Some newbie questions

[Darthvegeta800]

I'm considering getting into Inquisitor as I believe a new shop that opened nearby has access to Specialist Games.
But I do have some questions:

1) How is the rp aspect handled? Are there extensive outside of combat rules and roll mechanics?
2) How many figs are featured on average in the game?
3) I'm unsure wether to go for grand scale and WH40K scale. The second seems far more cost effective and easier.
4) The Inquisitor range seems rather limited and hence difficult to do much with unless you're a good sculptor. Is this correct?
5) Any advice for a new player/GM?
6) How do you all handle terrain/decor in the game?

[MarcoSkoll]

I'm considering getting into Inquisitor as I believe a new shop that opened nearby has access to Specialist Games.
But I do have some questions:

1) How is the rp aspect handled? Are there extensive outside of combat rules and roll mechanics?
2) How many figs are featured on average in the game?
3) I'm unsure wether to go for grand scale and WH40K scale. The second seems far more cost effective and easier.
4) The Inquisitor range seems rather limited and hence difficult to do much with unless you're a good sculptor. Is this correct?
5) Any advice for a new player/GM?
6) How do you all handle terrain/decor in the game?

In order:

1) Not really. Sometimes it's just a case of discussing with the GM, sometimes the GM will make a test or two be taken, or a roll on a table. But those tables will be the work of the GM.

2) Although it's up to you what you want to do, my games are usually from 1 to 4 characters per player, with no more than about 10 or 12 characters on the table at once, otherwise the game can get pretty chuggy, doubly so if one or more of the players is learning the game.

3) Personally, I'm strongly biased towards the 54mm scale. The problem with the 28mm scale is that it makes people get the wrong idea - it's all too easy to bring powerful "battlefield characters" to the table at 28mm, whereas at 54mm, it's much more of a challenge.

To explain what I mean by "battlefield character", a BC is a character who looks more like they'd belong walking into a warzone than in the Dark Shadows of the Inquisitor universe. Many scenarios are chance encounters - and in these, characters would only be as armed as they were by default. Sure, if your character DOES walk around 24/7 with power armour and one of his hands pretty much made useless for all but combat with a powerfist, then you can make them like that - but if you were in one of my campaigns, you would be left almost entirely without the ability to do anything even slightly subtle.

In the long run (and in my own opinion of course), "Dark Shadows" characters are a better choice as far as a campaign as well as less likely to completely dominate the table. You can do a DSC in 28mm of course, but even if you do, you're more likely to run into someone who has the wrong end of the stick and has brought battle characters.

Aside from that, people tend to get the idea better that a 54mm model is a unique character, rather than just a playing piece. Usually, people's Inq28 models tend to be "Tom, Dick or Harry" from a 40k army.

And in the end, it's not actually that much cheaper (if at all) to go 28mm - if you look on ebay, you can find people selling Inquisitor models for less than you might a new blister pack from GW.

There are also several major advantages to 54mm - it's easier to find games, for one thing.
If you want to try and arrange a game in your local area via the forums, the vast majority of us on here play at 54mm, so if you're playing 28mm, you're not likely to find a game that way.
Same thing about if you want to attend a Conclave event at Warhammer World - 54mm games again.

If you want to head into your local gaming store and find Inquisitor gamers to play with, you're much more likely to get noticed if you've got 54mm models - a 28mm model... well, how are people supposed to know at a glance that it's an Inquisitor model?

You can go 28mm if you want (look at Molotov's modelling thread if you want to see it done well), but you should look at the whole picture. 28mm isn't all that much easier or cheaper, and in the end, it's not really as suited to the game.

4) If you're looking at JUST the Inquisitor range, then it's a little limited - but you can still go a long way with very basic sculpting skills (and bear in mind, at 54mm, you're working on details twice the size, so sculpting is easier.)
If you want more, there are more manufacturers making 54mm models than you can imagine - most are not at a heroic scale, so they  See the Modelling Resources sticky in the Painting and Modelling section.

And if you're not very good, it's easy to get tips - if you want to learn, you can do so pretty damn fast.

5) Start simple. Learn with only a couple of characters who have a minimum of skills (perhaps one - two at absolute most) so that you're learning the basic rules, rather than a stack of modified ones.

6) Absolutely no trouble at all. Almost all of the terrain in these pictures (and these, given it's the same event) was designed for 28mm models.
I think you'd struggle to honestly say that anything there looks out of place - actually, in my opinion, some of that terrain looks BETTER scaled alongside 54mm models.

Rocks and trees - well, now they're smaller rocks and trees! Buildings - most of GW's 28mm buildings have to be quite large to accommodate things like Terminators and Battlesuits, so no problems there either.

Playing at 54mm doesn't result in any terrain difficulties at all - mostly, you can just use your regular terrain collection.

[Tullio]

I'll add a few of my own here

1) Seem to be down to the individual player, personally I like a lot of RP to tell the story.

3) 28mm gives you something to start with. I started out at 28mm, but ironically it can be much harder - and more expensive) to model credible Inquisitor characters in 28mm. 54mm also gives you a better perspective on the game - at 28mm I was prone to ignoring things like knockback because at that scale the difference was minute and models tended to get moved about during the course of the turn anyway.

5) Start small, and know the rules. Skimming through the core rulebook once or twice isn't enough, believe me. You don't have to know them by heart but you'll soon run into problems if you're the GM and you haven't read the core rules once or twice

Tullio

[Kaled]

1) How is the rp aspect handled? Are there extensive outside of combat rules and roll mechanics?

Inquisitor is not an RPG, it's a narrative wargame - hence it doesn't have a huge amount of rules for roleplaying non-combat interactions.  Most players seem to use a combination of in-character roleplay, discussions between players of what the characters are doing, and characteristic tests imposed by the GM.  How much roleplay you want to do is entirely up to you - some players like the RP aspects of the game, other focus mostly on the combat.

2) How many figs are featured on average in the game?

I'd stick to no more than 10 (including NPCs), with each player having 2-4 characters each.  That will give you a good, fast-paced game that will take about 90-120 minutes to resolve (longer if you're still learning).  You can play 1v1 if you like, but I'd say 2v2 is the minimum as it gives scope for more interaction between characters.  Larger games are possible, but can be very slow and a bit dull.

3) I'm unsure wether to go for grand scale and WH40K scale. The second seems far more cost effective and easier.

Again, that's debatable - my 28mm version of Inquisitor Kaled cost more to make than quite a few of my 54mm models.  It depends what you mean by cost-effective - of course 28mm can be done more cheaply, but the larger scale has it's advantages and in my opinion is well worth the added expense.

4) The Inquisitor range seems rather limited and hence difficult to do much with unless you're a good sculptor. Is this correct?

I'd disagree completely.  The GW 54mm range is fairly small, however there's tons of scope for creating interesting and unique characters just by combining parts in different ways.  Added to that, there are thousands of great 54mm models out there that can easily be brought into the 41st millenium without needing any significant modelling skills.  You'll also find that the heroic proportions of the 28mm range means that a lot of parts can be used at the larger scale.

5) Any advice for a new player/GM?

You might like to read this article I wrote for new players;
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?autocom=ineo&showarticle=465

6) How do you all handle terrain/decor in the game?

The imposing proportions of GWs 28mm terrain means almost all of it works perfectly at the larger scale.  If you already have 28mm terrain then you can reuse that (of course, a few pieces of custom made 54mm terrain could well enhance the gaming experience).

[DapperAnarchist]

On the "28 has more parts" - yes, GW's 28mm range features more parts. But for specifically human SF characters, their 54mm range features more variety. I mean, how much actual variety is there between Space Marine breastplates?

[Darthvegeta800]

For 28mm it just seemed quite useful to rely on the IG line, some Daemons, the Daemonunter/Witchhunter elements, Necromunda gangs,...
The Inquisitor minis do look GORGEOUS though. Almost a shame not to play them as they are designed.

Thanks for all the info so far btw!

[Dust King]

As someone who has recently started to do some sculpts I can say it's a lot easier than it first seems, just sit down with some models and greenstuff and get the feel of how to work it and get some ideas of what to sculpt. After that it is surprisingly easy to get started.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it isn't as difficult as it seems and it does get quite enjoyable. Also the support and advice here on the conclave can really help getting started, especially with character profiles and modelling tips (again the advice here has helped me improve my modelling no end)

[precinctomega]

For 28mm it just seemed quite useful to rely on the IG line, some Daemons, the Daemonunter/Witchhunter elements, Necromunda gangs,...

Note emphasis.

Do not make the mistake of assuming that INQ is just 40k at twice the size.  A lot of 40k stuff is downgraded to make a more interesting game.  In INQ, all the safety features are switched off.  A single daemon will be more than a match for three or more typical warrior bands and should not be considered a "vanilla" option.

There is nothing wrong with Inq28 per se.  But if you've not played the game before or haven't got to grips with the underpinning philosophy, it's a short and slippery slope from there to C'tan.

The Inquisitor minis do look GORGEOUS

Some do, some don't.  But in real terms, you can get everything you need to play INQ for less than £50.  A lot less if you do some homework.

R.

[Vladimir]

with regards to 3) and 4), I'm with Dust King. Sculpting is surprisingly easy with a little patience and a little practice.
That aside, if you're playing inquisitor, you have no excuse for each figure not to be beautiful. If you're going to convert, then you can really go to town with your figures. If not, then with a bit of work you can still find some good figures- the witch hunter/demon hunter henchmen and assassins, imperial guard officers (chosen well, of course. Let's try to avoid powerfists...), Mordheim witch hunters, necromunda figures, IG techpriests, Warhammer empire engineers, any servitor you can find... yup. Just avoid the 'this is my warband, here's my tau battlesuit, here's my bloodletter, here's my necron' phenomenon.