Codex: Adeptus Custodes

Warhammer 40,000 - 8th Edition #Army Codex

by Games Workshop

The Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor’s personal guard. For ten thousand years they have stood sentinel over the Master of Mankind and defended the gates of his palace. Yet now the Emperor’s blades are unsheathed. Biochemically fashioned from infancy to function as supreme tacticians, combatants and bodyguards, they are death incarnate to those who oppose the Emperor’s will. Each Custodian is sublimely skilled, their talents and abilities to the Space Marines what those transhuman warriors are to unaugmented Imperial soldiery. The Ten Thousand walk the stars in numbers not seen since the Great Crusade, and woe betide those who stand in their way.

Codex: Adeptus Custodes contains a wealth of background and rules – the definitive book for Adeptus Custodes collectors. Within this 80-page hardback, you’ll find:

- Brotherhood of the Demigods: the history of the Adeptus Custodes, from their formation as the Legio Custodes to their increased visibility and wider role in the campaign against Chaos since the Great Rift;
- Detailed descriptions of their deployment during the Horus Heresy, the civil war ten thousand years ago that tore the Imperium in twain, along with details of their role protecting the Emperor’s Golden Throne;
- Shadows and Alchemy: the process by which Adeptus Custodes are created. along with details of their defence of Terra including an overview of the palace itself;
- Rise of the Primarch: an overview of the Gathering Storm, a series of events that saw the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman restored to glory and the Adeptus Custodes being sent to aid the Indomitus Crusade;
- A Host of Heroes: the composition of the Adeptus Custodes, and the manner in which they organise themselves for war – far more loosely than other Imperial organisations, but easily as effective;
- Uniforms and Heraldry: examples for 5 shield companies – the Shadowkeepers, the Aquilan Shield, the Dread Host, the Solar Watch and the Emissaries Imperatus;
- The Solar Fastness: while once the invasion of Terra was unthinkable, since the Great Rift things have changed. This section describes the Adeptus Custodes’ defence of the Sol System;
- The Tale of Ten Thousand: a timeline of major events in the Adeptus Custodes’ history;
- Background and details on each character and unit available to an Adeptus Custodes army;
- A showcase of beautifully painted Citadel miniatures, with example armies featuring everything from individual images of models to battle scenes on terrain.

Rules

Everything you need to get an Adeptus Custodes army primed for games of Warhammer 40,000 is in here:

- 13 datasheets providing rules for every Adeptus Custodes unit and miniature;
- Army abilities reflecting the Adeptus Custodes’ methods of war on the tabletop;
- Armoury of the Adeptus Custodes: wargear both ranged and close-combat for use by the Adeptus Custodes;
- Points values for all miniatures, weapons and wargear for use in Matched Play games;
- Auric Mortalis: rules for Battle-forged armies, including:
- 27 unique Stratagems;
- 6 unique Warlord Traits;
- Relics of Terra: 13 weapons and artefacts available only to Adeptus Custodes;
- 6 unique Tactical Objectives.

80 pages, Hardcover

Published January 27, 2018

About the author

Games Workshop Group PLC (often abbreviated as GW) is a British miniature wargaming manufacturing company. Games Workshop is best known as developer and publisher of the tabletop wargames Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.

Reviews

[Taddow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited when the Adeptus Custodes got their own codex. These super warriors of the Imperium (the Emperor’s own personal army) were something I had been waiting for rules and models for. I was a very dedicated Warhammer 40K player up until 8th Edition (I got tired of the costly miniature “arms race” and rules sway with each new edition and codex and decided to call it quits), but when this book came out I was stoked. I bought the limited-edition codex and bunch of models from Forgeworld and Games Workshop, hoping this would get me back into 40K. It did not, as I was still very happy with my transition back to playing RPGs. I still have the models though, so there is always next time (maybe).

Not much is written about the Emperor’s golden guardians and it was good to learn some more lore about them. The model stat blocks, weapons and equipment and abilities seem to support their background as these even more super-human warriors than space marines. The breakdown of Custodes having different groups that specialize in certain tasks with protecting the Emperor and the Sol System was a nice way to give them organizational diversity (until this, I think a lot of people just saw them spending their lives guarding the Emperor’s Palace). Maybe the Sisters of Silence will get a codex of their own (I know there is combined one with the Adeptus Custodes that is mainly filled with game rules).

[Bernd Velling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Games Workshop codices are a mix of story telling and rule book.
Most of the time however one does discard the story part completely to dig into the rules.
I noticed reading this one that you miss significant details about the army or why it is designed the way it is.
So I have started a project now to reread all the codices I own and I am curious what all I missed 😃.
In this one the narrative preceding the rules section was really interesting as it showed a lot of aspects of the home world of terra which not a lot of other books do.
The work the authors pour into the small details are really fun to read.
Granted it is not Shakespeare but for a fan of the game and the lore surrounding it it is a really good read

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Golden Legion marches forth! The newest army to join the world of 40K is also one of it's oldest lorewise. The Adeptus Custodoes have been a group that has long been shrouded in mystery but now a new codex is here to enlighten us about the history and abilities of this glorious fighting force. Like most 40K codexs, the bulk of the book is about the history and current goings on of the Emperors personal guard, while rest of the book covers the in game rules of the army itself. Like previous codexs this one is hardback with full color pages. The only real complaint I can level against this book is for an army that claims to be made up of demigods, which each being a legendary hero in his own right, that there is only one unique character in the book, what gives games workshop?!

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable introduction of a large amount of new 'fluff' (background information, sometimes grandiosely called 'lore') for the Warhammer 40,000 gaming universe. The book just a marvellous job of retrospectively filling in just what this hitherto un-utilised elite force have been up to in the 10,000 years of Imperial history and strongly implants them into the forefront of the game's world. The book surprised me in managing to get in some good dark humour too - something I often worry may die out in the game as it passes beyond the generation that created it to a generation that have always played it.

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a rulebook this is very good rules after some post-editing. The forces are absolute elite, requiring you to make the most of only a few models.
However the book is only 80 pages long. Rather lacking in lore and to make the most of these rules in an competitive scene you also need the Forge World rules... and maybe the appropriate Battlezone book. this "book creep" was very common in 8th edition and i have little want to buy books for just a couple of pages of content.

[Dominic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the golden boys, amazed they got a book all to themselves.

[Dominic Barajas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goood

[Jim Pickone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book about the Custodes. Bit lacking about the Reign of Blood and the lack of Custodes heroes.

[Cloak88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book, bit thin, but provides sufficient info on our Golden Boys.

This is Games Workshop's first custodian Guard codex. Along with the 8th edition rules you will find you will find extensive text about the history, activities and motivations of these golden warriors. As I play a Custodian army myself, I found this quite an interesting read. The golden boys got quite a large expansion in comparison to their previous lore-incarnation and to great effect. Changing them from a few random warriors in the distance to a playable army with an appropriately impressive background.

For those who like to know the story behind their armies.