Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Armies ready for the NOVA Open!

I've been in a mild panic mode about the army for the upcoming Nova Open, and behind the scenes have been writing list after list trying to find the right balance of minis and points and effectiveness and worries about air travel and so on. It's all finally crystallized however and I'm now officially done and ready to go to the show! I'm participating in two of the Horus Heresy events while I'm out there, the Asymmetrical Warfare campaign on Friday and the Escalation campaign on Saturday, both of which require multiple army lists at varying point values. The idea however was to use as many of the same models in each version of the force to cut down on what I had to paint, as well as what I'd have to pack and travel with.

The Asymmetrical Warfare campaign starts off with a tiny 500 point force, using the Zone Mortalis combatant force org. That's a tough point level for Heresy armies I find, so I went with a basic tactical squad for the requisite Troops choice, a fairly low-calorie Centurion as the HQ and a unit of Terminators for the Elites slot.

The second tier of the campaign bumps the armies up to 750, which provides enough points to add an assault squad for a much needed 2nd Troops choice and a rhino for the tac squad to hopefully get them up to the objective markers.

Finally is the 1000 point army which fulfills both the largest of the Asymmetrical Warfare and smallest of the Escalation campaign the following day. The further 250 points allows for a much-needed psyker for the force both strategically and fluff-wise. I find a pair of Consuls at lower point values to be far too eggs-in-one-basket-y, but until we get the Prospero book later in the year I'm only allowed to take a librarian/sorceror as a secondary or tertiary HQ choice. Boo! The Terminator squad gets a couple more marines to bulk up the unit as well, and provide the Centurion and the Sorcerer a bit more of a bodyguard.

Now we're talking! The second stage of the Escalation campaign makes a big jump up to 1850 points, giving the army a significant boost to its lethality - A unit of veterans joins the force to act as bodyguards for the Praetor (same model as the centurion before, but with better stats and an equipment boost) and the Sorcerer, and who are also joined by an Apothecary to hopefully keep 'em alive. Their own personal Land Raider transport doesn't hurt either. The Terminators drop back down to a 5-man squad, but theyalso get a Land Raider to ferry 'em upfield, so that's not a bad tradeoff. Finally, the ever-popular twin-Kheres Contemptor Mortis provides some anti-air cover for the force.

Finally, the Escalation campaign tops out at 2150 points, which adds the Damocles command rhino, the Techmarine and his creepy automata to the force. Th Damocles provides a little extra fun with the lance strike, better deep strike capability and reserve rolls, and makes for an unusual centerpiece for the army. I'm rather excited to get out there and play in the campaigns, and though I don't expect to do particularly well from a win/loss standpoint I'm sure I'll have a heck of a good time getting crushed!

It's been quite a while since I updated the painting chart and was quite pleased with how many boxes I got to tick over to green! It's become apparent I may have built just a few too many HQ choices...

Last but most assuredly not least, I want to point out the rather excellent raffles going on at the NOVA Open this year, which include several fantastic armies (including a Bad Moons Ork Army that I was honored to contribute to) and the money for which goes to an excellent cause. You need not be present to win, and the armies will be shipped anywhere worldwide! Absolutely worth checking out!