HQ #1 - Chaos Sorcerer
Mark of Tzeentch, Warptime, Doombolt.
This HQ serves as my "all-rounder" IC, able to soak up the wounds and live with his 4+ inv save and being able to re-roll all hits and misses and use his force weapon due to him having the capability to cast 2 psychic powers makes him a threat to any IC who isn't eternal warrior. I have had this guy go up against a lot of IC's and win. His Doombolt also being able to re-roll all hits and wounds helps him contribute anti infantry firepower to any Thousand sons squad I join him too. I usually deploy him in a squad in a Rhino
HQ #2 - Artimus the Twisted
This guy is a recent addition to my army as after seeing this vampire counts fantasy model, I had to have it. Artimus is my conversion that I use as a count as Kharn, here we got a guy who for 165 points will give you 7 attacks on the charge, is immune to all psychic powers himself, gets an extra D6 against vehicles and with furious charge will wound all infantry on 2 up. Did I mention that he hits any opponent in CC on a +2? I deploy "Artimus" in another Thousand Son squad in a Rhino to deter any assaults on the squad. Even if I roll the dreaded "1" in CC, my whole army has a +4 up inv save so at least they get a chance of surviving the hit. In my last game this guy chewed through almost 2 squads of Grey Knight Terminators on his own!!! He is definitely worth the points and the flaw
Elites - Depending on what list I am taking I usually take a terminator suicide squad. Lately as I just adore the models, I have started taking Possessed once again
Elites #1 - Possessed Squad (9)
Okay, okay, before I get chewed out for taking these guys here me out. A pure Thousand Sons army lacks any real punch in CC. With the addition of 2 IC, this is certainly mitigated however I still need a unit to bring the pain if I need it. Being an avid gambler, I love playing the odds. With this unit I get a 1 in 6 chance for it to be game breaking, but as long as I roll over a 2 I'm good. Yes during my last game these guys rolled a 1 and did absolutely nothing but look evil and nasty but having the potential to get rending or power weapons (with strength 5 mind you) is nothing to scoff at. I also equip them with an icon of Khorne so that each possessed marine gets base 3 attacks. In one game I had these guys roll a 2 and with furious charge and almost 36 attacks wipe out a jetbike seer council and a wraithlord before dying to Dark Reapers.
Troops #1 and #2 - Thousand Sons Squad (9)
I started running Thousand Sons during the last year of the last Chaos codex. These guys definitely got a buff in the 4th ed codex though I do miss the old 2 wound models and not have to test for any psychic abilities. For 23 points a piece you get a guy that is fearless, a +4 invul save, Slow and purposeful, and an AP3 Bolter. Now at face value, these guys are not too bad, you get a lot for the price. Where the squad gets extremely expensive is in the Aspiring sorcerer. For every squad of Thousand Sons, you need to pay for a 60pts Sorcerer. Now if it was 60 points with a psychic power of your choice, I wouldn't have a problem but the fact that you need to pay for his psychic power as well means that you could be spending from 70 to 90 pts.
I usually run these guys as cheap as I can (9 man squad/Rhino/Doombolt) that runs around 289 pts. Lately in order to combat some of the newer "hard hitting" army, I have been equipping the Sorcerer's with Warptime making it a scary proposition for any IC who gets into combat with the squad as the force weapon could bring about the death of them. As mentioned above, I usually run each of my HQ's in each squad which makes the squad believe it or not quite formidable in Assault. In my last game against a Space Wolves player, one of my squads with my Sorcerer Lord actually took out a 3 man Thunderwolf squad in assault.
Troops #3 - Chaos Space Marine Squad
Until I finish with my third thousand sons squad, I am using one of my nightlords squads as my third troop choice. For the past 2 years since the chaos codex came out for their points cost, the basic CSM was seen as the best bang for your buck. Here you got a guy with a bolter, bolt pistol, CCW, and a high leadership all for the cost of 15 points. With the ability to take icons and 2 special weapons, here is a squad that can be tailored for just about any role. Of course when Grey hunters came out, this all changed as I think they are now the undisputed kings of the best overall for the points cost. The drawback of course is that they are not fearless and in my hands tend to always get run down in an assault. For this list I usually use them to hold objectives but equipping them with melta guns I really find that the best use of them is helping with tank hunting. The last couple of games, these guys really didnt perform for me which is why I am considering replacing them as they really dont fit the army. Maybe I will use these guys as chosen as having 4 melta guns outflanking in a rhino is nothing but win..
Heavy Supports #1 and #2 - Obliterators
These guys are nothing but win; her you got guys who can switch from any energy weapon from special to heavy each turn which makes these guys the "swiss army knife" of the chaos army. Lately however, they have been nothing but a disappointment for me. In the last 3 games I had, these guys when I deployed them in cover did nothing but miss with their lascannon shots, overheated their plasma cannons, and then just got doubled out via return fire. So as you can tell, my dice have been horrendous with these guys. I might go back to using them in a deep strike role where I could put their twin linked meltas to better use..
Heavy Support #3 - Vindicator
Wow has this guy been a surprise. This guy has not only survived my last 5 games, but has actually taken out 2 landraiders, multiple squads out in the open, to devastators in cover. This tank has been shot at and shot at by multiple weapons and the worst I have gotten on it is an immobilized due to me rolling 2 1's trying to go through cover. I am thinking of building 2 as everything I have read is that 2 of these guys in an army makes them a lot more effective.
Well there you have it guys, my 1750pt pre-hersey list. In my opinion, its pretty balanced with elements to deal with virtually any type of army. About the only thing that I might change is to drop an HQ, add in the other Vindicator and maybe go with terminators instead of the possessed.
In my last 5 games, I have won 3 and lost 2 so I will keep playing it in order to see if I will stay with it. Let me know what you guys think...
