Inquisition factions in Shadow War

[Ioldanach]

GW has given us "Inquisition" rules, though they are for the Ordo Xenos. If we look at that faction's rules as a template, how might the other factions, including the Ordos Malleus and Hereticus as well as generalists (so three new factions) look?

 

The replacement of the Deathwatch with Grey Knights, Adepta Sororitas, and "plain" Adeptus Astartes, respectively, seems fairly obvious to me. What other fighter roster and weapons/equipment would you change?

[Lysimachus]

I'd kinda like to see six options, to allow for Puritan/Radical variants of the three main Ordos. So while you have DW for the regular Xenos Inquisitor, you could have a Radical option with Tau or Eldar of some variety? And Malleus could have GK for Puritan and maybe a Daemonhost/Spawn for Radicals?

[Brother Tyler]

I'd like to see a little more variety in Inquisitorial kill teams (i.e., not just differences in the power armour and equipment) - it would be nice to have some thematically appropriate fighters/special operatives. I can definitely see an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor (of Radical bent) having a bound daemon thingy (ah, a daemonhost - seen after re-reading LySiMachus's post above ) as a special operative option.

 

As far as LySiMachus's suggestion for Puritan/Radical options goes, perhaps it would be easier to reflect that in special rules where certain weapons/equipment/special operatives are identified as Puritan/Radical and an Inquisitorial kill team can only have one or the other. Since some factions have only three special operative options, the dedicated Inquisitorial factions could have four, with two being generalist, one being Puritan, and one being Radical. This would allow some campaign progression "choose your own adventure" kind of decision-making where you choose which path you take, if either, as the campaign moves along.

[Brother Tyler]

Getting back to this (since recent topics in this forum have rekindled my thinking about SWA kill teams), perhaps there could be four Inquisition kill team lists - Ordo Hereticus, Ordo Malleus, Ordo Xenos, and Ordo Genericus.

 

The existing kill team serves as a foundation for an Ordo Xenos list, and serves as a basic model for all of the others. One addition would be a rule by which you choose whether or not your Inquisitor is a Puritan or a Radical, which provides certain options/limits regarding weapons, wargear, and special operatives. You wouldn't be able to change that Puritan/Radical "alignment," but if your Inquisitor died and you promoted a new Leader, that new Leader might then make their own choice.

 

There would be a basic stable of weapons and equipment, with each specialist order having certain special options based on their specialty. The "Ordo Genericus" would need a bit of work in order to make it distinct from the others, but it could be done.

 

My suggestion for four special operatives for each list stands, giving two generic options, 1 Puritan, and 1 Radical (a total of 3 special operatives available, in line with most of the other kill teams).