3.5/5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars. The rules have the potential to be strong, but you need to build carefully and optimize. This is not a beginner friendly army, but in the right hands is strong so long as you spend those points carefully.
Background.
Before the Heresy formally took place, the Thousand Sons were attacked by the Space Wolves and their homeworld of Prospero destroyed. Later analysis would prove this to be the first likely act of Horus under the subtle influence of chaos who subtly changed the wording of the Wolves' orders from that of capture and return, to wholesale slaughter. Of course, even before this, they had been censured at Nikaea for arcane practices and stood apart from their brothers. They took part on both sides of the civil war, but were ever few in number thanks to preceding events. Magnus would take his time to throw his lot in with the traitors though, and didn't particular re-surface until the Siege of Terra itself.
Legion Rules Review.
Cult Arcana. Granting pskyer to all members of the legion doesn't give them automatic access to powers. But the characters within any given unit do. They must take one of the minor arcana (below), but can be upgraded to a formal core psychic discipline from the rule book for a small points cost. All of the minor arcana require a psychic test.
Raptora. When you move close to an enemy, you get an extra pip of invulnerable save. Maxes out at 4+. This is going to be nice for your Tartaros terminators and units such as Breachers.
Pyrae. Hammer of wrath 2 (flame) attacks are very nice when charging. Great for those units with loads of attacks that you want to maximize the damage output from.
Pavoni. +3 distance and ignoring terrain is highly situational. However, it does really change the dynamic of (parts of) the army. And it can certainly give the White Scars quite the scare.
Corvidae. Allocate the first wound from a shooting attack. I guess this is nice for long range or high strength sniping. Especially if you don't have snipers. There are better choices in the more general sense though.
Athanaen. Ld-1 for pinning and morale tests due to shooting is amazing. Take this on your snipers, or pinning causing units. This is great. Take on a vigilator especially - you can thank me later.
Proserpine Aresenal provides the unique wargear options, but there are no other special rules here.
Advanced Reaction.
Fortress of the Mind. Gaining 3+ invulnerable under shooting can be game defining for a given unit. Even if the psychic test is failed, the unit still gets a 5+ invulnerable save, but suffers the perils of the warp. So not too bad.
Difference to First Edition.
The largest change here are the dramatic changes to how psychic powers are used. Gone is the old psychic phase (and I will not shed a single tear about that). Replacing it are abilities that you have to roll to activate. Truly a better system. But of course, this does mean that some powers are not flat out granted (looking at you, Raptora). I like these changes, but others' tastes will vary. Naturally.
Overall, I feel that second edition Thousand Sons have been nerfed downward, but they still sit in a better place than the likes of the White Scars. With careful list building, this can be a very strong army. I mean, have you seen a scout based Thousand Sons army? They're pretty scary with Pavoni, Athanaean coupled up with close range assault Pyrae. As stated right at the top, this army is not one that is beginner friendly. I've seen many new player try to get a good build out of it and flailing to defeat other armies that have a simpler and less complex play style. Watch out for the veterans or old timers like me playing this army though. We have a cunning plan.
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