Wh40k 10th Edition Faction Focus: Imperial Agents

[Doghouse]

If I could field an Inquisitor, some stormtroopers and some marines supported by a knight titan I'd be quite happy with this.

 

Adding them to Death Watch would make for quite a characterful little force in itself with them supporting an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.

 

Alternatively a rogue trader and their entourage added to a guard or astartes army would also be quite fun and interesting. 

[Scribe]

1 hour ago, ThePenitentOne said:

=][= By Order of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition, designers for the Corporation known as Games Workshop have been declared Heretical. =][=

 

This is the deal breaker.

 

Tear out subfactions for 2nd class factions?

Marginalize and destroy all things psychic?

I was still holding out hope.

 

But this?

This tells me everything I need to know about the edition. 

 

What a waste.

 

 

 

While I appreciate a good rage post, whats the problem with this?

[Muck1ng]

33 minutes ago, sairence said:

 

That's exactly the same as it was previously though, and Vindicares weren't exactly tearing up the battlefields in 8th and 9th.

 

The sniper is actually a bit weaker in that regard now, as it's not wounding all infantry on 2s anymore. And it can only ignore invuns once per battle, instead of with every shot.

 

 

That's wrong though, at the moment it's only D3 damage.  and only on a wound of a 6 does it do D6 damage 

 

[Sete]

I would like to know which units I can take as retinue to be honest.

 

Would love an Inquisitor with some Kasrkin for example. 

[MagicHat]

So I am looking at Ahrimans Stalk and Greyfax Castigation. Can anyone check if Ahriman is okay? Haven't heard from him since this faction focus dropped.

Imagine what a menace Greyfax must be against hive tyrants. Especially if she joins a squad with devastating wound weapons.

 

Inquisitors wargear options lost fists, hammers, 3 pistols (Which is funny, cause the model on the datasheet picture have an Inferno Pistol) and 7 ranged weapons.

I would guess they still choose between being a psyker or blessed wardings.

 

And while the Breachers chainfist remains a joke, axe-guy have 2 A now!

[Squark]

11 minutes ago, Sete said:

I would like to know which units I can take as retinue to be honest.

 

Would love an Inquisitor with some Kasrkin for example. 

Reading between the lines, they presumably include breacher, arbitrators, voidsman, Daemonhosts, Jokaero, and Acolytes (Probably updated to account for Ashes of Faith). The only questionable unit is where Rogue Traders and their add-ons fall.

 

I wouldn't count on the other retinue units from Ashea of Faith like Sisters of Silence, Karskin, or Scions, but GW could throw us a curveball.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Squark

[Madao]

Hmm. Navy breachers still have Sv4+. Why Skitarii were downgraded to 5+?

[Squark]

2 minutes ago, Madao said:

Hmm. Navy breachers still have Sv4+. Why Skitarii were downgraded to 5+?

They're paying for their chicanery in 8th much the way Votann are.

[Arkangilos]

4 minutes ago, Madao said:

Why Skitarii were downgraded to 5+?

Their oil supply was cut off so their armor is rusting a little.

[jaxom]

1 hour ago, Cryptix said:

You can still do an Inquisition only army.

Maybe. The army process includes a step where you have to pick a detachment. If AoI doesn’t have an detachment, and it’s mandatory, then no  AoI army.

[TheMawr]

21 minutes ago, Sete said:

I would like to know which units I can take as retinue to be honest.

 

Would love an Inquisitor with some Kasrkin for example. 

 

Retinue is different from bodyguard/attached unit.

They say that inquisitors can lead any Imperium battleline infantry unit, but I assume thats only from the faction you took them in.. not just any faction you want. If kasrkin get battleline then in an Imperial guard army an inquisitor can lead kasrkin. ( they dont seem to be the type that get battleline, but I dont know guard armies too well.)

 

however, I think either the article is not entirely right here, and there are further limits, or Leader/bodyguard dont necessarily need to have the same T and SV as the unit they lead (just usually they do)

[sairence]

56 minutes ago, Muck1ng said:

 

 

That's wrong though, at the moment it's only D3 damage.  and only on a wound of a 6 does it do D6 damage 

 

Plus a chance to do up to 4 MWs, if the target model survives the regular damage.

 

They really didn't add anything to the datasheet that wasn't already there, just updated and streamlined it a bit. Even toned it down, with shieldbreaker being once per battle.

 

[jaxom]

38 minutes ago, Sete said:

I would like to know which units I can take as retinue to be honest.

 

Would love an Inquisitor with some Kasrkin for example. 

 

7 minutes ago, TheMawr said:

 

Retinue is different from bodyguard/attached unit.

Correct, for example the Breacher unit has the RETINUE keyword. You could take 1 Character (Inquisitor) and 1 Retinue unit (Breachers) alongside your Astra Militarum in an Incursion-size battle. The Inquisitor could then be attached to a Kasrkin unit. Based on the Agents of the Imperium data-slate download I expect the following units will get Retinue: Acolytes, Breachers, all varieties of Arbites, and maybe Voidsmen (who may get it if the character is a Rogue Trader).

[TheMawr]

21 minutes ago, jaxom said:

 

The Inquisitor could then be attached to a Kasrkin unit.

 

Only if Kasrkin are battleline; from the article "and since they can join any IMPERIUM BATTLELINE INFANTRY unit, the possibilities for cut-price Stratagem activations are endless."

So they cant for example lead the Navy breachers as those arent battleline.

 

edit:

Retinue as a keyword is a bit confusing here as it sounds as if its just there to differentiate between Imperial agent characters and non characters. ( everything either has to be a character or retinue, as those keywords are used in the ally rules.)

But with the wording retinue one expects they join a character.. wich seemingly they dont, though we ofcourse dont have all the rules yet.

Edited May 31, 2023 by TheMawr

[Marshal Reinhard]

Isn't "inquisition army" an oxymoron anyway? Inquisitors don't have standing armies typically, but can at the blink of an eye requisition forces that make planetary governors blush.

 

Which is kinda difficult to implement fairly in the game, since conceivably, since they could easily snowball into the "take anything faction"

 

To me it makes sense these guys are mainly the "allies" faction (or the faction which takes others as allies if you prefer)

 

 

[Evil Eye]

Yeah, from what I understand this seems fine? Like, generally Inquisitors lead/are attached to other "existing" armies, and any permanent partnerships are from existing institutions- see the Red Hunters Space Marines. If you're wanting to play with an Inquisitor and his or her host of freaks and weirdos, I'd argue skirmish level is more appropriate anyway. Most of the factions these rules cover aren't really standalone forces that would be deployed on an actual battlefield anyway; Arbites being military police are better suited to, well, policing than open warfare, and Imperial Navy infantry are supposed to be fighting aboard ships in tight confines, not on open killing fields against tanks. Plus, realistically I think between Guard, Marines, Admech and Sisters you have four really good choices for friends for your Inquisitor.

[librisrouge]

3 hours ago, Marshal Reinhard said:

Isn't "inquisition army" an oxymoron anyway? Inquisitors don't have standing armies typically, but can at the blink of an eye requisition forces that make planetary governors blush.

 

Which is kinda difficult to implement fairly in the game, since conceivably, since they could easily snowball into the "take anything faction"

 

To me it makes sense these guys are mainly the "allies" faction (or the faction which takes others as allies if you prefer)

 

 

Several inquisitors have what amount to armies. Lord Inquisitor Coteaz, for example, has enough agents that his ability to police the Imperium extends over an entire sector, with several teams working together when he needs more muscle. Eisenhorn, a cloak and dagger type if there ever were one, developed an organization for training pariahs as agents to deploy in teams for him. The inquisition maintains it own standing forces of stormtrooper regiments which, admittedly, can be utilized via Militarum Tempestus but it'd have been nice to have seen it go the other way.

 

Rogue traders are also another issue. Ships in the Imperium are BIG, with populations in the thousands. Policing these ships and protecting them from boarders sometimes means they have security forces in the hundreds, per ship. Rogue traders sometimes even have more heavy military hardware when they need it for "aggressive negotiations."

Arbites precincts often serve as strongpoints for the Imperium when a world considers going rogue. They have access to armor and fortified hardpoints.

 

All of these factions can field forces with greater numbers and firepower than an astartes company. While they wouldn't have the same skill, the idea that Agents don't field armies is and always has been laughable. Heck, we can't even field Execution Forces under the previewed rules.

[Tokugawa]

"as Imperial Agents aren’t designed to operate as a faction in their own right – you’ll find no Detachment rules, Stratagems, or Enhancements in this Index. "

 

Since most agent characters will be "epic", no enhancement is understandable. But no stratagems feels unfinished and underwhelmed...

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by Tokugawa

[ThePenitentOne]

Also, everyone needs to remember 40k is not always a 2k game.

 

If you don't think that the Inquisition should be a 2k army, I can see that. I mean, I don't agree, but I see where you're coming from, and I'll cut you some slack.

 

But don't think that only 2k armies are valid. GW told us they aren't supporting 500 point games in 10th... A stupid move that should have been my first clue the edition wasn't for me. But at 1k, should the Inquisition be able to assemble an "army" of that size? Because if so, they need a viable set of rules for building an army- Including a) an Army rule that isn't "How to be on the table without being an army" and b) a detachment. 

 

And even if GW says the game isn't balanced for 500 points, a collection of that size IS an army, and it SHOULD be able to be fielded as such.

 

Aside from the lack of an effective Army rule that actually provides a benefit and the lack of a detachment, they also removed <Ordo> from the Inquisition, and they made psychic powers mandatory on generic Inquisitors. Gone are the days of a Puritan so pure they don't resort to witchcraft... Unless it's one of the named ones.

 

No enhancements. None. No strats except the generic ones. 

 

No potential for Agents to benefit from any bespoke Crusade content.

 

No confirmation about whether or not a dex will even come.

 

No indication that the Inquisition KT will be added to the Agents roster.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by ThePenitentOne

[Squark]

34 minutes ago, Tokugawa said:

"as Imperial Agents aren’t designed to operate as a faction in their own right – you’ll find no Detachment rules, Stratagems, or Enhancements in this Index. "

 

Since most agent characters will be "epic", no enhancement is understandable. But no stratagems feels unfinished and underwhelmed...

 

If you don't have a detachment, you don't have strategems in 10th. Brood Brothers don't get imperial guard strategems and free/dreadblades don't get access to imperial/chaos knight strategems. Since the Agents of the Imperium aren't intended to function on their own outside of combat patrol/boarding actions at this time, they don't need strategems.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Squark

[Tokugawa]

6 minutes ago, Squark said:

If you don't have a detachment, you don't have strategems in 10th. Brood Brothers don't get imperial guard strategems and free/dreadblades don't get access to imperial/chaos knight strategems. Since the Agents of the Imperium aren't intended to function on their own outside of combat patrol/boarding actions at this time, they don't need strategems.

Yeah, you are right, I forgot that all faction specific stratagems are collected under detachment section. So "save CP" is a proper and maybe best way to represent the "tactical" effect of the agents.

[Squark]

21 minutes ago, ThePenitentOne said:

Also, everyone needs to remember 40k is not always a 2k game.

 

If you don't think that the Inquisition should be a 2k army, I can see that. I mean, I don't agree, but I see where you're coming from, and I'll cut you some slack.

 

But don't think that only 2k armies are valid. GW told us they aren't supporting 500 point games in 10th... A stupid move that should have been my first clue the edition wasn't for me. But at 1k, should the Inquisition be able to assemble an "army" of that size? Because if so, they need a viable set of rules for building an army- Including a) an Army rule that isn't "How to be on the table without being an army" and b) a detachment. 

 

And even if GW says the game isn't balanced for 500 points, a collection of that size IS an army, and it SHOULD be able to be fielded as such.

 

Aside from the lack of an effective Army rule that actually provides a benefit and the lack of a detachment, they also removed <Ordo> from the Inquisition, and they made psychic powers mandatory on generic Inquisitors. Gone are the days of a Puritan so pure they don't resort to witchcraft... Unless it's one of the named ones.

 

No enhancements. None. No strats except the generic ones. 

 

No potential for Agents to benefit from any bespoke Crusade content.

 

No confirmation about whether or not a dex will even come.

 

No indication that the Inquisition KT will be added to the Agents roster.

 

 

I mean, Inquisition armies haven't really been possible for ages. There's just not enough there. You could smoosh together collections of rules for auxiliary units into something that was strictly speaking legal, but it's been an appendix for ages. I mean, an Agents of the Imperium army in 9th is entirely dependent on one pdf with 0 strategems, 0 relics, and 0 warlord traits, so it's not like the writing hasn't been on the wall.

 

500 point games are the new domain of boarding actions and combat patrol. The agents of the Imperium have boarding action rules. I would not be surprised if an Agents of the Imperium combat patrol like the rogue trader+breachers+assassin boarding patrol box showed up in the future.

 

Also, I strongly suspect Psychic Inquisitors aren't mandatory- Blessed Wardings is presumably the alternative

[Tokugawa]

1 minute ago, Squark said:

I mean, Inquisition armies haven't really been possible for ages. There's just not enough there. You could smoosh together collections of rules for auxiliary units into something that was strictly speaking legal, but it's been an appendix for ages. I mean, an Agents of the Imperium army in 9th is entirely dependent on one pdf with 0 strategems, 0 relics, and 0 warlord traits, so it's not like the writing hasn't been on the wall.

 

500 point games are the new domain of boarding actions and combat patrol. The agents of the Imperium have boarding action rules. I would not be surprised if an Agents of the Imperium combat patrol like the rogue trader+breachers+assassin boarding patrol box showed up in the future.

 

Also, I strongly suspect Psychic Inquisitors aren't mandatory- Blessed Wardings is presumably the alternative

"Psychic gift" is listed as a "wargear" ability, so becoming a psyker is possibly optional.

[Emperor Ming]

I had low expectations, but nerfs on top, things like inquisitor's loosing a wound, no enhancements or detachment rules, loss of the ordo rules

 

They haven't been popular or even competitive choices (agents as a whole) for a while now

 

Another ed in the cupboard    

[Dr. Clock]

46 minutes ago, ThePenitentOne said:

But don't think that only 2k armies are valid. GW told us they aren't supporting 500 point games in 10th... A stupid move that should have been my first clue the edition wasn't for me. But at 1k, should the Inquisition be able to assemble an "army" of that size? Because if so, they need a viable set of rules for building an army- Including a) an Army rule that isn't "How to be on the table without being an army" and b) a detachment. 

Methinks games at smaller scales are now called Combat Patrol, Boarding Patrol, and ultimately Necromunda or Kill-Team.

 

Beyond a couple of squads of the Kill Team specialists, I do think that basically a Rogue Trader or Inquisitor's 'army' would look more like something from one of the other Imperial books... But basically agree they should have at least just raised the 'number allowed' by 1 at each game size band. Most opponents won't care if you bring more than are 'allowed', I'm guessing.

 

Points are the most important thing here. If I'm maxing out on Agents I still want to feel like I have a proper army that they're joining. Still, hopefully having rules as decent as 'Breaching Team' on any of the choices means as cheap retinues for cheap characters they could be a fun add for the last 1-350 points of a 2k.

 

The rules for the base Inquisitor also seem pretty interesting tbh. 2d6 Devastating psychic flamer? I'll try it. Now give me a good Rogue Trader!

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.