Where Daemons tread... - Inquisitor Coteaz Conversion

Lord Inquisitor Geralt Oviron, of the Ordo Malleus

I recently picked up (downloaded? acquired?) the new Codex: Inquisition, after slight initial disappointment at the lack of new toys (i don't really know what people were expecting, they were hardly going to release a new line of Inquisition models when there are so many weird old ones sitting around doing nothing.) i quickly grew to love the book though, it's infinitely closer to my idea of Inquisitors in the background of the 40k universe than any of their other appearances so far (well, apart from maybe 2nd ed.?)



Yes, to me an Inquisitor was always a unique individual that would turn up at a moment's notice on the ever of battle and assume command of Imperial forces, directing them into sometimes insane situations in pursuit of his clandestine goals, always individual, but in my mind nearly always dark characters, universally despised by the troops that had no choice but to follow their orders.  And they got away with it all because of one little badge and a universe of unspoken threats.  Intense stuff.

To this end i was recently reading some background regarding the Marines Exemplar and their inclusion within the "Astartes Praeses" a group of Space Marine Chapters charged with becoming Sentinels against the tides of filth pouring out of the Eye of Terror.  So as Imperial Fists hate the Iron Warriors and the Crimson Fists hate Orks, i reasoned the Marines Exemplar would despise the forces of Ruination above all others, no doubt losing many battle brothers in their erratic clashes with the forces of Chaos.

To this end i decided an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor was the most likely to team up with them, but the stock version had very little to bring to my army when placed in direct comparison with Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz.  Now i didn't just want to be another guy fielding Coteaz, so i decided to create a homebrew of my own, he would have Coteaz wargear and bearing, but with a unique slant combining all my own personal visions.

And Geralt Oviron is that man, clearly a member of the Ordo Malleus with his almost superhuman Physique and Incredible skill on the field of battle, but when compared to his brother Inquisitors, it was obvious he had an eye on the details that surrounded a battle, he would have Spy Networks in place and be in constant search of knowledge that would bring him closer to his shadowy goals.

I've always loved the Power Armoured Inquisitor model with mask since i saw it, and knew i would end up painting it one day, so this was a perfect opportunity.  The sense of scale brought to the model by the aloft Thunderhammer and Psyber-Vulture really help reinforce that he is a Special Character, and lets face it, i'm going to be using the Divination Lore for his psychic powers, but i actually think that fits quite well for the background of a shadowy character in pursuit of fragments of knowledge across the galaxy.

And the Psyber-Vulture, well, i was just bored of everyone having eagles really.  I've had that Vulture from an old screaming skull catapult sitting in my bits box for years and i thought it would be a great chance to give the model more character, for me it feeds into the vision that the Inquisitor would be more than happy for everything surrounding him on the battlefield to perish if it brought him closer to his goals.

I'll be adding a suitably esoteric Retinue to this gentleman at some point soon, so keep an eye out!