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Im not sure if this is the right forum for this question, but then again it is 40k Backround,
Can an inquisitor lord have a private army, within reason of course, or must he/she rely on local sources for aid?

He can, and many have been said to have just that.

In the end, it is up to an Inquisitor when exactly he relieves requisitioned forces from his or her command, and whilst most Inquisitors do it once the job is done (as having a private army also means you will have to secure passage and supplies for it, which is bureaucracy that many Inquisitors wish to avoid) some do not, and amass quite a little following over time. In general, Inquisitors prefer to "travel light" as it means they can get quicker from A to B, but depending on how they operate, they can have a force following them in reserve, or they simply move around much slower than their fellow Inquisitors, but always arrive with a loyal force to enforce their demands, just in case local forces may be compromised.

Here is an example from Codex Apocalypse, of an Inquisitor with his battlegroup. Note that most of the troops on this chart are a temporary addition who will go their own ways as soon as the campaign is over, but also that Lord Scallen comes with a "Household Guard" of 12 IST squads.



Some Inquisitors are even said to have their own warships - large cruisers once requisitioned from the Imperial Navy and recommissioned in the black-red colour scheme of the Inquisition...

For most Inquisitors, mobility is important, but at times it is just more practical to have a force that is ready to move out at a moment's notice and that you can trust completely. It is why the Inquisition has their own Space Marine Chapters, too, even though it can order any Chapter Master around - at least in theory, for at times the Astartes Lords do like to drag their heels, or even not react to a request at all ...

Thanks, its kinda funny that i think i know alot about the lore in WH40K but you know, ya learn new stuff every day.
This means that i can make my inquisitor, the list of 50 or so veteran guardsmen, 3 chimeras, 1 apocolypse/fun tank and a squadron of Russes.

Tankroller wrote:This means that i can make my inquisitor, the list of 50 or so veteran guardsmen, 3 chimeras, 1 apocolypse/fun tank and a squadron of Russes.

Sounds a bit large, but totally possible, from my point of view. I guess your Inquisitor is simply one of those who like to make a show of their arrival rather than concealing their identity and working in the shadows - the kind of people responsible for huge pyres and large scale purges rather than taking out a single cult with an elite team of operatives. That's one of the interesting things about Inquisitors, their personalities allow for a wide range of possible mindsets on how to tackle an issue, and of course this also bleeds over into how or what they move around with.

Tankroller wrote:Thanks, its kinda funny that i think i know alot about the lore in WH40K but you know, ya learn new stuff every day.

The background is so vast and all over the place - I do not think anyone knows it all!
I have limited my own research largely to Sororitas fluff, and only that which is written by GW themselves to reduce inconsistencies - and even after years, I still discover something new in some ancient issue of White Dwarf.

And you're welcome.

Well, I think it would also depend on the type of inquisitor. While I dont think there is any particular precedent for it, it seems like it wouldn't be out of the question for an Ordos Xenos inquisitor to be encountering new species and civilizations with a decent amount of fire power at their direct disposal, rather than needing to wait around a death watch response.

Carlovonsexron wrote:
Well, I think it would also depend on the type of inquisitor. While I dont think there is any particular precedent for it, it seems like it wouldn't be out of the question for an Ordos Xenos inquisitor to be encountering new species and civilizations with a decent amount of fire power at their direct disposal, rather than needing to wait around a death watch response.

Or an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor turning up with a full army to purge a colony that's already been determined guilty by stealthier agents. Ofc, the Inquisitor isn't there for the simple matter of dealing out justice - he's closing the books on a decades-long investigation and making sure no new evidence is discarded without careful examination.

Well in the fluff case of the sector that the inquisitor is in, he is doing two tasks. The first is observation of my Space marine chapter, as there was a seiries of events that turned the inqusitor's attention to the sector, primarily the chapter master calling for the most extreme of Solutions to an entire planet being infested by chaos. beit the planet was a large population agri-world with a single hive spire, it was the cults spread throughout the country side that were the issue, they were well armed and very good at hiding their intentions from all but the psykers of the chapter and local guardsmen. once things had started to go south in the spire, the Chapter sent in two strike teams to retrieve two holy relics from the churches within the hive spire. out of 20 space marines, 1 survived and barely so. It was assumed they either fell to the temptations of chaos and murdered their battle-brothers, or were decimated by demons.
i have a backstory for the lone survivor but its still getting worked on
the inquisitor also watches the two hive worlds in the sector for any signs of chaotic infiltration.
Thus Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor who was born in the same sector, has his own cruiser and small(relativly) army.

 Lynata wrote:
He can, and many have been said to have just that.

In the end, it is up to an Inquisitor when exactly he relieves requisitioned forces from his or her command, and whilst most Inquisitors do it once the job is done (as having a private army also means you will have to secure passage and supplies for it, which is bureaucracy that many Inquisitors wish to avoid) some do not, and amass quite a little following over time. In general, Inquisitors prefer to "travel light" as it means they can get quicker from A to B, but depending on how they operate, they can have a force following them in reserve, or they simply move around much slower than their fellow Inquisitors, but always arrive with a loyal force to enforce their demands, just in case local forces may be compromised.

Here is an example from Codex Apocalypse, of an Inquisitor with his battlegroup. Note that most of the troops on this chart are a temporary addition who will go their own ways as soon as the campaign is over, but also that Lord Scallen comes with a "Household Guard" of 12 IST squads.

Spoiler:

Some Inquisitors are even said to have their own warships - large cruisers once requisitioned from the Imperial Navy and recommissioned in the black-red colour scheme of the Inquisition...

For most Inquisitors, mobility is important, but at times it is just more practical to have a force that is ready to move out at a moment's notice and that you can trust completely. It is why the Inquisition has their own Space Marine Chapters, too, even though it can order any Chapter Master around - at least in theory, for at times the Astartes Lords do like to drag their heels, or even not react to a request at all ...

Interesting. I wonder if retaining a personal army for too long would cause the Munitorium to protest though.

Im sure they'd mind, but as long as the inquisitor is requisitioning the munitions and repairs through the proper channels they wont really give him too much problems. if anything, in my inquisitors case, he just maintains his vehicles and probably a group of five or ten guardsmen. no one can really get in the way of an inquisitor because he could very easily find a reason to cry Heresy.

I'm talking about when he requisitions something like 10 regiments.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Interesting. I wonder if retaining a personal army for too long would cause the Munitorium to protest though.

I guess that would be one gutsy scribe.

Could see it happen, though. In such cases, I guess the matter would eventually be investigated by other Inquisitors (given that those are the only ones who could legally do anything about it) and it would come down to a game of politics and comparing one's influence and network of allies ... or enemies. Accusations could be made of unscrupolously squandering Imperial resources badly needed elsewhere, perhaps?

Inquisitor Lords can commandeer whatever they want for however long they want, so long as they're prepared for the complaints to their superiors, people having them investigated for heresy and pride, possibilities of mutiny, and whatever else might occur due to the convoluted interior political structure of the Imperium and the fact that most of the forces they'd be commandeering actually don't like the Inquisition very much.

Most Inquisitors who get into actual combat situations regularly will keep a small retinue of permanent retainers, Stormtroopers, and sometimes Deathwatch Marines, Grey Knights, or Sisters of Battle around with them at all times, then commandeer larger forces on a case-by-case basis.