[Inquisitor Sargoth]

I think that many inquisitors prefer civilian weaponry because it draws less attention and it is much easier to resupply for them.

Good logic. Also one of the main reasons why the humble lasgun is the best damn gun in the galaxy, IMO, despite lacking the punch of more exotic weapons and solid-shell weaponry (plus the total lack of forensic evidence).

[MarcoSkoll]

so why there are so many Inquisitors who insist on civilian weaponry is something I struggle with.

When the humble laspistol is shown to be quite capable of shooting through walls and blasting people's heads apart, gets dozens of shots per charge, can be resupplied by leaving the cells in bright sunlight, almost never malfunctions and leaves no evidence, I think the question to struggle with is why anyone would use anything else...

Solid shot weapons might get a pass for being lower tech and less distinctively Imperial than the laspistol, making it a less conspicuous choice, even if not otherwise as sound.

In any case, more advanced weapons like bolters, plasma weapons and the like are shown to be generally more temperamental, not a good thing in a sidearm.
While almost all of my Inquisitors do keep such things in their personal armouries for when they need the firepower upgrade, they don't usually see them as the first choice of carry weapon.

Also, as an in-game consideration, those weapons are often avoided because that level of lethality isn't very fun to play or play against. (Says the man building a Warhound... )

[Koval]

I never played the original Rogue Trader. So I don't know the ship classes.

I'm actually talking about Rogue Trader rather than 1st ED 40K. Which reminds me, I need to pick up The Koronus Bestiary when it comes out.

I've just given class names to the ships in the BFG Rogue Trader Fleet. If there are existing classes (i.e with more detail) then so much the better. I always felt the BFG fleet was far too generic.

That's fine, and I approve of your logic and initiative; all I'm pointing out is that those names are already taken

so why there are so many Inquisitors who insist on civilian weaponry is something I struggle with.

When the humble laspistol is shown to be quite capable of shooting through walls and blasting people's heads apart, gets dozens of shots per charge, can be resupplied by leaving the cells in bright sunlight, almost never malfunctions and leaves no evidence, I think the question to struggle with is why anyone would use anything else...

Because sometimes you just want something with a bit more punch, or you want to create the impression that you're not to be messed with. At the very least, I'd rather see a glitzy glamourous laspistol variant than a "generic" version. A gatling laspistol with an integrated motion predictor is cool. A high-powered laspistol that can punch through power armour (at the cost of shots per cell) is cool. The same type of pistol that Private Joe Guardsman carries as a standard sidearm is less cool.
Dark Heresy allows for rather a lot of variation in laspistols, and that's even before we get into Ascension or Rogue Trader, or weapon upgrades. So there's still plenty of room for creativity even if all you want is a laspistol of some sort.

Also, as an in-game consideration, those weapons are often avoided because that level of lethality isn't very fun to play or play against. (Says the man building a Warhound... )

In my opinion, that's more a problem with the armoury and damage rules in Inquisitor than with the weapons themselves. /shrug

[MarcoSkoll]

I'm actually talking about Rogue Trader rather than 1st ED 40K.

Given the number of times I've seen the confusion, I'm in the habit of referring to them as Rogue Trader RPG and Rogue Trader 40K these days.

Because sometimes you just want something with a bit more punch

Maybe, but that doesn't mean it would be an Inquisitor's main carry weapon. Given that the problem in a typical firefight is more likely to be hitting the target than killing it, a weapon that would be overkill, more conspicuous and which you can only carry a fraction as much ammo for would be counter-intuitive.

Anyway, most of my warbands tend to have a way or two they could reasonably put down tougher targets like a Space Marine, Ork or Daemon in the unlikely event they should run into them unexpectedly, be it special ammunition, grenades or creative use of psychic powers.

But sure, when they're expecting tougher opposition, they'll up-gun as necessary or get in hired help. (Cortez will doubtless recall the Battle Sister and her chainsaw bolter.)

The same type of pistol that Private Joe Guardsman carries as a standard sidearm is less cool.

I don't know about that. If there's a fluffy reason for having such a pistol, then it's fine by me.

Dark Heresy allows for rather a lot of variation in laspistols

Given my own Revised Armoury had about ten thousand laspistol variants in the last edition, I have quite high standards about what counts as "a lot of variation".

In my opinion, that's more a problem with the armoury and damage rules in Inquisitor than with the weapons themselves.

Not sure I agree. Bolters should be lethal, and I wouldn't want to see them nerfed for the sake of trying to shoehorn them into game balance.

They should be treated like they are... lethal but very conspicuous weapons which are exceptionally valuable and frequently hard to resupply.

[Cortez]

I've googled those ships and the Ambition class sounds perfect for Natalia von Lucia. Not sure the Viper class really fits though as it seems to be described primarily as a scout ship.

I wasn't even aware that Fantasy Flight had done a Rogue Trader based game. Might have to get that.

I've always felt lasweapons aren't well represented in Inquisitor. Hence why Stubbers seem to be more popular.

As for Bolt weapons... well its good to have an impressive weapon, but they're rarely described as punching through power armour with no problems which is what tends to happen in game!

[Koval]

But sure, when they're expecting tougher opposition, they'll up-gun as necessary or get in hired help.

I interpret "when they're expecting tougher opposition" as "quite often", insofar as many Malleus and Xenos types are concerned (and Ordo Xenos operatives are likely to have a lot of fancy kit anyway, weaponry or not). That may just be my interpretation, though.

The same type of pistol that Private Joe Guardsman carries as a standard sidearm is less cool.

I don't know about that. If there's a fluffy reason for having such a pistol, then it's fine by me.

A fluffy reason for having it, maybe, but Inquisitors can generally do much better, even if it's just internal upgrades that don't affect its cosmetic appearance. I would raise an eyebrow at the prospect of running off to fight a nest of heretics with such a weapon, for example.

Dark Heresy allows for rather a lot of variation in laspistols

Given my own Revised Armoury had about ten thousand laspistol variants in the last edition, I have quite high standards about what counts as "a lot of variation".

In which case there should be even less of an excuse to restrict yourself. We're talking about Inquisitors, not hive gangers.

They should be treated like they are... lethal but very conspicuous weapons which are exceptionally valuable and frequently hard to resupply.

The Inquisition should, and does, have ways of getting round the last two points. And if they care about bolters being conspicuous then either they're doing some serious undercover work, or they're operating "outside the law", in which case they have bigger problems. Besides which, nobody ever said that practicality was a defining feature of anything in the Imperium.

[Koval]

double

Introducing Commodore Tyra Vargas, commanding officer on the Orchomenus (Dictator class). Full body shot is here.

She's not especially fond of the Adeptus Arbites, so having to deal with Narl is somewhat unpleasant.

Will probably post something about the life pod later this week, assuming people in the life pod are waiting for me to do something.

[Cortez]

What are you using to create those character images Koval?

[Koval]

EVE Online's character creator. Their test server lets you buy all the "premium content" character-customisation items for a pittance. In the case of Vargas, Andreas and Burnett, that means their bionics and some of their clothing.

EDIT: Herald, just one little thing: The life pod (going by the Cain books) was designed for a full platoon, and since the Asculum was a warship it probably needed platoon-sized pods because of all the crew. In practice that means it's about the size of a coach or a train carriage, and although some coaches can get pretty crowded, I'm not sure if it counts as "tiny" or "cramped"

Other than that, I like your post. Haines will probably let you borrow his plasma pistol, as Andreas has his arms coffer.

[Dolnikan]

One of the problems with bolters and the like would also be training and weight. They are big and heavy weapons and are quite different from what people normally use.

[Koval]

One of the problems with bolters and the like would also be training and weight. They are big and heavy weapons and are quite different from what people normally use.

I'll accept that, but I reckon that most Inquisitorial types (be they full Inquisitors, Interrogators, or staff) will be able to get the right sort of training if they need it. Besides which, if Guard officers can get that kind of training...

[Dolnikan]

I think that there would probably be plenty of inquisitors who consider their time much too valuable to waste on things like learning to operate a boltgun, for the fighting they have their assistants, their work is much more about thinking than about brute force(which they will still use.) A more combat-focussed inquisitor or interrogator would probably go for more powerful weaponry.

A thing that surprises me more than the lack of weapons is the lack of force fields. They can easily be carried around, activated when needed and while not active they can easily be hidden or disguised as a piece of jewelry.

[Koval]

That also occurred to me, although it's entirely possible that some of us will be able to bring out a few surprises (Semplice must have some scary defensive kit tucked away in his chair, for example, and Haines is likely to be wearing at least a refractor field generator as well, as if he's lugging a thunder hammer around then he's got to be pretty damn stupid to have light carapace armour as his only means of protection against something nasty)

[Dolnikan]

He has a few quite unpleasant things, I jsut have to think them up. Other than that he has his combat servitors who serve as redshirts.

[MarcoSkoll]

I interpret "when they're expecting tougher opposition" as "quite often", insofar as many Malleus and Xenos types are concerned

But how many of those Inquisitors you're claiming to be underpowered actually are Malleus or Xenos, and how often do the run-in fluff and their actual games actually include that tougher opposition?

I up-gun when the game needs it, not as a matter of routine.