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So Waaaghpower's thread on Inquisiton changes reminded me that I have recently done nothing at all on rebooting my Sororitas/Ministorum/Inquisition list for 40k 8th edition. This is partly because I'm waiting to find the time to come up with a new, better, template, probably in InDesign, after wrestling with iBooks Author and deciding to abandon it.

Anyway, while working on my Adeptus Arbites index I also began working on fleshing out Sororitas, Ministorum and Inquisition simultaneously, and the Inquisition in particular I was quite happy with, despite the limitations of trying to keep it like an index. The big problem is that the Inquisition index is… well, it's just so bland; this is a complaint I've had with all of GW's recent Inquisition releases, as they simply do not contain the sheer wealth of options required to make an interesting, and fully customisable, Inquisition force.

So I set about making my own. It's worth noting therefore that this is a true kitchen sink list designed to give you a huge amount of freedom in how you build your forces and inquisitors, though it does have some restrictions to maintain sanity. It has lots of wargear options, lots of relics, lots of tactical options, new character types (or old, depending how you look at it), some "new" special characters (exist in lore but have no models, but the models like Horst would be super easy to convert) and aims to have a lot of fluffy rules that may not be perfectly balanced. In fact, on that note, this list has received very little play testing and is very likely not well balanced at all (though I have tried, I promise!) but it's primary goal was to be fun and flexible, so if you're inspired to try a game with it, do keep that in mind and don't try to exploit it too much

Anyway, here's the preview for those interested; I'm hoping at some point to come up with a new version in a format more similar to the 8th edition codexes, but until then this should give an idea of the kinds of rules I intend (as I likely won't change much in terms of the basics unless feedback convinces me to do so):
Codex: Inquisition 8th Edition Preview

Some features of note:

• Super flexible Inquisitors and Interrogators. The former have access to the most powerful options, while the latter is kind of an Inquisitor-lite but with some interesting stratagems and the ability to scout, making them more field operative in nature. I've lifted the Malleus-only terminator armour limitation, which I never felt was justified, though Malleus still has a number of unique options other Ordos cannot take. If you can honestly look at either of these entries and feel there are a lack of options then I will automatically hate you.
  
• Two new detachments; one for a basic inquisition strike force that is bit more limited than the vanilla detachments, but gives everything the Inquisition keyword (important for various rules in the list). The Rogue Inquisitor detachment lets you take a ton of naughty heretical options with a lot of freedom, but is very limited in what it can take in terms of support. It also comes with some unique and hopefully characterful stratagems; if you've read any of the Eisenhorn or Ravenor books then you know where I'm coming from with these.
  
• Chambers Militant and Specialists; these allow you to include specific factions more easily, rather than requiring duplicate entries in my list. Chambers Militant especially are worth taking advantage of as they not only grant the Inquisition keyword, but also the appropriate <Ordo> keyword, which has important interaction with various rules.
  
• Excoriators (torturers), Savants and Lexmechanics introduce new stratagems and various fun rules. The Excoriator for example lets you force an enemy to discard a tactical objective (as well as revealing any that are secret), they can also heal you, but you probably don't want them to. Savants can help direct Inquisition forces for some cunning ploys. Lexmechanics are very useful when taking vehicles, and indeed are the only way to take them in an Rogue Inquisitor detachment. They can also take Servitors again.
  
• The Daemonhost actually feels like a barely contained daemonic entity to be scared of thanks to a heap of powers and the threat of turning on you if you get too greedy with how many you activate; if you're not careful with it it can be just as dangerous to you as it is to your enemies. On the plus side, you can shove it in a Drop Pod and hopefully make it your enemy's problem.
  
• Acolytes are basically a mash-up of 2+ Wound mini-characters in various flavours; Brutes (mutants, Ogryns, ex-Space Marines or even xenos scum), Gunners (footsloggers, ex-Arbites, PDF troopers, mercenaries etc.) and Warriors (would your enemies chopped, diced or minced?). Though they are listed as individual units they can form into a single Acolyte Warband occupying an Elite slot (up to six models) or Troops slot (7-12 models). They also serve as bodyguards if you're into that sort of thing.
  
• Wargear! For my own sanity I stopped short of including every piece of wargear in every other codex/index available, but the range of choice should satisfy most needs. Most of it is regular Imperial fare, plus unique goodies for the big three order. For example, Ordo Xenos gets a generic "Xenotech Blaster" which is intended to represent whatever dirty xenos weapons you slather onto your models in a glue-addled high. It's a pretty good weapon in general, with some unpredictability thanks to Inquisition meddling.
  
• Relics! Everyone gets access to some basic relics, then there are some ordo-specific lists. The Daemonblade is a particular favourite of mine, rolling 3D6 to assign to its stats, but suffering a Mortal Wound on a double, or 1-6 Mortal Wounds on a triple (depending upon which value is rolled), so pray you don't roll that triple six! I tried various options for specific powers as it's had in the past, but this is actually very simple and distinct from the Daemonhost, for a weapon that can be terrifyingly powerful (S12, AP-4, Damage 5 anyone?).
  
• Characters! Most are stalwarts from recent and older lists, with various tweaks. Coteaz's Psyber Eagle can actually strike independently (it's a frikking psychic robo-eagle after all). Some new faces on the Xenos side, given that there aren't any at the moment. I've opted for Inquisitor Horst who is a super-easy conversion (model wise he's literally just a Grey Knight terminator) and fun lore-wise. Also Inquisitor Rameus from Dark Heresy, a mysterious inquisitor who may or may not be on our side/a psyker/an assassin, and one of the leading members of the Dead Cabal alongside senior Deathwatch figures, also an easy conversion from a Greyfax or other decent armoured female model. Also Solomon Lok, because his Forge World rules are boring and Hector Rex can be made using a basic Inquisitor profile (he's just a guy with a Storm Shield). This gives every major ordo two special characters because, why not? Also it's my list

One comment I'll make real quick, though I didn't go through this thoroughly:
Relics don't cost Power Level anymore. I realize that this is a set of house rules and stuff, but still, that's still a fairly incongruous element here.
(Also, even at 37pts, the Daemonblade seems stupid powerful. On average, you'll get a Thunder Hammer with no penalty to hit - Which is already pretty good, except that it can be tailored to kill just about anything mid-game. Trying to kill something big and tough but with a meh save? Dump your bad roll into AP and shred it. Trying to kill Marines? Dump your bad roll into 'Damage' (Heck, if it's a '2' you can kill Terminators,) and your best roll into AP and shred them. Trying to kill celestine? Dump your bad roll into Strength!
The threat of Mortal Wounds isn't that high as long as there's a Command Point lying around to deal with triples. )

Waaaghpower wrote:
One comment I'll make real quick, though I didn't go through this thoroughly:
Relics don't cost Power Level anymore. I realize that this is a set of house rules and stuff, but still, that's still a fairly incongruous element here.
(Also, even at 37pts, the Daemonblade seems stupid powerful. On average, you'll get a Thunder Hammer with no penalty to hit - Which is already pretty good, except that it can be tailored to kill just about anything mid-game. Trying to kill something big and tough but with a meh save? Dump your bad roll into AP and shred it. Trying to kill Marines? Dump your bad roll into 'Damage' (Heck, if it's a '2' you can kill Terminators,) and your best roll into AP and shred them. Trying to kill celestine? Dump your bad roll into Strength!
The threat of Mortal Wounds isn't that high as long as there's a Command Point lying around to deal with triples. )

Hmm, those are fair points, I didn't think at all about CP re-rolls; how about if re-rolls of the stat dice are explicitly denied, and the Strength bonus changed to +2 (giving a range of 3-8)? On average this makes the weapon roughly equivalent to the Deathwatch Heavy Thunder Hammer (which is 30 points) with the potential to do more at a risk to the Inquisitor?

Boosting power rating for a powerful item feels like it makes sense, but I suppose if GW doesn't do it there's no reason for me to. It does mean that there's a pretty big range in terms of how powerful an Inquisitor can be though, as you could have a multi-relic Inquisitor with Artificer armour, max servo skulls etc. etc. facing down one who just took a nicer pistol.

 Haravikk wrote:

Hmm, those are fair points, I didn't think at all about CP re-rolls; how about if re-rolls of the stat dice are explicitly denied, and the Strength bonus changed to +2 (giving a range of 3-8)? On average this makes the weapon roughly equivalent to the Deathwatch Heavy Thunder Hammer (which is 30 points) with the potential to do more at a risk to the Inquisitor?

Denying re-rolls is always a finnicky proposition, since it removes decision making. I'd make the penalty something more consistent, though. The odds of rolling doubles on three dice are a little less than half. (5/12.) The chances of rolling triples is so low as to be completely ignored.
Instead, how about this: If the combined value of the sword is higher than the Inquisitor's Leadership, they suffer a Mortal Wound after all attacks have been made. This is both fluffy (They gain incredible power, but lose control of themselves,) and makes the odds of taking a Mortal Wound about 2/3rds - Costly, though not overwhelming on a 5w or 6w model.
I'd just make the Strength bonus a flat +, and then include the Inquisitor's base strength. This is one point higher than a +2, but is far more straightforward and would be effected by debuffs like that one Nurgle power.

Finally, the comparison to a HTH is unfair because the HTH is on a model with two attacks who gives up all ranged weapons and hits on 4s. This is on a model with twice the attacks, a gun, and who hits on 3s.

Boosting power rating for a powerful item feels like it makes sense, but I suppose if GW doesn't do it there's no reason for me to. It does mean that there's a pretty big range in terms of how powerful an Inquisitor can be though, as you could have a multi-relic Inquisitor with Artificer armour, max servo skulls etc. etc. facing down one who just took a nicer pistol.

Relics have consistently been one-per-model, and capped at three-per-army: One for free if your Warlord is the correct faction, and one or two for Command Points. (Theoretically you could have five Relics ATM, by taking both Imperial codices and spending maxCommand Points in both, but that's costly and inadvisable.)