Editing Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Talons of the Emperor (30k) (section)

===Troops===
*'''Custodian Guard Squad''': Think Terminators, but with all the 4s in their statline replaced with 5s (so yes, you can strike at Initiative 6 thanks to Preternatural Skill), with situational AP2 at initiative weapons, something that most Space marines (outside of Praetors or Emperor's Children) would never get. They can take the usual Arae-shrikes, Teleportation Transponders and Melta Bombs as upgrades for the whole squad, any Custodian can replace its Guardian spear by an Adrasite or Pyrithite spear and one can take a Magisterium vexilla with a master-craft power weapon or a Sentinel blade instead. They do pay for the high degrees of kickassitude they bring to the table, most notably with actual points and they are liable to get shot down before doing anything if you don't take a Coronus, though '''with 2 wounds each and a 2+ 5++''' they might pull though. With '''3 S6 AP2 attacks per Custodian on the charge''' and the buff from Crusader and a vexilla Magisterium, they have decent chances to win the first round of close combat with a good margin before AP3 becomes a problem, so make sure the situational nature of their AP2 isn't going to get them killed.
**Since Custodes pay no extra points for the base squad, if you want to go pure-Custodes or even just have a lot of Custodes then it's best to keep your units small and go with multiple squads. Why you'd want to do that is because Custodes have a rather low damage output once they get stuck in, and unfortunately you're going to get stuck in somewhere. A lot of the time it'll be after crippling the enemy unit and having them pass their morale check, however sometimes it'll be because you were charged after deep-striking, after disembarking, or your opponent rolled lucky. Having backup units support one another means that after you withstand the enemy charge you'll be able to break them in your turn, or you can charge a new unit in to finish mopping up what didn't break last time.
***Also note that if you're playing with both Custodes and Sisters (a really good idea) and your opponent is running a very assault-heavy army, then you can try placing the Sisters up front. While they're relatively easily wounded, there's few units that can wipe them all out on the charge (and less if they were the ones being charged) and their Fearless will ensure they're still there when your <s>glory hogs</s> golden boys come in to save the day. Even if they do all die, you sacrifice a much cheaper unit to guarantee making the charge, which itself can be worth it.
**Before bitching about your ultimate elite warriors being butchered by "mere" Terminators because of your shitty AP3, remember these guys are only ''basic Custodes'' and remain rather good in close combat against anything else. Mathammer-wise, even a three-man squad of Custodians can withstand the charge of 20 World Eaters tactical Legionnaires with 2 CCW ''and win'', just avoid 2+ saves you can't kill on the charge.
**A note on their equipment, if you are not deep-striking them and expect them to come under a lot of fire then try to keep at least one of them as-is. This is the unfortunate bastard who's going to die first, as you'll be wanting to put him up front or LoS'ing wounds to him when everyone else already has a wound. You shouldn't pay for a gun you'll never fire or a blade you'll never swing and if they come under heavy volume of fire, there's a good chance somebody's going to go down.
***Another note on equipment: take Adrasite Spears if you plan on deep-striking or want a fire-magnet. Instant Death is scary as hell to Mechanicum and a lot of Legions, what with their multi-wound units that sometimes have Medicae attached to them to make them even tougher, and a few blasts can make a lot of points back very quick (or instantly cover the entire unit, in the case of some Mechanicum). They can also be used on the side/rear of a lot of vehicles to melt through them, even with only S5 on an average roll they'll glance AV 12 on average, bypassing the issue with Armoured Ceramite entirely. Interestingly the Pyrithite Spear's better suited for lower-point games (unfortunately lower than what 30k's recommended to be played at). In higher-points games the vehicles coming to you are going to have Armoured Ceramite and you're going to be able to more easily afford better options for dealing with them, while the vehicles who don't have Armoured Ceramite are going to be too far away to deep-strike to safely in order to take advantage of the melta rule. While still true in lower-points games for everything except Rhino's and their like, the vehicles in the backline (artillery and tanks) are going to have far less bubble-wrap so even a badly scattered deep-strike won't be nearly as harshly punished, and in your next turn they can still accomplish their objective rather safely. They also still have the benefit of being able to ID MEQ's, but with that short range it'll be hard to get them to use it.

*'''Sentinel Guard Squad''': As Custodians armed with sword and board, they are somewhat less killy than their spear-wielding counterparts, but are more defensive thanks to their Praesidium shields. These are best used to guard your squishier Custodians, so they don't get wiped when they get charged by a squad with 2+ saves as your improved Invuls allow Sentinels to stick around long enough for rending to enter the equation. It's also worth noting that these guys can theoretically deal with vehicles thanks to their rending swords, but don't expect too much from them. Anyway, you can and should replace your Sentinel blades with as many Solerite Gauntlets as your points allow you to do. Avoid the talons there is no need for another AP3 weapon. 
**While expensive, the Sentinels are the very definition of holding the line, as anything without S10 or Instant Death will take a lot of turns to kill them in CC. For sure, they lack AP2 against TEQs, but they can tank your opponent's most dangerous units, so they are good for preventing a deathstar from rampaging through your army.
**Worth noting that, unlike Custodian Guard, you do actually get a small discount if you run these guys in small numbers (180 for the basic unit of 3, with 65 per model, means you save points if you run small) 

*'''Sisters of Silence Prosecutor Cadre''': Baseline WS4 BS4 I4 Sisters of Silence with bolters (or double bolt pistols) and grenades. They get Fanatic Discipline and can buy a Nuncio-Vox or Breaching Charge. Infiltrate or give them Stealth, keep them small and use them as objective holders. Alternatively buy the max amount, give them two pistols, use them as bubble-wrap and make them look like a juicy target. No really, they can be surprisingly hard to wipe out, about the only things that can manage it are fully-kitted out Legion-specific squads, or a fully kitted out Assault Squad (both of which are far more expensive than the Prosecutors, and the Assault Squad can only do it on the charge) and Fearless ensures they don't run. Once they've got stuck in (or wiped out) counter-charge with whatever they're in front of and wipe out whatever it was they're up against.
 
*'''Sisters of Silence Vigilator Cadre''': Slightly improved Sisters, they all get an Execution Blade and Pistol. If you take them, then before the game starts you must mark a single Infantry unit or Character. They and all other Vigilators get Preferred Enemy on that one target. They can be used for the exact same way as Prosecutors, they're better at being bubble-wrap (due to being able to kill a few of whoever charges them) while being worse at going after objective holders (due to having worse guns and relatively low melee output). The neuro-lash is situational, if you know you're up against huge assault squads or the like then it can do you well. If you're blocking TEQ's then you need to get practically the entire squad in range to do the same damage your execution blade would normally do. If you're up against anything worse than MEQ's however, then it becomes a lot better, but if you expect the squad to die then it's still a good idea not to put that many points into them.