Thousand Sons

So I managed to get my hands on a copy of Shadow and Iron today, and I must say the story written in Shadow and Iron is a lot better than the stuff written in the Psychic Awakening supplements so far. Honestly, I find myself increasingly drawn to Adeptus Titanicus, where I like the models more, than regular 8th Edition. Long story short, the battles fought in the Ultramar Realm were conclusive and decisive, rather than the ambiguous "going nowhere" battles in Psychic Awakening where neither party had won or lost, and the skirmishes continue until today. I know it's unfair to compare the two, especially since Adeptus Titanicus takes place during the Horus Heresy where we already know the outcome and everything has already been written out and predetermined, but I honestly find the lore for Adeptus Titanicus much better written than in Psychic Awakening. There are stakes in both, yes, but at least you get to see what happens when one side loses or wins in Adeptus Titanicus, whereas in Psychic Awakening it's just a "oh, no one has won...yet. They are still fighting." Cool and all, but doesn't make for a good story, unfortunately.

Ahem...okay, I digress, but because I only bought Shadow and Iron, I don't have any Adeptus Titanicus models to show. The Ordo Sinister Psi-Titan is still out of stock (I honestly don't know when they'll restock him), and I probably will not get the Nemesis Warbringer Titan, so...yeah. We'll see. There is still no official clarification on whether you can field reinforcement Titans alongside Knight Household Forces in Matched Play, but they clearly state that you can do that in a narrative campaign, so I'm going to assume that you can do so in Matched Play as well. I'm also toying with the idea of fielding my Knights alongside a single Ordo Sinister Psi Titan because that seems fun. If I go with my usual build, my Ordo Sinister Psi Titan will cost 765 points with the carapace turbo-laser destructors and Sunfury plasma annihilator. But again, he's listed as out of stock on Forge World, so I can't do anything about that.

So instead of Adeptus Titanicus, I focused on building my Thousand Sons. I had procured a box of Rubric Marines, and with a bit of kit-bashing from bought parts, I managed to build 2 squads. Now I just need my Cultists to arrive and I'll have a Battalion of Thousand Sons, who belong to the Cult of Magic just because. I also got myself a Sorcerer - the new one that was released alongside the Psychic Awakening: Faith and Fury - because of cool the model looks.

As you can see, I have two distinct squads. One is armed with inferno boltguns (the Aspiring Sorcerer has an inferno bolt pistol), and the second squad is equipped with warpflamers (the Aspiring Sorcerer has a warpflame pistol). I know people make fun of warpflamers and condemn them as bad, but I just like warpflamers. Sorry, but I honestly couldn't care less about "competitive" and whatnot. If I want warpflamers, I will have a squad equipped with warpflamers.



The Sorcerer is a little unusual in that he's technically not part of my Thousand Sons forces. He's actually a former Librarian (think Astraeos from the Ahriman Omnibus). His poor Chapter got targeted by the Grey Knights for destruction because they got too deep into researching Chaos rituals and artifacts such as grimoires and tomes, and the Prognosticar of the Grey Knights Chapter foresaw their fall and ensuing damnaation, and dispatched a full Brotherhood to eradicate them before they could become a threat. Ironically, it was this very ruthless, heavy-handed measure that drove the formerly loyal Space Marine Chapter to treachery. Furthermore, this was all part of Tzeentch's schemes, and as foreseen by a certain Thousand Sons Sorcerer, they decided to step in and help the remnants of the beleaguered Chapter escape the wrath of the Grey Knights and the Holy Inquisition. The survivors banded together and pledged themselves to the Thousand Sons Warband, which was led by none other than Ignatius (you remember who he is, right?), of the Order of Ruin and Cult of Magic.



The poor Renegade Chapter renamed themselves the Blue Corsairs (not very original, I know), discarded their former name to renounce their links to the Imperium who turned its back on them, and now serve alongside the Thousand Sons. They are a fleet-based Chapter, and their Librarians delve deeper into esoteric lore and forbidden knowledge, becoming the very Sorcerers and warlocks that they vowed to hunt down back during their days of loyalty. Yeah, I named them Blue Corsairs because I plan to paint them Thousand Sons blue, and use the rules of the Red Corsairs for them. It's going to be hilarious.



Furthermore, the Renegade Blue Corsairs and their Thousand Sons masters have allied themselves with a Renegade Knight. Once a noble from a House loyal to the Emperor, because of the Psychic Awakening, the pilot was among those millions who find themselves opening up to the warp and gaining psychic powers. Of course this has...some repercussions, which leads to the poor Knight noble being hunt down as an unsanctioned psyker by the Black Ships and Inquisition. As fate would have it, the poor Knight is forced to flee with several other psychic pilots (piloting Armiger-class Knights) and straight into the clutches of the Thousand Sons. Pivotal to this was him hearing from Cults worshipping the Crimson King about a haven for psykers, a place where they could live without fear of being persecuted, condemned or executed for something that was beyond his control, and he and his small band of Knights made haste for the Prospero system. En route to Prospero, they encounter Ignatius and his warband of Thousand Sons (plus Blue Corsairs), and now the unlikely allies travel together to implement the various Tzeentchian schemes of Magnus and friends. The god of change is probably pleased with the outcome.

That's probably the lore I have for my Thousand Sons. I look forward to seeing what more I can develop for them. As for my Adeptus Mechanicus and Knights (as well as Inqusition), I'm waiting on Engine War before I develop their story further. I want to write about their attempted conquest of a Daemon forge world, but I would like to see what new units, Stratagems and fluff I can incorporate into their story (such as the Skitarii Rough Riders) before I begin writing concrete details of their conquest.

Until then!