Unit of the Week IV - Battle Sister Squad (BSS)

[Aqui]

Unit of the week I - Exorcist

Unit of the week II - Imolator

Unit of the week III - Repentia

Welcome to Unit of the Week IV - Battle Sister Squad (BSS)!

The back bone to any Sisters army. How do you use yours? I usually have them in squads of ten, but I have been tempted to increase their size to up to twenty and still take a Rhino or Immolator to use as a shield or simply for the weapons. Is it better to take more smaller squads or amass them in larger numbers? I've also been working out whether or not it's worth giving them a heavy weapon, or just have a Retributor squad or two instead. Would they benefit having a Canoness with them? I know that Celestine is better off with Seraphim due to being a flier, but short of taking Priests (which I lack as there aren't many GW options for female counts as), I'm not sure how to get the best out of them.

The floor is open

[*Furyou Miko]

Bend them, stretch them, use them any way you want to.

 

5-strong with double specials in Immos works pretty well. Leaves you space for a character in the transport, although our attachable ICs are less points efficient the smaller the squad they're attached to.

 

5-strong with a heavy weapon and an immolator gives you a token backfield unit that can offer moderate protection to your exorcists, or sit on an objective for cheap.

 

10-strong with double specials in a Rhino gives you a good take-and-hold unit. Aggressive, good at sweeping up to reinforce any surviving Dominions units. Also good at screening Repentia. Can drop a sister to fit a character in there, probably a Priest or Jacobus.

 

10-strong with double specials in a Repressor is a bit pricier. More of an anchor unit in my opinion. Not quite as aggressive because it wants to keep the enemy in that AV13 front arc. Can use a Heavy Flamer better than most of the other options because it synergises with the Repressor's heavy flamer... if you want to get that close.

 

10-strong with double specials or special and heavy and an Immolator is a firing line, The Immolator anchors it at one end, offering partial cover to the squad, while the infantry do the grunt work, walking up the board with the other squads as an inexorable tide.

 

20-strong with two special weapons and an Immolator gives you the same as the 10-strong option, but with more bodies. Ultimately, what this effectively means is fewer immolators and fewer special weapons. Unless for some reason you're high on points and low on force organisation slots, I wouldn't bother with this.

 

20-strong with two special weapons and a superior kitted for assault should bring an immo, but it has nothing to do with them. Their job is to shoot, then charge, with two priests in attendance, a second (or third!) identical squad, and a Blessed Banner behind them. It doesn't care that it's WS3/S3/I3 with only three power weapons in the whole unit, it's rerolling to hit and wound with sixty AP- attacks and another 10 S5AP4 or S4AP2 attacks, then rerolling 3+/6++ saves in return. _{Not recommended for use against wraithdar. Terms and conditions may apply.}

[Servant of Dante]

I have used 20 with simulacrum 2 flamers and a vet superior with power sword

It's fun but i do it mostly because I don't have enough transports.

I gave them 2 priests and litanies of faith

In that same list I didn't have points to really kit out my other bss so I gave them a hb and a storm bolter and a priest for holding objectives. Didn't have points for a transport

 

Also, the models I own limit my options

[Aqui]

20-strong with two special weapons and a superior kitted for assault should bring an immo, but it has nothing to do with them. Their job is to shoot, then charge, with two priests in attendance, a second (or third!) identical squad, and a Blessed Banner behind them. It doesn't care that it's WS3/S3/I3 with only three power weapons in the whole unit, it's rerolling to hit and wound with sixty AP- attacks and another 10 S5AP4 or S4AP2 attacks, then rerolling 3+/6++ saves in return. _{Not recommended for use against wraithdar. Terms and conditions may apply.}

I'll have to look into this one. I kinda understand the other options (as I've seen other builds like them around the B+C and elsewhere). I have to admit I'm a little slow when it comes to using Priests/Jacobus and the Blessed Banner (more so the latter as I don't have one yet)

[*Furyou Miko]

This is the first list I put together for that. These days, I'd drop the Exorcist for Litanies and some Repentia though.

[Aqui]

This is the first list I put together for that. These days, I'd drop the Exorcist for Litanies and some Repentia though.

I'd need to get more Priests, but otherwise I more or less will have the rest. Just need to find some GW okay female models...

[Servant of Dante]

I've realized that now that all my characters in my order have names, I'm further limited. For instance, my superior with a power sword is a veteran superior in fluff, so I can only run her if I pay for the veteran upgrade

[Aqui]

I've realized that now that all my characters in my order have names, I'm further limited. For instance, my superior with a power sword is a veteran superior in fluff, so I can only run her if I pay for the veteran upgrade

Unless in those games where she is a regular Sister Superior the game(s) are set before she becomes a Veteran

[Warsmith Aznable]

I usually have two squads at 5, one with flamers and another with meltaguns. The melta BSS unit is a response/near objective unit that can back up my Dominions if they have to. The flamer squad is for holding close objectives, but can also move out to block incoming infantry if they have to. As I go up in points I'm more likely to bump up their numbers (mostly concentrating points into other  units) than take more BSS squads, but I have enough women to field 8 MSU BSS or 4 @ 10, depending on what I'm expecting to face.

[Servant of Dante]

I've realized that now that all my characters in my order have names, I'm further limited. For instance, my superior with a power sword is a veteran superior in fluff, so I can only run her if I pay for the veteran upgrade

Unless in those games where she is a regular Sister Superior the game(s) are set before she becomes a Veteran

Yes, but I prefer the idea of the games being set in "current time," and if I'm being completely accurate, Squad Dominus numbers 20 sisters, but I guess the squad could just do a partial deployment . . .

[*Furyou Miko]

Dominus could do a partial deployment, or they could combat squad, or break into fire teams... there are plenty of ways around it. :)

[Arkaniss]

My favourite has always been a standard 10 in a Rhino with melta and flamer - perhaps a combi-melta with the Superior. Simple and effective, potent against infantry and is also a threat to armour. The exact load out might be tweaked but the general idea remains the same.

 

I'm not a fan of a 20-Sister squad, I've always found 2 squads of 10 more useful.

[Naminé]

I love battle sister squads, I think they're pretty awesome for a troops choice and there is no wrong way to run them, which is what sparks so much debate.  I think it takes everyone a little while until they find their favourite setup.

 

For 5 girls, you are basically looking at msu special weapon spam, either double flamer or double melta. Shove them in Immolators and throw them forward to kill things... there's little else to it.

 

For 10, I like the Rhino (or Repressor at higher points) with Flamers, since by now putting a melta in really wastes those extra bolter girls and squanders their full potential.  The good thing about this size squad is it has a good balance between staying power and cheap firepower, and if you're careful with it, it can pretty much run solo if needed.

 

For 20, there is the super cheap dakka option (couple o' stormbolters and a Heavy bolter) or the blob 'deathstar' (though this has been continually nerfed since the codex first arrived.  The latter is a good distraction if you have other scary things, but it will be a significant portion of your army so you'll need to throw it into everything, and it will likely die by the end of the game.  The former is a good distraction in another way, in that it is substantially powerful enough to warrant enemy attention, but nothing so crucial that you can't afford to lose it, whilst it will take a lot of devotion to kill the squad.

 

My personal setup is 9 girls with a priest in a Rhino, double flamers (no point in the Heavy Flamer now) and double combi-flamers, and if I've got the points, some melta bombs thrown in.

The only infantry this squad cannot wipe in my experience is Decurion Warriors or 30k Death Guard Terminators.  Even Salamanders will take heavy losses.

 

One setup I used to run was a 10 girl unit with no upgrades, who would come on from reserve purely to hold an objective.  In the new edition, I would drop this to 5, since it's cheap and a decent amount of power armour to chew through.

[CaptainHelion]

I like to run Heavy Flamer/Meltagun 10 sister squads in rhinos. Combimelta and meltabomb on the superior. Definitely not the best option, but I appreciate the flexibility it gives when I've got three of these on the field.

[Blackarmor_redtruth]

My go-to is 10, melta bombs on veteran, flamer and melta gun. It has all the bases covered and extra wounds to keep them going, they also walk everywhere. I've been experimenting lately with a mix of either 8 or 7 and have had about the same luck as with the group of 10. They are a threat, and the bodies and Shield of Faith keep them up a turn longer than most folks expect. You need a larger squad to eat-up table space for anti-drop pods and to act as lane blockers or mobile shields for some other stuff. I like three to four squads.

[momerathe]

Hi all. Firstly let me say how great these threads are - being new to Sisters they're some really interesting discussion.

 

On to the topic at hand, a couple of questions.

 

* How do people feel like a dismounted unit of 5 with Heavy bolter & Immolator. The Sisters camp a backfield objective, while the Immolator goes off to hunt tanks/cap objectives. I thought the heavy bolter would give them some way to project firepower while staying back.

 

* For a midfield board-control squad of 10+rhino (or 9+rhino+tankish Canoness), what specials would you go for? And is a combi weapon on a VSS/Character (or both!) worth the extra investment?

[CaptainHelion]

For midfield board control, I think twin specials in the way to go. Either double flamers, to sweep objectives and fend off charges, or dual melta to be able to worry most anything that comes near. A combi-weapon on the Superior is a solid plan, make it match the specials so you have a one use 50% increase in power. Melta or flamer really depends on taste and the role you have in mind. Melta will worry AV and elite infantry but will struggle with anything that needs weiget of fire, while flamers are going to give hordes definite pause but will do blast-all to a vehicle.

[*Furyou Miko]

I use five with a heavy bolter as a filler unit in <1000 point games fairly effectively. They're capable of holding their own against most enemy advance units at that points value, although in bigger games they tend to be swept first.

[Servant of Dante]

I use five with a heavy bolter as a filler unit in <1000 point games fairly effectively. They're capable of holding their own against most enemy advance units at that points value, although in bigger games they tend to be swept first.

Although, as always, I cede to the better judgement of more experienced players, I think most any BSS can benefit from a priest, especially these small ones, if only so that they don't lose 2 models and run off an objective

[momerathe]

Hmm. That seems like a pretty expensive upgrade though..? A bare-bones priest would be a third the price of a small squad..

[Servant of Dante]

Hmm. That seems like a pretty expensive upgrade though..? A bare-bones priest would be a third the price of a small squad..

I guess. 25 points for an IC is cheap to me. Plus they do have a 4++ and war hymns. But yes, it can get expensive.