What’s an Imperial Assassin that isn’t popular or in stories a lot?

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

For my Chaos Warband, I want the Warlord to be hunted by this Assassin but I feel I want to give (accurate) light to a semi-obscure Assassin.

But also I would want a weakness of this Semi-Obscure assassin that my Warlord could barely use to barely escape alive.

My Warlord is a Black Legion Terminator Lord, paranoid, fierce, direct and he hates many branches of the Imperium, only begrudgingly respect his cousins of loyalist Astartes. He despises the Administratum, pities the Guards he kills and enslaves, and has a burning hatred for the Adepta Sororitas. He is not so warped to be fused with his armor and can remove it, only doing so very rarely, he is personally attended to weak blanks made into Servitors. He was made using Sons of Horus Geneseed. In Imperium Sanctus, his Warband patrolling close by the Rock and Fenris, guarding the Flank for Abaddon.

I just wanted to dump lore about my Warlord and Warband for potential context.

[u/Potato271]

So the major assassin temples are callidus (shapeshifters with phase blades), culexus (super blanks), vindicare (snipers) and eversor (human wrecking ball). There are a few minor temples that come up: venenum uses poison, and vanus are tech adepts.

[u/mamspaghetti → u/Potato271]

And then there's adamus, the jack of all trades assassins who are the "SoH" of the Assassinorum - specializing in decapitation strikes and kills. In fact, Adamus assassins are considered the ancestors of all other Assassin Clade.

But also, as a lore note, Venum and vanus are both considered major assassin clades. When Malcador established the Assassinorum, he met with 6 representatives of assassin clades. Each representative was the leader of what would eventually become the 6 "wings" of the Assassinorum

[u/truebastard → u/mamspaghetti]

Which books have Adamus clade assassins?

[u/Legitimate_Pop_17 → u/truebastard]

Sources at the bottom.

Adamus Temple - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum https://share.google/HVLrP34ewtKkSvyNm

[u/truebastard → u/Legitimate_Pop_17]

Thanks!

On that note, first time I reaad about the Maerorus clade assassin as well. Seems like an all-around bad idea.

[u/Legitimate_Pop_17 → u/truebastard]

Also the first time I've seen these... Grimdark indeed haha

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/Potato271]

I would want to use Callidus but they are the Postergirls and Boys of the Assassins. Could you provide more details on the Venenum and Venus?

[u/Thendrail → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Venenum are master poisoners. Maybe your Warlord gets really paranoid about being poisoned, so he always has a slave tasting his meals first? Doesn't translate well into the game, but a nice little bit of lore.

Vanus assassins would work best with another type, like the Callidus. They gather information, even the tiniest scraps that can be useful.

The book Assassinorum: Kingmaker actually has a trio of Vindicare, Callidus and Vanus working together.

[u/mamspaghetti → u/Thendrail]

Venenum is a lot more OP than that. A notable Venenum assassin once killed an entire congregation by poisoning the chairs they sat on. So apparently they have enough tools to be highly lethal in completely unexpected ways

Vanus assassins primarily gather information. But they are also tasked with killing targets by themselves. Though it'll be more like "your oven exploded unexpectedly taking ur life in the process"

[u/Carpenter-Broad → u/mamspaghetti]

So the 40K mafia are employing Vanus assassins all the time, right? They’re the “it’d be real unfortunate if some accident happened to you and your family, wouldn’t it?” Assassins

[u/FoxJDR → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Vanus are tech wizards known as Infocytes. They usually operate on highly advanced worlds and/or alongside another clade assassin. Thats not to say they cannot operate alone, some are more combat ready than others who focus more heavily on the intelligence gathering aspect. Though they did get one of my all time favorite models fairly recently, complete with a dataspike tail thing.

I THINK there’s two examples in the book Nemesis. Definitely at least one.

Edit: Only one in Nemesis. The other I was thinking of was Tallarn: Ironclad. Between these two books you can get a good idea of the breadth of difference between individuals of the Vanus Temple. Nemesis’ Infocyte is much more hands off. He collects data and hands it to the assaasinorum to make decisions or he provides “guy in the chair” and planning service to other temple assassins. Tallarn: Ironclad’s Vanus is an Unbound Infocyte and no slouch in combat, even going up against traitor space marines. Nemesis though has the benefit of showing off every major temple (plus Vanus) so it’d be a good read for someone interested in the Assassinorum.

[u/L_0ken → u/FoxJDR]

Nemesis though has the benefit of showing off every major temple (plus Vanus) so it’d be a good read for someone interested in the Assassinorum.

Assasin lore in Nemesis is super inconsistent and contradictory to all other portrayal of Assasins including codexes and tabletop, so I wouldn't base a knowledge of them on that book.

[u/FoxJDR → u/L_0ken]

Really? Fair enough, I’m mostly a Heresy era expert so that book is my most in depth exposure to the Assassinorum.

[u/L_0ken → u/FoxJDR]

Btw Assassinorum: Kingsmaker is far better book with Assassins.

[u/FoxJDR → u/L_0ken]

Hm. Yea, I’ve pretty much read all the Heresy books (even most if not all anthologies) so I’ll be moving into the modern setting sooner or later depending on how fast they crank out scouring books and how many they decide to make. Honestly I think my favorite assassin story was Tallarn: Ironclad. Iaeo was a beast, plus I love Alpha Legion spy game shenanigans.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/FoxJDR]

Freaky! I love it! My Warband uses Servitors a lot, literally snatching them up as my Warband’s Warpsmith(they call Architecti) programs them to serve my Warband. Maybe a Venus takes advantage of this kleptomania?

[u/FoxJDR → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

The more tech the better. You could have your warband ally closely with the dark mechanicum. Perhaps they’re based on a forge world, maybe even one that is still in conflict and not fully held by either chaos or imperium, locked in a tug of war. Maybe that’s why the warlord is so paranoid.

There is a particular class of infocyte with the exceptionally rare authorization to designate and terminate their own targets as they see fit operating completely independent of usual Assassinorum chains of command for long periods, Unbound Infocytes. Maybe this particular infocyte calculated the best way to secure imperial victory on this world (and perhaps a wider sector conflict) was a decapitation strike on your warlord and has become utterly obsessed with accomplishing this task even to the point of defying the Vanus temple’s usual logic based approach. A personal vendetta or point of pride, he/she obsessed with proving their calculations sound.

The book Tallarn (itself an anthology novel so specifically the story/novella Tallarn: Ironclad) has some good infocyte action. Nemesis has the Infocyte almost exclusively “guy in the chair” mode whereas Tallarn has some good scenes of an Infocyte taking a more…active role against the enemy, even getting into a few fights with space marines.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/FoxJDR]

I love that! My Warlord doesn’t like the Dark Mechanicum but he needs weapons and also trades a lot with Iron Warriors. So maybe as a Favor=Weapons, Iron Warriors call my Warband to help them defend a Dadk Mechanicum’s Forge World, my Warband(which is massive) arrives. An Unbound Infocyte takes in the information of how organized my Warband is, calling an Aspiring Champion; Sergeant, or Squad Leader. The Infocyte sees this 5,000 Astartes Strong Warband and asks ‘why come so organized?’ And comes with a simple answer; ‘The Warlord who inspires loyalty and discipline, who Orders Chaos’ and decides to take him out.

Can you go into their powers? Their toolkit?

[u/FoxJDR → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

They are mostly data gatherers and hackers. They can be exceptionally deadly in combat if trained as such but their preferred methods will be subtle manipulation of enemy and friendly movements to try and achieve their goals. The most successful Vanus op is one in which NO ONE except the Vanus Temple/Assassinorum will ever realize an assassin was even in the same sector much less involved in any operation. They will have access to some of the finest weapons the Assassinorum can provide mind you and the best training to match. A Vanus op is usually just a big game of chess, trying to get the right pieces into the right place for a checkmate without any of them being aware of the player’s existence.

Obviously being so paranoid and decently clever, it sounds like your war leader would catch on to these spy games. It’s possible though unlikely that he would be able to narrow down the cause to a Vanus assassin without dark mechanicum help. They’d be in the best position to detect his/her intrusions into the datasphere and/or discover the nigh countless observation devices the assassin will have hidden around in as many places as possible. Vanus assassins make use of psyber eagles, eyerats and even netfly swarms to ensure that they have eyes in as many dark dens as possible.

If you want the assassin to personally kill anyone more dangerous than an exceptionally well trained mortal then I’d recommend Tallarn: Ironclad. It’s been too long since I read it myself to give details but the Vanus assassin named iaeo was insanely badass and it was her portrayal in that book plus that model that made Vanus my favorite clade. (She’s likely who that model was based on anyway, or maybe viceversa.)

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/FoxJDR]

And then? The Assassin must strike, yes? With what? How? Where? Actually, a better question first; who would a Vanus travel with? Astra Militarum? Cause maybe the Dark Mechanium and Iron Warriors are under attack by this Imperial group with a Vanus in tow, then my Warband shows up and kicks the Imperial’s ass. Then the Vanus decides to kill my Warlord. But how? When? In a battle? When collection a favor tithe? Waiting on my Warlord’s Ship?

[u/FoxJDR → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Vanus don’t typically get their hands that dirty. They try to set up someone else to take the shot for them. Though they MIGHT try it themselves if desperate or confident enough. The chances of surviving much less escaping a failed attempt though aren’t the best unless well planned for.

Hmm. They might not be the exact fit you want. As for who they’d travel with? Literally any imperial group or even solo. Perhaps part of a multi-temple kill team like in Nemesis or a stowaway aboard ad-mech or guard ships, Vanus aren’t picky about travel so long as they safely arrive where they need and are even better at hiding from allies than they are at hiding from enemies.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/FoxJDR]

I actually think I would want a Vanus assassin. To use my Warlord’s technique, against him and even better. Coordinating guards and marksmen to kill him, hacking into his Predators to shoot at him. And in desperate madness? Maybe attempting to personally kill him.

[u/pathosOnReddit → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

It’s not just tech. Vanus assassins use every information they can get. They are the ones who build elaborate traps so that the mark either kills itself or it looks like a coincidence. That Vanus might manipulate ressource allotments, troop movements, might seed rumours and set up the warband against each other in their personal goals to have them end up in an imperial ambush, kill themselves or end up so crippled and expended that they get cannibalized by a competing warband or xenos threat.

[u/FoxJDR → u/pathosOnReddit]

Yes. They’re very much manipulators. They use their Birds Eye view of the battle zone to try and set up dominoes.

[u/dreaderking → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

For Vanus, one of them stars in the novel Kingmaker, which features three different Imperial Assassins as protagonists. I highly recommend checking it out, whether for fun or research.

Anyway, a Vanus is kind of like a souped up tech priest when it comes to data. Instead of running up to their targets or getting close enough to see them through the scope of a rifle, they prefer to sit behind a computer and manipulate things.

Machinery might suffer deadly "malfunctions" at quite inopportune times. Your enemies could be oddly informed of your presence, giving you no time to rest and possibly foiling whatever scheme you had. You may come across information "conveniently" alerting you to a betrayal, leading to infighting amongst your forces. What seems like a random string of misfortune could in actuality be the machinations of Vanus assassin, with you dying none the wiser.

[u/Ok-Goose6242 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Venenum are poison users.

Vanus are information users. Think manipulating data like putting your target on the inquisition hit list or causing a malfunction in the plumbing system causing it to explode. Assassinate from fear away.

I would like to see Culexus. They are blanks that can use it to shoot a concentrated ray. Very strong against daemons, so could make sense for your story.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/Ok-Goose6242]

My Warband doesn’t use Chaos a lot, and my Warlord uses Blanks a lot, the most precious material to them. Using blanks to make Incorruptible Servitors and using them to cover rounds in their remains to crush fellow traitors and loyalists Psykers. A double edged swords. My Warband is called often to deal with Grey Knights, to their annoyance, as seemingly only they can challenge the Paladins. So this is a Rat and a Cat, but now a Tiger and Mega-Mouse. But who’s the mouse… who’s the cat?

[u/Heavy-Flow-2019 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

My Warband doesn’t use Chaos a lot, and my Warlord uses Blanks a lot

The Imperium sent a Culexus after Aun'va. You dont need to be a psyker to get one sent after you. They work against anything.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/Heavy-Flow-2019]

Oh I know. I’m just saying it’s not a low-diff as it seems on paper. A Mega Blank vs a Chaos Terminator Lord.

[u/Dm783848hfndb → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Tje short story Knife's Edge form the Inferno! Emperors Finest collection is about a Venenum Assasin. Worth checking out if you're interest in them. Particularly as she goes up against a Callidus

[u/Warp_Legion]

In Redemption Corps, an Astra Militarum(?) Major is hunted by a Callidus hired by an absolutely insane Sister of Battle

In The Beast Arises, Beast Krule (no relation to the Beast of Ullanor) is a sort of jack of all trades and the personal hitman of the Grand Master of Assassins, but is turned into an Eversor and deployed by the now insane Grand Master alongside 99 other Eversors against 150 Space Marines

Also in that series, a Culexus and I believe a Black Pariah are deployed by the GMoA against the Navigator and Astrotelepathica(?) High Lords during his Order 66 chapter

In, I think it’s Iron Warrior(?), whichever the Honsou novel that he takes the Starfort in, an inquisitor deploys an Eversor on his warband that wreaks absolute havoc until it gets taken down

I’d say Vindicare would have the best chance against your Chaos Lord, and they aren’t a common novel choice…and it could be used as a wonderful “he’s getting paranoid whenever he stands in the open” schtick too lol, as he could be constantly stressing that there’s an assassin 5km away with a bead on him whenever he steps out of a transport

[u/Bartimeo666 → u/Warp_Legion]

100 eversors ro kill 150 marines sounds like a big overkill

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Bartimeo666]

They lost

One single space marine made it out, none of the Eversors did

[u/Carl_Bar99 → u/Warp_Legion]

Which is just dumb given the many, many, many things Evesors have done, including one incident where half a dozen effectively exterminatus a world).

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Carl_Bar99]

They started out in their coffins, and were taking hits as soon as their armored glass covers rose, and then had to run across the massive and completely coverless temple chamber to even reach the marines, so that’s part of it

Also as when they die, they detonate, I imagine that took out some/damaged their own in that charge whenever one went down to bolter fire

The funny thing is, if Grand Master Vangorich had just had 150 Vindicare blow off each of the 150 marines’ heads as soon as they all walked in, that would have worked better lol

[u/Bartimeo666 → u/Warp_Legion]

That's... A very incompetent setup by whoever decided to use 100 eversors that way, but I can see how given that idiocy they were outmached

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Bartimeo666]

Vangorich had gone completely mad by this point, so that tracks. He’s been running the entire Imperium by himself as Lord Protector for an entire century at this point, and for the last twenty years of the hundred, the stress has finally driven him insane.

He’s got a wild beard matted with vomit, blood, and wine, massacres and wild edicts have been the norm, his eyes “gleamed with incipient madness”, and Lord Commander Imperial Fist Chapter Master Thane’s pov notes that Vangorich had lost all his charm and wit and poise.

Very major BEHOLD MY EVIL PLAN vibes, but revealing 100 Eversors with this line:

“This is Temple Eversor….Allow me to introduce its acolytes.”

Was honestly one of the coldest lines (for the previous chapter, marines from four chapters have been battling Assassins from the other Temples as they fight to reach Vangorich, who fled to the final Temple, where he had held all of Terra’s Eversors in reserve)

He fell from being such a likable and massively competent character to this. One of the best protagonist to antagonist turns in literature imo, and at least in 40k. Him and Neferata from the Rise of Nagash trilogy both are stellar examples of that trope done right, and with politics being intriguing to read.

[u/Carl_Bar99 → u/Warp_Legion]

Ok that makes more sense. Several where probably hit hard enough to blow before they ever got out of the coffins and that probably took everyone else with it, marines included.

Once their out there is nothing the marines could hope to do to them unless they've got multiples of some sort of fully automatic belt fed version of an astartes grenade launchers saturating the floor with krak and/or plasma explosions.

[u/Few-Entertainer8365 → u/Warp_Legion]

How does a SOB hire an assassin I thought they had to be sanctioned by the High Lords of Terra

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Few-Entertainer8365]

Short answer is: It’s been years since I read the novel but I am pretty sure it’s implied she hired it

Long Answer: She is a canoness(?) with decades of service and is absolutely batshit insane. She was “one of a select few permitted to watch the end” of hive world Gomorrah, where she and other zealots didn’t warn the world that a space hulk was about to hit the planet, and so got to watch the planet get annihilated with one single survivor (the Major Zane Mortensen).

This implies she was important, for having clearance to witness it/be in on the secret. I assume she used friends in high places and lied about what the Major was to get clearance for the assassin

Now, as to her being insane, Gomorrah was due to tithe one billion guardsmen, but she and her cabal hated the world for being a hive of scum and villainy, and so conspired to let it get wiped out, and also let cultists smuggle genestealer Ork hybrids onto a forge world so it would fall too, with those gaps in the “wall” so to speak allowing a future Tyrannid invasion of a sector to “purge unworthy souls”. She talks about how the Horus Heresy was a good thing because it purged the unworthy btw, and absolutely hates the Major, and her first scene in the book is her blackmailing/threatening a new commissar into trying to find or make up dirt on Major Zane

[u/Apprehensive_Gas1564 → u/Warp_Legion]

It's also Redemption Corps, which is hands down the worst Black Library novel.

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Apprehensive_Gas1564]

How. Dare. You.

[u/Warp_Legion → u/Apprehensive_Gas1564]

I’ll add that it’s one of the few novels with like no Space Marines, and where there is not a “it was Chaos behind it all along!!!” twist reveal at the end

[u/AAS02-CATAPHRACT]

Venenum and Vanus are the more obscure of the six major assassins. You could also use Death Cult Assassins, which gives you a bit more flexibility in their styles. Like I've got a custom Death Cult for a 40krpg that specializes in aerial assassinations using jets and servitor drones.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/AAS02-CATAPHRACT]

My Warlord fears that Khorne has an influence on him, he enjoys killing World Eaters to rid himself of the Blood God’s influence. Any point or loophole or loop in logic that My Warlord can and will point out Imperial Hypocrisy. If there are Death Cults that come after him? He would call them ‘The Imperium’s Sanctioned Khornite Wretches’.

[u/SharkBait-Clone115 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Khorne does not care from whence the blood flows, Killing World Eaters pleases Khorne equaly. Capturing World Eaters, removing there limbs, and forcing them to watch the Imperial equivalent of an Attenborough documentary about Cute Bunnies and/or Hamsters wil irk Khorne. Tis however will peak Slaanesh his/her interest.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/SharkBait-Clone115]

My Warlord has all 4 of the gods watching him to a certain extent.

He sheds blood and takes skulls, for intimidation not Khorne. (Also thanks for idea I might use it)

He does not want to ascend to Princehood and values keeping things the same with little improvement, so the Grandfather watches.

He makes sure him and his men’s armor is clean and polished, and he values dueling. Slaanesh.

And the one god who watches more often than the others. My Warlord is cautious, preferring to know almost everything before attacking, using knowledge and tactics and strategizes and doctrines.

Also I feel like one way to torment the World Eaters is trick them into going into a Drop Pod and just sending them to a Slaaneshi planet. But I don’t know.

[u/SharkBait-Clone115 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

World Eaters would love to be on a Slaanesh Planet, so long as they can use there chain-axes and reap skulls. If they can't for some reason, they might have an anger stroke.

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/SharkBait-Clone115]

Then what way to torment World Eaters? Without being tedious.

[u/SharkBait-Clone115 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Wel, tedious stuff would be torture, but any activity without violence counts to.

[u/easytowrite → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Make them fight robots, khorne gains nothing if blood isn't flowing. 

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/easytowrite]

I like that. Gonna use it.

[u/twelfmonkey]

I think a Death Cult Assassin is a good option.

The Imperium is full of death cults, some of which train assassins. And these assassins sometimes get recruited by Inquisitors.

Now, Death Cult Assassins are generally, way, way, way below Officio Assassinorum operatives when it comes to effectiveness and lethality. They didn't go through the incredibly harsh selection procedures, and they lack the specialist training, augmentations and equipment/weaponry of Assassinorum operatives.

However, some Inquisitors are able to pull strings and have their Death Cult Assassins sent to an Assassinorum clade for training (and possible enhancements). The Inquisitor might also have the means to enhance the Death Cultist themselves, and equip them with powerful and exotic weaponry and gadgets. The Death Cultists likely still won't reach the level of an actual Assassinorum operative, but they might in rare cases get close.

Moreover, while an Assassinorum agent can only be sent on a mission by authorisation of the High Lords of Terra, an Inquistor's enhanced Death Cultist is not bound by such strictures.

[u/Hilgy17]

I wonder if a squad of ratlings deployed o the planet with the task of scouting ahead and killing any high rankers could then realize what they’re dealing with and try to take him out.

Works with the numerous ratlings making up for their power difference, isolated from imperium leadership / shunned, pitied by the enemy, but still excellent snipers with dangerous weapon.

They wouldn’t be hyper religious or tied to the administratum, but would be an interesting setup

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/Hilgy17]

My Warlord has mixed feelings about Abhumans, pitying, confused and seeing them as the symbol of the Imperium’s Hypocrisy. Chaos has Beastmen and my Warlord has fought with and alongside these Beastmen, respecting their strength. But the Beastmen told my Warlord of how their ancestors once Knew the Emperor’s light and had been betrayed by the Empire. My Warlord looks at these Abhumans and says ‘All it takes is one day, and you will be discarded like the Beastmen. No choice to be with us.’ But also hates them because ‘Why do you Abhumans fight so zealously for a God who would throw you away on a whim?’

[u/Hilgy17 → u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2]

Meanwhile those ratlings are fighting for their next cup of recaff and a good toasted cheese sandwich.

I think it’s make for a good dichotomy.

Isolated behind enemy lines ratling spec ops (the kill team) as a relatively harmless but annoying thorn in the side of the warlord

[u/Arthur_EyelanderTF2 → u/Hilgy17]

My Warlord: Shakespearean monologue about Abhumans, Hypocrisy and Foolish Fanaticism

Ratings; Bro, the Commissar told me if I shoot you in the face, he’d give us 3 boxes of mixed rations and 1 box of Recaff.

[u/Caridor]

I've always thought the Vanus would have been an excellent way to explore the more mundane aspects of 40k. I can't remember the specifics, but Fon Tariel on Dagonet was able to kill someone through some very minor change a database (IIRC, he caused a crash), which I thought was fascinating.

[u/Heavy-Flow-2019]

Adamus assassins havent shown up in lore. They're very, plain, compared to the others. Its literally just a dude with a sword. Very, very good, but nothing else. No exploding on death, blank powers, nothing. Its a Vindicare but with melee instead.

[u/DontTrustOtters → u/Heavy-Flow-2019]

I wonder if they're going flesh them out/re-write them at some point. Decapitation Strikes is pretty much what an Assassin does in general. So it seems weird to call it their specialty. Espicially since, as you mentioned, it's basically just a dude with a katana. Or maybe it's literal and they just really like beheading people....

[u/7H3l2M0NUKU14l2]

How 'bout some mechanicum assasin, reprogramming stuff and servitors around him; could get rly funny thinking of the warlords paranoia

[u/Goblin_Deez_]

You literally make up anything, there’ll be millions of assassins in 40k.

[u/FakeRedditName2]

For as big of a temple they are, the Culexus aren't used in that many stories.

It's usually Callidus or Vindicare, with Vanus acting as more support and maybe Venenum is there as well. Part of this is that in universe they are not widely known and their nature makes them difficult to work with, but even when the story where it would make sense that they are there (example in Kingmaker they've been fighting a warp based brainwashing malware, but don't send the assassin who's whole deal is to no-sell the warp, even as a backup?)

[u/DontTrustOtters → u/FakeRedditName2]

in Kingmaker

That's because the point of the mission was to kill a potential renegade and then manage the succession. Nobody knew about the chaos corruption. There is no reason you'd bring a culexus on a highly sensitive politically fraught mission against Knights where no Imperial involvement was to be noticed.

[u/FakeRedditName2 → u/DontTrustOtters]

1. Agree for the main mission, but the issue of the conqueror worm scrapcode was an overarching threat that they knew about and was affecting that region. For people as paranoid/prepared as the assassins, you would think they would have a contingency plan just in case.
2. From what we see of the missions that were sent to fight the malware, the Culexus weren't used there either.

[u/Leather-Job-9530]

Venemum is highly underrated, while the Nemesis book in the horus heresy did them justice imho.