Additional Requisitioned Units for Imperial Agents?

[ThePenitentOne]

This is something that has come up in other threads, with the addition of Sanctifiers to the IA Dex and the reveals that a new Deathwatch Kill Team and a new unit of Celestian With Hunters are in the way... But I wanted to have the conversation her because I think we can go deeper. So what I've already mused about elsewhere is the question of whether or not the rumoured Grey Kinights KT will be the middle box in the season, and whether or not these three Chamber Militant units will be added to the IA dex in addition to their parent dex in the same way Sanctifiers were added to both books.

 

But in THIS forum, there are some additional questions that may be worth asking. In the IA dex, distinctions are made between Requisitioned units and Retinue units. All existing Chamber Militant units in the Dex are Requisitioned units, and if the new Kill Teams make it into the IA dex at all, I expect they will be classified as Requisitioned units as well. This addresses some of the balance issues between the Deathwatch and the Chambers of the other two Ordos: due to the planned elimination of the Deathwatch book, they received a disproportionate number of potential requisitioned units. Having a more elite sisters unit for the Hereticus and Power Armoured unit available to the Malleus would really add to those builds.

 

In fact, I'd suggest that if GW DOESN'T add them, it might not be a bad idea to just do it anyway. We'll have to wait and see if other adjustments are necessary to make these units fit into their relevant detachments, but it should be relatively simple either way. It still doesn't entirely solve the issue for me though, because the Ordos STILL need some additions to balance them out.

 

So, for example, the Ordo Xenos and the Ordo Hereticus both get transports- the Blackstar and the Immo, but the Ordo Malleus didn't get one- and sure, the excuse is that Terminators can teleport anyway... But if we add Kill Team Strike Squad in power armour (and again, we should), that rationale disappears. Sure, a Strike team COULD use the Rhino, but the issue is bigger than that: the Xenos, Hereticus and their Chambers get a vehicle transport that adds firepower, flavour and representation in addition to transport capacity. The simple solution is to make the Land Raider available as a transport to Requisitioned Grey Knights. I know that in the past, the Land Raider they got was a weird variant; I'm not asking for that, and to be honest, unless they release a plastic kit I think it would cause more problems than it would solve. The garden variety Land Raider will do.

 

And the last problem is the most controversial and squishy. The Ordo Xenos also got leader units for their Chamber, including a named. Now, again, there's context: those units were only included because of the planned demise of the Deathwatch book. But I feel like a generic HQ should be an option for all three Chambers.  And I know that there are people who will say "If you want that much Chamber, just play a Chamber army and attach the Inquisition components as Attached Agents" - and that IS a viable alternative.

 

But remember that what this would do is allow Chamber units access to a leader from inside their parent faction to be present when they are assigned as Requisitioned units. You could split a requisitioned Battle Sister unit into two dedicated Immolators put a Canoness in one and an Inquisitor in the other and add it to a Guard Army.  

 

So what do you think? How likely is it that these units will get two cards? Is it a good idea? Would you do it in friendly games even if GW drops the ball?

[Indy Techwisp]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all the Deathwatch units in the IA codex considered Retinue rather than Requisitioned?

They're not "from another codex" following the previous plan to remove the DW faction.

 

That said, I feel like SoB Witchhunters would be a good fit to be a Requisitioned unit.

 

As for the Sanctfiers tho, they feel less like a SoB unit added to IA but an IA unit added to SoB.

[ThePenitentOne]

Wow- I don't know how I missed that! 

 

It's sort of weird then what the basis is for Requisitioned vs. Retinue. It felt like it make sense when it applied to ALL Chamber units, but now that I know that's not the case, I struggle to see which GW's criteria are for assigning one keyword over the other.

 

Either way, I agree- the Hereticus NEEDS to be able to use the SoB Witch Hunter unit, regardless of which keyword they have.

[Lord_Ikka]

Frankly, a general Ordos unit like Scions would really be helpful, or something like a Requisitioned Guard squad. Even better would be some sort of heavy weapon unit, even if it had a 1/2 per army limit- anti-tank is something that IA lack desperately.

[Dr. Clock]

On 8/23/2025 at 6:50 PM, ThePenitentOne said:

criteria are for assigning one keyword over the other

Honestly I think it's a decent representation of the difference in operational model between Chambers Militant...

 

Sororitas and Grey Knights are most often deployed as independent fighting forces. Deathwatch on the other hand are basically designed around the idea of sending individual teams into the field. They're not generally forming company-level task forces or actually waging war as much as they're going on little strategic side missions while a battle happens around them.

 

Grey Knights are a hammer. Their single purpose is to smash the most threatening incursions from beyond.

Sisters are the flame. Their single purpose is to purge the Imperium of impurity in all forms. 

Deathwatch are the scalpel. Their single purpose is to cut away the monstrous parasites that might otherwise lead to ruin.

 

I know that we're we're not really supposed to have full armies of Deathwatch. Indeed, I like playing them best when I max out Allies for them. 

 

At the time they made the Codex, there was never supposed to be a separate way to play Deathwatch, so having them as Retinue/Battleline in IA was kind of a sop to those who had DW already... But it didn't go quite far enough and the community rebelled, causing a backpedal and reissue of the Index. 

 

I don't think it'd be out of hand to just add a rule like, 'can take 500 (Strikeforce) points of allies from one of the following Imperial Codecies' to Imperial Agents. That way you can just take the 2-3 units from a different codex to fill in the gaps in the Agents roster. Right now Agents usually feel like they lack big stuff, and the ability to kill big stuff, so mine never leave home without a pair of Warglaives already, but I would add my pair of Russes to that in a heartbeat and I don't see why an Inquisitor wouldn't have a couple of those around if they've also got chimeras and whatnot. The I can alternatively bring my Deathwatch dreadnought and Vanguard vets to the party in an Agents list where they feel equally appropriate. And you can bring a couple Retributors and Seraphim for a little Sororitas sideboard. Heck - you could even add to those ally rules in the detachments so that marine allies get Ordo Xenos in their detachment, and Sororitas get Ordo Hereticus in theirs, but not the other way around... 

 

I don't think it's particularly likely that something like the above will happen, but it's a neat little experiment. 

 

More directly to your question - I don't think they will add to the Requisitioned units... I think those are always just going to be 'the one data-sheet' from those Chambers. If you want to play a single kill-team from a relevant Chamber in any game list I'd probably let you, but beyond that I'd possibly recommend just mixing the minis into henchmen squads or the closest comparable data-sheet... 

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

[Indy Techwisp]

32 minutes ago, Dr. Clock said:

Honestly I think it's a decent representation of the difference in operational model between Chambers Militant...

 

Sororitas and Grey Knights are most often deployed as independent fighting forces. Deathwatch on the other hand are basically designed around the idea of sending individual teams into the field. They're not generally forming company-level task forces or actually waging war as much as they're going on little strategic side missions while a battle happens around them.

 

Grey Knights are a hammer. Their single purpose is to smash the most threatening incursions from beyond.

Sisters are the flame. Their single purpose is to purge the Imperium of impurity in all forms. 

Deathwatch are the scalpel. Their single purpose is to cut away the monstrous parasites that might otherwise lead to ruin.

 

I know that we're we're not really supposed to have full armies of Deathwatch. Indeed, I like playing them best when I max out Allies for them. 

 

At the time they made the Codex, there was never supposed to be a separate way to play Deathwatch, so having them as Retinue/Battleline in IA was kind of a sop to those who had DW already... But it didn't go quite far enough and the community rebelled, causing a backpedal and reissue of the Index. 

 

I don't think it'd be out of hand to just add a rule like, 'can take 500 (Strikeforce) points of allies from one of the following Imperial Codecies' to Imperial Agents. That way you can just take the 2-3 units from a different codex to fill in the gaps in the Agents roster. Right now Agents usually feel like they lack big stuff, and the ability to kill big stuff, so mine never leave home without a pair of Warglaives already, but I would add my pair of Russes to that in a heartbeat and I don't see why an Inquisitor wouldn't have a couple of those around if they've also got chimeras and whatnot. The I can alternatively bring my Deathwatch dreadnought and Vanguard vets to the party in an Agents list where they feel equally appropriate. And you can bring a couple Retributors and Seraphim for a little Sororitas sideboard. Heck - you could even add to those ally rules in the detachments so that marine allies get Ordo Xenos in their detachment, and Sororitas get Ordo Hereticus in theirs, but not the other way around... 

 

I don't think it's particularly likely that something like the above will happen, but it's a neat little experiment. 

 

More directly to your question - I don't think they will add to the Requisitioned units... I think those are always just going to be 'the one data-sheet' from those Chambers. If you want to play a single kill-team from a relevant Chamber in any game list I'd probably let you, but beyond that I'd possibly recommend just mixing the minis into henchmen squads or the closest comparable data-sheet... 

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

 

Re: Deathwatch.

The issue with the implementation is the same one Daemons had getting put in the Cult Codexes: They half-arsed it.

 

DW lost too much by being an IA subfaction reduced to just the kits sold since they've always been the Scalpel "Heavy Customised" army.

Had that initial implementation been just taking what we got in the "revised" Index and putting all of it in IA I feel we wouldn't have gotten as many complaints but we still would have massive pushback because people made DW models for units outside of the Killteams. That can be solved with a Brood Brothers style "Xpts of your army can be Adeptus Astartes" rule tied to the Ordo Xenos Detachment which would let people still bring along their DW Predator Tank or whatever.

 

In fact, as you mentioned that kind of allies rule would go a long way to helping the IA Codex be more than just the Navy faction + DW Vets in the rare comp appearances it makes.

 

As for future requisition units... I feel we're gonna instead see more IA/Other Codex dual faction kits, like the Sanctifiers and (presumably) the upcoming DW Vets replacement and Witchhunter SoB teams.

The latter I could see being a Retinue unit, possibly replacing the random SoB unit in 11th ed's version of the codex (same goes for any Grey Knights team we might get) but it could just be an addition on top.

The DW Vet replacement would just be codex native/shared with the DW Codex depending on how it shakes out.

 

Also, if you were looking for a reason why DW would be out in force rather than deploying in small teams (again, why GW decided you couldn't just drag in a specialist KT as an ally is beyond me), large mobilisations to counter big Xenos activity would be an explanation, especially with 10th's "abandoned until we circle back to it in 11th" narrative device of the largest Tyranid Fleet in history barrelling towards Terra drawing away the attention of the bulk of the Imperium's forces, meaning smaller Xenos threats are building up behind everyone's backs (like the T'au planning to start converting the Ultramar system). DW would be primed to go deal with those issues so that the rest of the Imperium isn't having to turn away from the 'nids (DW could also just be jumping the 'nids/a GSC uprising. Both are in their area of expertise after all...)

 

ETA: DW are also severely lacking the Character support needed to be outside an LSM Supplement, so a budget of Adeptus Astartes units would let you actually get some leaders into play (the DW KT units already come with rules for who gets to lead them, so that's sorted).

Edited September 25 by Indy Techwisp

[Dr. Clock]

On 9/25/2025 at 11:23 AM, Indy Techwisp said:

looking for a reason

Yeah - I respect the hustle and there's nothing wrong with having a full army of them, but this kinda comes down to ultimately preferring them as 'the elite parts of an Inquisitorial Crusade army', or 'the cavalry that shows up to bolster beleaguered defenders'. I don't need to look for a reason to expand on my 30ish marines and 3 vehicles  when I'm happy enough to just add in a Subductor and pair of Warglaives, or just use my regular chapter collections to fill gaps in lists (though the loss of scouts kinda hurts when mine are painted Red Hunters).

 

On 9/25/2025 at 11:23 AM, Indy Techwisp said:

dual faction kits

Oh dang - I didn't even notice that Sanctifiers appear in Sororitas! Making it a true dual faction kit makes a neat Ecclesiarchy Crusade with only bare Sororitas support available in principle, though you'd need Castigators at least for punch:

 

Palatine

1x Battle Sisters 

1x Immolator

2x Rhinos

3x Castigator

3x Mortifier

1x Retributors

3x Sanctifiers

10 Arco-flagellants

 

Inquisitor + 12 Agents + Chimera

10 Subductors 

 

I'll honestly  be fine if the new DW Vets become the only DW-specific unique unit and they are just fully integrated as a unit available in any marines detachment like the Sanctifiers. They likely won't do that this edition though because they're still licking their wounds from the backlash to IA 'dex in the first place. I was already okay using 10 of my guys as Sternguard and 10 as vanguard so I'm okay to go back to that if I can bring my Scouts back... I haven't made any of the big weird Primaris teams and I'm not about to (although they do seem like the best implementation of Heavy Intercessors lol).

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.