Quote: (nealhunt @ Jan. 19 2010, 14:00 )
I agree they would recruit in some fashion.  What I disagree on is the methodology.
The Rubric marines are effectively immortal, barring total disintegration of the armor they are bound to.  At least the prevailing interpretation of the background seems to be that as long as they armor exists the rubric marine can be re-created - either retrieving the soul of the original occupant to rebind or binding a new soul from an undefined source.
The other side of the Rubric turning much of the legion to dust is that anyone with enough latent psychic power to survive the Rubric experienced a massive increase in their ability.  It was the proliferation of sorcerers and their availability to control the Rubric marines that allowed the legion to continue.  That means replacing sorcerers would be the real drive for recruitment.
Grunts and other servants aren't all that important.
However, the most important question is, if you are going to throw in standard, non-rubric marines, why have a TSons list?  What will distinguish it from a Tzeentch-aligned Black Legion list?  A few Tzeentch daemon engines doesn't really make it play differently.
I understand where you are coming from, I just dont see a recreation of the Rubric in a case by case basis as feasible.I always saw it as a freak occurrence brought about by a conclave of their best guys (barring Magnus) rather then an easily reproduced phenomenon.
The guys in Gotos book were (sort of) sorcerers, just not super powerful lighting-shooting guys. In other words, none of their powers were quantifiable for gameplay purposes (they just fought like Tactical marines for the most part). They helped Ahriman with his rituals, and mostly served the same purpose as Thrall Wizards without needing to die.
I dont think they
needto be present (for the record), I was just pointing out that I didnt feel they should be excluded based on background. Game balance and too much similarity to the BL on the other hand, are legitimate reasons to exclude them if you decide to do so.
The problem I found with including TS with a formation of regular chaos marines (in the BL list)was that they made an already large formation unwieldy. They didnt really do anything aside from their use as meatbags.
If you wanted to include non-rubric Thousand Sons, I would sooner like them to be as a pseudo-Forlorn Hope or something like that. A small formation that serves a specific purpose that the army otherwise lacks.
I mentioned before that I didn't feel the list played particularly "Tzeenchy", but this is not really a fault that can be traced to any given source or person. GW have never gotten Tzeench right,IMO . Tzeentch the master strategist, whose armies seem to be more predictable than a Tyranid Gaunt swarm.
Maybe the smaller unit sizes will change that a little bit, but I still think that magical proficiency can (and should) be represented with more than just pyrotechnics and demon summoning (especially in the case of the TSons). I understand the obvious design element in E:A for streamlining and not making dozens of exceptions to every rule, but if feel that if anybody really needs a level of "otherness" about them, Thousand Sons do. Some set of effects that can be activated by spending summoning points (instead of on daemons)might be an easy way to plug another element into this army. I dunno, I'd try something myself, but I know that my understanding of how this game works is not good enough to mess with the mechanics.
All things considered I think Neal is doing a fabulous job on getting this faction some serious recognition for a change. Keep it up
P.S.@daemonkin: Notice that the cultists in this list dont have a heavy weapon, which normally would be the trade-off for using (superior, but unarmed)mutants. I dont see what purpose these cultists would serve in this incarnation other than daemon summoning, being essentially unarmed children. Holding objectives? I dunno.
