Sam: “ Angron was one of the most difficult as he was the first. We had no idea how he would be received, as we were dealing with one of the most iconic figures in the Imperium’s history. We needed to set the scale in relation to the rest of the miniature range, plus we had to get across the brutality of Angron and the sense that he was unstoppable. John Blanche’s iconic artwork was the starting point, mixed with gladiatorial details.” Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor’s Children In addition to Cabbalistic Rituals, a new key Thousand Sons ability is the Infernal Pact. These work much the same as Chaos Space Marine Prayers, allowing the new Infernal Master model to cast various effects, with six to choose from. As a supreme psyker, Magnus is capable of tossing out three psychic powers a round and can attempt to deny three enemy psychic powers. In addition, when at full health, he also gains a bonus to rolls when manifesting or denying physic powers – and you can re-roll Psychic tests. This definitely puts him in the top-tier of psykers – even beforeyou get onto his special rules. This effort had a visible cost, and a hidden one: Magnus lost his right eye, the skin becoming smooth where the eye had previously been. To stop the mutations, Magnus had willingly consorted with Daemonic entities from the Warp whose true nature he did not at the time understand. He was unknowingly fooled by the Chaos God Tzeentch into believing he had bested the Warp entities and that he had genuinely found the "cure" for his Legion though in fact he had only made a devil's bargain for the sorcerous power required to stop temporarily the mutations. All of this was a ruse crafted by Tzeentch to make Magnus even more arrogantly beholden to his psyker's gift to drive him to pursue more corrupting forms of sorcery that would eventually lead to his corruption by Chaos.

The Shard of Prospero, destroyed by the Primarch Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars during the Second Battle of Prospero. This shard urged the Khan to choose a side in the interstellar civil war and seemed neutral to both Horus and the Emperor. Above them, Celestine soared upward into the dark skies -- her Geminae Superia had donned their helms, but the Living Saint had no need of such apparel. Behind them, Veilwalker and her Harlequins lingered by the Webway gate. The Shadowseer gathered her powers, levelling her staff towards the Webway portal and beginning a whispering chant. The runes upon the structure's flanks glowed fiercely with a searing light. At 650 points Magnus is a hefty unit to take. For those 650 points you do get one burly psyker with a plethora of Special Rules and a decent stat line: WS7 BS7 S8 T7 W7 I7 A6 Ld10 Sv4+

The Tabard

Magnus' very essence boiled with psychic potential, to the extent that his physical form seems likely to be more matter of will, or a reflection of a deep spiritual imprint than a mere physical constraint, and those who fell under his cyclopean gaze would feel their thoughts and substance to be no more opaque than glass, and their innermost secrets laid open beneath the Crimson King's stare. In battle, Magnus the Red fought like a mythical god; fire wreathed him and followed in his wake like a burning cloak, and solid matter was unmade with a gesture. Armies of mere mortals, powerless before him, would fall to their knees, weeping as their nightmares danced before their eyes. It was said that the paths of the future were laid bare before him and no artifice or subtlety of warcraft could deceive the Primarch of the Thousand Sons. Such power, though, came at the price of suspicion and fear, even by those who called him brother. During a joint mission between the Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves Magnus and Leman Russ came close to blows over this issue, and over the use of psychic powers in general. Bloodshed was avoided only thanks to the last minute intervention of Lorgar, the Primarch of the Word Bearers. Over the following decades, other Primarchs voiced their displeasure that these so-called psyker Astartes were allowed to exist and serve the Emperor's righteous Great Crusade. Rumours and condemnations began to spread about the Thousand Sons Legion amongst the other Expeditionary Fleets. The most vocal of these detractors were the Primarchs of the Death Guard, Imperial Fists and Raven Guard Legions. Soon the Thousands Sons' detractors raised their objections to the Emperor himself, calling for the XV th Legion's disbandment and for the Legion to be expunged from Imperial records like the II nd and XI th Legions.

After the Ruinous Powers intervened to scatter the primarchs, still in their gestation capsules, across the galaxy through the Warp, Magnus found himself on the remote colony world of Prospero. Prospero was a planet that had been settled by a large population of human psykers who possessed the mutant ability to wield the potent psychic energies of the Warp. The Crimson King called and the Warp answered, coiling tendrils of power coalescing to surround Guilliman's battered fleet. Magnus judged the damage done to be sufficient. He had no desire to kill his resurrected brother. Not yet, anyway. Thus, with a final booming incantation, Magnus completed his spell. The empyric tendrils clamped tight around the starships of the Terran Crusade and, with a vast convulsive wrench, dragged them deep into the raging heart of the Maelstrom. Sam: “I didn’t sculpt this one, but it’s a great miniature. The pose is quite simple, but the weight of the posture is just right, making it look really brooding. It conveys a real sense of dark menace, perfect for Lorgar .” Horus, The Warmaster, Primarch of the Sons of Horus This period of peace, prosperity and psychic well-being reflected on the world's population of powerful psykers, and Prospero became known as a planet of physically and spiritually beautiful humans. Magnus also set himself the task of consolidating and expanding the Prosperans' knowledge of the "Great Ocean" (the Prosperan name for the Immaterium) and of the Primordial Creator ( Chaos), the unseen but immensely powerful energy that powered its currents. The further from Terra the Great Crusade's fleets travelled, the more strange Warp-influenced creatures they came across. This naturally made Magnus look suspicious to his fellow Primarchs, as his control over the Warp and the sorcerous powers he derived from its chaotic energies were very similar to the abilities displayed by these malevolent creatures. The Space Wolves' Primarch Leman Russ and the Death Guard Primarch Mortarion both distrusted Magnus due to his and his Legion's use of the powers of the Warp and because of his mastery of deceit in warfare where they preferred a more straightforward use of physical strength and brute force. Another point of contention between the Primarchs was the Thousand Sons' love of knowledge in general; they always sought to preserve and study the knowledge of newly Compliant worlds, carrying libraries' worth of material on the 28 th Expedition's starships for eventual archiving on Prospero. The other Astartes Legions found this obsession with the collection of knowledge -- whatever the source -- counterproductive to the goals of the Great Crusade which sought to spread the specifically Imperial strain of human civilization across the galaxy. They also believed it to be dangerous because of the malevolent nature of so many of the beings that lived within the Immaterium.

Basecoats

If you’ve tap danced around the periphery of the boys in blue and gold, without diving into collecting them – or if you’re simply new to Warhammer 40k andyou’ve taken a shine to their stylish Ancient Egyptian aesthetics – here’s our look at who the Thousand Sons are, how to start collecting your own army, and how they perform in the current edition of the game. Sam: “As the most iconic figure of the Horus Heresy, Horus needed to have a really strong pose – one that would show the majesty of the Warmaster. He is stood upon the head of an Imperial Eagle with his mace Worldbreaker, guiding the Imperium forward. Based on both John Blanche and Neil Roberts artwork, his armour – the Serpent’s Scales – is adorned with Luna Wolves and Sons of Horus iconography, and can be painted in the colours of either legion.” Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard This definitely an epic model. They claim it took around 850 hours to sculpt it and another 300 hours to paint. So what you’re looking at on the box is a ton of hard work that has been put into the presentation. The Shard of Nikaea, embodying Magnus' feelings of betrayal by the Emperor and the Imperium, found on the world of Nikaea which hosted the great council that forbid the use of sorcery within the Imperium.

The Primarch Magnus the Red passively stands by as Tizca is bombarded from orbit by the forces of the Imperial Censure Host. One of the things Magnus discovered during his 28 th Expeditionary Fleet's conquests was the existence and nature of the Eldar Webway and of the realspace portals into it. However, his knowledge of the Webway's geography and functions was incomplete and fragmented -- a fact that later cost him dearly. Nevertheless, he managed to enter its star-spanning corridors by brute psychic force. Following his rediscovery, Magnus and the Emperor engaged in solar-decades-long joint travels and study of the Immaterium, with the Emperor imparting further knowledge to His gene-son, along with multiple warnings about the dangers inherent in overindulging the gifts of the psyker due to the dark entities that existed within the Warp and sought to manipulate mortals for their own benefit. Sam: “ Fulgrim was designed to be released as part of a diorama – one half of a duel playing out between him and Ferrus Manus on Isstvan V, at that pivotal point in the Heresy. We depict him with the Blade of the Laer. Fulgrim was released first, while I worked on finishing Ferrus. With the Fulgrim sculpt it was very much about the flamboyance of the Emperor’s Children, the perfection of swordsmanship and the elegance of movement against the brute strength of Ferrus.” Ferrus Manus, Primarch of the Iron Hands Sam: “ Sanguinius is the Primarch that’s most similar to the original John Blanche design. We wanted a strong flying pose so we could make the most of his angelic wings, while adding to the dynamism of the figure. He needed to have interchangeable weapons that worked with the pose, and all the elements had to flow together to emphasise the movement and power of the model. The inspiration for the pose came from classical depictions of the archangel Michael fighting the Devil.” Lion El’JonsonMagnus the Red– so known because of his unusual, copper-coloured skin – was always special, even amongst his Primarch peers being stolen and dispersed throughout the galaxy in their technological creches. He was aware, awake, and remembers everything of his journey. Landing on the planet Prospero, he was raised amongst psykers – the only place in the universe where that may have been possible. Blade of Magnus- S User, AP2, Melee, Force, Soul Blaze, Transmogrify (Any roll of 6 to wound that kills a model creates a Chaos Spawn). White Dwarf 230 (US), "Bitter and Twisted: Ahriman" and "Chapter Approved: Thousand Sons Terminators", pp. 39-43, 71-79 The XV th Legion, the Thousand Sons, had inherited Magnus' psychic talents, as their gene-seed had been created from samples of Magnus' own psychically-potent genes. However, the XV th Legion's gene-seed was genetically unstable, often resulting in rampant and unwanted mutations known as the "Flesh Change," Space Marine-organ rejections, and mental instability. The Legion was dramatically under-strength because of these problems and its eventual survival was questionable. It was said the Legion owed its name to the fact that only about a thousand stable Astartes remained functional within it by the time Magnus was found on Prospero by the Emperor.