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

===Flyers===
*'''Orion Assault Dropship <sup>Forge World</sup>:''' Oh yes, it's finally here. The Orion is a beast of a machine. with 22 Wounds and a 3+/5++ save, plus the usual suite of Airborne/Hard to Hit/Hover Jet/Supersonic; it will be exceptionally hard to bring down without some dedicated heavy AA. It's also loaded to the gills with weapons, armed with 2 Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannons (+2S over the regular Blaze Cannon), 2 Twin Lastrum Bolt Cannons AND 2 Spiculus Heavy Bolt Launchers. It also, like every Custodes machine, packs Power of the Machine Spirit and its lowest wound table slot still has a 4+ to hit, so this maelstrom of firepower will be continuing unabated until it finally fucking dies. In addition, it can hold either a full 12 {{WH40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} models, which is a LOT for Custodes, or it can carry an Achillus, a Galatus or a Venerable Contemptor (no Exemplars or Telemons, sorry) by taking up 5 normal transport slots, making this the only way to get your melee Dreads into the thick of it without Stratagems! It's very reasonably priced to boot, only about 100 more than a fully kitted Venerable Land Raider! Loaded up with a Dread, a Shield-captain and 6 Custodes of your choice, this bad boy can blow a giant hole in your opponent's gun-line and fill it back in with your very own creamy golden goodness.

*'''Ares Gunship <sup>Forge World</sup>:''' if the Orion is a Transport and anti-infantry Flyer, the Ares is an Anti-tank in the observed Custodes way. The main reason why you may pick the Ares over the Orion is the '''Arachnus magna-blaze cannon''' the daddy of all Arachnus weapons. The '''burst''' mode is Heavy 3 48" S9 AP-3 D D3, which isn't going to impress anybody for a unit of this grade. And here comes the '''beam''' mode: ''Heavy D3 72" S14 AP-4 D 6+D3''. Now we are talking. It also comes with 2 Arachnus heavy blaze cannon for more anti-vehicle shooting and 2 Infernus Firebombs, which are basically identical to the ones on the Thunderhawk (pick a unit you flew over, roll 1d6 for each model in the unit (3d6 for vehicles or monsters), a roll of 4+ = 1 Mortal Wound), the big difference being you can use them twice per game.
**The Ares truly makes sense as a dedicated {{WH40kKeyword|VEHICLE}} hunter since it can reliably annihilate vehicles like Land Raiders in a single turn if you have a bit of luck. However, you could have a similar amount of firepower from a pair of Caladii, which are also better at dealing with infantry so it isn't as interesting for a Custodes army list as the Orion. It is still quite good for its job, so feel free to take one if you like the miniature and have the points for a specialized unit.