So, I've been talking with one of my friends and he posed the question "Where is Ordo Xenos at?"
Now I will say that certain things definitely need to be redone before they release a new army BUT this is still something that could easily have been addressed a while back.
What would Ordo Xenos have?
Well obviously they would have the consistent elements that have been in the other Inquisition lists (Inquisitors, Assassins, Stormtroopers). But what else?
Lets look at the obvious first: The Deathwatch.
There is already some simple stuff for them. The kill team. But this is supposed to represent just a small attached force, like in the "Warriors of Ultramar" book by Graham McNiell. What we need is an army of Deathwatch Marines.
We must note here that Deathwatch Marines are all on loan from their parent chapter for a period of some decades and then they return. As such, the Deathwatch would not have certain aspects of the normal Space Marine chapter set up.
1- No Dreadnoughts: No chapter would dare loan one, no marine injured would stay DW.
2- Probably no Chapter Master, Chief Librarian/Chief Apothecary/Master of the Forge/Head Chaplain.
3- No Scouts (including bikers and their fancy new Land Speeder), or at least how they are in the new SM codex. Maybe they would have scouts, but in a more veteran role, like Space Wolf scouts are.
Now number 1 & 3 are obvious, but let me explain #2. Marines are loaned only for short periods of time. I doubt any Marine would turn his back on his chapter to stay Deathwatch and be a permanent Captain or Chapter Master, and 10-50 years is too short a period to be the sole voice of the Chapter. Instead I would imagine that the Deathwatch would be lead by an ever changing council. Warriors of particular character would be made Captains. They then would lead together, an Oligarchy rather than a Dictatorship. Same would go for other specialist Space Marine roles, council of Librarians, Techmarines, Apothecaries, and Chaplains. Maybe all would meet in some large forum to discuss things. I think this would be an interesting Fluff point of the Deathwatch, and could be represented by a really awesome HQ choice or Apocalypse formation (Chapter Council).
So, anything else the Chapter WOULDN'T have? We can get into what they will have next time.
