WH Questions from a (prospective) 40k player.

[Valeli]

I've been playing fantasy for awhile, and have been thinking of slowly picking up a 40k army as well. As a side project, mostly, but it seems like I could have fun with it. I'm having trouble picking an army though....

 

Anyhow, Witchhunters are one of the lists I was looking into. I like the look generally, and especially like the fact that I can mix them with other imperial armies to some extent (which helps a bit in the "I can't figure out what army to go with" area, since it would let me have a bit of each... I'm not sure how I'd want to mix armies though? Greyknights could add a countercharge, but seem really expensive for that. And I don't know about IG enough to know what the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers add I need). I'm not really sure how the sisters of battle work though. I read this excellent tactica in this forum on demonhunters (the water tactic one), and was wondering if anyone could give me some idea on how the Sisters of Battle play. I looked at the tacticas in the index here, but most of the links were either to unit by unit run-throughs (informative, but not really what I'm after), or out of date and broken.

 

It doesn't seem like the "fire" type of army.

 

Is it an "air" type of army? It seems that lots of people like mobilizing in rhinos. Those don't really seem to be as fast as an air army might want though. And they're certainly not solid. This kind of seems the most likely option to me, since you need to be fast to make the most out of all those meltas and flamers. ... But I'm not sure I want a list that's almost entirely mechanized in rhinos + support.

 

Is it an "earth" army, where you focus on a ton of cheap/resilient miniatures and hope to drown the enemy in bolter fire? That seems well and good, but you have no ranged anti-tank stuff like IG or an Infantry Marine list, do you? I can see some serious problems trying to play a static defense here. Especially since (it seems like) there isn't much good assault/counter assault in the list.

 

Or maybe it's actually a water army of sorts? I just don't see the potential on how you respond to dedicated CC elements. It seems like the list is very heavily bent on getting right next to the enemy and either getting them all dropped, or getting yourself dropped when they countercharge.

 

This is my main question really. I'm curious how people would use the sisters in a competitive setting (my fantasy army isn't made to be all that competitive, and I enjoy my little fluffy stuff there. If I started a 40k list though, I'd want to take a different approach in making my list).

 

My second question is "do these guys have a future"? It seems like an esoteric army, without much/any plastics. I went to the local GW awhile back, and they weren't even really stocked on sisters, beyond one odd imolater and a few blisters of troops. From the posts I've read here though, it looks like a new book will come out. .... which leads me to

 

Question three: any idea on when that new book is coming out? Would it be worth me waiting before I made a decision on a 40k list, or should I just dive into things now. My understanding is that you guys /just/ flipped into a new edition?

 

Any other thoughts or advice anyone has would certainly be appreciated, in regards to this army or just in regards to starting up 40k in general.

[- 7eAL -]

Welcome to 40K.

 

The Sisters of Battle are not an Air army as they do not get enough mobility simply out of Rhinos and Immolators, since they must embark and disembark to fire their primary weapons. Tau battlesuits are the epitome of Air mobility, as they can fire to full effect while moving freely.

They are also not an Earth army, as their units are Toughness 3 and do not have the raw staying power of high numbers like the Guard or good Toughness and saves like the Marines. They can also easily be wiped out by enemy heavy weapons such as autocannons, missile launchers and tank ordnance weapon blasts (the dreaded Strength 8 Ordnance blast of the Imperial Guard Leman Russ).

They also do not have the tactical flexibility to fight against dedicated close combat or ranged shooting elements as-and-when they come, though they can certainly survive and cause some miraculous events through the use of Faith.

 

The Sisters of Battle are in fact a Fire type army. They are Fire-type shooting, and they must get into Rapid-Fire range to eliminate as many enemy models as quickly as possible before they are themselves killed by enemy ranged weapons, enemy close combat units and so on. It's a very short moment in time, during which the Sisters must pour every bolter round and empty every flamer tank into the enemy before the two sides crash into each other.

 

 

The future of the Inquisition is uncertain, from Games Workshop. If you've been around Games Workshop as a fantasy player, you should probably know how they work by now - slow, ponderous and bloody stupid like a great gargantuan Squiggoth. It may take as much as four years for us to see new books for the Grey Knights and Sisters of Battle and the Inquisition as a whole, so I wouldn't hold my breath. However, that doesn't mean I'd wait that long to get into the game, since there are a number of different armies and races that are interesting to play. Forgive my heretical opinions, but I also play Tau and I am dead set in anticipation of the new Imperial Guard codex as well. Variety is the spice of life (just don't spread too thin), and change is always good (most of the time).

 

If all else fails and you are still hooked on the Sisters above all else and you find yourself dissatisfied with the codex as it is, then you have us:

The Codex: Inquisition Project

@ the B&C Home Grown Rules

We're here rewriting the Witch Hunters codex and the Daemonhunters codex, and putting together an Alien Hunters codex as well as expanding the Radical options beyond the three main branches of the Inquisition. This also involves rewriting the Sisters of Battle, the Grey Knights, the Deathwatch and even the Inquisition Stormtroopers so that they can form balanced, fluffy and competitive stand-alone armies.

[Melissia]

Indeed, the Sisters are the epitome of a fire type army. Get in their face, set them on fire, and then shoot them while they're running around trying to douse the flames, and then just for good measure blow up their car-- that's the Sisters' playstyle to a tee. It works only because of their acts of faith, and those are somewhat finicky at times (but even still, because of the acts of faith, the Sisters are somewhat competative). Their main line unit will usually have a meltagun and a heavy flamer, both short ranged but deadly weapons.

 

The Sisters will generally try and keep dedicated close combat enemies away from them with the Seraphim, using the Seraphim's special hit and run exception to the max (unlike other units with hit and run, Seraphim do not need to make an initiative check). This is because they cannot withstand assaults like other armies can-- the only thing they have over tau and guardsmen is their 3+ save.

 

 

 

Answer to two and three: they're in GW's "4-6 year plan", and Jervis Johnson has stated twice now that he intends to do them in a codex that is focusing on the Sisters. Keep in mind though that it has been since third edition that they've recieved a codex. But then, Dark Eldar have gone for even longer, ten years in fact, without a new codex-- and the DE are getting a new codex and a brand new set of plastics soon.

[Valeli]

Ok, thanks for the info guys. It was very helpful in clarifying how they play to me. Still not sure what to do, but at least now I can make a more informed decision.

 

Edit: It's a shame - I don't think I'd really like their playstyle, although I like the army other than that :(.

 

Does anyone know any Tau forum for 40k? That sort of list might fit me a bit better. ... Or maybe Eldar.

[Melissia]

Myself, I'd be more into a tank-heavy IG army than a Sisters army just based off of gameplay alone, but I play the Sisters because I like their fluff.

 

I reccomend starting in Sisters, and perhaps allying them to Marines, Grey Knights, or Guardsmen. Might be a bit complex, but it'll help you use the Sisters' strengths while letting you have a different primary playstyle.

[- 7eAL -]

Tau Online - http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php

They have a board for just about every race in the game, with a very strong focus on the Tau (165k posts in Tau board, vs. 85k posts in the General 40K board, 43k posts in the Space Marine board and 37k posts in the Imperial Guard board.

 

With regard to play style ... What are you looking for? Shooting (Tau, Guard)? Close combat (Orks, Tyranids)? A variety of highly specialized elite units (Eldar)? Incredible mobility (Tau, Dark Eldar)? 1918-45 military tactics (Guard)? 1992-present advanced military technology (Tau)?

[Charred Heretic]

Does anyone know any Tau forum for 40k? That sort of list might fit me a bit better. ... Or maybe Eldar.

 

Eldar models look like 50s low-budget sci-fi, sexually confused, space-disco-glitter queens.

Tau models look more like Japanese Sci-Fi toys that have mushrooms for helmets.

 

They are both very interesting to play, but they probably look terrible

to anyone who digs the post-apocalyptic, gothic, "road warrior" look.

 

Both of these armies are the most "airy", and the least "earthy" in 40K.

Eldar has a lot of available "magic", and more CC possibilities, and a little more "earth" than Tau.

Tau has better "technology" and shooting.

 

Eldar is (in my view) far and away the most diverse army in 40K.

I'd play them if their models weren't laughably stupid to my tastes.

 

Sisters are interesting enough for me, though not as diverse as Tau.

I find IG very boring to play, although they look great, and IG very fun to play against itself.