REVIEW: Codex: Inquisition

hey, figured i'd give it a shot doing a review of this supplement codex since it's one of the more debated ones on the internet right now because of potential abuse it might cause.

So to start off, the book begins with some background info about the =][=.  It tells you who they are, their purpose in the galaxy, and their history in the Imperium.  Along the way, it has many really nice photos of various inquisitors, several not before seen in the Grey Knight codex since this one branches out into all 3 primary Orders, such as several females from the witch hunters branch by the look of their uniforms.

After that, it carries on to describe the Orders, starting with the big 3 everyone is familiar with, then naming all the lesser orders.  It also describes the different ethical groups within the Orders, such as the Puritans and the Radicals.  Some examples of the lesser known Orders they cover are:

• the Ordo Chronos, who study the effects of Warp travel and the passage of time, including the unexpected result of time travel into the past.
  
• the Ordo Scriptorum, who are dedicated to the examination and investigation of records and communications, such as making sure that a plee for help from a distant planetary governor doesnt get misfiled into an 800 page book on lighting designs.
  
• the Ordo Machinum, who are responsible for watching over the Adeptus Mechanicus.  these are the people who make sure the Ad. Mech. don't secretly keep discovered STCs for themselves, or release a flawed or unapproved STC design to the armies of the Imperium.
  
• the Ordo Sicarius, who investigate and control the Officio Assassinorum.  they are the ones that tell the assassins who to kill "in the name of the High Lords of Terra."
  

there's also a list of even more minor Orders with no background about them apart from a table describing each one's initial founding date, their estimated strength, and the area they're in charge of.  some of these watch over things that range from the Cadian Gate, to the Space Marine Chapters, to the Imperial Guard, even an Order that monitors and oversees planets under the process of Exterminatus.

The next section of the book goes over 6 main philosophies of the Inquisition;

• the Thorians, who believe that the Emperor's "spirit" isnt in his body anymore and instead wanders the galaxy trying to find a new vessel to possess that can contain all of his power and be reborn anew.
  
• the Monodominants, who believe the only way humanity will survive is if every other species in the galaxy is wiped out completely.
  
• the Amalathians, these are kind of like an optimistic conservative party.  this was the group that spurred the movement of Mecharius to retake over 1000 worlds
  
• the Xanthites, these guys believe that they can harness the powers of Chaos to use for the benefit of mankind.
  
• the Recongregators, they believe the imperium's become corrupt and decayed and that it works in spite of all the organizations that try to run it, instead of because of them running it.  they think all the organizations that make up and run the imperium need to be torn down and rebuilt into a new design that works better for the sake of the imperium. Reformationist.
  
• the Isstvanians, who think that humanity is at its best when in its strongest times of turmoil and conflict.  they believe that each great conflict that's happened in their history is the reason why they moved forward technologically, in faith, and in galactic dominance.
  

After all of that, it gets into describing famous Inquisitors, such as Coteaz, Karamazov, Tyrus, Quixos, Eisenhorn, Lichtenstein, Valeria, Darkhammer, Kryptman, Orechiel, and Ravenor.

Then we see backgrounds for all the types of models in a warband, their dedicated transports, followed by the usual photo gallery of models. Only the infantry stuf though; nothing of the vehicles they can take.

finally, we get to the gameplay section.  an inquisitor detachment can either be your primary force, or the special detachment that gets treated like a 2nd allied-in force. 
the force org chart for an Inquisitorial Detachment is 1-2 HQs, with 0-3 Elite choices.  these are taken in addition to whatever your primary and allied force org charts take. (so a 1500pt army of marines with guard allies and an Inquisitor detachment could have up to 6 HQ choices total, for example)  If you decide to field Codex: Inquisitor as your primary detachment, then the warbands you field count as scoring units.

for the allies chart, the =][= are battle brothers to any imperial army.  they're allies on convenience to eldar, desperate allies to dark eldar and tau, and cannot ally with chaos, demons, necrons, orks, or tyranids.  there's also a note that if your playing an allied list and adding in an =][=, you have to keep track of the allies chart; for example, your not going to be able to take one with a list that's chaos marines allied with guard, or guard allied with chaos marines.  this being because they can never join an army containing chaos marines.

Warlord Traits.  there's 3 charts, based on what order your =][= is from. Hereticus, Malleus, and Xenos.
Hereticus:

1. warlord/unit get to choose to autopass or fail any morale checks they make.
   
2. roll 2 dice and choose the result you prefer to reserves, outflank, mysterious terrain, mysterious objectives.
   
3. a once per game orbital bombardment.
   
4. warlord/unit gain preferred enemy (psykers).
   
5. warlord has Adamantium Will.
   
6. enemy units infiltrating cant be within 24" of your warlord.
   

Malleus:

1. warlord/unit get to choose to autopass or fail any morale checks they make.
   
2. roll 2 dice and choose the result you prefer to reserves, outflank, mysterious terrain, mysterious objectives.
   
3. a once per game orbital bombardment.
   
4. warlord/unit gain preferred enemy (Daemons).
   
5. all Daemon units within 12" have -1 to their invul saves to a minimum of a 6++ save. stacks with anything else that reduces a daemons invul save.
   
6. if the =][= is a Psyker, he gains 1 more warp charge per turn than he normally has. if he isnt, he gains Adamantium Will.
   

Xenos:

1. warlord/unit get to choose to autopass or fail any morale checks they make.
   
2. roll 2 dice and choose the result you prefer to reserves, outflank, mysterious terrain, mysterious objectives.
   
3. a once per game orbital bombardment.
   
4. warlord/unit gain preferred enemy (Dark Eldar, Eldar, Necrons, Orks, Tau, Tyranids).
   
5. the =][= has a 6++ save, and one of his ranged weapons becomes +1 strength for the entire game.
   
6. warlord/unit have Hatred.
   

there's 5 special psyker powers spread out through the units that they can choose to either keep, or replace with ones chosen from Divination, Pyromancy, or Telekinesis.

there's 3 Relics, and these specifically state you cant take more than one on each model, so you cant stack these on a single =][= and have him running around the board.  there's a 5pt one that if the bearer is in a challenge vs a daemon, the daemon becomes -5 WS, -5 I, and -5 Ld.
there's a 15pt one that makes you roll a Ld test at the start of each of his turns. if passed you choose him and his unit to gain one of the following rules. but you can only choose each once per game, so each turn you much choose a different one you havent used yet; Scout, Split fire, Counter attack, Fear, hatred.
finally, there's a 20pt one that states if your opponent is race X, your =][= gains rule Y against that race. if its an allied army containing 2 of the listed races, you gain both rules, but they only apply to the race they match.  Dark Eldar = Night Vision, Eldar = Split Fire, Orks = Counter Attack, Necrons = Tank Hunters, Tau = Furious Charge, Tyranids = Monster Hunter.

as for the units themselves, its pretty much what you see in the Grey Knights book. you have Coteaz, Karamazov, the 3 Ordo Inquisitors, henchmen warbands, and for dedicated transports you have rhinos, razorbacks, chimeras, Valkeries, Land Raiders, Crusaders, and Redeemers.