This is my last 8th Edition Astra Militarum game… Cadians vs Custodes. This game is for a league at Boards and Swords, but not this league I am in. This is for a 40-player league split into four divisions of ten players. The top players of each division will play off for a final winner sometime in Feb/March next year. There are ten players in a division, you play everyone once, and there is one game per month. So my games will be completed nine months from June.

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In my division, there are the following factions taking part;

• Astra Militarum (me)
• Tau – Game 1
• Craftworlds – Game 2
• Thousand Sons – Game 3
• Death Guard – Game 4
• Necrons – Game 5
• Custodes – Game 6
• Flesh Tearers – Game 7
• Grey Knights – Game 8 or 9
• Orks – Game 8 or 9

This game was at Boards and Swords in Derby.

I used the GoonHammer Tabletop Battles Beta app for this game, which is why the output at the bottom differs from the usual ITC app output.

Pacificus Division

Here are the current standings before this game…

Cadians 1,500 Points List

This game uses the Nephilim GT Book. All the infantry was run as Cadians, despite them not being Cadians. ;-)

This is the last time I will get to field a force like this…

Cadian Battalion Detachment

Command Points

• 1CP for my first Relic – Gatekeeper
• 3CP for a Whiteshields
• 2CP for a Patrol Detachment
• I will be starting on 0CP

HQ

• Commissar Yarrick
• Warlord Company Commander
• Tank Commander with Gatekeeper Battle Cannon, Slow and Purposeful Tank Ace Heavy Bolter and Plasma Cannons

Troops

• 6x units of 30 Whiteshield Cadian Conscripts

Elites

• Command Squad with Regimental Standard, Medi-pack and Vox Caster
• Platoon Commander with Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
• Platoon Commander with Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
• Platoon Commander with Plasma Pistol and Power Sword

Cadian Patrol Detachment – 2CP

HQ

• Company Commander

Troops

• Infantry Squad with Lascannon, Vox-Caster and Meltagun

Elites

• Command Squad with Regimental Standard, Medi-pack and Vox Caster

This makes 203 models in total!

Cadian Secondaries

• Inflexible Command
• Boots on the Ground
• RND

Custodes 1,500 Points List

This is from memory, so might be slightly incorrect;

• 2x Dreadnoughts
• 2x units of three Infantry
• Trajaan
• A hover tank
• Character on bike
• 3x bikes

Custodes Secondaries

• Assassination
• Engage on all Fronts
• No Prisoners

The Mission – Death and Zeal

• Control one or more objective markers.
• Control two or more objective markers.
• Control more objective markers than their opponent controls.

At the end of each player’s turn, the player whose turn it scores 2VP if they satisfy one of the following conditions, or 3VP if they satisfy both of the following conditions:

• They control every objective marker on the battlefield, or they control at least one objective marker they did not control at the start of their turn.
• They destroyed at least one enemy unit within range of an objective marker at the start of their turn.

Deployment

The Custodes had a re-deploy on some units, and a single Dreadnought had a pregame move. This put a Dreadnought very close to me and also hid all the bikes from my Tank Commander if I got the first turn.

Turn 1

Astra Militarum

I got the first turn and moved my Tank Commander to see a Dreadnought. Then moved a lot of infantry up the battlefield. I had a unit of Conscripts Move, Move, Move on the right and left flank and one in the centre.

After a lot of shooting from the Tank Commander and then a lot of Lasguns, the first Dreadnought went down… which was a good job as it had a pregame move and was right in my face.

Custodes

Those Custodes hit so hard! They came back and wiped out nearly 60 of my Conscripts without breaking a sweat after their shooting and charging were all done.

The bikes used their Salvo Launchers against my Tank Commander, with three hits and two wounds. I failed both saves, re-rolled one and failed. This was 2D3+6 damage so that it could take all 12 Wounds.

Henry rolled 11 Wounds and used a CP to re-roll one of the results, giving him the 12 he needed to pop the Tank Commander.

Not only did that remove my only decent anti-armour shooting, but it also would deny me 1VP for the rest of the game as I could not score Inflexible Command now in full.

But, I had swamped the left and right flank and had 60 Conscripts close to the centre.

Turn 2

Astra Militarum

My Conscripts moved up right and left again and into the centre. Command Squads, Yarrick and a Company Commander moved into the centre too.

My Shooting Phase was very poor this turn; I removed one Bike, I think. The lasgun’s weight of fire was just not heavy enough.

I was still holding Objectives in the middle and on either flank. The Custodes get to fight first unless I charge, so I was charging my Conscripts in to try and get some hits in before the inevitable deaths. Overwatch would have been getting than melee, but I was really lacking on CP.

Custodes

The charges came from Bikes and the last Dreadnought. Many Guardsmen died.

Turn 3

Astra Militarum

I moved to take the centre and got Yarrick to charge into the Bikes; he did nothing! I had a very poor Shooting Phase this turn; my 30 Conscripts in the top right failed to kill three of the enemy Infantry. Which was a shame as that would have been good for Inflexible Command.

Custodes

More death this turn, Yarrick died along with Guardsmen in the centre and right flank. I was still holding Objectives, but would it be enough…

Turn 4 & 5

I was tabled in Turn four, so Turn five was scoring. It took the Custodes four turns to munch through over 200 Wounds of Toughness 3 Guardsmen! Which was OK, and I did hold Objectives well for the first half of the game.

Summary

And so that wraps up the 8th Edition Astra Militarum Codex for me. It was a good run during 8th, but hell in 9th. The Guard has been in a very difficult spot pre Balance Sheet. They got better with Armour of Contempt and Hammer of the Emperor – but still struggled with Secondaries.

Nachmund did nothing to help with that. Nephilim helped with the new Secondaries, and Guard was able to perform better in tournaments and was able to get a win with the right combo vs Death Guard and Thousand Sons.

They could perform with a very specific set of models and a set of Secondaries, which is not very fun and is not why I started playing them eight or so years ago. I hope the new Codex, due in two days, will go along way to making them fun to play with again… see you on the other side, fellow Commanders…

Final Score

Astra Militarum – 61
Custodes – 83

Custodes Victory