Faction Focus: Adeptus Custodes

EDIT: I somehow misread Aegis.  So ignore everything I said about an army-wide FNP . . .

There are many armies that are described as difficult to balance.  But designing a truly "Elite" army is probably the hardest challenge of all.  It's tough to represent an army of demigods on a table top, always out numbered but never outmatched.  Let's see what ideas the design team has cooked up for "The Emperor's Ten Thousand."

MARTIAL KA'TAH

Ka'tahs have returned in a much more simplified form.  Now, like Doctrines, they're just a bonus you can declare for your army.  However, there's no limit to the number of times you can use a Ka'tah, and you pick them at the start of the Fight phase.  The end result is you will always be able to choose the best option when it matters most.  It's simple, it's elegant, and it fits the lore well.  I think this is a good start.

AEGIS OF THE EMPEROR

In 9th, this was just a blanket 4+ Invuln for the army.  But now an Invuln can just be part of a datasheet, and doesn't require its own rule.  So instead, its a FNP 4+.  That's just insane!  So I'm guessing this means all Custodes are 2+/4++!  They are going to be thic!  Let's see if they've kept that base 2+ and the 4+ invuln.

EDIT: This is Emperor's Chosen 4+ FNP against Mortals.

TRAJANN VALORIS

And why not start with the big man himself!

So the first thing that immediately pops out to me is that his core rules include a 5+ FNP.  This means that even outside of the basic Shield Host detachment, Trajann, and I'm guessing many other Custodes, will still have a FNP.  Makes sense to me.

I'm also noting that they've significantly reduced the damage he can do at range, but in melee he's just lost the obligatory pip of AP.  He's also got the second rule we've seen in these reveals that allows him and the unit he's Leading to ignore modifiers (excluding saves).  This is all feeling perfectly fluffy.  Moment Shackle returns in a slightly nerfed state.  It's still potent, but it can no longer outright save him from lethal damage or give him two full Fight sequences.

ALLARUS CUSTODIANS

The Allarus don't have a FNP by themselves, meaning this might just be a rule for the big man.  I'm also noting they count as Terminators.  They get a full re-roll to Wounds against Characters, Monsters, and Vehicles, meaning they'll be plenty effective against big targets.  They also get a teleport, which is great for any army that might not have a lot of units on the board.  I just noticed both them and Trajann are OC 2.  I'm kinda surprised they're not higher.  My guess is Guard and maybe Wardens are probably going to have a higher OC, as they might otherwise have difficulty holding objectives.

I'd also like to note the absence of special rules on the weapons.  The grenade is BLAST and the guns are ASSAULT but that's it.  This kinda makes sense, as you'd imagine a Custodes is always making the optimum use of any weapon they wield.  The Misericordia no longer gets its own attack though.  

Also check out that T7!

PROSECUTORS

Oh wow!  We get a third Datasheet!  The Prosecutors basically get Battle Sister stats, meaning they're probably still the "cheap" infantry of the army.  They get a 3+ FNP against Psychic and get both PRECISION and DEVASTATING WOUNDS against Psykers.  This should make them effective, but not a complete counter, against Psychic armies.

EXECUTIONER GREATBLADE

I was guessing with the three datasheets we probably weren't going to see much for weapons.  The Executioner is a good Melee weapon for a Sister of Silence to wield, but it's otherwise not much to write home about.

VIGIL UNENDING

Well that's a thing!  Just pick a unit and return a destroyed model!  It's limited to once each unit, but that's still fantastic.  Custodes already look like they'll be tough to kill.  But with this, if you don't somehow wipe out a unit, they could be punching back at full strength or near it on their turn.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Custodes are going to be tough!  There damage output has been scaled down some to continue and try to make the game less lethal, but that also means their incredible toughness will stand out even more.  While they're going to probably still struggle to use their limited resources to secure victory, their opponents are probably also going to struggle with target priority and trying to be efficient with damage.  Looking pretty good!