SoB SC

[*Furyou Miko]

Praxedes? Sneaky? Where in the Emperor's name did that come from?

 

A 'guerilla war' just means she picked her fights. Ordinary guerilla tactics don't work on the 'nids - there are no fuel dumps to destroy, no ammo cashes. THe closest they have to tactical targets are digestion pools and spore chimneys, which just get regrown overnight.

 

All of her original stats just gave her 'tough as nails' stuff - Cloak of St. Aspira, Sceptre of Vengeance, Purity Seals and a 'scanner', which off the top of my head is kind of like an auspex. Then her special rules: when she charges, add d6 to her Str, if it's higher than the enemy's Str, they halve their weapon skill, she grants +1 over a normal Canoness on Sacred Rites, and she gives friendly units with LoS to her +1 Ld (or Ld 10 if she's in combat), and +1 to her squad's WS.

 

_________________________

 

Funny you should mention Mechanicus links, though. She needs a name, but I had an idea while performing my morning ablutions:

 

The Techie

Retributor Superior Rayya Two-sixty343424293+

Loader-Maintenance Servitor333 (6)313184+

 

Retributor Sister Rayya is a Heavy Support choice for a Witch Hunters army.

Tarantulas are Immobile Vehicles with BS 2 and Armour 10 all round. They are destroyed by a single Penetrating or Glancing Hit.

A Tarantula can be 'packed up' in the movement phase, in which case it becomes mobile, but cannot shoot until it is 'unpacked' in a subsequent shooting phase. It may begin normal firing during the next player turn.

A Tarantula begins the game 'unpacked'.

 

Unit:

• 
  
• 1 Sister Rayya Two-sixty
  
• 2 Loader-Maintenance Servitors
  
• 0+ Helena-pattern Tarantula Sentry Guns
  

 

Special Rules

- Sister Rayya Two-sixty

• Adepta Sororitas,
  
• Master of the Armoury,
  
• Enrage Machine Spirit,
  
• Sister of Steel
  

- Loader-Maintenance Servitor

• Mindlock
  

- Helena-pattern Tarantula Sentry Gun

• Firing Modes
  

 

Master of the Armoury: While Rayya has cast off her political ties to the Mechanicum, for no Sister may serve two masters, she retains much of the knowledge she gained there. As long as she has at least one Loader-maintenance Servitor in her unit, she counts as having the Blessings of the Omnissiah special ability (See Codex: Space Marines page 71). She and her Loader Servitors may move freely, so long as they retain coherency with any surviving Helena-pattern Tarantulas in her unit.

 

Enrage Machine Spirit: One of Sister Rayya's remaining upgrades is a Noospheric uplink that allows her to maintain contact with the Order's nearby vehicles. Any vehicle within 12" of Sister Rayya gains the Power of the Machine Spirit special rule (Codex: Space Marines page 81).

 

Sister of Steel: Being partially rebuilt, Sister Rayya retains many bionic upgrades. She enjoys a +1 bonus to her Toughness score (included in profile). In addition, should she die, she may roll a D6 at the start of the next Sisters turn. On a roll of 6+, she stands back up with a single wound.

 

Fire-linked Signum: This arcane device may be used in the Shooting Phase instead of firing a weapon. Choose a target Sister Rayya has Line of Sight to. All Helena-pattern Tarantula Sentry Guns in the unit must immediately fire at that target, using Sister Rayya's Ballistic Skill of 4. This over-rides the Tarantula's normal Target Priority programming.

 

Mindlock: See Codex: Space Marines page 71. Sister Rayya counts as a Techmarine for the purposes of auto-passing the test.

 

Firing Modes: See IA8 (Raid on Kastorel Novem) page 102.

 

Wargear

- Sister Rayya Two-sixty

• Power Armor,
  
• Bolter,
  
• Fire-linked Signum
  

- Loader-Maintenance Servitor

• Carapace Armour,
  
• Servo Arm
  

- Helena-pattern Tarantula Sentry Gun

• Twin-linked Heavy Bolter with Blessed Ammo
  

 

Options

• May take up to 3 additional Loader-Maintenance Servitors: +15 points/model
  
• Up to 2 Loader-Maintenance Servitors may echange their Servo Arms for: a Heavy Bolter with Blessed Ammo (+15 points/model), a Multi-melta (+20 points/model), a Heavy Flamer (+10 points/model)
  
• May take up to 5 Helena-pattern Tarantulas: +30 points/model
  
• Any Helena-Pattern Tarantula may replace its twin-linked Heavy Bolters for a Twin-linked Multi-melta (+10 points/model), or a twin-linked Lascannon (+15 points/model)
  

 

Suggested points cost: 90 points

 

Fluff

Sister Rayya Two-sixty was a junior adept in the Adeptus Mechanicum when she had a vision from the Emperor-Omnissiah, directing her to abandon her work and flee the Forge World with only that which she could carry. Interpreting this somewhat liberally, she actually fled with everything that she and her two Servitors, 'mother' and 'father' could carry - which turned out to be quite a lot. She alighted on the Shrine World of Hagia just in time to recieve news that her home had been subsumed by Orks mere days after she had left.

Lost and alone in a strange city on a strange world, her first instinct was to find fellow adepts. The Emperor-Omnissiah stepped in, however, and the only red robes she saw were those of a proselytising squad from the Order of our Martyred Lady. The young tech-adept stopped and listened. Their words set her quartz timekeepers quivering, made her augmentations tingle.

Following the Sisters to their convent, following the Emperor-Omnissiah's guidance, she sought sanctuary within. She shared her story with the Sisters that night, and they aided her with interpreting her visions. Sister Rayya isn't quite a Living Saint - though a few more miracles and that may change - but she is certainly blessed by the Emperor, and the Sisters are certainly happy to fight by her side.

[Chengar Qordath]

The unit has potential; the only thing that really jumps out at me is that I'm not sure how viable a flame weapon would be on the Tarantulas. The Tarantula doesn't really have the mobility needed to make a flamer template viable, so equipping it with a flamer would be a waste of a perfectly good gun. I would also make the upgrade to multi-melta cheaper, maybe even free. Melta is only worth a lot of points on a fast, mobile platform; on something that can barely move like Tarantulas it breaks even with the Heavy Bolter.

[spartan249]

One thing that comes to mind when reading the rules is that the bionics are working kind of strangely in your rendition. While a hard increase to toughness has been done before (Thanks Matt Ward :(), I do it as an increase to toughness that bikes provide. I also give them a mini-FNP save, in line with the 4th edition codex. It's either a 6+ or a 5+ depending on the level of augmentation.

 

As for the Enrage Machine Spirit thing, I think granting a vehicle within 12" the Power of the Machine Spirit for a turn would do better.

 

I don't see anything else that can be changed safely without playtesting. Get out there and field the unit. Get some feedback from opponents, and you'll get a lot of insight into what needs change.

[*Furyou Miko]

The Flamers would only really work if Rayya died, I guess, and the Tarantulas were in Sentry Mode (target nearest enemy, max range 18", unlimited fire arc).

 

Sister of Steel is based off how Bionics work in the Witch Hunter codex (if you die, you can get back up again next turn on a roll of 6+) combined with 'Iron Hand' Straken's 'Man of Adamantium' (Robin Cruddace).

 

PotMS - I didn't think of that. It probably makes sense, considering the name and the fact it's an established rule. Actually, it fits better all-round. *edits it in*

[spartan249]

So you're going off the 3rd edition SOP. The 4th edition Marine bionics granted a 6+ feel no pain thing, which I think makes more sense.