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Codex: Inquisition includes the following psychic power.

C:Inq wrote:Psychic Communion (warp charge 1) is a blessing that is used at the start of the Movement phase before any Reserve rolls are made. If successful, you can modify any Reserve roll result by +1 or -1 (choose after each dice roll is made). This power is cumulative with any other modifiers to Reserve rolls, including other Psychic Communion powers.

Since Codex: Inquisition are almost always going to be used as an allied detachment, this seems like a nice way to help your primary army get its reserves in a timely fashion. However, the main FAQ says...

BRB wrote:Q: Do modifiers that apply to such things as Reserve rolls, apply to units from an allied detachment? (p124)
A: No.

I am confused whether the phrase "allied detachment" refers to the minor, secondary detachment used to supplement the primary detachment, or simply a detachment which is in an allied state to the unit from which the reserves modifier is coming from.

If the inquisitor from my inquisitorial detachment casts psychic communion, can it improve the reserve rolls of the primary detachment, my allied detachment, or my inquisitorial detachment? Or some particular combination of the three? Or none at all?

The FAQ is from a while ago, but I think in this case it'd apply to all allied detachments (normal or Inquisitorial) as it looks like they only want your reserves to be affected by the primary detachment (as they're the ones who are basically coordinating the forces for that side).

Personally I have never liked that answer, it is one of a few that detail relationships between allied units that seem to always go against the rule book.

After all, we have been provided with a lot of rules concerning allies and how they interact with each other. While some of these rules are confusing, worthy of a Frequently Asked Question for sure, the interaction of a special rules within allied detachments was something I thought the rules covered well enough. Only alliance relationships of "battle brothers" would allow you to apply a bonus granted by special abilities, psychic powers or any other army specific rule from another codex. Had I been supplying the answer to that question it would of been along the already established rules, granting permission only to battle brother allies to benefit from reserve altering rules generated by one side or the other.

What I think doesn't matter, the Frequently Asked Questions change the rules away from the rule book all the time, so the answer will be a resounding 'no' till they strip that question from the website....

I look at it this way: FAQs are GWs way of telling us the RAI. Sometimes they intend things that don't make it into the RAW hence why we get answers that do stuff like that.

So if I understand you correctly, an Inquisitor in an Inquisitorial Detachment would only be able to use Psychic Communion to affect reserves from that detachment (i.e. the Inquisitors themselves, the Inquisitorial Henchmen, or their dedicated transports). Psychic Communion would not affect the Primary Detachment or any "normal" Allied Detachments.

If I took the Inquisitors as my Primary Detachment (humor me), they could improve their own reserve rolls, but not those of a normal ally (such as Space Marines) nor the rolls of an allied Inquisitorial Detachment.

In effect, reserve modifiers stay within their detachment and never affect anything outside their own FOC. Is that correct?

Thanks to the Frequently Asked Question answer....

Codex > BRB perhaps? It does say 'any reserve roll'.

Also, this FAQ question and the one about models in allied detachments repairing allied vehicles are so poorly written their intended meaning and their actual meaning seem miles apart.

In addition, what about the Ordo Xenos #2 Warlord Trait, that lets you roll two dice, pick one for reserves/outflank/mysterious objectives?

Does 'roll two, choose one' count as a modifier? Once again, it simply says "When rolling for Reserves...", and it includes Mysterious Objectives, which of course are never specific by detachment.

Edit: It's not just Ordo Xenos, it's all Ordo's #2 Warlord Trait.

So you're allowed to take the Inquisition as a special form of allied detachment, and you can even designate one of your inquisitors as your warlord...
...but if you roll the warlord trait that allows you to manipulate reserve rolls, the FAQ prohibits you from using this on anything but units from Codex: Inquisition.

Derp.

edit: I just answered another question in another thread and saw I was misinformed about the exact wording of the FAQ question mentioned here. :(

But I did realize the same train of through applies to this thread. The FAQ question is about the rules on page 124 of the BRB. The question is right in that those rules do not grant permission for a reserve roll for a unit to be modified by models in a different detachment. Thankfully those rules, and this question, do not prohibit another rule from granting that permission. I'd say that Psychic communion expands upon page 124 of the BRB and allows you to modify the rolls of your other detachments.

Except that there's no explicit wording in Psychic Communion (Or Reader of the Tarot) to allow the Inquisitor to affect reserve rolls for units outside his own detachment. Since the FAQ explicitly denies this, why would the Inquisitor be allowed to do so absent a specific exemption?

Not quite. The FAQ does not deny anything. Its a permissive rule set and the FAQ just reminded us that page 124 does not give that particular permission. The wording of psychic communion and reader of the tarot do actually give that permission and as a result they expand upon the permission granted on page 124.

I don't see anything in the psychic communion or reader of the tarot rules to suggest that their modifiers would be able to affect units outside their own detachment.