Immolator Spam Sisters

[Frowbakk]

OK, so I've finally left the realm of TheoryHammer and have started to climb Mt. Learning Curve with my Sisters of Battle Immolator Spam.

Last night I played an 1850 point game against Space Wolves and (unfortunately) lost.

My list was:
HQ: Palatine with Book & 5 Celestians with 2 Meltas in a Smoked Immolator
ELITE: 2 units of 5 Celestians with 2 Meltas in Smoked Immolators
TROOP: 2 units of 10 Sisters with Heavy Flamer/Flamer & VSS with Book in Smoked, Extra Armor Rhinos
TROOP: 5 =I= Storm Troopers with 2 Meltas
FAST: 3 units of 5 Dominions with 2 Flamers & 2 Meltas in Smoked Immolators
HEAVY: A Smoked Immolator (transport for the =I= Boys)
HEAVY: 2 Smoked Exorcists


His list was:
Bjorn, the Fell-Handed
2 Rune Priests, one with Lightning & Hurricane, the other with Lightning and Wolf of the Wolf Wolf... Wolf Wolf!
A Long Fang squad with 5 Missile Launchers and Sergeant
A big unit of Terminators with Power Weapons and one Chainfist (one of the Rune Priests went here)
A unit of Grey Hunters with 2 Melta in a Drop Pod (with the other Rune Priest)
two Rhinos with 10 Grey Hunters, one with 2 Melta, the other with 2 Plasma
A Drop Pod with Dreadnought filling.


The game was table quarters and 3 objectives, one in the middle and two skirting his deployment quarter. He won the roll and chose to go second.

I drove forward, popped smoke and was on him Turn 2 when my cold dice decided that aside from taking out 5 of the 6 Long Fangs that any further shots which managed to hit still wouldn't do much. My Exorcists had to deal with a face full of Drop Dread, and my 4th Edition instinct to stick them in a forest for cover (without 50% of the hull being obscured) didn't do me any favors.

He popped the two Celestian Immolators and assaulted with Bjorn on one side of the battlefield, and the Termies on the other. Faith-granted Invulnerable saved tarpitted them for two turns while my advancing Dominions and Sisters failed to crack open the Rhinos of the Grey Hunters, but did kill off all but one of the Drop Podding Hunters.

The rest of the game saw most of the rest of my vehicles taken out, along with Bjorn killing 3 Sisters in close combat and running them down, and the other 10 Sisters trying Hand of the Emperor against a Rhino and getting zero penetrations or significant glancing results.

The game ended with that Rhino of Grey Hunters sitting on one objective, Bjorn sitting on another where a unit of Sisters used to be, and the third blasted clean of Space Wolf presence, but with Pinned =I= Storm Troopers too far away to claim.


Lessons Learned:

Running the Immolators in "Pincers" of a Celestian, Dominion, and an HQ or other Dominion Immolator with a Rhino behind worked fairly well. Due to space issues I couldn't fit the =I=ST Immolator in with the crowd and it ended being too far out of range to play a role until later. I think either Plasma to add shooting range, or keeping them in Reserve might be a better idea. Or perhaps making 3 Immolator "Pincers"; two of Celestian-Dominion-Rhino, and one of Palatine-Celestian-=I=ST's

Originally this was a 2000 point list, but when my opponent wanted to play 1850 I just dropped one unit of Celestians in their Immolator. Looking back, I think I'd have been better served by dropping a squad of Dominions and keeping the Celestians for their Faith and marginally increased survivability in assaults. Plus it would free up 20 points for some Bolter-Meltas for the Rhino Sisters or VSS-es for the Dominions, or Melta-bombs to spread around.


Stupid Things I Did, and Promise Not To Do Again:

- "Area Terrain" does NOT exist in 5th edition, doubly so for Vehicles. TLOS, TLOS, TLOS.
- Keep the Exorcists moving, with only one gun to fire they don't need to be static.
- Go back to Hvy Flamer/Melta for the Rhino Sisters, 'cuz if you need it, but ain't got it...
- Forgetting there was a unit of Dominions inside my last mobile Immolator.
- Forgetting to fire those Dominions into the back of Bjorn who was sitting on an Objective.

I signed up for an 1850 tournament run by the store in the 2nd week of March: TSHFT.

I plan on getting in some more games to break the rust off my Faith-Fu. Any insight would be appreciated.

[DarkLink]

Sounds like you've got a decent strategy worked out. I agree that, with a meltagun in pretty much every squad, you can probably put plasma on the stormtroopers if you wanted. It'd be worth trying out, just so you don't have to waste firing 2-3 units of Sisters into, say, deepstriking Terminators to kill them off.

[Nabterayl]

- "Area Terrain" does NOT exist in 5th edition, doubly so for Vehicles. TLOS, TLOS, TLOS.

Quick correction on this point - area terrain does exist in 5th edition, though the rules for it have changed. You're right that it doesn't exist for vehicles or monstrous creatures, but it does exist for everything else.

Double check page 22 - if a non-vehicle non-monstrous creature unit is touching area terrain, or if a shot targeted at a NVNMC unit goes through area terrain, the target is in cover. TLOS determines how far you can see through area terrain, but a NVNMC model is in cover if it's in area terrain, even if by TLOS you can see the entire model.

[bigrob281]

know your enemy space wolf drop pods only hold 10 models and grey hunters can only have two special weapons if they number ten so he couldn't put a rune preist in the pod with them . its always good to know the competition

[Frowbakk]

Sounds like you've got a decent strategy worked out. I agree that, with a meltagun in pretty much every squad, you can probably put plasma on the stormtroopers if you wanted. It'd be worth trying out, just so you don't have to waste firing 2-3 units of Sisters into, say, deepstriking Terminators to kill them off.

I'll definitely be going back to Heavy Flamer/Melta for the TROOPS Sisters squads, since missing even just that little bit of anti-tank left a BIG gaping hole in my effectiveness.

The Rapid Fire Plasma vs. Terminators and Monstrous Creatures seems to be tipping the scales over Gets Hot risk. I'll give it a try next game.


Quick correction on this point - area terrain does exist in 5th edition, though the rules for it have changed. You're right that it doesn't exist for vehicles or monstrous creatures, but it does exist for everything else.

Double check page 22 - if a non-vehicle non-monstrous creature unit is touching area terrain, or if a shot targeted at a NVNMC unit goes through area terrain, the target is in cover. TLOS determines how far you can see through area terrain, but a NVNMC model is in cover if it's in area terrain, even if by TLOS you can see the entire model.

I'll agree that for Infantry, Area Terrain works fine, it's just that my instinct still falls back to 4th Edition when I got most of my playing i, (before Marriage & Baby came along) and it still trips me up from time to time.

Most of the places I play have terrain with based area for just that reason... If the model is on the base, it gets cover, but if not, then not.


know your enemy space wolf drop pods only hold 10 models and grey hunters can only have two special weapons if they number ten so he couldn't put a rune preist in the pod with them . its always good to know the competition

His list was from my (spotty) memory, but I think it was 9 Grey Hunters plus Rune Priest with only 1 Melta in the unit.

Time to tune up the list and give it a try next week.


EDIT: What I have been thinking of for the Inducted IG is a Platoon Command with Autocannon in a Chimera to hang back with 2 Squads of infantry with Autoncannon (and blob them up), and add two Heavy Weapon Squads of Autocanon on top of that. Potentially 18 S7 shots against my opponent's transports before driving up 12" to open up the TL Heavy Flamers from the Immolators. I'd keep the MultiLaser and Heavy Bolter on the Chimera to add to the volume of fire.