building a sisters army

[derpasaurus]

i know this isn't the place for army lists, so i'm gonna keep it general. i'm getting a sisters force off the ground, and i have a general idea of where i want to go with it. mostly i'm curious about what others feel some "Must have" units are, and some other general suggestions.

 

i have one unit of repentia, and i'm wondering if 2 would be a good idea or just overkill?

also, am i crazy or are celestians just not worth it?

has anyone had any luck with penitent engines? i see a lot of people running 2 excorsists and retributors instead.

4 heavy bolter rets or mix in some multi melta?

 

i think you all get the idea. i have the form of my army, mostly kitting and strategy i'm looking for.

anything is helpful at this stage, i only have like 750 points so far.

 

thanks!

[Jacinda]

>> i have one unit of repentia, and i'm wondering if 2 would be a good idea or just overkill?

I love my Repentia. LOVE them. But they are not that great. If not for being so fluffy and downright cool when the stars align and they get where they need to be when they need to be without being shot off the table ...umm ... what was my point? Oh yeah. I take a unit for fluff reasons only. They are not a unit you can rely on.

 

>> also, am i crazy or are celestians just not worth it?

True. What ever role you need them in, there is something in our list that does it better and cheaper. I have used a minimal squad with flamers riding in an Immolator to help with short range support and as a speed bump but even then, not very often.

 

>> has anyone had any luck with penitent engines? i see a lot of people running 2 excorsists and retributors instead.

See Repentia :( They are better now than they were before but they are fragile even as a vehicle. If you can get them into combat, they can do fantastic damage. On the other hand, with an Initiative of 3 they will be going after the enemy more often than not where even krak grenades can easily take them out. Their limited range and movement coupled with AV11 and I3 makes them a tough choice to take when they are competing for a Heavy Support slot against Exorcists and Retributors.

 

Two Exorcists and HB Retributors is a very common setup for heavy support. The next most common is 3 Exorcists. Exorcists are hard hitting weapons that have the failing of random number of missiles. The best way to counter randomness is by adding more. The more Exorcists you have the more you will get the average number of missiles. 3 missiles is all it takes to kill most HQ choices. 6 missiles will often kill 2 or 3 GK paladins from a unit (2.16 average). They are very good at killing light armor and heavy infantry.

 

>> 4 heavy bolter rets or mix in some multi melta?

I like 4 Heavy Bolters. I also keep them in my Aegis Defense Line to give Rending to the quad-gun. I leave melta to my troops and Dominions. While it is not recommended to rely on Acts of Faith, getting Rending with Multi-Meltas is not going to have much more effect over plain melta hits. 12 Rending Heavy Bolter shots, on the other hand, will wreak most transports and even has a 50% of getting a penetrating hit against a zooming flyer.

 

>>i think you all get the idea. i have the form of my army, mostly kitting and strategy i'm looking for.

>> anything is helpful at this stage, i only have like 750 points so far.

Don't waste Exorcists missiles against Land Raiders or Monoliths.

Jacobus with a Battle Conclave is probably the best assault unit for the points in the game.

Saint Celestine should be the first model across the board. The sooner she dies the sooner she can get back in action :yes:

Play against Orks. They are always the most fun players to get to know. Just leave a few more flamers out so it is not so one sided.

[derpasaurus]

currently i have 2 squads of 10 sisters, 1 of 10 repentia, and i'm building a set of seraphim to roll with celestine.

i'm actually considering arch confessor kyrinov instead of jacobus, any experience with him? he seems more of a "stuck in" character as opposed to jacobus being a heavy damage output character.

[Jacinda]

I have used Kyrin before and like the fearless bubble. Unfortunantly, the mace is just a powermace and the free simulacrum is not going to be used if he is paired with a conclave. He does great helping basic troops hold a forward objective but is he really worth 90 points for that?

 

Jacobus gives a unit a lot more offensive, CC punch and the FNP helps hold them there longer as well. You can put Jacobus, 6 Death Cult Assassins and 4 Crusaders against any other "deathstar" out there and often come away without a scratch. For less than the cost of Abaddon alone I have seen them remove Aba + 6 chosen in two rounds of combat and loosing only the 3 crudasers. 45 points lost to take out 450 points of CC orriented opposition. The problem that comes form them is getting them into combat. They die to mass bolter fire as easy as anything and we do not have any assault vehicles n our army so they will be on foot way too long before making contact with the enemy. If the enemy just walks away, the conclave is 260 points of walking threat and no bite :P

 

===================

OK, enough with my sales pitch :D

Adding to what you have, think about getting 5 Dominion girls with meltas and an Immolator. The scout rules are nice to have and they have a big punch for not too many points. You could also add Kyrinov to their squad so he can be near the middle of the board adding his Fearless bubble to the Seraphim.

[derpasaurus]

anything that has the conclave, they're not automatically attached, are they? it just allows them to be taken? like, i could put kyrinov somewhere and then run the conclave on the other side of the board, if i wanted to?

 

on the subject of dominions, i definitely want at least one squad of those, probably 2. what is the benefit to running 5 vs a whole group of 10 other than saving on points? (and maybe the immolator) i've noticed that most of the lists i see have only 5, limiting you to 2 special weapons, which to me doesn't make a lot of sense considering you can do 4 at full strength. grab a repressor transport and you can haul 10 and have a heavy flamer, granted it's not twin linked, but still you can haul 10 around, fire a heavy or special from the fire point, and then there's 6 bolters that can blaze from the side ports as well. is it something as simple as 2 squads of 5 can cover more ground? even then i'm just afraid of their tests coming so early for having so few models in the unit. i had not thought of putting kyrinov with them, but regardless of size that does sound like a decent idea. fearelss bubble midfield, and i could save on a simulacrum for that squad cos he acts as one within a foot i think.

 

i had planned on celestine being the fearless buff for the seraphim, which brings me to another question, regarding hit and run. it's an initiative test, i know, so.. since i've never used that rule before, really, if celestine is attached, do you use her initiatve, as you get her fearless extended to the unit? or do you still roll on the 3 of the seraphim, because the rule belongs to that unit?

[greatcrusade08]

i had planned on celestine being the fearless buff for the seraphim, which brings me to another question, regarding hit and run. it's an initiative test, i know, so.. since i've never used that rule before, really, if celestine is attached, do you use her initiatve, as you get her fearless extended to the unit? or do you still roll on the 3 of the seraphim, because the rule belongs to that unit?

 

ah you get all the benefits, she grants fearless to the unit and they use her I7 for hit and run, means only fail on a 6.

thier faith tests get a +1 for having her in the unit and her heavy flamer benefits from the re-roll to wound too

[Jacinda]

anything that has the conclave, they're not automatically attached, are they? it just allows them to be taken? like, i could put kyrinov somewhere and then run the conclave on the other side of the board, if i wanted to?

 

on the subject of dominions, i definitely want at least one squad of those, probably 2. what is the benefit to running 5 vs a whole group of 10 other than saving on points? (and maybe the immolator) i've noticed that most of the lists i see have only 5, limiting you to 2 special weapons, which to me doesn't make a lot of sense considering you can do 4 at full strength. grab a repressor transport and you can haul 10 and have a heavy flamer, granted it's not twin linked, but still you can haul 10 around, fire a heavy or special from the fire point, and then there's 6 bolters that can blaze from the side ports as well. is it something as simple as 2 squads of 5 can cover more ground? even then i'm just afraid of their tests coming so early for having so few models in the unit. i had not thought of putting kyrinov with them, but regardless of size that does sound like a decent idea. fearelss bubble midfield, and i could save on a simulacrum for that squad cos he acts as one within a foot i think.

 

i had planned on celestine being the fearless buff for the seraphim, which brings me to another question, regarding hit and run. it's an initiative test, i know, so.. since i've never used that rule before, really, if celestine is attached, do you use her initiatve, as you get her fearless extended to the unit? or do you still roll on the 3 of the seraphim, because the rule belongs to that unit?

oh yes, you can run the confessor seperetly from the conclave. No problem.

 

Some people do take Dominions in squads of 10. Don't forget, the Dominion's Act of Faith makes their weapons twin-linked - if they are in a vehicle then the vehicle benefits from their Act. For me, I take 5 because I use them as suicide tank hunters. I throw them in front of the toughest targets I can find. Landraiders usually carry terminators who get very upset after I blow up their ride :) So I take small squads with 2 melta, combi-melta and a multi-melta Immolator. They are supposed to remove the opponents mobility and cause a distraction intended to keep the enemy on the otherside of the table for a turn or two.

 

Units take test with the highest stat available so Seraphim with her attached test at I7. hey also get her Fearless. Together they make all the anti-horde most lists will need.

 

And speaking of Seraphim and faith, Seraphim may reroll their tests, reroll any failed Invulnerable save and their Act of Faith is to reroll wounds. All in all it makes them extremely reliable.

[Sume]

Jacinda knows her stuff really well. Hope things are going better for you, and yours.

[*Furyou Miko]

I prefer to run my Dominions as full squads of 10. I don't run a Conclave, so they're my hammer unit - they sweep on from the flank, usually, hit a priority target then run interference and mop up while the Exorcists and Retributor squad deal with other targets - a favourite trick of mine is to use Melta-Minions to pop a heavy transport, then let the Exorcists deal with whatever was inside.

 

Exorcists are not anti-tank weapons, mind. The ideal target for an Exorcist is something with a 2+ save. My Exorcists especially love Sanguinary Guard, but Chaos Terminators are also a tasty treat for them. Renegade Assault Terminators, on the other hand, have storm shields which is just plain cheating - you're better off just overwhelming them with bolter and heavy bolter fire.

 

One trick that amuses me and I rarely see is the 10-strong Retributor squad with bolters. They're the same price as a Battle Sister squad, only they Rend instead of Preferred Enemy. The only reason I don't use them more often is because I usually either run 2 Exorcists and 6 Retributors with Heavy Bolters (1 extra to die, 1 extra to carry the Simulacrum)... or I run an Exorcist, a Retri squad, and a Penitent Engine squadron. Penitent Engines are awesome against Terminators with Powerfists and other Walkers, they chew through vehicles... just never send them against a squad with I4 and grenades, because the odds are they won't get to attack.

 

I used to run a Sororitas Command Squad until the FAQ nerfed them by disallowing a heavy weapon Sister to carry the banner.

[derpasaurus]

it appears my last post didn't go up.

oh well, nothing major lost, there.

 

the conclave seems like a good idea on paper, but for now they're my 2nd hq choice, so they'll come along later. i hear that arco-flagellants have kind of lost out since the update, and most people run a couple of crusaders and the rest death cult assassins.

 

i was wondering, too, if anyone had any experience with scout vs outflank for dominions, and which they found worked better, or if it was situational. i love outflank, but i don't have any personal experience with using scout moves. i imagine moving 12 inches before the game starts, then 6 and unloading 6 and shooting can be rather nice...

 

i love the idea of penitent engines, too, but i don't see much on them. i playtested some a while back and completely destroyed a squad of guard in 1 turn, but the open top armor 11 probably takes some serious strategy to reliably get across the board.

 

learned to respect repentia when i lost all but 4 and still got 16 attacks on a punisher tank. last week did a random game, added my force to some blood angels.. running repentia behind a death company is just comedic, if nobody else has ever done that yet.

[mince on toast]

am i crazy or are celestians just not worth it?

 

your right on that one celestians are a waste of pts now only take them if you

wanna fill pts and not pay for extra guns on a girl sq with a taxi. they were good in WH

when you upgaded them as the speed bump

of unmodified LD , 3++ sv and hit on 3s goodness ,but they suck at that now :)

 

well ...unless you invest in a obscene amount of pts and characters in one squad

but that isnt really worth it .

[*Furyou Miko]

The problem with Celestians is that they're a close combat squad that only has ranged weapon options, so they're just normal at shooting, and completely meh at fighting.

 

derp, you're rememebering that the Conclave itself doesn't take up an HQ slot, yeah?

[derpasaurus]

derp, you're rememebering that the Conclave itself doesn't take up an HQ slot, yeah?

yah, they don't take a slot, but you have to have a priest/confessor a named version to get one. so it's like bonus points :D

i asked about separating just because all the batreps i've seen so far always seem to run them together, and i like to cook up weird scenarios. like maybe with the new chaos dex if some cracked out lord comes at me, if my character isn't in the conclave i can just wail on him with them instead of bogging down with uriah or kyrinov and watching him get summarily butchered in the challenge.

 

also, part of me thought you were saying "derp" to giving a cc unit only shooty upgrades, cos that's exactly what i said when i read their entry.

[*Furyou Miko]

haha, no, I was just addressing you.

 

If not getting Jacobus slaughtered in the challenge is your reason for wanting to split him up from the Conclave, then why not just refuse the challenge? You're losing what, a whole 3 S3 AP- attacks?

[greatcrusade08]

haha, no, I was just addressing you.

 

If not getting Jacobus slaughtered in the challenge is your reason for wanting to split him up from the Conclave, then why not just refuse the challenge? You're losing what, a whole 3 S3 AP- attacks?

 

this, you still get his +1A bubble and re-rolls whether he fights or not

[mince on toast]

but you have to have a priest/confessor a named version to get one. so it's like bonus points :)

i asked about separating just because all the batreps i've seen so far always seem to run them together, and i like to cook up weird scenarios. like maybe with the new chaos dex if some cracked out lord comes at me, if my character isn't in the conclave i can just wail on him with them instead of bogging down with uriah or kyrinov and watching him get summarily butchered in the challenge.

 

Naa man you can just use a Vanilla HQ Confessor to get the chopy chopy squad of goodness..

(if your playing games/tourny w no special characters)

But Uriah is your 1st choice (more bang for buck) then kyrinov if your running 2 Conclaves

if you do run one of them seperate to their conclave you could try a elites choice priest

with the squad to keep the re-rolls on the charge(I wouldnt but hey its up to you)

give him a evicerator to chop up walkers and just say no to any challenges you cant win

 

Remember thats the best part of our conclaves compared to GK

ye they get fancy upgrades but we just re-roll so many dice on the charge its not funny :P

[derpasaurus]

haha, no, I was just addressing you.

 

If not getting Jacobus slaughtered in the challenge is your reason for wanting to split him up from the Conclave, then why not just refuse the challenge? You're losing what, a whole 3 S3 AP- attacks?

I thought if there was only one character he couldn't refuse a challenge? Am i wrong in that? If so then yeah it wouldn't matter if he were attached or not.

[Naminé]

haha, no, I was just addressing you.

 

If not getting Jacobus slaughtered in the challenge is your reason for wanting to split him up from the Conclave, then why not just refuse the challenge? You're losing what, a whole 3 S3 AP- attacks?

I thought if there was only one character he couldn't refuse a challenge? Am i wrong in that? If so then yeah it wouldn't matter if he were attached or not.

 

You're not the first to think this; it comes from a misconstrued rule that is badly worded in the BGB. However, what it is actually referring to is situations were the unit is literally JUST a single character model. In these situations a character could not hide away, and so he or she could not refuse a challenge.

 

Why on earth would anyone want to challenge a single model? Well sometimez thier rules force them to, or sometimes they have the Legendary Fighter warlord trait.

 

So yes, you can refuse to accept with Jacobus :D

[Jacinda]

Jacinda knows her stuff really well. Hope things are going better for you, and yours.

Thank you! Very much

 

My roommate's father is at peace. She took it pretty hard and some things still spark her grief again but we are coping. Work is at a slow down until next year with the holidays, people on vacation and no one wanting to touch any of the budget items if they don't have to.

[*Furyou Miko]

*Hug* I won't say it's good to hear it, but at least there's been closure. As far as it goes, welcome back, I guess?

[Jacinda]

It's OK. It was a good thing and it was his choice.

I'm back as long as I can convince myself that it is OK to have fun. But like I said, we're coping.

 

 

 

derpasaurus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hijack your thread with my drama. It's just life, after all.

[derpasaurus]

derpasaurus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hijack your thread with my drama. It's just life, after all.

no worries, Jacinda. clearly someone here cares about you and that's nice to see :)

i don't know what happened and it's not my place to ask, but it's good to hear things seem to be getting back to normal for you, and if it means anything coming from an internet stranger, i wish you the best.

 

i really appreciate all the advice i've been getting here. it's also nice to see penitent engines aren't completely useless. i get the feeling that getting them into combat is the hardest part. i playtested some and when they didn't get shot down before getting stuck in they did manage to do obscene amounts of damage. i do wonder tho how often the ignores shaken/stunned results rule comes into play with it being open topped, considering the sheer amount of ap1/2 fire i seem to take. i did always imagine they'd be primarily for killing tanks tho, too. flame the higher initiative infantry and smash the unwieldy stuff. krak missiles only wound about 1/3 of the time, but enough thrown at once and some luck can ruin everything, no doubt.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Nothing is ever completely useless... some things are just easier for your "average player" to get a hold of than others :devil: I say go with whatever appeals to you or suits your style that you already know :)

 

That being said, I adore my Seraphim. They've never let me down, they're underdogs with a purpose, and I love their mobility (which the army sometimes lacks). Not a lot of armies it seems really use jump troops, and Seraphim are very iconic of a Sisters army. That and the models are just gorgeous.

[WAR]

- important things first- Sorry to hear about the loss Jacinda but happy to see you around. Hope it gets better for you and your roommate.

 

- Seraphim always awesome, the under rated unit in my army always but the exorcist keeps them alive since it draws more fire.

-Celestians still trying to figure out why I would take them but no good reasons pop up (feeling this way about th avenger too)

-Dominions...my favorite squad pre WD was 4 stormbolters and vss with a stormbolter in an immolator...now don't know if I'll use them 2 seraphim squads are nicer

-Retributors I always take a 10 Sister squad with 4 HB it's a nice F U unit since my friends are bringing lots of cultist or zombies or hordes to the table....plus with the amount of melta guns in squads not really needing anti tank in with them.

-Canoness.....my what the hell GW unit...refuse to field her only because my foot version is armed with a Power weapon (I prefer the mace) and Bolter/melta, add melta bombs and rosarius and she is the same points as St. Celeste.

-St Celeste awesome I can't say how much I love her new rules and the look on my friends face when she gets up for the third time in a game worth her points

-repentias....reducing the squad size irrates me a little bit but I won't field less than 6 and a mistress

[derpasaurus]

i currently have 5 seraphim (got lucky and found a box buried at a local store) and i'm looking to fill it up to 10, 2 with hand flamers. (i love jump troops!) i'm going to do at least 1 dominion squad, probably full. melta/flamer most likely. may do 2 dominions and do storm bolters in the 2nd.

 

celestians i'll probably pass on. i'm curious if i should build 2 squads of repentia or not? lol i already have one of 10

 

i call st. celestine the Queen of Trolls. she's always amazing.

 

i'm planning on 3 squads of sisters, eventually. probably do one for each weapon. meltas in one, storm bolters in one, flamers in one.

 

 

for retributors i'm thinking 4 hb or 2 hb and 2 mm. i tend to face blood angels, and once witnessed a deep striking land raider (as well as one down field). >_< at least 1 excorsist planned, as well. probably run a squad of penitent engines because i just love them when i get to see them work, and with cover/invuln saves, plus the removal of "you must charge the closest thing at all times" they'll probably be pretty survivable, if i'm careful.