The Emperor's Inquisition¶
This page is a work in progress!
Using Vessels of the Inquisition¶
The Inquisition has no fleet list on its own. Instead, there are various ways to add an Inquisitor or Inquisitorial ships to the Imperial factions. Choose the way that fits your fleet and play style best, but make sure you adhere to all restrictions.
Accompanying a fleet¶
Throughout its long and shrouded history, the Inquisition has used its authority to requisition the construction of various cruisers from the Adeptus Mechanicus. The purposes of some are clearly evident, such as special-designed warships to fulfil the needs of the Ordo Xenos, while others were constructed for missions and purposes more obscure in nature. An inquisitor may be content to use such vessels to merely accompany a fleet under the command of another authority, or they may even travel in obscurity aboard a Rogue Trader vessel or merchant transport.
A single Inquisitorial cruiser led by an Inquisitor can be taken as reserves by any Imperial Navy, Space Marine or Adeptus Mechanicus fleet; or an Inquisitor and his retinue may be embarked on a single Rogue Trader cruiser.
Leading a fleet¶
An Inquisitor Lord may called forth to lead a fleet at times of great duress, during which his or her word is law and authority is absolute. However, even unquestioned loyalty may come in many shades, and such vagaries are only magnified by the authority and power one wields. Even one as august a personage as an Inquisitor will have his thoughts and goals coloured by his training, experiences and philosophy. While there are many factions and allegiances within the Inquisition, only how an Inquisitor’s affiliation leans between the Puritans and the Radicals can visibly affect his or her decisions at the scale of Battlefleet Gothic.
Fleet Commander¶
0-1 Inquisitor Lord¶
Any Imperial or Space Marine fleet 750 points or greater may be led by an Inquisitor Lord. They must be aboard an Inquisitorial Cruiser if one is included, otherwise they must be on an Inquisition Blackship if one is included. If none of these ships is present, they have to be placed on the most expensive ship in the fleet.
Inquisitor Lord (Ld 9) ................................ 75 pts
An Inquisitor Lord gets one re-roll, which may be used for any ship in the fleet. A second re-roll can be purchased for +25 points.
Capital Ships¶
(0-1) Inquisitorial Cruiser (pg. 144)........ 270 pts
Any Imperial or Space Marine fleet may include a single Inquisitorial Cruiser in the fleet, which takes the place of a battlecruiser or strike cruiser in the fleet.
(0-1) Inquisition Blackship (pg. 142) ...... 300 pts
A fleet may include a single Blackship, which as a special vessel does not count toward or against other ship limits in the fleet.
Grey Knights Strike Cruiser (pg. 145) .... 165 pts
If an Inquisitor Lord is leading the fleet, up to one Grey Knights Strike Cruiser may be taken for every 500 points in the fleet.
(0-1) Grey Knights Battle barge (pg. 141).....440 pts
A Space Marine fleet led by an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor including at least 1000 points of Inquisition vessels and Grey Knights strike cruisers may include a single Grey Knights battle barge.
Attack Rating¶
An Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus fleet led by an Inquisitor Lord has an attack rating of 2. A Space Marine fleet led by an Inquisitor Lord has an attack rating of 3 unless a Blackship is accompanying the fleet, in which case its attack rating is 2.
Ordnance and Upgrades¶
If an Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus ship embarking an Inquisitor is equipped with launch bays, it must replace its attack craft with Thunderhawks, with its launch bay strength divided in half (rounding down).
Ships with torpedo tubes are armed with ordinary and boarding torpedoes, and for no cost or modification can also act as Exterminatus vessels.
Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus fleets may also take a single Rogue Trader cruiser. If taken, a Rogue Trader escort squadron may accompany it, but Xenos vessels may not be used.
Scenarios¶
Scenarios may be rolled normally in any agreed-upon fashion. If a Convoy Run scenario is rolled and the defending fleet list includes an Inquisition Blackship, this vessel may be used as the objective in the same manner as a transport convoy, counting as eight transports for purposes of deciding escorting forces. A single Inquisitorial Cruiser may be included as part of the escorting fleet if desired and the points are available, keeping in mind that the point value of the Blackship counts against the escorting fleet!
Sub-plots¶
Inquisitors are almost always in pursuit of some higher objective that may be obscured by the current conflict at-hand. In addition to any sub-plots rolled normally, the fleet led by an Inquisitor must take a Secret Ploys sub-plot rolled randomly from [???] p.84 of the Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook.
Reserves and Allies¶
Any one of the Imperial Navy, Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marine fleets led by an Inquisitor may always take ships from the other two as reserves in the normal manner.
Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus fleets may also take a single Rogue Trader cruiser. If taken, a Rogue Trader escort squadron may accompany it, but Xenos vessels may not be used
Space Marine Chapters are fiercely independent and will only grudgingly submit to having their leadership usurped by an Inquisitor Lord, regardless of his renown. While a Space Marine Captain or Fleet Master may agree to parley at an Inquisitor’s side, they will not countenance adding insult to injury by actively serving alongside Xenos or potentially renegade vessels of any stripe!
Inquisitors of the Ordos¶
If desired, vessels with an embarking Inquisitor may gain special characteristics, depending upon the Ordo the Inquisitor leading the fleet is affiliated with. This will typically (though not necessarily) be related to the enemy the fleet is facing. For example, an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor may lead a fleet to perform Exterminatus on a planet subsumed by a witch-cult, an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor and her kill-team may be sent to clear a derelict Space Hulk of a Tyranid infestation, etc. However, these shadowy agents of the Imperium are only called upon in dire need, usually only when a threat to the Imperium has gained a significant foothold in a system, or a war threatens to turn for the worse.
The listed cost is added to that of the Inquisitor Lord, and its benefits apply to the ship they are embarked upon.
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors¶
By their nature, this Ordo tends to be made up the most conservative and Puritan members of the Inquisition.
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Lord ......... +25 pts
A vessel embarking an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Lord is accompanied by a mission of Adepta Sororitas and/or platoons of Inquisitorial Storm Troopers that serve as their personal bodyguard and assault force.
The ship adds +1 to its leadership (max. 10).
It also adds +2 to its roll during a boarding action.
Hit and Run attacks from this ship add +1 to their roll, and such attacks against this ship subtract -1 from their roll.
If a Blackship is used as an Exterminatus vessel, a Hereticus Inquisitor must lead it.
Reserve/allies¶
An Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus fleet led by an Inquisitor that does not include Space Marine vessels has no additional restrictions or changes to their reserve and allies rules, although Rogue Traders will be regarded with particular suspicion, though a single Rogue Trader and its attendant escorts may still accompany the fleet.
Ordo Xenos Inquisitors¶
While Inquisitors of this Ordo know they must be fully cognizant of Xenos races in order to defeat them, radical Inquisitors of this Ordo that follow the philosophies of the Istvaanists and Xeno Hybrists actively cultivate accommodation with aliens and seek their technology for the Imperium’s benefit.
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Lord ..............+30 pts
A vessel embarking an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Lord is accompanied by a Deathwatch kill-team that serves as their personal bodyguard and assault force.
The ship adds +1 to its leadership (max. 10).
It also adds +2 to its roll during a boarding action against alien vessels, during which Xenos ships subtract -1 from their roll.
Hit and Run attacks from this ship add +1 to their roll, and such attacks against this ship subtract -1 from their roll.
Rolled saves by holofields, shadowfields or any similar rule against a boarding action or hit and run attack succeed on a 3+ instead of a 2+.
An Ordo Xenos Inquisitor will only be called when an alien threat significantly exceeds a given Sector Stabilis mandate. The enemy Xenos fleet adds D6!50 points of escort vessels to its fleet for free.
The vessel upon which the Inquisitor Lord is embarked may roll once against the following table and apply it to the ship. Alternatively, the refit may be selected for +5 points.
| D6 ROLL | IMPROVEMENT |
|---|---|
| 1 | Long Range Sensors: The vessel adds +1 to its base leadership (max. of Ld 10). |
| 2 | Targeting Matrix: The vessel counts all targets as closing when using the gunnery table within 30cm and ignores all right-shift modifiers for shooting greater than 30cm. |
| 3 | Advanced Shielding: The vessel increases the strength of its shields by +1. |
| 4 | Ship Defence Grid: The vessel increases the strength of its turrets by +1. |
| 5 | Advanced Drive Technology: The vessel adds +5 cm to its speed as well as +1D6 when undergoing All Ahead Full special orders. |
| 6 | Gravitic Thrusters: The vessel doubles the maximum rate of its normal turn. |
Reserve/allies¶
An Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus fleet led by an Inquisitor that does not include Space Marine vessels may has the following addition to its reserves and/or allies rules. A fleet led by an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor may be accompanied by a single Demiurg capital ship, Corsair Eldar cruiser or Tau cruiser. If taken, the Inquisitor’s ship loses its Deathwatch contingent along with their leadership and boarding value bonus.
Ordo Malleus Inquisitors¶
Inquisitors of this Ordo are more knowledgeable of the dire threat Chaos poses to all of humanity than virtually anyone in the Imperium. Some radical Inquisitors of this Ordo come to believe they can actually control this to an extent, turning Chaos against itself to humanity's benefit.
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord ............ +25 pts
A vessel embarking an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord is accompanied by several squads of Grey Knights Space Marines that serves as their personal bodyguard and assault force.
The ship adds +1 to its leadership (max. 10) and +2 to its roll during a boarding action.
Hit and Run attacks from this ship add +1 to their roll, and such attacks against this ship subtract -1 from their roll.
This ship or one Grey Knights vessel may board a Grey Knights terminator boarding party for +50 points.
Once per turn a vessel equipped with Terminator boarding parties may use them when conducting a hit and run [teleport attack]Hit and Run attacks. They roll two dice for its hit and run attack and apply both results, including the normal +1 bonus for being Space Marines. Terminators may be used in addition to a normal teleport attack that turn.
Every Grey Knights vessel in the fleet may embark an Honour Guard for +10 points. Once per turn you may use the Honour Guard. All the normal rules for teleport attacks apply, except that they may be used in addition to a normal teleport attack that turn. The player may roll two dice and choose which one to use as the result, including the normal +1 bonus for being Space Marines.
This ship and every Grey Knights vessel in the fleet mounts hexagrammic wards throughout its hull and ignores any Chaos marks or Daemonship effects affecting leadership or boarding actions. Marks of Slaanesh do not affect the leadership of this vessel, Marks of Khorne do not double boarding values against this ship, etc. Rules for Chaos Space Marines still apply normally, and any other special rules and effects such as the Forces of Chaos listed on p.158 [???] of the Rulebook remain unaffected.
An Ordo Malleus Inquisitor will only be called when intense demonic activity threatens to overrun an entire Sector. The enemy Chaos fleet may add one Mark of Chaos or upgrade a cruiser to a Daemonship at no cost, and may also do so again as many times as there are Grey Knights strike cruisers in the fleet.
Reserve/allies¶
An Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus fleet led by an Inquisitor that does not include Space Marine vessels may has the following addition to its reserves and/or allies rules. For no change in their cost, a fleet led by an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor may take as reserves any Chaos ship listed in the Bastion Fleet List on p.29 [???] of Armada. These vessels are free of the “Strange Happenings” special rule as long as the Inquisitor’s ship remains in play, but the fleet may not take any Grey Knights vessels, and the Inquisitor’s ship loses its Grey Knights contingent along with their leadership, boarding value and other bonuses. Likewise, Chaos opponents gain no benefits, as the Grey Knights are absent.