Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th 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 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.
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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".
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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.
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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)
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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+.