The Adeptus Custodes fight in the calm and collected manner of the hyper-elite – the mightiest heroes perhaps in the galaxy. Their tactics have been refined since the days the Emperor still walked, and on the rare occasions that the Ten Thousand fight at army strength they employ carefully honed skills to maximise their talents or support their allies as needed.
The new Codex: Adeptus Custodes collects these epic martial skills into brand new Detachments, and which one you pick will have a profound effect on how you build your army.
Unlike most of the new Codexes released so far, Codex: Adeptus Custodes makes some major changes to its Shield Host Detachment from the index – so many, in fact, that it's practically a whole new Detachment. This brings the total of new options to four, so you can slug it out in close combat, synergise between Custodians and Silent Sisters, build an entire Detachment around Anathema Psykana units, or focus on taking down powerful enemy characters.
The Talons of the Emperor Detachment wants nothing more than sweet harmony between the Adeptus Custodes and the Sisters of Silence, giving each side buffs that affect the other with the Revered Companions rule. The presence of a psychic blank protects nearby allies from Psychic Attacks and mortal wounds, while proximity to the peerless martial example set by Adeptus Custodes units spurs the Sisters of Silence to fight ever harder.
The teamwork continues with the Stratagems, with four of the six targeting two units within 6” of each other as long as one of them has the ANATHEMA PSYKANA keyword – practically turning your entire army into a macro-scale Valerian and Aleya duo. Some allow your paired champions to chase down an enemy target together, such as Taloned Pincer, while others like Talons Interlocked establish vicious fields of crossfire to blast through the toughest armour.
All the teamwork in the world won’t save a Shield-Captain taking unlucky blows in a fated duel, so it’s fortunate that the Enhancements break from the rest of the Detachment and offer pure, unbridled power to the one in charge. Gift of Terran Artifice gives a permanent boost for Wound rolls and nothing else – a deceptively powerful bonus – while the Radiant Mantle trades offence for defence by docking the accuracy of nearby enemies.
You can see plenty of the Adeptus Custodes in action soon, when a special pre-order week episode of Battle Report pits the two cohabiting armies against each other in a full-size 2,000-point slug-fest so violent it drew Ghazghkull Thraka himself to the field.
Stay tuned to Warhammer Community to find out when that episode airs, and don’t forget to pre-order the upcoming battleforce boxes for both Adeptus Custodes and Orks when they go live this Saturday.