The latest Warhammer 40k Faction Focus article, released on the Warhammer Community website on Wednesday, reveals how the Agents of the Imperium will work in Warhammer 40k 10th edition. The Agents are a hodgepodge of characters and units from the less directly militaristic factions within the Imperium of Man, and the newly revealed rules show that it will be simple to add them to other armies.
The ‘Assigned Agents’ army rule allows an army from one of the Imperial Warhammer 40k factions – such as Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, or Imperial Knights – to be joined by a certain number of Agents of the Imperium, depending on the size of the game. There are separate allowances for characters, such as the various Inquisitors and Assassins, and troops with the Retinue keyword.
The article states that “Imperial Agents aren’t designed to operate as a faction in their own right”. They don’t have their own Detachment rules, Warhammer 40k Stratagems, or Enhancements. However, an Inquisitor can join any Imperium Battleline Infantry unit as its leader.
The newly revealed Inquisitor datasheet shows why you might want to attach an Inquisitor to a squad of Astra Militarum or Primaris Intercessors. Though their combat abilities are just those of normal, baseline humans, Inquisitors have the powerful ‘Power of the Rosette’ ability; if you target their unit with a Stratagem, on a roll of 3+ you’ll receive a rebate of 1CP. Their ‘Blessed Wardings’ also grant their unit Feel No Pain 5+ against Mortal Wounds.
With models for Imperial Navy Breachers and Adeptus Arbites released in recent Kill Team box sets, the Imperial Agents line has expanded a lot this year, and it’s good to see simple ways to use those models in Warhammer 40k 10th edition.
If you fancy reading a great Warhammer 40k book full of skulduggery and spy-craft from Agents of the Imperium, check out Assassinorum Kingmaker by Robert Rath.