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

==Stratagems==
The glaring downside for the Custodes is that due to their high points cost, you'll have a hard time building armies that yield higher amounts of Command Points. Take the time to get to know the stratagems available to you, so that you can employ the right one at the right time to devastating effect.  If you brought Trajann, his Moment Shackle will, on average, give you back 2 CP for a 3 CP stratagem, 1.67 for a 2 CP stratagem, and a full 1 CP for a 1 CP stratagem.

*'''Avatars of the Emperor (1 CP):''' At the beginning of the Morale phase, choose a non-vehicle Custodes unit (remember, your bikes ''don't'' count as vehicles). All Imperium infantry within 6" can use that unit's Ld for that morale phase.
*'''Avenge the Fallen (1 CP):''' During the fight phase, select an Adeptus Custodes unit. Each model in the selected unit gains a bonus attack for every model in the unit that was slain on that turn. 
**The main weakness of the Custodes in melee is in dealing with hordes that will wear them down by inflicting more wounds than they can save against while being too numerous for the golden boys to wipe out in a single fight phase. While falling back can be an option in those situations, your model count will likely be so low that any such hordes can surround you, disabling your ability to fall back and leaving you to deal with a death of a thousand cuts. This Stratagem can mitigate that issue somewhat: in a 10-model unit, 5 models lost in the turn it's activated means the remaining 5 models will be packing 5 more attacks ''per model''. Of course, you'll have to pay through the nose just to max out a single unit's size in the first place, but it's better than being up to your golden armpits in Gaunts or Boyz.
**another weakness is that the opponents would rather focus down a unit rather than spread it out, so only one or two units will benefit if not the whole unit gets destroyed. 
**From a math perspective, in absolute terms, this adds the most attacks when the unit has lost exactly half of its model count that turn, or, if it started at an odd number, 1/2 a model more or less than half: for example, a 3 man squad gets 2 bonus attacks when it loses 1 or 2 men, while a 10 man squad gets 25 extra attacks when it loses 5 men.  As you lose more or fewer models, you get diminishing returns - e.g.the 10 man squad gets +25 at 5 losses, but +9 at 9 losses or 1 loss.  As you can see, it also works better on larger squads, but larger squads hurt your CP pool so you probably went MSU if you're relying on stratagems.
*'''Bringers of the Emperor's Justice (1 CP):''' Ripped straight from the Blood Angels. An extra swing on a 6+ to hit against Chaos Space Marines, increased to a 4+ against Black Legion. Helps patch our number of attacks when it comes to dealing with hordes and/or Abbadon's bitches. When used with the Vexilla Imperialis’ ability, your custodes will have an extra 2 attacks. Just in case something somehow survived your initial attacks.
*'''Burst Missile Net (1 CP):''' If your bikes fire flakkburst at the same target, reroll the wound roll. Decent for setting up a charge on a FLY Vehicle or a Flyer but....really? Just charge the thing and save your CP.
*'''Castellan Strike (1 CP):''' If all the castellan axes in a unit are aimed at the same target, they get +1 to their AP. Great for taking on big things that would otherwise sit on a slightly better save.
*'''Concussion Grenade (1 CP):''' When selecting an Allarus Terminator unit to attack in the shooting phase, their balistarus grenade launcher becomes AP0. However, enemy infantry hit by it cannot overwatch and take a -1 penalty to hit (like the Reivers' shock grenades). 
*'''Even in Death... (2 CP):''' When an Adeptus Custodes character is slain, he can make an out-of-phase shooting or fight action before being removed. A copy of the Space Marine Stratagem "Only in Death Does Duty End".
*'''Ever Vigilant (2 CP):''' When an enemy lands within 12", shoot at them with -1 to hit. same as marines (except you'll hit on 3+).
*'''Eyes of the Emperor (1 CP):''' Discard and draw a new tactical objective. super situational, but nice to have for Maelstrom of War missions.
*'''From Golden Light They Come (1 CP/ 3 CP):''' During deployment, deep strike up to two units of Adeptus Custodes Infantry, Bikers, or Dreadnoughts(!). Like other deep strike Stratagems, it can only be used once per game - it costs 1 CP for a single unit and 3 CP for two.
**The limit of two units doesn’t matter too much to the custodes as they have a low unit count (so two deep striking units might be your entire infantry contingent) and at least half of your army must be on the board during deployment; the more difficult factor is the 3cp price, especially considering the excellent competition this stratagem is up against.
***Can be utterly devastating when used on a Telemon Heavy Dreadnought (or any FW Custodes dread). This is especially useful against character screening armies, such as a Typhus-poxwalkers Death Guard, a Chaplain Dread or Guilliman with Guard Spam. For maximum damage deploy the Emperor's Golden Cock On Legs on your opponent’s back-marker objective(s), and watch him panic as his gun line is torn to shreds/blown to pieces by a nigh-unstoppable death machine, and all the while your other melee units, such as Wardens and Spear Guard, get ever closer to his army. Unless he brought something ridiculous, like a Knight Gallant or Castigator Lancer, he may as well just give up, because if he doesn’t shoot the Telemon, he’ll die, and if he doesn’t shoot your footslogging units, he’ll die. It is expensive in points, however, and people wise up to this trick very fast after the first time you pull it off.
***Remember, your opponent still has a huge advantage in actually holding onto objectives (at least until your ObSec Jetbikes with HBs get up the board). Make sure that, whatever you do, '''DO NOT''' charge your Telemon into combat unless you're going at a character with no bubble wrapping bodyguard '''and''' equipped it with the power fists. If you attempt to charge a bubble wrapping horde, even poxwalkers or 'gaunts can bring you down easily, and 300 points have just gone down the drain. If you do this deep-strike tactic, make sure that you keep your distance from hordes and shoot them to death instead, and prioritize by proximity (unless you need that <insert unit> dead).
*'''Indomitable Guardians (1 CP):''' After an enemy charges and fights with at least 1 unit, you can choose a unit of Custodes within 3" of an objective and fight with them. Every little advantage you can claim in defending objectives helps. Don't forget this Stratagem! It is a discounted Interrupt with a contingency. A little situational but VERY useful when it comes to fruition.
*'''Inescapable Vengence (2 CP):''' When selecting a unit of Allarus Terminators to attack in the Shooting phase, they can target Characters with their attacks regardless of whether or not they're the closest target. Allarus Terminators already have a similar bonus when it comes to consolidating after a fight, cementing their role as anti-character death squads. Combining the fact that the shooting from their axes/spears does 2 damage a piece along with their armor shredding grenade launchers, your Allarus Custodians might end up killing their target character just from their shooting.
*'''Inspire Fear (1 CP):''' -1 to enemy leadership (really a +1 to enemy morale check, but same difference). You have hurricane bolters, why are your opponent's hordes still alive to run away?
*'''Networked Machine Spirits (1 CP):''' Can be used when 2 of your Venerable Land Raiders are snuggled up within 6” and makes them immune to any negative to-hit modifiers. Situational since you already have PoTMS and a 2+ BS, but great if you’re up against Venomthropes, Alpha Legion, Raven Guard, or just decide [[Cheese|that unit of Eldar Shadow Spectres+cover+Conceal+Alaitoc Attribute were looking a little smug with their 2+ Save on top of a -4 to-hit bullshit]] and really [[Troll|might as well not be on the table anymore.]]
*'''Piercing Strike (1 CP):''' When a Custodes is selected to fight in the Fight phase, it may add +1 to wound rolls made for attacks with its guardian spears. Excellent for those times when you need a squad of custodians to take down a land raider or a greater demon, also means that you'll be mowing down marines of all varieties on a 2+. Considering that you're hitting on a 2+ already with a high AP, pumping up your chances to wound push you over the edge from "spooky" to "downright terrifying". Another advantage is that your opponent often overlooks this stratagem, focussing on defending against the "Big Bads", like FGLTC or Vexilla Teleport Homer, so the first time you use this will generally be completely unexpected. Save it until they make a mistake, like charging a newly teleported Abby into the basic 5-man unit you have holding the backmarker objective.
*'''Plant the Vexilla (1 CP):''' Add 6" to a vexilla's bubble, so long as the bearer didn't move. Our other '''AMAZING''' strat. Being able to give 5++ to allies or +1 attack from 12" away pairs great with the Vexilla Teleporter Homer.
*'''Sentinel Storm (2 CP):''' At the end of your '''enemy's''' shooting phase, fire with your sentinel blades. Not the best, based on what the sentinel blade is, but nice for softening an incoming charge or screwing with an enemy's plan if you get lucky. However, if you run a sword and board squad for dealing with hordes, the two pistol shots each will help them to not get drowned in attacks, and the ability to get off even more horde clearance cannot be overstated, although it does compete for CP with other ridiculously good stratagems.
*'''Shoulder the Mantle (1 CP):''' And you thought Alpharius' tricks were for heretics only. If your Warlord dies, select a Shield-Captain in your army. They become the new Warlord and generate a WT. As a bonus, as long as the new Warlord is on the field the opponent can't claim VP for slaying your Warlord. Since this Strategem does not designate that that the Warlord must be a Custodian Shield-Captian or Captian General, you can shoulder the mantle from an Astra Militarum Company Commander or other low quality efficient HQ, to your Shield Captian and give him a Warlord traits like Superior Creation or Radiant Mantle, all the while not giving up Warlord.
*'''Spark of Divinity (1 CP):''' Forget the others, like FGLTC and VTH, this is your single most important stratagem in your arsenal. Overstatement? Well, for just 1CP it '''allows your Custodians to Deny The Witch within 12 inches'''. If you've come this far (and if you keep going) in this article, you'll have noticed that the Custodians have 3 main problems: CPs, the volume of fire (both enemy and friendly), and Psychic Defence. This Stratagem plugs two of them. It's cheap for what it does, and helps keep your boys alive long enough against Psyker armies like Aeldari, Thousand Sons, Daemons, Grey Knights, etc. to get into combat and kill the witches (or for your Venatari and Termies to deepstrike on Turn 2 and assassinate them). It's not going to be a good substitute for normal Psyker defense on its own though, because while they can spam Smite and other powers you cannot spam this Stratagem. Finally, if you bring Valoris you can use his moment shackle after using this to essentially give you a free use. DO NOT FORGET ABOUT IT.
*'''Stooping Dive (3 CP):''' At the end of your opponent's Charge phase, pick a Biker unit within 12" of an enemy model. It can charge as if it was your charge phase, and if it makes the charge it gets to fight first even if the opponent charged with someone else. Conflicts with similar rules (e.g. Banshees, Emperor's Children CSMs, etc.) are resolved as normal. Considering how hard bikes can hit it is capable of canceling an important enemy charge attack entirely, which can completely change the battle. One of the best stratagems in the game or at least in the Imperium, albeit expensive.
*'''Tanglefoot Grenade (1 CP):''' At the start of the enemy movement or charge phase, pick a non-{{W40Kkeyword|FLY}} enemy unit within 12" of a Custodes infantry unit. Roll a d6; the target's Movement characteristic or charge distance is reduced by the result for the rest of the phase.
**Even just a -1 to charge distances can be enough to effectively neutralize an enemy unit. Now imagine what will happen if they end up losing an average of 3-4" of charge distance. Excellent on melee fighters that will sorely miss even a single inch of mobility and nothing is more hilarious than a squad of Howling Banshees being forced to move slower than Death Guard Terminators. It's worth noting that this strat is also amazing for ensuring enemy units will have a much harder time trying to flee from combat or put some more space between them and the incoming golden wrecking ball.
** REMEMBER, this stratagem is usable in both the movement AND charge phases. Since stratagems can be used a maximum of once per phase you can stunt a nearby enemy's regular movement and, later in the turn, you can ruin the same or other unit's charge. For only 1 CP each time you can seriously handicap your enemy's plans throughout their entire turn depending on which units they're trying to maneuver. Pair this with the Coronus Grav-Carrier's -2 to charge distance for some true cheese.
*'''Unflinching (1 CP):''' Gives you a 5+ overwatch. There is no escaping Hurricane Bolters, as the Emperor knows you have committed great sins.
*'''Unleash the Lions (2 CP):''' At the start of the Movement phase, select a unit of Allarus Terminators. They split up into separate units consisting of a single model apiece. Keep in mind that each Terminator has 4 wounds, the typical Custodes saves, and has rules meant for them to single out Characters from far away; this allows them to take on several Characters at once while preventing foes from just focusing fire on their squad or using morale to wear them down.
*'''Vexilla Teleport Homer (3 CP):''' Can deep strike within 6" of a vexilla (who was already on the board), so long as you are 3" away from the enemy. Fucking '''AMAZING'''. Drop a 10-man termie squad 3" away from your enemy, cripple behind them with some shooting, then melee everything dead. Keep in mind that you can't use this stratagem the same turn that your vexilla deep strikes (if in Allarus Terminator armor), so they will either need a screen to take enemy shooting or give your opponent other immediate threats to shoot at plus the -1 to hit vexilla and maybe the Eagle's Eye relic to survive a round of shooting so you can deep strike your golden boys down next turn.
**Alternative Opinion: For this strategy to work, it takes 2 turns and 3 command points to work. If you are spending all those points and command points you better be praying to the Emperor and Kitten's naked body that you don't think about the odds of this actually working and just have faith in the Emperor.
**The FAQ says you can only deep strike one squad per use, so consider From Golden Light They Come if you want to deep strike more than that.

*'''Victor of the Blood Games (2 CP):''' Almost an auto take. Before the game starts, choose a character. That guy gets to reroll 1 hit, wound, or save roll per turn. This right here is one of the best Stratagems we get as an army, if not '''the''' best one. If you thought a Shield-Captain on the Auric Aquilas packing a 3++ (and possibly a FnP on a 5+ depending on his WT) was hard to kill before, '''''hooo boy''''', just you wait.
** Alternate Opinion: While certainly a kick-ass stratagem, here is something to consider. Most of the time this is going to be used on a Shield-Captain. Unless he's taking a negative on his to-hit rolls for some reason, he's already rerolling all his 1's, so you can't spend the reroll there. That leaves only the wound rolls and saves that will ever get used for this. While still AMAZING to have that sort of insurance in your back pocket, for a CP hungry army like this, this (usually) two-option single reroll may not be worth a whole 2CP. Against certain lists, it definitely could be, but you should always consider what you're going to get out of it first. If you don't think your shield-captain on jetbike will be threatened by much or have trouble wounding in a certain match, consider saving the 2CP for something else.
** Remember that this stratagem is used during ''''''deployment''''', meaning if you have a Grand Strategist-alike, you roll for EACH CP spent and can (potentially) get them all back, as the battle round has yet to begin.
** Also remember that this reroll is per PLAYER turn, meaning you can reroll a failed wound roll in your turn, and a save in your opponents. Contrary to the above, if you have the CP to spare, you absolutely should be using this Strategem.
*'''Wisdom Of The Ancients (1 CP):''' Man, Imperials love to listen to their assorted Grandpas’ stories, don’t they? Does the same thing it does in all the other codices by giving a Dreadnought in your army a 6” reroll-ones-to-hit bubble. Useful when your shield-captains have better places to be, like handing your opponent's warlord his ass on a golden platter (which he will statistically do unless it’s a Primarch, Typhus, Ghazghkul Thraka, etc).

===Psychic Awakening: War of the Spider Strategems===
*'''Captain-commander (1CP):''' Use this Strategem before the battle, and select a Shield-Captain model from your army that is not a named character. Select one of the following traits for that model; this stratagem is usable once per battle.
**'''Bane of Abominations:''' Re-roll Wound Roll against Monsters and vehicles. Not bad, but seems half usable on a biker captain.
**'''Defiant to the Last:''' +1 attack per wound lost, to a maximum of +3 attacks. Looks tempting, but usually if your captain is taking damage, he lost maybe 1 wound from failing a random 2+ save or he got focused and nuked down and is dead now.
**'''Indomitable Constitution:''' +2 wounds. Amazing. Bike captain is now tougher than Roboute Guilliman (if you take the 3++ relic), but without the ability to come back to life.
**'''Inspirational Exemplar:''' +3" to aura effects. Good on a captain sitting back with tanks or walking up the board with foot soldiers.
**'''Master of Melee:''' +2 Attacks when within 1" from 5 or more enemy models. Better than the Defiant to the Last trait. 
**'''Slayer of the Unclean:''' Double damage on WR of 6, melee AND shooting. 
**'''Strategic Mastermind:''' 5+ Regen per CP SPENT
**'''Swift as the Eagle:''' +1" move/adv/charge
**'''Unstoppable Destroyer:''' D3+3' pile in, consolidate pile in towards any model in range. Consolidate can be away from enemy models.
*'''Ancient Artifice (1 CP):''' Half damage to Dreadnoughts. 
*'''Arcane Genetic Alchemy (2 CP):''' When a non-vehicle unit is chosen to be attacked, wound rolls of 1-3 always fails until the end of the phase. Transhuman on our units!
*'''Archeotech Munitions (1 CP):''' DD6 weapons, roll 2 dice and select the highest. Melta rules on weapons that don't have melta. Situational but definitely good when you rememeber to use it. 
*'''Auramite and Adamantium (1 CP):''' Custodes Terminators ignore AP-1 and AP-2, until end of the phase.
*'''Blood Games Veterans (1/2 CP):''' Units of 5 models, 1CP. 6+ models is 2CP; shooting phase unmodified 6 to hit = Auto-wound target. Great when you have a lost of shots against tough targets and you just need to pick it apart. 
*'''Eternal Penitent (1 CP):''' Select a Dread, selectable once. Dread has +1 Attack and Reroll Charges for the game. Really cool if you want to get your new Telemon dread into combat without committing to Dread Host. 
*'''Fortress of Willpower (1 CP):''' Custodes targeted by Psychic Powers, after DTW, on 4+ no effect. (+3 if wardens).
*'''Fraternity of Heroes (1 CP):''' At the end of the enemy's charge phase, one Custodes unit that's not within 1" of an enemy model can immediately perform a Heroic Intervention. If your enemy ever thought that they're dealing with only one bunch, throw some more bananas into the mix!
*'''Indomitable Engines (1 CP):''' Vehicle 5+ FNP against Mortal Wounds, starting when you WOULD take a mortal wound on a vehicle. Lasts one phase. Know you're about to take a bunch of mortals from Smite spam? Throw that Pallas tank or Contemptor dread up front and try to tank some of the hits before your Guard do.
*'''Slayer of Nightmares (2 CP):''' Can +1WR if targeted something with higher Toughness than own, in the fight phase. We really needed this. Makes axes wound on 3s against knights. Spears have a cheaper version of this, but still good. 
*'''Superior Fire Patterns (1 CP):''' During the shooting phase, pick one unit of Custodes Infantry. For this phase, they can double all shots using Pistol and Rapid Fire weapons. This is one of those strats that you will be using every phase if you can. The main application would be on terminators of both kinds. The Allarus will get double shots on their axes when they sniper characters, and a squad of 5 alone would get 20 shots. The Aquilon Terminators with their Storm Bolters would get 8 shots each...That's 40 shots with a squad of 5. Also, a funny way to run this would be if you took the Gatekeeper Spear relic. That's 12 shots with a single character. 
*'''Ten Thousand Heroes (1 CP):''' Once per battle, additional Warlord Trait for a non-warlord Adeptus Custodes model. Each WLT in your army must be unique. (ONLY ONE)
*'''The Emperor's Auspice (2 CP):''' No re-rolls for attacks against this unit for the phase.
**Useful against many enemies, but especially Death Stars which would otherwise attempt to swarm you with reroll all hits and reroll 1’s to wound. At the top end you can reduce damage taken by 20%, and potentially cause mortal wounds from plasma.
*'''Vengeance of the Machine Spirit (2 CP):''' When a vehicle with PotMS is destroyed it can Auto-explode, make a shooting attack, or make single weapon attack. Use top row of damage table for resolving attacks.

===Sisters of Silence===
*'''Creeping Dread (1 CP):''' -1HR <6", one phase.
*'''Decapitating Strikes (1 CP):''' Vigilators are +1WR, until end of phase.
*'''Desperation's Price (1 CP):''' 18" additional D3 MWs perils.
*'''Empyric Severance (1 CP):''' 18" 3+ stops a psychic power, AFTER DTW.
*'''Immaterial Dissonance (1 CP):''' Psyk-out grenades that hit 1 daemon/psyker, no overwatch and -1HR in melee until end of turn.
*'''Punishment Fire (1 CP):''' Prosecutors bolters, 18" Assault 3.
*'''Purgation Sweep (1/2 CP):''' Units up to 5, 1CP. 6+, 2CP. Flamers rolling less than 4W = 4W.
*'''Talons (1 CP):''' Until the end of phase, re-roll HR for SoS unit when <6" of Custodes THAT HAVE ALREADY ATTACKED IN THAT PHASE.