Horus Heresy 3e Review: Custodian Guard Sodality

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. Truly excellent, if expensive.

Background. 

The Custodian Guard Squad is the basic unit of Custodes that are deployed across the galaxy during the Great Crusade, Heresy and the Scouring thereafter. They are flexible and deadly to say the least. .

Strengths.

Mostly 5's in the stat line with 2 wounds each. They are all eternal warriors.

The special rule, Lightning Blows, is notable for the fact it grants critical hits on a successful charge. And there's not reason to not be able to pull off a good number of successful charges here either. 

The come with the basic Guardian Spear and the nasty Misericordia which players must remember exist at the end of combats. The Guardian Spear has shred at range (slightly shorter than bolt gun range it has to be said), and in close combat hits at S=6 with AP=2 and impact on attacks which is very nice. 

In terms of upgrades, players can take a Magisterium Vexilla to replace the Guardian Spear. I don't really recommend this since its effects of only making enemies score 1 victory point in a short range on a leadership test isn't as desirable as simply wiping them off the gaming board with firepower or charges in the first place. Beyond that, the only real question is how many to have in a squad. There's no points cost advantage to having big squads here (compared to space marines), so that question only gets settled by looking at whether you need multiple small units, or big blobs. I could go either way on that. 

Weaknesses. 

Arguably the biggest negative is that they only have a 6+ invulnerable save. Terminators have better, but the Custodes still win on the stat line and equipment. 

Builds.

10 Custodes (450 points). 

I selected 10 members as an illustration only. Take 6. Take 12. 

Building Breacher Squad Marines, and What To Do With Part 52

I recently bought the Breacher Squad boxed set, including the marines and the upgrade frame. I really like the look of these squads, even though they are probably more suited to the close confines of Zone Mortalis, I still feel that they have a good role to play in regular Horus Heresy games. The invulnerable save gives them and edge to stay on objectives and also to advance under otherwise horrendous fire. 

For this particular squad, I am aiming to build them up as Iron Hands. The first miniature, and squad sergeant is pictured below. 

Here I have done a simple head swap from the Praetor character to make him look a lot more like an Iron Hands character. The shoulder pad is also a Forge World resin upgrade. And yes: I know it should probably be on the other side, but the shield made it too bulky to fit, so too bad. He is armed with a power fist which is (presumably temporarily switched off) gripping a melta bomb ready to be attached to some enemy armour. 

The Breacher marines themselves are very easy to work with and I am impressed by their quality. They come with a lot of left over pieces as well. But the parts labelled 52 puzzled me a lot at first, as shown in the second image.

These parts are not mentioned in the slightest in the instruction booklet. It took me a little while to puzzle this one out. They are arm guards, or bracers. Effectively these can be used on other armour marks to make them more convincingly look like Breacher Squad members. I think I might use them anyway as conversion pieces on other armour marks to help pick out squad sergeants or marines who otherwise have artificer armour or similar. They are not much use with the marines supplied in the box since they already have these parts moulded on to them naturally. Hence I think this is mostly for Mark 4, 5, or 6 to take advantage of in my opinion. Puzzle solved!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Aquilon Terminator Sodality

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5 stars, but rounded down due to points cost. Expensive but powerful! 

Background. 

Custodes in terminator armour. They are rare, given that the Aquilon pattern was adapted for the Custodes from the cataphractii pattern to bear extra weight. They find use in Zone Mortalis type settings where the extra armour comes in very handy.

Strengths.

Starting with the stat line, these are triple wound terminators with T=6 but otherwise very similar to standard Custodes. 

They come equipped with an Infernus Fire Pike which is a S=6 template with panic - this is nice. Alternatively it can be swapped out for a Lastrum storm bolter which gives you a good range, 4 shots at S=5 with shred. I think strictly these are probably better, but I would keep some flame templates purely for the panic rule. The Adrathic Combi Destructor is also attractive with two shots at S=5, AP=2 and 2 damage and rending of 6+. The range on these is small though. 

The Solarite Power Talon grants reaping blow (2) which can be traded for a Solarite Power Gauntlet which gives S+4 and 2 damage but at I-3. Honestly, I think the terminators have staying power so I would actually be opting for several of the Power Gauntlets here. 

Weaknesses. 

The points cost makes this unit very expensive. There is a legitimate argument for having more regular Custodes over the terminators. But they do have the rule of cool regardless.

Builds.

3 Aquilon, 2 Lastrum Storm Bolters, 1 Solarite Power Gauntlet (260 points).

A bit of a basic build for me. Note the points cost already for just 3 dudes. 

5 Aquilon, 2 Adrathic Combi-Destructor, 2 Solarite Power Gauntlet (455 points).

Suitable for close range work. Probably best to teleport in with a Tribune or similar using an Arae-Shrike.

9 Aquilon, 5 Lastrum Storm Bolters, 2 Adrathic Combi-Destructors, 3 Solarite Power Gauntlets (790 points).

Fabulous full sized squad. But take a moment to pause and look at the points cost!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Shield Captain

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. The only and the right command choice. Second only to the Tribune in terms of raw power for a non-named character. 

Background. 

Promoted by the Emperor perhaps, and very well respected by his peers at the very worst, the Shield Captain is a senior commander within the Legio Custodes.

Strengths.

The stat line is slightly lower than the Tribune which is also reflected in the points cost. Notable departures are WS=6, W=3, I=5, and A=4. There are similarly reductions in the advanced characteristics. 

In terms of equipment they have the same selection as the Tribune: either an Eternity Spear, or the Eternity Blade and Praesidium Shield. Both are viable, but the sword and shield might be slightly preferred for teleporting in?

Eternal Warrior is at 1 here and Vanguard remains at 2. 

Weaknesses. 

Appreciably cheaper than the Tribune, but once you pay for an Arae-Shrike, things start to look very tempting to just take a Tribune instead to be very, very honest. 

Builds.

Shield Captain with Eternity Sword and Praesidium Shield, Area-Shrike (225 points).

The deep strike build that I like. Swap out for the Eternity Spear if you are not deep striking (by dropping the Arae-Shrike), in my opinion for a good reduction in cost. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Tribune

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. The scary high command for the Custodes.

Background. 

Perhaps no more than ten of the ten thousand carry this title. They are the war council of the shield-general, and responsible for the Emperor's security as well as providing war council. They do not take to the battlefield often and fight only in the most dire of circumstances.

Strengths.

The stat line is impressive on its own with only 1 less wound than Valdor and one less pip in BS. That's the only differences for the stats!

In terms of equipment though, they come with an Eternity Spear as standard. At range, this has AP=3 instead of 4 compared to the regular spear. But in close combat it shines a lot more with aflame (which is excellent here), critical hits, shred on 5+ as well as impact (this last one being the only special rule in common with the standard spear). Don't forget the Misericordia as well. 

In common with Valdor, the Tribune also has the Arae-Shrike for your deep strike tactics which is very nice. Eternal warrior at 2 is splendid, and Vanguard at 3 is fine enough.  

Weaknesses. 

Significantly cheaper than Valdor, but still as expensive as a land raider. Yet well worth the points investment I think!

Builds.

The only option here is whether to switch out the spear for an eternity blade and praesidium shield. This does mean dropping the ranged attack, but the melee attack is strictly better (thanks to shred at 4+ and duellist's edge; the loss of impact on AM is not going to be a biggie I think) and access to the shield trait could be useful. I would actually slightly favour this construction if you are at all tempted by the Arae-Shrike in the first place. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Constantin Valdor

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5 stars, but rounded down. A truly deadly almost-Primarch, but the points cost is worth evaluating. 

Background. 

If the Emperor referred to the Primarchs by numbers, then it is arguable that he cared much more for the Custodes than he ever did for his legionary "tools". And if this is true, then of all of them, Valdor would probably be his favourite one of them all and the Emperor's right hand man. Being so favoured by the Emperor Himself, Valdor has a swathe of background and toys at his disposal. Indeed, the background portrayed in Inferno is very comprehensive about his role in the conflict with the Thousand Sons and who exactly he is hence I strongly recommend reading it if you have access to it.

Strengths.

A primarch in all but name if we are honest.

His stat line is almost Primarch levels with the only "poor" entries being 5's in both strength and toughness. 

As Master of the Golden Legion he gives Fear (1) to all Custodes in his army on turn 1. He can also manipulate reserves by +1 for Deep Striking Custodes. 

His Spear came from the Emperor himself (of course!). Is it AP=2 with S+2 for close combat along with critical hit, duellist's edge, and impact on A. This is truly excellent for all your duelling needs. He could easily think about taking on Primarchs and standing a chance (on the basis he has to kill them before they kill him). Eternal Warrior at 2 will help with this and Hatred of Paragons is good too. Vanguard (3) is nice enough, but we have plenty of that in the rest of the army. The Arae Shrike is also very good in that it grants deep strike to him and his unit which is hard to get otherwise. This is probably the primary reason to take Valdor tactically at least. 

Weaknesses. 

Look, I've mentioned his S and T being a little bit low for a Primarch. That is okay.

What I think is the real negative is his points cost in comparison to simply opting for yet MORE Custodes of the troops variety which is extremely appealing set against his points cost. This is the reason why I cannot give him 5 stars. 

Builds.

There are no builds to discuss.