hive fleet leviathan and why you should be excited

[BitsHammer]

From what do you derive that ten billion number? Given that only the children of dead officers and nobles go to the Schola Progenum, of which only the most militant are considered for the Tempestus/Commissariat/Sororitas, of which only the most faithful go into the Commissariat/Sororitas, of which only the females go into the Sororitas.

 

Mind you this was done with a limited set of numbers and some intentional lowballing and restricting of things, but it was based on as much info on planet pops I could find:

 

 

It's been a long running tradition that there aren't that many Battle Sisters in the fluff (about 100K total Sisters...maybe.) So a friend and I sat down and decided to crunch some numbers (for the purposes of the exercise we lowballed most of these numbers to try and feel out a low number that we could expect) with the goal to work out how many Sororitas (and then how many Battle Sisters) there should be in the Imperium as we agreed that due to the size and scale of the Imperium, the Ecclesiarchy and the scope of the duties of the Sisters their numbers just weren't high enough at 100,000.

 

To keep the numbers reasonably low we worked off the following rules:

 

1% of the entire Imperium meets the very basic criteria to be considered for becoming a Sororitas.

1% of those complete their "basic" training successfully

1% of those are on active status at any time (the other 99% have been deactivated for any number of reasons). This last one was to really just push the number a lot lower based on the "gak happens" quotient.

50% of the final total is Militant Orders, the rest is divided into the various Non-Militant Orders (which makes each of those smaller than the combined Militant Orders).

 

So running some basic numbers we figured that from the Hive Worlds (all 32,380 of them) had a rough average of 50,000,000,000 (we went with 50 Billion a Hive, which is about the middle of the range (10-100,000,000,000), and 10 Hive a planet, which is a bit lower than half as the range is 5-20) 16,190,000,000,000,000 people on the hives.

 

To keep the math easy we went with an average of 5 Billion people on average on every other planet in the Imperium (working from 1,000,000 that means 967,620 worlds) which is lower than our current population on Earth. That gave us another 4,838,100,000,000,000 more people.

 

This gave us a total of 21,028,100,000,000,000 people in the Imperium on a lowball math run.

 

Of these 210,281,000,000,000 meet the very basic criteria.

Of those 2,102,810,000,000 complete the basic training.

Of those 21,028,100,000 are on any kind of active duty.

Of those 10,514,050,000 are Battle Sisters.

 

So in short we think that about 10.5 Billion Battle Sisters makes much more sense in the fluff, or the Sisters have an attrition rate that makes even the Imperial Guard look conservative. Either way I wanted to share just to see what people thought.

 

And some follow up regarding 10.5B sounding too big:

 

 

And seeing as the Imperium measures it's population in Quintillions then even Billions rate as "elite". The Imperium is faaaaar too vast to attribute our sense of scale of. To put it into perspective the Battle Sisters number I've got there is 0.00005% of the population. I think that still ranks as "elite".

 

 

So for a further scale thing, if we apply that .00005% of the population to the US that gives us a whole 300 Sisters. Or 6 Sisters per a US State.

 

So I stand corrected, my memory was off on how many Sisters per state there would be earlier.

[Feuermann]

Just waiting for plastic sisters models to start to collect them ^ ^

 

Is the only signal I want :/

[Azatoth]

If I remember correctly Sanguinus is venerated as a kind of saint by the population of the empire, so I could imagine that maybe a Sororitas order is in good relations with the Blood Angels. Maybe even protecting shrines to him.

 

Him also having had wings is a nice synergy with Sororitas saints. I would not mind a lesser order maybe be that is stationed in the BA sphere of influence.

Red armor of course. Order of the Matyred Angel anyone? :)

[ElectricPaladin]

If I remember correctly Sanguinus is venerated as a kind of saint by the population of the empire, so I could imagine that maybe a Sororitas order is in good relations with the Blood Angels. Maybe even protecting shrines to him.

Him also having had wings is a nice synergy with Sororitas saints. I would not mind a lesser order maybe be that is stationed in the BA sphere of influence.

Red armor of course. Order of the Matyred Angel anyone?

Though it's important to remember that veneration of the Primarchs and veneration of Space Marines isn't exactly the same thing. You can worship Sanguinius and still think his sons have degenerated into a bunch of lunatics!

That said, I think this is actually a pretty clever idea. However, I'd shy away from making them just over-armored shrine maidens. What else do you imagine an order dedicated to the memory of Sanguinius might do? What if they were hyper-aggressive, trying to take the fight to the enemy, just like Sanguinius did? Preferred Seraphim? Had discovered the Black Rage and were trying, in their own way, to find a cure for their icon's benighted children?

[Aqui]

Perhaps such an Order would/could have a higher proportion of Hospitallier Sisters in it? The Order runs as a combatitive Order, but has a remit to find something that would save the Blood Angels and successors?

[BitsHammer]

As long as the order doesn't adopt the BA's nipple armor I think it'd be okay. :P

[*Furyou Miko]

That is one of the greatest flaws in the Sisters fluff - the Hospitallers and Dialogous are, by fluff, entirely separate Orders from the Militants, so the fact that the tabletop seems to represent them as specialist members of the Order Militant to which they are attached.

 

Sisters are shrine maidens - just, more this;

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/KaguraHakubi/Photos/kyudo_zps5c17585f.jpg

 

than this;

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/KaguraHakubi/Photos/miko-sweeping_zps07a245f0.jpg

 

Not that the two are mutually exclusive, heh.

 

As far as the tabletop is concerned, I'd say Seraphim focussed, with all non-jump units mounted in transports.

[ElectricPaladin]

That is one of the greatest flaws in the Sisters fluff - the Hospitallers and Dialogous are, by fluff, entirely separate Orders from the Militants, so the fact that the tabletop seems to represent them as specialist members of the Order Militant to which they are attached.

 

Sisters are shrine maidens - just, more this;

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/KaguraHakubi/Photos/kyudo_zps5c17585f.jpg

 

than this;

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/KaguraHakubi/Photos/miko-sweeping_zps07a245f0.jpg

 

Not that the two are mutually exclusive, heh.

 

As far as the tabletop is concerned, I'd say Seraphim focussed, with all non-jump units mounted in transports.

 

That's what I was going for, yeah. It's just that as much as I love my Blood Angels, I wouldn't want any Sisters of Battle Order to just be fangirls.

[Commander Dawnstar]

So having finally read Leviathan I think it's fairly safe to say that Tempestus has to be marked as straight-up discontinuity. It's something that was written by an author who was informed of a few plot points and general pieces of information regarding Lysios and the Sororitas there but was essentially given free reign to write his own story with no real concern how it would mesh with the campaign book other than the need to keep Magda Grace alive by the end.

 

In Tempestus:

• The Sororitas are still focussed on prosecuting cultists. Grace's primary concern is destroying the Shelsists and 'restoring' the world.
• They assume an Inquisitor bound for Lysios must be Ordo Hereticus and are surprised to learn he's Ordo Xenos.
• They decry a unit of Tempestos Scions arriving on Lysios as "a waste."
• Magda Grace is stated as killing the Lictor that haunted her on Dessecran. End of story.
• The arrival of the Tyranids appears a complete surprise. The characters all assume that the first spores are meteors.
• Grace and her Sororitas are on an airfield when the spore rain begins and are assaulted by a force of mutated members of the Planetary Governor's guard.
• The Canoness and a few Sisters and Scions are left trapped in a control tower which is compared to "an island inundated by a murderous sea."
• There's something of a cliffhanger concerning a scenario a little like the original Aliens.

In Leviathan:

• The Sororitas had been given explicit orders to stop the prosecution and execution of the populace in favour of protecting it. Magda Grace was glad for this.
• The Sororitas are very aware that Tyranids will arrive on Lysios within a week, so the last-minute arrival of an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor would make far more sense than Hereticus.
• The defenders would be glad for the arrival of any sort of support with hell on the horizon.
• The Lictor from Dessecran is made into a recurring enemy of Grace's whom she has apparently faced and killed multiple times. I'm not sure why the Hive Mind would keep sending the same Lictor after her but that's what they went for apparently.
• The Sororitas have spent the last few days fortifying and reinforcing any defensive positions available to them, and after the Canoness liaises with the locals they end up forming a massive corral of armoured vehicles to face the spores as they fall.
• There's no mention of the Inquisitor, his mission or the Scions and every reason to believe Grace was somewhere other than an airfield. It's hard to imagine that any mutants would be getting through a cordon of literally more than a thousand Sisters of Battle.
• The Sororitas outlast the initial landing. Things are hellish, certainly, but their main concern is running out of ammunition rather than being backed into a corner.
• Said Aliens-esque situation is never even hinted at.

I always knew that Tempestus was going to be little more than a cash-grab but I at least assumed it would actually lead into the story in the campaign book. Apparently not.

[Spacefrisian]

The Hivemind keeps sending the same Lictors as that is the way they learn how to beat an opponent, they did a similar thing against an Ork Warboss, send alot of the same over and over again. Although being an Ork he snapped and in rage moved out, got him killed very fast.

[*Furyou Miko]

So having finally read Leviathan I think it's fairly safe to say that Tempestus has to be marked as straight-up discontinuity. It's something that was written by an author who was informed of a few plot points and general pieces of information regarding Lysios and the Sororitas there but was essentially given free reign to write his own story with no real concern how it would mesh with the campaign book other than the need to keep Magda Grace alive by the end.

Or alternatively, the Tempestus events happen a week or two before Leviathan on a planet closer to the edge of the system.

[Commander Dawnstar]

 

Or alternatively, the Tempestus events happen a week or two before Leviathan on a planet closer to the edge of the system.

Nope, both pieces are very clearly set on Lysios. In fact I'm pretty sure that Lysios is the first world in the system that the Hive Fleet made planetfall on.

 

I wasn't actually aware that the Hive Mind tended to recycle Lictors, Spacefrisian. Thanks for that.

[*Furyou Miko]

Well, I'm stumped, then. Tempestus was a fun novel. I can't complain at either though. Taken on their own merits alone, both have the Sisters giving a good showing, with lots of superlatives and positive adjectives involved. The only real bugbears I have about Tempestus were Grace's wilful blindness at the genestealer mods on the cultists, and the number of plot hooks left unresolved.

[Spacefrisian]

Another prime example of the Hivemind recycling is the Swarmlord.

[Kros Morotho]

Perhaps Tempestus represents the initial vanguard of gaunts and little  gribblies... and then, two weeks later, the big stuff arrives and the real show begins? 

[Banjulhu]

Even more artwork and no new rules. Par for the course.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Well at least the second book has more sisters artwork so we have not been forgot about, we just have any real content past fluff. :P

[*Furyou Miko]

Maybe they're trying to drum up interest? Taking a census of how many people ask their store clerks about when the weird women in power armour are coming out, or if they're a new army or something.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

People who ask if sisters are a new army deserve a slap...

[*Furyou Miko]

Nah, it'll only be real newbies asking that. Ignorance isn't a sin unless it's deliberate.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Sister and the Inquisition call it a sin... ;)

[Knight of the Raven]

Actually ignorance is bliss according to the Inquisition and the High Lords. Ignorance is one of the foundations of the Imperium and it would collapse down into horror if too many people realized just what preys on humanity.

[BitsHammer]

From BoLS (from the Black Library teaser):

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i_17XtFX0uU/VJKH_K781LI/AAAAAAAAlWU/Gzh61fwFzFc/s1600/3xl%2B(1).jpg

 

And regarding contents:

 

ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN SUPPLEMENT

This product follows the desperate battle to save the Cryptus System from complete annihilation and halt the Hive Mind’s relentless advance. Inside you will find Echoes of War missions allowing you to re-enact the battles for the Shieldworlds, as well as new rules for fielding a Blood Angels 1st Company force, a Flesh Tearers army, plus a host of new formations for the Sons of Sanguinius. Also included are rules for creating a legion of the Necron Mephrit Dynasty, Dante’s unlikely allies against the tireless hunger of the Hive Mind."

 

So it looks like unless something was snuck in there that didn't make the contents description there isn't much for Sisters.

 

Don't get me wrong, they didn't even have to give us fluff or art and I'm really thankful for both because it's at least a nod that we exist, but I was hoping we could get some more on top of that.

 

EDIT: So I now have the book in my hands (which makes it good that I got this more for Flesh Tearer use someday then for potential Sisters because we got kicked in the shins this time). How? Well Sisters get mentioned in one of the missions: A Battle Against Time. There it's Imperials vs Nids with the Imperials only being allowed to field Blood Angels or Sororitas units (plus an added formation requirement for the Blood Angels and they need Seth as a Warlord). In the Mission Special rules Tyranids get a rule that makes them shrouded vs Psychic and shooting that's more than 12" away and all their units have Furious charge. Blood Angels have Counter-Attack on all their non-vehicle models. Sisters...get nothing. So you got Sisters models? Well here's a mission that gives you nothing for actually using them.

 

Great job guys.

 

About the only way they could do worse for me at this point is if they released a part 3 centered around the Sisters but gave them no rules in the entire book and instead gave the Crons all the rules.

 

And here's the rest of the Sisters art/model apperances beyond the first one:

 

http://i.imgur.com/qHjgLsG.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/G30iQoy.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/FxFWS7U.png

[Kros Morotho]

What's the "Defenders of the Cathedrum"formation?
 

[BitsHammer]

What's the "Defenders of the Cathedrum"formation?

 

A Blood Angels formation of a Terminator Squad, a Death Company Squad, 2 Tactical Squads, a Assault Squad and a Furioso Dreadnought which has Counter-attack and Stubborn for it's special rules. It's supposed to be for the Flesh Tearers in theory but there is no limitation that keeps it to them alone.