Wizards, or Psykers, are considered among the most powerful beings in the entire universe in Warhammer 40,000. A traitor legion of the Space Marines consists almost entirely of such Space Sorcerers and should, therefore, actually be stronger than all others. A fan wonders why this is the case. The answer is quite simple: There are too few of them.
The Thousand Sons are one of the legions whose primarch betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy and consequently fell to Chaos. The Chaos God Tzeentch is their patron, and magic is accordingly one of their great strengths.
In Warhammer 40,000, sorcery is extremely dangerous but also correspondingly powerful. Psykers make use of the power of the Warp and use it to weave spells. Those who do not wish to fall to Chaos or be directly consumed by chaotic power need strong willpower.
Almost all major catastrophes of galactic proportions have their origins somewhere in an outburst of psychic energy. The Emperor of Mankind is regarded as the most powerful Psyker who has ever lived.
The legion of the Thousand Sons now consists almost entirely of Psykers, which makes them one of the strongest traitor chapters ever. A user now asks on Reddit how it is even possible that the Thousand Sons still lose any battles.
After all, they consist of Astartes, genetically engineered super soldiers who can also cast spells. Veterans explain that two things hold the Thousand Sons back: Their manpower and their penchant for complications.
You encounter the Thousand Sons in Space Marine 2:
“Everyone is a Psyker, all 50 of them”
The biggest problem of the Thousand Sons is that there are hardly any of them left and those that still exist are scattered somewhere. Their primarch, Magnus the Red, although an immensely powerful daemon prince, is now shattered into pieces.
Somewhat exaggeratedly, a user explains: “Sure, they are all Psykers. All 50 of them, who haven’t become weaponized dust yet.” This refers to the Rubric Marines, “basically sand-operated robots controlled by Psykers.”
As followers of Tzeentch, the Thousand Sons were extremely susceptible to mutations. To prevent this, the sorcerer Ahriman tried to make all Thousand Sons immune to it with his Rubric spell.
However, the spell backfired: all Thousand Sons who were not strong enough were vaporized. Their bodies are now just dust, trapped as soulless puppets in their armors. The few who survived the spell are now stronger, but the legion has suffered greatly.
How many Psykers are still left is not precisely documented. Numbers between 200 and 2,000 are mentioned but are not confirmed. We do know, that a few of them are here on MeinMMO …
Allegedly, Ahriman’s Rubric affects even all Thousand Sons ever—thus all in the past, present, and future. Creating new Marines would therefore be nearly impossible. However, this is just a rumor.
Additionally, there is a kind of genetic flaw: Magnus’ gene seed does lead to his sons being more likely to develop psychic powers, but it has the side effect that they sometimes spontaneously mutate into mindless monstrosities. This flaw has already thinned the Thousand Sons early on.
The Thousand Sons love to be complicated
Even the thinned legion would, however, be sufficient to pose a significant threat. In the top comment, a user explains why the Thousand Sons still often lose: they think too complicated.
Not only are they few, hating each other and almost all being arrogant, they also approach every problem as complicated as possible just to prove that they can:
Perfect example: Magnus from the Horus Heresy conjures a pistol from the Warp every time he wants to shoot someone, instead of:
A) just using magic to kill people
B) using a normal weapon
As if that weren’t enough, Tzeentch himself occasionally enjoys throwing a spanner in the works of the Thousand Sons – because he can (and probably because it advances his plans).
By the way, the Thousand Sons are not the only chapter in which many exceptionally strong Psykers are represented. The Grey Knights also consist of powerful sorcerers, even though hardly anyone officially knows anything about them: A chapter of the Space Marines is so secretive that all “normal people” must die who hear about them
As if that weren’t enough, Tzeentch himself occasionally enjoys throwing a spanner in the works of the Thousand Sons – because he can (and probably because it advances his plans).
By the way, the Thousand Sons are not the only chapter in which many exceptionally strong Psykers are represented. The Grey Knights also consist of powerful sorcerers, even though hardly anyone officially knows anything about them: A chapter of the Space Marines is so secretive that all “normal people” must die who hear about them
