Alternative Bitz for Thousand Sons

As you may know, I had a tough decision to make on which Chaos Legion I was going to play. I finally decided to play Death Guard and Daemons of Nurgle as I love the synergy effects (with Epidemius) and other cool options (Plague Zombies!). But before I made my decision, I was torn between Death Guard, the Thousand Sons and the Word Bearers. I was researching what models and bitz I could use other than the official GW miniatures (which aren't that many) for each of those Legions. So, today I want to give you my report for alternative bitz and models for the Thousand Sons.

Mecha Egyptian Heads

Thousand Sons players are very limited in their choice of miniatures and bitz to use. Although I like the Rubric Marines from Games Workshop, I think a bit of variety can't hurt. Those Mecha Egyptian Heads from MaxMini were definitely designed with the Thousand Sons in mind. I'd love to see those as helmets for Sorcerers or alternate Rubric variants.

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.99

Steam Knight Helmets

The Steam Knight Helmets from MaxMini would make very good pre heresy helmets for Thousand Sons. Especially the one on the very left side. You can ask if you could have the left helmet only (I've done so with their pre heresy shoulder pads and they've done me the favor).

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.65

Sorcerer Shoulder Pads

Those Sorcerer Shoulder Pads would look good - not only on sorcerers. PuppetWars also sell a Type "Termos" variant which might be shoulder pads for Terminator armour. But I am not 100 Percent sure.

Set of 10 available from puppetswar.eu for €7.00
Set of 5 (Type "Termos") available from puppetswar.eu for €5.50

Egyptian Shoulder Pads

Sciber sells a lot of Egyptian themed bitz that have Thousand Sons written all over them! Here are the shoulder pads.

Set of 8 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Shields

I don't really know what to use those shields for but they look great.

Set of 6 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Big Shields

I could imagine those bigger shields on Thousand Sons Terminators.

Set of 3 available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Decorated Plates

Decorated Plates for vehicles of the Thousand Sons.

Set available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Parts

Those Egyptian Parts could be used (i.e. I haven't seen or tried it yet) to make Thousand Sons Terminators with the signature Rubric headdress and additional armour plates for the shoulders.

Set available from sciborminiatures.com for €5.40

Egyptian Ruins Terrain

A lot of miniature companies sell desert terrain bases (Scibor has more in the terrain section e.g.) but those Egyptian Ruins are quite outstanding. They appear very easy to paint and make an impact on your desert battlefield.

Set of 4 available from sciborminiatures.com for €16.90

Pteruges

I know that pteruges are rather Roman than Egyptian but I think they could work on Rubric Marines, too.

Set of 10 available from maxmini.eu for €5.65

Books (dt. Bücher)

Thousand Sons are Sorcerers. And Sorcerers want to have a lot of books with spells and knowledge around (Especially Ahriman must own quite a few - as he is always looking for a certain library to return them).

Set of 8 books available from tabletop-art.eu for €6.00





That is my first collection of bitz and models. I'm thinking about making this a page that is expanded over time as I find new bitz and miniatures. I will do this for other Legions too - most definitely for the Death Guard and Daemons of Nurgle as they are my army project now.

PS: I get no money for linking those shop items. I just love collecting bitz and, obviously, writing about it :-)

Which Legion should I play?

It's legion time again! In the last article I wanted to find out which legions were easy to represent with the new codex (based on the confirmed rumours and models we know). I want to start a new Chaos Space Marine army with the launch of the new codex. My only problem is that I like all of the nine traitor legions. Every one of them has either great possibilities to be played, great models and paint scheme or other awesome features like great background stories. So I thought about all the pros and cons of every legion and tried to squeeze them in a quantifiable rating system:

• Flexibility: The possibilities in army composition, play styles and allies.
• Background: How much I like the background story of the Legion.
• Visual Appeal: How much do I like the look and would I want to paint them?
• Bonus Points: Open category for awesomeness.
• Personal Opinion Coefficient: What do my guts tell me?
• TOTAL: The overall rating of the Legion on a scale of 0 to 25 (stars are rounded).

I know that there might be more, less or even completely different categories, depending on what you consider important when choosing an army to play. For me, flexibility, background and the visual appeal are the major categories. I added an open category and one for my personal thoughts (since it's going to be my army and my gut feeling should count, too). Here are my thoughts and ratings to every one of the nine traitor legions:

Black Legion

The Black Legion offers near endless possibilities in army composition, play style and allies without suffering from fluff restrictions. Abbaddon the Despoiler is an absolute combat monster and, what is more, he unlocks Chosen (and Chosen Terminators) as troops (rumour!). I like the thought of an elitist army. Also, I like the black and metal paint scheme as it looks great on the Chosen from the Dark Vengeance box set and the photos of the new Raptors. Painting black can be hard but I already found a way (working with dark blues and greys) to do it well. The big downside of the Black Legion is that everybody looks down on them as the Ultramarines of Chaos.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (no restrictions at all)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (Horus Heresy is a plus)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (black and metal looks nice)
• Bonus Points ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (for elitist Approach and Abbaddon) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not totally convinced)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

World Eaters

I like the World Eaters' raw and brutal approach to solving problems. Crazed maniacs with Chainaxes, blood red and brass colours and skulls, a lot of skulls. Angron's legion is pretty awesome and I can totally imagine having fun at playing an army of Berzerkers while listening to death metal music. Sadly, one of my main criteria of choosing an army is flexibility in army composition and play style. I don't want to miss out on the chaos psychic powers and general shooty stuff. I like the World Eaters, I just don't want to collect and play them as a single army, although I could imagine to field one or two units of Khorne Berzerkers and Daemons alongside another Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (too much focus on close combat, no psychic powers)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (blood and gore is great)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (red, brass and skulls is always en vogue)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for raw violence and being totally death metal) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (I like the WE, but I'm looking for something else)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (15/25)

Death Guard

Collecting and playing Death Guard would be tons of fun (on par with Orks)! Converting and painting would be no less than hilarious. Not only could I use Nurgle Daemons as allies but also would Epidemius special rule enhance all Nurgle units on the board. Also I like what I hear about Typhus turning Cultists into hard-to-kill Plague Zombies. The downside of Death Guard is, that it would be a mono-god list and I like Daemons of Khorne and Tzeentch, too. Then, Nurgle units (Daemons and Marines alike) are slow in movement and combat.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no other restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't know much about the stories, but I like what I know)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (awesome, just afraid that it might get boring)
• Bonus Points ★★★★★ (5/5) (for fun and great daemon synergies) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★★ (5/5) (one of my favourites at the moment)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (21/25)

Emperor's Children

I like Chaos in all its ways but Slaanesh is the Chaos God I like the least. Don't get me wrong: The Emperor's Children are awesome - they're the 80s glam metal of Warhammer 40.000. I'd really like to field Noise Marines as I like their rules - but not their models (maybe Forge World can do something about this in the future as they did with Berzerkers and Plague Marines). Same goes with Slaanesh Daemons: I don't like the Daemonette miniatures and their Eldar-ish statline (I already got my Alaitoc Craftworld for fast glass cannons). I'd love to get some Noise Marines if they ever receive an optical overhaul by Forge World, but I don't want to play Fulgrim's Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (okay, have to read more about them)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (pink and black is awesome, the models aren't)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for being glam metal and Noise Marines in general) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5) (not as a full legion, maybe single squads of NM for fun)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (14/25)

Thousand Sons

I love the Egyptian look of the Thousand Sons, and their psychic powers are unmatched by almost no one in the galaxy. Rumors agree that Ahriman is one beast of a Sorcerer. I also like the Tzeentch Daemons, which are quick and powerful. I don't really like the fact that Rubric Marines are merely walking piles of armour. They are my second favourite cult legion after the Death Guard - maybe they'd be placed first if they had the same synergy effects as Nurgle Marines/Daemons. Thousand Sons always appealed to me and I know I want to paint and play some Rubrics sometime.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (rivalry with Space Wolves is cool)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (awesome, Egyptian look is great)
• Bonus Points ★★★★☆ (4/5) (for great looks and my love for Tzeentch daemons) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★☆ (4/5) (they might be the one)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (20/25)

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion, not unlike the Black Legion, offers a lot of possibilities in army composition, play style and allies, as they tend to use whatever it takes to win a battle. They are portrayed as tactical geniuses and have a mysterious back story (seriously, I have to start reading the Horus Heresy series!). My biggest problems with the Hydra is that their fluff and artwork is kind of under-developed and there is next to no reference material (yes, there is one book, but that doesn't satisfy me). What is more, is that they don't have any signature unit at all: others have cult units, Dark Apostles, Warpsmiths and tanks or Raptors. Even the Cultists look more like they were designed to be religious zealots for the Word Bearers than cold blooded and calculating Alpha Legion terrorists.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (everything is possible)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (loyal? traitor? I like the mystery, don't like the lack of reference material)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (don't like the blue and green, I'd rather paint them turquoise and gold)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for interesting tactics and endless possibilities) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (the new codex has no goodies for them, so probably no)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Iron Warriors

The Iron warriors can put a mean list on the table with lots of heavy tanks and daemon engines. Also, the aspect of siege warfare looks interesting to me. I haven't read Storm of Iron yet but everybody says that it is a good read that makes you want to start an army of Iron Warriors. No to the downsides: Their paint scheme can be either utterly great or incredibly dull - I think I might get bored after painting a lot of models in metal colours. Then, they are a bit to grumpy and paranoid for my taste: they don't seem to have fun, which is sad because the Eye of Terror looks like fun place to me. They rather use bionic transplants than mutations or daemons, which I don't like either. Also, a friend of mine got a Chaos Space Marine army in metal colours already. I won't start an Iron Warriors army.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not to fond of daemons)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (siege warfare and brutality is great, grumpiness not so much)
• Visual Appeal ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (don't want to paint metal, don't want to paint metal, don't want to... )
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon engines and siege tactics) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no siege warfare for me)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (13/25)

Word Bearers

Word Bearers offer a lot of possibility in army composition, play style and allies. For instance, Daemon allies of every Chaos God are fluffy and offer a great tactical variety. The new Codex: CSM (with Cultists and the Dark Apostle) makes it very easy to represent a Word Bearers Host on a gaming table. They are visually appealing with all the inscriptions on the armour, impurity seals and scrolls. I read the first two books of the Word Bearers trilogy by Anthony Reynolds (good read, a lot of raw violence) and found the description of the legion very tempting. Also, they have a grudge with with the Ultramarines - I don't like the Ultramarines! The downsides of the Word Bearers are their red armour (i don't like painting red), their primarch (Lorgar doesn't really appeal to me) and their religious bookworm attitude (they are more into preaching and building monuments to the Big 4 than crushing the Imperium into dust).

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (pretty much anything is possible)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (I like their book series)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (great, but red is tough to paint well)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon allies and the fluffy use of Cultists and Dark Apostles) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (i like them)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (18/25)

Night Lords

First of all, the Night Lords have the coolest primarch of all Legions. Period. Basically, the Night Haunter is Batman in space and the Legion is the League of Shadows. Okay, enough of the comic book references! I also like their paint scheme, although I don't know if I could paint the lightnings on the armour in a way that would satisfy the perfectionist inside me. Everybody says that the Night Lords trilogy is worth reading and I like to read about armies I play. A very big downside is the restriction in army composition, play style and allies: They have no cult units (no, raptors don't count and they aren't exclusive to Night Lords) and I wouldn't know which allies would be appropriate since they don't use daemons and I can't imagine traitor Guard fighting alongside them in battle. I had the odd idea of using Dark Eldar Wyches as gangers and thugs, but that's a long shot.

• Flexibility ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no cult units, no daemons)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (crime hunters turning into evil itself - awesome)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (their armour looks bad ass)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for awesome primarch and raptors) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't like the lack of flexibility)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Final Ranking

So, here's the final ranking that will hopefully help me with my decision on which Chaos Space Marine army I shall start to collect with the launch of the new codex. Please note that this ranking is only supposed to be about my preferences of which army I'd want to collect and play. For instance, World Eaters would rank much higher if they'd offer more than the focus on close combat (on the table I like durable and shooty armies). So, the winner is... *drum roll*

1. ★★★★☆ (21/25) - Death Guard
2. ★★★★☆ (20/25) - Thousand Sons
3. ★★★★☆ (18/25) - Word Bearers
4. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Black Legion
5. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Night Lords
6. ★★★☆☆ (15/25) - World Eaters
7. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Emperor's Children
8. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Alpha Legion
9. ★★☆☆☆ (12/25) - Iron Warriors

To my surprise, two of the four cult legions ended on top of the ranking. In the beginning, I thought I would choose a legion that would leave me with the most possibilities of army composition - I wanted to be able to take any cult unit or daemons from any god I wanted. This would have left me with Black Legion or Word Bearers. So, it's no surprise that they are 3rd and 4th of my personal ranking. Death Guard, however, became the winner because I realised how much fun it would be to paint and play them. The line of Nurgle models from Games Workshop and Forge World is great and not boring or restrictive at all. Thousand Sons on the other hand have always been a favourite of mine. I love the design philosophy and daemons of Tzeentch, too.

It's unlikely that I'll start to collect two legions at once (so my wallet told me) - but I might start Death Guard or Thousand Sons with either Nurgle or Tzeentch Daemons. Then I might expand my Daemons with models from other gods and finally add cult troops from those god(s). Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Anyway, I will get my copy of the new Codex this Saturday and now I can't wait to read about Plague Marines, Typhus and Plague Zombies as well as about Thousand Sons, Ahriman and Tzeentch's psychic powers.

Death to the false Emperor!

Nostalgia!

I can't believe it! I just went through my bitz box looking for something as I stumbled upon the first miniature I ever painted. Usually, I doesn't brag about how much I sucked at painting. But it's nice to see that I was capable of improving my painting by practice and learning new techniques over time. Maybe this encourages other players that are new to the hobby not to give up. Paint! Read tutorials! And paint more!

My first miniature ever (left: Ultramarine from old starter box) vs. a Chaos Marine I painted for fun last week.

Blogwatch: Painting Metal, the Ruinous Powers and thoughts about GW

He reads all the blogs!

I want to start a new series of articles in which I want to pay tribute to the work of others. So, from now on I start collecting good blog posts, great tutorials/miniatures or other things worth reading and will post them here on Bawaaaghria! from time to time. In this first issue, I want to present you a few articles from blogs I subscribed to:

• From the Warp: Creating metal effects with just a few washes. This blog post inspired me to do a metal painting tutorial myself (I hope I'll get it done this month). I especially love the effects on the weapon barrels. Read this and the linked tutorials within the article if you want to become better at painting metal effects.
• Eternal Hunt: The Ruinous Powers - Synthesis. KrautScientist from Eternal Hunt did a series of articles in which he painted  Chaos Space Marines from all of the four Cult Legions. It reminds me of this GW product and makes me want to do something like this myself.
• Frontline Gamer: Sunday Sermon: Does familiarity breed contempt? I should have mentioned Frontline Gamer much earlier as he inspired me to do this blog in the first place and gave me advice on how to do it. I always read his Sunday Sermons because I like the meta approach to gaming, the industry and people around it and how it reflects back to ourselves.

This were the articles I enjoyed reading this week. I'll try to make this a weekly or bi-weekly category in my blog and I'm positive that this is going to work since I read a lot of wargaming blogs anyway. Have a nice read and see you again on Thursday when I'll ask the question: Which Chaos Legion should I play?

How to represent Chaos Legions with the new Codex

Ever since the old codex was released, people complained that it doesn't do justice to the Legions of Chaos. I want to revisit this thought with the rather solid rumors about the new Codex: CSM in mind and find out if the Chaos Legions are now better represented by their codex from a fluff perspective (!). If you are only interested in rules, you might want to look somewhere else as I am rather a fluff romantic than a great tactician

Black Legion

Everybody says that the Black Legion is bland and boring. I don't agree. Although they might be the Chaos Smurfs because they could take any model fluffwise, that doesn't mean they have to. People who call the Black Legion Vanilla CSM tend to forget that the marines of this legion are no less than the Lunar Wolves, the Sons of Horus, the army of the greatest Warmaster of Mankind ever. They are an elitist force and the new Codex: CSM suggests they should be played as one. The rumors are pretty solid that Abbaddon makes your Chosen troop choices. Combine this with the rumor that Chaos Terminators can be upgraded to Chosen and you got yourself: Chaoswing! I don't say that this is super competitive (most likely it won't be) but it is awesome! You can still use any other entry in the codex for a Black Legion army, but elitist super hard troops seems to be the direction Phil Kelly wants to push the Legion of the Warmaster. I really like this!

World Eaters

World Eaters are easy to represent with the new Codex: CSM. Kharn or a khornate (is this an adjective?) Warlord will make Berzerkers troop choices. Along with the new Mutilators, Close Combat Cultists, Close Combate Hellbrute and the Maulerfiend this army is going to be brutal in hand to hand combat. I think that the World Eaters are represented well in the new codex, especially when you take Khorne Daemons as allies.

Death Guard

Mark of Nurgle or Typhus makes Plague Marines troops. What is even more awesome: Typhus is told to turn Cultists into Plague Zombies. Taking Nurgle Daemons as allies is a great idea since Epidemius special rule affects all Nurgle models on the board (even the enemy). Death Guard is going to be fun and one of the most synergetic armies out there!

Emperor's Children

I haven't really heard much about Lucius the Eternal or Fabius Bile (at least I can't remember a lot) but they can't become any worse, can't they? Noise Marines are as good and versatile as ever and the mark (or icon?) of Slaanesh now gives the unit the Feel no Pain special rule ("You call THIS pain? That doesn't impress my senses at all!"). As far as I know, there are no Sonic Weapons for tanks and walkers. Again, the ability to take Daemon allies adds flavor to the Emperor's Children.

Thousand Sons

Ahriman is rumored to be to psychic powers what Michael Jordan is to Basketball. Rubric Marines seem a bit better to me than they were before. Together with the very fast and competitive Tzeentch Daemons the Thousand Sons look fluffy and playable to me. Can't say any more about them until I read the codex.


Now here comes the more interesting part. The Cult Legions are rather easy to represent in a fluffy manner. The remaining four Legions however, don't have special cult units or a dedicated deity. So let's see if the new Codex: CSM does them justice:

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion are known for cunning tactics, cultists, propaganda and surprise. It's rather difficult to surprise your opponent in a game the way the Alpha Legion does in the background. Cultists are in to distract the opponent but from there you are left on your own to create a fluffy Alpha Legion army. You could, however, ally with Imperial (i.e. traitor) Guard to go deeper into highly tactical warfare. E.g. Chaos Vendettas and Veterans seem appropriate. I'd love to play against such an interesting army.

Iron Warriors

The Iron Warriors got a lot of new toys in the form of daemonic flyers, daemon engines and the Warpsmith as an HQ. Together with tanks, Havocs and the Hellbrute (formerly known as the Chaos Dreadnaught) you can easily field an interesting army of Iron Warriors. I'd rather take Imperial (traitor) Guard as allies than Chaos Daemons, in order to get access to heavy artillery and more tanks!

Word Bearers

The Word Bearers are great to represent in the new codex! Actually, the Word Bearers are pretty standard CSM minus the cult units. The Dark Apostle and the Cultists are a great addition for the followers of Lorgar. Together with Daemon allies I could imagine a really atmospheric Word Bearers Host. From a fluff perspective the Word Bearers are looking forward to a good time with the 6th edition codex.

Night Lords

Night Lords got new models for Raptors and a new, more daemonic unit: the Warp Talons. If I recall correctly, the Night Lords use Chaos more as a tool than anything else an don't like mutations. This doesn't fit well with the new Warp Talons but I guess if you spend millennia in the warp it doesn't matter which philosophical approach you have towards the Ruinous Powers: in the end you turn into what surrounds you. Cultists could be described as thugs and gangers that fight as brutally as possible to be recruited as Night Lords Space Marines themselves. Right now I can't see which allies would fit the Night Lords from a fluff perspective since they don't tolerate daemons besides furies. Fun idea: Dark Eldar Wyches (desperate allies) as talented gangers and thugs fighting alongside the Night Lords (I still have to read the NL book trilogy, so I don't know if this idea works).


To sum things up: I think that the new Codex: Chaos Space Marines is a good thing to properly represent the major nine Chaos Legions, especially with the allies rule in mind! The Black Legion is steered towards being a more elitist army. The four cult legions can take their deity's Daemons as allies - Word Bearers take them all! Iron Warriors take the heavy tanks and artillery from the Codex: IG; Alpha Legion take veteran infantry and fast flyers (or whatever pleases them to completely mess with their opponents). Night Lords have even more jump infantry to choose from but I don't know which allies would fit with them. Nevertheless, I am really looking forward to picking up the new Codex: CSM and I am already counting the days to Saturday.

Closing thoughts: Right now I want to start a new Chaos army and continue to play my Dark Wolves as 13th Company Space Wolves instead of Traitor Wolves (I don't want to collect two armies from the same codex). This time I want to play one of the 'Big Nine', a full scale Chaos Legion - yes, hence this article. My problem is that I can't decide on one legion and am torn between some of them. I am going to expand my thoughts on this topic later this week.