Thousand Sons · combination

Warpforged Cabal plus Sekhetar Cohort: The 3-DP Thousand Sons Machine List

Our recommended first 2,000-point Thousand Sons army: 2 DP plus 1 DP for exactly 3 DP, where a single positioning habit switches on both detachment rules at once.

11th edition

BySprue Sentry

ReviewedAug 28, 2026

SourceFaction Pack: Thousand Sons v1.2 (official GW PDF, legal for matched play from 26 August 2026)

Sprue Sentry strategy commentary for 11th edition, not official rules. Games Workshop updates points and rules regularly; always confirm against the current official rules and latest update before a game.

This is the pairing we would build first in 11th edition, and the reason is not that either detachment is the strongest in isolation. It is that they ask you to do , so one discipline pays out twice.

All Thousand Sons detachments Thousand Sons army guide

the same thing

Warpforged Cabal costs 2 DP and Sekhetar Cohort costs 1 DP, for exactly the 3 DP Strike Force budget. Neither carries a Unique Tag, so the pairing is legal.

This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. Its Detachment Point cost, force disposition and enhancement points come from the official Munitorum Field Manual v1.3, read on 27 August 2026, and the Warhammer 40,000 app is the final word as points updates land. New to the army? Start with the Thousand Sons army guide.

Why these two go together

Both detachment rules are proximity rules keyed to Thousand Sons Psykers, and they use almost the same distance.

Warpfire Infusion gives a Thousand Sons Vehicle unit three re-rolls instead of one when it shoots or fights within 6 inches of a friendly Thousand Sons Psyker model.

Ensorcelled Animus gives Sekhetar Robots +1 WS in melee while they are within 12 inches of a friendly Thousand Sons Psyker unit, and two of Sekhetar Cohort's three stratagems carry that same 12-inch condition. Sekhetar Cohort's enhancements tighten it further, to 6 inches for Occulus Infernum and 3 inches for Walking Rampart.

So every one of those effects is asking you to do a single thing: keep your Sorcerers walking in the middle of your machines. In most army pairings you are juggling two different positioning demands and compromising on both. Here the tightest requirement, Walking Rampart's 3 inches, satisfies every other condition automatically. Play to the tightest one and everything else comes free.

The second reason is that they cover each other's gap. Warpforged Cabal is purely offensive: its rule adds no durability and nothing to Objective Control. Sekhetar Cohort brings Arcane Venting, which secures an objective a robot unit controls, and Warp Fields, which imposes -1 to wound on the high-Strength shooting aimed at your machines. One detachment kills, the other holds and protects, and both do it from the same board position.

How to play the pairing

Deploy as one block, not two. The instinct with a machine list is to spread the war engines for firing angles. Resist it. A tank 8 inches from your Sorcerer is a materially worse tank, and a robot unit 14 inches away has lost its Weapon Skill bonus and both of its stratagems.

Put Walking Rampart on the Sorcerer who leads the advance. Its Kine-shielded Guardians clause gives that model Lone Operative while within 3 inches of a Sekhetar Robots unit, which makes the single most important model in your list effectively untargetable at range. In a pairing where losing one character degrades your vehicles, your robots and two stratagems simultaneously, that protection is the most valuable 30 points on the table. The D3+1 repair is a bonus.

Put Occulus Infernum on a second Sorcerer. It gives a robot unit +1 BS until the start of your next turn, which is the shooting fix neither detachment rule provides, and it means your second character has a job rather than just being a spare aura.

Spend the re-rolls on one activation, not spread thin. Warpfire Infusion's three re-rolls are per unit, per shooting or fighting activation. Their value is highest on your single biggest gun against your opponent's most important target, because fixing a Hit, then a Wound, then a Damage roll on the same attack is how you guarantee the shot that matters lands end to end.

Remember what neither detachment gives you. Neither adds Objective Control beyond Arcane Venting, and neither adds bodies. Bring Rubric Marines to hold ground, because a list of expensive machines and two Sorcerers can win every firefight and still lose on primary.

A 2,000-point shape

Not a decklist, because points move with every dataslate and we do not reprint unit costs. A shape.

Two units of [Sekhetar Robots](/40k/boxes/thousand-sons-sekhetar-robots) as the core. They are the only unit Sekhetar Cohort names, and with [PSYCHIC] on their attacks from Ensorcelled Animus they plug into the rest of the army's sorcerous support.
A Sorcerer or [Exalted Sorcerer](/40k/boxes/warhammer-thousand-sons-exalted-sorcerers-new) carrying Walking Rampart, moving in the middle of the formation. This is the model the whole list is built around protecting, and the enhancement protects him for you.
A second Sorcerer carrying Occulus Infernum, or an Infernal Master as the cheaper Psyker body if you would rather spend the points elsewhere. Either way you want at least two Psyker units, because one aura source cannot cover both flanks and every effect in this pairing keys off Psyker proximity.
Your Thousand Sons vehicles, positioned to stay inside the 6-inch bubble. Check the VEHICLE keyword on each datasheet in the app before you count on Warpfire Infusion applying to it.
Two or three [Rubric Marines](/40k/boxes/warhammer-chaos-space-marines-thousand-sons-rubric-marines-new-in-box) units to screen and score, and to give your Psykers somewhere safe to stand.

Remember that your Psykers are also your Ritual engine. Every Sorcerer you bring for the auras is another model that can attempt a Ritual at the start of your Shooting phase, and since the army rule caps you at four Rituals a turn, a list with three or four casters actually reaches the ceiling. Attempt the cheap Rituals unchannelled and risk-free.

For the fundamentals underneath all of it, read the Thousand Sons army guide.

Common questions

How many Detachment Points does this pairing cost?

Exactly 3 DP: Warpforged Cabal at 2 DP plus Sekhetar Cohort at 1 DP. That is the full Strike Force budget at 2,000 points, so there is nothing left over. Neither detachment carries a Unique Tag, so the pairing is legal.

Why is this the recommended first Thousand Sons army?

Because both detachments reward the same habit. Warpfire Infusion needs a Psyker within 6 inches of your vehicles, and Ensorcelled Animus plus two Sekhetar stratagems need a Psyker within 12 inches of your robots, with the enhancements tightening that to 6 and 3 inches. Play to the tightest requirement and every other condition is satisfied automatically, so you are learning one positioning rule rather than two.

Which enhancement matters most here?

Walking Rampart, at 30 points, on the Sorcerer leading the advance. Its Kine-shielded Guardians clause grants him Lone Operative while he stays within 3 inches of a Sekhetar Robots unit. In a pairing where losing that one character degrades your vehicles, your robots and two of your stratagems at once, making him untargetable at range is the best points you will spend.

What is this pairing bad at?

Scoring and bodies. Warpforged Cabal adds nothing to Objective Control at all, and Sekhetar Cohort adds only Arcane Venting, which secures an objective a robot unit already controls. You will win firefights and lose on primary unless you bring Rubric Marines to hold ground. It is also a low-unit-count list, and objectives are contested per unit.

Rules sources

Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.