Ordos & Stormtroopers

[InsaneInquisitor]

Hello all.

I'm working on a fanfic and need fluff help...
Realistically speaking, how many Inquisitorial Storm Troopers can an Inquisitor expect to find in a relatively short period? The Ordos Xenos in particular (since they are the protagonists :p).

Continuing above, Inquisitorial Cruisers are said to be able to carry a 'company sized' forced (source from a BFG supplement). Having said that this force can't possibly be a Deathwatch Astartes company, since they operate in a kill team. In this scenario, how many Inquisitorial Stormtroopers would be 'company sized'?

Finally, is it safe to assume that the Inquisitorial Cruiser are also manned by Stormtroopers, or just really pure and loyal naval members?

Many thanks,
Insane Inquisitor

[inquisitorsog]

Short answer is "as many as you need them to have to drive your story". This is the only rule black library ever seems to operate by on such details.

Such details vary by the ordo, the sector, the conclave, even the inquisitor. The more powerful the inquisitor, the more resources, and thus better the possibility that they could form/requisition/demand their own stormtrooper unit.

In western military terms, a company is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-200 personnel.

In the case of an inq cruiser, most imperial cruisers have crews in the tens of thousands, so having a cadre of elite troopers isn't that hard to imagine. In fact, a single company sounds low if you've got tens of thousands of crew, so I suspect we should think of the stormtroopers as the "away" team (unless there's a DW Kill Team) and they are supplemented in shipboard duties by a complement of armsmen.

And you're spot on about them not being Astartes. There's approximately 1 space marine for every world in the Imperium (1 million worlds, 1000 chapters with 1000 battle brothers). I doubt you're going to see them staffing ships for other organizations that often.

[DarkLink]

A rifle company usually has 3 platoons, which is usually about 45 men each. Add in the command staff, and you've got about 150 men in a company.

There are plenty of other organizational types of companies that can range greatly in size, but this is what you're probably concerned with.

Special operations units often operate on smaller scales, however. For example, Navy SEALs are organized into Teams, each with 6 platoons of 16 men, making each team about 100 men.

So, you can pretty much organize it however you want. It's likely to change from world to world.

[plawolf]

An inquisitor can requisition as many =I= stormtroopers as he feels necessary to get the job done. The only issue that could limit the number of stormtroopers he/she might want would be logistical and background fluff.

I am struggling to think of any examples where an =I= has been able to summon up tens of thousands of stormtroopers at a whim, so I would use that as a rough upper limit. It would not be at all unusual for an =I= to be able to gather up a few regiments of =I= stormtroopers at relatively short notice.

The =I= have many hidden fortresses scattered throughout the Imperium, just have one of these hidden bases conveniently close by in your story and no one would think it out of the ordinary for an =I= to order a few thousand stormtroopers from the hidden base and have them arrive in pretty short order.

It's a similar case with =I= cruisers (or were you talking about the black ships?). With the exception of the black ships, inquisitors can requisition pretty much any ship they want to act as a glorified bus for the stormtroopers. The Inquisition itself also maintains ships of all shapes and sizes.

If it's the personal ship of your =I=, keep it reasonable, so no Emperor class battleships, but if it's just a one-off loan deal, you can have any ship you want stationed at the hidden =I= fortress be available to take your stormtroopers where they need to go.

Fluff wise, stormtroopers and starships are pretty flexible in terms of numbers so you can have as many as you want/need (within reason of course). The only things that you should not go too overboard with are specialists like space marines and battle sisters as there are well defined rules of thumbs about how rare they are.

[InsaneInquisitor]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. It is certainly most helpful :D

Another question - are STC Inquisition vehicles operated by Astartes or by Stormtroopers?
(I.E An Inquisitor's Thunderhawk/Rhino)
Seems a bit awkward to have spare marines standing around just for those - then again, I am aware that some STC vehicles are beyond normal human control...

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Probably Storm Troopers, unless the Inquisitor specifically requisitions Astartes he/she will not get them.

[Kawauso]

Probably Storm Troopers, unless the Inquisitor specifically requisitions Astartes he/she will not get them.

Or servitors.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Good point! I forget about those soulless abominations.

[plawolf]

If the passengers are not space marines, the drivers/pilots won't be space marines either. If you had space marines in your force, you want them out there fighting not acting as glorified chauffeurs.

Even in marine chapters, it would be quite common for servitors or crew serfs to drive and/or pilot the vehicles while the marines do the fighting.

Lots of non-marine Imperial factions use rhinos as transports, like sisters and arbites, so it would most certainly not seem at all strange for stormtroopers to be driving them. Thunderhawks could be a little more problematic as that is pretty much something used exclusively by marines.

I cannot think of a single example where thunderhawks were involved without marines. You can have normal humans piloting them, but you might need to also explain why normal humans alone would be operating an exclusively marine transport.

If you just need a ride for your guys, it might just be easier to use an 'armed IG dropship' or something of that description instead of a thunderhawk if you need a large space going transport to move lots of men and/or vehicles, or just Valks or Vultures if you need just armed transports.

[InsaneInquisitor]

Thanks for the note, Palywolf. Having said that - are there anything smaller than troopships that can get troopers from space to ground? The key problem with Vendettas and Valkyries is that they are only capable of a one-off drop through the atmosphere. In the fic, what happens is that there will be NO airfields for them to resupply...and I doubt even the Inquisition would throw away a good Valkyrie/Vendetta...

(Though having said that - since the Ravenguard has an abundance of Thunderhawks as per their fluff, is it possible to say that the Thunderhawks in question, around 10 to 13 of them - are Inquisitorial 'requests' made upon the Ravenguard?)

[inquisitorsog]

Thanks for the note, Palywolf. Having said that - are there anything smaller than troopships that can get troopers from space to ground? The key problem with Vendettas and Valkyries is that they are only capable of a one-off drop through the atmosphere. In the fic, what happens is that there will be NO airfields for them to resupply...and I doubt even the Inquisition would throw away a good Valkyrie/Vendetta...

(Though having said that - since the Ravenguard has an abundance of Thunderhawks as per their fluff, is it possible to say that the Thunderhawks in question, around 10 to 13 of them - are Inquisitorial 'requests' made upon the Ravenguard?)
I think there's enough basis in the fic for you to have "drop ships", etc used by the inquisition.

Inquisitor Eisenhorn made use of a gun cutter which, if I recall correctly, was big enough that it housed his retinue full time, agile enough to use as a hovering gun platform, and make it down from orbit and back up. His retinue stayed largely on board the gunship while they were in transit via the warp with the gunship carried by some other bigger warp capable ship. The Eisenhorn novels were a bit more advanced tech than standard 40k (read : Abnett taking his usual liberties).

In the Rogue Trader RPG from Fantasy Flight Games, the Shark assault boat is presented as having similar capabilities(space craft + skimmer), although this feels a bit wrong to me. I always thought of the Shark as being a void only ship.

If I recall correctly, the Valkyries used in Redemption Corps were capable of some drop + reorbit, but I don't remember the full description of their capabilities off hand. I remember thinking that they were presented in that novel as a lot more capable of operating out of orbit than the usual patterns. The predominant valkyrie they used was more of a "valkyrie transporter" in that it was large enough to haul a centaur.

[Sitnam]

Just to add on to the suggestions for a drop craft for IST's, there is the Aquila lander. They are rather light in comparison to a Valkyrie and not designed for combat, but if you need a orbital capable dropship then making a heavily armed version could work for your fluff. Another option could be the Red Hunters chapter. They are a chapter who are dedicated to assisting the inquisition. That could be the a good place to get a few thudnerhawks, although I love ST's so you should definitely stick with them.

[gwensdad]

In our campaign-we just assume the Ordo Xenos has some of their own thunderhawks. Not that many, but 100% owned by the Inquisition.
Of course, you could always do a "they arrive by TECHNOBABBLE! - don't overthink it!" and arrive on planet "off camera" to do whatever needs done.

Anyway-I was thinking about Eisenhorn's guncutter. It could be a variant of a Thunderhawk with the big gun on top removed and more passenger space added while the assault area is more cargo and/or living space.
(now I want to run a Rogue Trader or Dark Heresy game with such a ship. dammit)