Thousand Sons Count As Build

Pic from Litanies of Hate

So I've seen a lot of people asking about how to approach Thousand Sons, in regards to a counts as GK list. Firstly, for those that don't know (HEATHENS!)
The Thousand Sons were the legion of Primarch Magnus the Red, the most psychically gifted of all of the Emperors Primarchs. His psychic ability was second only to the Emperor himself, and his Legion inherited his inherent nascent psychic abilities, through his gene seed. This led to the Flesh Change, a flaw in their gene seed (similar to the mark of the wulfen) which would force uncontrolled mutation on the legionnaire. Magnus cured this, through means unknown, which cost him an eye, hence Magnus the Cyclops.

So that's the back story. Basically all 1ksons are psychic to some degree or another. They are broken up into cults, each specialising in some form of warp manipulation. Pyrae specialise in devastation, the Corvidae in foretelling, Pavoni in healing, etc etc. Units in the 1ksons (from the McNeil Heresy novel, anyways) seem to be loose formations of combinations of different cults, which is well represented by the GK codex, if one knows but how.

Pavoni/Pyrae are the best presented, and the easiest. Pavoni are one of the lower ranks, and specialise in healing/augmenting strength. Yay, hammerhand, represented by the fluff. Pyrae specialise in destruction, which I will be representing in my army by GK's with psycannons. The Corvidae are aptly represented by Librarians and Grand Masters, one is a Master Psychic, the other able to foresee the future through grand strategy.

So, how to represent the 1ksons? Lets start with a GM, with radnades/psycannon. This represents his higher mastery of the Pyrae arts, as well as his Corvidae training. The librarian comes in as well, with whatever powers you choose - he's a 1ksons libby, he can do whatever the crap he likes with his psychic abilities.

So HQ's are sorted, on to troops. Standard GK aptly represent normal squads filled with Pavoni and a Pyrae (cannon or incinerator), but for my liking, are a little squishy. I'm steering clear of razorbacks and the like, figuring the 1ksons would not be adverse to fighting on foot. For troops, I'm taking GKT's. This can represent our psychic elite, with cannons and "kine shields" as our justification for TDA and Psycannon.

Next is Heavy Support. One of my favourite things in the book, whilst not incredibly viable, is the Automaton's used by some of the 1ksons marines. Psychically controlled, and provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus, these are merely an extension of the will of the user. So we will take a Dreadknight, with Personal teleporter, because that's the only kind worth taking. An incinerator is also tasty, for smashing holes in bubblewrapped lines. We can either go with psyflemen, or Purgation squads, as well, but automatons are cool, so we are taking one minimum.

Elites is a simple choice between purifiers and paladins - I'm going to take paladins simply because every other bastard does purifiers. Again, they represent a cults elite, with stronger Pyrae involved in the units (ah psycannons, you cover all evils)

So, at 2k points, I'm looking at something like this.

Coteaz, 400 henchmen........ Almost had you, right? This just in - Coteaz can die in a fire. Slowly.

GM, Rad Nades, Psycannon 225
Libby, 2 skulls, Shrouding, Sanctuary, Might, Warprift (RARGH WARP LIGHTNINGS !) 180

5 Paladins, 2 MC Cannons, Banner, Mixed Weapons 350

10 GKT, 2 Cannons, MC Hammer, Banner 465
5 GKT,  Cannon, MC Hammer, Banner  255

Psyflemen 135
Psyflement 135
DK, Porter, Incin 235

1985 Pts, leftovers can go to further skulls, extra psychic powers, some master crafted CC weapons on paladins... Take your pick.

GM Starts with the smaller 5 man GKT Squad, giving you 2 squads on deck with 2 cannons in each, for suppression. DK gets scout, paladins/melee GKT Combat squad probably start in reserve. Libby stays with the main army to provide shrouding, and psyflemen max range to allow for psychic hood free suppression. Allows you a solid second turn drop, with Psychic Communion helping to bring in your strikers. DK provides immediate pressure, and although solo, can be resilient when used correctly. Don't expect it to last long, but it keeps anti tank off your dreads and walking termis, and that's not to be denied.

So that's my take on a 1k sons list, terminator heavy. You could do an equal list, with GKSS in squads and rhinos, and Purifiers with cannons in rhinos, and pure psyflemen... but then your every second GK list on the Internet, and that's not really 1ksons is it?

:)

Thanks for reading,

SneakyDan