Codex: Coteaz Initial Thoughts

Hello all,

So if the 10 of you who read this blog have been wondering about the sluggish blog posts as of late, the answer can most simply be answered by this....

However, I decided to take a small break from powning newbs to post my initial thoughts on the all digital Codex: Coteaz Inquisition.  I was lucky enough to review a copy of the latest digital offering and yes, the rumors that it would just be a cut and paste of artwork and existing rules were correct. It does have some more in depth information on the different Ordos and the famous Inquisitors throughout the 40k universe though I believe that most of that info/artwork was taken from the 40k role playing game, Dark Heresy.  I could be wrong on that.  While this was an initial disappointment it quickly became apparent that although this was information taken from Codex Grey Knights and Codex: Adepta Sororitas it was an entirely different beast altogether and would make 40k an entirely different game.

 So what's new with the Inquisition?

1.  It's not an allies codex.  Inquisitors and their loyal minions fill an entirely new slot in the force organization chart.  They are now Inquisitorial Allies which do not get in the way of your primary force taking another allied contingent.

2.  Inquisitors have their own allied chart.  They and their minions are battle brothers to all Imperial armies (including the named Inquisitors Coteaz, Karamozov, and Valeria). They are allies of convenience with Eldar and desperate allies with Tau and Dark Eldar. This means that the major draw back from taking these characters as allies from Codex: Grey Knights (i.e. allies of convenience) no longer exists.  There has been a lot of chatter saying that Eldar and Tau armies will be better with Inquisitors but I don't see it.  The Inquisitors can't join their units and they will not benefit from the Inquisitor's psychic abilities.  The only thing I can see is Tau players taking the assaulty Henchmen squads but to be honest they already have such great stuff I can't see them wasting points on the humans.

3.  You can take one or two Inquisitors without anything else as Inquisitional Allies.  That's right, no troop tax to take these helpful characters.  In fact, there are NO troops in Codex: Inquisition.

4. Codex: Inquisition comes with it's own Warlord traits table.  There are three tables depending on which Inquisitor you are taking.  They range from useless to not-that-useless and the Inquisitor must be the warlord for you to choose the tables.  You can make the allied Inquisitor the warlord of your primary army if you so wish.  This is incredibly useful to Imperial Guard armies.

5.  Servo Skulls and Psychotrope Grenades.  You will be hard pressed to find any tournament Imperial army that does not include a cheap Inquisitor with Servo Skulls.  These put the smack down on the scout bike and transport rush armies we've been seeing since the unveiling of Codex: Space Marines.  The GW giveth, and the GW taketh away.  I know for a damn fact that I will not be running any Imperial dedicated assault unit on foot without an Inquisitor with Psychotrope Grenades (see Codex:Inquisition for their cheese ball rules) and I don't care about being 'THAT GUY'.

6.  Priest and Assassins and Crusaders, OH MY.  Yes, Imperial Assassins and Crusaders are just as good as they are in the Grey Knights codex, and with the inclusion of Priests in this codex makes them GODLY.  This is due to their 'War Hymns' special rule that allows the Priests to buff themselves and their unit in a variety of killy ways.  I think GW intended for this rule to work for only one Priest in a unit but due to their usual I DONT GIVE A SHIT attitude they left that part out so as it stands each Priest in the unit can buff it in a different way.

7.  Land Raider and Valkyrie transports.  COOL.  Remember that while your Inquisitor might be battle brothers with your Imperial force they still cannot be in a transport from that detachment.

So what does this all mean?

 It means you will be seeing almost every Imperial and some Eldar tournament armies taking Coteaz or another Inquisitor.  The ability to twin-link your primary units (Prescience), the war gear that they can bring to the table (Servo Skulls/Psychotrope Grenades), and their overall low-costed support capabilities that Inquisitors bring to the table has shaken up the meta.  A lot of people have been complaining about this Codex but in my eyes it will bring more balance to the tables.  The current top tier lists of Eldar, Tau and Chaos Demons are completely over powered in this edition.  They hearken back to the Demon codex in Warhammer Fantasy 7th edition.   Imperial armies just got the reinforcements they've been waiting for.  Time will tell if this shakes up the top table tournament armies or if they will have the reverse outcome of making them stronger.


Now, back to yelling at 10 year-olds and crashing helicopters 10 seconds after lifting off....