The Dark Angels come to the Psychic Awakening party with a whole host of new skills with which to stop Magnus the Red and his Ritual of the Damned.

The Dark Angels in Ritual of the Damned are led by Master Lazarus, the Commander of the 5th Company. He has experience of fighting against the Thousand Sons, having faced them in the Fenris System and on Stygius. He was critically wounded in the latter fight and only crossing the Rubicon Primaris saved his life.

This marked a unique moment in the Dark Angels’ history, as Lazarus became the first-ever Primaris member of the Inner Circle. It seems that the Unforgiven’s suspicions of Primaris Space Marines are starting to wane.*

As for Lazarus, he seeks his revenge on Magnus the Red’s Legion and he has some unique wargear with which to deliver it. His sword, Enmity’s Edge, is especially deadly against psykers, which will come in handy against the Thousand Sons.

Meanwhile, his Spiritshield Helm contains a shard of one of Caliban’s Stone Guardians and projects a forcefield, protecting both Lazarus and the warriors around him.

The rest of the Chapter has also been brought in line with the other recently updated Space Marines and now get the Combat Doctrines special rule. They also get some new Chapter-specific goodies. 

Relentless Hunt increases the range of your shooting weapons. This meshes brilliantly with Bolter Discipline and also means that enemy units trying to avoid fiery death from Overwatching flamers by charging from 9 inches away are going to get toasty.

The Chaplains and Interrogator-Chaplains of the Dark Angels now know the same Litanies of Battle as their brethren from other Chapters. 

They also have their own special litany, Stoic Prosecution, which adds even more flexibility to your shooting. Want to move your Devastator squad and still fire at full efficiency? This is the litany for you.

While they are generally a codex-compliant Chapter, the first two companies of Dark Angels (better known as the Deathwing and the Ravenwing) are unique. To represent the storied heroes from these companies, if your Warlord is from one of them, they can choose from a new table of Warlord traits. 

Use the Outrider trait to give your Ravenwing a positional advantage over the enemy.

The armouries of the Rock have been opened and some of the oldest relics of Caliban are now available to heroes of the Deathwing and Ravenwing. We’ve already seen how good the Dark Angels are at shooting – give your Deathwing Captain the Key of Archrabael and watch him slice through enemies in combat too!

Even better than a Deathwing OR Ravenwing force is one that includes elements of both, and a new Stratagem allows you to take advantage of such a united army. Use the speed of your Ravenwing bikers to get to the ideal spot on the battlefield, then call in the Deathwing Terminators and crush your enemies.

Just as Tzeentch planned, the next book in the Psychic Awakening series, Ritual of the Damned, brings a number of boons to the Thousand Sons, and today we’re taking a look at some of them. Get ready to unleash a storm of sorcery.

Who Are They?

The Thousand Sons are a Legion of sorcerers and spectral warriors. They are the most favoured mortal servants of the Chaos God Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways, and are driven by an insatiable lust for forbidden knowledge and arcane power. For 10,000 years they have been driven by an undying desire for vengeance against the Imperium. Now, their Primarch, Magnus the Red, leads them back to their homeworld of Prospero and prepares a fell ritual that will accelerate humanity’s psychic surge a hundredfold across an entire sector. The time of their revenge is at hand.

As well as background on Magnus’ plans and the Thousand Sons’ battles with the Dark Angels and Grey Knights who oppose them, Ritual of the Damned is also chock full of new rules for the followers of the Crimson King. First up is the ability to dedicate each of your Detachments to one of the nine Cults of the Thousand Sons.*

These Cults have their roots in the Legion of fallen Prospero, dating back even before the Horus Heresy, and give the psykers in the Detachment access to additional psychic powers, Warlord Traits and Relics. Whichever Cult you devote yourself to, you’ll get some new tools with which to reap your revenge on the Imperium – take a look.

Dedicate yourself to the Cult of Time and use Time Flux to turn back the clock and return dead troops back to your ranks.

Pledge yourself to the Cult of Duplicity (don’t worry, you only need to do it once) and your Warlord gains the Duplicitous Tactician trait. If your enemy thinks that they have a tactical advantage after deployment, then your Warlord will soon dissuade them of that notion.**

If you want your Warlord to look good while carrying out their Primarch’s nefarious schemes, then join the Cult of Change and give them the Capricious Crest. It’s also said that Tzeentch drinks deeply of the tears of those who celebrate a successful Psychic test only to see it fail.

Of course, you don’t have to dedicate your army to a Cult, and Ritual of the Damned also includes a host of new Stratagems that can be used by any Thousand Sons army. With Risen Rubricae, you can make the most of the foresight of Tzeentch to awaken troops buried years ahead of time.