Our inaugural Tale of Four Warlords is now over, with all of us having finished up work our armies. Now it's time to enjoy the end results of some lovely painted miniatures and plan ahead for what to add next.
The Mustering for Vigilus has been a great little Tale( I say little, it lasted 6 months!) so I wanted to post up a summary of what I managed to paint, what I've enjoyed about the Custodes and where I plan on taking the army in the future!
What have I painted?
First off what have I actually completed. In total I've managed to paint:
- Captain General Trajann Valoris
- Shield Captain Valerian Ulyssus
- Shield Captain Diocletian Amun on Dawneagle Jetbike
- 6 Custodian Guard
- 2 Allarus Terminators
- 3 Vertus Praetors
- 1 Achillus Contemptor Dreadnought
- 1 Callidus Assassin
- 1 Vindicare Assassin
- 1 Culexus Assassin
So the first big thing is I've not painted anywhere near the amount of models both Matt and Neil have managed. Whilst their armies clocked in at a massive total of over 3000 points mine is a much more humble 1600. However what I have painted I'm extremely happy with. My goal with this Tale was to really try and paint every model to a high standard, something I think I've achieved well and the army though small looks great together on the table. Here's some pictures of the various models:
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| Valerian Ulyssus and his Custodian Guard |
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| Capatain General Trajann Valoris and his Allarus bodyguard |
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| Shield Captain Diocletian Amun and the Vertus Praetors |
That's the total of the Auric Talons Shield Host so far. I must admit I was getting tired of painting gold. As lovely as the colour is there's only so much a man can do before it gets repetitive and boy was this army pushing it by the end. However seeing all the models together has really given a drive to get more painted. I've learned a lot over the course of the Tale and I can really see the improvement in my painting as I look over the army. Plus as we all know painted models roll better on the table.
Speaking of which we had a tournament weekend that all of us attended at the start of July that was less than successful, but not due to bad games, poor performance or the benevolent judgement of the dice gods. In fact myself and Tim placed extremely well...
On account of the fact that the tournament never happened. Poor player turnout led to the event being cancelled (it was just us 4 in the end, a shame but these things happen) so instead of letting a perfectly good day go to waste we played a 2v2 game in our pairs and I'm happy to say the Custodes/Deathwatch combo came out on top again (#EliteImperium). The combination of sheer durability the armies have combined with the rapid pressure we can apply due to two deepstriking dreadnoughts, as well as my four Custodian jetbikes, means the game went in our favour early and we managed to maintain the lead. My poor Vertus Praetors were the victim of Neil's entire Ultramarine firebase on Turn 2, which left them as nothing more than golden mulch on the ground.
Thoughts on the Custodes as an army
The doubles game and a few subsequent matches I've had at my local club have really highlighted how much I enjoy playing the Custodes. Since discovering them all the way back when the original plastic Custodians released alongside Betrayal at Calth I've been absolutely in love with their visuals and lore. However despite owning a large amount of them I just never really found the time to get games in.
This Tale has made me get a lot more games in and as a result I've found I love the Custodians playstyle. Despite their limited unit choice Games Workshop have actually done a marvelous job of translating the Custodes onto the table. They feel extremely durable, able to shrug off firepower that would otherwise annihilate most other armies troops. The combination of T5, 2+ armour and 4++ Invul really makes you feel like a the absolute pinnacle of the Imperium's elite infantry. Well that and the fact that these guys hurt, a lot! I've had several games where my models have just chewed through entire enemy units in single rounds of combat, something that never ceases to be enjoyable. There's a real sense of fear from the enemy. They know how good the Custodians are in melee and do everything to keep their models away from mine, something that again adds to the feel of playing them on the table.
If I have any gripes with the army it mostly comes from rules outside of their codex. The one issue within the book is how a single turn of less than optimal dice rolling can really harm your chances of winning. Given how low number, high cost the Custodians are losing even a single model hurts. A single turn of poor rolling can really decide the outcome of the game but I feel for Custodes it's a bit more amplified given their reliance on their impressive stats. Losing 20 guardsman doesn't hurt that badly. However 6 Custodians die and that's almost a quarter of your army gone! But there's not much you can do about that. It's a dice game and sometimes the dice just don't want your golden boys to survive (my stormshields in particular seem to spend 80% of a game switched off).
My biggest problem is undoubtedly down to cp and how little the Custodes generate. One thing that was really highlighted to me in the doubles game we played was how powerful units can become once one or two stratagems are used on them. As Custodes are so expensive it's rare for me to ever be able to get more than 8cp in a starting list. This largely means I'm left with very few stratagems to actually use during a game. Given how strong Custodes are already it would seem unfair to allow them even more reliable power from stratagems, however it does feel quite un-fun watching your opponents drop stratagems on every unit to buff their power whilst I sit there wondering which two or three of my 20+ I'll be using this game.
Overall though that sits more as a small footnote on what is otherwise an army I've fallen absolutely in love with. The Custodes are brilliant and deliver on all 3 things I look for in an army: Looks, Narrative and Cool Gameplay. The fact that I've also got access to all of the Forgeworld units only means I've got much more models to expand the army with. Which leads into the last section of my post.
What's next?
More Gold!!!!! As I mentioned with all the new Forgeworld units I've been given access to my army has effectively doubled in size which is great for variety and just adding more awesome models to my collection. I already own some Venetari and a Telemon (soon to be 2 most likely) and I've been eyeing up some Aquilon for a little while. Once all that's done I've got the first and mightiest of the Custodes, Captain General Constatin Valdor to paint as a final treat.
Beyond just adding new model to the army a big goal for me was to get the force to more events. I've been meaning to really get involved in the tournament scene and with the army I've got painted I'm off to a good start. In keeping with that idea myself, Tim and Matt are all signed up to the London Wargaming Guild's Fun and Fluff tournament in October which I'm so excited for. The tournament really emphasises a relaxed and fun atmosphere via a highlander list build (only one of each unit outside of troops and dedicated transports, every army can only take one battalion as a detachment and players are encouraged to avoid anything too gamey or traditionally tournament styled. In fact over half the total game points you can earn are unrelated to the final score of the match!
To get ready for the event I'll need to add a few more models into the army, most notably a third squad of Custodian Guard for the final troops choice. I'll then fill that out by finally completing my Allarus Custodians and then adding a Shield Captain in Allarus Armour and a Vexilla Praetor. These will be nice additions to the painted army that will see me largely completing my initial collection which will be great to do by the end of the year.
So that's everything for the Adeptus Custodes. It's been great fun and I'm looking forward to slowly growing the army further. I've worked out I own close to 3500 points of the Golden Boys so there's still lots to get painted! But for now the Custodes are going on a small break while I tend to some other projects.
Until next time,
James
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