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Update 9/8/13

As far as for 6th edition, we've gained warlord traits and none of the negative vehicle effects that assault armies have been having. Seraphim give Celestine hit and run, and Celestine passes hit and run on anything but a 1. Celestine also gives Seraphim fearless (no more running off the board from joining squads.) The majority of this Tactica is still relevant with the exception of Jacobus/DCA and Celestine/Cannoness squads, the changes to vehicles in 6th have made both these squads unplayable.

Sisters of Battle Tactica
Hey everyone, I've been posting for awhile on the forums, and I've been playing 40k about 4 years now. Necrons were my first army and Sisters were my second. I've loved the playstyle of the SoB and it continues to be my favorite army. I've been hearing a lot of chatter about the Sisters of Battle WD, and how horrible it is. While I agree that the army looks really bad on paper, the way the army plays is entirely a different story, at least in my experience and opinion. I'm hoping to write this and convince you to not shelf your Sisters army just yet, or if you're struggling to adapt to the new WD codex, maybe give you a few pointers. Here it goes.

First and foremost, we're going to focus on what works in the codex, instead of what doesn't work, and go from there.

Units that work

*Cannoness w/ Celestians in Rhino(expensive, but has great short range shooty and great CC potential unless going against all PW, can get int +1 and str +1 multiple times depending on amount of faith rolled and success with faith rolls. So you could effectively be int 9 or str 9 because the faith rolls do, in fact stack, like hammerhand does. Make sure use your bolt pistols instead of bolters when firing before the charge.)

*Jacobus w/ Deathcult/Crusaders in Rhino (great counter assault unit to back up your Sisters Rhinos and provide a great threat, and mop up anything hurting your Sister squads. This is just about the best assault unit in the game. FNP gives this squad a durbility, along with it's 5+ invul, INT 6 allows you to attack first on most squads with lots and lots of power weapon attacks. The squad is rather inexpensive death star killer clocking in at 260 pts with 7x DCA 2X Crusader and Jacobus in a Rhino. This squad can kill just about anything head on besides purifiers. Even then, the Deathcult/Crusaders would probably win out with their +3/+5 invul. Even a 5+ means a 1/3 chance to make their save.)

*Celestine w/ or without Seraphim (Celestine with 2x flamer Seraphim gives you a total of 5 flamers with reroll to wound. The squad is cheap for a 5 man, at 120 points w/ 4 hand flamers. You can lose them to small arms fire and not be too upset about it, but if they manage to get near squads, they really put out hurt.)

*10 man Sister of Battle squads in Rhinos (My favorite combo is heavy flamer, melta gun, combi melta so they can threaten just about any target. I generally take 4-5 troops kitted this same way at 2k points. They are resilient, and so are their Rhinos. Running flamer melta ensures you always have the right tools for the job.)

*Dominion squad w/ melta guns (Having 2x Dominion squads with 2x melta guns outflanking really helps against mech armies. When you need more target saturation aka more rhinos, you can choose to not outflank as well, clocking in at 125 pts is a steal, and they're hard to kill if just left to shoot out of rhinos, instead of getting out. Should get you at least 2 turns of shooting twin linked melta at vehicles in their back field or flank, assuming they come in on the side you want.)

*5 Celestians w/ 2x melta in Rhino (great cheap filler units for more anti tank)

*3x Exorcist or 2x Exorcist 1x Retributor squad (Exorcists are the only long range anti tank, and one of the best in the game esp when you're rolling 6's. Try and show your front armor as much as possible, it's very important to Exorcist suvivial. Once you forget, and show your side, it's usually over for your poor tank)

*Seraphim ( if you can afford 30 Seraphim to fill your FA slots, its very viable to take 3 units of 10 in different combinations)

Tips

*Do not exit your Rhinos until you are forced to, or you completely have the advantage, till then fire out 2x melta or your heavy flamer to take out squads.

*Rely on Exorcists for long range anti tank, take out their biggest threats to your Exorcists, Ignore AV 14, handle it with Melta guns later on.

*Zone your opponent (force them into an enclosed space or isolate half of their army from the other with Rhinos), and keep Rhinos together and close. If you're running Seraphim, use your Rhinos to block LOS.

*Pop smoke on all your Rhinos after your first turn, unless they're obviously in cover

*Don't be hasty to initiate, wait until you have the advantage, then storm the enemy, unless the extra bolter firepower is needed to put down a squad, stay in the Rhinos.

*Use Celestine in every game, head her to your enemies objective, or fly her at stuff with a 4+,5+ or 6+ save. Her heavy flamer makes short work of things, and then charge if there's anything left.

*Dozer blades are probably a good idea if you can afford them.

*Don't allow your units to be isolated, Sisters work best as a group, splitting your forces off weakens you substantially.

*Avoid footslogging combined with Mech, either stick to one or the other. Seraphim are the only exception to their due to their durability, speed, cheap cost. This is coupled with the ability to keep up and hide behind Rhinos.

*Don't rely on faith, it either happens or it doesn't, don't count on it as a sure thing, save faith for Seraphim and dominions.

*If your opponent has a nasty CC unit, it might not be a bad idea to offer up a unit of Sisters for them to cut down, so you can get the unit in open field to be shot with heavy flamers, melta guns and exorcists. The loss of one unit can be greater than the loss of multiple units and vehicles to a rampaging CC unit not quickly handled.

*Celestine is an excellent tarpit.

*Balance the amount of flamer, and melta you have, try and get an equal mixture of flamer and melta (anti infantry and anti tank respectively)

*When a Rhino blows up, move your troops to an objective or to help strengthen your Rhino line by sitting behind your other rhinos. Don't leave them in open field too long, and get to cover if you can.


That's about all I have for now. Good luck my fellow Sisters players, and I hope this helps. Feel free to send me PMs and I'd be glad to help anyone looking to get into the army, or are having problems with the new codex.

Thanks for looking!

Thanks for this Tactica. It's really helped with the list I'm trying to write. That beings said, I saw a post on what's required in a sisters army that you made in another thread, and noticed Jacobus wasn't on it. Is he required in your opinion, or just a really good option to consider?

Thank for the input.

As for as Jacobus goes, I don't agree with the talk that he's "Required". He's nice to have, but I'd rather run Celestine for near the same points.

The reason being is that faith isn't really something to rely on in this new codex, you have to think of it as more of a bonus that might happen. Think of it this way, turns 1 and 2 are all about moving up, so faith is irrelevant most of the time on the first two. After that, if you're set up to engage correctly, then faith isn't going to make or break your strategy if you don't roll high, or make your faith rolls.

The chance is just so randomized with the number of faith having to be rolled, and then having to pass faith after that. So in the end even with Jacobus, you can't count on it, so to me, Jacobus is just a 90 pt crutch that isn't needed, unless you're kitting out a beastly CC squad, or you need a good stubborn unit to hold 20 footslogging Sisters on the board.

Meanwhile, Celestine is 115 points, can die and just come back, makes an excellent tarpit, has lots of attacks, and can even kill MC's or Vehicles. She moves deceptively far, and with a 5 strong Seraphim unit, you have some bodies to soak up fire, while hiding them behind Rhinos. Pop a transport with an Exorcist and bring your 6 strong Seraphim/Celestine squad with 5 flamers (1 heavy 4 hand flamers) with reroll to wound. You can then just watch things disappear, terminators or not.

Cost for Celestine + 5 strong Seraphim squad with 4 hand flamers - 235
Cost of Jacobus in Rhino with DCA - 260

Both of these are excellent choices, and in 2500 it's even viable to take them both.

I would never run Celestine with Seraphim. It is just asking for her to fail a morale test and run off the board never to come back again.

I took both at 1850 and do not think I was overly crippled by it. The reason Jacobus is required is the Battle Conclave is too good not to take, and there is no reason to take anything other than Jacobus as a confessor.

You think a Canoness with Celestians is .... good?

Ugh. Maybe, if you roll well on faith and faith tests and GW doesn't shut down the stacking in a FAQ. I still think DCA are better.

Everything else is solid enough.

I don't worry about Celestine running when she's checking on LD 10, besides at the point where she's going to take in fire I usually split her off. I haven't had a game where she's run. I'm not going to deny myself a good unit on the very small chance that they might run.

I don't think the Cannoness with Celestians is good persay, but it is an option. I completely agree that DCA is better, however the models are expensive and Cannoness with Celestians can somewhat play the same role, just not as effective.

edit, irrelevant now

Very good tactica, Kreedos. I had my first game with the "new" Sisters last week, and I've got to say that you hit the nail right on the head with some of your tips. It's extremely important to stay buttoned-up and bide your time. I spent 3 turns doing virtually nothing with my mounted squads, but the 4th turn was a bloodbath after I had finally gotten my opponent funneled into flamer template-sized groups

Kreedos wrote:Btw, hammerhand stacks, and faith is basically the same thing.

Eh, I don't generally believe this until the FAQ for the list says so. This would not be the first time GW has had split rulings, and Hammerhand also applies before Strength doublers. Faith doesn't. I don't have an opinion either way, but I do think both readings are potentially accurate.

Hi

I am new to 40k and wargames in general. I've only played 3 games so far (won at 500 and lost two games at 750 points) and have some difficulties understanding how to play sisters properly. Well, probably not particularly sisters, but 40k army in general, because I don't know nuances yet.

Also, I have to mention that today I am going to play 550p again, so any advice is appreciated. The list will probably look like this:
Saint Celestine
BSS MM/M, VSS PP CCW, Rhino
BSS MM/M, VSS PP CCW, Rhino
and will put remaining points in to dozer/extra armor or hunter killer missiles.

The main question I'd like to ask is - how to use Uriah and Battle Conclave properly? I ran them in 750p game (5DCA, 3Crusaders), but assuming that one can't disembark and assault at the same turn, it seems that it is very difficult to get them in to position.

In addition, how should I use sisters in rhinos properly?

Can an exorcist shoot after it does pivoting on the spot or move up to 6"?

Can sister w/ MM shoot from a rhino if it moved up to 6"? If she disembarked from or embarked to a rhino?

Yes the Exorcist can pivot or move up to 6" then still shoot. Pivot does not count as movement.

I'm not so sure about the MM, but I think it may; been a while since I've used heavy weapons in Rhinos.

You cannot fire MM from a moving vehicle.

meh_ wrote:but assuming that one can't disembark and assault at the same turn, it seems that it is very difficult to get them in to position.

I can't really answer any of the sisters questions, but regarding disembarking..

You can disembark and assault in the same turn if the vehicle remained stationary. So, you move the rhino into position, and shoot from it. Then, next turn, you get out and charge.

ArbitorIan wrote:

meh_ wrote:but assuming that one can't disembark and assault at the same turn, it seems that it is very difficult to get them in to position.

I can't really answer any of the sisters questions, but regarding disembarking..

You can disembark and assault in the same turn if the vehicle remained stationary. So, you move the rhino into position, and shoot from it. Then, next turn, you get out and charge.

Thanks, that's very helpful!

Kreedos wrote:Thank for the input.

As for as Jacobus goes, I don't agree with the talk that he's "Required". He's nice to have, but I'd rather run Celestine for near the same points.

I would argue that Uriah Jacobs is an auto include, for the following reasons.

1) Confessor + DCA is easily the best (read only) assault unit in the codex, and the sisters NEED good assault units.
2) If you need a resilient unit instead, Crusaders can work almost as well as DCA while being incredibly survivable.
3) Cannonesses are overcosted, and their wargear option aren't great (still mad that they lost their jump packs).
4) Uriah is big improvement over the standard confessor, for very little cost, and given the options for gear confessors have, there really isn't much that I would want for one that Uriah isn't better than.
5) Faith is so important for the Sisters, and anything that reliably and repeatedly gives you more faith is golden. If you can't get enough faith points your sisters are overcosted.
6) If you want Celestians, you can pick them up as an elite choice, and they work better, in proportion to points cost, without the cannoness. They are still not that good. Repentia are a better elite, if they can steal a Rhino. both elite choices on this list are sub-par (repentia would be great if they could get a rhino).

Now Celestine is a great choice if you need a second HQ (certainly better than a cannoness), and with some seraphim to serve as ablative armor/more templates it's a really good choice, but having your faith smoothed out and getting a scary CC squad is entirely to good to turn down. Keep in mind that seraphim aren't really an assault unit (that appearance is deceiving), they are a fast harasser that can sometimes win an assualt. Celestine is an assault character, so ideally the seraphim will escort her to a fight, but leave her be to deal with that squad while they find another target.

Assuming a large enough battle there a several auto includes in this army.

Uriah with DCA
2-3 Dominion meltaspam squads
2-3 exorcists

Choose cannonesses only if you get two FoCs, otherwise leave her back at base to file paperwork.

So I played my first game with the WD SoB codex today, 1750 against Orks. Here are my AAR comments from the match:

1) I don't have Jacobs, so I ran a Priest with PG instead (only model I own). I also ran 8 Arco-Flagellants, and I ran the whole thing in a Rhino. Managed to take out two ~20 model mobs of Shoota Boys before the game was over. If I had DCAs and Crusaders, I would definitely have thrown them into the mix as well, but I was very happy with how the Arcos performed. Great countercharge unit IMO, but would be way more competitive with IN4.

2) AV14 is too much for Exorcists to handle - I tried Exorcists out against Battlewagons' front armor, and will be angling for side armor shots from here on out.

3) Retributors are best with great fields of fire and hordes of infantry to shoot at. If I don't have both, I'll probably leave them at home in the future.

4) Celestine managed to flub a whole bunch of saves, and then the resurrection roll too, but for the points she's a very good HQ choice.

5) Inferno pistols on Seraphim would have helped me a lot more than hand flamers. It seemed easier for them to maneuver for Melta shots than Sisters in a Rhino.

6) I didn't really use faith all that much, honestly. I'm not sure it's really all that helpful anymore, but I'll wait and see.

Though I play Dark Eldar now, Sisters of Battle was my first army, and it's so good to see others willing to work with the Sisters of Battle update! As much as I miss, assassins, inquisitors, and Karamazov (and as much as I feel Dominions got nerfed), I'm very excited to have the WD codex! I wanted to ask you guys what you'd think of the idea I had. Since SoB models cost so much and I recently got Dark Vengeance, how do you think Sisters of Battle with an allied detachment of Dark Angels would work out?

Heh - I wrote a big reply to this thread in general, and THEN noticed it was a thread from 2011. Explains some of the errors I saw!

To the threadomancer - there is a 66 page ongoing thread on the SoB filled with juicy info, if you want to take the time to go through it. Starting here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/434801.page
I don't like mixing my ladies with anyone else, but Dark Angels will likely be as good as anyone as far as allies go. I'd be careful about taking advice from this thread here, btw - most of this information is seriously out of date.