I'm not all that familiar with the intricacies of the setting, and I was hopeful older, wiser heads could give me guidance.

Who and what spies on behalf of the Imperium? I suspect that the Ordos will all do a bit of counter-intelligence work, and that the Officio Assassinorum is in the same business. The Arbites would also be involved to some degree. The Imperial Guard would no doubt have their own entities and organs.

Would the space marines? I doubt that a 7ft tall superhuman would be able to gather much in the way of HumInt in the same way that an acolyte might...

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Who and what spies on behalf of the Imperium? I suspect that the Ordos will all do a bit of counter-intelligence work, and that the Officio Assassinorum is in the same business. The Arbites would also be involved to some degree. The Imperial Guard would no doubt have their own entities and organs.

The Officio seems to be rather single-minded in its tasks. It certainly engages in a bit of espionage when preparing assassinations (especially for Callidus operatives), but other than that, it generally relies on other imperial organizations for target acquisition.

Would the space marines? I doubt that a 7ft tall superhuman would be able to gather much in the way of HumInt in the same way that an acolyte might...

Apart from doing a little reconnaisance, they probably wouldn't.

The main spy guys in the Imperium would indeed be the Inquisition, with the Arbites engaging in a bit gestapo-style counterintelligence.

The Arbites generally act as detectives on a smaller scale than the Inquisition when it comes to spying, and the Marines (apart from sending Scouts forward on a battle position) would leave spying to the honourless dogs of the other Adeptus.

I thought as much. Thanks for the replies. By spying I was thinking more James Bond and MacGyver (Or as has proven to be the case in one previous RT game, Magos Gyver) rather than Rainbow 6 or GI Joe

Hieronimo said:

That sounds like the Inquisition.

Other spying that may take place on behalf of the Imperium:

Imperial Guard and Navy inteligence gathering - via recon and scouting missions, satelites, listening posts,

Astartes recon and strike missions - certain Chapters specalise in this area - to the disgust of others...........they may not be gathering info by social interaction but those sent will normally be extremely skilled in covert operations in the enemy rear areas.....and are able to operate in the field for long periods

Navigator Houses, Noble Houses, Rogue Traders, Guilds and Corporations spy on each other and this information may also be passed on to the authorities when it suits them

Rogue Traders are a source for intelligence on the Xenos races

Arbities are very likely to have a intellitgence gatehring network as are local Law enforcement.

The Church is also likely to have an active network working in the population

Of course the Inquisition

Its also likely these varied organisations get in each others way from time to time.............

Don't forget the Adeptus Custodes. They're probably not active as far out as the Calixis Sector, but recent background information portrays them to have been probably the premiere intelligence gathering agency in the Imperium (at the time of the Horus Heresy.)

I am not sure how active the Custodes is once the Emperor is confined to the Throne? Don't they retreat to the Palace and stay there - only acting when conflict or conspiracy enter their realm?

Who knows? During the Heresy, everyone assumed that the Custodes were effectively just a personal guard when they were in fact a highly skilled secret intelligence force...AND a personal guard. It's hard to say what they've been up to for the past 10,000 years, but I can't imagine they've just rested on their laurels.

In the list of spying you are forgetting the Adaptus Mechanicus. A lot of prestige to be gained if it is your Forge World coming up with the goods instead of that other Forge World.

In the end, I think that most denizens of the 40k Universe spy on each other. It is the best way to assure that you get that promotion instead of......
Yes, even Space Marines will not be excepted to that rule, i am sure.

In the 41 Millenium everybody Spies.

Lightbringer said:

They do things every now and then like intervene when a madman is running the Imperium like Goge Vandire. They probably still watch and listen until they need to act just like in the Age of Apostacy/Reign of Blood.

Never forget the kings of information gathering Alpha Legion and their human forces.

I would go with the idea that every Imperial organization has a spy network of some kind.

As for the Mechanicus, in the HH novel Nemesis they introduced a Mechanicus Temple assassin refered to as an Infocyte. He was basically a super hacker that could collate huge amounts of data and plant false and true information so that others would kill his target for him. More or less he is a super spy with a lot of extras.

And of course, their are the planetary governers and whatever they deem fitting is agents, secret police, etc. The noble houses will have their own cadres as well as the guilds, with the later focusing on what could be called industrial espionage.

May I ask a question? For what intent do you ask? Do (or one of your players) plan to base a pc on some spy background? Are you locking for some hook or added padding for a memorable adventure? What´s on your mind?

I wonder if the Dark Angels have a network of informants. The galaxy is a big place and it might be worth their while getting informants to pass along rumours/sightings of shrouded SMs. Through many, MANY layers of deniable go-betweens of course.

ItsUncertainWho said:

Fon Tariel (the infocyte) was a Vanus Temple assassin, Officio Assassinorum, not Mechanicus. The Vanus are the ultimate information gatherers, so if you're looking for a super spy, their operatives would certainly fit the bill. As mentioned earlier, the Callidus could also function in a similar vein in some respects, masters of disguise and all that.