Below the absolute authority of the Captain-General and the three Legatii lies the Custodian Tribunate: the Legio Custodes’ council of war and policy, granted the incomparable privilege of providing counsel to the Emperor himself. Each Tribune must have earned at least ten names and won three great victories to be considered for service, and such figures are held in immense esteem by their fellow Custodians. Only by a Tribune’s authority may an entire Shield Host of the Legio Custodes be mustered for battle, for they are among the greatest warriors and strategists in the Imperium, and where they tread, death follows.
| LD | CL | WP | IN | |||||||||||
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | LD | CL | WP | IN | SAV | INV | |
| Tribune (⌀40mm) | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Tribune (⌀40mm) | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 2+ | 4+ |
Whether by dint of superior skill or exemplary wargear, some warriors are better able to place strikes on enemy weak points. Such attacks can fell even the most powerful foes with a single well-placed shot.
Attacks made with the Critical Hit (X) Special Rule have a chance to automatically cause a wound and inflict 1 extra point of Damage.Some weapons are designed for use in personal challenges rather than the vulgar press of battle. Often light and perfectly balanced, they provide a key edge in duels and bouts of honour.
A Weapon with the Duellist’s Edge (X) Special Rule grants a bonus to Focus Rolls in Challenges.Some warriors are trained or equipped to make the most of the force of a charge. When they slam into enemy ranks, it is with the force of a thunderbolt.
On a successful Charge, a Model with the Impact (X) Special Rule temporarily increases a Characteristic by 1.On the battlefields of the Horus Heresy, precision proves far more valuable than wanton carnage, allowing attacks to be placed on the most valuable targets and not the chaff of the enemy army. Whether through well-honed skill or artfully crafted weapons, warriors capable of such feats are highly sought after in any host.
Attacks made with the Precision (X) Special Rule are allocated by the Attacking Player, not the Defender.Some weapons are capable of breaching armour with a terrifying ease, whether by specially designed munitions, careful targeting or sheer brute power.
When rolling To Wound for a model that has the Breaching (X) special rule, or is attacking with a weapon that has the Breaching (X) special rule, for each To Wound roll equal to or higher than the value listed in brackets, the controlling player must resolve these Wounds at AP 2 instead of the weapon’s normal AP value. This rule has no effect on models that do not have Wounds, such as models with the Vehicle Unit Type.For long centuries of unbridled internecine carnage on Ancient Terra during the Age of Strife, the ’Blade of Mercy’ or ’Misericordia’ came to represent the complete power of life and death, for the bearing of such a blade - usually in the form of a long dagger or short sword made to perpetrate a single killing thrust - marked one with the dread authority of the executioner-judge. Beyond the power it represented, the Misericordia might also be used in practice to carry out a ’clean’ sentence of death on a transgressor, or to offer terminal surcease to a warrior grievously wounded in battle at their master’s discretion, in either case living up to its name as an agent of mercy as well as death. When the Emperor attained dominion over Terra and ended the bloody cycle of the warlords’ reign, his agents and judges, and only they, came to carry the Misericordia as his mastery eclipsed all others, and it is a tradition the Legio Custodes still uphold.
A Unit containing any Models with a Misericordia may select a unique aftermath option in which it makes a single attack against an enemy Unit from the same Combat.
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Deep strike deployments are usually conducted en-masse and at a distance from the enemy, lest the attacking force be destroyed in detail as it lands.
The Deep Strike Special Rule allows a Unit to enter play anywhere on the Battlefield.The Legio Custodes Trait is used in the following Legio Custodes datasheets:
Rendered as living representations of the aquila, araeshrikes conceal an array of ancient mechanisms within the cyber-corpus of a Terran preybird of antiquity. Considered blasphemous in principle and arcane in function by the Mechanicum, these devices facilitate both precise telemetry for the legio Custodes’ teleporter crucibles and counterintelligence purposes by means of malifica-djinn and hostile blight-code. Together, these allow the Custodians to conduct rapid, pinpoint teleport assaults while impeding their foe’s efforts at counter-attack and reinforcement, leaving utter disarray in their wake.
A Model with an arae-shrike gains the Deep Strike Special Rule and confers it to any Unit it joins, and can apply a penalty to Enemy Reserves Tests.The Legio Custodes Trait is used in the following Legio Custodes datasheets:
The Loyalist Trait is used in the following Legio Custodes datasheets:
The Golden Exemplar Trait is used in the following Legio Custodes datasheets:
The The Sodality Trait is used in the following Legio Custodes datasheets:
Transport vehicles are designed to balance armour and capacity, attempting to mount the most protection without compromising how many warriors they can carry. Yet, some warriors are plated in such imposing armour or even spawned in such an aberrant nature that they occupy far more space than any regular fighter. Such warriors are mighty in both power and stature, but prove more difficult to ferry into battle.
Models with the Bulky (X) Special Rule take up more space on Transport Models.Some warriors are either so preternaturally tough, so bitterly intransigent or so favoured by fortune that they can survive almost any attack. Devastating close combat strikes and huge explosions all fail to bring down this warrior in a single hit and only repeated attacks can end their rampage.
A Model with this Special Rule takes less Damage from attacks.Warriors trained to break the foe’s lines are often at the forefront of their host, but are ill-suited to holding ground in the face of an enemy counter-attack.
A Unit that includes Models with this Special Rule scores fewer Victory Points for controlling Objectives, but can score Victory Points for destroying enemy Units that hold Objectives.This datasheet has High Command Battlefield Role. Full list of Legio Custodes units sharing same Battlefield Role follows:
Some weapons are wreathed in flame emitted from small projectors, or burn with otherworldly fire, stirring a primaeval aversion in even the boldest warriors.
A Weapon with this Special Rule causes additional modifiers to a Target’s Leadership Characteristic.Designed to rip and tear flesh, some weapons are fearsome and intimidating tools of warfare. Whether by the gnashing teeth of a chainblade or the jagged edges of flechette ammunition, these weapons scythe great holes in the lines of even the toughest of infantry and the largest of warriors.
Attacks made with the Shred (X) Special Rule can sometimes inflict an extra point of Damage.| Melee Weapon | |||||||
Melee Weapon | IM | AM | SM | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Eternity spear (Melee) | |||||||
| Eternity spear (Melee) | I | A | +1 | 2 | 1 | Aflame (2), Critical Hit (6+), Impact (AM), Shred (5+) | - |
| Ranged Weapon | |||||||
Ranged Weapon | R | FP | RS | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Eternity spear (Ranged) | |||||||
| Eternity spear (Ranged) | 18 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | Shred (5+) | Assault, Bolt |
Infantry units include all types of foot soldiers. Infantry are fairly slow moving, but can cross almost any terrain and make the best use of cover to avoid enemy fire.
Infantry is the most basic Type, and is applied to most Models in the game. A Model with the Infantry Type uses the Core Rules without modification, gaining neither benefit nor penalty. Models with the Infantry Type may Embark and Disembark upon Models with the Transport Sub-Type.Representing the elite of any army, commanders oversee the disposition of their troops, set strategy for the coming battle and often stand at the forefront of the conflict. The actions of such heroes can change the tide of battle in an instant.
The following Rules apply to all Models with the Command Sub-Type:| Melee Weapon | |||||||
Melee Weapon | IM | AM | SM | AP | D | Special Rules | Traits |
| Eternity blade | |||||||
| Eternity blade | +1 | A | +1 | 2 | 1 | Aflame (2), Critical Hit (6+), Shred (4+), Duellist’s Edge (1) | - |
Many warriors go to battle carrying large protective shields, commonly issued when the fighting is expected to be conducted at close ranges, such as Zone Mortalis or breach storming engagements. With sufficient training, these warriors can form a moving bulwark, layering and overlapping such shields to provide protection against all but the most determined attacks.
This Reaction allows the Reactive Player to gain a bonus to the Toughness Characteristic of Models in a Unit targeted by a Shooting Attack or Volley Attack if the majority of those Models have the Shield Trait.Ornate precursors to the later storm shields, the praesidium shields of the Legio Custodes are forged from all but indestructible layered ceramite and resilient alloys reinforced with inbuilt field generators.
A model with a praesidium shield gains a 5+ Invulnerable Save and the Shield Trait.