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I know that Sisters use some enchantments like eye sensor but what about replacing a body part?

The interest for this was inspired by this picture:



So do they do that?

Wat-grown body-parts probably to keep inline with their spiritual purity.

I don't believe the subject has ever been touched upon, neither in studio material nor in licensed fiction. Personally, I think that extensive modifications or replacements might go against the idea of the so-called Sacred Human Form (which is actually something I picked up in a BL book, but it made sense for the Ecclesiarchy's teachings on mutants so I adopted it). I guess an artificial limb is still okay or may even seen as a sign of personal sacrifice for the Imperial cause, though it may depend on the individual Sororitas and how far she takes this belief. In the end, a Sister Militant no more fit for duty could just as well serve in one of the non-militant Orders where two arms aren't necessary. Certainly, there'd be a step where it would go "too far", and I would think that a Sister that is "half machine" like Straken would be it.

I've seen images of Sisters with cybernettic eye replacements in official art, though.

I to know abotu the eye, it is almost everywhere in Sister art. But I wonder would they replace entire body part with cybernetics? Like Iron Hands or Straken?

Maybe a limb, but not likely the entire body.

Don't think we'll see any "dreadnought" Sisters, but I can see one getting limbs replaced and returning to service in an Order Militant. Depends, I suppose, on the extent of the injuries and the quality of the augmetics available as to whether or not she'd be able to return to her role as a combat operative or be forced to become something more administrative, or change Orders entirely. The cripplingly-injured might be given enough augmetics to be functional but move from Orders Militant to Orders Dialogous or Hospitaler, if capable.

Psienesis wrote:Don't think we'll see any "dreadnought" Sisters [...]

Depending on where you look.

Also, without a Black Carapace they probably need some wetware and implants to interface with their power armor.

Judging from what little BL I've read, almost everyone in the mid to upper echelons of imperial society has one or another enhancement on them, from datalinks to augmetic limbs. Cybernetics are not taboo, but there seems to be a line drawn somewhere which separates good taste and functionality from Mechanicus' levels of self desecration, which ordinary Emperor-fearing citizens, Sisters included, would not dare cross.

Agent_Tremolo wrote:Also, without a Black Carapace they probably need some wetware and implants to interface with their power armor.

Power armour doesn't require a direct neural interface, it just makes it easier, which is why people with a Black Carapace or MIU are able to work with their tools as if they'd be a natural extension of their bodies. A small yet nice to have bonus, for sure.
Since Sisters Militant are trained in the use of armour from young age on, I'd say that by the time they profess as fully-fledged members of their Order they should have gotten sufficiently used to how to move in it. The lack of a Black Carapace was merely given as an explanation for why their armour lacks Astartes-grade strength enhancement in the 3E WH Codex.

Also, found this old blurb:
"While Space Marines are hard-wired into their suits, which in essence become an extension of their bodies, Angel armour is controlled by a system of negative feedback, using pressure sensors on the inner surface of the armour to detect the slightest movement from the occupant, and move the suit accordingly. In practical terms this means that a suit of Angel armour can be worn by an unmodified human, though some amount of calibration is required to customise each suit to its wearer's body. It also means that the Sisterhood is not reliant on Mechanicus-supplied bio-engineering systems, the only possible replacement for the Space Marine Black Carapace implant, though it is rumoured that Ecclesiarch Vandire's reasons for rejecting this option were more to do with aesthetics than practicality."

Don't ask me for a source, though. This is from the old SoB group on yahoo where Andy Hoare used to post. I've got a huge file with bits of fluff from back then, mostly sourced by now, but there's still parts whose origin I wasn't able to track down yet. Still, sounds reasonable, so I've adopted it into my personal perception.

Agent_Tremolo wrote:Cybernetics are not taboo, but there seems to be a line drawn somewhere which separates good taste and functionality from Mechanicus' levels of self desecration, which ordinary Emperor-fearing citizens, Sisters included, would not dare cross.

This is how I'm used to perceiving it as well. *nods*

Lynata wrote:"While Space Marines are hard-wired into their suits, which in essence become an extension of their bodies, Angel armour is controlled by a system of negative feedback, using pressure sensors on the inner surface of the armour to detect the slightest movement from the occupant, and move the suit accordingly. In practical terms this means that a suit of Angel armour can be worn by an unmodified human, though some amount of calibration is required to customise each suit to its wearer's body. It also means that the Sisterhood is not reliant on Mechanicus-supplied bio-engineering systems, the only possible replacement for the Space Marine Black Carapace implant, though it is rumoured that Ecclesiarch Vandire's reasons for rejecting this option were more to do with aesthetics than practicality."

Sad old pervert Vandire...

Btw, now you've got me itching to find out what on earth a Dark Eldar Demilune is

Agent_Tremolo wrote:Sad old pervert Vandire...

He was the Ghaddafi of his times, eh?

Agent_Tremolo wrote:Btw, now you've got me itching to find out what on earth a Dark Eldar Demilune is

Those vehicles seem to have been custom jobs bashed together by various GW employees and then showcased in the magazine. I did a quick google search, but didn't find any fluff on it yet, so it may well be that it was never written. On the other hand, that term pops up a lot more often than you'd guess, but maybe this vehicle just became real popular. Maybe a really old Dark Eldar player can help out!

He was indeed... seems that Vandire's shenanigans involved entire worlds requiring a percentage of their female populations aged between, like, 18 and 24 to be tithed to him.

It's good to be High Lord.

Sister of Battle Dreadnought?
Now this is something new.....


So there would be no objection for a Sister to have cybernetic arm if she lost real one in battle?

An arm or leg or eye or anything of the sort is, most likely, perfectly fine and probably more-than-common amongst veteran Militant Sisters. After all, vat-grown limbs require either a genetic sample to be gathered ahead of time, and either Mechanicus Biologis or Sisters Hospitaler to have the technology on-hand to grow, or have them pre-grown and placed in cryo-storage or stasis fields to be stored against future need... on the other hand, you can carry a crate of augmetic limbs in a cargo hold and have any semi-competent doc install them if the need arises. No need to worry about color-matching, blood-types, long-term storage or messy micro-surgery attaching all the little muscle fibres and nerve-endings... just bolt that puppy on, slap a D-cell battery in it and she's good to go.

Aye, I imagine that's Guard-standard. Though the Sisters might be able to procure something of a little higher quality, perchance, or at least a limb that features some intricate ornamentations. Like a work of art!

Imagine a metal arm containing the entire first chapter of Saint Sebastian's Collected Verses in 3 mm machine-stamped letters. Or an artificer-crafted image of the Order's founder, surrounded by a bunch of stylized flowers, etc ...

The young novices would go crazy about a Sister sporting such cool bling!

I can see that sort of thing on someone of particularly high rank or as an add-on later, after the battle is won and they have time to craft such a thing to her specific requests/measurements and so forth.

At least, as suggested in DH, not even Tech-Priests get the best augmetics when it comes time to get their implants. Their potentia coils, which are their built-in power generators, might be salvaged out of a starship and be.... rather bulky, resulting in hunched backs and occasional jets of steam and coolant.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about bionics being taboo on Sororitas troopers. I think bionic replacement for battle-injuries is a pretty accepted fact among most of the Imperium. If anything like it's been said above, it's probably seen as a mark of dedication beyond the call of duty, because you are still fighting for 'The Holy Emperor' rather than retiring.

Psienesis wrote:At least, as suggested in DH, not even Tech-Priests get the best augmetics when it comes time to get their implants. Their potentia coils, which are their built-in power generators, might be salvaged out of a starship and be.... rather bulky, resulting in hunched backs and occasional jets of steam and coolant.

That said, Tech-Priests in general are also much, much, much more numerous than the ~50k Sisters of Battle. We wouldn't expect every smalltime Ecclesiarchy Preacher on some border world to be afforded the best stuff, either.

Now, this is just drawing conclusions from the GW material I've read, but when they are given the very best wargear the Imperium and the AdMech can provide, I don't think they'd cheap out on cybernetic limbs.

Although, giving it further thought, I do like the idea that maybe such artful decoration would not actually come with the product right away, but are rather added after its arrival in the convent - engraved either by the wounded Sister itself, or by her Superior, by her squadmates, the Mistress of the Armoury, or a hundred young novices all labouring many nights to honour her sacrifice.
Perhaps it could even be one of the many tasks of the Orders Pronatus, or some other non-militant Order Minoris that would need to be invented first...

Come to think of it, bionics actually are a wargear option for SoB (or rather were? not sure if they're still in the 5E Minidex considering the wargear section was literally gutted of anything but ~5 options), so I'd have to correct my earlier statement about it not being talked about in GW books.

There's probably some "stock" Sister augmetics, with a bit of gold filigree and the fleur-de-lis cap on the knee/elbow and what-not, but I'd bet the real, super-nice, master-crafted works of art wait until after the Sister has left that theater of operations and has had time at the Convent to get the real bling measured, built, consecrated, blessed, anointed and installed.

Only 50k. angry nuns? I assumed they would at least be as many as the million Astartes, then probably even more as they recruit huge numbers of girls into their ranks, if they doesn't have more members than the Space Marines I would be a bit worried.

SoB generally aren't that important concerning Imperial defenses - they're just a "nice to have" bonus occasionally showing up at important battles, culling mutant populations, hunting down rogue Marine Chapters or keeping the Ecclesiarchy's clergy in line.

This is also reflected in how much (well, how little) they actually show up in GW's fluff. As an example, here's the Force Composition Chart from GW's official Armageddon 3 campaign website: http://web.archive.org/web/20070202084629/http://www.armageddon3.com/English/Campaign/Troops/imp_forces.html
Compare the number of SoB to the number of Space Marines.

I've got a similar chart for the 13th Black Crusade, but that one is out of a Codex and I would have to upload it as a digital image first.

Note that the ~50k is just a really rough guess; GW actually never released a grand total. All we know is that the six Major Orders Militant have 3.000 to 6.000 Sisters each, and that it's them who see most of the combat action, as the unknown number of Minor Orders (who are said to be as small as a hundred Sisters) are more concerned with local duties.
The 2E Codex also mentioned that the SoB as a whole took 2.500 years to increase their numbers from 10.000 to 30.000 - just as a rough hint on how long it takes for them to swell and expand their ranks with enough suitable warriors.

The SOB is massively under-represented in fluff, I think they are quite a lot, but you either have Sandy Mitchell writing about them, with the aformentioned hammer, or no-one.

Many girls of the shcolas enter their ranks when they begin there. So I think they shall have more sisters.

The vast majority of progena becomes Administratum scribes. The exceptional ones can become Arbites, Commissars, Navy NCOs, etc ...
In comparison, Schola girls becoming Sisters of Battle is fairly rare.

That's another bit of fluff from the 2E Codex, by the way.

You'd be free to pursue a different interpretation of the setting, of course, but looking at the studio material the low appearance of the Orders Militant in battles seems to be fairly intentional and consistent.

Fellow dakkanaut Æscholt has made an effort to collect all the GW fluff about this topic here, by the way: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/10/415492.page
Insightful citations!

Oh I see, but then again, I guess the spiritual purity must be truly exceptional as 40k. nuns is a very low number, especially considering the many girls that enters to become Sororitas, but GW contradicting themselves comes as no surprise. I personally just assumed them to be about as numerous as the Space Marines due to the wide reach of the Eccleriasary.

There are lots and lots of female Clergy-members, nuns and priestesses and other religious functionaries. These women, however, are not members of the Adepta Sororitas,

GW never contradicted itself on the rarity of SoB, they've always been described as fairly rare - at least from stuff like the Force Disposition Charts or the aforementioned quotes, and their absence during battles where you'd otherwise expect them (such as the important Cathedral of Bladen in the Cityfight Codex that was defended only by its clergy and two regiments of Cadian Guardsmen).

Lots of licensed material may contradict GW, though.

As for the Ecclesiarchy, I think that the low number of SoB may even be intentional as the Ordo Hereticus was said to keep a watchful eye on the Sisters due to the whole "Decree Passive" deal forbidding the Ecclesiarchy from having men under arms. So expanding this army too much might draw unwanted attention and trouble with the Inquisition.

An important thing to keep in mind is that the Ecclesiarchy still has its own clergy that is expected to take up arms as well, plus the masses of the faithful that can be organized into ad-hoc Frateris Militia. These untold millions represent the Ecclesiarchy far better than the comparatively few Sisters of Battle - but of course the latter are a much more impressive symbol of divine order.

Also, what Psienesis said.

Melissia wrote:I've seen images of Sisters with cybernettic eye replacements in official art, though.

I was thinking the same thing. I imagine cybernetics in the Imperium's military forces are rugged and durable because that's how they know how to make them. So I'd imagine the only way we don't see cybernetics on the SoB figures is because they aren't sexy.

Veteran Sergeant wrote:So I'd imagine the only way we don't see cybernetics on the SoB figures is because they aren't sexy.

Actually, there are some minis who have them.



And I'd say she looks quite badass.