Chambers Militant and other Inquisitors

[Chengar Qordath]

What exactly is the relationship between a Chamber Militant and Inquisitors from outside their associated Ordo? Could an Inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus or Xenos have Sisters of Battle under their command if they were the closest/best force available? What about Inquisitors that aren't aligned with any of the Ordos? Could a Hereticus Inquisitor facing Damonic activity in the course of hunting down a dangerous witch request a contingent of Grey Knights?

[Grand Master Tyrak]

I expect you could call for Chamber Militant aid from outside your Ordo if needed. I doubt you could ask for some "just in case", and they're unlikely to be as trusting of you either. Nor is your request going to get priority, is there is a waiting list. In short, yes, I'd expect you could, but with none of the perks and ease of access that comes of using your own Chamber Militant.

[TheDarkApostle]

Inquisitors changing Ordo or even belonging to several Ordos at once is not unheard of.

 

And I'm sure pretty much all of them would make sure to have contacts and standing favors they can call on in any Ordo they're not affiliated with at the time being, in case an emergency happens.

 

TDA

[Chengar Qordath]

That makes a lot of sense; we already know there is a lot of internal political conflict within the Inquisition, so I don't see any reason why access to Chamber Militant troops and/or equipment wouldn't be involved at some point. Do a favor for an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor he'll place a squad of Deathwatch Marines under your command, and the same for other Inquisitors. Inquisitors of any Ordo also generally seek to develop working relationships with Potentialliy Useful Individuals, a category that could easily include a Canoness or Grandmaster (plenty of Inquisitors work with SM Chapter Masters or IG Commanders after all).

 

I'd imagine it would be easier for non-Ordo Inquisitors to gain access to Sisters of Battle than, simply because the Adepta Sororitas is a galaxy-spanning organization with billions of members, while the Grey Knights and Deathwatch are IIRC comparable in size to other Space Marine chapters.

[Kaled100]

One of the reasons that Inquisitor Lords exist is to marshall the resources of the Inquisition - thus, for example, I imagine an Inquisitor Lord of the Ordo Xenos would provide oversight on deployments of the Deathwatch. The Deathwatch are a resource belonging to the Ordo and are (generally) not for the use of non-members. Of course there are going to be instances where the Deathwatch are needed by an Inquisitor who is not a member of the Ordo, and presumably if the Inquisitor is in good standing and known to the Inquisitor Lord, then the request would be sanctioned (although I can imagine the Lord sending along a member of his retinue as an 'observer'). I'd also suggest that should it become known that an Inquisitor is using Ordo resources in order to further his own standing - i.e. the aforementioned lending of Deathwatch squads in return for favours, that this would be disapproved of by the Lord, and should a member of the Ordo be guilty of doing this on a regular basis the Lord might have words with them and in extreme cases eject them from the Ordo thus cutting off their access to its resources altogether.

[jeffersonian000]

One way of looking at it is that each Inquisitor is the head of his/her own cell of operatives with the ability to acquisition any imperial resource they deam necessary to carry out their mandate from the Emperor Himself. Each Inquisitor also specializes in a specific task within his mandate, such as investigating and containing alien influences over the empire, hunting down mutants and heretics, or fighting daemons where ever they may appear. In this, each Inquisitor has developed contacts and associations within their specific order of the inquisition, and have come to a reliable level of trust with one or more of the Chambers Militant associated with the three different mandates: contain alien influences, hunt the heretic, stop the daemon.

 

In game, this is where we see the breakdown in wargear and henchmen available to what are affectively the same Inquisitor Lord and elite Inquisitor.

 

Which is to say, their wargear and henchmen determine their Ordo, while all Inquisitors are functionally the same and have the same access to each of the Chambers Militant (via allies rules).

 

SJ

[Kaled100]

In this, each Inquisitor has developed contacts and associations within their specific order of the inquisition, and have come to a reliable level of trust with one or more of the Chambers Militant associated with the three different mandates: contain alien influences, hunt the heretic, stop the daemon.

I disagree - the Ordos are 'clubs' made up of Inquisitors who have banded together to share resources and information etc about how to best combat their chosen foe, be that aliens, daemons, rogue assassins etc. The oldest and largest Ordos will have amassed all manner of resources such as fortresses, libraries, stormtrooper corps, and of course the Chambers Militant. These resources are there for the use of members of the Ordo, and are (generally) unavailable to anyone who is not a member.

 

An Inquisitor has absolute authority, and so could try to order a squad of Deathwatch (for example) to accompany him, but the Deathwatch have already made solemn oathes to the Ordo Xenos and if another Inquisitor tries to order them around they may not respond as they are duty bound to the Ordo Xenos. The Inquisitor could press the point, but the Deathwatch could simply appeal to members of the Ordo who would no doubt recind the order given by the non-Ordo Xenos Inquisitor. The Chambers Militant, like all Ordo resources, are not there for the use of Inquisitors in general. There are resources available to non-Ordo Inquisitors, but these are generally attached to a regional Conclave, or to a specific cell, cabal or factional group

 

Which is to say, their wargear and henchmen determine their Ordo, while all Inquisitors are functionally the same and have the same access to each of the Chambers Militant (via allies rules).

Choice of wargear and henchmen in no way determines an Inquisitor's Ordo. Either you are a member of an Ordo or you aren't. If you're not a member of the Ordo Xenos, then you can still hunt aliens; you simply won't have access to the specialised resources of the Ordo.

[jeffersonian000]

You are quoting me out of context. I advised that rules-wise, the only difference between inquisitors from different Ordos is their wargear and their henchmen. The only two sets of published Ordo inquisitors have identical stat-lines, yet they each pull their wargear from different armouries (Chamber Militant specific) and select their henchmen from specific lists. The allies rules allow you to field an Inquisitor with a psycannon and terminator armour in a Sisters of Battle army, yet he still cannot grab a WH Crusader as a henchman because in order to get DH gear, you need to buy a DH inquisitor.

 

SJ

[Kaled100]

You are quoting me out of context. I advised that rules-wise, the only difference between inquisitors from different Ordos is their wargear and their henchmen.

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood you. However, perhaps I still do because although I agree that the difference between the DH and WH Inquisitors is their equipment and henchmen, you said that those things determine the Ordo whereas it's the other way around isn't it? The Ordo you choose for the Inquisitor determines which equipment and henchmen you can select.

[jeffersonian000]

It's all on how you look at it. An Inquisitor is an Inquisitor, but the Inquistor with a Mystic is an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor.

 

SJ