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Hello, some of you may know me from being on here since 2006. Been playing sisters of battle since 3rd edition and survived through every heretic blasted dark day from 1999 to today. The day when I got my copy of the book and read it cover to cover. This is part one. The Miracle die, sacred rites and every unit graded on an A-F rating. This is my personal opinion. They are my thoughts in a theoretical sense and how they would be hypothetically used. I would appreciate feedback and will change descriptions and grades based on others experiences. It's late and part two, Holy orders, Strats, relics and warlord traits will be up tomorrow. So, without any more delay, let's get started.

MIRACLE DICE (MD):

Having never played AOS or Fantasy this was a new mechanic to me. They are gained in a variety of ways from killing a unit to losing a character. Warlord traits, character traits, a building and other ways. Used for almost all rolls. I can see the advantage. You must choose to substitute the die BEFORE you roll. So no rolling a bunch of to-hit rolls and then choosing to sub in a die afterwards. But if you need your overwatch melta to hit on a six and you HAVE a MD of a 6 saved. Then boom. However, only one act of faith can be performed per phase. (There are wargear options to change this) It APPEARS to be on a per squad basis. If this is true you can use multiple MD for the same squad. These cannot be modified in anyway (except a few character traits and wargear. However, there are abilities that let you burn off more useless die for added effects, which is pretty neat) Although I may be wrong. However, as a long time player I feel like it was probably a mistake to remove the old system. It needed tweaks not a complete overhaul. Something akin to a standard list of acts of faith that can be attempted (+1 to hit, -1AP, +3 move ect) that could be applied to units. Now, I haven't gotten any real games in with the new codex so we have to wait and see how powerful it is, but with having to choose the die BEFORE you roll and limited to one die per phase without other options. The investment in getting multiple per turn seems too great. It's a unique mechanic to 40K but I don't think it cuts it, especially with the loss of our old rules..

Grade: C- (This could be changed after rigorous play testing or if anyone on here has a good argument. I encourage you feedback on this, thank you)

Shield of faith: 6++ on all things, which can be modded and deny the witch on a single D6. 6++ is okay, but if you're getting your sisters killed with a melta gun, you have other problems. You're usually getting killed by mass rapid fire not single use, high AP weapons. On vehicles its more useful but on vehicles it cannot be modified. Which SUCKS. Still, a 15 girl blob with a 4++ is okay. But you're still getting drowned out by autocannon and a billion bolter shots. As for deny the witch, eh as well. It's hilarious to block a smite with a 6 when they rolled a 5 but the chance is so low it's not going to happen that often. There are modifers to all of these which make them each better but on their own....

Grade: D+ (Neat and thematic army wide rules, but will never win you the game or save anyone)

SACRED RITES:
Space Marines Doctrines, but worse (ladies), semi random and can go away (like my dad) depending on army composition. Which is fairly strange, considering I can't think of any other rule that does that. Even if you take separate detachments you lose it. Take that ladies, work harder and get less results.

If EVERY MODEL in your army (with the exception of an Inquisitor - presumably and thematically) you gain these abilities. You could choose one or roll 2D6 and get both. (But duplicates cannot be re-rolled and are technically lost) However, they are chosen at the start of the battle, not before. So you can choose which one you want depending on whom you're facing. (Very useful in tournaments I have to admit)

Hand of the Emperor (Slight nudge of the king): Add one to the advance and charge rolls. (Meh for your standard sisters army but rockets to the dizzying heights of slightly less meh if your entire army consists of Mortifiers and Repentia)

Grade: D+

Spirit of the Martyr (Don't die just yet): Roll a D6 per model killed. On 5+ shoot or melee one last time. (Actually pretty good. It's a slightly less good Space marine standard but army wide and cannot be lost. Did your Repentia die - of course they did, they're naked in the 40K world, they died before the battle started. Here's a 33% chance of murder blading someone's face off before you go. Seems more useful for a melee centric list which is a letdown because 8th is leafblower: the edition and most games are over by turn 2.5)

Grade: C

Aegis of the Emperor (You're simply not believing enough): Deny the witch tests at +3 this gives you a range of 4 to 9 for all units in your army. (With the few abilities to lower opponents psychic test scores that the sisters have, coupled with being able to do this army wide, even from vehicles. I definitely see a use for this but you would have to build your army around it. In a casual game this ability is much more powerful than in a tournament)

Grade: C+

Divine Guidance (Not divine enough): On a wound roll of a 6+ increase AP by 1. This is the definition of not great. It's not strong enough or anywhere near consistent enough to build an army around. It would be nice when it happens but, it's super not great. GnR's Chinese Democracy of not great.

Grade: D

The Passion (Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life): An unmodfied hit roll of 6+ in melee scores an additional hit. (Conditionally better than Divine Guidance but worse because it relies on being in melee and with sisters that's a bad idea. Once again, more of a nice if it happens but still not that great. Sisters being weaker and squishier than the genetically enhanced, armed to the teeth, often psychotically unhinged, armored super soldiers you'll be facing)

Grade: D+

Light of the Emperor (The goggles do nothing): Re-roll morale tests. Army wide, always works, reliable. But sisters roll in MSU and in vehicles most of the time. There are other morale options and there's always miracle dice. It's nice that it's dependable (unlike my dad) but it won't do much.

Grade: D

So, overall, there's one that I would consider almost good but situational and one that's okay but even more situational. I guess they made them bad so that you wouldn't miss them when you ally in guard or a knight but that's the most backwards way of thinking outside of ignoring inflation and wages. This ENCOURAGES you to not run a pure sisters list because these rules aren't good enough to keep around. They should be much better (Because we'd be facing Marines or Eldar and die as per our fluff) so that we'd want to take a pure sisters list. Not the other way around.

Overall grade: D+

On to units: An awkwardly balanced and strangely composed group but with some real gems.

HQ:
Canoness (Not up to caliber): A decent statline hampered by an awkward array of wargear options and upgrades.

If you take a boltgun (GUN, not pistol) and a power sword you can increase your SM Captain ability by 3". This is odd, as this load out would encourage you to stay back in a gunline or near a tank, not take sweet redemption to the enemy. But then you also have to take a power sword. So it's confused, but not too bad.

You can take any pistol instead (hello plasma) or a condemder (HARD PASS) or you can take a blessed blade (Like a Relic blade, it's not too expensive and it's actually pretty great)

Or you can forgo all sword upgrades and take the Brazier of holy fire. -1 LD to Deamons only. (Not Psykers for some reason) and can do D3 mortal wounds when it shoots once per game. Deamons take D6 - which could be very funny but not game winning. This is okay. Season 13 of the Simpsons okay.

I have no idea why the wargear upgrades were done this way, it's awkward and limited and in some places counter-intuitive. (Like me at a secondary school dance) I don't think any other basic HQ choice is so hamstrung this way. It would be like saying a SM captain can only take a jump pack if he's equipped with three chainswords and a relic bolt pistol. NO JUMP PACK. It's been 26 YEARS. Don't tell me nuns wouldn't take a jump pack. I went to Catholic school for 10 years. If Sister Margaret could've flown across the playground to shame me, she would've.

Overall: C+ (Some utility and some support, but not that hard hitting or great at any one thing. Which is a problem as she's our main generic HQ choice and compares poorly to both a guard commander and a SM captain.)

Missionary (Bringing small pox would be more useful): A mini, less good Chaplain. Re-roll hits on the charge. Not great for a S:3 chainsword model. Has a save against friendly models fleeing, which I can see a use for but most sisters squads are going to get skin blasted off like in Terminator 2 during a single phase so not that useful. It's main ability is to give friendly church units +1 attack during combat. Pretty great with the right set up. Still, they lack melee options to add to the fight. But they are cheap and the only option for running an all church detachment if you wanted to do that.

Overall: C (Don't take more than one, can't take more than one. Also both Murder hobos are gone, which is a real bummer.)

Saint (Not a Demon Prince) Celestine: Remember when she was the best thing in the entire word because GW wanted to sell that new box? When she could cleave everyone in twain in a single go? Well stop remembering that.

Can regrow bodyguards and has a great sword. A GREAT sword that also shoots holy fire. Although I like to think she shoots it out of her eyes, early Piccolo style. Or Supergirl style. Whichever, you pick. She can die and come back once, so save a CP die. She also increases the shield save for friendly sisters INFANTRY (Not tanks, suck it everyone whom has multiple immolators) However this means she has to stay back to really, really help. Although ranging out with some Sera or Zyrhaphim is an option, kinda. She's still pretty good, but worse than last time around and not the 'Bring Robute back to life' good she used to be. Also more expensive....

Grade: C+

Triumph of Saint (I have the potential to be the craziest thing ever released) Katherine: Rules wise it could be amazing or the worst thing you've ever purchased outside of three whirlwinds. A T3 character with 18 wounds, 14 attacks (four with a super neat sword and 10 with a neat sword) and a -1 to hit (presumably its glory shames enemies into not hitting it as well) and a degrading statline. Friendly sisters auto pass morale and it cannot ride in a vehicle of any kind. You can split abby in half like Sasha Grey with this unit but it probably won't make it. It becomes a magnate for all bullets on the entire table and gets roasted by two chain gun Leman Russ. It's also dumb expensive but very, very funny.
It has 5 relics which degrade as it loses wounds. More Miracle die. Modify Miracle die by 1. Do D3 mortal wounds to Chaos and Psykers with the power of shame. +1 in melee (including this model, presumably) Do an additional act of faith. Gaining a miracle die and modifying them for nearby units is pretty good. The rest are pretty okay but doing mortal wounds is always nice.

Grade: C- (I could be wrong here, it could be the best unit in the game but I really doubt it.)

Junith (Forced Diversity) Erutia: Two heavy flamers despite being modeled with four on a floating pulpit, yelling down pure, undiluted shame at everyone on every side. Has the Captain and LT rules rolled into one. She increases the invuln of friendly Sisters infantry, but not vehicles (which is a shame because she could actually keep up.) She's pretty tough and hitty. Held back by being of the martyred lady (more on that later)

Grade: B- (Sky based shame)


Troops:
Sisters of battle (The one and only): Less good space marines but much cheaper and a bit more flexable with two weapons regardless of size. May take a flying baby that allows them to generate more miracle die that must be used that turn on that unit. The Sister superior may be equipped with two melee weapons and no ranged weapons other than a bolt pistol (I assume this a type but it does mean she can take two chain swords and no guns.) She cannot take a storm bolter, which bothers me as all of mine are equipped with them. Not too much to say, a solid unit that suffers greatly in the current meta and is our only choice. Not cheap enough to be a true hoard, not tough enough to stand under the fire.

Grade: C+

Elites: (Buckle up sunshine, we're gonna be here a while)
Preacher: A mini missonary that gives up run away protection to make Chaos a bit more afraid. No upgrade options and only metal models. Semi useful depending on your build and cheap)

Grade: C+

Geminae (We are the joke) Superia: Canoness bodyguards with jump packs.... sigh.... They can catch incoming wounds for Saint Celestine and can be grown back. But I feel like they are a trap option. They're not that expensive but they don't move with the Saint. Which means they can fail a charge that she success or vice versa, leaving one of them out in the cold. Two wounds each, they don't seem worth the time. They're nice figures though.

Grade: D (There's worse things, but not many)

Repentia Superior and Repentia: (Rihanna based pun) They go together, don't pretend they don't. The Dominatrix and her unwilling gimps ride into battle. Re-roll charge and advance and re-roll ones to wound. S:6, AP:-3, D:2 chain sabers. 5+++ and gain a MD when they die, which they will. Overall lacking. 7+ Armour and a 6 inch move. They have to be in a vehicle or you need a LOT of them plus other distraction units. They will kill whatever they get to (Especially if they have a Missionary and shield buffs around them but that's a large point investment) and better with bloody rose but they won't get to it. 8th is a shooting edition and they're naked but not afraid. Taking 50 of them and running them up the center has the potential to do some real damage to opponents and friendship but otherwise...

Grade: C-

Celestian (We've never been useful): A battle sisters squad with extra attack and leadership. The same weapon upgrades despite hitting better in melee so this gives them no good way of taking advantage of that. They can catch wounds and re-roll all attacks while near their Mistress but lack any real defining roll. Basic sisters do about 90% of the job for cheaper and are objective secured.

Grade: D

Zephyrim (Riot girls): Melee seraphim with no wargear options. S:3 power swords with re-roll to wounds and a 5++ on their own. Deep striking and assault (More possible with MD but still not amazing) If you take ten and charge (No orders or anything else) you're looking at about 7 dead marines or 4 dead Primaris. Is that worth less than 2 Benjamins of won't get their without getting a bit killed? You decide. Better with Bloody Rose. They have an ability to re-roll charges for themselves and others within 6 which could lead to some interesting synergies if nothing else. But still harder to pull off than you'd like.

Grade: C

Dialogus (My model is now way less scary): Has protection against mortal wounds in the psychic phase, but just for her. Increases leadership and can modify MD by one in either direction for nearby sisters units. Better in close combat than a sister but shouldn't be there. A nice model but outside of the most intensive MD based lists in the world, not worth taking.

Grade: D

Hospitaller (Helllllllo Nurse): Heals D3 wounds on a friendly unit or brings a model back to life with 3". Not on a roll. Just does it. This makes her flat better than any other imperial medic in the game. What say you to that, Apothecary? Cheaper too. It must be some sort of error that will be corrected later. Still, march her behind the Triumph and giggle a little bit. Could get an extra turn out of them this way.

Grade: B-

Imagifer (Sings the hymns of the Ecclesiarchy): Choose one ability during deployment (useful) Re-roll deny the witch tests. No. Ignore -1AP for friendly units. YES. +1 S. The +1 strength can be used to great effect for Repentia or Zyphs and could be interesting with the right deployment. But with the amount of Primaris running around with stupid sexy bolters and combat doctrines the ignore the -1AP of weapons is where it's at. A few units in cover with this ability makes sisters surprisingly tanky and she's got good utility as well.

Grade: B+

Crusaders: (Lost their way on the pilgrimage) At one point the greatest tarpit unit in the entire game, now, nothing amazing. Despite having a power sword and a stormshield for a stupid low price. They don't seem to have a reliable place to play. Especially since they can't actually tie up units in melee anymore since people can just choose to not engage you rather than stay in for a danger hug.

Grade: D-

Death cult Assassins: (The not as good assassins) S4 power swords with 4 attacks re-rolling hits. +1 attack with a Preacher or Missionary nearby. Only a 5++ save and die to dedicated bolter shooting. Still, if you can manage to get them into position they can kill. Same cost as a repentia but slower and tougher overall and has a harder time killing bigger things but more attacks to swamp a marine squad in a way they can't. Choose one or the other depending on the situation.

Grade: C-

Arco-flagellants: (Extra kinky killing machines) A 5+++ and 4 attacks on average. Up to 6 maximum. More with a preacher, re-rolling hits. They're S:5 and put out a lot of attacks but die almost as much as the other options. Whereas Repentia go after tough units, Death Cult go after Marines, these dudes go after hoards. Choose one depending on the situation.

Grade: C-

FAST ATTACK:

Dominions: (No jokes now, only questions) So, my review of this is going to vary depending on rules interpretation. If they can scout in a vehicle they're pretty great. If they can't, they're useless. (Unless you love four storm bolters - which, who doesn't?) They're good platform for melta guns (one of only two ways to kill a vehicle) and one for storm bolters (but this depends on spending a CP to get 2 damage and -2AP) Other than that, they are sisters that go before the starter pistol shot. Which is rude. Also the Repressor seem to be gone now, ironic, since we needed it to repress people. This realllllly cuts down on their ability to kill things safely. They're now exposed to return fire and reprisal killings.

Grade: D+ (With no vehicle) B- (With vehicle)

Seraphim squad (Stupid, sexy Seraphim): Jump pack sisters with a face so beautiful it makes them slightly harder to kill. Dual wielding pistols with the ability to take 4 melta or 4 hand flamers. Both have their uses, especially with the CP ability to shoot both at 12 when you deep strike, then shoot again normally. Hand flamers just above free. But, unless you're fighting a weird throwback hoard army, I'd go with the melta. Running with Saint Celestine (a 4++) or decent cover, they have a good chance to get to a unit you want to melt. Or deep strike in and melt something with sky based fusion. Still squishy and very killable but cheap enough to be a unique to sisters non-sexual harassment unit. The skystrike strat allows you to kill 4 marines with just bolt pistols when you come in. This can be a surprise and force you enemy to turn around and distract from an encroaching melee unit. These sisters are supposed to die.

Grade: B-

Exorcist: (This sounds like Rock and/or Roll): The big disappointment of last edition becomes much less disappointing. Still random shots but at 3D3 and a strat to re-roll it's more reliable. However it's about 2 Tubman's more expensive than last time too and inexplicably has a leman russ frame. Lost a point of AP for some reason but now has the ability to drop 9 S:8 AP-3 D6 shots per turn. This is good. Is it that many more points good? I'm not entirely sure. I also don't like being forced to pay for the heavy bolter that I won't use. Conflagration rockets are an Akbar level trap so do not take.

Grade: B-/C+

Mortifiers: There's you've failed, and there's we strapped your still living corpse to an open facing chainsaw machine gun demon failed. The new unit, so it'll be at least pretty good. 2 heavy bolters on a 3+ platform. Does D3 mortal wounds when it explodes. Can change weapon profiles on the fly and can make 15 S:6 AP:-1 attacks in melee. Just over 3 dead marines each in the first round (not including the 6 heavy bolter shots). And you can take 5 of them. It's very gross, fast and not too expensive (points wise. Money wise they'll let your blood) It can also take chainsaws for hands. Turning it into a Terminator, Primais, light vehicle killer. Depends on the enemy. But I'd say probably take 2 of 1 and 1 of the other. Plus, they might actually live to get to the enemy. Still melee but has other options.

Grade: B-

Retributor squads: (Heavy metal queen) Heavy weapon sisters. With heavy weapon options instead of regular options. Sister Devastators but better, surprisingly. They can move and fire heavy weapons. Take that, most space marines. Still limited to the holy trinity. Lacking Las cannons is a bummer but being able to jump out of a transport and murder melt someone on 3's is nice. And they add 4" inches (When not in a pool) to their heavy flamers. Which makes them the longest range, human portable flamers in the game. They burn so much, they augmented their flamers with the heat of their sheer contempt for you and everything you stand for. Good utility unit that doesn't put out an obscene amount of fire power but packs a punch for its cost.

Grade: B

Penitent engines: Worse mortifers, but a little cheaper

Grade: C+

Transport:

Rhino: A rhino with a 6++. Not much to say. Worse now that it can't get a 4++. I suppose only one Imperial vehicle can get that and it goes to the poster boys. Still, they get you where you need to be, from Chimpan-a to Chimpanzee

Grade: C

Immolator: New model, more expensive than before. Lost access to a 4++. A more expensive Razor back with long range double heavy flamers. Perfect with a burning squad of Retributors. Dual heavy bolters are cheaper but you lose the auto hit and only hit on a 4+ if you move. Has its uses. Much more useful if Dominions get to scout while inside her. Still a bit too pricey though. I'd like the option to drop the H. Bolter for a storm bolter and save points.

Grade: C+

Battle sanctum (An underground bunker of the faithful, I assume. Not weird connotations there.) So, much of this is going to depend on how the model looks and its size. Fortifications can be surprisingly hard to place on a map in a tournament setting. Even a friendly game, come to think of it. IT seems to have multiple floors as well. So how will I transport it? Answer me!? Grants cover and cannot be targeted. Gain +1 LD and subtract LD from Chaos units. Chaos (so not JUST Deamons? See what I mean about the Canoness now?) Gain 2 MD per turn. 1 for yours and 1 for your opponents. This varies depending on how much you put stock into this system. Which remains to be seen. For half a C-note it's up in the air.

Grade: Unknown, depends on size, shape and price and how much you like MD.

Overall, a mixed bag. Still, some under powered units may become exceptional with the right chapter tactic, warlord trait, relic or strat. Tune in tomorrow for the follow up. Adepta Sororitas PT.2 (The search for more money)

But so far: C+

A shame that you received no feedback or praise for the amount of effort you put into your review. Thanks! It was a good read, some interesting insights and also quite funny. Hopefully you'll post part 2 later.

I've only played one game with the new codex and I forgot about some of the good stratagems and the Sacred Rites. But I have some takeaways from that game that I thought I'd share here:
-Exorcists are actually really nasty anti-tank death machines. With the right support, anyways. I think just about every Sisters list should take 3 of them.
-Dominions can do serious work as a secondary anti-tank platform when kitted with meltas. Probably best in a Repressor even if they can't make it scout since they can at least fire out of it, but an Immolator isn't a terrible choice for them either.
-Battle Sisters compare favorably to Tactical Marines due to being cheaper and more flexible. Guardsmen are much cheaper but squishier and don't shoot as well, but you have to take 10 of those in a unit. Overall I don't think BSS are terrible troops, and with their flexibility they are an excellent toolbox unit to shore up weaknesses in a list.
-Arco-flagellants are nasty, but only if they can charge something rather than getting their ride blown up. I need to try them again to give them a fair shake.
-Seraphim, I'm on the fence about. Having the ability to deep strike 4 meltas and use a CP to let them reach out and touch something before the opponent can even intercept them is nice, but I'm not sure they are needed. More testing is required.
-Imagifiers are very good, especially in Valorous Heart (where units near them can ignore -2 AP). Bloody Rose could get good mileage out of one with the +1 Strength buff.
-Sisters are an army that lives and dies by its Stratagems. You'll want a TON of CP to use for things like Moment of Grace, Devastating Refrain, the Seraphim Drop Strike one, making Repentia (or maybe even Mortifiers) advance and charge, etc. Personally I think SIsters have the best overall mix of strats in the game. The only downside is that it's hard to have enough CP to use them to the fullest.
-Miracle dice are a cool mechanic, but I recommend not being too dependent on them. In my test game probably half of the MD I got were 1's, and then half of the rest were 2's. That's probably just bad luck, but that can happen sometimes. Again, one game is not a reasonable sample size so I'll have to play again at some point.

To the OP: Please do tell your opinions on the rest of the stuff you said would be in part 2. I'd be interested in seeing what you think.

Agusto wrote:
A shame that you received no feedback or praise for the amount of effort you put into your review. Thanks! It was a good read, some interesting insights and also quite funny. Hopefully you'll post part 2 later.

Big issue is theory crafting with no games and already contradicted by in game experience.