How are your Custodes doing?

[Stoic Raptor]

I haven't had a chance to get them on the table yet (still under construction) but my Custodes are about to do worse now that I can apparently no longer put the Inquisitor, Culexus and Null-Maidens in one detachment together.  Having to run them as three separate detachments means unless I'm in games with a high-points level, I won't be able to use them for their intended purpose.

 

So the whole idea of "adapt to the weakness" just got thrown out the window by the FAQers who wrote sloppy errata.

[swordofmandulis]

So I had a game tonight against my buddy, we've both been building up our lists at the same time and have played games from 800pts now up to 2k and a good number of places in between. I was expecting to face his themed guard list but he threw a spanner in the works and brought half of his guard list and half nasty As Mech. Rough lists as follows.

 

2 commanders

Primaris psyker

Master of ordinance

4 X 10 guardsmen

Artemia hellhound

Basilisk

Armageddon basilisk

Valkyrie

Leman Russ punisher

 

TPD

Enginseer

3 X rangers w/2 arquebus

3 x phosphor kastelan

2 x neutron Onager.

 

Custodes

Shield captain on bike / castellans mark

Shield captain in alarus / Praetorian plate/ emperor's companion

 

3 X 3 guardians

4 X alarus

3 X dawn eagle

1 x Achillus

1 x Vexilla magnifica

Vindicare

Eversor

Culexus

 

Beta rules all in play.

We rolled up tactical escalation, hammer and anvil.

 

I was immediately dreading it because of the hammer and anvil I expected him to deploy quite far back. He deployed as you'd expect shielding his big guns with his troops. He did put the kastellans very close to the line though with only a thin line of guardsmen blocking them. I deployed my dread, captain and terminators in reserve a long with the eversor and culexus.

 

I used the castellans mark to re deploy my bike captain and my bikers right up to my 24" line once I knew I was going first. I managed to get a charge off with the bikes on the remaining couple of guardsmen and the robots, killing one and effectively neutering them for a turn. Everything else just advanced up.

 

His entire first turn was spent shooting at my bikes, and the last one only wemt down at the very last to a couple of sniper shots. I do hate losing the bikes in T1 but they did a job, enabling my army to move up unmolested.

 

Turn 2 I brought my terms and the eversor in, terms failed the charge but eversor made it into a dunecrawler and piled into a kastelan, he didn't do much damage but this was key as he fell back the Onager but not the robot, so when it came round to his turn in the charge phase, I was able to bring in my terminator captain, activating the Praetorian plate as I had declared the eversor as the imperial character it was linked to. As it happens my captain didn't end up doing a great deal but he was a nuisance and kept the robots tied up for a good while and killed one. So far all I've lost is 3 bikes and I'm ahead on objectives.

 

Turn 3 I advanced my vexilla up again, he was now about bang in the middle of the table. And the leman russ wasn't too far away. So I play vexilla teleport homer and bring in the dread, he has a 4" charge to make, and he fails, boo. My 2 guardian squads that have now made combat with his hellhound kill it and it blows up, doing a total 12 mortal wounds to the 2 squads, my terminators then blow up his last robot and it kills my bike captain, and the leman Russ that's left on 1 wound. So my dread ends up doing nothing but killing a squad of skitari rangers.

 

He called it after turn four as I was comfortably in the lead and my dread was about to tie up both dunecrawlers and wreck one of them.

 

I was really worried about this list as I thought I'd get shot off the table. But the bikes making that move and getting in T1 was huge. Also the -1 to hit is just so good. I did boss a lot of 4+ saves in this game which contributed a lot.

 

The assassin's where very underwhelming, although they do give your opponent something to think about. I know I used the eversor wrong as he is an infantry killer, but I wanted my Captain in with the kastelans so kind of scarified the eversor to do it. Vindicare was average as usual. And the culexus didnt really get a chance to shine as his psyker was hidden died quite quickly to my bike captains bolters.

 

Really please with how the game went though. With some better attacking rolling it could have been a massacre, but had some bad whiffs especially with the guardians in on the hellhound, only 2 wounds out of 18 attacks across 2 rounds of combat.

 

Think I'll drop the assassin's and go back to full Custodes. I thought I would miss Valoris more than I did, bit he is still a badass once he get in.

Edited April 30, 2018 by swordofmandulis

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Sweet tactics there with the relic and triggering on the assassin. /thumbsup

[Prot]

Nice job on the game. Honestly I’ll probably never play without the Magnifica.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Had a game versus guard over the weekend, my Shield-Captain tanked a round of fire from a Shadowsword and slew over 40 guardsmen.

[swordofmandulis]

Nice job on the game. Honestly I’ll probably never play without the Magnifica.

Completely agree, it's so effective against 4+ BS armies and really does help you to get up the field.

 

Should have my Caladius soon, I'm really looking forward to trying that, will be my first time combining my guys with some meaningful firepower, outranging Lascannons and Neutron lasers will be huge I think.

[Crabstuffed Mushrooms]

Were the amount of units you kept in reserve equal to or less than half the power level of the army? Is that one of the new beta rules?

[swordofmandulis]

Were the amount of units you kept in reserve equal to or less than half the power level of the army? Is that one of the new beta rules?

It is one of the new rules yeah, I had 107 power total and 48 in reserve.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Had a game last nite it was basically the league championship was versus an Imp-soup list with the Saint and lots of melta spam... lost my Bike-Cpt first turn to a really bad (re-rolled) charge not happening then he absorbed every enemy gun that could shoot him then died on a Hail Mary last shot from a plasma gun. It must have got the rest of my Custodians fired up coz they rampaged his lines... he only had a couple models left at the end and I was controlling 2 of the 3 objectives. Savage game.

[swordofmandulis]

Had a game last nite it was basically the league championship was versus an Imp-soup list with the Saint and lots of melta spam... lost my Bike-Cpt first turn to a really bad (re-rolled) charge not happening then he absorbed every enemy gun that could shoot him then died on a Hail Mary last shot from a plasma gun. It must have got the rest of my Custodians fired up coz they rampaged his lines... he only had a couple models left at the end and I was controlling 2 of the 3 objectives. Savage game.

Awesome work, I've found if you can boss a few saves on your way and get in then it's usually all she wrote, I played a 1000pt game last night against Necrons and he called it turn 3 when his lord and lychguard got smashed by my Achillus having failed to take my bike captains remaining 6 wounds with voidreaper and entropic strike in the previous turn. Crushing victory for the Custodes for no models lost!.

[dtse]

like i always say....i win 50% of the time....4+??

[Memento Of Prospero]

What have you guys been running in the 1,500-2,000 point range and how has the latest FAQ affected your listbuilding now that it has been out for 2 weeks?

[swordofmandulis]

What have you guys been running in the 1,500-2,000 point range and how has the latest FAQ affected your listbuilding now that it has been out for 2 weeks?

Have a look at the long post I did above, that has my last 2k list in it.

 

Actually the FAQ didn't change the way I made my list at all, all it means is I can't drop my Alarus squad turn 1, but I've found it's better to try and clear a space out with the bikes anyway so you can get those terminators into something a bit more worthwhile. I'll never leave home without a Magnifica, and I'm also liking the Contemptor Achillus even though it's not a competitive choice, against some armies it's a pain to deal with and helps you against those tougher tanks if you can get it into combat.

 

The command point boost for a batallion has been great, I usually run Valoris and use him to try and get back CP's from a 3CP strat.

[swordofmandulis]

So played a doubles tournament today, 750pts each, must have 1 hq and 1 troop, no forgeworld of LoW. I took the following Custodes list..

 

Shield Captain on bike - auric aquillis, emperor's companion WT, misericordia.

 

6 x custodian guard all w spears

 

3 x Vertus Praetors.

My buddy had

 

Autarch

10 x guardians

5 x wraithblades w Axe and shield

2 x 3 dark reapers

Wraithlord w sword, scatter and 2 x flamers.

 

We ended up going to 2 wins and 1 loss and the loss was very close run even though my bikes took a battering turn 1.

 

The 6 man squad of guardians is lethal. First game I put them in deepstrike, there was no beta in play so I was able to deepstrike turn 1, but i would have done the same anyway even if it would have been turn 2. They got in on a redemptor and a squad of intercessors. Paid a CP for Piercing Strike and killed the dread and 4 intercessors.

 

By far my favourite moment was in game three. We were facing 100 Ork boys + Tau. 30 or boys made it into my 6 man squad. 23 made it into attack range, 92 attacks, they took 1 wound from my squad - 1!! I took 14 boys out on the return with piercing strike again. And then finished them off in my turn, was a great moment.

 

In hindsight I would drop 2 of the guardians and the 2 misericordia I squeezed in and try to get the vexilla magnifica in. It's just to good. I bet those 3 basilisks and manticore would have hurt a lot less with that in play.

Edited May 7, 2018 by swordofmandulis

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

That was really good luck versus the Orks in melee.

[CaptainMarsh]

Had a 40k Tournament over the weekend. Went 3-1. One victory was just because of my inability to fail 4+ saves- one turn I had to make over 30 overcharged Plasma saves against Scions, failed one the whole turn- but I had a rollicker against Tau. Breacher teams actually performed the Greater Good's work. One squad managed to kill a three-bike squad in one round of shooting, Valoris killed a Ghostkeel, a Riptide, and two Commanders- in two game turns. It actually came down to a few small shootouts between Fire warriors and Allarus over some objectives. The Greater Good didn't prevail. Also fought a tyranid Big Bug Friend Pile with special appearances by genestealers. That was a fun one. The game I lost was against a Thousand Sons and Death Guard army. Death Guard managed to pull off their sick combo that makes their grenades god-killers, took like 18 mortal wounds in one turn from it.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Nice to hear Valoris doing some serious work!

[Prot]

. The game I lost was against a Thousand Sons and Death Guard army. Death Guard managed to pull off their sick combo that makes their grenades god-killers, took like 18 mortal wounds in one turn from it.

 

Sounds like a fun tourney for you. Great results really considering what's out there right now.

 

That Biologus Putrifier combo is kind of goofy... I don't see it in 'serious' games that often, but I guess it goes to show when it works... it works. (Typically I have tried it with about an 8 man squad and grenade dude falling out of a Rhino. The probem is it's extremely short ranged trick.)

 

I honestly think Thousand Sons are a big problem for my Custodes.

[CaptainMarsh]

The combo can go wrong in a lot of different ways. I just wasn't able to disrupt it before it happened to my face.

[Felstone]

 

. The game I lost was against a Thousand Sons and Death Guard army. Death Guard managed to pull off their sick combo that makes their grenades god-killers, took like 18 mortal wounds in one turn from it.

 

I honestly think Thousand Sons are a big problem for my Custodes.

 

^ not looking forward to fielding a single librarian vs 1k sons, i gotta be honest.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Culexus seems mandatory vs enemy psykers, they are so good !

[Crabstuffed Mushrooms]

Not a big update, but I played 2K with my allied unit of Custodes, recently (I play fully-painted):

 

The 'Todes:

Trajann Valoris

Vexila Defensor

5 Custodes (1 with Shield)

3 Vertus Praetors

 

Astra Militarum:

3 Demolishers

Yarrick

Astropath

2 Company Commanders (1 with Grand Strategist / Kurov's Aquila)

4 Infantry Squads with Las/Plas

 

Other guy had:

 

2 Units of Alpha Legion Obliterators with Mark of Slaanesh

Lord of Skulls

Khârn

Chaos Chaplain (can't remember the name)

2 Sorcerors with spells that make Obliterators shoot better

Bunch of Berserkers

2 Rhinos

 

To be honest, the army composition isn't too important (my memory is fuzzy). Just the highlights to help others:

 

Lord of Skulls: Aesthetically, I think this is the most Metal model in the game. If I could give it a broken guitar, I would! Its profile generates more attacks as it loses wounds! I was a rookie and tried to take it out - but unless I poured everything into it for several turns, it wouldn't have mattered. In the end, I only took a few wounds off. The model did a great job of baiting me and dividing my attention. I got lucky when my opponent boxed it in with his own models.

 

Obliterators are so, sooo nasty. They annihilated one tank a turn and wiped out my unit of bikes as well. If there's one unit you can't ignore, it's them!

 

Silly mistakes: I left Trajann out in the front when I teleported my Custodes. I also forgot to give him Victor of the Blood Games. He failed his charge roll (with a command strategem) and took several shots to the face before Khârn charged him.

 

I ultimately won the game because it was a Maelstrom mission and I was playing for points, but Chaos got the moral victory from wiping out so many units.

[Scurvydog]

Played a 2000 game against Tau.

 

Maelstrom CA game, the one with killpoints.

 

It was very bloody, I was extremely unlucky with saves (like 3 1's out of 3 unlucky). 

 

In summary my bikes did most of the work getting rid of the infantry, but all I had whiffed in close combat or died to overwatch, even when trying to reduce overwatch to a minimum.

 

Riptides did most of the work on my army, wiping out a unit every turn. Just give the most threatened one a 3++ for 1 cp and they tank everything better than any custodes unit, then jump out with "fly" next turn and blast the unit away with 18 2dmg shots + plasma/smart missiles.

 

I had a dreadnaught trying to get in, but that just fell apart from 1 salvo of the riptide with the equivalent to a 6 shot lascannon.

 

With enough bubble wrap like that, it is very hard to get any work done.

 

My main trouble also always seem to get the points with of custodian guard that does not deep strike, they just never reach anywhere overly important and are too expensive obj campers.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Scurvydog

[swordofmandulis]

Played a 2000 game against Tau.

 

Maelstrom CA game, the one with killpoints.

 

It was very bloody, I was extremely unlucky with saves (like 3 1's out of 3 unlucky).

 

In summary my bikes did most of the work getting rid of the infantry, but all I had whiffed in close combat or died to overwatch, even when trying to reduce overwatch to a minimum.

 

Riptides did most of the work on my army, wiping out a unit every turn. Just give the most threatened one a 3++ for 1 cp and they tank everything better than any custodes unit, then jump out with "fly" next turn and blast the unit away with 18 2dmg shots + plasma/smart missiles.

 

I had a dreadnaught trying to get in, but that just fell apart from 1 salvo of the riptide with the equivalent to a 6 shot lascannon.

 

With enough bubble wrap like that, it is very hard to get any work done.

 

My main trouble also always seem to get the points with of custodian guard that does not deep strike, they just never reach anywhere overly important and are too expensive obj campers.

Unfortunately a strong tau list is basically a hard counter to a pure Custodes force. Riptides are a joke now.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Riptides are a shadow of them former selves.