Adepta Sororitas Return! – Armylist Rundown
We got hold of a copy of the new Codex Sisters of Battle yesterday. So here are our initial thoughts:
Rules
The army wide rules still bear the same names but have changed immensely. Faith points have gone but each unit has an Act of Faith that they can use once a game. If a unit has a Signifier then they can use it twice. It’s a simple Leadership test and they’re away.
Shield of Faith gives all models a 6+ invulnerable save and Admantium Will so that’s pretty much unchanged. Martyrdom now only affects the Warlord – basically the turn your Warlord dies your models pass all leadership tests until the end of your next turn. Much easier to keep track of in a game and very in keeping with the armies religious theme.
On the wargear side of things, the item EVERYONE is talking about is the Condemnor Boltgun. This combi weapon has a 24″ range and causes any unit hit to suffer an immediate Perils of the Warp! The Sororitas just became the bane incarnate of every psyker in the game.
Warlord Traits – None of the traits are outrageously good, the best one gives your Warlord and attached unit a 5+ Shield of Faith. Another gives you Rage and another Fear but these only affect the Warlord herself and seem a bit disappointing.
Sororitas Armylist
St Celestine – She’s good, no longer great as she can only get up once, but this is with full wounds. She’s quite fighty with WS7, Initiative 7 and 5 Attacks and the Ardent Blade isn’t too shabby with S5 and AP3. Oh, and it’s still a flamer.
Uriah Jacobus – If you’ve got a key unit then Uriah could be a good way of making them more useful – he guarantees an extra, successful Act of Faith and has the decent Warlord Trait that boosts the Invulnerable saves. He also has the Battle Hymns like a Priest and unlocks an Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave. He’s a bit weird though as half his benefits affect Sisters and the other half will benefit Arcoflagellant assaulting units.
Canoness – She’s a nice cheap HQ choice. Their options are pretty sweet, you can add Eternal Warrior or re-rollable armour saves so she can absorb quite a bit of firepower and when she dies you’ll gain Martyrdom. She does start to get a bit more expensive when you turn her into a tank and her actual usefulness at shooting and close combat is questionable.
Soritas Command Squad – This can be boosted quite nicely with a Hospitaller for Feel No Pain and then they can take any ranged weapons from the Special, Ranged or Heavy sections – so you can take five heavy weapons if you want. With a bit of luck you could also get a 5+ invulnerable save through Warlord Traits.
Their Act of Faith is a close combat boost but doesn’t seem too useful as their use seems to be as a shooting unit.
Priests – These can add buffs to your units in combat each turn. They are very much like the Warrior Priests of Sigmar in the Warhammer Empire armies. The best thing they do now is unlock Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclaves as you can have one per priest.
Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave – This is where Arcoflagellants, Death Cultists and Crusaders live. Arcoflagellants have 5 S5 Attacks when they charge at a bargain 10 points each. They can be buffed up with Priests and put in a Rhino to get them into combat. Death Cultists and Crusaders are upgrades to Arcoflagellants and add power weapons into the mix.
Troops
Sisters of Battle – They’re smaller squads! You can take 5 woman squads now which means they can fit into an Immolator – expect to see lots of armies that have plenty of tanks. The squads can take a heavy weapon and special weapon or two special weapons regardless of size making them pretty flexible. Their Act of Faith gives them Preferred Enemy which is a nice addition to lots of boltgun fire.
Transports
Immolators are great, they are 60 points so only 5 points more than a Razorback with a 6+ Invulnerable save. Lots of units have access to them. Rhinos are Rhinos but with the 6+ Invulnerable save – they cost 5 more points than the Marines’.
Elites
Celestians – I guess something had to go in the Elites section. Basically Sisters with an extra Attack and an Act of Faith which gives Furious Charge. If they were Scoring or if they had an extra Close Combat weapon then maybe, possibly, you’d take them. But you wouldn’t.
Sisters Repentia – The survivability of these goes up as they can go in a Rhino and their Act of Faith gives them a 3+ Feel No Pain, but only in an Assault phase. I just can’t see these getting into Close Combat to use them.
Fast Attack
Seraphim – The winged women are nice and cheap for Jump Infantry – they have two Bolt Pistols and can take Hand Flamers so can knock out plenty of shots. They’re Act of Faith gives them Shred which is rather tidy. Angelic Visage gives a re-roll to Invulnerable saves and Hit And Run is not too shabby either.
Dominions – Possibly the best unit in the book – they have Scout, can take four special weapons, the Transport is now optional, and their Act Of Faith Ignores Cover! WOW!
Heavy Support
Penitent Engines – These aren’t quite as bad as everyone seems to think; they have a 6+ invulnerable save, ignore Crew Shaken and Stunned, are Armour 11 at the front and have three hull points. When they charge they’ll have a mighty 6 Attacks at S10, AP2. On their own they’ll take a beating but in an army full of Immolators your opponent might have his mind on them instead. The big, big, big downside is they’re not Exorcists.
Exorcists – Still awesome, still knocking out d6 S8 AP1 shots each turn. The only defense against these is to attempt to argue that the organ tubes are pointing upwards and therefore when you trace line of sight along the barrels as per the 6th Edition rulebook you can only shoot up. Please don’t.
Retributors – Lots of firepower. These gals get a nice boost with the Act Of Faith that gives them Rending. Perfect for use with Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers but there are two downsides with this 1) do you need any Heavy Bolters in an army that already has tons of bolter fire power? And 2) they’re not Exorcists.
