You’re looking at the shelf. Maybe it’s a local game store or just a massive pile of tabs in your browser. Those blue-and-gold sorcerers look incredible, right? They’re easily some of the most striking models Games Workshop has ever produced. But let’s be real for a second—trying to figure out a Thousand Sons start collecting strategy in 10th Edition (and looking toward 11th) is a massive headache. The old "Start Collecting" box with Ahriman and the Tzaangors is long gone, basically a relic of ancient history at this point.
Now, we have the Combat Patrol. It’s... controversial. Honestly, if you talk to ten different dusty-boy players, half of them will tell you it’s a trap and the other half will say it’s a necessary evil.
The reality is that Thousand Sons are a high-skill, high-reward army. You can't just slap models on the table and expect to win by moving forward. You have to manage Cabal Points, psychic rituals, and a very specific kind of movement phase. If you mess up the math, your sorcerers get squashed. If you nail it, you turn a literal God-Engine into a puddle of molten slag.
The Combat Patrol Dilemma
So, you want to get into the hobby. You see the Combat Patrol: Thousand Sons. It comes with an Infernal Master, five Scarab Occult Terminators, and twenty Tzaangors.
Twenty. Tzaangors.
That is a lot of bird-goats. Most competitive players will tell you that Tzaangors aren’t in a great spot right now. They don’t generate Cabal Points—which are the lifeblood of this army—and they die if a stiff breeze hits them. However, for a beginner, they are your "chaff." They sit on objectives so your expensive Rubric Marines don't have to.
The real value in that box is the Infernal Master and the Terminators. The Infernal Master is a "must-have" because of his Glimpse of Eternity ability and his decent Cabal Point contribution. The Terminators? They’re your brick. They are hard to kill, they hit like a truck, and they look intimidating. If you bought these separately, you’d be spending way more. So, even if the Tzaangors end up sitting in a box for six months, the value is technically there. Just don't expect the goats to win you the game.
What About the Rubric Marines?
Here is the thing. You cannot play Thousand Sons without Rubric Marines. Period. They are the backbone. They are the dust in the suits. When you’re looking at a Thousand Sons start collecting path, your first purchase after a big box should always be a box of Rubrics.
Build them with Warpflamers. Seriously.
The "Flamer-bomb" is a classic Thousand Sons tactic. You take a unit of ten, attach a Character like a Thousand Sons Sorcerer or even Ahriman, and you just melt whatever is in front of you. Because they have the Ignores Cover keyword and the ability to re-roll wounds of 1 (or full re-rolls on objectives), they are terrifying.
The Magic is in the Cabal Points
Let's talk about why this army is different from Space Marines or Orks. In your Shooting phase, you don't just shoot. You use Rituals. These are powered by Cabal Points ($CaP$), which you generate at the start of the battle round based on which Sorcerers you have alive.
If Magnus the Red is on the table, he gives you 4 points. Ahriman gives you 3. A basic Sorcerer gives you 1.
You need these points to do things like:
- Temporal Surge: Move a unit again (insanely powerful for positioning).
- Twist of Fate: Strip an enemy’s armor save entirely.
- Doombolt: Just deal direct mortal wounds because you felt like it.
This is why "starting" this army is tricky. If you buy a bunch of tanks or monsters that aren't psychic, you have no points to spend. You're playing a weaker version of Chaos Space Marines. You need characters. You'll eventually find yourself buying three or four boxes of Exalted Sorcerers just to have enough guys on foot to lead your squads.
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Magnus the Red: The Big Red Tax
At some point, you’re going to look at the Magnus model. He’s huge. He has wings. He’s one of the best models GW has ever made.
Is he a "start collecting" item? No. He’s expensive and a pain to paint if you're new. But is he essential for a 2,000-point list? Almost always. He provides a massive aura that buffs your nearby units and he is a psychic powerhouse. If you're serious about the army, he's the "reward" you buy yourself once you’ve painted your first 1,000 points of blue armor.
Painting the Dust
Don't let the gold trim scare you. Everyone talks about the "trim hell" of Thousand Sons. It is real. It is tedious.
The trick most experts use? Prime the models in Gold (Retributor Armour spray). Then, you fill in the blue panels with a brush. It is significantly faster than painting the blue first and trying to do the tiny gold lines later. You’ll save your sanity.
Also, look into "Contrast" paints or "Speedpaints." Akhelian Green over a silver or gold base creates a beautiful metallic teal that looks exactly like the box art but takes half the time.
Common Mistakes for New Players
- Ignoring the Sorcerer on Disc: People think the Disc of Tzeentch is just for show. It’s not. The extra movement and the Fly keyword are vital for getting your rituals where they need to be.
- Too many Terminators: Scarab Occult Terminators are great, but they are expensive in terms of points. If you bring 10 of them, you might not have enough units to control the board.
- Forgetting the Rituals: It sounds silly, but new players often forget to use their Cabal Points. Write them down. Use tokens.
Buying Guide for the First 1,000 Points
If I were starting today, I wouldn't just buy three Combat Patrols. That’s too many Tzaangors. Nobody needs 60 Tzaangors unless they’re trying to build a very specific (and probably bad) meme list.
Instead, try this:
- One Combat Patrol: For the Terminators and the Infernal Master.
- Two boxes of Rubric Marines: Build one squad as 10 flamers and the other as 2x5 with Soulreaper Cannons.
- One box of Exalted Sorcerers: This is the best value box in the range. You get three distinct characters with a ton of customization options.
- Ahriman: He is the MVP. He lets you use a Ritual for 0 Cabal Points once per game. That alone can win you a match.
This setup gives you a solid core. You’ll have plenty of Cabal Points, some heavy hitters, and enough infantry to actually play the missions.
The Competitive Edge
The meta shifts, but the "core" of Thousand Sons usually stays the same. We are an army of glass cannons. We hit incredibly hard in the psychic and shooting phases, but we don't want to be in melee. Even our Terminators, while tough, can get bogged down by cheap units.
You have to play like a coward. Use your Temporal Surge to peek around a corner, blast something into the warp, and then move back into cover. It’s frustrating for your opponent, but that’s the Tzeentch way.
Final Steps for Your Tzeentch Journey
Building a Thousand Sons army isn't a sprint. It’s a slow, methodical process of painting intricate trim and learning complex rules.
Next Steps:
- Grab the Exalted Sorcerers box first. Even before a big box, these guys are the heart of your army.
- Practice the Retributor Armour Prime method. Test it on one model before doing a whole squad.
- Download a Cabal Point tracker app. You will forget your points in the heat of battle; having a digital counter helps immensely.
- Focus on 500-point games. Learn how the rituals work on a small scale before trying to manage the 15-20 points you'll have in a full-sized game.
Once you have the basics down, the galaxy is yours to burn. Just watch out for the Space Wolves—they still haven't forgiven us for Prospero, and they hit a lot harder in person than they do in the lore. Keep your sorcerers shielded, keep your flamers hot, and let the Change God guide your dice.