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How really powerful their are when it comes to issuing orders across sub-sectors and segmentum?

They are the final authority.
No one barring the Emperor himself has more authority.

Is there any case of someone not applying to their orders?

And it is a little hard to imagine that only 12 guys can solve problems for several million worlds.

If you don't follow their orders you are guilty of one of the following:
Treason
Heresy
Insubordination
And, it's a fair bet most of those are solved with a bolt pistol.
They don't tend to micro manage. They tend to issue orders that have a wide sweeping effect.

Well the custodes do have authority over the high lords. They convey the Emperors commands, allow or disallow high lords to come before the Emperor and what transpires there we dont really know.

Brother Coa wrote:Is there any case of someone not applying to their orders?

The Tyrant of Badab?

Also, technically, the High Lords of Terra fall under the purview of the Inquisition. However, being able to actually bring a High Lord to the question is easier said than done.

Brother Coa wrote:
And it is a little hard to imagine that only 12 guys can solve problems for several million worlds.

They can't. This is actually one of the main themes of 40k.

The Custodes do not have authority over the High Lords. No one but the Emperor does.

The ultimate leader of the Inquisition is a High Lord of Terra. He's not the ultimate ruler of the Imperium, but the other High Lords are watched for signs of heresy or corruption by this person.

Psienesis wrote:The ultimate leader of the Inquisition is a High Lord of Terra. He's not the ultimate ruler of the Imperium, but the other High Lords are watched for signs of heresy or corruption by this person.

Does he use the newspaper trick?

Actually, as far as I've understood (I might be wrong, if so, I apologise), the High Lords are ALL the top dog Inquisitors.
And we all know the Inquisition answeres to no one but, well... the Emperor and themselves (the organisation itself is so deliciously self destructive.)

The Custodes do not have authority over the High Lords. No one but the Emperor does.

Oh but they are the ones who allow the high lords (or dissalow) an audience with the emperor and thereby to do what they are being ordered to.
If they say nope, cant see the boss they cant. If they see, boss wants to see you you are either dragged to him or go on your own accord.

See if a high lord does something "wrong" all the Custodes need to do is order him "home" for an audience and correct his behavior.

You cant have ultimate power while another faction can order you to come and answer your actions, sorry but the high lords do not rule with absolute impunity.

Wooly wrote:Actually, as far as I've understood (I might be wrong, if so, I apologise), the High Lords are ALL the top dog Inquisitors.
And we all know the Inquisition answeres to no one but, well... the Emperor and themselves (the organisation itself is so deliciously self destructive.)

The High Lords are the heads of various Imperial Organisations...
The prospective organisations don't always have their head on the council since there are more organisations than there are seats.
Try lexicanum for more information...

The Inquisition has a representative as a High Lord, as are the leaders of the Offico Assassanorium, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Arbites, and the Administratum. So pretty much the final word, minus little technicalities.

Psienesis wrote:The ultimate leader of the Inquisition is a High Lord of Terra. He's not the ultimate ruler of the Imperium, but the other High Lords are watched for signs of heresy or corruption by this person.

'

He's not the 'ultimate leader', he's just a representative of the Inquisition as a whole. Remember, the Inquisition spends just as much time fighting amongst itself as it does combating the enemies of mankind.
It has no 'ultimate leader'.

BUt yes, the High Lords are the heads of various organizations such as the Administratum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Custodes, Adeptus Mechanicus, Departmento Munitorum, etc. They are the ultimate authority in the Imperium, responsible for ruling in the Emperor's name. However, they don't really have a lot of direct control. Remember, if the High Lords issue an order, then the order first has to be transmitted to planets across the Imperium by the Astropath network, and then relayed from Segmentum Command to Sector Governors to Subsector Governors, all the way down to individual Planetary Governors. There is a lot of room for interpretation and delay.

purplefood wrote:

Wooly wrote:Actually, as far as I've understood (I might be wrong, if so, I apologise), the High Lords are ALL the top dog Inquisitors.
And we all know the Inquisition answeres to no one but, well... the Emperor and themselves (the organisation itself is so deliciously self destructive.)

The High Lords are the heads of various Imperial Organisations...
The prospective organisations don't always have their head on the council since there are more organisations than there are seats.
Try lexicanum for more information...

Vote for your favorite Lord here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/329665.page

I had forgotten that thread...

That's why I came in today Purple. To remind you of these things.

Thanks KC you are ever so helpful and generous and nice to me

Vote for your favorite Lord here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/329665.page

Awesome thread

Thanks. Inter-Imperial politics intrigue me for some reason.

ChrisWWII wrote:

Psienesis wrote:The ultimate leader of the Inquisition is a High Lord of Terra. He's not the ultimate ruler of the Imperium, but the other High Lords are watched for signs of heresy or corruption by this person.

'

He's not the 'ultimate leader', he's just a representative of the Inquisition as a whole. Remember, the Inquisition spends just as much time fighting amongst itself as it does combating the enemies of mankind.
It has no 'ultimate leader'.

BUt yes, the High Lords are the heads of various organizations such as the Administratum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Custodes, Adeptus Mechanicus, Departmento Munitorum, etc. They are the ultimate authority in the Imperium, responsible for ruling in the Emperor's name. However, they don't really have a lot of direct control. Remember, if the High Lords issue an order, then the order first has to be transmitted to planets across the Imperium by the Astropath network, and then relayed from Segmentum Command to Sector Governors to Subsector Governors, all the way down to individual Planetary Governors. There is a lot of room for interpretation and delay.

I remember back in the Rogue Trader (or Codex Imperialis?) days there was a "Master of the Inquisition" who was like some brutal Lavrenty Beria-style spymaster with tons of covert power, similar to how the Master of the Officio Assassinorum is depicted these days. I honestly think that concept is cooler then the current Inquisitorial Conclave/Representative system of rule. There is a single leader of the Inquisition at the Subsector and Sector level as it is, just not at the top on Terra.

Anyway, the High Lords are the absolute authority and rule the Imperium as an Oligarchy. They only handle big matters directly, the 12 of them don't really "run" the entire Imperium. Black Crusades, major Ork Waaagh's!, the loss of an entire system, a new Tyranid Hive fleet, and crises between the various Imperial bodies (a major dispute between the Mechanicus and Ecclesiarchy for instance) are likely the things that attract the attention of the High Lords. One curious and rather specific power they have is to deploy an agent of the Officio Assassinorum on an assassination mission, the High Lords must approve the operation. I honestly think this doesn't make much sense in fluff, unless Officio operations are even rarer then depicted. The fluff however justifies this measure as being necessary to avoid the Officio from making another grab on power, which they attempted in the past and even massacred the High Lords during the Age of Apostasy.

They leave 99% of management to the 5 Segmentum Commanders, who in turn leave individual sector and subsector management to their respective sectors. Those Sector and Subsector commanders in turn leave management of individual worlds to Imperial Governors. To be sure that Imperial interests are maintained on every level of this latter, the state security agencies (Adeptus Arbites & Inquisition) are deployed. Should these prove not enough to solve the problem at hand, the Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and even Astartes are deployed with the approval of the local Segmentum/Sector/Subsector commanders depending on the scale.

purplefood wrote:

Wooly wrote:Actually, as far as I've understood (I might be wrong, if so, I apologise), the High Lords are ALL the top dog Inquisitors.
And we all know the Inquisition answeres to no one but, well... the Emperor and themselves (the organisation itself is so deliciously self destructive.)

The High Lords are the heads of various Imperial Organisations...
The prospective organisations don't always have their head on the council since there are more organisations than there are seats.
Try lexicanum for more information...

Indeed.

From Lexicanum, which in this case manages to get its source right I think (feel free to correct me if codex imperialis says otherwise)...

The Master of the Administratum
The Inquisitorial Representative
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum
The Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus
The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites
The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators
The Master of the Astronomican
The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum
The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica

And then one of three other representatives, from the Abbess Sanctorum to the Lord High Admiral,

Does anybody know if their is a single representative for the Astartes?

I do not think there is. Afaik none has ever been mentioned.The Astartes are sort of outside the chain of command anyway.

That's because Astartes answer only to the Emperor himself.
But they are always available to help the Imperium or to listen a plea from the High Lords.

Anyway, what was your favorite High Lord? Goge Vandir was the funniest. He actually declare war on Adeptus Mechanicus and Adeptus Astartes.

Brother Coa wrote:And it is a little hard to imagine that only 12 guys can solve problems for several million worlds.

"Solve problems"? They aren't there to solve your petty problems, they are there to maintain the Imperium by squeezing every last drop of blood out of all of their citizens. The Imperium must survive, your life and problems are irrelevant and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Now back to work, you mangy dog!

*cracks whip*

Best High Lord is the Master of the Officio Assassinorum. You know that guy could just rip apart every other High Lord at once with his bare hands if he wanted.

In Codex: Assassins it was made clear the High Lord is quite adept at combat.

HiddenPower wrote:Does anybody know if their is a single representative for the Astartes?

Not since Guilliman. The Astartes have withdrawn from operation the Imperium since and stick to only protecting it.