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I have always loved the Sisters of Battle. I can't seem to understand the reasons why I would want to play an army of nuns though.

My young nephew doesn't understand why I would want a 'girls' army!

I think it's the art and '40k-ness' of the army. I guess I can relate to them more because the theme follows historical religious practices. I can't imagine or relate to the life of a Tau or Eldar really.

Or is it that I just like female miniatures for some reason? I don't like the overly sexualized wyches and slaaneshi demons though.

What are your reasons for playing them?

Slaanesh Daemons aren't female.

Originally because I needed fast attack for a daemonhunters army.

Over time the army became almost entirely sisters - I found the 3e faith system tactically appealing, and more fun to play than stormtroopers and GK (though a GKT unit would often find its way into higher point games)

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Slaanesh Daemons aren't female.

You are quite correct. I haven't been playing very long and so will get things wrong occasionally. I've tried to read as much background as possible.

I assumed they were corrupted females - my bad!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

A.T. wrote:
I found the 3e faith system tactically appealing, and more fun to play than stormtroopers and GK (though a GKT unit would often find its way into higher point games)

I agree the faith system is quite cool. Adds a further tactical element.

For me in large part was the aesthetics of the army. I found the unique look appealing as much as I liked the play style.

The all female army wasn't a negative either.

3 main reasons

1) The aesthetic is awesome, yeah its dated, but i like the more sleek look (I also play Aeldari for the same reasons i play SoB), Celestine and is one of my top favorite models
2) The play style, they play MSU, horde, Vehicle spam, mass shooting, and even melee, they can move fast and you can change strategies mid game easily if you can get off 2-3 AoF's. I can play the same army many different ways, and without a codex thats very good.
3) They are IMO one of the most balanced armies in game currently in 8th ed for points vs stats.

Over all they are just very fun.



Some of the more fun things to do with them are.

10 man Doms Vanguard with AoF Seraphims/Celestine, making a huge front threat.
Arco-Flangellants with a Priest, with 9 of them that is 27D3 S5 melee attacks! Just very fun to use.
Huge vehicle spam, easily 10 Immolators

Celestine look incredible and I own and painted the model.
The lore is cool, and if future kits are as appealing Ill start up an army.

Mind of Cubozoan wrote:
I have always loved the Sisters of Battle. I can't seem to understand the reasons why I would want to play an army of nuns though.

My young nephew doesn't understand why I would want a 'girls' army!

I think it's the art and '40k-ness' of the army. I guess I can relate to them more because the theme follows historical religious practices. I can't imagine or relate to the life of a Tau or Eldar really.

Or is it that I just like female miniatures for some reason? I don't like the overly sexualized wyches and slaaneshi demons though.

What are your reasons for playing them?

You didn't just tell them that 'girls' are awesome and power armour is cool too?

I probably agree with everything said here already, especially the love of the Faith mechanics. But there are a few more related reasons too:
-In a setting as crazy as 40k, best to go full crazy space nun. (With a gun)
-The fluff, SoB are one of the more unique armies and underplayed
-the battle story. SoB would fight anyone because... They are #2pious4u
-Humans in Power Armour
-Others reasons that haven't come to mind...

Because theyre awesome!

I remember when i first saw my friends playing 40k, i gave them so much crap for "playing with dolls". Then they introduced me to the dawn of war games which i really enjoyed. There were many a day where i rode my bike to my friends place with my offering/bribe of hot chips and gravy to do some multiplayer with him.
Then Soulstorm was released. I saw the box art and instantly adored this white haired power armour clad woman looking amazing with all this stuff going on in the background. The game- or rather the army is what got me into 40k properly after that. I loved the look of the army and loved the idea of an all female force. As a musician, i loved the exorcist organ cannon and really the whole aesthetic of everything sisters drew me in and i jumped in in 5th edition back when we had the witch hunters codex.

I play the sisters because i find them relatable. Normal humans with nothing but grit and faith and i dont think theres another imperial army the quite so personifies everything the imperium is, quite like the sisters do.
The whole faith system is a unique little fun thing that ive always enjoyed employing.
Love the models, even though theyre old, i still believe them to be very good and painted well they can stand along side modern armies and outshine them.
Also enjoy the way they play. I find them to be very glass cannon which is something i like to play.

Mind of Cubozoan wrote:


My young nephew doesn't understand why I would want a 'girls' army!

Expose him to Red Sonja, Alien 1 and other assorted films from the 80s with strong female leads (yes yes RS is a bit corny by modern standards). If that fails well then there's probably no helping him and he should be purged of the chaos taint within him with the the most holy of fires!

Aesthetics. I love all the Catholic imagery dialed up to ridiculousness. The fact that they're nuns or women dind't factor into it honestly.

Sisters are awesome, though admittedly not for everyone (Heretics....) Great aesthetic, intolerant religious killers who burn anyone who disagrees with their point of view, capable of miracles, dislike of anything that isn't human. Very grim dark. I have played them since the day they were released after selling off all my space marines in 2ed to focus on Epic and Napoleonics. WD preview of Sisters brought me back in.

Mind of Cubozoan wrote:

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Slaanesh Daemons aren't female.

You are quite correct. I haven't been playing very long and so will get things wrong occasionally. I've tried to read as much background as possible.

I assumed they were corrupted females - my bad!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

A.T. wrote:
I found the 3e faith system tactically appealing, and more fun to play than stormtroopers and GK (though a GKT unit would often find its way into higher point games)

I agree the faith system is quite cool. Adds a further tactical element.

My response was not intended to be 'snippy', apologies if it came over that way.

Ishagu wrote:Celestine look incredible and I own and painted the model.
The lore is cool, and if future kits are as appealing Ill start up an army.

I was wondering how long the BnC would be down before you showed up here.

Hey.

Overread wrote:

Mind of Cubozoan wrote:


My young nephew doesn't understand why I would want a 'girls' army!

Expose him to Red Sonja, Alien 1 and other assorted films from the 80s with strong female leads (yes yes RS is a bit corny by modern standards). If that fails well then there's probably no helping him and he should be purged of the chaos taint within him with the the most holy of fires!

Or have him watch the Battle of Sevastopol, or read about Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko. She has the advantage of, you know, being (mostly) real.

I will play any army the looks gothic or medieval.

We need more of this absurd, blinged out, over the top aesthetic in 40k.

I've been waiting for plastic Sisters for a long time. When i do start, it'll be because they're iconic 40k, aesthetically pleasing, and I've always wanted an all female army. Even though there isn't a model for it, I always liked the idea of a cathedral on tracks.

I liked the idea behind the army, I like female warriors in fantasy and reality and it was/is a nice contrast to my other fav armies - Dark Eldar and Orks.

Read about Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko. She has the advantage of, you know, being (mostly) real.

Just reading a book on female Russian Snipers - she seems to be a bit of a propoganda construct but the exploits (and hardships) as well as sacrifices of the less well known ladies on the front line is enthralling reading.

Because it's an army of space nuns, you git.

 Mr Morden wrote:
I liked the idea behind the army, I like female warriors in fantasy and reality and it was/is a nice contrast to my other fav armies - Dark Eldar and Orks.

Read about Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko. She has the advantage of, you know, being (mostly) real.

Just reading a book on female Russian Snipers - she seems to be a bit of a propoganda construct but the exploits (and hardships) as well as sacrifices of the less well known ladies on the front line is enthralling reading.

Yeah, these things get mythologized quite easily. Snipers, especially.

Like Vasiliy Zaytsev. There's no evidence at all that his supposed sniper-duel with Konig at Stalingrad happened and lots of evidence to suggest that it definitely didn't. Still, he was played by Jude Law, so... karma.

Anyway, back to nuns. If I ever did start a SoB army, it would be so that I could write a salacious plog titled Diary of a Novice. Yes, I know that thread already exists, but it is... not what I hoped for.

Mind of Cubozoan wrote:
I have always loved the Sisters of Battle. I can't seem to understand the reasons why I would want to play an army of nuns though.

My young nephew doesn't understand why I would want a 'girls' army!

I think it's the art and '40k-ness' of the army. I guess I can relate to them more because the theme follows historical religious practices. I can't imagine or relate to the life of a Tau or Eldar really.

Or is it that I just like female miniatures for some reason? I don't like the overly sexualized wyches and slaaneshi demons though.

What are your reasons for playing them?

Quite a few reasons.

One: The models are visually appealing. The exorcist model in particular is a good reason to play our army, with the relief panels on the flanks and the pipe organ on top and the candles and keyboard. Seraphim are really cool too, with probably the coolest jetpacks in the setting.
Two: The religious themes. The Sisters of Battle are largely characterized by the negative aspects of religion in an extreme way: brainwashing from a young age, false kindness, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do, etc. Also, faith blinded psychopaths are fun.
Three: Why would I not want the army of badass girls with big guns and full-body-covering sci-fi armor. We're not hyper sexualized or wearing chainmail bikini's, we're like the opposite of an icon of sexuality.
Four: Tactics. Befitting an army of faith crazed psychopaths, we're overall highly aggressive, which is fun to play, and a notable change of pace from my Imperial Guardsmen. Dominions are the best.
Five: The themes of vanilla space marines don't appeal strongly to me, Sisters are like them+1 in themes, since they're not brainwashed super soldiers through science, they're normals who are equipped with the weapons to make them super soldiers and who are brainwashed via the normal means of doing do [faith, propaganda, and starting them young]. They're not actually superior, they're insane and wealthy.

As for playing a "girls" army, why not? Just because it's an army of girls doesn't mean that it has to be only played by girls, like the hobby is so male that most Sisters players are probably not girls, and while some part of them is designed to attract a female audience, I kind of doubt that's their primary purpose. I started with Guard, after all. You can also just be secure enough in your masculinity to play with girls toys because they're really damn cool, and if girls can play with cool boys toys, boys can play with cool girls toys. We're already playing make-believe with dolls. [Speaking of which, boys have cooler toys.]

When I started playing 40k in 5th edition I played Tau, and gradually over time I became endeared to humanity's predicament in the setting; constantly losing ground, degenerating, falling back into a dark age of misery and superstition, and the people who fought for them were heroes of a dying species, struggling against an uncaring universe in the final days of mankind.

Thats the army I wanted.

And at the time, your imperial options were relatively limited, generally guard or space marines. But those are the Imperium's armies I wanted the Imperium proper, that decadence and dogma, and oh, it just so happened that crazy dogmatic church had its own army codex, and it also contained inquisitors, and also had the super-incredible-you'd-never-get-away-with-doing-this-otherwise-ever ability to ally to other specific imperial armies!* So I bought some space marines, a battle sister squad, a canoness, and converted an inquisitor and a retinue (my inquisitor was Feora, protector of the flame, with a canoness's scroll and eviscerator, my first kitbash ever), and slowly built my way into it.

*For which I would be accused of cheating. Often.

1) Aesthetics and lore - they just look amazing and their lore is very interesting and offers a great potential for customizing. Shiny armor, religious motives, angelic visage, all underlined with everpresent boob armor, undying faith in the God-Emperor of Mankind.

2) Stats - I wanted some heavy infantry and since I vowed to never ever buy or play the Astartes, I bought some Sisters back in 6th edition.

3) Playstyle - Since I play the Guard, which is all but mobile, I wanted to deploy some hard-hitting, fast-moving strike force, that comes in a shape of Seraphim and the mistress of massacre, Saint Celestine.

1: Witch Hunters Faith points were broadly similar to how the modern strategems and CP worked, and I liked how it was a flexible mechanic unlike every other army at the time.

2: Compared to everything else at the time, the all female badass army stood out as something different and cool. Faith and guns was also a neat aesthetic.Pegasus-winged Celestine was probably the most visually impressive model you could field in 3rd Ed too.

3: All that remains pretty much true today.

Primarily because, growing up Catholic, you learn that there is nothing scarier than a nun. If someone came to me and asked

"OK, you're going to be going into a setting with terrifying demons, alien face eating monsters, mutant cults, space torture elves and robot zombies. You're allowed to take one human group, and they'll be armed to the teeth with sci-fi space weaponry. Your options are WW2 soldiers, vietnam rambos, vikings, romans-"

"nuns."

"What?"

"Catholic school nuns. An army of them. With ruler marks on their chainsaw swords."

Thanks for all your input. You have restored my wavering faith!

I do not play Sisters yet but I do have a significant savings for 2019 for both models and a commission paint job. I really hate the base troop models right now or I would probably own them.

When give the option I will always play female everything. And they are about the only ones openly acknowledging that the Emperor is a god.

And despite not being anywhere near as powerful as a Space Marine they are more than willing to throw down.

The nun thing is admittedly the only reason I'm not personally interested in Sisters... Badass power armored ladies running at you with a chainsword warms my gay heart. The whole "for the emprah" bit just doesn't appeal to me for the same reason I don't like most of the other Imperium armies so they'd have to turn all that religious fervor to Chaos to really catch my interest. I dream of converting an entire army of Tzeentch-worshiping Sisters once the plastics come out, but I don't really have the modeling chops to pull that off... >.>

I just think they look cool. Can't wait to have a full Imperium collection come 2020... or 2021.

The Exorcist tank got me looking at the army, the Catholics-In-Space-Cranked-To-11 got me reading more into their lore and it was downhill from there for I'd already downed a glass of the Kool-Aid.

A few reasons:
1) The aesthetics. I just like how the models look. It was always on the to do list.
Well, ok, except for that stupid missile launching pipe organ. Thank the Emperor that there's a FW version of the launcher (or at least there was when I added the army to my collection). If my only option had been using that -xxx- looking thing then my girls would've fought without.

2) At the time the Sisters were a completely unseen army in my area. People knew of them, but not really about them. So they made for an awesome surprise when I fielded them in a campaign.

3) I got a really good deal.
I initially borrowed the army from a friend who'd built & painted it back in 2e but hadn't played in years (he'd moved on to other minis games). A few months into the campaign he decided that they were better off with me - where they'd definitely see play - rather than being forgotten & exiled in his storage unit. He offered them to me considerably cheaper than retail & even painted up the units I'd added to match the originals.

4) Play style. Sure, I like their style. But honestly I can enjoy playing any army, in any style, as long as I like the models. And I only buy/play with models I like, so....

I could go though all the various esthetic and rules reasons I enjoy playings Sisters and how I enjoy playing the less represented half of the human race, but the real reason is

NUNS WITH GUNS!