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Wrath of Magnus: Thousand Sons Special Rules

5 Minute Read
Nov 27 2016
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BoLS will be bringing you Wrath of Magnus coverage all week. Today we look at the benefits of fielding a dedicated Thousand Sons force.

The Thousand Sons are BACK! After a decade in the dark the Thousand Sons are back with a nefarious vengeance. They are an army that will utterly dominate the psychic phase and will bring a unique set of abilities to thier players and challenger to their foes.  More on that in the days ahead.

What we will say is the GW Design Studio has done a great job of updating the boring and underpowered single Thousand Sons unit from the CSM codex, expanding upon it and keeping it’s original flavor intact.  Look for an army full of icy automotons marching forward in lockstep, under the control of myraid levels of Sorcerous leaders.  From the lowly Aspiring Sorcerers leading each squad or Rubrics all the way up to Magnus the Red himself, you will find a perfect set of psykers to produce as much power as you desire. These will of course be backed up by a set of formations, relics and new psychic Discipline of Tzeentch to kick things up a notch.

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Now, onto what you came for, the set of special rules that define exactly what the Thousand Sons army can do on the tabletop.

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Look at that SEXY cover!  If only my Rubrics looked so good when I painted them up.

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 Take a good look at those new abilities to get a feel for the army.

First off, let’s take a step back and understand why this is important.  What this will almost certainly represent is the basic template that will be cookie-cuttered into all 9 Traitor Legions in the upcoming expansion.

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The first section is the restrictions that keep your army focussed.  Here we see a lot of the same types of things we saw back in the old 3.5 Chaos codex, so only Thousand Sons characters. Everyone who can has to take the Mark of Tzeentch, and no other marks are allowed.  All psykers can get the new Tzeentch psychic discipline and the real surprise – free Veterans of the Long War all around.  That’s a nice perk!

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Then we move onto the benefits.

Blessing of Tzeentch grants any unit with the (free) VotLW who is affected by a Blessing, receive a +1 invulnerable save that turn.  Stacked on top of Mark of Tzeentch, you better expect to see a lot of big Rubric units with 3++ saves out there. The Scarab Occult terminators will be even more nastier with the ability to get 2+, 3+i with re-rolls… YIKES!

The Blood Feud rule is both cool and fluffy.  I would expect to see this dynamic reused for all the great rivalries across the Traitor Legions, such as Thousand Sons-Space Wolves, Word Bearers-Ultramarines, Imperial Fists-Iron Warriors, and others…

Finally we get the Legacy of the Rubricae, moving the primary cult unit from Elites to Troops.  This comes directly from the old 3.5 CSM codex and I think it will be safe to expect such a rule with an appropriate unit for all the Traitor Legions.

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War Zone Fenris: Wrath of Magnus (Hardback) $75

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The skies of Fenris are aflame, the awful truth revealed. The Thousand Sons, hidden architects of the Space Wolves’ darkest hour, have launched an arcane invasion across those realms sacred to the Sons of Russ. The Wulfen’s Curse has taken hold, the daemonic invasions that followed it a precursor to deadly Imperial bombardments that saw Chapter set against Chapter. The bringer of this system-spanning doom is Magnus the Red, an ancient demigod overthrown by the Fenrisians of yore. With the daemon primarch’s reappearance in realspace, a vendetta ten thousand years in the making has flared into world-shattering violence. The Crimson King is back to conquer Fenris, and the legions of the Warp march with him.

The Books

War Zone Fenris: Wrath of Magnus is the concluding part of the saga that began with War Zone Fenris: Curse of the Wulfen, in which the Thousand Sons return to Fenris to enact vengeance on the hated Space Wolves – led by their Daemon Primarch, Magnus the Red.

Book 1

This 136-page hardback book contains the thunderous, galaxy-shaking story of the Wrath of Magnus; set over 3 chapters, it features a huge selection of brand-new artwork supporting the story within. There’s also a uniform guide, with colours and icon guides for several Thousand Sons warbands:

– Thralls of Magnus
– The Sectai Prosperine
– The Tizcan Host
– The Prism of Fate
– The Blades of Magnus
– The Exiled and Estranged

Book 2

The 64-page book 2 of War Zone Fenris: Wrath of Magnus features a huge amount of new Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons:

New datasheets, special rules and wargear for:
– Ahriman
– Exalted Sorcerer
– Tzaangors
– Rubric Marines
– Scarab Occult Terminators
– Magnus the Red

6 Formations for Codex: Chaos Space Marines:
– War Cabal
– War Coven
– Tzaangor Warherd
– Sekhmet Conclave
– Ahriman’s Exiles
– Rehati War Sect

Plus new and updated psychic disciplines:
– an updated Discipline of Tzeentch
– Sinistrum Discipline
– Heretech Discipline
– Ectomancy Discipline
– Geomortis Discipline

Thousand Sons special rules:
– 6 Thousand Sons Warlord Traits
– Chaos Artefacts of the Thousand Sons
– Thousand Sons Grand Coven Detachment
– 6 Thousand Sons Tactical Objectives
– 3 Thousand Sons Altar of War missions

New datasheets, special rules and wargear for:
– Pink Horrors
– Blue Horrors
– Brimstone Horrors

4 Formations for Codex: Chaos Daemons:
– Lorestealer Host
– Brimstone Conflagration
– Omniscient Oracles
– Heralds Anarchic

Plus new and updated daemonic loci and icons of Chaos.

Daemons of Tzeentch special rules:
– Tzeentchian Warp Storm table
– Pandemoniad of Tzeentch Detachment
– 6 Daemons of Tzeentch Tactical Objectives
– 3 Daemons of Tzeentch Altar of War missions

~Have fun folks, and check back all week for more Wrath of Magnus reviews and more.

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Author: Larry Vela
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