Custodes in Highlander format

[Kruso]

Hello everyone

 

I've been dabbling with Custodes for some time now. Haven't played any games yet, except with some Shield-Captains on bikes. There is a casual tournament coming up next month and I happen to be free at the time. So, I thought I'd finish a list of Custodes for the event and dive head first into gaming with them by participating. The format is 1750 mono-codex highlander (max 3 of the troops/dedicated transports, 1 of every other datasheet, max. 3 from each battlefield role). Oh, also, no Lord of Wars. Strangely they allow FW for a change in my country's heavily ETC focused meta, which opens up some options, as my friend has two Caladius tanks for sale and I've been thinking about buying them. Missions will be ETC-style mix of Eternal War/Maelstrom, don't know from which book yet, or mix from all the books. So, this is a quick draft of a list I made:

 

HQ1: Trajann Valoris

HQ2: SC on Dawneagle, Auric Aquilis, WL: Superior Creation

 

TROOP1: Custodian Guard Squad, 2x Guardian Spear, 1x Sword&board

TROOP2: Custodian Guard Squad, 2x Guardian Spear, 1x Sword&board

TROOP3: Custodian Guard Squad, 2x Guardian Spear, 1x Sword&board

 

ELITE1: Allarus Custodians x3

ELITE2: Vexilus Praetor, Misericordia, Vexilla Magnifica

 

FA1: Vertus Praetors x4

 

HS1: Caladius Grav-tank, Twin Iliastus Accelerator Cannon

 

1749 points. Idea is to bubble around Trajann and Vexilla and move forward with bikes acting as a forward element. There should be enough LoS-blocking terrain for them to hide behind after advancig first turn. Caladius is so fast it can be hidden on deployment and join the bubble on first turn. Allarus Terminators are going to act as a deepstriking threat.

 

I'm not looking to be extremely competitive, but I'd like to stand a chance against different kind of armies. Ideally I'd like to run bigger unit of bikes, but I'd have to drop Allarus or something else, and get more models. 

 

What do you guys think will be top dog in that environment? Something I should absolutely prepare for? Drop the Allarus and build bigger squads of Custodian Guard?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Tight list.

[AstraWlad]

I would get rid of Allarus to get another tank -- they bring so much dakka that there is no reason not to max them. I do not remember the points but if you need to free some more you can always drop 1 Praetor (yes, it is worth it).

[Kruso]

I would get rid of Allarus to get another tank -- they bring so much dakka that there is no reason not to max them. I do not remember the points but if you need to free some more you can always drop 1 Praetor (yes, it is worth it).

 

That was my original plan until I realized that it's highlander. I wish I had Telemon.

[Charlo]

So having played in a Highlander optional tournament (1500pts) against Custodes recently, their list was very similar. They weren't exactly Highlander (two captains on bikes) but otherwise it was good.

 

The -1 to hit banner kept so many units safe from a turn one salvo of shooting and the Caladius with accelerator is truly an insane gun machine. Four bikes is more than enough and the Allarus are an excellent threat and tool to deal with different targets (characters and vehicles).

[Kruso]

So having played in a Highlander optional tournament (1500pts) against Custodes recently, their list was very similar. They weren't exactly Highlander (two captains on bikes) but otherwise it was good.

 

The -1 to hit banner kept so many units safe from a turn one salvo of shooting and the Caladius with accelerator is truly an insane gun machine. Four bikes is more than enough and the Allarus are an excellent threat and tool to deal with different targets (characters and vehicles).

 

Oh, that's good to know! I've been thinking one tank is not enough for target saturation purposes, but I think I'm forgetting everything in Custodes army is sort of a tank. 

[Prot]

That’s a good point. The Telemons I’ve been running aren’t quite shooty enough for me, but if I owned a Caladius, I’d definitely use one of each and reap the benefit of T8 on multiple platforms.

[Kruso]

That’s a good point. The Telemons I’ve been running aren’t quite shooty enough for me, but if I owned a Caladius, I’d definitely use one of each and reap the benefit of T8 on multiple platforms.

 

Caladius is T7, but I agree with your thoughts on the subject. It's supposed to be a casual tournament so I could run a Land Raider lol. I doubt the one I bought will get here in time though. 

 

I think I'll keep the list as is and focus on painting the lot. I guess I could make a progress thread to keep me motivated. 

[Prot]

 

That’s a good point. The Telemons I’ve been running aren’t quite shooty enough for me, but if I owned a Caladius, I’d definitely use one of each and reap the benefit of T8 on multiple platforms.

 

Caladius is T7, but I agree with your thoughts on the subject. It's supposed to be a casual tournament so I could run a Land Raider lol. I doubt the one I bought will get here in time though. 

 

I think I'll keep the list as is and focus on painting the lot. I guess I could make a progress thread to keep me motivated. 

 

 

For sure... it's just in time for ETL and the motivation threads normally work for me. 

[Kruso]

So yeah, list is locked in and the tournament is tomorrow. Reading other lists I feel outgunned and miserable, but we'll see.

 

There's other Custodes player running one max unit of bikes and I hope I don't face him lol.

 

Anyways, just dropping by to inform I try to take notes and do a report afterwards. Goal is to win at least one game.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Good luck !

[Riot Earp]

I had great success with my highlander list on 1250 points. Telemon is a must buy. He can knock of 12 hp in one turn and let us get rid of one leman russ per turn.

Will bring my custodes to an team tournament with 1000 points per player. Spearhead with caladius sagittariums and telemon. Supported by well.. Greenskinz

[Prot]

How about some details on the games/matchups? 

 

What was your list? (You said originally you didn't have a Telemon.)

[Kruso]

Alright, getting back to you guys now. Unfortunately, I forgot to take notes, but I'll write reports out of memory. I will do that tomorrow after work, because right now I'm pretty tired and should be asleep already. 

 

Anyway, I finished 4th, won two, lost one. I got super lucky with my save rolls and my MVPs were probably my shield dudes in Guardian squads just because of that. Caladius only died once, but that was due to gotcha -moment I didn't consider because I thought I knew Orks better than I actually did. 

 

Playing the mission was pretty easy in two games because of objective placement, and Guardians are terrific troops, especially when brawling with other troops. Valoris was a boss. Killed anything he touched with ease and Moment Shackle came in clutch in every game. Allarus weren't bad at all, I really like those dudes.

 

The other Custodes player was 3rd and I was 3 points behind him on the scoreboard (max 20 per game).

 

Anyway, It was really fun playing Custodes in a single codex Highlander environment, and I had tons of fun. More precise report incoming still.