Detachment Focus: Grand Coven

In our Detachment Focus series we take a deep dive into an army’s Detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games. In this Detachment Focus we’re looking at the Grand Coven from the Thousand Sons.

The Thousand Sons notably had one of the game’s strongest armies when tenth edition released but were overshadowed by Eldar and the game’s problematic rules for TITANIC units. Once those were reigned in, the Cult of Magic spent the better part of a year hovering around the top of the meta, combining powerful Enhancements with great Stratagems and a strong buff to psychic attacks. With the Codex out, that Detachment has been replaced by the Grand Coven, an updated version that buffs the army’s psychic attacks and keeps a lot of that same flavor.

Detachment Overview

The Grand Coven gives players a revised version of the index Detachment for Thousand Sons, changing out the ability to have a single buff all game for one that’s more like Space Marine doctrines, where each can be used once but re-activated via Stratagem. That’s a downgrade in terms of utility but fortunately two of the options have been improved substantially, keeping the overall power on more even footing. The Stratagems and Enhancements here are some of the best in the game, and overall this Detachment is designed to make your psykers’ attacks better. That means it’s not quite as great for running all the vehicles and vortex beasts you’ll want to run – but you’ll still run them, too.

The Video Version

If you’d like to watch a video version of this Detachment Focus, we’ve got you covered here:

Detachment Rule: Kindred Sorcery

In your Command phase, you pick one of three abilities to take effect until the start of your next Command phase. You can only pick one per battle.

• Imbued Manifestation – Add 6” to the range of ranged Psychic Weapons equipped by Thousand Sons models in your army.

• Psychic Maelstrom – Add 1 to wound rolls for Psychic attacks made by Thousand Sons models in your army.

• Wrath of the Immaterium – Psychic weapons equipped by Thousand Sons models in your army have [DEVASTATING WOUNDS].

This is changed from the Cult of Magic Detachment in the Index. It’s worse in some ways – you only get each one of these for a single round – but better in that you were almost never taking Lethal or Sustained Hits with that Detachment. Devastating Wounds here is also not as good as you’d think, given that the only psykers in the army who don’t have dev wounds on their psychic attacks are Magnus (his blast attack), the Infernal Master, Ahriman, and the Sorcerer. The real money pick here is +1 to wound, which is more important now that Magnus no longer hands it out.

As you only get each one once per game, you’ll want to save +1 to wound for your big “go” turn, usually turn 2 or 3, depending on the situation. Though note that you can use Egotistical Power for 1 CP to get one of these applied to a unit separately and even if you’ve already used one for Kindred Sorcery. This is how you double back and re-use that +1 to wound on Psychic attacks.

This rule generally pushes you more toward Rubrics and characters, since those characters have the abilities you’ll want to boost. Infernal Masters are the biggest ones, as they have very solid attacks that lack Devastating Wounds natively and when attached to a unit of Rubrics can re-roll wounds to fish for them.

Enhancements

These are some of the game’s best Enhancements. Unfortunately you can only take three.

• Lord of Forbidden Lore – When the bearer manifests a Ritual, they get +6” range. THis is great on something like an Exalted Sorcerer on disc, where it lets you drop Rituals from 30” away, and more comfortably avoid getting hit back thanks to his 18” lone operative ability. 
• Incandaeum – This can only go on an Exalted Sorcerer and gives you a once per battle second attempt at a Doombolt, even if another model has already used it. This is great, and helpful for teaching newer players.
• Umbralefic Crystal – Once per game, in your Command phase, if the bearer’s unit isn’t within Engagement Range of any enemy units, you can pick them up and put them into reserves, then Deep Strike them back onto the table in the Reinforcements step of the Movement phase. This one took a major hit – you can’t pick up from melee any more – but it’s still one of the game’s better enhancements, allowing you to zip across the board with a slower unit like Rubrics or Scarabs and set up for ambushes. Not being able to escape melee with it is a big hit, but it’s still incredibly useful for getting across the board with a unit that otherwise only moves 5”.
• Eldritch Vortex of E’Taph – I’m surprised this one stuck around. Gives you +1 strength and damage on the bearer’s psychic weapons. This is a windmill slam on the Infernal Master but it’s also worth looking at on the Winged Daemon Prince.

Stratagems

The Stratagems here have changed substantially from the index. Psychic Dominion is back, and versions of Destined by Fate and Devastating Sorcery are here but there are enough changes you’ll need to learn a new playstyle with the Detachment. These Stratagems are a mixed bag. They’re not great, but two of the effects here – Egotistical Power and Desecration of Worlds – are powerful enough to make this one of the army’s strongest Detachment options.

• Psychic Dominion (Epic Deed, 1 CP) – Used in any phase after an enemy unit picks a target. Your unit gets a Feel No Pain 4+ against psychic attacks for the phase, and psychic weapons attacking your unit gian [HAZARDOUS]. This is pretty narrow in its use – it’s basically a tool for the mirror match, Grey Knights, and occasionally going up against Death Guard or Eldar. 
• Destined By Fate (Epic Deed, 1 CP) – Used in any phase after you fail a save for a PSYKER model. Drop the damage characteristic of that attack to 0. You need to be very specific when using this – it only works on psyker models, meaning it’s a very Magnus-specific ability, or something you throw out on a solo character or against Precision attacks. In a pinch you can also use it to throw an attack on your champion, then blank it, but be sure you won’t have more attacks coming in after that you’ll have to allocate to that model.
• Egotistical Power (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used on a Psyker unit in your Command phase. Pick one of the three Detachment Kindred of Sorcery abilities to apply to that unit until the start of your next Command phase. It will replace the existing ability if you have another one active for the army. This is great and you’ll want to use it often, particularly to re-use Psychic Maelstrom for +1 to wound.
• Desecration of Worlds (Epic Deed, 1 CP) – Used in your Command phase on a PSYKER unit that’s within range of an objective marker you control. That objective stays under your control until an opponent takes control of it. This is pretty much your only way to sticky objectives in the army, and it’s tremendously important for helping you stay mobile and get more out of a smaller number of elite units. Just be mindful you’ll need a psyker with your Tzaangor units if you want them to use this, or have another psyker unit nearby.
• Arcane Focus (Epic Deed, 1 CP) – Used in your Shooting phase, just after you take a psychic test for a Thousand Sons model that Channelled the Warp. You can re-roll all of the D6 rolled for the test, including the additional D6 for Channelling. If you really need something to go off and you didn’t get it, this is very useful. On average you’re going to get 10.5 on 3D6, so just be aware of that going in.
• Devastating Sorcery (Battle Tactic, 2 CP) – Used in your Shooting phase on a Psyker unit. They get +9” to the range of Psychic weapons in their unit, and when you make an attack with a psychic weapon in that unit you can re-roll hits and wounds. This is a very powerful effect but moving its cost to 2 CP really cuts down how often you’ll be able to use it. Thousand Sons don’t have a much in the way of CP generation so you’ll need to hold CP if you want to use this. And even then, it’s not that useful on many units – Infernal Masters automatically hit and typically get wound-rerolls from the unit of Rubrics they’ve been attached to.

Playing This Detachment

The buffs in this Detachment are geared toward your psychic attacks. Which means characters and the aspiring champions in units of Rubrics and Scarab Occult Terminators. Of these, your best attacks are on the Daemon Prince, Infernal Masters, the Exalted Sorcerer on Disc, and Magnus. The good(?) news is that every single one of those has a Psychic attack lacking [DEVASTATING WOUNDS], meaning you’ll have ample use for that Kindred Sorcery mode if you go heavy on those models. And in that respect, this is absolutely the Detachment you take Magnus in if you’re going to take him – he gets the most out of it, and the Destined By Fate stratagem is basically designed for him to use now. 

If you’re running this Detachment you’ll want a few units of Rubrics and at least one unit of Tzaangors, plus character support for each rubric unit. Both to improve their durability and to give your characters re-rolls on their wound rolls. That kind of makes this the “Rubrics with Characters” Detachment as well, but it would be a mistake to go too hard on your Psykers when units like the Mutalith Vortex Beast, Forgefiends, Predators, and Tzaangors are all right there and worth taking. 

Strengths

• Psychic Attacks. This is where you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to psychic attacks. It’s the Detachment you want if you’re running Magnus, and it’s where you get the most value from Infernal Masters, Aspiring Sorcerers, and Exalted Sorcerers. 

• Enhancements. Your enhancement options here are insanely good – doubling up on Doombolts makes Incandeum a must-take, while teleporting with the Crystal and buffing an Infernal Master are also great options to have.

• Sticky Objectives. This is one of the only places where you’ll find the ability to sticky objectives for Thousand Sons, and that’s huge.

Weaknesses

• Support for non-Pskyers. One of your biggest issues with buffing psychic attacks is that you only find those on characters and squad leaders for Rubrics and Scarabs. That’s a relatively small number of models in your army, and getting the most out of this Detachment means loading up on characters, which can mean fewer great support units.

• Single Use Abilities. You’ll need to carefully plan your Kindred Sorcery abilities so that you have access to your best abilities at the right times. +1 to wound is the most useful of them broadly, and the one you’ll often be bringing back via Egotistical Power.

• Defensive Buffs. There’s not a lot here to help you defensively. Yeah, you have the ability to blank an attack, but it’s just for a Psyker model, limiting its effectiveness.

A Sample List

If you’re running the Grand Coven, you have a lot of options but you want psyker characters in your list to make the most of their abilities.

Sample List - Click to Expand

Do I think Magnus is the best way to run this Detachment? No, probably not – for 420 points there’s just too much other good stuff you could get, like three Forgefiends. But this is definitely the best place to run him, as it gives him the biggest boost to his abilities. Combining Magnus with a Mutalith Vortex Beast gives you an eye-watering +3 to your ritual attempts, and that’s pretty big. Here the two Infernal Masters go with the 5-man bolter squads in the Rhino, while the 10-man unit can come in from Strategic Reserves and use the crystal for a once-per-game teleport across the board and wipe out a key unit. The disc Exalted goes with the Enlightened, and gives them the ability to protect themselves from more than 18″ away, letting them pick apart targets without being hit. Doombolt goes 24″, and you can use the added range from Imbued Manifestation to extend the range on the Disc Sorcerer’s psychic attack, or Devastating Sorcery in a pinch.

Final Thoughts

As a replacement for the Index Detachment, Grand Coven has a lot to offer. There are some great effects here, and getting +1 to wound and Devastating wounds on your army’s best psychic attacks is a great pair of effects to have. The ability to sticky Detachments and re-roll your manifestations are both big helps which can keep your army running along at peak efficiency. As a generalist Detachment for Thousand Sons, this one’s pretty good.

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