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The inquisition would almost never need a titan in any case, at least for fluff reasons. If a threat was big enough to require titans to fight it, the inquisitor would most likely just declare exterminatus and be done with it, rather than risking defeat.

The grey knights, however, do have access to titans of their own, gifted to them by mars.

This is not canon, but god damnit i'm going to pretend it is:
http://www.tanksandtrolls.co.uk/40KGrey%20Knight%20Titan.htm

... of course exterminatus is a last ditch effort.

However, committing a titan legion to a battle is every bit as desperate. They wouldn't ever send just 1 titan by itself... a warlord or emperor class titan is far too valuable to risk without a vanguard of smaller titans.... and if there is a planet that requires THAT kind of resource allocation to save, then it must be crucial to the imperium, like a forgeworld or something.

If that much firepower is called for on a non-important world, I really can't see an inquisitor having a difficult time sanctioning an exterminatus.

I mean, even if the mechanicus could spare a single warhound, a warhound doesn't add much more than a baneblade, which would be much more commonly available to the guard forces, and could much more easily be requisitioned.

Hell, titans usually aren't even available for inquisitors, because there aren't exactly a lot of them left, and they are almost always committed to defending forgeworlds and other critical imperial interests, or for breaking traitor legion titans.

The inquisitors level of battlefield escalation normally goes:
His retinue -> Guard units -> Naval units -> Space Marines -> End Game.

That End Game may be grey knights, may be titans, or it may be exterminatus... but I am willing to bet he almost never has access to any more than 1 of those final options.

TechMarine1 wrote:What CAN"T an Inquisitor requisition?

He can't assume command of anything but guard or navy... when it comes to things like titans or space marines, they are obligated to help, but can choose not to.

They generally help anyway if they can, because if they start refusing too many requests they could be declared traitors, and their fellow astartes would turn on them. The marines were created to fight the imperium's enemies after all, and any loyal chapter would do its best to answer the call of a true servant of the imperium.

Doctadeth wrote:Timothy Zahn, Inquisition War.

Inquisitor Jaq requisitions an Emperor class in the middle of a BATTLE, to find an eldar webway.

Didn't read the book, but it sounds like a titan was already on-planet, and he requested support from it. Thats different.

If the titan was already on the planet, then it is indeed possible for it to divert from its mission to help the inquisitor if the princeps (or his commanders) deem it important enough. They would not have simply landed a titan for him to command if it wasn't already in position to do so... he was just very lucky that such support was available.

Loki wrote:
And if commiting Titans to battle is as desperate as using exterminatus, why ever use Titans? Just use exterminatus! Far easier. If it's a habitable world, and it's possible to win it back by asking a legio for support, then it'll be requested.

They don't use titans very often, but in cases where exterminatus is NOT viable (cadian gate for example, or on high-value forgeworlds or SM Chapter Homeworlds), the strategic value of the planets means that they must hold them at any cost, without destroying them.

Habitable worlds are rare, but not so rare that an inquisitor would think twice about burning one to prevent the enemy from taking it.