Inquisition, the surprise release of 7th edition, is still broken and unusable in 8th. Here are some ideas to fix that, and make the Imperium great again!
I get that the core rules of 8th edition are here to stay, probably with a couple more Character targeting rule re-clarifications (for the record we’re at 5 right now).
But, they’re just too many instances where Armies and/or Units end up being severe handicaps even in the most casual of instances.
I have a few modest proposals to put forth. Maybe none of them will happen, but, it’s not like I have anything better to do while waiting for the next BIG changes.
So let’s start with Inquisition, the codex-less with no prospects in sight.
How To Make 40k’s Inquisition Great Again
We also have cool hats.
1. Henchman (Now Acolytes)
Right now Acolytes as a Unit is okay. I don’t mind they lost all their friends. If you look at their printed wound-count there’s a chance they might have eaten them…..
But they just need to be changed in some way. Which is actually really hard because of how they are written. If you make them troops, you create the cheapest battalion in the game. If you increase their stats they become more tempting special weapon bolt-ons.
So for starters, they need to have a larger squad size (Let’s say 5) and “Authority of the Inquisition” needs to be re-worked so that it only applies if they ride with an Inquisitor. Maybe limit the number of special weapons…. that last one sounds familiar for some reason.
After that happens, it’s not so bad if they become troops.
2. Units
Inquisition needs its units flushed out in some way. I’m not expecting Codex Daemonhunters and Witchhunters back, but at least all the retinue options need to come back in some way.
This is a picture from the Inquisitional section in the Index,
Only three of those models are actually Inquisition right now.
If Acolytes move to Troops, you can leave the Elite slot for things like Daemonhosts, Jokaero, and Crusaders. Then put death-cult assassins in FA and Gun Servitors in Heavy support. It’s not like they’d have to create new datasheets or models, just give Inquisition back what they already had with faction keywords.
3. Transports
I get what they were doing. Why bother giving Inquisition rides if they can just jump in anything?
But, it’s not hard for Inquisition to get back a few dedicated types of transport options. I mean they’ve copy/pasted Deep-Strike a million times at this point, one more chimera and rhino datasheet with an Inquisitional pre-fix wouldn’t break the bank
Also, Landraiders going back into Heavy Support would mean those fancy Raider doors I have make sense.
4. Ordos Traits / Inquisitor abilities
Right now each Ordos group hates their intended target like really hates. As in they re-roll everything to-hit and to-wound. Which makes sense in theory, but when they’re full-tilt all the time you literally can’t give them any other rules.
If you pull it back to only re-roll 1s or make it an aura on the inquisitor, you can start to give them other things without it becoming a very specific one sided murder match-up.
Another more nifty option would be to make the Inquisitors have some kind of friendly targeting ability, a unique Ordo Inquisitional order-like thing. Coteaz could scare a target unit into being brave, Greyfax suggesting a unit dodge that screaming fireball and Karamoza could be good at suggesting friendlies be targeted…….
5. Detachment Bonuses Intentional, Stratagems and the like
This is where it gets tricky, you do have to make Ordos good at fighting their intended target. Ordo Xenos is supposed to be good against Xenos. But if they are too good, you aren’t going to see people actually wanting to play each other, and Tournament Bros are just going to have another tool to exploit in Detachment Soups.
They need to be more like Deathwatch stratagems, and less like Vect.
Another option with this is to make it so Ordos have a reason to be taken with their co-workers. For example, Ordo Malleus does something helpful with Grey Knights. Like if you changed the Ordo Malleus re-roll to a Generic reroll 1s aura (like every decent army these days), make it so that it affects Ordo Malleus and GKs.
But it’s very important that whatever actually happens with Inquisition, is worded to include Inquisition units present and participating. Otherwise, we run into the same problem we have now, where a Guard Commanders are really good at yelling at knights.
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