Taking Beta units to a tourney

[shanewatts]

The lists I ran were 2k, and the low CP was kind of refreshing. Didn’t need to worry about too many stratagems.

[shocker3800]

I’ve just finished my tournament, I went 4 and 2. I lost only 1 telemon the whole tournament, they blitz 150 boyz in one game, and butchered 60 blood letters in another. I found the telemons to be amazing, I lacked the ability to screen more and I had no in-direct fire, which probably cost me at least one game.

[shanewatts]

Alrighty, recap of this past weekend using the following list:

 

Trajann

Vexilla w/ magnif, miser

5 Sagittarum w/ 5x miser

5 Sagittarum w/ 5x miser

Telemon w/ 2x storm

Caladius w/ iliastus

Caladius w/ iliastus

5 Venatari w/ 5x pistol, buckler

 

Culexus

 

 

Round 1 - My opponent was playing 3 AM Battalions. 2 cadian battalions, with pask(warlord), russ, 6 infantry squads, primaris psyker, company commanders, 2 basilisk. 1 tallarn battalion with tank commander, 2 russes, 3 scion squads, 2 valkyries.

 

Mission - Mission 1 (Forget the name 6 objectives,) Deployment - Spearhead Assault

My Secondaries - Kingslayer (Pask), Big game hunter, Reaper

His Secondaries - Marked for death (2x Sagittarum, Venatari, 1x Caladius), Big game Hunter, Old school

 

I deployed both Caladius and the Telemon in terrain and mostly hidden (sweet sweet cover), both sagittarum out of LoS (one near each objective in my deployment,) the vexilla and trajann in range of the vehicles, and the culexus and venatari in reserve. He deployed both basilisks in a ruin (one entirely out of LoS,) Pask near the back of his deployment (but out in the open,) infantry squads spread around near objectives, one valk carried an infantry squad and company commander, he used the tallarn strat to reserve the tank commander and 2 russes, and reserved the scion squads.

He won the roll off and chose to go first.

 

His turn 1 - Both valks move forward along one side, drop out the infantry squad and company commander near the center objective at the edge of my deployment, most everything else stays still. He tosses night shroud onto Pask. His shooting phase, Pask, the basilisks, and the valks dump into the marked Caladius dealing 6 wounds. The other russ couldn't draw LoS to the marked caladius, so he shoots the other and deals 2 wounds. (Thanks -1 to hit and +1 save from cover.)

His turn 1 - Hold 1

 

My turn 1 - The center Sagittarum move out of cover towards the infantry squad on the center objective (lined up for a 7" charge,) the vexilla and trajann shuffle forward to keep the Sagittarum in range, the other sagittarum squad advances in order to get into the vexillas range and hold their side objective, telemon stays still (in auras still,) both caladius move up into aura range, marked one uses terrain again, unmarked is in the open. My shooting phase, the telemon and a caladius take out pask, the second caladius takes a basilisk down to 6 wounds, all the bolt weapons from the vehicles pepper the nearest valk, the sagittarum and trajann shoot the same valk, taking it down to 1 wound. The sagittarum charge the infantry squad and kill it.

My turn 1 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Kingslayer 4

End of turn - I kill more - 7/1

 

His turn 2 - The valks go to hover, most of the rest of his stuff stays put, all the reserves come in, the russes come in along the side with just sagittarum, the scions come in near the caladius and valks. He fails night shroud on the basilisk. His shooting phase, the russes that can see the marked caladius and basilisk kill it, all the heavy bolter shots deal 1 wound to the sagittarum, the last russ (backfield) shoots the telemon and deals 2 wounds, the scions shoot at the other caladius and sagittarum and fail to deal damage.

His turn 2 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Marked for death 1

 

My turn 2 - The center sagittarum moves towards the valks and company commander, the side sagittarum moves towards tallarn russes, unmarked caladius moves to draw LoS on scions along my board edge and control that side objective, trajann and vexilla shuffle to maintain auras, I decide to leave the venatari and culexus in reserve due to my opponents board coverage. My shooting phase, the telemon deletes a russ, the combined shooting of the sagittarum and bolt weapons from vehicles kills 2 scion squads and reduces the third to 2 models, the caladius dishes wounds out to the russ closest to the sagittarum. The center sagittarum charge the 1 wound valk (apparently he didn't know I could charge it when it hovered,) kill it, and wrap up the company commander. The company commander fails to deal damage. The side sagittarum charge the damaged russ, deal some wounds to it, one model consolidates within 1" of the other russ while the rest of the squad surrounds the damaged russ.

My turn 2 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Big game 2, Reaper 1

End of turn 2 - I kill more, he holds more - 13/5

 

His turn 3 - Valk goes airborne and moves across the center, russ able to do so falls back, his backfield stays put. His shooting phase, the basilisks, valk, 2 scions, and backfield russ deal some wounds to the umarked caladius. In combat, the company commander gets murdered, the russ takes a few more wounds.

His turn 3 - Hold 1

 

My turn 3 - The center sagittarum move up towards his center objective, the side sagittarum stay locked in combat with the russ, vexilla and trajann shuffle forward for auras, caladius shifts to be in auras and still on objective, telemon shuffles to stay in auras, the venatari come in 9" away from the infantry squad in front of the basilisks and strung out back to auras, the culexus pops up in a ruin out of LoS 9" away from the same infantry squad. My shooting phase the telemon and caladius delete the tallarn russ out of combat and kill the last 2 scions, the center sagittarum kill a backfield infantry squad, the venetari kill the 1 wound basilisk and deal some wounds to the valk. The culexus charges the infantry squad and makes it (onto the side objective as well,) the venatari make their charge into the infantry squad as well, the center sagittarum make their charge into the center infantry squad. The venatari kill the infantry squad and consolidate into the company commander, the center sagittarum murder the infantry squad and steal the objective, the other sagittarum kill the last tallarn russ in melee.

My turn 3 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Big game 2, Reaper 2, Bonus

End of turn 3 - I kill more and hold more - 20/6

 

His turn 4 - He puts the valk back into hover, most everything stays still again. He tosses a smite and fails. His shooting phase, the valk and russ shoot the side sagittarum and kill 1, the basilisk shoots the caladius and deals some wounds, the infantry shoot the center sagittarum and deal 2 wounds. The company commander fails to deal any damage to the venatari, and gets murdered by the venatari.

His turn 4 - Hold 1

 

My turn 4 - The venatari move close to the primaris psyker, culexus stays on the objective, both sagittarum move up but string back to hold objectives. My shooting phase, the telemon deletes the last russ, the sagittarum and caladius pick up the last of the infantry, the venatari kill the psyker with shooting and deal a could wounds to the basilisk. The venatari charges the basilisk and fails to kill it.

My turn 4 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Reaper 1, Bonus

End of turn 4 - I kill more and hold more - 26/7

 

His turn 5 - All he has left is a basilisk, which survives melee again.

His turn 5 - No points

 

My turn 5 - I kill the basilisk in melee, tabling him.

My turn 5 - Kill 1, Hold 1, Bonus

End of turn 5 - I kill more and hold more - 31/7

End of game - 35/7

 

 

Unit Impressions

 

Caladius - These were cool, dealt a lot of damage where it was needed, cleaned up any unit they looked at really.

 

Venatari - Holding them back to turn 3 was a big deal in this match, and I didn't realize how fun rolling extra shots from the pistols would be, the 1 damage melee hurt when they were trying to kill the basilisk though.

 

Telemon - Wow, I knew that storm cannons were good vs vehicles, but deleting a russ with no effort was crazy. Nearly every turn just that alone killed a russ (-4 and 3 damage each was clutch.)

 

Sagittarum - Ironically enough, this unit is turning out to be one of my favorite from the beta rules. I really like that they are more durable than they seem, being useful from the backfield is a big selling point to me, and they were mulching guardsmen in melee (which while it makes sense, just messes with my mind since they are rocking big guns.) I still hate that they are heavy support though.

 

 

Round 2 to follow.

[FarFromSam]

Are you using the combi profile on the sagitarum, or just the hvy bolter profile?

[shanewatts]

Mostly the bolter profile, but I have shot the adrathic profile a few times.

[Danarc]

Astra was full of CP and you had only a handful of it. Wasn't it a problem? It seems that you found a good way to play Custodies without concerns for CP, that are my first problem (often I use the reroll stratagem due to my dice results). It is clear that your isn't an army built on stratagem, but I would like to know your impressions about this issue.

[shanewatts]

I liked running the loyal 32 for the cheap CP they brought, but it was a double edged sword in that they were easy kills even if played them conservatively.

 

 

 

As far as my impressions of Custodes stratagems and our want/need for CP:

 

We have some very powerful stratagems, but rarely do we need them more than once or twice. There is a lot of stratagems that are useful, but still lackluster for their benefit. With the shift to testing these Beta units I have been focusing on using as much as possible and not worrying about CP, which has led me to find that my reliance on needing CP for Custodes was more in my head.

[CrimsonExarch]

I liked running the loyal 32 for the cheap CP they brought, but it was a double edged sword in that they were easy kills even if played them conservatively.

 

 

 

As far as my impressions of Custodes stratagems and our want/need for CP:

 

We have some very powerful stratagems, but rarely do we need them more than once or twice. There is a lot of stratagems that are useful, but still lackluster for their benefit. With the shift to testing these Beta units I have been focusing on using as much as possible and not worrying about CP, which has led me to find that my reliance on needing CP for Custodes was more in my head.

 

Any updates on your list? A friend of mine is looking to start Custodes and this thread is providing invaluable information for me to give him. He really wants to make his army mono-Custodes and he loves the Forgeworld models.

He already has 3 squads of 3 Custodian Guard, A Vexillus Praetor and a box of Allarus terminators. Where should he go from there?

[Prot]

I’m a little surprised at the dual Caladius. Are they that good that they are worth the cost of more infantry? It just seems on paper it would be quite challenging to hold objectives with just over... 15 infantry? Any thoughts on that or are these Calafius just that good?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I think one is great but two is kind of overkill. Remember it’s flying Hiveguard that always hits on 2+ until it starts to degrade plus you can use it to block off killer enemy melee units to prevent them from assaulting yours... that’s powerful.

[shanewatts]

Hey sorry I have been MIA a few days.

 

Crimsonexarch - I ran very few FW units this past weekend (one to be told,) simply because I wanted to run bikes again with a little FW to augment. I regards to what units to buy next, it depends on whether he wants to run footstodes or mobile stodes. Either way I'd say a box of 3 bikes is a good buy simply to make a shield cap on bike, as well as Trajann. As far as what FW units to snag, I would recommend he watches/listens to the Canhammer FW review that I was invited on, we break down every unit (even if it is a long listen,) but regardless of that I would say a Telemon is a good buy (double storm cannon.)

               Side note: I plan on doing my FW feedback write up soon and posting to the forum for comments before submittal.

 

Prot - Outside of the Castellan meta, I really like the Calladius. I usually run the "rule of 2" whenever it comes to good units (if it is good enough to take 1, take 2.) I know this only goes so far with Custodes simply from unit costs, however I did find the Calladius very effective for its cost.

[duz_]

My friend took 2 Calladius to a local GT a few weeks back

Although he hadn't really practiced with the army in general before playing he was impressed with their effectiveness

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

The Caldius with accelerator cannon has been out of stock for over two weeks now. :'(

[duz_]

Sign up for the notifications

I did and got a notice a week or so later

When I ordered it they said up to 10 days for fulfilment but it shipped straight away

[TheFinisher4Ever]

In my experience, the Caladius is a gigantic fire magnet. It's T7 and 3+ so it's often a more appealing target than the T8 Telemon or the 2+ save infantry or bikes. It's also one of our best sources of long range anti-tank. Because of that, I really recommend running 2 of them.

[Danarc]

In my experience, the Caladius is a gigantic fire magnet. It's T7 and 3+ so it's often a more appealing target than the T8 Telemon or the 2+ save infantry or bikes. It's also one of our best sources of long range anti-tank. Because of that, I really recommend running 2 of them.

2 or nothing?  only one would be erased on 1?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Sign up for the notifications

I did and got a notice a week or so later

When I ordered it they said up to 10 days for fulfilment but it shipped straight away

 

I did but I haven't gotten a reply back as yet sadly.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

W00t I was finally able to order the Caladius this morning.

 

Here is a list I will be playtesting tomorrow:

 

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Blood Angels) [449] ++

 

+ HQ [284] +

 

Captain [124] - Jump Pack - Stormshield - Thunderhammer

Warlord - Artisan of War

The Angel's Wing (replaces jump pack)

 

Chief Librarian Mephiston [8 PL, 160pts]

 

+ Troops [165] +

 

Scout Squad [55]

4x Scout - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

Scout Sergeant  - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

 

Scout Squad [55]

4x Scout - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

Scout Sergeant  - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

 

Scout Squad [55]

4x Scout - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

Scout Sergeant  - Combat Knife & Bolt Pistol

 

 

++ Vanguard Detachment +1CP (Adeptus Custodes) [1550] ++

 

+ HQ [345] +

 

Captain-General Trajann Valoris [185]

 

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike [160] - Auric Aquilis - Hurricane Bolter

Auric Aquilis

 

+ Elites [568] +

 

Aquilon Custodians [322]

3x Aquilon Custodian - Lastrum Storm Bolter - Solarite Power Gauntlet

Aquilon Custodian - Infernus Firepike - Solarite Power Gauntlet

 

Vexillus Praetor [124] - Castellan Axe - Vexilla Magnifica

 

Vexillus Praetor [122] - Guardian Spear - Vexilla Magnifica

 

+ Fast Attack [360] +

 

Vertus Praetors [360]

4x Vertus Praetor - Hurricane Bolter

 

+ Heavy Support [277] +

 

Telemon Heavy Dreadnought [277] - Arachnus Storm Cannon - Spiculus Bolt Launcher - Telemon Caestus w. Twin Plasma Projector

 

++ Total: [1999] ++