STARTING A THOUSAND SONS ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: DUST, DESTINY, AND A THOUSAND SHADES OF BLUE
The Thousand Sons are the sorcerers of Prospero leading the dust of their own brothers: hollow suits of lapis-and-gold armour marching in eerie silence. This page covers the Rubric Marine box to start with, Scarab Occult and Ahriman, and Magnus the Red.
Rubrics solve ninety percent of the army
Start with the current Thousand Sons Combat Patrol. These starters centre on Rubric Marines, the dust-filled automata that define the Legion, with a sorcerer character and often a mob of Tzaangors, the beastmen of Tzeentch, in support. Rubrics are your technique classroom: get the blue armour and gold trim working on squad one and you have solved ninety percent of the army. The scheme looks intimidating and is built from learnable techniques, and every squad you finish looks like it belongs in a display case. Tzaangors are a fast, forgiving palate-cleanser between trim sessions, and there will be trim sessions.
Scarab Occult and Ahriman
Deepen the cabal next. Scarab Occult Terminators are Rubrics writ large: bigger plates, grander headdresses, the same scheme at a more rewarding scale. Ahriman, the arch-sorcerer who damned the Legion trying to save it, is the natural leader for a young collection, a superb kit, a manageable project, and the beating heart of the faction's story. On the practical arcana: the points and datasheets of 11th edition are new across the range and starter boxes rotate, so consult the current points before you fix a list in place. Fate is mutable, and so is matched play.
Recommended: Scarab Occult Terminators
Magnus the Red
Magnus is the reason many people collect this army at all. The Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons is a vast, winged, magnificent kit, one of the great centrepieces in the entire game and a serious multi-week project in his own right. Resist him until your Rubrics are done. Magnus already knows how the story ends; make sure yours ends with a painted Legion at his feet rather than a shelf of unopened prophecy.
Tzeentch laughs at netlists
- Magnus before the first Rubric squad is finished. The Crimson King reads futures, and yours says "paint your infantry".
- A third sorcerer character while two sit undercoated.
- Endless Tzaangor reinforcements. A herd is charming; a stampede of grey is a warning.
- Any kit bought because a points tweak briefly made it the "correct" choice.
The Book of Fate
Tzeentch is the god of schemes, and the best scheme in this hobby is an honest ledger. Write every kit into it on arrival with its state: boxed, built or finished. The Thousand Sons punish self-deception in their lore, so do not let your pile of shame become its own cautionary tale. The finished column growing, squad by lacquered squad, is the real sorcery. The complete catalogue of everything the Legion fields is on the Thousand Sons faction page under Data.