How to play Adeptus Custodes

The ultimate elite, low-model-count army: a handful of near-unkillable golden warriors who excel in both melee and shooting. Quality and precision over quantity.

Army rule: Two pillars: extreme durability (high Toughness, strong armour plus invulns and Feel No Pain layers) and the Martial Ka'tah melee mechanic, where units pick a combat stance each fight to improve AP and crit thresholds. Because you rarely lose models, anchor the center and trade your few activations up.

Strengths

Best-in-game per-model durability; opponents often cannot generate enough damage to remove a unit
Elite in both melee via Ka'tah stances and shooting, with no soft units
Benefits hugely from the alternating Fight phase where premium activations matter
Deep-strike elites flip flanks or assassinate key targets

Weaknesses

Very low model count; easily out-actioned and screened off objectives
Every lost model is a huge proportion of the army; a few failed saves swing games
Too few bodies for actions, screening, and covering a sprawling objective board

Signature combos

Deep-striking Allarus Custodians with charge re-rolls while a near-immortal Guard brick holds center
Telemon/Custodian Dreadnoughts made fast in Might of the Moritoi
Sisters of Silence as anti-psyker action monkeys alongside the elite core
Trajann Valoris or a Blade Champion anchoring a Warden objective wall

Gameplan

Anchor the midboard with units the opponent cannot kill and win the primary on durability. Use fast or deep-striking elements to flip a flank or remove a key target. Commit confidently since your models survive overcommitment, but never lose the action and objective game.

Playing against Adeptus Custodes

Do not try to kill everything; ignore the bricks, spread out, and out-score on objectives and secondaries while screening against Allarus deep strikes.

Next steps

Browse all Adeptus Custodes datasheets → · What to buy → · General tactics →