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I have a sizable Deathwatch army (spacewolves) and a small but growing IG vet/mech army. I was thinking of running a 5 droppod army for a hobbyist tourney with a bunch of IG veterans in droppods.

The question is, within the context of the lore/previous examples can you lore-in a reason why a detachment of IG be on a permanent deployment with Deathwatch watch station? Or should I just say all the Vets are actually inquisitorial henchmen/storm-troopers.

I would assume they would have simply been acquired by the inquisitor for use within the deathwatch as henchmen/stormtrooper equivalents.

I guess another question is, would it be unheard of for them to paint their left arm armor plates silver, or would that be a big no-no?

I’m pretty sure a inquisitor can walk up to the local guard commander and say “I need two platoons of men to go cleanse a xenos threat to the imperium, and you probably shouldn’t count on getting them back” and get a “Yes Sir!” right back. If there is a large guard base next to a watch station, I could easily see a relationship between the two, where normal IG/vets are brought in when the normal kill team tactics might not work well. Even if it’s just for a distraction while the marine scalpel cuts the heart out of the foe.

edit for your follow-up. If the guard force is in a long term relationship with the Deathwatch, I could see it. I have no idea if it’s come up anywhere in the official fluff though. There is a lot of precedint for painting army badges, honors, and the like though. So I could see a unit that’s been on a tour with the ‘Watch tossing some silver paint around.

Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards! Deathwatch do not go in with a force that can die. They go in, do a focused mission, and then escape.

If you are going to try to wedge in AM, I would say it is easier to try to justify them as henchmen. Trusted soldiers who have fought at the inquisitor's side for some time and can be relied on.

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards!

There is no reason why they would not have guard working for an inquisitor. Inquisitors have all sorts of needs and tastes. Perhaps he has some guard working for him because they can do jobs a Deathwatch SM just could not. Also SM are very limited in number. Perhaps the inquisitor needs more men that he can muster from the deathwatch. I don't see how you can say they are not good enough, deathwatch don't have a defined job as such, just killing xenos for an inquisitor. There is no reason they could not work with guard. And no idea why you think they would need to be put to death.

There would be no problem with using guard with them, and as for the silver shoulder pads? Go for it. It wouldn't be a no no at all. Perhaps the inquisitor uses that as a mark of his best men and a badge of honor, or the deathwatch SMs asked them to do it after many years of working together and gaining mutual respect and trust. It's a big galaxy and anything can happen.

All my imperial armies are themed around service to a specific inquisitor and painted as such. (she is very influential). So I see no problem with being able to request a few guardsmen to perform distraction tasks while the death watch get to work. Or to have some ODST type troopers.

I like the idea for ODST, also helps come up with a naming convention. *insert planet name* 42nd ODST etc.

My imperial commanders and inquisitor models are basically interchangeable (and the list also features an assassin) so I am all game for the inquisitor explanation.

 Nevelon wrote:
If the guard force is in a long term relationship with the Deathwatch, I could see it. I have no idea if it’s come up anywhere in the official fluff though. There is a lot of precedint for painting army badges, honors, and the like though. So I could see a unit that’s been on a tour with the ‘Watch tossing some silver paint around.

It's not unknown for forces to have the same campaign badge or exchange a piece of heraldry if they've worked together for a long time. There's a navy fighter squadron (or larger, wing?) that was granted the right to display a Black Templar mark for outstanding valor in supporting the Templars, for example.

Yea, the Crimson Fists and Black Templars IIRC also shared paint colors on their armour as a display of unity during a crusade (at least, I think it was those two chapters, I could be wrong).

If those AM/IG troopers are aligned with an Ordos Xenos inquisitor and heavily working with the death watch, it seems quite normal for them to paint their shouldpads too as a sign of unity or whatever else.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards!

There is no reason why they would not have guard working for an inquisitor. Inquisitors have all sorts of needs and tastes. Perhaps he has some guard working for him because they can do jobs a Deathwatch SM just could not. Also SM are very limited in number. Perhaps the inquisitor needs more men that he can muster from the deathwatch. I don't see how you can say they are not good enough, deathwatch don't have a defined job as such, just killing xenos for an inquisitor. There is no reason they could not work with guard. And no idea why you think they would need to be put to death.

There would be no problem with using guard with them, and as for the silver shoulder pads? Go for it. It wouldn't be a no no at all. Perhaps the inquisitor uses that as a mark of his best men and a badge of honor, or the deathwatch SMs asked them to do it after many years of working together and gaining mutual respect and trust. It's a big galaxy and anything can happen.

That means they serve the Inquisitor, that doesn't mean they are members of the Deathwatch. That is like putting guardsmen into the Grey Knights. They can work beside them, but they won't be part of them. They can't be.

Going back to a earlier post, in a lot of the fluff any guardsmen that see Grey Knights are usually "removed" either by being sent to work camps, killed or if they are really important (mind-cleaned).

In my current Ordos Xenos Force I have:

Deathwatch marines that can be multiple different chapters(ruleswise) at any given time, as well as a full armory/swappable arms.

Death Korp of kreig Guardsmen army as my infantry component to the force. Kreigers are utterly loyal to the imperium and since I don't run any psyker's I am sure they are fine.....need to make a new model for Yarrick though, using the official model feels really weird when every other IC is converted.

I just acquired a sisters army which fluff wise were sworn to her when she was a member of the ordo hereticus, however events......have had her switch to the Ordos Xenos(working on my army fluff slowly). This small order of sisters agreed to follow her in her cleaning of the vile xenos who took her, seeing her survival as a sign of the emperors favor.

I just traded off my knights(for said sisters) but am getting the FW ones, they are from the same house that she was recruited from for the scholam(when she was still a psyker.....).

Most of my ICs are different inquisitor models that I am slowly collecting to represent the inquistors that follow her.

So its really easy to create the story for your army, as long as you obviously put some modeling effort into it, and it doesnt just look like you are doing flavor of the month.

 hazal wrote:
Going back to a earlier post, in a lot of the fluff any guardsmen that see Grey Knights are usually "removed" either by being sent to work camps, killed or if they are really important (mind-cleaned).

IIRC the Imperium is hush-hush on demons and the like. No need for the average guy on the street to get any ideas that there might be a quick and easy way out of the dead-end life that most citizens lead. There might be evil cults, but those are just rumors. Any actual facts are quickly covered up.

The fact that we are not alone in the universe is not something that is hidden. The details, maybe. I think most people know that the universe is full of hostile aliens, and only the benevolence of the Emperor, and the fighting spirit of the Imperial war machine keeps them at bay.

The Ordos Xenos generally doesn't purge Imperial citizens very often. Aliens aren't a secret, and the Ordos Xenos' job is to hunt aliens, not humans.

It's to the point where it's stated somewhere in the fluff (if my memory serves me correctly) that the Ordos Xenos actually gets along with the Space Wolves and are NOT estranged from them, unlike the other two.

Dealing in Xenos tech could get you executed but even that is not really the Ordos Xenos' job. There are a few Xenos that can corrupt one's body and even soul, but they're few and far between, unlike daemons, and knowledge of them still wouldn't be anywhere near as damaging to the Imperium as knowledge of Chaos, which can be anywhere and everywhere and have the seeds sown within a person's heart just by knowing about it.

Depends on how complicit those citizens were with the Xenos. Human world that joined the Tau? The Inquisition will burn every man, woman and child on a pyre for that heresy.

 hazal wrote:
Going back to a earlier post, in a lot of the fluff any guardsmen that see Grey Knights are usually "removed" either by being sent to work camps, killed or if they are really important (mind-cleaned).

Nope, wrong, the Kriegsmen that survived the Siege of Vraks were simply sent to the next battle field.

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards! Deathwatch do not go in with a force that can die. They go in, do a focused mission, and then escape.

If you are going to try to wedge in AM, I would say it is easier to try to justify them as henchmen. Trusted soldiers who have fought at the inquisitor's side for some time and can be relied on.

IA4: The Anphelion Project, was all about an Inquisitor and his special IGuard detachment of IGuard models released by Forgeworld being accompanied by Marines from a chapter with models from Forgeworld.

So I'd say there's really no problem with his fluff in that respect.



Despite 7th Edition allowing it by rules, IGuard in drop pods is a fluffbortion on epic proportions however.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards! Deathwatch do not go in with a force that can die. They go in, do a focused mission, and then escape.

If you are going to try to wedge in AM, I would say it is easier to try to justify them as henchmen. Trusted soldiers who have fought at the inquisitor's side for some time and can be relied on.

IA4: The Anphelion Project, was all about an Inquisitor and his special IGuard detachment of IGuard models released by Forgeworld being accompanied by Marines from a chapter with models from Forgeworld.

So I'd say there's really no problem with his fluff in that respect.



Despite 7th Edition allowing it by rules, IGuard in drop pods is a fluffbortion on epic proportions however.

Unless you cut out the portion of the modle between the knees and hip, make them look like theyd just fallen feet-first from orbit. Unless you believe the crap in the background of the DoW games where the pods slow to a gentle stop before impact.

So you could model the drop pods as more ODST style than Marine style.

Like I said earlier, as long as you put some effort into it I dont see a problem

 PhillyT wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards!

There is no reason why they would not have guard working for an inquisitor. Inquisitors have all sorts of needs and tastes. Perhaps he has some guard working for him because they can do jobs a Deathwatch SM just could not. Also SM are very limited in number. Perhaps the inquisitor needs more men that he can muster from the deathwatch. I don't see how you can say they are not good enough, deathwatch don't have a defined job as such, just killing xenos for an inquisitor. There is no reason they could not work with guard. And no idea why you think they would need to be put to death.

There would be no problem with using guard with them, and as for the silver shoulder pads? Go for it. It wouldn't be a no no at all. Perhaps the inquisitor uses that as a mark of his best men and a badge of honor, or the deathwatch SMs asked them to do it after many years of working together and gaining mutual respect and trust. It's a big galaxy and anything can happen.

That means they serve the Inquisitor, that doesn't mean they are members of the Deathwatch. That is like putting guardsmen into the Grey Knights. They can work beside them, but they won't be part of them. They can't be.

IG being part of the deathwatch wasn't what I or anyone else said. In fact you said that an inquisitor would not use IG, which is what I was answering. The title of the thread kind of implied the possibility, but the OP clarified that they were talking about deathwatch and IG working together. The OP asked why a detachment of IG be on a permanent deployment with Deathwatch watch station. You said no they can't. I disagree. They could be working with an IQ, or be guards or many other jobs a small number of SM could not do.

it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though.

While IG can be used in addition to Deathwatch if an Inquisitor wishes, I do not think they would last long if joined to the actual Deathwatch. The missions these guys do are some pretty dangerous stuff, and without PA and stuff you might go down fast.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Yeah, it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though. Not only are they not good enough for the sort of thing that the Deathwatch is generally called upon to do, they would likely need to put the soldiers to death afterwards!

There is no reason why they would not have guard working for an inquisitor. Inquisitors have all sorts of needs and tastes. Perhaps he has some guard working for him because they can do jobs a Deathwatch SM just could not. Also SM are very limited in number. Perhaps the inquisitor needs more men that he can muster from the deathwatch. I don't see how you can say they are not good enough, deathwatch don't have a defined job as such, just killing xenos for an inquisitor. There is no reason they could not work with guard. And no idea why you think they would need to be put to death.

There would be no problem with using guard with them, and as for the silver shoulder pads? Go for it. It wouldn't be a no no at all. Perhaps the inquisitor uses that as a mark of his best men and a badge of honor, or the deathwatch SMs asked them to do it after many years of working together and gaining mutual respect and trust. It's a big galaxy and anything can happen.

That means they serve the Inquisitor, that doesn't mean they are members of the Deathwatch. That is like putting guardsmen into the Grey Knights. They can work beside them, but they won't be part of them. They can't be.

IG being part of the deathwatch wasn't what I or anyone else said. In fact you said that an inquisitor would not use IG, which is what I was answering. The title of the thread kind of implied the possibility, but the OP clarified that they were talking about deathwatch and IG working together. The OP asked why a detachment of IG be on a permanent deployment with Deathwatch watch station. You said no they can't. I disagree. They could be working with an IQ, or be guards or many other jobs a small number of SM could not do.

it seems pretty/highly unlikely an inquisitor, calling on the Deathwatch, would even use AM regiments or soldiers outside of his own circle though.

I was referring to a mission that the Deathwatch would be called in on, which is what I thought the OP was asking, hence his question about IG units being used with Deathwatch shoulders etc.

Deathwatch are used as part of a greater campaign to deal with significant issues. Or as a single surgical strike. I assumed the OP was asking if an Inquisitor would permanently induct IG units into a Deathwatch force. In the traditional fluff, no way would that happen. But really, this is 40k, you can do whatever you want.

The deathwatch would not have troopers, but an inquisitor can have many forces at their disposal.

ಥ‿ಥ

I just got this mental image of Deathwatch Marines hurling IG Veterans at a Hive Tyrant.

'You mean that's not what they're for?'

In the recent novels Deathwatch have their own cloned "normal" human servants etc......could represent these

 Ashiraya wrote:
ಥ‿ಥ

I just got this mental image of Deathwatch Marines hurling IG Veterans at a Hive Tyrant.

'You mean that's not what they're for?'

Hey, if he overloads his Lasgun thats a throwable melta bomb right there.

you could if you want paint one sleeve silver but it wouldn't make much sense. from what I know this is done on marines so that the machine spirit isn't angered due to the rest being done black.

Also, unless they were in carapace, painting the sleeve of your flak jacket just kind of looks stupid.

 Bobthehero wrote:

 hazal wrote:
Going back to a earlier post, in a lot of the fluff any guardsmen that see Grey Knights are usually "removed" either by being sent to work camps, killed or if they are really important (mind-cleaned).

Nope, wrong, the Kriegsmen that survived the Siege of Vraks were simply sent to the next battle field.

Forgetting that Kriegsmen lack basic human emotions, which are required to corrupt a person.

Except when they're getting gunned down. Then they kill their Commissars and run away.