=][= Unit of the Week: Inquisitor Greyfax

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Inquisition Unit of the Week Series

Welcome to the Inquisition Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the White Dwarf "codex" (as well as the Adepta Sororitas codex which has some traditionally Inquisition stuff), and the re-emergence of your Lord Inquisitor from hibernation, there is no better time to discuss the unique units we have access to, plus some units from other codices that have traditionally been ours. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. This thread is for discussing the rules are as they are, to try to unlock the unit's its potential for those who wish to use it.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Inquisitor Greyfax

Full disclosure, I've never used Inquisitor Greyfax, don't own the model, and have barely skimmed her rules. So I don't have anything to offer myself and will just pose some questions to help focus our discussion.

• What, in your view, makes Inquisitor Greyfax special and better/different from a standard Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor?
• How is Greygax best used?
• Does Greyfax offer anything there to build around or are her abilities just a bonus?
• Does No Escape (Warlord Trait) matter to you? How will you best make use of it?
• Stratagems?

[librisrouge]

I've used Greyfax a few times and generally find her to be ok.

 

Compared to a standard ordo hereticus inquisitor you've got a couple of advantages.

• Power armor will help her stay alive a bit longer, but not by much
• Both of her weapons are like those that a normal inquisitor can take but master crafted. So treat her like an ordo hereticus generic with +1 gear wouldn't be far off.
• She can shot psykers even if they're characters. This is one of the two reasons to take her. The few times I've taken her, she managed to snipe a psyker. Once, she killed a chaos sorcerer (take that!) and the other time she wounded one and the other player paniced and pulled their psykers back, effectively taking them out of the game.

What really makes her stand out is her deny based abilities. Getting to deny multiple times at +1 means that she provides solid psychic defense against any psykers she doesn't kill. This is coupled with any powers she herself gets off (a few of which are quite nice after the WD came out.) In many ways, a support psyker is her role to play and her deny abilities is why.

 

I don't like her warlord trait. It requires her to...

• Get in combat...with 6" movement
• Be in combat...as a T3 3+/5++ character...
• Survive that combat into the enemy's turn...
• ...against a unit that the enemy will want to fall back with...
• ...with a unit that can beat that unit (she won't alone.)

I suppose that means she'll be fun to pair with marines, or if you can get her to charge a tank or something. I just don't see it mattering nearly enough compared to Coteaz getting to be a better caster or Karamazov getting absolutely ruthless to 1/4 of the board or a generic inquisitor getting a personality.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

It's a shame that we can only bring one inquisitor per detachment, because it sounds like she would be a very good complimentary character to give that psychic defence. And being able to snipe psykers would be quite useful for the "seize for interrogation" stratagem (although I suppose if you're within 3" you can shoot that character anyway) or just generally as another aspect of psychic defence.

 

For combat she could be paired with marines or arcoflagellants -- although admittedly the latter you will probably be wiping out whatever you charge if you are picking your targets carefully.

 

Her warlord trait also allows her to make 6" heroic interventions. Against certain enemies this would be useful perhaps to help bail out some acolytes or Imperial Guardsmen.

[librisrouge]

That is just my problem with her warlord trait. Most of the thing I want her in combat with either would be wiped out by what I charged with (God above, I wish Inquisition could take in-faction acroflaggellents) or are things the enemy will keep well away from her.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Agreed there are better warlord traits out there, as thematic and fluffy as her "No Escape" trait is. I think it could be more useful when fighting non-marine enemies. But she's likely best as a thematic/story-driven friendly game that a tournament style "all comers" list. For the latter it sounds like she's make a nice secondary =][= detachment inquisitor though (then make someone else your warlord).

 

I am taking it from your comments that she's not a model to build an army around, she rather just has some nice bonuses?

[librisrouge]

I am taking it from your comments that she's not a model to build an army around, she rather just has some nice bonuses?

Yep, when I ran her she was just in the army with Coteaz (who is tougher, can fight better, and is a better caster.) Now, Coteaz is a much better caster with his warlord trait (best trait in WD, imo) but isn't much more points. Since I'm restricted to one inquisitor *insert audible sigh* she was cut from the list without a second thought.

[WarriorFish]

My thoughts are aligned with what libris has encountered, so it's good for confirmation such as it isn't all great news! She's a nice "but better" Inquisitor, but the main dish is her psychic shenanigans and support role. No Escape is something I thought more useful for locking an enemy unit in combat that doesn't want to be, rather than expectations of defeating them. Certain guns being silenced can be worth its weight in gold sometimes!

 

She's a great model though, and I'll be using her to start my Inquisitorial Stormtrooper force off. Rule of Cool still counts for something

[ThePenitentOne]

I haven't tried it in a game yet, but I envision 2 Greyfax scenarios:

 

Against a highly psychic army- like, narrative levels of psychic, attach her to a null maiden vanguard of SoS. Really wanna break witches? Throw a Cullexus into the mix. I used to wish for 40k rules for the Acquisitor. If you pack Greyfax, 2x5 SoS and a Cullexus into an Acquisitor, no psychic power will even work, let alone hurt you. Again, I'm a narrative guy, so the idea of this anti psyk bomb dropping into a corrupted Progenium or Astra Telepathica conclave is the stuff of legend.

 

The second scenario is her locking down something so that the sky striking Zephyrim can pounce on it with miracle dice. I normally like full size squads, but if I knew they were planning to drop in and assist Greyfax, a 5 strong unit would be much stronger for the synergy. Again, flashy cinematic, but not sure about feasibility.

 

Like all Hereticus, she fits in with both SoB and SoS on a thematic level.

[Jolemai]

Nice thread ;)

 

How would one use her with a Space Marine force (or any other Imperial force for that matter)?

Would you run her with an Intercessor blob into the middle of the board to make use abilities? Leaving her with a castle seems like a waste? What about in transports?

[WarriorFish]

Short of getting somewhere I don't think transports are that useful, she needs to be on the table to do her things. I'd say she'd be better midfield to front lines, but realistically she's best where she's needed. So if your enemy is coming for you, she's likely going to want to be with the bulk of your forces to offer support and counter enemy psykers and the like.

[ThePenitentOne]

I figure having her clustered with the mean force might force the opponent to use his psykers elsewhere- on a flank or secondary objective. A transport allows you to get where the pykers are. The Acquisitor doesn't have 40k rules, but if it did, they would include psychic defenses as well as an abomination aura, which would stack with the SoS abomination, and the Cullexus abomination as soon as they disembark.

 

The Terrify Psychic power is also great for Greyfax with Zephyrim. It has range, so she doesn't have to charge in to use the ability like she does with no escape. If she gets within 18" of a target, she can prevent it from overwatching when the Zephyrim drop in and us MD to guarantee they succeed on the charge.  If you suspect the enemy might survive the Zeph rush, and if Greyfax is close enough, you can send her in for some extra attacks and No Escape.