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As the title says, it's quite frequent when someone asks about plastic Sisters and we get the usual answers - sculpting issues, lack of interest on GWs part/profit returns etc
Considering the detail achievable with forgeworld resin, as well as their regular release rate (at least compared to GW) it seems a natural progression.
Has anyone else thought/considered this?

Because the Main Dev team still wants it for one reason or another.

Then again I don't think FW "gets" Sisters as a force. I mean their Exorcists is a Whirlwind with round missile launchers. It lacks the flash and grand over-the-top nature we associated with the Ecclesiarchy.

So yeah, unless they learn how to do Sisters stuff that doesn't look like Marines stuff I don't think I want them doing Sisters.

It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Maybe they have numbers we don't see. Maybe it was an attempt to get our wives and GFs into 40k and it back fired. I dunno man. It just doesn't make sense to invest into something that quite possibly won't sell well.

Even though GW does frequently seem to do things that hurt their profits often

Johnnytorrance wrote:
I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Maybe they have numbers we don't see. Maybe it was an attempt to get our wives and GFs into 40k and it back fired. I dunno man. It just doesn't make sense to invest into something that quite possibly won't sell well.

Even though GW does frequently seem to do things that hurt their profits often

It's probable that a lot of those numbers are people who own a sisters army as in one of multiple.

I don't want FW to take over the Sisters of Battle. I'd rather the GW dev team do it so I can finally get some plastic sisters. Though a Sisters IA book would be pretty cool.

n0t_u wrote:It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

Resin casting has the same limitations as metal (which also uses rubber molds) so no, those excuses wouldn't work if they went Resin for the Sisters.

Johnnytorrance wrote:I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Maybe they have numbers we don't see. Maybe it was an attempt to get our wives and GFs into 40k and it back fired. I dunno man. It just doesn't make sense to invest into something that quite possibly won't sell well.

Even though GW does frequently seem to do things that hurt their profits often

It's an expensive all metal army that hasn't seen a new model since 3rd edition. Now why would an army like that not have a huge chunk of the player base I wonder?

And Dark Eldar suffered that fate but with their last codex before the current one being from second edition and they actually became pretty popular for a bit in 5th. So popular that they actually got a second wave of models almost immediately instead of a year or so later. There isn't much in that codex that doesn't have a model anymore.

Also it's safe to say everyone who owns a Sister army would buy out GW's supply of models just to update them into plastic if they're good enough (and based on current model design I think they would be).

Probably due to the cost of setting everything up initially - creating the new models, new molds, new designs... you name it. No doubt they have examined the costs and decided with a resounding "no!"

I'm always amazed by SoB players who manage to stick with it and just bear through all the difficulties for their army. Much respect for those hobbyists.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

n0t_u wrote:It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

Resin casting has the same limitations as metal (which also uses rubber molds) so no, those excuses wouldn't work if they went Resin for the Sisters.

Johnnytorrance wrote:I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Maybe they have numbers we don't see. Maybe it was an attempt to get our wives and GFs into 40k and it back fired. I dunno man. It just doesn't make sense to invest into something that quite possibly won't sell well.

Even though GW does frequently seem to do things that hurt their profits often

It's an expensive all metal army that hasn't seen a new model since 3rd edition. Now why would an army like that not have a huge chunk of the player base I wonder?

And Dark Eldar suffered that fate but with their last codex before the current one being from second edition and they actually became pretty popular for a bit in 5th. So popular that they actually got a second wave of models almost immediately instead of a year or so later. There isn't much in that codex that doesn't have a model anymore.

Also it's safe to say everyone who owns a Sister army would buy out GW's supply of models just to update them into plastic if they're good enough (and based on current model design I think they would be).

I agree. I look at the Forgeworld units like the DKOK line - even monopose they have so much character just through their grim masks and uniform. I really feel it's possible just for the infantry at least. On the same point, with GW releases like the dark elves witches or the new pseudo-guard - the movement and detail is there. Even with limited release like space hulk in 09 - a dozen snap fit models are still some of the most impressive minis produced by GW. An updated model line could do wonders for Sister's popularity.

Johnnytorrance wrote:
I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Not a chance. If you had a small enough sample size, I could believe that, but I think if you took a decent sample, it would be no where near 10-14%. Unless you include "owning models" as "playing", in which case I'm a SoB player because I own some SoB models (not enough to play a game and I've never played a game with them, but I have some ).

The polls I found from googling, one of them had Sisters at 1.8% (265 voters), one didn't even include Sisters as an army, one had Sisters at 11.54%, but only had 52 votes, so 11.54% was only 6 votes, an old Dakka poll of "who is your favourite army" had them at 3% (out of 378 voters).

I'd much rather this didn't happen. I want a proper GW army, with wave releases and a presence on the main site. Not a FW one that will drip-feed model releases and is on a more obscure site.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
[The polls I found from googling, one of them had Sisters at 1.8% (265 voters), one didn't even include Sisters as an army, one had Sisters at 11.54%, but only had 52 votes, so 11.54% was only 6 votes, an old Dakka poll of "who is your favourite army" had them at 3% (out of 378 voters).

Those numbers would almost certainly increase did the Sisters have plastics, were in stores and had a non-digital codex.

What Troike said.

Plus the whole nonsense of people thinking FW armies are not legal or overpowered or other such nonsense.

I don't want Forgeworld to do it - I want someone else with the infrastructure for proper plastic kits to make something that fulfills the same niche - like my Order of the Shield idea.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

n0t_u wrote:It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

Resin casting has the same limitations as metal (which also uses rubber molds) so no, those excuses wouldn't work if they went Resin for the Sisters.

In that case it would be Finecast sisters, as if FW took them up they would be new sculpts. The excuses are simply that, excuses; whether or not they actually hold any truth they are what is thrown out to answer why it is they seem to enjoy neglecting the range.

FW has the same kind of obsession with space marines as the obsession of space wolves toward actual wolves. So of course they have no time to do some Sisters models, they are too busy making new space marines !

 Sparkadia wrote:
Probably due to the cost of setting everything up initially - creating the new models, new molds, new designs... you name it. No doubt they have examined the costs and decided with a resounding "no!"

It would be costly, but that apparently didn't stop them at all with updating the DE (which went on to do quite well). Also, the AS digital 'dex got a bestseller spot on iBooks when it was released. Based on that, I doubt that monatary concerns are much of an impedement.

I agree that the most likely reason for their reluctance due to the initial cost of tooling compared to the risk of low sales.

What I'd like to see, even though it won't happen, would be a kickstarter or something along those lines, specifically for a SoB release. It provides them effectively with a risk free method of ensuring that they don't lose money on a new line, & they can spin it as them involving the fans and giving them more of a voice in the hobby.

Forge World would take away the SOB's boob plate.

Can't have that.

I'd rather not see the Sisters shunted off to Forge World, as I feel it would reduce the chance of them ever getting a real update from slim to none. Perhaps they'd get one or two waves from FW, but I don't see them getting anything like the kind of focus that the IG and SM (and HH) do.

And wiith the SoB gone from the main site/shop they'd get about as much support from GW as the Chaos Dwarves do. Squatted in all but name, which they almost are at the moment anyway...

Rather than Forgeworld taking over the line, what if they just produced some Celestian/Dominion models? If they sold well, it may persuade GW that it's worth their while to produce some plastic BSS to test the waters further.

 n0t_u wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:

n0t_u wrote:It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

Resin casting has the same limitations as metal (which also uses rubber molds) so no, those excuses wouldn't work if they went Resin for the Sisters.

In that case it would be Finecast sisters, as if FW took them up they would be new sculpts. The excuses are simply that, excuses; whether or not they actually hold any truth they are what is thrown out to answer why it is they seem to enjoy neglecting the range.

And how long ago was the last Finecast model released? I think it was with the Tau codex if I'm remember correctly?

Yes GW could have done Finecast but they didn't. It's not like finecast would have helped any. It'd be the same models locked in the same poses but now with air bubbles and a price increase! Yippee.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Then again I don't think FW "gets" Sisters as a force. I mean their Exorcists is a Whirlwind with round missile launchers. It lacks the flash and grand over-the-top nature we associated with the Ecclesiarchy.

So yeah, unless they learn how to do Sisters stuff that doesn't look like Marines stuff I don't think I want them doing Sisters.

You do realize those Whirlwinds are ages older than the Organ gun version right? Like, years older? Like, original "rhino with a flamethrower" Immolater era?

 streamdragon wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Then again I don't think FW "gets" Sisters as a force. I mean their Exorcists is a Whirlwind with round missile launchers. It lacks the flash and grand over-the-top nature we associated with the Ecclesiarchy.

So yeah, unless they learn how to do Sisters stuff that doesn't look like Marines stuff I don't think I want them doing Sisters.

You do realize those Whirlwinds are ages older than the Organ gun version right? Like, years older? Like, original "rhino with a flamethrower" Immolater era?

Right, but the Repressor isn't and it lacks the gothic character and style you'd expect of the army too. I have yet to see FW give Sisters anything that looks like something that fits the character of the army honestly. Of course that'd require them to actually stop making Marine and Guard stuff all the time (apparently setting a book on a Shrine World is too much to ask) and think up stuff for the Sisters.

And the Immolator is still basically a Rhino with a Flamethrower.

The one thing Sisters have gotten in a long time was the Avenger and that's only allowed to us because of Imperial Navy.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:

n0t_u wrote:It'd be nice but I think the same excuses would be dragged up for this.

Resin casting has the same limitations as metal (which also uses rubber molds) so no, those excuses wouldn't work if they went Resin for the Sisters.

In that case it would be Finecast sisters, as if FW took them up they would be new sculpts. The excuses are simply that, excuses; whether or not they actually hold any truth they are what is thrown out to answer why it is they seem to enjoy neglecting the range.

And how long ago was the last Finecast model released? I think it was with the Tau codex if I'm remember correctly?

Yes GW could have done Finecast but they didn't. It's not like finecast would have helped any. It'd be the same models locked in the same poses but now with air bubbles and a price increase! Yippee.

Then what was the point of bringing up the similarities of metal and resin casting? The only reason one ever does that is to lead on to finecast. Resin is actually capable of a bit more than metal, but not if it's treated the same as metal and they just pass off the same molds as they've done with a majority of finecast releases. One of the excuses that floated around was the apparent difficulty they were having with the positioning of the sleeves (in regards to keeping the kit dynamic) which we should all know is just utter rubbish looking at how static some of the recent kit releases tend to be. The real reason is they will not bother sculpting up new models because of the sales numbers just yet therefore the only way we'd get the resin sisters is through finecast; something I'm legitimately surprised, but grateful, they never did. Really I think the lack of promotion for the range is the real reason behind a lot of the sales; its not uncommon to find players who have never ever seen a sister of battle before. Truly the only reason they have not dropped them completely at the moment is likely the fear of the backlash from the Squats.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

 streamdragon wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Then again I don't think FW "gets" Sisters as a force. I mean their Exorcists is a Whirlwind with round missile launchers. It lacks the flash and grand over-the-top nature we associated with the Ecclesiarchy.

So yeah, unless they learn how to do Sisters stuff that doesn't look like Marines stuff I don't think I want them doing Sisters.

You do realize those Whirlwinds are ages older than the Organ gun version right? Like, years older? Like, original "rhino with a flamethrower" Immolater era?

Right, but the Repressor isn't and it lacks the gothic character and style you'd expect of the army too. I have yet to see FW give Sisters anything that looks like something that fits the character of the army honestly. Of course that'd require them to actually stop making Marine and Guard stuff all the time (apparently setting a book on a Shrine World is too much to ask) and think up stuff for the Sisters.

And the Immolator is still basically a Rhino with a Flamethrower.

The one thing Sisters have gotten in a long time was the Avenger and that's only allowed to us because of Imperial Navy.

Wasn't the Repressor made for the Arbites originally, and the sisters appropriated it because it suited their needs? Thus explaining why it isn't SoB main style?

 n0t_u wrote:
Truly the only reason they have not dropped them completely at the moment is likely the fear of the backlash from the Squats.

Squats are all die-hard Sisters players!?

 n0t_u wrote:
Then what was the point of bringing up the similarities of metal and resin casting?

To point out that FW couldn't claim "casting issues" as a reason they wouldn't update the Sisters.

 n0t_u wrote:
The only reason one ever does that is to lead on to finecast. Resin is actually capable of a bit more than metal, but not if it's treated the same as metal and they just pass off the same molds as they've done with a majority of finecast releases. One of the excuses that floated around was the apparent difficulty they were having with the positioning of the sleeves (in regards to keeping the kit dynamic) which we should all know is just utter rubbish looking at how static some of the recent kit releases tend to be. The real reason is they will not bother sculpting up new models because of the sales numbers just yet therefore the only way we'd get the resin sisters is through finecast; something I'm legitimately surprised, but grateful, they never did. Really I think the lack of promotion for the range is the real reason behind a lot of the sales; its not uncommon to find players who have never ever seen a sister of battle before. Truly the only reason they have not dropped them completely at the moment is likely the fear of the backlash from the Squats.

Finecast was a joke. It's resin with some kind of cheap filler and while it saved GW money on materials it's cost them a lot more in QA and customer satisfaction. And while they've gotten better (I've got a Finecast Kahn on my desk who looks quite good honestly and has no defects) the end result costs GW more than it saved. I'm glad it's going away.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Bottle wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
Truly the only reason they have not dropped them completely at the moment is likely the fear of the backlash from the Squats.

Squats are all die-hard Sisters players!?

Yes, all Sisters players are 4' tall, about as wide, have beards so long they touch the ground and we ride motorcycles.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

Johnnytorrance wrote:
I've seen numerous polls that state SoB are played by 10-14% of the base.

Not a chance. If you had a small enough sample size, I could believe that, but I think if you took a decent sample, it would be no where near 10-14%. Unless you include "owning models" as "playing", in which case I'm a SoB player because I own some SoB models (not enough to play a game and I've never played a game with them, but I have some ).

The polls I found from googling, one of them had Sisters at 1.8% (265 voters), one didn't even include Sisters as an army, one had Sisters at 11.54%, but only had 52 votes, so 11.54% was only 6 votes, an old Dakka poll of "who is your favourite army" had them at 3% (out of 378 voters).

Maybe I should have mentioned that on every poll I saw they were dead last and least played army. This makes sense, the hobby is played by a huge majority of male players. I know there are women players, I'm sure there are, but I don't know any. It seems like this army was created to get women into the hobby. That's my opinion. The facts are that the people who play SoB are a small player base, I don't see them being anymore popular if plastic models popped up next week.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

 streamdragon wrote:

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Then again I don't think FW "gets" Sisters as a force. I mean their Exorcists is a Whirlwind with round missile launchers. It lacks the flash and grand over-the-top nature we associated with the Ecclesiarchy.

So yeah, unless they learn how to do Sisters stuff that doesn't look like Marines stuff I don't think I want them doing Sisters.

You do realize those Whirlwinds are ages older than the Organ gun version right? Like, years older? Like, original "rhino with a flamethrower" Immolater era?

Right, but the Repressor isn't and it lacks the gothic character and style you'd expect of the army too. I have yet to see FW give Sisters anything that looks like something that fits the character of the army honestly. Of course that'd require them to actually stop making Marine and Guard stuff all the time (apparently setting a book on a Shrine World is too much to ask) and think up stuff for the Sisters.

And the Immolator is still basically a Rhino with a Flamethrower.

The one thing Sisters have gotten in a long time was the Avenger and that's only allowed to us because of Imperial Navy.

They don't fit the current SoB nature, because that nature didn't exist when those models were first created! I'm honestly not sure Forge World has even made anything specific to Sisters since Sisters got a fully realized identity. Doesn't the Repressor also predate even the Witchhunter book?

As far as I remember, all the FW SOB kits predate the new Immo and new Exorcist (C:WH).

They came out when we didn't have an Exo and the Immo was old rhino + metal bits.

I can't remember where the Repressor fits into the grand scheme of things. I'd have to hunt down old books online to be sure honestly.

At this point though we have yet to see anything Sisters related despite the fact that an IA book on a Shrine World would be VERY fitting for the setting (and would allow them to do more interesting Traitor Guard stuff if they so wanted, or maybe Orks or CSM).

I guess I'm just frustrated because FW has had the chance to do stuff for years and the means to do so and hasn't.