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I remember reading somewhere how good it was that the standard Sister of battle now had a bolt pistol as well as a bolter. They did not say why, so I am wondering, what advantage does this have?

Sorry if this is an silly question and thanks in advance.

You could choose to fire the pistol rather than a heavy weapon which would preclude you charging in the assault phase.

if you have another close combat weapon (Such as a chainsword), each model so equipped gets +1 attack in close combat.

The issue goes back to the old rules for firing bolters before charging. If you were in assault range, bolters had to Rapid Fire, preventing you from charging. Space Marines regained bolt pistols to allow them to shoot their pistols before charge rather than their boltguns. Sisters at the time ended up losing their 2nd edition bolt pistols while going into 3rd edition, and did not regain their pistols until the 5th edition White Dwarf update. At the time of the update, regaining the pistols as well as the grenades already modeled on their 2nd ed metal sculps was considered a good thing, and a step in the right direction by Sister players.

Now we are in 6th, and people are like, "so why do Sisters have bolt pistols?"

The answer is: they've always had pistols, they just forget how to use them between editions.

SJ

Yes its all about the odd times when a sisters unit actually wants to charge into combat. Can't do it if you shoot with the boltguns

Indeed - the same reason that Tactical Marines have them - to shoot then charge...........