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My game group is toying with taking time off from our usual 2000-point matchups and running some smaller games with a round-robin tournament style. It may become a regular thing every third session or so. I'm thinking about tuning up a little Inquisition force.

What might make a good build at, say, 400 points? I have three Inquisitors, 2 squads of Stormtroopers with extra plasma and melta, a handful of random retinue types, a couple of psykers, plenty of priests, and enough guard components and bits box oddities to come up with counts-as death cult assassins, Jokaero, or whatever. I also have a Chimera and could probably source another one online for cheap.

What makes a good up-close-and-nasty squad, and what's a good ranged build? I was thinking an Inquisitor with skulls and psychic ML, some acolytes with melta or plasma, a psyker for extra dice, a DCA to be prickly in melee, and a priest for buffs. I might be able to squeeze two of those into transports at around 400.

Anybody have experience running standalone Inquisition forces in small games?

A few things that I have experience with:
(First off, it bears mentioning that Inquisition works best as a support army, but it kind of goes without saying that you're not asking how to use them for support, you're asking for a solo army. With that in mind...)

Inquisitors are actually the best army in the game at Warp Charge spamming. For 400 points, you could potentially get some-odd 15 Warp Charges. How, you ask? Simple! A ML1 Inquisitor for 55 points, and three squads with a single 10pt Imperial Psyker and two 4pt Acolytes. Obviously, this list isn't very fun to play, but it is a little hilarious.

For up close and nasty, you've really only got one build. Take a Xenos inquisitor with Rad and Psychotroke grenades. Take 4-6 Assassins, 3-4 Crusaders, and 2-3 Ministorum Priests. (Add one Psyker for flavor, if you want bonus Warp Charges.) It's got no good way to get across the board, aside from investing in a Land Raider, but it's nigh-unbeatable on the charge unless you face AP2.

Speaking of Land Raiders, take an LRC and give it Psybolt ammo, and you're left with 12 S5 bolter shots. Yay.


Unfortunately, Inquisition lacks any really good long-range firepower, and also lacks much reliable AP2. Jaekaro can be okay, but with only BS3, they only go so far. Similarly, 3 Acolytes can take Plasmaguns, but again their Ballistic Skill is mediocre. If you face lots of Psykers you can take an Inquisitor with Psycollum to heavily mitigate this problem, (Getting BS10 against Psykers, which is hilariously good,) but that's a little pricey since it can sometimes do absolutely nothing. (Say, if you're playing against Tau.)

Your best bet is probably to go with one footslogging close-combat beast, and a couple (or one, depending on how many points you have,) tanks stuffed to the gills with Plasma or Melta.

What about Conversion Beamers and Servitors with HB's? I used them in small games against Nids and they performed admirably.

Also Servo Skulls are downright mean, if you want to block you enemy's infiltrators.

Conversion Beamer, 2 Jokaero no more really, add one of them cheap psykers and give your inquisitor psyker ml. The rest can be meat shields of your preference. There you nowill have a ranged inquisitor squad that can threaten pretty much the entire standard game board.

I like Plasma Cannon Servitors personally. They pack quite a wallop, and are one of the cheapest ways of putting Plasma on the field. Sure they aren't the most accurate thing available, but if you stick them with a Conversion Beamer Inquisitor and two Jokaero, you have a very small unit that can still pack a really nasty punch. If you want some extra bodies to soak up the inevitable return fire, Acolytes with Bolters or Storm Bolters are really cheap and still very effective.

Great advice, everyone!

So what do I do with all those (or even a few) warp charges? Any combinations of psychic disciplines and weaponry that enhances this scheme?

I don't have a Land Raider, nor any plasma cannons, but the hard-hitting melee unit I could do. If I did a transport full of special weapons with the Inquisitorial relic that gives Scout, they could hustle up and try to scorch something while a footslogging assassin blob advances behind them, and/or a shooty group with C-beamer stands back and takes long shots.

Is the Chimera combo with heavy bolters and psybolt upgrade worth the investment?

Does the melee unit with assassins and crusaders benefit from priests or psykers, or should the psykers hang with the ranged group?

Thanks for the input, I'm going to pull together a few lists...

Priests definitely benefit the melee unit - their War Hymns only work in Close Combat. Death Cultists and Crusaders work really well with Priests, since they can benefit from either of the group benefit ones greatly. Need to make sure you survive? Re-rolls to Invulnerable Saves can really save the day.

Okay, here's a staring point based on models I already own.

Inquisitor with ML1 and some servo skulls
Warband with 2x hotshot lasguns, 2x melta, flamer, DCA, priest, psyker
Warband with 2x hotshot lasguns, 2x plasma, flamer, DCA, priest, psyker
2x chimera with HB+HB and psybolt ammo

Basic tactic is to stay embarked as long as possible shooting specials and S6 heavy bolters until someone pops a tank, then hope flamers, DCAs, and priests make them hard to deal with in melee. Should I try to work some crusaders in there for the saves?

And how should I try to optimize the psykers?

Thanks!