I’m eyeing starting a Custodes army. Their models look awesome and on paper they seem to hit like a truck. As starting an army will cost a fair amount and Custodes point values are very high, I decided to proxy a few games to see how they fair.
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I used this Custodes list:
- HQ
- Troops
- Custodian Guard Squad
- Custodian
Selections: Guardian Spear
- Custodian
Selections: Guardian Spear
- Custodian
Selections: Misericordia, Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
- Fast Attack
- Vertus Praetors
- Vertus Praetor
Selections: Hurricane Bolter
- Vertus Praetor
Selections: Hurricane Bolter
- Vertus Praetor
Selections: Hurricane Bolter
Against them, I ran this Space Marine list:
-
- **Chapter Selection**
Selections: Raven Guard
- HQ
- Troops
- Elites
- Heavy Support
I played two games of Search and Destroy on a standard 4×4 board with ample terrain.
Game 1
The first game, Space Marines seized the initiative and started turn 1.
Using the Raven Guard Stratagem “Strike from the Shadows”, I placed my Aggressors 9″ away from the squad of Custodian Guard. They moved up within easy charging range during their movement. During the shooting phase, my Sniper Scouts killed one custodian with their sniper rifle’s mortal wounds. This softened up the Custodians for my Aggressors to hose down with flames before charging in and killing the second Custodian. The last Custodian struck back and killed one Aggressor with ease. On the other side of the table, my devastators killed one Praetor outright and put a wound on another in the squad. The rest of the shooting phase was uneventful. Once the custodians got their turn, the game turned into a bloodbath.
The two remaining praetors and Shield-Captain moved up to attack the Devastators. With three hurricane bolters, the Custodes made short work of the bolter marines and the plasma cannon. During the charging phase my Shield-Captain charged the Space Marine Captain while the Praetors made for the remaining Devastators. Both succeeded the charge and proceeded to wipe out their targets. The last footslogging Custode was left standing with one wound left after killing another Aggressor.
Turn two saw the Space Marines wiped from the table. While the last Aggressor killed the last Custode, he was mowed down by the Shield-Captain’s hurricane bolter. The sniper scouts managed to kill the Praetors thanks to some lucky sixes and some poor rolling but were eventually wiped out by the Shield-Captain. He remained standing alone on the tabletop with 2 wounds remaining. Initially I was a little underwhelmed by their performance. But round two changed my mind.
Game 2
I reset the deployment as exactly the same as the first game, but instead started with the Custodes.
Turn 1 was brutal. The Custodians moved up to attack the Aggressors while the Praetors and Shield-Captain moved to take on the devastators and Space Marine Captain. The combined power of 4 hurricane bolters wiped out 6 of the 10 Devastators, while the charge from the Praetors wiped up the stragglers. The Shield-Captain succeeded charging the Space Marine Captain, dishing out 3 wounds and taking 2 in return. The Custodians killed one Aggressor with their guns and another with their melee weapons. During the Space Marine’s turn, the last Aggressor fell back while the scouts took their shots at the Custodes. A poor set of rolling only put 1 wound on the Custodes, while in the fight phase the Captain was wiped out by the Shield-Captain.
Turn 2 saw the last Aggressor gunned down by the Shield Captain and Praetors as they moved toward the scouts. The Custodians killed 5 scouts with their Guardian Spear’s and Sentinel Blade’s guns, and finished them off in close combat. A solid victory for the Custodes.
Observations
Though the lists were far from optimized, the first game was pretty evenly matched. Thanks to scout’s mortal wounds and a few good lascannon shots, the Space Marines were able to hold their own fairly well. I think if the game would have had objectives, the Space Marine would have won simply due to the fact that they have more bodies on the field. If I would have taken a Dreadnought like I usually do, the jet bikes wouldn’t have been as effective in close combat.
The second game shows how well an alpha strike can throw off a game. During the first turn, the Praetors managed to destroy the devastators before taking any return fire, thus neutralizing 1 of 2 major threats. The Custodians put the hurt on the Aggressors and managed to evade the mortal wounds from the scouts, further sealing the Space Marine’s doom. The sheer mobility and power of the Praetors is awesome. Since they stayed close to the Shield-Captain, they gained re-rolls of 1s. Their WS and BS is already a 2+, meaning that most shots/hits connected. Their melee weapons allow for re-rolling all failed wounds if they succeed a charge, meaning that they are re-rolling all fails to hit and wound. This is extra powerful considering that their damage is D3.
TL;DR
Overall I liked their play style. I played an elite vs elite game, and the mobility shows its superiority. However, against a horde army like the guard, I wonder how the Custodians would fare. Before I buy I’ll run a few games against the Astra Militarum and see how the bodyguards of the Emperor fare against his Hammer!
Allanson Accords 