Inquisitorial Task Force

Greetings,

First, I went to the OFCC, held in Vancouver, WA again this year. A great time was had! It is truly a great event, and (nearly) everyone is sporting, friendly, and there to have fun. That said, my Angels Malleus did pretty poorly this year. I took a list like this:

Librarian, jump pack, Shield of Sanguinius, Unleash Rage

2 Sanguinary Priests, x2 jump packs

2 10-marine Assault Squads, each with x2 meltaguns and one power fist

9 Death Company with jump packs, x3 power weapons, x1 power fist, and Chaplain Lemartes

x2 Baal Predators, both with assault cannon turret and heavy bolter sponsons

x10 Vanguard Veterans, all with jump packs, x2 power weapons, x2 thunder hammers, x2 storm shields

I was basically wiped off the board in 4/5 games. I did manage to win the other game, but it still wasn't pretty. So, that obviously didn't go very well. I don't think I made any big tactical blunders, so I mostly blame the list, like any good 40k player.

Second, I am constructing a new army! I have a deep, abiding love of airborne infantry and special forces, particularly the Special Air Service (SAS) of the United Kingdom, after whom nearly all other special forces and counter-terror units, including the US SFOD-Delta, are modeled. The obvious choice for such an army was the Imperial Guard, where I could have veterans acting as stormtroopers with their BS4 and by taking the Grenadiers upgrade to give them 4+ armor saves. The Other part of the plan was to mount everything in Valkyries and Vendettas (6 total in the original list) and fly in, deposit troops on objectives, and fly off to provide support. This was all while 6th edition was only rumors, and no word had gotten out about flyers or new reserve limitations. I was wisely advised to wait until 6th dropped before starting this venture. Now that 6th is out, the list has gone through a few modifications to make it more compatible with 6th ed. So, here it is:

Company Command Squad
- carapace armor
- astropath
- officer of the fleet
- vox-caster
- x2 meltaguns
- x2 plasma guns
- chimera

Storm Troopers (10)
- x2 melta guns

Storm Troopers (10)
- x2 melta guns

Guardsman Marbo

Veterans
- Grenadiers
- x1 flamer
- x2 meltaguns
- vox-caster


Veterans
- Grenadiers
- x1 flamer
- x2 meltaguns
- vox-caster


Veterans
- Grenadiers
- x1 flamer
- x2 meltaguns
- vox-caster


Veterans
- Grenadiers
- x1 flamer
- x2 plasma guns
- vox-caster
- Chimera


Veterans
- Grenadiers
- x1 flamer
- x2 plasma guns
- vox-caster
- Chimera

Vendetta Gunship Squadron
- x2 Vendetta Gunships
- x2 sets of door-mounted heavy bolters


Vendetta Gunship Squadron
- x2 Vendetta Gunships
- x2 sets of door-mounted heavy bolters

The idea is that these are Imperial special forces. Initially, I had nothing beyond that as a theme, but as I thought more about it, it occurred to me that the equivalent of Imperial special forces exist: the Inquisition! I won't be taking allies, but instead modeling this army as a cell of Inquisitors leading inquisitorial storm troopers to snuff out some unlucky heretic (or even renegade Inquisitor, as the infamous Gregor Eisenhorn did when hunting down Quixos). To that end, sergeants in most (maybe all) of the Veteran squads will be modeled as Inquisitors, as will the company commander in the Company Command Squad.

Pictures of some finished storm troopers and a modeling method for keeping track of Hull Points in 6th edition coming soon!