Sisters of Battle: How to Play, and What to Look Out for

[thecactusman17]

Greetings all! after downing roughly 3 ounces of 92 proof rum and having nothing better to do with my time this fine Wednesday evening, I'm here to offer a rundown for players who may soon be enticed into trying out the newly free (as in, no money besides internet and printing fees) Witch Hunters codex on its own.

This multi--part rundown will focus on the unique aspects of the Witch Hunters codex. Why? Because for the non-unique parts, there are typically better options elsewhere. But when C:WH offers options this amazing, it's hard to remember sometimes. Specifically, though, we'll be dealing with the Sisters of Battle and the Imperial Ecclesiarchy.

Some things about collecting a Sisters of Battle army:

While almost none of the SoB units have gone up in price, almost all of the major box sets have been pulled from shelves and a few are even pulled from the website. Thankfully, this is a case where being an all-metal army has an advantage, because you won't be losing out on all that much if you choose to buy used instead. Also, Sisters vehicle units almost universally come without instructions, which can be a major issue with some of the complex metal kits like the Penitent Engine or the Exorcist.

Still interested? Let's continue!

Sisters of Battle have several units within the Witch Hunters codex, and the Ecclesiarchy have a few more. we're going to separate these into two categories: Units with, and units without, the Adeptus Sororitas special rule. AS allows for a couple of awesome things. First is the Shield of Faith. With this fine ability, every unit has a 1 in 3 chance to completely nullify a psychic power that would affect them directly otherwise, even if they weren't the target. If, for example, Njal targets your Inducted Guard with Jaws of the World wolf and the power also hits a unit of sisters, then the unit gets to roll a die and on a 5+ the power shuts down completely. Mix this in with a Psychic hood and you have a re-rollable anti--psychic power. Groovy!

Of course, there's the far more famous rule: Faith. Faith is a stat that is added to and subtracted from over the course of the game. Each faithful unit or character adds faith points to the army total. These faith can be used by any faithful character/unit over the course of the game, multiple times. sometimes, units need an upgrade in order to use faith points. One non-faithful character, and only the one, can be joined to a faithful squad without turning off their faithful status. That would be the Ministorum priest. Otherwise, non-faithful (such as Inquisitors) ICs whi join faithful squads will prevent them from using faith.

All Adeptus Sororitas Units are either faithful or can be made faithful by a veteran purchase.

The basics: Solid options for Sisters.

There are four HQ, 1 troop, 3 elite, 2 fast attack, and 4 heavy support options for the Sisters/Ecclesiarchy.

HQ:
Palatine--AS
Canoness--AS
Priest
Celestine--AS

Elite:
Celestians--AS
Repentia
Arco-Flagellants+

Troops:
Battle Sisters--AS

Fast Attack
Dominions--AS
Seraphim--AS

Heavy
Retributors--AS
Immolators*
Exorcists
Penitant Engines+

units with "+" require a priest in the army, units with "*" require any HQ with the Adeptus sororitas rule

Next time! Hot sister vs. sister action! Set phasers to sexy!

[thecactusman17]

Troops in a Sisters force:

Well, there's not that much variety here is there?

Or maybe there is! Sisters are a mid to large unit (10-20 models) which can take transports and carry some weapons that slot very nicely into the 5th edition metagame, no matter what your local competition looks like. They start looking pretty pricey though, with a decent squad settling in at a little over 200 points whether footslogging or riding.

The benefits of a sisters squad compared to say Imperial guard are pretty obvious. Stronger weapon, significantly better armor, great leadership, and access to some really nice weaponry. This is counterbalanced by almost doubling the cost, and that's before you add in some of the really nice extras. Things like faithful characters, special weapons, a transport (or more Sisters), and some of the best damn wargear in the game.

There are three particularly good special weapons available to the standard squad. The flamer is a decent template weapon at a slightly more expensive cost than other modern codexes. Meltaguns are slotted in at the current standard. And then comes Big Poppa: the man-portable Heavy Flamer, at just a point over the model that's wielding it. Combined with lots of bolter-fire, it's very possible for one or two squads of Sisters to outright remove a tactical squad from the table in a single round of shooting with a judicious use of faith.

Battle sisters aren't fiathful by default. But for a rather odd points sink, they gain the ability. In all but the smallest games, this is definitely the way to play. Adding a veteran generates one faith for the army and also allows access to a hefty wargear list. Some of these options make your squad stubborn, some are nifty weapons options. I find that tossing in a meltagun and a heavy flamer into each squad, then giving the Veteran a Book makes me a viable threat both combat game phases. Tossing in another flamer by means of a combi-weapon is also an excellent for its points ability that can help diminish a hefty mob of orks or that unit that relies on a 2+ cover save to survive (Marbo and Pathfinders, I'm looking at you!). There's also the final benefit that short of an invulnerable save, nothing will survive a wound from an AP1 flamer.

Did I mention Divine Guidance in the last post? It's a faith ability--one of the big three---that makes wounds (as in not against vehicles) AP1 on the roll of a 6. Against Orks this might not be a big deal. But against 3+ armor saves you can do immense damage quickly with only middling rolls.

What are other decent options for Sisters? Well, there's always the 20-woman brick. Though not as stunning as the 50--man brick for its cost (almost as much as a Land Raider! Ouch!) there's the undeniable fact that 18-40 bolter shots is a LOT of S4 AP5 to potentially turn into AP1. And of course, even at I3 you're looking at 41+ attacks on the charge. I run my Veterans with regular bolters or combi-bolters. It makes my shooting phases more devestating and frankly won't do much to harm my close combat.

Speaking of Close Combat, divine guidance also works in the assault phase. There's one last decent but more siuational CC ability for a large squad of sisters. That's calledHand of the Emperor. In exchange for dropping your already low Initiative to 1, you nearly double your strength. This means that a charging squad of sisters can wound even Wraithlords in CC. And there's nothing preventing you from using Both Hammer and Guidance simultaneously. With over 11 models, you're almost guaranteed to get this ability off. And even better, Hammer is one of the only abilities in the faith list that allows you to roll for the ability when you want to, as opposed to forecasting your opponents decisions or how many models you'll have by the time you really can attack. So run into that blob of Guard in cover if you really think you can survive it, and drop your initiative to 1. Watch them squirm as justice is dispatched on over a dozen wounds at 2+.

Rhinos are simultaneously the highlight and downside of this unit. A rhino lets you move the unit's considerable firepower into position quickly. However, that's an expensive rhino. We're talking third and fourth edition rhinos here, almost half again as costly as the newer rides and with none of the trimmings. Not even smoke launchers. Which are almost mandatory. As with all transports in C:WH, your options are broad, but there are only a few really good ones and a few that could be fun to try. Smoke is a must-have with so many anti-vehicle weapons hitting table these days. Dozer Blades can be a boon if you are used to playing with 25% terrain that is largely passable. Extra armor, I find, tends not to be that useful but is 1/3rd the cost of newer book versions. Typically, it isn't that common to roll a 2 on the damage chart with a penetrating hit and most glances will skip right over it as they move down to 1. Hunter Killer missiles are fairly expensive. You have two firing points so the viabilty of multiple storm bolters is questionable by comparison. Laud hailers might be useful, reducing the Ld of tank shocked units, but it is of questionable ability. Most other options aren't that impressive either.

See you soon when we discuss one unit with three entries! That's right, it's the Celestian/Dominion/retributor post!

[Melissia]

A few corrections:

-- Sisters cost more than twice as much as Guardsmen. You pay less for twenty guardsmen than ten sisters.

-- Hammer of hte Witches is an Inquisitor psychic power. You are referring to Hand of the Emperor.

-- You forgot searchlights, which can be quite useful if your group does a lot of night fighting or uses the Dawn of War rules.

-- While arguably, Battle Sisters, Dominions, and Retributors are roughly the same entry with different equipment, Celestians are quite different in their statline and abilities.

-- "Make your unit stubborn" is inaccurate. The Book of St. Lucius is better than the Stubborn USR.

[thecactusman17]

All technically true. I'm going to change the hammer bit to the correct text (codex out in my car) and the rest is meh. I've yet to see searchlights work well enough to outweigh frag grenades or just flat-out taking the shot. Even on an I3 model. Even free, for that matter.

--edit--
Also:


3 ounces of 92 proof rum

I plead the fifth.

No, wait: I plead A fifth.

[Melissia]

Searchlights are useful in spotting for Exorcists. Have a unit with searchlight use the searchlight, and then the Exorcist can fire at it without testing for night fighting distance. You don't want to get into a situation where your Exorcists can't fire, if you can prevent it.

[Commissar Lewis]

Man, I could really use some 92 proof rum right now. Got some problems that need forgetting...

Nonetheless this topic reminds me I should break out my 20 Sisters sometime soon.

[Hellwolve]

...the newly free (as in, no money besides internet and printing fees) Witch Hunters codex on its own...

I'm mostly interested in this, I must admit...Where's that new download, if I may be so curious?

[thecactusman17]

Blackshirts have told me that they have been told by higher ups to expect at the end of the month or early next month. Normally i woudn't put much faith in a Blackshirt's "sources" but it actually makes a ton of sense that GW would want to prevent pirated/fake codexes to flood their stores just in time for 'Ard Boyz semi-finals.

Going to hold off until I have weekend work cleared out of the way before I start on part two here.

[Hellwolve]

Well, if you'd be so kind as to keep us posted? Not that I won't look out for it myself, but more than one, logically, see more than one ;)

[DarkLink]

On the topic of Sisters tactics, I love Seraphim. I finally got a fully WYSIWYG squad for 'ard Boyz put together, and they're a blast.

Advance them up behind Sisters Rhinos, and when you get a chance pounce forward and flamer something. I don't use them with meltas because I have plenty of other meltas elsewhere in my army. A unit of Seraphim with two Hand Flamers and a Brazier of Holy Fire can put out a lot of firepower, and with pseudo-rending it can put some serious hurt on just about anything that isn't tougher than a Plague Marine, which isn't much.

I've used an 8-sister unit in all my games, as that maximizes the chances of getting off any particular Act of Faith. So long as the vet is alive, you get to roll three dice and discard one, and with a squad size of 8 you're odds of success with any power is very good.

Ultimately, it's their Hit and Run that makes them so awesome, though. They're fantastic for annoying the enemy all the time. And thanks to Spirit of the Martyr, you can charge them into just about anything (except maybe a squad of orks, or an IG blob squad) and come out alive.

When I play them, I basically move them up and find a target for them to triple-flame early on in the game. They typically do a ton of damage to it, if not kill it. Once that's done, they switch from a killing unit to a contesting and speedbump unit. Daemon Prince getting too close? Assault him, and tie him up for a turn or two, then Hit and Run away. It can get very Faith consuming, but it does a great job of messing with your opponent's plans.

Also thanks to Hit and Run, Seraphim can move crazy fast. You can move 12", assault 6, Hit and Run 3d6, and then repeat. That's an average of around 29" per turn.

Really need to contest that far off objective? Need to get someone next to that unit you managed to make fall back and chase them off the board? Need to tie up a unit that's moving up to contest or clear out your objective? That's what Seraphim are for.

Note that it's very likely that your Seraphim will die, or at least suffer heavy casualties due to attrition. Don't worry about it.

[thecactusman17]

A brief taste:

This entry is going to cover Celestians, Dominions, and Retributors. Not all of this info will be based entirely on tabletop experience.

These three units can appear pretty similar. These are the Veteran, Special Weapon, and Heavy Weapon squads of the Sisters of Battle, and tend to take their respective force org positions as described (though Dominions are in a Fast Attack slot due to their mechanized nature).

The benefit that these squads share in common after their particular duties is that each can be taken as 5 model squads. This opens up a new transport option (Immolators! Woo!) and also allows for some excellent relatively cheap units to fill out a list.

Retributors are your standard Devestator Squad equivalent. Multiple Heavy Bolters or Multi-Meltas to ruin your opponents day. Heavy Bolters are definitely your best option here, and combined with Divine Guidance can really ruin the day of high-toughness units like Plague Marines or Nobs. The additional range of Heavy Bolters also means this is an excellent gunline unit suitable for holding watch over multiple objectives. It's also one of the only units that might really benefit from a Simulacrum Imperialis, a squad wargear upgrade that allows for a third d6 to be rolled for your faith tests (and then take away any die you wish). You can give this unit an Immolator if it numbers 6 models or less, though if you do it will probably be left empty to roam the battlefield. This unit is relatively inexpensive compared to standard Devestator squads but suffers from the same problems--inflexible, static, and typically outshone by other options in the same Force Org slot. Like Battle sisters, you need a veteran to give the squad faithfulness.

Dominions are a unit that should in so many ways be awesome. 5 meltas or flamers (including combi-weapons) in a mechanized unit sounds so awesome until you look at the cost. Even stripped down with no special weapons at all this unit is more expensive than a tactical squad by 15 points. And those special weapons increase in price almost universally by half again. And this will leave you with exactly ONE extra model who may herself be carrying a combi-weapon or similar. Who also, by the way, needs to be taken as a veteran if you are looking for faith points. With the cheapest options for everyone, a small squad of five models carrying five storm bolters costs more than a 10-man tacical squad. Compare these to the shockingly effective Seraphim with their loads of special rules and excellent weapon options for little additional cost, and Dominions simply don't make the cut.

--edit--I want to make one thing clearer. And that has to do with why multiple flamers aren't necessarily worth their points. The most glaring reason is the fact that at most, none of the SoB vehicles have more than 2 fire points. Meaning that you can't just drive by with them and put, say, 30+ wounds on a guard squad. Instead, you have to get out, which forces you to align your unit in a very finicky way to get maximum coverage (because remember, you can't let those templates hit your own models). When you mix this up with an Immolator, it can be even worse. An immolator suddenly loses one or more facings of potential firing directions when paired up with flamers. Which is just dandy if you have two enemy units that you can park between, but not so much if you have to approach from a single direction. If you pair two flamers and two meltas, you might think this is a more versatile option, and in some ways you'd be right. But now you aren't going to be as effective as either 4 meltas or 4 flamers OR another 10-model BS squad in a rhino which can put out equivalent wounds AND score with the right setups.

--/edit--

Celestians are the definite breadwinners here. Celestians are a small squad like the others, but get a couple of perks. First off is that in exchange for a small cost per model the unit carries a faith point and is 100% faithful, even if a character is lost. Second is that you can take either 2 special weapons or one special and one heavy, including Heavy Bolters and Multimeltas if you so choose, just like the Battle sisters squads. Finally, you have a couple of premium benefits, like bumped up WS and I and special rules that let you hit most enemy models on a 3+ in CC. Mount these ladies in an Immolator and you have a ridiculously versatile unit with loads of abilities to throw at your opponent, who can also handle themselves fairly well in an assault. Finally, you can attach a squad of Celestians to your Canoness or Palatine HQ as a retinue. When you do this, your HQ becomes a part of the squad and can be hidden from wounds (or take a few off the special and heavy weapons if you like). If you do this, you get the added benefit of keeping an elite slot open for other units like an Inquisitor or Repentia.

That's all for now. I may revisit this particular entry later and expand before we move on to more units.

[thecactusman17]

On to HQ units!

There is a defining trait of unnamed Witch Hunters HQ units: they are ridiculously cheap. And boy, do you tend to get at least as much as you pay for.

Both Sisters HQ units hshare some incredible stats. BS5. I4. WS4. 3+ Save. At least one faith point. Sure, that's not much, but these cost a little more than a rhino. A new rhino.

Palatines and canonesses are the two base HQ units. You also have access to the Ministorum priest. There is a defining element of the Ministorum Priest as well: He's never, ever EVER worth his points. Don't take him. Unless you absolutely MUST experience the joy of 9 Penitent Engines charging down the field and into that mob of Grots that your opponent helpfully placed as far forward as possible to take advantage of their Rage USR.

I keed. No, actually, I really don't. Never ever take the WH Priest.

There is a final, and somewhat interesting option. Celestine, the Living Saint. Celestine has a couple of upsides and two big, glaring downsides. You get a great weapon skill, S5 I5, the Seraphim ultra-cool hit and run rule, and a flamer (and frag and krak grenades too!). You also get a 2+ armor save,a 4+ invulnerable save, and as an independant character she can make that 2+ armor a 2+ invulnerable on a phase by phase basis. You also add a whopping 3 faith points! You even get a "we'll be back" type roll that places her into reserves if she loses her last wound with a single wound remaining. Infinitely.

She also costs just over 200 points. And if she ever loses that last wound, you lose D6 faith and can't regenerate them through martyrdom ever again during the game. Meaning that if she dies before turn 7, you are effectively screwed. And good god, I promise you that she WILL die. No eternal warrior at T3. Ouch.

The Palatine and Canoness are again pretty similar. They are seperated by 10 points. What does that get you? An additional attack (meh at S3), a higher Ld (combine this with a Book of St. Lucius, awesome!), an extra wound (not bad but not great, again T3), and an extra faith point.

Wait, WHAT?

That's right, for a measly 10 points you gain an extra faith point to your starting total. And if the canoness dies, you get to add an EXTRA 2 faith points to your total through the Martyrdom rule.

That suicide build is starting to look pretty solid about now, isn't it?

But that's not the only one. Let's take a look at some of the wargear options.

Book of St. Lucius. This is the pinnacle of 40k wargear. For a ridiculously low cost you get to be essentially stubborn, even against things that bypass stubborn entirely (like the Dark Eldar terrorfex and horrorfex). Also, it's an Aura effect, so even units nearby get to benefit.

Blessed Weapon: The Relic Blade before Relic Blades were cool. S+2, strikes at initiative, 2 handed, master-crafted. Even plague marines look at this thing and wince. If you are going to consider a CC build, this is your go-to weapon. Just remember, you only get one unless you take Celestine as well. And don't forget that with Hand of the Emperor, this thing hits at S7.

Cloak of St. Aspira is a decent choice if you expect your HQ to take lots of wounds over the course of the game. A 2+ armor save that can be made into an Invul save with a carefully considered use of faith. Of course, this raises the cost rather dramatically and you don't have any weapons yet.

Mantle of Ophelia is essentially one wound's worth of Eternal Warrior. Combine this with that 2+ invul save and suddenly Tyranids don't seem so monstrous. But it's costly.

Litanies of something something: Basically, an extra free one use and irretrievable faith point for the canoness and any squad she's attached to. This seems like a really big waste unless you have some specific combos. For example, it will work great if you attach her to a small squad of Retributors or Dominions with Flamers, where popping an ability for free and ignoring the difficulty of rolling against a small squad size can make the unit shine. And it's not just offensive. 20 Battle Sisters will become a lot scarier when they all have an invul save protecting them until they hit back at your opponent's monstrous creatures with S5 I1.

Combi-meltas/plasmas: Why not make the most of your HQs BS5? Relatively inexpensive, get 2 great weapons for the price of one that are almost always going to hit when the going gets rough. Save the flamers for lower BS models though.

Also, frag grenades. Frag grenades are not standard, and will be necessary unless you run an eviscerator or similar I1 weapon.

Finally, bolters and bolt pistols! You don't get these standard either, and what a great way to conserve on points! With the possibility for an AP1 bolter round multiple times over the course of the game, the lowly bolter is hardly a waste of a great wargear list. Just remember, you only get two weapons total no matter how many hands they are carried in.

Jump Packs seem like an excellent investment, but it can be hard to use them efficiently for their points cost. Not only do you have to worry about dangerous terrain now, you also don't have the Hit and Run special rule that makes the other Jpack units in the codex so ridiculous. In fact, you will actually strip them of it if they work together. This can be a huge liability for both units.

Inferno Pistols and Plasma pistols have a downside each. The plasmas obviously might wound you if you really screw up, and the Inferno pistol has a very short range (and only AP2, so no hijinks on the damage table when you do penetrate or glance your opponent). These are best used when your HQ is outfitted as a close range tank hunting unit, and you'll appreciate the ability to knock down the armor and then the guys inside. But otherwise, you'll be frustrated.

[thecactusman17]

Seraphim.

Seraphim are cool.

Seraphim are the only serious close combat unit in the Witch Hunters codex. In addition to a great statline (WS4, I4, 2 close combat weapons and a 3+ save) they get some excellent special rules.

For example: each model (except possibly the veteran) has two identical weapons that count as twin linked (excepting the flamer). Such as, say, twin-linked inferno pistols for less than the cost of a space marine. Or how about taking the veteran, and counting as having an imagifier as long as she's alive? Oh, and don't worry about faith--the entire unit is faithful, and their presense is so inspiring that it boosts the Ld. of other units nearby.

Oh, and there's this other thing. an old relic of third edition.

The most broken version of Hit and Run ever in the game.

See, unlike other versions of Hit'n'run, this one doesn't require any sort of test. None. Which means that the ONLY time that you ever have to see if it works is if both yourself and your opponent have Seraphim.

Oh, and then you jump pack away, completely ignoring any dangerous terrain (consolidation move! Yay!) no fewer than 3d6 inches. In a given turn, a player that chooses to abuse this rule can move 21-36 inches, more than enough to contest any objective on the board with ease

Seraphim are not only one of the best CC units in any codex, but they are also one of the best imagined CC units in the game. These guys work in perfect harmony with the rest of your codex, tying up an advancing mob that would otherwise shatter your units in assault and flitting away at the last instant to expose your enemies to thunderous barrages of gunfire.

If these guys do have a downside, it's the degree to which you can chew through your faith pool. With an imagifier, it's a great idea to give these whichever faith abilities will allow you to last through two turns of close combat. And foremost amongst those abilities is "Spirit of the Martyr." Spirit is an ability that must be used with a bit of prediction, especially if it's about to be your enemies turn. You see, you can use it to give your units an invulnerable save for the coming phase, but you must use it before any assaults are declared. This is easy to figure out when you are the one charging, but it can cause headaches and accusations of foul play if you aren't careful to pause the game for a moment if you are about to be charged yourself. The reason you would take this power on the offense is to hit something big and killy, like a Nob Biker squad or a brood of Carnifexes. By throwing a road block into your opponent's path that he simply can't kill you'll get an extra turn to shoot at him later--IF your dice don't desert you on the first turn!

Seraphim excel at being a fine multi-role unit that is designed to tie your opponent up for a turn or two while you get your excellent gunnery units into position. I like to take a unit of seven (to maximize the chances of faith confirmation) lead by a veteran (imagifier), a set of hand flamers, and a set of inferno pistols. I can reliably expect to deal decent damage in the shooting phase, then cause havoc for the following two assault phases.

[Melissia]

like an Inquisitor
A small note here-- if you bring in an Inquisitor, you're not playing a Sisters of Battle army. But if you absolutely MUST for whatever reason, do not pick psychic powers that buff your own units. Sisters resist friendly psychic powers just like they resist the enemy's.

[thecactusman17]

A small note here-- if you bring in an Inquisitor, you're not playing a Sisters of Battle army. But if you absolutely MUST for whatever reason, do not pick psychic powers that buff your own units. Sisters resist friendly psychic powers just like they resist the enemy's.

You know, that's a good point. I don't think that there are any friendly psychic powers that target your own unit (maybe the model itself) in the Hunters codexes, but they can probably screw up your plans if you use them allied to a Space Marine Librarian or some such.

[DarkLink]

So a team battle with Sisters allied to Eldar is a no-go, I guess

[thecactusman17]

So a team battle with Sisters allied to Eldar is a no-go, I guess

Are you kidding?

Do you have ANY idea what a faithed Sisters unit can do to a doomed squad? One squad of battle sisters = 1 dead tactical squad.

You filthy xenos lover you.

[darkpadre]

Celestians are the definite breadwinners here. Celestians are a small squad like the others, but get a couple of perks.

You forgot to mention the most ridiculous and overlooked item of wargear in the WH codex next to THE BOOK...The Sacred Standard. For 20 points, you get a standard for your Celestian retiune that gives +1 to combat resolution for EVERY faithful unit within 6 inches of the banner. Run a bunch of squads OR just the retinue and a second canoness into hand to hand, tarpit with faith and THEN get automatic bonuses to combat resolution just for being in hand to hand, even if you kill nothing! I took 70 sisters to the last Baltimore GT running in a group with this banner and it was just plain ridiculous - even when I lost I was rolling on an unmodifiable leadership of 10 and anyone within distance of getting the bonus was generally also getting the bonus at the end of assault. If you run footslogging Sisters this is a great deal, but again, even with the canoness and retiune along with another canoness or squad automatically gives you +2 to combat resolution, no matter HOW you roll.

The other banner is the Sacred Banner of the Order Millitant. This travesty of a tapestry is 50 points and makes any squad with a model within 12" of the banner fearless. This was cooler in the old version, but not as cool now, even dangerous and in my opinion certainly not worth 50 points.

[CouchViking]

Um... I know you haven't mentioned the sisters repenta, so if you wouldn't mind entertaining a my questions. Are they the close combat monsters that the were designed to be? Or, are they the point sink that they appear to be?

[Melissia]

Tell me, do you fear 20 point per model unit that always strikes last, is T3 and with only a 4+ save and one attack, and is fearless in close combat (therefor takes more wounds if it loses combat resolution)?

No dedicated assault unit would.

[CouchViking]

Well, when you put it like that the answer is kinda obvious. :)

[Melissia]

Also, they cannot use Acts of Faith, they cannot be joined by an IC, they are often effected by Rage, and they cannot ride in transports.

edit: Oh, and for a final nail on the coffin, they're 0-1.

[Tynskel]

You tottttttallly forgot to state that they are fire bait for any Drop Podding' Dreadnought. Especially Vulkanized.


At 'Ard Boyz last year, my first opponent had a mixed marine sisters list. I really think it was every model the guy owned. Turn one, Ironclad Landed, vulkanized the 15 sisters in one shot.

By the way, if you touch that many T3 models, it is roughly average rolling to kill everyone (if they aren't getting armor saves).

By far, very cool concept unit. In practice, very poor application. 20 points! 4+ save at I1. Genestealers are a million times better.

[Melissia]

You tottttttallly forgot to state that they are fire bait for any Drop Podding' Dreadnought. Especially Vulkanized.

Being T3 with a 4+ save, it's quite obvious that ANY unit with a heavy flamer will utterly demolish them. Dreads, Sisters, Nobs...

With a 3+ save you can survive to strike back.

[Voldrak]

While we're discussing sisters, has anyone ever tried putting purity seals on their seraphim squads?

I then to run 3 squads of 8 and quite a few times I got to roll poorly on my hit and run dices.

Wondering if anyone has had good experience with it? It's not expensive, but on 3 squads it could take away from another useful upgrade.

[Melissia]

I believe purity seals makes it 3d6? Or is it 3d6 take the best two?

[Voldrak]

Purity seals allows you to roll an additional dice and remove the one dice you don't like.

I could see that has being useful. Nothing is more annoying than doing an hit and run and not being able to get outside of rapid fire or a counter charge range.

Edit:

So that would mean you roll 4d6 for the hit and run and keep the 3 you want.

[Melissia]

Ah, nice.

[Aegis]

Purity seals only affects the fall back move. Now, I do not have my codex on hand, but I did not think Hit and Run counted as 'falling back.'

Of course, I could be wrong, and would be gladly so in this case, as that just sounds like fun.

[thecactusman17]

Um... I know you haven't mentioned the sisters repenta, so if you wouldn't mind entertaining a my questions. Are they the close combat monsters that the were designed to be? Or, are they the point sink that they appear to be?

I HAVE FOUND MORE RUM! LET THE DISCUSSION CONTINUE.

The short answer is "no." The long answer is generally still "no" but there is an appendix to cover why.

Sisters Repentia should be perhaps the ultimate fluffy unit entry. We're talking a unit that is intentionally suicidal, survivors puportedly find some form of ultimate benediction, and everyone is a bikini-wearing nun with a BDSM fetish and a massive ****ing chainsaw.

Sadly, they have their own problems.

The primary issue with Repentia is not cost. That would be too simple. 22 points gets you a chainfist and a 4+ save. More than enough to bother somebody if it ever gets into striking distance. A unit of 10 can almost certainly get their points back IF they connect. A unit of 20 would obliterate, I firmly believe, any unit it encountered in the game that was not firmly close combat oriented. If you simply MUST field these, it's the sole time I would recommend a Minstorum Priest.

We remember the rules on Minstorum Priests, right? It's been a while, but that just means more time to study...

As with much of old 40k, the dreaded issue of mobility rears its ugly head. The primary issue with Repentia is that they always have an absolute ***** of a time reaching close combat. 1/2 the time they charge recklessly towards the nearest enemy unit. Worse still, they can never be placed in transports and must start as a normal unit on the field. These do have the option of effectively running twice though, so sometimes they pay off as a deceptively fast unit that can be hitting enemy lines by turn 2 with some lucky dice rolls.

But the problem is that a big army of these (all 20 models) is going to either clump together, and be focused entirely on one thing. OR it's going to be spread so wide that either they are getting held up by your transports, or your transports cannot move. Imagine giving a 50 man guard squad rage. It's sort of the same situation. So much like real warfare, this unit suffers from what might be called hubris--their rage allows them to do incredible things, but the rage allows your opponent to dictate the how, when, and where of their engagement.

There is some good news, though, on the rage front. See, the Holy Rage rule, like many similar rules in the With Hunters codex, is codex only. So it's not the Rage USR. So you can take a little control back by RUNNING your units away from enemies--placing them closer to your desired nest of targets, hopefully, or freeing up a fire lane that they might otherwise occupy. And of course, preventing them from charging a unit that they could never beat.

While we're on the subject:

Penitent Engines are essentially the large Walker units of a Repentia force. They suffer the actual Rage USR in addition to Holy Rage. Each is an AV11 open topped walker which gets an extra D6 attacks instead of 1 for the second close combat weapon. And by CCW I mean Dreadnought CCW. So a S10, 1+D6+charge model for a relatively cheap cost. The problem is that these aren't the only costs, and they are fighting for position with other units. See, Penitent Engines are apparently so rare that they can only be taken if you have a priest.

Priests again. This whole ecclesiarchy thing is starting to look worse and worse.

So a single Pentitent Engine costs a minimum of 120 points. However, more Engines reduce the cost spent. And with open topped Vehicles in a Squadron, this will likely mean that you'll need more than one if you hope to hit your enemies lines. You can field up to nine of these things for less than 800 points including the priest. A secret hope of mine is to do just that in an 'Ard Boyz some day, watching as my opponent desperately tries to kill all of them before any touch his or her heavily armed lines. At high points limits, when you can spare a few hundred for something truly wacky and offbeat, is the time to field these.

Good Luck.

Despite some incredible models, neither the Penitent Engine nor the sisters Repentia will see much use in most players armies. They tend to be fragile, trading in a slight mobility boost for high costs and low defensive abilities. These are the epitome of overcosted, under-needed units in the
Witch Hunters codex.

[CouchViking]

[b]
Sisters Repentia should be perhaps the ultimate fluffy unit entry. We're talking a unit that is intentionally suicidal, survivors puportedly find some form of ultimate benediction, and everyone is a bikini-wearing nun with a BDSM fetish and a massive ****ing chainsaw.

With an oscar worthy opening line like that, you should be a chainsaw salesman.