How would you stat these guys out? The version in the OW core book is obviously based on the TT statline (same as Guardsmen but with higher BS), but it seems to me that for the =I= they should b e the best of the best.
So you think just adding 5 to each characteristic would do it? +2 Wounds maybe as well?
Edited by bogi_khaosa
Overall, I'd expect the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers to be very close to regular Stormtroopers.
I'd increase the entire statline by 3, and add 2 Wounds;
increase Awareness, Dodge, Stealth and Athletics to +20 (from +10);
increase Parry and Operate (Ground) to +10 (from +0);
increase Common Lore (War) and Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialis) +10 up to +30;
add Forbidden Lore (Inquisition).
Aside from that, I'd review the weapons and equipment they get. I'd expect Inquisitorial Stormtroopers to be at least marginally better equipped, but it could also be wildly better. In particular, I'd expect this to take the shape of various upgrades; perhaps Whisper-Bolt Dischargers, Cameoline Coatings, Twin-Linked Hellguns, Advanced Helmet Systems (Preysense, etc), or Power-Assisted Armour are good suggestions I think (although probably not all at once).
In addition to the suggestions by Fgdsfg, I would add an additional appropriate Forbidden Lore concerning the types of enemies the particular Inquisitorial Stormtrooper unit has faced. For example, an Inquisitorial stormtrooper assigned to an Ordos Hereticus inquisitor may have picked up FL Heresy or one who works for an Ordos Xenos inquisitor may have FL Orks.
Also, make sure to take a look at the Stormtrooper in DH Ascension. You could draw on some of the special abilities that career provides (such as treating their armor one step better or gain the Tearing Quality with the hellpistol/hellgun because of their immense skill with the weapons).
Yay free Armor Monger talent.
I just went with standards STs, they're tough enough already.
Personally, I don't see the Inquisitors getting "even better" Storm Troopers, but rather easier access to more of them. Before Grey Knights came along and made the Knights better, while everything else sort of meh, from Codex: Daemonhunters, they were a Troop choice, rather than an Elite, like they are for Guardsmen, but I seem to remember them still being "regular" Storm Troopers. They might have some easier time with a better gun, like meltas or plasma pistols, but they'll still be mostly the same, and IG usually have a few, while Inquisitors are qualified to grab 30 at a time, if they wish.
It's more that the stats of the regular STs seem kind of lackluster.
Or so I thought until I actually had a bunch of them ambush my BC group. ****, hellguns can rip a Space Marine to shreds.
@Venkelos
Actually the whole stormtrooper program exists to provide numerous, flexible troopers for Inquisition who have no loyalties or ties to family or home but are wholly devoted to the Imperium. The =][= take the cream of the stormtrooper trainees and the remnants get turned over to the Munitorum and inducted into the guard.
Personally, I'm not a fan of this piece of novel fluff. The Cain books in particular seem to mess with Codex background a lot, it seems.
Either way, the Storm Troopers are as elite as the individual reader/gamer/writer wants them to be. We do seem to have several different approaches on this topic in the various official sources by now.
@Venkelos
Actually the whole stormtrooper program exists to provide numerous, flexible troopers for Inquisition who have no loyalties or ties to family or home but are wholly devoted to the Imperium. The =][= take the cream of the stormtrooper trainees and the remnants get turned over to the Munitorum and inducted into the guard.
Well, then I'm sort of right. The big =][= doesn't get "better" storm troopers, trained to be even better, like a grad class, but just the best of what the program already makes.
One way is to make a Stormtrooper "Regiment" starting with Schola, buying doctrines as you see fit (include "The Few" as a good drawback), you can skimp out on weapons and armor because you would add the Stormtrooper Careeer Gear (I would say to sell them for rarity value), buy them some fancy equipment, maybe respirators, grenades, spoor targeters (shown up in Ascension). On that note, look at the Ascension Stormtrooper bonuses, IIRC the core was Hellguns count as tearing and their special carapace armor counts as one step higher in quality.Make sure their carapace is worthwhile and to pose a greater combat presence, let them use the new DH ammo backpack (15kg, Scarce?, Holds 5x the ammo the gun would normally have, can't reload said gun in combat)
A mix or all of these is a great way if you need to make them more elite than normal
Personally, I'm not a fan of this piece of novel fluff. The Cain books in particular seem to mess with Codex background a lot, it seems.[...]
Actually this little tidbit long predates Cain, it seems to have appeared around the same time as the Inquisitor gameline got people interested in the =][=. Sandy Mitchell just elaborated a bit.
Actually this little tidbit long predates Cain, it seems to have appeared around the same time as the Inquisitor gameline got people interested in the =][=. Sandy Mitchell just elaborated a bit.
Oh - where exactly is it from, then?
Either way, the GW website still describes them as being " equipped and trained in similar fashion " as normal STs - and normal Storm Troopers already having " the best training and mental discipline " the Schola can provide.
Whether anyone actually sticks to this or gives ISTs notably
better
training, discipline and equipment is, of course, still something everyone must decide for themselves.
Sometimes, the inquisition needs a fighting force with better training than the average guardsman. Mostly, this means recruiting from the Adeptus Astartes, but if this option is not viable, then Imperial or Inquisitorial Storm Troopers are likely to be recruited. These individuals are highly trained in both overt and covert operations. In the case of many of these troops, their training emphasises more on ranged combat than hand-to-hand combat. Many Inquisitors prefer to use Inquisitorial Storm Troopers over Imperial Storm Troopers, due to a higher level of specialised training, and insured loyalty to the Inquisition.
From Storm Trooper, House rules for using Storm Troopers in Inquisitor. By Andrew Finney. (Specialist -Games site download, when it was available)
The Inquisition maintains a string of fortresses scattered throughout the galaxy, some hidden, some extremely well known and the object of numerous dark legends. Inquisitorial storm troopers are charged with the protection and security of the Inquisition fortresses and the infamous Black Ships as they make their purity checks throughout the Imperium. Recruited from the Schola Progenium and certain families with a tradition of service to the Inquisition, these Storm Troopers are equipped and trained in a similar fashion to the elite Storm Troopers of the Imperial Guard. Storm Troopers undertake rigorous purity and incorruptibility tests before they are permitted to bear the Inquisitorial mark, making them preferable for use in Witch Hunter forces where the number of Adepta Sororitas available may be insufficient.
Codex Witchhunters (3rd Edition), page 34
Officially, the Ecclesiarchy has the first pick of the talented students, which partly explains why so many progeniae end up in the Adepta Sororitas. However, an understanding has long existed that the Inquisition may take whichever students catch their eye. Oddly, when Inquisitors visit scholae, the very best students are often inexplicably absent on field trips or laid up in the infirmary.
The Inquisitorial Stormtroopers being a distinct "thing" really started with the Eisenhorn novels (which features them several times), and then translated into them being a seperate troop choice when Codex Daemonhunters came out.
In neither case are they distinctly 'better' - the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers were quite clearly bad-ass in Malleus, but then so are the Kasrkin (one of them attacks a daemonhost with a combat knife , for heaven's sake!).
I think you'll find that a stormtrooper hanging round with an inquisitor in person will be better, but that's not meant to say that INQST>IGST, just that the Inquisitor went looking for a blunt instrument and found that guy (which is what Ascension stormtroopers represent). As noted in the Inquisitor quotes above, they may have better specialist training (this is a [insert random xenos species name]. Shoot here for maximum splattyness) or access to wierd and wonderful weapons (look, combi-stake crossbow!), but they're not necessarily better as general military troops.
It therefore depends on what you need. If there's a generic 'inquisitorial operation' the squad blunders into, then core rulebook stormtroopers are fine. If it's an inquisitor or interrogators personal retinue of half a dozen or so....they deserve to be specific characters, frankly, and the Ascension stormtrooper is more than justified.
Edited by Magnus GrendelThe key divergence between Inquisitorial Stormtroopers and regular Toy Soldiers is fairly simple really: Their loyalty is towards the Inquisition, and they receive more specialized training rather than the (relatively) broad training the regular stormtroopers get. If I had to hazard a guess what this "specialized" training was, i'd imagine it would be courses directly involved in harming certain xenos creatures, malleus effects, etc.
So, not necessarily better, but better prepared for more specific cases.