Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Adeptus Custodes (section)

===Ranged Weapons===

Ranged Weapons found on the Games Workshop units are as follows:

*'''Guardian Spear/Castellan Axe:''' When shooting these weapons, they are both 24" S4 AP-1, with Rapid fire 1 and D2, that's 2 wounds per failed save. Yes, your basic gun has two wounds. Excellent for taking down most things MEQ’s, TEQ’s, custodes, anything less than toughness 8, GEQ’s; although slightly overkill on GEQs, but anything with more than one wound will drop like flies. The bonus AP will also make a huge difference, effectively doubling your damage output against TEQs and the like. In short, [[Awesome|a normal marine's Relic Bolter is our normal weapon.]]
*'''Sentinel Blades:''' Pistol 2 S4 ap0 D1, your only weapon choice if you're running shielded custodians for when you need to ensure they don't die. It also benefits from multiple stratagems exclusively.
*'''Balistus Grenade Launcher:''' The main armament of the Allarus and a marine killer of some quality. 12", Assault D3, S4, AP-3, D1. Combine with the Guardian Spear or Castellan Axe shooting for some shockingly good infantry mulching at short range. Being AP-3 but only D1 makes it superior to the spear at MEQ hunting and will do unspeakable things to things like storm troopers and Eldar, and as you can now deep strike again this weapon is perfectly suited to be plonked in an enemies flank or rear to do unspeakable damage.
*'''Hurricane Bolter:''' [[AWESOME|Standard issue on your Dawneagle Jetbikes]]. With a lovely 12 S4 AP0 shots at 12” range (6 at 24”) ''per Bike'', this makes your Jetbike squads excellent for mincing lightly armored infantry units that might bog down your expensive Banana Boyz. The fact that this weapon is fitted to a unit that can FLY also means that you will almost always be able to fire this weapon every turn, and a unit of these overwatching will be hilarious if very short-lived for the charging unit.
**Outperforms the Salvo Launcher against most targets (including some vehicles of toughness 7 or less)  when in rapid-fire range by sheer Ork levels of dice, especially when coupled with re-rolls to hit. Your go-to choice unless you have some toughness 7 or higher with good armor saves which require your [[rape|tender administrations]].
*'''Salvo Launcher:''' The other weapon option for your Jetbikes, it has 24” range and is either a Multi-Melta shot that re-rolls wounds against {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicles}} but does not get melta dice at half range, or a Heavy D3 S7 AP-1 D3 missile that gets +1 to hit against things with {{W40Kkeyword|Fly}} but -1 to hit against anything that doesn’t. This little quirk shouldn’t be a problem, though, since your normal BS is 2+. The melta version is great for ripping apart vehicles and the flakk choice is great for shoring up your slightly spotty anti-air. Very situational, but fills out the lack of high strength anti-tank shooting that Custodes lack immensely. Hurricane bolters are usually (If not always) better in the current meta, but a few can be strong in your weekend gaming.
**Its only real flaws are that, as a Heavy weapon, it's less able to take advantage of the jetbike's mobility, but a 3+ to hit is still pretty good and it's not like you have cheaper ranged anti-vehicle weapons. When using Flakk to shoot non-supersonic {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}}, however, your BS will still be 2+ even if you moved. The secondary flaw is that, while it's better than a multi-melta against vehicles, it's noticeably worse against everything else when firing using its "melta" profile as well as being more than double the price of hurricane bolters.
**As Chapter Approved dropped its points so that it's a mere 5 points more than a Hurricane Bolter, its flaws might no longer outweigh the benefit.
*'''Multi-melta:''' Found exclusively on the venerable contemptor dreadnought. Same as any other multi-melta, and one of the few ranged anti-armor weapons you have.
*'''Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon:''' The other option for your Venerable Contemptors. 24" range, Heavy 6, S7 AP-1. Less close-range clout than the Dawneagle's hurricane bolters, but more reliable when targeting heavier infantry or light vehicles due to its better range and higher strength and AP.

====Forge World====
Ranged Weapons found on the Forge World units are as follows:

*'''Achillus Dreadspear:''' 24" Heavy 2 S8 AP-2 d3D, making it essentially a Leman Russ battle cannon, instead of a d3 shot and d3 damage lascannon. A decent anti-armor weapon, but more of a tool for softening up the vehicle before the Achillus charges it and reduces said vehicle to slag.
*'''Adrasite Weapons:''' The Disintegration Beam weapons from the Horus Heresy are upgrades of the Space Marine Grav weapons, and are similarly odd weapons. While high AP and damage output seem tempting at first, it is offset by their rather mediocre strength. They will struggle to wound most vehicles while shooting at infantry will often result in overkill. They can have their applications against multi-wound models with low/medium toughness and a high armor save (e.g. Primaris Marines and TEQs, against whom they are perfect), and are usually cheaper than any alternatives. But it's questionable if you can afford to have dedicated anti-marine weapons in an army with such a low model count and no guarantee that you’ll face Marines. Ironically, they are also quite effective against other Custodes!
**'''Adrasite Spear:''' 18" Assault 1 S5 AP-3 D3, available on your FW troops. 4 points cheaper than its Pyrithite counterpart, so add a Misericordia to your A3 S6 AP-3 Dd3 melee and watch Marines cry.
**'''Adrastus Bolt Caliver:''' Has 2 profiles: the first one is Bolt volley 36" Assault 3 Heavy Bolter (S5 AP-1 D1) or a Disintegration beam 15" Assault 1 S5 AP-3 D3. Exclusive to Sagittarum Custodians. As usual with combi-weapons, you can fire both profiles during a single shooting phase at the cost of getting -1 on your hit rolls, which is mathematically worth it in the case of the caliver.
**'''Adrathic Devastator:''' Found on Dickbike Custodians. 18" Heavy 2 S6 AP-3 D3. A little meh but it will chew through all the varieties of infantry and chip away at vehicles before a charge.
**'''Twin Adrathic Destructor:''' An option for Aquilons and spearnaughts. 18" Assault 2 S5 AP-3 D3.

*'''Arachnus Weapons''' A heavy weapon that has two fire modes, an Anti-vehicle beam that rerolls against {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicles}} and a Burst that trades quality for quantity and is more adept against MEQ and TEQ.
**'''Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannon:''' Found on big boi Orion, it has 2 firing modes: Beam, which is a 48" Heavy 1 S9 Ap-4 '''3D+3''' re-rolls wounds against {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicles}} and Burst, which is a 36" Heavy 4 S7 AP-2 D1. Increases the Orion's firepower flexibility greatly, allowing it to aid Pyrithite Spear-wielding Guard in tank-busting or Talon-and-Firepike Aquilons in horde-chewing.
**'''Arachnus Storm Cannon:''' As always, 2 firing modes: Beam, which is now a 36" Heavy 2 S8 Ap-4 3 re-rolls wounds against {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicles}} and Burst, which is a 24" Heavy 6 S7 AP-2 D1. 
**'''Twin Arachnus Blaze Cannon:''' A lighter Arachnus weapon: Beam is a 36" Heavy 2 S7 Ap-4 3 re-rolls wounds against {{W40Kkeyword|Vehicles}} and Burst is a 24" Heavy 6 S5 AP-2 D1.
**'''Twin Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannon:''' A Heavy Blaze Cannon with twice the shots on each mode.
**'''Arachnus magna-blaze cannon:''' found on the Ares gunship. its beam don't rerolls, but instead a 72" Heavy d3, '''S14''' '''D3+6'''. and Burst is Heavy 3 S9 D3. The kind of gun that disintegrates tanks.

*'''Galatus Warblade:''' Twin heavy flamer with +1S.
*'''Iliastus Accelerator Culverin:''' 48" Heavy 4 S7 AP-3 D2; Exclusive to the Telemon. Your weapon of choice for dealing with Primaris-like infantry and light vehicles.
*'''Infernus Firepike:''' 12" heavy flamer with +1S exclusive to Aquilon Custodians. Now you can cook some units the turn you deepstrike.
*'''Infernus Incinerator:''' +1S heavy flamer. Good for dealing with GEQs. However, because it's Heavy, you can't advance. Found on Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnoughts.
*'''Kinetic Destroyer:''' Exclusive to Venatari Custodians. The only pistol in Forge World Custodes guns which means you can fire it in melee (but you want your flying boy in melee or not is another story). 18" Pistol 2 S6 AP-2 D2 can score an additional hit on an unmodified roll of 6. MEQ/Primaris/TEQ killers with enough range to put you out of rapid-fire range of most troops.
*'''Lastrum Bolt Cannon:''' A heavy bolter with +1S and -1AP.
*'''Lastrum Storm Bolter:''' A storm bolter that fires heavy bolter shells. Found on Aquilon Terminators and the Contemptor Achillus. It would be decent anti-MEQ firepower due to output and strength. Let down by its comparative lack of AP. Skip.
**For 5 pts, putting down 4 heavy bolter shots in rapid-fire range makes it a very efficient anti-infantry option for the points and puts it in serious contention vs the Infernus Firepike for Aquilons.
**Thanks to BS2 that is on average 3.33 (3.88 with Reroll 1) hits vs. the 3.5 of the Firepike at 12". Beyond 12" the Pike gets useless. While S6 is certainly beneficial on wounding it comes together with charge Protection at a premium of 10 Points.

*'''Plasma Ejector:''' More or less a Plasma Gun pretending to be a Heavy Flamer, with D6 S7 AP-3 D1 Autohits. As expensive as both weapons combined and now only found on the Exemplar's DCCW.

*'''Pyrithite Spear:''' A meltagun on a custodian spear. Utterly hilarious to use, especially when the bearers are FGLTC'd right on top of a tank column. The fact that it's an assault weapon also means that Guard armed with these can get up the field much quicker than regular guard while maintaining their ability to shoot (and even a -1 to hit still gives you 5 MEQ-level meltagun shots), which helps them go hunting T7 vehicles like dreadnoughts.
*'''Spiculus Bolt Launcher:''' 24" 5 shots heavy bolter; found on the Telemon.

*'''Spiculus Heavy Bolt Launcher:''' 48" Heavy 3 S7 AP-1 2D. Another Orion weapon. Again, it increases the versatility of the Orion as a fire support unit, this time allowing it to take on light vehicles and multi-wound infantry like Primaris Marines.

*'''Twin Iliastus Accelerator Cannon:''' Another Caladius gun; 60" Heavy 8 S7 AP-3 D2. The latest rules nerfed the Iliastus cannon's impact against vehicles and MEQs. However, the flat Damage value of 2 makes it way more reliable against multi-wound infantry. And let's be honest, the Caladius was too good for what it costed.

*'''Twin Las-Pulser:''' 24" Heavy 4 S8 AP-2 Dd3. Found on the Dickbikes and the Exemplar, and the best choice for both of them due to potentially high shot output and high strength. Previously a fairly unpredictable weapon because of its random number of shots, it was nicely buffed by the August 2019 new rules.
**Note the Exemplar's gun is a Las-Puls'''a'''r, which is 20 more points but has +1 Strength and AP, as well as a foot more range. Since the Exemplar is only in the first batch of beta rules and the Dickbikes are only in the second, it stands to question if you should use the old stats on the Dread's sheet or assume the new spelling (and thus stats) found on the bike take priority. Make sure to check with your opponent beforehand!
*'''Twin Lastrum Bolt Cannon:''' You know what it is. Lastrum Bolt Cannon with double shots.

*'''Twin Plasma Projector:''' Comes with the Telemon's fist. 8" Heavy2d3 S6 AP-2 D1 auto-hit. It seems to have been specifically designed to help the Telemon deal with GEQs (S6 = 2+ to wound, Ap-2 = 7+ save, D1 has no overkill). However, it isn't very good at this due to its unreliable and comparatively low shot output - you will struggle to kill 10 conscripts over two turns' worth of shooting with one of these.

*'''Venatari Lance:''' 12" Assault 2 S6 AP-2 D2. Slight overkill on GEQs thanks to the D2 but can also do good work against MEQs and Primaris Marines thanks to its +2 strength and +1 AP over the Guardian Spear. It is also Assault, so you'll always get 2 shots and can fire it at MEQ-level BS when flying at full speed. A solid choice, but slightly overshadowed by the Destroyer. The better melee is what makes this shine.