder because you are now in control of the whole magic phase.
</tab>
<tab name="Paradigm of Change (Upgrade)">
10 points/+1 PL grants another wound and attack to the exalted lord, which can help if you intend on making him more of a beatstick.
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<tab name="Dilettante (Upgrade)">
This is an ABSURD upgrade. 30 points/+2 PL lets you grab a second relic, something that you used to be able to grab back in the vaguer days of 8E. That said, this is an incredibly costly addition and the points taken could have given you an additional couple tzaangors or a couple guns for your rubricae. Just in case there was any doubt, the FAQ says the relic is also paid for with this upgrade and doesn't cost you an extra CP. Thousand Sons are absolutely spoiled for good relics, and this is a good way to ensure that you bring what you need for as few CP spent as possible.
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*'''Infernal Master:''' It's a unit that uses the pact forging mechanic, which is just priestly prayer, but he has difficulty admitting he's religious - you pick one he knows and it goes off on a 3+ in the Command Phase (so no riding transports if you want the pacting to happen).  They're not considered psychic powers, so they cannot be denied. He has access to 6 Infernal Pacts when you add him to your list, picking 2 of them to know. He also knows 1 psychic power from the Discipline of Change or Vengeance on top of Smite and his Cult power.  Unlike his CSM cousins, he has no access to Dark Disciples to make the roll easier, and unlike his loyalist cousins, he has no access to a command upgrade to get better at it, either.  He has an inferno bolt pistol, a force staff, and frag and krak grenades.
**'''Bladed Maelstrom:''' Pick a visible enemy unit within 30; that unit takes 1MW if it has 6+ models, and subtracts 2 from Advancing and Charging till your next command phase.
**'''Fires of the Abyss:''' Nearest visible enemy unit within 15" takes 1d3 MW. Like another Smite!
***Less range than Smite and fewer expected mortal wounds (1.67 is less than Smite from a normal psyker, let alone from a TSons psyker with +1 to the cast).
**'''Capering Imps:''' Pick one visible enemy unit within 24"; that unit cannot gain cover (of any of the the three types), Overwatch, or Set to Defend until your next command phase.
**'''Diabolic Savant:''' Gain 1 cabal point and re-roll psychic tests for the caster in your next psychic phase.
**'''Glimpse of Eternity:''' Gives you a single die re-roll that you can use on anything other than mission-related rolls until your next command phase. Like Command Re-roll, but better.
**'''Malefic Maelstrom:''' One visible friendly {{W40Kkeyword|Thousand Sons}} unit within 24" adds +1 to their shooting attacks' strength until your next command phase. S5 Inferno Bolters anyone?
***If you're trying to buff a unit's warpflamers, this is less likely to go off than Pyric Flux, ''but you can do both'', nearly (94.44%) guaranteeing one of the +1s happens, and since you'll know when you get to the Psychic Phase if you succeeded or not, you can dynamically decide to cast the power on the same unit to gun for +2S, spread out to a second unit, or swap to Smite or your Cult power. Don't forget about Wrath of the Wronged if you really want to ruin some light vehicles or Death Guard units' days.
**You have no way to give this guy any toys - you can't upgrade his gun from his shitty inferno bolt pistol, you can't upgrade his melee from his shitty force stave, you can't give him a disc or terminator armour, and so on - he ''also'' has no Legion Command upgrades available.  That means he'll struggle to keep up with whatever you wanted him to support unless both are footslogging (remember, he pacts in the command phase, so if he rides a transport, he can't pact).  That means his three offensive pacts are usually a waste of your time - you have no way of getting them where you need to be - and his +1S to ranged shooting buff is only useful on something you intend to either sit in one spot all game or move very slowly, perfect for a large unit of Scarab Occults.  His other two buffing pacts functionally have infinite range, except that if you take the one that generates a cabal point and lets him re-roll psychic, unless you're Cult of Prophecy he'll have to be in range of something to cast on it (he has to be anyway, but that Pact is a terrible choice if you're not casting anything with your re-roll).  That gives a very finite set of useful Infernal Masters:
***Cult of Prophecy Only: Diabolic Savant + Glimpse of Eternity + Divine the Future is nothing but infinite range buffs, so you can pick between Savant and Glimpse depending on how badly you need a Cabal Point vs. a greater chance of useful roll manipulation.
***General Use: Choose any two of Diabolic Savant, Glimpse of Eternity, and Malefic Maelstrom, then for his power pick a buff you're going to put on something that shouldn't be intended to get very far from him: Glamour of Tzeentch (-1 to be hit), Weaver of Fates (4++), Empyric Guidance (+6" range to Rapid Fire and Heavy, ideal on multi-meltas or a cyclonic melta leviathan), or Presage (+1 to hit). Temporal Manipulation (heal 1d3) can also work, provided what he's supporting isn't a Vehicle, and Pyric Flux (+1s to warpflame) can work for foorslogging warpflamer rubricae. Temporal Surge (infantry/cavalry/beasts can move right now) is a special case: you can Malefic Maelstrom whatever you're support before the psychic power goes off, so no worries there, but leaning into this makes it harder and harder for your Pact Master to keep up, so think your plans through beforehand.
****Swelled by the Warp is ''terrible'' for this, as it only buffs melee and nothing melee wants to be static.
*'''Sorcerer:''' Your basic heroes, and likely the ones to pick for budget armies. They have the rule Thrall, which basically means if you have an Exalted Sorcerer from the same great cult, you can take one of these guys without using a slot from your detachment. The future Exalted Sorcerers, they can cast two powers and deny one. They're as good at casting as '''Exalted Sorcerers''', but have fewer wounds, worse combat stats ''overall'', and, vitally, no re-roll 1s to hit aura.  Perhaps most importantly (since the aura only works on a total of 4 units you can field anyway, only 2 of which even have access to plasma and 1 of which loves spamming flamers), they generate fewer Cabal Points as well. However, they do make a good option for a 2nd psyker character and might be useful if you don't need a 2nd aura.  They also have no access to discs of Tzeentch, which paired with their lack of access to jump packs means their mobility is much less than an Exalted Sorcerer's or Demon Prince's.  On the other hand, the Terminator option can deep strike, which is your only way to field an HQ with deep strike baked in (as opposed to burning CP on the Webway Infiltration strat or the like). With Legends, you can swap out your pistol for any normal combi weapon or any normal melee (the free lightning claw might actually be useful, maybe). You also gain access to having a force axe rather than a stave or sword, and most importantly, you can spend a lot of points on having a jump pack, letting you deep strike and move faster and all that jazz.
**Combat stats: your BS gets worse from 2+ to 3+, which doesn't matter if you're packing warpflame anyway.  Your WS gets worse from 2+ to 3+ and your A gets worse from 5 to 4, which is a big deal, and you can't take a khopesh, but you ''can'' choose between a force sword and a force stave, which is ''better'', because taking a force sword is nearly as good as having a khopesh to begin with, and you don't lose your gun to do it.  You also drop from W5 to W4.
**Loyal Thrall is a really good upgrade for him, since he's the cheaper of the two options that can take it.
<tabs>
<tab name="Sorcerer in Terminator Armour">
Heavy duty Sorcerer, ''and a distinct datasheet'', it should be noted. This guy costs 15pts more than the vanilla one, but if you fear for his safety this is good investment. The main reason to take this guy is to accompany Scarab Occults or units making use of the Deep Strike stratagem. He also has radically improved wargear: his ranged weapon starts off as an inferno combi-bolter (he gets Malicious Volleys, too), and he can swap it for a khopesh (which is a waste of time, as you'll see in a moment) or an inferno combi-melta, which is the real pro move.  His melee is sidegraded, because he loses force sword access but gains force axe access, and while they have different optimal targets both have common use-cases, unlike the stave; point is, you'll always take the axe, at which point the benefit of the khopesh over the combi-bolter is essentially 0 and not remotely worth losing the ability to shoot bitches.
*Alternative opinion: There's no Sorcerous Arcana for a Force Axe; but there are multiple for Force Staves and Seer's Bane for a khopesh. Incandaeum can replace the need for an Inferno Combi Bolter (as it's effectively a Pyris Flux'd Warpflamer) the Stave Abominus can make for a nasty swarm clearer, and Skaeloch's Talon... okay, that's kinda terrible thanks to its lack of AP. Seer's Bane might make for a psyker-hunting weapon. When comparing the standard Force Stave/Incandaeum to the khopesh, the khopesh does better against (non Death Guard) Marines thanks to its automatic damage 2 and AP -3, while the Force Stave/Incandeaum's +3 S does nothing better to wound, and has random damage. The Stave Abominus is very strictly a swarm/Death Guard vs character/elite option. Additionally, the force axe does a somewhat worse job at both roles of the staff and khopesh; with weaker strength than the staff and weaker AP and less consistent damage than the khopesh. With Legends, he gains access to a force sword for his force weapon, and for his inferno combi-bolter gains access to standard combi-weapons as well as a chainfist, power fist, or lightning claw.
</tab>
<tab name="Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (Legends)">
Its own datasheet, like all legendary variants, but this one is ''insanely'' expensive, and is in every way the legendary sorcerer, with even access to the Dark Hereticus discipline, only on an Exalted's disc and without the ability to buy a jump pack.
</tab>
<tab name="Battle-Psyker (Upgrade):">
Interestingly, this upgrade actually makes the base sorcerer more like a beatstick. For 5 points/+1 PL, they get BS/WS2+ and A5, making them more powerful than Exalted Sorcerers offensively, per point, both because the Sorcerer is cheaper and because of his superior wargear options.  However, the only Sorcerer really worth putting this on is a Terminator Sorcerer with Combi-Melta and Force Axe or khopesh and relic staff, and bear in mind a Daemon Prince's melee still can't be beaten.
</tab>
<tab name="Witch-Warrior (Upgrade)">
For 10 points/+1 PL, this allows your sorcerer to re-roll ''one'' of the dice to determine how many MWs he inflicts with Smite or any other Witchfire power he casts. Considering that you'll be spamming Smite a lot, you'll probably want that assurance that your spells can actually be of use rather than just tickling the enemy.  This takes Smite from dealing a base 2.08 mortals (accounting for your +1 to cast) to 2.45 (+.375 mortals, or +3/8).  Because it explicitly works for Firestorm, if you use it on Baleful Devolution you should be able to either re-roll a die that determines if a target suffers mortals or a die that determines number of mortals, as you like, but in either case the ability has ''terrible'' scaling with the power, because it only works on one die.  The only other non-cult mortal wounds power you have access to without rolling a ''lot'' of dice is Dark Blessing, where again, the only possible conclusion from the text assuring you that it works on Firestorm is that it must work on your choice of the Toughness test or the total inflicted after passing the Toughness test.  That's actually interesting, because the Toughness test is half of what cripples Dark Blessing down to unusability. Dark Blessing with this goes from the same 2.08 as Smite vs T3 (where the problem is the cripplingly short range of the spell) or 1.39 vs T4 to 3.26 vs T3 and 2.41 vs T4.  Dark Blessing is still a bad spell even with Witch-Warrior due to the Toughness test and bad range, but at least use-cases for it exist, unlike with the base spell.
</tab>
<tab name="Loyal Thrall (Upgrade)">
For 10 points/+1 PL, this allows your sorcerer to sacrifice only one spell to perform an action during the psychic phase. This makes Mutate Landscape and Psychic Interrogation more enticing (the former especially if you're taking Cult of Duplicity) and can be used if you find yourself glutted on Cabal Points and want to spend them on the action for making Command Points.
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====Special Characters====
*'''[[Ahriman]]''' Ahriman is one of the best HQ options that the Chaos faction has to offer, never mind the Thousand Sons. He has three psychic powers known, three manifests, three denials, and re-rolls on all Psychic tests. He also has the '''Lord of the Thousand Sons''' aura, but rather than giving re-rolls to core cult units, he gives re-rolls to all {{W40Kkeyword|Thousand Sons CORE}} units and a D3 force stave. If he is your Warlord he has to take the Otherworldly Prescience Warlord Trait, but this is actually pretty good given it puts him at 3++ for one turn; still, you should ''never'' take him as your Warlord without a very good reason, as he cuts off access to your cult relics. Despite being good in melee, you are best off keeping him back so that he can pull the strings of your Rubrics with his aura, psychic dominance, and ability to reinforce if required. Give him a Disc of Tzeentch, as the mobility is crucial and you'll almost never want him hiding in a transport, plus losing the infantry keyword makes it harder for attacks to specifically hurt him (like how Vindicare attacks wound infantry specifically on a 2+).
** He can also be used like the machine gun he was always meant to be, traveling on a disc with 1-3 hit squads of Tzaangor Enlightened. Give him the sniping Psychic Powers (Gaze of Hate (1.49 mortal wounds base for Ahriman) and Tzeentch's Firestorm (2.04 base for him)) and Twist of Fate, and laugh as enemy characters flee from your ranged assassin. Use 4 Cabal Points on Malevolent Charge to deal an extra D3 MW with one of those powers, just to make sure the enemy character dies.
***Bear in mind both of these mortal wound powers can deal 0 mortals even after a successful cast, and even if you could cast both 100% of the time and re-roll, which is relevant for Firestorm, your average mortal wounds dealt would still only be 1.5 for Gaze of Hate and 2.22 for Firestorm, 3.72 total.  
***Because Ahriman is so good at rolling high thanks to his re-roll (not as good as Magnus, but pretty good), if you want him to be a machine gun, he's a lot better with spells where rolling high is better: Smite and Baleful Devolution are better with a higher modified test and Firestorm relies on unmodified.  If you give him ''those'' three to cast, he takes Smite from 2.08 to 2.32, Firestorm from 1.67 to 2.04, and Devolution from 1.88 to 2.66, which is genuinely credible.  He's also good at Twist of Fate, for denying invulns: he succeeds at it 82.63% of the time, up from 58.33% for a non-re-rolling normie.
**'''Alternative Opinion''': problem with Ahriman being used as a Psychic Machinegun is you always need to get him close and within LOS, and Mortal Wounds don't Mortal Wound like they used to anymore. Presage, Temporal Surge, Twist of Fate, any high-casting spell [[JUST AS PLANNED|that's crucial to your]] [[Tzeentch|plans]] is also a good use for Ahriman, especially since you can only attempt it once. You can still have him use Doombolt by casting it with someone else then using Ritual or by Strat-Switching spells, but letting him hang back for the first few turns and buffing Terminators or Daemon Princes lets him survive longer and thus put him to the most use.
** Unlike Magnus, Ahriman did plenty wrong. He's one of the most evil fuckers in all of 40k/loving leaders who only wants to right his wrongs and his rules really make you feel like a cackling villain/hero - enjoy!
** Great news! Ahriman is now available on the new SC! 1K Sons kit. He comes with 10 Rubrics and 10 Tzaangors!

===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 M5", but Teleport Strike counters this a bit.  Every unit member comes base with an inferno combi-bolter for 20 shots at 24" with S4 AP-2; add in Wrath of the Wronged and you have an infantry shredding salvo which can threaten light vehicles. The Rubrics ship with Prosperine Khopeshes, which are Master-Crafted (i.e. D2) Power Swords, and the Sorcerer has a noticeably worse Force Staff he can't swap out - he can swap out his inferno combi-bolter for a khopesh of his own, but that's deeply stupid, since anything you're going to charge you can shoot first.  The unit can have 1 rubric swap his combi-bolter out for a heavy warpflamer (which is just an AP-2 heavy flamer) or a soulreaper cannon - at 24" Heavy 5 S6 AP-3 D1 this is mandatory, since you won't take a movement penalty when shooting it, and can have 1 rubric (which can be the same one) take a hellfyre missile rack, also practically mandatory at 36" Heavy 2 S8 AP-2 D1d3.  You can have a second of each heavy weapon if you take a full 10-man squad, but don't forget, that's in direct competition with two 5-man squads for a second Sorcerer instead.  The Sorcerer has the standard cast 1, deny 1, and knows Smite, his Cult power, and 1 from Change/Vengeance.
**Looking back now from the derptastic release of [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (9E)|CSM]]'s vanilla terminators, the Scarabs came out the clear winner, having much better weapons (D2 blades!), stats, and abilities. While their melee is nothing compared to Blightlords and whatever the World Eaters will get, they're still undoubtedly better than the shitty “Accursed Weapons” that vanilla gets. 
**Don't forget, All is Dust applies to the whole unit, including the Sorcerer.
**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, since it doesn't prevent you using it if you get bogged down in melee, it's a lot harder for the opponent to tie up the terminators.
***With bolters and SRC+HMR, this unit is ''more'' efficient dakka from >12" than a Rubric squad (and the melee output is no contest at all), and both units have Objective Secured, so this unit right here should be your default choice for building the basic army from.  The only things a Rubric squad does better are generate Cabal points (with an Icon), shoot warpflame dakka, and sling psychic powers.
<tabs>
<tab name="Ardent Automata (Upgrade)">
If your unit is carrying out any actions, you can also have them shoot as well. For 15 points/+1 PL, this is way too situational to even consider. Even if it were half the price, that just goes to a "maybe".
</tab>
<tab name="Protégé (Upgrade)">
The sorcerer knows an additional power. This is pretty neat, and 5 points/+1 PL you might as well take it.  For example, if you use this to let the Sorcerer know both Empyric Guidance and Doombolt, you can swap between the two depending on the range to your target.
</tab>
<tab name="Rites of Coalescence (Upgrade)">
One of your rubricae regain all their wounds each command phase. With that extra wound 9E blessed us with, your terminators are now pretty short of unkillable with traditional weaponry. Plasma guns can now be laughed off (short of grabbing Hellblasters) and snipers are now something of an inconvenience with a bad roll. Literally, short of melta or firing tanks at these fuckers, you can just fix 'em up without a care in the world! And for 10 points/+1 PL? Why the hell not? It also works really well with the Warped Regeneration strat, since it requires all remaining models in the unit to have full wounds before resurrecting a model.
*You have 4 ways of recovering wounds (Temporal Manipulation, RoC) and models (Warped Regeneration, Time Flux), but this method requires no other input and happens automatically in the command phase. As mentioned above, this pairs well with WR, but in order for the strat to go off, you need to cast a spell at an unmodified psychic test of 9+ AND have no wounded models. If you're going to rely on regenerating Scarabs, take this and Cult of Time, since Time Flux brings back a model no questions asked, and pray to Tzeentch for a high roll to proc WR. This will make your Scarabs a massive target, so it will be most efficient to take one large squad of Scarabs. You can put HMRs and SRCs on the same model, so a full unit of 10 has 7 Terminators (21 wounds) that the opponent must chew through before they can put a real dent in your firepower. Realistically, you're only going to be reliably recovering a wounded model back to full wounds plus a whole model each turn, so pick your deployments and targets well (say an objective on your opponents flanks, lightly guarded by infantry or shooty vehicles lacking obsec)
</tab>
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*'''Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought<sup>Forge World,Martial Legacy,{{W40Kkeyword|core}}</sup>''' - M8 A4 WS3+ S7 BS3+ T7 W9 Sv3+/5++, the Contemptor remains as good as it ever was. It has the same loadout as the loyalist one, but sports the Hellforged word before every weapon except the volkite and graviton ones. It has a 5++ innately, though the legion trait gives everything 5++ anyways; also has the same -1D to incoming hits and the same explodes rule as your Helbrute, but lacks Frenzy entirely. A solid choice that is a natural step up from your standard Helbrutes.
**Arm options (take any 2): 
***Melee options come with a gun, and there is ''no'' excuse for taking 2 of them.  Both melee options are Sx2(14).
****Dreadnought Combat Weapon: AP-3 D3, free.  You have no excuse for taking this - take the other melee arm or a gun.
****Dreadnought Chainfist: AP-4 D2d3, jumps to D6 against {{W40Kkeyword|vehicle}}s.  At only 5 points, this is mandatory, because either you want to be in melee (so this is the superior choice) or you don't (so a gun is the superior choice).
****Combi-Bolter: Free.  If you genuinely just want a melee arm, take this to keep the arm cheaper - the other melee attachment guns all cost more and none can compete with a proper gun arm.
****Graviton Blaster: 18" Assault 2 S5 AP-3 D1, goes up to D2 against Sv3+ or better.  The best choice if you're not willing to overcharge plasma and you want maximum ranged output on your melee arm.
****Heavy Flamer: 12" Heavy 1d6 S5 AP-1 D1.  The worst gun your arm can take, most of the time.
****Plasma Blaster: 18" Assault 2 S7 AP-3 D1, can be overcharged for S8 D2 but unmodified rolls of 1 cause a mortal wound on the dread.  If you're willing to risk the mortal wounds, better than a graviton blaster because they're the same cost, but that's a big risk.  The whole dread is only W9, and in melee you're going to get beat up. Bear in mind this model ''is'' {{W40Kkeyword|core}}, so an Exalted Sorcerer's re-roll 1s to hit aura works on it just fine.
***Good Guns: Twin Volkite (45" Heavy 8 S6 AP0 D2, with every unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicting an extra mortal wound), Multi-melta (24" Heavy 2 S8 AP-4 D1d6, D1d6+2 at half range).
***Bad Guns: Kheres Assault Cannon (24" heavy 6 S7 AP-1 D1), Twin Autocannon (48" Heavy 4 S7 AP-1 D2), Heavy Plasma Cannon (36" heavy d3 S7 AP-3 D2, Blast, which can be overcharged for S8 D3 but you risk taking a single mortal wound for every time you roll a 1 to hit with it), Conversion Beam Cannon (3 firing modes that can be fired from different ranges, doing Heavy D3 (Blast), from 0"-24" S6 AP-1 D2 OR 24"-48" S7 AP-2 D3 OR 48"-72" S8 AP-3 D3), Twin Lascannon (48" Heavy 2 S9 AP-3 D1d6, but simply costs too much compared to the multi-melta), Twin Heavy Bolter (36" Heavy 6 S5 AP-1 D2, where again the only problem is the cost).
**Hat: Cyclone missile launcher! Fires two krak missiles or two frag missiles. 
*'''Decimator<sup>Forge World</sup>''' - 9th edition has shown our favourite pseudo-dreadnought some real love. Movement is 9/7/5" with WS3/4/5+ BS 3/4/5+, S7 T7 W12 A5 Sv3+/5++, and you regenerate a wound at the start of each of your turns. Stock Claw is Sx2 (14) AP-3 D3 with a Hellflamer doing 12" Heavy 1d6 S5 AP-1 D2 Auto-Hits; if you take 0 or 1 you're A5, and if you take two you're A6. The Decimator Storm Laser is as you would expect from last edition, 24" Assault 6 S6 AP-2 D1. The once horrible Soulburner Petard now has some real use with 24" Assault 2D3 S1 AP0 D1, causing auto MORTAL wounds on wound rolls of 2+, while to-hit rolls of 1 cause mortal wounds to the Decimator. The Butcher Cannon is still reliable with 36" Heavy 4 S7 AP-2 D2. C-beam Cannon has also gotten some new life, gaining three firing modes that can be fired from different ranges, doing Heavy D3, from 0"-24" S6 AP-1 D2 OR 24"-48" S7 AP-2 D3 OR 48"-72" S8 AP-3 D3 while also having the Blast rule on all profiles.
**The reality is that this will do similar work to a Helbrute or Forgefiend for more points, making this a waste of points.  Bear in mind that if you do take one, some of the guns are simply bad - the only interesting weapon arms are the soulburner petard and the hellflamer + claw.  The conversion beamer and storm laser are just bad and never worth taking, and the butcher cannon turns the Decimator into a Forgefiend but worse.
*'''Chaos Deredeo Dreadnought<sup>Forge World,Martial Legacy</sup>''' - Chaos finally got the Dorito Dreadnought! A lot of people have wanted this for a while and rightfully so, it kicks ass. It has the common -1 damage and an innate 5++ (which is redundant for you)
**Arm weapons: Sorted from worst to best.
**#Arachnus Lascannons: 2 lascannon shots at D3+3, reliably worse than the Autocannons.
**#Anvillus Autocannons: 36" Heavy 8 S7 AP-2 D2, reliably worse than the Volkite.
**#Volkite Falconets: 36" Heavy 6 S8 AP-2 D2, unmodified wound rolls of 6 deal an additional 2 mortal wounds.  The best gun you can take unless you overcharge your plasma.
**#Hellfire Plasma: 36" Heavy 6 S7 AP-3 D2, can overcharge for S8 and D3 and unmodified hit rolls of 1 deal this model a mortal wound.  When not overcharged, always worse than the Volkite, but if you overcharge, it will outperform it against many targets.  You don't have an easy way to give it re-rolling 1s, though.
**Hull weapons: Twin heavy bolters or heavy flamers, so you'll pick the bolters every time, like a smart person.
**Top weapons: You get to choose to add a top weapon (which you should, this thing costs too much to be half-assed), which can be an Aiolos Missile Launcher (48" Heavy 3d3 S6 AP-1 D1 Blast) or Boreas Air Defence Missiles (48" Heavy 1 S9 AP-3 D1d6, but it's +2 to hit and deals D3+1d3 vs {{W40Kkeyword|Aircraft}}).  Against non-Aircraft, this is a toss-up - the Aiolos is better against lighter targets and the Boreas is better against heavier ones.
*'''Helbrute<sup>{{W40Kkeyword|core}}</sup>:''' - A good [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]], rocking M6 A5 WS3+ S6 BS3+ T7 W8 Sv3+ (5++ with Brotherhood of Sorcerers, of course). A Helbrute requires a decent amount of applied firepower to be put down, thanks to their rule that subtracts 1 from the D characteristic of any profile shooting them (to a minimum of 1).  While below full health, they re-roll 1s to wound, too, and when they die, on a 6 all units within 3" suffer 1 mortal wound.  Most importantly, they're {{W40Kkeyword|core}}, so the Exalted Sorcerer aura works on them for re-rolling 1s to hit.  Has two arms - the default options are missile launcher and a twin heavy bolter (that's right, the default is a gun that costs points, not a free one), and their options need to be discussed separately.  Critically, this is your only {{W40Kkeyword|core}} unit (out of 4 total) that both is able to take anti-tank weapons and doesn't cost a CP to field.
**THB arm: The Reaper Autocannon is ''terrible''.  Barring some radical points changes, there's no reason to ever take it - the Helbrute Plasma Cannon is better for 0 points.  A 5-point multi-melta is ''excellent'' although there are valid excuses for a 10-point THB.  Avoid the Reaper Autocannon so long as anything else is free and avoid the TLC if it continues to be radically more expensive than the multi-melta.
***You don't want a melee arm for the ranged option - the built-in guns are deeply inferior to your real gun options - and since you also don't want 2 melee arms ''and'' this arm's guns are better than the other arms, this arm should always be a gun.
**Missile Launcher Arm:  For a Dakkabrute, keep the missile arm - the melee arms all rock worse guns than a missile launcher.  If you want melee support, see below.
***The hammer is worse than useless - same cost as a fist, but the accuracy debuff means that the only way for the hammer to do better is for the target to be both W5+ ''and'' for the AP difference to matter (so Sv2+7++, 2+/6++, or 3+/7++).  That's just too rare to worry about - stick with the fist.
***Whether you take a scourge (A8 S7 AP-2 D2) or a fist (A5 S12 AP-3 D3) depends on what you plan on fighting, but the answer should be a fist - the rest of your army can shred lighter targets, so you need to worry about fighting heavies.
***If you take a fist, never take an inferno combi-bolter, but do strongly consider mounting a heavy flamer in it.  
*'''Chaos Leviathan Dreadnought<sup>Forge World,Martial Legacy</sup>''' - Whatever was sacrificed in the name of Chaos to make these available... it was worth it. This super dreadnought is a monster and priced very well for what it does. Has M8/6/4 A4 WS3/4/5+ S7 BS3/4/5+ T7 W14 Sv2+/5++ with the standard -1D and explodes.  Has to take 2 arm weapons and 2 nipple weapons, and can take an optional hat weapon loadout.
**Nipples: 2 heavy flamers which you'll never take or the substantially superior set of 2 twin volkite culverin which sum up to 30" Heavy 8 S5 AP0 D2, unmodified wound rolls of 6 deal +1 mortal wound.
**Gun Arms:
***The Storm Cannons are your worst choice; each is 36" Heavy 8 S7 AP-1 D2.
***The Grav-Flux Bombards are each 24" Heavy 2d3 (Blast) S8 AP-3 D2, D3 against targets with a 3+ Sv or better, and your best choice against TEQ or lighter, with very decent scaling against heavier targets.
***The Cyclonic Melta Lance is absurdly good: 18" Heavy 1d6 (Blast) S9 AP-4 D1d6, D1d6+2 at half range.  The single most compelling reason to take a Leviathan - you should either take 2 of this arm or 1 and a Siege Drill if you're going to pay the astronomical cost for one of these dreads.
**Melee arms are both WS3+ Sx2(14), and both come with a built-in meltagun; ''never'' take 2 of them, even though it's legal:
***Siege Claw: A5 AP-3 D3 is worse than the drill against heavier targets but better against anything without many wounds, like GEQ, MEQ, and TEQ.  Stick with the Drill - anything the Claw is better against the rest of your army can deal with.
***Siege Drill: A4 AP-4 D2d3, jumps to D6 against {{W40Kkeyword|vehicle}}s.  The patrician choice for tearing things in half in melee.
**Hat Weapons: Can take 0-3 hunter killer missiles, which are one-use-only 48" Heavy 1 S10 AP-2 D1d6.  They're 5 points each and you should take 0 or 3, don't half-ass it: 0 keeps the dread cheaper by ignoring one-shot weapons, while 3 is for alpha striking, because you can unload all three missiles the first time the model shoots.
*'''[[Tzaangor Shaman]]''' - Comes in at 70 pts including force stave, BS3+/WS3+/S4/A3/T4/W4/Ld8/Sv6+ (5++ with Brotherhood of Sorcerers). They hover about on a disk which gives them a useless bonus melee attack. Uses powers from the change discipline, casting 1 and denying 1, and are worth 1 Cabal Point. They can buff {{W40Kkeyword|Bray}} or {{W40Kkeyword|Enlightened}} units (which in practice is all Tzaangors ''except'' for Shamans) within 6" with a +1 to all their hit rolls. Because this +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 melee with ground Tzaangors, this aura also really shines with Tzaangor Enlightened, as it makes them hit with their divining spears on 2+.

===Troops===
*'''Chaos Cultists:''' Your cheap choice. Cultists can be set for melee or range without paying extra points, which is nice. Flamers make them somewhat more reliable, while Heavy Stubbers are a cheap and useful upgrade if you plan to camp objectives with them. They have some problems though, with poor leadership and the ability to die to a stray fart. They're doing best when the opponent forgets they exist, so try not to mention them. Also, Games Workshop tacitly approved the use of Age of Sigmar's Tzeentch Arcanites as flavourful Thousand Sons Cultists with some art in the codex (just base them on a 25mm base, or use them as Tzaangors). Use these if you want them to look more like someone who might have come from Sortiarius. Cultists no longer gain Objective Secured for Thousand Sons so their use is dramatically diminished, but they are still the cheapest troop choice you can take if you're looking to save points. 
**RAW, also gains benefits from AoC, so put them in cover and watch them shrug Heavy Bolters. [[Derp|It makes sense, trust me]]. 
** Can be used to wrap enemy vehicles into position, but Tzaangors have bigger bases (so need fewer models to do it) and are much better at getting stuck in.
** Frankly outmatched by Tzaangors in almost every way except raw point price. They completely lack an invul save, are worse in melee, and have worse toughness. Unless your thought is to somehow utilize their autoguns and range, just take a Tzaangor unless you can only afford 50 points and not 70 points.
*'''[[Rubric Marines]]:''' Once unusable, these guys have become pretty good. They have their usual loadout of Inferno Boltguns (AP-2 bolters) which they can replace with Warpflamers (AP-2 flamers) for maximum hurt at worse range, and the Aspiring Sorcerer has a Force Staff and an Inferno Bolt Pistol (AP-2 bolt pistol), Plasma Pistol, or Warpflame Pistol (AP-2 hand flamer). One Rubric can take a Soulreaper Cannon (24" Heavy 5 S6 AP-3 D1, no penalty to hit for moving and shooting cos you're a Rubric), and one (which can be the same one) can take an Icon of Flame for making 1 more Cabal Point. The Aspiring Sorcerer is a fully fledged Psyker (normal Smites!) who knows one spell from the Discipline of Change or Vengeance on top of the Cult spell he knows, giving him a massive list of spells to choose from when you add him to your army (on the the table he only has 1 cast). If you take a few 5 man squads (or even 10 man and some Scarabs), you're going to find yourself casting a ''lot'' of psychic powers - which is exactly how it should be! 
**As of the 06.22 Points changes, Icons of Flame are free, and Warpflamers are even cheaper at 3 points. The free additional Cabal Point on each of your rubric squads is a god send, because Cabal Points make you less reliant on Command Points. 
**Their "All is Dust" rule gives them (including the Sorcerer) +1 to armour saves if the attack's characteristic is D1 (does nothing against d3, or Mortals) , giving them a 2+ save against small arms fire; combined with armor of contempt, that it'll take AP-3 to start denting your armor. Of course, since your opponent can fix this with either AP or D2, staying in cover is still a very good idea.
**You generally want the soulreaper cannon, which is an auto-include at 5 points for 24" Heavy 5 S6 AP-3 D1, since All is Dust means you'll take no penalty for moving and shooting.
** Do remember that you will still need to be stationary (or spend 1CP) to double tap with your bolters when at distances greater than 12", but if you're going full warpflamer squad, always advance with the rubrics since they will auto-hit, and you weren't going to charge into melee anyways.  The only reason not to advance with a ''full'' flamer unit is if you gave the sorcerer a warpflame pistol, as he can't shoot it after advancing.  If you do grab a warpflame pistol (and you should, as it's far and away the sorcerer's most efficient gun on top of being free), consider a soulreaper cannon despite the flamer spam - it'll outshoot the flamers against pretty much everything in the game.
** Compared to Scarab Occult Terminators, the Rubrics have worse melee output per point, slightly worse bolter output per point (although both units have garbage output per point just using their (unbuffed) inferno bolters), no ability to deep strike innately, and worse wounds per model (more wounds per point, though) and a worse armor save (same invuln save, though). However, they are able to generate more cabal points in both absolute and relative terms with the icon of flame, can steal objectives from other troops more easily due to being cheaper, and can bring warpflamers in large numbers which the Scarabs can't (in fact, the only way to have Scarabs out-shoot Rubricae is to make the contest happen outside of 12" - 3 warpflamers, a warpflame pistol/Incandaeum, and an SrC simply outshoots Scarabs against anything in range). Scarabs are better in a fair number of situations, but don't let that make you think it invalidates Rubricae.
<tabs>
<tab name="Ardent Automata (Upgrade)">
If your unit is carrying out any objective actions, you can also have them fire as well. For 15 points/+1 PL, this is way too situational to even consider. Even if it were half the price, that just goes to a "maybe".
</tab>
<tab name="Protégé (Upgrade)">
The sorcerer knows an additional power. This is pretty neat, and 5 points/+1 PL you might as well take it. Keep in mind that he'll have 3 by default (Smite, Cult, and chosen) and can still only cast 1, so be careful to not dump a bunch of points on him that you can't make use of.  May be better used on a Scarab Occult Sorcerer.
</tab>
<tab name="Rites of Coalescence (Upgrade)">
One of your rubricae regains all his wounds each command phase for 10 points/+1 PL. ''Significantly'' better on a Scarab Occult Sorcerer.
</tab>
</tabs>
*'''[[Beastmen (40k)#Tzaangors.2C Beastmen of Tzeentch| Tzaangors]]''' - 70 points for a unit of 10 close combat chaff that are just as tough as Space Marines, have a 5++ invulnerable save, 2A (3 on the Twistbray) with either AP-1 on the melee attacks or an autopistol, a 10 point instrument that adds 1 to their Advance and Charge rolls, and a 5 point banner for re-rolling Morale Tests on their Ld of 7. These guys are alright for Thousand Sons armies that need lots of fodder to protect their big guns in the back. Pistols/Chainswords look cool but are inferior to Tzaangor Blades, as AP-1 makes them dangerous to almost everything in the game (apart from Daemons).
**These guys are 1/3 the cost of Rubrics, but you get no armour save, half the wounds, and no morale immunity, and non-existent ranged output.  On the other hand, they have better melee output.  If literally all you need is something to sit on a backfield objective and obstinately exist, these guys can handle it ok.
**May or may not be getting better with the upcoming Army of Renown built explicitly around Tzaangor hordes.

===Dedicated Transports===
*'''Chaos Rhino''' - With Webway Strike and the numerous ways to slingshot units, sadly these aren't very useful for Thousand Sons. At 80 points they're expensive in an army that is already struggling to fit things in. Their main use is to get assault troops safely forward. Meanwhile, you want your tanky Rubrics on the field so that their Sorcerers can cast their psychic powers, though they ''do'' gain 5++ from the legion trait.
** If you ''do'' take one, then add on a Havoc Launcher and Inferno Combi-Bolter. This at least puts out a decent amount of small arms fire, to make the price of the METAL BOX feel a bit better.
** For some players, 80 points apiece is a decent price to protect your expensive rubric squads from a harsh Alpha Strike, as any opponent worth their salt (or dust) will know they are going to have to throw a hefty amount of firepower at them. Due to this, think of the Rhino as a disposable bunker; if it dies, so be it, and if it doesn't it still served its purpose, considering it moves twice as fast as the rubrics.
*'''Chaos Terrax-pattern Termite<sup>Forge World</sup>:''' It's a neither a drop pod nor a rhino, but something of both. Like a drop pod, the Termite can Deep Strike (but it has no special rules for doing it turn 1, nor any for ignoring point limits). Once deployed, however, the termite acts like a slow rhino. At 8/5/3 inches, this thing isn't going anywhere quickly. So why bother? Well, the termite has some neat little things going for it. First is the transport capacity. At 12 {{W40Kkeyword|<Legion>}} models (no Terminators), this little drill is quite the metal box. And then there is the subject of the ''incredible'' guns, which should never be a pair of combi-bolters but should be either a pair of heavy flamers for free or a pair of 20" twin volkite chargers for 10 points (the chargers will ''wreck'' an enemy heavy, but this is a slow transport, not a main battle tank - driving costs up isn't always a good idea). It comes with a mandatory ''5''-shot heavy meltagun and a Termite Drill, which is an A3/1d3/1 WS4+ Sx2 (14) AP-4 D1d3+3 (D1d3+6 vs {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicle}}s) melee weapon.  The 5-shot meltagun combined with the volkite will wreck absolute face when you deep strike, but after that you are likely to have trouble keeping the thing in range to shoot.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Chaos Spawn:''' The Flesh Change sufferers you know and love. Movement 7", 2d3 attacks at -2 AP. Has a chance to be -4 AP, or re-roll failed wounds, or get +d3 attacks. S5 T5, 5+ save, leadership 9 due to being a mindless pile of flesh and 4 wounds. 5+ save means they're pretty squishy, but they can hit fairly hard. Pretty much the same as before, but there is a Stratagem that can give you one without having to pay for reinforcement points and another one that lets you re-roll their attack number while also picking their bonus effect. For 23pts a model, you might want to throw in a few gribblies in your list if you need a speed bump or meat shield for the Daemon Princes.
*'''Dreadclaw Drop Pod<sup>Forge World</sup>:''' - This flyer/drop pod/thing is a ball of spiked sex! It can transport 10 {{W40Kkeyword|Infantry}} ({{W40Kkeyword|Terminator}}s count as 2) or a single {{W40Kkeyword|Helbrute}} or {{W40Kkeyword|Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought}} and comes in via Drop Pod Assault (it can always come in turn 1, even if another rule says it can't, and it likewise ignores unit limits for both itself and what's inside it in terms of what can and can't be put into Reserves - see below for more). M12" S6 T6 W9 Sv3+ with Blade struts for melee (WS4+ A4 Sx2 AP-4 D3) and Thermal Jets, which hit one unit you move over for mortal wounds (1.92 to a non-{{W40Kkeyword|Character}}, 1 to a {{W40Kkeyword|Character}} on average). The Dreadclaw hits you in the groin with a cost of 115 points on top of needing a Fast Attack slot rather than a Dedicated Transport slot, which could be a benefit if you're trying to fill out a detachment.
**The standing rule in matched play is that your reserves must total no more than half your units ''and strictly less than half your points''.  The Pod simply does nothing to impact the latter rule, which means its ability is primarily useful when you put numerous cheap units in reserves, so you hit your unit cap before you hit your point cap.  This is hard for you to do, as you don't have a plethora of cheap units that can deep strike, but just be aware that that's how it works.
*'''[[Tzaangor Enlightened]]:''' Birds on discs.  They have 3 different weapon options: Autopistol and Chainsword, Fatecaster Greatbow, or a Divining Spear. In addition, when using the bows (30" Assault 1 S5 AP-1 D1), they auto hit on every roll of 2+, including Overwatch (meaning you can advance and shoot them and still hit on 2+), and can ignore Look Out, Sir, making them slightly like snipers. By comparison, their spears are D2 and swing twice (3 times for the leader), meaning they hit harder in practice but are harder to deliver. Easy to pass over at first glance, but they have a saving grace: speed. With a move of 12", they can add some much needed mobility to your list in a way that doesn't rely on psychic powers or command points. They are also dirt cheap in terms of points/power-level.
**All of their attacks except for the single S4 AP0 D1 attack from their mount auto-wound on a natural 6 to hit, even if you use the autopistol and chainsword.  For the bow, that means 1 in 5 of your hits don't need to roll to wound - for the other weapons, it's 1 in 4 of your hits unless a Shaman buffs them.
**Since all of their wargear choices have the same cost, these birbs are relatively ideal snipers and should usually carry their greatbows (which also means they have no need for a Shaman): 43-48" (since you'll always Advance with them) of ignoring Look Out, Sir threat on a weapon that hits on 2+ and doesn't need to roll to wound on a 6+ means that e.g. if you're trying to murder a MEQ HQ (T4/3+) each birb deals 11/36 of a wound, so 17 of them is enough to usually kill one in one go - and you can bring an 18th as insurance.  
**Since this makes the Shaman utterly useless, the only support you need to consider giving them is an Exalted Sorcerer (or Ahriman) on Disc to slap them with Temporal Surge, but they don't really need more mobility.  The only Cult power that's particularly good on them is Scheming's for shooting (and charging, if you want) after Falling Back, in case they get tarpitted, but they're so cheap it might not be worth it.  If Thousand Sons ever get a way to give these guys full re-rolls to hit, that's when they'll begin looking for support, because if ever a unit wanted the ability to re-roll successful hits to try for a 6, it's these guys.

===Flyers===

*'''Heldrake''': Charizard is back, better than ever. Much improved since 8e, as it is now '''AIRCRAFT''' again. That means it has -1 to hit (Hard to Hit), Airborne (can't be charged unless they can fly), and the extended flight range of other Aircraft. Unlike other flyers, it can switch to Hover Jet mode like the IG's Valkyrie, bringing it back down to 20" of movement, but allowing you to charge ground targets again. It keeps Infernal Regeneration to recover a wound each turn, and Hunter in the Skies for a +1 to hit against FLY targets. This is good, because while Heldrake claws are now a flat 2, they jump to '''4!!''' against flyers so you can fuck up Necron Scythes or Stormravens that dare to try and challenge aerial superiority over you.
**It now also has a 3+ WS/BS (Degrading), so you're only going to worry about hitting on 5s when you're down on your last 3 wounds, but since your 5 attacks no longer degrade, you're not really going to worry about it too much, either. The Baleflamer is still an autotake, as it's now '''Assault 2d3''' STR 6 AP-2 D2, you can fly to your opponent's backline and fry those MEQs without a care in the world. The Hades autocannon is now AP-2, but why even bother. 


====Forge World====
*'''Fire Raptor Gunship (Martial Legacy)''' - A very powerful flyer that looks immense and fits right into the lore of the Thousand Sons. It particularly benefits from the psychic buffs on a Thousand Sons army, too. Keep Presage, Glamour of Tzeentch (though do remember you are capped at a total to-hit mod of -1) and Weaver of Fates cast upon it to maximise survivability and firepower.
**'''Main:''' It comes stock with a nose-mounted marine-decimating Twin Avenger Bolt Cannon (10 shots of S6 AP-2 Damage 2).
**'''Side:''' As for the side weapons, you have a choice of two quad heavy bolters or two twin autocannons.
**'''Wings:''' For the wings you have a choice of two twin lascannons or two twin hellstrike launchers (72" Heavy 2 S8 AP-3 Damage 3, +1 to hit and Damage D3+3 vs Aircraft).
*** If you take this monstrosity then expect all of the DAKKA to target it on turn one. You might want to take Magnus as well so that one of them gets to survive, but be careful as this might cause an unsuspecting opponent to have a stress seizure and turn into a Chaos Spawn (though only if he/she have the appropriate reinforcement points).
*'''Chaos Storm Eagle Gunship (Martial Legacy)''' - Less useful for Thousand Sons as the transport aspect isn't too helpful. Umbralefic Crystal, Deep Strike Stratagem and the lack of melee capacity of Rubrics takes away the urgency for flying transport.
**'''Main:''' You have the choice of a storm eagle multi-melta (read: twin multi-melta), twin heavy bolters or a hellforged typhoon missile launcher (two krak missiles or frag missiles)
**'''Top:''' Vengeance Launcher (48" Heavy 2d6 S6 AP-1 D1 blast)
**'''Wings:''' Two twin hellstrike launchers or two twin lascannons, same as the fire raptor.
*'''Hell Blade''' - Courtesy of the Dark Mechanicus's warped minds comes a fast solid flyer. Only 135 points with two twin autocannons, with a 3+/5++ (like most things in your arsenal) and Hard to Hit. Can swap its two autocannons for two Lascannons. With a 20"-60" movement that doesn't degrade as you take damage.
** Nothing really to say about it, it's like a flying predator without sponson guns.
*'''Hell Talon''' -  Expensive at 210 points, but considerably tougher than its baby brother the Hell Blade with 14 wounds and T7 as well as its 3+/5++. In addition to the autocannon (which can be replaced with a havoc launcher) and twin Lascannon, you get two sets of Infernal Bombs, which are used after you fly this thing over and pick a point on the table, all units within 6" of that unit take D3 MW on a 4-5, and D6 MWs on a roll of a 6, subtract -1 from characters that aren't vehicles or monsters.
*'''Xiphon Interceptor (Martial Legacy)''' - A flyer that the Thousand Sons loved to pieces during the Heresy-Era, to the point that they replaced all of their other Interceptor-Fighters with it. A solid anti-air option. Comes with two twin lascannons and a Xiphon missile battery (60" Heavy 3 S7 AP-2 Damage 3 +1 to hit vs aircrafts). A costly option at 235.

===Heavy Support===
*'''Chaos Land Raider''' - Make sure to make use of its transport capability, or you'd get more out of a pair of las-Predators or one of the numerous other lascannon platforms. The 5++ from being {{W40Kkeyword|ARCANA ASTARTES}} doesn't really do anything to address the problems the land raider has always had, which is a shame.
**NOTE: Land raiders are fairly useful for the Thousand Sons as their large footprint allows them to cover a lot of space when used in conjunction with the warpflame gargoyles stratagem.
**'''Achilles (Forge World):''' Your land raider on steroids with 2 twin multi-meltas or two twin volkite culverins (45" Heavy 8 S8 AP0 D2 with every wound roll of 6 dishing out an extra 1MW) and a Quad Launcher (shatter shell for 24" Heavy 4 S8 AP-3 Damage 3 or thunderfire shells for 60" Heavy 4D3 frags that have Blast and ignore LoS). It has a 5++ by default but everything in your army has that so whatever. It can also take a Hunter-Killer missile. The only downsides are its increased cost and very limited transport capacity (6 infantry models).
**'''Proteus (Forge World, Martial Legacy):'''For a few less points and 1CP you get a LR with a few more options. By default it's like a standard LR but without the hull twin heavy bolters, but can take a single hull mounted heavy bolter, twin heavy bolters, a multi-melta or twin heavy flamers. It can also take Heavy Armour for a 5++ (never take that when you have it by default) or an Explorator augury web that denies deep striking within 12" of it but reduces the transport capacity to 6 models. It can also take a hunter-killer missile.
*'''Chaos Predator''' - It does Predator things. You're better off taking a Forgefiend with heavy hades autocannons; it's more efficient both offensively and defensively. If you're going with tanks there are two major roles that a Predator can fill: anti-tank or anti-infantry (or to a lesser degree, both).
**'''Annihilator:''' Starting at 155 points, you can grab a las-pred armed with 4 lascannons. You can give it an inferno combi gun of your choice and/or a havoc launcher if you have the spare points, but it is totally fine as-is without them, too - the havoc launcher makes it more efficient against all possible targets, but not radically so against the targets you want to bring the lascannons to bear against.
***Worse than a Forgefiend at killing literally any target in the game, for the points.  Do not take.
**'''Destructor:''' Costs 160 points; you can have the Dakka-pred armed with the "predator autocannon" (48" Heavy 2d3 S7 AP-1 D3) and Heavy Bolters sponsons, and you probably want a Havoc Launcher.
***Worse than a Forgefiend at killing literally any target in the game, for the points.  Do not take.
*'''Chaos Vindicator''' - For 130pts you get T8 and 24" Heavy 1d6 S10 AP-3 D1d6, which is ''incredible'' - the only problem is the 24" range (other than that, this is a quadruple-lascannon Predator but better, for the points) - it's better than a Forgefiend against heavy targets and worse against light ones. Take it if you want something to spearhead a vehicular assault; the close-range firepower will serve you well, and with a siege shield for Sv2+ against attacks, the tank will survive much longer than it should. 
**'''Laser Destroyer (Forge World)''' - The datasheet is in the Imperial Armour Compendium FAQ.  This glorious dakka-thrower can't take any wargear options other than a shitty hellforged hunter-killer missile you don't need, but the base gun is an ''absolute steal'' by TSons standards.  It has two firing modes, but you're not here for the weaker mode.  The stronger mode out-dakkas a normal Vindicator against heavy targets, which was why you were considering these tanks to begin with.  If you can field one of these, you should choose it over the base Vindicator, despite the lack of access to a siege shield.
***36" Heavy 3 S9 AP-3 D3+1d3
***36" Heavy 3 S10 AP-4 D6; if the shooter didn't remain stationary, each unmodified 1 to hit results in a mortal wound for the shooter after all shots resolve.
*'''Daemon Engines'''
**'''Defiler:''' Here's the deal, the Defiler is exactly what you expect him to be, he's a big, stompy, killy daemon engine that will inevitably draw in a lot of enemy fire because of how dangerous he is. 14 wounds, T7, 5++ invuln, '''Strength 16''' melee attacks. Long and short-range firepower with the Battle cannon, Reaper autocannon/Twin heavy bolter and Twin heavy flamer. Smoke launchers for defence and regenerates 1 wound at the beginning of each of your turns. Effective at range and close up but with options to suit your need. Replace the Twin heavy flamer and Reaper autocannon with a Twin Lascannon and havoc launcher and ruin some vehicle's day or bring a Defiler scourge and trounce any units that try to jump you.
***The plethora of psychic powers that can make the fiends scarier can also be used on the defiler, making the Giant Enemy Crab Engine even '''MORE''' deadly and less susceptible taking massive damage in a weak spot.
**'''Fiends''' - They're durable (12 wounds, 3+/5++ and they regenerate one lost wound at the start of each of your turns) and very effective point-wise. Another fun thing the thousand sons can do is use the fiends (or defilers) to play mad doctor due to the number of spells that can be used on them.
***'''Forgefiend''' - Or Dakkafiend. Comes standard with 2 Heavy Hades autocannons and a [[Nob|reinforced jaw to chomp harder on anything close-by]]. Can replace everything (including the jaw) with Ectoplasma cannons that have better AP, damage and blast rule for fewer shots. Bring a pack of 2 of these things and watch them output a ridiculous amount of firepower on a target. 
****Never replace the heavy hades autocannons with the ectoplasma. The hades autocannons statistically equal or beat the ectoplasma against every combination of toughness/save up to 8/2+.  Plus, they have higher range for an extra 10pts per gun.  Replacing the jaw is fine, however, as it's your only ranged option.
***'''Maulerfiend''' - Or Choppafiend. They're fast (10" base movement) and come standard with power fists that deal d3+3 and Magma Cutters. Magma Cutters are considered Assault 2 with 6" of range now (S8, AP-3 D6+2!), so the Fiend can start putting the hurt on a target right before they get into base to base contact and still shoot them in close quarters should they start the turn in combat. Pure win. They can also replace the pair of cutters with Lasher Tendrils for 1 damage each and 6 extra melee attacks, trading punch against heavy targets for more attacks to mulch through infantry a bit quicker. Like the Forgefiends they work better in pairs and tag-teaming a target.
****This beast is basically a giant, well-disguised can-opener. It can and will crack ANY tank open in melee and eat it for breakfast, and the tendrils threaten infantry as well. On the downside, It gets slower and weaker as it takes damage, so it stops being as scary at low wounds(though regeneration helps ALOT as the turns go by). It's FAST and WILL eat even dreadnoughts with relative ease, and it has Weapon Skill of 3+ and with the MASSIVE attention it will draw from any opponent who prefers their tanks unmolested. Overall - a respectable choice.
*'''Mutalith Vortex Beast''' - Another import from Age of Sigmar, the MVB seems like a weird addition at first glance, [[Bradley Fighting Vehicle|since it's just as fast a Maulerfiend, attacks 5 times like a Forgefiend, but has a 4+ armour save and 2 more wounds than either.]]  But it brings a variety of ways to deal mortal wounds for something so ugly. 
**Stats: M 10/8/6, WS 3/4/5, S/T 7, 14 wounds, 5 A and a 4+/5++. It casts 2 powers at top bracket, 1 from 4-6 wounds, and 0 on its last 3 wounds.  It recovers D3 wounds in your command phase, but due to the instability of its Warp vortex, it will explode on a 4+ for D3 damage.  It can attack with its tentacles at S7 AP-1 D1, but make 3 hit rolls for every attack, or attack with its claws, at S8 AP-2 3 Damage. 
** '''Healing''': The MVB is your only Heavy Support option that you can reliably heal. While Thousand Sons have lots of ways to recover infantry wounds, you have no way to repair vehicles outside of their native regeneration (you don't have a Warpsmith). Temporal Manipulation specifically locks out VEHICLES, but guess what, the Vortex Beast is a MONSTER, so combined with its native D3 regen, you could potentially recover 2D3 wounds a turn, which should be enough to bring it up a bracket.
** '''Cabal Points''': With a strat, your MVB can provide you with D3 more Cabal Points, which can be very helpful once you start losing sorcerers. 
** '''Mobility''': Sorcerous Facade only works on Infantry or Monsters; that means Rubrics or this guy, again locking out vehicles, and even dudes on Discs. 
** '''"Shooting"''': Unlike last ed, you do not roll to use the Vortex Powers, only have 4, and they are all meant to do damage, removing the +1 S and -1 Ap options you had previously. Each power can only be used once a turn, regardless of how many you MVBs you have, so plan accordingly. That being said, the number of casts degrade and the powers do tend to be situational, so position them well.
**Powers: 
***'''Immmaterial Flare:''' Select one visible enemy unit within 18", roll 1d6 per model and deal 1 mortal wound for every 6 you roll.
****Against a 12-member unit, ties with Turbulent Discharge, and past that just deals more.
***'''Turbulent Discharge:''' Pick the closest enemy unit within 18" that's visible, on 2-4 that unit suffers 1d3 mortal wounds, and on a 5+ it suffers 3 Mortal Wounds.
****Net MWs inflicted on average: 2.
***'''Maelstrom of Madness:''' Roll 1d6 per enemy unit within 9", each takes a single mortal wound on a 2+.
****Net MWs inflicted on average: 5/6 per unit (3 units gets you 2.5, the minimum to beat Turbulent Discharge).
***'''Beam of Unreality:''' Pick a visible enemy unit that has wounds of 10+ that's within 24". Roll 1d6, -1 from the result for {{W40Kkeyword|Aircraft}} and +1 for {{W40Kkeyword|Titanic}}. On a 3-4 the unit takes 1d3 Mortal Wounds and on a 5+ it takes 1d6.
****Net MWs inflicted on average: 1+5/6 base (worse than Turbulent Discharge), 2+5/12 when buffed, 1+1/4 when nerfed.  

====Forge World====

*'''Chaos Rapier Carrier:'''  This baby is the absolute business - it has several weapons options, but the only ones you need to care about are the quad heavy bolter, which is exactly what it sounds like: you get 4 heavy bolters (and a regular bolter, which doesn't matter) for the low low cost of 85 points, and the laser destroyer for 35 points more (120 total).  That's 21.25 points per heavy bolter, which is the most efficient dakka you can field, period. You can also replace the quad heavy bolters with a graviton cannon (36" Heavy D6 S8 AP-3 2D Blast, which increases the damage to 3 vs units with sv3+) for no additional cost, or for an additional 35pts you can take a laser destroyer (36" Heavy 3 S10 AP-4 D3+3) or also for 35pts a Quad Launcher (Shatter shell for 24" Heavy 4 S8 AP-3 Damage 3 OR Thunderfire shells for 60" Heavy 4D3 frags that has Blast and ignore LoS).
**The Graviton Cannon is worse against all possible targets than the Quad Heavy Bolter, and the Quad Launcher is worse ''per point'' against all possible targets than the Quad Heavy Bolter.  Never take them.
**The Laser Destroyer is better than the QHB against the targets you'd expect - generally speaking, targets with W5+ and the toughness and/or saves to notice how hard it hits.  The QHB is better against TEQ, MEQ, and GEQ.  Since the targets you'll have the most trouble killing are the hard ones - all of your troops can massacre hordes with reasonable ease - the laser destroyer might be your best bet.
**A QHB or LD Rapier Carrier is your most efficient murder machine available.
*'''Chaos Sicaran (Martial Legacy):'''
**'''Battle Tank:''' Spend 1 CP for something ''worse'' than a triple-ectoplasma Forgefiend; 165 points for 48" Heavy 6 S7 AP-2 D3 would be bad even if you didn't have to spend a CP on it.  Hard pass.
**'''Punisher:''' 36" Heavy 18 S6 AP-1 D1 is a horde-killer, and 155 points isn't ''bad'', but you just don't need more anti-chaff dakka in a TSons army, especially for a 1 CP price tag.
**'''Venator:''' The Sicaran Laser Cannon on this thing is 48" Heavy 3 S12 AP-3 D1d6, and if the shooter remained stationary, its D goes up to straight 6 - all for 170 points and 1 CP.  On the move, this can't possibly compete with a Vindicator Laser Destroyer, which doesn't even have to pay a CP to exist, and being forced to Remain Stationary all the time is just too steep a cost for something that can't ignore LOS.  Skip this.
*'''Chaos Whirlwind Scorpius (Martial Legacy):'''Chaos finally gets a Whirlwind! The Scorpius Multi-Launcher is going to do work at 48" Heavy 3d3 S6 AP-2 D2, Blast, Ignores LOS. Can also get a combi-bolter, but you aren't going to do that since you want it hiding all game and shooting - at 170 points it costs too much for just its output, and instead you want to abuse its incredible ''defensive'' value letting it hide in a corner, immune to being shot back at.

===Lord of War===
*'''[[Magnus the Red]]''' - Magnus is definitely a beast, there is no doubt about that: M18/16/14(Fly) A8/7/6 Ws2+ S8(16) T7 Sv3+/4++ W18.  He also has a degrading +2/+1 to Psychic and Deny the Witch tests (he doesn't degrade that third one when he's down to 1/4 wounds), and his Blade of Magnus is WS2+ A6-8 Sx2(16) AP-4 D3 and deals an additional d3 mortal wounds to one of the models that survived his beating.  His Gaze of Magnus now buffs up his smites to 1d6 mortal wounds or [[rape|3d3 mortal wounds]] if you get a result higher than 10, spiking his ''base'' Smite output to 4.63 - but he should always have Brotherhood of Sorcerers up, meaning he can't fail the Smite due to his +3 modifier, bringing his average mortal wounds with Smite to 5.15, because he also re-rolls all Psychic Tests. He also spreads a re-roll hits of 1 to friendly {{W40Kkeyword|Thousand Sons Core}} units (all 4 of them) within 6" of him, as well as letting one {{W40Kkeyword|Thousand Sons Core}} or {{W40Kkeyword|Character}} re-roll all hit rolls each turn. Expect people to dump a lot of firepower into him very early to try and bring him down, as he is truly a terror if allowed to go unanswered and even worse if he gets a chance to buff himself up first. 
**Don't feel bad about using his re-roll ability on himself - you won't have a good target for it on the table unless you brought Contemptors, and even then forcing Magnus to be near your dreads is plain unnecessary.
**He knows Smite and 3 powers base from the Discipline of Change and/or the Discipline of Vengeance, but if he's your Warlord (and he nearly has to be - your only current way out is allying in Mortarion to take over) then he knows all 9 from both, bringing his total powers known to 19.  He also has Cast 3 and Deny 3.
**If he's your Warlord, he also re-rolls Deny the Witch tests, can benefit from a second Ritual each turn, and reduces all Damage taken by 1, to a minimum of 1.
**Whether he knows 4 powers or 19, his ability to roll very high on Psychic tests is best on powers that care about the test.  You have 3 of these:
***As mentioned above, Smite in Magnus' hands deals an average of 5.15 mortal wounds.  A normal caster of yours casts it for 2.08.
***Baleful Devolution in Magnus' hands deals an average of 3.51 mortal wounds.  A normal caster of yours casts it for 1.88.
***Tzeentch's Firestorm in Magnus' hands deals an average of 2.19 mortal wounds.  A normal caster of yours casts it for 1.67.
****Firestorm ignores casting modifiers for calculating how many mortal wounds to deal, so your +3 only helps you cast it, but your re-roll raises the expected output.  If you bring along someone else with a re-roll, like Ahriman, you can hand this power off without concern.
***For reference, Magnus' version of Doombolt (which doesn't reward higher test rolls) deals about 3 mortal wounds (the odds of failing the cast are negligible).
****As a corollary, while Magnus is a decent target for Swelled by the Warp, the jump from S16 to S18 will almost never help you, and the jump from A8 to A9 usually deals as much damage as a power would - for example, even against a T4- W3+ Sv3+ target (e.g. a Space Marine Apothecary) for optimal output, the additional attack will only be worth an extra 2.083 points of damage - less than just casting a mortal wound power.  If you're going to throw Swelled by the Warp on Magnus, you usually want to have someone else do it - don't waste Magnus' excellent casting on it.
**Don't let that force your hand, though - Magnus' odds of casting all of your powers are better than normal, so you can use him to cast any power you desperately want up, like Twist of Fate.  Here are Magnus's odds of casting the powers you have, assuming a full +3 modifier:
***WC4 (Empyric Guidance):  100%
***WC5 (Smite, Gaze of Hate, Psychic Stalk, Temporal Manipulation, Pyric Flux): 100%
****This means you should re-roll Smite rolls of less than 8 on the dice - you can't fail the cast, and on an 8+ you get the upgraded output.
***WC6 (Dark Blessing, Swelled by the Warp, Tzeentch's Firestorm, Glamour of Tzeentch, Doombolt, Cacodaemonic Curse): 99.92%
****For Firestorm, re-roll dice results of 8 or less - the odds of you dropping from 1.5 mortal wounds to 0 are negligible, and you might re-roll into 3 mortal wounds.  That drops your odds to 98.00%.
***WC7 (Presage, Temporal Surge, Desecration of Worlds, Weaver of Fates, Perplex): 99.31%
***WC8 (Twist of Fate, Baleful Devolution): 97.22%
**Surround him with Scarab Terminators or Rubric Marines and he's an amazing force multiplier. On the other hand, that's a waste of his close combat potential and you have plenty of other psykers to put on buffing duty. If you're using that setup, have him fly in first and then use him as an anchor for the Terminators so he can still contribute to the battle directly, as opposed to sitting on his crimson ass half the game.

====Forge World====

*'''Chaos Sokar Pattern Stormbird Gunship (Martial Legacy)''' - Pretty much the largest flyer/transport/model Forge World offers next to titans. Damn expensive in points and tangible money alike, it can ferry the entire army onto the battlefield. Has like 8 lascannons, a host of various missiles and bombs, void shields, and a few heavy bolters here and there for flavor. Has 40 wounds, T9, a 5++ after the void shields.
*'''Chaos Thunderhawk Assault Gunship''' - The iconic astartes transport, comes with T8 30 wounds and a 2+ save. This behemoth comes equipped with 2 lascannons, Thunderhawk Heavy Cannon, 4 twin heavy bolters, and cluster bombs. The heavy cannon (48" Heavy 2D6 S8 AP-2 D3+2 damage and blast) can be swapped for a Turbo-laser destructor (96" Heavy 3 S16 AP-5 6 Damage) should you feel like focusing on vehicle killing. Once per battle you can open the hangers and drop the bombs, targeting one unit you've moved over, rolling a dice per model (6 instead for every vehicle and monster in said unit) up to a maximum of 18 dice, with each roll of 4+ dealing a single mortal wound. As for transportation, it can pick 30 infantry models for a ride, each terminator model counting as 2 models. 
*'''Chaos Cerberus (Martial Legacy)''' - Jesus, this thing is decently costy but decently killy. So this beast sports T8, 20 wounds, a 2+ save. It also hits at S8 with its Crushing Tracks (SUser AP-3 Damage D3). It can take two heavy bolters or lascannons for sponsons and a heavy hull weapon or combi-weapon for the pintle blah blah blah - let's talk about that FUCKHUEG gun sticking out of the front of it. It slings 4 shots down a 4 foot range with S14 AP-4 and dealing a painful 2d3 (but full 6 damage if you've not moved this model). 
*'''Chaos Fellblade (Martial Legacy)''' - Incredibly expensive, but still the Baneblade's exponentially meaner cousin, main cannon fires shells in 2 flavors, AE (your anti-everything shell), 2 shots strength 14 AP -4 and a flat rate of 6 damage per wound whatever you hit with this shell type will die. HE is anti-light/anti-MEQ with 2d6 shots strength 8 ap -3, two damage per shot makes it very effective at annihilating MEQs, 8 lascannons, 1 demolisher cannon and a twin heavy bolter round the arsenal out (not including your choice of combi-weapon or heavy hull weapon of your choice), all-in all, keep this beast at around 48" range to get the most use out of at least half its weapons, good take for non-apocalypse games just don't expect to be having the room for any other expensive units.
*'''Chaos Falchion (Martial Legacy)''' - Also expensive, but appears to be one of the best units in the game for deleting titanic targets (I imagine daemon primarchs too, before they're able to buff themselves, should you get first turn). 2d3 strength 14 shots, -5 AP, 6 damage. It'll wound anything T7 or lower on 2's, and the few T9 targets out there on 3's. Have a Sorc buff it with Presage. 2 quad lascannons = 8 lascannon shots, plus a hull twin heavy bolter add to its already impressive firepower.
*'''Chaos Mastodon (Martial Legacy)''' - Have you ever wanted to transport 40 Marines (or a maximum of 2 helbrutes/contemptors, each taking 10 slots) at once while trashing flyers and generally being nigh-indestructible? Then the Mastodon is the LoW for you! With 30 wounds and a 5+ void shield, the Mastodon is a fucking tough nut to crack, made even more killy with its 24" range siege melta array.
*'''Chaos Spartan (Martial Legacy)''' - Your super LR sadly got moved to the LOW slot, however it's not letting that get it down! T8, W20, Sv2+ and holding 25 Infantry it's going to deliver a lot of <s>paint</s> hurt. Between 12-20w it moves 10", dumping down to 5" at 6-11 and 3" at 1-5... it will likely delivery the payload without fail. Has Quad Lascannons or Two Laser Destroyers (you will want the Lascannons) and Twin heavy bolters. Can crush things in melee and on a 5+.
** You're playing Thousand Sons here, this thing's not really worth your time if you want it for transportation since you can just slingshot infantry across the table with more ways than you can remember. It IS a cool big tank though.
*'''Chaos Typhon (Martial Legacy)''' - Your tank for when you absolutely need 1 unit dead. It comes stock with the infamous Dreadhammer Siege Cannon that dishes out 2d6 S10 AP -4 shots that each do 3 wounds. The randomness of the number of shots makes it ok at best for dealing with squads that are 10 man or more, but that shouldn't be your priority with this thing. You want to be shooting and those special prize units of 5 or fewer models or rival tanks. This brings us to our next point, wargear. It may also bring Heavy Bolter or Lascannon sponsons. Its no slouch defensively either T8, 20 wounds, and a 2+ save will keep it on the board far longer than your enemy will be comfortable with.
*'''Kharybdis Assault Claw''' - Dreadclaw not have enough spikes? Ever wanted to field a model that weighs as much as its point cost? Well here you go! Seriously, it's like Forge World mails you a giant block of resin and you chisel it out and glue some pointy parts on (so that they know it's supposed to be Chaos). Having almost the same stats as a Dreadclaw (except BS4+, T8, and W20) but with more weapons/troop capacity/model weight and of course SPIKES. 400pts gives you a flyer/drop pod that can carry 20 infantry/1 Contemptor/1 Helbrute into battle by either drop pod assault (which can disembark 9" away from the enemy on the same turn) or like a normal transport after you deep strike it. A fat 20 wounds. In addition to the blade struts and thermal jet array that the Dreadclaw has, you also can use ONE (and only one!) additional Melta array melee attack, S8 AP-4 D6+2. Additionally, to soften whatever you're about to forcefully-blade-sodomise, it's equipped with 5 Storm Launchers (Heavy 2d6 S4 ap-1 1D Blast OR heavy 2 S8 AP-3 Damage D6).
**Maybe throw it at your opponent. The weight and extending spikes will bring about guaranteed victory! (And assault charges)