Good day, fellow Hivers, friends, and the awesome community! 😁 As I continue this year’s Slow Grow League hosted by our local hobby store, you can read more about it here.
I will be posting regular Lore content regarding my army I am working on this year – the Custodes! (Link to post)
Enjoy!
A short intro before we start with the lore focus for this post:
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Adeptus Custodes:
"These men are my bodyguards, their lives forfeit to the guarantee of my physical safety. Of their loyalty to me, there shall be no question nor doubt. I, and I alone, shall have the authority to stand in judgment over them. No other commander shall they have in battle nor in service. None shall bar them from me, and none shall hamper or stall their mission. So it is decreed!" — An ancient declaration made by the Emperor of Mankind during the Age of Strife
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The Adeptus Custodes, known as the Legio Custodes during the era of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, and colloquially as the "Ten Thousand," is the Imperial adepta responsible for protecting the Imperial Palace and the physical body of the Emperor of Mankind. They also serve as His most important emissaries, His companions, and the keepers of His many secrets. The Custodes is an elite cadre of genetically-engineered transhuman warriors who are even more potent in combat than the Adeptus Astartes.
They are to the Space Marines as the Emperor is to His primarchs, and it is rumored that each was created by the Master of Mankind personally. His might permeates them, burns in their eyes, and flows through their veins as surely as their blood. As such, the Adeptus Custodes are widely regarded as the deadliest warriors in the galaxy, Human or otherwise.
Where Space Marines represent the mass-produced, genetically-engineered soldiers of the Imperium of Man, the Adeptus Custodes are a force of individual warriors, each a bastion in his own right and a sentinel of unmatched capability and singular purpose created to counter any possible threat — Human, alien, or Daemonic. These warriors have stood in the presence of the immortal Emperor of Mankind since before the time of the Unification Wars. For ten thousand Terran years and more, the Custodians have stood watch over their lord and master, serving as the Emperor's personal heralds and praetorian bodyguard.
Lore Focus - Custodian Guard:
When Shield Companies of the Adeptus Custodes strikeout to do battle with the enemies of Mankind, it is the Custodian Guard that forms their backbone. These warriors are rank-and-file infantry only insomuch as their numbers are greater than those of the other, more specialized Adeptus Custodes warriors.
Even a single one of their number is a terrifying force of destruction, his every shot perfectly placed, his every cut, thrust, and stab a masterclass in bladesmanship, footwork, and combat awareness that sees enemy corpses fall like dead leaves at his feet. Ferociously strong, phenomenally resilient, utterly without fear or doubt, the Custodian Guard is the equal of many foes' most elite warriors.
A Custodian Guard of the ancient Legio Custodes arrayed in his ornate golden battle-plate and armed with the signature Guardian Spear.
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Custodian Guard are steadfast in defense and unstoppable on the attack. Such squads do not have formal memberships, and Custodians may swap from one squad to another before each new campaign, or even each new battle. With their individualistic fighting styles, the Custodian Guard do not fight as one in the way that a conventional squad of soldiers would — it is enough for them to know that they fight shoulder-to-shoulder with respected comrades, and that their fellows will watch their backs when the enemy press close.
As with all of the Adeptus Custodes, Custodian Guard have the might of the Emperor flowing through their veins, and His aegis of protection hanging around them like a shield. Their traditional armament is the Guardian Spear, a golden halberd so heavy it would take several mortal men to lift it. This composite weapon is both a powered blade capable of hewing a Chaos Space Marine in two and a bolter to engage threats from afar.
Conversely, some Custodian Guard prefer to enter battle armed with a Sentinel Blade and Praesidium Shield. The Sentinel Blade is a broadsword of daunting size, so large its hilt is flanked with the double barrels of a Bolt Caster that can lay down a hail of short-range fire. It is a testament to the strength of the Custodians that they can wield these powered blades one-handed. When coupled with the armored bulwark of the Praesidium Shield — whose protective powers are augmented with a built-in energy shield generator — this potent combination allows the Custodian Guard to cut their foes apart while weathering even the most devastating of attacks.
[Custodian Guard - with a Sentinel Blade and Praesidium Shield ]
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These , Custodian Guard squads are the front line for defense in any Shield company or Shield Host. The combination of demigod-like warriors is a terrifyingly potent one, and when several such squads advance at once, even super-heavy armor and no towering Daemonic abominations can endure their wrath!!!
(Image credit: https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/)
Thanks for reading!
Until next time - Peace😀✌️!
@XenoWolfza🐺
Most info sourced from: (Source Credits :https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/)