Games Workshop has been moving away from the concept of one army for two systems. And yet the Custodes are fighting that battle now.
If you’ve been playing Warhammer for any number of years you know that Games Workshop likes to sell you on collecting armies for their games. Rarely, we get an army that plays in two (or more) of their game systems. The best and oldest example is the Chaos Daemons. But more recently, GW has been trying to split them in out. In the case of the Chaos Daemons, they are still viable as armies in Age of Sigmar. You just have to run them as a part of other armies or as allies. It’s weird. For and for 40k, well, technically, there’s still an Index for them. But it really feels like a mixed bag.
So for folks who were wanting to play in both AoS and 40k with a single army Chaos Daemons still works. Kinda. But the trend seemed to be that GW was wanting to move away from that as an option. The theory that I’ve seen is that it’s because GW wanted to be able to trace the sales back to particular game systems. I can see why that could be true but that’s just a theory.
But then the Adeptus Custodes have entered the chat now. While they are very clearly a 40k army they also have a ton of cross over for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy now. And with the new Battle Force coming out, I’m starting to see a valid way to play them in both game systems.
Legio Custodes Battle Group – The Cross Over Starter Army Box
You could make the case that Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy are just different versions of the same game. And you’d be on to something. But the Custodes (Legio or Adeptus) are one model line that you can use for either game with very few issues. While not every single unit can be used in either game there’s MANY units that make up the core of the army that can be used in either game.
The Legio Custodes Battle Group is a perfect example. Every unit in that box can be used in either system. There’s points for all of them in 40k even though this is a “Horus Heresy Battle Force” boxed set. They might be a tad thinner than the 40k versions but that’s about it. The Legio Custodian Guard or Sentinels are basically 1:1 replacements for Adeptus Custodian Guard or Wardens. Even the Caladius Annihilator has points in 40k, too.
It was a Forge World model and now it’s coming as a new Plastic Kit. I don’t think anyone is going to complain about which version you’re using for your Custodes army.
Cross Over Appeal
If you are looking to play a Custodes army in both systems (40k or Horus Heresy), there are a few units and characters in the Custodes that don’t cross over. I’m really thinking of named characters and that’s really it. The point is that if you have a 40k army of Custodes all you’d really need at this point is to get the up coming Liber Custodes book and then figure out which of your models have Horus Heresy rules. I’m willing to bet with very few additions you could actually field a Horus Heresy army with your existing Adeptus Custodes army already.
The reverse is likely true as well. You’d probably need to pick-up the Codex, but you can already point out a Custodes army right now. Again, you won’t have ALL your units but a chunk of them will be options. Unless you went for a hyper specific or specialized list of course.
Anyhow, I’m curious to see what GW does with this in the long run. The Custodes range isn’t huge by any means. But it’s one of the armies in both 40k and Horus Heresy with that cross-over army appeal.
And before someone say it in the comments, sure, technically you can count all the Space Marine armies (both loyal and traitor) as crossover armies, too. But for the loyalists you can’t use any Primaris units and for the Traitors you’d have to go for a very specific pre-heresy look. Those are really the OG crossover armies, aren’t they!
Would you start a Custodes army just so you can play both 40k and The Horus Heresy?
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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