# thousand sons or plague marines?



## thatkidwiththecokeprob (Jul 30, 2009)

In a balanced chaos space marine list at about 2000 points, which would be the better option in your opinion. I am kinda torn between the two.


----------



## Gul Torgo (Mar 31, 2008)

Plague Marines are far more versatile. Thousand Sons are wasted on anything with a poor armor save. Their Aspiring Sorcerer is more promising, but there are races like Eldar that can very easily shut down psychic powers. 

So while the Thousand Sons can excel in certain situations, there is no army against which T5 and Feel No Pain will be useless. The same cannot be said for the Rubric Marines.


----------



## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

Plague marines all the way. Far more versatile, far tougher, cheaper. Plague marines are often called the best troops choice in 40k, and it's hard to argue against that.


----------



## LordWaffles (Jan 15, 2008)

TSons. That way you can prove everyone else wrong on the internet about them being fuckawful.


----------



## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

LordWaffles said:


> TSons. That way you can prove everyone else wrong on the internet about them being fuckawful.


Everyone else in the WORLD. I saw it in the Daily Express today *shudder* - "Gordon Brown declares introduction of Crap Unit Notification Tax to UK" - reading only the first column, it said that TSons were second only to Possessed in the new system of levies.

As if they didn't have enough problems...


Seriously though - Plague Marines, every time, every points level. 

IN RHINOS!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## johnnymajic (Jan 2, 2009)

If you're going to be playing allot of Necrons and MEQ then Thousand sons could have a place in any Chaos army. Even with this Plague marines are great at everything they can do just based upon their surviveability. Also their great with plasma guns because if they do get hot and you take a wound, you still have the feel no pain.

In the end plague marines are far better, in my opinion


----------



## mrrshann618 (Jun 6, 2008)

The best unit to fit into any list is the unit you want to play. Heck take one of each and see how they fair. My army with 3 units of Tsons has more than a few times been able to turn the tide of many fights, becuase of the inv save. Nob bikers have started to fear my Tsons squads due to my insane ability to make inv saves (though I have a hard time making my 3+ in HtH for some reason).

Plauge marines are the best unit points wise, but something has to be said for being able to move and still shoot 24" MEQ killers with your whole squad.


----------



## thatkidwiththecokeprob (Jul 30, 2009)

TheKingElessar said:


> Everyone else in the WORLD. I saw it in the Daily Express today *shudder* - "Gordon Brown declares introduction of Crap Unit Notification Tax to UK" - reading only the first column, it said that TSons were second only to Possessed in the new system of levies.


Interesting you say that, because I have found use of possesed as a means to transport my khorne lord across the field. With mark of tzentch they do thhe job pretty well.

But thanks for the responses guys! You all make it seem like an obvious choice, and I completely agree with you all, I guess I will be fielding plague marines with double plasma.


----------



## Katie Drake (Nov 28, 2007)

I know it's likely wasted effort, but I thought I'd stand up for the Thousand Sons a little.

Firstly... _I am well aware that Plague Marines are more versatile, tougher and all that._ Really, I get it. So no need to bring these things up in respond to any of my points. 

Okay, now... Thousand Sons. These guys are pretty darn useful. I personally have a friend who uses a Thousand Son themed army. He uses two large units of Thousand Sons (9-11 models strong). The Aspiring Sorcerer takes the Bolt of Change over Doombolt of Warptime to make the unit a little more flexible. These units don't take transports, so they instead advance slowly while firing their deadly bolters at long range. It's true that non-MEQs aren't particularly impressed by AP3 bolters, but since Thousand Sons can remain mobile and still shoot at full range, these guys can advance or retreat and maintain a good rate of fire regardless. Against some armies you'll want to be aggressive and push for objectives while against others you'd rather give ground and whittle away at their numbers for a while longer (Orks are an excellent example).

The important thing is that units of Thousand Sons are supported properly. They're not too great against heavy tanks, nor hordes of infantry so they'll need some assistance. A unit of normal Chaos Space Marines advancing behind a squad of Thousand Sons can be very useful. Give them a pair of meltaguns and a power fist and you'll be able to assist the Thousand Sons against any foe. If a Land Raider or Battlewagon is getting close, the unmarked Marines spring forward and use their meltaguns to pop the transport so the Thousand Sons can hose the passengers down with AP3 death. Alternatively, these squads can meet enemy assault units head on since Chaos Marines are so good in close combat before upgrades. As long as you time things right, you can absorb charges intended for the Thousand Sons or rescue the Rubrics if they're already embroiled in melee. The final benefit of this tactic is that as long as the Rubrics are screening your Chaos Marines, they'll receive a cover save, meaning all of your infantry squads will have a 3+/4++ save against enemy shooting.

So, to wrap things up, I concede that Thousand Sons aren't the best Troops choice available to a Chaos Space Marine player. They are however, imo, worth taking a look at, especially if the army is intended to have a heavy Tzeentchian theme.

Best of luck!

Katie D


----------



## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

TSons are good, there's no doubt about it.
You just need to use them well.

As Katie said, they can move and fire 24", don't doubt the usefulness of that, it will allow you to sneak in some good extra firepower against 'sniping' squads, without having to stand still for a turn.
I think that a Rhino for them is a GOOD idea, they aren't tough enough and are too expensive to risk to walls of bullets, and the mobility will help them shoot down particularly important targets (command squads and such), because they can dismount and STILL shoot 24".

I would say don't take a large squad of them, 10 would be plenty, less might be ample.
It also depends on the rest of your army, as does anything really; if you don't have many low AP weapons, then they're very useful, if you don't take Vindicators or Defilers, then they're a good substitute against MEQs.

The Sorcerer is probably one of the most useful parts about them though.
Give him Wind of Chaos, and watch your enemy shit himself as you Rhino up to their doorstep and breathe horrible shiny breath all over their tough infantry, like Terminators.
Give him Bolt of Tzeench, and it's just another anti-vehicle weapon they have to watch out for, because ap1 HURTS.
Give him Gift of Chaos, and use it on enemy characters; get your guys close, and hope they charge you, because if they do you're free to use it at the start of your next turn.


----------



## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

I don't necessarily think Tsons are bad, though they are a little inflexible. They are just less amazing than plague marines.

The two units have pretty different roles actualy. Plague marines are good for claiming objectives, which makes you win the game. Tsons are for killing things with. Thing is, plague marines get to take a couple of melta guns, making them very good at killing vehicles, and there are loads of vehicles around. They can have a power fist too.

In cc, plague marines are almost as hard to kill as Tsons, even for guys with power weapons/fists. Their increased toughness makes power weps get less wounds and the enemy won't have +1 attack for charging. The plague marines then have 2 ccws, unlike the Tsons. As such they tend to last about the same amount of time as the Tsons would. They are obviously much tougher against anything they can save against.

You can use Tsons as Katie described above and they do work, but make sure you are using them for what they do well.


----------



## tomqi (Jun 18, 2012)

*thousand sons or plague marines*

I agree that the thousand sons will look cool and powerful. But if it was somthing like a capture and control game I will choose the plague marines to demolish tanks and infantry whild guarding very well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

this thread is THREE YEARS old!

necromancy is bad.


----------



## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

I would actually go for Thousand sons, they have an invun (granted not an amazing one - think its 5++, have't looked at the dex in a while) and with AP3 bolters they are great marine killers.

Don't get me wrong though I still take Plague marines to go in and knock stuff around - but as soon as a power weapon is brought in they just become a bit tougher marines.

Thousadn sons can stay back and shoot at things which may do a bit of damage if left alone - e.g I have taken out countless devastator squads who are becoming extremely close to taking out my predator


----------



## All_Is_Dust (Aug 21, 2011)

Fallen said:


> this thread is THREE YEARS old!
> 
> necromancy is bad.


----------



## The Sullen One (Nov 9, 2008)

Thousand Sons don't get overwatch whereas Plague Marines will and in close combat Thousand Sons rarely last long, some of mine were killed by a unit of Sisters once. Plague Marines are the better choice all the way.


----------



## The_Werewolf_Arngeirr (Apr 3, 2012)

The Sullen One said:


> Thousand Sons don't get overwatch whereas Plague Marines will and in close combat Thousand Sons rarely last long, some of mine were killed by a unit of Sisters once. Plague Marines are the better choice all the way.


why would the T-sons not get overwatch? if you say relentless, relentless does not prevent the unit from being able to snap-shot, it just makes using snap shot pointless under normal circumstances, since they can move and fire freely. and their weapons are just ap 3 bolters, so its not like they are all template weapons.

Add to that our aspiriing sorcerer leading the squad should get a psychic power allowed to it from the new codex, which can mean even more fun


----------

