40k - 1500pts May 10, 2026

Thousand Sons vs Orks

VICTORY - Thousand Sons

Rubric Marines holding objectives while Sorcerers unleashed devastating psychic powers against the green tide.

The Armies

Thousand Sons (My Army)

  • Sorcerer (Discipline of Change)
  • Infernal Master
  • 2x Rubric Marine Squads (10-man each)
  • Tzaangors x10
  • Scarab Occult Terminators x5
  • Rubric Marines x5 (Soulreaper Cannon)
  • Defiler

Orks (Opponent)

  • Warboss (Power Klaw)
  • Warboss (Power Klaw)
  • Boyz x30 (Nob with Power Klaw)
  • Boyz x30 (Nob with Power Klaw)
  • Boyz x20
  • Warbikers x5
  • Trukk

The Matchup: Psychic Elite vs Horde

This was a classic "quality vs quantity" matchup. My Thousand Sons had:

  • Quality: 2 wounds per Rubric Marine, AP-2 shooting, powerful psykers
  • Armor of Contempt: Ignore AP-1, 4+ invulnerable against mortal wounds
  • Psychic Dominance: Multiple psykers, multiple powers per turn

My opponent's Orks had:

  • Quantity: 80+ Boyz, plus characters and bikes
  • WAAAGH!: The ability to make his entire army faster and deadlier for a turn
  • Close Combat: Boyz might hit on 5+, but with 80 models, that's a lot of attacks

My Game Plan:

  1. Objective Control: Use Rubric Marines' 2 wounds and Objective Secured to hold objectives
  2. Psychic Attrition: Use my psykers to whittle down the Ork horde before they reach me
  3. Screening: Use Tzaangors and one Rubric squad to screen my psykers
  4. Counter-Attack: Keep Scarab Terminators in reserve to counter-charge if Orks break through

Turn-by-Turn Breakdown

Turn 1: I Won the Roll-Off

I elected to go first. This was crucial because I wanted to soften up his horde before WAAAGH! made them faster.

Psychic Phase (Key Moment):

  • Sorcerer: Cast "Tzeentch's Firestorm" at his central Boyz squad. 6 mortal wounds! Killed 6 Orks. Denied one Deny the Witch attempt.
  • Defiler: Cast "Smite" at the same squad. 2 mortal wounds. Killed 2 more Orks.
  • Infernal Master: Used "Sorcerous Facade" to let my Rubrics shoot after advancing

Shooting Phase:

  • Rubric Squad 1: 20 Inferno Bolt shots (10 Marines, 2 each). AP-2 is deadly against Orks (6+ save normally, becomes 7+ which is impossible). Killed 8 Orks.
  • Rubric Squad 2: Same story. Killed 7 Orks.
  • 5-Man Rubrics with Soulreaper: Soulreaper Cannon killed 4 Orks.
  • Defiler Shooting: Reaper Autocannon and Heavy Flamers killed 5 more Orks.

The Result:

By the end of my Turn 1, his central 30-man Boyz squad was down to 8 models. That's 22 dead Orks in one turn. Psychic powers plus AP-2 shooting is brutal against horde armies.

Turn 1: Ork Response

My opponent was not happy about losing 22 Boyz in one turn. He decided to WAAAGH! on Turn 1 to try to reach me.

What Happened:

  • Movement: With WAAAGH!, his Boyz could Advance and charge. His large squad on the right advanced 12 inches (6+6 from WAAAGH!)
  • Shooting: Lots of shoota shots, but at BS 5+ against my T4 Rubrics (3+ save). He killed 2 Rubrics from my screening squad and 3 Tzaangors.
  • Charge Phase: His right Boyz squad (30 models) declared charge against my Tzaangors. With WAAAGH! re-roll, he made the charge (rolled 7+ needed 6)
  • Close Combat: 30 Boyz fighting 7 Tzaangors. My Tzaangors died heroically, but they killed 4 Orks in return.

Key Takeaway (Newcomer Tip):

The Tzaangors did exactly what they were supposed to do - they screened my more valuable units. By dying, they prevented the Boyz from charging my Rubric Marines or psykers. This is screening 101, and it's crucial against combat armies.

Turn 2: The Attrition Continues

Now his Boyz were in combat range, but isolated and reduced. Time to finish them.

My Actions:

  • Psychic Phase:
    • Sorcerer cast "Weaver of Fates" on my central Rubric squad (gave them 5++ invulnerable)
    • Then cast "Tzeentch's Firestorm" at the Boyz in combat. 5 mortal wounds.
    • Defiler Smite: 3 more mortal wounds
  • Shooting Phase: Since the Boyz were in combat, I shot at his other units. Fired everything at his 20-man Boyz squad. Killed 12 of them with AP-2 shooting.
  • Charge Phase: My Scarab Occult Terminators arrived from Deep Strike and charged the remaining Boyz from the combat squad
  • Close Combat: Terminators vs remaining 8 Boyz. It wasn't close. Terminators killed all 8 without taking a wound.

Why This Worked:

I used psychic powers to hit the engaged squad (mortal wounds don't care about combat), shot at his other units, and then charged with Terminators to finish the job. The key was not letting the Orks build up momentum - every turn I was reducing their numbers.

Turn 2: Orks Desperation

My opponent was now down to:

  • 8 models from his first squad (central)
  • 8 models from his combat squad (now dead)
  • 8 models from his third squad (20-12=8)
  • 2 Warbosses
  • 5 Warbikers
  • Trukk

That's 24 Boyz total, down from 80. The horde had been broken.

His Last Push:

  • Warbikers zoomed forward and shot my Terminators. Killed 1 Terminator with rokkits.
  • Remaining Boyz squads advanced. One charged my central Rubric squad.
  • Combat: 8 Boyz vs 10 Rubrics (with 5++ from Weaver of Fates). Boyz killed 2 Rubrics. Rubrics killed 5 Boyz in return.

Turn 3: The End

By Turn 3, my opponent had very little left. I controlled 3 objectives to his 1.

Final Actions:

  • Psychic Phase: Smite and Firestorm finished off his remaining Warbikers
  • Shooting: My Rubrics fired at his Trukk, destroying it
  • Combat: Terminators charged his Warboss. Killed him in one round of combat

At this point, my opponent had 3 Boyz left and one Warboss. He conceded.

Final Result & Key Lessons

Victory Points:

Thousand Sons: 9 VP
Orks: 2 VP

Lessons for New Players:

  1. AP-2 is Brutal Against Hordes: Orks have 6+ saves normally. AP-2 makes that an 8+ save, which means they get no save at all. This is why my Rubric Marines were so effective.
  2. Psychic Powers Win Attrition Battles: Tzeentch's Firestorm and Smite were responsible for about 1/3 of the Ork casualties. Mortal wounds ignore saves and can hit units in combat.
  3. Screening is Essential: My Tzaangors died, but they protected my Rubrics and psykers for a crucial turn. Against combat armies, you must screen your valuable units.
  4. 2 Wounds Makes a Difference: Rubric Marines have 2 wounds each. This means it takes twice as many attacks to kill them compared to regular Marines or Boyz. Against volume-of-attacks armies, this is huge.
  5. Don't Let Hordes Build Momentum: I went first and killed 22 Orks Turn 1. This prevented him from having overwhelming numbers. If I'd gone second and he'd WAAAGH!ed into combat Turn 1, the game would have been very different.

For My Opponent: What He Could Have Done Better

  • Not WAAAGH! Turn 1: He should have waited until Turn 2 to WAAAGH! By using it Turn 1, he gave me a full turn to shoot at his units after they advanced.
  • Better Target Priority: He shot at my screening units instead of focusing fire to break through. He should have concentrated on one Rubric squad to try to break my lines.
  • More Anti-Elite Units: His list had lots of Boyz but very little that could deal with 2-wound models with 3+ saves. Power Klaws on Nobs are good, but he needed more high-strength shooting.

Want to Learn More About Thousand Sons?

Check out our complete Thousand Sons strategy guide for more tips on mastering the arcane arts!

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