Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Beaviz81 wrote:I wouldn't have reacted much personally had they been married, but it's the casual nature of the relationship that rankles me. I can see SOBs smiling and laughing, but that should likely be when they are burning or torturing heretics and such, not when they get drunk or cracking jokes which ain't about buring or torturing heretics.

See, I don't get that. If they were like that, SoB would have absolutely no personality and would lose every angle of interest. They would just turn into another one dimensional army which is boring as feth.

And only necrons can do that we-.... Damn it.

I believe Gunther had the hots for Arex in Dead Men Walking. And he was a sudo-Krieg Guardsmen.

Soladrin wrote:

Beaviz81 wrote:I wouldn't have reacted much personally had they been married, but it's the casual nature of the relationship that rankles me. I can see SOBs smiling and laughing, but that should likely be when they are burning or torturing heretics and such, not when they get drunk or cracking jokes which ain't about buring or torturing heretics.

See, I don't get that. If they were like that, SoB would have absolutely no personality and would lose every angle of interest. They would just turn into another one dimensional army which is boring as feth.

And only necrons can do that we-.... Damn it.

Well they are a penitent organization. I actually now agree with Lynata and Melissia. Sandy Mitchell brought along a sledgehammer to work, and bludgedoned the Sororita into place. I can see them marry, but that would be rare. For me they now are more into sacrifice and self-denial. I don't buy the faste-things, due to the religious fact that soldiers are allowed reprieve from fasting. They will lay more at cold stone-floors, wear hair-shirts and do much praying in order to prove their penitence. If you want personality then think humility in the Emperor's name, they will often be a tad arrogant, in the way that they think they have to sacrifice themselves for their more sinful buddies and they will always interpretate any religious dogma in the most dogmatic way possible.

Oh,the fasting is more along the lines of during times when they are not in battle. In battle I very much imagine them having very healthy rations to ensure that they ahve the energy for war.

For me the Sisters of Battle would likely eat very good food, or at least very nutricious and healthy food and just forget all about the fasting-thingy all together. Military arm of the Ecclericialy comes to mind. They wouldn't be very efficient if they faste, and they are stronger than normal humans so their food must be top-rate when it comes to being healthy.

I recomend you read the IG book Redemtion Corps. Sex is definitly not unheard of in the grim future of 40k.

Melissia wrote:Oh,the fasting is more along the lines of during times when they are not in battle.

That's still not really practical - even when not in battle, I'd expect them to be training and exercising regularly. A better approach would be for them to fast by eating bland food, not less food.

They're not really the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy... at least, not in name. De facto, yes... sort of. They're assigned all sorts of tasks that require a military-like presence, but they are not the Ecclesiarchy's military. The Decree Passive prevents the Ecclesiarchy from maintaining a militant arm. Yes, it says "men under arms" and, yes, the Sister of Battle are not men... but the Inquisition is not the sort of organization to follow the letter of the law when its spirit is being violated, especially when it comes down to other organizations in the Imperium that might have pissed the Inquisition off a time or two in the last ten thousand years.

The Inquisition can hold a grudge for a very, very long time.

That said... only one of the Orders Major is a militant organization. The rest are doctors, librarians or social matchmakers. All of these latter three, especially, may undergo long periods of fasting to maintain discipline and purity. That is, after all, one of the religious functions of fasting, a sacrifice made in the cause of purity. I can, especially, see the Sisters of the Ordo Famulous taking a period of fasting after having to attend some bacchanalian feast held by/for the noble family they're attached to.

AlexHolker wrote:

Melissia wrote:Oh,the fasting is more along the lines of during times when they are not in battle.

That's still not really practical - even when not in battle, I'd expect them to be training and exercising regularly. A better approach would be for them to fast by eating bland food, not less food.

Keep in mind that for Sisters, prayer IS training. It is through the meticulous combination of prayer and training that they are able to do things which are considered miraculous.

Psienesis wrote:They're not really the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy

They are the chamber militant of the Ecclesiarchy in name.

Trondheim wrote:I recomend you read the IG book Redemtion Corps. Sex is definitly not unheard of in the grim future of 40k.

No.

Redemption corps is a piece of gak, almost as bad as Goto's work.

I think they fill that role as the de facto task they're assigned. Then again, they've "changed hands" a couple of times now, between Ordo Hereticus and the Ecclesiarchy... but in being the de facto military of the Ecclesiarchy (because, really, who else are they going to get? What passes for a Frateris Militia often can't get off the ground) it allows them to undertake their own Crusade actions/military actions, without the Ecclesiarchy having to actively sign its name to the declaration, just, sort of "send the faithful masses to the valiant Sisterhood in support of their purge of the heretical filth from Planet Overthere" without making it *obvious* that they're getting around the Decree Passive.

Or, alternately (and probably far more likely) GW simply forgot that bit about the Decree Passive and likes to think that the Ecclesiarchy is "getting one over" on the Inquisition by having a bunch of nuns with guns be their standing army, and so handwaves the inevitable Inquisitorial "Hey! Waitafethinminute! Thems an Ecclesiarchal army! How'd it get founded!?""

Psienesis wrote:it allows them to undertake their own Crusade actions/military actions, without the Ecclesiarchy having to actively sign its name to the declaration, just, sort of "send the faithful masses to the valiant Sisterhood in support of their purge of the heretical filth from Planet Overthere" without making it *obvious* that they're getting around the Decree Passive.

They can't wage a Crusade on their own - they need the Navy to provide transport, just like the Guard.

Or, alternately (and probably far more likely) GW simply forgot that bit about the Decree Passive and likes to think that the Ecclesiarchy is "getting one over" on the Inquisition by having a bunch of nuns with guns be their standing army, and so handwaves the inevitable Inquisitorial "Hey! Waitafethinminute! Thems an Ecclesiarchal army! How'd it get founded!?""

They're not getting one over the Inquisition: Sebastian Thor openly argued his case to the exact same people that enacted the Decree Passive, and convinced them that the Sisters of Battle should be an exception.

No loophole is being exploited, except to let the Convocation save face by pretending it was their intention in the first place.

They can't wage a Crusade on their own - they need the Navy to provide transport, just like the Guard.

This actually varies, depending on who you're reading. There have been, apparently, several military actions undertaken by combinations of Sisters and Frateris Militia forces, transported by Rogue Trader dynasties with Ecclesiarchal ties... or simply a very profound faith.

There was a mention in C:WH of 1000 sisters conquering 100 planets by themselves, for example.

They likely do requisition imperial navy assets, rogue traders, and so on though

Just as an addendum:

Psienesis wrote:Then again, they've "changed hands" a couple of times now, between Ordo Hereticus and the Ecclesiarchy...

No, they really didn't - they have always been the Ecclesiarchy's military wing. It's just that during 3rd and 4th edition, they were also the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus, yet without a change of their ties to the Ecclesiarchy. The 3E Codex design notes published in WD even stated that the authors took great care not to contradict anything previously published on the Sororitas, right up to the ancient days of 1st edition Rogue Trader.

As AlexHolker mentioned, the Sisters being an exception from the Decree Passive was deliberately enforced by Sebastian Thor as one of his demands as he accepted the post of Ecclesiarch. The Inquisition doesn't have a problem with that as the Sisters also act as the Ecclesiarchy's internal police, as well as being much too few in numbers to actually pose any threat on a larger scale. Any doubts were laid to rest with the Convocation of Nephilim establishing the cooperation between the Sisterhood and the Ordo Hereticus, though I suppose that one doesn't exist anymore, or at least its terms have been altered.

AlexHolker wrote:They can't wage a Crusade on their own - they need the Navy to provide transport, just like the Guard.

Actually ...

"The personnel and fleets of each fortress are commanded by a Prioress under direct supervision of the Abbess on Earth."
&
"Each Convent has its own fleets and runs its own affairs in much the same way as the Space Marine Chapters."

Now, this is pretty old fluff (1st and 2nd edition respectively), but interestingly it has never been retconned in any of GW's own books. Take note that the only paragraph in the C:WH talking about how "the armies and the fleets of the Ecclesiarchy were disbanded" goes on to mention the Sisters as an exception.
And it makes sense: how could they be expected to efficiently perform as the Ecclesiarchy's internal affairs bureau when the Ecclesiarchy would be the one controlling their transportation? Not to mention the extreme delay in response time. The Major Orders operate all across Imperial space; given their "small" size, this kind of activity warrants the fastest way to travel available.

On the other hand I don't buy that "1.000 Sisters conquering 100 planets on their own", though, and I believe the Codex never actually stated they did it alone - the book merely omitted a participation of any auxiliaries, which I think did exist in the form of loads of militia, most of whom recruited from the very same planets assaulted by the Sisters. Basically a public uprising triggered by the invasion; wasn't it a campaign against some heretical tyrant? Personal interpretation, though. Let's just say I'm not a big fan of the whole "a few hundred warriors conquer an entire world" schtick that gets thrown around from time to time.

In terms of fleets, it has also been mentioned that the Adeptus Arbites have their own ships as well, as do the Inquisition and the Astartes. Often it sounds like a lot of people think the Navy has a monopoly on space travel when the Guard is actually the only organization amongst all Imperial Adepta "handicapped" by not being allowed to have its own vessels. Basically, it's all about balance. The Navy is the one organization with undeniable superiority on space, and the Guard is the one organization with undeniable supeirority on the ground. Both have to be kept apart. As no single other Imperial Adeptus can rival the Navy or the Guard in their own areas, it's fine for them to have both ships and ground forces.