40k Hobby: Inquisitorial Henchmen
Lately, I've had a bit more interest in 40k than I've had over the last year (which has been consistently 0 interest). Probably due to GW's marketing team finally understanding social media, combined with the extreme nostalgia of the Genestealer Cults, and the popularity of Kill Team in my local area. It also doesn't help that I thoroughly enjoy kit-bashing, something you can do with 40k miniatures to a level unlike any other game. I've already decided that I'll be selling off my Khorne Daemonkin (which is getting catalogued and photographed this weekend), and that I would keep my Imperial Knights with various aspects of the Imperium for support (though no codex Space Marines, ever). The biggest collection of infantry that leaves me with for 40k is Inquisition.
I've been looking for an excuse to buy the new Genestealer Neophyte kit, which is a treasure trove of bits, so I decided I could probably expand my Inquisitor army a bit more, with some profiles that I know are good, but never really owned many models for. I also wanted to be able to play Kill Team with my Inquisition, which meant I was limited to a single squad of 12 Henchmen, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to create a small security force, sent by an Inquisitor to investigate. The actual kill team will consist of 4 Crusaders, 5 Acolytes with stormbolters, 2 Deathcult Assassins, and a Daemonhost, plus a Chimera, but I figured I'd make a 6th Acolyte for regular 40k use (to make 2x3 squads to put in chimera).
I sourced bits from a variety of kits, including:
- Skitarii Vanguard heads
- Grey Knight Strike Squad accessories and Nemesis Falchions
- Devastator sergeant stormbolters, a Sternguard stormbolter for the sergeant
- Various Space Marine arms (but for future reference the Vanguard Veteran arms were by far the best as they're a bit on the smaller side)
- Vanguard Veteran storm shields
- and I'm sure a few more bits here and there...
Overall, I'm very pleased with the results, they look unique and distinct, and with the donated bodies from the Genestealer Cultists, they're very different looking than the standard military forces of the Imperium. I had so much fun making them that I'll be kit-bashing a new Inquisitor to lead them, using the plastic commissar as a base:
I've also been reading over my old Inquisitor rulebook, and I have to admit, that I'm very tempted to get a campaign of INQ28 going in my new garage. The rules are quite solid (available for free, or you can buy the rulebook on Amazon for about $15), and I had a hell of a lot of fun playing it back in the day. Switching to a 28mm scale would mean that I could more easily come up with a host of adversaries to pit the players against, since I would only need about 5-10 henchmen, plus a few bosses for important scenarios... So maybe you'll see a bit of that here in the future. :)