Building an Inquisitorial retinue: Looking into the past

 I am the Law!

When the Daemonhunters book came out amidst the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40,000, I was taken by the imagery of Ordo Malleus. While I was really excited about the new take on the Grey Knights, it was the more human element of the force, the Inquisitors and their henchmen, that struck the greatest chord with me (something that was certainly helped by Dan Abnett’s Eisenhorn novels). This lead me to collect a force comprised primarily of Inquisitorial stormtroopers and Inquisitorial henchmen. Now that I am actively working on new Inquisitorial models, I thought it would be fun to show pictures of some of those models.

Back then I was still pretty unconfident in my modelling skills and and largely kept models unaltered. To make up for this, I often tried to use models from many different Warhammer 40,000 armies and several different ranges of Games Workshops miniatures (back then you could still buy individual models and bits from Games Workshop, making things a little easier…).  Ten years ago, you could still buy most of the miniatures from all of their many games, even those that had fallen out of favor and were relegated to Specialist Games.  This opened up a lot of possibilities for a quite eclectic group of characters, simply by choosing neat models from Mordheim, Necromunda, and Gorkamorka.

There was always something a little off with Mark Bedford’s stormtrooper sculpts, but I still love them.

The old Necromunda Redemptionist make wonderful fanatical preachers or witch-hunters.

Animal, one of Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers, is the perfect way to add an interesting meltagun trooper to your retinue!

While the majority of the army still remains unpainted, I did manage to paint a number of the models that I commonly used in my Inquisitorial retinue. My painting style varied quite a bit from model to model, each one offering new lessons and ideas for the next model. The Necromunda bounty hunter was one of the first models that I painted using a technique where I base-coated the entire model black and worked up highlights from black to whatever color I wanted. The method results in a kind of ‘grim dark’ look that I always thought was very fitting for 40k. Several of the models have a heavy wash on their skin, a look that I have come to dislike (wash must be used very conservatively or your model with have an impressive sheen). The Imperial Guard veteran was one of the last models I had painted and much of the blending is much more seamless. He was also one of the only models I tried free hand work on, giving him an emblem of a grinning skull smoking (Long live Warren Zevon!). Finally, he was one of the few models that I properly based (it is amazing the difference a nice looking base makes on a model!).

The Necromunda range was filled with interesting models, like this Bounty Hunter that fits right in with an Inquisitor’s allies.

After reading Daemonifuge I knew I needed a Sister of Battle in my Inquisitor’s retinue.

Strength and muscle and jungle work.

This half finished stormtrooper sargent was one of my more ambitious conversions at the time (complete with mohawk!).

It looks like getting out all these old models was quite well timed, as an Inquisitor Digital Codex was just announced.  It appears that the codex is to function as an ally to any Imperial army.  Hopefully it is well-formed and interesting, allowing a host of cost-effective and characterful units and characters, rather than simply being a blatant cash-grab by Games Workshop.  Because it would be fantastic to actually use some of the models in games of 40k, and make new conversions of the Inq28 ilk even more relevant and exciting.

- Harlon Nayl