u/Dakkadakka4u

It seems pretty rare that anyone takes the sword and shield over the spears. The extra wound is nice perk, but that 1 damage is a back breaker.

Is there a fix to make this a tough decision? -1 AP but still 2 wounds might do it.

Having just been a Custodes player for a year, has it always been like this? Any hope of making such cool models a better choice?

I played in the 2026 Arkansas GT this weekend, put on by Centar Gaming in Little Rock, with my Shield Host list, led by Cavillus the Aura Farmer. Really good event, very well managed. The trains ran on time, everything was very clear and well laid out - and the tables and terrain were really good as well. Swag bags filled with snacks, door prizes, and trinkets were great little add-ons as well. This was my first time at this event, and my first 2 day event in probably close to 15 years? And back then it was Fantasy - but GW killed my game, replaced it with salt cod flavored ice cream, so when I came back, it was 40k.

6 Game event, all my games were stellar, and I played 5 Armies I had not played before, and 6 new opponents. Even the one army I had played against before was fielding all different stuff - so almost every game was filled with horrifying surprises.

My list:

• Shield Cpt with Castellan Mark in a unit of 4 guard
• 2 Blade champs: 1 with Auric Mantle (in a 4 warden unit), and a naked one in 5 warden
• 4 other guard (usually in reserve)
• 2 x 2 terms
• 2 x 3 Jump packs
• 4 witch seekers
• Grav Tank

Game 1 - Vs Grey Knights. Love this army, so cool with all the uppy-downy, he was a heavy hitter in the event, playing at the top couple of tables the whole weekend. He dispatched me handily, but was great fun doing it, and coached me some along the way. Props to him. Cavillus and crew drop to 0-1.

Game 2 - Dark Eldar (no I will not call them that weird made up name). Again very good opponent, totally new list to me, didn't know how ANYTHING worked. Well, that was bloody. Made a mistake in underestimating how strong their shooting can spike, and it cost me a warden unit, then HE made a mistake in underestimating how hard guardians on an objective can hit in melee. Lots of back and forth, into a hard fought draw. Cavillus and crew up to 0-1-1.

Game 3 - IG. Well, those guns sure can shoot a long way.....This was probably the most light hearted game of the weekend. He had 5 or 6 tanks, some horsie boys, and some big artillery pieces, that kept reducing the speed of my infantry units. We had a tank battle that was absolutely pathetic with no wounds done to my tank, and my tank not wounding anything else. My tank was ONLY injured when I blew up his tank in HTH with wardens. I believe his kommisar executed some folks afterwards. I won this one, but not by a ton. Cavillus and crew sneak up to 1-1-1.

Game 4 - World Eaters. This was actually a member of my game group, and a tough as nails player, but total class act. VERY back and forth trading game. 2 times we had the same scenario play out, with identical results: his character led HUGE bezerker mobs hit my wardens like a freight train, wiped them out, but left the Blade champion alive....heh, heh, heh....Angry BC then proceeds to stab the master of executioners in the face, and also Kharn the Betrayer in the other scrum....holding up those units for Venetari and Guardians to come in and clean house (Image in the post). Another super close game, Cavillus and Crew sneak out of the kiddie pool to 2-1-1.

Game 5 - Death Watch. I knew nothing about these guys coming into it. Now I want this army. Lots of uppy downy, lots of good shooting lots of nasty surprises for me. In the turn where he should have broken my back, my wardens and blade champ stand strong, shrugging off a million Ap76, D300 attacks taking 1 wound from a fights first unit that appeared out of the warp to heroically intervene on my charge. ANGRY wardens hit back hard, and stop his relentless advance. Very close game and at the very end, they eek out a win. Cavillus and Crew drop to 2-1-2.

Game 6 - Custodes Shield Host. Absolutely no surprises here, just a hard fought, take turns kicking each other in the crotch game. Biggest issue is all the trades weren't getting US points, but were keeping each other from scoring points. end of the game, he had a Land Raider, a Caladius, and a couple guardians left. I had 2 Venetari and 4 witch seekers left. (WAIT, THE WITCH SEEKERS LIVED??) Another hard fought draw, 2-2-2.

Clearly, a pretty even weekend. My Tank got the lowest grades, failing to kill a single model in the entire event, it was severely terrain challenged, and when I DID get some shots, whiffed. I even tried rolling it into a unit to tank shock, where it failed. My wardens did some serious work throughout the weekend as my vanguard/hammer/bulwark. I think I have to give my MVP to the Jump Pack lads though. I never really dropped them into the enemies backfield, but essentially brought them into to reinforce or support my guard/wardens. My little 2 man terminator squads were my backfield harassment/scamps because its harder to screen out 2 bases.

Award time was pretty good for me, as I won Best Appearance (will post pics, but most of my stuff is already on the reddit), and WOULD have also won Best Sports with 5/6 Best Game votes, but you could only win 1 (and appearance was my goal). I was going to post the shots of the army, but really those pics are already in this subreddit, and I didn't want to spam you guys with stuff you've already seen.

https://preview.redd.it/vylqcxwacj0h1.jpg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99455fe3cbf214b80cbf2749d4d8e034149f0fce