Thousand Sons may have slipped under the radar from the most recent FAQ completely nerfing first-turn deepstrike effects.
The new Rulebook FAQ left out a curious entry that had been added way back in November of last year, and did not address a specific piece of wargear in their movement notes or codex errata.
In case you forgot, all of the armies that had some sort of stratagem that lets them pick up a unit and redeploy them 9″ away on the first turn were FAQ’d to be a “movement before the first turn”. GW may have overlooked the Thousand Sons version. Let’s take a look.
FAQ Nerfed Mobility
Now that we’ve covered the cost of some Stratagems going up as well as some of their latest nuances, it’s time we talk about what big stratagems got changed.
- Strike from the Shadows- Raven Guard can’t pop up anywhere 9″ away anymore. They basically get a free 9″ move before the start of the first turn. (i.e Nerfed Forlorn Fury).
- Forward Operatives- Alpha Legion are in the same boat, being able to move 9″ before the game starts as well.
- Clandestine Inflitration- Ad Mech also got hit with a nerf bat only being able to get a free 9″ move versus deepstriking 9″ away.
- Appear Unbidden-Eldar got lucky on this one. At the end of any of the movement phases, they can appear from the Webway 9″ away from any enemy models.
- Inevitable Death-“When you set up the Yncarne, it can be set up in waiting rather on the battlefield”.
If you noticed a pattern here, board presence is taking a huge hit. They are nerfing almost every stratagem that lets a player move a unit 9″ away from the enemy first turn.
Thousand Sons Sillyness Commence
Dark Matter Crystal looks like it was overlooked in the Fall FAQ. We’ve already taken a look at the armies that got their turn one deepstrike shenanigans and Thousand Sons was nowhere to be found.
As far as it stands, it’s totally legal to pick up a unit of Tzaangors and plop them down 9″ away from your opponent. But wait, it doesn’t stop there! Because Tzaangors have the Thousand Sons, Infantry, and Heretic Astartes keyword, they can also be Warp Timed even closer to almost never fail a charge.
Yikes.
Don’t believe us? This blurb was pink in last November’s FAQ. As of the most recent update, it’s no longer there. So as it stands, it’s completely allowed to combo off with Warp Time psychic power.
Was it Overlooked?
We can’t fathom any good reason why Thousand Sons would have this ability. Should a Psychic army with a PRIMARCH be more mobile than something like Alpha Legion. Should the Thousand Sons have their Primarch, and Alpha Legion can have their mobility?
At the end of the day, we will never know for sure if it was intentional or not unless GW comes out with a hotfix if and when it starts becoming prevalent on the tables and such.
If you want expert coverage on the matter, then check out The Long War’s take on the rule in episode 169!
So with all of that being said, what do you think about this rule for Thousand Sons? Do you think it was completely intentional? Why? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
