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Okay so i was looking heavily into the custodes the last like 2 weeks as i plan on makin an army of em for table top and I have a few questions regarding them. So first small background for those that don't know WHY we can field custodes as an army. Poppy Smurf woke up after some Eldar and Crazy Mech Pope worked together and healed him. He then told the custodes "Hey i know i ordered you to guard the throne but naw that gak was WHACK go out and wreak havoc." This brings us to the 41st millenium and my questions.

1. I had read in several different places that the Adeptus Custodes numbers are equal or about the same to their PRE-HERESY numbers, which makes them several times larger then MANY different legions. HOW? From my understanding you cannot MAKE custodes as why would you not just make literally everyone you can and roflstomp. From my understanding (albeit limited) only Big E can make them??

2. Their view on the Primaris essentially is "Papa Smurf told us to spread the word and he is our "leader" and they will literally threaten and HAVE killed space marines not abiding by this law, yet Primarchs to them and here is a direct quote "Are lesser to the Emperor and we see no reason to follow their light as the light we follow is far superior and brighter.". So Why would they follow Papa Smurf at all and not just like commit a coup or have Vallarus Lead?

3. How do they view the Mechanicus cuz from what i understand it seems to be little more than tolerance and the only reason they DON'T wipe them out is some old ruling from Big E?

4. Are they immortal to age? From what i've read the Custodes that were their in 30k are still here in 40k which means their 10k+ minimum years old, so yeah???

5. Custodes don't have psykers its kind of what the Sisters of Silence and the Grey Knights are meant for, how do they view some of the psykers out there like Kaldor Draigo or Hyperion or that one psyker in Blood Raven book that looked into the Hive Mind and lived?

6. Do they have more authority then Space Marine Chapter Masters like Dante?

I guess most of those questions are answered in the watcher of throne series

The Emperor's Legion
The Regent's Shadow

1. Custodes can still be made. Noone understands even remotely how and it is a very, very time consuming and expensive process.

2. Because he is the Regent. Custodes dont partake really in Imperial quibbles and Valoris refused a seat in the High Lords for just that reason. They are outside of common law and follow different goals than the rest of the Imperium. All they care about, in essence, is the Emperors will and safeguarding Him. And since Roboute went to speak with him and his goals align with theirs - if he asks, they usually do oblige. But he cannot command them any more as he could in 30k.

3. I dont think they care about the Mechanicus at all as long as they don't threaten the Imperium or the Emperor.

4. Difficult question, but I think no. There is a limit to even the Custodes, but we don't know for sure. It could well be thousands of years with the ten thousand years of inactivity after the heresy. Yet there's rumours of Valdor's return...

5. Again, I just think they don't give a feth. They work together with Grey Knights to banish daemons if necessary, the Sisters of Silence were an integral part to their workings.
If it furthers their goals, they are accepting.

6. They don't actually have any authority per se like in the venue of a title or a High Lord would, but they generally are seen as the Emperor's emissaries and following their orders is to follow His will. So pretty much everyone will not refuse a Custodes, albeit they technically could.

One correction, Valoris is currently a High Lord according to the books you mentioned (though he wasn’t pre Guilliman returning)

Custodes Captain General is one of the ‘rotating’ posts that is sometimes a High Lord and sometimes not.

True, I didn't formulate that right. But I wanted to avoid some spoilers from the books

Rahdok wrote:
Okay so i was looking heavily into the custodes the last like 2 weeks as i plan on makin an army of em for table top and I have a few questions regarding them. So first small background for those that don't know WHY we can field custodes as an army. Poppy Smurf woke up after some Eldar and Crazy Mech Pope worked together and healed him. He then told the custodes "Hey i know i ordered you to guard the throne but naw that gak was WHACK go out and wreak havoc." This brings us to the 41st millenium and my questions.

1. I had read in several different places that the Adeptus Custodes numbers are equal or about the same to their PRE-HERESY numbers, which makes them several times larger then MANY different legions. HOW? From my understanding you cannot MAKE custodes as why would you not just make literally everyone you can and roflstomp. From my understanding (albeit limited) only Big E can make them??

2. Their view on the Primaris essentially is "Papa Smurf told us to spread the word and he is our "leader" and they will literally threaten and HAVE killed space marines not abiding by this law, yet Primarchs to them and here is a direct quote "Are lesser to the Emperor and we see no reason to follow their light as the light we follow is far superior and brighter.". So Why would they follow Papa Smurf at all and not just like commit a coup or have Vallarus Lead?

3. How do they view the Mechanicus cuz from what i understand it seems to be little more than tolerance and the only reason they DON'T wipe them out is some old ruling from Big E?

4. Are they immortal to age? From what i've read the Custodes that were their in 30k are still here in 40k which means their 10k+ minimum years old, so yeah???

5. Custodes don't have psykers its kind of what the Sisters of Silence and the Grey Knights are meant for, how do they view some of the psykers out there like Kaldor Draigo or Hyperion or that one psyker in Blood Raven book that looked into the Hive Mind and lived?

6. Do they have more authority then Space Marine Chapter Masters like Dante?

1) yes, they currently have around 10,000 custodes. they CAN make new ones, though, its just exceedingly hard and requires something form the big E (i think its his blood?). thus, they can replace thier looses form the Hersey and now form the current conflicts, but it still a very slow process with a low success rate, so they can't really expand much beyond 10,000. this slow production rate is why the imperium isn't mass producing them

2) the seem to have undergone a major shift in doctrine recently, moving form a purely defensive posture on Terra to a more proactive "stomp the threats before they get close to the Throne" posture. part of this was brought on by the attack on Terra, which papa smurf was present for. So its less that they followed his orders, more that they listened to what he said and though......"hes right, you know".

3) I've not seen that piece of lore, but i understand the the Imperial Household has access to tech support that is separate form the Admech proper, and they are not strictly dependant on Mars for the production and maintiance of their wargear, in the same way the Marine chapters are sorta-independent.

4) I think they are functionally immortal, in the sense they dont die of old age, only combat wounds. Given that Crawl has been able to stay alive since the Heresy, its not impossible or without precedent.

5) as others has said, they dont really care. they think purely in terms of the Throne and its protection. a friendly psyker is a boon, and enemy one a bane. thats about it.

6) offically, no, but people tend to listen when they talk. they seem to have a "voice of the emperor" thing going, where they are granted extreme deference by others, becuase they are assumed/believed to have the best idea of what the Emperor actually desires (having, y'know, MET HIM). its not that they can just straight up overule marine chapter masters, its just that marine chapter masters will LISTEN if they talk, and often agree with the custodes.

1) new custodes aren't inducted often - but they don't get killed very often at all..... a slow increase is still a continuous increase over the millennia.

2) because the emperor said so. If =][= hadn't approved, Gulliman would never have been able to pick up the Emperor's sword.

3) no more or less than the non-mechanicus. They don't see themselves as part of 'the Imperium'.

4) not completely. The eyes of the emperor (https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eyes_of_the_Emperor) do talk about age being a factor.

5) That's why the Sisters of Silence being the other half of the talons is so important. The anathema psykana force a fight on purely rational, physical terms.....which the custodes can win against anyone.

6) much more. The iconic custodes badge of rank, the misericordia, signifies the right of the wielder to execute anyone for any reason.

I'll have to read those books then, do you guys have a link to where i can buy/read them? I'm really interested in their background and lore. And thanks for the answers!

Rahdok wrote:
I'll have to read those books then, do you guys have a link to where i can buy/read them? I'm really interested in their background and lore. And thanks for the answers!

https://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/novels/emperors-legion-ebook.html
https://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/novels/watchers-throne-the-regents-shadow-ebook-2020.html

1) Custodes can still be made. The process is just extremely resource intensive and difficult. Many aspirants don't survive. Also custodes can't just implant some geneseed like space marines do. They are altered at a molecular level and rebuilt from the ground up using ancient techno alchemy. They are larger than most space marine chapters now, because they always number at about ten thousand. But they were never bigger than a space marine Legion in the crusade times....those could be a hundred thousand strong.

2.this is my personal opinion, but them accepting guilliman as the regent is partly because he talked to the emperor and Valoris and was named regent by the emperor and also because of practical reasons. Guilliman right now is their best shot at turning this shithole of an empire into something at least a bit better.

3. I think they view them as useful allies and nothing more. None of their equipment comes from the mechanicus, it is custom made for every member right on Terra. Which makes them unique because they are one of the few imperial factions that is not dependant on the mechanicus to get their wargear.

4. The adeptus custodes Codex outright states that custodes are functionally immortal. They can be killed in combat though, and after a couple thousand years of service, if they feel the get but a millisecond slower in their reactions, they become an eye of the emperor. An independent agent who keeps tabs on possible threats to terra and the throne and reports to the captain general.

5. They view the Grey knights with some level of disdain because the Grey knights were the last gift of the emperor to humanity to fight the great enemy, the chaos gods and their legions. They fear that the Grey knights might ultimately be better equipped than them to guard humanities future.

6. In theory, yes. Everyone of them speaks with the authority of the emperor.
In practical terms...it depends. If they want something from a legendary figure like Dante they might try to nicely ask him to get what they want instead of playing the emperors chosen card.

From what I know from the fluff, so right off the bat, whatever:

1. Custodes are different from Astartes becuase they are chosen for creation at birth, whereas usually young adults for Astartes. Heresy Fluff Magic Plot armor man, what do you want.

2. Their view of anything not a Custode is basically why is this dumb child babbling at me? Valoris outright calls the Astartes Children several times. They look at the smartest Astartes the way Astartes view base humans. Not outright contempt, but like a parent who's kid just gak their pants in public. I love you, but I wish you were better.

3. All their gear was designed personally by either the Emperor or his finest Pre-Heresy Techno Smiths. Most of the STCs for their gear is not known to anyone but them. Even the GK don't have access to their stuff. I mean Jetbikes are basically extinct except for Vertus Praetors.

4. Custodes and Astartes age is exactly as old as the fluff needs them to be. There are confirmed Astartes that were with the Big E against the Horus debacle, still living. But when they get old, they go into "Exhile" and leave their armor and weapons behind. They go live on a farm with Vulkan, Russ, Dorn, and the Lion.

5. They view the GK with grudging respect, but still inferior. They both carry the Emperor's blood, and view him as a father, so they are in a way brothers.

6. They literally speak as the Emperor. They can countermand Lord Generals, High Lords, even reagents have to ask them nicely for anything. Even the Echliesiarchy treads lightly around them. Likely because the two times Terra was threatened it resulted in the Custodes running ops against the leader of the church at the time.

WHo is the Lord Commander of the custodes then Valoris?

Valoris is still the Captain-General. He's just also a High Lord. It's a position in addition to the one they have as heads of their respective Adeptus.