Xenos Privateers - IQ Warband in the works

[Xantcha]

I'm currently gathering the models (I have Vossler and Roth already), bitz, greenstuff and basing for an IQ warband I plan on using in the next campaign.  Any ideas, critiques or even a WTF? would be great.  Thanks.

I'll start off with some notes and background.  As you know it is possible for an IQ to grant sanctioning to Xenos for them to become "citizens" of the Imperial Empire.  And we also know that being constantly around something has a certain affect on people (Ordo Malleus loses lots of them to demonic influence).  So the idea for this warband is a Recongregator who is so fed up with the Imperium; it's corruption and it's bullheaded opinion that it doesn't need to be saved, that she would rather keep the company of Xenos than humans. Makes sense? I hope so.  I've been doing some research and what have you to flesh it all out: her reasons for thinking this way, why she chose the Xenos that she did, how she even knows them in the first place, etc.  I'll keep updating the fluff as ideas come.  

Ok, now on the bare bones characters.

[Darksinger]

Sounds interesting. Although i never thought i'd find an =][= more radiacal than mine.

I'm looking forward to more.

[DapperAnarchist]

Well, a sanctioned alien isn't a citizen - more like a Gastarbeiter - they can work, they might even live, but its always subject to the will of someone else.

As for how she became pro-Xenos...

Programmed as a child to make her vulnerable to the suggestions of a specific Xenos race, who also manipulated her rise to Inquisitorial status (cf the Word Bearers vs the Emperor's Swords Chapter)

Forced to hide amongst them for a period of time while pursued by very powerful human Chaos cultists - impressed by their definite line on Chaos (which would be "kill it" in this case). (its easier to see a Chaos cultist coming when he's a different species to everyone else around you).

Takes one on as an assistant while pursuing a renegade Noble in wilderness space, is slowly converted.

Brain-parasite.

She's really an alien herself! Like a Lacrymole or similar shapeshifter.

She experiences a psychic vision when visiting a noted Oracle, showing a future where a feral and bloody mankind lurk and bicker among alien palaces, defiled by human stench and feces. The impact of this is so strong as to drive her away from community with mankind and to defend, in a limited way, the Xenos. But... how true was the vision the Oracle gave her? (a bit like Gulliver at the end of the fourth book of Gulliver's Travels, when he returns from the land of the Houyhnhnms and can no longer stand the company of mankind, as they remind him of the awful Yahoos, and instead spends all his time with the horses)

[Xantcha]

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Kia Vossler

WS  BS    S    T    I    WP   SG   NV   LD
91   52   67  52  87   88    91   72   97

Special Abilities
Talents:  Leader, Heroic, Nerves of Steel
Psychic Abilities:  Detection, Demoralize, Enforce Will, Psychic Ward

Equipment:  3 Digi-Laspistol Rings, Force Rod, Hexagrammic Wards, Psi-Booster, Psyber-Eagle Familiar, Gland Injector w/Reflex, Med Kit, Several packs of Lho Sticks, Rosette, Leather Jacket + Fancy clothes, Eldar Soulstone.


Tau Water Caste Tav'Met
WS  BS    S    T    I    WP   SG   NV   LD
14   31   40  43  78   90    76   72   96

Special Abilities
Talents: Leader, Blunt, Persuade, Force of Will,

Equipment:  2x Escort Drones, Staff, Med Kit, Pulse Pistol, Polyglot Hedron, Marque of Sanction, 2x Reloads for Pulse Pistol


Kroot Mercenary Yov'a Kohr
WS  BS    S    T    I    WP   SG   NV   LD
61  89   59  78  77   70    58   83   62

Special Abilities
Talents: Stealth, Cannibal Hunger, Dead Eye Shot, Hipshooting, Crack Shot

Equipment: Kroot Long Rifle, Knife, Cameoline Cloak, Rebreather, 2x Blind Grenades, 2x Smoke Grenades, 2x Reloads for Kroot Rifle



Kroot Mercenary Dhem Roth
WS  BS    S    T    I    WP   SG   NV   LD
83   73   81  60  72   59    54   88   60

Special Abilities
Talents: Stealth, Cannibal Hunger, Nerves of Steel, True Grit, Feint, Dodge

Equipment: Kroot Long Rifle, Knife, Med-Kit, 3x Frag Grenades, 1x Reload for Kroot Rifle, Carapace Armour (Torso only)



Dark Eldar Corsair Zythi
WS   BS    S    T    I    WP   SG   NV   LD
106  89   51  60 127  76    86   91   84

Special Abilities
Talents: Catfall, Lightning Reflexes, Night Vision, First Strike, Heroic, Acrobatic

Equipment: Decorative Armoured Clothing (all but head), Splinter Pistol, 2xreloads for Pistol, Advanced Bionic Eye, Advanced Bionic Arm w/ Built in Agonizer, Power Sword, 1x Hallucingenic Granade, 1x Haywire Grenade, Refractor Force Field

Alright so thats them far, let me know what you think.

[Xantcha]

I like that last one, with the oracle bit.  Could leave room for some tragic character development there.  Also like the idea of some Xenos setting her up in the IQ too....hmmm....

[DapperAnarchist]

Ah, she's hanging around with the Tau... well, that opens things up a bit. There's a couple options there - She may have gone undercover in Tau space to track down someone, and ended up being converted by seeing how much "happier" the humans were there than in hive worlds (though what makes them happy might just have made her more open to suggestions... there's something in the water you know). She may have been programmed by the Tau, I can imagine the Aun being interesting in that. And of course the Tau do make beautiful grand buildings, much airier and more elegant than most of what Mankind makes, so the idea of the feral and mutated stock that can be found across much of the Imperium (if you've read the Draco trilogy, think the waste-dwellers who live above the Hydra) living among their ruins might disturb people.

However, I'm not sure if  Tau can be Sanctioned - they might be Xenos Horribilis, due to their expansion and subversive ideas of the Greater Good, and so be subject to shoot on sight unless specifically ordered otherwise. The Eldar and the Kroot are different - while Eldar are Xenos Horribilis, that isn't always followed up because its too risky, and the Kroot are open to Sanctioning.

[Xantcha]

Hmmmm...I'm gonna look for it.  I think you might be right on the Tau though, I think they are Xenos Horribilis.  If they are I might have to go another route for the fourth Xenos.  Although the Tau conditioning is a great idea.  I'm going to use some of that.  The Aun would be VERY interested in the results of that I'm thinking.  And the character development possibilities are many, but still unique.

EDIT: It doesn't say that they can't be sanctioned, it's just the protection a xenos of that type; eg: Tau, Eldar (for the most part), Orks...is limited by the power of the sanctioner him/herself.  This is my understanding of Xenos Sanctioning.  Radical IQ goes out and meets himself a Tau firewarrior and makes friends with the grey faced alien.  They become friends and have happy adventures together.  Along comes Puritan IQ #1 and messes up everyone's day.  Radical IQ is a recently promoted IQ Lord and tells puny little upstart Puritan IQ #1 to go kick rocks.  Puritan IQ #1 isn't happy about it, but in typical IQ fashion defers judgement to the more experienced and higher ranking Radical IQ all the while hoping the Emperor will show up and curb stomp his smug face into the ferrocrete.  Then along comes Puritan IQ #2.  This IQ is the same rank and roughly same experience as the Radical.  Puritan #2 points out that according to Aricle 114, Section 324-a, sub-section 19, paragraph 89, that the Radical IQ isn't allowed to have a Tau companion and tells him he has to kill it or be branded a Heretic.  Already ticked off at today's earlier events Radical IQ decides he does have the right and they have a showdown at noon.  The poor Tau's fate is decided by shooting each other.  Then say Radical IQ does win and either sends Puritan #2 running or puts him down like the over zealous emperor butt kisser that he is.  Then along come Puritan IQ #3, a veteran IQ lord of deamon prince proportions and an entire armada at his disposal and really puts a raincloud on the Radical's day.  He points a finger at the planet, then labels it infected with xenos influence and a high threat due to a Herticus Majoris (The IQ) and melta torpedoes the planet into molten slag. In conclusion, isn't the sanctioning of a xenos only as powerful as the IQ that sanctioned it?

[Xantcha]

I just thought I'd point out that this is going to be 54mm

[Darksinger]

woah, woah! A Dark eldar? In the Emperors name, what the hell?

Thats going to need some serious justification in my books... Although f you can justify it, its going to be an excellent Character.

AS for the other characters... well they look good. I should point out though, there are other races teh Tau can implement. Such as the CoughsquatsCough err... Demiurg. And otehr Alien races can eb fun, such as the Hrud, who make excellent assassins and are mostly low-level psykers, or the afforementioned Latterangs, who make even better assassins.

And Orks. Orkz are da best, Orkz iz made fer Fightin! Ork freeboota captains are the best of all, thay are Cunning (for an ork), Powerful and Using an Orks and Goblins Giant model Buffed up with tank armour and Green stuff to represent him is just awesome. Hard to covert though.

still. it all looks good. I'm looking forward to more, backgrounds or characters, whatever it may be.

[Xantcha]

Orcs and goblins giant model?  Wouldn't that be a little big?  Artemis isn't even that large.  I was thinking perhaps and ogre kingdoms bull giant with plenty of greenstuff to give him the higher back and move the arms up slightly.  But I do enjoy the idea of an explosive secret weapon in the form of a stealthy tank known as an Ork Kommando.

[InquisitorHeidfeld]

I don't see that a Dark Eldar will need any more justification than a Craftworld or Exodite... It's not like they're different or anything... Well they all look the same to me...

The biggest question to my mind though is why he's listed as Ordo Xenos...
It would make sense that he might have been recruited by them relatively early in his Inquisitorial career, and that the additional data they were able to provide led him to situations where he could come to understand things better... But a lot of that would come with added indoctrination and it's likely he'd be more difficult to turn from inside the Ordo.
Far more importantly though, even if he had been recruited by the Ordo Xenos, he is trying to tear down the edges of the Imperium (or at the very least is fiddling whil Terra burns)... Why would he still count himself as a member of that part of the crumbling monolithic burreaocracy?

[Quickdraw McGraw]

...And Orks. Orkz are da best, Orkz iz made fer Fightin!

I think this is a great idea!

I don't see that a Dark Eldar will need any more justification than a Craftworld or Exodite... It's not like they're different or anything... Well they all look the same me.

I agree and I don't agree with a statement.  I have ever wanted to include dark eldar into my warband.  My biggest hangup is. "Why would they want to join my warband and not just kill it."  Everyone has a price.  That's easy enough.  But to the dark eldar currency comes in the form of souls.  It's difficult to justify and even more difficult to pay up.

But good work on the warband btw.

Josh

[DapperAnarchist]

Its pretty easy to pay up - if you can pay a Kroot in corpses, you can pay a Dark Eldar in prisoners.

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Its pretty easy to pay up - if you can pay a Kroot in corpses, you can pay a Dark Eldar in prisoners.

Easy on paper, yes. But I feel the game should reflect this.  Kroot already have a cannibal nature ability.  The dark eldar should have the sadistic ability (chao marine PDF).  And at some point during the battle an attempt should be made to take a prisoner, no?

[Darksinger]

Orcs and goblins giant model?  Wouldn't that be a little big?  Artemis isn't even that large.  I was thinking perhaps and ogre kingdoms bull giant with plenty of greenstuff to give him the higher back and move the arms up slightly.  But I do enjoy the idea of an explosive secret weapon in the form of a stealthy tank known as an Ork Kommando.

Artemis is a space marine. they are 7 foot 2 ish superhuman badasses.

And Ork is about 7 foot 5 to 8 feet- they're bigger than a regular marine. An Ork Warboss is bigger than a terminator- So i think a Orks and Goblins Giant, buffed up  with green stuff is apropriate.