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Ok this thought has been hrough my mind for a while now so I thought I would put the question out to you guys. Fluff wise what kind of attack or transport aircraft do you think the Sisters of Battle would use, I mean Space Marines have Thunderhawks, Imperial Guard have Valkryies, Tau have Orcas and so on.

So what do you think the SOB would use, has anyone come across any fluff to answer this question, I personally think that it would be the Valkryie and that the pilots would be female to support the No Men Under Arms law that the Ecclesiarchy have. Oh an this is purely for fluff and not for game play well not yet anyways.

Cheers

Probably some variant of valkyrie or stormraven.

The novel Redemption Corps referenced Ecclesiastical Valkyries for the Sisters. That makes a bit more sense to me than an orbital insertion type craft like the Stormraven.

It stands to reason that the Adeptus Sororitas would at least have access to something like a Valkyrie for assaults and the like.

Unfortunately there's little information in the studio material on this subject, but my best guess would be Valkyries as well. Deepstriking Seraphim have to approach the battlefield in something.

Then, there is also the Dominica-pattern Drop Pod, for when they really have to get to the ground as fast as possible.

In terms of licensed sources, the videogame Dawn of War gave them Lightning Fighters (with a female pilot as you suggested), and the novel Faith & Fire mentioned coleopters (though leaving it a bit ambiguous if they were theirs or requisitioned PDF craft).

they use the imperial navy to transport their troops so it would make sens they use the imperial navy landers as well and the its the valkery....

Yeah, more than likely a Valkyrie.

tunje wrote:they use the imperial navy to transport their troops so it would make sens they use the imperial navy landers as well and the its the valkery....

We don't know for sure how they "get around" - the Codex Imperialis mentioned that the two big convents (Ophelia and Terra) have their own fleets (which was never retconned), and whenever the job of the Imperial Navy is discussed they only talk about transporting IG. Now, of course in case of the latter it could simply be that they just forgot the SoB, but ...
Furthermore, the Codex mentions that the Ecclesiarchy sometimes goes on Wars of Faith, which may indeed be conducted independent from other Imperial bodies (participation seems to be voluntary, though surely "advertised" by the clergy). I'm not sure if the Imperial Navy really joined in on the attack on Fenris, for example.

Lynata wrote:

tunje wrote:they use the imperial navy to transport their troops so it would make sens they use the imperial navy landers as well and the its the valkery....

We don't know for sure how they "get around" - the Codex Imperialis mentioned that the two big convents (Ophelia and Terra) have their own fleets (which was never retconned), and whenever the job of the Imperial Navy is discussed they only talk about transporting IG. Now, of course in case of the latter it could simply be that they just forgot the SoB, but ...
Furthermore, the Codex mentions that the Ecclesiarchy sometimes goes on Wars of Faith, which may indeed be conducted independent from other Imperial bodies (participation seems to be voluntary, though surely "advertised" by the clergy). I'm not sure if the Imperial Navy really joined in on the attack on Fenris, for example.

I think the implication is that people like Rogue Traders and other 'independent' ship owners move the Ecclesiarchy troops around. Armed warships of thier own would violate the decree passive. In return these inidviduals receive the blessings of the Chruch which is not a bad thing.

Its likely the Sororitas have some armed transatmospheric craft that is not an Arvus Lighter. They would also need some means of ferrying their armored vehicles to and from the battlezones if the terrain does not allow for the transport of heavy tracked vehicles. Dominica pattern drop pods I guess are stilll around just not seen. This new codex woudl have been perfect to introduce the idea of Valkyries and drop pods being in the Sororitas and no new model work needs to be involved. I suspect however that Sisters will be getting a flier when they get a 'real' codex like every other armies.

Imperial Armour 2 had rules for Inquisitors and Inquisitoria Storm troopers to take valkeries, I wouldn't have a problem if a sisters player wanted to take them or use them for the new inquisitor sub guy in the new dex.

Mr. S Baldrick wrote:Imperial Armour 2 had rules for Inquisitors and Inquisitoria Storm troopers to take valkeries, I wouldn't have a problem if a sisters player wanted to take them or use them for the new inquisitor sub guy in the new dex.

Quite possibly when they tweak the rules for IA2 again for the new Sisters like they did with Grey Knights that may actually happen. I just bought a second Valkyrie and I have been toying with the idea of decorating with symbols of the Ecclesiarchy. You just gotta love the Immolator sprue.

andrewm9 wrote:Armed warships of thier own would violate the decree passive.

Not necessarily; the Decree Passive (first mentioned in the 2E SoB 'dex) was concerning "men under arms". The Ecclesiarchy was indeed ordered to disband its armies and fleets - yet the Sororitas were always named as an exception to this rule as a whole. If they have any ships (however they are crewed, I could imagine several options), they would likewise fall under this protection. Furthermore, the Designer's Notes for the Witch Hunter Codex (published in WD #293) clarified that the writers took great care only to expand on, but not to contradict anything previously published, including the ancient references in the original Rogue Trader rulebook - which were even referenced and re-confirmed in the same article. Personally, this official statement about the Sororitas having never been subjected to a retcon (at least up until and including the 3E WH Codex) is enough for me to believe in the existence of Sororitas fleets as they were mentioned in both the 1E Rogue Trader rulebook as well as the 2E Codex Imperialis.

Of course, it needs to be said that these fleets were (to my knowledge) never described in detail, so it may just as well just be a bunch of transports. Enough for them to get around, yet still have them rely on the Imperial Navy for escort into "hot zones" where the enemy has his own starships that would be likely to intercept such a convoy. In fact, I've read about alleged "single detachment transports" and "high speed corvettes" that only carried defensive armaments, yet were some of the fastest ships in the Imperium, sacrificing both the firepower of naval warships as well as the massive capacity of Guard-style regimental troopships for a higher maximum speed. Not only would this allow the (comparatively) small number of SoB to traverse the entire Imperium in the pursuit of their duties (explaining how the few Major Orders, which only number about 4.000 Sisters each, can show up at every corner of Imperial space in GW's own material), it also sounds like an interesting attempt to bring the early mention of fleets in line with the limitations that were introduced in later sources. I have yet to track down the original source of that bit, though, so I am not at all certain that this actually comes from GW or just a licensed product or even just a fan who sought to "connect" these (on the first glance) seemingly contradictory statements...

As for fliers in the TT, I'd love the Valkyrie and a "return" of the Dominica drop pods (which were pretty much identical to the Marines' Deathwind, except that the gun variant sported an impressive array of 5 multi-meltas) - I think this would indeed suffice for a cool representation, though I wouldn't say no to the Lightning Fighter from DoW either.

andrewm9 wrote:I just bought a second Valkyrie and I have been toying with the idea of decorating with symbols of the Ecclesiarchy. You just gotta love the Immolator sprue.

If you do, feel free to upload some photos!