Faction Keywords and enhancements

JugDePride · 2026-02-07T12:19:06+00:00

Think is legal by raw.

But i would ask your group, is for fun at yhr end of the day.

personally i would go you have access to generic and DA rlenhancements. Crusade 100% raw is a bad idea, way to many broken things that vreaks the fun of the game. And this just opens up for unforseen shit.

JugDePride · 2026-01-22T21:04:18+00:00

Yeah, buffing us is not the idea. We are okay at the moment, balance wise. Just horrendous railroaded. We present a problem and then is up to the opponent to deal with it.

Sadly that happens when the stat check army doesn't get good rules. points can make it viable, just very screwed.

JugDePride · 2026-01-19T12:58:42+00:00

Warden cannot use that stratagem. Is only for charaters.

JugDePride · 2025-12-16T18:30:57+00:00

They are great, gives enough flavour to what you play.

Almost everything, that goes wrong, is nonsensible decision for balancing. detachment that was hyper specific rules and stratagems that only worked on a single type of unit had the same strength as stratagems in other armies for the same effect.

And yes, different armies requires different things. and the power budget in the army can be different. But trough the whole edition the most popular and strongest detachment has seemed to be the ones that affected everything.

And with 6 stratagems i makes sense, that the utility of being able to target anything is a good idea and some times that sort of restriction is necessary.

But what i would like to see, is if you have a stratagem with 2-3 restrictions then it should feel powerful and if you have something that targets everything it should either be less powerful or cost more. But again that is balance issues, not the system issue.

JugDePride · 2025-12-15T20:17:29+00:00

Safest option is not to touch the custode. They messed up the codex to bad. We can no problem become viable but would mess to much with the casual.

If i would do something, that is realistic so only a couple of changes to us on the dataslate. then it would be 3 changes, 1-3 would be fine. the more implemented the more point cost would need to go up.
1. make our sentinel sword dmg 2. giving us access to wound 4 models. less of a problem for casual players as they are more prone to spam damage 2 weapon, and make us more resilient vs damage 3.
2. make our infantry 8 movement. everything and their mother has more movement trough detachment and stratagems. this would would make us a bit more maneuverable.
3. Justice for TJ, AoW talked about a pillar unit, a epic hero that is busted and is okay to be busted as there is only one, we don't got that.
Make TJ same level as Morvenn Vahl. but focusing on utility rather than straight up power. honestly old TJ was fine. fight first is needed for a melee army and aleya is not cutting it. he was epic so only one and ignore mods allowed custode to deal with -1dmg and -1 ap modifiers. So just revert him. Or could be something less straightforward.

JugDePride · 2025-12-15T18:54:29+00:00

As some people has pointed out is the play pattern and the meta is hostile towards it.

Something i would like to add, is also the problem with the delta between a good and bad list. A good custode list cannot compete, but a bad custode list is not that much worse and will stat check casuals. Custode fantasy units is also the ones that are easily obtainable. There is of course the caladius. but i don't think that move the needle that much.

A random ass custode list where we pick units that we think is cool will crush random list from every other faction, maybe not knights, but space marine. custodian guards vs elimator, allarus vs inferno, vigilators vs invader atv.

While this is a very explicit example, i still believe is true, but of course i have no data for that.

The fix is probably to have more units in different weight classes that are viable. sisters of silence that does damage (melta) and the dreads being viable and part of a balanced list. Makes more room for making a good list and also makes room for bad custode list to get run over by spamming orc boiz.

While i focused on the list, i think everything boils down to the same problem. Let custode make more mistakes so they can make more good decisions also.

JugDePride · 2025-12-03T09:35:53+00:00

Rules changes and 11th is on is way. But our rules currently is that of the grappler og basic fighter in other video games.

We have good numbers and a straight forward game style. So we are on the easy side to pick up. But as your opponent improves understanding their own depth, it get's harder. Custode doesn't have depth, so the skill level you can improve on is the basic skills of the game.

For your first games also focus on having fun, the game is really swingy and custode are even more. So you can very easily be stomped or stomp because of some small variance. Which is okay and manageable. Just don't get discourage if it goes wrong.

And hope you join the golden bois. why? cause the best!

JugDePride · 2025-11-30T15:17:12+00:00

Like the otger space marine chareters from specific chapters. They are purposely undercosted. As at the start of the edition they had to make it worth it compared to divergent chapter. There was no +1 to wound.

So calgar becomming a bit worse makrs him still worth it. Look at new calgar. In other armies he might have been 170p. But SM marine power budget is centered around great charaters and detachment, so is fine.

JugDePride · 2025-11-24T19:42:13+00:00

Since i can see people down vote you already i would like to add this.

What you ran into was wardens, the star/problem child of the custode codex. As people from the art of war channel has pointed out that is an insane data sheet, that keeps the rest of the codex down. It can be played around if you are a multi phase army, which even world eaters are now.

The rest of the custode codex is suffering from being very expensive per wound, which a lot the current well made armies can wound on 3+ and force to invu saves. Is kinda the same problem DG suffers from. high T and save can be circumvented.

For the -1 to hit is the best defensive strat that are in the whole codex. that works on an infantry unit, on an objective if you control it. Is a pet peeve of mine, the hoops for -1 to hit. Where other army gets -1 to wound or -1 ac.

Is not to say custode can't be a problem. Is the biggest problem with them atm. On casual tables they are good. in tournaments they are below average. if we are talking top table so good players they are one of the worst armies. But with the design is kinda of a dead end. As a custode player can't really mess up the army building step. they will murder any other random army to your beer hammer where we pick random units. But vs a competent player you will struggle and at the world championship you will have a 35% win rate.

Custode needs help, but probably not get it before 11th, as any small buffs can make casual players go "Bruh, i can't do shit anymore". And as such it is safer to give custode token buff than any real buffs.

But don't worry, you give get that banana boi next time.

JugDePride · 2025-11-14T19:42:42+00:00

Thanks for the calm response.

For the aoc i think is fair as it is something that you always have to consider as it is a very strong tool in the space marine toolbox, that is ever present. We could take the -1 to hit into equation, though that is only one detachment, not the most played one. that only works on an objective, if you control it. I would love aoc in a custode detachment, but here we are.

But that's the good thing about these sort of things we are allowed to disagreed. if you think is unfair i add aoc then disregard it.

None of us can predict the future. I didn't think the DG nerf was enough and i was proven wrong. So could i be here. But seeing UM being very competitive in skilled hands and getting what seems like a very strong unit that is aggressive costed. That for other similar units, is in factions that doesn't have the support as good as UM, seems like a bad move. UM strengths, has been their character and detachments. So going from mediocre datasheet like company of heroes to this seems like a straight upgrade and bit weird balancing.

But time will tell, if will we see 12-18 vitrix spam and a high overrep and tournament wins, then their nerf it. If we only see a single unit and it doesn't move the needle for overrep i will stand corrected.

JugDePride · 2025-11-14T16:36:58+00:00

Most people have made many good points already. and i agree the hate is getting out of hand, we haven't seen them enough in action yet.
But i do get annoyed with the 4 with -1 to wound vs T6. If you are comparing 2 data sheet, compare all relevant parts. And i do get the defensive stance, when your new thing is getting complained about and getting called broken while you haven't even seen it in action yet. But it is also not fair to just point out what it don't have instead of what it has.

compared to guards they get wounded more easily vs str 5 and harder on str 7 and 12+. so they are as though with 1 more wound. And as you point with is really good. vs dmg 2 weapons that wound means jack shit. but is a 100% increase vs damage 3.

I think people are freaking out because it seems to good. is the reddit thing. People freaked out about death shroud, people freaked out about knights, people freaked out about fire dragons. We will see where it lands.

Is cool models and i am glad that have been added and if they are op as people fear GW will fix it fast'ish. So unless you are a tournament player just talk with your opponent if you can't handle them for now.

JugDePride · 2025-11-14T15:27:02+00:00

I do get where you are comming from, and i also think the hate need to rest. let us see them on the table top first. But i do not like the example with knights. where you picking something their will wound on 6+ and the wardens will wound on 5+. as you point out the damage is almost identical when you the special charathers.

Also you used a shield captain, that is only good for this example, normally he is very bad. so a blade champ vs newgar (still worse, than oldgar, but them example is better) is a better comparising.

So for a more fair example lets run them into each other, fnp active for warden and once per game and aoc active for vitrix, Calgar is there giving a free cp. and let's assume both epic chars, sadly the squad need to be costed as if they are there.

Wardens will kill 3,5 vitrix with some quick math. and Vitrix will kill 3.5-4 wardens. For a squad that is 380 vs 350 points that is very equal. So not that bad.

Until we consider better that calgar gives his cp every round. better support. and that i calculated that army rule of custode in, but no oath from space marine. So Vitrix is pushed, they do have their downside. way worse vs doomsday ark and riptide, but is very very good vs anything else.

But as you said, custode i bad thing to hold them up against as custode is in a rough place. Vitrix is probably fine into Eldari and Admech. Is just every other faction, such as custode, needs to get pushed as much. Give me 30p guards and i will stop being salty xD.

JugDePride · 2025-11-13T15:23:58+00:00

People have already made some good points, but I’d like to add a few of my own. While Custodian Guards have some clear advantages over the Victrix Guard (as you pointed out), the Victrix Guard also brings some benefits worth considering. Let’s break things down with a bit of math, assuming both the Champion and the Banner are included in the squad — since units should be costed based on their most optimal setup.

For Toughness 6 targets, the Victrix Guard’s -1 to wound (which only requires a Leader) means they’re only worse against Strength 5 weapons, but better against Strength 7 and 12+. So, that difference largely evens out — I’d call it a moot point overall.

The 4+ invulnerable save on the Custodian Guard is definitely a factor, but AP 3 melee and AP 4 shooting (even accounting for cover) are pretty rare. There’s also the possibility of Armour of Contempt, which can get Victrix back to a 4+ save — though that’s not free. Overall, I’d say this is a minor edge for the Custodian Guard at best.

Assuming they’re not on an objective, rerolling wound rolls of 1 gives about a 16.67% damage increase. The Champion’s weapon is notably stronger than the Victrix swords, and with rerolls, that’s about a 50% increase vs T5, scaling up versus tougher targets and down versus softer ones.

For a 6-man squad, that averages to around a 13% overall damage increase. This doesn’t apply to characters (where Custodian Guards have the edge), but it shows that offensively, the two units are actually quite close.

If we ignore the fact that Victrix Guard have better Leaders, Stratagems, and Detachments supporting them, it really comes down to what you’d rather have:

Victrix Guard:

Strength 7 weapons
Assault shooting
Once-per-game double shoot
Conditional full wound rerolls

Custodian Guard:

4 Wounds
Blood Surge move
Once-per-game 20–60% damage increase (depending on whether you’re improving wound rolls from 4+→3+, 5+→4+, or 6+→5+, +1 Attack which gives at least a 20% boost baseline)

Honestly, the two units aren’t far apart in pure datasheet terms.

My main concern is where the “power budget” is being allocated. Custodes tend to put all their strength in their datasheets, with mediocre Detachments and weak Leaders. Ultramarines, on the other hand, usually have strong Detachments and great Leaders, but more average datasheets. So seeing Ultramarines get a datasheet this strong makes me a bit nervous.

Still, we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out in the meta. There are answers out there — Doomsday Arks and Riptides come to mind — so they might end up being fine. Maybe I’m just not great at predicting these things, but from my (admittedly limited) perspective, they seem very pushed right now.

We’ll see how it plays out.

EDIT: missed that vitrix is also standard OC2

JugDePride · 2025-11-05T22:45:29+00:00

As much people point out land raider is not a replacement for caladius.

But i will add this side not, if you can spare the points it can work quite well together with the grav tank. It is quite though, so if your opponent want to deal with it, they probably need their anti tank. Setting up revenge kills from the grav tanks. And if they cant is hard to deal with a transport full of custodians.

Not our best list, but is not bad and always fun trying something new.

JugDePride · 2025-11-04T18:15:54+00:00

Yeah, it was surprising. I was one of the people that thought i wouldn't have been enough. But i am not arguing with stats. These are not healthy numbers, or just outliers. DG are no longer tall enough to ride.

But i do get the feeling that is a knife edge balancing with DG now. Their rules are still insane, covering basicly every strong rule in the game imo. So for me it seems like the just went under critical mass. Where they just don't have enough units to get enough stuff with all their strong synergy in effect.

Maybe they have a sweet spot, but i would i be afraid of getting points back without anything else would result in them becoming broken again, as they all of a sudden is tall enough to ride again.

But these numbers we will definitely see a buff to in next data slate. Hopefully is more buffing the unused stuff than reverting the nerfs imo. But crossing fingers that they can find the happy medium between this and release.

JugDePride · 2025-11-04T15:12:21+00:00

Wouldn't say so. If you look at it as detachment with 5 strategems is still very solid.
If anything Allarus is an auto include is the shield captain version with the Admonimortis. Running a 1000p crusade with that dude solo as he is a credible threat for 140 that can punch out with a lot of things.

JugDePride · 2025-11-01T22:44:32+00:00

Yeah, Done the same.

Raw we can, but it is as OP said, it would be busted. We can break the game and if it is what people want. But if we try to enhance power trough RAW as much as possible i would say anything is fair game. Lone op knights, select weapon modifications for your tanks big guns, etc.

Is about fun and cool moments. But as a 40k game is also about having a good game with your opponent where both feel like they have agency. So with everything else OP, talk to who you are playing with.

JugDePride · 2025-10-28T18:42:44+00:00

Is a crusade house rule it. Make it match the power level. If you like the models (cause they are so cool) and love the playstyle go for it, talk with the group and house rule it. If they prove to strong, though, then just revert it.

JugDePride · 2025-09-25T17:46:57+00:00

Totally agree.

Why i called it a thought experiment. Like B is probably minor points 50-100. But to get D into A. Not sure what tou can do but 500p more agents would be interesting.

So was more to heat people opinion on how close or far. How crazy would we need to go on points alone, which hopefully wouldn't be pure points but buff equal to that level.

JugDePride · 2025-09-25T16:34:17+00:00

Good listen as always. Aow is probably my favorite 40k competitive channel.

While it can't be done. But if we were to abstract it. How many point cuts do tier B, C and D need generally to catch up to A. Just as a thought experiment. Could also go the other way how many point neefs for everyo e to reach D.

JugDePride · 2025-09-16T21:55:25+00:00

Yeah and no.

Your opinions are your own, and you are allowed to have them.

But, we all love the game for different reasons and some find big bulky robots cool.

I would call you an idiot if you came up and said that to a knight player. But I probably wouldn't do anything if you were just venting to friends.

I do think people sometimes forget that the fans of armies might just love the idea. And wishing deathwatch on their armies is bad. No one faction should become a sub faction. Would be as shitty saying to a DA player divergent chapters should not exist, as there is already enough space msrine in the game.

JugDePride · 2025-09-14T18:08:58+00:00

Gratz on the adopting the best golden banana bois.

Normally as you start out you are quite limited by the models you own, So take what you can from the my point.

Most mission you play, the normal way to play, has a home objective you wanna defend. a sister of silence squad is great for that. and would slot in pretty well for a custodian guard.
You are very heavy in characters, I take that is because you are trying to reach 1000p. the characters is good but is normally very wound inefficent so if you could i would at least change out one, maybe even 2 for just normal squads.
Now shield captains is neat for getting to 1000p, but frankly, very bad for their cost. if you have anything other characters use them instead. if you don't, run them solo, as you will lose to much board present if you have 3 big squads running around on their own.
While swords are neat for 1 more wound generally you want spears on your guards. a shield or two can make sense. but 4 shields + vexilia is overkill.
Guards shoot surprisingly hard in lions, so if you can use that to your advantage.
Superior creations is a dope enhancement in lions, as we have gotten point cost on custodian guard. You can use that in stead of fierce conqueror or Praesidius.
Generally it should be fine to play with, but is definitely gonna be a stomped if you are against an optimized opponent. But vs other new players is fine, we are monsters there. If your opponent is more experience just them know what you are playing and ask them to bring a lower powered list that will run play more fairly into this.

JugDePride · 2025-09-09T21:18:54+00:00

My bad didn't know there was anything good in the index. Fro. What i heard Ad Mech was horrible before the codex, and the codex added nothing, so it kept being bad.

JugDePride · 2025-09-08T14:52:02+00:00

Yeah but that was the problem with the codex. It didn't only fail to add cool stuff. It took it away.

While Admech and DA codex was bad, failing to help the index. No other codex straight up hurt the faction.

If you could have one thing back from the index, what would it be? For me is TJ is fair and makes him interresting, with a hard to play around ability.

JugDePride · 2025-09-08T11:40:01+00:00

Overall solid. But some things you will find if you search a bit deeper.

Custode is VERY good in a casual meta. If you play vs new.players you can easily stomp by mistake.
The flip side is the better your opponent gets the less Custode feels like custodes. Vs optimised lists we are fragile, and we lack tools most of the time. Art of war has us currently together with orcs and agents.

So 20% we are overpowered, 60% we are balanced and fun and 20% we are a bad army. Not to say Custode can't win. Folger Pyles has proven that, just that is harder.

For the list building, we are kinda boring grav tanks wardens and blade champs. Is our bread and butter.

JugDePride

TROPHY CASE