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How to start Custodes?


Droz_64

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Forge World released an errata for the Custodes in July; you’ll need that. The Radio Free Isstvan podcast has the most detail before/after comparison I know of, but basically it softened the army a little (particularly the Shield Captain/Tribune and anything carrying shields), improved the Sagittarum Guard, fixed a few errors, and made official the Telemon Dreadnought rules.

 

Before the errata, events were penalizing Custodes armies with a 20-25% points tax and they were still doing very well. Some events simply excluded them, sometimes with exceptions for allied detachments. They’re not a widely-loved army. The errata’s changes were pretty minor so I don’t expect much to change in events.

 

The strongest units, imo, are the Hetaeron Guard, Agamatus Jetbikes, Caladius Grav-Tank, and Telemon Dreadnought. They’re just plain broken. The Shield Captain/Tribune is probably up there too, despite being less invincible than before. Note that if you’re using the shorter, plastic GW Vertus Praetor jetbikes as Agamatus Jetbikes, you’ll need to mess with the nose weaponry for WYSIWYG purposes. Hetaerons don’t have a Forge World model; use plastic GW Wardens if you feel the need to use that unit.

 

The Aquilon Terminators, Custodian Guard (troops w/ spears), Pallas Grav-Attack, and Sagittarum Guard are on the softer side and make for more interesting games when a points penalty is not applied. FW’s Aquilon models come on larger bases than GW’s Allarus Terminators and their poses are a little more varied, but I’m sure plenty of people are using the plastics to save money. The firepikes are popular since horde armies are the one thing Custodes struggle with without Sisters of Silence support.

I suggest getting 2 boxes of regular Custodians and maybe a Forge World Contemptor. Assemble one of the Custodians as a Shield Captain and that's it pretty much for 1k games. 

 

I'd assemble 6 of them with spears, 3 with shields and swords (if you have a power fist lying around, you should give one of them a solarite gauntlet) and give your Captain a spear and maybe a shield. The shield will make him quite strong and not a lot of people want to play against him especially at lower point levels. 

 

This list is exactly 1000 points and give you a solid starting point for a larger force:

 

- Shield Captain: paragon spear and digital laser

 

- Contemptor Achillus: Achillus dreadspear

 

- 3 Custodian Guard: teleportation transponders

- 3 Custodian Guard

- 3 Sentinel Guard: 1 with solarite gauntlet

 

If you don't yet want to get a Contemptor you can switch him for some more troops.

1000 points is very small for Horus Heresy but it can still be fun. You should tell your opponent that you are bringing Custodes, for they are very strong and if your opponent isn't prepared it can be a very one sided game at 1000 pts.

 

You can use those GW jetbikes as a proxy for Agamatus jetbikes, but be prepared that not everyone is happy about the size difference. You should ask your opponent if they are okay with that beforehand.

Even after the errata expect to take a 25% point tax, otherwise people are going to give you the evil eye, and even with that tax expect to win more than half of your games.

 

Get three regular Custodes boxes, a Contemptor model (both The Achillus and Galatus are great), and a Shield Captain.

This should put you at around 1k points.

Self regulate, but have fun.

 

That's the best advice!

 

This.

 

I had no one ever complain about my list thus far. Yes, there are some tough elements in there, but there's a hard counter for everything in Horus Heresy.

 

Tone it down just a little, and you'll be totally fine.

 

 

I had no one ever complain about my list thus far.

 

What's in it?

 

 

Since you wanted to know:

 

Shield Captain w. Paragon Spear & Transponder (joins one of the Custodian Guard units)

2 units of Custodian Guard, 4 strong each, one unit w. Guardian Spears, one w. Pyrithite Spears, Vexillas, Transponders

Oblivion-Knight Centura w. Paragon Blade (joins Vigilators)

1 unit of ten gunslinger Vigilators in a Kharon Acquisitor, Nuncio Vox

1 unit of five Sagitarium Guard

1 Achillus w. Dreadspear

1 Caladius w. Heavy Blaze Cannons

 

With upgrades (Melta Bombs, Transponders, etc.) that's 2k on the nose, nice & fluffy and certainly not OP in any way.

 

And yeah, I didn't take any Praesidium Shields in there on purpose. A proper custodian fights with a spear. :biggrin.:

 

 

 

 

I had no one ever complain about my list thus far.

 

 

What's in it?

Since you wanted to know:

 

Shield Captain w. Paragon Spear & Transponder (joins one of the Custodian Guard units)

2 units of Custodian Guard, 4 strong each, one unit w. Guardian Spears, one w. Pyrithite Spears, Vexillas, Transponders

Oblivion-Knight Centura w. Paragon Blade (joins Vigilators)

1 unit of ten gunslinger Vigilators in a Kharon Acquisitor, Nuncio Vox

1 unit of five Sagitarium Guard

1 Achillus w. Dreadspear

1 Caladius w. Heavy Blaze Cannons

 

With upgrades (Melta Bombs, Transponders, etc.) that's 2k on the nose, nice & fluffy and certainly not OP in any way.

 

And yeah, I didn't take any Praesidium Shields in there on purpose. A proper custodian fights with a spear. :biggrin.:

I'd love to play against that list.

Does it work?

 

And yes, the swords DO look silly.

they always used to be portrayed with spears and I don't know where the shield idea came from.  And those swords look silly. 

 

The squat swords and shields exist in one piece in the old Visions of Heresy art books.  It is the long piece that has the Custodes to the Emperor's right, standing gleaming in the sun while the Sisters are to his left, shrouded in darkness on pages 46-47 of Volume II: Visions of Darkness.  There's also a piece that has a Custodian with a normal looking sword and no shield on page 64 of Visions of Heresy III: Visions of Treachery.

 

There's also one piece that has Custodians armed with bolters on page 65 of Volume I: Visions of Betrayal.

 

Thanks for causing me to flip through those old books.

Yeah, that's a very reasonable list, and yeah, they always used to be portrayed with spears and I don't know where the shield idea came from.  And those swords look silly. 

 

How have the Vigilators worked out, armed that way?

 

The good ol' gunslinger girls are essentially there to deep strike or infiltrate turn one, get out of their metal box so I can use the Nuncio Vox on turn two, and scramble for cover.

When they have fulfilled that sacred duty and have managed to survive they're a cheap scoring unit, with the Knight Centura attached for some ooomph should they decide to charge after having fired their dual pistols.

Dual pistols might be slightly worse than Boltguns on paper, but they enable me to double-tap and still charge afterwards. The unit generally performs admirable given their cost and power level. 

Also ... double handguns look ace and I like to deploy stuff I relish on a visual level.

As sad as this will sound, prepare to be complained at. I used to run an infantry heavy custodian list, but I stopped using it as my local club complained a lot, despite me losing most games with it. It's so disheartening hearing the same crap week in, week out.

 

The army is fun to play and with the new 40k models it has some stunning miniatures, but it has stigma from when it was horrifically strong.

 

Self regulate, but have fun.

 

That's the best advice!

And not only for custodes, but for friendly games in general!

 

(Sorry, I don't really have anything to add to the topic, but I really liked Charlo's post).

 

 

Good job and well spoken !  :thumbsup:

 

 

Self regulate, but have fun.

 

That's the best advice!

And not only for custodes, but for friendly games in general!

 

(Sorry, I don't really have anything to add to the topic, but I really liked Charlo's post).

 

 

Good job and well spoken !  :thumbsup:

 

And also, you can be beardy too - as long as it's in the spirit of the game and to a theme. Just expect a little pushback if its extreme.

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