The Chime of Eons - The Threat Beyond

"There are those amongst our Ordo who say that I seek advancement for my own purposes, and they are correct. My purpose is to destroy the daemonic and if I must rise to command an entire sector to do so, then so be it. I am a servant of the Emperor and only those who consort with Warp-spawn need fear my ambition."

- Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz

"Look upon this hammer I hold before me, for it is far more than a weapon. It is a symbol of the Imperial justice that smites the diabolic enemies of the Imperium wherever they are found, just as I. Though it has banished even a mighty Greater Daemon to the hell from which it was spawned, it remains true and pure, just as I. Furthermore, it is a symbol of my order and my office, of the authority granted to me by the divine will of the Emperor. By that authority, I am commanding you and your entire regiment to obey me without question or hesitation. Advance, or it will not be daemonic blood that stains my hammer this day."

- Lord Hephaestos Grodd

"One cannot consider the fate of a single man, nor ten, nor a hundred, nor a thousand. Billions will live or die by our actions here, and we have not the luxury to count the cost."

- Inquisitor Kryptmann

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again."

- Cardinal Ximinez

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You didn't think we'd do this article without a Monty Python quote, did you?

This pack is one I've been looking forward to for some time, because of its ties to the Imperial Inquisition. Thats a big topic, well covered in the background of the game which in itself could keep The Chime of Eons going for a year or so. However, this pack also introduces a lot of other fluff elements new to the LCG, such as the Salamanders, Clan Snakebite and more. As such, this is going to he a hefty article. I suggest grabbing a beer, or a cup of tea, before we begin.

If you recall, I've already spoken briefly to you guys about the Inquisition when we were introduced to the Interrogator Acolyte in the Howl of Blackmane pack. ( http://www.cardgamed...blackmane-r1238 ).

To quote the pertinent passage, I said:

"The first thing that must be stated is that its very odd to see this categorised as an Astra Militarum card. The Inquisition is most definitely not part of the Astra Militarum.

In fact, the Astra Militarum is one of several organisations subservient to the directions of Administratum, largely via the Departmento Munitorum. The monolithic Administratum, in turn, is the bureaucracy of the overarching Adeptus Terra. This organisation runs almost everything in the Imperium.
Outside of the Adeptus Terra is the Cult Mechannicus and the Ecclesiarchy, both of whom have their own hierarchies. The Adeptus Astartes / Space Marines, incidentally are also theoretically under the direction of Administratum, though Chapter Masters are given a lot of leeway in self determination.
The Adeptus Terra, in turn answers to the High Lords of Terra. They, in turn, answer only to the Emperor.
ONE organisation doesn't answer to the High Lords of Terra, and that's the Inquisition. Like the twelve High Lords, each Inquisitor is answerable only to the Emperor, and to the machinations of his peers."

Since I made that complaint, the "Astra Militarum" faction has shown and previewed us a Sister of Battle, who could be said to serve the Adepta Sororitas, who in turn are part of the Ecclesiarchy and often also the Chamber Militant of the inquisition's Ordo Hereticus.

Its thus becoming clear that the "Astra Militarum" faction is actually nothing of the sort - its a catch all "Forces of the Imperium" faction that has all Imperial forces that aren't Space Marines.

This is fine for me on and overall basis, though I think its a shame that we didn't get the chance to see these other Imperial factions represented as their own distinct factions, even if they existed purely as signature squads with predetermined allies and a smattering of loyal cards. For example, Coteaz could have been Inquisition Faction in a later cycle, with allies listed as being Astra Militarum or Space Marines, and a smattering of Inquisition loyal cards thrown in.

While that approach might have compromised alliance wheel elegance, it would have been fluffier and truer to the fiction.

The above complaints, however, are where my negativity with this pack ends. This is quite simply the most exciting warpack so far. This is true both in the cards presented, and in the fluff we are exploring.

So, onto the warpack name: The Threat Beyond.

Broadly, the remit of the Inquisition is to use the near unlimited powers at their disposal to defend the Imperium from threats within and without the Imperium. The phrase "The Enemy Within" is one often attached to both the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 IPs, and deals with the insidious threat of chaos and heresy within the Imperium. Over time, perhaps to distinguish it from the fantasy battles setting, the 40k OP began referring this to The Threat Within.

As the lore of the Inquisition expanded, it was divided into three major branches: Ordo Xenos, Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus, respectively dealing with aliens, heretic/psykers and daemons.
These were said to be dealing with The Threat Without, The Threat Within and the Threat Beyond.

The Threat Beyond, therefore, is the stated enemy of the Ordo Malleus: that is daemons and the denizens of warpspace. This matches Torquemada Coteaz's own membership in the Ordo Malleus.

FFG's own site suggests that this warpack is about Lord Coteaz turning his eye to the Traxis Sector "eager to bring the order of the Imperium to this newly discovered space".

We actually don't know much about the Traxis sector, fluffwise. We know that its the setting of the game, and we know the names of the ten planets that are of utmost importance within it. We also guess its probably somewhere near the Tau Empire in the Galactic southeast, given that faction's limited interstellar range and heavy involvement. However, this is a big presumption to make, as Nazdreg is based on the far end of the galaxy (near Armageddon) and Orks aren't too hot at crossing the galaxy either.

We can also make some guesses as to the nature of the Sector from the art on the planet cards - there's Imperial hive cities, Tau outposts, weird Eldar gate-structures, a planet contested by the Tyranids...

In personal headcanon, I'm thinking that the Traxis Sector must be a pretty important place, to draw notables from all over the galaxy to contest it. This isn't just any old sector being grabbed for territorial reasons: its somewhere of high significance, where control is a key strategic advantage. Maybe the Tech icons give a clue - we know they represent ancient archaeotech.

Now, with the involvement of no less a notable than Torquemada Coteaz we know that Traxis must be important, and his Malleus membership and the Warpack title suggests a daemonic threat that needs addressing. The grabbing of territory is a job for the ordinary military of the Imperium: for an Inquisitor to be involved, there must be a greater security threat to the greater Imperium.






The Inquisition - A history of the idea

Unless you're entirely ignorant of real world history, its likely you'll know who the original Inquisition was.

In response to the potential schisms of faith caused by the Cathar and Waldensian heresies, the 12th century Catholic church instituted the Inquisition, from the Latin term "inquisitio", meaning court processes based on Roman law. This group evolved over the centuries, notably with Pope Innocent IV's papal bull ad extiripanda, which legitimised the use of torture as a means of eliciting confession from heretics. Though the Inquisition as we know it no longer exists, it certainly persisted till the 19th century, and its spiritual successors remain today, in the form of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In modern culture, the Inquisition has been (likely rightly) demonised, seen as a tool of Church-sponsored sadism and oppression. To our secular modern minds, the idea of torture being used as a means to extract confessions from religious heretics is aborrhent.

Let's leave behind the Inquisition in the real world, however, and switch to the Inquisition in British comic book and roleplaying culture.

As we've mentioned before, its undoubtable that the original Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader was influenced by the comic books of the time. In 1980, the flagship UK comic 2000 AD commenced a long running series called Nemesis the Warlock. The primary antagonist in this series was named Tomas de Torquemada, a direct reference to the 15th Century Grand Inquisitor of Spain who oversaw significant growth of the Inquisition in his country. Despite the man's modern day reputation for cruelty, he was probably actually a moderating influence in Spain, reducing the use of torture as a tool of Inquisition.

Not so 2000 AD's Torquemada - a fanatic and sadistic villain of the highest order, he was one of those characters you loved to hate. As tyrant of the realm of Termight (where the human population was packed tight into overcrowded cities) he and his Terminator soldiers ruled with an iron fist.

You can see already, I'm sure, the parallels with 1987's Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. While Space Marine Terminators hadn't yet been added to the mythos, it was already the case that the fascistic and oppressive Imperium had Imperial Inquisitors who represented the archetype of torturers and interrogators given holy sanction to operate freely, seeking out threats to the Imperium, and answerable only to the Emperor. While Rogue Trader presented Inquisitors in a more or less morally neutral way (as over the top dystopia was the default setting), they've remained part of 40k since, and their lore has been continually expanded. Shamelessly derivative or reverently referential, depending on how you see it, the Rogue Trader book had an Inquisitor character named Obi-wan Sherlock Clousseau!

Within the wargame, Inquisitors were initially special characters added onto other army lists, notably the "Forces of the Imperium". In 2003, during the 3rd edition of the game, there was much excitement whent they announced there would be a trilogy of codices: Codex Daemonhunters, Codex Witchhunters and Codex Alienhunters. These three books were intended to cover the three major arms of the Inquisition: the Ordo Malleus, Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Xenos.

Sadly we never saw the third book of this series. Instead, the next Inquisition book was Codex: Grey Knights, revisiting the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus, and putting them front and centre with the inquisitors themselves as an HQ option for the faction. The Ordo Hereticus fared little better: the first Codex: Sisters of Battle was in the 2nd edition of the wargame, which was followed by Witchhunters for 3rd edition and a White Dwarf magazine article in 2011 giving them rules for 5th edition. 2013 saw the Codex: Sister of Battles brought into 6th edition, and was notable for being the first digital-only codex: a clear deprioritisation of the army as being a full time faction to being a collector's curiosity.

The Ordo Xenos has suffered worst of all. Their only treatment in the wargame has been in a 6th edition 2013 Codex Inquisition. Fortunately here, FFG has picked up GW's slack to a large degree...

FFG's contribution to the lore of the Inquisition has been nothing short of phenomenal.
In 2008, they released the roleplaying game Dark Heresy, heavily based on the rules set of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition, and this rapidly became one of the industry's best selling games. In this game, the players are Acolytes serving an Inquisitor, and while some have criticised the mechanics and tone of the game in places, most acknowledge that it is a notable addition to the roleplaying world. The success of this game gave FFG the momentum to reduce multiple other Warhammer 40,000 rpgs, including Rogue Trader, Only War, Black Crusade and Deathwatch. The latter is especially worth mentioning here, as it the Deathwatch are the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos, and indeed FFG has given us way more information about the Ordo Xenos than Games Workshop ever did!

In fact, looking away from the main wargame is probably the best way to find out more about the Inquisition. On two of these sources:

The Inquisitor game released in 2001 is a widely sought after collectible, shifting the scale of the game from 28mm to high detail 54mm minis, and introducing a rules set that is halfway between miniature skirmish game and wargame. Many heralded it as a return to the Rogue Trader roots of the game, and even though it has been out of print for a long time, it still has a dedicated fanbase.

The Inquisition novels by Dan Abnett are widely recognised by fans as being the very best books in Games Workshop's Black Library line. The initial Eisenhorn trilogy followed the rise and fall of Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn in his triology, and is well recognised as being one of the first 40k fiction works to recognise and detail that there is more to the setting than "There Is Only War". In fact, "Abnett-40k" is a popular term with those who prefer to see their 40k setting as a living fictional universe, rather than an excuse for battles. The subsequent Ravenor trilogy was more of the same, but with the twist that the Inquisitor in question was not an everyday action hero, but rather a man paralysed and dependent on his life support machine, paralleling the simultaneous power and weakness of the Emperor of Mankind himself. Finally the Bequin novel triology has only just begun, with the first book released in 2012, and the second eagerly awaited. While not every fan of Black Library books rates these as the top 40k novels, its clear time and again from fan surveys and discussions that they are the most popular. I'd recommend seeking them out!

The inclusion of Inquisitors in 40k (and the progress of their fiction) has left us in the somewhat unusual situation of having an organisation that is widely viewed as being a protagonist one, and while being seen as morally grey is widely accepted as a necessary evil for the survival of humanity. For some, this combined with the similarly distasteful ideas of a theocratic despotism, justified xenophobia, necesary genocide and righteous hatred all make the 40k setting somewhat unpleasant. When the heroes of your setting embody so many things that modern sensibilities would judge as evil, its a hard sell.

40k has lost a lot of its satirical edge and dark humour over the years - while it was seen initially as a tongue in cheek "what if" scenario, its now a complex setting in its own right, and there's a tendency for GW to portray the Imperium as being heroic in every way while not flagging up just how messed up this protagonist faction is. While we've gained a degree of seriousness, detail and credibility in the setting, we've also moved into an uncomfortable zone of fiction where fascists are depicted as heroes, where endemic bigotry passes without social comment and where the target audience remains impressionable teenage boys. There's no small numbers of detractors of 40k because of this!

Hopefully though, we fans of the setting aren't just blindly engaging in the gung-ho militarism without remembering to keep tongue firmly in cheek, and without remembering just how big and complex the lore has become. For me, as a fan, I like to acknowledge that this is a well detailed universe of moral greys, and that it is all the more engaging because of this.

That brings us back to our 40k Inquisition: an organisation that represents the shadowy, unpoliced policemen, who can use whatever means are necessary to ensure the survival of the Imperium. They're the booted thugs of the carrion Emperor, engaging in torture, genocide, bigoted persecution of that which is different, and of atrocity justified int he name of faith and the status quo.

And yes, they are also heroes!

The Inquisition and the Ordo Malleus

Now, let's move back within the game universe, and describe what we're actually looking at:

Ten thousand years ago,during the Horus Heresy, the Emperor had as one of his most trusted servants a man named Malcador the Sigilite. Malcador was the First Lord of Terra, the Grand Master of Assassins and subsequent to the fall of Horus, was the Emperor's closest advisor.

One task given to Malcador was to find "men of character, skill and determination" who could serve. Twelve were presented to the Emperor's throne, eight of whom were Astares, and four were humans, albeit extraordinary ones. Some sources say that Malcador gave the last of his life force to the Emperor (who had by then been interred in the Golden Throne) to allow Him to give his final directions to them. Other sources confict, and the timelines is a little muddled her (for example, other sources state that Malcador was on the first Imperial Senate), and this is likely at least partially intentional given that the history is speaking of events in distant myth and legend.

Regardless, it is widely accepted that the human members of the Twelve (perhaps two of them, or perhaps all four) were linked to the founding of the Inquisition. On the first anniversary of the Emperor's ascension, a grim faced man presented himself to the High Council and identified himself as the representative of the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. Since that time there has almost always been an Inquisitorial Representative on the High Council.

The Inquisition itself has maintained itself as separate and above all other parts of the Imperium. They are answerable only to the Emperor himself, and their powers extend throughout all other parts of the Imperium. Inquisitors can raise armies, destroy planets, sacrifice or execute men by their billions and requisition whatever forces and powers they require to achieve their goals.

That's the theory, of course. In reality, the Imperium is a hotbed of intrigue and competing factions, and just as the authority of the Imperium relies on a principle of vi et armis, so too does that of the Inquisition. Space is a big place with limited communication within the Imperium, and if an overconfident Inquisitor waves his Inquisitorial Seal in front of the wrong Space Marines Chapter Master saying that he has evidence of wrongdoing, it may be less troublesome for that Chapter Master to face investigation for a disappearing Inquisitor than it is to face investigation for the charges that Inquisitor wants to bring to bear.

Also, of course, any colleciton of egotistical strong-willed individuals with unlimited power has a very obvious enemy: themselves.

Organisationally, the Inquisition is divided into three major orders (the Ordo Malleus that combats daemons, the Ordo Hereticus that hunts witches and heresy and the Ordo Xenos that deals with alien threats) and uncounter minor orders. While no Inquisitor is limited in remit by his Order, there is a tendency to specialise on threats of their own area of expertise. Not every Inquisitor belongs to an Order, and some belong to several.

Ideologically, the ordos are then divided broadly into two opposing groups. Puritan Inquisitors recognise that the Inquisition themselves cannot risk corruption, and police themselves to stay close to the Imperial creed in all their actions. Radical Inquisitors recognise that the threats to humanity necessitate the use of any tool and weapon available and do not hesitate to learn more of forbidden arts in order to further their goals. There's also degrees or puritanism and radicalism.
An ultra-puritan witchhunter, for example, might believe that all psykers are harmful, and allow themselves only to use the most necessary of psykers (such as astropaths and navigators) when said individuals are enslaved and routinely castigated for their sinful natures. Meanwhile, an extreme radical daemonhunter might believe that he can weaken chaos as a whole by striking pacts with daemons of whichever ruinous power is weakest, and helping them in their own internal wars against the stronger ruinous powers.
Both ideologies will routinely denounce the other as heretics, and the shadowy wars between ideologies will frequently erupt into outright war.

Then, across Ordos and sometimes across ideologies, there are a multitude of factions and conspiracies. Some Inquisitors try to avoid the inevitable intrigues of the Inquisition, but others carry their factional alignments openly. The philosophies that these factions follow are many and varied, but some of the more notable ones include:

• Monodominants, who believe that only the Imperium can be allowed to exist and that all others must be purged. A Monodominant would consider even an alliance of convenience with xenos to be heresy of the greatest sort.
• Amalathians, who see the status quo as needing to be preserved, and who try to avoid using the power of the Inquisition to override other Imperial authorities. They seek to reduce Imperial factionalism, and ensure that the Imperium continues unchanged and as it is, as much as possible.
• Istvaanism, that believes that mankind finds heroes and growth through strife, and who deliberately foment strife within the Imperium to push it to its limits.
• Xanthism, that believes in turning the power of chaos against itself, openly endorsing the use of daemonhosts and daemon weaponry, and who believe that ultimately the Warp cannot be defeated so must instead be mastered.

Beyond organisational order, ideological stance and factional agenda, Inquisitors also vary greatly in ideology. The high profile few (such as Coteaz, Quixos, Karamazov) probably represent the minority in the Orders, with most operating in a more clandestine manner. The secretive nature of the organisation makes it hard to know how many Inquisitors there are: they might be a mere hundred, or there might be millions of them!

As you may have gathered, the Inquisition is well covered in GW lore, probably more so than any other faction save the Space Marines. However, as this Warlord is part of the Ordo Malleus, and a Puritan, lets focus in on that!

Colloquially known as the Daemonhunters, the Ordo Malleus are responsible for preventing, combating and containing daemonic incursions. They are noted as being the smallest of the three major orders, but also consider themselves to be a true elite. The Charge of the Malleus, reportedly spoken by the Emperor laid out their duties:

"They shall be My Hammer, the sword in My hand, the gauntlet about My fist, the bane of My foes and woes of the treacherous. When no others may stand beside them, they shall fight. Only the greatest shall enter their ranks, for unto them do I entrust stewardship over the Gates of Hell."

The Malleus Remit is also said to grant them extraordinary powers above and beyond other Inquisitors (which is something of an oxymoron, for a group stated to have unlimited powers), and the Order answeres to a group of Hidden Masters, who are seen as interpreters of the Emperor's will. Even Inquisitorial Representatives have been tried and executed by the Ordo Malleus in the past!

The Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus is also notable: the Grey Knights are a unique Space Marine Chapter, designated Chapter 666 at the Second Founding. These marines are bred not from the geneseed of a Primarch, but from the geneseed of the Emperor himself. Unbound by the Codex Astartes and answerable only to the Ordo Malleus, this Chapter could well be said to be an authority even beyond their Inquisitorial masters, such is their reputation for uncorruptibility! While many Inquisitors have fallen to heresy or possession over the millennia, not one Grey Knight has ever succumbed to temptation.



Signature Squad

Torquemada Coteaz

Torquemada Coteaz is an Inquisitor Lord, the High Protector of Formosa Sector and the Scourge of Glovoda.

A signature character for the Inquisition, Coteaz graced the cover art of the Daemon Hunters codex and was detailed as a special character within. He was also included in the subsequent Grey Knights codex, and in a nice touch his in-game fiction evolved during this real world time period, with the later information showing him to have aged, progressed his career and adjusted somewhat. Finally, he appears again in the e-book Codex: Inquisition, though as I don't own that book my knowledge of this character will have to be drawn from his two previous appearances!

His name is oddly chosen by GW: Torquemada is clearly a reference to Tomas de Torquemada, as we've already mentioned. Coteaz is a Spanish-sounding name, and a possible reference to Cortez, the famed conquistador. Formosa, however, was the name the Portugese gave to Taiwan. The Latin root, being "beautiful" might be more telling: this is a place that the fiction writers ironically named as a paradise, and one sustained by a darker underside.

The fiction in the first Daemon Hunters codex describes Torquemada as being a puritan of the Ordo Malleus, absolutely opposed to daemonic corruption of all sorts. At the Conclave of Varoth, his mentor - the Inquisitor Laredian - had acquired a crystal containing the essence of a bound daemon. Laredian explained to the conclave that he could harness the power of this crystal, and use it as a potent weapon against chaos. Respected as Laredian was, none objected, save Coteaz himself, who rose to his feet and smashed the crystal with a single mightly blow from his hammer. Despite uproar at this breach of protocol, and disapproval of disrespect for his master, Coteaz had the charisma to take the floor. He turned and set an hourglass in front of him, and said that before the sands had run out, he would have found Laredian guilty of heresy... knowing full well that if he failed, he would be the one accused of fomenting unrest.

The examination and interrogation that followed vindicated Coteaz, and Laredian was found guilty by the Conclave, and was executed personally by Coteaz.

The Grey Knights Codex takes Coteaz's story further, describing that he had grown old while turning a Sector of the Imperium (Formosa) into a utopia: albeit one of perfect order. Through a network of spies and informants, and through merciless and thorough investigation of any rumours of rebellion, Coteaz has created a region of Imperial space where the rule of law is near absolute, and all are fanatically devoted to the Emperor. The cost of this, of course, is an atmosphere of fear and paranoia. It is said in Formosa, any gathering of three conspirators will contain two informants to Coteaz! Coteaz was stated to now turning his eye to planets and systems bordering the Formosa sector, and expanding his influence.

In his style, Coteaz is somewhat atypical of most Inquisitors. He operates openly (albeit with covert operatives serving him) and overtly declares himself Protector of an entire Sector: an approach that surely grates with those who believe that the Inquisition should serve from the shadows.

For this LCG, its somewhat appropriate that he is presented as a Warlord, as amongst all Inquisitors he is the one that can be said to have large standing armies and fleets at his command. What is slightly more jarring is that he is looking to Traxis Sector. We might presume that Traxis Sector borders Formosa Sector, but we'd expect that to have been explicitly stated. As the fiction isn't fully explained, perhaps its the case that Coteaz feels that Formosa is secured, and is now looking to repeat his actions in Traxis. Its a somewhat unsatisfactory explanation though: the name of the game is Conquest, and Coteaz isn't by nature a conquistador, but rather a castellan protecting, policing and governing established Imperial space.

The alliances don't make a great deal of sense for Coteaz either. An Inquisitor can certainly demand the service of Space Marine Chapters, and Coteaz is a respected and charismatic enough man that he might persuade Space Marines to join his crusade with little dissent. Orks following Coteaz is odder, and it doesn't make much sense that a staunch puritan like Coteaz would consent to use Orkish armies in the service of Man. While he's not explicitly stated to be a Monodominant, he's certainly presented in that way.

His stats are interesting, in that he doesn't have an inherent attack value but has exceptionally high HP. This could represent that he's a mere human but one with great force of will, but it doesn't make a huge amount of sense for him to have less face-punching ability than any other warlord, given that he's a formidable battle psyker and somewhat lethal in close combat. Certainly, I'd rate him over Aun'shi in fighting power!

The absence of a Psyker trait is notable here as well, and the addition of a Soldier trait makes little sense. He isn't a soldier: he's a general and a leader, a psyker, a talented governor, a spymaster and more, but not a Soldier. Also lacking here is a representation of what makes Coteaz different from other Inquisitors: his staunch puritanism, and his extensive spy network.

However, the ability itself has a wonderful emergent fluff effect. When you play Coteaz, you adopt an excellent attitude suitable for an Inquisitor: the lives of hundreds or thousands of soldiers mean nothing to you, save for what they can be expended to achieve. The fate of billions lies in the balance, and you don't have the luxury of valuing those under your command!

Also great here is the 8 resource / 8 card start, a suitable representation of the vast influence, resourcefulness and power of Coteaz. He already controls an entire Sector, and has a multitude of regiments and fleets at his command!

Whats worth applauding most here is the emergent play of Coteaz, and how well this reflects his fiction.

As we've already noted, Coteaz's card and resource advantage means he brings more troops to the fray, as is appropriate for the scale of power he commands.
Also though, his ability makes you inclined more to huge swarms of small units, rather than a few big ones. This is great, as it reflects his approach to war: he doesn't lead a small group of elites (as Straken or Cato might) but rather counts the strength of his forces in terms of sheer manpower and munitions.
Finally, this very style of play, combined with his 8/8 cards/resources and the types of decks that serve him well result in him often having six or more Deploy turns in the first Deploy phase. This is incredibly fluffy, as being able to play after the opponent passes matches the idea of Coteaz having superior information and intelligence networks. Indeed in one edition of the wargame he has a special ability called "I've been expecting you."

The most common Warlord in current tourney level deck-types who can keep up with him in sheer number of deploy turns is Zarathur, with his swarm deck. That makes sense, as if anyone would have a chance of playing games of second guessing with a master of espionage, it'd be a servant of the chaos god of byzantine conspiracies! We might also expect Eldorath to be able to play games of fate as well, but the Eldar of course approach this in a different way.

This is all good stuff - a welcome representation of the feel of the fiction through emergent play. This is something the Conquest LCG is getting better and better at. If we're looking for fluffiness in Conquest, don't peer to hard at the individual cards: look at the way Warlords play as a whole!

That said, let's look at some more individual cards...

Coteaz's Henchmen

In the fiction and in the wargame, a notable thing about Inquisitors is that they can be accompanied by a variety of henchmen all forming a single retinue.

The Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels are a great example of this: we have strong central characters, but supported not by generic faceless troops, but by named individuals each recruited for their specific skills. The wargame echoes this as well, and a single Inquisitor HQ might be accompanied by an arco-flagellant, a mystic, a veteran guardsman, a crusader, a jokaero weaponsmith and more.

If we were looking for fluffy signature units for an Inquisitor in the LCG, it might have been nice to see six to eight 1x Units, each with their own effects and stats, each enhancing the Inquisitor himself in different ways.

However, for Coteaz himself, the signature squad as it is makes perfect sense. Coteaz is not a typical Inquisitor, and doesn't conduct clandestine investigations at the head of a hand-picked team. Rather, he has risen to command a whole Sector, and has faceless multitudes to execute his will. This unit is weak in attack, nicely representing no real quality, but has high HP to represent larger numbers. Their deaths serve to benefit Coteaz, suggesting that he expends their lives in a careful and calculated way, caring more about the bigger picture than their individual lives.

Formosan Black Ship

I have to give credit here: FFG's loremasters have scored a point on me here, referencing fluff that I wasn't at all aware of.

When I first saw this card I thought it was a misapplication of lore, as to me the Black Ships are associated with the League of Blackships, that the Adeptus Astra Telepathica uses to collect the tithe of psykers from across the Imperium.

However, actually it turns out there's an entirely separate set of Black Ships in the setting: the Inquisitorial Black Ships, that are specialist strike cruisers that serve the Inquisition and are painted black (and without lights) in order to be near invisible against the void.

It certainly tells you something about Imperial technology that a civilisation that can travel between stars is simultaneously one that needs starships to have running external lights so that other shipping can see them and evade collision! But then, this is also a setting where its been described that ship broadside laser are aimed manually, with slaves pulling the chains to move the giant guns to face the target. Its also a setting where a soldier in ancient armour that can withstand temporary immersion in the caldera of a volcano might also be unable to see a distant target because the sun has gone down. That's not to say auspex and sensor technology doesn't exist, but the indications are that they're not universal!

Coming back to the card, I note that the artwork exactly depicts the sort of Strike Cruiser used by the Inquisition, and the effect seems to suggest the near endless manpower of Formosa Sector being brought into the battle when Coteaz commands it.

Its a shame that the "Upgrade" trait is used to describe a spaceship. I'd have liked to have seen a specific trait for spacecraft, such as "Naval" or "Starship", to open more design space for future spaceships and cards that reference that trait. The setting has almost as many spaceship types as army unit types, and FFG could easily have levered a whole cycle out of the importance of naval superiority.

The Glovodan Eagle

One of the early career achievements of Lord Coteaz was the exposure of a heretic cult on the Forge World of Glovoda. In gratitude for his intervention (and no doubt in hope of appeasing the wrath of a man known to burn whole worlds to destroy cults) the Adeptus Mechanicus presented the Inquisitor with the Glovodan Eagle.

Psyber-Eagles are commonly used by Inquisitors, as the eagle is seen as a sign of Imperial purity, and a psyker's power can be directed through the line of sight of these soul-linked familiars. The Glovodan Eagle is an especially fine psyber-eagle.

The card effect here is appropriate, with the attack bonus representing the offensive power of this creature when imbued with psychic might, and the combat action and action giving a nice feel of having a bird of prey that can be sent out and called back.

The Emperor Protects

This card is well placed in the signature squad of one who is both driven by faith, and who names himself as High Protector of a sector.

My only objection here is it being traited as a Tactic, which seems out of keeping for the power of faith.










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And here, we take an article break. Essentially, there was too much art I wanted to include to be able to fit this article on one upload.

Back after this Inquisition sponsored break!