One of the best things about the new Codex: Imperial Agents is that the slick Assigned Agents ability lets you include all kinds of units from this book in other armies with the Imperium keyword. This opens up a world of possibilities, as Imperial commanders can mix and match their forces like never before with psychic Inquisitors, assassins, and elite infantry aplenty.
1. Cut the Head off the Snake
Inquisitorial forces are rarely cut out for protracted battles, and would much rather eliminate enemy leaders with vicious precision strikes. Assassins are the obvious choice, as they can be easily slotted into an army roster and have specialised skills that make them ideal Character killers – like the Vindicare Assassin’s new ability to ignore the Lone Operative rule.
If Assassins are the scalpel, Grey Knight Terminators are the hammer, and their ability to Deep Strike makes them a terrifying threat to hold in reserve. Strike Force armies can only take one unit at a time, but their sheer power can rip through bodyguards like paper and carve their way to the opposing Warlord while deep within enemy lines – and they can bring an Inquisitor along for the ride.
2. Zoom Across the Battlefield
Many Agents of the Imperium units have Dedicated Transport vehicles that they can bring along without using up your Assigned Agents allowance, giving your army a fast-moving reaction force that can capture distant objectives, block enemy movements, and generally take back momentum from an early rush.
The Corvus Blackstar is the king of speed in Codex: Imperial Agents, pairing a serious arsenal of weaponry with the ability to transport up to 12 Deathwatch models, and as an Aircraft it can zoom right over anything that might get in your way. If you prefer a more terrestrial solution, the Imperial Rhino can carry just about anything you find in the book – Terminators aside – and is cheap enough to use as a convenient distraction once it’s released its cargo.
3. Bulk Out Your Roster
Imperial armies run the entire spectrum, from the endless legions of the Astra Militarum to the hyper-elite Adeptus Custodes and Imperial Knights. When you have only a handful of expensive units on the battlefield, some extra low-cost support ensures your big hitters spend less time messing around with objectives and more time smashing.
For the low, low price of only a single Armiger Warglaive or Helverin, you can draft two units of Inquisitorial Agents into your Knight Lance to keep your backfield objectives company, or even equip a single squad with an Inquisitorial Chimera to keep up with your Knights and screen them from enemy Deep Strikes. If cost is of the essence, a compact Voidsmen-at-Arms squad is an extremely cheap way to add more bodies, and having six models with an OC characteristic of 2 means they punch far above their weight when contesting objectives.
4. Hold the Fort
A few of the more numerically gifted factions under the Imperial umbrella trade their advantage in manpower for durability, and struggle to hold the line against enemies optimised to shred lightly armed and armoured infantry by the dozen. A quick injection of armoured support from the Imperial Agents can help them hold midfield objectives where the fighting is fiercest, especially when bringing power armoured units into factions that otherwise lack them.
Deathwatch Kill Teams and Battle Sisters are both perfectly suited to reaching critical objectives and holding them against enemy assault. Each has plenty of wounds between them backed up by 3+ saves – with the armoured hold of their own Dedicated Transports offering them safety in a pinch – while their own weapons have enough range to ensure they’ll still contribute to the fight should your opponent wisely decide to go around your immovable object.
Remember though – Imperial Agents included in a different army have slightly higher points values than normal, to reflect how useful they are at plugging gaps and maintain balance. Find out more about this here. How will you make use of Imperial Agents in your own army? Make your tactical decisions when their brand new Codex goes up for pre-order this Saturday.