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Tactics for Units: the Command Crew A bit of a different article this time. Instead of discussing one unit, we’ll be reviewing three; The Imagifer, the Dialogus, and the Hospitilar. These ladies are all quite closely related in use and design, and all lack much in the way of options, so I figured I’d rather do one article on all three than doing three very short ones. These three ladies are all Elite units, and each provide a pretty fantastic buff to units within 3” for the Hospitilar, and 6” for the other two. Their relatively low cost and occupancy of a relatively uncontested Force Organisation Slot slot means they’re each quite inviting options, especially with the larger FoCs. The Imagifer is a banner or relic bearer, whose presence on the battlefield drives her Battle Sister comrades to further acts of heroism. The Dialogus is a sister of the Orders Dialogus, specialists in the field of interrogation, cryptography, and public speaking, on loan to a Militant Sister Order to assist. Her loud hailer allows her inspiring speeches to be heard over the din of the battle. The Hospitilar, like the Dialogus, is a member of a non-militant order on loan to assist. She is an experienced member of the Orders Hospitilar, medics and chirurgeons without peer, and her surgical skills are in obvious need on the battlefield. Statistics These three Sisters share the roughly same statline, that of the experienced Sister of Battle, so BS3+, Strength and Toughness 3, Leadership 8, a 3+ save, and a fantastic 4 wounds! The only differences in statistics are between the Imagifer and the others, and is in the form of a Weapon Skill of 3+ and 3 attacks for the former and WS4+ and a “mere” 2 attacks for the latter, as befits their non-militant status. All Sisters are Riflewomen certainly, but only Battle Sisters have that Veteran style experience. These stats give the Sisters a solid survivability, meaning they ought to live long enough to deliver their buffs, but they won’t provide much beyond that. Special Rules All three have Acts of Faith and Shield of Faith. Shield of Faith means they will always get at least a 6+ invulnerable save, so they’re less likely to die to an errant meltagun shot than a random space marine, but it’s not going to come up too often. Also remember the Deny the Witch on 1d6. There’s a few psychic powers that cast on a 4 or a 5, and it might happen. Overall, SoF is nice, but not overwhelming. Acts of Faith is fantastic, especially for the Imagifer, due to her other special rules. But due to equipment, the only Acts that are likely to be used are Hand of the Emperor, for an extra move to get into range for buffs before the movement phase, and Spirit of the Martyr, for d3 wounds worth of healing, to keep your buff givers sticking around. Besides those two, each of these three have their own unique special rules. The Imagifer has the honestly fantastic Simulacrum Imperialis rule, which grants an additional Act of Faith to an Order unit within 6” on the role of a 4+. This AoF works exactly like the army wide one, except restricted to the 6” bubble, activating on the aforementioned 4+, and only working on units with the same <Order> keyword as the Imagifer. A little restrictive, but fantastic. The Dialogus has the Loud Hailer rule, which is the most simple of the three, granting a straight reroll for failed morale to Adepta Sororitas units within 6”. Nothing huge, and with leadership 7/8 on most of your units, it won’t be super important. But if you’re running larger units of Battle Sisters, this could potentially save your whole squad. It also helps that the Dialogus is half the Power of the other two. The Hospitilar’s special rule is Healer, allowing you to heal d3 wounds or return a slain model to a Unit within 3” on a roll of a 4+. This only works on Adepta Sororitas Infantry units, and you can only apply it to a unit once per turn, so no stacking 4 Hospitilars by a unit you want to keep alive. Also, this only applies in the Movement Phase, so you can’t use Hand of the Emperor to do it twice a turn. Broadly useful. Essentially just Spirit of the Martyr in a single unit, activating on the same roll as the Imagifer, but it isn’t restricted to <Order> keywords, and can be applied to a unit that’s already done an act of faith. It’s worth noting here that the Dialogus and Hospitilar lack the <Order> keyword, so they can’t enjoy the effects of any abilities that key off of that, but it doesn’t prevent them riding in Adepta Sororitas vehicles. Additionally, they all have the Character keyword, which helps their survivability. Equipment Equipment for these ladies comes in two rather restrictive stripes. Firstly is that of the Hospitilar and the Dialogus. These ladies each have one weapon, which is an improvised use of their Order’s equipment. The Hospitilar fights with her chirurgeon’s tools, which grant her attacks AP-1, presumably because they’re very sharp. The Dialogus uses her Dialogus Staff, which is the staff with the Loud Hailer, which allows her to fight at +1 strength, but she must subtract 1 from her to hit rolls, meaning her Strength 4 attacks will be hitting on 5s. Appropriate for a non Militant Order member, but painful. These ladies, you will note, lack ranged weapons entirely. No grenades, no bolt pistols. So their BS3+ is going entirely to waste. Oh well. The Imagifer is in a different place entirely. She can’t change any of her weapons, but she comes carrying the standard Battle Sister loadout of a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and both Frag and Krak grenades. So she can actually shoot things! Remember the Bolt Pistol can be fired in combat, and as she is her own unit, she can always throw a grenade if you’re within 6”. Equipment for these ladies is a bit of a disappointment, but you’re not taking them for their shiny equipment options, so it’s a disappointment we can easily gloss over. Tactics Stash the lass beside a unit you want to benefit from her buff, and go hard. It’s fairly simple, really. More specifically, the Dialogus gives Leadership protection to large squads, letting them survive morale tests as well as your average Space Marine, which is nice. Not much beyond that, though. The Hospitilar is a cheaper (If you’re playing points, but not under power), option to the Imagifer for keeping a squad alive, and works on squads that have already used an AoF, so it can be worth pairing them up together to keep a squad alive and firing. Because you revive one model with its original wargear, this can be good for Retributor or Dominion squads to keep them firing at full capacity. Imagifers, due to how Acts of Faith work, excel with larger squads, but are also still super useful for smaller squads. Having them hang out with Retributors in your back line to keep them providing fire support, or have her ride with a squad of Battle Sisters to give extra AoF to your mid-field. Overall just remember three things. These ladies aren’t any good at fighting or shooting. They here for their buffs, and nothing else They’re infantry and need to stick around with infantry to be of most use. They can’t keep pace with Seraphim, for example They’re still T3 with a 3+ save. Keep them close to other units to their Character keyword can help keep them alive.