The Velsen Sector: KrautScientist's INQ28

[KrautScientist]

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Various members of the most holy and exalted Velsian Ordos of the Emperor’s Inquisition and their affiliates as well as some of their enemies, dastardly recidivists and heretics, all.

 

 

Hey everyone, time for yet another thread! :)

 

Those of you who have been following my ongoing World Eaters thread might already have read my thoughts about opening a dedicated thread for my INQ28 models here on the board, and now it's finally time for that: Ever since getting back into the hobby in 2010, after a longer hobby hiatus, creating models and characters for Inquisitor (or Inquisimunda or INQ28 or whatever you want to call it) has been the second big pillar of my hobby, along with my World Eaters. I still remember being drawn into the whole INQ28 cosmos by places like Commissar Molotov's INQ28 blog or the Ammobunker's INQ28 board, and I've never looked back since:

 

INQ28 has become such a fascinating way for me to explore the world of Warhammer 40k away from the battlefield: The kind of setting jokingly referred to as "domestic 40k" by Dan Abnett: The world in-between the cracks, where a shadow war is being fought for the soul of the Emperor. A world equally informed by Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels and by the grimdark and gothic madness epistomised by artists like John Blanche or Wayne England.

 

So yeah, I have been building INQ28 models for quite some time now, and seeing how The Bolter & Chainsword remains such a vibrant and alive community - even at a time when so many hobbyists seem content to leave forums and blogs behind for the (presumptively) greener pastures of social media, it seemed like the right time to finally show off my stuff over here as well. I have amassed quite a collection at this point: Exactly 50 models as of yesterday ;)

 

 

To me, INQ28 is not so much a ruleset as a state of mind: A way of exploring the setting and the lore behind the 40k universe and a way of building and creating characters in that setting. It's also a great way of dipping my toes into dozens of different smaller projects at the same time: Building retinues and warbands instead of entire armies not only allows for lots and lots of variety, it also provides the breathing space to turn every model into an actual character, instead of a mere playing piece.

 

While the collection of models shown above may seem haphazard and utterly chaotic at first glance, there is an overarching method to the madness: For our shared INQ28 activities, fellow hobbyist DexterKong and I have come up with a joint adventurescape, the Velsen Sector, our very own little corner of the Warhammer 40k universe:

 

 

And while Dexter is on the opposite side of the planet from me, we keep exchanging ideas, both about our characters and about the overarching lore behind our setting, on a regular basis. This has proven to be wonderfully inspiring, and there's more than one case of models (and characters) being informed by the greater setting we have come up with. So even if we should never get together for an actual game of INQ28 ( I shouldn't hope so, but it's possible), the characters we come up still draw from the world building we have put into the setting. And there are also several big and small narrative arcs that already define the Velsen Sector: The Rise and Fall of the Lamtron Trading Conglomerate and the derring-do of Karis Lamtron, the scion of the House. The political machinations by powerful nobles and the Mandelholtz House of Imperial Finance to gain political leverage in the light of the sector governor's failing health. The pursuit of that most devious and dangerous splinter sect of radical Thorians, "The Fragmentarians". And, of course, the terrible truth behind the life - and death - of Velsen's own sacred martyr, Sabasto the Sword-Saint.

 

All of this may or may not be revealed in the future. In any case, there's a lot going on that informs my creation of new characters for this setting. So allow me to begin by sharing some of the warbands I have come up with so far.

 

Let's start with my first ever INQ28 warband:

 

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The retinue of Inquisitor Lazarus Antrecht, Ordo Malleus Velsen:

 

 

From left to right: Arco-flagellants Molotov XXVIII and Enoch 451 | The Mandalorian (a bounty hunter and blatant shout out to Star Wars) | The Daemonhost Zalambur | Inquisitor Lazarus Antrecht | His servo-skull familiar, Mercutio | Elias Cobb, diminuitive twist sniper | Magos Explorator Hiram Zeiss | Operative Sigma, a former Ordo Assassinorum Operative turned around by Antrecht | Klytus, Chrono-Gladiator.

 

 

Back when I first built this warband, I really wanted to create a radical Inquisitor, and Antrecht's merry collection of freaks reflects that: Antrecht has gone very far in his pursuit of a possible sector-wide conspiracy of a shadowy faction know as "The Fragmentarians", and he has few lines left to cross and even fewer friends left to lose (think the late-era Eisenhorn, and you're not far off the mark). Which is why Antrecht's warband mostly consists of freaks and monsters: There really aren't too many respectable characters still prepared to throw in their lot with the rogue Inquisitor.

 

Antrecht was inspired both by Eisenhorn (obviously) and by Phil Kelly's old warband for Inquisitor Liechtenstein (who, in turn, was an Eisenhorn expy, so yeah):

 

 

 

Inquisitor Liechtenstein and retinue by Phil Kelly

 

 

You can definitely see where my models took inspiration from Phil Kelly's work -- arguably blatantly so, in some cases

 

 

In hindsight, it feels like I may have tried to hard with some of the radicalism in Antrecht's warband: His retinue seems a bit too extreme, with few proper characters. I am still fairly happy with the old rascal, though, and some of his operatives still seem rather interesting:

 

 

Speaking of which, you can always take a closer look at the detailed backstory of my INQ28 characters here on my blog, as long as you don't mind reading through huge walls of text Always remember, though: Everything you have been told is a lie.

 

 

[inquistor Antrecht by DexterKong]

 

 

For now, Antrecht and his retinue are a good place as any to start this thread. So please let me know what you think and stay tuned for more!

[Kierdale]

Wow :D

I think I need to get into INQ28 sometime!

Very much looking forward to seeing more closeups.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine models. Good job.

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, guys! :)

[Shovellovin]

One of the most interesting things about INQ28 is that every creation is unique. I love how your models are your own creation. Please continue to share your work.

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, Shovellovin! Yes, INQ28 allows for creating truly individual models (and characters). At the same time, making sure those models all tie together into a given warband or retinue can be just as interesting -- it's a challenging balance to get right, but also a very rewarding experience.

 

So, nobody else seems to have to say anything, unfortunately, so let's proceed to the next Inquisitor retinue. This one was actually started at the same time as Inquisitor Antrecht's warband (seeing how the Inquisitors are former friends), but has taken far longer to complete -- in fact, the warband is still missing its final member.

 

Anyway, meet...

 

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The retinue of Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt, Ordo Hereticus Velsen:

 

 

Where Inquisitor Antrecht's retinue was an exercise in creating a radical warband, Inquisitor Gotthardt and his operatives follow a slightly more swashbuckling, picresque approach: I wanted a colourful group of characters, channelling some of the classic archetypes from the Inquisitor rulebook -- in fact, you can clearly see how several of the models were directly inspired by artwork from the book, or even by actual 54mm Inquisitor models from back when the game was released.

 

Inquisitor Gotthardt is a former ally of Antrecht, but he is far less radical and has become disillusioned with his former friend. Since he is more puritan in his views, there are still more actual people working for him, versus Antrecht's freakshow of a following. The warband consists of:

 

Back row, from left to right:

 

• Trooper Salvador "Sal" Koltz, a lowbrow, yet surprisingly resourceful, veteran from the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons, bound to his former commanding officer by a debt of gratitude.
• Cpt. Esteban Revas, the aforementioned officer: Former regimental champion of the 126th Haaruthian Dragoons, publically dishonoured for doing an honourable thing.
• Inquisitor Erasmus Gotthardt, an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus in uneasy pursuit of his former friend, Inquisitor Lazarus Antrecht.
• Father Endric Harlan, a Drill-Abbot of the Velsian Ministorum, and a survivor of the Quelling of St. Berthold, a highly classified Inquisitorial operation.

 

Front row, from left to right:

 

• PeeDee the Monkey, a priceless cyber-animal familiar to the Rogue Trader Iskander Gagarin
• Iskander Gagarin, flamboyant Rogue Trader and merchant-prince. Claims to be a scion of one of the very first families to have sailed into the Great Void Sea, even before the age of Unification.
• Balzepho, a cyber-mastiff belonging to Remus Ingram
• Remus Ingram, former member of the Riftyr Hiveguard and a hard-boiled investigator.

 

Not pictured, and yet unpainted: Elisha Gorgo, scion of the House of Mordina-Gorgo and possessing strange powers of psykana.

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job. Is Inquisitor Gotthardt a cyborg, or merely wearing power armor?

[Draakur]

Utterly, utterly awesome :) I envy your imagination, skill and time to create such a thing as this in your hobby life.

 

I'm so used to looking at the post-human, super-powered side of the setting that I'm always slightly thrown off when I first look at a grouping of mortals, but, especially in the face of such unique skill and creativity, that feeling quickly vanishes. Bravo on what you've accomplished here, looking forward to the rest :)

[Dragonlover]

I've been looking forward to this since you said you were gonna do it, having just taken my own first steps down the Inquisimunda route.

 

Out of interest, how do you come up with names? I'm useless at coming up with names for my own dudes.

 

Dragonlover

[Calyptra]

Gorgeous work.

 

Are those Empire cannon bits on Gotthardt's pauldrons?

[Kierdale]

Gorgeous work.

Are those Empire cannon bits on Gotthardt's pauldrons?

I do believe they are! (I have some in my bitz box. Now inspired, they may get used!).

 

I love the look of Iskander Gagarin :tu:

And the names are fantastic. That one is called Ingram reminds me of a friend who always used to name RPG characters after a place name and a weapon, perhaps with a letter tweaked here or there.

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, guys! I really appreciate the kind words! :)

 

@ Bjorn Firewalker: Gotthardt originally began as a character inspired by Witch Hunter Tyrus -- hence the massive golden armour. So he is a human wearing armour. Interestingly enough, it has since become a part of his backstory that his suit of armour actually covers a fairly frail body, as Gotthardt has been subjected to various Inquisitorial questionings himself, being suspected of still consorting with the rogue Inquisitor Antrecht. If I ever get around to it, I want to create a version of him out of his armour: A robed, thin, frail older man.

 

@ Drakuur: Thanks a lot! That is very nice of you to say! I will happily admit that steering away from established mainline 40k tropes takes quite a bit of training: At first, everyone wants to do Space Marines and heavily armed characters in INQ28, and it takes a while to adjust to the fact that this is a setting about more "human" characters, with a lower power level and a bit more subtlty. It's definitely worth it, though!

 

@ Dragonlover: Gah! Tell me about it! I am really bad at coming up with names myself: It is something I always struggle with. What makes it even harder is that faux-German seems to be one of the big inspiration when it comes to Inquisition related names, yet as a native speaker, so many of the faux-Germanic words appearing in our hobby sound absolutely ridiculous to me, so I have to step around that issue as well ;)

 

Fortunately enough, there are several online name generators these days, so that helps. I regularly used a fantastic Inquisitor name generator on Malleus.dk, but the site no longer seems to be available: I was smart enough to generate more than a hundred names at one point, however, and just copy them into a Word doc, so I still have a reserve ;)

 

I also tend to write down names I like whenever I come across them. That helps, too.

 

@ Calyptra: Indeed, those are Empire cannon bitz. Still had them from the old sixth (?!) edition WFB starter box. Well spotted! ;)

 

@ Kierdale: Fun fact, the inspiration for Ingram's name actually came from the protagonist of the video game Policenauts, one Jonathan Ingram. The two characters have nothing in common, however, other than both being investigators. I really loved the sound of the name, though ;)

[BubblesMcBub]

Oh nice you started your inq28 thread!

Where is that dog model from?
Hope to start some warbands my self soon just need to finish a goblin army...
 

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, Bubbles!

 

The dog is actually a Malifaux model (from the Relic Hunters box), very slightly converted with some bits and bobs. I would have preferred a GW model, but there was no suitable dog to be found across GW's entire catalogue, if you can believe it. Plus, admittedly, it's a pretty fantastic piece, as dog models go ;)

[BubblesMcBub]

Yeah its an amazing model i might get one myself!
Also i didnt think it was weird they didnt have a good dog i gave up a couple of months ago to find pet models on the GW site but i hope the new necromunda pets that are coming will change that!

Anyways is there a place where i can find more info on the velsen sector?

[KrautScientist]

Yeah, the Necromunda pets will be Forgeworld, though...

 

A Night Goblin army, is it? Well, speak to you in 2021, then, once you are finished ;)

[BubblesMcBub]

well suprisinglly i almost have all 100 gobbos painted haha

[Midnightmare]

Wow, some truelly mad creations there. They fit right in the setting! The Daemon host is especially disturbing....as is the cyber dog in the second group. I don’t know why, but I feel his tail should be docked. Oh and the head on your Inquisitor Antrecht is perfect. Chaos Lord one?

 

Refreshing thread to view mate :tu:

[Dagoth Ur]

Man, I still remember way back when you posted some of these miniatures on DakkaDakka as you built and painted them. What a blast from the past. I hope many more great ones are to come!

[TURBULENCE]

I always love these inquisitior logs, always so full of character. And now I get to see that from one of my favorite folks here? Double win.

 

Brilliant work as always Kraut, I like the contrast in themes between the two groups, really underlines the diversity that is the inquisition. Quick question for you though, as someone who missed out on the original game, and never really had any into to INQ28, is there anywhere I can get a start on how to form these warbands? It seems like fun, even as just a modeling side-distraction

[DuskRaider]

I think I can help here, with respect to Kraut. INQ28 rules vary since there's no set BRB, but I myself prefer this version:

 

http://empireofghosts.blogspot.com/p/inquisimunda-resources.html

 

It's the most concise and allows for much more variety than most of the other rules I've seen. 

 

In regards to your INQ28 Warbands, Kraut... they looks great as usually and you've really brought the character out in each one. Do you intend to play or is this just exercise in model building?

[KrautScientist]

Again, thanks a lot for the feedback, guys!

 

@ Midnight Runner: Thanks a lot, mate! You are probably right about the tail on the cyber-mastiff: It never occured to me to do anything with the tail, though, and now I don't want to go back and potentially ruin the model

 

And yes, that's the head from the Chaos Terminator Lord kit -- one of the best head sculpts ever, if you ask me

 

@ The Observer: Oh, never fear -- there's more where this came from, especially since I seem to be on a bit of a roll lately

 

@ TURBULENCE and DuskRaider: Cheers, guys! As for the question of how to assemble an INQ28 warband, I'd like to point out that the rulesets are only one part. Far more important, in my opinion, is to realise that, while INQ28 basically allows you to come up with any character you want and, since the setting deals with the war behind the front lines, so to speak, and in the domestic part of 40k life, there are some archetypes that are more appropriate than others. This can be both the settings greatest boon (because it allows you to bring out characters we never get to see in 40k proper) and also a limitation (because, say, a squad of Space Marine Devastators doesn't really have a place in INQ28). Therefore, I'd say the most important thing is to get stuck in with the background material to work out which kind of warband you want to build and what is and isn't appropriate for the setting. The best advice I can give is to take a look at forums like The Conclave and The Ammobunker, get your hands on as many of the old materials as you can (still available from the aforementioned places) and be inspired by the warbands and retinues on display. I also hear that the INQ28 groups and threads on Facebook and Instagram are all the rage these days, although I don't really care enough about those platforms to find out Anyway, hope this helps!

 

 

 

So, in other news, I also have something new to show you: While I have yet some of my older retinues left to share, let's switch around the programme a bit in favour of the warband I am currently working on: It was started years ago and had sat on a shelf - unpainted, yet not unloved - for a long time, until a recent number of painting challenges led to me picking it up and blazing through one model after the next: At this point, there's only one last member missing before the retinue is finished, so I'd day it's safe to take a look:

 

 

 

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The retinue of Inquisitor Nabreus Arslan, Ordo Hereticus Velsen:

 

 

Yet another Hereticus warband, although this time around, I really wanted to match the "classic" Ordo Hereticus look and feel as closely as possible. Think of the old John Blanche cover artwork for the Adepta Sorotitas Codex, or the artwork appearing in the old Codex Witch Hunters. That's the kind of look I wanted: One part Hieronymus Bosch, one part Hammer-horror, one part Spanish Inquisition.

 

Inquisitor Arslan is a Puritan and a Monodominant, so he has very strict ideas on who is and isn't a heretic. So there's a sinister undercurrent to the warband, and also a certain kind of pomp and bombast -- the ostentatiousness of those perfectly assured in their righteousness.

 

Anyway, the members of the warband are:

 

From left to right:

 

• Brother Goderich the Pure a member of the Church of Redemption, serving Arslan as a vicious, albeit utterly loyal, attack dog.
• The Angel of Penance, a cyber-familiar cast in the shape of an avenging angel in order to strike terror into the hearts of heretics and instill fearful respect in the devout.
• Inquisitor Nabreus Arslan, a powerful Witch Hunter of the Ordo Hereticus, known among the devout as "The Lion of Velsen".
• The Lady Chastity, a former Sister of Battle from the Order of the Martyred Blade, now serving as Arslan's Interrogator.
• Inquisitorial Operative Tybalt Renner, a veteran of the Saarthen Draugr, and an operative specialising in infiltration and stealth missions.
• Father Ravion Ishmael, a veteran of the Astra Militarum turned intinerant priest of the Imperial Cult, currently serving as personal confessor to Inquisitor Arslan.
• Horatio, a servo-skull.

The missing member is a female death cult assassin that I am confident I'll be able to paint before the end of the month.

 

For now, though, I am super-happy with Inquisitor Arslan, who was finished only yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My secret favourite model is actually Arslan's interrogator, the Lady Chastity, though: The whole warband really hinges on these two characters, visually, which is why they use a very similar colour palette, with only the colours of armour and cloth, respectively, reversed between the two models:

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

Edited March 10, 2018 by KrautScientist

[Stercus]

Using the radar dish as a shoulder pad on the inquisitor is actual genius.

[BubblesMcBub]

Oh damn i wasent the biggest fan of arslan when he was unpainted but man now that he is painted he is awesome!
Really like the warband and i am def gonna make my own version of that flaming skull! (as the artwork it is based on is just such a good piece for the setting!)
What are you next plans for inq28?
 

[Augustus b'Raass]

Subbed.

 

Massively inspirational work here. Kinda miffed that I have to follow two of your threads now, but that's just me being lazy ;)