Help with custodes

[Ulfast]

Hello fellow B&C members. Im been thinking to restart my custodes army after not playing in a couple of years (last in 9:ed). But I´m wondering, is custodes a fun army to play with and against in 10:ed? According to my research many people where upset with a bad codex and it seems not so many tournament winners use them. I´m not thinking to perhaps be a tournament winner but it would be fun to at least play in a good way to give a fight when I play against others.

 

But what do you think, are they fun to play with and against and/or do you have any advice for a returning player?

[Casual Heresy]

I've played 4 games using the new book (2 wins, 2 losses) and they've been the most fun and close casual games I've had in ages.

 

I had a few models but hadn't played a game with Custodes before this codex, partly because they could be so oppressive to play against. But with the new book they still feel strong but not like an auto-win option. The most recent FAQ and update has given them some help power wise, but again I personally don't feel that they are over or under powered. The codex could be better in someways, I don't think there is enough variety of detachments, I'd like to see at least two more that play very differently. But then I've been quite happy playing my list in the Shield Host Detachment.

 

Most people might disagree with me, but I'm happy enough with the book and can field all the codex units I like in a list that functions on the field. For a game that should be fun I can't really ask more than that.

 

 

[INKS]

Pre codex Custodes were much stronger. But they are still fairly strong now. It's hard anytime you are super powerful and you get hit with a nerf. And the codex just wasn't written very well, but it's certainly not the worst either.

 

From a competitive standpoint we do fairly well. most of those lists do rely on forgeworld models still, but you can put up some competitive results without those units.

I would say they are fun to play.

[Minsc]

As someone who started Custodes ~2 months ago, and never played with the index (and so, never felt the pain of going from the borderline OP index to the terrible first iteration of the current codex), only with the current "updated" 2.0-codex, I'd say they feel "fine".

I've never played against them, but I've had great fun playing with them so far.
My current collection of Custodes is rather small and limited though (basically 10 Wardens, 10 Guards, 6 Praetors, 5 Allarus', 5 Witchseekers, 5 Prosecutors, a Champ, an Allarus-Captain, a Bike-Captain and Trajann), but I do intend to expand my Custodian-collection very shortly, and I even intend to get some FW-stuff (5 Saggitarums and 3-6 Venataris). 

If nothing else, they play very different from any other army I own, which makes them extra appealing.
Ironically, the handful of games I've played with them so far have all proceeded in roughly the same way: "I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm gonna lose, I ... won?" 
 

[Ulfast]

Thanks to both your answers Minsc and INKS. From both your accounts it sounds that custodes are fun to play and gives a challenge tactical which is something I like. So I will get the codex and start playing. I will also need to buy several new things but will start wth playing what I got (I´m looking to get the new Shield-Captain pretty soon as I actually like the miniature). 

 

Do you have any other good advice? Saw someone made it to place 3 in a big tournament over the weekend so custodes seem to have some power in there codex :)

[Ulfast]

i had yesterday my first game with the new codex and the first time in a long time with custodes. I played against a daemon player (that also was pretty new to daemons) and it was really fun. It lookted dark but in the end I turned it around and made a loss into a win. At one moment in round 2 he controled almost all objectives but in the end of the 4 round it was the opposite. High light of my game was when my guard unit with a shield-captain charged a Great unclean one (with enhcament etc) and took it down to only 4 wound and finsihed it off the next round. He (and me) was both chocked about the damage outcome. But it was maxium luck with my guards on a objective, shield host detachment (crit 5+) and my shield-captain used his once per battle ability to both get sustained hits and lethal.  I´m hoping for more games soon.

[INKS]

well done congrats

[Ulfast]

Thanks. I have read here on the forum that many thinks the custodes are fun to play even if we don´t win and are a powrhouse and I totally agree. I had a lot of fun but still had a challenge. Looking forward to a new game soon.

[Minsc]

I coincidentally lost my first game with Custodes last weekend, but since I'm currently at 3-1 against this particular player with my Custodes, I'm not really complaining.

It was also an extremely even 2000 pts-game: ended at 63-68.
By the end of the game, he had had some Gargoyles, a wounded Exocrine and a wounded Tyrannofex left. I had 4 Sagittarum Guard and 2 Venatari. 

We both rolled fairly well (average) and had about equal luck with secondaries, so I deduced that I lost mainly due to poor decisionmaking - I did some bad trades during the game:
- Trajan and (what remained) of his Wardens basically traded their lives for 6 Leapers and then got countercharged and killed. I basically wasted his Moment Shackle to give him 12 attacks against the Leapers which wasn't necessary. If I had instead saved Moment Shackle and used it for a 2++ on the next turn, he probably would've killed the things that countercharged him (6 melee Warriors) instead of just dying outright himself.
- 5 Custodian Guard /w Spears and a Blade Champion did a fairly risky charge into Swarmlord and 3 Tyrant Guard. I did end up kill all the Guard and do some wounds onto Swarmlord, but since he survived he retaliated and killed the entire unit over 2 combat phases.
- Later on, my second Blade Champion (his Guard where dead at that point) charged the wounded Swarmlord in attempt to finish him off. I did manage to do some wounds, but no Devastating, and he ended up saving them all on his Invuln, and then proceeded to massacre the Blade Champion.

Should be noted that we played the mission where a killed unit gives 4 VP and more killed units than your opponents gives an additonal 4 VP, so each unit that died "in vain" was a double blow.

This was also my first game ever fielding a unit of Sagittarum Guard, and in hindsight I was probably too passive with them. They did end up in combat at one point (against Gargoyles...), but I should've been more aggressive with them instead of holding them back: 20 WS2+ S5 AP2 attacks with Martial Ka'tah in Shield Host is nothing to scoff at.
I might even have a Captain with them the next time I field them, as I find Shield Host in general don't really have a Stratagem you want to use on a unit every turn (and if you dont, an attached Shield Captain feels wasted), except maybe Archeotech Munitions on a unit of Allarus Guard ...or Sagittarum Guard. He also substationally increase their melee prowess, especially in one critical combat phase.

 

The lists:

 

Custodes: Shield Host
- Trajan Valoris
- Shield-Captain /w Pyrisite Spear and Shield, Hall of Armories
- Blade Champion /w Panpotispex
- Blade Champion

 

- 5x Guard /w Spears (BC)
- 4x Guard /w Shields, Vexilla (BC)

 

- 5x Wardens /w Spears, Vexilla (Trajan)
- 5x Wardens /w Spears, Vexilla (SC)
- 5x Sagittarum Guard
- 3x Venattari /w Spears
- 3x Venattari /w Bucklers

Tyranids: Invasion Fleet 
- Swarmlord

- Deathleaper
- Neurotyrant

 

- 10 Gargoyles
- 10 Gargoyles

- 5x Barbguants

- 3 Tyrant Guard (Swarmlord)
- 6 Raveners

- 6 Melee Warriors
- 6 VR Leapers

- 6 Zoanthropes (Neurotyrant)

 

- Exocrine
- Haruspex
- Maleceptor

- Tyrannofex /w Acid Spray

 

Edited September 18 by Minsc