Suffice to say, you get a Daemon Prince (just like with Tzeentch Daemons), a Herald, Daemonettes as Troops, Seekers as Fast Attack, Fiends as Heavy Assault, and Keeper of Secrets as your Lord of War. You can take a Slaanesh Daemon auxiliary detachment like we have for Tzeentch, but unlike that time where you've to be Thousand Sons Traitors (which has since been errata-ed to be any Traitor Legion), you don't need to be Emperor's Children to take one. You just need to be Traitor and bring along an Esoterist, which unlocks a HQ, two Troops slot, 1 Heavy Assault and 1 Fast Attack. Deja vu? Swap the Heavy Assault for Support, and you'll see Tzeentch all over again.
The Templi Prudentia, which seems to be the precursors to the Shadowkeepers Shield Host, detects a disturbance in the warp originating from the Signus Cluster, so they go there. The Blood Angels expedition spots them, but they do the whole secretive Custodes thing and tell them to behave as if they're not there. While the IXth Legion investigates the outer system, the Legio Custodes go to the inner system instead, having only a single ship...but lots of armor, lots of jetbikes and lots of Custodes. Relatively - there are a few hundred Custodes, from what I can tell. They are also accompanied by a cohort of Tyrian Exoguard, who's commanded by Marshal Artuk Rahm.
There's also a new Solar Auxilia detachment that's affiliated with Slaanesh, and they get the Fast rule. It's similar to the Tzeentch Solar Auxilia detachment, but those guys get a 6+ invulnerable save against psychic weapons and Perils of the Warp. I guess Fast is better? Oh, well. Right, I almost forgot. We have a new unit for Traitor Solar Auxilia, the Exalted Section, which is an Elites slot of 10-20 dudes with lasrifles. But if you take them with lasrifles, you're doing it wrong - you might as well take lasrifle sections (though they admittedly have a better BS4...but what's the use of having your Strength 3 lasrifles hit on a 3+ instead of 4+?). Nope, you're taking them for their 2 attacks base and option to turn them into melee mutants for Solar Auxilia.
They can swap their lasrifle for a laspistol and charnabal saber for free, then you can swap either a laspistol or a charnabal saber for a razorclaw for 5 points. Razorclaw too lackluster despite 6+ breaching and rending, and phage (willpower)? Swap your charnabal saber for a hooklash instead, for 10 points, which retains the phage (willpower) but gives up 6+ breaching and rending for Initiative +2 and 2 more attacks. You can take melee auxilia weapons if neither Slaanesh appeals to you, and with a tasty WS4, why not? The Journal Tactica suggests you build them using Solar Auxilia infantry models and heads and arms from Slaanesh Daemonettes.
Anyway, we're here for the lore, as usual. So basically, the Signus Cluster has three primary stars and seven inhabited planets, divided into the inner and outer systems. If you've read Fear to Tread by James Swallow or Malevolence, both Horus Heresy books where one's a novel and the other's the original Black Book for Horus Heresy first edition, you'll be familiar with the story by now.
Sanguinius and the Blood Angels land on Signus Prime, face a horde of Khorne Daemons - led by Ka'bandha - and almost succumb. Fortunately, after being defeated by Ka'bandha once, Sanguinius gets back up and wins the second round. The IXth Legion then leaves Signus Prime, forever scarred by their encounter with the Daemons there. Oh, and their flagship, The Red Tear, crash-lands on Signus Prime, and a bunch of Space Wolves get killed (by Amit, if I recall correctly) when they find out about the IXth Legion's curse.
The journal tactica doesn't focus on that. Before we get there, let's talk about the Signus Cluster. The outer system, where Signus Prime is, consists of...well, Signus Prime and a couple more worlds. Ta-loc and Scoltrum, rapidly developing industrial bases, the Hive World Holst, and Phorus, which serves as a navigational waypoint and astropathic nexus.
The inner system, on the other hand, only has two worlds - the mining world of Signus Tertius and the irradiated Kol, home to the 606th Cohort of the Solar Auxilia, the Signian Vexatores. They're more commonly known as the Rad Serpents, though.
The Templi Prudentia, which seems to be the precursors to the Shadowkeepers Shield Host, detects a disturbance in the warp originating from the Signus Cluster, so they go there. The Blood Angels expedition spots them, but they do the whole secretive Custodes thing and tell them to behave as if they're not there. While the IXth Legion investigates the outer system, the Legio Custodes go to the inner system instead, having only a single ship...but lots of armor, lots of jetbikes and lots of Custodes. Relatively - there are a few hundred Custodes, from what I can tell. They are also accompanied by a cohort of Tyrian Exoguard, who's commanded by Marshal Artuk Rahm.
The Legio Custodes are commanded by Tribune Iseulte Eir Xanthe, who has four Shield Captains under her, including Medraut - who's in charge of the Aquilon Terminators - and Jan Morkael Brathe, who rides a jetbike and is in charge of armor. Their ship, Obisidian, goes to orbit around Kol, but there's defense lasers, so they instead go to the far side of Kol and land armor to destroy the lasers first.
Unfortunately, the Rad Serpents have been lying in ambush, and their armored columns and heavy weapons strike, killing at least two Custodes outright and wrecking their jetbikes when Brathe's outriders pull ahead of the host's armored column. Obviously, the Custodes are not happy, so they crash into the Rad Serpents' ambush lines and exterminate them...but at great cost.
They then proceed to Ostium, the fortress-city that's the gateway to Koi's underground warrens. At first, it appears empty, but it turns out to be a trap. While the Legio Custodes are inside, the concealed Rad Serpents blow the place, burying them, then ambush the isolated survivors. To be fair, there are a lot of survivors, and the Custodes inevitably win against the mortals, but at great cost. In any event, the destruction of Ostium means the orbital defensive lasers are silenced, and the Obisdian can safely orbit Kol now. Apparently jetpack Custodes - the Venetarii - drop down from the Obisidian to rescue the survivors from the Rad Serpents' ambush, mitigating their casualties.
Xanthe then dispatches the Tyrian Exoguard to clear the rubble Ostium is reduced to, so they can go underground, exposing them to radiation. Yikes. She then instructs Proconsul Columbanus and a bunch of Custodes to go in ahead of them, once a small opening is cleared, and establish a foothold.
Columbanus and his forces encounter both Rad Serpents and Slaanesh Daemons before they are annihilated. Ouch.
Once a bigger opening is forced, Xanthe then sends Medraut and the Aquilon Terminators in. They encounter the Slaanesh Daemons, including a Greater Daemon, and Medraut vanquishes it while being wounded. They do manage to get their foothold and reach the mines, and Xanthe gives the Custodes a break, sending the Tyrian Exoguard as the vanguard this time. Unfortunately, the Solar Auxilia encounters not just Daemons and Rad Serpents, but Word Bearers, including Saturnine Terminators among their forces. Rahm is mortally wounded, but the Solar Auxilia stand strong until the Custodes reinforce them, wiping out the Word Bearers and the Slaanesh Daemons that appear to aid the latter. Medraut fights the re-summoned Greater Daemon once more, vanquishing it again, despite his grievous wounds. Such a badass.
They then continue downward, deeper, until they reach the heart of Kol, where a giant rift thing has been brought to existence. Apparently, it's the cause of the daemonic incursions in the Signus Cluster, including the Khorne hordes besetting the beleaguered Blood Angels on Signus Prime. The Rad Serpents here are the elites of the Solar Auxilia Cohort, but are horribly mutated, and they and the Slaanesh Daemons attack the Custodes and Tyrian Exoguard. The leader of the Rad Serpents, Grand Marshal Bruja, is fatally injured, but he merges with the Greater Daemon to become Kyriss the Perverse.
Medraut manages to pin Kyriss in place, but is killed. Fortunately, his valiant actions buy Xanthe the opening she needs to impale Kyriss to the wall with the standard of the Tyrian Exoguard, which she rescued from a dying Rahm and vowed to never let it fall in honor of their service. With Kyriss's demise, the Slaanesh Daemons vanish, and the surviving "elite" mutated Rad Guard are exterminated by the vengeful remnants of the Legio Custodes. Apparently, that also helps Sanguinius awaken from his coma, allowing him to defeat Ka'Bandha this time.
Taking their dead with them, the Legio Custodes blow up the entire place to destroy the rift thing, then leave. They don't join the Blood Angels in leaving the Signus Cluster, and definitely do not end up in Imperium Secundus or the Realm of Ultramar, unlike Sanguinius and his IXth Legion. But evidently, they are able to return to Holy Terra, for they're able to inscribe Medraut's name in a tomb in the Imperial Palace, honoring his courage and sacrifice.
And that's it. I wonder what's the next Journal Tactica going to be...Nurgle? Or Khorne? Also, I want a Shield-Captain in Aquilon Terminator armor...c'mon, give us rules for an Aquilon Terminator Shield-Captain for Horus Heresy (and 11th edition)! This book gives us a cheaper Proconsul (basically a budget Shield-Captain), a Venetarii Proconsul (jumppack budget Shield-Captain) and updated rules for the new jetbikes. So why can't we get an Aquilon Terminator Shield-Captain/Proconsul?
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