"One-Bike Army" Shield-Captain

[L30n1d4s]

Continuing to war-game with the rules from the new Custodes Codex here and another build has jumped out to me:

 

 

<EMPERORS CHOSEN> Shield-Host

 

Vertus Shield Captain (equipped with Hurricane Bolter and Misericordia)

 

Relic: Auric Aquilas (gives re-roll for charges, or +1" to charges if already have re-rolls, and doubles movement for price of no shooting/charging)

WL Trait 1: Auric Exemplar (for every model killed in melee, get to make an additional attack, max of 4 bonus attacks)

WL Trait 2: Champion of the Imperium (re-roll all to Hit rolls and Heroically Intervene 6")

Captain-Commander ability: Fierce Conqueror (+2 attacks if within 2" of 6 or more enemies after pile-in)

 

 

So, this Shield-Captain is naturally quite tough (T6 9W 2+/4++ and a 4+++ against MWs) and has exceptional mobility (14" normal move, 20" automatic advance, 34" if you are willing to give up charging and shooting for a turn to reposition, grab an Obj, move block your enemy, etc.). He also has extra movement shenanigans, such as a 6" Heroic Intervention and free re-rolls for any charges, to give him even more options.

 

 

Where he really appears to shine, however, is against large formations of light-medium enemy units.

 

 

First step is to get within reliable charge range of a large enemy unit that you want to eliminate, say 7" away (let's just use a blob of 20 Neophyte Hybrids as an example) Then, use the "Esteemed Amalgam" Strat to change his Fighting Style to the Dreadhost style (re-roll charges and additional AP-1 for attacks on enemy within 9"). That gives all his attacks, including the 12 Hurricane Bolter shots, an additional -1 AP against the target.

 

 

For shooting, that's 12 shots, about 11-12 hits, 8-9 AP-1 wounds, and 6-7 dead Neophytes. He then charges in with the Dacatari stance up, giving him 9 x S7 AP-3 Dmg1 attacks, plus one S5 AP-3 Misericordia attack, with WS2+, +1 to wound, and re-rolls to hit... this should average about 9-10 hits, 8-9 wounds, and 8-9 dead Neophytes. Finally, he gets another 4 attacks due to his "Auric Exemplar" WL Trait, so that will generate another likely 3-4 dead Neophytes.

 

 

Taken shooting and melee all together, this Shield-Captain kills somewhere between 17-20 of these 1W T3 5+models single handedly, with average rolling. Even against tougher units, like say standard 2W T4 3+ Space Marines, don't use the Dacatari stance (so his melee stays at Dmg2) and he still kills about 8-9 dead MEQs all by himself, which basically wipes out a max squad when you take Morale into account.

 

 

The beauty of this is guy is that he is so mobile that, once he clears out a corner of the table or objective, he can "self-deploy" 34" across the board on the next turn to grab a different objective, reinforce your units over there, and/or put pressure on your opponent in an entirely different portion of the board. He can also use the "Rendax" Ka'Tah to help him fight Monsters/Vehicles, he can switch over to other Fighting Styles with the "Esteemed Amalgam" Strat to help him fight characters, and he can even help with an MSU opponent (i.e. Hurricane Bolter down one small squad, then charge something else, giving you up to two unit kills in a single turn).

 

 

Finally, like all Custodes characters, he can use the "Earning a Name" Strat after killing an enemy character to give himself a permanent buff with either a single Ka'Tah stance that is always on for him or a single bonus Fighting Style trait for the rest of the game (i.e. he could give himself Fall Back and Charge from the Sole Watch Fighting style, or ignoring AP-1 from the Aquilan Shield Fighting Style, or permanent +1S in melee versus Monsters/Vehicles from the Rendax Ka'Tah, etc. etc.), making him even more dangerous as the game proceeds.

Edited January 16, 2022 by L30n1d4s

[Captain Idaho]

I'm really liking these topics, mate. Very fun to read. Might inspire me to make a similar, after all, plagiarism is thr sincerest form of flattery!

 

This Captain chews through infantry and like all Custodes is still effective against more "dangerous" targets. Interesting enough he is fast enough to catch those Dark Eldar and their boats.

[L30n1d4s]

Great points about catching DE (hadn't thought of that) and thanks for the encouragement on these topics. I too quite enjoy exploring Tactical possibilities with new codexes, especially ones with as much depth and options as the new Custodes here.

 

Also, on a side note, I have enjoyed your posts, topics, and comments for years now... keep up the great work here on B&C, brother!

[Captain Idaho]

Ah well thank you. Nice to head.

 

Because of your topic here I've add a Shield Captain on Jetbike to my list to :)