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Okay, so I've been involved in 40K in some capacity or other for getting on 30 years now, but I've never so much as owned a single Sisters of Battle mini. Until now. Absolutely blown away with how cool the new minis are and I ended up with the box.

I've always been kind of aware of them but, of all the factions that have been around since pretty much the beginning of 40K, they're the one I probably know the least about. It seems like a lot of people on here who are into Sisters are VERY into Sisters, so: what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction? Give me some top tips!

Cheers in advance.

I'd recommend going to 1d4chan for an initial presentation of their lore and playstyle.

..one heck of a question to throw down.

This was the faction that got me into the game, and the boatload of my focus in the setting until recently. theres a LOT of things i could toss on this pile, and im sure im not even remotely the most competent of a player about them.

The thing that captivated me about the army in a different time was the purity of their faith and raw training making up for some of the odds they faced, combined with the resources they had from their position in it all. i also loved the religious references i drew out of the faction.

look into the orders and see what grabs you the most, then journey beyond to make your own order, and see what you come up with. I'll always reach back to the Argent shroud, myself.

heres some mechanical tips i can impart.

The army does a lot of playing with fire, figuratively and literally. the army thrives in short range, either via the guns being more effective there, or the number of melee functional units the army can bring to bear. your most long ranged gun IS outranged by many other armies, but it can be deadly all the same (yeehee Exorcist). sure, there's builds that play into the save values of the army, but if your coming across from another army that functions more on melee speed, it might be familiar to you. id almost hazard to argue it's nearly a melee army, but im sure ill get taken to ask for saying that.

I'll pre-empt whoever argues that with all the flails and buzzaws about.

Despite the fact the new book has access to sacred rites, if you have the opportunity, or can't see the value in the rites, do not be afraid to ally. remember you are imperial, and by proxy can bring a fair bit to the table to aide you. likewise sisters are one of the cheaper armies to field point-wise as support to other imperials. i can't say i recommend them for the task based on what i know, but it's something im not intending to forget if they are useful in such a manner.

Take some time to learn the new miracle dice, especially if an FAQ comes about for them. currently they are an up in the air thing, but memorize what they work with, and you may find yourself surprising people on the battlefield with them.

Do you like Melta? well the armies got several vectors of popping melta equivalent hits into something, backed up now by miracle dice rolls if you REALLY need them. i can't speak to the effectiveness, but i do recall months back when i saw a list that had... i forget just how many NORMAL melta guns. im more talking about inferno drops.

the new book also employs a lot more aura's than i personally find comfortable. read up on them, and if your familiar with aura-based buffs, get prepared to position. theres some force multiplication out of that.

Lore wise - know your 6 Saints, the General stuff about the Age of Apostasy and Thorian Reformation(the founding of the Sisters of Battle) and the Slaughter at Sanctuary 101. After that, you can delve into your favorite Major Order/Saint and decide how you're going to paint your models.

Game play wise - I'm going to be the one to say that Sisters *aren't* a Melee Army, we're a close range shooty army.

 Nazrak wrote:
what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction?

One thing? Here's three:
1. Melta guns: Love the God-Emperor and slag the armor of his enemies.
2. Flamers: Love the God-Emperor and torch the infantry of his enemies.
3. Bolters: Love the God-Emperor and dakka any of his enemies left standing.

Bonus: There's an excellent Sisters Tactica group already chewing over the new 'dex in the Tactics Forum. Mostly solid analysis with a little salt and animosity from time to time.

 Nazrak wrote:
so: what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction? Give me some top tips!

Whatever the edition, SoB by themselves lack long range AT & arty weapons.

Lorewise or gamewise?

Gamewise (which is easier to sum up) they thrive in short-range firefights. They love to be within 12" of the enemy without being in combat. That sounds bad, but it isn't in the new book. They have the tools they need to make it happen.
Depending on how you kit them out, they can even be melee. You won't really ever get a long range build out if them. Exorcists aren't that good and generally are outranged by most tanks anyways.

They put the "Catholic" in the meme of Catholic Space Nazis. Along with the Ministorum in general, they crank up the religious nature of the Imperial Cult to 11 and then snap the knobs off. The other imperial armies have skulls and medallions; the Sisters are a death cult full of martyrdom, self-flagellation, rosaries and stained glass and Gothic spires. One of their new units is basically a mash-up of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and the Oriflamme. They're straight out of the weird old days of 40k, like a Heavy Metal 2000 comic.

Gitdakka wrote:I'd recommend going to 1d4chan for an initial presentation of their lore and playstyle.

This is incredibly bad advice, you should stay as far away from 1D4chan as possible.

When the new codex drops(unless you have the limited one) it is filled with almost everything you need to know about Sororitas.
if anything you should go read thru the Sororitas codex thread in dakka discussions. It will really give you an insight into where the Sororitas come from originally.

Racerguy180 wrote:

Gitdakka wrote:I'd recommend going to 1d4chan for an initial presentation of their lore and playstyle.

This is incredibly bad advice, you should stay as far away from 1D4chan as possible.

When the new codex drops(unless you have the limited one) it is filled with almost everything you need to know about Sororitas.
if anything you should go read thru the Sororitas codex thread in dakka discussions. It will really give you an insight into where the Sororitas come from originally.

1d4chan is okay. The fluff sections have a problem with hyperbole, exaggerating for comedy and presenting fan fiction as canon mainly but its much better for tactical advice for casual players than Dakka (as long as the information is up to date). The current tactica for Sisters on it is a muddle of old and new rules though.

 Nazrak wrote:
It seems like a lot of people on here who are into Sisters are VERY into Sisters, so: what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction?

You'll likely find all the basic facts in the codex from the box, so something a little less known:
Sebastian Thor didn't want to be Ecclesiarch. And after the ending of the Reign of Blood, he was put on trial. During the trial, other Imperial leaders really wanted him to become Ecclesiarch, to avoid more troubles. They really had to force him, and that's why he was in a position to push for the Ecclesiarchy to keep a lot of their priviledges. Without this, I don't think Sisters of Battle would have been allowed to break the spirit of the Decree Passive.

(That will make a lot more sense after reading the codex, I promise ^^)

 Nazrak wrote:
Okay, so I've been involved in 40K in some capacity or other for getting on 30 years now, but I've never so much as owned a single Sisters of Battle mini. Until now. Absolutely blown away with how cool the new minis are and I ended up with the box.

I've always been kind of aware of them but, of all the factions that have been around since pretty much the beginning of 40K, they're the one I probably know the least about. It seems like a lot of people on here who are into Sisters are VERY into Sisters, so: what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction? Give me some top tips!

Cheers in advance.

Sisters are a faction focused on cheap, durable for its cost infantry with a solid basic statline for the cost. If you invest in buffs and the right subfactions, they can present a force that is surprisingly fast, durable, or good at melee combat . Typically they are either fielded as mechanized infantry in transports, or as a large foot horde, and different subfactions and units work better in different setups.

They also have access to one of the best randomness-mitigation mechanics in 8th edition in the form of Miracle Dice. If you do not invest heavily in this mechanic, Miracle Dice can make the occasional vital roll succeed automatically, such as a key save, charge roll, or damage roll. If you dedicate relics, points and possibly subfaction choice into the mechanic you can make use of it many times per turn and even use it for special stratagems like resurrecting your characters.

In terms of downsides, a heavy reliance on buffing characters means you need to spend a lot of extra points to get the most out of some of their units, and if your characters get sniped you can find yourself less effective. They also lack long range anti tank outside of the exorcist, and their samey unit profiles (nearly everything in the codex is T3 3+ or T7 3+) means certain weapons are just very good against them no matter what - for example, they really don't like lascannons if they bring any vehicles at all.

They also are limited in terms of the types of weaponry they have. All their anti-tank weaponry is exactly S8, all of it is either Ap-3 or AP-4, and most of it is short range. If you face for example knights, Drukhari or daemons whose heavy units all have good invulns, you will be wasting a lot of efficiency on all that AP and wishing you could just have some autocannons.

They can also be somewhat weak in melee if you didn't structure your army with melee in mind. A basic battle sister in the range of two cheap aura characters with the right chapter tactic is 3 S4 Ap-1 attacks, but in any other Order without those characters is 1 S3 Ap- attack.

This can lead to situations where you want to be very close to the enemy to use your melta guns, flamers, and rapid fire boltguns, but not in melee. So it can be helpful to have melee units like Mortifiers/Penitents or FLY units like Seraphim as your front line.

 Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:

 Nazrak wrote:
It seems like a lot of people on here who are into Sisters are VERY into Sisters, so: what's the one thing you think I need to know about this army/faction?

You'll likely find all the basic facts in the codex from the box, so something a little less known:
Sebastian Thor didn't want to be Ecclesiarch. And after the ending of the Reign of Blood, he was put on trial. During the trial, other Imperial leaders really wanted him to become Ecclesiarch, to avoid more troubles. They really had to force him, and that's why he was in a position to push for the Ecclesiarchy to keep a lot of their priviledges. Without this, I don't think Sisters of Battle would have been allowed to break the spirit of the Decree Passive.

(That will make a lot more sense after reading the codex, I promise ^^)

which raises the cynical question of "was he really reluctant, or was it just an incrediably convincing act?"