# Adeptus Custodes



## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

These guys sound like they could be such a cool element, yet there is absolutely nothing on them. They are an even stronger space marine, why do they not have more fluff. I kind of want to see some more fluff wise about them, maybe have Gram or Dan make a novel about them !. Also what exact books feature the Custodes? I know its some of the Heresy books, I just don't know which.


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## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

I've seen some really cool conversions of them too - but I would LOVE to see some more fluff. They would make an awesome Killteam (I've been a bit obsessed lately with making the coolest possible looking killteam )

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adeptus_Custodes


Just one of the many pics of them on google - I don't even know where I would start when doing this sort of conversion.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Well they feature in the short story compilation _Tales of Heresy_, specifically _Blood Games_ which is a Custodian-centric story.

They're also in _Nemesis_ and_ A Thousand Sons_, more so in the latter than the former.

They're stronger and larger than Astartes but it's by such a small amount you can barely tell the difference other than in the most extreme cases, unlike the Astartes who are a brotherhood of warriors the custodians are more of a loner type- they place their loyalty to the Emperor above all other considerations.

The most Custodians to have been sent into battle off Terra is the 1,000 that accompanied the Emperor into the midst of an Ork horde, on Terra their numbers stand somewhere between 1,000-10,000 (conflicting reports) all within the Imperial Palace, with 300 Companions who dwell within the Throne Room itself. In the Imperial Palace the Custodians are masters, even the Inquisition must bow to their will within it's hallowed halls.

The golden armour they wear is far more ornate and far less bulky than Astartes plate but offers the same protection- their chosen colour was red pre-heresy and during the conflict, after the heresy they changed their symbolic colour to black and discarded the golden armour to symbolise the shame they felt at being unable to protect the Emperor.

Most of the Custodians who died during the Heresy did so in the Secret War, that occurred when Magnus broke the seals surrounding the Imperial Throne Room and ruptured the Imperial Webway, fighting against the endless hordes of Daemons that assailed them and the Sisters of Silence.


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## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

I know the existing, fluff. Trust me, Ive read the lexicanum and begged for more! I think the fact, that they have individual personalities gives room for so much play. I almost find it though a shame to have some of the best soldiers in the world cooped up in the palace collecting dust. Is there anywhere in the fluff that says how often an assassination attempt on the Emperor is?? The forces of Chaos all call him a false god or a dead god, so I do not see them waisting assassins on him, so how often really does the palace get attacked?


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

I think I read in Collected Visions that they don't wear armor anymore. I wonder why and I wonder if they have a better substitute for armor. Perhaps a energy field of some kind.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

CJay said:


> I know the existing, fluff. Trust me, Ive read the lexicanum and begged for more! I think the fact, that they have individual personalities gives room for so much play. I almost find it though a shame to have some of the best soldiers in the world cooped up in the palace collecting dust. Is there anywhere in the fluff that says how often an assassination attempt on the Emperor is?? The forces of Chaos all call him a false god or a dead god, so I do not see them waisting assassins on him, so how often really does the palace get attacked?


I imagine any assassination attempts are incredibly rare, the Palace is *never* attacked and hasn't been since the Horus Heresy.


ckcrawford said:


> I think I read in Collected Visions that they don't wear armor anymore. I wonder why and I wonder if they have a better substitute for armor. Perhaps a energy field of some kind.


Read below ckcrawford and CJay- Lexicanum has nothing on the *Secret War*


Baron Spikey said:


> The golden armour they wear is far more ornate and far less bulky than Astartes plate but offers the same protection- their chosen colour was red pre-heresy and during the conflict, after the heresy they changed their symbolic colour to black and discarded the golden armour to symbolise the shame they felt at being unable to protect the Emperor.
> 
> Most of the Custodians who died during the Heresy did so in the Secret War, that occurred when Magnus broke the seals surrounding the Imperial Throne Room and ruptured the Imperial Webway, fighting against the endless hordes of Daemons that assailed them and the Sisters of Silence.


They don't wear their armour day to day, but if the Palace was ever under attack I imagine they'd re-equip it, they're nothing if not pragmatic.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 20, 2010)

I wanted to check GW but it wont load on my computer right now but is there a Custode army you can collect? And in the fluff do they ever fight/go outside of Terra.

I don't know much on them (I would check LEX but its not loading either :ireful2:


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

No there isn't a Custodian army, the people that have created one in the past usually use the rules for Grey Knights.

Post-Heresy the Custodians never leave Terra.


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## Kettu (Nov 20, 2007)

Baron Spikey said:


> [SNIP]the Palace is *never* attacked and hasn't been since the Horus Heresy.


Wrong, the Ad-Mech, Black Templars and a few other chapters tried to storm the palace during the tail end of the Age of Apostasy. Less then ten thousand of the then Brides of the Emperor held them off for months till the Custodes got involved.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Kettu said:


> Wrong, the Ad-Mech, Black Templars and a few other chapters tried to storm the palace during the tail end of the Age of Apostasy. Less then ten thousand of the then Brides of the Emperor held them off for months till the Custodes got involved.


Nope that was the Ecclesiarcal Palace which is on the other side of Terra from the Imperial Palace.


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## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

What is to say, a Custodes group couldn't leave the palace? They have individual and loner like personalities, They do not jizz themselves being in the presence of the emperor. Whats to say one of them goes, ok I want to do something, be useful and kill something. Here is my thinking.

They are awarded names and titles for special deeds, well how do you earn deeds if you are constantly standing guard. They either go out from time to time to battle, or the palace is attacked a lot more than we assume.

Another thing I am gona point out is that they used to be personal envoys to the Emperor. Whats to say they do not still do envoy duty for the Terra dudes. Major events that can't just have the ministorum guys handle it, but they need a special type of genetic human to say hey this is what we want, and maybe get his hands dirty.

My last point made is they are given missions to prevent and deter uprisings. Whats to say large groups of them do not go out and do battle by themselves, or at least in solo james bond Esq missions.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

CJay said:


> What is to say, a Custodes group couldn't leave the palace? They have individual and loner like personalities, They do not jizz themselves being in the presence of the emperor. Whats to say one of them goes, ok I want to do something, be useful and kill something. Here is my thinking.
> 
> They are awarded names and titles for special deeds, well how do you earn deeds if you are constantly standing guard. They either go out from time to time to battle, or the palace is attacked a lot more than we assume.
> 
> ...


They are utterly loyal to the Emperor (his most loyal troops pre-, during, and post heresy), their very purpose is to enact his will and safeguard his physical form. 

They are/were awarded names, who's to say they still are or aren't now? They're very political in many ways, and I'm sure the politics of Terra are as convoluted and clandestine as they are deadly, just because they're not fighting on Cadia or some other battlefield doesn't mean they aren't still performing deeds that safeguards Him on Earth.

They do not work for the High Lords of Terra, they recognise no authority other than the Emperor himself, as I said before even the Inquisition has no control over them and must answer to the Custodians if they wish to enter the Imperial Palace. Unless the Emperor orders them away they will stay within their jurisdiction constantly on guard.


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## SnoopyChicken (Sep 23, 2010)

Well id imagine they must be seeing action somewhere, if only to stay sharp, they are the personal bodyguards of the most important human in the universe after all


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Training within the Palace grounds I imagine, it is a huge place that encompasses most of a continent. However they stay sharp they do it without leaving the Imperial Palace, except the group who left during the Age of Apostasy when they travelled by secret passageways to the Ecclesiarcal Palace.


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## SnoopyChicken (Sep 23, 2010)

Baron Spikey said:


> Training within the Palace grounds I imagine, it is a huge place that encompasses most of a continent. However they stay sharp they do it without leaving the Imperial Palace, except the group who left during the Age of Apostasy when they travelled by secret passageways to the Ecclesiarcal Palace.


I just cant believe they would have troops that almost never see real combat protect the emperor. Training is one thing but its no substitute for real combat.

Perhaps the method used to create the custodes works on men past puberty so the best of the best among battle-hardened men can be chosen


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Unless of course the process that created them was so selective and 'pure' that these are in fact the same Custodians who protected the Emperor 10,000 years ago...

Plus it's better to have troops who haven't seen much real combat, if any, but that are totally loyal than troops who are combat veterans but don't have the same devotion (so that's basically every other soldier in the Imperium).


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

just how big is the imperial palace?????


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## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

It says though that they go on preventative missions to make sure no assassination attempts are taken care of before anything is actually done to the emperor, like spy stuff and what not. I almost can't believe that an entire fighting force is just left there to sit and stay like a statue. I almost wish there was a local GW/BL person here to answer some of these questions.


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## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

They are not trained in the same way as Astartes - they do not go out and fight nor do they care to. Their duty lies on Terra with the Emperor and they will only fight if the battle comes to them. They are trained assassins, to counter any assassination of the Emperor, always staying one step ahead. The titles they earned which are inscribed inside their armour was earned during the Heresy, when they did see battle and fight. Since then, they have taken their armour off and wear nothing but their cloak (or robes, whichever you want to call it). They are not programed to constantly need to wage battles and shed blood like Space Marines, they were designed individually, not for mass production, and simply stand guard for the Emperor and get involved in politics like mentioned above. Making an army of them would be near pointless (as cool as it would be) because in the fluff, it is very specific that they do not ever get sent out to wage wars or back up other Astartes.


As to doing "james bond missions" - that is what the Astartes and other Imperial Forces are for, the Custodes were created for the sole purpose of guarding the Emperor, and that is what they do. It may seem like a waste, but it would be even a bigger waste to have them sent to battle and killed as there are so few of them. Not to mention, you cannot just get a gene seed and create another one. They are much to important to wage battle when the top priority is the protection of the Emperor.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

gothik said:


> just how big is the imperial palace?????


You know Europe? Bigger than that.


CJay said:


> It says though that they go on preventative missions to make sure no assassination attempts are taken care of before anything is actually done to the emperor, like spy stuff and what not. I almost can't believe that an entire fighting force is just left there to sit and stay like a statue. I almost wish there was a local GW/BL person here to answer some of these questions.


They did go on preventative missions, when the Emperor was a 'free man'.
Local GW/BL person? Trust me I know more about GW background than nearly every staff member your likely to meet, and CotE probably knows more than me (I rank GFP as 3rd in line to the Fluff King throne).


Angelus Censura said:


> They are not trained in the same way as Astartes - they do not go out and fight nor do they care to. *[rest of post not quoted to save space]*


Everything you've said is bang on, have some rep.


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## Bakunin (Mar 27, 2010)

Baron Spikey said:


> I imagine any assassination attempts are incredibly rare, the Palace is *never* attacked and hasn't been since the Horus Heresy.


During the Age of Aposty, in M36, the the Imperial palce came under attack. the Custodes had a role in ending this by bringing the leaders of the Brides of the Emperor before the Emperor.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Baron Spikey said:


> Nope that was the Ecclesiarcal Palace which is on the other side of Terra from the Imperial Palace.


See above...


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## Phil73805 (Feb 28, 2010)

The Custodes feature heavily in _The First Heretic_ by Aaron Dembski Bowden and it's there that you'll learn a great deal more about them. If you want to convert some Custodes up bear this in mind, they can only be played in the Heresy era. After the Emperor's incarceration in the Golden Throne they removed their armour and made an oath never to leave the Imperial Palace. 

To the present they stand guard over the living corpse of the Emperor as his mind travels the length and breadth of His dying Imperium. They are silent sentinels, reminders of a heroic and terrible age long past...

Sorry about that, went all poetic on y'all. I'll just cradle my testicles to remind me that I'm a man...


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## AdonisGallus (Sep 19, 2010)

I think they'll have a bigger role in Prospero Burns as well, a small group are attached to the Space Wolves to bring in Magnus the Red to answer for his breaking of his oath to not use his psyker powers.

I'd like to know how the Custodes feel about the Sensei. If it is true and they really are the decendants of the Emperor, would they be compelled to protect them as well?


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Why would they be? They weren't compelled the Primarchs, his sons, they protect the man not his blood line- unlike Space Marines their only purpose is to serve the Emperor, not the Imperium.


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## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

so basically my hopes of some killer Custodes fluff is never gona happen...I am slightly disappointed no lie, I liked their armor, and there background being the personal guard.


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## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

CJay said:


> so basically my hopes of some killer Custodes fluff is never gona happen...I am slightly disappointed no lie, I liked their armor, and there background being the personal guard.


Yeah, it is dissapointing, I would have loved to convert up some of them for an army. Their armour is awesome, especially the fact that their titles are inscribed on the *inside. *But after the Heresy, they were so shamed by having failed to protect the Emperor, that they removed their armour and won't even leave his side, fearing yet another failure of protection to his physical form happening again if they leave.


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## AdonisGallus (Sep 19, 2010)

Baron Spikey said:


> Why would they be? They weren't compelled the Primarchs, his sons, they protect the man not his blood line- unlike Space Marines their only purpose is to serve the Emperor, not the Imperium.


 
Well, each Primarch had his own legion to see to his security.


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## CJay (Aug 25, 2010)

So what are my chances that the GW guys will give the go ahead to give the Custodes an active role in combat?? I know this one is farfetched, but I am totally clinging to hope.


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## Bakunin (Mar 27, 2010)

Baron Spikey said:


> Nope that was the Ecclesiarcal Palace which is on the other side of Terra from the Imperial Palace.


Your probably right, but I was using Codex Witch Hunters as a source which specifically says "Once more the Imperial Palace came under attack, though this time by forces loyal to the Emperor."


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## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

CJay said:


> So what are my chances that the GW guys will give the go ahead to give the Custodes an active role in combat?? I know this one is farfetched, but I am totally clinging to hope.


GW seems to be wishy washy on their fluff - it changes every so often, but you never know how drastically. Chances are it won't happen anytime soon, if at all. Think of all the stuff they have lined up and are working on getting out - Adeptus Custodes is most likely far from their minds.

They also need to re-do the Chaos Dreadnought(the model, not the rules or fluff...although the rules could use some work as well, mine always goes nuts and runs into difficult terrain, exploading.)....only thing that hunk of metal is good for, is to throw it at people you don't like.


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