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Codex Adeptus Custodes 9th Edition Tactica: Auric Mortalis  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in cz
Longtime Dakkanaut




The Adeptus Custodes 9th edition codex was finally released after some delay and a lot of things have changed. Our guys know Karate now!


Here are some of the most relevant changes compared to 8th edition:

-Custodes models count as 2 models when determening whether a character benefits from the Look Out Sir! rule. Adeptus Custodes models count as two models when determenting who controls and objective marker. This is a really nice buff to our obsec.

-No more 3+ invulnerable saves. The only 3+ invuln left in the codex is from a relic and it only lasts one phase.

-Our infantry got cheaper. Custodian Guard with shield are not as tough as they were before.

-Sisters of Silence are finally rolled into our codex and you can play them as troops! (with the restriction that you can't take more of them than custodes troops). They get characters, warlord traits and relics which is awsome.

-Martial Ka'tah let us do Karate on the battlefield. Those are similar to Necron Command Protocols and sound super complicated, but it's quite straight forward in practice:
You pick 3 Ka'tahs who have 2 Stances each at the beginning of the game.
You then pick one as your primariy, secondary and tertiery.
First battle round you pick one of the two available Stances from our primary Ka'tah
Second battle round you either go straight to one of the two available Stances from your secondary Ka'tah, or you pick the Stance from your primary Ka'tah that you did not chose in the first battle round.
You can't pick a stance twice and you can't go backwards in order.

-Shield hosts now give passive boni, which are called Fighting Styles. Each Shield Host has two Fighting Styles and you benefit from both. You also get one Warlord Trait, Relic and Stratagem that is exclusive to the corresponding shield host. What is great about the new Shield Hosts in my opinion, is that all of them are actually playable. One is going to prove to be the strongest and end up as the flavor of the month meta build, but none of them are truly terrible.

-Characters are amazing. Both our named characters and generic characters are very good in the new codex. Old man Valoris is stronger than ever and probably an auto-include in most lists and even our other available named character Valerian got a significant boost.

-We have lost some stratagems like "Stooping Dive" and "Vexilla Teleport Homer", but retained other key stratagems. Also a lot of our bread and butter stratagems like "Arcane Genetic Alchemy" and "Emperor's Auspice" now cost only 1CP for smaller units, which is really good.

-Our weapon profiles got changed quite a bit: almost everything is flat damage 2 now. This is a nerf in certain matchups and while nobody really understands why Castellan Axes did not get bumped to flat 3 damage, our weapons are still decent. Ballistus Grenade launchers and Sentinel Blades got a buff on their shooting profile, which is nice.

-Storm shields got changed. They no longer provide a 3+ invulnerable save, instead they give +1 to your armor save. This is a straight nerf, but custodian guards with shields are now quite a bit cheaper than before.

-Vertus Praetors went up to 5 wounds and get +1 to wound on the charge now instead of re-rolling all wounds. Their salvo launcher does 3+d3 damage now, which makes them a very potent unit both in shooting and in melee. Very expensive though.

-Captain Commander traits are now points upgrades and every type of shield captain gets access to three different traits.


There was some disappointment towards this new codex from the community (myself included), but the true power of the codex still remains to be seen. It definitely feels different. To me this codex is Herohammer incarnate. Our characters are true powerhouses now and can fulfill basically any role you equip them for. Custodian Guard is going to feel squishier and die faster than before, but they are still beefy boys...just don't expect them to tank anything the enemy throws at them.


Unit Analysis:
Spoiler:

Characters:

-Trajann Valoris: our Captain General is stronger than ever and probably an auto-include. Provides CORE with reroll 1s to hit and wound, has flat 3 damage on his axe (finally!) and gets two warlord traits. Also the moment shackle can still do some nifty tricks. He is an incredible force multiplier and beat stick, on top of all that he also gives one extra CP and let's you farm CP on 5+. He is probably one of the best special characters in the entire game.
-Valerian: now gets perma-transhuman and his spear just straight bypasses rules that ignore damage. He also gets one hit, wound or save-reroll per battle round. He's actually not bad now and can be a good counter pick against C'tan or Ghazgkull because he ignores their "only x wounds per phase" cap.
-Aleya: Valerians BFF and certified badass. She's cool and good in combat, but probably overshadowed by our other characters.

-Guardian Shield Captain: these are our standard shield captains that still provide an aura of reroll 1s to hit, though now it only affects CORE units. They might see more play, since some Captain Commander traits on them could be useful, but I suspect that they are going to be overshadowed again by the bike and terminator captain.
-Allarus Shield Captain: our chonky terminator shield captain got 8 wounds base now and some really spicy relic and warlord trait options. Especially the praetorian plate relic makes this shield captain very interesting for the sheer flexibility and movement it can provide on a tough obsec body.
-Vertus Praetor Shield Captain: our captain on jetbike now starts with 9(!) wounds base and is still an all-star unit in my opinion. They are durable, fast and have some very good warlord trait and captain commander upgrade options. I suspect that this shield captain variant will remain the most popular.
-Blade Champion: Our newest addition to the golden boys and a pure beatstick unit. You can kit this guy to be one of the most potent character killers or horde blenders in the entire game and he's quite cheap for what he can do.
-Knight Centuria: the Sisters of Silence finally get a generic HQ option. The Knight Centuria is very cool albeit a bit situational, since her Daughters of the Abyss ability makes her very usefull against Psyker units, but otherwhise she's probably overshadowed by our other HQ options. Still amazing that we now have the option for playing a sisters HQ.

Troops:

-Custodian Guard: our standard golden boys, playable with either Guardian Spear or Praesidium Shield and Sentinel Blade. The stormshield (now Praesidium Shield) build was by far the most popular and effective in 8th edition due to the 3+ invulnerable save it provided. The shields now only provide +1 to armor saves. So shields still provide some utility, but we are probably going to see a lot more spears running around than we used to.
-Prosecutors: it really happened. Sisters of Silence as troops, rejoice! Though with a restriction: you can't take more of them than you have Custodian Guard in your list. I believe Prosecutors will see play, because cheap objective holders were something Custodes sorely missed in 8th.

Elites:

-Wardens: basically Custodian Guard with extra attack, but with access to Castellan Axes and a 6+++. They now also have the bodyguard rule, which is really starting to grow on me since our characters are more important than ever in the new codex.
-Allarus Custodians: our beefy terminators, which can now be taken in units of 1-6, which can be really handy to have access to a singular terminator unit that can do actions in the enemy backfield and be a general nuisance. Also their grenade launchers got buffed to S5, which is nice. They are now really quite cheap for what they can do.
-Vexillus Praetor: the banners were a staple in many 8th edition lists and they are still decent. They provide either +1 attack, light cover or dense cover. I don't think they are as much of an auto-include as they used to be, but the buffs they provide are still powerful and useful.
-Vexillus Praetor in Terminator Armor: same as the one above, but with more wounds and the ability to teleport. Which one is better really depends on your list in my opinion.
-Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought: Still ugly and still overshadowed by the Forgeworld alternatives. Now don't get me wrong, the standard contemptor is not bad per se. It has good melee and can give you access to some multimelta shots which is always nice, the Forgeworld variants are just simply better.
-Vigilators: Sisters of Silence with giant swords are really cool, but we don't really need more melee power in our lists. Our Custodes units arguably fulfill that role much better.

Forgeworld:
-Contemptor Galatus Dreadnought: the coolest looking dreadnought in the entire game is still a very useful unit in most custodes lists. He's difficult to remove in shooting with his 4++ and even more so in melee. A great unit to contest the midfield and be a complete pain for your opponent to deal with.
-Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought: the second coolest looking dreadnought in the game is our hardest hitting melee unit with his S14, 3+d3 dmg spear of doom. He's not as tough as the Galatus variant since he only has a 5+ invuln. He is a prime candidate for the "Eternal Penitent" stratagem and might have a nice place in Dreadhost lists. A 8" re-rollable charge from deepstrike is not that bad. The Achillus also has decent shooting.

Fast Attack:

-Vertus Praetors: the dawneagle jetbikes got an extra wound and 3+d3 damage on their Salvo Launchers. They are a really potent, fast unit that shines even more when you take them as Solar Watch, but they are very expensive. I suspect that they are going to find a place in a lot of lists despite their cost.
-Witchseekers: Sisters of Silence with Flamers. They get a 6" pregame move, which could be very valuable. Decent unit that might see some play due to the pregame move.

Forgeworld:
-Venatari: The coolest looking jumppack unit in the game has lost some power in the new codex. They can not double shoot any more which made them staples in many lists in 8th ed. They are still a very decent, fast moving unit and with the new codex the Venatari Lances become interesting for the first time, since the pistols are not longer obviously better.
-Agamatus Jetbikes: They didn't get an extra wound for some reason like the Vertus Praetors and are too expensive for what they offer. Until they get an update, the other jetbike variant is going to be superior.

Heavy Support:
-Venerable Land Raider: still bad, as is every Land Raider

Forgeworld:
-Telemon Heavy Dreadnought: Still probably the toughest dreadnought in the game, but slightly nerfed in the new codex. He's not CORE so he won't get any re-rolls and he can't benefit from the Shadowkeepers specific stratagem anymore, which made him even more tanky. He now benefits a lot from the Emperor's Chosen shield host for the free re-rolls, but Dreadhost would also be quite good with him for the extra Ap on his flamers for example. I believe that one Telemon will still find his way in some lists, but he won't be an auto-include anymore.
-Caladius Grav-Tank: The Caladius still provides great anti tank firepower, but it also can not benefit from re-rolls anymore without the CORE keyword. So again, the emperor's chosen fighting style for the free re-roll becomes very valuable on the Caladius.


Flyer:

Forgeworld:
-Orion Dropship: proof that custodes truly have the most pimped up rides in the imperium. Still very expensive and if you use it for transporting troops and/or a dreanought its basically the definition of "all eggs in one basket".
-Ares Gunship: provides the heaviest anti-tank firepower custodes have access to. Might have a place in a leafblower list.


Dedicated Transport:

-Anathema Psykana Rhino: I am not sure if our lists will include enough sisters to justify a rhino for them, since most of the time you probably want your Prosecutors sitting on your home objective anyway. Witchseekers are primarily interesting because of their pregame move and nobody is going to play Vigilators, so I don't see it really. Might be wrong though.

Forgeworld:
-Coronus Grav-Carrier: I want to love the Coronus, but I don't see a place for it in most lists. I might be wrong though. It's still really expensive...




Warlord Traits:
Spoiler:


Adpetus Custodes:

-Master of Martial Strategy: +5 CP refund and rearrange order of Ka'tah. One of Trajanns Warlord Traits and you are never going to pick it on another character since Trajann is an auto include.
-Champion of the Imperium: reroll hits and 6" heroic intervention. Trajanns second trait.
-Superior Creation: 5+ FnP. Just a very good survivability buff and still a powerful option.
-Impregnable Mind: Deny the Witch and warlord counts as two models for obsec, so effectively 4 models. Deny is situational, but the second ability can be very powerful scoring tool, especially in combination with the praetorian plate.
-Radiant Mantle: -1 to be hit. Not a bad trait for sure, but with the cap to modifiers in 9th I don't think -1 to be hit is as powerful as it once was or should be.
-Peerless Warrior: 6s to wound do MWs in addition, also saving throws can not be re-rolled. Very powerful on the blade champion, especially when using his Hurricanis profile.

Anathema Psykana:

-Oblivion Knight: +1 advance and charge for Sisters within 6" and reroll wounds of 1 for warlord. Meh.
-Silent Judge: -1 to enemy combat attrition and enem units lose obsec within 3" of warlord. Now we're talking! Taking away obsec is super powerful and if you are bringing a Knight Centuria, this is an auto take in my opinion.
-Mistress of Persecution: Sisters within 6" ignore cover and get +3" range on ranged weapons. Meh.


Relics:
Spoiler:


Relics of Terra:

-Eagle's Eye: extra wound and once per game gain 3+ invulnerable save until end of phase. Not bad, but quite a nerf to it's previous iteration.
-Auric Aquilas: everyones favourite relic in 8th is back, but it's changed. Reroll charge rolls or add 1 to charge rolls if you can already reroll your charges and you can double move once per game, but can't charge or shoot afterwards. Also not bad, but not an auto-pick as it used to be
-Gatekeeper: automatically hitting guardian spear. Cute, with a decent shooting profile, but ultimately overshadowed by other relics.
-Veiled Blade: buffed Sentinel Blade with extra attacks. Not bad, but I don't see many people going for a Guardian Shield Captain with sword and board over the other options available
-Obliteratum: aka the pocket nuke. Replaces the grenade launcher on a terminator captain and gives one very strong shot with 3+d3 dmg.
-Fulminaris Aggressor: friendly units in range ignore dense and light cover. Not sure about this one, probably also overshadowed by other options.
-Praetorian Plate: best non-shield host relic in the book by far. The mobility that this thing provides a terminator captain is absolutely amazing and getting +1 toughness is just the cherry on top.
-Castellan's Mark: re-deploy for up to two units. Can be very powerful, but is situational.
-Wrath Angelis: once per battle deal mortal wounds. Hot garbage.

Relics of the Vigil:

-Raptor Blade: buffed Sisters of Silence greatsword. It's cool, but not worth it if you also bring Custodes.
-Excrutiatus Flamer: buffed witchseeker flamer with S6, AP3 and flat 6 auto-hits. That's quite a good, consistent shooting profile. Decent relic for sisters.
-Enhanched Voidsheen Cloak: -1 to be hit AND wounded plus a 4+ invuln. Very strong relic if you plan to chuck your Knight Centuria into the frontlines.


Shield Hosts:
Spoiler:


Emperor's Chosen:
-Fighting Style: 4+ FnP against all mortal wounds and each unit can re-roll one hit or wound each time it shoots or fights. Obviously a very good general purpose shield host, but particularly good in dreadnought lists, especially when using the Telemon since our big chonky boy does not have the CORE keyword and can't benefit from captain re-rolls. Also units like the Caladius or Ares benefit a lot from that free re-roll.
-Stratagem: select one unit, until next command phase that unit benefits from another shield hosts fighting style instead of emperors chosen. I LOVE this stratagem, it provides so much flexibility. Really great stuff and one of the most powerful stratagems in the entire codex.
-Warlord Trait: get extra attacks per enemy models killed (up to 4). This is amazing on the Lawnmower Blade Champion, since it's basically 8 extra attacks with the hurricanis profile.
-Relic: the Paragon Spear is basically a souped up guardian spear with a bazillion AP, which is cool but useless if you don't ignore invulns. Coolest name for a relic, sadly overshadowed by better options.

Shadowkeepers:
-Fighting Style: re-roll all wounds against characters and enemy models in engagement range get -1 attack. This can be amazingly strong against combat focused armies and obviously also against characters.
-Stratagem: Grim Responsibility returns however you now can no longer use it on vehicles. Nooo....my poor unkillable Telemon. But jokes aside, this is still a very powerful stratagem.
-Warlord Trait: just strait up ignore invulns against characters. This is hilarious on a blade champion or bike captain....almost no character in the game is going to want to tangle with these guys. This trait can be extremely powerful, but you actually have to reach the enemy character first to get any benefit.
-Relic: finally we get a fight last ability! I love it and it's obviously very strong and useful against any combat oriented army.

Dread Host:
-Fighting Style: if you attack something that's within 9" of your guys get +1 AP on everything, also re-roll charges. This makes Castellan Axes quite a bit more potent and also boosts short range shooting. The re-rolling charges is always very useful for any combat oriented army.
-Stratagem: Golden Light of the Moraides returns, but has changed quite a bit. You no longer get better charges from deepstrike, but rather your guys are -1 to be hit the turn they come down from deepstrike and the enemy can't overwatch or set to defend against them. Ignoring overwatch is decent, but I honestly liked the old one way better because it provided consistency.
-Warlord Trait: pick a CORE unit or this warlord, the chosen unit gets exploding 6s each time it makes an attack. Good buff, since it now works both in shooting and melee.
-Relic: the biggest, baddest axe in the galaxy returns. Admonimortis is one of the few infantry weapons we have acces to that provides a profile with flat 3dmg, which is quite valuable for us.

Solar Watch:
-Fighting Style: +1 to advance and charge, also fall back and charge. This is just a very powerful fighting style for Custodes. Movement is king and getting more consistency in our charges is very valuable. Especially strong with bikes for obvious reasons.
-Stratagem: if you slay the enemy warlord, -1 to combat attrition tests for enemy untis for the rest of the game. Very situational...I'm not a fan because the morale phase is so insiginificant in 9th.
-Warlord Trait: pick and infantry unit (not CORE locked!) whithin 6", that unit can advance and charge. Amazing. Yes, it's only on infantry but I don't care...advance and charge will always be an extremely strong buff on Custodes.
-Relic: buffed guardian spear that lets be bearer fall back and charge/shoot. Cute but not good enough to see play probably.

Emissaries Imperatus:
-Fighting Style: always fight first and ignore all hit and wound modifiers when making an attack. This shield host is the sleeper hit of the codex in my opinion, because those are some very powerful abilities to have on your whole army.
-Stratagem: CORE unit gets a pregame move. Expensive for bigger units, but very powerful.
-Warlord Trait: +3" to aura abilities and units within 9" get +1 leadership. This rather weak imo. Custodes already have 11Ld so that buff is largely useless.
-Relic: friendly units within 3" ignore all penalties to move, advance and charge. Also in the fight phase each enemy unit within 3" gets mortal wounds. Meh, overshadowed by other relics in the codex.

Aquilan Shield:
-Fighting Style: everyone gets heroic interventions and ignore AP1. It's decent, but I feel the other shield hosts are just better.
-Stratagem: can't target imperium character with shooting when within 6" of Aquilan Shield CORE unti. Meh.
-Warlord Trait: halve all damage (rounded up). For the beefiest of boys
-Relic: Stormshield that gives -1 to enemy wound rolls. Strong ability, but I suspect that few people are going to bring a shield captain with sword and board, because the other options are just way more enticing.

So what's amazing about these new shield host options, is that Aquilan Shield is the only comparatively weak one. Every other Shield Host is very much playable and it's really hard for me to pick a favourite or determine which is the strongest one (probably Solar Watch or Emssaries.....or maybe it's Shadowkeepers...).


Martial Ka'tah
Spoiler:


Calistus
-Stance 1: each time unit advances, roll additional D6 and then discard one.
-Stance 2: in shooting phase count as stationary if units advanced or made a normal move
Preferred Shield Host: Solar Watch

Calistus is a great opening Ka'tah that enables you to get towards objectives more consistently or enables you to cover some distance on the board and still shoot your opponent. However it could also be useful lategame for getting onto some crucial objective to edge out some primary points you desperatly need to turn a close game.

Salvus
-Stance 1: add 4" range to shooting weapons
-Stance 2. infantry can shoot "Auric" weapons twice if did not advance.
Preferred Shield Host: Aquilan Shield

Salvus is a decent Kata if you bring a bunch of infantry with Auric Weapons that can then double shoot. But it feels definitely a bit weaker than the other choices.

Dacatarai
Stance 1: when an enemy unit piles in or consolidates, they get -2" on their movement.
Stance 2: units get extra attack, but damage of weapon becomes 1. Units in this stance can choose to use this or not.
Preferred Shield Host: Dread Host

This is an amazing Ka'tah. The first stance can provide incredible utility in the fight phase: it can neuter the melee potential of a horde unit if they can't get enough units into melee with a 1" pile in. It can be a great trick if you charge into a unit that makes you fight last: string your models out and barely get into engagement range with one enemy model. The enemy unit will fight first, but with a 1" pile in they might not get a lot of models into combat with you depending on the positioning.
Stance 2 of Dacatarai is obviously great against horde units and always great to use on the Blade Champion with his hurricanis profile.

Kaptaris
Stance 1: enemy units can not re-roll hits against you in combat.
Stance 2: if enemy unit wants to fall back from one of your infantry units (except vehicles and monsters) roll off with your opponent. If you win the enemy unit can not fall back.
Preferred Shield Host: Shadowkeepers

Stance one of this Ka'tah is obviously very powerful against any combat army. Stance two can be downright game winning if you manage to keep a crucial enemy unit from falling back and thus keeping your unit from being shot at, though it's a gamble. But still, this is a very nice ability to have in ones toolbox.

Conservai
Stance 1: unit can still perform action after advancing or falling back.
Stance 2: unit can still shoot while performing action.
Preferred Shield Host: Emissaries Imperatus

Depending on the mission and your list, this can be extremely powerful. Getting on a midfield objective turn 1 by advancing and still being able to raise banners for example is really good. Being able to still shoot while performing an action might not be as powerful as Stance 1, but it is still a nice ability to have.

Rendax
Stance 1: 6s to hit autimatically wound against vehicles and monsters
Stance 2: +1 strength in melee when making an attack against vehicle and monster (when charged, was charged, heroic intervention)
Preferred Shield Host: Emperor's Chosen

Stance one of Rendax can be really useful since it also works in shooting and Stance 2 can basically be +1 to wound in a lot of instances because it pushes you to S8 or past it. Overall a good Ka'tah if you know you are up against a lot of big stuff.

So which Ka'tah are the best? Which ones are you going to use every game? Really depends on the matchup in my opinion, all of them can have a place depending on your list, the enemy list and the mission. The only one that feels weaker than the other right now is Salvus, but only until maybe some of our Forgeworld infantry gets the Auric Weapon keyword, then it's probably really quite good.


Secondaries
Spoiler:


-Might of Terra (no mercy, no respite category): gain 4 victory points at the end of the battle round if one or more enemy units were destroyed and none of your units were destroyed. Our guys are tough, but not that tough....especially after losing the 3+ invuln. This seems very difficult to achieve, not a fan honestly.
-Stand Vigil (battlefield supremacy category): 3 victory points at the end of battle round if you control more objectives in no mans land. Pseudo-Stranglehold....idk it can be good I guess, but it's very dependent on the mission.
-Auric Mortalis (purge the enemy category): ok here me out: this is the best, most badass secondary ever and you are oathbound to take it every time you play custodes. No, but seriously this secondary can be good depending on matchup. If your enemy has any unit with SUPREME COMMANDER or PRIMARCH keyword you have to kill it (if not, your target is the most expensive enemy unit).
If that unit dies = 5 VP
If that unit dies in melee = another 5VP
If that unit dies 6" away from your deployment = another 5VP
BUT for every one of your units that gets killed by your target, you lose 2VP from this secondary. It's just so badass, I love it.

Over all none of these secondaries are auto-takes, but Auric Mortalis might be useful depending on the matchup aside from being just super cool.


Stratagems
Spoiler:


S-Tier: you are going to use these in every single game
A-Tier: Very strong stragems
B-Tier: Situationally useful
C-Tier: Not that good

Durability:
-Arcane Genetic Alchemy: our version of transhuman physiology, now at a special price of 1CP for small units! You are going to use this in every game.
-The Emperor's Auspice: turning off re-rolls on hit, wound and damage rolls is an amazingly powerful effect and now also cheaper on small units. Same as above, you'll probably use this every single game.
-Tanglefoot grenade: still absolutely amazing. I put this in the durability category, because preventing a charge with this thing can be so clutch.
-Praesidium Shieldwall: -1 to be hit on storm shields. This is not a very powerful debuff anymore, but it might be useful once in a while.
-Indomitable Engines: vehicles get 5+ FnP against mortal wounds. Very strong ability to have if you don’t play the Emperor’s Chosen Shield host with your dreadnoughts.

Herohammer:
-The Emperor’s Heroes: Give warlord traits to characters other than your actual warlord. How many you can give is dependent on game size.
-Open the Vaults: standard extra relic stratagem every codex has.
-Victor of the Blood Games: one character gets to pick an additional warlord trait.
These above three stratagems are probably going to be used very single game given how powerful our characters can be with this new book. Golden Boys assemble!
-Earning of a Name: if an enemy character is destroyed by an attack from one of your adeptus custodes characters (no named custodes characters) you can either give this character one Shield Host fighting style or one stance of a Marial Ka’tah as a permanent buff. This is the coolest stratagem in the whole book, period. Won’t come up every game but I don’t care. This is the best one.

Damage and Consistency Boosts:
-Wisdom of the Moritoi: friendly dreadnought gets an aura until next command phase to either re-roll hits or wounds of 1 for CORE within 6“. This is can be really handy if you have an Achillus Dreadnought running around outside Trajanns aura.
-Slayers of Nightmares: when hitting something in melee with higher toughness, get +1 to wound. Got cheaper for small units. Very powerful stratagem to have access to.
-Avenge the Fallen: get +1 attack when your unit lost any models, get +2 attacks when your unit is below half strength. I like this iteration better than the old one.
-Talons of the Emperor: After an Adeptus Custodes unit has shot or fought, friendly Sisters of Silence within 6“ get +1 to hit. Very cool and flavourful, but won’t come up that often.
-Purgation Sweep: when Witchseekers shoot their flamers or give overwatch, get +1 strength on flamers. Good buff for Witchseekers.
-Death Mark: before the game select enemy unit, Vigilators re-roll hits against that unit. It’s a strong buff, but I don’t think Vigilators will see much play.
-Desperation’s Price: enemy Psyker within 18“ of Sisters of Silence suffers an additional D3 mortal wounds when they peril. Add insult to injury! Really funny strat that won’t come up that often.
-Rapid Reactions: when an enemy unit falls back from an Adeptus Custodes infantry unit, that unit can shoot as if it were the shooting phase. This can be very good and also utterly hilarious if someone decides to fall back from a Terminator Captain with the Obliteratum relic. Pocket nuke go!
-Psyk-Out Grenade: Closest visible enemy psyker within 6“ of Sisters of Silence suffers perils of the warp. Cute.

General Purpose:
-Sweeping Advance: get +3“ to consolidate on jetbikes. Being able to tag something further away can be very strong depending on matchup.
-Vigil Unending: fight on death for characters. Obviously situational, but a strong ability to have in your pocket.
-Retribution of the Machine Spirit: vehicle gets to act on top profile until next command phase. Situational, but useful to have.
-Fraternity of Heroes: Adeptus Custodes unit gets to herocially intervene 6“. This is really, really good.
-Martial Discretion: pick one Adeptus Custodes unit, until next Command Phase that unit benefits from another Ka’tah stance of your choosing. Amazing flexibility, this might come up quite often.
-Indomitable Guardians: interrupt combat for 1CP if in range of objective with Adeptus Custodes unit. Obviously situational, but very powerful if it comes up.
-Unleash the Lions: Split up Allarus Terminator unit into one model units. You can take Allarus as units of one now anyway so I’m not sure how often this would come up.
-Shoulder the Mantle: if warlord dies, other character gets that warlord trait if it does not have a warlord trait. I think this won’t come up often because you probably won’t have any characters running around without warlord trait who could benefit from this.
-Manoeuvre and fire: Adeptus Custodes unit with fly gets to fall back an shoot. Amazing.
-From Golden Light they Come: put something in deepstrike. Will depend on your list and strategy.
-Empyric Severance: Sisters of Silence within 18“ of enemy psyker can nullify psychic power on a 4+. Matchup dependent, but can be super clutch.
-Creeping Dread: Sisters of Silence unit gains aura ability to give enemies within 6“ -1 to hit.
-Teleport Homer: you can Yeet terminators across the field within 3“ of a Vexilla model and 9“ away from enemies. Magnitudes weaker than it was before, but might be useful sometimes.

We lost some powerful stratagems compared to 8th, but most of the good stuff is still here.



Some amazing Herohammer builds:
Spoiler:


The "YEET a walking tank across the map" Allarus Captain:
-give your Allarus Captain the Praetorian Plate relic and the Superior Creation Warlord Trait. You now have T6, 4++, 5+++ character that can basically herocally intervene into any combat on the battlefield. The amount of movement and flexibility this provides along with an extremely tough Obsec body is truly amazing.

The Assassin (Blade Champion):
-give your Blade Champion both the Lockwarden and Peerless Warrior Warlord Trait by spending one CP on the "Victor of the Blood Games" stratagem. Also give him the Stasis Oubliette Relic. This is arguably the deadliest generic character in the game. He hits with S6,Ap4 and flat 3 damage, re-rolls all wounds against characters, does MWs on 6s to wound in addition and completely ignores invulnerable saves on enemy characters. He can also make an enemy unit fight last. This guy provides the most raw damage against enemy characters, but he is comparatively slow.

The flying Duelist (Bike Captain):
-give your Bike Captain the Lockwarden Warlord Trait and the Superior Creation Warlord Trait. Pay 20p for the Ceaseless Hunter Captain Commander Trait to give him the ability to fall back and charge. Add the Stasis Oubliette for fight last. You now have a super durable character that moves 14" and can easily hunt down enemy characters. He can't be tied down since he flies and can fall back and charge. This build does less damage to characters than the aforementioned Blade Champion, but this bike captain is a lot faster and arguably more flexible.

The Lawnmower (Blade Champion):
-give your Blade Champion the Auric Paragon and Peerless Warrior Warlord Trait by spending 1CP on "Victor of the Blood Games". Send this character towards hordes with his Hurricanis weapon profile to get 20 attacks that do mortal wounds on 6s to wound in addition to any other damage. You can even push this to 24 attacks with the right Vexillus Banner and Martial Ka'tah. Then spend another CP to use the Emperors Chosen specific stratagem to give your Blade Champion the benefit of the Dread Host fighting style, which improves his AP in combat by 1. So you get 20-24 attacks at S5, Ap2, Dmg1 that also do mortal wounds. For how cheap the blade champ is, this is actually insane.

You can also do this kind of build when you choose Dreadhost: give your Blade Champ the Dreadhost specific warlord trait "All-seeing Annihilator" and also "Peerless Warrior". So you get exploding 6s to hit and 6s to wound do mortal wounds. Dreadhost natively gives you +1AP, which is very good on your Hurricanis profile. This Dreadhost variant has greater high roll potential than the Emperor's Chosen build.



All things considered the new codex looks interesting and I am quite curious what type of lists are going to materialize with all these new options.

This message was edited 19 times. Last update was at 2022/04/01 09:48:41


 
   
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Thank you for the new thread and the write up. The latter helps a lot for newcomers (see Ork thread page 1, color coded unit analysis).
   
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Great thread, thanks very much for this. Custodes are my new-year-new-army project, and I am excited for a higher skill army that is notably less OP than much of what I already own.

So here's a weird question. I know it isn't currently "meta" but several of our local players spam Guard Russes, Manticores, etc... How would Custodes even approach that match-up? Other than running loads of bikes with Salvo launchers, it seems virtually impossible to get mass anti-tank.

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achillus dreads and telemon with arachnus cannons are both pretty nice.
Calladius grav tanks have strong shooting as well.
Those all hit on 2s, wound on 3s and do D3+3 damage. Thats a relatively easy 7-8 damage on each russ with average dice, I'd wager. And once they're down to the last bracket, they
're not that threatening anymore and can be picked up at your own leasure.

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NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Great thread, thanks very much for this. Custodes are my new-year-new-army project, and I am excited for a higher skill army that is notably less OP than much of what I already own.

So here's a weird question. I know it isn't currently "meta" but several of our local players spam Guard Russes, Manticores, etc... How would Custodes even approach that match-up? Other than running loads of bikes with Salvo launchers, it seems virtually impossible to get mass anti-tank.


Yes, mass ranged anti-tank is largely the domain of jetbike lists or Ares builds. The alternative is to slam down Dreads/Terminators from reserves and try to crush them in melee (probably want Dread Host or you could try running at them with Solar Watch). Even flat 2 damage wrecks Astra Militarum vehicles pretty handily.

Guard BS isn't great so if running across the field give your Custodes the -1 to be Hit flag unless you have a lot of dense cover. Should help.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/10 16:42:07


 
   
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What exactly is an Ares build?
I mean I know what an Ares is, yet I seem to have missed the memo when that thing became viable?

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 Thairne wrote:
What exactly is an Ares build?
I mean I know what an Ares is, yet I seem to have missed the memo when that thing became viable?


It's been floating on the edge of viability with a podium placing or two for 9th Edition.

The idea is that you take the -1 to be Hit flag (though maybe not now as I don't think the Ares is CORE), the Ares, I believe 1 squad of sword + board, Trajann, Bike Captain (decked out to be unkillable: 3++, 5+++, Victor of the Blood Games re-roll) and then as many Caladii/Telemons/Palasus as you can shove in there. Telemons should be spec'd for pure shooting.

Telemons and vehicles hold backfield while going pew-pew. Ares positions to annihilate key enemy component pieces with Trajann and the flag following to buff it. The one Guardian squad is a troop tax and maybe for mid-field. The Bike Captain is for going into the enemy's backline to harass chaff holding back objectives.

Honestly, writing it out, most of this is now obsolete with 9th so it may not be workable anymore.
   
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That's sad. Printing an Ares would be a fun past time, especially if you get to use it afterwards

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Which one do you think is better overall?

Blade Champion:
WT:Lockwarden, Pearless Warrior
Relic: Stasis Oubliette

Allarus Shield Captain, Spear:
WT: Lockwarden, Superior Creation
CC: Defiant to the last
Relic:Gatekeeper

If that Allarus guy could kill a character, he would have 8x S5 AP- 3 Dmg2 attacks at 12" no ++ which are autohits and you can re-roll
wounds against characters.

Not sure which one is better...i mean i like the Blade Champion but im not sure if he is to slow in the end.
Here is the rest of my list, not finished yet (~200 points left)

Trajann
Blade Champion
Allarus Shield Captain, spear


3 Guards, sword + shield
3 Guards, sword + shield

5 Sisters of Silence, Prosecutors
5 Sisters of Silence, Prosecutors


Vexillus Praetor, Vexilla Defensor
Achillus, 2 Twin adrathic destructor
2 Allarus Custodians, spear


3 Vertus Praetors, salvo launchers
3 Vertus Praetors, salvo launchers


This message was edited 11 times. Last update was at 2022/01/10 18:11:15


 
   
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Torgroll wrote:
Which one do you think is better overall?

Blade Champion:
WT:Lockwarden, Pearless Warrior
Relic: Stasis Oubliette

Allarus Shield Captain, Spear:
WT: Lockwarden, Superior Creation
CC: Defiant to the last
Relic:Gatekeeper

If that Allarus guy could kill a character, he would have 8x S5 AP- 3 Dmg2 attacks at 12" no ++ which are autohits and you can re-roll
wounds against characters.

Not sure which one is better...i mean i like the Blade Champion but im not sure if he is to slow in the end.
Here is the rest of my list, not finished yet (~200 points left)

Trajann
Blade Champion
Allarus Shield Captain, spear


3 Guards, sword + shield
3 Guards, sword + shield

5 Sisters of Silence, Prosecutors
5 Sisters of Silence, Prosecutors


Vexillus Praetor, Vexilla Defensor
Achillus, 2 Twin adrathic destructor
2 Allarus Custodians, spear


3 Vertus Praetors, salvo launchers
3 Vertus Praetors, salvo launchers




If you include that blade champion/allarus terminator to specifically hunt characters and also want him to be able to bring down tough characters with good consistency, then the blade champion provides the most consistent damage with flat 3 damage and Ap4. Flat out ignoring any save worse than a 2+ armor really goes a long way.

The blade champion is, like you said, quite slow however. If you want a faster option I'd go with a bike captain instead. Not as much damage as the blade champ, but way faster and harder to tie down, especially with the ceaseless hunter captain commander trait.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/10 18:29:10


 
   
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Thats the point, is the Blade Champion that much better?

I mean as you said he has flat 3 damage, Ap4 and he would fight first but the Allarus Shield Captain would have 8 shots with S5 AP-2 Dmg2 which are autohitting and D3 shots with S5 AP-3 Dmg1 and he could re-roll all wounds. In melee he isn't that bad either, he could gain from his Captain Commander Trait +1 to wound or 1/2 attacks more and if you want Pearless Warrior too. If you could kill a character with him he would gain +1 AP from the Dreadhost Trait which would boost him really good.

So im not sure if he wouldn't be better overall because of his shooting attacks and teleport.
Both would be cool but you can only choose Lockwarden one time, right?


Edit: Yeah, i think your right, the Blade Champion is stronger for pure character killing, i forgot you could give him the Slayers of Nightmares Strategem which would boost him against T6+.

This message was edited 12 times. Last update was at 2022/01/10 19:53:14


 
   
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Denison, Iowa

Until now I have not really liked the idea of a terminator Captain. However, with the new relics he seems to be nifty. I'd like to convert one to stand out, so I think I'll use a Stormcast Annihilator I have in my bits box with an Allarus head. Don't know what would look the part of the super grenade launcher.
   
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We are sure he is on a 40m base correct?
   
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Since everyone likes memes, and the ares is cool, I got ya fam!:

Spoiler:
Emmisaries Imperatus Battalion detachment: 2000/2000pts 9/13CP

HQ
Trajann Valoris 160pts WL
SCoB- salvo launcher, CC-195 superior creation, radiant mantle, Castellans Mark

TROOP
Saggitarum guard x5 250
Saggitarum guard x5 250
Saggitarum guard x5 250

ELITE
Vexillas praetor in allarus /Vexilla magnifica &Fulminaris Aggresssor /wVoice of the Emperor 115

FA

HEAVY SUPPORT

AIRCRAFT
Ares 400
Ares 400



So this one is fun and makes use of the buffed Castellans mark to guarentee you get to use your big birds at least once. For secondaries your gonna take grind, EoaF, and depending on the enemy and mission take banners/TTL/or one of our custom ones.
deploy the ares first (and do it with flair), smuggly telling your opponent you fixing to drop the bomb on him. Hide your characters and sagg guard as best as you can. You have 8 drops so your opponents gonna finish after you, but you arent even gonna pay attention to his deploy.
If you get first turn, redeploy your 2 units for better firing positions and/or closer to an objective. If you go second, put both ares into reserves with the castellans mark.
For katah's, your either taking double advance dice, actions while shooting, or extra range for your first 2 selections. Third picks gonna almost always be the melee ka'tah cause your opponent will have closed with you by then.
Either way, have fun knowing without a doubt you'll get to blast 2 giga lazers into the opponent before they get to do anything about it.

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bru
two of them.
Thats such an investment in time and painting... but it looks hilarious.

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I think it's hilarious that what GW is trying to make us avoid playing, is the first thing people think to play. I hope FW doesn't lose the Shield Host abilities or Core/obsec.
   
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Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high

I gotta say. I'm torn between
Shadowkeepers
White Sc...I mean Solar Watch
Emmisaries
and Emperor's Chosen.

I think Dread Host is...good...but the benefits are kind of marginal IMO.

I must say, knowing what we know of the secondaries, what is everyone's take? I think the only real good one...is probably Auric Mortalis..

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...
Sternguard though, those guys are all about kicking ass. They'd chew bubble gum as well, but bubble gum is heretical. Only tau chew gum. 
   
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Emperor's chosen for me I think. 4+++ Vs all mortal wounds is excellent for a low model count army like Custodes. Plus for 1CP I can put one unit in another shield host fighting style each turn.
   
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Italy

Great write up Tiberias, thanks for the new thread. I've been playing my Orks recently but I'll see if I can get for my Shadowkeepers in next weekend.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/10 23:06:05


 
   
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According to the boys at Tabletop Titans, it's Solar watch all day. I am not sure I agree, but they make a pretty convincing argument.
   
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 iGuy91 wrote:
I gotta say. I'm torn between
Shadowkeepers
White Sc...I mean Solar Watch
Emmisaries
and Emperor's Chosen.

I think Dread Host is...good...but the benefits are kind of marginal IMO.

I must say, knowing what we know of the secondaries, what is everyone's take? I think the only real good one...is probably Auric Mortalis..


I added the secondaries to the writeup and I agree. Only one that's really worth taking is Auric Mortalis, but that one is just so awsome and badass, that I'm tempted to take it every time
Stand Vigil could be decent depending on the mission.
   
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Lebanon NH

Hmmm am I the only one who thinks that Dread Host is one of the best ones? Unless... the extra ap DOES apply to melee right?

   
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When and how should we be expecting an update to the FW units? Will it be on an IA book or released on their own?

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leerm02 wrote:
Hmmm am I the only one who thinks that Dread Host is one of the best ones? Unless... the extra ap DOES apply to melee right?



It applies to everything. Honestly would only run a 6 man allarus unit in dread host as they are pretty scary shooting in salvus with ap-2 and ASA

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dorset

 Ferrum_Sanguinis wrote:
When and how should we be expecting an update to the FW units? Will it be on an IA book or released on their own?


It will be a FAQ/errata to the IA book I would imagine pretty soon.

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A Protoss colony world

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
According to the boys at Tabletop Titans, it's Solar watch all day. I am not sure I agree, but they make a pretty convincing argument.

According to Goonhammer's codex review, The Emperor's Chosen is the strongest, and I tend to agree there. Honestly all the Shield Hosts seem at least okay though. Between the new codex, an upcoming Combat Patrol box, and the fact that I've found some nice STL files for good proxies of certain FW units, I'm actually considering starting Custodes. I need another new army like I need a hole in my head, but at least Custodes is one of the cheapest if you don't take any FW stuff.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
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 ZergSmasher wrote:
FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
According to the boys at Tabletop Titans, it's Solar watch all day. I am not sure I agree, but they make a pretty convincing argument.

According to Goonhammer's codex review, The Emperor's Chosen is the strongest, and I tend to agree there. Honestly all the Shield Hosts seem at least okay though. Between the new codex, an upcoming Combat Patrol box, and the fact that I've found some nice STL files for good proxies of certain FW units, I'm actually considering starting Custodes. I need another new army like I need a hole in my head, but at least Custodes is one of the cheapest if you don't take any FW stuff.


TBF, I think they're all solid with probably Acquilian Shield being the weakest overall. From there it will likely depend on the army you're building and/or opponent and mission. Clearly some will work better against psychic or warp based armies, others against combat/horde focused. Really does become situational, especially with you take the K's into consideration as they can off-set some of the shield host specialisation to make it more TAAC.

Tabletop Titans definitely do have a point about the Allurus Commander. Being able to yeet a 4model obsec, tough character across the board and straight into hitting something is useful, the problem is ensuring you have the opportunity to do it well with such a low model count. Probably better paired with Dread, Keepers or Chosen (in that order) than Solar watch though. Will need testing to see if it's not just a shiny 'got'cha' gimmik.


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FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
According to the boys at Tabletop Titans, it's Solar watch all day. I am not sure I agree, but they make a pretty convincing argument.


It's funny, I was listening to Art of War and they seem to think Solar Watch is one of the weakest (but still viable). They're big on Emperor's Chosen.
   
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Everyone will be big on the Emperor's Chosen for a while I think, simply because of the defense. But in time the offensive power of the others will win out I think. Also, I trust the guys at Art of War about as far as I can throw one of them. YMMV.

So I'm giving up on the Bike list for now, as it's practically impossible to win the objective game now.

Gonna try and go Full Wardens for fun and see how far I can get. HQ of Trajaan and a Blade Champion.

3x3 spear guardians
3x6 spear wardens
2x mm Contemptors


Some prosecutors for flavor, or to get me closer to 2000.
   
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Audustum wrote:
FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
According to the boys at Tabletop Titans, it's Solar watch all day. I am not sure I agree, but they make a pretty convincing argument.


It's funny, I was listening to Art of War and they seem to think Solar Watch is one of the weakest (but still viable). They're big on Emperor's Chosen.


I think it's really difficult to reach a final verdict yet. I'm obviously not as good of a player as the Art of War guys, but I honestly believe that Emissaries is also a contender. Emperor's Chosen is really pushed however and if dreadnoughts remain relevant (*cough*railgun*cough*) it might really edge out the other options.

Shadowkeepers might actually be somewhat overvalued, including by me. Don't get me wrond, Shadowkeepers can be utterly devastating in certain matchups and Grim Responsibility is still amazing, but Emperor's Chosen and Emissaries provide buffs that are always relevant.
   
 
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