Advice for a retinue I have been planning

[Koval]

now that Triple Helix don't have a gaming hall

Why?

[greenstuff_gav]

tue hall was dead quietoverdec... making a loss :-(
the 2 days they were open is another few hundred ebay.listings and this more moolah :-(
so W@R is my local games club... 17 people there sundays so maybe worth reintroducing inq :-D

[Dolnikan]

A smuggler could also have a ship, an inquisitor might travel with a rogue trader, but a rogue trader also has many other responsibilities which will intervene with an inquisitor's work. A small smuggling ship would be a perfect way to get around, of course there would be some bribes involved, but those always are present.

[Gideon]

Effectively, what we're talking about by 'smuggler' is private-enterprise free trader in the mould of the Firefly lot, then. Owning a small tramp freighter with warp drive means that you'd need - at minimum - a Pilot, a Navigator, a Mechanicus Adept or two, a few servitors, and probably some menial crew types too. So about 10 or 15 people on board.

So such a character is a perfect member of an Inqusitor's party.

[Dolnikan]

Well, a warp-capable craft would need quite a lot more crew than that. Even the smallest are hundreds of meters long and require at the very least hundreds of crew. Many could be replaced with servitors, but there would still be quite a crew on board.

[DapperAnarchist]

A Firefly type craft could exist as a systemship that moors itself to intersystem ships (bulk conveyors, pilgrim ships, Chartist vessels, Rogue Trader fleets, even the occasional Navy patrol if they're trusted) to get from one system to another, hitching a lift. This is basically how FTL works in Dune - you rent space for your sublight fleet from the Guild, and they transfer you, no questions asked, as long as you pay up and don't try and interfere with Guild shipping.

[MarcoSkoll]

It's very, very rare for warp capable ships in the Imperium to come in at less than a kilometre and a couple of thousand crew (or, if you go by the larger numbers in the Rogue Trader RPG, tens of thousands of crew). The bridge crew alone is probably in the many tens of officers.

Something the size of a Firefly would almost certainly be limited to orbital shuttle work, or maybe travelling between planets in the same system. Warp capable ships can just about exist in that size, but those ships are the tiniest possible fraction of Imperial vessels - it's only very powerful Inquisitors who could possibly afford and have access to such spectacular displays of technology.

My own aforementioned smuggler - his ship is a little over three kilometres long. It has about about two and a half thousand crew, many dozens of which are the "more open minded" members of the Mechanicus who are necessary to look after a ship that is packed with a general mix of borderline heretical or outright illegal parts alongside what should probably be ancient relics (the engines and bridge in particular are astounding examples of near forgotten technology).

I do, however, choose to focus the attention on just a scarce few of these thousands of crew. At present, I can only actually recall having given names to the Smuggler, his bodyguard/official XO, the Navigator/functional XO, the Enginseer Prime, Master of Arms and Choir-Master.
I probably should go through Into the Storm and develop loose identities for all the various Ship Roles listed there - maybe at least brief details of some of their subordinates too.

[Lacomus Laurentius]

Haven't Replied in a while, so lets see if I can catch up. Transport to gaming clubs and the like is no problem as I have my own. As for the discussion on spaceships, what class of spaceship would a smuggler generally have?

I have also started to get the bits together for the models that are not yet constructed, still can't think of any good looking parts for the mutant though. Any help would be appreciated, thank you. 

[MarcoSkoll]

As for the discussion on spaceships, what class of spaceship would a smuggler generally have?

Something that people wouldn't notice - the most likely candidates are small transport ships. The Rogue Trader RPG lists several types, although these are primarily specific to the Calixis sector and not necessarily relevant to the wider Imperium.

My own example uses a ship that in 19th century naval terms might be a clipper - a long narrow ship designed for speed rather than bulk cargo capacity. Being able to outrun the Imperial Navy is a distinct virtue when you'd rather they weren't trying to board you or blow you up.
This has then been retrofitted with various auspex/augur jammers that, while active, make the ship is surprisingly difficult to locate.
Weapon loadout is fairly minimal, being fitted with Jovian pattern missile batteries. These are fairly impractical as actual warship weapons due to being very slow to reload, but they take up little hull space and if all you're looking to do is deliver a stunning punch to a navy or pirate vessel before outrunning them, they're about all you need.

I'd expect similar for many smugglers - try not to be noticed, prefer to outrun anything that does notice you.

The Rogue Trader RPG book has a short section on illegal shipping, noting how many have to do without Navigators (given that only so many Navigators are of a criminal bent) and that unregistered ships have to take care not to find themselves on the wrong side of the Imperial Navy's guns.

[Dolnikan]

I agree with Marco, a smuggler would have a relatively small ship built for speed, they won't have the power to fight the navy, bu then again, smugglers don't have to, they try to outrun them, and occasionally they get caught in a rather unpleasant way. These ships wouldn't even be the fastest ones, real speed is expensive, and the primary way to do their work is by being careful. Remember, the navy is very small, and system defense ships have far less capacities than the naval destroyers.

[krenshar]

For the bloodhound, have you seen the scout demon that Enigma do?  The arms and head would (presumably) want remodelling but the posture looks right to me for a scent-tracker.  Nose-wise you could go with a bulbous nose, like the old ogryn and ogre models had, maybe paired with small sunken eyes to emphasise his use of other senses.  Or perhaps add an extra nostril or two to an otherwise normal face.

[Lacomus Laurentius]

Ah, that model seems like the perfect base, just what I was looking for. Originally I had thought of using a Skaven head but that seemed a little to obvious.

Thinking on some of the models as I build them my acolyte has no close combat weapon at the moment and there are two possibilities based on the spare parts I have, either I give him a knife or a staff. I see this character as a person who would prefer to carry easily concealable weapons.

Also do all Enforcers carry shotguns or just Arbites? 

[Koval]

Shotguns are pretty much a signature weapon of Enforcers and full Adeptus Arbites, though to say that "all" Enforcers carry shotguns is probably a bit misleading. I'd say you can get away with whatever as long as you keep the law-enforcement idea in mind.