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Coming into a SoB army very soon an had a couple of questions.

 

1- Is a Sarissa worth puting on VSS bolters or is the CCW/PW plus pistol a better option (re-roll wounds on charge that big an impact)?

 

2- I'm looking at creating 2 Dominion squads in Immolators, I know what I want for the vehicles but what is the best way to optimise the squads weapon configs?

 

3- Are retributors any good or should I stick to exorcists for my HS slots?

Posted By Cpt_Horatius on 08/23/2006 10:48 AM

Coming into a SoB army very soon an had a couple of questions.

 

1- Is a Sarissa worth puting on VSS bolters or is the CCW/PW plus pistol a better option (re-roll wounds on charge that big an impact)?

 

2- I'm looking at creating 2 Dominion squads in Immolators, I know what I want for the vehicles but what is the best way to optimise the squads weapon configs?

 

3- Are retributors any good or should I stick to exorcists for my HS slots?

 

The answers to your questions are somewhat situational. 

1.  I've never seen a Sarissa actually taken.  My thought  is, if you are really hot and bothered for close combat oomph, I'd rather have an Eviscerator on that VSS and possibly a Priest if you really want the re-roll. 

2.  For the Dominions, Flamers are a good bet, if you use and Immolator, but considering that the Immolator has a limit of 6 in it's capacity, you probably won't need more than 3 Flamers.  Drive up, disembark, and Flame.  You'll be hard pressed to get the maximum effect out of additional flamers for the points cost, particularly if you take a HF on the Immolator.  I tend to look at Dominions as a one trick pony.  If you don't get the squad you attack, you are likely to get shot and assaulted, and most of the time, those Dominions won't have the staying power to be a big threat once assaulted (unless you go with an Eviscerator for the VSS)

3.  If I took 2 Heavy Support choices in non Cities of Death games, they'd be Exorcists.  If I took 3, I'd give serious thought to a squad of retributors with Heavy Bolters.  Some people like to Divine Guidance with that squad, but at S5, you typically are just using that squad as an anti-infantry unit, and putting hits and wounds on the enemy may not be worth using that precious faith point that could be used for an Invulnerable save for a SoB squad that gets caught in Close Combat. 

I have started to collect SOB's also. What I have seen from the very best of players using them is 2 Exorcist and 1 squad of retributers with heavy bolters. The last match I watched as the Exorcist shoot out a Landraider. So they are a good armor killing option. What squad are you giving the Sarissa to? If it is Celestians VSS then it could be a good choice with their particular advantage on going into close combat. Celestians with their Holy Hatred rule hit on a 3+ no matter what(well not against Indie Characters, Tyrinids monstrous, or monstrous creatures.) I have watched one immolater use Tl multi melta. If you are using six dominions, immolater stock, and four meltagun will cost somewhere around 211 points. This not even adding fluff. 9 Seraphims with a Sister Superior comes out around 208. Preference wise I would use my points on them.

i'm rather fond of transports that have a top hatch so you can pop your sister with the heavy flamer out the roof and burn the heretics.........i particularly love the FW repressors for the added heavy flamer and firing slots ......but you have proxy it as a rhino as some tournaments depensing on thier FW tolerances.

i've seen (and felt) the effectiveness of the siter squad with flamer and heavy flamer.

 

on the HS side i'd opt for exorcists. (but always take 3, that way they are more likely to survive) since the one thing the sisters lack is ranged weapons which the excorsists nicely fill in.

 

 

 

 

>>1- Is a Sarissa worth puting on VSS bolters or is the CCW/PW plus pistol a better option (re-roll wounds on charge that big an impact)?

Personally, I give every VSS a Book of St. Lucious, but tend to either give my VSS an Eviscerator, or a bolter. At S3, an additional CC attack is simply not as effective as an additional bolter shot (particularly with Divine Guidance).

>> I'm looking at creating 2 Dominion squads in Immolators, I know what I want for the vehicles but what is the best way to optimise the squads weapon configs?

Thanks to the "resolve template weapons one at a time" rule, it is very rare that you will be able to make an effective use of 4 Flamer Templates in 4th edition. You can get a squad of Battle Sisters with a Heavy Flamer, Flamer, and optional Brazier of Holy Fire that will be as effective as the Dominions for a cheaper price. As a result, the only real advantage Dominions have over Celestines is that they can take 4x Meltaguns to help against tanks. I have yet to find myself in a situation that I need 4 melta guns, so I would recommend using a 3 melta squad, or even better, just take more Sisters in Rhinos.

Additionally, I haven't found Immolators to be cost effective. Frankly, taking more squads of Heavy Flamer/Meltagun Sisters in Rhinos works better for me.

3- Are retributors any good or should I stick to exorcists for my HS slots?

Every variant of Witch Hunters should take a minimum of 2x Exorcists to help provide long range anti-tank/anti-heavy infantry firepower. In a footslogging list I might consider a squad of Heavy Bolter Retributors, but I'd avoid them in a Mechanized list due to Escalation.

The Preacher said:
Personally, I give every VSS a Book of St. Lucious,

I don't understand why you would do this. The VSS has a Ld of 8, right? All other units have a Ld of 8 (save for heroines, which is where the BoSL is useful). So isn't this just a huge waste of points?

VSS is LD9.

And the fact that you NEVER get the LD test modified makes the book one of the best pieces of Wargear in the Imperium.

Never outnumbered to be run down in CC, rarely fall back from taking big casualties from shooting, hardly run from losing CC (especially helpful with Seraphims and Flying Nun pattern Cannonesses).

As someone who plays against Sisters a LOT, take the book. Always take the book.

For your questions:

1) The Sarissa - IMHO it's a waste of points. normal sisters of Battle are close shooting experts and aren't meant for combat. If you are worried about CC then you have 2 options: 

A) Give the Vet an eviscerator - Spending 25pts for just 2 attacks from a WS3 character to me seems like a waste of points which could be spend elsewhere. The only sisters models that should get the eviscerator are the Jump pack canonesses and the Seraphim veteran since they are more mobile and can move 12", shoot, then charge IMHO.

B) give the vet the book of st.lucius(The book of staying power) this way that squad can always use the vet's unmodified  LD9 which is nasty since it will lock the oponent's unit in combat until either the squad is wiped out which will take a while depending on the size of your squad or fail it's moral test.  Also for the cost of only 5pts, it is the best piece of wargear in the army. Put it on a canoness who can radiate her unmodified LD10 to everyone within 6"  ---> YES PLEASE

2) For dominions in immolators is trickier since you can only have squad of 6. I would only put either 3 Flamers for anti-infantry with a vet and a imagifer (with 3 or more templates you don't want to fail your divine guidance) or 3 meltas for anti-tank. But with only 6 models it seems a little fragile. For fast attack have you ever thought about using Seraphims? A squad of 8 seraphims - vet w/ eviscerator and TL infirno pistol & hand flamers can do wonders since it is good at shooting and assault(both infantry & tanks if your TL inferno pistol fails to do the job). Plus the Hit & Run special rule is very fun

3) In a 1850pt game, you should have 3 exorcists to help the survivability of the tanks and also it is your only form of reliable long range anti-tank. 1K games having retributors are good but 1500+ it's decent but does not even come close to the effectiveness of the exorcists. In 1500+ games there are going to be a lot of enemy tanks or heavy infantry (AKA termies) that the exorcists can deal with better. The exorcist missiles penetrate everything tank in the game except for skimmers and firing 1D6 missiles is always a good thing. Plus S8 AP1 means that you instant kill termies, and easier to wound monstrous creatures. A good rule of thumb for the exorcist is 1 = good, 2 = better, 3 = You can lay the smack down on some heretics. Note - Having 3 can be seen as beardy the same with 2 flying canonesses.

 

 

Posted By Cpt_Horatius on 08/23/2006 10:48 AM

Coming into a SoB army very soon an had a couple of questions.

 

1- Is a Sarissa worth puting on VSS bolters or is the CCW/PW plus pistol a better option (re-roll wounds on charge that big an impact)?

 

2- I'm looking at creating 2 Dominion squads in Immolators, I know what I want for the vehicles but what is the best way to optimise the squads weapon configs?

 

3- Are retributors any good or should I stick to exorcists for my HS slots?

1) I don't have my Codex with me, but a Sarissa only works when you charge. You are much better off rapid firing your bolters.

2) I don't have a lot of experiance with Dominions, but I prefer a squad of Seraphims for my fast attack.

3) I field 2 Exorcists and a 8 Woman squad of Retributors(4 Heavy Bolters, and a vet with a bolter) They are quite good at chewing out infantry. Don't ruleout Divine Guidance on them for when it absolutely has to die, try it. For example, if you need to kill that Terminator Assault Squad before it assaults one of your units, DG can make the difference.