Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/Legio Custodes Tactics

"The universe has many horrors yet to throw at us. This is not the end of our struggle. This is just the beginning of our crusade to save Humanity. Be faithful! Be strong! Be vigilant!"

– The Emperor

This is the current tactics page for the Legio Custodes in HH 2.0. The 1.0 tactics can be found here

For the generals on how to play the game and the basics on listbuilding (as well as other tactica rules), you may want the General tactics page. You may also find the Horus Heresy general thread as "/HHG/" on /tg/.

Why play the Legio Custodes

Because in an age where Space Marines are the standard troops, you shall stand out as the elite. Because while the Astartes turned traitor, you're loyalty shall never be questioned. Because you are the real "finest Warriors" in this universe. Because gold never goes out of style. Because your troops put Legion terminators to shame, and your terminators scare Space Marine characters into running away.

And because your one of the few 30k factions with a decent amount of your range available in plastic.

Pros

• Your basic Line infantry are M8", WS/BS/S/T 5, 2W, I5, 4A with 2+ armour saves and 6++ Invuln saves.
• Most of your infantry get access to AP2 at initiative weapons BASE.
• You have a fair few plastic kits, and since your army is so points expensive building an army can be pretty cheap.
• WS6 Dreadnoughts.
• Gold is easy to paint and looks good.
• Agents of the Emperor gives you access to quite a few assets, including Assassins, the Silent Sisterhood (though you can't do the old Talons of the Emperor mashup tactic anymore) and the Knights-Errant.

Cons

• In a game where Space Marines can take Horde armies, your cheapest unit is 150 points 3 guys. You'll always be outnumbered.
• While having great guns, you'll get out shot by dedicated shooting armies.
• Your tactics will always be; Step 1: run up the field, Step 2: win the game. So doesn't be surprised when your opponent runs and hides in the corner to stay away from you.
• A dearth of synergy. Your HQs don't really offer any help aside from an extra beatstick, and even Valdor's armour won't be of much use unless you intend on sticking him in an allied detachment.

Core Warlord traits

• Golden Exemplar: Your only warlord trait and the one you MUST take. All combats within 12" of the warlord add +1 to the wounds caused when calculating combat resolution, and when engaged in a challenge the warlord gains +1 attack and initiative. Extra Reactions are for pussies anyway.

Special Rules

• The Legio custodes rule gives your models bonuses when engaged with Nemesis units:
  • +1 attack
  • +1 to charge rolls
  • Always hit on a 4+ unless challenging a Primarch or fighting a unit that is only made up of a Primarch.
• Nemesis units include:
  • units with Primarch, Dreadnought, Monstrous, Reinforced, Bombard, Daemon, Corrupted, Super-heavy, Unique or Knight units
  • Units with the majority of models have a WS, BS, Initiative or wounds equal or higher than 5
  • The enemy Warlord.
• All Custodes infantry have Chosen Warriors, Relentless, Stubborn and at least Bulky(3) and all Custodes units have the Loyalist alignment and are always considered the loyalist side for narrative games.

Wargear of the Legio Custodes

Melee Weapons

• Misericordia: THEY FINALLY HAVE RULES! Coming standard on pretty much every unit, it's S4, AP-, Instant Death. It useful? Not really. Is it funny to stab a Praetor to death with a bunch of attacks? Yes.

Guardian Weapons
The iconic weapons of the Adeptus Custodes, capable of both shooting and melee. The Sentinel Blade, Guardian Spear and Guardian Axe all share the same ranged profile of 18" Assault 2 S4 AP4 Shred and count as bolt weapons. All weapons count as power weapons when used in melee.

• Guardian Spear: The trademark weapon of the Custodes. The ranged weapon is shown above, the melee profile is S+1 AP2 with Two-Handed and Reaping Blow (1), giving a bit of an edge when fighting with crowds, a common occurrence for your forces. Using this against monsters, however, isn't recommended.
  • Adrasite Spear: The Adrathic attachment for the spear. The spear stays the same, but the gun is now 12" Assault 1 S5 AP3 with Armourbane (Ranged), Instant Death, and Gets Hot. This is all fairly devastating looking, but S5 means that its effectiveness against monsters is limited, let alone any vehicles or dreads.
  • Pyrithite Spear: The Melta attachment for the spear. The spear remains untouched, but the gun is now 6" Assault 1 S8 AP1 with Armourbane (Melta). Can help carve tanks open, but that range is going to drag you down so much.
• Guardian Axe: The heavier Guardian Weapon. Same shooting profile, melee is a decidedly heavier S+3 AP2 with Two-Handed and Unwieldy, so it can more easily deal with monsters and it will inflict Instant Death against marines, but won't mean much against anything smaller.
• Sentinel Warblade: The lightweight Guardian Weapon, being only S:User AP2. This is, however, the only one without Two-Handed, and thus the only one that can actually be used with a Praesidium Shield.

Solarite Weapons

• Solarite Power Gauntlet: The Custodian Power Fist. S10 and AP1 sounds badass, but Unwieldy will hold you back, absurd saves be damned.
• Solarite Power Talon: Lightning Claws with gold paint. S5 AP2 with Shred allows you to run through most marines without concern and grabbing two of them lets you gain +2 attacks for dual wielding.
• Solerite Lance: An even better way to deal with Dreadnoughts, the Lance is AP1, S10 with Armourbane, Two-Handed and Sudden Strike(3).

Paragon Weapons

• Paragon Blade: The holy grail of weapons for the legions, it's actually a little underwhelming for the Custodes. Available to all HQ choices and Hetaron Guard it's S+1 Ap2 Murderous Strike(6+) it's less effective in combat than a Paragon Glaive or the Meridian Swords. Such are the high standards of the Emperors Golden companions.
• Paragon Glaive: The Custodes own unique Paragon weapon and juts another way they tell marines "everything you can do, we can do better" It's S+1, AP2, with Reaping Blow(1), Two-handed and Murderous Strike(5+). It also has a built in S5 AP4 Bolter that shoot Assault 2 shot with Shred.

• Meridian Swords: A strange (and great) new weapon for the Custodes, these are paired swords that count as Two-Handed for the sake of avoiding adding an extra attack. They're also odd because each turn lets you pick out a different fighting style to use in combat. GW doesn't seem to know how good these weapons are as they are free for characters and Hetaeron Guards, while easily being the best melee weapon available to the Custodes.
  • Raptor Spreads its Wings: S:User AP2 with Rampage (3) to take out crowds on his own.
  • Grasp the Rainbow Serpent: S10 AP1 with a devastating Measured Strike and Instant Death, making it ideal to kill monsters.
  • Hands Part the Clouds: S+1 AP2 with Murderous Strike (4+).

Ranged Weapons

• Arecho-tech Pistol: A Pistol 1, S6, AP4, Rending (3+) and master-crafted hand gun, it's available to Custodes captains and tribunes for 5 points.
  • Kinetic Destroyer: A six-shooter Arecho-tech pistol that is Pistol 3, S7, AP4 with Rending(6+).

Adrathic Weapons
The disintegrators of yore are not to be trifled with. They've got nerfed to AP3 and thus won't wipe out Terminators outright, but they have Armourbane (Ranged) and Instant Death means that any hits you do land will destroy. They also have Gets Hot as well but this isn't too much of a worry for you 2+ armour save troops.

• Adrathic Destructor: 12" Assault 1 S5 AP3
• Adrathic Devastator: 18" Heavy 2 S6 AP3

Lastrum Bolt Weapons
Better-er Bolter variants, in keeping with the rest of the Custodes wargear. They are stronger than their Legion equivalents and have Shred. Great at destroying Solar Auxilia units, and can be pushed into hurting light tanks if needed.

• Lastrum Storm Bolter: 24", Assault 3, S5, AP4
• Lastrum Bolt Cannon: 36", Heavy 4, S6, AP4

Equipment

• Auric battleplate: Gives whoever wears it a 2+ armour save and a 4++ Invuln.
• Auric Warplate: Standard issue on most Custodes units. Gives them a 2+ armour save and a 6++ Invuln.
• Auric Demi-plate: Given to those Custodes who must move faster, it gives the wearer a 3+ armour save and a 6++ Invuln save.
• Praesidium Shield: Grants a 5++ Invuln that won't stack with the existing one provided by their armor. On top of that, it has the same penalties boarding shields do, barring a custodian from using two weapons in combat or using a Two-Handed weapon.
  • Gravis Praesidium Shield: The bigger shield for the Contemptor-Galatus. Same as above, but now it gives a 4++ Invuln save.

• Arae-Shrike: Any enemies that roll to Deep Strike or Flanking Assault take a -1 penalty to determine whether or not it's disordered. Not much, but it helps foil any surprise annoyances.
• Magisterium Vexilla: Any units that have this big banner get to re-roll any Leadership checks. On top of this, all units within 12" of this model add +1 to their combat resolution, which can help push the battle in your favor. The effects of multiple Vexillae cannot stack, but re-rolling Leadership checks aren't an issue anyways.

Unit Analysis

HQ

Special Characters

• Constantin Valdor, Captain-General of the Legios Custodes, The Shield of the Emperor, The First of the Ten Thousand: The big boss of the bananas has a lot to show for, as he is a fucking Primarch with 5s to a lot of stats aside from a monstrous WS7, Ld 10, I6 and Ld 10. Being a Primarch not only means that any hiding sergeants will get flushed out in any case, but his stats are now immune to any penalties. Counter-Attack (1) assures that anyone who would dare charge him will regret it. He must be the armies warlord if he's taken since he is a "Primarch" and he has to take the same Warlord Trait as other Custodians, but it's a decent trait so that's not too bad. As an added plus, he can grab a Teleportation Transponder Array if you need him to Deep Strike.
  • The Corinthine Warplate is an obscenely powerful suit of power armor, giving not only a 2+/3++ save, but also allowing ALL Loyalists who can see him or fight alongside him use his Ld10 for any reason - including Psychic tests! Why yes, let's get Revuel Arvida allied in just to have a shitton of loyalist psykers!
  • The Apollonian Spear is no slouch as a weapon crafted by the Emperor Himself. Up close it's a devastating S+2 AP2 Specialist Weapon with Lightning Blows (6+) and Murderous Strike (4+) to rip apart anything while the Hyper-velocity Bolter strapped onto it fires S5, AP2 shots and comes with Concussive (2) to soften the enemy up.

Generic

• 0-1 Custodian Tribune: The absolute big cheese in any detachment, as he is the mandatory warlord of any detachment he is in. While he lacks the fancy gear that Valdor gets, the Tribune is no less impressive, as he has free reign over the Custodian armoury, including buying a Teleporter Transponder Array and a shield without needing to sacrifice the spear. He has Fearless for he has not fear or doubt of his duty and Eternal Warrior, for his service to the Emperor is eternal. He has a ridiculous WS7 and he gets 5 attacks which will allow him to blend his way through most units on his own, and he is pretty much guaranteed to win any challenge he fights, including against the Legions best like Sigismund and Corswain.
  • As any veteran of HH1.0 may recall, Tribunes were considered one of the most outright busted characters in the game without Psyker, and this is held up here with a condition - You can't field a Tribune unless your main detachment costs 3000 points or you also field Valdor as well.

• Custodian Shield Captain: The generic HQ for the Custodes, only slightly weaker than the Tribune with WS6 and W3. He looses Eternal Warrior and Fearless, instead replacing it with Stubborn and he's only 200 points. Aside from that, you can take any of the weapons you see fit with the exception of the Transponder Array, and he is lethal to pretty much all generic characters in the game.

Elites

• Hetaeron Guard Squad: The closest you'll ever get to an elite squad in an army of elites. Each model comes with a Meridian sword, but gets free reign to take pretty much any weapon choice you want. Meridian Swords are arguably the best melee weapon available to the unit as their multiple profiles allow them to act as horde blenders or as better Paragon Blades, however they lack any ranged attacks so will be totally reliant on their melee capabilities (but that's not a big deal for Custodes). Another way to equip them is with Praesidium Shields to give them a more reliable Invulnerable save. This does lock out Two-handed weapons like the Meridian sword, but you can still give them a Sentinel Warblade, Solarite Gauntlets, Solarite Talons or Paragon Blades. Realistically there is no "wrong way" to equip them since all the Custodes weapon options are all great. On top of that, one model can exchange their weapons for a Magisterium Vexilla and the choice of either a Master-Crafted power weapon or a Sentinel Blade depending on how much you need to shoot things.
  • That Vexilla is a wonderful support tool. Not only does it let the Hetaeron Guard re-roll Ld checks, but any units within 12" can also use it to add +1 to their combat resolution, letting them potentially get an edge over the enemy in an army where the numbers will tend to be against them.

• Aquilon Terminator Squad: The only way to already make the already heavy Custodes heavier is by giving the the Heavy Sub-type and making them Bulky(4). While their inventory is considerably less, the Solarite Power Gauntlet is not something to scoff at, and the free option between one or two Solarite Power Talons even less so. Lastrum storm bolters are equally dangerous with Shred for that re-roll to wound, but you can also pick up Infernus Firepikes or TL Adrathic Destructors if you really need to destroy something with prejudice.

• Contemptor-Achilius Dreadnought: One WS6, dreadnought carrying a mighty dangerous spear and a dangerous S9 AP3 Corvae Las-Pulser. There is the option to swap to the traditional dual fists, and there might be a use if you intend to swap out one of the built-in Lastrum storm bolters for TL Adrathic destructors or Infernus Incinerators depending on what you really need dead.

Troops

• Custodian Guard Squad: The ever-reliable and iconic squad of custodians, each gifted with a Sentinal Spear and one of your few Line units. Any model of this squad can pick up Pyrithite or Adrispite Spears if you're looking at something spicier to break vehicles or pop Veteran squads, and the Sentinel Axe can be taken for free if you're looking to ID Legion terminators in melee. The whole squad also has Melta Bombs as well, just in case. With almost 5s all across the board and W2, you can clearly recognize just how powerful these guys really. Of course, you also realize their great weakness because you start out with only three of them and buying more isn't cheap, as each guy costs 45 points each. One member of the squad can take a Magisterium Vexilla and swaps the Guardian Spear for a Sentinel Blade or a Master Crafted Power weapon.

• Sentinel Guard Squad: Sword and Board Custodes, with the same stats and wargear as the Custidian Guard squad, but with the spears swapped out for Sentinel Warblades and Praesidium Shields. These are your other Line unit so you'll probably want to grab a few squads of these guys too. The Sentinel Warblades, while lacking and strength bonuses (not too bad since your infantry are all S5) are still AP2 at initiative and have the same built in bolter as the Guardian spears, allowing them to poke opposing units with bullets. You can swap the Warblades out for Solarite Talons which are flat upgrades since they also have shred, or the anti-everything Solarite Gauntlets allowing you to tear tanks new asses and ID smaller Automata. But the real draw for these guys is the Praesidium Shield, which ups them to a 5++ invulnerable save allowing them to better survive attacks from Power Fists and Thunder hammers. One Sentinel Guard can swap his shield for a Magisterium Vexilla as well, and while they're a bit less versatile than the Spear squad, these guys are great in melee and are terrifying for opposing elite infantry from the Legions.

Dedicated Transports

• Coronus Grav-Carrier: The lone transport of the Custodes. Its AV is a rather average AV 13/12/10 and its 16 model capacity will easily get filled up when you consider the Bulky rule all custodians have. You can even take the termies in this. Don't expect to take many of them however, as each one is 180 points, which when stacked with the squad's cost will run you up by quite a margin.

Fast Attack

• Agamatus Jet Bike Squadron: Dick bike return and they're here to fuck your opponents Tanks and Automata. They have the Deepstrike, Outflank and Hammer of Wrath(1) rules along with being armed with Solarite Power Lances, one of the best weapons in the game. Their Gryfalcon Jetbikes have Lastrum Bolt cannons, but these can be replaced for an Adrathic Devastator or a Twin-linked Corvae Las-pulser. This means they can be fantastic vehicle hunters, flanking a tank, shooting it with their heavy weapons and then charging it to finish it off with their lances. They do have some draw backs as they are wearing Auric Demi-plate so only have a 3+ armour save and one attack, so you are only getting a single attack with that lance. This means that while good vehicle killers, they're going to struggle to kill dreadnoughts quickly. That said you can bring your own dreadnought to deal with marine dreadnoughts, so keep these guys out the way and go kill the Sicaran squadron instead.

• Pallas Speeder Squadron: For 60 points (cheaper than some infantry models) you get a flare shielded, floating rhino with some ridiculous movement. Armed with a Twin-lined Arachnus Blaze-cannon that can be swapped out for an Adrathic Devastator, a squadron of these can cause a fair bit of havoc for your opponent by getting behind vehicles with Deepstrike and Outflank and shooting them in the soft bits. That said they're not tough and will fall apart under any serious fire power so don't expect them to survive if you opponent dedicates some fire power to stop them.

• Venatari Squad: A Custodes Assault squad. They have Deep Strike allowing them to fall from the heavens (like lighting) and they come with a Venatari jump harness, Taurus Bucklers and Kinetic Destroyers making them decent surprise shooting units, but not the best. They also only have Auric demi-plate meaning they are stuck with a marines 3+ save. But wait! They can swap the Bucklers and pistols for Venatari Lances which make them much better assault unit as they can deep strike behind backline squads, shoot them and then charge into combat to tear them apart with the lances.

Heavy Support

• Sagittarum Guard Squad: A Custodian Guard armed with Super heavy bolters. The Emperor only knows why the unit is here, but any way. They are all equipped with Adrastus Bolt Calivers which are pretty nasty on their own before the ability to fire Disintegrator rounds is factored in, but they are a shooty unit in a stabby army. One model in the unit can swap his Adrastus Bolt Caliver for a Magisterium Vexilla and Adrathic Destructor. All in all these guys are great at clearing out Solar Auxilia squads, and if you feel like risking a 50+ point model every shooting attack, they can deal some damage with Terminators at range, but that's about it.

• Caladius Grav-Tank: A floating golden Sicaran. Coming with AV 13/13/11 it also has a Flare Shield and is armed with a Iliastus Accelerator Cannon and a twin Lastrum Bolt Cannon giving it some pretty decent all-rounder fire power, but you can also exchange the Iliastus Accelerator Cannon for an Arachnus Blaze Cannon for a more specialised anti-tank role. It's a pretty quick vehicle as it has M16" and the Antigrav sub-type as well as having Outflank and Deep Strike allowing you to position it where you want and Power of the Machine Spirit allows you to split fire at any units you want.

• Contemptor Galatus Dreadnought: Same stats as the Contemptor-Achilius, but with the Dreadspear swapped for a Giant Sword and Board. The Gravis Praesidium Shield gives him a 4++ Invulnerable save and the Galatus Warblade has seen a change from it's HH1 incarnation as it is now only S8, AP2. The Warblade has lost Rampage and Shred but instead it has gained Instant Death making it great against monsters and Automata. The Warblade also has a built in Twin-linked Infernus incinerator giving the Galatus an anti-infantry option. Importantly while Instant Death doesn't kill enemy dreadnoughts out right, it does inflict D3 wounds meaning a couple of swipes of the Warblade with the Galatus' superior WS should drop marine Dreadnoughts and mechanicum Thanatars quiet easily. This makes the Galatus, ironically, one of the best anti-Dreadnought units in the game.

• Telemon Heavy Dreadnought: Dreadnought supreme. Bigger than a Leviathan Dreadnought and with 8 wounds, this is a very meaty unit even though he's seen a bit of a nerf this edition. He has the Move Through Cover and Hammer of Wrath(3) rules as well as the Heavy sub-type allowing him to re-roll failed armour rolls against blast weapons, and he comes equipped with two Telemon Cestus which are S10, AP2 Sunder fists which give him an extra attack (their both Specialist weapons) upping him to 6 attacks. They don't have Brutal but with WS6 and 6 attacks this isn't too much of a hinderance for the big guy. The Cestus come with in built Plasma Projectors which are giant Plasma Flamers, which spit out S7 templates with Breaching(4+) and Gets Hot just so he can clear hordes of marines. He can swap one or both of the Cestus for an Iliastus Accelerator Culverin for clearing infantry, or and Arachnus Storm Cannon for killing tanks and Dreadnoughts. He's very expensive but can be effective if used well.

Lords of War

• Orion Assault Dropship:

• Ares Gunship:

Building your army

For price, Custodes are probably the cheapest armies to build since they have the core of their army in plastic, and since the models are so points expensive it's not hard to build a lot of points very quickly. Both of your line troops come from the same kit and the box will provide you with at least 240 points (for both Guardian Spears or Sword and Board). While some of the important units, like Aquilon Terminators and Dreadnoughts, are FW resin you don't have to buy many to have a functional army and a few of the units and weapons are simply upgrade kits for the standard Custodian guard models so are not too expensive to get hold of.

In addition a lot of the 40k custodes models are also very easy to convert and use in 30k armies. Trajann Valoris, Valerian and the Blade Champion are all usable and give you ready made, easy to convert Tribune/Shield Captain with Paragon Glaive/Blade/Meridian Swords. There is also the FW Custodes Shield Captain who also looks great so your choice of models will simply come down to personal taste. The Custodian Warden kit is also a perfect base to create Hetaeron Guard, though you will need to figure out how to convert some Meridian Swords to give them (or you can just give them Guardian spears/axes that come in the box).

Army Tactics

Warhammer 30,000 Tactics Articles
General Tactics	General (7E) Movement (7E) Psychic (7E) Fortifications (7E)
Imperium	Legiones Astartes (7E)
	Legio Custodes (7E) Sisters of Silence (7E) Mechanicum (Legio Mechanicum • Taghmata Omnissiah)
	Questoris Knights (7E) Solar Auxilia (7E) Imperialis Militia (7E)
Chaos	Ruinstorm Daemons (7E • 7E Codex) Warp Cults(7E)