The Way of the Flame Warrior

[Melissia]

Based off of Silent Requiem's "Way of the Water Warrior" thread. I give him credit for the inspiration. I named it "Flame Warrior" because the term "Fire Warrior" refers generally to the Tau unit of the same name.

 

 

I am a great Sisters of Battle fan, as is probably obvious right now. But I'm not necessarilly the greatest player, and so though these are my thoughts on the general strategy for the Sisters, I welcome comments and corrections-- just please be civil about it. The Sisters play quite different than most armies, and note that this is a guide for pure Sisters of Battle-- but I might include allies as well.

- Melissia

 

 

1] This post :) (finished)

2] Why Play Offensively? (finished)

3] Analysis of Adepta Sororitas special rules (finished)

4] Analysis of Adepta Sororitas units (finished)

5] Sample 1000 point lists and explainations (finished)

6] How to deal with various elemental types (finished)

7] Taking the risk (in planning)

 

Useful links: (courtesy of Silent Requiem et al)

Summary of the Four Elements

Fighting Against the Four Elements

Common Tactical Manouvers

Who's the Beatdown?

More to come when I have time to look.

 

 

This is not a definitive Sisters FAQ, but it is, to me, the most fluffy way to play the Sisters-- they get in their enemies in face, set them on fire. And then shoot them. And just for good measure, blow up their car. As for why I'm writing this? I was inspired by the Way of the Water Warrior thread as stated above. I asked him for permission to use his post as a basis for a Sisters strategy post, and he gave it. If you believe you have something to contribute, post it out. Also note, that I am more than likely not the most experienced Sisters player on this board. But I play both Sisters and Orks, and though they are both fire armies, they play rather differently to say the least, and so I want to take what Silent Requiem discussed and apply it specifically to pure Adepta Sororitas armies (with special mention to the Penitant Engine as well).

 

This is an ongoing effort. I'll be adding things in as I finish them and as people request them, although I do have a number of posts planned out. I don't happen to be the best writer in the world, either, so if you want me to clarify something, I'll do so or even edit my post to ensure that others aren't confused by it.

 

 

 

 

 

I currently only have the first couple posts finished, feedback on them and my writing style would be good.

 

 

 

 

In resposne to criticism about not including Inquisitorial Stormtroopers

 

I don't intend to include =][= stormies in this thread, ever. They are not necessary for this strategy (in fact, including them hurts the strategy for various reasons), nor do they necessarilly help compared to getting Battle Sisters.instead. Inquisitorial Stormies are not a fluffy addition to the average Sisters deployment, as the vast majority of actions the Sisters take have nothing to do with the Inquisition, and indeed the Inquisition does not often have use for such forces as the Sisters due to the Sisters' rather overt style of fighting. The Sisters fight in a way that is a very obvious and blatant show of Ecclesiarchal power, and a battle including the SIsters is a rather unsubtle affair.

 

Gameplay wise, paying for =][= stormies does not help this strategy. Despite their extra special weapons options, they really simply lack the firepower potential of the Sisters due to the special rules regarding Acts of Faith, bolters, and the durability of the Sisters 3+ armor saves. They may work to better the army if you utilize a different type of strategy, but they won't help this particular style fo warfare which relies rather heavilly upon a combination of mobility and devastating short ranged firepower.

 

So there, my two reasons for not considering them. Have fun with them, but I won't advocate using them and indeed will advocate getting rid of them.

[Melissia]

Why play offensively? What is a Flame Warrior?

 

Possibly the most necessary question to ask and answer in regards to this thread. Simply put, the Sisters do best on offense. When you carefully plan out your movement and arrive at that key shooting phase, and successfully deploy divine guidance across your entire line and decimate the enemy forces with bolter, flamer, and melta fire in just a single phase-- that is the ideal moment of glory for the Sisters. To get that moment of glory, one has to be aggressive. Not stupidly aggressive, but aggressive nonetheless, as the Sisters are a not a "sit back and shoot" type army. If you want that, I suggest Imperial Guard or Tau.

 

But then, your opponents will probably know that, too, right? If they're smart enough to read the list and see what it can do, anyway. And if they're not, you don't really need this guide, do you? So assume that they know you're coming, they know you want to park at 12" and riddle them with enough bolter rounds to feed an Ork horde-- and they want to try and prevent this somehow. But that's not a reason to stop being aggressive. The Sisters army is all about taking calculated risks. Guessing what your opponent might do next and moving to ensure that you don't fall into their hands, and that instead they fall right into your ideal range, is key to utilizing their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses.

 

 

 

I also note that this I use the term Flame Warrior instead of fire warrior. There's a couple reasons for this: 1, to differentiate this strategy from the Tau frontline infantry, and 2, because the Sisters play differently than most Fire armies.

 

The Flame Warrior aims not just to defeat the enemy with aggression, but to literally cripple them as much as possible in one or two crucial phases, and usually shooting ones besides. Other armies may indeed have the ability to act like flame warriors, but the SIsters have the distinction of being the most flamey of flame warriors because of the combination of their acts of faith, short ranged shooting, and their lack of decent assault or counter-assault units. And so, the Sisters have to play offensively-- while they should still keep in mind the teachings of the water warrior, they should also know that to truelly be effective... they have to get in the enemy's face and set it on fire. It's one of the few things in WH40K that are both fluffy AND effective, if done right. Hopefully I will be coherent enough in the following posts to make it clear, in general, the theory behind this and how one can possibly use the strengths of the Sisters the best one can, taking risks and and riding the whims of the dice gods, as you guide the faithful to (hopefully) victory.

[Melissia]

Analysis of Adepta Sororitas special rules

 

Acts of Faith: The only reason the Sisters army is competative. Acts of Faith are absolutely crucial to a Flame Warrior army, especially Divine Guidance. The temptation to use the so-called "Flying Nun of Doom" tactic should be resisted, as the real power of Acts of Faith is felt when they are used on the common squads rather than when all faith points are all used up on one unit.

 

Adepta Sororitas: The rule that identifies the Sisters. All units with this have Shield of Faith and can use Acts of Faith alongside a Faithful character (veteran or canoness).

 

Book of St. Lucius (BoSL): Practicly mandatory. Yeah, you can sometimes have it so that more than one squad is under the effect of a single book, but sometimes you do need to separate the squads.

 

Faithful: Essentially makes upgrading a sister superior to veteran status mandatory. This rule encourages one to take a lot of small number Battle Sister squads instead of largeer squads-- buying a new squad means you can get another faith point, another heavy flamer or special weapon, and so on. Note, as has been pointed out, according to RAW celestian superiors and seraphim superiors are not faithful.

 

Martyrdom: The only way to produce more faith points after the battle has already begun. Gotta be careful though, because a unit without a faithful character cannot use Acts of Faith. Sacrificing a cheap canoness for the faith points can make the difference in a desparate battle, although I frown up doing it regularly myself because intentionally sacrificing them seems cheap and unfluffy. Yes, even though I want my army to be competative, I also don't want my army's leaders to be struck down on a regular basis.

 

Shield of Faith: It effects all psychic powers that effect the Sisters-- including force weapons (all force weapons, not just FWs that cause instant death) and tyranid psychic powers. But some of the deadliest and most powerful powers are buffs, which are not effected by this. Still, the fact that the entire army is resistant to all psychic powers helps.

[Melissia]

This is a rather long post, so I'm splitting it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analysis of Adepta Sororitas Units

 

Here, I'll discuss the various choices. These are my own interpretations, when using units to follow this strategy. generally speaking, you want the Sisters to be mechanized. If you don't want to do a Mechanized strat, however, I reccomend you use the shooty Canoness and give yourself higher squad numbers on your Battle Sister squads.

 

 

HQ:

 

Palatine: The only reason why I personally would pick a Palatine is if the mission forced me to not use a three wound model. The ten point upgrade to Canoness is worth the cost in all other cases, even low point games.

 

 

Canoness: There are several ways to create a canoness, and so I'll present the three most optimal setups that I know of.

 

 

Jump Pack Canoness: Nicknamed the Flying Nun of Doom. Usually the most popular choice, although not necessarilly the best-- she may end up being a faith point sink, which could cause your defeat.

 

Equipment: Jump pack, BoSL, Cloak of St. Aspira (CoSA), Blessed Weapon/Eviscerator, Frag nades.

 

Retinue: None. Retinue would only get in the way of her using her jump pack.

 

Transport: None (no retinue).

 

Options: May want to add the Mantle of Ophelia for a wound of instant death protection-- she might need it if she can't stay in assaults and thus gets shot at by an anti-tank weapon. May also want melta bombs/krak nades if she has a blessed weapon. May want a pistol weapon to fire in the shooting phase before an assault. Book of St. Lucius is actually a bit optional on her, but it is cheap enough that the time she spends effecting the Seraphim she deep strikes with is usually worth the points. A Rosarius could be useful, but be wary of spending too many points on one model-- but at the same time, a rosarius could help limit the need to spend faith points on her, so it could be worth the points.

 

 

Movement: Deep strikes with seraphim, then splits up and moves to assault very quickly. The more time spent not assaulting the enemy, the more in danger she is and the more likely it is that you'll have to expend valuable faith points on her.

 

Shooting: Use pistol if you have it. Otherwise, nothing. If you cannot get to an assault that turn, then using Run is reccomended, because the less the Canoness spends being shot at, the less you will have to expend points to protect her.

 

Assault: Do it, and do it frequently and without hesitation. Keep the enemy from being able to shoot at your Canoness, and keep her in assault where her 2+ armor save can save her where in shooting it would be much easier to negate. When using a Blessed Weapon, it is rather useful to use The Passion so that she strikes first (initiative 6 is faster than almost everything in 40K) and delivers wounds and possibly casualties before any wounds are given to her. When using an Eviscerator, Hand of the Emperor is uniquely effective because she already has reduced initiative anyway-- thus she ends up attacking at strength 8, with +D6 penetration-- enough to endanger any vehicle in the game. Personal preference will dictate which you go for if you want your Canoness to be able to pull anti-vehicle duty.

 

 

Efficiency: If used properly, very efficient in points cost, and a valuable tool to tie up enemy units while yours grab objectives and shoot up their army. If used improperly, highly inefficient in faith points usage.

 

 

 

Assault Canoness w/Celestian Retinue: Provides three faith points, useful for tying up enemy units. My HQ of choice in 1250 point games or higher.

 

Equipment: BoSL, CoSA, Blessed Weapon/Eviscerator, frag nades.

 

Retinue: 5-member Celestian squad who have two assault weapons (flamer, meltagun, storm bolter, heavy flamer) and frag nades. Celestian superior has an eviscerator and frag nades.

 

Transport: Immolator w/twin-linked heavy flamers.

 

Options: Smoke launchers, extra armor on the immolator, melta bombs/krak nades on the canoness if she has a blessed weapon. Perhaps a Mantle of Ophelia, but she doesn't need it as much with her retinue. Heavy flamer and Flamer can make for quite a deadly combination along with the transport-- a TL heavy flamer, heavy flamer, and flamer template all attacking an enemy squad is quite attractive, and keeps the Canoness and squad saef inside fo the Immolator. Also note that the Immolator is able to move at max speed and still fire its TL heavy flamers, so that is the optimal choice for the immolator's turret.

 

 

Movement: Generally, you will want her with the rest of your line, disembarked onto a point, ready to charge an enemy unit that threatens to charge one of yours, or to countercharge.

 

Shooting: Bolt pistol if applicable for the Canoness, assault weapons for the celestians and superior. With a good setup, one can get four out fo six of the squad members firing before the assault-- and they'll need all the help they cvan get.

 

Assault: Assault the deadliest target that you can. With a six member squad, you have a fifty percent chance of activating any Act of Faith, and so everything is equally viable and equally risky.

 

 

Efficiency: Decent. Not the best assault or countercharge unit, because of their lack of extra attack from two CCWs or other close combat benefit, but they benefit from Holy Hatred and so they will hit often against all Infantry. Faith point efficiency is moderate, gets higher as they lose squad members.

 

 

 

Shooty Canoness: A slightly less used Canoness, because she doesn't have access to many very strong shooting weapons. Still, it's a viable and cheaper choice.

 

Equipment: BoSL, Combiweapon/Storm Bolter or just plain Bolter

 

Retinue: Optional. Possibly Celestians with a heavy bolter, and in this case maxing out squad count may be viable to bring more bolters onto the field, but may end up being a points sink compared to buying more Battle Sisters instead.

 

Transport: Immolator with heavy bolters, or a rhino if you max out squad size.

 

Options: Combiplasma or storm bolter may be best. Perhaps multimeltas on the immolator, but it may end up being a points sink. If you want to use the Canoness to absorb wounds, then the CoSA is reccomended. Auspex may also be useful.

 

 

Movement: On the front lines, at the same place as your Battle Sisters. If the retinue has a heavy bolter, then park them on a front line objective.

 

Shooting: If not with a retinue, then put her with a Battle Sister squad or Retributor squad, shooting at whatever . Aside from that, she isn't much differen than any other Battle Sister, aside from her BS5.

 

Assault: Avoid if at all possible, but at least they have initiative 4 (up to 6), or if the squad iz maxed, strength 5. Still, they fare modestly better in an assault than Battle Sisters.

 

 

Efficiency: WIthout retinue and attatched to a shooty squad (footslogging sister squad, or a retributor squad), quit high-- provides two faith points for relatively cheap. With retinue, depends on loadout and squad size-- small squad size is generally more efficient, as the points are better spent on more Battle Sisters or Seraphim, but the extra faith point can be worth givnig her a shooty retinue. Although I frown upon this personally, a cheap Canoness with a simple bolter can be used as ablative wounds that produce faith points when you run out of them.

 

 

 

 

Elites:

 

 

Sisters Repentia: Beautiful models, but pretty worthless in general. They are a points sink, they will never earn their points back, and in fact any intelligent opponent will probably grin at seeing them because it means easy kills with little threat. There's a good chance they'll just charge forwards, ignoring everything you want them to do, and even when they DO manage to assault, they don't do much damage because of a combination of low initiative, low toughness, low armor save.

 

Efficiency: A Flame Warrior army doesn't really benefit from having Repentia. They are costly and require a lot of luck to control. The most inefficient unit that I know in the entirity of the tabletop game of warhammer 40,000. That they cannot use Acts of Faith and do not generate faith points just adds insult to injury to these wonderful models and characterful units.

 

 

Celestians: For the most part, they are a bit overpriced for what they do. They can be slightly more shooty than a base Battle Sister Squad due to access to a heavy bolter, but then that benefit also makes them more static. The Sisters, when static, are more easilly overwhelmed by assault-oriented armies, and outranged by shooty armies.

 

Efficiency: Depends on squad size and setup. Low squad size with only Assault weapons and an immolator transport, can actually be quite high-- although I would not reccomend taking said squad except in larger armies. Low squad size is efficient with the passion and spirit of the martyr as well, making it a durable unit. Using it without a Canoness is simlar to using it with one, except it is slightly less capable in an assault, so read above for usage hints.

 

 

 

Troops:

 

 

Battle Sisters: Ah, the bread and butter of the Sisters. Or, more thematically appropriate, the bolter and flamer of the Sisters. Take them, six of these squads if points allow.

 

Equipment: Meltagun and heavy flamer. Sister Superior has a BoSL.

 

Transport: Almost always in a Rhino. A footslogger army is quite possible and even possibly effective, but it lacks in the mobility necessary to utilize the Sisters' short ranged shooting.

 

Options: Replacing the meltagun with a flamer can be quite viable and even possibly more deadly than the standard loadout, but you'd probably want to give the superior a combimelta just in case they're threatened by a vehicle. Provide some power in an assault by using the hidden fist strategy-- put an eviscerator on the superior. Combiweapon for the superior is a slightly cheaper alternative.

 

 

Movement: Move them to an objective, out of range of the enemy's ability to assault (keep in mind jump pack infantry, the Ork WAAAGH!, and those with Fleet). Preferably, you want them to disembark roughly 13"-18" away from the enemy if the enemy intends to assault but is only able to do a 12" charge (6" normal, 6" assault), and 19"-24" if they are capable of moving 18" to assault. If your opponent is known for the 7" charge or otherwise fudging their movement to make them move further, then you should park a bit further away. If they don't take your bait and move within rapid fire range, then you have control of the situation and can choose to either pelt them with bolter fire, dancing just outside of their charge range, or you can move within rapid fire range and try and criple them, assisted by divine guidance. If the enemy is not an assault-oriented unit, then park as close as you can so that they find it hard to move out of your rapid fire range without sacrificing their shooting (using Run). If a non-assaulty unit assaults your BSS squad to prevent your divine guidance, this ir probably a good thing-- you can then use Hand of the Emperor to gain the advantage.

 

shooting: The primary purpose of the unit. Generally speaking, shoot at the biggest assaulter threat first, and if they are within rapid fire range then you'll definitely want to activate Divine Guidance. If there is no assaulty unit that is capable of assaulting the unit the next turn, then you can turn your attention towards the closest objective (and the unit on it) or just whichever enemy unit in your rapid fire range presents the biggest threat. Drive by shooting with the meltagun and heavy flamer (or two flamers) is also popular as well, especially against armies such as Orks and IG which don't have good armor saves. Focus firing to decimate squads is also important-- you'll probably have a higher number of squads than your enemy (not necessarilly more models however), giving you more freedom than them to split or focus fire as you deem necessary, which is quite important for a Flame army. Also keep in mind that you want to take objectives as well-- do your best to keep in range of a last minute objective grab or objective contesting. Run for it if you have to-- the Sisters are not easilly forced off of an objective once they get there, and so on objective-based games, sacrificing shooting to get a last minute objective or contesting an enemy objective can really give your opponent a headache.

 

Assault: Avoid if at all possible is what I would usually say-- but there are times when yes, the best option is indeed to assault. For example, when you're facing against a lighter armored shooty enemy on an objective, which could do some serious harm in its next shooting phase (for example, a large fire warrior squad). A ten strong Battle SIsters squad can assault this squad and use Hand of the Emperor, and give the fire warriors a ton of S5 attacks to deal with-- they can do some seriosu damage to this kind of squad. Another example might be a Marine devastator squad... it's risky to assault, but depending on their layout it might be more risky to stay and shoot past the first rapid fire session (for example, if they have high numbers of plasma cannons). Generally speaking though, Battle Sisters want to save the assault until AFTER they have decimated the enemy in shooting, and the Sisters have a clear advantage in the assault which will let them cause more wounds than the enemy. That's not how it always works, though, but then that's life.

 

 

Efficiency: Quite good. As main line infantry, Battle Sisters are surpassed in points efficiency and general effectiveness by Tactical Marines (Despite cerrtain Marine players' attempts to claim otherwise, this is hardly disputable), but they benefit from Acts of Faith, and properly utilizing Acts of Faith can make them come out on top. They will almost always use Divine Guidance or Hand of the Emperor, but if the squad gets decimated, they will have the chance to use Spirit of the Martyr, The Passion, and Light of the Emperor as well (the last one doesn't get much mention, but when used on a retreating squad, can prevent them from running off the board).

 

 

 

 

Fast Attack: Generally, the ideal choice will be Seraphim. Dominians may select a lot of special weapons, but the pricing for their special weapons leaves them being expensive for what they are capable of doing. However, there are builds of Dominians that can work if used just right.

 

 

Dominians: Seem okay at first, but then you should realize you're paying eleven points for a Battle SIster which cannot grab points and has expensive equipment. Still can be useful, but not the most efficient way to spend your points.

 

Equipment: 4 special weapons, but they cost roughly 1.5 times their normal cost. If I were to use them, Four flamers would be my ideal build, although you'd probably want a combimelta for the sister superior-- just in case they run into a walker threatening to tear them apart. The meltaguns are, to me, simply too expensive to bother with. The flamers however can quite possibly produce a lot of wounds for divine guidance.

 

Transport: Depends on squad size. Immolators would make them a mobile fire base, rhinos would be cheaper and allow them more ablative wounds, but generally the immolator option better suits their function because they can't capture objectives, only contest-- the unit is best used as a mobile firebase. At the same time, if you want to take the risk, max their squad size out and send them to divine guidance with their flamers.

 

Options: Combiweapon on the superior might add even more oomph to the squad if they end up with a destroyed vehicle (which is likely) or if you want that added anti-tank while keeping the flamer count high.

 

 

Movement: Similar to a normal Battle Sister squad, although depending on the situation and build you may be best off not disembarking them if you can help it, and keeping them in their immolator doing drive by flamer attacks to force them to save a lot of wounds.

 

Shooting: Similar to a normal Battle Sister squad, except you're going to really want to push Divine Guidance if you're going for a high number flamer build-- a large chance of getting multiple unsaveable wounds would really help.

 

Assault: Similar to Battle Sisters, except that each special weapon lost is more valuable and so they really are best kept out of assault if possible.

 

Efficiency: Moderate to low, depending on loadout. Can spike up rather high against expensive units with high armor saves though, with Divine Guidance, but to do so reliably you'd want to max the squad size and give them a rhino instead of an immolator.

 

 

Seraphim: A fan favorite. Beautiful models, wonderful rules, effective for harassing, tying up units, and generally causing hell. I would reccomend one include at least one squad, especially if you're using a Jump Pack Canoness.

 

Equipment: Personally, I find the twin-linked inferno pistols to be far too expensive and completely unworthy of being selected. The twin-linked hand flamers, however, are quite good-- essentially a flamer that adds +1 attack in close combat. Because the squad is often in close combat (and indeed is the best close combat unit the Sororitas have in their 3rd edition codex), I reccomend giving the superior at least a power weapon and bolt pistol, if not an eviscerator instead.

 

Options: Definitely go for the veteran superior, as she makes the squad count as if they are under a simaculrum imperialis-- you roll three dice for a test of faith, pick the best two. That and the possibility of an eviscerator or power weapon to use since they're pretty much your only dedicated assault unit.

 

 

Movement: Move like most other jump pack infantry-- move to assault, trying to end up close enough to assault the enemy next turn, but not close enough for the enemy to assault you. As usual, when positioning the unit, one should always keep in mind which enemy units have fleet, jump packs, beasts/cavalry or other methods which allow an 18" assault, but also remember that the Seraphim themselves have an 18" assault and thus can threaten more targets than your other infantry when positioned right.

 

Shooting: Shoot to asault. This is helped by the fact that Seraphim have good weapons for both shooting and assaulting-- a twin-linked bolt pistol shot in shooting, and two close combat weapons in the assault. Given the close ranged nature of the weapon, you should probably always be assaulting the enemy after you're shooting (there are possible exceptions out there). Running is usually only an option when you can't shoot at anyone anyway and have no chance of assaulting this turn.

 

Assault: Assault, hit and run, repeat. Generally speaking, you will want to use hit and run at the end of the enemy's assault phase, then then asasult them again in your assault phase to keep them tied up, gut give you an extra phase of shooting. Depending on squad size and enemy, Hand of the Emperor (large squad size) and The Passion (small squad size) can be quit useful. When using these, keep in mind that the veteran superior of the Seraphim grants them the effects of the Simaculrum Imperialis, and so roll three dice and pick the most ideal two for your act of faith.

 

 

Efficiency: Depends on game size. Quite high in higher points games, but due to the cost per model it can sometimes not be worth getting in lower points games. Still, they are simply the assault unit of a Sororitas army, and so they might end up proving necessary and game-changing regardless of cost. Getting too many of them, though, could lower your overall faith point pool due to having fewer units on the field, so be wary of overdoing them. Many players would swear by these units and use at least one squad of them in all deployments, and aside from warning against spending too many points on one squad, I'd not really argue against that.

 

 

 

 

Heavy Support:

 

 

Immolator: A decent enough choice on its own I suppose, but it is outclassed by both of the other heavy support choices due to its high cost for how effective it is, and its low survivability. The good thing is, this makes it not quite the fire magnet of the other choices, and it can transport a squad (but then, if you want to use it as a transport, you should take it as a transport rather than as heavy support).

 

Weapons: Heavy flamers or heavy bolters. I'd go for heavy flamers, as the chassis is expensive enough as it is and the Twin-Linked Heavy Flamers special rule allows the unit to move 12" and then fire. When taken as a transport for a Retributor squad, heavy bolters with blessed ammo can also be useful. TL Multi-meltas will generally be an expensive fire magnet and little else. 85 points usually ends up being just too many to spend on such a low quality unit.

 

Options: Smoke launchers and/or heavy armor. Smoke launchers mostly for those immolators with TL Heavy Flamers or TL Multi-Melta-- the TL Heavy Bolters model you'd generally want firing as much as possible. Holy Promethium can be a valuable choice as well, but be wary of spending so many points on the tank. Blessed Ammunition would be good for TL Heavy Bolters, given the quantity of cover in 5E the ability to ignore cover saves can really help.

 

 

Movement: Depending on setup. TL Heavy Flamers means move up close and personal, moving 12" and firing right into the middle of the enemy unit. For the TL Heavy Bolters, staying back and pelting the enemy at max range would probably be best, preventing the enemy from using short-ranged anti-tank weaponry. For the TL Multi-Meltas... just try and move them so that they can fire on a tank while at 12" or less, not much help there due how expensive the unit is and how short ranged it is-- i'll probably be a fire magnet and be quickly decimated, wasting your points.

 

Shooting: Again, depends on setup. Generally, the TL Heavy Flamers want to cover troops choices hiding behind cover with its flamers, and with holy promethium this can actually force them off the objective in one shooting phase. TL Heavy Bolters, especially with blessed ammo, want to do similar things, but focus on the enemy's most numerous and weakest units. The TL Multi-Melta however wants to aim for the biggest target it can, because it won't last long enough to destroy every tank out there.

 

 

Efficiency: As a heavy support choice, low. As a transport choice, fairly decent. It adds firepower to the squad, although it limits squad size to six.

 

 

Exorcist: In a competative game, you will probably want to take two or three of these. There's just no substitute for them in the Sororitas army as it is in third edition; they are THE best anti-tank unit in the army, capable of destroying any vehicle in the game at 48" (although av14 vehicles will require a lot of sixes). Due to their possibly large number of shots, they can also be effective at destroying assault units, especially elite assault units such as nobz and terminators, or even independant characters-- very few ICs want to face a 6 S8 AP1 shots in one shooting phase.

 

Options: Usually, taken cheap. If anything, then extra armor or a pintle mounted storm bolter. You want it firing every turn, so smoke launchers are out. However, a pintle storm bolter can allow you to survive a weapons destroyed result (especially useful in kill points games). A dozer blade can help for getting the right position.

 

 

Movement: stay behind the lines, away from deep striking units. The Exorcist has a range of 48", which is roughly the range of many anti-tank weapons, and so to use it one must usually risk it being blown up regardless. Keep in mind that the Exorcist is a fire magnet. it is the biggest, baddest weapon in your arsenal, and your opponent probably knows this as well as you do.

 

Shooting: Valuable hard targets first. Here is GW's own ranking system for the Exorcist;

 

High Priority: Tanks, Daemon Princes or Greater Daemons, Tyranid Monstrous Creatures, Wraithlords, Dreadnoughts, Monoliths;

Medium Priority: Transports with assault units, Enemy HQ's, Devastator Squads or Havoc Squads, Assault Squads or Raptor Squads, Terminator Squads, Plague Marines, Bikers, Tau Battlesuits;

Low Priority: Basic Infantry units, Swarms, Transports with non-assault units, Beasts and Cavalry.

 

Personally, however, I would put monoliths and land raiders on medium priority simply because of how hard they are to destroy. That's not to say don't shoot at them-- simply shoot at them only if there's no other bettar target. For example, against Necrons, shoot at the monolith only if you can't instead shoot at anything else-- Firing it at warriors will help you get the phase out victory for example. Likewise, beasts and cavalry can be quite a pain to deal with, with their 18" assault and usually being assault oriented, and so I would put them as medium priority as well. All in all, keep in mind the objectives of the game-- you may want to sacrifice shooting at a high value target to shoot at something else which is holding an objective, depending on how the game is oging at the time.

 

 

Efficiency: Very high. Your first and best line of defense against hard targets. Most lists will have at least two of them if they are optimized.

 

 

Retributors: A possible valuable support tool against swarmy armies. Otherwise, not so useful. I'd reccomend it mostly against Orks or Tyranids, where the four heavy bolters will utterly tear apart their lightly armored troops choices.

 

Equipment: 4 heavy bolters. Multi-meltas for 25 points each on an infantry model is an expensive and cruel joke that GW plays on us, and they really don't need to be seriously considered at all. The most they can do is do area denial, but your retributors shouldn't be on the front lines anyway and so they have other units (such as Exorcists!) that can destroy enemy tanks that threaten the squad.

 

Transport: I'd reccomend an immolator with twin-linked heavy bolters and blessed ammunition. Drive them up to a middle objective, park them there, and then focus fire on large squads of assault units.

 

Options: Given how mobile the rest of your army is, the best way to use them in this particular strategy would be with an immolator. A large squad size means better divine guidance rolls, but greatly lowered mobility (Retributors cannot take Rhinos!). The Sister Superior would probably be best given a combimelta, just in case the squad is attacked by a walker and you want to kill something else with your exorcist.

 

 

Movement: Place on an ideal location for fire support against horde armies. A tower or tall terrain would be ideal. As they are a heavy weapons crew, movement is to be avoided if you can.

 

Shooting: First choice to aim at is models with a 4+ save or worse, after that,

 

Assault: Avoid. You didn't spend ~200 points on a squad full of heavy bolters just to have it be used in assaulting.

 

 

Efficiency: Situational: Moderate to excellent. Against horde armies or armies with low armor saves, Retributors can be quite efficient with their massed heavy bolters. For the most part though, you don't need them. At most, I'd say one squad in a 1500+ point game, with the other two HS slots taken up by exorcists. If you know you're not going to be facing a horde army, then just drop them entirelly. They are not a particularly "flame warrior" type unit, but their heavy bolters can add quite useful firepower against horde units.

 

They can also be efficient simply by providing two heavy support choices for one slot. Inquisitor NicolePyykkonen offered the following advice (put in my own words): Put a retributor squad w 4x heavy bolters in an immolator with TL Heavy Flamers, and after the retrbutor squad has been dropped off at its fire support location, the immolator goes to the front lines as if it were a heavy support choice. Because C:WH transports are not dedicated, it can serve as a transport for any unit which has 6 models or less, and so it effectively is the same as a standard Immolator heavy support choice, without taking up the slot.

 

Special Characters

 

Celestine, the Living Saint: A very useful assault choice to attatch to Seraphim. Because of her special rules, she and Seraphim have a very unique synergy. They both have a special hit and run rule, and seraphim gain fearless from her being attatched. She also adds more close combat ability and another flamer. Unfortunately, she has no instant death protection. A lucky shot with an S6 weapon can thus reduce her to relying on miraculous intervention and reduce your faith point pool by a sizeable amount. She can thus be either extremely effective, or an extreme drain to the army. The risk is yours to take, personally I say she's not that bad of a choice... but I'd stick with a jump pack canoness personally, just so I can preserve my precious faith points. If you're confused about the risk, it's simple: Celestine adds three faith points, however, the first time she is removed from the table (even if she passes the leadership check for Miraculous Intervention) she takes away d6 faith points, and if it takes you below zero faith points then you cannot produce any faith points through martyrdom for the rest of the game. A lucky multilaser shot could drasticly reduce your faith point pool.

 

No equipment, transport, or options choices due to her being a special character. movement, Shooting, and Assault are all quite similar to Seraphim, especially since she'll probably be attatched to them.

[- 7eAL -]

Eyyy, a Tactica!

 

We have been waiting a long time for this.

[Melissia]

Still in the process of being made really-- there's a lot of information to be had. I'm working on the second half of the Analysis of Adepta Sororitas Units section when I get time and inclination, and after that it'll be a competative 1000 point list and my explanation for the various choices. Comments on my writing style and the general level of advice would be nice ;)

[Chengar Qordath]

Seems really good so far; is this purely your production or can other folks contribute thoughts/ideas? I wouldn't mind a chance to pontificate some on faith usage startegies...

[Melissia]

Go for it!

 

I'll edit my post to include a link to your post when you finish, under a new section (Other Contributors perhaps?).

[ArmouredWing]

Melissia, pretty good work so far but I've got a couple of comments/suggestions.

 

Where you're talking about specific units you need to identify both the good and the bad of the available options. So battle sister squads for example, mech are mobile and enable a player to get to the optimum range easily but they can suffer when they start taking wounds, can be easy to whittle down and will give an extra KP due to the rhino.

 

Try to be a bit more objective with your advice as well. If you're doing a tactica it needs to be more fact than opinion, what works for one person may not for another but there are some universal truths.

 

Oh yeah, the canoness should usually have at least a bolt pistol, BS5 is too good to waste!

[Melissia]

Heh. I don't claim to be unbiased! This thread is geared toward the Flame Warrior type strategy. That is why I stated "This is not a definitive Sisters FAQ". It does not cover everything you can do with the Sisters. It instead covers what I believe is the best and most fluffy way to play the Sisters.

[iNsOmNiAc'S dReAm]

Hey Melissia great stuff so far, I really enjoyed reading through it :devil:

 

" Options: Replacing the meltagun with a flamer can be quite viable and even possibly more deadly than the standard loadout, but you'd probably want to give the superior a combimelta just in case they're threatened by a vehicle. Provide some power in an assault by using the hidden fist strategy-- put an eviscerator on the superior. Combiweapon for the superior is a slightly cheaper alternative. "

 

Good advice, tho Id like to mention that substituting a heavy flamer with 2 normal flamers isnt a bad idea either. More bang for yer buck. Sure they are a lower strength and AP but when combined with divine guidence you'd be wanting to roll 6's anyway, and believe me, when you're gunnin for 6's you'd be glad you were dropping 2 templates instead of one.

 

I also think youre better off giving your V.S.S a combi-melta instead of an eviscerator for that anti-armour punch. Due to SoB's relatively crappy WS, Its cheaper, and much more effective to keep them tooled out for shooting... In my opinion the only V.S.S's in your army that should ever have an eviscerator are the ones leading your Celestian squads. With Holy Hatred, they are the only ones who can really make good use of it.

 

Im glad you mentioned the Book of St. Lucius! For a 5pt peice of wargear, iI think ts the most valuable and overlooked item in the WH armoury, its as close to fearless as a sister is ever gonna get. Combining the book with Purity seals is also a great way to ensure your girls stay where you want them to be should they faulter from their objective..

 

Well thats my 2cents :devil:

[Inq. Enmerich Von Vattle]

Thanks this is what I been looking all around the net!!!!!!!!!!

 

;)

[march10k]

I use the same canoness you do, except that I give her an inferno pistol, too. Three melta weapons makes for yummy tank-killy-ness, and the flame-o-lator keeps infantry units either out of assault range, if they're scared, or at a manageable size, if they do get close.

[the_cheat137]

Assault Canoness w/Celestian Retinue: Provides four faith points, useful for tying up enemy units. My HQ of choice in 1250 point games or higher.

 

I'm not seeing where you get the fourth faith point in this squad. Canoness gives two and the retinue gives one. Without a Litanies of Faith that's three, so are you including that in the squad or am I missing something somewhere?

[Melissia]

Canoness is 2. Celestian squad gives a third, Celestian Veteran Sister Superior gives a fourth.

[Utsujin]

Actually, you're wrong. It just said the squad's presence gives a faith point, it says no where that the VSS gives an extra faith point.

[Melissia]

The squad is faithful, and thus generates a point. The VSS is faithful and is purchased extra, and thus generates a second point.

 

Edit: Admittedly, this is a RAW versus RAI (or RAMS-- Read As Makes Sense) moment, though, because there's no explicit statement of adding faith point for the Celestian and Seraphim veteran sister superior. As such, depending on your opponent it might end up being slightly less efficient.

[Inq. Enmerich Von Vattle]

As a beginner to 40K, I really appreciate this. For example now I know to take extra care to assault armies and that SOB fair well in shooting but not assaulting. I guess it’s too much to ask but it would be really helpful for beginners like me (both to 40k and SOB) to have a list of what to shoot or a priority kill depending on the opposing armies or escenario for when to use faithpoints.

 

Thanks Melissia, I know this is a lot work, but the little you posted has already helped me and that must count for something.

[Melissia]

I'll be sure to include that in my "Taking the Risk" section when I get to it. I'm currently going through the heavy support choices right now, finishing them up so that I can edit in the other half of the analysis of units (FA and HS units).

[benmothershaw]

As a beginner to 40K, I really appreciate this. For example now I know to take extra care to assault armies and that SOB fair well in shooting but not assaulting. I guess it’s too much to ask but it would be really helpful for beginners like me (both to 40k and SOB) to have a list of what to shoot or a priority kill depending on the opposing armies or escenario for when to use faithpoints.

 

Thanks Melissia, I know this is a lot work, but the little you posted has already helped me and that must count for something.

Usually the faster units like bikes.

[Eltnot]

The squad is faithful, and thus generates a point. The VSS is faithful and is purchased extra, and thus generates a second point.

 

Edit: Admittedly, this is a RAW versus RAI (or RAMS-- Read As Makes Sense) moment, though, because there's no explicit statement of adding faith point for the Celestian and Seraphim veteran sister superior. As such, depending on your opponent it might end up being slightly less efficient.

It might if it said the Veteran Sister Superior for Celestians generated a faith point... which it does not.

 

Expect to find your Celestian VSS jammed up your left nostril if you attempt to argue this in a game (your opponent may choose the right nostril also).

 

Celestians:

Celestians are probably the best way to take dual meltaguns in a squad. Their small squad size makes it easier to pass Spirit of the Martyr, and they're better suited for HtH then Dominions and 2 points cheaper then a similarly equipped Dominion squad (six models, VSS, two meltaguns).

 

In this role, they're an excellent backup unit to Seraphim, blowing up vehicles, and charging squads filled with power weapons that will eat regular Battle Sisters in seconds. Due to their smaller squad size, they also make an excellent excuse to take an Immolator as a transport. A common tactic is to roll up to a transport vehicle and jump out the Celestians. They then pop the vehicle with their meltaguns before the Immolator flames the now disembarked unit.

 

Also used in this setup, once disembarked, they can move forward, fire meltaguns into a squad along with other nearby battle sisters squads (who also fire bolters). The Celestians then charge the target unit. Using Spirit of the martyr, ensure that they survive the next two rounds of combat. On your next turn, the Battle Sister squad can also charge (and use Hand of the Emperor) safely since most likely the entire enemy unit is already engaged with the Celestians, and so must direct their attacks against the already engaged unit (Page 41 BRB under the Attacking section, first bullet point). This method is useful for dealing with squads that are already weakened by your firepower, but would otherwise still win in HtH if allowed to charge your battle sister squads.

 

Useful tip:

If the enemy mounts up and attempts to get away from your battle line, move the Celestian squad 6" and into a nearby empty rhino. Then move the rhino a further 6". Fire two Meltaguns from the top hatch against their transport.

 

Inquisitorial Storm Troopers

Purist Adeptus Sororitas Players don't like using these... that's why they lose games in fifth edition.

In small games (1000 points or less) a unit of these guys is invaluable (I games larger then 1000 points, I use an Inducted Guard Platoon instead. They have more squishy bodies for the enemy to kill and can add much needed infantry mounted heavy weapons to your force.). In two thirds of the standard missions, you will have an objective either inside your deployment zone, or one nearby. As aptly pointed out by Melissia, Sisters of Battle suck at static defence. Taking a unit of Eight Storm Troopers with two special weapons (I take two grenade launchers since I want these guys alive at the end of the game, and not killed off by their own guns) comes in at 100 points and is perfect for sitting in cover and being used to hold an objective. The basic Storm Trooper might be inferior to a Battle Sister, but they do a better job at static defence then a battle sister squad will due to their weapon options (Grenade Launchers/Plasma Guns vs Storm Bolters).

 

P.S. Melissia, what is with your post count?! Almost 1500 posts in three months?!

[Melissia]

Purist Adeptus Sororitas Players don't like using these... that's why they lose games in fifth edition.

Pfft. Please excuse me, I'm honestly trying not to laugh. I don't intend to be mean or anything, but some on, that statement is just silly.

 

It's not that I don't like to include them or whatever-- I don't intend to. They are not necessary for this strategy, nor do they necessarilly help compared to getting Battle Sisters.instead. Inquisitorial Stormies are not a fluffy addition to the average Sisters deployment (the vast majority of actions they take have nothing to do with the Inquisition, and indee dthe Inquisition does not often have use for such forces as the Sisters due to the Sisters rather overt style of fighting).

 

As for using them as a static defense? Inquisitorial Stormtroopers are WORSE than Sisters at that particular role. Because their 3+ save, Sisters can handle recieving an assault better than Stormtroopers, and due to bolters and divine guidance they can whittle down the enemy's numbers before the assault better than stormtroopers as well. Don't underestimate the benfit of bolters over hellguns. A couple of Grenade Launchers don't really make up for that extra strength the Bolter has (especially with DG), or the defensive strength that the 3+ armor save has, or the opportunity to use heavy flamers.

 

Yes, you may want to use them or create a very static army, but claiming that not using =][= stormies will lead to one's defeat is misleading at best, and off-topic at worst-- if you want to play a more static game, then this thread is probably not for you in the first place. It is like complaining in a thread about how to win with a footslogger army that they aren't including enough transports.

[Eltnot]

I'd suggest you have a little bit more of a think about my post before dismissing it out of hand.

 

Firstly, if, as you suggest your entire army rolls up on the enemies doorstep to get out and flame/bolter/melta them, you'll lose most of your games overall because chances are, they will still hold more objectives than you because you ignored the easy ones close to home.

 

If instead you use a battle sister squad for defence and use divine guidance (as you again suggest), you will on average get one single divine guidance kill.... Wow, I used a faith point to kill one marine with divine guidance and probably one to two more with normal shots. Of course that's assuming there is enemy to kill within range of the guns.

Cost of the unit is 124 points including the VSS and no extra wargear.

 

I'd rather the 100 point mobile (grenade launchers are Assault weapons so you can move up and back as dictated by enemy threats) light vehicle hunting IST's in most games.

 

By the way, you did mention the possibility of using Allies in your original posting, so it's rather rude to double back and say no to a unit that actually happens to be within the codex...

 

I'll avoid saying more until I see how other people feel about the addition of allied forces in this thread, since I feel anymore commentary on my behalf at this point in time will probably turn this thread into a flame war, and that ruins the ability for this documentation to actually achieve something useful.

[Melissia]

I said I MIGHT include them. I still haven't been convinced that they are useful for this strategy. For example, Penitant Engines are being considered for this strategy, but one generally has to dedicate a list to the use of Penitent Engines (having them take up at least two heavy support slots and a considerable number of points).

 

As for the rest-- those Battle Sister Squads that are holding easy to take objectives generally don't need to use Acts of Faith, and thus acts of faith are conserved for those that are on the front lines. Faith Points are a pool which all squads in the army can draw upon, not just the suad which provides the faith point. Ergo, that battle sister squad that never fired a shot and is sitting on an objective provides a faith point and an objective that goes towards winning, and deters the enemy away from attacking it without using a dedicated attack force due to the raw difficulty there is in removing a Battle Sister Squad that's hiding behind cover from an objective. Just that Battle Sister squad being there, with their 10 3+ armor saves, bolters, and the possibility of acts of faith, will deter many enemies as they instead focus their forces on your offensive line which is threatening their own objectives with massed firepower. And no, I don't suggest abandoning easy to take objectives, and where you got that idea from I don't know. This advice is given from a neutral standpoint, so that it can be used with the player's best judgement depending on which deployment their game becomes.

 

Meanwhile, if that stormy squad is assaulted, they are much more easilly forced off the objective (less armor, poorer leadership, no acts of faith) and thus the risk of the enemy actually TAKING the objective from you is much greater,l and thus your need to respond to that-- and thus your offensive control of the situation in general-- diminishes. Using this strategy, the player want to force the enemy to react to them so that they maintain control of the situation-- not the other way around. It is quite different from the Way of the Water Warrior in that aspect.

[Coppella]

Sisters are usually better off by themselves. As for static defense for Sisters, well, all I have to do is point out the tournament I went to on Nov. 15. I won best general with my Sisters. Massacred Dark eldar in kill points. Solid Victory an elitist Tau army, in a Capture and Control. Also Massacred another Tau-Farsight army, in a Take and hold. My list did have a static element. 12 Sisters of battle, 8 Retributors, and 1 Exorcist. The rest of the army (which was 4 transports - 3 Sister troops, and a Canoness+retinue). I already wrote up a battle report on Warseer. I don't want to derail this thread, but everything here we've gone over about 3-4 times already on the Witch hunter tactica thread.

IST are not a bad choice if your not going pure Sisters. So feel free to take em if your making a Inquisitor circus list. The main problem with the IST right now, is that they're overpriced. I honestly haven't read this whole threat throughly, but from the quick browse, most of it looks on par.

 

For those looking for more info, and such. Here are a couple links:

Warseer: Witch Hunter Tactica

Nov. 15th, Hall of Heroes Tournament at my local GW. I would actually suggest some of the other battle reports listed, as a good number of Sisters battles have been popping up lately (mostly defeated ones). Something else to learn from though.