Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-25618639-20141119150740/@comment-6078851-20141209160417

i wasn't forgetting that the inquisition, as you say, are the real power of the empire but simply refering to the fact that the office of the high lords and ecclesiarchy are pretty much the 'mouthpieces' of the inquisition: the majority of the empire's citizens will be unaware of the inquisition's almost total control as their lives are dictated by the word of the high lords and the ecclesiarchy - both of whom do the inquisition's bidding. but the ecclesiarchy will certainly have their own things to say about any religious reformation - there's is literally no argueing against those who 'know' that they are right with god, and the high lords and inquisition also fall subject to this belief.

i'm not sure about an inquisition vs primarch conflict being tight or that multiple primarchs would take the inquisitions forces. maybe if it was against the inquisition alone but with few exceptions the inquisition, directly or through the high lords and ecclesiarchy indirectly, control the vast majority of the imperium's military forces. and in conjunction with the religous aspect such forces would fight to the death in defense of the empire they know and the religion they believe in. with such numbers at their disposal and control over propoganda it would be very dificult to sway anyone to the primarchs' cause without direct contact with a primarch. true, there are multiple factions amongst the inquisition and some would side with the primarchs and i think those factions would be the greatest asset to the primarchs as they could infiltrate and spread propoganda for the primarchs in order to balance out the forces. even under the most optimal circumstances though i think they would still end up being badly outnumbered. the mechanicum could possibly be instrumental in victory for either side but who they would side with is very questionable.

while the majority of astartes would side with the primarch/s, what about the grey knights? they are astartes, but they are also bed-buddies with the inquisition.