40K Deep Thought: Adeptus Custodes Are Now Contenders
The Beta Custodes Rules from Forge World just unleashed a solid army on the meta. Let’s talk.
Hello everyone it’s me, Black Blow Fly, here to discuss the current state of Warhammer 40k. This week Forge World released a new set of beta rules for their Adeptus Custodes… wow !!! They really hit the ball out of the park this time and that’s saying a lot knowing what a debacle they have been so far throughout this Edition. It just seems like Forge World is finally getting back on track again.
Custodes Beta Rules
These new rules are truly a game changer. If you play Custodes you know that they had certain hard limitations such as a distinct lack of ranged weapons that could effectively deal with enemy armor such as Knights. Now finally we will start to see some competitive mono faction lists that don’t solely revolve around their Dawneagle jetbikes – they have an answer to all of the current top tiers armies.
There are lots of really awesome units to choose from and I’m going to cover the ones that caught my eye. I can’t cover them all and if I don’t include a unit you like it doesn’t mean I don’t think they are competitive or fun to play now. I looked at every unit and want to choose those that provide what was lacking. I will give some honorable mentions at the end of this article. Feel free to discuss any unit you like in the comments for further discussion here.
Telemon Dreadnought
The first one is the Telemon Dreadnaught which is the Custodes version of the Leviathan. My build is the Caestus, Bolt Launcher and Storm Cannon which weighs in under 300 points. The Telemon can do it all and is very resilient – 2+ save, T8, 14 wounds and a 4++ invulnerable save plus the 6+++ feel no pain. It’s also an amazingly beautiful model. The Telemon is a Knight killer and will make an intelligent opponent pause before charging it… its Caestus is a S16 dreadnaught close combat weapon rocking a flat four damage for every wound that goes through plus it has a heavy plasma flamer built into it. The Bolt Launcher is anti horde and can fire twice if it doesn’t move. The Storm Cannon has two modes of fire and is its ranged anti armor weapon. You can use the From Golden Light They Come stratagem (it’s a Dreadnought) so it can deep strike to protect the Telemon from aggressive enemy alpha strikes as well. With the Vexilla Teleport Homer stratagem, you can put that bad boy right in someone’s face – 3″ away!
Caladius Grav Tank
My second favorite unit is the Caladius Grav Tank clocking in just over 200 points. This Grav Tank is the equivalent of flying Hive Guard which is simply disgusting. The Caladius is best armed with a Twin Iliastus Accelerator and Bolt Cannons. It has Power of the Machine Spirit so you can really take advantage of its sweet sweet BS2. The 5++ invulnerable save is really nice as well plus your opponent must subtract 2″ from any roll to charge it… combine that with the good old Tanglefoot Grenade stratagem and it’s an extremely hard target to pin down and since the Caladius had the keyword Fly it can’t be shut down.
Other Solid Options
Both of these units above are heavy support filling a big gap that was previously missing for Custodes. As I said there are plenty of other great units to choose from as well such as Sagittarum Custodians which are also another heavy support choice. The Pallas Grav Tank is a fast attack choice and clocks in at an amazing 100 points ! Another unit that caught my eye are the Aquilon Custodians which are an alternative to Allarus and can be armed with a 12″ ranged flamer… yep they can deep strike and bake some horde all day long… hahaha !!!
So there you have my initial thoughts on the new beta rules for Adeptus Custodes.
~Let us know that you think are the best choices and what you’d like to play.
