Sister allies

[Frater Cornelius]

Okay, let me got one thing out of the way first. I do not like a thing I am about to say. Investing the time to get the conversions I have in mind done is substantial and I do not know if it is worth it when Sisters are just one step away from being Squatted by a convenient hive fleet.

 

Nevertheless, here we go.

 

I had a look through the Sisters codex and I was actually surprised by what I saw. It may not be top table material on it's own, but there is plenty of potential when using them as allies for my Wolves.

 

The (current and unfinished) list:

 

 

Company of the Great Wolf - SW

 

Harald Deathwolf

 

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

 

5 TWC

• 5 Pistols, 5 CCW

 

Sicaran Battle Tank

• Dozer Blade

• Legacy of Glory: Battle of Sarosh

 

Allied Detachment - AS

 

St. Celestine

 

10 Battle Sisters

• 2 Meltas, Simulacrum

• Veteran Superior

+ Repressor

 

6 Dominions

• 4 Meltas, Simulacrum

• Veteran Superior

+ Repressor

 

Exorcist

 

1598 points.

 

Celestine is pretty great here. She offers Hit and Run to the big TWC unit (when all join together) or to whoever she joins. She also offers a very potent small arms fire tank (anything up to S5) seeing as she sports a 2+ and her toughness does not affect the units toughness 5. She can also go somewhere solo and wreck a tank or kill a MEQ unit without my trouble. For 135 that is a steal.

 

Battle Sisters with the AoF are very potent infantry killer and decent tank buster. Repressor makes them tougher for the first turn, maybe even first 2 turns. Although they are more expensive than a tac squad in a Rhino or Pod, they transport is more survivable and their shooting can be a bit more killy.

 

Dominions can scout and bust tanks with the best of it. An alternate option would be to stick them in a SW drop pod.

 

Exorcist is damn solid ranged support against MCs, TEQ and light/medium tanks.

 

All this comes at a very reasonable price, allowing for more points being invested in the SW.

 

 

 

I usually play SW + UM with cheesy tricks like cents and tiggy in a non-scattering pod, but I am not kidding when I say that with a bit of tweaking I would consider AS as a suitable replacement.

 

But as I said, this is all theory at the moment and I am reluctant to pursue it due to the danger of the codex being invalidated.

[*Furyou Miko]

OK, well. The Sisters aren't a step away from being Squatted, no matter what people may say.

Secondly, we're quite capable of standing on our own without allies. But if you want to use some Sisterhood allies, that's a solid list to start with.

Thirdly, the fact that Sisters are literally pasted all over the seventh edition ruleset? We're not being invalidated.

[WarriorFish]

Sisters aren't going anywhere - worry more about getting the models! :P Sisters and Marines have always worked well together, being able to complement each other with a lot of similarities that makes them able to work together with fewer things to worry about.

 

Your Wolves would like the Sisters ability to hit hard with the likes of melta and Exorcist, letting your SW get in amongst the enemy and the contents of newly opened transports. Sprinkle some flamers and the Sisters can be roasting them too if you want :tu: Celestine is always good and putting some Sisters in a drop pod is a nice idea as long as you can muster some support for when they pod in so they're not isolated.

[Frater Cornelius]

You may very well stand on your own, I have no doubt. I have seen it in action a few times. But when talking about higher end tournaments, this is where things get iffy. No imperial force can compete there without getting as much out of their plethora of battle-brothers as possible.

 

Anyway, let the future of the codex and the investment into the force be my own concern and let us focus on the crunch and how to proceed or what to change in the current AS part of the list. I am not looking for an off-topic flame war in here.

[*Furyou Miko]

Well, you pretty much hit the Sisters build on the head, which is why I didn't pay much attention to correcting it. ^^; The only thing I might suggest is that the Simulacrum on the BSS isn't entirely needed since once the enemy figures out what they do, they'll become target priority #1, and their Act isn't that brilliant to begin with compared to the Dominions'.

 

As for not starting a flame war, if you don't want to talk about something: don't bring it up!

[Frater Cornelius]

I simply wanted to voice my concern that is preventing me from green-lighting that project. If I start it, I want to finish that counts-as AS project, which is not a small task. I think it is a legitimate concern for any player who is less into collecting than into competitive play.

 

As for the force. I was actually thinking to play something like this at 1850:

 

 

Company of the Great Wolf - SW

 

Harald Deathwolf

• 2 Wolves

 

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

 

5 TWC

• 5 Pistols, 5 CCW

 

Drop Pod

• Stormbolter

 

13 Wolves

 

Sicaran Battle Tank

• Dozer Blade

• Legacy of Glory: Battle of Sarosh

 

Allied Detachment - AS

 

St. Celestine

 

10 Battle Sisters

• 2 Meltas

+ Repressor

10 Battle Sisters

• 2 Meltas

+ Repressor

 

5 Dominions

• 4 Meltas

• Veteran Superior

 

Exorcist

 

1850

 

If I am allowed to take CotGW + CAD as opposed to an allied detachment, I will exchange the 15 Wolves and another 5 points somewhere for a second Exorcist. The ranged pressure is simply insane unless you are rolling 1s on the D6.

 

The general idea is to drop the Dominions at a priority target. I kept Veteran for Ld9 test but dropped Sim because they will not live to see a second shooting phase. That is basically a highly efficient suicide drop. At 115 + 35 that is not bad.

Celestine joins where ever Hit and Run or a small arms bullet sponge is needed. If neither is required, he will buzz around and take on things like rear AV10, MEQ, Crisis, GEQ and all that jazz.

2 Repressors advance and hopefully draw some fire. Battle Sisters will be there for target saturation and a few spare meltas. When I am tight on points I might make them dedicated infantry hunters with flamer + heavy flamer.

Exorcist does not need to be justified.

 

T1, Sicaran takes out whatever jinking tank looks at me funny. Dominions take care of Land Raiders, Leman Russ squadrons or cover camping Crisis. Exorcist will batter medium mech and MEQ. The rest advances.

 

My sole concern are Wraithknights and the lack of reliability of Dominions and Exorcists. Non-scattering pod with Tiggy + Grav cents is the single most reliable alpha strike you can get in the entire game. You usually get what psychic powers you need, he re-rolls failed casts, Tactical doctrine almost makes them twin-linked and the Grav Spam + Split fire usually means 2 dead skimmer or tanks a turn or 1-2 dead MCs. However, they do lack in the man-power department and are very vulnerable against melee should the opponents head not be firmly lodged up his own rear end. Sister bring safer long ranged pressure with Exorcist, albeit not as reliable and powerful, they have more (wo)man-power and higher AV13 saturation.

 

 

 

Tough call. The SM + UM list has an edge, but only a minor one by virtue of me having all the models and being able to represent them as a single army (space wolves) and the sheer balls-out, small puppy tormenting, straight jacket wearing effectiveness of that 480 point drop pod unit. With Sisters I will not be able to represent them as a single army because AS are not MEQ, unless I disrespect the source material to an insulting degree.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

To be honest that does seem a reasonable list but not the best I have seen as a sister combo force.

I like to see more drop pods in my marines personally.

 

On another not however sisters are going nowhere, they are in the campaign book, new novels, all over the rules and where as GW metal cut is hurting the range this speaks more to a sisters return and not their removal, many armies have seen metal kits go thin on the ground before replacement.

 

Personally I like to now and again take a small fluffy Black Templar or Inquisition detachment with my sisters but it is not required.

I find sisters used well are a top tier army that can outpace and outshoot nearly any other force with the exception of eldar (ignoring pens and toughness 8 really do hamper us)

 

If you bring up sisters as going OOP though you will get swarmed, sisters players are a bit protective as 90% of them are hardcore fans who love them for the models and the lore over tactical advantages anyway, getting up to 5 special weapons including the Superior in each squad though is just the gravy for us.

Having a Repressor with heavy flamer and enough fire points to fire all 4 Melta Guns from inside though is priceless when fighting foes that can't compete with the sheer amount of armour you have.

 

Personally I run 9 tanks and an Avenger with Maybe a Seraphim Squad. (at 1850, 2k ends up with Repentia in a Landraider)

[Frater Cornelius]

Well, to play SoB you have to love them. They are never mentioned to new players seeing as they are not being sold at the stores and you have to put up with metal minis. Handling and converting aside, your army trunk will be damn heavy. No casual sister liker would ever commit.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

They never do, they just get a few models as a detachment at the very most. :-P