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The Pahalim are the guardians of the Sororitas. Nicknamed 'Ophelians' because it is so rare to see them away from their home on Ophelia VII, they stand guard with storm shield and bolter against the darkness. Pahalim are born, not trained, and only those who show unwavering fortitude and resilience are inducted into their number. They are marked out by their Aspiriate cloaks and blazing storm shields, and it is said that when battle is upon them their armour blazes with the power of their belief, turning aside weapons that would slay an Astartes outright.
Once a unit of Pahalim have drawn their line in the sand and locked shields, no force in the galaxy can move them without some manner of foul trickery.

Pahalim Squad (90 points) {ELITES}
Pahalim WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3+/3++
Superior WS:4 BS:4 S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:2 Ld:9 Sv:3+/3++

Unit Composition: 1 Superior, 4 Pahalim
Unit Type: Infantry. Superior is Infantry (Character)

Wargear: Bolter, Storm Shield, Krak Grenades, Smoke Grenades

Special Rules: Shield of Faith, Line in the Sand, Shield Wall, Mantle of Ophelia

Options:
- The unit may include up to 5 additional Pahalim for +18 points/model
- Up to two models may replace their Bolter with;
- - A Flamer for +5 points
- - A Meltagun for +10 points
- One other model may carry a Simulacrum Imperialis +15 points
- The Pahalim Superior may take weapons from the ranged and/or melee weapon list.
- Any model armed with a Bolter may take a Sarissa for +2 points

Special Equipment
Smoke Grenades: Tossed out to disorient incoming attackers, a unit armed with Smoke Grenades counts as being equipped with Defensive Grenades.
Sarissa: A vicious blade attachment designed to fit on a Godwyn De'az pattern bolter, the Sarissa grants the Shred rule to any model using it.

Special Rules
Line in the Sand: All Pahalim (including the Pahalim Superior) have the Objective Secured special rule, and are Fearless while within 3" of an objective.
Shield Wall: If a model in this squad equipped with a Storm Shield is in base contact with another model equipped with a Storm Shield, it may reroll failed saving throws and Invulnerable saving throws.
Mantle of Ophelia: This Act of Faith may be used in either player's assault phase, or in the opponent's shooting phase. Any attack that would inflict Instant Death automatically fails to wound the unit until the end of the phase. One use only.

Cool. They're the opposite of my Principality jump troops, which are highly mobile glass hammers: Pahalim are ultra-durable line holders. Melissia's Virtues are in the middle, being aggressive power weapon wielders but on foot.

It's hard to price Shield Wall, but it's a very good ability, since you get a rerollable 3++. I think the Act of Faith is overpowered, though: Ignoring Instant Death would be powerful enough, but causing attacks with ID to automatically fail would neuter some of the strongest attacks in the game.

Also the "holding an objective" thing should probably be clarified to "within 3" of an objective" or similar.

Nothing constructive or practical to contribute here.

Just a random thought.

Hey ! You gave me an idea ! thanks !

I love the Medieval Spanish religious fanatic outfits of Necromunda Redemptionists. ---especially the pointy hats. But how to explain it away in Adeptus Sororitas ?
Problem solved ! Frateris Militia ! Now I've got a full 20 man unit, except for a suitable standard bearer. But I've figured that one out, just haven't gotten around to it.

I love .... the pointy helmets ... shields, and heavy gold armor of old Adeptus Custodes .

But how to explain it away in Adeptus Sororitas ?

And Adeptus Custodes ?

SM ! ?

I hate those God @%^&$ master race sons of @#$%& !

( And they gotta be girls after all . )

Well, not exactly , I suppose , what you had in mind ; But thanks for the idea ! ^-^

( Oh ! And what about when the necessary evil , and the marriage of convenience, ends, and we pull a Night of the Long Knives on those scumbags ? No more pretty Custodes in gold armor and pointy helmets for the Imperial palace . Not anymore. :( ............ Yay ! Miko solved the problem ! )

( Oh ! --- and they gotta have a name ! Ordinem Principatuum - Sanctus Furyou Miko . ( Order of Principalities - Saint Furyou Miko ) if you don't mind ? I likes it ! )

SisterSydney wrote:Cool. They're the opposite of my Principality jump troops, which are highly mobile glass hammers: Pahalim are ultra-durable line holders. Melissia's Virtues are in the middle, being aggressive power weapon wielders but on foot.

That's the idea. They're supposed to represent the last line of defence before the Sanctum Sanctorum, the guardians of relics and so on and so forth. The other version I considered was a Pahalim as a kind of auxiliary HQ who is attached to the Warlord (and other PoIs) as a kind of bodyguard.

It's hard to price Shield Wall, but it's a very good ability, since you get a rerollable 3++. I think the Act of Faith is overpowered, though: Ignoring Instant Death would be powerful enough, but causing attacks with ID to automatically fail would neuter some of the strongest attacks in the game.

You also get vulnerability to blasts due to having to bunch up, as well as a reduced control area. The idea is similar to the Deathwing Knights, but they also get their 2+ as well an are generally tougher - all the Storm Shield really does is make their power armour invulnerable.

The Act... they're one-wound models, and have T3. Its really hard to balance something like this. Its actually the idea that they shrug off insanity like volcano cannons (the storm shields already protect them from missiles and lascanons), but they, like Alicia Dominica, will be felled in the end by a regular guy with a standard gun. The main balancing factor is that A) they can only do it once per game, and B) their offence is actually worse than a Battle Sister squad's (they can't take heavy weapons). I tried pricing them at 25 points/model before and while they didn't die, they didn't make enough of a difference to the game, either - with basically bolters and a couple of short-range specials, they lack killing power, and no game is won with a single objective.

Also the "holding an objective" thing should probably be clarified to "within 3" of an objective" or similar.

Noted and edited.

KesaAnna wrote:
( Oh ! --- and they gotta have a name ! Ordinem Principatuum - Sanctus Furyou Miko . ( Order of Principalities - Saint Furyou Miko ) if you don't mind ? I likes it ! )

I... am not entirely sure what you just said, but from the sound of it, you want to attach my name to heresy. So... no, please. Appropriate as it would be (Furyou Miko means "delinquent shrine maiden"), my Tzeentchian plotting would be rather curtailed by such open apostasy.

"Tzeentchian plotting" for the win! Also I love the idea of shrugging off Titan weapons and then dying to some schlub with a stubber, because that is so terribly the truth of war.

Again that these girls are offensively very weak, since they have neither power weapons for CC nor large numbers of special weapons nor heavy weapons of any kind. But they're hard to kill, so they're tarpits. Problem is they might run away if they're not Fearless on an objective -- perhaps they need Stubborn?

I'll have to run an Ovion-style pricing when I'm not behind on work deadlines.

Pahalim? You mean Paladin!
Now start spamming Flash of Light!






These are... different, for sure. Why does shield wall work in melee? Logically such a rigid formation would be a disadvantage.

Hmm? Historically, weren't shield walls meant for melee? You lined up with your mates, shields touching or better yet overlapping, and shoved your shields at the other bastards to drive them back while you hit them over the head or in the legs. That's what modern-day riot police do.

Where shield wall is a major disadvantage, as Furyou points out, is against blast weapons....

Indeed, a locked shield wall is a powerful defence in close assault and a key part of absorbing and resisting a charge. Of course, for some reason GW have decided that shields aren't weapons, which is stupid, but I work within the system.

Pahalim - from 'Children of Pahaliah', the Angel of Virtue.

At Leadership 9, they're unlikely to run from shooting, and if they're in hand to hand and not on an objective there's probably something seriously wrong that would demand a priest be attached to them, which grants them fearless regardless. Making their native Fearless contextual also lets me keep the price per model down and avoid that dangerous 'too expensive to use' zone.

Yeah but I mean, this is not real life. A shield wall is not going to be very useful with renegade Ogryn berserkers slamming into your line.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Its actually the idea that they shrug off insanity like volcano cannons (the storm shields already protect them from missiles and lascanons), but they, like Alicia Dominica, will be felled in the end by a regular guy with a standard gun.

How will the gun succeed where the missile failed?

Luck, or, "the sister fails her save".

Luck and the law of averages. You only have to make that save against the Titan weapon once. You may save against stubbers a dozen times a turn.

Nice unit idea. It differs from what has been made for Sisters before and gives them a excellent sponge unit for a decent price. I didn't cover that angle in my fandex so that's a good point.I do have a question. Considering they all have stormshields, how do they fire their boltguns? Shoudn't they be armed with bolt pistol and/or a close combat weapon that requires only one hand to use? If you think they would lack some firepower, why not invent a uzi-like bolter pattern that requires only one hand?

 SisterSydney wrote:
Luck and the law of averages. You only have to make that save against the Titan weapon once. You may save against stubbers a dozen times a turn.

I mean from a fluff standpoint.

epronovost wrote:
Nice unit idea. It differs from what has been made for Sisters before and gives them a excellent sponge unit for a decent price. I didn't cover that angle in my fandex so that's a good point.I do have a question. Considering they all have stormshields, how do they fire their boltguns? Shoudn't they be armed with bolt pistol and/or a close combat weapon that requires only one hand to use? If you think they would lack some firepower, why not invent a uzi-like bolter pattern that requires only one hand?

Because if their shields are locked before them in a braced stance, braced against the sisters to either side of them, there's no reason why their shields can't have a firing lock on them to accommodate a bolter. It wouldn't work with a heavy weapon because of the different brace position required and the bulk of the heavy weapon - size, rather than weight/recoil.

Also, because Sisters have been shown in various places firing their bolters one-handed anyway.

Ashi;

Rule of Cool / Martyr Tradition.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
heresy.

No.

Off-topic so :

 Furyou Miko wrote:
(Furyou Miko means "delinquent shrine maiden")

Very nice name ! SoB fans seem to be rather good with names. That figures I suppose. Even if they happen to actually be male , they are the sort who are into ribbons and bows and what color to paint the kitchen.
Too bad they also tend to be the sort who are absolutely hopeless when it comes to wrapping their head around, actually identifying with, theocracy.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
no.

No biggie . I have a few pages of Saints I've made up that I haven't put to any use.

 KesaAnna wrote:
Nothing constructive or practical to contribute here.

As a reminder, Rule Number Two is Stay On Topic and Rule Number Three is No Spam. Thanks.

I like the unit. Would love to see more ideas that go in line with the Sororitas being tasked with defending shrines and holy places.

Personally I'd like to see a unit like the Pahalim (maybe toned down just a bit) entered as our second Troop choice.

Infiltrate would be a nice special rule for the squad to represent them already being present at a shrine or holy place before the battle begins.

How do you see them sharing the slot with Celestians? Would it be better to remake Celestians in the image of your Pahalim to give everyone a reason to use them?

I see Celestians as a more offensive/aggressive unit - I'd outfit them with special ammo or CC weapon options.

This thread has inspired me to post the final version of my Principalities. Comparing the two makes me think the Pahalim really, really need at least the option to take power weapons: Without them, they're a groovy tarpit, but they ain't never gonna kill nobody much.

Even with the Shred in CC upgrade?

Shred is lovely, but before it takes effect, even Guardsmen, Orks, and Chaos Cultists get an armor save. Against power-armored troops in particular, there's a huge difference between attacking with regular close combat weapons -- which only get through the MEQ's armor 33% of the time -- and power swords -- which get through 100% of the time, tripling your kills.

No, Shred is amazing. Why do you think the Hand Flamers on Seraphim are so freaking good? It's largely down to their Act of Faith granting Shred.

The ability to ignore armour is moot if you can't even wound them in the first place. And that is not even accounting for 2+ or Invulnerable Saves. I'd take Shred for 2pts over a Power Sword for 15pts all the time.

I do think that power weapons are too proliferate in the setting at the moment. In my day, they were rare artefacts wielded by commanders and heroes... now it seems like every Tam, Dy and Harriet has one. Its contributing to the power creep and is one of the main reasons people think power armour is useless.

 GoonBandito wrote:
The ability to ignore armour is moot if you can't even wound them in the first place....

And vice versa!

If you made power weapons standard issue, you could discount the normal 15-point cost, as GW itself does for Crusaders (power sword and storm shield, 15 ppm), Death Cult Assassins (two power swords, 15 ppm), and Repentia (30-pt Eviscerator on a 14-pt model). Plus the presence of these units in our codex for several editions suggests that power weapons on elite infantry isn't so out of line.

Whether power weapons should be reserved for heroic characters is another question. I'm just sayin' there's plenty of precedent for them not to be.