We’ve seen a lot of previews for the upcoming Adeptus Custodes release. So, today we’re going to be taking a look at everything we’ve seen so far.
Games Workshop has been keeping the Adeptus Custodes previews going all week and we’ve already seen a lot. Let’s take a look at the Stratagems and rules they’ve shown us over the last couple of days.
Every upcoming Adeptus Custodes kit has been cunningly designed so you can also use it to build an HQ option armed with the same wargear as his brethren. This means you’ll be able to take Shield-Captains in inviolate Allarus Terminator armour or mount them on fast-moving Dawneagle jetbikes.
Offensively, you’ll be able to choose from a wide array of wargear, from the classic guardian spear to the new castellan axe, a huge weapon that trades the AP of its predecessor for bonus Strength and idea for cleaving heretics in half.
The Shield-Captain’s statline is pretty impressive. He has a 6″ Movement, 2+ WS/BS, Strength/Toughness 5, 6 Wounds, 5 Attacks, Leadership 9, and a 2+ Save. This is going to be a hard hitting model, and extremely tough to defeat. But will his points match his statline?
Trajann Valoris is the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, making him one of the most powerful military figures in the entire Imperium, charged with defending the Sol System, Terra, and the Imperial Palace.
On the tabletop, Valoris has a statline and set of wargear and abilities to match his reputation, and is among one of the most powerful commanders any Imperium player can field. Valoris has a similar statline to his brethren, but wields a much stronger weapon in the Watcher’s Axe, an artefact that gives him five Strength 10, AP-3 attacks on the charge, dealing D3 damage apiece. This gets even deadlier when you take Valoris’ Legendary Commander ability into account – any friendly Adeptus Custodes within 6″ of Valoris (including himself!) re-roll hit rolls and wound rolls of 1.
From what Games Workshop revealed about Trajaan Valoris he sounds like he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. An artefact giving him five Strength 10 attacks at AP -3 that do D3 Damage, not to mention he’s dishing out re-rolling hit and wound rolls of 1…. When this guy starts swinging you’re not going to want to be in the way!
He is also armed with the Moment Shackle relic.
Once per battle, if Trajaan Valoris is on the battlefield, you’ll be able to use one of the abilities of the Moment Shackle. You can either regain D3 wounds lost by Trajan Valoris during this phase (not during an attack or if he was slain), pile in and attack with him an additional time at the end of the Fight phase, or regain up to D3 Command Points spent when you use a Stratagem not exceeding the amount that was spent on the Stratagem.
Aegis of the Emperor is giving models with this ability a 5+ invulnerable save, and you’ll roll a D6 each time a model with this ability suffers a mortal wound in the Psychic phase. On a 6 the mortal wound is ignored.
Units with The Emperor’s Chosen is improving unit’s invulnerable save by 1, to a maximum of 3+. Between this and the Aegis of the Emperor, ability Custodes are looking like a tough army to put wounds on.
Sworn Guardians is a nice ability we’ve seen before in other armies that allow units with this ability control an objective marker (as specified in the mission), even if there are more enemy models within range of that objective marker. However, if an enemy unit within range of the same objective marker has a similar ability, then it is controlled by the player with the most models within range of it.
We’re finally getting a look at new Stratagems. Piercing Strike is 1 CP, you’ll use it when you choose an Adeptus Custodes unit from your army to attack in the Fight phase. That unit will get +1 to wound on rolls made for that unit’s guardian spears until the end of the phase. This is on par with the Blood Angels ability and makes their spears effectively Strenght 6 in melee.
From Golden Light They Come is another new Stratagem that can be used during deployment, and only once per battle. For 1 CP you can set up one Adeptus Custodes Infantry, Biker, or Dreadnought unit from your army in a Godstrike-pattern teleportarium array, or two units for 3 CPs. These units can teleport in at the end of any of your movement phase and must be set up more than 9″ away from any enemy models.
Vertus Praetors hearken back to the same ancient, martial traditions that guide the Adeptus Custodes, mirroring the heavy cavalry employed by human armies since the very dawn of time. The technology may have advanced, but the principle is still the same – range ahead of the main body of the force and devastate the foe with crushing lance charges.
On the tabletop, Vertus Praetors are the fastest moving elements of the Adeptus Custodes army, boasting a 14″ move, Fly, and a straight boost of 6″ when they Advance without having to roll.
Where the Vertus Praetors really shine is in their weaponry, helping provide some much-needed anti-armour ability to the Adeptus Custodes army.
The melta missile is going to help take down enemy vehicles with a 24″ range, Heavy 1, Strength 8, AP -4, D6 Damage, and you can re-roll failed wound rolls if your target is a Vehicle.
The other option for salvo launcher is the flakkburst missile. It also has a 24″ range, but it’s Heavy D3, Strength 7, Ap -1, does D3 damage, and the ability adds 1 to all hit rolls that target units that can Fly. The downside is that if it targets any other unit you must subtract 1 from your hit rolls, good thing you have that melta missile to fall back on though.
Question is, will they have a move and fire at full BS mechanic? Either way, we’re stoked for this and some basic bolters if they are at a -1 AP profile as well.
The interceptor lance is going to be a great weapon at close range. It’s giving you +1 Strength, -3 AP, does D3 damage, and you can re-roll failed wound rolls for this weapon in which the bearer made a successful charge. Combine that with the Stooping Dive Stratagem and it could make for a pretty nasty c-c-c-combo.
Note the +1 wound stratagem from yesterday only works with Guardian Spear, so no 8 strength stacking here with this lance.
Stooping Dive is going to cost you 3 CPs, but if you need to attack before your opponent it’s well worth it. You’ll choose an Adeptus Custodes Biker unit that is within 12″ of an enemy unit. You can declare a charge as if it were your Charge phase, and if successful that unit will fight before all others in the subsequent Fight phase, even before charging units.
Networked Machine Spirits is used in your Shooting phase and for 1 CP you’ll choose a Venerable Land Raider from your army and at least one other friendly Venerable Land Raider within 6″ of that model. Neither of these models will suffer any penalties to their hit rolls until the end of the phase.
Nothing says die heretic like Lascannons and Heavy bolters hitting at full BS! However, the Custodes Land Raiders already had this rule for free in the Index. They also currently have a 5+ Invul save, and a 6+ Feel No Pain like mechanic.
Wisdom of the Ancients is going to cost 1 CP and can be used at the start of any phase. You’ll select an Adeptus Custodes Dreadnought from your army and until the end of the phase, you can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for friendly Adeptus Custodes units within 6″ of it. This will work really well with a unit that is equipped with an inceptor lance, allowing you to re-roll failed wound rolls and hit rolls of 1. Similar to their Astartes cousins, this is cool to see as well.
All in all these previews are making the Adeptus Custodes look extremely intimidating on the tabletop. Make sure you check back in with us throughout the rest of the week for the latest previews from Games Workshop.
Heres a little showcase some of the previews we say back at New Years Open Day from Garro:
What are your thoughts on the latest Adeptus Custodes previews? Are you going to be playing this army when the new Codex comes out? Let us know in the comments below.
