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Eh...

Well, it's your army, do what you like, but if you're looking for published-fluff support on a non-Space Catholic version of the Sisterhood... it doesn't exist.

The Sisters train at one of only 2 places in the entire galaxy, San Leor and Ophelia IV (or VI, depending on who's writing you read, but one is noted as a typo). This leads to their orders all being basically the same, as having only two training Convents means that training style, combat doctrine, methods of observance, etc, etc, simply cannot deviate all that much. They aren't raised locally. For example, The Order of the Sisters Fabulous (on Planet AnyHive, IOM) will not collect local girls into their order, teach and train them, and then raise them to be Sisters of the Order of the Sisters Fabulous. It's just not how the faction works.

And while the Imperium *is* a staggeringly diverse place... that doesn't mean anything when the way the SIsters get members is so uniform and regimented. Regardless of the kinds of cultures or planets they come from, the girls who go onto become Sisters of Battle are all raised by the Schola Progenium, and are marked at a young age for development and training into the Sisterhood, and are taken at, like, 12, by a Sister Superior for their final training, being inducted into an Order (in a ceremony on Holy Terra, no less!) at the age of 17.

So while having a non-Space Catholic SoB army is certainly possible, there's no studio fluff to support doing so. We've never been introduce (or even had a mention) of a Sororitas order that doesn't do things "by the book". It's just not what the fluff behind the army supports.

Don't do corrupted Sisters. Just... don't.

That's as bad as Fem-Marines.

No, it isn't "canon". There are no Fallen Sisters in studio publications. None.

There are the reanimated corpses of dead Sisters being used by Daemons, yes.

ThePrimordial wrote:
Wasn't there that one group of sisters who venerated Slaanesh?
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Miriael_Sabathiel
Boom shaka laka.
The only faction to never fall to Chaos are Grey Knights.
And at least they have the excuse of being talented controlled psykers. I'll take that over faith as a shield.

Sabathiel is a character from a third-party product, not published in studio fluff. If you want to bring in all the RPGs and stuff, then, sure... but then we get into the wild blue yonder of fan-fiction, and that's when you get really scary.

Troike wrote:
As an addendum, that's not to say that one cannot do a bee-based Order. If your heart is set on it, then go for it! You make the best bee-based Battle Sisters that you can make. Though if your question is if such an Order fits in with 40K canon, then the answer is, unfortunately, no, not really.

That's basically my view on it. It's the OP's army, s/he can do what they like with it. It's just not supported in published material.

 The Dwarf Wolf wrote:
About the codex: i have a hard time accepting that i must pay 1 less point for a Space Marine with S3 and T3, with weaker special rules (whose i have to pass a test to use).

Also, i think that Sister should have access to land raiders (at least the reedemer pattern, that scream Sororitas).

And finally, i dont want to field psykers...

Im starting to give up. I think i will just box the few Sister Models i have around, and wait for the future.

Well, if it helps... don't think of them as Space Marines, because they aren't. Lots of people in the background wear power armor, it's not unique to Space Marines. That they (the Sisters) are the combat equal to Space Marines does not make them Space Marines... that same thing can be said about many various kinds of Xenos, and no one tries to play them as Space Marines.

Sisters don't field psykers, either. So you're good there.

Lets face it, Sisters have been squated... :/

Considering they had a Codex published, what, six months ago? Hardly.

In the end, I'd say stick with the black-and-yellow colors and iconography, but otherwise have this Minor Order be pretty standard-line Sisters, as far as beliefs and religious practices go.

Mayhaps, as part of their trials/tests/castigations/mortifactions they have to pray for X hours in a chamber filled with angry bees?

Maybe they have a bit of "ceremonial" war-gear, the Stinger, that is a barbed stiletto?

I'd drop the "struggle for balance" thing entirely... doesn't fit with the IoM or the Emperor's Will, which is to ensure that humanity fulfills its manifest destiny to rule the stars unopposed.

You could, also, have them stationed on a world that is an Agri World, but also has a heavy Ecclesiarchal presence (maybe it was an Agri World that became a Shrine World three thousand years ago because Saint ABC did something amazing, like fed five million Imperial Guard soldiers defending the world from Plague Marines with the blessed honey of the planet's bee-hives, who were then so refreshed and invigorated they went on to win a glorious battle against Chaos?). Thus, the local Ecclesiarchy is kind of in with the bee-worship deal, and the local Minor Order is linked to that Ecclesiarchal group to a degree, at least in colors and iconography.

Shoot, maybe this Minor Order was founded in honor of that Saint, who was a bee-keeper before her ascension/manifestation/revelation and so they take those colors and icons in honor of her?

What isn't for the Ecclesisarchy to like is this Order adopting basic "nature worship" and "exist in harmonious balance" that was listed in the OP. Not really fitting the whole "Humanity First, Last and Forever" mindset of the Sisterhood.

Also, the fleet-based Order idea simply doesn't have support in the fluff, since they're not a Space Marine Chapter, but I don't see that being *that* big of a problem... though it would depend on specifics of their fleet and the like. Kinda need to stick to the Decree Passive to some extent.

Right, but I dunno that it really makes them a "fleet-based" order. While the Ecclesiarchy does go "on tour", so to speak, that's usually to travel to other Shrine Worlds or whatever, not just drift around in the Void, preaching to the choir.

It could be some pre-Heresy relic that has become a "Shrine Ship" of sorts, that follows a plotted, standard path around a Sector... in a sense, a sort of self-contained Shrine World that follows, say, one arc of Sebastian Thor's journeys, or that of another Saint (perhaps the Queen Bee Saint we keep referencing?), and other Imperial Pilgrim Transports dock with it at pre-determined stops along its route to tour the vessel, worship in its shrines, pay their devotions... and then GTFO before it resumes its journey.

While some Sisters do leave the Order to become Inquisitors, this is fairly rare. In most cases, a Sister will be attached to an Inquisitor's retinue for a given mission or duration, and prove herself an invaluable ally. The Inquisitor then basically attaches her to his/her retinue on a permanent basis.

However if the Sister proves capable enough, the Inquisitor may even train her as an Interrogator, which will provide a way for a Sister to become an Inquisitor, should the Inquisition grant it. With Puritan factions within the Inquisition, this is generally not a problem at this stage. This process, though, is not very common. In most cases, the Order a Sister belongs to is like an extended family. Her squad is like an immediate family, with the Sister Superior of said squad often having been a matronly figure since the Sister's childhood.

You may want to even skip her being a Canoness. She could be some simple, Agri World peasant girl who, for some action or another involving bees and honey, became a Saint.

This would (over time) lead to a delegation of a Order Major of the Sororitas defending her major shrines, which, again in time, may cause them to become their own little Order Minor.