Smurf's Sisters of Battle

[Smurfben]

Hello fellow sisters patrons :)

 

I'm sure many of you have seen my work in progress log for my very early days sisters of battle. Thanks for all the support, it really keeps the project running!! Here's a little taste of what I've managed to get done so far...

 

 

I wanted to start a little army blog here and work on some ideas I had with you guys. I'm hoping to ask the community questions on how best to kit my units out, advice on how to style the army aesthetically and the playability. Most importantly, I'm hoping to try run the ideas and fluff behind the army. So without furtherado the name.

 

The Order of the Turquoise Lily

 

All credit to the colour scheme goes to my better half. She loves the turquoise and silver colour scheme so I decided to trial run it on the sisters. Personally I'm really pleased with how they look and I think the colours go together nicely.

 

The name came to me when I read a few older threads here (apologies for forgetting who's threads they were :() and there was something about purple roses growing on the burial spot of a fallen Canoness. Something about that idea got my brain cogs whuring and I thought, perhaps the grounds they established their sanctuary on were famous on their world for growing turquoise coloured lilies. Then the biologist in me started to think 'why are they turquoise in colour? What is it about their world that allows turquoise pigment to evolve?' A wizard did it....no no this isn't pathfinder....the warp! That's what did it!

 

Now a small story is coming together. A sisters of battle order establish a convent on a world close to the warp in order to aid the local defense force in their fight against the taint of chaos. The turqoise lily has become a symbol of the Emperors love and protection with the native populous so the sisters take it up as their identity. Now you're talking  :)

 

The Character of the Order of the Turqoise Lily

 

I've thought about this a lot and the recent thread here about making sisters cooler has spurred me on to think about the character of my Order even more! Who are they and what are they doing?? My personal favourite angle is that my Order separated from the Order of the Sacred Rose, a faction of sisters renowned for their compassion. With that I thought that maybe my Order values compassion and charity above all of the Emperors countless virtues and through these virtues they can protect a populous from the grip of corruption. Rumour has it that they have even been known to take mutants and psykers into the sanctuary of their monastery!

 

Now this obviously a big departure from the standard fluff of the sisters, which seems to only be kill, maim, burn.......heretics! Sounds like the chant of another more spiky faction! :p   At first it doesn't make any sense either! The Emperor is not known for his charity or his compassion! It's all kill the heretic and be loyal or I'll get you! Fear me, fear me!! We also know that the tendrils of chaos utterly corrupt! There is no rehabilitation from corruption and no amount of kindness or understanding will purge chaos from a mortals soul!

 

But what's stopping them from trying? Could it not be possible that a radical sorority within the Sacred Rose broke off to found a monestary of this world to prove to the Order that their teachings of compassion, mercy and forgiveness could cure the corrupted? After all, only the light of the Emperor is strong enough to reach the darkness of chaos within a mans heart! And that's the tragedy, my order is ultimately doomed to fail! That's how you fit them into the grim darkness of the far future, ultimately, forgiveness, love, mercy and charity will always fail!

 

Your Thoughts

 

So what do you lovely people think so far? Are my ideas complete nonsense and worthy of being branded heresy? Or is there something in it? Ultimately I'm going for the heroine feel and the tragedy of kindness going unrewarded in a cruel universe. Do tell me what alternatives you would do if they were yours :) I'm still very new to the Adepta Sororitas fluff (despite being a regular 40k gamer for the last 15 years!!) so perhaps there is something more official which fits better. Either way, spill your thoughts below!!

 

''Your soul swims in the darkness, my lost child. With the light of the Emperor, we shall find it again.'' - Reported last words spoken to arch heretic Governor Thelius Drake before his confinement.

 

[*Furyou Miko]

I will look at this tomorrow, when my eyes are not blurry. :) Well, are less blurry.

[vonny]

hmm, the first thought I had when you mentioned taking in mutants into their monestary was to get it away from the general populace and therefore neutralize the harm it may do upon the general population, so the sisters can try and cleanse the soul of the corrupted.

 

Question you could ask yourself: of course they never stop trying to cleanse the souls of the corrupted by way of charity and mercy and compassion - that's their mission, after all. But that's the corrupted in general - what about a specific case? Do they ever say "Ok, we've tried this for a year now, this guy cannot be saved. Alas, sisters, we have failed again, and must burn this mutant to a crisp so as to make room for the next attempt."?

 

What methods do they use to try to purify the corrupted? do they start with giving kindness, prayer, and talking, but go through flaggelation and torture to end up at using the cleansing fires of the emperor to cleanse the soul in death as no other method can? Is it their curse that while they try to do well and grow attached to those they try to save, that they must eventually pain and perhaps kill them?

 

ok... this is as far as my also quite sleepy brain can take me for now. If I think of anything else I'll make sure to put it up here.

(color, name and idea seem good to me, btw.)

[Naminé]

My only  personal issue with the fluff departure is how they developed such a strong belief in the first place, without coming under some serious scrutiny from their 'birthing' order first.  If you can figure that out, then I'm all for it :p

 

I like the idea of how compassion and love can be just as powerful as hate and ignorance... I do something similar myself for my own order, with such emotions affecting the warp just as strongly. 

[Fibonacci]

Personally I don't see any compassion, love or mercy coming from the  Ecclesiarchy  or the Golden Throne.  But as my wife is so fond of telling me, "it's your story; tell it how you want."

 

In other words, it doesn't really fit with the lore as I know but I don't have a problem with it either.  Just keep building those cool models and nothing else will matter :)

[WarriorFish]

I quite like the idea, but like Fib I think it's a bit of a stretch so you'll need to properly explain how they can come to such a different belief to their parent order (and the Sisterhood as a whole). What happens if they can't cleanse a mutant?

 

Cleansing by fire always works by the way :P

[Smurfben]

Cheers peeps :)

 

So there seems to be two big issues to work out and they are....

 

How did they come by their radical ideas?

 

As Namine points out, it's quite a radical departure from their 'birthing' Orders ideals. Even the Order of the Sacred Rose are into burning all of the heretics so what happened?? Well, maybe a sorority grew up around one particular individual. At first they meet in secret to discuss the philosophy of compassion and extending it as a possible source of rehabilitation for heretics. Over time the sorority grows until one such time when our prominent leading figure (lets just call her saint x) feels she has enough support to petition the Canoness. Enraged by what she hears, the canoness deems saint x's words to be heresy but such is the passion and conviction of saint x that she manages to convince the Canoness to give them a chance to prove their methods. Hence, they end up effectively banished to a tainted world, an execution in all but name.

 

What are their methods?

 

Well in truth I hadn't thought about it. I could opt for the Dark Angles character of 'nobody knows what goes on inside the monastery!'. But that is ultimately boring (sorry Dark Angels, you are boring!). I guess their methods would depend on the level of taint. For mutations and psykers, they may be loyal but simply not excepted in society, or their powers may be dangerous. In these cases, they are taken into the monastery for their own protection and they serve the sisterhood as menials and devotees. The psykers, through regular prayer and teachings, are taught to control their powers and can use them for the benefit of the sisterhood (my excuse for using inquisitors perhaps). Perhaps these psykers can become strong enough to 'exorcise' taint from blacker souls!!

 

I don't see my sisters resorting to torture. It goes completely against their mindset and it's not a method that I think they would believe even worked. They would, however, kill a heretic as a mercy if they are beyond saving. This would be quick and humane, followed by a cremation and a blessing of the ashes. Ultimately, it's up to the Canoness to decide if a heretic can be saved. This is determined through the use of medical tests, psychiatry and psykic treatment.

 

I'll have to think a little more on it :)

[thade]

Wow. Okay, haha. So...a few things.

The tone at the top. Whoever is in charge of these Sisters answers to somebody. Ultimately, the chain of command tops out in the Adeptus Ministorum (Ecclesiarchy HQ) and one can't forget that their entire purpose is to exterminate anything they perceive to be an extreme deviance from the Imperial Cult's "accepted behavior policy." This is where "Burn the witch, the mutant, the heretic" comes from. Rehab isn't just eschewed, it's flat out rejected: it's a risk to allow any witch, mutant, or heretic to live because they don't just sow death and destruction: they sow ideas that can spread; literal thought crimes. (Also, in some cases they can serve as a gateway for demons, so...you know, that's also a pressing problem.)

SO how is this happening? Is the Sister in charge of this Order (locally) operating under the radar? If she gets caught, and she's lucky, she's executed...or she's dubbed Repentia and replaced. (Possibly her entire order would be dubbed Repentia or straight up murdered for this atrocity.) Alternatively, there could be a a sub-faction of Cardinals that's analogous to, for instance, Ordos Hydra: they know that their choices are against the rules BUT they believe they serve some greater good and thus they pursue them anyway, perhaps under the radar OR in the face of the other Cardinals. If they're clandestine about it, you've got a plot ripe for intrigue and discovery. If they're open about it, they must carry considerable clout, either having a great number of Cardinals, many old and experienced, or having extensive resources. (Probably a little of everything there.) Whatever the justification may be, this is the kind of thing that inevitably results in small scale "civil" war (war between sub-factions in the Ecclesiarchy in this case) which, let's be honest, is where the Imperium in 40k gets very interesting.

Your scenario here is not unrealistic by any means: consider that there are certainly (radical) Inquisitors that take captive (or even EMPLOY) witches, mutants, and (allegedly former) heretics. So, maybe this Order of Sisters has one or more Inquisitors supporting it (keeping it secret OR helping that sub-faction of Cardinals or whatever)...the Inquisition isn't necessary here, but keep in mind that if they're NOT involved they very likely will try to become involved. One way or the other.

The Rank and File. Sisters are indoctrinated from a very young age to be perfect warriors whose soul purpose in live is to serve the Emperor, and they're indoctrinated to believe that "serve the Emperor" means "Suffer not the xeno, mutant, witch, or heretic" to live. I find it impossible to believe that 100% of the Sisters in this Order are cool with the way things are going if they're "being kind and compassionate" to the very things they're by definition opposed to. Much more room for intrigue and unrest here.

Philosophical questions. What do they see as the ultimate goal for their captives? Redemption? A "cure"? Have they ever succeeded? Demonstrably changed a "witch" into an effective and safe psyker or turned a heretic toward the light?

How did they come to this? Who was the first Sister in the Order to demonstrate that she (they) could redeem a heretic without filling them with bolter rounds or putting a chainsword through their face? How did that catch on? (I.E. how did that Sister not suddenly find herself dead or Repentia?)

Would an Order like this ever even declare a Sister Repentia or use units like Penitent Engines? (Maybe they use a LOT of Penitent Engines!) They are harboring heretics, their purpose is to destroy heretics: they will no doubt come to blows with other Imperium elements. They're rebels, that's for sure. :)

[*Furyou Miko]

The concept is... foreign to me. It itches, like a burr inside my armour. Compassion for a mutant is a bolter round to the head.

 

I like the coloujr scheme, but... I do fail to understand how they are battle sisters, if they are believing the path of voluntary redemption. How has the first encounter with more than a cult not just turned into a bloodbath as the unrepentant monsters slaughter the Sisters who won't fight back?

[thade]

Strong enough to defeat their enemies; strong enough to forgive their enemies as they fall.

 

Compassion doesn't imply weakness. Maybe these Sisters are the stalwart warriors you'd otherwise expect, only they make an effort to take prisoners and rehabilitate them. It's the only way I can rationalize a splinter cell like this surviving with such a suicidal philosophy driving their decisions.

[Smurfben]

Hmm so I've been thinking a lot about what you've said Thade and I see the error in my origin story :). I like the idea that these sisters are effectively operating under the radar of the Ecclesiarchy. Officially they were re-assigned to bolster the defenses (both militarily and faithfully) of their world but in reality they were banished there to die their inevitable death. After all, it's in the interests of the Sacred Rose to keep this quiet as heresy within the ranks is bound to look bad on your CV! After all, in the eyes of the Sacred Rose, these new methods are doomed to fail so the banished sisters should all end up dead anyway right??

 

Well their methods can and often do work but only very rarely in severe cases. Mutants can be pushed into heresy simply because chaos is the only accepting patron of their condition. After all, the Imperium as a whole despises mutants and has them killed on sight. The Turquoise Lilly offers these otherwise loyal souls an alternative, accepting service to the Emperor and an environment that wont shun them. Again, psykers are often loyal citizens that are pushed away from the light of the Emperor by the Imperiums very own strict stance. Through rigorous prayer and schooling, these individuals can learn to restrain their powers and in extreme cases, can be beneficial in pacifying riotous crowds or even aiding the sisters in battle when outright war breaks out.

 

Which brings me to their attitudes to war. After all, 40k is a wargame right? :p The world these sisters inhabit is constantly under threat from the insidious tendrils of chaos. Riots, civil unrest and outright war with cultists is an unfortunate reality for this world due to it's close proximity to the (insert warm phenomenon here). As such the sisters are practiced and experienced warriors. I see them operating as a sort of 'faith police'. They try and keep the peace and fight taint through their involvement in the community and endevour to fight corruption within this community with forgiveness. They are warriors of the faith first, and soldiers second. I really liked the idea that they forgive as they kill. It's an excellent way of putting across their main trait. They do not enjoy pain or killing and they view their enemies as once loyal citizens of the Emperor whom for what ever reasons have lost their way. This is a tragedy and they do not revel in the destruction of heretics.   

 

As an aside, the police force idea will tie in nicely with the way in which I intend to field these warrior women! I'm planning on a mech repressor force. So with the repressor principle being a policing vehicle (to my knowledge) this would fit nicely with the concept that my sisters are very used to fighting with them.

[*Furyou Miko]

Sounds good. :) Love Repressors, and yes, they were originally Arbites vehicles that got co-opted by the Sororitas - hence the pintle heavy flamer, it was originally a water cannon.

[Naminé]

Sounds good. Love Repressors, and yes, they were originally Arbites vehicles that got co-opted by the Sororitas - hence the pintle heavy flamer, it was originally a water cannon.

They just loaded it with the wrong bottle :p

[Smurfben]

Really, I had no idea they are 'normally' a water cannon :p I quite like that actually, only in extreme circumstances (i.e. outright rebellion) does the flamer become attached!

[*Furyou Miko]

Well, originally. In the last hundred or so in-game years, the Repressor has finally been approved for general Sororitas use, and they go the other way (flamers as normal, water cannons when deployed to support Arbites).

 

Arbites also use Razorbacks with water-cannons, which I can only imagine look like HF razors without ignition lights.

[Smurfben]

Cool :) I have been thinking about using the inquisitors supplement in with this army. Maybe I could use arbites as some sort of henchmen. Crusaders perhaps? It would go with the policing theme nicely

[*Furyou Miko]

Arbite riot squad general armament is a riot shield with a power field (storm shield anyone?) and a shock maul, so Crusader works quite well. The only downsides are that Crusaders can only have swords, and don't have carapace armour, but since they have storm shields nobody is going to care about their worse normal save.

[Smurfben]

I know the sororitas ones can only have a sword but the inquisitorial guys have any power weapon :)

[Fibonacci]

The C:SoB version with Jacobus was an absolute nightmare worth AT LEAST twice it's points.  Honestly, how many 15 point per model units do you know of where you only took 5 or 6 because you were already into overkill vs almost anything including a squad of TH/SS terminators?  You needed to hold back so they could be locked in combat (and safe from shooting) for at least 1 turn with most "deathstar" builds.

 

Without 5th edition Jacobus they are in line with C:I and C:GK versions and undoubtedly more balanced, if somewhat harder to use effectively.

[Smurfben]

Yeah, I remember the Jacobus bomb very well We actually had 2 sisters of battle players at club a few years ago! That was more than Tau and Necron players

[Smurfben]

So the Student Nationals came and went and we, the Leicester Sabres team, did an extremely good job of organising the whole event! My team, the wargames team, were especially good and ensured that the 5 wargames tournaments we were running were a great success! With it over, however, I've had a bit of free time to indulge my own painting and modeling whims!!

 

With that I give you my own scratch built version of the Repressor. It's build from an Immolator chassis and plastic-card. I also added a Forge World dozerblade to the front as I wasn't all that confident that I could create my own and have it look good!

 

 

 

[*Furyou Miko]

Interesting turret idea. Any idea how to add the fire points on the top?

[Urael]

I like the concept of your fluff. The idea of Make a threat a loyal asset is very interesting, and well within the wheelhouse of Inquisition operatives. I could see a sect of Ordo Hereticus shielding this order to test the theory.

As for possible applications of it: Allied mix of Beastmen, Ratlings, and Ogryns using guard profiles as Counts as. 

[Naminé]

I like the concept of your fluff. The idea of Make a threat a loyal asset is very interesting, and well within the wheelhouse of Inquisition operatives. I could see a sect of Or do Hereticus shielding this order to test the theory.

As for possible applications of it: Allied mix of Beastmen, Ratlings, and Ogryns using guard profiles as Counts as. 

 

Even better: Ogryn/Ratling/beastman priests!

[Smurfben]

Hiya Furyou Miko, if you look really closely you can see the fire points are surrounding the rear of the tank, where they are in the official forgeworld model. Because they're plasti-card it's quite hard to see them in the photo.

 

Urael: Thank you very much, you know I'd never thought that perhaps some radical operatives within the Ordo Hereticus could potentially shield the order! I really quite like that idea!! It would allow me to add in the inquisition forces I've been thinking about too :)