Codex: Imperial agents

[magath]

Hi guys

This is a little idea I've been spinning round in my head for a while now. I used to use a confessor in 3rd edition from the BBB rules at the back, and it was quite nice. Unfortunately, those days have long since gone, and a lot of the cool units in 40k, like adeptus arbeits, confessors and missionaries, malitia squads and bounty hunters, no longer have a place in 40k as they don't fit easily into a 40k codex. Other units, such as assassins and inquisitors, seem to have been randomly shoehorned into codexes for the hell of it.

My objective in this is to make a kind of "Dogs of war for imperial 40k" stuff, so all the cool stuff can get a place in any imperial army. Wuffers and arbeits, guard and assassins, that sort of thing.

So, my thoughts are this. This will not be a standard 40k codex, in that you won't be able to bodge this into an army, but rather, you can sacrifice a couple of slots in your force org chart and get one or two of these units to add a bit more versatility and variety to an imperial army. For example, if I give up an elites slot in my guard army, I could take a deathwatch killteam, if I give up a troops option in my guard army, I could take an arbeits squad. That sort of thing. Just for fun, not meant for anally competitive gameplay.

My thoughts for units so far are:

HQ:
Inquisitor/inquisitior lord and retinue
Rogue traider and retinue
Custodies
Missionarius Galaxia rank (arch deacon maybe?)
Techpriest Magus
Priests/confessors (like wolfguard, assign to units)
Illuminati

Troops:
Skitarri Squads
Arbeits squads
Militia

Elites:
Deathwatch killteams (PA or TA)
Assassins
Death cultists

Fast attack:
Abhuman species
Imperial Navy dropsquad

Heavy support:
Absolutely no idea.

What Im after are some suggestions or ideas as to what can go in. What I'm not after are "Oh great, more imperial stuff" comments.

Any thoughts would be awesome.

[S_A_T_S]

I've also thought about this one, and there are several other threads alone this theme. Are you actually going to make a fan Codex, proper pdf and bumf sort of thing, like Kompletely Kroot? If so, I'm looking foward to it! Got 3 assassins I can't use now due to no allies rules (even in 4th I couldn't because stupid inquisition codicies wanted me to take an inquisitor as well! 2 slots for only 1 model I want?!? Ridiculous).

Make sure you have some section at the front with limits, like:
0-1 HQ
0-1 Elite
0-2 Troops
0-1 FA
0-1 Heavy support
Those limites may be off, but you must keep them small, as what space marine force is going to need 3 assassins? Auxillary support from the Imperium is going to be small as SM and IG should be able to take care of anything they face on the battlefield by themselves. The units we are talking about really need a specific reason to be there - assassins with a specific target, Arbites providing local knowledge + policing to IG force, skitarri as bodyguards/servants of enginseer/ancient tech-relic. They can't be forming the basis of an entire army.

Flicking though your list, if you do custodes, look at the Tempus Fugitives Age of the Emperor expansion. It has some pretty well written rules for custodes (for a start, single man units - reading the HH series, they can take on a load of normal marines by themselves and still come out on top, so squads would be overpowered).

Priests/confessers maybe should be 1-3 as a single slot, elites probably rather than HQ as they are hardly army leaders. Think Sanguinary priests/chaplains.

There was an article in a WD about abhumans years ago, it was very good. Most were doctrines (shows how old) or point upgrades for IG squads/platoons. I would put them in troops, as upgrades to IG/allied units. Maybe allow 1 IG Platoon and 1 IG tank per platoon as part of your ally rules. May as well allow 1 unit of Grey Knights as well while we're about it, but keep it simple - just the ONE unit, infantry only.

If I don't mention electoo priests, someone will. I support Ad Mech being an add on in some way to the IG book, NOT its own codex, so I like your Skitarri, so maybe if you have taken at least 1 skitarri squad you can take a unit of electoo priests as an elite choice? Maybe HS, depending on abilities?

[Ambience 327]

*cough* Arbites *cough*

[magath]

*cough* Arbites *cough*

I'm dyslexic.

to S_A_T_S: I could do a full PDF, would be easy enough to do if there's a market for it.

Electoo priests: Can't say I'd thought of them, although thinking through, perhaps there is scope for mechanicum units in each bit ie:

HQ: Techpriest
Elites: Electoo priests
Troops: Skitaari
Heavy: Knight
Fast Attack: Skitaari jump infantry.

[HeOfTheRedPen]

I think an Adeptus Arbites/Ecclesiarchy list would be a lovely addition to the 40k universe! There's certainly a lot of background to be explored there in terms of how such organisations function and how they are structured- perhaps you could include HQ choices such as Deacons, Confessors and Patriarchs for the Ecclesiarchy side of things, with some pseudo-guard characters to cover the Arbites. Flagellants would add some character, as would other religious themes like Redeemers (maybe an elite squad of Arbites with close combat gear specialised to killing xenos or daemon models?) or Battle Conclaves (an idea I have been toying with myself for a unit constituent of a Preacher, a clutch of Fanatics and perhaps an Ecclesiarchy reliquary to complete the group). You've chosen a niche with so much fascinating conceptual material to explore- I would expect an army oozing character to be built from this!

In terms of gameplay, I imagine this army would function in a similar vein to Imperial Guard but with a greater emphasis on specialist units (the Ecclesiarchy squads for example, or some Arbites crack troops?) rather than tanks. It would certainly be a horde army, I believe, but one with the capacity to specialise if it so desired, so as to cater for the hordes of religious fanatics devoted to the Ecclesiarchy and the storm troopers of the Imperium's own tyrannical law enforcers. The two elements of course don't have to be combined- they could quite easily be designed to form two seperate armies, each with a seperate play style, if combining them doesn't suit you. Even so, the potential is quite astounding. The entire area is barely unearthed in the current codices (apart from perhaps Sisters of Battle and Grey Knights, which dabble in it slightly), so you have a lot of creative lease. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Yours,
He Of The Red Pen

[magath]

So first entry, as a starter for 10,

Missionarius Galaxia Arch Decon 100pts

The Deconry of the Missionarius Galaxia travel to new worlds to plant the imperial cult. It is often common for them to be attached to crusade armies fighting to liberate or conquer a world held by renegade human forces, or to be seconded to garrison armies on frontier worlds. Often taking a vow of poverty, their role is one of leadership, finding and training the next generation of imperial preachers and evangelists, planting churches and deliviering the message of the emperor with fire, brimstone and declaring His wrath on all who oppose the might of the imperium

WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
W 2
I 4
A 2
LD 10
SV 3++

Equipment: Laspistol and CC weapon

May upgrade Laspistol to:
Helpistol: +1pt
Bolt Pistol: +3pts
Plasma pistol: +10pts

May upgrade CC weapon to:
Shotgun: Free
Power weapon: +10pts
Powerfist: +15pts
Holy Icon: 30pts

Special rules:
Blessing of the emperor: The arch Decon comes with a 3+ invulnerable save

The armour of the emperor: The arch Deacon must take 2 of the following upgrades:

• Belt of Truth: Friendly units within 6" of the edge of the arch decons base may re-roll failed leadership tests once per game
• Shield of Deliverance: Any enemy units attempting to assault the arch decon and the squad he is with must re-roll sucessful to hit in the turn they assault
• Armour of contempt: The squad the arch decon is attached to may re-roll their armour saves once per game. This included invulnerables.
• Sword of purity: The turn the arch decon assaults, his attacks (and his alone, not his squads) count as +2 I and +2 S. This also means power fist attacks, for that turn only, are dealt at I6.
• Sandals of steadfastness: The arch decon and the unit he is with count as being Stubborn.

The hope of the emperor: If the arch decon is attached to a unit, that unit counts as scoring double victory points for the game. The arch decon may not be attached to anything other than a unit that falls into the "troops" section of the relevant imperial codex.

Holy Icon: Allows each unit within 12 inches to use the arch decons leadership once per game. Keep a tally of which units have used this, once used, they may not use it again. If a unit begins the game outside of 12 inches away from the arch decon, and then comes within 12 inches, they may use the leadership value.


Any thoughts? The special abilities are all based on the armour of God bit of the Bible, which is something I preach on regularly. Im thinking 100 pts is fair, given he can't be attached to terminator squads, that prevents people taking the piss a bit.

I think an Adeptus Arbites/Ecclesiarchy list would be a lovely addition to the 40k universe! There's certainly a lot of background to be explored there in terms of how such organisations function and how they are structured- perhaps you could include HQ choices such as Deacons, Confessors and Patriarchs for the Ecclesiarchy side of things, with some pseudo-guard characters to cover the Arbites. Flagellants would add some character, as would other religious themes like Redeemers (maybe an elite squad of Arbites with close combat gear specialised to killing xenos or daemon models?) or Battle Conclaves (an idea I have been toying with myself for a unit constituent of a Preacher, a clutch of Fanatics and perhaps an Ecclesiarchy reliquary to complete the group). You've chosen a niche with so much fascinating conceptual material to explore- I would expect an army oozing character to be built from this!

All amazing ideas, Do you fancy writing a few up to contribute?

[Eidre]

Adeptus Mechanicus seems to be separate enough and well-defined enough to warrant it's own codex (they are their own socio-political organization, it seems like most of their "agents" are already incorporated into other army lists, e.g. Enginseers, Techmarines).

However, most of the rest of your ideas seem to mech pretty well together...what it makes me think of is "what defense force would you see on a planet that was attacked out of nowhere by Tyranids, Dark Eldar, Chaos, Necrons, etc?"

Such a hypothetical force would be cobbled together out of whatever military and paramilitary happened to be planetside when the bad guys arrived and therefore be a hodge-podge of high-tech Inquisitorial (likely in small numbers), low-tech but fanatical ecclesiarchy, and large quantities of arbites, PDF, impressed civilian militia, and other cannon fodder. Altogether, this would give enough of a mix of troops to support a decent army and be able to follow a number of themes (and re-incorporate some troops that have been expunged since 2E, like Frateris Militia). Vehicles could range from well-equipped PDF tanks to militia in "technicals" (converted civilian vehicles with guns strapped on, probably AV9), but overall heavy vehicle presence would probably be light.

Overall unity of command and leadership would be questionable (probably deserving an army-wide special rule like "Fragmented Command" invoking penalties for units led by non-matching HQs, like a local guerilla commander leading a deathwatch kill team, or a Confessor leading an Arbites unit).

On the plus side, since all of the available forces would be intimately familiar with the battlefield (their homes and cities), they would probably get additional special rules like Infiltrate, Outflank, maybe Stealth.

[HeOfTheRedPen]

Hello again! Of course I wouldn't mind offering a few experimental unit designs up for your consideration- in fact, I think I'll offer one up now. This is my prototype for the Battle Conclave I came up with earlier- it may need a few tweaks, but I reckon it proves fairly sound. It centres on the Preacher and the Reliquary using 'prayers' (read: powerful, almost esoteric science from the ancient era of mankind) to boost the efficacy of the fanatics in close combat. Please let me know what you think of it and if any improvements are required:

Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave


Preachers of the Ecclesiarchy, having not the resources and followers the Arch-Deacons possess, journey to countless worlds on sabbatical exodus's, intent on gathering to them the faithful to act as messengers and bearers of the Ecclesiastical creed. Given the fear and suspicion the people of the Imperium harbour of the galactic void, there is no shortage of flagellants and puritans more than willing to devote themselves to such a cause, so crazed by their desire for redemption that death to them holds no dread. These fanatical individuals flock to the travelling Preachers like moths to a flame, desperate to give themselves unto the power he represents to attain their delusions of spiritual cleansation. All that truly awaits them are the endless fields of war. Preachers often act in conjunction with their retinues as potent battle regiments, supported by the ancient shrine-machines known as Reliquaries and armed with crackling Arco-Flails. Blinded and inoculated by their consuming fervour, they fling themselves at their foes with wild abandon, bolstered in body and mind by the esoteric energies of their Reliquary and the fiery oratory of their master. Such is their ferocity that they never truly relent, until either the heretics they face lie broken or they themselves are delivered into the grave.
Unit Composition

1 Ecclesiarchy Preacher: 50pts

Ws:4
Bs:4
S:3
T:3
W:2
I:4
A:2
Ld:8
Sv:5+/4++

Wargear
- Close Combat Weapon
- Flak Armour- Books of the Martyrs: All of the Ecclesiarchy's Preachers carry the litanies detailing all those who have fallen for their most righteous of causes. Such tomes inspire the devoted to acts of faith far beyond the call of reason.The Preacher and his unit are Fearless.
Special Rules
- Blessing of the Sabbat: The eye of the Sabbat itself resides upon the Preacher, guarding him from the blows of the unrighteous and turning aside fatal strokes that would otherwise strike him down. The Preacher has a 4+ Invulnerable Save.

5-15 Fanatics: 10pts per model

Ws:4
Bs:0
S:3
T:3
W:1
I:4
A:2
Ld:7
Sv:6+

Wargear and Options
- Arco-Flails: These crackling single-handed morning stars reflect the croziers of the Ecclesiarchy's Bishops in design and are wreathed by a sheet of golden energy that hums and sparks when it strikes the impure, searing their very soul as well as their flesh. A model equipped with Arco-Flails counts as having a pair of close combat weapons. In addition, to reflect the purifying nature of these symbolic armaments, Arco-Flails ignore Invulnerable Saves. - One Fanatic may carry a Reliquary for +35pts: Reliquaries are ancient artifacts from beyond the time of the Imperium from an age of antiquity and technological mastery. These potent devices blend the spiritual with the mechanical, creating a haze of golden energy that suffuses the righteous with a greater strength. A unit that includes a Reliquary gains the Furious Charge special rule and may re-roll failed To Wound rolls in the first round of any close combat.
Remember these are all provisional rules, and that you by no means have to choose to use or alter them. Just let me know what you think. Thank you very much for the praise above, by the way. The ideas stage is where I usually excel. Transforming concept to rules material is another matter!
Yours,
HeOfTheRedPen

[Sunshine and Night]

So first entry, as a starter for 10,

Missionarius Galaxia Arch Decon 100pts

The Deconry of the Missionarius Galaxia travel to new worlds to plant the imperial cult. It is often common for them to be attached to crusade armies fighting to liberate or conquer a world held by renegade human forces, or to be seconded to garrison armies on frontier worlds. Often taking a vow of poverty, their role is one of leadership, finding and training the next generation of imperial preachers and evangelists, planting churches and deliviering the message of the emperor with fire, brimstone and declaring His wrath on all who oppose the might of the imperium

WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
W 2
I 4
A 2
LD 10
SV 3++

Equipment: Laspistol and CC weapon

May upgrade Laspistol to:
Helpistol: +1pt
Bolt Pistol: +3pts
Plasma pistol: +10pts

May upgrade CC weapon to:
Shotgun: Free
Power weapon: +10pts
Powerfist: +15pts
Holy Icon: 30pts

Special rules:
Blessing of the emperor: The arch Decon comes with a 3+ invulnerable save

The armour of the emperor: The arch Deacon must take 2 of the following upgrades:

• Belt of Truth: Friendly units within 6" of the edge of the arch decons base may re-roll failed leadership tests once per game
• Shield of Deliverance: Any enemy units attempting to assault the arch decon and the squad he is with must re-roll sucessful to hit in the turn they assault
• Armour of contempt: The squad the arch decon is attached to may re-roll their armour saves once per game. This included invulnerables.
• Sword of purity: The turn the arch decon assaults, his attacks (and his alone, not his squads) count as +2 I and +2 S. This also means power fist attacks, for that turn only, are dealt at I6.
• Sandals of steadfastness: The arch decon and the unit he is with count as being Stubborn.

The hope of the emperor: If the arch decon is attached to a unit, that unit counts as scoring double victory points for the game. The arch decon may not be attached to anything other than a unit that falls into the "troops" section of the relevant imperial codex.

Holy Icon: Allows each unit within 12 inches to use the arch decons leadership once per game. Keep a tally of which units have used this, once used, they may not use it again. If a unit begins the game outside of 12 inches away from the arch decon, and then comes within 12 inches, they may use the leadership value.


Any thoughts? The special abilities are all based on the armour of God bit of the Bible, which is something I preach on regularly. Im thinking 100 pts is fair, given he can't be attached to terminator squads, that prevents people taking the piss a bit.



All amazing ideas, Do you fancy writing a few up to contribute?

One thing, given that he can take a powerfist you should add wether or not the +2S is added before or after the Powerfist mechanism!

[jt.glass]

Heavy: Knight

Aren't knights stompa-sized (ie, superheavy)?

One thing, given that he can take a powerfist you should add wether or not the +2S is added before or after the Powerfist mechanism!

BRB says after, so no need to specify unless you want it to be before.

-----------------

Apart from that: nice! I had a similar thought, but never got around to doing anything about it. One thought I had was, as a general rule the added units shouldn't count towards the FOC minima, so you have to have a valid army before you start adding this stuff to it. Inquisitors (and maybe Rogue Traders) could have a special rule ("By Order of the GEoM") granting them an exception, so they actually could lead armies.

Also, this would probably be a good place for ISTs to make their return...


glass.

[Sai-Lauren]

Agree with Eidre - AM would (and should) be their own codex, about the only exceptions would be engineseers and AM priests seconded to Inquisitors.

Arbites would be better as an allied force for Inquisitors or a PDF-variant Guard list IMO. At worst, they'd have to put down a LaTD uprising, or maybe fight off a DE raid, rather than engage in a full on war.

And a Rogue Trader could be done with a normal guard HQ section, I don't think there's any reason to add a new entry that basically does the same thing, but is potentially more abusable.

[Eidre]

General thought on Ecclesiarchy (and humans in general)...BS4, I4, and especially WS4 should be reserved for only the most elite of the elite of trained combat troops.

Comparing with the rest of the codices out there, the best examples of WS4 are Space Marines (who have, compared to a normal human, *lifetimes* of combat experience), Dark Eldar (who are genetically superior and do a *lot* of drugs), some Tyranids (and certainly not all, not even all of the CC specialist creatures), etc. Even normal Eldar are only WS3 despite having the same genetics as Dark Eldar, and trainee space Marines (e.g. Blood Claws) have the same despite all of their implants and the advantages of their Power Armor.

As such, I would recommend WS3 BS3 I3 for all human troops that don't have bionic implants or heavy use of combat drugs, even Ecclesiarchy leaders; the power of their faith should certainly have morale effects, and Furious Charge makes sense, but making them more precise and skilled with weapons seems to be a road too far.

[Formerly Wu]

As such, I would recommend WS3 BS3 I3 for all human troops that don't have bionic implants or heavy use of combat drugs, even Ecclesiarchy leaders; the power of their faith should certainly have morale effects, and Furious Charge makes sense, but making them more precise and skilled with weapons seems to be a road too far.

WS4 is well within human limits. Platoon Commanders and Commissars both have WS4, and the Death Korps of Krieg have it army-wide. Lord Commissars even have WS5. It's uncommon and the result of specific training in the combat arts, but it certainly doesn't require combat drugs or superhuman physique.

I certainly agree with you on most human limits, however. Unaugmented humans should be S, T, and I 3, full stop. BS/WS 4 is reserved for commanders, elite/veteran troops, or unusually specific training or wargear.