Solar Spearhead and Might of the Moritoi: The Custodes List You Cannot Build

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So which one should you take?

This is a genuine decision rather than a trick question, and the answer depends on how much of your army is armoured.

Take Might of the Moritoi (1 DP) when Dreadnoughts are a component of a list that is really about something else. You get the movement and charge bonus, three stratagems and two enhancements, and you keep 2 DP for an anchor that solves a different problem entirely. Two Contemptors moving faster inside a Shield Host or Auric Champions army is a strong, cheap addition to a list that was already working.

Its two enhancements are worth knowing about, because both are Upgrades on an ADEPTUS CUSTODES WALKER unit rather than character relics, so no Character is needed to carry them: Interred Expertise (25 pts) for re-rolls of 1 to hit and to wound, and Auramite Sarcophagus (15 pts) for a 1CP discount on the core Crushing Impact stratagem.

Take Solar Spearhead (2 DP) when the armour is the army. You get the walker mobility rule for free inside it, plus:

Auric Armour, which gives Custodes Vehicles +2 Objective Control while at Starting Strength and escalating re-rolls as they take damage.
Six stratagems instead of three, including Relentless Persecution, which lets a Walker that Advanced shoot and declare a charge, and Unstoppable, which lets vehicles move through terrain.
Four enhancements instead of two.
The Keywords rule, which lets you select up to 2 ADEPTUS CUSTODES WALKER models in the Muster Armies step and give those units the CHARACTER keyword. The pack's own designer's note spells out the consequence: they can take Enhancements and one can be your Warlord.

That last point is the strongest argument for the more expensive detachment, and it is unique in the faction. A Telemon Heavy Dreadnought carrying Augury Uplink for a 5+ Feel No Pain, or a Contemptor-Achillus carrying Adamantine Talisman for +1 Attack, Strength and Damage, exists nowhere else in the Custodes range. If that idea appeals to you, the extra Detachment Point is bought and paid for.

What to build instead

Three lists, all legal, all exactly 3 DP.

A walker component: [Shield Host](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/shield-host) (2 DP) + [Might of the Moritoi](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/might-of-the-moritoi) (1 DP). A generalist core whose Martial Mastery improves every melee attack made by a model with the Martial Ka'tah ability, which includes your Dreadnoughts, plus walkers that actually arrive. The two rules compound on the same models: the Armour Penetration bullet on the round your Contemptor charges, Rendax Stance for [LETHAL HITS] on the swing, and Interred Expertise re-rolling the 1s underneath it. This is our recommendation for a walker-curious first list.

A walker army: [Solar Spearhead](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/solar-spearhead) (2 DP) + [Silent Hunters](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/silent-hunters) (1 DP). The armour does the work, and the Sisters run the objective actions that tanks structurally cannot, which is the specific weakness of every vehicle list. Silent Hunters carries no Unique Tag, so there is no conflict with ARMOURY.

A two-threat army: [Might of the Moritoi](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/might-of-the-moritoi) (1 DP) + [Tharanatoi Hammerblow](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/tharanatoi-hammerblow) (1 DP) + [Silent Hunters](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/silent-hunters) (1 DP). The only legal three-detachment Custodes army. Walkers advancing up the middle, Allarus arriving behind the enemy, Sisters scoring. Their tags are ARMOURY, LIONS and none, so nothing collides.

There is one other pairing this faction blocks, and it works the same way: Lions of the Emperor and Tharanatoi Hammerblow share the LIONS tag, and both print an identical stratagem called Unleash the Lions. The pattern is worth internalising. In an Adeptus Custodes army, the more perfectly two detachments seem to double the same idea, the more likely a Unique Tag stops you. The tags are drawn around exactly the effects that would stack.

Common questions

Can I take Solar Spearhead and Might of the Moritoi in the same army?

No. Both carry the ARMOURY Unique Tag and no two detachments in your army may share one. Faction Pack v1.1 states the tag inside the Might of the Moritoi rule text itself, and the Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 and Wahapedia both record UNIQUE: ARMOURY on both detachments. This is not a contested reading; every source agrees.

Would the two walker rules stack if I could take both?

No, and this is the more useful thing to know. Might of the Moritoi's entire rule and Solar Spearhead's second rule, Moritoi Ancients, are the same effect written twice: +2 inches Move and +1 to Advance and Charge rolls for ADEPTUS CUSTODES WALKER units. Solar Spearhead already contains the whole 1-DP detachment. You would be spending a Detachment Point on something you already had.

Which is better for a Dreadnought list?

Solar Spearhead, if the armour is genuinely the army. You get the walker mobility rule for free inside it, plus vehicle-wide Objective Control and escalating re-rolls, six stratagems instead of three, four enhancements instead of two, and the Keywords rule that promotes up to two Walker models to Characters so they can carry Enhancements and be your Warlord. Take Might of the Moritoi instead when Dreadnoughts are a component of a list built around something else and you want the other 2 DP elsewhere.

Can a Custodes Dreadnought be a Character?

Only in Solar Spearhead. Its Keywords rule lets you select up to 2 ADEPTUS CUSTODES WALKER models in the Muster Armies step, and those units gain the CHARACTER keyword. The pack prints a designer's note confirming that the selected models can be given Enhancements and one can be selected as your Warlord. A Telemon carrying Augury Uplink for a 5+ Feel No Pain is the flagship version, and it is the strongest single reason to pay 2 DP rather than 1.

Are there other illegal Custodes pairings I should know about?

Two more. Lions of the Emperor and Tharanatoi Hammerblow share the LIONS Unique Tag, and Lions of the Emperor costs 3 DP in the current Munitorum Field Manual, so that pairing fails on both tags and budget. And Talons of the Emperor costs 3 DP, which fills the Strike Force budget on its own, so it can never be combined with Silent Hunters or Null Maiden Vigil despite all three being Sisters of Silence detachments.