These gold-clad warriors are the Emperor's household guard and possess physical characteristics, training and equipment beyond even those of the Adeptus Astartes. They number 10,000 strong - ten times the size of any individual Chapter of Space Marines - and they are effectively immortal unless killed in battle.
Why would someone want to play this new faction, you might ask? Well, there are a few reasons:
First of all, the stat line: Each of these warriors, even the line troops, is easily the equal of a character in any other army. Even the basic Custodian Guards have an impressive set of characteristics.
Those of you who may be familiar with the datasheets from the Talons of the Emperor box set might notice that the Ballistic Skill has gone from 3+ to an even more impressive 2+. These guys are comparable to Space Marine Lieutenants - and they are your Troops choices. As you might expect, the Custodes characters are accordingly more powerful than the basic Custodian Guard.
The second reason for playing Custodes is that they are fairly easy to paint - someone with a basic amount of painting skill can still get a good result with a few colors and a wash, while a more skilled painter can take the time to pick out the lavish detail.
Which leads to the third point: These models are gorgeous. They are covered with all sorts of embellishments, symbols and details. You can truly believe that the ornate suits of armor they wear are ten thousand year old heirlooms.
But to me, the most important reason that this is a beginner-friendly army to collect is the low model count. Because each individual Custodian is a powerful character in his own right, their cost reflects that. Where a Space Marine army might contain 50 or more models, a Custodes army can be much smaller. This does mean that it's more challenging to play them, but that makes victory more rewarding!
To give you an example of how easy this army is to collect, here's a sample 1000-point battalion that can be made from just three Custodian Guard boxes - the same models that are also found in the Talons of the Emperor box and the Burning of Prospero game:
HQ - Shield-Captain: Castellan Axe (124)
HQ - Shield-Captain: Castellan Axe (124)
TR - 4x Custodian Guard: Guardian Spear (208)
TR - 4x Custodian Guard: Guardian Spear (208)
TR - 4x Custodian Guard: Guardian Spear (208)
EL - Vexilus Praetor: Castellan Axe, Misericordia, Vexilla Magnifica (128)
EDIT: It was pointed out to me that the Custodian Guard box does not include Axes, which are found in the Wardens kit. This leaves you a few options:
1) Get the axes on eBay or a bits reseller (I use Hobby Titan personally)
2) Do a little conversion work - I'm sure there are suitable substitute axes in the Age of Sigmar range, but this may require a little extra work.
3) Rearrange the list a little - replacing the Axes with Spears frees up 6 points. In that case, take the Misericordia away from the Praetor and give one to each Shield-Captain. That'll leave you at 998 points.
4) (And this is my favorite option) If you can afford to - especially if you are planning to expand your army in the near future - invest in a box of Wardens. The 1500-point army list I'm working on has a squad of three Wardens in it. Use the other two to model your Shield-Captains - or one Captain and one Praetor. The robes and other extra details will make your Characters stand out better!
If you play Open with Power Levels, this is a PL52 army - within the normal range compared to the Matched Play points (I've found that generally points/20 gives a rough power level to aim for). Because it's a Battalion, you'll have 6 Command Points to use for Stratagems - and Custodes get some pretty nice ones that will help to offset the low model count and lack of high-powered weaponry.
Because the kit contains parts to make a Shield-Captain and/or Vexilus Praetor, you won't need to buy other kits or models to start. And you will find that it's easy to expand on this core.
I picked up the Codex the other day and I'll be getting my models over the weekend. I still need to finish my Necromunda gang in the upcoming week before our league begins, but I hope to see how quickly I can get my Custodes army ready for play! If I had somewhere indoors to undercoat the models with gold spray, I imagine it would be quick indeed.
Stay tuned - I hope to have some pictures to share very soon.
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