Hey guys, long time no see. Mr.MoreTanks back to talk about my absolutely favorite force in all of the grimdark universe, the Adeptus Custodes. https://frontlinegaming.org/tactics/
So as my life has gotten crazy, I opted to basically sell the vast majority of my gaming stuff. After the dust settled, 30k armies, 2 Gladiuses, a bike army, a big ad mech army, and 20k of guard were gone. All I really had left were my Custodes 30k/40k force.
Then, a few days later, that infamous GW trailer broke that Custodes were back as a new full force faction in 40k. My heart soared, and my wallet wept. It was time to get serious again about gaming, as much as time would allow anyways.
Not that most of you really care at all about any of that; but this is my article, and unless Reece overrides it, I will put in whatever I please.
I’m going to run an in depth review of the whole Codex. All of the rules, stratagems, and units, and finally write up a pure Custodes list, and then, some hybrid (soup) list ideas.
So let’s take a look at the overall rules first that are available to the Golden 10,000. Any unit with the ADEPTUS CUSTODES keyword gain these rules.
Aegis of the Emperor
Models with this rule have a 5++. Additionally, models ignore Mortal Wounds they suffer in the Psychic Phase on a D6 roll of 6.
So this rule is pretty straight forward, and pairs well with other rules and options available to the Custodes. Having invulnerable save are critical in 8th, and even just a 5++ is incredibly durable. Small elite armies need to not only have hitting power, but staying power as well. Invulnerable saves are one of the most basic tools that can help achieve this.
One thing that I think it overlooked about Aegis, is how the “feel no pain” aspect of the rule is worded. Should your opponent do something that triggers mortal wounds during the psychic phase, such as killing a vehicle and having it blow up, then you still get the benefits of Aegis. While Smite is the one use for this that usually comes to mind, don’t forget the other chances that this may be useful.
The following rules and options are for battle-forged Custodes armies and pure detachments. While Custodes are beyond a shadow of a doubt designed to be run in soup armies, you definitely want to run them in pure detachments to take advantage of these very powerful rules. These rules only apply to Infantry or Biker units, sorry Dreadnoughts.
The Emperor’s Chosen
Models with this rule gain +1 to their Invulnerable Save (to a maximum of 3++).
Sworn Guardians
A unit with this ability that is within range of an objective marker (as specified in the mission) controls the objective marker even if there are more enemy models within range of that objective marker. If an enemy unit within range of the same objective marker has a similar ability, then the objective marker is controlled by the player who has the most models within range of it as normal.
So these two components, beyond the impressive statistic lines that the units have, do more than anything in this codex to make this an actual competitive small elite force. I don’t think I need to explain why improving the Invulnerable Saves on units is important, but I guess I will. It’s really neat. Especially on multi-wound models that don’t like getting hit by high Damage weapons.
Sworn Guardians is a really unique and cool idea for a rule, and quite frankly, it’s fitting. The last line here though is something that Custodes players really need to pay attention to, because they will pretty much always be outnumbered on the Objectives. This means, that Custodes need to kill the opponent’s Objective Secured units are quickly as possible. Thankfully, they’re pretty well equipped to do that most of the time. Hurricane bolters can make pretty quick work of even the biggest hordes of Poxwalkers, and Primaris Marines crumble to guardian spears shooting and blades. This isn’t to say that there won’t be times where you won’t have a tough choice between attacking a deadly unit and killing something that might help your opponent score themselves points, but you have the tools to succeed. Deployment and support for your units will be critical.
These rules are very important for helping to keep your Custodes on the table; and when they’re on the table, they can be killing things and holding Objectives. I think that Custodes, with the right support, will do very well in the ITC format. I’ve been having a blast with mine.
Thanks for reading guys. Next time I’ll start looking into the units themselves.
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