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How to Play Thousand Sons in 10th Edition 40k: Rules Guide

codex-book-thousand-sons-rules-10th-EditionNew 10th Edition 40k Thousand Sons are here – from Stratagems, Datasheets, and army rules; here is our review guide on how to play them.

In 10th Edition Warhammer 40k, each army has a new style of play, rules, and plenty of changes. If you’re wondering how to play Thousand Sons, what their new rules are, or if you should start collecting them, this review guide will give you plenty of info to mull over. With their myriad of psychic powers, tough units, and awesome special characters, they are a serious force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Plus, you can field a Primarch with the army, which is just something amazing to throw down on the table. The new Thousand Sons seem to be worth considering if you’re looking for a new army in Warhammer 40k.

Find out more from our guide on how to play Thousand Sons by jumping to any of the sections below, or dig in from the beginning!

How to Play Thousand Sons in 10th Edition 40k: Rules Guide

The new Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k rules come from Warhammer Community.

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules

Psykers have become more specialised in the new edition of Warhammer 40,000, but the sons of Magnus – as ever – defy convention. Each Ritual is a powerful psychic ability channelled through one of your THOUSAND SONS PSYKERS, greatly expanding the arcane techniques available to even the maddest Tzaangor Shaman.

It’s nice to see them giving a psychic feel to the army, considering psychics are more or less gone. You can see on the datasheets how many cabal points units generate, and you should have a decent amount every turn.

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 2

Will you become a Weaver of Fates to re-roll a vital saving throw? Or pluck intriguing Echoes from the Warp to employ a free Stratagem – even one you’ve already used this phase? Just crack open your spellbook and get to work.

There are some exciting powers possible here, such as re-rolling critical saving throws for cheap, moving units in the shooting phase, getting free stratagems, dealing mortals, or the one that is kind of insane, negating all armor!

While it takes 9 points, getting rid of armor saves is wild, but you can still take invulnerable saves from how it reads.

Court of the Crimson King

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Battleforce Thousand Sons – Court of The Crimson King

Thousand Sons Cult of Magic Detachment Rules

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 3

The Cult of Magic Detachment offers even more tools to spice up your eldritch output, starting with its practice of Kindred Sorcery. This rule allows you to tinker with all of your Psychic weapons* each round – would you rather consume entire hordes in a Psychic Maelstrom of Sustained Hits 1, or inflict Devastating Wounds that will melt even Terminator armour with the Wrath of the Immaterium?

This makes your psychic weapons even better, and depending on what you’re trying to take down that turn, you can choose the proper ability for the job!

New 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Thousand Sons Datasheets

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 4

Azhek Ahriman is well versed in working with cabals of like-minded wizards, though not always to great results – after all, the former Chief Librarian was responsible for the Rubric that turned the majority of his Legion into dusty automata. The master of the Prodigal Sons adds three Cabal points to your pool – a hefty contribution, second only to Magnus himself – and as the Arch-Sorcerer of Tzeentch he can also cast one Ritual for free.

While his profile isn’t crazy, he’s still pretty strong in combat, can do a lot of damage with his shooting, and, most importantly, can give you a ritual for free while adding 3 Cabal Points. When you see that a ritual can cost 9 points, doing it for free is incredible.

Lastly, he buffs up units he’s in, adding one to all wound rolls.

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 5

Each unit of Rubric Marines is led by a flesh-and-blood Aspiring Sorcerer who guides his ghostly brothers into battle. Each of these apprentice magicians adds to your total pool of Cabal points each round, acts as a locus to channel vital Rituals, and can perform a really neat magic trick where they make enemy INFANTRY disappear with a kaleidoscopic warpsmite.

Each unit will get you one Cabal Point; they have a decent profile and decent weaponry. Plus, they get to re-roll some or all wounds, get better AP, and the whole unit has a 5+ invulnerable save.

Overall, it’s pretty solid for a Battleline unit.

New Weapon Rules

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 6

The inferno boltguns and warpflamers of the Thousand Sons utilise sorcerous energy to melt flesh and armour like wax, but a Mutalith Vortex Beast can channel the pure essence of the immaterium through its warp vortex – mutating foes into misshapen forms incapable of posing a threat. 

Every version of this is quite strong, but with the Beam, you can deal a ton of damage; with the Torrent, you can smash through infantry, and the Blast is excellent at destroying strong infantry or plinking wounds off vehicles.

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 7

These grotesque creatures have such a profound weakening effect on the fabric of reality that nearby THOUSAND SONS PSYKERS can double the range of their Rituals, making them valuable for more than just their soul-melting presence and betentacled maw.

Doubling the range of your rituals is obviously great.

New Thousand Sons Warhammer 40k Stratagems

Thousand Sons 10th Edition 40k Rules 8

This Stratagem capitalises on the hubris of foes who think they can step up against the masters of sorcery. It grants all Psychic weapons that target the affected unit the Hazardous ability – meaning the offending psyker risks mortal wounds or even outright destruction – and adds insult to injury by blessing the models in the targeted unit with Feel No Pain 4+ against those Psychic Attacks.

This is a super strong stratagem for only 1 CP, as not only can your enemies blow themselves up, but you get a 4+ FNP against psychic attacks.

Latest 40k Rules Updates For the Thousand Sons:

Balance Datasheet dalatslate warhammer 40k title wal hor 1200

The latest updates for the Thousand Sons 10th Edition rules will be released in what Games Workshop calls a Balance Dataslate, sometimes along with accompanying points changes as well.

You can see all the latest Balance Dataslate updates here in our post, which breaks down the most recent changes.

How To Play Warhammer 40k Thousand Sons: Points

Balance Datasheet munitorum points changes warhammer 40k

You can find the latest points for playing this faction in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k here on our Munitorum Field Manual Points Updates Page.

Thousand Sons YouTube Review:

Watch the video below for some more insights into the faction until they get their codex book!

Is It Still Worth Playing Thousand Sons?

If you like magic and dust, then this is the army for you! They are totally worth playing as they have a bunch of cool rules and mechanics, some really great minis, and amazing lore. They are doing decent in terms of win rate and make for some really fun games.

10th edition year 1 roadmap

Updates, in general, for any game are just good business. That being said, it also seems like in 2023-2024, GW will have its hands full trying actually to get out all these codexes.

However, Thousand Sons isn’t even on the list, meaning you will have to use the index for a while, which gives you plenty of time to learn the faction before the codex drops.

The new Thousand Sons army rules in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k provide exciting changes to the gameplay, rules, and style of the army. Thousand Sons can dominate the battlefield with their psychic mastery and warriors made of dust! The army’s squads, vehicles, and Stratagems provide players with a lot of options to defeat their enemies and have some really fun games. Overall, the new Thousand Sons army is a force to be reckoned with in Warhammer 40k.

All the Latest Warhammer Rules & Model Rumors

Do you like the Thousand Sons rules for 10th Edition Warhammer 40k in this guide? Will you be playing them?

About the Author: Travis Pasch

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Travis Pasch

Job Title: Head Writer & Editor

Socials: @paschbass 

About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.

Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.

Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!