BETA Pass or Fail? Adeptus Custodes Elite Rules

Want to know some clutch tactics for the Adeptus Custodes in Warhammer 40k using the Beta Rules? Check out the latest from Gothmog!

Gothmog has been a long-time 40k player and Custodes fan. So after GW announced their beta rules for the faction, he dug in and explored what it all meant.

Other than the fact I think this is the cooler-looking model for the two Custodes Contemptors, I prefer the Achillus on paper to the Galatus (we will get to him next). The Dreadspear is just a beast of a weapon, and at the cost of 1CP, you can get this guy DS in imminent threat range.

Have him deep strike with some terminators or land near some bikes and your opponent will have a hard time choosing what to prioritize if you fail to make the charge out of DS. But burning a CP on rerolls to ensure a successful charge is worth it. The Dreadspear really will wreck things. Hunt LoWs or other vehicles with this guy. He’s a BIG threat to Armigers and a threat still to other Knights.

For his other wargear, I would pass on the Incinerators. They are great anti-horde, but really they just serve as overwatch protection on this Dread. Hopefully, you are not often putting it in a place where you are faced with this guy being bogged down. As I said above, set up to target big scary things. If you have the points though, the Adrathic Destructors are promising and can really ramp up the damage output the Dread has.

The risk of mortal wounds does stink, but if you can have a Shield Captain nearby (remember those bikes and terminators that should be on-hand in support) then it becomes a minute worry. Even if you take 1 wound from your own shooting, it is tough enough that it should survive another turn with 9 wounds left.

This unit just does not have enough offensive power to see much use IMO. It is really really defensive. In an army where almost everything is a 2+/3++, 2+/4++ or 2+/5++… why do you need something this defensive?

The first real unfortunate thing is the 8’ range of its weapon. It makes deepstriking less viable. Now if you are running an Orion Dropship, it would probably be worth having this be the dread that rides on it. The other thing is it is S7 on its sword. Really? Couldn’t have at least been +1 S to make it S8? S7 means Space Marines are wounded on 3+ and most vehicles on a 5+. For a CC Dread, that’s just not impressive, as a normal Astartes dread does more at that price point.

Essentially, it suffers from being an armored tortoise in an army of snapping turtles. While a Galatus would be a tough nut to crack, it has none of the bite of other Custodes units, all of which are tough as nails themselves.  Maybe if you regularly play against horde/swarm armies it would be useful, but in general, I’d give it a pass.

These guys are one of the stars of the new Beta rules, almost eclipsing Allarus all together. Allarus still have their uses, but you have to really plan your army and game around them combined with the Stratagems they have to make them work over their Aquilon brothers.

These guys are a great addition to any Custodes army. The first and most obvious configuration is Infernus Firepike + Solerite power gauntlet (and add a misericordia). 3d6 12” auto-hitting super heavy flamers! Yes, please! And getting that in only 3 guys, you have a small footprint you can DS into a lot of places if your opponent is not careful. I foresee a lot of Warlords being toasted off the table in the future. The Gauntlets are great too. S10 attacks, AP-4, d3 Damage each. Just sheer brutality.

Obviously, the hope is to make the charge on the DS, but these guys are all so tough that they should weather any shooting the next turn (2+/4+, T5, 4 wounds each!) and really will make your opponent think about charging them or not with their firepikes.

Their other weapons just don’t stand out as much. First of all, I’d probably always leave the Adrathic Destructors at home unless I was always DS them with a Shield Captain. The risk of Mortal wounds to them is too much IMO at the 20pt price point, especially when the flamer is already cheaper. Their Storm Bolters are just economical enough to be worth it possibly. Its really a hard sell over the firepikes, but when strapped for points, swapping out 1 of 3 pikes wouldn’t be that bad.

Take all your wounds on this guy first. As for the talons, I really don’t see why you would ever take them over the gauntlets. Rule of Cool only really, the re-roll to wound just doesn’t balance out with the sheer ability to wound + damage output of the Solerite Gauntlet.

Speaking of re-rolling to wound, I would really consider supporting these guys with Trajann Deep Striking in. Auto-hitting Flamers + reroll 1’s to wound, plus reroll hits and wounds of 1 in combat. You just make this unit brutally efficient.

The only drawback of the Aquilon is the fact they are sold with their weapons. HH Terminators have always been sold torso and weapons separate. It really stinks for these guys, because the idea configuration of Gauntlet + Pike mean you are either buying 2 sets of Terminators (one for the pike and one for the gauntlet) or shaving claws off of fists in the Pike set. And having paid FW money, and the fact these are still beta rules, I would be really hesitant to do that.

First I’ll talk about the squad… and then about how the spears really should have just been wargear.  So it is basically normal foot Custodes with either a “gets hot” plasma gun or a melta gun. The Pyrithite is the better option FOR THIS SQUAD IMO.

Most of the time your Shield Captains will be too busy babysitting other units. Having them sit near a foot squad with only 3 x 18” shots to protect them against mortal wounds is a waste. But without him, those mortal wounds just stink.

For all their superior tech, why do they essentially just have worse plasma guns on their spears? They’d be better mounting a Plasma Pistol to the end of them IMO. At least then they wouldn’t risk death every time they shoot, only when the REALLY needed to.

The Pyrithite is good if used right.

If you are bound and determined to field an Orion Dropship, these are prime candidates to go inside. You can also spend 1CP to deepstrike them, but I’d only do that if you were taking a larger squad or had a lot of CP.

There are a few things hold this squad back IMO. One, they are elites. I get why in the way they structured the beta list, but there are other choices I’d rather take. Two, it would have been nice if they had the option to include a Sentinel Blade and Storm Shield. They are Custodian Guard after all. I’d be fine with the unit and their place in elites if they had this one option added.

But honestly, I had hoped these weapons would be wargear. I think Wardens could greatly benefit from them and on-foot Shield Captains would be a lot more useful and interesting. Obviously, it would be great to have them in Troop Custodian Guard Squads, and I really don’t think it would be game breaking either, as we are talking assault 1 weapons with only up to an 18” range. And pricey ones at that.

With a pure Custodes list already having to invest around 500 points for minimum foot troops, buying more of them with a low volume of fire just isn’t really appealing to me personally.

That is it for part one, check back soon for the second part, or head over to the Sepulchre of Heroes for more Custodes tactics today!