Human Inquisition Tactics

Human Inquisition

Setting:	Grimdark Future
Games:	Grimdark Future, Grimdark Future: Firefight
Species:	Human
Version:	v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why Play Human Inquisition

The Human Inquisition really centers on your heroes and close combat. The rest of your army, while capable of some good variety, is also very limited.

Pros:

Exceptionally Strong Heroes. Your assassins all sit at Quality / Defense 2+, have no less than 7 keywords and all the needed tools to survive, move around the map and do their job efficiently. While your Inquisitor is slightly worse in terms of stats, he's still an elite unit with lots of customizations in the form of multiple weapon choices, both ranged and melee and some very strong buffs for him and his unit.
Flexible Henchmen Units. Second only to your Inquisitor, Henchmen have the most customization between all of your other units, giving you veterans that can choose between multiple melee weapons and specific keywords to help them fit for what you need them most.
Good Psychics. You have very cheap options to bring a moderate amount of anti-psychic with Witch Hunter, while your psychic spells provide both a lot of direct damage and support/buffs on all tiers. In the case you really want to amplify your possibilities, the Mystic upgrade make tier 3 spells more affordable than with most other factions and taking Forbidden Lore on your Inquisitors does not restrict them from getting the other Hunter buffs.
Strong Close Combat and Anti-Infantry. Between most of your Assassins, your Inquisitor and his Alien Hunter buff, your Henchmen and the guns you have available, you are very good at fighting in melee and at short-range and taking care of any kind of mob they throw at you. You have all the tools needed to take on enemies that want to stay close to you or that plan to drown you in bodies.
Anti-Ambush Upgrade. You are the only faction who can easily deal with any army that focuses on using Ambush units. Demon Hunter counters any unit that wants to get a jump on you in melee and makes it more difficult for said unit to contest your position. While this won't help too much against unit with both Ambush and Very Fast, such combination is also expensive and rarely found.

Cons:

Exceptionally COSTLY Assassins. Assassins are some of the most expensive heroes in the entire game. While they can survive on their own, the defense provided by their stats and keywords can only work until a certain point since they have all Tough(6). Losing an Assassin is a really strong blow against your game plan.
Overly Specialized Assassins. Not only you have to pay a big tax to get them, but you can't customize them and they don't work too much well outside of their field of specialization: Assault Assassins not being able to charge are useless; Sniper Assassins in melee or not shooting at key models are wasted; Spy Assassins not getting their chance to jump on a primary target are just bad; Terror Assassins against anything outside of mobs will struggle a lot. You need to make sure every Assassin does the thing you bring him for to make your points count.
Small Henchmen Units. Henchmen are probably the ONLY 3 models count unit in the game without any Tough value. While they do make up with their low cost and relatively affordable Combined units, this essentially means you cannot field any veteran unit with double digits models/wounds count, meaning they are very customizable but fragile small units.
Extremely Limited Selection of Units. Outside of your heroes, you have a grand total of 3 possible units to choose from: infantry mobs, Henchmen and a transport vehicle. Your army is more than with other factions centered around your heroes working as centerpieces and the other units supporting them, which also means that losing your heroes is close to a death sentence.
Very Weak Long-Range. When it was said you are a faction that wants to be in close combat, it was meant as you can only opt for close combat. While a few of your units can work at longer ranges, they are more the exception than the norm as most of your better upgrades are for melee. You do have some shooty units with Henchmen retrofitted for the purpose, but they do not hold a candle compared to other factions' units specialized on shooting and depend more on getting lucky rolls.
Extremely Limited Anti-Tank. The only reliable choices you have against armour and Tough come from your Sniper Assassin and Inquisitor and even they do not provide too much. Henchmen, Private Guard with Fusion Rifles and APCs with Hunter Missiles can be helpful, but they will either be costly (APCs), keen to die (Henchmen) or are unreliable (Guard and in a certain measure APCs). All this without even considering that your other Assassins' AP is laughable at worst and depending on lucky rolls at best. You'll find yourself wishing for a lot of 6 with these guys.

Army Special Rules

Alien Hunter: The hero and his unit get +1 attack in melee when charging. Essentially a Furious buff that can stack with other Furious sources.
Beacon: Units with Ambush can be deployed within 6' from this unit and ignore the 12' rule from enemy units. Unless you plan to use mixed armies, it is essentially an upgrade for your Spy Assassin.
Demon Hunter: Enemies can't use Ambush within 18' of your hero. Not only this works as an improvement of the normal 12' Ambush rule, but counters also the more advanced versions of it.
Psychic Host: This unit counts as having Psychic (1), however only one model in the unit may cast or block spells each round. The main selling point, together with models wide Psychic cababilities, is that when the unit tries to cast or block spells, you roll as many dice as models with this rule in it and pick the highest result.
Shield Wall: Enemies get -1 to their rolls when attacking this unit, as long as every model has this rule. Very useful for increasing the survivability of your unit.
Witch Hunter: Lets you reject a spell as a Psychic [2] or adds +2 to your model's blocking if you also bought Psychic. Great to deny crucial spells to the enemy.

Psychic Spells

Foresight (4+): Friendly unit within 12" takes +1 to hit with shooting. With how limited your shooting can get, you'll be needing every shot to count.
Flame Breath (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits. Useful for when you need AP or to deal with units near the morale threeshold or close to die.
Protective Dome (5+): A friendly unit within 12" gains Regeneration when they next get hit. Can help you holding an objective or provide cover to a unit in a dangerous position.
Expel (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes a single AP 4 Deadly 3 hit. Pretty much all you can ask for when sniping a hero or heavy weapon.
Psychic Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button, a way to reposition your other units or possibly an easier charge.
Tempest (6+): Enemy unit within 6" take a hit per model, making this hell for mobs of grunts.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

Inquisitor: A fairly strong hero with Quality / Defense 3+, and he is incredibly versatile, with a fairly wide variety of guns and melee weapons. You can also buy up Psychic (1) if you want to give yourself some casting and one of three special powers.
- Ranged Weapons: By default, your inquisitor comes with only a Heavy Pistol with AP(1) and CCW. That pistol can be replaced with an exceptionally vast number of options depending on what you plan on using them for, or jut grab a shield for Shield Wall if you don't care for shooting at all. For cheap pistols, you can grab either the Fusion Pistol to destroy any nearby Tough units with high defense, the Needle Pistol for a chance at Poison's multiple hits, or the anti-armor Plasma Pistol. A step up from that is the Heavy Rifle, basically the pistol with double range but also comes with an option for either a Fusion-, Flame-, or Plasma-Mod for additional short-ranged firepower. Beyond that is the anti-armor Plasma Rifle, the short-ranged but tank-busting Fusion Rifle, the horde-mowing Flamethrower, and the Storm Rifle for long-ranged anti-infantry firepower.
- Melee Weapons: In all cases, you can keep your CCW regardless of which gun you pick up. However, you can equip a special weapon in the event that you need some manner of melee support. For cheap combat, you can take either the anti-horde Energy Hammer or the Energy Sword for all other cases. If you're intent on killing Tough infantry, you can grab the Chainsaw Fist, or the Energy Fist to just obliterate armor.
- Upgrades: Regardless of anything else, taking Forbidden Lore for Psychic is highly recommended when possible considering how important those spells are for your army and how it doesn't lock you from your other upgrades. On top of that you can take one of the following for extra support: Daemon Hunter to block out any enemy ambushers in a wide area, Alien Hunter for extra attacks on the charge, or Witch Hunter for spell denial in all cases.

Assassins: Assassins, as a whole, are the elite heroes. With their stats they almost resemble light vehicles as they all have: a 2+ for both Quality and Defense, Fast, Stealth and Strider so they're easily able to go wherever they need while Regeneration, combined with Tough(6), gives them another layer of protection. The trade off is that they're very expensive and relatively easy to pick apart on their own, with the right tool. Perhaps that role's all you'll need, but don't expect them to last too long alone .
- Assault Assassin: Your prime choice if you only want to Rip and Tear, and the cheapest assassin of the lot. Furious makes sure that charging is extra-dangerous and Regeneration makes sure that your little killing engine can keep on trucking. In terms of weapons, this guy's short-ranged. The Executioner Gun is only 12" with Poison, while the energy claw deals 9 (10 if it charges) Rending attacks. Combine him with a Dual Arc Flails henchmen squad with Regeneration or Furious and put them in a light APC to get the maximum amount of rip and tear from this guy.
- Spy Assassin: Also a competent short-range and melee combatant. This is the only unit in the army with Ambush, which gives you plenty of options for determining where to set them up. Their neuro pistol is also 12" but gives you 9 Rending attacks while the Toxic blade does 9 Poison attacks, making her a great option to overwhelm a unit with hits. If you deploy this assassin with Ambush you'll need to grab a unit of Henchmen with Beacon in order to get her as close as possible towards a priority target.
- Terror Assassin: A bit of an oddball among the assassins. Their Helmet Laser is an A3 AP(1) Sniper with 18" range, while their psy-granades are extreme crowd control in melee range. It can be useful to kill a weak character if outside charge distance, but it really shines at mowing mobs of weak infantry. Fear also makes sure that you'll be able to pin or rout chaff infantry 5/6 times (if they don't have a hero or Fearless).
- Sniper Assassin: The name says it all. Your best long range anti-character and anti-vehicle option, although the most expensive and is virtually helpless in melee. Their heavy rifle only fires once, but that one shot has AP(4) Deadly(3) and Sniper, killing any Tough(3) heroes and potentially totaling light vehicles and monsters in a turn or two. Thanks to Scout, you can also make it to the ideal position as quickly as possible. Unfortunately this assassin can't really synergize with anyone. You could potentially stick them with a group of Plasma Gun-toting Henchmen, but they're still going to be little more than ablative wounds.

Infantry

Henchmen: your veteran infantry option. They come in groups of 3 with Quality / Defense 4+, Pistol and CCW for 55pts. They are a highly customizable unit with a major focus in close combat and a limited selection of short-ranged anti infantry weapons. The big deal with this unit is that you can choose special upgrades that can define their uses more than any gun.
- Melee Weapons: By default, your Henchmen come with CCWs and pistols, and you can grab any number of Energy Swords if you still want to shoot. Everything else will replace your pistols and CCWs however. Daemon Bursts provide you close-quarters Blast weaponry that actually refunds points to you and combines quite well with Furious in order to wipe mobs. Assassin Blades give you more versatility in fighting opponents outside of mobs, but Poison makes taking these a bit swingy. Cyborg Arms provide A2 AP(4) to pop high defense, but won't provide much outside of that. If you plan on grabbing a shield Inquisitor, you can grab Crusader Shields and Energy Swords for Shield Wall and melee capability, complimented well with Regeneration for unkillability. Dual Arc-Flails provide you your most expensive and versatile option, great against chaff and elite units alike. Give them regeneration for extra survivability or Furious for extra damage. Either way it's better to transport them in an APC to avoid their obliteration during round 1. Join an Inquisitor with Alien Hunter or an Assault Assassin for max rip and tear.
- Ranged Weapons: By default, Henchmen come with only pistols for some manner of shooting. If you intend on staying close-range, you can opt for either the Plasma Pistol for high defense units or the Shotgun for something more reasonable against most infantry. Your only real long-range option is the Smith Gun, which comes with Rending for a chance at AP(4) and benefits the most with Foresight.
- Upgrades: Acolyte is your cheapest upgrades, but also the least valuable for a retinue. If you just need a cheap objective-sitter, then there might be value in it. For a melee-focused pack of Henchmen, nothing beats Zealot for Furious and it doesn't hurt your budget much. A shooting-focused squad can see use in Cyber-Chimp for Relentless, especially when combined with Smith Guns. Buying Mystic provides Beacon, which is a necessity when fielding a Spy Assassin because this is the only way to bring one within close quarters. Fanatic gives Regeneration, which pairs well with Shield Wall to make an unkilable mob. Psychic Host offers you a very costly but effective means for casting with more reliability than anything else.

Private Guard: Your chaff infantry option. They come in groups of 10 with Quality / Defense 5+, Rifle, CCW and no abilities for 120 pts. They are basically HDF infantry squads, but with less options and no synergies. They are useful for board control and escorting your heroes around when you need little else. They are also one of your anti-tank options, but don't rely too much on them for that. Buff them with foresight if you take special weapons.
- Ranged Weapons: The Private Guard come only with rifles to handle long-ranged combat, though up to two models can buy different guns. Plasma Rifles are your cheapest and longest-ranged weapons and the best suited against anything with high Defense. 10 points nets you either the Fusion Rifle to destroy most vehicles, the Flamethrower to pop mobs, the slightly more versatile Shred Rifle with Rending for potential AP, or the Grenade Launcher for long-range crowd control.
- Melee Weapons: One model in the squad can change from rifle to pistol and CCW, though the only reason to do so is if you also plan to take the Plasma Pistol for some armor-breaking and maybe the Energy Sword to stand a chance in melee.

Vehicles

Light APC: Your lone vehicle is thankfully relatively cheap. Light APCs are quite essentials for most lists, as they are basically your only fast delivery system and the last anti-tank option in the army. They come with Quality 4+, Defense 2+, Fast, Impact (6), Tough (6) and Transport (11) with two Heavy Flamethrowers for just 210pts. Add camouflage netting and dozer blade and you'll get an effective delivery system that can pack some punch at short range and deliver its cargo anywhere through the shortest path.
- Weapons: The Light APC comes with two Heavy Flamers to mow through crowds. While either of them can be replaced with a Heavy Machinegun for long range firepower (on top of buying a third for a considerable pricetag), only one can be replaced with a Laser Machinegun for an anti-tank weapon. On top of that, you can also buy a Storm Rifle for more firepower and tank-busting Hunter Missiles in order to ignore any penalties.
- Upgrades: Camouflage Netting with Stealth, a necessity to protecting them while carrying crew. The Dozer Blade gives Strider for avoiding the liabilities given by dense terrain.

Human Inquisition Tactics

Contents

Why Play Human Inquisition

Army Special Rules

Psychic Spells

Unit Analysis

Heroes

Infantry

Vehicles

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

Tactics

See Also

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Human Inquisition Tactics

Why Play Human Inquisition

Army Special Rules

Psychic Spells

Unit Analysis

Heroes

Infantry

Vehicles

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

Tactics

See Also

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