Report from the Inquisitor Grand Tournament 2015

The dust has settled on a glorious day of Inquisitor gaming at Warhammer World and I would like to share my experience with you all. This was the first event I have been able to get to in the best part of two years due to a bunch of real world occurrences, so I was particularly excited to get playing. The day was set to include three rounds of games, a painting and modelling contest, a test of 41^st millennium knowledge and prize giving. The newly-remodelled Warhammer World features a new entrance, dedicated shops for the Black Library, Forge World and Games Workshop itself, a display of artwork and two large Horus Heresy era dioramas, and although I didn't have time to visit, a new hall of miniatures, which I have on good authority is well worth the entry fee. It would seem though that these new areas have come at the cost of a reduced gaming area, but there were still plenty of tables to battle over, including a number of large, themed tables. We had four standard tables of the Realm of Battle to fight over, as well as the impressive war-torn city of Spyral Prime. Despite being populated solely by 28mm Cities of Death terrain, the difference in scale with 54mm figures is hardly noticeable and doesn't impact on playing.

We had a table right at the entrance and set up a display to attract attention.

In the first round I had the honour of GM-ing a game for eventual winner Stephen and runner up Nick. Stephen's war band was tasked with hunting down three rogue psykers known as the Wandering Heretics and Nick with killing 5 heretic cultists. The game was complicated by the psykers' being able to summon warp portals through which they could instantaneously jump to distant locations on the board. Both players coped admirably with the challenging and wily opponents who were all too happy to run from them through the portals and managed to respectively capture the psykers and kill the cultists. They also found time to have a couple of their characters go toe-to-toe in hand-to-hand combat, where we bore witness to an incredible run of critical hits, successful parries and critical counter attacks. Lots of 01-05s were being rolled!

Cultists use a portal to flee.

After a prolonged lunch break thanks to some overdue fajitas, we had our “Inquisition” quizzes filled in and scored our fellow attendees painting and modelling entries. The second round of games saw Inquisitor Tesnohlidek, the daemonhost C'Innyarh and mutant Komt tasked by Nick to find the arms smuggler J'Ken's records and stop them falling into enemy hands. Tesnohlidek had to get this done without being identified, so sent the mutant Komt ahead to do the dirty work. The untrustworthy daemonhost went off to find playthings. I was up against David and Gav who had other intentions with J'Ken. Gav's tech adept Liwet and her band successfully stole the records from under Komt's nose and David's Inquisitor Rhodes saw J'Ken assassinated. My lot achieved little, but Tesnohlidek was not identified so can continue his Xanthite agenda unmolested.

Komt just about snuck by the servitor on the way to J'Ken's office.

The final game saw Tesnohlidek and gang out to kill a priest whose blood was foretold to bring about a dark creature he had an interest in. Joe was the GM, and Jason and Nick were the other players. Once again Tesnohlidek sent Komt to do his work for him, and the mutant's chainsword eventually told for the priest, though a cybernetically enhanced dog ran down just about every PC on the table! The daemonhost fell to concentrated fire, and while Tesnohlidek abandoned Komt to fate, he could not allow the daemonhost to be captured and dragged it from the field. He is now preparing a new host body to transfer the daemon's essence to before it can escape...

Tesnohlidek and C'Innyarh back away from the shrine, only to be attacked by the dog from robot hell!

Once the scores were tallied, Stephen claimed both the Best Player award and was crowned overall Champion. Nick came second, and Gav won the Best GM award as well as third place overall. C'Innyarh won me the Hobbyist prize, which I am especially happy about as it's the one prize I haven't claimed over the years. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone for making it such a great day. David deserves special praise for juggling running of the day with partaking in games. When I ran the tournament a couple of years ago I was too preoccupied with things running smoothly to play as well. A superhuman effort!

The prize winning daemonhost.

The other good things to take away from the day was that we attracted a lot of attention with a display of our models (not least David's 54mm Razorback, Sentinel and plasma blastgun from his WIP Warhound Titan), and handed out a few leaflets with information about the game to passers-by. Hopefully some of them will want to get involved with the game. It was rather excellent that Warhammer World let us book tables to play an out of print game that they no longer sell models for, though I have a feeling that we won't be able to play there forever. We will need to plan for alternative venues.

I have put my scenario from the tournament on the Carthax wiki so anyone can play it. Gav has an 'In Character' report from the day on the Conclave already for you to read, and my photos are available on photobucket. I will link to more as they become available through the Facebook and Twitter pages.

Next up for me is more work on the Forces of Chaos within the Carthax sector. I have had the lowdown on converting the Artemis model from Gav, and have plans to get an Alpha Legionnaire made. Much hacksawing awaits!

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

The Inquisitor Grand Tournament 2015

In a couple of weeks time, on May 30^th, the 2015 Inquisitor Grand Tournament will take place at Warhammer World, Nottingham. It's been a couple of years since I've been able to get to an Inquisitor event, so I am really looking forward to this. The tournament is different to a campaign day as all attendees are invited to both play and run games as a GM for their fellow competitors, so for someone who hasn't been to an event for a while, it's great to be able to experience both sides of the game again.

Since the last blog post I have completed a daemonhost of Nurgle...

The notion of competitive Inquisitor play can be a bit confusing, as it is a narrative game. At the tournament, players are scored by the GM with regards to how they conduct their characters in the game, with “in character” actions and events on the way to achieving the objectives set for them scored highly. Game Masters are scored by their players on how good a time they had in that scenario, rewarding original plots and well-controlled games. Points are also awarded for painting and modelling, that final, and most important reason for collecting miniatures! The tournament rewards attendees who grasp the ethos of the Inquisitor game in its entirety, and the winner of the day is quite often not the player whose war band crushed all underfoot, but rather contributed to memorable games of cool set pieces and daring heroics.

...a daemonhost of Tzeentch...

In years gone past, there was a limitation on the number of models one could bring, but for this year, multiple war bands can be brought along. I like this change, as the more cool miniatures around, the more likely we are to capture the imagination of passers-by. Trying to grow the hobby has been one of the primary goals for this blog, and any opportunity to advertise the game to others will be utilised! I am also happy with this change as I have a load of miniatures painted in this last year that I'd love to take with me for a game. I won't have to settle on three and leave the others behind.

... and a Dark Mechanicus Magos. All could feature at the tournament!

There's still plenty of room for players on the 30^th, so if you're keen, get along to Warhammer World for some games. Spectators are welcome too, so if you're in Nottingham and fancy coming to see some cool miniatures, then head down too. The event pack can be downloaded here. I will have a report on the day up here a couple of weeks after the event, and I'll make the scenario I ran available on the Carthax Inquisitor Wiki.

Roll on the 30^th!

The Carthaxian Inquisitor 

Daemonhosts in Inquisitor

I am now halfway through my daemonhost building, and have completed models of a daemonhost possessed by a Khornate daemon and another by a Slaaneshi daemon. As well as sharing pictures of them, I thought I should give working examples of my new daemonhost rules.

This brutal, muscle-bound creature is Sacarlax, daemonhost of Khorne, beholden to the pirate clans of Captain Hagen Bloodoath. These Chaos reavers strike out at the shipping lanes and isolated worlds of the Carthax sector from the world of Malaachai in the Prastian Straits region. Sacarlax then was not created by a focused and meticulous Xanthite Inquisitor, but by reckless cultists in a ritual of spilt blood and madness. While they lacked the arcane knowledge required to draw down the essence of one of Khorne's greater servants, their sacrifices grabbed the attention of one of Khorne's bestial daemons. The Juggernaught bound to the host body swelled it in size and bony spikes burst forth from its wrists. The Reavers wished for every last grain of the daemon's strength to be unleashed so have only applied one binding to the host. The resulting creation is a simple engine of destruction, but there is a real risk that the daemon can slip its binding.

The basic profile for a daemonhost is:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Daemonhost	30	30	30	30	40	50	60	60	10

I hate seeing round figures in a profile though, so lets alter that to:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	31	26	32	34	41	53	57	56	6

As a daemonic beast, Sacarlax receives the following modifiers to its profile: +10 S, +10 T, +20 Ld, -20 Sg. D3 host body changes are applied (Mutations, Alien Abilities, plus a number of new options from the sourcebook to represent the malefic effect of the daemon on its fleshy prison), and one daemonic ability, one daemon weapon ability and one psychic power are gained.

If we are keeping track, the new profile (for now) is:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	31	26	42	44	41	53	37	56	26

The host body changes I applied are: Beweaponed Extremities (an Alien Ability) to represent its bony spikes; and Hulking, a new change, that grants +10 S and -10 I. The daemonic ability is from the rulebook: Invulnerable. The daemon weapon ability its attacks inflict is Gnawing, from the rulebook. One psychic power would normally be applied, but as this is a daemon of Khorne...

The alignment of the daemon has a further effect on the daemonhost's stats. A daemon of Khorne cannot take psychic powers, but does gain +10% to resist psychic powers. It has Hatred for daemons and followers of Slaanesh, and can only use Khornate or Unaligned daemon weapon abilities (more on daemon weapons in a future blog entry).

The number of binding levels applied to the daemon causes further changes to its statistics, as well as having a key role in determining if the daemon is to become unbound. As a once-bound daemon of Khorne, Sacarlax receives an additional +20% bonus to resisting psychic powers, and a further +20 to WS, S and T (non-Khornate daemons instead receive a +20% to psychic tests and D6 additional psychic powers).

We have now just about got Sacarlax ready for the tabletop. His profile now looks like:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Sacarlax	51	26	72	64	31	53	37	56	26

Special Abilities: Ambidextrous, Nerves of Steel, Hatred: Followers and Daemons of Slaanesh

Exotic Abilities: Daemonic; Invulnerable, Fearsome, Possession, Warp Sight, Of the Warp

Host Body Changes: Beweaponed Extremities, Hulking

Daemon Weapon Abilities: Gnawing

Additional Rules: +30% to resist psychic powers

Very slow, pretty stupid, but very hard-hitting. The last thing to make a note of is the strength of the bond keeping the daemon's essence within the host. For this we need the Wp of the daemonhost's creator, and Sacarlax's Wp and Ld, as well as its current injury total. The leader of the Reavers that created the daemonhost is not going to be particularly strong of will, so we will say Wp 51. To calculate the bond strength we use the following formula: (Wp of host's creator + Ld of daemonhost) - (injury total + Wp of daemonhost). 51+26 = 77, and 0+53 = 53. 77-53 = 24. As long as this figure remains above 0, the daemon will remain bound. However, as the host takes damage it's bindings will weaken. Should the bond strength hit zero or lower, the GM must test the Sagacity of the host's creator (in this case a paltry 48). As there is only one binding level, this test is also at -20%! There is a good chance the daemon will break free, and then those around it are in a whole lot of trouble! Unbound daemons are nasty (I may be forthcoming on just how nasty at some point).

In contrast to brutal Sacarlax, C'inyrrah is an alluring avatar of excess. A prince of Slaanesh, it was imprisoned into its host by Inquisitor Tesnohlidek who learned the daemon's true name through the acquisition of the Atunis Propheticum. Thrice-bound through perfect ritual, C'inyrrah is enslaved to Tesnohlidek and neutered of the vastness of its powers. It remains a deadly entity for Tesnohlidek's enemies to face however.

Once again, we start with the basic daemonhost profile:

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Daemonhost	30	30	30	30	40	50	60	60	10

A daemon prince has much higher bonuses to its profile than a daemonic beast. It gains: +30 WS, +30 BS, +20 S, +20 T, +15 I, +30 Wp, +30 Sg, +20 Nv; D6 host body changes; D3 daemonic abilities; D6 daemon weapon abilities; and D6 psychic powers. As a daemon of Slaanesh, C'inyrrah gains +10 I and loses -10 T, has Hatred for daemons and followers of Khorne and is limited to psychic and daemon weapon abilities of Slaanesh or Unaligned Chaos. As a thrice-bound daemon, C'inyrrah adds +20 to Ld, but loses D3 psychic powers and D3 daemon weapon abilities as its powers are fettered away by the extra levels of binding.

The host body changes I have chosen for C'inyrrah are Levitate (which finally provides rules for all those floaty daemonhost models out there), Elastic Limbs and Razor Sharp Claws (both alien abilities). The daemonic abilities that C'inyrrah possesses are: Impervious and Quicksilver (+1 speed). The daemon weapon abilities selected are Death's Touch (a new ability that requires any character hit in hand to hand combat to test for System Shock), and Entrance. Finally, the psychic powers C'inyrrah can call upon are Mesmerism, Psychic Shield andVortex of Chaos.

	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
C'inyrrah	58	63	49	44	66	83	97	78	28

Special Abilities: Ambidextrous, Nerves of Steel, Hatred: Followers and Daemons of Khorne

Exotic Abilities: Daemonic; Impervious and Quicksilver, Fearsome, Possession, Warp Sight, Of the Warp (the daemon cannot suffer Wp loss due to failed psychic tests or risky actions)

Host Body Changes: Elastic Limbs, Levitate, Razor Sharp Claws

Daemon Weapon Abilities: Death's Touch, Entrance

Psychic Abilities: Mesmerism, Psychic Shield, Vortex of Chaos

C'inyrrah's bond strength calculation is (86+28) – (0+83) = 31. As it is thrice-bound, should the bond strength fall below 0, there will be a +20% modifier to Tesnohlidek's already high Sg of 82 (a natural roll of 100 always fails in this case).

While C'inyrrah lacks the brute force of Sacarlax, and has had a large amount of its true potential removed by its three bindings, it remains a potent psyker and a deadly opponent in hand to hand combat.

The daemons of Chaos come in near infinite varieties, but the original rules presented in the venerable Inquisitor rulebook only really catered for one take on their creation. Though this has been little more than a teaser, I hope that it has whetted the appetites of Radicals everywhere and you are looking forward to binding your own forbidden creations.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

Tools of the Enemy

As I've alluded to previously, I am putting together a sourcebook on the Xanthite faction of the Inquisition. Much like the Thorian, Recongregator, Istvaanian and Amalathian sourcebooks that have come before (all can be downloaded through Marco Skoll's archive), this piece will delve into the history of this much-maligned faction and give insights into how they operate within the Inquisition. Perhaps more than any other faction, the Xanthites find themselves at odds with their fellow Inquisitors due to the use of the weapons and tools of Chaos that forms their central philosophy. Xanthites wish to turn Chaos against itself, and will use any means necessary to achieve their goal. Utilising the strictly forbidden brings them into conflict with the overwhelming majority of the Inquisition that believe a line has been crossed. This fundamental difference leads to open war, which is exactly why they have such an important part to play in Inquisitor campaigns; they are fantastic anti-heroes and antagonists that have the weight of their terrible choices on their shoulders.

At the heart of the book is the tale of Xanthus himself, a man who challenged conventional thought within the Inquisition and tried to show the puritan mainstream that there were other ways to combat the Imperium's enemies. A tragic character, he started a war he had no intention of fighting and died for his beliefs. His beliefs lived on however, and some could point to him being the most important Inquisitor to have borne the seal for how his actions changed the outlook of the institution at the Emperor's left hand.

As well as discussing the part Xanthites play within the Inquisition, there will be a lengthy section on including Xanthites and their unorthodox war bands in games of Inquisitor. One of the strengths of the game is the ability to use just about any archetype one could imagine, and some of the more unusual are most likely to be seen in the retinue of a Radical Inquisitor like a Xanthite. The Exorcised, the Host Bound and Daemonhosts themselves are looked at in depth. I've taken it upon myself to strengthen the Daemonhost archetype by including a new guide to creating the characters, where the type of daemon and its God will have an effect on its strengths and weaknesses, and to apply bonuses and penalties for how strongly bound it is to its host. A once-bound daemon is a massively powerful weapon, but is much more likely to escape its bindings than a thrice-bound daemon whose powers have been diluted (but still potent enough). I have also written a new approach for daemonhosts becoming unbound. The original rules presented in Exterminatus magazine made it far too easy for daemons to become unbound, and practically required a roll every turn to see if the daemon escaped. I can't think of any game where the GM has used these rules. I hope that mine make more sense and are easier to apply to in-game situations.

I have also had a lot of fun coming up with a range of new daemon weapon abilities. The list in the rulebook was a good start, but there is plenty room for more. I have divided the current and new abilities up into five groups, 4 aligned with the Gods of Chaos, and the final group unaligned. I think it's a bit more fitting that some abilities be the preserve of certain Gods. From the original abilities in the rulebook, I think that Deathlust reads like a Khornate property, while Magical Force seems like a property of Tzeentch. The destructive potential of some of the properties, such as Brainleech, in comparison to abilities like Lashing has led me to limit some of them to weapons bound with the essence of a Greater Entity of Chaos (either a bound Daemon Prince or Greater Daemon), as the power of these should be countered by being the preserve of a daemon with high Willpower. If your character wants one of the most deadly weapons, he will have to run the risk of the daemon overpowering him and possessing his mortal form!

That's it for the introductory look at the sourcebook. I'll be releasing more details over the coming weeks and months before the big reveal later this year. For now, I have a number of modelling projects for illustrating the book with, not least the daemonhost that's under construction in this thread on the Conclave.

If anybody has any pictures or pieces of fiction they would like to contribute then please let me know. I will also be looking for proofreaders shortly.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor

New Year, Old Projects-

2015 is here. How did that happen? My small break from work flew by and was mainly spent looking after a puppy that has entered our lives. He's a wee monster! Fortunately he's yet to develop a taste for my models.

I set myself a deadline of Christmas for finishing off the Ordo Obsoletus warband and beat it by a couple of weeks in the end which was fantastic. I thought I should share the background and stats for Inquisitor Fearon's colleagues today.

Techpriest Errac Esetor hails from the Explorator fleets of Magos Variens that delve the mysteries of the many uncharted planets of Far Carthax. His area of expertise is numerology and he became known to Inquisitor Fearon when the latter stumbled across a mathematical formula at the heart of the Circasian Enigma. Reaching out to old acquaintances, Magos Variens recommended Esetor to him in exchange for access to the archeotech that supported the Enigma. Esetor has worked alongside Fearon ever since, proving himself repeatedly useful in deciphering the baleful formulae at work in the Carthax Sector.

Name	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Esetor	48	62	96 (46)	51	57	65	72	61	62

Thanks to the Enhanced Neural Interface* with his four bionic arms, Esetor is Ambidextrous.

Special Abilities: Ambidextrous

Equipment: Bionic arms – two advanced primary arms with Exo Armour Vambraces*, and two average secondary arms with Combi Tools*, 2 Manipulator Mechadendrites*, Average Bionic Heart, Auto Senses*, Rebreather, flak armour on chest and abdomen, padded robes on legs, arms, groin and head, MIU-linked archeotech device, “Calisto Neural Degredator” - grants Psychic Shriek ability, tested on Sagacity rather than Willpower.

*see He's More Machine Now Than Man, by Dave Knowles. An excellent article to add depth to Mechanicus characters.

I modelled Esetor with two vestigial bionic arms folded across his chest. Instead of making a new hit location chart for him, I will treat damage to his left or right arm as affecting both arms on that side. Adding extra hit locations can be confusing, and makes it harder for locations to be hit repeatedly to cripple them, which could give an unfair advantage.

Gervan Maladox is a Void Born sanctioned psyker from the orbital rings of Perdido. As a youth he used his powers of prediction to part fellow gamblers from their money, exploits which had him beaten often by those he cheated. Giving as good as he got, the young Maladox learned many dirty tricks in the art of self-defence. After discovery by the Black Ships and testing on Terra he was returned to the Carthax sector to train as a Diviner. While blessed with great abilities, Maladox was not one who respected the rules of the Scholastica Psykana and dabbled in illicit substances. He was removed from the Scholastica and set aside for termination. As a last chance, Inquisitor Fearon co-opted him into his operations five years ago and Maladox has been one the foremost member of his warband ever since. His abilities to see the future and locate quarry through the warp allows Fearon to overlook Maladox's less desirable qualities.

Name	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Maladox	58	56	52	58	64	73	61	57	51

Maladox is right-handed

Special Abilities: Bar Brawler**

Exotic Abilities: Psyniscience***

Psychic Abilities: Future Imperfect***, Psycholocation***, Time Ward***

Warp Malignancies: Mind Flux****

Equipment: Psykana Mercy Blade***, Psi-Omn***, Psychic Foci***, Revolver with 18 shells, thick robes on all locations

**See the Carthax Wiki, ***The Sanctioning Brand and ****The Fickle Warp for details.

Maladox is the loose cannon of the group. His abilities are exceptionally valuable, but his addiction to Psi-Omn, a drug that boosts a psyker's connection to the aether has allowed the warp to degrade his persona, resulting in the Mind Flux malignancy.

Redmayne Hayter served in the Adeptus Arbites on Carthage for twenty-seven years before retiring on medical grounds. His legs and left arm were mangled after falling from a height during the pursuit of the Middletown Mantis, and despite a length period of recuperation was not considered fit enough to return to active service. As a veteran of the Arbites himself, Inquisitor Fearon has always kept abreast of the goings on of the Carthaxian branch of the Arbites, and the Middletown Mantis case was one that attracted his interest. The Mantis was murdering officials within the Carthage political elite in extravagant and daring assaults on heavily guarded offices, and Hayter had been amongst the investigators that had sprung the unsuccessful trap on the Mantis that resulted in Hayter's injuries. With Fearon's assistance the Mantis was eventually killed and revealed to be a shape-shifting xenos. Finding out who its masters were is one of Fearon and Hayter's objectives, and they have teams of acolytes working across the Carthax sector following leads.

Name	WS	BS	S	T	I	Wp	Sg	Nv	Ld
Hayter	64	66	82 (62)	65	58	66	61	74	76

Hayter is right-handed. He may move no faster than a walk due to past injuries to his legs.

Special Abilities: Pillar of Fortitude**

Equipment: Pump-action shotgun with 8 shells, 4 Inferno shells, 2 Executioner shells and 2 Hellfire shells, Stubber with 30 shells, shock maul, carapace armour on chest, abdomen, arms, flak coat on groin and legs, closed helm, average bionic left arm.

**see the Carthax wiki

Hayter is the muscle of the group and will always be front and centre when stuff goes down. The Pillar of Fortitude ability represents the inspiring presence of the hulking Arbitrator when enemies attack.

Obligatory Group Shot

That's all for today, but I will be back soon with news of the Xanthite sourcebook. The number of pages on the new and improved Carthax wiki is increasing as we upload the old work to the new site. If you have time to lend to the project, please check out this thread on The Conclave with details on how to help.

The Carthaxian Inquisitor