34 new units in every FOC slot, from 3-point Frateris Rabble (Troops) to the 3,000-point mobile Battle Chapel (Apocalypse Only, for heaven's sake). 18 new pieces of wargear, from Sororitas Bikes to Order Relics. 16 months of work, including at least 25 threads on this forum with literally hundreds of comments from more helpful Dakkafolkk than I can count. Please take this 'dex and do with it as you will, because none of the IP is mine: If I've got any rights to this work whatsoever, I resign them to GW (and pray they'll include some of these ideas in the next official codex).
What follows is every unit and wargear item that I wrote for the Sisters that survived the incisive review of Dakka commenters. (Yes, there're even more units that didn't make the cut). This is not a fandex in the traditional sense: I'm not trying to replace the current digital codex -- which is frankly pretty good -- but to build on it. You can pick and choose units you like, and they'll be fully compatible with the existing 'dex. You can Or you adopt the whole thing and turn the Adepta Sororitas from a solid but narrow army list into something as diverse as Codex:Space Marines, without losing the Sisters' unique character as an army that's all about buffs, not beatsticks.
What does this "expandex" add to Codex:Adepta Sororitas? - Canoness awesomeness: new wargear & upgrades - New HQs: Palatine, Chorister (Sister w/ War Hymns), Ecclesiarchy Confessor & Missionary, Repentia Champion, and two Special Characters - Troops: naive Sororitas Novices & expendable Frateris Rabble - Elites: infiltrating Vigils, jump-pack-and-power-weapon Principalities, Repentia Veterans (characters, not a squad), & Penitent Abhumans - Scouts: Sororitas Bikers (Thrones) & Lucifer Scout Tank (Hellhound lite) - Fliers: BS:4 Save 6++ versions of Valkyrie, Vendetta, & Avenger - Tanks: BS:4 Sv:6++ versions of Predator Infernus & Baneblade variants - Exorcist Options: alternative warheads, manportable, artillery, & airborne - Avenger Bolt Cannon: now on a tank (a Sororitas-style Vindicator) & artillery - Assault Vehicles: open-topped Deliverer & Hussite; superheavy Storm Queen & Battle Chapel - Drop Pods so you don't have to ally in bloody Marines - Super-heavy walkers: deep-striking Knight Angelus & suicidal Penitent Titan - and Frateris Bikers, who actually count as Cavalry.
In fact, there are Ecclesiarchy units in every FOC slot: Confessor & Missionary (HQ), Frateris Rabble (Troops), Penitent Abhumans (Elites), Frateris Bikers (Fast Attack), and Frateris Hussite (Heavy Support). Add the existing Preacher (free HQ) and Penitent Engine (Heavy Support), and you have an eight-unit mini-dex comparable to the Skitarii or Cult Mechanics.
There are too many people to thank here, but I want to give particular credit Ovion, whose unit design methodology was my starting point for costing units.
*
WARGEAR SUMMARY Costs & abbreviated rules for every new item of wargear
Spoiler:
Weapons: Exorcist Missile Pod: 15 pts. One shot, may take Alternative Exorcist Ammo (see below).
Special Issue: Blessed Armour: 35 pts. 2+ Save, 1 Warp Die for Deny The Witch only. Praesidium Protectiva: 25 pts. 3++ Save, +1 to Deny The Witch. Purity Seals: 15 pts. 1 Warp Die for Deny The Witch only. Sororitas Bike: 30 pts for characters. Hit & Run, Scout. War Hymnal: 20 points. Bearer can use War Hymns. Book of Acts: 15 pts. Unlocks alternative Acts of Faith: - Divine Wind: Shoot & Run in same phase. - Prophetic Warning: Overwatch at full BS. - The Whole Armour of Faith: Normal save becomes invulnerable. - The Quick and the Dead: +2 Initiative in Assault.
Vehicle Equipment: Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free. Switch profile to one of - Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy D6 - Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy D6 - Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy D6 Armoured Pulpit: 25 pts. 6" War Hymns bubble if Priest embarks. Fire Gargoyles: 15 pts. D6 S5 AP4 hits on first charging enemy. Holy Icon: 20 pts. +1 to Leadership for all units in 6". Holy Light: 25 pts. Assault vehicles only. Assault grenades plus Blind. Holy Promethium: 10 pts. Flamer weapons gain +1 Strength.
Order Relics: Canoness only. One per Major Order. Grail of Ages: 60 pts. +1 S to Canoness & Celestians. Units in 12" reroll failed AOF. Skull of Vandire: 60 pts. Fearless Canoness. FNP (5+) for Repentia in 12". Shroud of Silvana: 60 pts. Blind. Units in 12" reroll failed Ld. Seraphim in 12" also add +1 to Ld. Broken Halo: 75 pts. Power Axe. Canoness, her squad, & Battle Sisters in 12" have Hatred. Fury's Fire: 60 pts. Meltagun w/ Ignore Cover & Gets Hot. Canoness, her squad, & Dominons in 12" may run & shoot in same phase. The Light Undying: 60 pts. Night Vision & Twin-Linked for Canoness, her squad, & all Retributors in 12".
UNIT SUMMARY Profiles, point costs, and key rules/wargear for every new unit
Spoiler:
HQs: Minerva: 200 points for Canoness stats plus Reserve roll manipulation, Scout for her unit & 1 other unit, & hella wargear Jehanne: 170 points for Canoness stats plus Zealot and a brutal weapon Palatine: 35 ppm for WS:5 BS:5 S:3 T:3 W:2 I:4 A:2 Ld:10 Sv:3+/6++ Chorister: 45 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3+/6++ War Hymns, Zealot Repentia Champion: 90 ppm for WS:5 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:3 A:3 Ld:9 Sv:-/6++ Feel No Pain (4+), Shred Confessor: 85 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:3 A:3 Ld:9 Sv:5+/4++ War Hymns, Zealot, army-buffing upgrade options Missionary: 70 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:2 I:3 A:3 Ld:8 Sv:5+/4++ War Hymns, Zealot
Troops: Novice Squad: 8 ppm for WS:3 BS:3 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 Ld:7 Sv:4+/6++ Sisters in 6" reroll failed Morale Frateris Militia: 3 ppm for WS:2 BS:2 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 Ld:6 Sv:6+ Rage, numerous stat and weapon upgrade options
Dedicated Transports: Chariot of Fire: 75 ppm for BS:1 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Chariot, Furious Charge, TL flamer, DT option for Confessors & Missionaries only Frateris Technical: 30 ppm for BS:3 Armour:10/10/10 HP:3 Fast, Open-Topped, Transports (12 models), DT option for Frateris Dominica-Pattern Drop Pod: 40 ppm for BS:2 Armour 12/12/12 HP:3 with a Heavy Flamer standard
Elites: Repentia Veteran: 45 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:2 I:3 A:3 Ld:9 Sv:-/6++ Feel No Pain (5+), Shred, Character Principality Squad: 30 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W1: I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3+/3++ jump pack, power weapon, & storm shield Vigil Squad: 25 ppm for WS:3 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:4 A:1 Ld:9 Sv:3+/6++ Infiltrate, Stealth, weapons TL if not moving Penitent Abhumans: 30 ppm for WS:3 BS:3 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:2 A:3 Ld:5 Sv:6+ Furious Charge, Rage, Hammer of Wrath, Stubborn
Fast Attack: Throne Squad: 23 ppm for WS:3 BS:4 S:3 T:4 W:1 I:3 A:1 Ld:8 Sv:3+/6++ Bikes, Hit & Run, Scout Lucifer Scout Tank: 145 ppm for BS:4 Armour:11/11/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Fast, Scout, Melta Cannon (may upgrade to Inferno Cannon) Sororitas Valkyrie: 160 ppm for BS:4 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Flyer, Hover, Transport (12 models) Victoria (Sororitas Vendetta): 185 ppm for BS:4 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Flyer, Hover, Transport (6 models), triple TL multi-meltas Frateris Bikers: 10 ppm for WS:3 BS:3 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 Ld:6 Sv:6+ Cavalry (NOT Bikes), Rage, Hit & Run
Heavy Support: Sororitas Predator (Infernus): 100 ppm for BS:4 Armour:13/11/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Flamestorm Cannon or Magna-Melta [b]Vindicta Assault Gun (Sororitas Vindicator): 115 ppm for BS:4 Armour:13/11/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Avenger Bolt Cannon Sororitas Artillery: 75 ppm for Avenger Bolt Cannon (upgrade to Exorcist Missile Launcher) w/ two Retributor crew Virago Exorcist Missile Carrier: 175 ppm for BS:4 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Sv:6++ Flyer, Hover, Exorcist Missile Launcher Sororitas Avenger Strike Fighter: 225 pm for BS:4 Armour:12/11/10 HP:2 Sv:6++ Avenger Bolt Cannon Deliverer Assault Ark: 150 ppm for BS:4 Armour: 14/13/12 HP:4 Open-Topped, Transport (12 models), DT option for Celestians & Repentia Frateris Hussite: 120 ppm for BS:3 Armour:13/12/11 HP:4 Open-Topped, Transport (20 models), up to 10 weapons, DT option for Frateris
Ladies of War: Storm Queen (Sororitas Stormlord): 530 ppm for BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++ Vulcan Mega Bolter, Transport (40 models), may take army-buffing minaret Flameblade (Sororitas Baneblade): 575 ppm for BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++ Inferno Gun, Magna-Melta Fire Sword (Sororitas Shadowsword): 505 ppm for BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++ Melta Cannon Knight Angelus: 525 ppm for WS:4 BS:4 S:10 Armour:13/12/12 I:4 A:3 HP:6 Reaper Chainsword, flaming jump jets, Deep Strike Penitent Titan: 775 ppm for WS:4 BS:2 S:10 Armour:14/13/12 I:2 A:2 HP:9 Titanic Eviscerator (D weapon), gets stronger as it loses HP
Apocalypse only: Ecclesiarchy Battle Chapel: 3,000 ppm for BS:4 Armour 14/14/13 HP:27 Save:6++ Assault Vehicle, Transport (150 models), Vulcan Mega Bolter, Melta Cannon, Inferno Gun, & 7 Vortex Missiles
***
*WARGEAR*
*
WEAPONS
Spoiler:
Add to Ranged Weapons List: - Hand Flamer: 5 pts (the rules for this weapon are in the main rulebook)
Add to Heavy Weapons List: - Exorcist Missile Pod: 15 points
Exorcist Missile Pod: 15 points The Exorcist Missile Launcher is a venerable and beloved weapon, but there are never enough to go around. So the Sisterhood has found ways to jury-rig its sacred missiles to be fired one at a time from launch rails or even from the armored shoulder of a single Battle Sister. An Exorcist Missile Pod counts as a choice from the Heavy Weapons List for Adepta Sororitas units. It is also available on some vehicles. Each unit that has Exorcist Missile Pods must choose one of the following profiles for all its pods: Fiery Hammer: 48" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, One Use Only Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy 1, One Use Only Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy 1, One Use Only Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 1, One Use Only
*
SPECIAL ISSUE WARGEAR
Spoiler:
add to Special Issue Wargear list: Blessed Armour: 35 points Praesidium Protectiva: 25 points Purity Seals: 10 points Sororitas Bike: 30 points War Hymnal: 20 points Book of Acts: 15 points
Blessed Armour: 35 points Only a Canoness of the Adepta Sororitas may wear such a suit of sacramental power armour, handed down from the earliest days of the Sisterhood and elaborately consecrated by the Ministorum. Blessed armor not only provides superior protection against physical threats but inspires the faithful to resist the trickeries of the Warp. A character in Blessed Armour has a 2+ save and generates 1 Warp Die in the opposing side's psychic phase, usable for Deny The Witch rolls only.
Praesidium Protectiva: 25 points Commanders of the Adepta Sororitas often carry these elegant, arcane shields made ages ago of mysterious materials, said by the faithful to include a shard of the God-Emperor's own battle armour. Proof against bullets, blasts, and blows, its very presence steels the Sisters' willpower against witchcraft. A character with a Praesidium Protectiva gains a 3++ invulnerable save. A character with Praesidium Protectiva may never gain the +1 Attack bonus for having two close combat weapons. In addition, the character and her unit gain a +1 bonus to all Deny The Witch rolls.
Purity Seals: 10 points Purity Seals are a wargear option for any character from the Forces of the Imperium factions, excepting Repentia Champions and Veterans. Against the whispers of the warp and the maledictions of the witch, a purity seal can be more effective than any physical armour. When soldiers see their leaders adorned with such testimonies to their spiritual purity, it strengthens the resolution of the entire army. Each model with a Purity Seal adds one die to its side's Warp Charge pool during the opposing side's Psychic Phase only. This die may only be used to Deny The Witch.
Sororitas Bike: 30 points With lighter weapons and much lighter riders than their Marine counterparts, Sororitas bikes can maneuver nimbly through rough terrain, scouting far ahead of the main force to stage lightning strikes against vulnerable targets. A model mounted on a Sororitas Bike gains the Bike unit type. In addition: - A unit all of whose models are mounted on Sororitas Bikes gains the Hit & Run and Scout special rules. - A model mounted on a Sororitas Bike automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests. - A Sororitas bike is armed with a storm bolter (not twin-linked boltguns as on an Astartes bike).
War Hymnal: 20 points A Canoness and her Palatines inspire intense devotion in their Battle Sisters, leading them from the fore whilst reciting the great hymns of the Ecclesiarchy. A character with a War Hymnal gains the War Hymns special rule.
Book of Acts: 15 points Reciting the miraculous acts of Imperial saints, the leaders of the Sororitas can inspire their Sisters to perform feats beyond their regular training. When the character with the Book of Acts or the squad she has joined attempts an Act of Faith, she or they may attempt one of the Acts below instead of their regular Act from Codex:Adepta Sororitas. The Book does not grant an additional use of Acts of Faith. Divine Wind: Borne as on eagles' wings, the Sisters rush forward firing with uncanny speed, accuracy, and grace. This Act may be used in the Shooting Phase. If successful, the unit may both Run and shoot in this phase, in either order (i.e. shoot, then run; or run, then shoot). A unit cannot use this Act and fire any Heavy weapons in the same phase unless it is also Relentless. Prophetic Warning:As if forewarned, the Sisters calmly turn their weapons on charging foes and cut them down. This Act may be used whenever an enemy declares a charge against the unit with the book, immediately before resolving Overwatch.* If successful, the unit may fire overwatch at its normal Ballistic Skill. A unit that cannot fire Overwatch cannot attempt this Act. The Whole Armour of Faith: The Sisters steel themselves both spiritually and physically against the unbelievers' blows. This Act may be used whenever an enemy attacks the unit with the Book, immediately before the enemy rolls to hit.* If successful, all models in the unit gain an invulnerable save equal to their normal armour save for the remainder of the phase. The Quick and the Dead: The Sisters slice through their enemies with miraculous speed. This Act may be used in your Assault Phase, immediately before a unit charges.* If successful, every model in the unit adds +2 to its Initiative. * These Acts are exceptions to the normal rule that units can only attempt Acts before they move, shoot, run, or strike blows.
*
VEHICLE EQUIPMENT
Spoiler:
Add to Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List: Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free Armoured Pulpit: 25 points Fire Gargoyles: 15 points (45 points for Super-Heavy vehicles) Holy Icon: 10 points Holy Light: 25 points Holy Promethium: 10 points (30 points for Super-Heavy Vehicles & Walkers)
Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free While the principal role of the Exorcist remains that of tank-killer and monster-hunter, the adaptable Adepta Sororitas -- with lavish Ecclesiarchal funding -- have sponsored the rediscovery of alternative missiles that let the Sisterhood's sole artillery weapon play multiple roles. Most common among them are the "Flaming Halo," a heavy fuel-air-explosive warhead for purging medium infantry; "Falling Angel," which trades a smaller warhead for more fuel and better targeting; and "Infinite Mercy," which trades weight of explosive for fuel to extend the range. Any Sororitas unit armed with an Exorcist Missile Launcher may replace its standard ammunition with one of the alternatives below. This substitution costs no points, but it changes the weapon's profile completely: The launcher's complex system of tubes doesn't allow for switching ammo types mid-battle! You must make clear before deployment whether any given Exorcist Missile Launcher is using alternative ammunition. If you fail to do so, you must use the standard profile. Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy D6 Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy D6 Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy D6
Armoured Pulpit: 25 points Devout mechanics have converted one of this vehicle's cupolas or hatches into a heavily armoured pulpit from which a preacher can deliver inspiring, terrifying, and massively amplified sermons over the roar of battle. If a character with the War Hymns special rule is embarked on a vehicle with an armored pulpit, he may attempt "The Emperor Protects" and the "Righteousness of the Emperor" hymns. If successful, the Hymn affects one friendly unit within 6" of the vehicle, as if the character were part of that unit. If an Armoured Pulpit is bought for a vehicle that is not a Transport, it gains the ability to transport a single character.
Fire Gargoyles: 15 points (45 points for Super-Heavy vehicles) When Battle Sisters first saw Imperial Guard tank crews defending their vehicles with jury-rigged fire barrels, the Sisters sang hymns of joy -- and, being Sisters, proceeded to make an even fierier version that pours blessed promethium from cunningly wrought gargoyles. The first time an enemy unit attempts to charge a vehicle with Fire Gargoyles, that unit suffers D6 randomly allocated Strength 5 AP4 hits.
Holy Icon: 20 points Looming literally larger than life, these images of Imperial eagles, emblems, and long-dead saints look sternly down on today's combatants as if forbidding them to waver for an instant. Any unit within 6" of a vehicle with a Holy Icon adds +1 to its Leadership for all tests, including Morale, Pinning, Regrouping, and Acts of Faith. The effects of multiple Icons do not add.
Holy Light: 25 points As the massive war machine crashes into the enemy lines, its gilded armour gleaming and its sacramental spotlights blazing, the eyes of the evildoers are dazzled by a pure white light and their ears fill with celestial music. Then the faithful charge out of the vehicle and rip them apart. Assault vehicles only (including open-topped vehicles). When a unit charges out of a transport with Holy Light, it counts as having assault grenades and inflicts a Blind attack on all enemies it is charging, resolved at Initiative 10.
Holy Promethium: 10 points (30 points for Super-Heavy Vehicles & Walkers) Sororitas vehicles often carried sanctified promethium for their flamer weapons, which burns brighter and more lethally than secular fuel. If a model is equipped with Holy Promethium fires, then any flamer weapons it has -- specifically, any flamer, heavy flamer, flamestorm cannon, inferno cannon, or inferno gun -- gains +1 Strength.
*
ORDER RELICS
Spoiler:
The most powerful relics of the Adepta Sororitas are the particular treasures of the six Major Orders. Each has its one artifact of its founder, wrapped in myth and mystery, which trembling hands only take to war in times of direst need. One Canoness per detachment may take one of the following, in addition to any Ecclesiarchy Relic she may be carrying:
Grail of Ages : 60 points The Grail of Ages is the relic that gives the Order of the Ebon Chalice its name. Blackened, battered, and beyond all price, the Grail is the tangible symbol of the terrible knowledge Saint Dominica received before the Golden Throne. Since that dreadful day, the Grail has been the centerpiece of the Order's most secret rites. When a Canoness of the Ebon Chalice brings the Grail on campaign, she and her Celestians drink from it in a grim communion before they enter battle. Having thus imbibed the wisdom of their founder and fighting with the Grail in their sight, they strike with preternatural fury. The Canoness and all Celestians in the Canoness's detachment gain +1 Strength. All friendly models within 12" of the Canoness may reroll failed Leadership tests when attempting an Act of Faith.
The Skull of Vandire: 60 points Of all the Sisterhood's founding saints, it was Lucia who felt most bitterly the guilt of having served the monster Goge Vandire and the need to expiate that guilt with blood. Legend and art portray her contemplating the tyrant's severed head. To this day Vandire's meticulously preserved skull is the central relic of her cult, less a holy of holies than a grim reminder that all have sinned. Unsurprisingly, Lucia's own Order of the Valorous Heart and its daughter Orders are remarkable in the number of Sisters who self-exile themselves as Repentia. When the Canoness of such an Order -- often one of the rare redeemed Repentia herself -- carries the Skull into battle, it drives both her and her Sisters to desperate deeds of self-sacrifice. The Canoness carrying the Skull of Vandire gains the Fearless special rule. She, her squad, and all Repentia Squads within 12" gain Feel No Pain (5+).
The Shroud of Silvana: 60 points Martyred in her youth, Saint Silvana has become the paragon of selfless purity for the Adepta Sororitas, above all for Seraphim, an elite breed for which her Order of the Argent Shroud is famous. The great icon of the Order is Silvana's own death shroud, which bears the miraculous imprint of her skull in such brilliant silver that Sisters say it lights the way for the faithful and burns the eyes of the unclean. Though tattered by millennia of use as both relic and battle standard, the Shroud is still brought out for battle on dire occasions. Worn by the Canoness as a tabard over her armour, it inspires her Sisters, especially the Seraphim, and dismays their enemies. All the wearer's melee attacks have the Blind special rule. All friendly models within 12" may reroll failed Morale, Fear, and Pinning tests. In addition, all Seraphim within 12" add +1 to all Leadership rolls.
The Broken Halo: 75 points The fiercest of the Sisterhood's founders, Katharine ripped the iron halo from a Space Marine captain she fought in the battle for the Ecclesiarchal palace, then killed him and his comrades with its spikes. Even after the Sisters made peace, Katharine refused to return her bloody trophy. To this day, her Order of Our Martyred Lady and its offshoots are infamous even among Sisters for the hateful determination of even their rank and file. While the halo's force field has never functioned since Katharine tore it loose, its spikes inflict gaping wounds, and its mere presence on the battlefield makes the Battle Sisters more uncompromising than ever. The Broken Halo of Saint Katharine counts as a power axe. Its wielder, her squad, and all Battle Sister squads within 12" gain the Hatred special rule.
Fury's Fire: 60 points None of the other founding saints equaled Mina in sheer headlong aggression, and Dominions in particular take her as their inspiration. The vicious saint was ever in the vanguard, her sanctified melta -- named Fury's Fire -- always ablaze to light her Sisters' way and to root the enemy out of their darkest hiding places. A powerful but erratic piece of archeotech that was ancient before Mina was born, Fury's Fire can char its wielder as horrifically as the enemy. Nonetheless, the saint's successors in her Order of the Bloody Rose still take her weapon in their hands and put their lives in the hands of the Emperor to lead their Sisters in savage, swift assaults. Fury's Fire is a meltagun with the Ignores Cover and Gets Hot special rules. Its wielder, her squad, and all Dominion squads within 12" of her may both run and shoot in the Shooting Phase, in either order (i.e. run, then shoot; or shoot, then run).
The Light Undying: 60 points Ardent in prayer but calm in crisis, Arabella was the most level-headed of the Sisterhood's founding saints. Retributors in particular still pray for her spirit to steady their nerves and their aim. Arabella wielded a wide variety of shooting weapons in her many battles, but she always affixed to them an arcane targeting scope of unknown origin, whose pure and piercing beam -- the Light Undying -- guided her Sisters' aim and steadied their hearts. This relic remains in the possession of her Order of the Sacred Rose. Whether by its ancient technology or some lingering blessing of the God-Emperor, when the targeter's beam pierces the fog of war, the sight of it grants Arabella's heirs some of her famous steadiness in battle. The Canoness bearing the Light Undying may replace her boltgun with an item from the Heavy weapons list. She gains the Night Vision and Twin-Linked special rules on all shooting attacks. So do her squad and all Retributors within 12" if and only if they fire at a target the Canoness fired at earlier in the same phase.
*
FRATERIS MILITIA WARGEAR
Spoiler:
Crude Maul: Frateris fighters too savage to use shooting weapons but too lowly to rate Eviscerators wield an array of home-made two-handed mauls. These range from crudely cut lengths of pipe with tape wrapped around one end for the grip and barbed wire wrapped around the other, to crudely hammered slabs of steel vaguely resembling a sword, to crudely forged masses of metal that only an abhuman can carry. Strength:User+2 Melee, Two-handed, Unwieldy
Exterminator: Frateris are fond of jury-rigged mini-flamers called Exterminators, which carry just enough fuel to spray a single enemy in the face at point-blank range. Cheap, lethal, and guaranteed to hit, even in untrained hands, Exterminators are brutally effective weapons as long as they don't explode on firing. Range:Melee S:3 AP:- Flame To The Face, One Use Only, Gets Hot! Flame To The Face: The first time a unit charges or is charged, all models with Exterminators attack with them at the Initiative 10 step. Exterminator attacks do not benefit from any of a model's special rules (e.g. Hatred) and are in addition to that model's normal attacks. All models in a unit must fire their Exterminators at the same time (Frateris are not known for fire discipline).
Frateris Bike: Frateris Militia and even clergy often ride to war on civilian motorbikes, simple two-wheelers with only a vague resemblance to massive Marine bikes. A single shot can send both bike and rider crashing to the dirt, but until then they're remarkably mobile. A model with a Frateris Bike changes its unit type from Infantry to Cavalry, or from Infantry (character) to Cavalry (character). (Note that these bikes do not have the "Bike" unit type). There is no other effect.
*
***
NEW OPTIONS FOR EXISTING UNITS
Spoiler:
*
CANONESS: New Options
A Canoness may take any of the following: - A second bolt pistol: 2 points - Jump pack: 15 points - Blessed Armour: 35 pts - Book of Acts: 15 ps - Blessed Armour: 35 pts - Praesidium Protectiva: 25 pts - Purity Seals: 10 pts - Sororitas Bike: 30 pts - War Hymnal: 20 pts
(The rules for bolt pistols and jump packs are in the main rulebook. For all other items, see "Special Issue Wargear" above)
A Canoness make take one and only one Record of Service:
Records of Service Sisters of Battle live -- and die -- to serve. Each begins as a humble Battle Sister and ascends by proving her merit, martial and spiritual, against the enemies of the Emperor. A few saintly geniuses soar through the ranks at an early age, but most Canonesses have spent decades in one of their Order's specialist forces, and the experience has marked them to the bone. A Canoness may take one and only one of the following Records of Service for 20 points:
Canoness Veterana This Canoness has served long, grinding years in the ranks of the regular Battle Sisters. She has not forgotten the lethal zeal of the Order's humblest soldiers, nor their bitter hatred for many foes who kill them, and she can inspire both in her subordinates. A Canoness Veterana has the Preferred Enemy (everything) and Hatred special rules.
Canoness Celestial The elite Celestians provide many of the Sisterhoods' leaders, and this Canoness has had a particular long and distinguished career in their revered ranks. The battle-fury of charging Celestians is about her always, intoxicating and infectious. A Canoness Celestial and her squad have the Furious Charge special rule.
Canoness Dominant Aggressive even for Sisters of Battle, Dominions tend to die young or get very, very, very good. This Canoness is one of the later. She brings the agility and aggression of the Sororitas scout corps to her entire Order. A Canoness Dominant has the Scout and Ignore Cover special rules. She may take an item from the Special Weapons list, paying the normal points cost.
Canoness Enthroned The Sisters of Battle honor the infantrywoman above all others, and their leaders generally lead on foot. Some Orders Minor, however, place such a high value on bikers that they even draw their leaders from among the most experienced and skillful Thrones. A Canoness Enthroned has the Skilled Rider and Acute Senses special rules.
Canoness Redemptia How the mighty have fallen -- and risen again to glory by the grace of the God-Emperor. This Canoness has served in the Repentia with such distinction as to cleanse herself of her crime and not only return to regular duties, but rise to the highest rank of her Order. A Canoness Redemptia has the Feel No Pain (5+) and Rage special rules.
Canoness Retributant Retributors are famous for their lethal level-headedness under fire. This capacity for calculation well befits a commander. This Canoness has extensive service as a Retributor and can direct her sisters' fire with lethal accuracy even on the move. A Canoness Retributant and her unit gain the Relentless special rule. She may take an item from the Heavy Weapons list, paying the normal points cost.
Canoness Seraphic The Seraphim are living, flying icons of the Sisterhood and provide many of its leaders. This Canoness has served as a Seraphim long enough that, even when not wearing a jump pack, she retains their distinctive style of fighting -- and, some say, their angelic visage. A Canoness Seraphic may take two pistols of the same type (2 bolt pistols, 2 hand flamers, 2 inferno pistols, or 2 plasma pistols), paying the usual points cost. All her Shooting attacks have the Shred special rule. All friendly units within 12" of her may reroll failed Acts of Faith.
Canoness Vigilant Notoriously cold and aloof, the Sororitas infiltrators known as Vigils rarely rise to positions of leadership. Those that do, however, are truly terrifying commanders, leading not by inspirational hymns but by sheer icy competence. A Canoness Vigilant has the Infiltrate special rule. Her shooting attacks count as Twin-Linked. She may take an item from the Special Weapons list, paying the normal points cost.
*
MINISTORUM PRIEST: new options May take a Frateris Bike, changing his unit type to Cavalry (character): 15 points May be upgraded to a Sister Chorister (q.v.): 20 points
*
SORORITAS COMMAND SQUAD: new options The Sororitas Command Squad may take a Dominica Pattern Drop Pod or a Deliverer Assault Ark as a Dedicated Transport, in addition to the options in the Codex.
Add to Options: One Celestian may be upgraded to a Sister Signaler, replacing her Boltgun with a Vox Dei (see below): 15 points
Any Celestian may take a chainsword: 2 points per model Any Celestian may take a Storm Shield: 10 points per model
For each Canoness that takes a jump pack, one Sororitas Command Squad may also take jump packs for 15 points. For each Canoness that takes a Sororitas Bike, one Sororitas Command Squad may also take Sororitas Bikes for 55 points.
Vox Dei This sanctified communications system connects the Sister Signaler with far-flung Sororitas forces, Ecclesiarchy ships in orbit, and even secular arms of the Imperium such as the Guard. With it, she can coordinate the swift arrival of friendly reserves or call down bombardments to disrupt the enemy's. Each Sister Signaler may take a Leadership test at the beginning of your turn, before any Reserve rolls are made. For each Signaler who succeeds, you may either add +1 to your own Reserve rolls this turn or force your opponent to subtract one from his Reserve rolls (but he will automatically pass on any rolls of 6). If you have more than one Sister Signaler, all modifiers are cumulative.
The Sororitas Command Squad may take Stigmata Furia: 10 points The elite of the elite, those Celestians selected to protect the Canoness herself, have combat experience unequalled among the Sororitas. After so many battles and so many sacred scars, the holy fury for which other Celestians must pray comes to these veterans as easily as breathing. A unit with Stigmata Furia has the Furious Charge special rule.
*
ECCLESIARCHY BATTLE CONCLAVE: New Options
You may take one Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave for each Ministorum Priest, Missionary, or Confessor in your army (including Uriah Jacobus). For each Confessor and/or Missionary in your army, one Conclave may take a Deliverer Assault Ark as a Dedicated Transport.
A Conclave may be joined by a Repentia Veteran (see under "Elites"): 45 points
*
New options for BATTLE SISTER SQUAD DOMINION SQUAD RETRIBUTOR SQUAD and SERAPHIM SQUAD
The Superior or Veteran Superior* may take Purity Seals: 10 points The Superior or Veteran Superior* may take a Book of Acts: 15 pts
* Includes Dominion Superior, Veteran Dominion Superior, Retributor Superior, Veteran Retributor Superior, and Seraphim Superior.
*
CELESTIAN SQUAD: New options
A Celestian Squad may take a Dominica Pattern Drop Pod or a Deliverer Assault Ark as a Dedicated Transport, in addition to the options in the Codex.
The Celestian Superior may take Purity Seals: 10 points The Celestian Superior may take a Book of Acts: 15 pts Any Celestian may take a chainsword: 2 points per model Any Celestian may replace her boltgun with a Storm Bolter: 5 ppm
*
REPENTIA SQUAD: New options
A Repentia Squad may take a Deliverer Assault Ark, a Frateris Hussite, or a Frateris Technical (q.v.) as a Dedicated Transport, in addition to the options in the Codex.
A Repentia Squad may be joined by a Repentia Veteran (q.v.): 45 points A Repentia Squad may replace its Mistress of Penitents with a Repentia Veteran: 16 points
*
EXORCISTS: New options
May take up to two additional Exorcists: 125 points per model Any Exorcist may take Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free
*
PENITENT ENGINES: New Option All the Penitent Engines in a squadron may take Holy NOx: 15 points per model
Holy NOx Spasming wildly from the blessed boosters injected into their engine, reinforced leg actuators pounding madly, the Penitent Engines lurch forward with startling speed. Their drive trains will not last long under this kind of abuse, but then they don't have to.... A Penitent Engine with Holy NOx moves as if it were a Cavalry unit. Like a Cavalry unit, it also gains the Fleet and Hammer of Wrath special rules. A Penitent Engine squadron with Holy NOx counts as a Fast Attack choice, not Heavy Support.
***
*HQs*
*
Canoness-Marshal MINERVA: 200 points Will of iron, heart of ice WS:5 BS:5 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:4 A:3 Ld:10 Sv:3+/4++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (Character) Unit Composition: 1 (Unique)
Wargear: frag grenades, krak grenades, rosarius, melta bombs Blessed Armour, Book of Acts
Ecclesiarchy Relics: Firelock and Frostbite In the desperate battle to defend the White Cathedral of Ix, Minerva smashed open the reliquary containing these ornate archeotech weapons and wielded them against the heretic foe. After the victory, she kept the matching sword and pistol as presents from the Cardinal she had rescued. Whether the Cardinal actually consented to their donation is unclear. Firelock: Range:12" S:8 AP:1 Melta, Pistol Frostbite: S:User AP:2 Melee
Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Independent Character, Martyrdom, Shield of Faith, Stubborn Acute Senses, Scout
Act of Faith: Go Forth And Kill The Canoness-Marshal meditates deeply over her battle plan before selecting some of her followers for a special task. One use only. This Act of Faith may only be during deployment, immediately before placing units in Reserves. (Note this is an exception to the normal rules about when Acts may be attempted). If successful, one unit in Minerva's detachment gains the Scout and Acute Senses special rules.
"As the Emperor wills and I have foreseen, the heretics have advanced into the southern valley. The Guard artillery shall hold its fire until the traitor vanguard is across the bridges and decisively engaged with the Templar blocking force. Sororitas task forces Ophelia and Terra shall remain in defilade until I order the pincer attack. Razor Rose is in reserve. Am I understood? If you think it's too embarrassing to ask questions now, in front of the whole staff, imagine how embarrassed you'll be if you don't ask and I end up executing you for botching your bit of my plan." -- Canoness-Marshal Minerva at the Battle of Issus Valley, Kasserine V
Minerva Ender, Baroness Blanchette, entered the Schola Progenium at the relatively late age of seven. The sheltered only child of a noble Administratum family, she had been orphaned when Chaos cultists assassinated her parents the year before. After protracted legal battles over who would have custody of the orphan -- and of her vast inheritance -- her relatives agreed it would be best if Minerva took advantage of her orphanhood to enter the Schola, which just happened to require renouncing her fortune. They appeased their consciences by making a sizable donation to the Ecclesiarchy to ensure she would given special privileges, which ensured her fellow students hated her from the start. Haughty, brilliant, and spoiled, Minerva survived a series of beatings -- one of which left her in a coma for two weeks -- that ended only when she killed two of her classmates with a stolen kitchen knife. She was nine. The Schola staff gave her forty lashes and a month of solitary contemplation, but afterwards her fellow students largely left her alone. Minerva spent the next three years bringing her combat skills up to the level of her academic ones and was chosen as a novice of the Adepta Sororitas. She was successful in her novitiate, albeit unpopular, and was inducted into a Minor Order, the Grey Sisters, where the Canoness soon took her on as an aide. Three years later, heretic rebels staged a surprise attack on the convent. The first cannon salvo killed the Canoness and the entire command staff -- except for Minerva. Crawling from the rubble of the headquarters wing with a concussion, three broken ribs, and no armour, Minerva used her -- unauthorized -- knowledge of the Canoness's code keys to take command. By the time the Grey Sisters realized the person directing the defense had no authority to do so, they had held off the heretics long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The relief force came from the Order of the Razor Rose, the local Cardinal's elite quick-reaction force. Their Canoness, Pallas Athenne, took one look at the surviving Grey Sisters and absorbed them into her own Order, placing Minerva in command and promoting her to Palatine on the spot. (Pallas was grossly exceeding her authority, but the Cardinal backed her action). Minerva proved her worth in one campaign after another. When Pallas died in battle ten years later, she left a sealed letter naming Minerva as her successor. Since then, Minerva has made the Razor Rose the linchpin of the sector's defense. Her Order routinely forms the elite core of task forces drawn from multiple Sororitas orders, the Imperial Guard, and even Space Marines -- typically Black Templars, but on one memorable and awkward occasion a company of Space Wolves. So deft is her diplomacy with the Imperium's often-rivalrous branches, and so impressive her record of success, that the Segmentum High Command awarded her the rank of Marshal in the Imperial Guard. Resplendent in her elaborate battle armor, with her pistol Firelock and sword Frostbite in either hand, she dominates the battlefield by force of intellect and relentless will.
*
Preceptress JEHANNE: 170 points The humble, brutal heir of Saint Praxedes WS:5 BS:5 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:4 A:3 Ld:10 Sv:3+/3++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (Character) Unit Composition: 1 (Unique)
Wargear: power armour, bolt pistol, frag grenades, krak grenades, melta bombs Praesidium Protectiva, War Hymnal
Ecclesiarchy Relics: The Sceptre of Vengeance This extraordinarily destructive mace was ancient when Saint Praxedes wielded it on her day of martyrdom. Years later, the Order of Our Martyred Lady sent a team to recover it. One of the few survivors was the young Jehanne -- and in her hands it works wonders it will perform for no other. Strength:+2, AP:2, Melee, Concussive, Monster-Hunter, Smash
Warlord Trait: Inspiring Oratory
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Independent Character, Martyrdom, Shield of Faith Fearless, Zealot
Act of Faith: Death, Where Is Thy Sting? The Preceptress mouths a wordless prayer before stepping boldly into reach of the enemy's greatest weapons. One use only. This Act of Faith may be used at the beginning of either player's Assault Phase or at the beginning of the enemy's Shooting Phase. If successful, Preceptress Jehanne gains the Eternal Warrior special rule until the end of the phase.
"I sat there -- I don't know how long -- staring at the relic we'd recovered and at the bodies of my Sisters. Thinking about the things that were still out there. I suppose I was waiting for some kind of revelation, some vision of Saint Praxedes, some voice of the God-Emperor in my ear. Finally I realized I wasn't going to get one. I was alive. I had a weapon. I had an enemy. What more did I need?" -- Preceptress Jehanne in a sermon to Sororitas novices
During the Second Tyrannic War, as Hive Fleet Kraken swarmed across the sacred planet Okassis, Canoness Praxedes of the Order of Our Martyred Lady personally led the defense. Killing a Hive Tyrant by her own hand, she led her forces deep into the horde to buy time for the evacuation. Years later, with Kraken defeated and new clues found as to Praxedes' final resting place, the Order dispatched a reconnaissance force to the ravaged planet. Their mission: to search for relics of Praxedes, now declared a Saint. Their intelligence told them the Tyrannids would have scoured the world of life and then moved on. Instead, they awakened horrors waiting dormant underground, seemingly left by the Hive Fleet to ambush anyone returning to the planet. Only a handful of Sisters fought their way through to the ruined manufactorum where Praxedes had made her last stand. Only one of them fought her way out alive, wielding Praxedes' mace, the Sceptre of Vengeance: a young Sister Superior named Jehanne. Bright and outgoing before Okassis, Jehanne spoke little of her experience after. She gave the Sceptre to the Order's reliquary and humbly returned to her normal duties. But a legend grew around her recovery of the relic, and her battlefield conduct displayed a new-found fearlessness, coupled with a savage genius at finding the most dangerous enemy and destroying it. When a Tyrannid attack on the Shrine World of Butlerian convinced the Order's leaders to retrieve the Sceptre from the reliquary, there was fierce debate over who should bear it into battle -- but in the end, instead of many more senior Sisters, the Canoness chose Jehanne. Many expected Jehanne to die gloriously like Saint Praxedes. Instead she lived and won. "I did not surpass the Saint," Jehanne insisted when some hailed her as a new and greater hero. "I benefited from a much better tactical situation -- and from her blessing." Today, Jehanne is a Preceptress, commanding a thousand Sisters of Our Martyred Lady -- a rank equal in prestige and power to the Canoness of many a minor order. Yet she is still the humble, haunted woman who survived Okassis. Her speech direct, her armor unadorned, her trappings no richer than the youngest Battle Sister's, Jehanne is nevertheless unmistakable for the great mace she carries and her powerful effect on all those she commands.
Unit Composition: 1 Palatine Unit Type: Infantry (character)
Wargear: Power armour, bolt pistol, chainsword, frag grenades, krak grenades
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Shield of Faith, Independent Character
Aide-de-Camp: When not assigned an independent command, Palatines serve by the side of their Canoness or other Ecclesiarchal leaders. In addition to Palatines taken as regular HQ choices (if any), you may take one Palatine for each Canoness, Confessor, or special character in a Detachment. These Palatines do not use up any Force Organization slots.
Act of Faith: Yield Not The Palatine inspires her comrades to stand their ground, soaked with their Sisters' blood though it may be. One use only. This Act of Faith may be attempted in either player's Assault phase. If successful, the Palatine and all models in her unit gain the Stubborn special rule until the end of the current phase.
Options: A Palatine may be upgraded to a Palatine-Hospitaller. She gains Chirurgeon's Tools but may not take any of the other equipment options below: 20 points
May replace bolt pistol with boltgun: free
May take any of the following: - A second bolt pistol: 2 points - Eviscerator: 30 pts - Melta bombs: 5 pts - Jump pack: 15 pts - Book of Acts: 15 pts - Praesidium Protectiva: 25 pts - Purity Seals: 10 pts - Sororitas Bike: 30 pts - War Hymnal: 20 pts
May take one of the following: - Blessed Standard: 15 points - Sacred Banner of the Order Militant (one per army): 40 points
A Palatine may take items from the Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, and Ecclesiarchy Relics lists.
The Canoness of a larger Order may select especially experienced Sister Superiors -- or fervent young prodigies -- as her Palatines. These lieutenants assist the Canoness, command small detachments in her absence, and often carry her standard into battle.
*
SISTER CHORISTER: 45 points (HQ) She sings the hymns of war WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3+/6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (character) Unit Composition: 1 Sister Chorister
Wargear: Power Armour, bolt pistol, chainsword, frag and krak grenades
Special Rules: Independent Character, Shield of Faith, War Hymns, Zealot
Preacher Woman: In addition to any Choristers taken as regular HQ choices, you may upgrade any Priest to a Chorister for 20 points; a Chorister taken as an upgrade to a Priest does not take up a Force Organization slot. You may not take a Battle Conclave for a Chorister.
Options: May take any of the following: - melta bombs: 5 points - Purity Seals: 10 points - jump pack: 15 points - Sororitas Bike: 30 points - laud hailer: 10 points A Sister Chorister may take items from the Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, and Ecclesiarchy Relics lists.
All Sisters of Battle are trained to sing hymns to the God-Emperor. Only those with the purest voices, hearts, and hatred, however, are selected for the intense choral training and indoctrination that earns them the title of "Sister Chorister." While less tactically sophisticated than those selected for the rank of Sister Superior, the Choristers complement the Superiors' military experience with their religious zeal. Their pure, sweet voices carry high above the roar of battle, inspiring their Sisters to kill and die in the Emperor's name.
*
REPENTIA CHAMPION: 90 points (HQ) A fallen heroine, glorious in disgrace WS:5 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:3 A:3 Ld:9 Sv:-/6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (character) Unit Composition: 1 Repentia Champion
Wargear: Eviscerator
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Fearless, Fleet, Rage, Shield of Faith Feel No Pain (4+) Shred Independent Character
Outcast: Driven forth by her sisters' condemnation and her own shame, the Repentia Champion may not fight alongside pure Sororitas, let alone lead them into battle -- unless times are so desperate that every other officer is dead. A Repentia Champion may never join a unit that has the Acts of Faith special rule, except for a Repentia Squad. She may however join Frateris units, Battle Conclaves, allied Battle Brothers, etc. normally. A Repentia Champion may only be your Warlord if she is your onlyHQ choice.
Act of Faith: Death, Be Not Proud The mortally wounded Champion gathers her strength for one last strike. With a prayer on her lips and blood on her blade, she will die for her Emperor, but not alone. One use only. You may attempt this Act of Faith during either player's Assault Phase when the Repentia Champion has lost her last Wound. If successful, do not remove the Champion from play until she has made all her normal attacks. The Champion may attempt this Act even if she has joined a unit whose models lack the Acts of Faith or War Hymns special rules. Note this Act of Faith is an exception to the normal rules on when Acts may be attempted.
Magnificent even in disgrace, these fallen heroes of the Adepta Sororitas walk a lonely, bloody road. They range from condemned Canonesses too useful to imprison in a Penitent Engine, to ordinary Battle Sisters who prove far more effective as Repentia than they ever were as Sororitas in good standing. While untainted Sisters will not tolerate their proximity, these Repentia Champions often lead lesser mortals into battle, from fellow Repentia to Frateris Militia to allied Imperial Guard.
Conclave Commander: For each Confessor and/or Missionary in your army, you may take one Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave. Such a conclave may take a Deliverer Assault Ark as a Dedicated Transport.
Options: May replace laspistol with one of the following: - Autogun: free - Bolt pistol: 1 point - Boltgun: 1 pt - Plasma gun: 15 pts May take melta bombs: 5 pts May take Purity Seals: 10 points May take a Frateris Bike, changing his unit type to Cavalry (character): 15 points A Confessor or Missionary may take items from the Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons and Ecclesiarchy Relics lists.
A Confessor or Missionary may take a Chariot of Fire (q.v.) as a Dedicated Transport.
One Confessor per detachment may take Litanies of War:
Litanies of War: 40 points The greatest of Confessors can inspire miraculous brutality. Their hymns of holy hatred rise above the roar of battle and orchestrate the scattered faithful into a single choir of destruction. A Confessor (not a Missionary) may take one and only one of the Litanies of War listed below. Once per game, at the beginning of an appropriate phase, he may attempt to invoke the Litany by taking a Leadership test. If he fails, nothing happens and the hymn is lost. If he succeeds, the hymn affects all Imperium of Man units within 6", and the effect described lasts until the end of the current phase.
Anathema: The Confessor pronounces a dreadful curse upon a particular evildoer, which his followers then execute. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of his side's Shooting Phase or of either side's Assault Phase. Designate a single enemy model within the Confessor's line of sight to be anathematized. All friendly units within 6" of the Confessor gain the Preferred Enemy special rule towards the anathematized model and its unit until the end of the phase.
Fear No Evil: The Confessor's contempt for death inspires undying courage. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of any phase. All friendly units within 6" gain the Fearless special rule until the end of the phase. Any affected unit that was Falling Back immediately regroups, regardless of what phase it is, and may move, shoot (or run), and charge normally this turn.
The Fear of the Lord: The Confessor fills his followers with the terrible wrath of the God-Emperor, and His enemies quail. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of either player's Assault phase. Until the end of the phase, every friendly unit within 6" gains the Fear special rule and is immune from Fear itself.
Thy Sisters' Keeper: Filled with love for their comrades and hatred for the enemy, the faithful protect each other with withering crossfire. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of the enemy's Assault Phase. If any affected unit is charged, any other affected units may fire Overwatch just as if they were the targets of the charge themselves, except that no template weapons may be used. Remember that no unit can fire Overwatch more than once per turn.
Far more ferocious than ordinary priests and largely independent of the normal hierarchy of Cardinals and dioceses, Confessors and Missionaries are wide-ranging holy warriors. Backed by their personal battle conclaves, Battle Sisters seconded from the Adepta Sororitas, and ad hoc Frateris militia, they carry the Emperor's Light into the darkness -- whether that darkness is a world light-years beyond human space, a rebellious Imperial planet, or a nest of heretics down the street from their cathedral.
Unit Composition: 1 Mistress of Novices, 9 Novices Unit Type: Infantry; Mistress is Infantry (Character)
Wargear (novices): Carapace armour, boltgun, frag and krak grenades Wargear (Mistress): Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag and krak grenades
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Shield of Faith
Crisis of Faith A Mistress of Novices spends years guiding and guarding her young charges. To see her killed shakes them to their souls. The bereaved Novices may lose heart at the death of their mentor -- or they may seek to avenge her with a reckless fury that older and wiser soldiers would not dare. If a Mistress of Novices is removed as a casualty, her squad must take a Leadership Check at the end of the phase. (This is in addition to any Morale check caused by casualties, losing a close combat, or any other reason). If the squad fails this Morale Check, all Novice models immediately and permanently lose the Act of Faith and Shield of Faith special rules. If the squad passes this Morale Check, it immediately gains the Zealot special rule.
Little Sisters Full-fledged Sisters of Battle may tease the young Novices mercilessly, but they are fiercely protective of them and fight all the harder not to let them down. Friendly adult Sisters of Battle units within 6" of any Novice model re-roll failed Morale, Fear and Pinning tests. An adult Sister of Battle is any model with the Acts of Faith and Shield of Faith special rules that is not itself a Novice.
Act of Faith: Emulate the Elders Still learning the ways of the Adepta Sororitas as they are, Novices depend on the example of their elders -- even when those elders are rank-and-file Battle Sisters themselves barely out of their teens. One use only. This Act of Faith may be used in any phase during which a unit of adult Battle Sisters successfully performed an Act of Faith within 6" of the Novice Squad. If successful, the Novice Squad immediately performs the same Act of Faith. (That is, if it is physically possible to do so: Novices may not imitate a Throne Squad's turbo-boost or Principalities' Leap of Faith, for example). An adult Sister of Battle is any model with the Acts of Faith and Shield of Faith special rules that is not itself a Novice.
Dedicated Transport: A Novice squad may take a Rhino as a Dedicated Transport.
Options: Add up to ten additional Novices: 8 points per model One Novice may take an item from the Special Weapons list. The Mistress of Novices may take items from the Melee Weapons and/or Ranged Weapons lists. The Mistress may take melta bombs: 5 points
When a prospective Sister of Battle graduates from the Schola Progenium around age 12, she is sent to the Adepta Sororitas for what is typically a six-year Novitiate. As a Novice, she learns the Sisterhood's traditions, rituals, tactics, and weaponry. A strength-augmentation harness worn over her carapace armour allows the teenage girl to handle the weight of the holy bolter, letting her train from the first day of her Novitiate with the weapon she will use for the rest of her life -- however long or short it may be. As a matter of both military doctrine and maternal instinct, the Sisterhood tries to keep its Novices safe, at least by the standards of the Imperium. Novices often accompany Battle Sisters on campaign as pages, serving their elders and observing the Sororitas way of war first-hand while being carefully graded for their skills, piety, and nerve. Older Novices being considered for the Orders Militant are even organized into squads and sent into combat as a form of live-fire training, albeit against weak targets and with extensive backup. Only as a desperate measure would the Sororitas throw their "Little Sisters" into pitched battle. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and in the grim darkness of a waning Imperium, times are desperate all the time....
Options: May be joined by up to 40 additional Frateris Rabble: 3 points per model Up to 10 Rabble may be upgraded to Frateris Veterans: 1 point per model For every 10 Rabble, one may be upgraded to a Frateris Champion, replacing his stubber and close combat weapon with an Eviscerator: 10 points per model May be joined by a Frateris Sergeant: 15 points The Sergeant may take Purity Seals: 10 points Any model may take an Exterminator: 3 points Any Rabble or Veteran may replace his stubber and close combat weapon with a Crude Maul (Melee, S+2, Two-handed, Unwieldly): free Any Veteran may replace his stubber with a shotgun: 1 point per model For every ten models, one may replace his stubber with one of the following weapons: - grenade launcher: +4 points - flamer: +4 points - demolition charge: +16 points Exterminators, grenade launchers, flamers, and demolition charges all suffer from the Improvised Weapons rule.
Improvised Weapons The Frateris militia build their heavier weapons themselves with more zeal than skill in workshops that often blow up. Sometimes, instead, their improvised products passes what passes for inspection only to backfire explosively on the battlefield. If a unit or a model has this special rule, all of its shooting weapons have the Gets Hot! special rule, except for Stubbers, Heavy Stubbers, and Shotguns. This rule does not affect Independent Characters who join a unit with Improvised Weapons.
Exterminator: Frateris are fond of jury-rigged mini-flamers called Exterminators, which carry just enough fuel to spray a single enemy in the face at point-blank range. Cheap, lethal, and guaranteed to hit, even in untrained hands, Exterminators are brutally effective weapons as long as they don't explode on firing. S:3 AP:- Melee, Flame To The Face, One Use Only, Gets Hot! Flame To The Face: The first time a unit charges or is charged, all models with Exterminators attack with them at the Initiative 10 step. Exterminator attacks do not benefit from any of a model's special rules (e.g. Hatred) and are in addition to that model's normal attacks. All models in a unit must fire their Exterminators at the same time (Frateris are not known for fire discipline).
A Frateris mob may take a Frateris Technical as a Dedicated Transport. A mob of 10 or more may take a Frateris Hussite as a Dedicated Transport.
Every Battle Sister's story follows the same arc from orphanhood to martyrdom. The Frateris Militia are rushing headlong towards the same ending, but they come from every background and for every reason imaginable: Ordinary drudges who just want to be part of something important for a change. Schoolboys afire with dreams of glory (and hormones) after seeing the Adepta Sororitas march past. Middle-aged merchants who kiss their wives and children goodbye because they can't send the poor to die in their place, not again. Imperial Guard veterans who see the untrained masses headed for the slaughter and start having flashbacks. Hive gangers seeking redemption and a little loot. Murderers one step ahead of the hangman. All are welcome in the Frateris Militia. The militia is the unofficial, irregular army of the Imperial Cult, the shabby brothers of the knife-sharp Sisters of Battle. At the lesser shrines of the Imperial Cult, the ones that don't rate a Sororitas garrison, a hastily assembled mob of Frateris is the first and sometimes only line of defense. The Frateris also carry out pogroms against easy targets beneath the dignity of Battle Sisters. But even in major wars where the Sisters serve as the mailed fist of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Frateris often swell the ranks -- and the body count. Most Frateris "units" are really mobs of untrained rabble, stiffened by a hard core of experienced fighters and the occasional Eviscerator-wielding berserker. A few squads of Frateris approach Imperial Guard levels of skill and discipline, but even these have both temperaments and weapons that are likely to blow up at any moment.
***
*DEDICATED TRANSPORTS*
*
CHARIOT OF FIRE: 75 points (Dedicated Transport) A flame-spewing steed for furious holy men BS:1 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 1 Chariot of Fire Unit type: Vehicle (Chariot, Open-Topped)
Transport Capacity: 1 (independent characters only)
Wargear: Twin-linked heavy flamer, Armoured Pulpit
Special Rules: Furious Charge
An enormous, flame-belching, three-wheeled variant of the standard Space Marine and Sororitas bikes, the Chariot of Fire is reserved for the most elevated and vicious of the Ecclesiarchy's clergy.
*
FRATERIS TECHNICAL: 30 points (Dedicated Transport) An Ork Trukk for (expendable) people BS:3 Armour:10/10/10 HP:3
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 1 Frateris Technical Unit Type: Vehicle (Fast, Open-Topped, Transport)
Wargear: Heavy Stubber, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers
Special Rules: none
Transport capacity: 12 models. The Technical may carry Bulky or Very Bulky models.
Options: May replace the Heavy Stubber with - Grenade Launcher: 4 pts - Flamer: 4 pts The Grenade Launcher and Flamer suffer from the Improvised Weapons special rule.
Improvised Weapons The Frateris militia build their heavier weapons themselves with more zeal than skill in workshops that often blow up. Sometimes, instead, their improvised products passes what passes for inspection only to backfire explosively on the battlefield. If a unit or a model has this special rule, all of its shooting weapons have the Gets Hot! special rule, except for Stubbers, Heavy Stubbers, and Shotguns. This rule does not affect Independent Characters who joined a unit with Improvised Weapons.
Some Frateris careen towards martyrdom crammed into civilian trucks hastily fitted with crude armour and unreliable weapons.
***
*ELITES*
*
REPENTIA VETERAN: 45 points (Elite) A few live long enough to lead WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:2 I:3 A:3 Ld:9 Sv:-/6++
Spoiler:
A Repentia Veteran is always bought as an upgrade for a squad (see below) and never takes up a Force Organization slot.
Unit Type: Infantry (character) Unit Composition: 1 Repentia Veteran
Wargear: Eviscerator
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Fearless, Fleet, Rage, Shield of Faith Feel No Pain (5+) Shred
Lived Long Enough To Lead: A few exceptional Sisters Repentia hew their way towards redemption by winning, rather than by dying. These veteran Repentia may become the de facto leaders of their fellow fallen if the Mistress of Penitents is slain. Some are recruited by a priest to be a bodyguard. Others, as the last survivors of their squad, find themselves at the head of a ragged band of Frateris militia. Each Battle Conclave, Repentia Squad, and Frateris Militia Mob in your army may be joined by one Repentia Veteran for 45 points. Alternatively, a Repentia Squad may replace its Mistress of Penitents with a Repentia Veteran for 16 points. In no case does the Repentia Veteran take a Force Organization slot. Note that a Repentia Veteran is not an independent character and may never leave her unit or join another. Note also that a Repentia Veteran may only use her Act of Faith if part of a Repentia Squad, as Battle Conclaves and Frateris Militia have neither Acts of Faith nor War Hymns.
Act of Faith: Live for Redemption Hope flashes through the Repentia: If the veteran can survive this, perhaps they can too? One use only. This Act of Faith can be used in the enemy Shooting phase, immediately after the opposing player has selected the Repentia Squad as a target but before rolling any die (note this is an exception to the normal rules about when Acts may be attempted). If successful, all models in the Sisters Repentia unit, including the Repentia Veteran, gain the Feel No Pain (3+) special rule until the end of the current phase.
Damn you all for cowards! My sins may be too great for the Sisterhood, but at least I know my duty to the Imperium. If you love your soul more than your life, take up your sword and follow me! -- Sister Repentia Maria Annikova (redemptio posthumous) to the Frateris Militia before the last charge at Yeshua's Gate
Sisters Repentia seek absolution in death -- but sometimes they survive. A handful even endure battle after battle. Some of their Sisters see these veteran Repentia as failures, incapable even of dying properly, but the most see their survival as a sign of grace. Veteran Repentia are usually granted greater respect and greater freedom from the lash. Often the Sisterhood would welcome a veteran Repentia back into their ranks, redeemed by countless battles, but her own shame is too deep to accept forgiveness.
*
PRINCIPALITY SQUAD: 150 points (Elite) They strike from the sky with spear and shield Principality WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3++ Superior WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3++
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 4 Principalities, 1 Principality Superior Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Superior is Jump Infantry (character)
Wargear: power armor, storm shield, power lance, frag grenades, krak grenades, jump pack
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Shield of Faith, Furious Charge, Hit & Run
Blaze of Glory The Principalities descend from the heavens with a speed, skill, and fury unmatched by other jump troops. They use their jump packs to accelerate their fall, rather than to brake it, until the last possible moment, descending face-first with their storm shields held out in front to protect from the friction of their rush through the atmosphere. By the time they land, their shields are glowing hot and their force fields are crackling. This energetic interaction -- and, say the faithful, the blessing of the God-Emperor -- gives them extra protection at a moment of tactical vulnerability. After a unit of Principalities enters play by Deep Strike, it may reroll failed saves against shooting attacks until the beginning of its next turn. However, it may not attempt a Leap of Faith in the turn it arrives by Deep Strike.
Act of Faith: Leap of Faith: As if warned by holy voices, the Principalities take to the sky before the infidel can charge them. One use only. This Act of Faith can be used in the enemy's Assault Phase, immediately after an enemy unit has declared a charge against the Principalities, but before rolling for charge distance. (Note this is an exception to the normal rules about when Acts may be attempted). If successful, immediately move the Principality squad (with all attached characters) 3". Note this may cause the enemy's charge to fail.
Options: May add up to five additional Principalities: 30 points per model Any model may replace her power lance with a power sword: free Any model may replace her power lance and storm shield with an Eviscerator: 5 pts Any model may take melta bombs: 5 pts The Principality Superior may take a Laud Hailer: 10 pts The Principality Superior may take Purity Seals: 10 pts The Principality Superior may take a Book of Acts: 15 pts One model may replace her power lance with Longinus Lance: 15 pts
Longinus Lance An ancient power lance with sacred relics embedded in the shaft. A model with a Longinus Lance counts as having both a Power Lance and a Simulacrum Imperialis.
Descending from the heavens in gleaming glory, the Principalities are the elite of the elite among the Sisterhood. To join their ranks, a Sister must first prove herself as a jump trooper among the Seraphim and as a close combatant among the Celestians. Only then is she deemed worthy of the powerful and venerable wargear of the Principalities: a forcefield-generating Storm Shield and an armor-penetrating power weapon, typically a lance. (Some Principalities, however, prefer power swords or even Eviscerators). With these the Principalities practice tactics of hit and run and hit again, falling upon the foe and then swiftly wheeling out of reach. To make the very most of their abilities, Principality Superiors frequently carry a Book of Acts, typically turned to the Litany of the Quick and the Dead to speed their strikes in combat. A wise Sororitas commander knows that, for all their superior skill and wargear, the Principalities remain as mortal as any other Sister and must not be committed to prolonged slogging matches. Instead, the Sororitas use them either as the flying spearhead of Deep Strike attacks, often escorted and screened by Seraphim, or as a highly mobile counterattack force, kept behind the line until the crucial moment.
Unit Composition: 1 Vigil Superior; 4 Vigils Unit Type: Infantry; Superior is Infantry (Character)
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag & krak grenades Special Rules: Acts of Faith; Shield of Faith; Infiltrate; Night Vision; Stealth
Infallible Aim As the supreme markswomen of the Sisterhood, the Vigils can assume a posture of superhuman stillness as they focus on a crucial target -- at the expense of tactical flexibility. If a Vigil model does not move in the Movement Phase, all her shooting attacks in the subsequent Shooting Phase count as Twin-Linked. She may not then charge in the Assault Phase.
Act of Faith: Unerring Vengeance The Vigils intone a silent prayer and fire with impossible precision on the most dangerous of the evil-doers. You may attempt this Act of Faith at the start of your own Shooting Phase. If successful, all the unit's attacks gain one and only one of the following special rules: Monster Hunter; Tank Hunter; or Sniper.
Dedicated Transport: A Vigil squad may never take a dedicated transport.
Options: Add up to five additional Vigils: 25 points per model One Vigil may take a Simulacrum Imperialis: 10 points Four other Vigils may replace their boltguns with items from the Special Weapons list. The Vigil Superior may take Ranged or Melee weapons. The Vigil Superior may take melta bombs: 5 points The Vigil Superior may take Purity Seals: 10 points
Only the most cool-headed and cold-blooded Sisters are chosen for the Vigils, a elite which originated in the notoriously rational Order of the Sacred Rose. While Repentia unnerve many regular Sisters with their screaming fury, Vigils are considered uncanny for their icy calm and their near-total silence. Only the Superiors speak at all, and that sparingly. The regular Vigils follow the strictest vows of silence, coordinating their actions only by a few sparse hand gestures and an eerie, wordless intuition that needs no outward sign at all. Shrouded in sacred camouflage cloaks, their power armour anointed with blessed lubricants to move without a sound, their optics illumined to piece the darkness of the night, Vigils infiltrate into key positions and then wait for hours, days, or weeks to observe the enemy and -- if so ordered -- strike.
Special Rules: Furious Charge; Hammer of Wrath; Rage; Stubborn; Very Bulky Rampage (Brutes only) Crusader and Fleet (Longlegs only)
Untouchables: A Penitent Abhuman unit may not be joined by any independent character except a Priest, Missionary, Confessor (including Uriah Jacobus), or Repentia Champion.
Options: Add up to 7 additional Penitent Abhumans: +30 points per model The entire Mob may be upgraded to a specific breed of Abhuman: - Brutes (+1 Strength, Rampage): +20 points per model - Ironhides (+1 Toughness, +1 Wound): +20 pts per model - Longshanks (Crusader and Fleet): +20 pts per model - Ogryns (+1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Wound): +30 pts per model
A Penitent Abhuman mob may take a Frateris Hussite or Frateris Technical as a dedicated transport.
Your sin was what you were born! Your redemption will be how you die! - Ministorum Priest exhorting penitent abhumans on the eve of battle
Abhumans are more often the victims of the Frateris Militia than its members. When the Frateris start working up their courage, their first target -- if only by way of practice -- is often their genetically imperfect neighbors. Even when Abhumans prove their piety sufficiently to survive, their service usually consists of hauling supplies until they fall, unburied and unmourned, along the line of march. But in these desperate times, the sheer strength, ferocity, and blind faith of the larger abhuman breeds is sometimes just too useful to discard. On the eve of battle, the priests unchain these mighty outcasts from the ammunition sledges, hand them crudely forged masses of metal, and tell them of their great good fortune: a chance to cleanse their tainted blood by shedding it for the God-Emperor.
Unit Composition: 1 Throne Superior, 2 Thrones Unit Type: Bikes; Superior is Bike (Character)
Wargear: Power armour, bolt pistol, frag & krak grenades, Sororitas bike
Sororitas Bike: With lighter weapons and much lighter riders than their Marine counterparts, Sororitas bikes can maneuver nimbly through rough terrain, scouting far ahead of the main force to stage lightning strikes against vulnerable targets. A model mounted on a Sororitas Bike gains the Bike unit type. In addition: - A unit all of whose models are mounted on Sororitas Bikes gains the Hit & Run and Scout special rules. - A model mounted on a Sororitas Bike automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests. - A Sororitas bike is armed with a storm bolter (not twin-linked boltguns as on an Astartes bike).
Special Rules: Acts of Faith; Shield of Faith
Act of Faith: Loose The Fateful Lightning Their aim steadied and engines fueled by faith, the Thrones conduct a divinely guided drive-by shooting. You may attempt this Act of Faith at the beginning of your Shooting Phase. If successful, the squad may either shoot and then Turbo-Boost, or Turbo-Boost and then shoot, in this phase. The unit must complete both actions before you move onto the next unit -- otherwise you lose the chance to take the second action.
Options: The squad may include up to five additional Thrones: 23 points per model One Throne may take a Simulacrum Imperialis: 10 points. Four other Thrones may replace their bike-mounted storm bolters with an item from the Special Weapons List for the normal cost. The Throne Superior may be upgraded to a Veteran Throne Superior: 10 points. The Throne Superior or Veteran Superior may take items from the Melee and Ranged Weapons list. The Throne Superior or Veteran Superior may take Melta bombs: 5 points. The Throne Superior or Veteran Superior may take Purity Seals: 10 points
The Adepta Sororitas first began using bikes in M38, when a preceptory of the famously fiery Order of the Bloody Rose annihilated a renegade Marine bike company and seized their mounts as spoils of war. More fragile but more agile than their Astartes counterparts, the Bloody Rose bikers proved such invaluable outriders in subsequent campaigns that their preceptory was elevated to its own Minor Order, the Fiery Wheels. Many other Orders followed their example and adopted bikes, customizing them for lighter riders using hit-and-run tactics.
Unit Type: Vehicle (tank, fast) Unit Composition: 1 Lucifer Scout Tank
Wargear: Inferno Cannon; Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers
Special Rules: Shield of Faith, Scout
Options: May include up to two additional Lucifer Scout Tanks: 145 pts per model Any Lucifer may replace its Inferno Cannon with a Melta Cannon: +10 points Any Lucifer may replace its heavy bolter with a heavy flamer: free Any Lucifer may replace its heavy bolter with a multi-melta: +10 points Any Lucifer may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment list.
Inferno Cannon: Template S:6 AP:4 Type: Heavy 1, Torrent Melta Cannon: 24" S:8 AP:1 Type: Heavy 1, Blast, Melta
The "Light Bringer" is an ancient design, predating the Great Crusade but then lost for millennia. The Sisters recovered an STC print-out and gave it to the Adeptus Mechanicus in exchange for exclusive rights to the vehicles produced, an arrangement similar to that with the Immolator. The two vehicles together inspired the design of the Imperial Guard's Hellhound tanks. However, the Lucifer's lighter armour, heavier suspension, and more sophisticated navigation system gives it superior cross-country mobility, enabling it to scout ahead of the main force and conduct wide flanking movements alongside Sororitas Dominions and Thrones.
*
SORORITAS VALKYRIE : 160 points (Fast Attack) The classic Navy transport, sanctified BS:4 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Vehicle (Flyer, Hover, Transport) Unit Composition: 1 Sororitas Valkyrie Assault Carrier
Wargear: heavy bolter; two Exorcist Missile Pods; extra armour; searchlight
Each unit that has Exorcist Missile Pods must choose one of the following profiles for all its pods: Fiery Hammer: 48" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, One Use Only Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy 1, One Use Only Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy 1, One Use Only Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 1, One Use Only
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Grav Chute Insertion If a Valkyrie or Victoria has moved more than 6", passengers may disembark, but they must do so as follows. Nominate any point over which the Valkyrie or Victoria moved this turn and deploy the unit as if it were deep striking onto that point. If the unit scatters, every model must immediately take a dangerous terrain test. If any of the models cannot be deployed, the unit is destroyed.
Transport Capacity: 12 models.
Options: May replace its heavy bolter with a multi-melta: free May take a pair of sponsons armed with heavy bolters: 20 points May take a Laud Hailer: 10 points
By far the Sisterhood's most common flier, the Sororitas Valkyrie simply replaces the Navy version's laser weaponry with heavy bolters or melta weapons. It can deploy Seraphim jump troops from extreme altitudes or other Sisters from grav chutes.
*
VICTORIA ASSAULT CARRIER: 185 points (Fast Attack) The Sisters' triple-multi-melta version of the Vendetta BS:4 Armour:12/12/10 HP:3 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Vehicle (Flyer, Hover, Transport) Unit Composition: 1 Victoria Assault Carrier
Wargear: three twin-linked multi-meltas; extra armour; searchlight
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Grav Chute Insertion If a Valkyrie or Victoria has moved more than 6", passengers may disembark, but they must do so as follows. Nominate any point over which the Valkyrie or Victoria moved this turn and deploy the unit as if it were deep striking onto that point. If the unit scatters, every model must immediately take a dangerous terrain test. If any of the models cannot be deployed, the unit is destroyed.
Transport Capacity: 6 models.
Options: May take a pair of sponsons armed with heavy bolters: 20 points May take a Laud Hailer: 10 points
The Victoria is the Sororitas equivalent of the Navy Vendetta. Armed with multi-meltas instead of lascannon, it sacrifices range for close-in firepower. It is crewed by sharp-shooting Sisters willing to get within "kissing distance" of their targets to incinerate them more effectively.
*
DOMINICA PATTERN DROP POD: 40 points (Fast Attack) A sanctified version of the Astartes stand-by Drop Pod: BS:2 Armour 12/12/12 HP:3
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Vehicle (Open-topped, Transport) Unit Composition: 1 Drop Pod
Wargear: heavy flamer
Special Rules: Drop Pod Assault; Immobile; Inertial Guidance System* * See Codex:Space Marines for these rules.
Flower of Flame: Dominica-pattern drop pods often have flamer pipes built into the insides of their doors. When the pod lands and opens, it unfolds like a flower of purifying flame. If a Dominica-pattern drop pod is armed with a heavy flamer, then, when firing, you may place the narrow end of the template in contact with any part of the model.
Transport Capacity: 10 models or 1 Penitent Engine. A Dominica Pattern Drop Pod is a Dedicated Transport option for a Sororitas Command Squad or a Celestian Squad.
Options May replace its heavy flamer with a Storm Bolter or Multi-Melta: free
The Eccesiarchy has its own version of the standard Astartes drop pod, one stripped of the suspiciously advanced Machine Spirit and fitted instead with a thoroughly purified heretic as a gun servitor.
Unit Composition: 5 Frateris Bikers Unit Type: Cavalry; Boss is Cavalry (character)
Wargear: Improvised armour; stubber; close combat weapon
Frateris Bike: Frateris Militia and even clergy often ride to war on civilian motorbikes, simple two-wheelers with only a vague resemblance to massive Marine bikes. A single shot can send both bike and rider crashing to the dirt, but until then they're remarkably mobile. A model with a Frateris Bike changes its unit type from Infantry to Cavalry, or from Infantry (character) to Cavalry (character). (Note that these bikes do not have the "Bike" unit type). There is no other effect.
Special Rules: Rage, Hit & Run
Options: Add up to 15 additional Frateris Bikers: 10 points per model One Biker may be upgraded to a Boss: 10 points Any Biker may upgrade his stubber to a shotgun: 1 point Any model may take an Exterminator: 3 points For every five models in the Pack, one may be upgraded to a Sidecar Bike carrying one of the following weapons: - Heavy Stubber: 5 points - Grenade Launcher: 4 pts - Flamer: 4 pts Note that the Grenade Launcher and Flamer suffer from the Improvised Weapons special rule.
Improvised Weapons The Frateris militia build their heavier weapons themselves with more zeal than skill in workshops that often blow up. Sometimes, instead, their improvised products passes what passes for inspection only to backfire explosively on the battlefield. If a unit or a model has this special rule, all of its shooting weapons have the Gets Hot! special rule, except for Stubbers, Heavy Stubbers, and Shotguns. This rule does not affect Independent Characters who joined a unit with Improvised Weapons.
Exterminator: Frateris are fond of jury-rigged mini-flamers called Exterminators, which carry just enough fuel to spray a single enemy in the face at point-blank range. Cheap, lethal, and guaranteed to hit, even in untrained hands, Exterminators are brutally effective weapons as long as they don't explode on firing.
Range:Melee S:3 AP:- Flame To The Face, One Use Only, Gets Hot! Flame To The Face: The first time a unit charges or is charged, all models with Exterminators attack with them at the Initiative 10 step. Exterminator attacks do not benefit from any of a model's special rules (e.g. Hatred) and are in addition to that model's normal attacks. All models in a unit must fire their Exterminators at the same time (Frateris are not known for fire discipline).
Even biker gangs can believe fiercely in the God-Emperor -- and God-Emperor help anyone they decide does not. Whether hardened outlaws on stolen rides or young nobles showing off their spiffing steel steeds, Frateris Bikers serve as highly mobile, highly fragile scouts. While their civilian-model motorbikes lack anything like the survivability of an Astartes bike, they do allow them to outmaneuver enemy infantry, firing wildly as they drive by or charging headlong at weaker targets.
Options: May take up to two additional Sororitas Predators: 100 points per model Any Predator may exchange its Flamestorm Cannon for a Magna-Melta (see below): +30 points Any Predator take a pair of side sponsors armed a pair of either heavy bolters, heavy flamers, or multi-meltas: 20 points Any Predator take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
Magna-Melta: 18" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Melta
When Sisters of Battle saw the Predator Infernus in action, it was love at first sight. While rare among the Adeptus Astartes, the Infernus -- in its ornately decorated Ecclesiarchal variant -- is the standard main battle tank of the Adepta Sororitas, charging the foe with its powerful but short-ranged weapons while Exorcists provide long-range covering fire.
*
VINDICTA ASSAULT GUNS: 115 points (Heavy Support) An Avenger Bolt Cannon tank BS:4 Armour:13/11/10 HP:3 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 1 Vindicta Assault Gun Unit Type: Vehicle (tank)
Options: May take up to two additional Vindicta Assault Guns: 115 points per model Any Vindicta may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment list.
Avenger Bolt Cannon: 36" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 7
The Adeptus Sororitas revered the Avenger Strike Fighter since its use against them by Sebastian Thor's rebels in the Age of Apostasy, when its namesake weapon ripped through power-armoured troops. When the Sisters first began to use the Avenger Bolt Cannon as a ground weapon is unclear, but there are several records of Sisters salvaging them from wrecked fighters. At the siege of Naval Ground Base Fury Miko, the Order of the Wounded Heart took Avengers grounded for lack of fuel and physically pushed them to the perimeter as a last-ditch defense against attacking Traitor Marines. By M38, the Sisterhood -- and the Ecclesiarchy's wealth -- had persuaded the Mechanicum to modify a Space Marine Vindicator to carry an Avenger Bolt Cannon in the spearhead of Sororitas attacks.
Act of Faith: None The Retributor crew of a Sororitas artillery piece cannot perform Acts of Faith: There aren't enough of them. However, an independent character can join the crew and still perform Acts. These Acts affect the character, the Retributors, and their personal wargear only -- they have no effect on the artillery piece itself!
Options: - May include up to two additional Retributor Crew: 12 pts per model - May upgrade Avenger Bolt Cannon to an Exorcist Missile Launcher: 15 points
An Exorcist Missile Launcher may take Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free You must make clear before deployment whether any Exorcist Missile Launcher is using alternative ammunition. If you fail to do so, you must use the standard profile. Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy D6 Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy D6 Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy D6
Unit Type: Vehicle (Flyer, Hover) Unit Composition: 1 Virago Exorcist Missile Carrier
Wargear: Exorcist Missile Launcher; heavy bolter; extra armour; searchlight
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Awkwardly Mounted Weapon: The Exorcist Missile Launcher can only fire with its full Ballistic Skill at ground targets: All shots at fliers are Snap Shots.
Options: May take a Laud Hailer: 10 points May take alternative Exorcist ammunition: free You must make clear before deployment whether any Exorcist Missile Launcher is using alternative ammunition. If you fail to do so, you must use the standard profile. Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy D6 Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy D6 Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy D6
The Virago is the rarest and strangest of the Sisterhood's Valkyrie variants. This hybrid makes the orthodox Mechanicus wince but the Sisterhood deem it necessary given their lack of dedicated ground-attack craft like the Navy Vulture. The Virago mounts a massive Exorcist Missile Launcher in the space normally used for passengers or cargo, the "pipes" that launch the missiles projecting awkwardly forward from the permanently opened side doors. It is an ungainly arrangement but brutally effective.
*
SORORITAS AVENGER STRIKE FIGHTER: 225 points An uparmored Avenger with a Sororitas pilot BS:4 Armour:12/11/10 HP:2 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 1 Sororitas Avenger Strike Fighter Unit Type: Vehicle (Flyer)
Wargear: Avenger Bolt Cannon; four Exorcist Missile Pods; armoured cockpit
Special Rules: Strafing Run, Deep Strike, Supersonic
Options: None.
Weapons: Avenger Bolt Cannon: 36" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 7
Each unit that has Exorcist Missile Pods must choose one of the following profiles for all its pods: Fiery Hammer: 48" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, One Use Only Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy 1, One Use Only Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy 1, One Use Only Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 1, One Use Only
Largely forgotten for the first millennia of the Imperium's history, the Avenger Strike Fighter STC was rediscovered in time to fight in the Age of Apostasy. In the civil wars of that dark era, the forces of Saint Sebastian Thor found the Avenger's multi-barreled bolt cannon ideally suited to shredding the power-armoured elite of the tyrant Vandire's Frateris Templar and the then-Brides of the Emperor. While relatively rare in the Imperial Navy, which generally disdains single-mission ground attack craft, the Avenger is the favored fighter of the Adepta Sororitas. In addition to requesting close support from Navy Avengers whenever available, the better-resourced Orders Militant field their own model, which they insist is the original, faithfully following the STC print-outs used by Sebastian Thor. Instead of the dual lascannons and defensive gun turret of the Navy version, the Sororitas Avenger has four wingtip-mounted Exorcist missiles and additional armour plating on the fuselage. For all their emphasis on martyrdom, the Sororitas consider personnel less expendable than the Navy does and cannot spare its highly trained personnel to operate a rarely-used secondary weapon. While the Sororitas Avenger lacks the spare weight capacity to carry under-wing ordnance, the combination of the Exorcist missiles' tank-killing power and the Avenger Bolt Cannon's capability to shred light armor and heavy infantry makes for formidable firepower. Meanwhile the extra armour -- and, the Sisters say, the protection of the God-Emperor -- improves the aircraft's survivability.
*
DELIVERER ASSAULT ARK: 150 points (Heavy Support) A fire-breathing open-topped transport BS:4 Armour: 14/13/12 HP:4
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank, Transport, Open-Topped) Unit Composition: 1 Deliverer Assault Ark
Wargear: Twin-linked multi-melta (front); two flamestorm cannons (in sponsons); searchlight; smoke launchers
Special Rules: Open-topped; Shield of Faith
Elite Transport: The Deliverer is a dedicated transport option for a Celestian Squad, a Sororitas Command Squad, or a Repentia Squad. In addition, for each Confessor or Missionary in your army, one Battle Conclave may take a Deliverer as a Dedicated Transport.
Transport Capacity: 12 models
Options: May replace twin-linked multi-melta with twin-linked heavy bolter or twin-linked heavy flamer: free. May replace one or both flamestorm cannon with a Magna-Melta (see below): +30 points for one, +60 points for both May take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
Magna-Melta: 18" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Melta
Though disdained by the Astartes as an inferior Land Raider and by the Guard as an undersized Gorgon, the Deliverer fills a gap in the Sororitas arsenal between nimble but thin-skinned Rhino-based transports and the super-heavy Storm Queen. The first Delivers were jury-rigged in a pious panic by the miners of Kossus J3F, where countless heretics had taken refuge in the lower levels and set up deadly point-blank ambushes for the Battle Sisters sent down dark tunnels to root them out. Crudely converted from civilian ore carriers, their hulls covered with slabs of armour and hastily daubed religious icons, the improvised vehicles smashed through unscathed where lighter vehicles had been destroyed. By the time the nine-year campaign was over, Canoness Guderianna of the Iron Rose had become convinced the Deliverer should not be a one-time expedient but a permanent part of her Order's armory. Impressed by her example, other Orders Militant commissioned their own conversions. Finally, just only six centuries of lobbying, bribery, and assassination, the Ecclesiarchy persuaded the Mechanicum to mass-produce a standardized design.
*
FRATERIS HUSSITE: 120 points (Heavy Support) A ramshackle juggernaut packed with rabble BS:3 Armour:13/12/11 HP:4
Spoiler:
Unit Composition: 1 Frateris Hussite Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank, Transport, Open-Topped)
Wargear: Searchlight, Smoke Launchers
Special Rules:
Improvised Weapons The Frateris militia build their heavier weapons themselves with more zeal than skill in workshops that often blow up. Sometimes, instead, their improvised products passes what passes for inspection only to backfire explosively on the battlefield. If a unit or a model has this special rule, all of its shooting weapons have the Gets Hot! special rule, except for Stubbers, Heavy Stubbers, and Shotguns. This rule does not affect Independent Characters who joined a unit with Improvised Weapons.
Passenger capacity: 20 models The Frateris Hussite may carry Bulky and Very Bulky models. However, note that adding weapons reduces its passenger capacity (see Options below).
Options: The Frateris Hussite may take up to 10 weapons from the list below. However, each weapon taken reduces the passenger capacity by two. Further, the Hussite can only mount a few weapons facing in each direction: two front, two rear, three left, and three right. - Grenade Launcher: 3 pts - Heavy Stubber: 4 pts - Twin-Linked Heavy Stubber: 7 pts - Flamer: 3 pts - Heavy Flamer: 7 pts The Grenade Launcher, Flamer, and Heavy Flamer suffer from the Improvised Weapons special rule.
A Frateris Hussite may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
A clanking monstrosity jury-rigged out of a commercial heavy hauler, the Hussite services as a mobile fortress for the Frateris firing out of it in every direction.
*
***
*LADIES OF WAR*
Spoiler:
Adepta Sororitas super-heavy vehicles are moving temples of destruction. Fortunately for heretics, they are also rare. Between the Sisterhood's preference for short-range urban fighting in defense of shrines and the Ecclesiarchy's on-and-off relationship with the Machine Cult, the Orders Militant actually have fewer superheavies per 100,000 infantry than the Imperial Guard. In fact, most Sororitas "Ladies of War" are converted from the Baneblade and its variants, and they are rarely provided directly by the Mechanicum: Instead, the Sisters tend to acquire former Imperial Guard super-heavy tanks, whether by recovering wrecked ones from the battlefield, capturing them from traitor regiments, or simply "requisitioning" them from overawed Guard commanders and never giving them back.
*
STORM QUEEN: 530 points (Lord of War) A Sororitas Stormlord that can carry a minaret BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit type: Vehicle (Super-Heavy Vehicle, Transport) Unit composition: 1 Storm Queen
Wargear: Vulcan Mega-Bolter*; twin-linked heavy bolter; one heavy bolter; searchlight, smoke launchers
*Vulcan Mega-Bolter: 60" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 15
Transport Capacity: 40 models Fire Points & Access Points: see "Troop Bay," below
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
All Power of Prayer To Weapons!: If the Storm Queen does not move, it may fire its Vulcan Mega-Bolter twice in the following Shooting phase (either at two different targets or twice at the same target).
Troop Bay: 20 models can fire from the troop bay. The Storm Queen is treated as Open-Topped for the purposes of embarking and disembarking only. The +1 damage modifier for Open-Topped vehicles does not apply to the Storm Queen.
Options: A Storm Queen may replace its troop bay with one of the following, reducing its transport capacity to 20 models, losing the Troop Bay special rule, and gaining a single access point in the rear:
- Dual Exorcist Missile Launcher: 90 points Choose one of the following profiles: Fiery Hammer: Range:48" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 2d6 Flaming Halo: Range:36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy 2D6 Falling Angel: Range: 60" S:6 S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Heavy 2D6 Infinite Mercy: Range: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 2D6
- Kriegsminaret: 60 points As long as they are within 12" of a vehicle with an Kriegsminaret, all Imperium of Man units gain the War Hymns special rule. However, they may only use the "The Emperor Protects" and "Righteousness of the Emperor" hymns.
May take a hunter-killer missile: 10 pts May take a storm bolter: 5 pts May add up to two pairs of side sponsons, each with one twin-linked flamestorm cannon and one twin-linked heavy bolter: 50 pts/pair A Storm Queen may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
The Sororitas's most common superheavy vehicle is based on the Imperial Guard Stormlord. As a giant infantry fighting vehicle, optimized to carry infantry into combat and support them at short range and high risk, the very attributes that make it unattractive to the average Guard commander make it a favorite for the more aggressive Sororitas. In addition, the Sisterhood makes good use of the Stormlord's troop bay, not only using it to carry squads of sharpshooting Retributors but often converting it to hold Exorcist missile launchers or even a towering minaret for a Ministorum Priest.
*
FLAMEBLADE: 575 points (Lord of War) A Sororitas Baneblade with fire-based weapons BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit type: Vehicle (Super-Heavy Vehicle) Unit composition: 1 Flameblade
Inferno Gun: Hellstorm S:7 AP:3 Primary Weapon 1 Magna-Melta: 18" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Melta
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Options: May take a hunter-killer missile: 10 pts May take a storm bolter: 5 pts May add up to two pairs of side sponsons, each with one twin-linked flamestorm cannon and one twin-inked heavy bolter: 50 pts/pair A Flameblade may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
This Baneblade variant replaces the original's cannons with weapons more to the Sororitas' fiery taste, drastically reducing range but dramatically improving close-in firepower with a high-powered melta and a Titan-sized flamer. Once the Ecclesiarchy's mechanics are done with it, the Guard's general-purpose super heavy tank has become a specialized city-clearing, bunker-busting nightmare.
*
FIRE SWORD: 505 points (Lord of War) A Sororitas Shadowsword with a massive melta cannon BS:4 Armour:14/13/12 HP:9 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit type: Vehicle (Super-Heavy Vehicle, Transport) Unit composition: 1 Fire Sword
Options: May take a hunter-killer missile: 10 pts May take a storm bolter: 5 pts May add up to two pairs of side sponsons, each with one twin-linked flamestorm cannon and one twin-inked heavy bolter: 50 pts/pair May take an additional twin-linked heavy bolter or heavy flamer: 10 points A Fire Sword may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment List.
This modified Shadowsword replaces the giant laser of the Volcano Cannon with a massive Melta Cannon, trading range and penetration versus other superheavies for a huge blast effect that melts through fortress walls and whole formations of lesser vehicles. What was once a sniper-like Titan killer becomes a brutal assault gun.
*
KNIGHT ANGELUS A winged Knight Titan that strikes from the heavens WS:4 BS:4 S:10 Armour:13/12/12 I:4 A:3 HP:6
Spoiler:
Unit Type: vehicle (super-heavy walker) Unit Composition: 1 Knight Angelus
Wargear: Heavy Bolter; Reaper Chainsword*; Ion Shield* * see Codex:Imperial Knights for these rules.
Pillar of Fire Range:0" S:7 AP:3 Ordnance 1, Jump Jet Exhaust Jump Jet Exhaust: The Pillar of Fire is simply the fiery exhaust of the Angelus's jump jets, directed as a weapon. The Pillar of Fire uses the Massive Blast marker instead of a flamer or hellstorm template but otherwise follows all the rules for Template weapons. In addition, when the Knight Angelus successfully charges an enemy unit or Deep Strikes within 1" of an enemy unit (see Hammer of Heaven, below), it immediately makes a Pillar of Fire attack against that unit. This attack is resolved before the Initiative 10 step of any combat that ensues.
Wings of Light: The Knight Angelus may use its Wings of Light once per turn to do one and only one of the following: - to enter play by Deep Strike (once per game, obviously!) (see Hammer of Heaven, below); or - during the Movement Phase, to move up to 18"; - during the Assault Phase, to reroll its charge distance. While using the Wings of Light, the Knight Angelus can move over all other models and all terrain freely. However, it cannot end its move on top of other models and can only end its move on top of impassable terrain if it is actually possible to place the model on top of it. However, whenever the Knight Angelus uses its Wings of Light, it may not use its Ion Shield until its after its next Movement Phase.
Special Rules: Deep Strike, Shield of Faith
Hammer of Heaven: The Knight Angelus descends like a hammer from heaven, scouring the infidels with jet exhaust before smashing them under its adamantium heels. When the Knight Angelus enters play by Deep Strike, it suffers a mishap as normal if it if it lands on top of impassible terrain, partially or wholly of the board, or on top of or within 1" of a Gargantuan Creature, Super-Heavy Vehicle, or Super-Heavy Walker. However, if the Knight lands on top of or within 1" of any other unit, the Knight does not mishap. Instead, it immediately makes, first, a Pillar of Fire attack, and, second, a single Stomp attack on each such unit within 1". Once both attacks are resolved, the Knight is then immediately moved the minimum distance so as to be no longer within 1" of any surviving model. Note the Knight must make these attacks even if the units landed on are friendly.
Limited Power: The arcane force field projectors that generate the Knight Angelus' Wings of Light are the same that generate its Ion Shield, and they lack the power to sustain both at once. Whenever the Knight Angelus uses its Wings of Light, it may not use its Ion Shield until its after its next Movement Phase.
A Tale of Two Armies: Knights-Angelus go to war alongside other Knights as well as the Adepta Sororitas. A Knight Angelus is a Lord of War for a Codex:Adepta Sororitas army. Alternatively, Knights Angelus may be chosen as part of a Codex: Imperial Knights army as you would other type of Knight. However, owing to their rarity in the 41st Millennium, you may not have more Knights Angelus in your army than you have Knights of other kinds.
Some Knight Houses swear fealty directly to the Imperium, others to the Adeptus Mechanicus, but a few devote themselves to the Ecclesiarchy. For their piety and fealty, these holy warriors -- a disproportionate number of them female -- are rewarded with a unique pattern of Knight: the Angelus. At rest, the Knight Angelus merely seems more streamlined and elegant than conventional Knights, as well as more lightly armed. Only the telltale exhaust tubes of jump jets betray its unique nature. When the Knight Angelus activates for battle, however, out from its back unfold enormous shimmering fields of energy. These Wings of Light allow the Knight Angelus to fly for brief periods or even to leap from a low-orbiting spacecraft onto the very head of the infidel, using its jet exhaust to burn and its sheer mass to smash. The Angelus' unique technology has a weakness, however: The arcane generators that project the Wings of Light are the same apparatus that produces the Knight's Ion Shield -- but they cannot generate both at once. Thus at any given moment, the pilot must choose between mobility and defense.
*
PENITENT TITAN: 775 points (Lord of War) A failing Warhound manned by the condemned WS:4 BS:2 S:10 Armour:14/13/12 I:2 A:2 HP:9
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Super-heavy Walker Unit Composition: 1 Penitent Titan
Wargear: Titanic Eviscerator: Range 0" Sestroyer AP:1 Melee Must choose one of the following arm weapons, at no additional points cost: - Inferno Gun - Vulcan Mega-Bolter - a second Titanic Eviscerator
Special Rules: Agile, Fleet, Rage, Shield of Faith, Void Shields (1)
That Which Kills Us Makes Us Stronger The Penitent Titan replaces machine spirits with the hardwired brains of heretics, cross-connected so the death agonies of one torment all the others into greater battle-madness. Every time the Penitent Titan loses a Hull Point, the controlling player may choose one of the following bonuses, but you may not choose the same bonus twice in a row: - The Titan moves an additional 2" whenever it Runs during the Shooting phase, to a maximum of 12". - The Titan gains +1 Attack, to a maximum of 10. - The Titan gains +1 Initiative, to a maximum of 10. If the Titan loses multiple Hull Points at once, it gains one bonus for each HP. The Penitent Titan can never regain lost HP from Repair rolls or for any other reason.
Options: The Penitent Titan may take either of the following leg upgrades, but not both:
Chainscythe Anklets: 60 Points Giant chainblades jury-rigged to the Titan's mechanical ankles whir to bloody life as it crushes the heretic underfoot. A Penitent Titan with chainscythe anklets uses the Large Blast template for Stomp attacks.
Repentia Racks: 30 points Handrails and footholds crudely welded onto the Titan's leg armor let it carry fanatically fearless passengers into battle. The Titan counts as an open-topped transport for 12 infantry models. However, each model must have the Fearless special rule or the And They Shall Know No Fear special rule. (Models that do not have the rule themselves but which gain it from an independent character joining their unit may not ride). In addition, every time an enemy shooting or melee attack hits the Titan with a to-hit roll of 6, one of the units riding the Titan (chosen randomly) takes a hit with same Strength, AP, and special rules.
In some corners of the Imperium even darker than the rest, worship takes on gruesome forms. There are worlds where the devout build mighty effigies of the God-Emperor and fill them with heretics -- or with the innocent -- before setting the whole thing on fire. The Penitent Titan is the same cruel concept made into a war machine: A converted Warhound Scout Titan with condemned sinners not only wired immovably in every crew station but bound screaming to the outside of the armour. Cables crudely plugged into the skulls of the condemned ensure they experience not only their own torment but one another's, and each time one dies it sends the survivors into new ecstasies of self-annihilation. At the helm, where a Princeps of the Legio Titanicus would normally stand, there is always a disgraced Imperial servant of high degree, some cardinal, field marshal, or august noble whose rank demands greater torments than those inflicted by a plebian Penitent Engine, and into this damned commander's brain pour all the agonies of his captive crew. The Adeptus Mechanicus is deeply divided about the Penitent Titan. Most Forgeworlds disdain it as a prime example of Ecclesiarchical excess and barbarism. Some consider it an outright abomination against the Machine God (wars have been fought over such things). A few Forge Worlds, however, see Penitence as a fitting end for Titans whose core systems are damaged or decaying beyond all repair. It is this part of the Mechanicum that sends teams of Tech-Priests to oversee the restoration of crippled Warhounds recovered from old battlefields or ancient ruins, though most of the crude repairs and modifications are performed by Ministorum artisans with more fervor than skill. The resulting jury-rigged monstrosity rattles with mechanical failures and human pain, its reactor soon to give out -- but no matter: Its masters need neither machine nor crew to long survive.
***
*APOCALYPSE ONLY*
ECCLESIARCHY BATTLE CHAPEL: 3,000 points (Apocalypse Only) A tracked temple of destruction
BS:4 Armour 14/14/13 HP:27 Save:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Super-Heavy Vehicle (tank, transport) Unit Composition: 1 Battle Chapel
Wargear: Melta Cannon (front right tower) (72" S:10 AP:1 Ordnance 1, Apocalyptic Blast, Melta) Inferno Gun (front left tower) (Hellstorm S:7 AP:3 Primary Weapon 1) Vulcan Mega-Bolter (main tower) (60" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 15) Vortex Missile Battery (Range:Infinite S: D AP:1 Ordnance 1, Large Blast, Vortex) 7 Void Shields
Auspex Maximus The Battle Chapel's highest tower bristles with arcane sacramental sensors that can detect enemies. Thus guided and installed on an elaborate swiveling mount, the Adventus's Vulcan Mega-Bolter can engage enemy fliers and ground troops alike. At the start of each Shooting Phase, the owning player may give the Battle Chapel's Vulcan Mega-Bolter the Skyfire special rule for that phase.
Holy Light As the massive war machine crashes into the enemy lines, its gilded armour gleaming and its sacramental spotlights blazing, the eyes of the evildoers are dazzled by a pure white light and their ears fill with celestial music. Then the faithful charge out of the vehicle and rip them apart. When a unit charges out of a transport with Holy Light, it counts as having assault grenades and inflicts a Blind attack on all enemies it is charging, resolved at Initiative 10.
Rites of Repair The Battle Chapel requires extensive onboard workshops to keep itself functioning. During battle, these specialists may attempt to repair an embarked vehicle or even the Battle Chapel itself, though the latter is a much more daunting challenge. Once per turn, during the Shooting Phase, you may attempt to repair one vehicle embarked on the Battle Chapel. On a roll of 2+, restore one Hull Point, one weapon lost to a Weapon Destroyed result, or undo an Immobilized result. The repaired vehicle may not disembark until the next turn. Alternatively, you may instead attempt to repair the Battle Chapel itself. On a roll of 5+, restore one Hull Point.
Siege Towers The Battle Chapel's forward towers providing not only firing platforms but boarding ramps to attack the upper levels of fortifications. Infantry models transported by the Battle Chapel may disembark directly onto any level of a ruin or building within 6" of the Chapel's front, including battlements.
Samsonic Ram: The Battle Chapel's front steps form massively reinforced ram designed to shatter the base of a fortification's wall with a blast of sonic vibration. Any building or immobile structure that is rammed by the Battle Chapel and takes a penetrating hit loses 1D3 Hull Points instead of one. Further, when ramming a building or immobile structure, the Battle Chapel gains the Wrecker special rule: Wrecker: Weapons and attacks with this special rule may reroll failed Armour Penetration rolls against fortifications and immobile structures (such as bunkers and barricades), and add +1 to any result rolled on the Building Damage chart. If this attack damages a bulkhead or wall section of terrain and destroys it, remove that section of terrain from play if possible.
Vortex Missile Battery: The Battle Chapel may fire a maximum of seven vortex missiles over the course of the battle. No more than one missile may be fired per Shooting phase. When the Battle Chapel suffers Catastrophic Damage, roll one dice for each remaining vortex missile. On a roll of 1-2, the missile explodes. Place the vortex blast marker on the center of Battle Chapel, and then scatter it 2D6".
Special Rules: Assault Vehicle
Awe-Inspiring: Songs of praise and pealing bells ring out from the Battle Chapel, clearly audible over the roar of battle, while its icons loom sternly over the fray. All friendly units within 12" of the Battle Chapel re-roll failed Morale, Fear, Pinning tests, and Act of Faith tests. They also gain the War Hymns special rule, but they may only use the "The Emperor Protects" and "Righteousness of the Emperor" hymns.
Ponderous Beyond Belief: More a mobile building than a vehicle, the Battle Chapel has tremendous trouble maneuvering -- but then it rarely has to. During its Movement phase, the Battle Chapel may either move 6" directly forward or pivot up to 45 degrees, but not both. The Chapel may never move in the Shooting phase.
Reactor Meltdown If the Battle Chapel suffers a Titanic Explosion! result on the Catastrophic Damage table, its plasma reactor goes nuclear! All hits from this Titanic Explosion! are resolved as being from a Destroyer weapon.
Transport Transport capacity: The Battle Chapel may carry models on two levels, which are treated separately: The Galleries may carry 50 infantry models and provide 50 fire points: 15 on each side, 10 front, and 10 rear. The Nave may carry 100 models, including Bulky, Very Bulky, and Extremely Bulky models. In addition, it may carry smaller vehicles, including other super-heavy vehicles, which take up 10 models' worth of room per Hull Point. Vehicles that are transports may carry models inside without taking up additional room in the Battle Chapel. Fire Points: 15 on each side, 10 front, and 10 rear. Access points: One at the front and one on each side.
Options: May add up to three secondary gun mounts (one per tower), each armed with one of the following: - Exorcist Missile Launcher: 65 points - Flamestorm Cannon and twin-linked heavy bolter: 50 points - Magna-Melta (Range 18" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Melta): 70 points - Avenger Bolt Cannon (Range 36" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 7): 50 points
A black steel cathedral on massive treads, the Battle Chapel uplifts the spirits of the faithful and crushes the bodies of the unclean. From each of its three towers fires a Titan-sized exemplar of the Adepta Sororitas' "holy trinity": a Melta Cannon and an Inferno Gun in the two front towers, a Vulcan-Mega Bolter equipped to sweep the sky of enemy aircraft in the lofty central tower. The Seven Seals -- sanctified Vortex Missiles -- wait within its buttresses to be unleashed upon the enemy, whilst the Seven Veils -- a series of void shields -- protect the entire structure. 50 Battle Sisters can fire out from Chapel's galleries, while its capacious nave can hold 100 more Sisters or even Baneblade-class tanks, ready to roar out when the sacramental assault ramp drops down between the two forward towers. Choirs of Progena sing sweet hymns of hatred that, vastly magnified, emanate from the Battle Chapel in all directions, while a vast cloud of black exhaust pours constantly from the massive engines in the back. Providing crew, escort vehicles, and forward scouts for such a juggernaut is typically the responsibility of an entire Minor Order Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Operationally, a Battle Chapel is usually the mobile headquarters of an entire Ecclesiarchy force, providing spiritual and logistical sustenance. When a particular target, such as a fortress, is so daunting and so important that the Battle Chapel must be committed to combat, the Chapel first launches a long-range bombardment with its vortex missiles. Once the warp vortices have cleared, the Chapel crawls closer to use its more precise tower-mounted Titan weapons on strongpoints that survived. Only then do the massive gates crash open and Ecclesiarchal shock troops charge out to secure what remains of the objective.
***
DESIGN NOTES
Spoiler:
WARGEAR Blessed armor: Marine artificer armour but (a) less widely available and (b) half a psyker mastery level, in effect (see "Purity Seals" below). 20 pts + (30)/2 = 35.
Praesidium Protectiva: The old favorite, back with an extra twist that it's a psychic defense. Basically a Storm Shield that also gives you extra Adamantium Will. 20+10.
Purity Seals: Turning a vanilla Inquisitor into a Mastery Level 1 psyker costs 30 points, which gives you one Warp Die for offensive in your own psychic phase and one Warp Die for defense in the enemy's psychic phase. This wargear just gives you the equivalent of one Warp Die for defense only, so I figure its half as valuable.
Sororitas Bike: Why these SRs? I wanted Biker Sisters to be distinctive, sleeker and more elegant -- but less sturdy -- than their male counterparts. But on reflection giving them all Skilled Rider seemed overkill and trespassing on Dark Angels and White Scars territory: Why should all Sisters bikers be that good, even with a more agile bike? Costing: Upgrading a Marine leader to ride a bike costs 20 points. Then the Sororitas Bike gets, essentially, limited versions of - Scout -- which normally conveys from one model to an entire unit; - Hit & Run -- ditto; - and of Skilled Rider -- which is both a +1 to Jink and difficult terrain bonuses. So, for independent characters, who lose the ability to convey Hit & Run and Scout to a unit they join, all three SRs are at half the normal value (10 pts, per Ovion): that's 3*(10/2) = 15 points. For squads, downgrading Skilled Rider to just auto-passing Dangerous Terrain tests reduces that SR's cost to five points -- but the value of H&R and Scout are unchanged, 10 points each: that's 5+2*10 = 25 pts. A Storm Bolter has identical performance to a boltgun with Relentless. So the difference is losing twin-linked, which I guesstimated at -5. (Ovion's guidelines for TL pricing are tricky). Net: IC: 20 points for Bike + 15 points for adding SRs - 5 points for losing TL = 30 points.
War Hymnal: The intent here is to reflect the fluff - which explicitly says Canonesses lead their Sisters into battle singing war hymns -- and to reduce the army's dependence on Priests. Why 20 points? Yes, I know, the Priest only costs 25 points and gets both Hymns of War and a rosarius, but that seems undercosted. Besides, the Canoness and Palatine are significantly more survivable, with 2-3 Wounds and better stats all round, so they're more likely to live long enough to use the Hymns multiple times, and they have better Leadership, so their Hymns are more likely to work.
The Book of Acts: The intent here is to recapture the flexibility of the old list of Acts, where any Sisters unit had multiple options for its AOF, without getting rid of the great flavor that unit-unique Acts add to the army. In short, the best of both worlds. Costing is rough, but I figured getting to pick one of four Acts instead of being stuck with one is at least as useful as a Simulacrum Imperialis granting you an extra Act and probably more so. Divine Wind is the same as Eldar Battle Focus. Prophetic Warning is similar to the psychic power Foreboding. Whole Armour of Faith is the Codex:Witch Hunters version of Spirit of the Martyr. The Quick and the Dead is similar to the C:WH version of the Passion.
*
ORDER RELICS: Dominica's Grail of Ages: +1 Strength (better than Furious Charge because it's always on) for the Canoness and four other units: 5 * 10 = 50. Also acts as, in effect, a Laud Hailer: +10.
Lucia's Skull of Vandire: The biggest complaint about Repentia in the current codex is that their permanent 5+ FNP has turned into a one-time 3+ FNP; this relic fixes that and makes the Canoness and the squad she joins, whatever its type, as Fearless as Repentia. Costing: Fearless and FNP for the Canoness: 10+10. FNP(5+) for her squad and for a maximum of three Repentia squads in a normal CAD: 4x10 = 40. Total: 60.
Shroud of Silvana: This gives Seraphim back something of the old Angelic Visage rule (though that boosted morale for everyone around Seraphim, not the Seraphim themselves). Fluff says the Argent Shroud is famous for Seraphim and Celestians, but I don't want to give any Order a bonus to two troop types, and, as the uber-Sisters, Celestians seemed the best fit for the uber-Order, Dominica's own Ebon Chalice. Costing: Blind in melee: 15 points? Reroll Ld tests within 12": basically a Blessed Standard, 15 points. +1 to Leadership of 3 Seraphim Squads in a normal CAD: 3x10 = 30. Total: 60 points.
Katharine's Broken Halo: I love this bit of backstory I made up for Katharine.... She's such a raging bitch, and all of us deserve her wrath. The fluff for her Order speaks of their determination but, unlike any of the other Big Six, doesn't suggest a buff for any particular unit type - so Furyou Miko suggested the rank-and-file Battle Sisters. Costing: Power axe: 15 points. Hatred for Canoness, her squad, and (on average) 4 BSS: 6x10 = 60 points.
Mina's Burning Brand: Mina's character and her Order's connection to Dominions are established in fluff. I wanted something that make the Canoness and Dominions even faster to plunge into combat than regular Dominions, so Scout for her and Eldar Battle Focus seemed a good model. A super melta that can burn the user to death also seemed appropriate for her brooding hatred. Costing: Meltagun: 10 points. Ignores Cover & Gets Hot cancel out: 0 points. What's effectively Eldar Battle Focus for her, her squad, and three Dominion squads in a normal CAD: 5x10 = 50 points. Total: 60.
Arabella's Light Undying: Twin-Linked pricing is all over the place, generally 5-10 points or +50% of the weapons' base cost according to Ovion. Let's call it 10 points for the Canoness's single weapon; then the Canoness's squad and the three Retributor squads in a typical CAD get a limited form on multiple weapons, so let's say those four units get it for 10 points apiece as well: 40 points. Night Vision on the Canoness and four squads: 5x5 = 25, but again it's in limited circumstances, so discount it down to 20 points.
***
HQs
*
MINERVA Canoness: 65
Wargear (non-unique) Rosarius: 15 Melta Bombs: 5 Blessed Armour: 35 Book of Acts: 15 Subtotal: 70
Unique Relics: Firelock: meltagun (10), change from Assault to Pistol, effectively adding +1 Attack (10): 20 Frostbite: power sword (15), AP:2 (+10)25 Subtotal: 45
Stats & SRs: Scout: 10 Acute Senses10 Custom AOF: Scout & Acute Senses to any unit (unusually good), may only use during deployment (unusually restrictive): 0 Subtotal: 20
Sceptre of Vengeance: Start w/ Power Maul: 15 Add Smash: +15 add Monster Hunter: +10 subtotal: 40
*
CANONESS In general, these new options restore the classic Jump Pack Canoness, add an artificer-armour-plus option, and generally try to make her the go-to HQ rather than a poor substitute for Celestine or Jacobus.
Records of Service: The "Records of Service" let you customize your Canoness to reflect her prior service -- and in most cases to buff her squad as well as herself. I prefer this own "build your own special character" approach to pregenerated SCs. Most of the special rules being added are straight of Ovion's cookbook.
*
PALATINE A Palatine starts from the Canoness statline and builds down from there: -1 Wound: -10 pts -1 Attack: -10 pts No Stubborn: -10 pts No Martyrdom: was she ever going to be your Warlord, really? 0 pts Change AOF from Hatred to Stubborn: +/-0 SUBTOTAL: -30 pts 65 - 30 = 35
Note Chirurgeon's Tools cost twice as much on this Independent Character as on a 1-Wound Hospitaller; I think that's fair, given that you're giving an IC and ANY squad she joins FNP.
*
CHORISTER The Chorister uses the Celestian statline. So compared to the Priest, the Chorister gets +1 WS (10 pts), +1 BS (10 pts), and, most crucially, +2 Ld (10 pts), which means her War Hymns are much more likely to work. That's worth 30 points. She also has Power Armour for a 3+ save, which is 1 better than the Priest's 4++ (his flak armour is really irrelevant). That's +5 points more. On the other hand, she doesn't have a Rosarius, just Power Armour and Shield of Faith, so her invulnerable save is 1 worse. Adding a Rosarius to PA & SoF costs a Canoness 15 points, so -15. So the Chorister nets out at +20 points more than the Priest, i.e. 45 points: Still affordable for key units, but not an obvious and easy choice to spam. In this revision, I also decided to make her available as an HQ choice, since that simplifies the rules a little bit, she's a colorful option for an HQ in a small force, and (unlike the priest) she's not crazily inexpensive, especially now I've upped her cost by five points from my original version.
*
Repentia CHAMPION Based on Canoness (65 points)
-1 Ballistic Skill: -10 -1 Initiative: -10 -1 Leadership: -5 3+ armor save becomes no save at all (per PM with Ovion): -20 No krak grenades or bolt pistol: -3 points, going by Codex:Astra Militarum No frag grenades: -1 point? Outcast rule plus no access to Ranged Weapons, Melee Weapons, or Relics: -1 point? No Martyrdom: -5 points? Total reductions: -55
Replace Stubborn with Fearless: +/-0 points
Fleet: +10 points Rage: +10 points Shred: +10 points Permanent FNP (4+) on a T:3 model (per Ovion): +20 points Eviscerator: +30 Total additions: +80
Net total: 65 points base -55 pts + 80 pts = 90 points
*
COMMAND SQUAD Sister Signaler: Basically makes one Celestian into an Officer of the Fleet, with a slight discount to the IG price because you're not adding a new body to the command squad. I really, really like the idea of Sisters with Reserve Roll manipulation -- it emphasizes that they're strategic, not just fanatic.
Stigmata Furia: Standard Ovion costing for adding an SR to a squad. It struck me as strange that Celestians forgot how to do Furious Charge when they got promoted to the Command Squad.
*
CONFESSOR & MISSIONARY Both these characters are based on the Ministorum priest. The Confessor's stats are lower than in the White Dwarf codex because I don't want a generic HQ to outshine Uriah Jacobus and I don't want a non-Sister to outshine the Canoness as a combatant (which I suspect is why the codex writers toned down Jacobus). The Missionary simply exists to provide a second-tier HQ for smaller games or to back up your primary HQ character.
Compared to the Priest, the Confessor has +1 WS (+10), +1 BS (+10), +2 W (+20), +1A, (+10) +2 Ld (+10), each a 10-point improvement per Ovion: +60 points Total: 85 points
The Missionary has +1 WS (+10), +1 BS (+10), +1W (+10), +1A (+10), and +1 Ld (+5): +45 points Total: 70 points
Note I'm giving them Martyrdom for free. Also, I originally upped their cost for being higher-Leadership, more-survivable platforms for War Hymns -- but that made the generic Confessor's cost equal to Uriah Jacobus, who has crazy more wargear and special rules, so I dropped that.
Originally the "Litanies of War" were "Litanies of Command" for the Canoness, but I decided their "cleric buffs the party" quality fit the Confessor better and gave him something special. They are very roughly costed on (1) Ovion's rule of thumb that adding one special rule to one unit is worth 10 points (except for Fear @ 5 pts, and immunity from Fear without fearless I figures should be the same) and (2) the assumption that you'll probably be able to get 3-4 units within 6" of the Confessor, but (3) each hymn only works once and has a small chance of not working at all, so they deserve a slight discount.
****
TROOPS
*
NOVICES Start with a basic Battle Sister @ 12 ppm.
-1 BS: -10 points -1 Ld: -5 pts Replace Power Armour with Carapace: -5 pts (per a PM from Ovion) Total subtractions: -20 points
Crisis of Faith: 0 points A tricky one to cost. Assuming no Independent Character has joined the unit, it's a Ld 7 test, so about a 50-50 chance to succeed or fail. On a succeed, it effectively adds two special rules, Fearless & Hatred (+20 points), and on a failure, it takes away two SRs (-20).
Little Sisters: +15 pts This is effectively giving the unit a Blessed Standard, only the whole unit generates the effect instead of a single model (hence my reducing range from 12" to 6"), and each Novice extends the range.
NET: -5 points
Divide by 3 for high-quality troops, which these still are relative to Guardsmen: -1.7 pts, round up to -2 pts. Then take away -2 more because they don't have Bolt Pistols.
12 - 4 = 8 points.
But the Mistress is a standard Battle Sister (12 pts) with the Veteran Superior upgrade (10 points), so it's a squad with nine 8-pt models (=72 pts) and one 22-pointer: 94 points, round up to 95 for sanity's sake.
*
FRATERIS MILITIA All based off Chaos Cultists (4 ppm)
By Ovion's rules of thumb, since the costs above are for independent characters modes, you need to divide them for other models: x/10 for Grot-style crap (which these are), x/5 for most infantry, x/3 for elites. So -15 per 10 models = -1.5 pt per model = -1 point (rounded down) = 3 points 3 ppm puts them on a level with the current cost of IG Conscripts, who are better armed and armored but have worse Leadership and no Rage.
Veterans: -1 Ld: -5 + Rage: +10 Net: +5 +5 per 5 models = +1 pts per model = 5 points
+10 points is usual for a +1A +1 Ld Sergeant = 15 points
Their options are costed as normal except that weapons afflicted by Improvised Weapons -- i.e. Gets Hot! -- get a 20% discount: Yes, they only turn on their user one shot out of 6, i.e. 17% of the time, but you're probably going to fire it more than once. The Exterminator is basically a version of Hammer of Wrath (+10), only you don't have to be in base to base contact (+5) and you get it both when charging and when charged (x2), but you only get it once and it Gets Hot (x0.5). So figure 15 pts, divided by 5 for normal infantry (since Frateris with Exterminators aren't Grot-level threats anymore): 3 points.
*
***
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
*
CHARIOT OF FIRE Based on the Blood Throne of Khorne (which costs +75 pts as a dedicated transport for a Herald)
Add: +1 BS = +10 TL heavy flamer: +15 Replace Totem with Armoured Pulpit: +0 (since both boost the range of another effect) Subtotal: +25
Subtract: Replace Daemon of Khorne (Furious Charge, Hatred:Slaanesh) with Furious Charge only: -5 points Remove Deep Strike: -10 Remove Gorefeast: -10 Subtotal: -25
Net: 0!
*
FRATERIS TECHNICAL
Based on an Ork Trukk (30 points) +1 BS: +10 Remove Ramshackle special rule: -10 Replace Big Shoota with Heavy Stubber: +/-0 Net: +/-0
*
***
*
REPENTIA VETERAN Based on regular Repentia (14 points)
Add: +1 Wound: +10 Shred: +10 Permanent FNP (5+) on a T:3 model (per Ovion): +10 points Subtotal: 30, divide by 3 for elite infantry (per Ovion) = +10 pts
Standard upgrade to "sergeant"-style character (+1 A, +1 Ld): +10 Extra Act of Faith -- effectively a simulacrum: +10
Her AOF basically gives the Repentia an extra round of Spirit of the Martyr that they can use to live long enough to get into Assault.
Total: 14 base + 30 = 44, round up to 45
Replacing Mistress of Penitents: 16 pts Repentia squad is 85 points for 4 Repentia and 1 Mistress. Repentia cost 14, so 85 -4(14) = 29 points must be the cost of the mistress.
*
PRINCIPALITIES
Start with Seraphim @ 15 ppm
Add Furious Charge: 10 points Upgrade to Celestian statline w/ +1 A (+10) and +1 Ld (+5): 15 pts Add Storm shield: 10 ppm for Elites per C:SM Add power weapon: 15 ppm for SCS per C:AS Total additions: +50 pts
Convert Angelic Visage (reroll failed 6++ on any turn) to Blaze of Glory (reroll failed 3++, but only once per game, only after Deep Strike, and only vs. shooting): a wash?
Remove both bolt pistols, leaving no ranged firepower: -5 ppm
Net: +45 points Per Ovion, divide by 3 for elite troops (and yes, you can discount the wargear costs too, otherwise you can't explain Crusaders, Death Cult Assassins, or Repentia having 15-pt power weapons when they're only 14-15 pts per model). 45/3 = 15 points
15+15 = 30.
*
VIGILS Vigils start with the Dominion baseline at 13 points per model.
Using Ovion's cookbook: +1 Ld: +5 points Night Vision (easier to make it a unit SR rather than define new wargear): 5 pts Stealth (ditto): 10 pts Upgrade Scout to Infiltrate: 5 pts Infallible Aim (Twin Linked - yay! - but effectively Heavy - boo!): 10 pts Subtotal: +35 points Divide by 3 for high-quality troops: +11.67 points, round up to 12
13 + 12 = 25 ppm, still plenty high for a T:3 W:1 model. But they have an unusually nasty Act of Faith.
Why no Sniper? Because Sniper as an SR on a unit that can take meltaguns got screwy. Ok, in the end I just went for Sniper instead of precision shots.
There's been a lot of good discussion about giving the Sisters some kind of Sniper bolter, but I'm not quite ready to implement that yet...
*
PENITENT ABHUMANS Compared to IG Ogryn: WS-1 S-1 T-1 W-1 Ld-1 Sv:-1 -1 to 4 stats @ -10 = -40 -1 to Ld = -5 -1 to Save = -5 Stats subtotal = -50
Add Rage & Furious Charge: +20 pts Replace Ripper gun with +2 Str unwieldly close combat weapon: a wash?
NET: -30 points
Divide by three for elite infantry: -30/3 = -10
40 ppm for Ogyrn - 10 = 30 points.
Then the variant breeds of Abhuman all buy up stats that are worth +10 per +1 and/or gain a +10 point special rule. Note that even Penitent Ogryn don't have the WS:4 of Imperial Guard Ogryn: These are civilian monsters, not trained soldiers.
*
***
FAST ATTACK
*
THRONES Start with Dominions, who have Scout already -- plus 4 special weapons per squad & Fast Attack status, which Thrones also have -- for 13 ppm.
Change unit type to Bike: +20 points Hit & Run: 10 pts Auto-pass dangerous terrain tests (basically, the lesser half of Skilled Rider): 5 pts Replace relentless boltgun w/ storm bolter (both fire two 24" S4 AP5 shots): 0 points Subtract Twin-Linked: -5 points Subtotal: +30 points Divide by 3 for high-quality troops = 10 points
13+10 = 23.
That's still 2 points more than Marine Bikers who have +1 to S, T, & WS, as well as twin-linked weapons, but not so many special rules.
*
LUCIFER SCOUT TANK
I originally called this thing the "Oriflamme," but apparently no one appreciates my medieval French heraldry references, grumble grumble.
Start with an AM/IG Hellhound: 125 points. Add +1 BS (which doesn't matter with a template weapon, but there are other weapons & options): +10 points Add Shield of Faith: +10 Add Scout, which on this thing is vicious and should cost extra: +15 Add Smoke Launchers & Searchlight: +5 -1 side armour: -10 -1 front armor: -10 Net: +20
Total: 125 + 20 = 145 points.
*
SORORITAS VALKYRIE: Start with Imperial Guard Astra Militarum Valkyrie
+1 BS: +10 points Shield of Faith on a flier, which can't easily get cover saves: +15 points Replace Multi-laser with heavy bolter or multi-melta: 0 Replace Hellstrike missiles (10 points each) with Exorcist missiles (15 pts each): +10
125 +35 = 160
Note the Sororitas Valkyrie doesn't get the option for multiple rocket pods -- that much Blast is out of character for the Sisters.
*
VICTORIA: Start with Imperial Guard Astra Militarum Vendetta
+1 BS on something with this much firepower: +15 points Shield of Faith on a flier, which can't easily get cover saves: +15 pts Subtotal: +30 points
Replace 3 TL lascannon (3x30 points) with 3 TL multi-meltas (3x15 points): -45 points but the speed of a flier cancels out one of the major problems with multi-meltas, namely getting into range: +30 points Subtotal: -15 points
170+ 30 -15 = 185
Note the Sororitas version of the Vendetta doesn't get the option for Hellfury missiles -- that much Blast is, again, out of character for the Sisters.
*
DOMINICA PATTERN DROP POD A standard Marine drop pod with BS:2 because the Ecclesiarchy don't trust no fancy machine spirits, they got a heretic's skull wired into the drop pod to do that aimin' stuff. Weapons pricing is standard (replacing a 5-pt Storm Bolter w/ a 10-pt Heavy Flamer). The "Flower of Flame" special rule makes up for the weird positioning of a normal Drop Pod's weapon. No discount for BS:2 because the main weapon doesn't care about rolling to hit. If you really want a Storm Bolter or a Multi-Melta, then you don't get a discount because feth you, that's why. No locator beacons because (a) Sisters aren't as specialized in precision drop as the Marines are -- they shouldn't get all the drop goodness of the Astartes -- and (b) I didn't want to add a yet another new wargear item.
*
FRATERIS BIKERS Based on Chaos Cultists (4 ppm): -1 Ld: -5 pts Cavalry: +15 points (per Ovion) +2 SRs (Rage, Hit & Run): +20 pts 30 pts divided by 5 for non-elite troops = +6 points = 10 points
Sidecar Bikes: Note that Sidecar Bike does not get +1 Wound and +1 Attack: Yes, there are two Frateris -- one driving and one in the sidebar -- but any hit (or improvised weapon backfire) that kills one is going to wreck the whole bike, which is way more fragile than a Space Marine Bike, and the guy in the sidecar is too restricted in his movements to fight effectively in melee.
SORORITAS PREDATOR Start with the stock Predator Infernus at 90 points. Add Shield of Faith for 10 points (yes, it's 5 on the Rhino, but the Predator's a more important asset), and you get an even 100.
*
VINDICTA Start with a Marine Vindicator: 125 points. Add Shield of Faith for 10 points (yes, it's 5 on the Rhino, but the Vindicta is almost as big a fire magnet as the Vindicator). Replace the Demolisher Cannon with an Avenger Bolt Cannon -- this is the hard part, but at a guess, replacing 24" S:10 AP:2 Ordnance 1, Large Blast with 36" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 7 is a modest downgrade, since 7 shots will probably catch fewer models than a large blast, strength is way lower, AP is worse, but range is 50% longer: -20 points Net: 125 + 10 - 20 = 115.
*
ARTILLERY: I worked out the Exorcist version first, actually, and then backed down from there to the Avenger: Ovion estimated once that a naked Exorcist Missile Launcher cost 65 points. Add 12 for each crewwoman & round up by 1, you get 90. That doesn't account for the T:7 W:2 that all artillery get, but considering that an Exorcist vehicle that can, y'know, move around costs 125 points, paying 35 points (28%) less for a static version with no AV and one less Hull Point/Wounds seems pretty fair. By way of comparison, an Eldar D-Cannon (with two Guardian crew) costs 60 points for a single, more powerful shot at half the range. Compared to the Exorcist, the Avenger loses 12" of range (-10 points?), 2 Strength (-20?), and 2 AP (-20?), but gains 3.5 shots (+35?). 35 - 50 = -15, so a naked Avenger Bolt Cannon is 15 points cheaper than a naked Exorcist Missile Launcher. Taking Ovion's figure for the EML, that's 65 - 15 = 50. Add two Retributors for crew: +24 24+50 = 74, rounding up to 75 points for sanity.
*
VIRAGO: Start with Imperial Guard Astra Militarum Vendetta +1 BS on something with this much firepower: +15 points Shield of Faith on a flier, which can't easily get cover saves: +15 pts Add Heavy Bolter: +10 points Replace 3 TL lascannon (3x30 points) with Exorcist Missile Launcher (65 points per Ovion): -25 points Remove passenger capacity (6 models): -12 points, round down to -10 170 + 40 - 35 = 175
*
SORORITAS AVENGER: +1 BS on something with this insane amount of firepower: +20 Shield of Faith on a flier, which can't easily get cover saves: +15 points +1 left armour, +1 right armour: +20 points Replace two lascannon (-40 points) with four Exorcist Missiles @15 points each (+60): +20 Total additions: +75 pts Delete defensive heavy stubber: zero points, c'mon, nobody uses that 150 +75 = 225
*
DELIVERER A poor man's Land Raider Redeemer (and open-topped), for which I'm now basically taking Ovion's costing: LR Redeemer: 240 -4AV: -40 Replace TL Assault Cannon with TL Multimelta -20 -Frag Launchers -10 -POTMS -30 +Shield of Faith +10 Replace Assault Vehicle with Open-Topped: +/-0? Total: 150
*
HUSSITE Based on an Ork Battlewagon (110 points). +1 BS = 10 points Shift 1 AV from front to rear: 0 Net: +10 points = 120 points Weapon options are discounted by one point (in addition to any Improvised Weapons discount) because they remove space for two passengers.
*
STORM QUEEN I'm going to adopt Ovion's math almost entirely: "Stormlord +50, 530pts. By my math, an Exorcist Launcher is 65pts. As far as I can gather, Transport Capacity is about 2pts per model. So the twin launcher should be a 90pt upgrade. And I'd say +50 for the Minaret would be fine." [I then added +10 because I took away the possibility of shooting off the Minaret]
*
FLAMEBLADE Adopting Ovion's costing -- +50 points for Sororitas Superheavy -- and bringing the Inferno Gun into line with 6th edition: "Assuming the Baneblade Cannon is equivalent to a 'Light Titan Weapon' (as per Warhounds / Reavers, as opposed to 'Heavy Titan Weapons' found on Warlords and Emperors), so a straight swap would be fine....Magna Melta for Demolisher is fine."
*
FIRE SWORD Again, I'm following Ovion's costing and bringing the Titan weapons in line with 6th edition: "As per Titans, Titan Weapons seems to be costed equivalently across. Probably shouldn't be, but they are. Melta Cannons are just Melta now.... Shadowsword = 455 +1BS, SoF +50"
*
KNIGHT ANGELUS I'm using Ovion's costing rules, but since his are calibrated for normal vehicles, not Super Heavies, I'm multiplying all the costs by three. So, starting with a Knight Paladin:
REPLACE 2 Heavy Stubbers w/ 1 heavy bolter: +/-0 Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon (72" S:8 AP:3 Ordnance 2, Large Blast) with Pillar of Fire: 0" S:7 AP:3 Ordnance 1, Massive Blast, Barrage, Ignores Cover, Wall Of Death, No Escape, Jump Jet Exhaust) -- you lose 72" of range (!) and 1 shot (unless you're jumping from within range of one enemy unit to within range of another) but gain the 3 special rules normally associated with Template weapons, plus a large blast radius: let's call it a wash, though I could argue it's a much less versatile weapon.
ADD 1) Wings of Light & Deep Strike: - basically a Jump Unit, albeit without Hammer of Wrath (15 pts normally, x3 for Superheavy): +45 - wait, vehicles can't normally be Jump Units! (10 pts x3): +30 2) Hammer of Heaven: - Partially immune to Deep Strike mishaps (10 pts x3): +30 - Holy feth, can ATTACK on a Deep Strike? (10 pts x3): +30 3) Shield of Faith, which gives you a 6++ whenever you can't use the Ion Shield's 4++ instead, as well as Adamantium Will in case some one decides to try a psychic power on a super-heavy for some reason (10 pts x3): +30
SUBTRACT: Limited Power: a major restriction on its Ion Shield: -20 Net: +145 points
145 + 375 = 520, round up to a tidy 525
*
CHURCHTANK I'm relying mainly on Ovion's costing method but scaling everything up, typically x9, for one of the heaviest of super-heavy vehicles.
Start with Reaver Titan (1,450 points) Armed w/ Melta Cannon, Inferno Gun, Vulcan Mega-Bolter (not a legit load out since it's one arm weapon and two carapace instead of the other way around, but since none of these is a D weapon it's not abusive)
Downgrade Super-Heavy Walker (100 pts per Ovion) to Super-Heavy Vehicle (60 pts): -40 Ponderous Beyond Belief: -90 TOTAL SUBTRACTIONS: -130
Add Shield of Faith, which is 5 pts on a Rhino or Immolator a fraction of the size: +90 Assault Vehicle, 10 points on a normal vehicle: +90 100 passengers @ 2 pts each (per PM w/ Ovion): +200 50 fire points @ 1 pt each (a guess): +50 VMB gets essentially Tau Velocity Tracker (+20 for all weapons on a single normal vehicle): +40 Awe-Inspiring = Laud Hailer @ 10 points, plus Icons of Courage @ 20 points, plus Kriegsminaret @ 90 points (more than on the Storm Queen because it doesn't take away passenger capacity), +10 because you can't shoot it off like the Kriegsminaret = +130 points Holy Light = 25 points 1st round ADDITIONS: +625
Adding MORE stuff: 3 extra Void Shields (based on cost of an upgraded Void Shield Generator building): 100 points Vortex Missile Battery and 9 HP (based on cost & structures compromising Aquila Vortex Missile Strongpoint) : 535 pts Discard Mighty Bulwark & AV 15 from Vortex Missile strongpoint, as the price of making it mobile: 0? Repair other vehicles (based on cost of 5 servo-arm servitors): 50 pts Repair itself (basically Titan-scale It Will Not Die, so 9x10): 90 pts 50 more passengers @ 2 pts each: 100 pts Siege Tower special rule (at a guess): 50 pts Samsonic Ram (at a guess): 100 pts 2nd round ADDITIONS: 1,025 pts
1,450 -130 + 625 + 1,025 = 2,970 points. Round up to 3,000 because who are we kidding?
*
EDITS: made a small fix to the Canoness Vigilant, whose SRs matched the old version of Vigils, not the current one; fixed typo in melta cannon range; removed "Interceptor" from "Falling Angel" missiles; added Dominica Pattern Drop Pod & made it a DT option for the SCS and Celestians; rewrote Exterminators from 1-shot hand flamers to a version of "Hammer of Wrath" & let every Frateris take one; clarified how AOF work with Sororitas Artillery; clarified Order Relics may be taken with other Relics; added War Hymnal & Chirugeon's Tools as an option for Palatines; gave Penitent Brutes the Rampage SR instead of +1T; added Sister Signaler for Reserve Roll manipulation; made Holy NOx turn Penitent Engines into a FA choice; added Dominica Pattern Drop Pod; added option for Celestians to take a CCW; reduced cost of Missionary & Confessor because you were paying Uriah Jacobus prices for much fewer special rules; added SCs; added Purity Seals & Books of Acts as an option for everybody; reduced Purity Seals to 10 pts; gave Vigils AOF Sniper instead of Precision Shots; gave tanks the option to squadron as in the new SM codex (though no special powers for a full 3-tank squadron).
Purity Seals - Are the seals hanging from the Repentia their confesions or Purity Seals?
Still not keen on bikes for Soroirtas for some reason
Love the Fire Gargoyles Now we have an canon / offical name for the Superheavy shouldn;t we call it a Convent-Fortress?
Do we have any pics of the Convent-Fortresses from Shield of Baaaaaal? It's quite possible that they're BIGGER than the Battle Chapel,which "only" carries 150 Sisters. Certainly the giant cathedral in the original artwork I was inspired by is way more than a 3,000-point vehicle -- it'd be hard to fit in an Epic game! The Battle Chapel, by comparison, is a relatively modest structure/vehicle, hence the name.
I'd say the things hanging from the Repentia are their confessions -- seals certifying to their spiritual purity would seem out of character.
If you don't like Bikes -- don't use 'em! And I'm glad you enjoyed the Fire Gargoyles; that's the kind of little touch that's fun to add.
SisterSydney wrote: Do we have any pics of the Convent-Fortresses from Shield of Baaaaaal? It's quite possible that they're BIGGER than the Battle Chapel,which "only" carries 150 Sisters. Certainly the giant cathedral in the original artwork I was inspired by is way more than a 3,000-point vehicle -- it'd be hard to fit in an Epic game! The Battle Chapel, by comparison, is a relatively modest structure/vehicle, hence the name.
I'd say the things hanging from the Repentia are their confessions -- seals certifying to their spiritual purity would seem out of character.
If you don't like Bikes -- don't use 'em! And I'm glad you enjoyed the Fire Gargoyles; that's the kind of little touch that's fun to add.
Sadly, there are no pics - just the one line that also mentioned "Grand Transports".
Great now I don't have to moving through threads to threads whenever I want to check on something Good job !
About the units, the thing that buggs me the most is the Exorcist Missile Launcher for Avenger Strike Fighter:
- Why Falling Angel Missiles have Skyfire ? IIRC all Flyers can choose to use the Skyfire rule in their turn if they want.
- Infinite Mercy and Falling Angel are pretty lackluster. Why anyone use this instead of Fiery Hammer ? All Flyers can move pretty far in their turn, so 12" or even 24" difference in range is almost moot. I suggest upgrading them to be justify using.
Another thing is the Repentia Champion. I think it is pretty strange for a (basically) fallen sister to take command of a SoB force. I suggest not allowing her to be your Warlord at all or be taken as a Compulsory HQ choice, and if she is taken, then one squad of Repentia can be taken as Troops. What do you think ?
Thanks. I'm glad to have everything in one place myself!
Exorcist missile alternative ammo is the same across both ground- and air-launched versions, so yes, the Skyfire version is arguably redundant for aircraft (unless you're really craving more range, which fliers generally don't worry about, as you say). Infinite Mercy is a nice option for keeping your Exos at the back of a big board, or for static artillery Exorcists that can't move into range; again, for an aircraft, it's probably not so useful. I think Flaming Halo's Ignore Cover blasts are pretty good though if you face horde armies.
Repentia Champion as commander I've gone back and forth on, but I finally decided it should be possible under special circumstances, if you want to come up with an army that represents a last, desperate stand by a Ministorum force that's lost all its regular leaders.
Skyfire on a flier weapon means it can't be used against ground targets.
The Retributor Crew for the artillery should probably have Acts of Faith, even if they don't have a specific one (I can see why you would hesitate to give them Divine Retribution!) - as it is, they can't benefit from any IC acts either.
Great work, I can tell you put a lot of work into this. I like a lot of what you've presented, especially the new exorcist ammo. As an Imperial Guard player, I can't help but feel that some of my specialness has been stolen, what with the Frateris stuff and the Flyers, but the Sisters needed some TLC. I Also like Vigils for some reason.
I do envy, paralytically, the ability to strap Multiple Rocket Launch systems onto my Stormlord, turning it into a true multipurpose platform OF PURE DEATH, (Particularly with some Engineseer Support embarked, 4 HP per turn regained), and Valkyries, though the Aerospace Engineer in me winces at the though of the later (But come to think of it, a forward-facing missile array would be cool, and probably dooable if you... never mind.)
Thanks, folks. To Heir's point, I definitely stole more from the Imperial Guard than from the Space Marines -- and there are people who think I'm doing things exactly backward, but I like the aesthetic of the Guard equipment more than the Astartes "bricks with tracks/wings," I prefer the Guard's "real world military" inspiration to the Astartes "superhero commandos" theme, and in-universe I think it would be easier for the Ecclesiarchy to get modified Guard and Navy equipment, which is mass-produced on a staggering scale, than to obtain Astartes-exclusive designs like the Stormraven.
But I think the Sisters and Guard still remain very different, which I wanted them to. In terms of infantry, Sisters are as elite as non-Astartes get, Frateris are as crappy as non-Gretchin get, and there's very little in the middle where Guard infantry & veterans are; IG have the fully range from Conscripts to Stormtroopers/Tempestus. In terms of equipment, Sisters still have a pretty narrow set of options -- the Holy Trinity of flamer, melta, bolta, ahem, bolter, plus the now-jack-of-all-trades Exorcist -- while the IG have the full military toolkit, notably including indirect-fire weapons from mortars to Basilisks. (I think of a Barrage version of the Exorcist but decided against it). And though both have War Hymns, IG still live and die by Orders, Sisters by Faith. Sisters are a more elite army, but even with these 30 units, they're still more specialized and arguably a little brittle: T3 W1 bodies, and not that many of them.
One thing my expanded Sisters lack, also, is Tech-Priests or Tech-Marine equivalents. Some people have written up Tech-Sisters, but I decided the Ministorum-Mechanicum relationship was strained enough that, whatever tech support the Sisters have to have to keep stuff running, they keep the Cogheads carefully isolated doing depot-level maintenance and don't let them mingle with regular troops, especially not on the battlefield. The only vehicle with access to self-repair is the Battle Chapel, because I presume that's big enough to be a depot-level maintenance center.
Furyou's point about Skyfire on a flier is interesting -- but wouldn't it allow snapshots against ground targets? And your point about the artillery crew is well-taken; I notice that the Techmarine manning the Thunderfire Cannon has Chapter Tactics, which is the Astartes' rough equivalent of AOF, and the Eldar manning their artillery get Ancient Doom, Battle Focus, and Fleet, most of which they can't even use. So artillery Retributors should at least not impede AOF by an independent character who joins them.
Also, Heir, if you're an aerospace engineer, it's amazing you can play 6th and 7th edition 40K without breaking out in hives. "This brick-shaped object can reach orbit! Because something something STC handwavium!"
SisterSidney makes a good point; you want to have some ability to engage a ground target if there is litterally no other option, but failing that, I don't think there is any reason you'd want to do this.
As for Aerospace Engineering and 40k, (a I'm only a student and (b Ve learn to separate work and play. *Shudders*
My personal theory about how these flyers work is that they all project a weak energy field ahead of them, in a cone or other nice aerodynamic shape, and let that contact the atmosphere, instead of the flying potato that is the main body of the aircraft. That makes it make slightly more sense.
Also, after staring contemplatively at my flock of Valkyries, I have trouble seeing how a side-mounted weapon world work on the model. I mean, wouldn't you hit the wing? I'm working on a 'Vanguard' aerial missile platform for the Guard, which fires forward, made possible actually having techpriests to re-build the chassis around the missle launcher.
Holy feth, what if Imperial aircraft all use an energy field around the hull to supercavitate? That would be AWESOME.
I fear you're right about the downward-dipping wing on the Valkyrie. I could justify the Virago as having a different wing design allowing it to fire sideways, but really it's easier both in real life for conversions and in fluff to rearrange the Exorcist missile tubes to fire forwards alongside the hull.
Holy Feth, That's AMAZING! Suddenly everything makes sense.
To extend this theory, the energy field used to allow the vehicle to Supercavitate functions as a Lifting Body, so it generated the lift rather than the stubby and questionably designed wings. This then connects to the poorly designed wings, which actually serve to extend the lifting body supercavitation buble rather than actually generate lift on their own.
For those of you who don't know, cavitation is the formation of short-lived bubbles of steam behind a body moving in water, or low-pressure zones behind a body moving in air. Supercavitation is the formation of long-lived or at least stable, low-pressure zones behind a moving body. Because the Supercavitating body is in con tat with fewer molecules of atmosphere/water, the friction it experiences is reduced, allowing for vastly higher speeds, like two to three hundred knots underwater.
Furyou Miko wrote: That kind of makes sense... as for the Virago, I just assumed the Exorcist launcher was tipped downwards so it fired under the wing. ^^;
That makes it sound less like a launcher, more like Drop-Tubes. Fffwwweeeeeeeeeeee......
Yeah, the more I look at the Valkyrie, the less I think a downward-angled side-firing weapon would work. So I'll have to make the Virago a little less AC-130-like.
SisterSydney wrote: Yeah, the more I look at the Valkyrie, the less I think a downward-angled side-firing weapon would work. So I'll have to make the Virago a little less AC-130-like.
It would be a nice Sisters - Marauder Bomber conversion though.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Either at the front, like above, or you'd have to mod the wings up higher a bit, there's some space below, but not much.
Darn it, now you're making me want to buy my own copy of Aeronautica. Stop it!
More seriously , though, I think this expanded Sisters army list has plenty of airborne firepower without adding a Marauder variant. Viragos for 48" anti-tank (or 36" anti-GEQ with the fuel air explosive warheads), Avengers for 36" anti-MEQ, Vendetta for 12" multi-melta goodness flying IN YOUR FACE at 500 miles an hour because that's how Sororitas pilots roll, bitches, don't brag to me 'bout no lascannon Vendetta.
Then on the ground, you have again the Exorcist with alternative ammo for long-ranged attacks on various target types, the Victoria tank's Avenged Bolt Cannon for 36" MEQ-murder, and the Predator Infernus for short-range firestorm cannon and or magna-melta IN YOUR FACE.
Then Vigils give you a way to infiltrate four meltaguns/flamers per squad into the enemy half of the board, a static anvil to complement the mobile hammer of scouting/outflanking Dominions, Throne bikers, and Lucifer Scout Tanks. (Thrones are basically Dominions on bikes with Hit & Run, Vigils are basically Infiltrating Dominions with a fethload of special rules, and Lucifers are basically scouting Hellhounds/Devil Dogs with 11/11/10 armour).
Plus you've got superheavy Lords of War both shooty (Baneblade variants) and choppy (Knight Angelus, Penitent Titan). You've got actual assault vehicles for your Repentia, you've got Frateris for instant tarpit, just add Priest. And there's a whole bunch of army-buffing options: Novice squads, upgraded Canonesses, Confessors.
I'm honestly pretty happy with the breadth of options here. Do folks see any holes? Do folks see any places there SHOULD be holes to preserve the character of the Sisters as a mid-range shooty army?
I Don't like including Bikes. They occupy the same Niche that Seraphim have.
Space Marines have 2 types of Fast Attack squads, Assault Marines and Bikes. Bikes are tough highly mobile weapons platforms that don't get bogged down in Combat. Assault Marines are melee units that exist only to get into combat, They can optionally take Jump Packs to help them get into Combat faster.
Sisters of Battle have Seraphim which are tough highly mobile close range weapon platforms that don't get bogged down in combat.
Unless you want to change Bikes to be Melee units (The Celestians Niche) They don't fit in. The Sisters of Battle also have Dominions so they're not lacking in ways of getting firepower to the front lines.
SisterSydney wrote: Darn it, now you're making me want to buy my own copy of Aeronautica. Stop it!
Then on the ground, you have again the Exorcist with alternative ammo for long-ranged attacks on various target types, the Victoria tank's Avenged Bolt Cannon for 36" MEQ-murder, and the Predator Infernus for short-range firestorm cannon and or magna-melta IN YOUR FACE.
Plus you've got superheavy Lords of War both shooty (Baneblade variants) and choppy (Knight Angelus, Penitent Titan). You've got actual assault vehicles for your Repentia, you've got Frateris for instant tarpit, just add Priest. And there's a whole bunch of army-buffing options: Novice squads, upgraded Canonesses, Confessors. ?
You don't want to buy Aeronautica. Seriously. There are so many loopholes and mistakes in it that it is not even worth the time spend to even consider buying. But yeah, Avenger Fighter is cool. And about Skyfire on Exorcist missiles for Sister Flyers, in Aeronautice there is a special rule called "Anti-Air", that is, weapons with this rule cannot shoot at ground targets, not even Snap Shoot.
Should the Frateris Militia be allowed to take Flak Armour ? And the Exterminator should be S4 AP5, since the IG can grab a better flamer for just 2 pts more IIRC. Better S, AP,can fire for the entire game and don't have Gets Hot.
Why the Melta Cannon on Lucifer tank has the range of 42" ? Is it a typo ? If not, the Lucifer should cost more to use.
Is there any way to make the Penitent Brute and Ironhide not just cheaper and worse version of Ogryn ? I think there should be some special features to make them stand out from Ogryn other than point cost. For example, Ironhide has a 4+ armour save, while Brute gets Rampage. And I think it will be fun to allow the Abhumans to have an option to take a shield (made from concrete) that provide an Invulnerable save (6+ maybe ?) or combat drug system (additional attacks or FnP ?) with some penalties to it ?
SisterSydney wrote: Darn it, now you're making me want to buy my own copy of Aeronautica. Stop it!
Then on the ground, you have again the Exorcist with alternative ammo for long-ranged attacks on various target types, the Victoria tank's Avenged Bolt Cannon for 36" MEQ-murder, and the Predator Infernus for short-range firestorm cannon and or magna-melta IN YOUR FACE.
Plus you've got superheavy Lords of War both shooty (Baneblade variants) and choppy (Knight Angelus, Penitent Titan). You've got actual assault vehicles for your Repentia, you've got Frateris for instant tarpit, just add Priest. And there's a whole bunch of army-buffing options: Novice squads, upgraded Canonesses, Confessors.
?
You don't want to buy Aeronautica. Seriously. There are so many loopholes and mistakes in it that it is not even worth the time spend to even consider buying. But yeah, Avenger Fighter is cool.
And about Skyfire on Exorcist missiles for Sister Flyers, in Aeronautice there is a special rule called "Anti-Air", that is, weapons with this rule cannot shoot at ground targets, not even Snap Shoot.
Should the Frateris Militia be allowed to take Flak Armour ? And the Exterminator should be S4 AP5, since the IG can grab a better flamer for just 2 pts more IIRC. Better S, AP,can fire for the entire game and don't have Gets Hot.
Why the Melta Cannon on Lucifer tank has the range of 42" ? Is it a typo ? If not, the Lucifer should cost more to use.
Is there any way to make the Penitent Brute and Ironhide not just cheaper and worse version of Ogryn ? I think there should be some special features to make them stand out from Ogryn other than point cost. For example, Ironhide has a 4+ armour save, while Brute gets Rampage. And I think it will be fun to allow the Abhumans to have an option to take a shield (made from concrete) that provide an Invulnerable save (6+ maybe ?) or combat drug system (additional attacks or FnP ?) with some penalties to it ?
I'm the one that came up with the rules for Exterminators actually. In my Codex: Sisters of Battle Zealots(Frateris Militia) are an HQ Command Squad, each member of the squad (up to 30) can take an Exterminator and it doesn't have the Gets Hot special rule. It's meant to be a cheaper Hand Flamer.
Flamers and Hand Flamers both cost 5 points, you have to take access into consideration when pointing out weapons. Imperial Guard have limited access to Flamers, they often have to pay a squad tax to get a special weapons squad to take Flamers in a Platoon. Veterans can only take up to 3 Flamers.
Sidney added Gets Hot and 1 per 5, but her Frateris Militia are also Troops which I very much disagree with.
Furyou, do you mean it doesn't make sense that I restricted Exterminators to 1 Frateris nutjob in 5? I agree that in the original "Chapter Approved" Zealots, everybody could get one -- in fact you had to give everyone an Exterminator if you wanted to take them at all -- but those were much less powerful than a flamer, basically a one-shot S:4 AP:5 with weirdly variable to-hit rolls. Now maybe statting them up as one-shot hand-flamers isn't the way to go -- I'm definitely willing to consider alternatives that might make them less powerful so more guys can take them (and blow themselves up). Maybe keep S:3 AP:6 but just make it one extra shot on the first round of close combat, rather than a template?
Others' suggestions:
xalvissx wrote:Should the Frateris Militia be allowed to take Flak Armour ? And the Exterminator should be S4 AP5, since the IG can grab a better flamer for just 2 pts more IIRC. Better S, AP,can fire for the entire game and don't have Gets Hot....
J3f wrote:In my Codex: Sisters of Battle Zealots(Frateris Militia) are an HQ Command Squad, each member of the squad (up to 30) can take an Exterminator and it doesn't have the Gets Hot special rule. It's meant to be a cheaper Hand Flamer....Sidney added Gets Hot and 1 per 5, but her Frateris Militia are also Troops which I very much disagree with.
I made Exterminators S:3 AP:6 because, like J3f, I'm treating them as cheaper Hand Flamers, only I think it's hilarious for them to explode. Unlike J3f, I think a squad that can lay down 30 hand flamer templates, even once per game, is probably over the top, even for an HQ slot. 1 per 5 in a squad of 30 still means 6 templates! Which may be too much still, so as I said above, I'm willing to change their rules.
My vision of Frateris is rather different from J3f's: mine aren't an elite, they're human Skaven, expendable rabble who make their impact by sheer numbers. (Hence my not wanting to give them proper Flak Armour). This strikes me as pretty faithful to the fluff. The original Zealots from Chapter Approved were Troops, after all, albeit they didn't count towards your two mandatory Troops choices. I wanted it to be possible to make an all-Frateris army if desired, so you can actually fill every FOC slot with something that's not Sisters.
xalvissx wrote:Is there any way to make the Penitent Brute and Ironhide not just cheaper and worse version of Ogryn ? I think there should be some special features to make them stand out from Ogryn other than point cost. For example, Ironhide has a 4+ armour save, while Brute gets Rampage. And I think it will be fun to allow the Abhumans to have an option to take a shield (made from concrete) that provide an Invulnerable save (6+ maybe ?) or combat drug system (additional attacks or FnP ?) with some penalties to it ?
Some very neat ideas here. I like 'em and will ponder. What do other folks think?
J3f wrote:I Don't like including Bikes. They occupy the same Niche that Seraphim have. Space Marines have 2 types of Fast Attack squads, Assault Marines and Bikes. Bikes are tough highly mobile weapons platforms that don't get bogged down in Combat. Assault Marines are melee units that exist only to get into combat, They can optionally take Jump Packs to help them get into Combat faster. Sisters of Battle have Seraphim which are tough highly mobile close range weapon platforms that don't get bogged down in combat. Unless you want to change Bikes to be Melee units (The Celestians Niche) They don't fit in. The Sisters of Battle also have Dominions so they're not lacking in ways of getting firepower to the front lines.
I see your point -- and you're not the only one who doesn't like Sororitas Bikes -- but I'm not yet convinced. Yes, Dominions, Seraphim, and Thrones (bikers) are all shooty Fast Attack with some means to get in the enemy's face ASAP (either Scout/Outflank or Deep Strike), but they all do it differently:
- Dominions jump out of a transport, melta or flamer target to death from close range, pray they don't die. AOF: Ignore Cover.
- Seraphim jump around on jets, melta or flamer target to death from extremely close range, pray they don't die, use hit & run to get out of melee if they live long enough. AOF: Shred.
- Thrones zoom around on bikes, melta or flamer target to death from close range, use T4 from bikes to avoid dying and/or hit & run. AOF: Drive-by (shoot & then turbo-boost).
Note that Thrones are by far the hardest to kill, as they should be for 23 freakin' points per model.
Is this too many different shooty short-range Fast Attack units? Maaaaybe, but I think this is something the Sisters should do well because it fits the character of the army. Armies tend to have lots of subtle (or not so subtle) variations on their strong suit, e.g. the 20 different types of Leman Russ or all the short-ranged Nidzilla monstrous creatures.
[quote=xalvissx[Why the Melta Cannon on Lucifer tank has the range of 42" ? Is it a typo ?[/url]
Whoops! Yes, typo, it should be 24" -- fixed now. Thank you.
30 Zealots all armed with Exterminators cost 210 points and a 65 point Confessor Tax.
They have no access to Dedicated Transports, nor can they infiltrate, deepstrike, or scout. They don't have fleet either. They also only have T-shirt saves(6+).
If your opponent let's you march up 30 Zealots within Template Range then they've really screwed up.
Not to mention the difficulty of arranging a unit of 30 models to maximize Flamer hits against an ideal target.
It's not cost effective against most units either and will fold in combat against MEQ.
Really all they can do is serve as a Distraction Carnifex most of the time.
Wait so with their Act of Faith they're almost Eldar Jet Bikes? They might be too mobile of a unit for the Sisters of Battle.
Ok, so your Zealots definitely don't sound game-breaking. Still, 30 fething flamer templates? I think we both need to figure out a better way to represent the Exterminator.
And yes, the Thrones can get really bloody fast, and they can do it twice per game assuming they've got a Simulacrum and don't flub an AOF test.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Again, for 23 ppm, Sororitas bikers had better be good.
If I were to use Zealots and load them up with Exterminators, I wouldn't use them all at once, I'd save them for when the unit gets charged.
It's more effective to take 20ish Zealots and Load them up in Rhino Advancer and Flame some soft targets or a Monstrous Creature. It would still cost as much as a Land Raider though.
pretre wrote: Just go back to wall of death only when charged or hammer of wrath if charging.
Those are both interesting options. You say "go back" -- was there a version of Frateris/Zealots that worked that way? If so, I don't know about them and would love to learn.
Thanks. I love superheavies, so that's an easy rabbit hole for me to plunge down.....
Meanwhile, back at the lowly 3-ppm level, I'm pondering people's suggestions on how to change Exterminators. Some options for consideration -- note that One Use Only and Gets Hot apply to all.
1) Current way: hand flamers (S:3 AP:6). Upside: fiery! Downside: holy feth that's a lot of templates, a potential issue for both balance and ease of play -- unless you put limits on how many the unit may take, which turns them into another special weapon and doesn't reflect the original fluff.
2) Old way: the original Zealots rules have them as one-shot weapons that fire a single S:4 AP:5 shot the first time the unit charges. (They also have crazy to-hit rules we'll ignore). We could implement these as an extra melee attack -- perhaps at a higher Initiative.
Upside: simpler and less overpowered than templates, but still useful for a bunch of lousy S:3 models.
Downside: less colorful.
3) Old way, modified: Same stats as the old rules, but make them a short-range Assault 1 weapon, say 6" or 8" (possibly with the restriction you must then charge what you shot at).
Upside: useful, reflects fluff, doesn't require special rules about going at higher Initiative.
Downside: too shooty?
4) Pretre's way: a unit equipped with Exterminators has Hammer of Wrath. That means an extra melee attack (as per 2) at I:10 at S:3 AP:-.
Upside: Simplest of all. Still useful because a lot of opponents (Marines, Eldar) will kill Frateris before the Initiative 3 step rolls around.
Downside: S:4 AP:-.
I like the idea of making the Exterminator usable in overwatch, but outright Wall of Death is pretty powerful -- making it arguably more powerful on the defense than Hammer of Wrath is on the offense. Is there a way to do a dialed-down Wall of Death? (Strange sentence to write, I know).
I was just about to suggest the same thing (+edit+ i.e. his initial suggestion of wall of death when charged, hammer of wrath when charging) as pretre. It's a fitting, quick, and gives a unique flavour to a unit.
While wall of death might seem very powerful on the face of it, it's something the opponent has to activate. It basically helps the Frateris militia with their role, and encourages the SoB player to use them defensively rather than aggressively, which stops the unit becoming a 'zerg-rush'.
In this way, the character of them as dangerous fired-up civilians rather than a decent military unit is played-up. From a gameplay point of view, it also streamlines the unit in terms of dicerolling. This – again – helps the focus to be on the sisters, rather than the auxiliary militia.
On average, a full unit of thirty with this upgrade cause 60 S4 Ap- hits when being assaulted. This sounds scary – it'd wipe out a charging unit of marines easily – but in practise, the unit is likely to have taken a large number of casualties. Even if charged by the theoretical ten-man unit of marines, they'll have lost the best part of ten militia to a volley of bolt pistol fire supported by a frag grenade. Against a mob of thirty orks etc., even more will be lost.
It's more likely that the effect will be to scare the marine player into not charging, in which case he'll rapid fire into the unit and probably cause the best part of fifteen casualties on your militia.
If you're still concerned about the power of it, tweaks might be to make it one-use only – simple to keep track of if the whole unit is forced to do it at once – and/or remove a frateris militiaman (with no inflicted hits) on any WoD roll of 1. With the latter tweak, you cause an average of 55 S4 Ap- hits and cause 5 casualties on yourself.
However, I'd encourage you to keep it just as WoD is in the rules. It sounds scary on paper, but I think it'd be more use psychologically than in reality.
+++
As a general note, I've flicked through your playtesting notes for a while now, and this is a great work you've produced. I don't agree with every decision you've made, but you should be very proud of what you've already achieved. Great job!
Thanks for the compliment! As for Wall of Death, that seems like it's twice as good as Hammer of Wrath, on average -- two hits per model instead of one -- which means the Frateris Militia become better on the defensive than on the offense. That seems odd for a bunch of crazed but brittle fanatics.
I'm more tempted by Hammer of Wrath when charging OR being charged, which balances it out. Then of course the Frateris also have Rage, which favors the offensive.
Sooo much cool in this it's hard to know where to start! But my main point of criticism is this...
Exorcist Missile Pod: 15 points
The Exorcist Missile Launcher is a venerable and beloved weapon, but there are never enough to go around. So the Sisterhood has found ways to jury-rig its sacred and temperamental missiles to be fired individually from launch rails or even from the armored shoulder of a particularly brave Battle Sister.
An Exorcist Missile Pod counts as a choice from the Heavy Weapons List for Adepta Sororitas units. It is also available on some vehicles.
Each unit that has Exorcist Missile Pods must choose one of the following profiles for all its pods:
Fiery Hammer: 48" S:8 AP:1 Heavy 1, One Use Only
Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy 1, One Use Only
Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Interceptor, Heavy 1, One Use Only
Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy 1, One Use Only
You're going to give dozens of units on the board the opportunity to Intercept flyers!??
Yes, potentially every Battle Sister Squad could take a one-shot Skyfire missile as its Heavy Weapon choice; a Retributor Squad or Sororitas Command Squad could take four. It's a bit like giving all your Tac Marines and Devastators missile launchers with the Flak upgrade -- only the Sisters only get one shot. I think (I may be wrong) that limitation keeps it balanced, along with the opportunity cost of giving up a multi-melta or heavy flamer.
Missile Launchers don't have a 60" range or Interceptor. The problem is you can load up all your Troops with an Exorcist Missile Launcher and completely nullify a Drop Pod or Valkyire in the same phase it arrives on the table. It has enough range that even having your troops on different edges of the board won't matter much, and interceptor means it fires in your opponent's movement phase not your shooting phase. You don't even lose much by taking it as a heavy weapon on Battle Sisters because you want Dominions for Tank Hunting and you can throw a Flamer or Combi-weapon on the squad for most other situations.
Zealots should be scary they're a Mob of unruly Gentlemen. If you throw in Uriah Jacobus you can have a mob of 30 Fearless Zealots that Feel No Pain with 120 attacks on the charge that re-roll failed to hits. They most definitely can be used offensively. If you really want to sink some points in to your Ecclesiarchy Death Star you can upgrade them all to Redemptionists for 150 attacks on the charge and the addition of Shred and Furious Charge.
As for the Exterminators, there is in fact a defensive equivalent to Hammer of Wrath - Counter-Attack. So, whhy not make them a S4AP5 Hammer of Wrath attack, and grant Counter-Attack. Not as effective on the defence, but they're not designed for that kind of usage anyway.
Good thoughts on Frateris. As for Exorcists, there is indeed an option for multiple ammo types on the vehicle-mounted version as well (it's under both Vehicle Wargear and the individual entries for anything that has the Exorcist Missile Launcher):
Alternative Exorcist Ammunition: free
While the principal role of the Exorcist remains that of tank-killer and monster-hunter, the adaptable Adepta Sororitas -- with lavish Ecclesiarchal funding -- have sponsored the rediscovery of alternative missiles that let the Sisterhood's sole artillery weapon play multiple roles. Most common among them are the "Flaming Halo," a heavy fuel-air-explosive warhead for purging medium infantry; "Falling Angel," which trades a smaller warhead for more fuel and better targeting; and "Infinite Mercy," which trades weight of explosive for fuel to extend the range. Any Sororitas unit armed with an Exorcist Missile Launcher may replace its standard ammunition with one of the alternatives below. This substitution costs no points, but it changes the weapon's profile completely: The launcher's complex system of tubes doesn't allow for switching ammo types mid-battle!
You must make clear before deployment whether any Exorcist Missile Launcher is using alternative ammunition. If you fail to do so, you must use the standard profile.
Flaming Halo: 36" S:6 AP:4 Small Blast, Ignores Cover, Heavy D6 Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Interceptor, Heavy D6 Infinite Mercy: 72" S:6 AP:3 Heavy D6
Now, Interceptor on the anti-aircraft version may well be too much.
Arguably -- but you could also argue that the Sisters have plenty of other places to get S:8 AP:1. What they're desperately short of is long-ranged firepower of any kind (i.e. ranges greater than 36"). You could write a list where you relying on Fast Attack with melta to kill tanks -- Dominions or my homebrew Thrones (bikers) and Victoria (Sororitas Vendetta) -- and used the Exorcists for crowd-control (the Blast & Ignores Cover rounds) or long-range sniping (the 72" version). I'd agree Skyfire is pretty specialized, but in a large game or a flyer-heavy meta you might want a devoted anti-air Exorcist.
Which brings me back to the question of Interceptor: Is it OP? Remember the statline currently is Falling Angel: 60" S:7 AP:3 Skyfire, Interceptor, (Heavy 1 One Use Only)/(Heavy 1D6) (depending on whether it's a one-shot missile pod or a full scale Exorcist Missile Launcher)
Interceptor: looking at other Imperial units (see below), it seems this SR applies only to specialized fortification-mounted weapons, so the anti-air Exorcist variant probably shouldn't have it.
While I love my old Sister's Army Especially as allies for Fluff. I think This is a little to over the top. We need our Land Raider Back with more capacity due to Sister's being Smaller for our Assault Vehicle. Maybe a Flier and a few rules bumps maybe if the heavy weapons squad (Ret's) does not move they gain Sky fire that is about it. Maybe gain a Missile Launcher for the Ret's in the new plastic kit.
Over the top is admittedly my favorite place to be (ahem 3,000-point Churchtank ahem), and 30 units is in fact more than the total number in the current codex (22, I think?). But I think the Sisters deserve the same diversity of options as the Astartes and the Imperial Guard.
If folks could point to specific units they think are over the top, I'm absolutely willing to discuss toning things down. (E.g. I'm going to cut Interceptor from the anti-aircraft version of the Exorcist). Fire at will!
I'm still skeptical about the bike, personally; first off +1 to Jink saves is really the important part of Skilled Rider, if you wanted them to be good but not that good I'd give them the terrain benefits but not the Jink bonus. Secondly SM characters are paying 35pts for a bike because they're getting T5 out of it, your Canoness is still getting doubled out by scatter lasers. I'd prefer the +1 T stay with the bike (note also that's a common characteristic of every bike everywhere, I get that you want it to be lighter and less sturdy but when Eldar jetbikes give +1 T that logic doesn't work so well) and/or it get a price drop. (Also your compilation of special rules would make a Sororitas bikers unit T3 Black Knights with worse guns, I don't think that makes it particularly distinct).
I like the buff bubble approach to the Relics, but I'm less sure about a relic section where the cheapest item is sixty points and goes on a T3 character, consider sticking cheaper items/durability in?
I might suggest poking through the 30k Consuls rules for Palatines; I like the versatile roles you've given the Canoness, and I like the Palatine as an aide instead of a character alone, but right now it doesn't look like the Palatine does much but tank challenges for the Canoness. The Centurion in 30k is conceptually similar, but then you can give him an upgrade not unlike how you've arranged the Canoness' Records of Service that changes his loadout and gives him special rules to serve a different role on the field.
Have just skimmed it at this point but I'm sure I will have more to say later.
Also, after staring contemplatively at my flock of Valkyries, I have trouble seeing how a side-mounted weapon world work on the model. I mean, wouldn't you hit the wing? I'm working on a 'Vanguard' aerial missile platform for the Guard, which fires forward, made possible actually having techpriests to re-build the chassis around the missle launcher.
There are real-world gunships with side-mounted weapons (notably chainguns). They work by simply banking over the target area, wing tilted down towards the target, raining hot death at 6000 rpm onto some poor bastard. Though in most cases, the wings don't sit below the weapons. You could avoid this problem on the Vendetta and the Valkyrie by having them mounted inside the hull forward of the wings, though it would probably be easier, from a logistics standpoint, to pod mount them where the lascannons are currently found on the wings.
A side-mounted chaingun you could get away with on a Valkyrie. A side-mounted multiple rocket launcher, I'm sad to say, would blow your wing off most of the time.
Now, to Anomander Rake's excellent comments:
AnomanderRake wrote: I'm still skeptical about the bike, personally; first off +1 to Jink saves is really the important part of Skilled Rider, if you wanted them to be good but not that good I'd give them the terrain benefits but not the Jink bonus. Secondly SM characters are paying 35pts for a bike because they're getting T5 out of it, your Canoness is still getting doubled out by scatter lasers. I'd prefer the +1 T stay with the bike (note also that's a common characteristic of every bike everywhere, I get that you want it to be lighter and less sturdy but when Eldar jetbikes give +1 T that logic doesn't work so well) and/or it get a price drop. (Also your compilation of special rules would make a Sororitas bikers unit T3 Black Knights with worse guns, I don't think that makes it particularly distinct).
One correction: Sororitas Bikes do get the +1 T, just by virtue of having the Bike unit type, and the entry for Thrones does give them T:4. (I did go back and forth on this a lot before folks convinced me to stick with the standard rules.) That's still not a Marine Biker's T:5, but at least Scatter Lasers and other S:6 weapons are not inflicting Instant Death on Sisters on bikes. Interesting point about which part of Skilled Rider matters most; taking away the Jink save bonus and keeping the "automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests" would probably be in keeping with the cross-country scouting mission of Thrones. I might just make that change, thanks. I'm not too worried about excessive similarity with the Dark Angel's Black Knights: They strike me (pun not intended) as brutally capable in melee, which Sororitas bikers are not. Conversely, Sororitas Bikers have an Act of Faith that lets them pretend to be basically Eldar Jetbikes for a turn, which BKs can't.
AnomanderRake wrote: I like the buff bubble approach to the Relics, but I'm less sure about a relic section where the cheapest item is sixty points and goes on a T3 character, consider sticking cheaper items/durability in?
Yes, I suppose putting an Order Relic on a character who doesn't also have the Mantle of Ophelia is probably asking for trouble. (Probably I should add a line making absolutely clear that a model can take an Order Relic in addition to a "normal" Relic). Now, two of the six are shooting weapons, but the other four do require the bearer to get into close combat to get the most out of the Relic. The reason the Relics cost so much is that they're a backdoor way of getting "Order Traits": Instead of saying "hey, my whole army gets this buff for free because Space Marines do," you pay a hefty price for basically a bubble of Chapter Tactics. But they may make the bearer too huge a target. I'll have to ponder..... What do others think?
AnomanderRake wrote: I might suggest poking through the 30k Consuls rules for Palatines; I like the versatile roles you've given the Canoness, and I like the Palatine as an aide instead of a character alone, but right now it doesn't look like the Palatine does much but tank challenges for the Canoness. The Centurion in 30k is conceptually similar, but then you can give him an upgrade not unlike how you've arranged the Canoness' Records of Service that changes his loadout and gives him special rules to serve a different role on the field.
An interesting idea. The Palatine is the only unit beside the Canoness that can carry a Book of Acts, but otherwise she is a bit barebones. I don't own the 30K books, so I'd love if someone could link me to a review or summary that tells me more about how Centurions and Consuls work -- just enough to get inspired, not to copy the rules wholesale.
AnomanderRake wrote: I might suggest poking through the 30k Consuls rules for Palatines; I like the versatile roles you've given the Canoness, and I like the Palatine as an aide instead of a character alone, but right now it doesn't look like the Palatine does much but tank challenges for the Canoness. The Centurion in 30k is conceptually similar, but then you can give him an upgrade not unlike how you've arranged the Canoness' Records of Service that changes his loadout and gives him special rules to serve a different role on the field.
An interesting idea. The Palatine is the only unit beside the Canoness that can carry a Book of Acts, but otherwise she is a bit barebones. I don't own the 30K books, so I'd love if someone could link me to a review or summary that tells me more about how Centurions and Consuls work -- just enough to get inspired, not to copy the rules wholesale.
I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to post complete rules here but the bones follow:
Legion Centurion. Statline roughly equal to what Chaplains and Librarians have in the current C:SM, plenty of wargear options. A Centurion may purchase one (and only one) Consul upgrade from the following list:
Chaplain. Crozius, Zealot.
Master of Signal. More limited wargear, but he can call off-map artillery.
Champion. +WS, master-crafted weapon, improved challenges.
Vigilator. Swaps gear for Scout-oriented equipment, he gets a special-ammo bolter and the Sniper rule, he does a pre-game attack on a single enemy unit (older folks in the audience will remember this from the old Callidus and Codex: Craftworlds)
Librarian. ML and force weapon.
Forge Lord. Techmarine repair rules, Artificer armour, and the servo-arm/harness
Primus Medicae. Narthecium and you can reclaim VPs from destroyed units in kill point missions.
Siege Breaker. Tank Hunters to himself and any unit he joins plus access to phosphex weapons for the army.
Moritat. Two pistols, Scout, and whenever he hits with a shooting attack he makes an extra shooting attack.
Lots of interesting upgrade options there, thanks. I did a little googling on Consuls as well.
The trick will be keeping Palatine upgrades useful but cheap: they shouldn't outshine the Canoness or pile too many points on a T:3 W:2 model. But they shouldn't all just be toned-down versions of Canoness "Records of Service."
I really want a Palatine who's an "Imperial Guard Liaison" and can call in artillery support from offboard IG (or PDF) batteries, since the Sisters don't have their own Barrage weapons. 15 points as an upgrade to an existing model, based on the cost for buying an IG Master of Ordnance?
Perhaps also a Fleet Liaison Palatine to grant Reserve roll manipulation?
A Palatine Hospitaller who grants her squad Feel No Pain for an extra 15 points (or even an enhanced version of FNP, though that'd get pricey) would also be pretty cool, allowing you to bring FNP to units that aren't Command Squads or Repentia.
Since these are all supporting roles, it also makes sense they wouldn't be upgrades available for a Canoness.
Then "junior" versions of the Records of Service would be maybe Furious Charge (Celestian), Twin-linked shooting (Vigil - infiltrate seems too powerful), Scout & Access to Special Weapons (Dominion), Shred on shooting attacks & access to dual pistols (Seraphim), Skilled Rider (Throne), Relentless & access to Heavy Weapons (Retributor).
Not sure how much else I can get out of the lore. Diving back into Inquisition content would be pointless since you could just take an Inquisitor, there isn't much in the Dark Heresy content that isn't already here. Possibly a Palatine Dialogus that plays up the loremistress angle and gives her squad Preferred Enemy against one army book?
Your Canoness and Palatine are too complicated as is. Records of Service and Order Relics give them too many options. Both of them are unnecessary, but if you must keep records of service, I'd split the Canoness into different HQ choices.
Horus Heresy isn't a good baseline to use for the complexity of the Sisters standard HQ choice.
The problem is compounded by the Palatine being a slotless buff HQ along with the Canoness.
Sisters of Battle also don't need backdoor Chapter Tactics. They're Acts of Faith are enough rules already. It would be like throwing multiple Chapter Tactic choices onto Grey Knights on top of them all being Psykers.
In my codex I kept everything simple. The Canoness costs 55 points generates 3 Faith Points, can take multiple relics, a Mantle of Ophelia, and a Jump Pack. The Palatine has access to everything the Canoness does, except the Jump Pack. She's also limited to 2 wounds, only has Weapon Skill 4, and generates 2 Faith Points instead of 3. They also have different Act of Faith boosts the Canoness getting Hatred while using The Passion (+2 to Initiative) and the Palatine adds +1 to Combat results while using Righteous Frenzy (Rage).
My Palatine is meant to be a cost effective Canoness, she's the most point effective model for Faith Points and the cheapest way to get a Sororitas Command Squad. However the Palatine's in a tight niche, you wouldn't want to take any upgrades because otherwise you'd want to take a Canoness for 25 points more. She also makes a good co-squad captain along with a Canoness in a Sororitas Command Squad with her Act of Faith.
xalvissx wrote:Is there any way to make the Penitent Brute and Ironhide not just cheaper and worse version of Ogryn ? I think there should be some special features to make them stand out from Ogryn other than point cost. For example, Ironhide has a 4+ armour save, while Brute gets Rampage. And I think it will be fun to allow the Abhumans to have an option to take a shield (made from concrete) that provide an Invulnerable save (6+ maybe ?) or combat drug system (additional attacks or FnP ?) with some penalties to it ?
Some very neat ideas here. I like 'em and will ponder. What do other folks think?
Well, I suggested this, so let me begin it
The stats and wargears for Ironhide, Brute and Abhuman change as follow:
Penitent Abhuman: WS:3 BS:3 S:4 T:4 W:1 I:3 A:3 Ld:5 Sv:6+ (25 ppm) Special rules: Bulky, Hammer of Wrath, Rage, Stubborn. Wargear: replace Crude Maul with Flail (Melee, S+1, Two-handed)
Additional Options: The entire mob may take any of the following: - Ferrocrete shield: 5 points/model (+1 Sv, re-roll failed save of 1, -1A, Slow and Purposeful) - Frenzon: 10 points/model (Choose if the unit use Frenzon at the beginning of the Assault Phase; if yes, the entire unit must use Frenzon. Each model gains D3+1 additional attacks, roll once for entire unit. If a 1 is rolled, the unit take one Wound with no save of any kind allowed.) - Kalma: 10 points/model (Choose if the unit use Kalma at the beginning of the Assault Phase; if yes, the entire unit must use Kalma. Grants FnP 4+, -1 A and -1 I for one turn).
More good feedback than I could keep up with over the holiday. Let's start with
1. Abhumans Some neat ideas for Abbies here. Whatever we figure out, I think we ought to make a Chaos version too.... I love the idea of having the various breeds all be unique, rather than different flavors of inferior Ogryn, but I'd try to keep the upgrades from costing quite so much, so my spin on Xalvissx's ideas is as follows:
The entire Mob may be upgraded to a specific breed of Abhuman: - Brutes (+1 Strength, Rampage*): +20 points per model - Ironhides (+1 Toughness, Save 4+*): +20 pts per model - Longshanks (Crusader and Fleet): +20 pts per model - Ogryns (+1 Strength, +1 Toughness, +1 Wound): +30 pts per model
* Per Ovion (including some PMs), Rampage is a 10-point SR, and each +1 to armour save is worth +5.
I'm a little nervous about adding combat drugs and other wargear options on top of all the different breeds, since even I occasionally worry about ...
2. Complexity I see J3f's point that I don't want to make Canonesses or Palatines (or Abhumans) a bewildering maze of overlapping options. But there is a question of design philosophy here: I'm not particularly fond of special characters, I prefer the ability to customize generic characters and then make up my OWN fluff. I think the key for options is that they all have flavor and some tactical role. I think upgrades for the Palatine need to make her a useful adjunct to a Canoness, without making her cost as much or hit as hard. I've given a few of my ideas for this above -- more suggestions?
3. Exterminators I think Hammer of Wrath on offense and "makes a Hammer of Wrath attack as if it were the unit charging" on defense is the way to go. Costing that out, Ovion-style: Hammer of Wrath: +10 Defensive HoW: +10 Gets Hot on single-shot weapon: -5 Subtotal: +15 Divide by 5 for ordinary troops (remember Ovion's costs are per squad/IC): +3 points
Sound good?
4. Interceptor I'm going to take it off the anti-aircraft Exorcist missile.
Hammer of Wrath does indeed hit automatically -- which is appropriate for the Exterminator because it's a mini-template weapon.
The 4+ for Ironhides should be fluffed as, well, iron hides rather than armour. Now there may be a better way to depict that, eg FNP. They already have +1 Toughness compared to regular Abhumans.
Palatine upgrades: I had the brainstorm that I should make six specialties, one for each of the founding Saints of the Order. This keeps the number manageable (compared to 9 options for the Canoness's Records of Service), especially since some of these replace what were originally wargear options. Rough ideas so far:
Daughter of Dominica (+15 pts): Dominica was the founder and first commander of the Order. This Palatine has special training and communications gear to improve Sororitas command & control: +1 to Reserve rolls.
Daughter of Katharine (? pts): Fiery Katharine was the closest to Dominica, serving as her second-in-command and shield-bearer. This Palatine is trained and dedicated to defend her superiors: She automatically succeeds in Glorious Intervention and gains Preferred Enemy in challenges.
Daughter of Silvana (15 pts): Silvana was the most selfless of the founders and the first to be martyred. This Palatine is likewise a paragon of purity, even among Sisters, and is considered a living link to the God-Emperor: She carries a Book of Acts. [See Special Issue Wargear in the first post]
Daughter of Lucia (20 pts?): Lucia was the most penitent of the founders, always remorseful for what the Sisterhood had done as Vandire's Brides of the Emperor. This Palatine follows in that tradition of penitential piety: She gains the War Hymns special rule.
Daughter of Mina (15 pts): Mina was the most impetuously aggressive of the Six Saints. This Palatine has the temperament and training to lead high-risk maneuvers: She gains Scout and Acute Senses.
Daughter of Arabella (15 pts): Arabella was the coolest and most logical of the founders, especially revered by heavy weapons Sisters. This Palatine has the clear head and coms gear required to call in supporting fire from Imperial Guard artillery or Navy starships, compensating for the Sisterhood's lack of long-range artillery. She may make a shooting attack with the following profile: Range - Infinite; S - 9; AP - 3; Type - Ordnance 1, Barrage, Large Blast
Why is Palatine a better Master of Ordnance than the Master of Ordnance? Master of Ordnance scatters on 3D6
Why can the sisters call on Imperial Guard Artillery? They haven't been able to do that since 3rd Inquisitorial Requisitioning rules and Allies rules have made those obsolete.
I honestly just forgot the scatter on 3D6 thing. But I think there might be a place for an indirect fire attack that doesn't require an allies tax. Of course, the Imperium doesn't seem that big on inter-service cooperation....
There's also no disincentive to just parking her in the corner and raining down artillery barrages. It's not a very fluffy role for the Palatine to never see combat and play arm-chair commander while you essentially play missile command with her.
Indeed. In much respect, it would feel very much out of character for anyone in the Sororitas leadership to take a backseat role in battle. Perhaps something from the Frateris?
Good point, guys. Frankly I wouldn't trust the Frateris to call for pizza, let alone artillery support, so I may just leave that one out. If a Sisters player wants Guard artillery support, let her take an IG Allied Detachment with a Company Command Squad, Master of Ordnance, & a single veteran squad to protect them -- plus maybe an on-board Basilisk. That's not an inordinate tax.
The more I think about it, the less I think I need this kind of customization for Palatines: they're already got a lot of variety in their wargear.
I just might make up some new wargear item they can take which represents coms gear and allows Reserve roll manipulation, because I really like armies to have that option.
Also I like the Palatine-as-bodyguard/champion role; that's the only one that might require a special rule ("rerolls failed glorious intervention"), but honestly the basic Palatine with Praesidium Protectiva soaks up Challenges on her Canoness's behalf pretty well already.
Automatically Appended Next Post: PS: The Reserves roll manipulation might actually fit better as an upgrade to a member of the Sororitas Command Squad, similar to a Hospitaller or Dialogus: a "Sister Signaler" who trades her bolter for coms gear.
Almost done! I wrote up the Sister Signaler (reserve roll manipulation) and a simple Dominica Pattern Drop Pod (because everyone who wants pods was going to ally in Space Wolves or Blood Angels to get them,and we can't have THAT).
DOMINICA PATTERN DROP POD: 40 points (Fast Attack)
A sanctified version of the Astartes stand-by Drop Pod: BS:4 Armour 12/12/12 HP:3 Sv:6++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Vehicle (Open-topped, Transport)
Unit Composition: 1 Drop Pod
Wargear: Storm Bolter
Special Rules:
Shield of Faith
Drop Pod Assault; Immobile; Inertial Guidance System*
* See Codex:Space Marines for these rules.
Transport Capacity: 10 models or 1 Penitent Engine.
A Dominica Pattern Drop Pod is a Dedicated Transport option for a Sororitas Command Squad or a Celestian Squad.
Options:
May replace its Storm Bolter with a
- heavy flamer: 5 pts
- multi-melta: 5 pts
Design notes:
[spoiler]
A standard Marine drop pod with Shield of Faith (+5 points) and different weapons upgrade options. Simple!
No locator beacons because (a) Sisters aren't as specialized in precision drop as the Marines are -- they shouldn't get all the drop goodness of the Astartes -- and (b) I didn't want to add a yet another new wargear item.
***
SORORITAS COMMAND SQUAD
One Celestian may be upgraded to a Sister Signaler, replacing her Boltgun with a Vox Dei (see below): 15 points
Vox Dei This sanctified communications system connects the Sister Signaler with far-flung Sororitas forces, Ecclesiarchy ships in orbit, and even secular arms of the Imperium such as the Guard. With it, she can coordinate the swift arrival of friendly reserves or call down bombardments to disrupt the enemy's. Each Sister Signaler may take a Leadership test at the beginning of your turn, before any Reserve rolls are made. For each Signaler who succeeds, you may either add +1 to your own Reserve rolls this turn or force your opponent to subtract one from his Reserve rolls (but he will automatically pass on any rolls of 6). If you have more than one Sister Signaler, all modifiers are cumulative.
Design Notes: Basically makes one Celestian into an Officer of the Fleet, with a slight discount to the IG price because you're not adding a new body to the command squad.
Good question. But why does the Marine drop pod have a BS:4 Storm Bolter, since it doesn't have a pilot either.... ? [headasplode] Maybe the Astartes drop pod is using Power of the Machine Spirit to fire (in fluff terms) even though it doesn't have the POTMS rule (in crunch terms)? In that case, the Sororitas version should either have no weapon OR a BS:2 weapon manned by a servitor, since the Ecclesiarchy isn't cool with uppity machine spirits.
Actually, it's easier to justify Shield of Faith: The drop pod had 10 Sisters in it, it's probably glowing with their spiritual mojo at least while they're in it and perhaps residually for some time after...
SisterSydney wrote: Good question. But why does the Marine drop pod have a BS:4 Storm Bolter, since it doesn't have a pilot either.... ? [headasplode] Maybe the Astartes drop pod is using Power of the Machine Spirit to fire (in fluff terms) even though it doesn't have the POTMS rule (in crunch terms)? In that case, the Sororitas version should either have no weapon OR a BS:2 weapon manned by a servitor, since the Ecclesiarchy isn't cool with uppity machine spirits.
Actually, it's easier to justify Shield of Faith: The drop pod had 10 Sisters in it, it's probably glowing with their spiritual mojo at least while they're in it and perhaps residually for some time after...
Or they have light energy shields they don't share with the rest of the Imperium (part of the explanation why their power armour isn't as bulky but still provides the same save?). Take your pick. (Disclaimer: This is half-assed speculation and could easily be discarded without losing much or offending me)
The Shield of Faith on vehicles is explicitly from the pilot of the vehicle. Seriously, once they're out of the drop pod (which is right after they land) keeping the Shield of Faith on it is honestly no good.
Drop it as a rule, it's violating established lore for a cheap buff.
SisterSydney wrote: Good question. But why does the Marine drop pod have a BS:4 Storm Bolter, since it doesn't have a pilot either.... ? [headasplode] Maybe the Astartes drop pod is using Power of the Machine Spirit to fire (in fluff terms) even though it doesn't have the POTMS rule (in crunch terms)? In that case, the Sororitas version should either have no weapon OR a BS:2 weapon manned by a servitor, since the Ecclesiarchy isn't cool with uppity machine spirits.
Actually, it's easier to justify Shield of Faith: The drop pod had 10 Sisters in it, it's probably glowing with their spiritual mojo at least while they're in it and perhaps residually for some time after...
Or they have light energy shields they don't share with the rest of the Imperium (part of the explanation why their power armour isn't as bulky but still provides the same save?). Take your pick. (Disclaimer: This is half-assed speculation and could easily be discarded without losing much or offending me)
Sisters armor isn't as bulky because it's just servos and armor plating, and none of the 800+ other subsystems the Marine armor has (like the food/drug injector). Plus the wearer of the armor isn't as bulky as a Marine is either, making it smaller overall too.
ClockworkZion wrote: Passengers auto-disembark from drop pods so such a Shield of Faith rule would be pointless.
Frankly a lower BS on the gun wouldn't bother my but GW seems to think it's more appropriate to have BS4 for some reason.
Why would it be pointless? You still have the Drop Pod hanging out on the field shooting people and holding objectives.
If the rule stops conferring the shield when they disembark and they disembark upon landing then it would never benefit from the rule, making it pointless.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
J3f wrote: Not against Tau or anyone using a Quad Cannon. Interceptor is a thing you know.
I'm with Sister Sidney about the Drop Pod having Residual (Shield of) Faith, even if only for rules simplicity.
I'm against it because unless Sisters Drop Pods have Sisters pilots it really doesn't fit the lore. By that logic the Aquila Lander would get Shield of Faith for Sisters being embarked.
ClockworkZion wrote: Passengers auto-disembark from drop pods so such a Shield of Faith rule would be pointless.
Frankly a lower BS on the gun wouldn't bother my but GW seems to think it's more appropriate to have BS4 for some reason.
Why would it be pointless? You still have the Drop Pod hanging out on the field shooting people and holding objectives.
If the rule stops conferring the shield when they disembark and they disembark upon landing then it would never benefit from the rule, making it pointless.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
J3f wrote: Not against Tau or anyone using a Quad Cannon. Interceptor is a thing you know.
I'm with Sister Sidney about the Drop Pod having Residual (Shield of) Faith, even if only for rules simplicity.
I'm against it because unless Sisters Drop Pods have Sisters pilots it really doesn't fit the lore. By that logic the Aquila Lander would get Shield of Faith for Sisters being embarked.
Wait, are we suggesting the Drop Pod itself get the Shield of Faith rule or not?
Also why wouldn't you just have an Aquila piloted by Sisters? They're the Imperium's shuttles for ferrying the elite around, it's like having the white three-winged shuttles for flying dignitaries around in the Empire in Star Wars. I'd expect Canonesses to have their own Aquilas with their own Sororitas crew. It's like expecting nobility to have a chauffeur.
Why wouldn't the Drop Pod have Shield of Faith. It's iconic of Sisters of Battle vehicles. Currently all Sisters of Battle Vehicles have Shield of Faith.
The Aquila Lander isn't something in the Sisters' Fleet, it's an Imperial Navy Vehicle. It doesn't receive the constant prayer and maintenance that a Sororitas vehicle does.
J3f wrote: Why wouldn't the Drop Pod have Shield of Faith. It's iconic of Sisters of Battle vehicles. Currently all Sisters of Battle Vehicles have Shield of Faith.
The Aquila Lander isn't something in the Sisters' Fleet, it's an Imperial Navy Vehicle. It doesn't receive the constant prayer and maintenance that a Sororitas vehicle does.
I was under the impression everyone maintained their own. It's a limo/taxi for your leaders, it's not actually supposed to be a combat vehicle.
ClockworkZion wrote: Passengers auto-disembark from drop pods so such a Shield of Faith rule would be pointless.
Frankly a lower BS on the gun wouldn't bother my but GW seems to think it's more appropriate to have BS4 for some reason.
Why would it be pointless? You still have the Drop Pod hanging out on the field shooting people and holding objectives.
If the rule stops conferring the shield when they disembark and they disembark upon landing then it would never benefit from the rule, making it pointless.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
J3f wrote: Not against Tau or anyone using a Quad Cannon. Interceptor is a thing you know.
I'm with Sister Sidney about the Drop Pod having Residual (Shield of) Faith, even if only for rules simplicity.
I'm against it because unless Sisters Drop Pods have Sisters pilots it really doesn't fit the lore. By that logic the Aquila Lander would get Shield of Faith for Sisters being embarked.
Wait, are we suggesting the Drop Pod itself get the Shield of Faith rule or not?
Also why wouldn't you just have an Aquila piloted by Sisters? They're the Imperium's shuttles for ferrying the elite around, it's like having the white three-winged shuttles for flying dignitaries around in the Empire in Star Wars. I'd expect Canonesses to have their own Aquilas with their own Sororitas crew. It's like expecting nobility to have a chauffeur.
I'm saying it shouldn't have it. And the Aquila is piloted by the Imperial Navy, not the Sisters. The Sisters have no air support of their own (unless GW recons it).
Automatically Appended Next Post:
J3f wrote: Why wouldn't the Drop Pod have Shield of Faith. It's iconic of Sisters of Battle vehicles. Currently all Sisters of Battle Vehicles have Shield of Faith.
And said Shield is from the vehicle's pilot. Drop Pods have no pilot. Thus no shield.
I'm saying it shouldn't have it. And the Aquila is piloted by the Imperial Navy, not the Sisters. The Sisters have no air support of their own (unless GW recons it).
The Aquila isn't air support. It's a limo. That sometimes has a gun taped to it. It seems like a loophole that an army based on a loophole in the first place (No "Men under arms"!) would leap at.
I'm saying it shouldn't have it. And the Aquila is piloted by the Imperial Navy, not the Sisters. The Sisters have no air support of their own (unless GW recons it).
The Aquila isn't air support. It's a limo. That sometimes has a gun taped to it. It seems like a loophole that an army based on a loophole in the first place (No "Men under arms"!) would leap at.
Okay, I'm convinced the Dominica drop pod shouldn't have Shield of Faith. I'm increasingly thinking it should default to no weapon (-5 points) with an option to buy a servitor-controlled heavy flamer (BS:2 but who cares with a template?). Sound good?
Taking away the Storm Bolter doesn't do enough to justify dropping the price by 5 points. The Drop Pod is still a drop pod and fulfills it's primary purpose. The Storm Bolters also mounted on an immobile vehicle so the Assault 2 profile will never be fully utilized.
The Sister Signaler doesn't add much in my opinion.
Reserves manipulation is AWESOME. And technically a Storm Bolter costs 5 points....
But your Aquila is pretty cool.
Automatically Appended Next Post: P.S.: On the Palatines-with-options thing, I gave them back the option to take a War Hymnal and added the option to take Chirurgeon's Tools for 20 points (scaling up the cost from a Hospitaller for an Independent Character).
Weird rules are weird. Anyway, here's what I'm pretty sure I'm sticking with for the drop pod:
DOMINICA PATTERN DROP POD: 40 points (Fast Attack)
A sanctified version of the Astartes stand-by Drop Pod: BS:2 Armour 12/12/12 HP:3
Unit Type: Vehicle (Open-topped, Transport)
Unit Composition: 1 Drop Pod
Wargear: heavy flamer
Special Rules: Drop Pod Assault; Immobile; Inertial Guidance System*
* See Codex:Space Marines for these rules.
Flower of Flame:
Dominica-pattern drop pods often have flamer pipes built into the insides of their doors. When the pod lands and opens, it unfolds like a flower of purifying flame. If a Dominica-pattern drop pod is armed with a heavy flamer, then, when firing, you may place the narrow end of the template in context with any part of the model.
Transport Capacity: 10 models or 1 Penitent Engine.
A Dominica Pattern Drop Pod is a Dedicated Transport option for a Sororitas Command Squad or a Celestian Squad.
Options
May replace its heavy flamer with a Storm Bolter or Multi-Melta: free
The Eccesiarchy has its own version of the standard Astartes drop pod, one stripped of the suspiciously advanced Machine Spirit and fitted instead with a thoroughly purified heretic as a gun servitor.
Design notes:
A standard Marine drop pod with BS:2 because the Ecclesiarchy don't trust no fancy machine spirits, they got a heretic's skull wired into the drop pod to do that aimin' stuff. Weapons pricing is standard (replacing a 5-pt Storm Bolter w/ a 10-pt Heavy Flamer). The "Flower of Flame" special rule makes up for the weird positioning of a normal Drop Pod's weapon. No discount for BS:2 because the main weapon doesn't care about rolling to hit.
No locator beacons because (a) Sisters aren't as specialized in precision drop as the Marines are -- they shouldn't get all the drop goodness of the Astartes -- and (b) I didn't want to add a yet another new wargear item.
Heavy Flamers should be 10 because it's an 8" template from the gun (which is in the center of the model). Unless you give it torrent it can't hit anything that is standing too far away. If you give it Torrent then 15 would be more on target.
Why BS2? without a decent Ballistics Skill the Drop Pod's dead weight after delivering its payload. Also the Original Dominica Pattern Drop Pod had BS4
Why does it have so many weapons options? Especially with BS2, besides the Heavy Flamer? Marine Drop Pods get 1 weapons upgrade and its pretty meh.
I'd up the Ballistic Skill back to 4, so it can actually do something past turn 1 and get rid of its current options and just make the Stormbolter standard with the option to upgrade to a Heavy Bolter.
Currently the Heavy Flamer is by far the best option, just plunk it down next to an objective and it'll serve as area denial unit, especially against troop units who aren't packing a decent amount of anti-armour.
The Multi-melta just isn't in a good position to be mounted on a Drop Pod. At BS2 the weapon is nearly useless, since it's a single shot weapon. At BS4 it's too good because you could take 5 Drop Pods and Alpha Strike in 3 on your first turn, instead of or in addition to a Dominion squad.
Marines get Missiles as an upgrade option. Is it really that unrealistic that Sisters would take a different option?
And the Heavy Flamer would barely have the range to reach past the doors when they're down unless it gets torrent or something.
And yes, BS4 could be explained away by claiming that sometimes in death a Sister is able to still serve by their brain being interned into the Drop Pod, serving as well in death as they did in life as they bring their weapon to bear.
There, now we just added like 20 Grimdark to the idea and made a reason for BS4 that fits the Ecclesiarchy's theme of "reduce, reuse, recycle" when it comes to martyrs and saints.
Well I'm against Heavy Flamers getting torrent, that would be ridiculous considering how rare Torrent is in 40k.
Also Sororitas Dreadpods? I don't think Drop Pods are recovered very often. It's probably cheaper to just leave them on the battlefield or make them self destruct. With a Dreadnought you can airlift it off the ground fairly easily, but a Drop Pod? They'd be abandoning a Sister every time they deep strike.
Wouldn't it just make more sense for the Drop Pod to have more advanced targeting systems because of its STC, and the Ad Mech haven't adopted its technology to any other servitor controlled systems because, LOL Innovation.
ClockworkZion wrote: And yes, BS4 could be explained away by claiming that sometimes in death a Sister is able to still serve by their brain being interned into the Drop Pod, serving as well in death as they did in life as they bring their weapon to bear.
A Sisters entire life is spent hoping to die for the Emperor, servitor Sister would be the worst kind of punishment.
Flower of Flame:
Dominica-pattern drop pods often have flamer pipes built into the insides of their doors. When the pod lands and opens, it unfolds like a flower of purifying flame. If a Dominica-pattern drop pod is armed with a heavy flamer, then, when firing, you may place the narrow end of the template in context with any part of the model.
As for ballistic skill, I'm pretty happy with BS:2. Given the existence of Arco-Flagellants and Penitent Engines, the Ecclesiarchy seems to view servitor-dom as a hellish punishment, not something to be inflicted on a loyal Sister. And having the Sisters' pod be less high-tech and more brutal than the Marines' fits the theme of the army. (It also allows having the whole holy trinity of weapons available as options without creating a BS:4 multimelta death monster).
ClockworkZion wrote: And yes, BS4 could be explained away by claiming that sometimes in death a Sister is able to still serve by their brain being interned into the Drop Pod, serving as well in death as they did in life as they bring their weapon to bear.
A Sisters entire life is spent hoping to die for the Emperor, servitor Sister would be the worst kind of punishment.
Thought of the Day: "Even in death, I still serve."
Automatically Appended Next Post:
J3f wrote: Well I'm against Heavy Flamers getting torrent, that would be ridiculous considering how rare Torrent is in 40k.
Also Sororitas Dreadpods? I don't think Drop Pods are recovered very often. It's probably cheaper to just leave them on the battlefield or make them self destruct. With a Dreadnought you can airlift it off the ground fairly easily, but a Drop Pod? They'd be abandoning a Sister every time they deep strike.
Wouldn't it just make more sense for the Drop Pod to have more advanced targeting systems because of its STC, and the Ad Mech haven't adopted its technology to any other servitor controlled systems because, LOL Innovation.
No, Drop Pods are fluffed as being recovered whenever possible. Even if it'd be cheaper you have to imagine the length of time the may not have a resupply for and how far they'd have to go to get replacements if they did that.
The original Dominica Pattern had no guns. Then there was an all-gun machine spirit piloted Drop Pod that sisters used as part of their assaults that also was based on the Dominica.
Actually, if you look closely at the page you posted, BOTH the gunship version under Heavy Support AND the 12-passenger version under "Transport Option" are identified as "Drop Pod (Dominica Pattern)." Same name, different stats. Go figure.
SisterSydney wrote: Actually, if you look closely at the page you posted, BOTH the gunship version under Heavy Support AND the 12-passenger version under "Transport Option" are identified as "Drop Pod (Dominica Pattern)." Same name, different stats. Go figure.
I edited before you responded. Either way, dropping a storm bolter on the transport is probably a good idea.
AnomanderRake wrote: I'm confused about 12-10-10. Were Drop Pods not circular back then?
The 'front' armour on a drop pod was the bottom bit, so things with the 3e equivalent of Interceptor would hit that, then when it was on the ground the doors opened - all anyone could get LoS to was the side/rear armour (the 'sides' being the five vertical panels because of the direction the pod moved in before landing, and the 'rear' being the top of the pod).
So I don't want to create a new thread for it but I had a thought recently on something that might work to help make Celestians more interesting:
Give them Stormbolters base. 2 shots at 24" makes them a bit shootier than a standard 10 Sister Squad, and with them being Assault Weapons they could actually charge with a Canoness and/or a Priest to finish the job against severely weakened units.
It wouldn't fix everything, but I think it'd be a great place to start for the unit (the other things I'd run with are a points drop and giving them Chainswords base) and would make the Canoness actually have a place to go that would work for her (especially with Stormbolters on the Command Squad Celestians too).
Yeah, Stormbolters as the base weapon on Celestians was what I was thinking too, back before the digidex when I was thinking of writing a full fandex instead of an expansion. That's harder to do now I've self-imposed the limit of making everything fully compatible with the current codex -- I guess you could give Celestians the option to buy up to a Stormbolter for less than the usual amount of points, but people would point to the rulebooks that all say they're 5 ppm....
SisterSydney wrote: Yeah, Stormbolters as the base weapon on Celestians was what I was thinking too, back before the digidex when I was thinking of writing a full fandex instead of an expansion. That's harder to do now I've self-imposed the limit of making everything fully compatible with the current codex -- I guess you could give Celestians the option to buy up to a Stormbolter for less than the usual amount of points, but people would point to the rulebooks that all say they're 5 ppm....
Consider it an errata to the current codex.
And yeah, they'd argue they're 5 points, but Celestians are over costed so making the change with no points upgrade so it'd be better balanced than they are now.
Giving them stormbolters wouldn't do much, except make them more shooty against soft targets.
If you think 14 point Celestians should start with Stormbolters then you'd also have to argue for Battle sisters that cost less than 9 points.
What they need is the ability to take Power Weapons, and a few buffs.
My Celestians are costed at 17 points and come with Counter-attack and the Holy Hatred special rule form Codex Witch Hunters. They can all take Power Weapons and Superior can even take a Praesidium Protectiva (Storm Shield).
Veteran Celestians (Sororitas Command Squad) Can all take any Special Weapon including a Stormbolter.
Allowing every Celestian (not just SCS) to take power weapons would be interesting, but the pricing is tricky. At the standard 15 ppm, it's just not worth it.
You're probably right -- and in a from-scratch fandex I'd do that. One of my self-imposed limitations is that I have to stay fully compatible with the current codex, including its Melee Weapons list.
Aha, you found my attempt at formations. I wasn't sufficiently satisfied with them to include them in this "official" compilation, but I'd love more critique so I can improve them. My current concern is that a lot of friendly opponents might be willing to let you play with a homebrew unit or a homebrew formation/detachment/FOC, but it'd be a lot rarer to find one who'd be okay with a homebrew formation of homebrew units -- and for good reason: the opportunities for brokenness increase exponentially when you're messing with the rules on multiple levels. I tried some FOC-swapping Canoness upgrades a while back and people warned me I was heading down a dark and dangerous path.
J3f wrote: Giving them stormbolters wouldn't do much, except make them more shooty against soft targets.
If you think 14 point Celestians should start with Stormbolters then you'd also have to argue for Battle sisters that cost less than 9 points.
What they need is the ability to take Power Weapons, and a few buffs.
My Celestians are costed at 17 points and come with Counter-attack and the Holy Hatred special rule form Codex Witch Hunters. They can all take Power Weapons and Superior can even take a Praesidium Protectiva (Storm Shield).
Veteran Celestians (Sororitas Command Squad) Can all take any Special Weapon including a Stormbolter.
I disagree. Storm Bolters also make you more shooty at the things you want to punch since they're Assault 2.
Also Sisters would be fine at 10. Replacing the Bolter with a Stombolter, while adding +1WS/A would be fine at 14 points. Or do you want to tell me that this game really uses full points costs on things when Tact Marines are currently only 2ppm more than Battle Sisters despite the major stat line upgrade?
I priced Battle Sisters at 11 ppm. The Ability to take 2 special weapons or 1 special and 1 heavy in a 5 woman squad makes up for the stat line differences as well as being 3 points cheaper.
Also I said sub 9 points, by your pricing Celestians should be 15 points and I'd be fine with them having stormbolters and costing 17 points, 1 more point for +1 WS/A.
In my Codex a Canoness with a Jump Pack can take a unit of Seraphim in place of a Sororitas Command Squad. Any other FOC swaps, except vehicles not named the Exorcist would be really OP, and be objectively better than Battle Sister Squads.
Sticking within my own "Codex-compliant" framework, I could see letting Celestians (including in SCS) take a chainsword [in addition to their existing bolter & bolt pistol] for 1 ppm.
Swap regular Bolters for Storm Bolters, maybe 2 ppm? I'm a little more leery there.
Hmmm. Chaos Chosen get to trade a bolter for a combi-bolter at only 3 ppm. As a multi-purpose (shooty and choppy) elite unit, they're actually a good model for Celestians.
You guys are forgetting that a CSM is tougher than a Sister which is a big reason why Sisters shouldn't be paying as much for things as the Marines do.
And no one has yet to prove to me why Celestians can't be 14ppm when a tact marine is still tougher, faster and stronger than she is. Her gaining assault on her weapon and an extra shot at 24" is not so much to offset the advantages that ATSKNF, Chaper Tactics, and +1 S/T/I has, even when they lose an attack in comparison.
The biggest trouble with Celestians is getting them into combat (where imo they do alright when combined with Priests and a Cannoness - majority WS4 makes a real difference). Assault Transports are often called for, but why not do something slightly different and change their Act of Faith?
"<insert fluffy name here>: Useable in the Assault Phase. The unit may declare a charge, even if they disembarked from a Vehicle earlier in the turn. This charge is resolved exactly as if the Vehicle had the Assault Ramps special rule."
Now you have Celestians able to assault out of vehicles without actually adding a new assault transport to the game (which could be abused due to Battle Brother's shenanigans with other Imperium of Man armies). Since you can only use Acts of Faith when the entire unit is comprised only of Act of Faith or War Hymn models, this still prevents you from attaching Battle Brother Independent Characters for assaulting out of transports. As a side note I'd also make Celestians I4 - they are the elite veterans after all.
Since Celestians would lose Furious Charge out of this, and also considering the Cannoness' Hatred Act of Faith is pretty useless when you have Priests around (since they have Hatred anyway), I would change the Cannoness' Act of Faith to this:
"<insert fluffy name here>: Useable in either the Shooting Phase or Assault Phase. All shooting and melee attacks made by the Cannoness and her unit are resolved at +1 Strength."
That would be a great supporting AoF for a Cannoness who can attach herself anywhere amongst her units to make benefit of it. Put her in a Ret squad for a turn of S6 Rending Heavy Bolters/Flamers. Put her with Dominions for a turn of S9 Ignores Cover Melta (great for popping high Toughness models). Celestians could still have their S4 melee attacks, but also whilst assaulting out of a Vehicle. Even basic Battle Sisters could have S5 Bolters or Flamers with Preferred Enemy for a turn.
My other idea to help Repentia get into combat is to change their Act of Faith too.
"<insert fluffy name here>: Useable in the Movement Phase. This unit may move as if it were entirely comprised of Beast model types."
This would let the entire unit move 12" for one Movement Phase, as well as automatically passing Dangerous Terrain tests. I'd give them back Feel No Pain as a standard rule too (probably just the standard 5+).
Combi-bolters are terrible it's a twin-linked boltgun. Stormbolters always get to fire twice at 24". Combi-bolters are still rapid fire so you can't charge after using them and you have to be really close to get 2 shots in.
J3f wrote: Combi-bolters are terrible it's a twin-linked boltgun. Stormbolters always get to fire twice at 24". Combi-bolters are still rapid fire so you can't charge after using them and you have to be really close to get 2 shots in.
Most of what gets combi-bolters are the vehicles and Terminators. Otherwise you have to go out of your way to get one.
Ok, so how about giving all Celestians (both in Celestian squads and Command squads) the option to take a chainsword for two points -- which is what CSM pay -- or to replace their boltgun with a storm bolter for the usual (overpriced) 5 points.
Maaaybe a bulk discount if the whole squad takes Storm Bolters, like down to 4 ppm?
I'd be tempted to give Celestians the CCW for just 1 point, since Sisters are so weak in melee compared to Marines, but in homebrew it's best to err on the side of overcosting.
I just updated the first post with a lot of small things we've been talking about here, the revised rules for the Dominica-pattern drop pod, and -- something we've not talked about here -- lower costs for the Confessor and Missionary: As it was originally, you were paying the same as Uriah Jacobus for a generic Confessor with far fewer special rules & funky wargear items. Their revised stats are below for ease of reference, and I'd be glad for feedback.
Conclave Commander:
For each Confessor and/or Missionary in your army, you may take one Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave. Such a conclave may take a Deliverer Assault Ark as a Dedicated Transport.
Master of Penitents (Confessor only)
The Ministorum grants its Confessors authority to bind and loose its dreadful engines of penance. If a detachment includes a Confessor, Penitent Engines may be taken as Elites choices in that detachment, as well as Heavy Support choices.
Options:
May replace laspistol with one of the following:
- Autogun - free
- Bolt pistol - 1 pt
- Boltgun - 1 pt
- Plasma gun - 15 pts
- May take melta bombs - 5 pts
A Confessor or Missionary may take Purity seals: 15 points
A Confessor or Missionary may take items from the Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons and Ecclesiarchy Relics lists.
A Confessor or Missionary may take a Chariot of Fire (q.v.) as a Dedicated Transport.
One Confessor per detachment may take Litanies of War:
Litanies of War: 40 points
The greatest of Confessors can inspire miraculous brutality. Their hymns of holy hatred rise above the roar of battle and orchestrate the scattered faithful into a single choir of destruction. A Confessor (not a Missionary) may take one and only one of the Litanies of War listed below. Once per game, at the beginning of an appropriate phase, he may attempt to invoke the Litany by taking a Leadership test. If he fails, nothing happens and the hymn is lost. If he succeeds, the hymn affects all Imperium of Man units within 6", and the effect described lasts until the end of the current phase.
Anathema:
The Confessor pronounces a dreadful curse upon a particular evildoer, which his followers then execute. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of his side's Shooting Phase or of either side's Assault Phase. Designate a single enemy model within the Confessor's line of sight to be anathematized. All friendly units within 6" of the Confessor gain the Preferred Enemy special rule towards the anathematized model and its unit until the end of the phase.
Fear No Evil:
The Confessor's contempt for death inspires undying courage. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of any phase. All friendly units within 6" gain the Fearless special rule until the end of the phase. Any affected unit that was Falling Back immediately regroups, regardless of what phase it is, and may move, shoot (or run), and charge normally this turn.
The Fear of the Lord:
The Confessor fills his followers with the terrible wrath of the God-Emperor, and His enemies quail. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of either player's Assault phase. Until the end of the phase, every friendly unit within 6" gains the Fear special rule and is immune from Fear itself.
Thy Sisters' Keeper:
Filled with love for their comrades and hatred for the enemy, the faithful protect each other with withering crossfire. The Confessor may use this hymn at the beginning of the enemy's Assault Phase. If any affected unit is charged, any other affected units may fire Overwatch just as if they were the targets of the charge themselves, except that no template weapons may be used. Remember that no unit can fire Overwatch more than once per turn.
Far more ferocious than ordinary priests and largely independent of the normal hierarchy of Cardinals and dioceses, Confessors and Missionaries are wide-ranging holy warriors. Backed by their personal battle conclaves, Battle Sisters seconded from the Adepta Sororitas, and ad hoc Frateris militia, they carry the Emperor's Light into the darkness -- whether that darkness is a world light-years beyond human space, a rebellious Imperial planet, or a nest of heretics down the street from their cathedral.
Design notes:
Spoiler:
Both these characters are based on the Ministorum priest. The Confessor's stats are lower than in the White Dwarf codex because I don't want a generic HQ to outshine Uriah Jacobus and I don't want a non-Sister to outshine the Canoness as a combatant (which I suspect is why the codex writers toned downed Jacobus). The Missionary simply exists to provide a second-tier HQ for smaller games or to back up your primary HQ character.
Compared to the Priest, the Confessor has +1 WS (+10), +1 BS (+10), +2 W (+20), +1A, (+10) +2 Ld (+10), each a 10-point improvement per Ovion: +60 points
+15 points for War Hymns on a 3-wound, WS:4, Ld:9 model instead of a one-hit wonder Total: 10085 points
The Missionary has +1 WS (+10), +1 BS (+10), +1W (+10), +1A (+10), and +1 Ld (+5): +45 points
+10 points for War Hymns on a 2-wound, WS:4, Ld:8 model Total: 8070 points
Note I'm giving them Martyrdom for free. Also, I originally upped their cost for being higher-Leadership, more-survivable platforms for War Hymns -- but that made the generic Confessor's cost equal to Uriah Jacobus, who has crazy more wargear and special rules, so I dropped that.
Originally the "Litanies of War" were "Litanies of Command" for the Canoness, but I decided their "cleric buffs the party" quality fit the Confessor better and gave him something special.
They are very roughly costed on (1) Ovion's rule of thumb that adding one special rule to one unit is worth 10 points (except for Fear @ 5 pts, and immunity from Fear without fearless I figures should be the same) and (2) the assumption that you'll probably be able to get 3-4 units within 6" of the Confessor, but (3) each hymn only works once and has a small chance of not working at all, so they deserve a slight discount.
i have to admit, i havent been really big into Sisters of Battle but with this codex you made and are tweaking i can see this becoming a norm in some of my games if i start up a Sisters army.
Thanks! Sisters are awesome, they just needed more units, and I, um, kinda got a little obsessive about fixing that, maybe sorta? If you try out any of these units, I'd love to hear feedback on what works on the tabletop and what needs revision.
being a necron player im sure i can find someone that plays SoB and have them run this for ya and see what works and what doesnt but thats after i get back to Fort Bragg from this deployment so very soon huzzah
One further thought on Confessors & Missionaries: Though Uriah is WS:4 BS:4, his signature weapon is a shotgun, and generic Confessors and missionaries probably can be WS:4 BS:3. That'd shave another 10 points off the price, which is pretty attractive, while retaining their core competencies in close-combat and buffing. What do folks think?
PS: Xilvi, thanks for your service & come home safe. A lot of 40K players in the military....
Ministorum Priests are ridiculously good in the current Codex. Nothing that Jacobus has even comes close to the usefulness of War Hymns.
Your new Super Priests actually have some hidden benefits over the already very OP Ministorum Priests.
Being able to fill a Mandatory HQ slot means that you can fill an Allied Detachment with more units that have War Hymns without an HQ tax. Priests relegate the Adepta Sororitas to Allied Codex status turning them essentially into Cheer Leaders for other Imperial Armies.
They're also Generic HQ choices with access to Wargear which makes them more than the 1 trick pony that Uriah Jacobus is.
Leadership 9 also means you're much more likely to pull off War Hymns.
Regular Priests will succeed on War Hymns either during your assault Phase or your opponents most of the time (58% chance), while Confessors will be able to pull off War Hymns in both assault phases(83% chance).
Interesting thought on detachment shennanigans, though I'm unconvinced. I do give War Hymns as an option for the Canoness, Palatine, and Sister Chorister as well, so the Missionary and Confessor shouldn't be an auto-take.
Also, in the current Codex, Uriah Jacobus does have War Hymns.
Speaking of Uriah Jacobus, I present you... Special Characters!
Yes, I'm normally not too fond of SCs, as I prefer people to make up their own fluff and to have leeway to customize their own crunch by buying options, but after much thought I decided this fandex/expandex needed at least two Special Characters of its own to convey how I think the Sisterhood wages war. So, to balance out the official Codex's crazy old man (Uriah) and "so pure her feet don't touch the ground" girl martyr (Celestine), I wrote up a cold, calculating, strategic bitch and a decent, humble, plainspoken woman who will fething END you.
(Crossposted with the "Your Own Unique Characters" thread; feel free to comment either place -- I love feedback whatever the forum).
***
Preceptress JEHANNE: 200 170 points The humble, brutal heir of Saint Praxedes WS:5 BS:5 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:4 A:3 Ld:10 Sv:3+/3++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (Character) Unit Composition: 1 (Unique)
Wargear: power armour, bolt pistol, frag grenades, krak grenades, melta bombs Praesidium Protectiva, War Hymnal
Ecclesiarchy Relics: The Sceptre of Vengeance This extraordinarily destructive mace was ancient when Saint Praxedes wielded it on her day of martyrdom. Years later, the Order of Our Martyred Lady sent a team to recover it. One of the few survivors was the young Jehanne -- and none other has borne it since. Strength:+2, AP:2, Melee, Concussive, Monster-Hunter, Smash
Warlord Trait: Inspiring Oratory
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Independent Character, Martyrdom, Shield of Faith Fearless, Preferred Enemy (everything), Zealot
Act of Faith: Death, Where Is Thy Sting? The Preceptress mouths a wordless prayer before stepping boldly into reach of the enemy's greatest weapons. One use only. This Act of Faith may be used at the beginning of either player's Assault Phase or at the beginning of the enemy's Shooting Phase. If successful, Preceptress Jehanne gains the Eternal Warrior special rule until the end of the phase.
"I sat there -- I don't know how long -- staring at the relic we'd recovered and at the bodies of my Sisters. Thinking about the things that were still out there. I think I was waiting for some kind of revelation, some vision of Saint Praxedes, some voice of the God-Emperor in my ear. Finally I realized I wasn't going to get one. I was alive. I had a weapon. I had an enemy. What more did I need?" -- Preceptress Jehanne in a sermon to Sororitas novices
During the Second Tyrannic War, as Hive Fleet Kraken scuttled and swarmed over the face of the sacred planet Okassis, Canoness Praxedes of the Order of Our Martyred Lady personally led the defense. Killing a Hive Tyrant by her own hand, she led her forces deep into the horde to buy time for the evacuation. Years later, with Kraken defeated and new clues as to Praxedes' final resting place, the Order dispatched a reconnaissance force to the ravaged planet. Their mission: to search for relics of Praxedes, now declared a Saint. Their intelligence told them the Tyrannids would have scoured the world of life and then moved on. Instead, they awakened horrors waiting dormant underground, seemingly left by the Hive Fleet to ambush anyone returning to the planet. Only a handful of Sisters fought their way through to the ruined manufactorum where Praxedes had made her last stand. Only one of them fought her way out alive, wielding Praxedes' mace, the Sceptre of Vengeance: a young Sister Superior named Jehanne. Bright and outgoing before Okassis, Jehanne spoke little of her experience after. She gave the Sceptre to the Order's reliquary and humbly returned to her normal duties. But a legend grew around her recovery of the relic, and her battlefield conduct displayed a new-found fearlessness, coupled with a savage genius at finding the most dangerous enemy and destroying it. When a Tyrannid attack on the Shrine World of Butlerian convinced the Order's leaders to retrieve the Sceptre from the reliquary, there was fierce debate over who should bear it into battle -- but in the end, instead of many more senior Sisters, the Canoness chose Jehanne. Many expected Jehanne to die gloriously like Saint Praxedes: Instead she lived and won. "I did not surpass the Saint," Jehanne insisted when some hailed her as a new Praxedes. "I benefited from a much better tactical situation -- and from her blessing." Today, Jehanne is a Preceptress, commanding a thousand Sisters of Our Martyred Lady -- a rank equal in prestige and power to the Canoness of many a minor order. Yet she is still the humble, haunted woman who survived Okassis. Her speech direct, her armor unadorned, her trappings no richer than the youngest Battle Sister's, Jehanne is nevertheless unmistakable for the great mace she carries and her powerful effect on all those she commands.
Sceptre of Vengeance Start with Eviscerator (NOT with a power mace): 30 Remove 2-Handed: 10 Add Concussive: 10 Start w/ Power Maul: 15 Smash: +15 add Monster Hunter: 10 subtotal: 6040
***
Canoness-Marshal MINERVA: 200 points Will of iron, heart of ice WS:5 BS:5 S:3 T:3 W:3 I:4 A:3 Ld:10 Sv:3+/4++
Spoiler:
Unit Type: Infantry (Character) Unit Composition: 1 (Unique)
Wargear: frag grenades, krak grenades, rosarius, melta bombs Blessed Armour, Book of Acts
Ecclesiarchy Relics: Firelock and Frostbite In the desperate battle to defend the White Cathedral of Ix, Minerva smashed open the reliquary containing these ornate archeotech weapons and wielded them against the heretic foe. After the victory, she kept the matching sword and pistol as presents from the grateful Cardinal she had rescued. Whether the Cardinal actually consented to their donation is unclear. Firelock: Range 24" S:8 AP:1 Melta, Pistol Frostbite: S:User AP:2 Melee
Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius
Special Rules: Act of Faith, Independent Character, Martyrdom, Shield of Faith, Stubborn Acute Senses, Scout
Act of Faith: Sacred Mission The Canoness-Marshal meditates deeply over her battle plan before selecting some of her followers for a special task. One use only. This Act of Faith may only be during deployment, immediately before placing units in Reserves. (Note this is an exception to the normal rules about when Acts may be attempted). If successful, one unit in Minerva's detachment gains the Scout and Acute Senses special rules.
"As the Emperor wills and I have foreseen, the heretics have advanced into the southern valley. The Guard artillery shall hold its fire until the traitor vanguard is across the bridges and decisively engaged with the Templar blocking force. Sororitas task forces Ophelia and Terra shall remain in defilade until I order the pincer attack. Razor Rose is in reserve. Am I understood? If you think it's too embarrassing to ask questions now, in front of the whole staff, imagine how embarrassed you'll be if you don't ask and I end up executing you for botching your bit of the plan." -- Canoness-Marshal Minerva at the Battle of Issus Valley, Kasserine V
Minerva Ender, Baroness Blanchette, entered the Schola Progenium at the relatively late age of seven. The sheltered only child of a noble Administratum family, she had been orphaned when Chaos cultists assassinated her parents the year before. After protracted legal battles over who would have custody of the orphan -- and of her vast inheritance -- her relatives agreed it would be best if Minerva took advantage of her orphanhood to enter the Schola, which just happened to require renouncing her fortune. They appeased their consciences by making a sizable donation to the Ecclesiarchy to ensure she would given special privileges, which ensured her fellow students hated her from the start. Haughty, brilliant, and spoiled, Minerva survived a series of beatings -- one of which left her in a coma for two weeks -- which ended only when she killed two of her classmates with a stolen kitchen knife. She was nine. The Schola staff gave her forty lashes and a month of solitary contemplation, but afterwards her fellow students largely left her alone. Minerva spent the next three years bringing her combat skills up to the level of her academic ones and was chosen as a novice of the Adepta Sororitas. She was successful in her novitiate, albeit unpopular, and was inducted into a Minor Order, the Grey Sisters, where the Canoness soon took her on as an aide. Three years later, heretic rebels staged a surprise attack on the convent. The first cannon salvo killed the Canoness and the entire command staff -- except for Minerva. Crawling from the rubble of the headquarters wing with a concussion, three broken ribs, and no armour, Minerva used her -- unauthorized -- knowledge of the Canoness's code keys to take command. By the time the Grey Sisters realized the person directing the defense had no authority to do so, they had held off the heretics long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The relief force came from the Order of the Razor Rose, the local Cardinal's elite quick-reaction force. Their Canoness, Pallas Athenne, took one look at the surviving Grey Sisters and absorbed them into her own Order, placing Minerva in command and promoting her to Palatine on the spot. (Pallas was grossly exceeding her authority, but the Cardinal backed her action). Minerva proved her worth in one campaign after another, and when Pallas died in battle ten years later, she left a sealed letter naming Minerva as her successor. Since then, Minerva has made the Razor Rose the linchpin of the sector's defense. Her Order routinely forms the elite core of task forces drawn from multiple Sororitas orders, the Imperial Guard, and even Space Marines -- typically Black Templars but on one memorable and awkward occasion a company of Space Wolves. So deft is her diplomacy with the Imperium's often-rivalrous branches, and so impressive her record of success, that the Segmentum High Command awarded her the rank of Marshal in the Imperial Guard. Resplendent in her elaborate battle armor, with her pistol Firelock and sword Frostbite in either hand, she dominates the battlefield by force of intellect and relentless will.
Design notes:
Spoiler:
Canoness: 65
Wargear (non-unique) Rosarius: 15 Melta Bombs: 5 Blessed Armour*: 35 Book of Acts*: 15 Subtotal: 70
Unique Relics: Firelock: multimelta (10), change from Heavy to Pistol (10)20 Frostbite: power sword (15), AP:2 (+10)25 Subtotal: 45
Stats & SRs: Scout: 10 Acute Senses10 Custom AOF: Scout & Acute Senses to any unit (unusually good), may only use during deployment (unusually restrictive): 0 Subtotal: 20
TOTAL: 200
EDITED to make Minerva more obnoxious & redesign Jehanne's Mace per Furyou's suggestions.
I disagree with how you've designed the Sceptre of Vengeance (I would have made it a regular Power Maul with the Monster Hunter and Smash special rules), but otherwise, Jehanne looks very nice and is clearly Praxedes' successor. I'm not sure Eternal Warrior is that powerful as an Act of Faith - it basically gives her one round of combat to kill her enemy, which is great against the occasional daemon prince, but not so effective against 'nidzilla, especially if you keep her as Unwieldy.
... I think you may have, um... seriously, is Firelock supposed to be a assault 1 multi-melta that gives an additional attack in close combat? Because that's a little insane, especially when Dante's Perdition Pistol is only a meltagun with Pistol.
Everything else looks fine though. I probably would have hated her in school too. She does seem overcosted though.
Good points. I'll tone down Minerva's Firelock -- I dithered between the meltagun stats and the multimelta stats before deciding it's easier to tone things down than to punch them; now it's time to tone the down.
Power Maul with Monster Hunter & Smash sounds pretty good for Praxedes' mace, but the fact that mauls have AP:4 just seems lacking -- especially when generic Canonesses can take the beautiful, beautiful Eviscerator.
As for Jehanne's survivability, how about I take away the extra 10 points for the Eternal Warrior AOF and instead use those points to make her mace NOT Unwieldy?
SisterSydney wrote: Power Maul with Monster Hunter & Smash sounds pretty good for Praxedes' mace, but the fact that mauls have AP:4 just seems lacking -- especially when generic Canonesses can take the beautiful, beautiful Eviscerator.
The Smash rule makes all close combat attacks AP2, and gives you the option to substitute all normal attacks for a single Strength x2 attack. So your mace would be S6, AP2 with the option to do a single S10, AP2 attack.
Mace with Smash does sound good. (I'd forgotten about Smash making all your attacks AP:2, not just the ones where you double Strength). I'll probably change Jehanne's weapon to that, then.
And just to make sure everyone hates Minerva adequately, I've added one more bit to her quote:
[i]"As the Emperor wills and I have foreseen, the heretics have advanced into the southern valley. The Guard artillery shall hold its fire until the traitor vanguard is across the bridges and decisively engaged with the Templar blocking force. Sororitas task forces Ophelia and Terra shall remain in defilade until I order the pincer attack. Razor Rose is in reserve. Am I understood? If you think it's too embarrassing to ask questions now, in front of the whole staff, imagine how embarrassed you'll be if you don't ask and I end up executing you for screwing up."
-- Canoness-Marshal Minerva at the Battle of Issus Valley, Kasserine V
I've revised Preceptress Jehanne, redesigning her Mace as per Furyou's suggestions and making a few other minor cuts that bring her down to 170 points. That means I'm no longer proposing a pair of 200-point monsters. Instead, when you put my characters together with those from the codex, you get a nice progression of cost from 100 pts to 200: Jacobus, Celestine, Jehanne, Minerva.
Because Jehanne isn't Praxedes' contemporary, outside fanfiction-worthy time shenanigans, there is no way for them to ever meet. Jehanne was born after Praxedes died.
Exactly. Praxedes is a cool character, but she's canonically dead as of the "present," and I can't think of a special character in the current-edition codexes who's purely "historical" rather than "currently" alive. (Celestine is a case of "it's complicated," kinda like the Swarmlord). I wanted to bring the Sisters in line with other codexes, so I gave them Praxedes' heir rather than the saint herself. J3f is writing a complete replacement for the current codex, so he can bring back whoever he wants without worrying about standard GW practice.
(I presume J3f is short for Jeffrey, hence male pronouns. If I guessed wrong, sorry!)
That's the thing though. Saint Praxedes has always been dead. The only fluff we have on her comes from the Second Edition Codex Sisters of Battle where she is indeed a playable character.
She isn't the only case of should be dead by now either. Erasmus Tycho of the Blood Angels comes in two flavors, normal and Death Company. If GW forced us to play by an advancing narrative we would only have Death Company Tycho.
You can take it even further and play a Fire Hawks Space Marine Chapter, which Forge World recently released chapter tactics for, even though by canon they're all Legion of Damned now.
And you are correct, I'm a male, although I've never Jeffrey before only Jef.
Yes, Praxedes is the opposite of Schrodinger's Cat: no matter when or where you encounter her, she's already dead.
I've added the two special characters, duly revised, to the first post. At this point I think I've gotten great feedback and it's time to figure out how to make this thing look good in PDF. Then I can... post it to other forums for comment? I don't know any that's as homebrew-friendly as here; I'd appreciate recommendations.
The Dracosan is neat, but it's not an assault vehicle (I think), which means it doesn't solve the Sisters' main problem. It does let you transport a 20-girl BSS blob without resorting to superheavies (e.g. Storm Lord/Queen), which is nice, but they can't assault or even shoot from it, so tactically it doesn't add a lot.
Lore-wise, as well, the Sisters having Dracosans 10 millennia after the Heresy raises the question of why the Imperial Guard doesn't have them, when the IG is the direct heir of the old Imperial Army. You could argue that this kind of relic tech is Too Good For Guard and Vandire or someone stole them all for the Sisters, but as with the crunch, the fluff is not a great fit.
It's not impossible that FW could give them to the IG but they're honestly probably pretty rare in 40k vs 30k, and like the difference between Volkite and Las or Bolters, much more expensive to produce.
Here's a simpler way to solve the "blob transport" problem: let a battle sister squad with more than 10 models take a Frateris Hussite as a dedicated transport. It's a ramshackle beast (rukes based on Ork war wagon) with no Shield of Faith, but it's got 20 seats and it's open-topped, letting all the sisters shoot/charge out as required. Fluff justification is some Superior saw the Frateris militia rolling along in their big transport, saved them down, and commandeered the vehicle with a combination of rank, prayer, and blood-curdling threats.
I'd restrict it as a DT for larger squads only or else people might spam the version of the Hussite that swaps all the passenger capacity for (crappy) guns.
Even if you want the Sisters to ride in a vehicle provided for the monks, and the monks are a mob like force, the vehicles they'd normally ride in aren't going to be Ramshackle. It's the friggin' Ecclesiarchy, show some class.
My solution for a 20 Sister blob transport is the Rhino Advancer. http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Rhino_Advancer The Sisters of Battle probably bought most of the Rhino Advancers in the Imperium from the Space Marine equivalent of the Army Surplus.
Your Rhino Advancer looks much better than the artwork I've seen, J3f. Nice. I'm still not entirely sold on the vehicle, though. A stretch Rhino seems a little bland, I guess.
As for the Frateris Hussite being ramshackle, Clockwork, remember it's jury-rigged out of mining vehicles by Frateris Militia, who aren't monks but more like IG Conscripts with a death wish. I gave most of their weapons Gets Hot; I don't think quality control is their thing. They'll absolutely decorate the hell out of their ride, but it's going to look more like a Third World bus -- say a Haitian tap-tap covered in colorful Bible scenes -- than like a properly blinged-out Ecclesiarchy vehicle.
Small correction, I didn't model that Rhino Advancer, Heliodore did.
Not everything has to be over the top, it's a transport.
I recently added some new HQ units a Celestian Elohim, a new Special Character Canoness, and 2 returning Characters Cardinal Armandus Helfire, and Inquisitor Lorr.
Right now I'm working out the details for a Sisters of Battle Walker.
It's going to fill the niche between IG Sentinels and Dreadnoughts.
I'm thinking 2 Heavy Bolters with the option to upgrade to Multi-meltas, and Autocannons
Ah, I love the Crassus and almost included a Sister-ized version -- but I don't have the current rules to start from. (And no, my budget does not extend to Imperial Armour books).
Love what you're doing Sister, great stuff!
You ever consider deviating from canon a little bit and creating an actual martyr Lord of War unit? Something like a 200-300 point uber unit, maybe even MC, that stays in reserve until a character dies and then arrives on the field at that model's location?
Thanks. And the idea of a martyr rising in glory from the dead is a fascinating one, and very Sisterly. I'd love to figure out how to do it, but I'm struggling with a fundamental problem: if the Risen Martyr is more powerful than the HQ character it replaces (which is rather the point), then you end up with the Sisters played desperately trying to get his/her own character killed and the opponent desperately trying not to kill her -- which seems less Sisterly and more just silly.
Perhaps if the Risen Martyr could replace any slain Sister, even a regular BSS model, whose death met certain conditions? Then it's just coming in from Reserves by the usual rules with the added wrinkle that at least one Sister has to have died somewhat gloriously on the preceding turn, which shouldn't be a hard condition to meet.
Good thinking; your way would allow the Risen Martyr to pop up turn 2 or 3, provided a decent reserve roll, where if you had to wait on a character to be slain, it may take quite a bit longer.
I'd imagine the look on the opponent's face when he realizes that Sister Squad he laid into on turn 1 has come back with a vengeance would be spectacular.
Thanks. You really needn't have any conditions except "However, this unit may not come in from Reserves until at least one model with the Act of Faith special rule has been removed from play," come to think of it. Trying to keep track of how well a given Sisters model died would add enormous book-keeping, and it's necessary for fluff. Even if your only casualties are from a squad that died ignominiously while routing, perhaps one Sister was bravely covering her cowardly comrades' retreat and died nobly. Or perhaps that one Sister you lost to long-range shooting had just moved herself to shield a wounded friend with her own body, or was trying to drag a casualty to cover.
I've added Principalities (developed in this thread) to the Elites section of the 'dex: jump troops with a Celestian statline, power weapons, storm shields, and an Act of Faith that lets them jump out of the way of charges (sometimes) because they are real glass hammers.
Alright, this is some awesome stuff right here. Distilled, grade-A winsauce.
It covers everything that Sororitas currently lack without using allies - that is, an assault transport and anti-air. It patches all my complaints about the Canoness and Command Squad, gives me a Jump Infantry option with Zealot and War Hymns (so I can actually use Seraphim as Assault Marine workalikes but with their own flavor), and, one of the big items on my "wouldn't it be nice" list - an IC Hospitaller. Heck yes.
It even has things I didn't think of but that are insanely awesome, namely, Vigils. What an awesome take on the "vow of silence" idea, I love it!
However, Vigils are the only unit I really have any crunch suggestions for - namely, two things: the act of faith, and some concession to the "sniper" idea.
Here's my concept: The act of faith confers one of three benefits. A) All melta, plasma and krak grenades gain Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter, B) all flame weapons gain Pinning or C) all bolt pistols, bolters, storm bolters and heavy bolters gain Sniper.
Here's my reasoning - having both Hunters rules for one phase matters not a bit. You're shooting at one, or the other. Plasma and krak aren't in the Holy Trinity of weapons, but they do fit the theme (they all have krak grenades, you could have a combi-plasma, and a priest could have a full plasmagun)... take or leave as makes sense. Precision Shots is actually fairly weak, but if coupled with Sniper, it becomes much nastier. If that's for bolt weapons only, it removes the weirdness with Sniper-meltas and Sniper-flamers. Pinning on Flamers seems the most logical thing other than Soul Blaze, and when's the last time you ever had Soul Blaze do one sand-cursed thing?
The other part would be this - for the extended range of a "sniper bolter", there's a pre-made answer: Kraken rounds from Sternguard. Vigils could come with them, or they could be bought as an upgrade, maybe only if you pass up the special weapons and keep your boltguns. My only worry would be how tempting it would be to take a Simulacrum and Uriah Jacobus just to allow 30" range TL Sniper shooting for three turns. Then again, Kroot can do worse things, so I'm not sure how bad that really is.
Thanks for both compliments and suggestions. The Vigils' Act of Faith is one of the things I'm not fully satisfied with, so I'll ponder your idea. It does seem even more complicated than the current "pick one of three" AOF, though, and that makes me hesitate.
That's a good point, actually, and I was kind of rambly in explaining it. Let's see. They're sneaky, disciplined and coldly, unflinchingly competent... Hm. I like the idea of "pick a target and bring it down". How to reflect that without being OP or stepping on the toes of Dominions or Retributors?
I like the idea of having Sniper, but as you said, that gets weird on meltas (they usually wound on a 2 and pierce armor anyway, what difference would it make?), and it makes no earthly sense on flamers. I mean, I'd never *give* them flamers, for the same reason that I'd never give Dominions flamers, but the option technically does exist. As a thought here - the other two "take four weapons" squads tend to be a little pigeonholed in their weapon choices - Dominions because Ignores Cover is pointless on flamers and marginal on storm bolters, and Retributors because Rending is mostly useless on multi-meltas. They can do well with heavy flamers but I can't say I've ever seen anyone do that. Would it be awful if Vigils had the same sort of thing going? Like, say, an AoF that's mostly only useful on bolters? Like so, perhaps:
Unerring Vengeance: One Use Only. This Act of Faith can be used in your Shooting phase. If successful, all bolt weapons (bolt pistols, boltguns, storm bolters, heavy bolters and combi-weapons firing as bolters) in the squad gain the Sniper special rule until the end of the current phase.
I really like the idea of Sniper, because it gives the Sisters something they don't already have, and, importantly, it gives them a way to bring down high-toughness beasties without just spamming meltaguns or hoping to get lucky with an unwieldy meltabomb attack. Importantly, gargantuan creatures are only wounded on a 6+ by poison, but Sniper and Fleshbane work normally, so this would be outstanding for forcing a bunch of saves on a Wraithknight or Heirodule. As a beneficial side effect, you also get a squad that can easily pick the special weapons out of an enemy unit. This all comes with a unit that would have enough volume of fire to still be a threat even after their AoF is spent.
One other thought - Stealth doesn't add all that much to a unit that has a 6++ already. You mention camo cloaks in the fluff block - why not give them camo cloaks just like Astartes Scouts? Those are +1 to cover saves, but they stack with other sources of Stealth (notably, Night Fighting), which would mean at least a 5+ cover save even if you wind up in a stinky spot where you can't claim any other cover. Purely crunch-wise I'd like to say Shrouded (especially since 25 ppm is getting up there in the same league as Tau Stealth Suits), but it feels unfluffy, so... Hm.
The whole idea has really captured my imagination and I immediately started thinking of things I'd use them for. Yeah, I'm overanalyzing, probably, but to me half the fun of the hobby is geeking over unit synergy and such
SisterSydney wrote: Thanks for both compliments and suggestions. The Vigils' Act of Faith is one of the things I'm not fully satisfied with, so I'll ponder your idea. It does seem even more complicated than the current "pick one of three" AOF, though, and that makes me hesitate.
Looking at your Vigil squad, along with its AOF, I feel that it has something of an identity crisis. On the one hand, it presents itself as a marksman unit and consequently tries to fulfill the roles of sniper, anti-monstrous-creature, and anti-vehicle all at the same time. Personally, I think you should just pick one and hone in on it rather than aim for all and making things needlessly complicated. And in that respect, I'd go with the first role - since the army has other options that already fill the latter two. As such, I propose the following:
- Wargear-wise, give them all Sniper rifles, in place of Boltguns
- Special rules: Infiltrate, Precision shots, Cognis weapons (fires Snap shots at BS: 2, 6 auto-hits on Wall of death).
- AOF: +1 to To hit rolls (meaning Precision shots at 5+ or Snap shots at BS: 3) and -2 to opponent's "Look out sir" roles (4+ for ICs and 6 for regular characters).
- Options: Up to 3 Vigils may take items from the Heavy weapon list.
Put together, you get a unit that can bring a fair amount of firepower - more than your average Battle Sister/Celestian squad - while remaining a touch more mobile than your Heavy weapon teams. Gameplay-wise, they make for good campers who're there to take out enemy characters and leaders; though Cognis Heavy flamers would make them really scary at counter-assault. I removed stealth because hiding their presence doesn't seem to be in line with how Sisters operate.
Would you mind overmuch if I made a stab at drawing up a LibreOffice document version of this and some Battlescribe data files? I'd like to playtest the heck out of this (and, y'know, do some cool conversions and kitbashes and have an excuse to field some cool-looking third party models), and Battlescribe or LibreOffice versions would make this a lot easier. I'll make them available if you want too, once I find a decent place to do so.
Also, a minor aside - was thinking about the cost of purity seals. It seems to me they're actually less than half as useful as a Psyker level, since that Psyker level gives you powers to cast. Also, every source for a Psyker level except on an Inquisitor is 25 points versus 30. (Reference - C:CSM, C:Chaos Daemons, C:Harlequins, C:SM, C:AM, C:BA, C:SW, C:GK) Therefore I'd propose making them 5 points, but in the interest of erring on the high side, maybe 7 is reasonable. At 7, I'd take them on Superiors sometimes (especially Retributors, Vigils and backfield gunline units), while at 15 I'd pretty much only take them on a Canoness or maybe a Palatine because anyone else dies too easily.
Would I mind? I'd be delighted -- especially by the playtesting. Let me clean up that first post and email you a .doc or .txt file of it, though, before you put in the effort of formatting/inputting it.
And you make a good point about Purity Seals. I think 5 is too low, but I can see dividing the utility of a 25-point Mastery level between, say, 15 point' worth of offense and 10 points of defense. How about 10 ppm for Purity Seals?
10 makes good sense, actually. Combined with AW, those extra dice are rather more valuable (at least against Maledictions and Witchfires - denying Blessings at all is kind of a crapshoot without mass numbers of dice.)
I've updated the first post with a thoroughly revised and reformatted version. Besides cleaning things up, Vigils now get Sniper through their Act of Faith and Sororitas tanks can squadron -- including Exorcists -- because if the Marines can do it, c'mon. (I didn't have the chutzpah to give special perks for a full 3-vehicle squadron, though). I've also put all the new options for existing units into one section towards the top, rather than having them scattered among the new units, and I've put all the design notes together in one set of spoiler tags at the bottom, where they can be safely ignored.
Hey guys, I finished my 7th edition fan dex for the Sisters of battle AKA Adepta Sororitas.
So this is the first draft, taken some community ideas and added a lot of my own.
It contains a few historical special characters, including the Sisters of silence.
New unit options, a new flame tank, upgrades to Seraphim, Redepmtionist, ect
Rules for the big Orders Militant (Ala Chapter tactics) new formations and a detachment.
Still needs some work so I'd appreciate the help.
It's set up like the new 7th edition codexes but with a few blank pages so I can shift stuff
around. My photoshop fu is weak so it's set up on a spread sheet but its a viewable PDF.
Downloaded. I'm about to pack my kids into a car and drive for three hours on vacation, but on arrival I'll find a chance to read. I already see that you've got some cool art -- yours or friends' or found?
Also, Celtic, please post a link in this thread to your own thread where people can comment on your stuff. If people comment on your stuff in this thread, we will all get very confused very fast....
jade_angel wrote: I really like the idea of Sniper, because it gives the Sisters something they don't already have, and, importantly, it gives them a way to bring down high-toughness beasties without just spamming meltaguns or hoping to get lucky with an unwieldy meltabomb attack. Importantly, gargantuan creatures are only wounded on a 6+ by poison, but Sniper and Fleshbane work normally, so this would be outstanding for forcing a bunch of saves on a Wraithknight or Heirodule. As a beneficial side effect, you also get a squad that can easily pick the special weapons out of an enemy unit. This all comes with a unit that would have enough volume of fire to still be a threat even after their AoF is spent.
Unfortunately Sniper only wounds GMC's on a 6+, just like Poison. Wraithknights would be all but immune. Just having a quick look through the fandex, there doesn't seem to be anything that address Wraithknights other than Melta/Exorcist spam. Though to be fair, aside from Grav Cannons, there aren't really many things in the game that can effectively deal with them.
Melta/Exorcist spam and superheavies are pretty much it, yeah. There aren't many Destroyer weapons in this 'dex: Knight Angelus and Penitent Titan have D melee weapons, Battle Chapel has Vortex Missiles.
Alternatively, since I don't think the Wraightknight has Hit & Run, you could tarpit it with 50 Frateris Rabble backed by a couple of Priests to keep them Fearless and to reroll their failed saves. Or better yet, 20 Frateris Bikers and 2 Priests on Frateris Bikes (280 something points?*), since that's a tarpit that might actually be able to catch a Wraightknight. And then reenact the "Rohirrim versus Mumakil" battle from The Return of the King.
* I appear to have accidentally cut the option for Priests to ride bikes. Edit coming up....
jade_angel wrote: I really like the idea of Sniper, because it gives the Sisters something they don't already have, and, importantly, it gives them a way to bring down high-toughness beasties without just spamming meltaguns or hoping to get lucky with an unwieldy meltabomb attack. Importantly, gargantuan creatures are only wounded on a 6+ by poison, but Sniper and Fleshbane work normally, so this would be outstanding for forcing a bunch of saves on a Wraithknight or Heirodule. As a beneficial side effect, you also get a squad that can easily pick the special weapons out of an enemy unit. This all comes with a unit that would have enough volume of fire to still be a threat even after their AoF is spent.
Unfortunately Sniper only wounds GMC's on a 6+, just like Poison. Wraithknights would be all but immune. Just having a quick look through the fandex, there doesn't seem to be anything that address Wraithknights other than Melta/Exorcist spam. Though to be fair, aside from Grav Cannons, there aren't really many things in the game that can effectively deal with them.
Out of curiosity, where does it say that? It did in 6th edition - anything that wounded on a fixed number, did so on a 6+ only - but in 7th that stipulation seems to only apply to Poison. It reads to me like Fleshbane and Sniper work normally, though I'll admit I might be reading it wrong.
jade_angel wrote: Out of curiosity, where does it say that? It did in 6th edition - anything that wounded on a fixed number, did so on a 6+ only - but in 7th that stipulation seems to only apply to Poison. It reads to me like Fleshbane and Sniper work normally, though I'll admit I might be reading it wrong.
The Gargantuan Creature section mentions that as part of the rules of a Gargantuan Creature (well at least I was pretty sure it did, at work so can't check but now you've made me less certain)...
SisterSydney wrote: Melta/Exorcist spam and superheavies are pretty much it, yeah. There aren't many Destroyer weapons in this 'dex: Knight Angelus and Penitent Titan have D melee weapons, Battle Chapel has Vortex Missiles.
Alternatively, since I don't think the Wraightknight has Hit & Run, you could tarpit it with 50 Frateris Rabble backed by a couple of Priests to keep them Fearless and to reroll their failed saves. Or better yet, 20 Frateris Bikers and 2 Priests on Frateris Bikes (280 something points?*), since that's a tarpit that might actually be able to catch a Wraightknight. And then reenact the "Rohirrim versus Mumakil" battle from The Return of the King.
* I appear to have accidentally cut the option for Priests to ride bikes. Edit coming up....
Well I'm not sure a 775pt or 3,000pt LoW is exactly a counter lol. Knights are also not particularly effective either - you don't have a point cost on yours, but I assume its priced at least roughly 400pts? So they're more expensive, have no Ranged Str, have less attacks and a have lower initiative than Wraithknights, so even in CC they stand a decent chance of getting blown up before they can swing.
Hordes have their own weaknesses too, especially ones that are relying on a key model to hold it together. It's not so much that Stomp attacks can hoe through mobs, its that the wording of the rule makes it specifically targets models under the blast marker (rather than generating hits on the unit). Which means you can just place the Stomp over the Priest and basically make it save or die - or just get removed from play if the Stomp roll is a 6.
Playtest feedback regarding Vigils - something I had completely missed. If they don't move, their shooting attacks count as Twin-Linked. This effectively gives their template weapons Shred (TL templates re-roll To Wound), and they can take five template weapons (four flamers, hand flamer or combi-flamer). Behind a Promethium Relay Pipeline, with an AoF giving it Sniper, that's incredibly nasty. Essentially, Poisoned, Rending, Shred, Ignores Cover (and Torrent from the pipeline).
This came up in three games - against Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons and Tyranids. Admittedly, the last two tend to be great flamer targets, but it still came out as "loss on points v. CSM, win on points v. CD, win by tabling vs 'nids"
I'd propose amending that as follows:
Infallible Aim As the supreme markswomen of the Sisterhood, the Vigils can assume a posture of superhuman stillness as they focus on a crucial target -- at the expense of tactical flexibility. If a Vigil model does not move in the Movement Phase, all her shooting attacks in the subsequent Shooting Phase may re-roll failed To-Hit rolls. She may not then charge in the Assault Phase.
Functionally the same, for bolters, meltas, krak grenades, but no more shredding flamers.
I also thought of "Four other Vigils may replace their boltguns with items from the Special Weapons list." with "Any Vigil may replace her boltgun with a storm bolter. - 5pts" and "Any Vigil may replace her boltgun with a combi-flamer, combi-melta, combi-plasma or Condemnor boltgun - 10 pts", but I'm not sure. It does make them feel less like Dominions - but OTOH, more like Sternguard. Special issue ammo was something we also noodled on, but did not playtest. Our back-of-the-envelope ideas were as follows:
Kraken Bolts - as C:SM (30" S4 AP4 Rapid-Fire)
Impact Rounds: 24" S6 AP- Heavy 1, Spalling. (Spalling - on a roll of 6 on an armour penetration roll, add an additional D3, as Rending. These rounds may inflict only glancing hits. The idea is only glance, but glance almost anything.)
Fragmentation Rounds: 18" S3 AP5, Rapid-fire Pinning
Brightflash Rounds: 12" S2 AP- Rapid-fire Blind
You could take one and only one of these, 10 pts per unit, and they cannot be fired from storm bolters. (Mostly because Sternguard can't.)
I'd want to test that one, but they all seem reasonable.
estroyer 
![[Disk]](/dakkaforum/templates/default/images/icon_disk.gif){kind=icon}