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So, as the title suggests, I wish to start Space Nuns. More specifically, a Adepta Sororitas allied detachment for my Inquisition Army. Followed by Ad Mech and IG.

But for now, I want to concentrate on Ad Sororitas, and I have no idea what to start with. Do I get 3 sister squads, or the ten sister squad (probably not, it costs 80 $). Do I need heavy weapons, or banners, or what. I do have a converted canoness.

I have also heard of converting them from Dark Eldar. Also: Can you remove the metal sisters heads, and add helmets? These will be my first metal minis (I play mostly Space Marines and Skaven).

Thanks for all help,
Ember

Depends on what kind of list you want to play. From what i've seen, Sisters can broadly be split into Mech and Blob. Blob Sisters have an anchor unit in a 20 Sister Blob supported with Priests for a reliable and sturdy core, while Mech relies on 2/3 5 Women Squads rocking melta/multi-melta or flamer/heavy flamer inside either a Retributor (Forge World model, AV 13 front Rhino with a heavy flamer) or an Immolator.

Then you'll want Dominions, which usually are armed with 4 Melta's in a scouting Immolator. Perhaps you'll want Saint Celestein and her Jump Troops.

Either way, an effective Sister list makes heavy use of Special/Heavy weapon models and i would highly suggest not starting sisters in one big spending spree, but instead you should be patient and trawl over Ebay, slowly collecting what you need.

Never, ever buy the Battle Sister Squad of ten sisters. You save no money compared to buying the models individually, and it comes with a Storm Bolter. Storm Bolters are useless and you will never field one as a Special Weapon option.

For an Allies detachment, for the most bang for your buck, you want to get a Battle Sister squad (Sister Superior, Battle Sisters blister, Sister with Flamer, Sister with Heavy Flamer), two Immolators (or an Immolator and a Repressor), an Exorcist and either a Dominion squad (Sister Superior, 4x Sister with Meltagun) or a Seraphim squad (Sister Superior, 2x Seraphim with Hand Flamers, 3x Seraphim with Bolt Pistols).

If you can get your hands on a Repressor for the Dominions, it's a good idea to get another blisters of Battle Sisters, a priest and a Simulacrum. That will let you extend the Dominion squad to 9 models and let them use their Act of Faith twice, and joining the priest to them will give them a big survivability boost with his 4++ and his reroll-to-saves War Hymn.

The other thing to consider with Sisters is that their Priests are Independent Characters, which means that any unit in your army can benefit from the insanely good War Hymns special rule. Also, they can carry Plasma Guns, although they are only BS3.

The Repressor was an amazing vehicle. But it is now out of print. So good luck with that.

You can do great SoB conversions by buying vanilla marines and then using female heads: http://statuesqueminiatures.shop033.com/p/8774376/sma012-heroic-scale-female-heads.html

You could then add robes if you want to get real fancy. Maybe even some thematic additions via that Troll Under the Bridge guy in Poland.

I should have done that before buying a load of metal models. Not a cheap army.

I might have some standard Sisters with bolters I'll never use; will see what I have.

I find the stormbolter sister a quick and easy combi-melta, combi-flamer conversion bit. Shave off one of the barrels and mount a plastic SM or sternguard combi-wpn barrel in its place. I usually go for the one closest to the body to shave off, allows folks to easily see the bolter barrel for WYSIWYG questions, the drum magazine is just too cool and they come in helmet versions too IIRC.

Priest
Buy them they are insane good. -> converting your own might be worth it since they are easy to make with old bretonnia or empire models and almost impossible to buy WYSIWYG because of their almost unlimited amounts of upgrades available. If you do convert them try to stay in the same theme for all of them.

henchmen
They are almost the same as inquisitorial henchmen converting them might be worth it since most types only have 1 or 2 models. The web has lots of great examples how to make your own.

All the Sister models
The sister models are beautiful.. Don't waste your money on conversions or knock off models there are just never that good. You don't want female marines, you want sisters of battle in all their glory.My advice is to start small and have a small impressive army rather then a big army that kinda looks like it could have looked.
Learn how to strip paint. stripping paint from painted ebay miniatures might be worth it.
If you really feel you need a big army, and you are looking for dubious models outside gw's range stop your search. Buy some more GW unique models you don't already have and instead learn how to make silicone molds, and look for some easy to use non toxic casting materials (be 100% sure that the material is non toxic "less toxic" resin is most of the time quite toxic you don't want to get cancer just for a few mini's). Older metal models are based on simpler casting methods and are quite easy to reproduce for your own use.

Conversions.
For some good conversion ideas look up older codexes and white dwarf articles about deamon hunters, and witch hunters. inquisition and grey knights. GW used to show fill those with lots of great conversion ideas including the names of the parts.

1d4 chan has a good article about them
http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Adepta_Sororitas%287E%29

I found some great deals on eBay, one for an INTIRE SoB army (Immolator, 10 sisters, canoness,) for 10$.

Are you sure its for all of them and not just for 1 model ?
E bay sister prices are usually quite high.

Why do people even think Priests are good? I have never found them to be so even in 7th. I would never dream of taking a unit of Sisters into close combat even with a Priest unless it was against something like Grots or a small Guardsmen unit. Outside of that of assault I don't see how priests are remotely useful. I don't worry about making morale tests most of the time outside of assault so Zealot isn't doing me much good. Now if you want a Battle Conclave or two that's a different story.

Anyway I'd stick with the Fast Attack units as that is where the codex is at. Seraphim and Dominion Squads with Immolators are amazing. An Exorcist or two is always solid as well. Round out and meet your troop tax. Battle Sister squads are mediocre at best. The nice thing about them is they can pack 2 special weapons though for less than 100 points.

Priests are not for shooting squads who don't fear fear and never ever go come anything close to close combat.

They are for those squads who do go into close combat or need fearless. For the price of a power fist you get. Fearless + Hatred + 50% chance of re roll saves. And the ability to take an extra special weapon. That is just a bargain.

oldzoggy wrote:
Priests are not for shooting squads who don't fear fear and never ever go come anything close to close combat.

They are for those squads who do go into close combat or need fearless. For the price of a power fist you get. Fearless + Hatred + 50% chance of re roll saves. And the ability to take an extra special weapon. That is just a bargain.

Then I must assume that people are allying it up really to use those priests with other units with real close combat power since Sisters really don't have that. I guess I just look at it a different way, since for that 40 points (with power weapon) I get a single toughness 3 model with a 4++ save who may or may not pass that Leadership test with his 7

Na not really. I was thinking of using them in sisters combat squad such as the henchmen (or Repentia's if you are into that) and squads that you don't want to be in close combat but will eventually face it any ways. I'm using them in my inquisitor army with melta bombz in all of my close combat crusader squads.

You've clearly never charged with a mob of 20 Sisters with Priest and Banner support, lol.

I don't put Priests in my Dominions to use them to kill things in close combat. I put a Priest in my Dominions so that when their transport is destroyed, I can rush them in to tie up a heavy weapon or support squad - as long as the target doesn't have AP3 weapons, six or seven dominions with a priest are pretty impossible to shift without devoting considerable resources.

I do, usually, give him the Litanies, heh. Rarely a power weapon though - usually a combi-melta, sometimes an eviscerator but that's more or less a points sink.

Girl heads on Space Marines do not look like Battle Sisters. Girl heads on Space Marines look just as stupid as Space Marine heads on Space Marines. Basically nothing looks like Battle Sisters other than a handful of very difficult Dark Eldar conversions.

Priests in blob sisters are good. 21 attacks with rerolls, 41 on the charge, re-rolling to wound or save, and fearless, isn't bad.

 andrewm9 wrote:
Why do people even think Priests are good? I have never found them to be so even in 7th. I would never dream of taking a unit of Sisters into close combat even with a Priest unless it was against something like Grots or a small Guardsmen unit. Outside of that of assault I don't see how priests are remotely useful. I don't worry about making morale tests most of the time outside of assault so Zealot isn't doing me much good. Now if you want a Battle Conclave or two that's a different story.

Priests allow even a small Sisters squad to be a reliable tarpit in CC. Re-rolling armor and invulnerable saves is ridonculous against most opponents. The 20 Sister blob with 3 priests is a hellish nightmare which will cause people to /wrists If you're running mech/MSU, the priests are a luxury. But don't underestimate their ability to give the rest of your army time to redeploy while a single small, fearless squad holds the enemy's deathstar up for a turn or two.

To the OP: start small with Sisters. Unless you find some good deals on eBay, I would buy four blisters of Sisters, two Sisters with meltagun, and two Immolators from GW's website. Use one of the Sisters as a barebones Cannoness, and you've got a great start to a small Sisters army. Skim the Sisters tactica on Dakka and ask questions before you buy more.

Well, it wont save you any money, but if you want to have plastic sisters, you can without much effort make your own.

DA female for torso/legs/heads (kabalites make best torsos, heads scattered around kits, reavers and scourges also quite useful, but wyches despite what you may think are for NOTHING except heads), SM hands/guns/bakcpack-add some bits, remove some spikes, and you are good to go.

Question: What's the minimum for sisters in one squad? Is it 3? Or 5?
Cause the 3 sister squads are only 17$, seems a deal to me. I am Swiss, so I get my tactical squads for 48$. True.

Pretty good advice so far.

eBay is probably cheapest place to pick up sisters, you're just hunting for deals against everyone else. I recommend 10 girls, an Immolator/Rhino, then a Priest. The go to units (that I like to run are:

-Dominions with 4x Meltaguns in an Immolator or Drop Pod
-Retributors with 3 or 4 HF in a Drop Pod (rending HF FTW)
-BSS on foot w/Priest (and/or Jacobus) to hold objectives in terrain
-Celestine solo or with allied Jump Packs (ie Sanguinary guard)

I've gotten away from Exorcists due to their unreliability (D6 shots is all to often 1 or 2). Some guys really, really like MSU sisters, I'm more of a blob sister with Retributors and Dominions playing offense allied to other fast, hard hitting units.

There's a huge tactics thread here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/558526.page

 EmberlordofFire8 wrote:
Question: What's the minimum for sisters in one squad? Is it 3? Or 5?
Cause the 3 sister squads are only 17$, seems a deal to me. I am Swiss, so I get my tactical squads for 48$. True.

Battle Sisters are 5-20, specialist squads are 5-10 (except the command squad, which is just 5).

Realistically, 5 models boils down to Sister Superior, two Battle Sisters, and two special weapons. Since you can use a regular Battle Sister as a Sister Superior with a bolter, a blister of 3 + 2 special weapons is a basic squad.

(edit: and that 4chan tactica is rubbish, ignore it. It suggests that Celestians - footslogging Assault Marines, but much worse - are a good investment!)

Celestians are overpriced yes, but they're also the only real CC choice if you want to stick with pure sisters. I've had reasonable success with a unit of them acting as bodyguards to a kitted out canoness (rosarius, mantle of ophelia, eviscerator) with a couple of priests. The WS4 is the main selling point of them for me, because it makes you get hit in 4s rather than 3s from regular battle sisters ws3 against most enemies.

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely trying to make the best of a bad situation but they aren't all that bad. If only you could take a 2+ armour on a canoness and power weapons on the celestians...

 GoonBandito wrote:
Celestians are overpriced yes, but they're also the only real CC choice if you want to stick with pure sisters. I've had reasonable success with a unit of them acting as bodyguards to a kitted out canoness (rosarius, mantle of ophelia, eviscerator) with a couple of priests. The WS4 is the main selling point of them for me, because it makes you get hit in 4s rather than 3s from regular battle sisters ws3 against most enemies.

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely trying to make the best of a bad situation but they aren't all that bad. If only you could take a 2+ armour on a canoness and power weapons on the celestians...

You're better off taking more BSS for bullet catchers and putting priests in.

 GoonBandito wrote:
Celestians are overpriced yes, but they're also the only real CC choice if you want to stick with pure sisters. I've had reasonable success with a unit of them acting as bodyguards to a kitted out canoness (rosarius, mantle of ophelia, eviscerator) with a couple of priests. The WS4 is the main selling point of them for me, because it makes you get hit in 4s rather than 3s from regular battle sisters ws3 against most enemies.

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely trying to make the best of a bad situation but they aren't all that bad. If only you could take a 2+ armour on a canoness and power weapons on the celestians...

I've had great success with Repentia as a CQB unit -if- you can get terrain to work in your advantage. Coming out of a rhino behind a solid ruin wall, then koolaid-manning through it and sawing apart whatever is on the other side is disturbingly satisfying. Attack Uraiah Jacobus for more lulz.

 GoonBandito wrote:
Celestians are overpriced yes, but they're also the only real CC choice if you want to stick with pure sisters. I've had reasonable success with a unit of them acting as bodyguards to a kitted out canoness (rosarius, mantle of ophelia, eviscerator) with a couple of priests. The WS4 is the main selling point of them for me, because it makes you get hit in 4s rather than 3s from regular battle sisters ws3 against most enemies.

Don't get me wrong, it's definitely trying to make the best of a bad situation but they aren't all that bad. If only you could take a 2+ armour on a canoness and power weapons on the celestians...

Nonsense. If you want CC with Sisters, and don't want a Battle Conclave, you want something like this;

Canoness (Mantle, Rosarius, 2x Inferno Pistol)
SCS (Sacred Standard, 4x Power Axe, Priest)
Repentia (10 Repentia, Saint Celestine)
Battle Sisters (20 Sisters, 2x Meltagun, Power Axe, 2x Eviscerator Priest)
Battle Sisters (20 Sisters, 2x Meltagun, Power Axe, 2x Eviscerator Priest, Litanies)

Between the Priests granting rerolls to hit and wound and save, and the Standard granting an extra attack, and the SCS available to put down AP2 attacks, you'll mulch things.

The Canoness plays with the Dominions, by the way, there's no point putting her in this lot.

Should this be considered?

Canoness: Mantle, Rosarius, x2 Inferno Pistoles
SCS: Sacred Standard, Priest

x5 Repentia

Sisters Squad: x5, Heavy Flamer, Flamer.
Sisters Squad: x5, Multi Melta, Melta OR Heavy Flamer, Flamer.

Immolator: Heavy Flamers, Dozer Blade.

Are Meltas good with SoB
Do Repentia make good bodyguards? Mabey with Inquisitor (Female, don't worry)
What about Pentient Engine?

Repentia make atrocious bodyguards - they're too fragile with just a 6++ save. What they're good at is mulching vehicles and terminators.

Multi-Meltas on infantry squads are not good. You want to be highly mobile, MM prevent that.

Instead, I'd suggest this, if you have your heart set on the SCS;

Canoness (Mantle, Rosarius, 2x Inferno Pistol)
SCS: Sacred Standard, Priest, Hospitaller, 3x Axe

5x Repentia

BSS (Flamer, Heavy Flamer)
BSS (Meltagun, Meltagun)

Immolator (Multi-Meltas, Dozer Blade)

Penitent Engines are much like repentia. Fragile but killy - defensively, they're open-topped rhinos. Once they get into combat, they're making 4 (6 on charging) S10 AP1 attacks each at Initiative 3.

Is SCS really that bad?

It's not worth the points on its own - its Act of Faith doesn't work as intended. It's only useful as a force multiplier or, if you're that desperate for slots, a substandard retributor or dominion stand in.

Thinking about it, if you take anything from the discussion, take this: Battle Sisters cannot cope with half-arsed builds. However you want to run them - assault, or shooting, MSU or blob - commit to it fully. Sisters are not a subtle army. If Marines are a scalpel and Guard are a hammer, Sisters are a gauntlet rammed down the enemies' throat.

As allies, it's a little different - the Command Squad can be amazing if you pair the Sacred Standard and a couple of our priests up with a 50-strong Guard blob and (if he still has that 'whole squad gets a 4++' helm, Azrael). Other armies don't really bring much to the Sisterhood, however, because the things we'd want from them tend to be fringe elements like anti-air or flier support. Sisters as allies to OTHER armies, however, are great.

 EmberlordofFire8 wrote:
Should this be considered?

Canoness: Mantle, Rosarius, x2 Inferno Pistoles
SCS: Sacred Standard, Priest

It's a cool modelling opportunity but not particularly good on the tabletop.

x5 Repentia

Repentia are a one shot deal. If you can get them into CC, they can do some damage. But once their Act of Faith is used up, they're done for the game.

Sisters Squad: x5, Heavy Flamer, Flamer.
Sisters Squad: x5, Multi Melta, Melta OR Heavy Flamer, Flamer.

Not bad. I like the heavy flamer/melta combo as an all-arounder. The MM is only really useful on a unit you intend for objective camping.

Immolator: Heavy Flamers, Dozer Blade.

Free twin-linked Multi-meltas are hard to pass up. I'd ditch the heavy flamers.

Are Meltas good with SoB

Does peanut butter go good with chocolate?

Do Repentia make good bodyguards? Mabey with Inquisitor (Female, don't worry)

No.

What about Pentient Engine?

Pengines will wreck face, but they're extremely vulnerable to anything above S6. Which means almost anything that has a gun will be pointing their way. They aslo compete for much better choices in the Heavy Support slot. I like them and I use them, but I can't recommend them in good conscience

My BSS take Hflamer/flamer combo in any larger game where I'll have Dominion Squads with meltaguns. If I think the BSS will have to be ready for AT I take Hflamer/meltagun.

Seraphim generally get 2x double handflamers - the inferno pistols are nice but expensive and I'll have a Dominion Squad on AT duty anyway.

Immolators get multimeltas for Dominion Squads, just so they can pop two vehicles when they come in. If I use the thing for some other squad I'll consider the Hflamer variant. Somewhat dependent on what I expect to face.

Heavy Bolters are nice if you have four in a Retributor Squad, but I'll sometimes also take one in a cheap backfield objective camping unit. The range at least allows them to do something even if it's not very effective.