Adeptus Custodes | Warhammer 40,000 Tactical Guide - Tabletop Tactics (2024)

ANATHEMA INFANTRYunits get this, making them totally immune to Psychic Powers, never being able to be targeted by them, making any PSYKERS within 18” get a stacking -1 to Cast (to a max of -3), and you get +1 to Wound PSYKERS and DAEMONS within 6”.

Obviously these are all pretty clear cut in what they do, the main benefits will be against Psyker heavy armies, using your Sisters as ablative Smite shields as well as moving in to make other powers trickier to cast, which for some armies can spell the difference between victory and defeat.

Your “pure” rule, needing to be a CUSTODES only army (though you’re still allowed ANATHEMA, UNALIGNED and AGENTS of course), this is for your INFANTRY and BIKERS, letting them know Kung Fu.

After Deployment, but before knowing who has the first turn (grumbles in Necron Command Protocols), you choose a Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Ka’tah. Each Ka’tah is made up of two Stances, and you can activate one of these Stances in each of your Command Phases, but you must do them in order, you can’t go back, and you can’t skip. In addition, each Stance can only be used once, but there is no requirement to use both Stances before you move on to the next Ka’tah.

Look it sounds complicated, but it’s not in practice, once you get used to it. Think of it like this-

Example

Each Ka’tah is 1, 2, or 3, and each Stance is A or B

You choose Calistus, Dacatari and Salvus. You order them as-

Primary (1) – Calistus

Secondary (2) – Salvus

Tertiary (3) – Dacatari

Turn 1 – you can use 1A or 1B, you choose 1B

Turn 2 – you can use 1A, or move to 2A or 2B, and you choose 2A (as you can’t use 1B again, or go to 3)

Turn 3 – you can’t use 1A (as you can’t go back), you can use 2B (as you’ve used 2A), or move to 3A or 3B. You choose to go to 2B

Turn 4 – you can use 3A or 3B, you use 3B

Turn 5 – you can use 3A, that’s it.

And don’t forget if one of those was a “prefered” Ka’tah (see the Shield Hosts), you could have both stances active once a game. Let’s say Salvus was your preferred Ka’tah, you could say on Turn 2 in the example above have 2B active as well that turn, and still select it again on Turn 3.

Calistus

Focusing on speed, this manipulates Advance rolls, useful in early stages to ensure you put pressure on early, or in the late game to threaten units or table sections far away

• Roll 2D6 for Advance rolls and pick. Note this is for rolls only, so BIKERS get no benefit from this, but for everyone else this is great to get into position for a follow up attack in subsequent turns, or to mount last ditch Objective grabs.
• Normal Moves and Advances count as Remaining Stationary for Shooting this turn. Strong to get early attacks off, especially if slightly out of range, combines well with BIKERS thanks to their fast auto advance.

Conservai

Action manipulation, this is the nichest of Ka’tah, as without any Action based Secondaries, it holds no purpose for you, but if incorporated this grants good options.

• Perform Actions after Advancing or Falling Back. If in a position to use this, it can be incredibly strong, letting you score Secondaries without being shutdown in melee or out of range.
• Shoot and still perform Actions. Depending on the unit this is pretty strong, letting you have more flexibility in deploying your forces knowing you can use this without sacrificing firepower from something like a unit of ALLARUS.

Dacatari

Anti-Horde Style (sort of), this looks to do a bit of combat manipulation, slowing down units and giving you some melee flexibility. Best in the midgame, when you’re looking to hit combat and stymie your opponent.

• Enemy units within Engagement Range are -2” to any Pile In or Consolidations they make. This can be massive both defensively to minimise attacks coming in, as well as the utility to stop movement shenanigans of units moving into Objective range, tagging other units, or moving to wrap you.
• When units fight they can choose to get +1A, but set their melee Dmg of all their weapons to 1. Obviously useful against lighter 1W infantry where your D2 weapons are wasted, but also handy against units with -1D (where you’d be the same but with less Attacks), or are looking to not kill something in your turn so you can do it in their turn. Given units can choose this or not when they fight, you don’t need to worry if you have a unit that would prefer D2+, and others wanting the cleave style attacks.

Salvus

You ever seen Equilibrium? Sick film. This is basically Gun Kata. Depending on which stance you’re likely to use, this is best in the early to mid stages, as whilst both are good at any time, they respectively have better returns at those times.

• +4” Range to all Shooting Attacks is pretty good, letting you extend your damage potential a bit further afield. It’s a simple but effective buff, letting you maintain distance a bit longer, or take pot shots at units that thought themselves safe.
• Provided you are INFANTRY, don’t Advance, and aren’t in Engagement Range, you can fire twice with your Auric Weapons, so basically your Swords, Spears and Axes only. No, you can’t fire your VENATAII or SAGITTARUM twice, that would be bonkers. Whilst this doesn’t benefit a huge amount of models, it can be pretty devastating when used in close proximity, effectively giving each model 4 shots at close range making this a powerful clearance tool in Turns 2 or 3.

Rendax

The Monster Slayer form, helping you tackle big things a bit easier. Both stances are a bit contradictory with each other, but are generally best in the mid to late stages where you will be making melee, or will be in shorter ranges to maximise ranged attacks.

• 6s to Hit auto Wound VEHICLES and MONSTERS, at both range and melee. Useful to bypass the higher Toughness these units have, as even the -1 D2 on the majority of your weapons can stack up at range. Obviously more efficient if you can get both shooting and combat off with the same units, but handy regardless.
• +1 Str in the first turn of combat when fighting VEHICLES or MONSTERS is a solid boost, despite the first turn limitation, boosting you to 3s to Wound against most standard big things.

Kaptaris

A defensively focused style, helping you control the flow of combat. Great in the mid-late game when most combat happens,

• Melee attacks vs you cannot reroll to Hit. A good defensive boost, whether it is due to innate rules or auras, and though it won’t come up hugely often, it can make a difference over time and across multiple units, and especially on key units that need every edge they can get against a powerful melee force.
• Non-VEHICLE or MONSTER units in Engagement Range with your INFANTRY have to roll off before Falling Back, with the enemy getting +1 if they FLY. If you win the roll off, they can’t Fall Back. A powerful tool to shut down enemy shooting units,ensure you finish off a foe, keep melee forces engaged on your terms, or to keep Objectives clear, whilst not always reliable this is a potentially game changing ability, if timed well.