+++ Sisters of Battle: Only in Death +++

[Servant of Dante]

I have always thought it would be fun to run a forum event of some kind, so here we are. Only in Death is a Sisters of Battle event wherein players will follow one (or more, if they make multiple vows) unit(s) through several games, writing up a report or story about each game and posting it here. It may also involve keeping track of who kills what, and who dies, though all of that will be optional. I will try and provide guidelines that allow for detailed entries, but I don't want to require too much to participate, so the minimum entry will be . . . minimal.

Disclaimer the second: I am NOT a Mod, and I do NOT speak for the B&C. This is in no way an official B&C event, though this time I have the proper Moderator approval

EVENT DURRATION: Now through April 31 (exact time TBA)

Making a Vow

Each Frater may make up to four vows. Multiple vows may be made and worked toward simultaneously. Each vow must consist of one legal unit with the Adepta Sororitas faction (an Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave formation is an option), including vehicles but excluding unique characters, along with any dedicated transport or Independent Characters attached to that unit. The Options taken for that unit (but not point values), and any dedicated transports and Independent Characters attached to that unit, must be listed in your vow. Once a vow is made, the Options for that unit may not be changed unless otherwise stated in these guidelines.

Furthermore, a vow must include at least the name of the Sister Superior of the unit (or the name of the vehicle, in the case of vehicles), along with the names of any Independent Characters included in the vow. More names are welcome, but not required. For instance, the unit could have a squad name, or its transport could have a name, and so on. The formatting of the vow is not important, if all the necessary information is clearly displayed.

Example of requirements:

Battle Sister Squad

- 9 models

- Sister Superior Haezela Martein (Veteran Superior with Power Sword and Boltgun)

- 2 Flamers

- Simulacrum Imperialis

- Rhino with dozer blades

- Ministorum Priest with a laspistol and a chainsword

Vows are made in this thread, and will be recorded in the original post, along with your progress.

There is absolutely no painting requirement for this event. While you are absolutely welcome to paint some models for your vow, whether or not you do will not affect your participation in this event.

Filling A Vow

Within the time frame of the event, you must include your vowed unit, whole and unaltered from when you placed your vow, in at least three games of Warhammer 40,000 that meet the requirements listed below, and report on each of those games here. If you fail to do so, you will be marked Vow Breaker! After each game, you must make a report about your vowed unit. This can come in a variety of forms, but must include at least one of the following:

- A turn by turn breakdown of what models were removed as casualties (or what damage was taken, in the case of a vehicle) both by the vowed unit and by units shot at or fought in close combat by the vowed unit.

- A tactical summary of the battle, with special attention paid to what you used the vowed unit for, what it accomplished or failed to accomplish, how the vowed unit influenced the game (or didn’t), and so on, of at least 200 words,.

- A short story in the form of an in-universe after-action report by the Sister Superior or driver or another appropriate individual (such as perhaps the organist of an Exorcist included in a vow) of at least 200 words.

- A short story from the in-universe point of view of one or more of the women (or men) in the vowed unit about what they saw and did during the battle of at least 200 words.

If you want a shot at the Martyr, Executioner, Cleanser, and Tank Hunter banners, be sure to include tallies of how many models from your vow were removed as casualties, how many enemy characters were killed (had their final wound or hull point removed) by models from your vow, how many enemy models were killed by flame weapons carried by models in your vow, and how many vehicles were killed (had their last hull point removed) by models in your vow. These tallies should be kept separately for each of your vows if you make more than one!

Attempt to use the names you provided in your vow, and feel free to name more models as you go along! Remember that these are just the bare minimum requirements to avoid breaking your vow. This means you are welcome to make reports on as many games as you want in the timeframe of the event (and you might need to if you want to get some of the fancy banners at the bottom of this post) The point of this event is to have fun playing 40K and writing about the exploits of a specific unit in your army.

Whatever you choose to do, post it in this thread and I will update the original post to reflect your progress!

Army Requirements

For a game to count toward completing your vow, your list must meet the following requirements. Of course, making sure you are following the rules is your responsibility, we’re using the honor system.

- includes at least one vowed unit, with the correct options and attached characters and vehicles.

- all vowed units must be deployed or placed in reserves in their dedicated transports (if they have one) with all Independent Characters attached to the unit they were vowed with (if applicable)

- once a unit is on the field, it may disembark and embark on any and all transports as you wish, and Independent Characters can join and leave units at will. They can join units they were not vowed with, and units can be joined by Independent Characters not included in their vow.

- No more than 25% of the point limit of the list (rounding down) may be spent on allies. An "ally" is any unit that is not a legal, non-Lord of War choice for an Adepta Sororitas Combined Arms Detachment, and is not named Belisarius Cawl or Inquisitor Greyfax. This doesn’t mean you must use a CAD, of course.

- None of the opposing armies may include any units with the Adepta Sororitas faction, or be named Celestine.

- The game must be played through at least four turns, or until one side loses. Concessions by any party before the conclusion of the fourth turn invalidate the game for the purposes of this competition

Games Involving More than Two Players

A game involving more than two players may count toward a vow. The points your allies (if any) spend on non-Sisters units ("allies" as defined above") do not count toward the 25% limit on allies in your list. Regardless of the number of players and teams, none of the players not on your team may have any Adepta Sororitas units or Celestine (though your teammates are free to use such units).

I originally wasn't going to allow allies at all; you can thank Aquilanus for the change.

Note that those who play older editions of 40K, or Kill Team, or some other game that can include Sisters can still participate. I’ll work with you to set up some basic guidelines on a case-by-case basis through this thread or PMs. I don’t want to exclude any Sisters players just because they aren’t playing 7th edition 40K.

Kill Team

A vow may consist of a single list for a game of Kill Tea. The vow must include every model in the list, and no others. Either the official Games Workshop version, or the Heralds of Ruin Kill Team rules are acceptable. Like other vows, once a Kill Team vow is made, it may not be changed. You may vow one or more Kill Teams alongside normal vows. The following changes to the normal rules apply to Kill Team vows:

• You must at minimum name you Kill Team's Commander (this replaces the requirement to name a unit's Sister Superior).
• No allies (as defined above) of any kind are allowed.
• The Model Death rules may be used, treating each model in the Kill Team as an individual unit (this means that you must use replacements for wounded or killed models; recall that replacements have identical Wargear to the model they replace).

All other rules remain unchanged. If you believe I have missed something, feel free to ask!

Banners

Now compliant with 800x100 pixel limit for images in signatures!

Now we get to the fun part. I have to admit that the chance to make these is half the reason I’m doing this, though I really do think this is a unique event, and it fits what I like to do with 40k. Each banner and a description of it's purpose is in the Hidden Content tag below. I think I can fit banners to other dimensions upon request (but the aspect ration needs to remain the same). If there is interest, I might try to make smaller banners that are taller than they are wide, for those with cramped signatures .

Please take a Vow Taker banner if you make a vow, the Sisters sub-forum can always use some attention!

Please don’t take banners you are not entitled to. I’ve made some special ones as rewards, and I’d like them to be special. Thanks!

Hidden Content

Vow Taker

This banner is for anyone who makes a vow to put in their signature during the event.

Vow Breaker

Anyone who fails to complete at least one of their vows by the end of the event is welcome to put this lovely banner in their signature.

Victor

Anyone who completes at least one vow is entitled to a Victor banner.

Penitent

This banner is for those that complete a vow that includes a unit of Repetia.

Martyr

This banner will be awarded to the Frater with the vow that has the most models removed as casualties over the course of the games played during the event.

Executioner

This banner will be awarded to the Frater with the vow that kills the most enemy characters over the course of the games played during the event.

Tank Hunter

This banner will be awarded to the Frater with the vow that kills the most enemy vehicles over the course of the games played during the event.

Cleanser

This banner will be awarded to the Frater with the vow that kills the most enemy models with flame weapons over the course of the games played during the event.

Optional Rule: Model Death

Hidden Content

You can choose to apply these rules to one or more of your vows that include infantry models. Any vehicles in that vow are unaffected. Since these rules do alter the composition of a unit, they should be used on an entire vow, or not at all. However, you do not have to use them every game if you don’t want to. The only thing I ask is that if you do use them for a vowed unit, you use them as written and include the results in your report for that vow for that game.

Note that you do not have to use these rules to compete for the Martyr banner. You need only track how many models from a vowed unit are removed as casualties over the course of the event (and a model being removed multiple times in subsequent games does count as multiple "deaths").

At the end of the game, roll a die for each model removed as a casualty during the game and consult the chart below. Apply any of the following modifiers that are applicable, all modifiers are cumulative with eachother:

Character +1

Canoness +1

Killed by a wound with the Instant Death rule -2

Killed by a wound with Strength three times its toughness -1

In the case of models killed by destroyer weapons, a result of 1 is a "Major Injury" and all other results "Out of Action". Do not apply any modifiers to this roll.

Example: a Sister Superior killed by a Lascannon would subtract 2 from her roll (+1 (Character) -2 (Instant Death) -1 (S = 3*T) = -2)

1-2 - Out of Action: The model is killed or grievously wounded (your choice). The model may not be included in your lists for the remainder of the games you play using the vowed unit the model is in that meet the requirements of this competition. *

3-4 - Major Injury: the model survives, but will require rest before returning to action. The model may not be included in your list the next time you play a game using the vowed unit the model is in that meets the requirements of this competition. *

5-6 - Minor Injury: the models Sisters, or a nearby Sister Hospitaller, are able to patch the model up and get them back on their feet. The model suffers no ill effects.

* You the next time you play a game with this vowed unit you may either simply not include the wounded/killed model in your list, or you may say that a replacement has been assigned to the unit until the wounded model recovers (or permanently, in the case of killed models). Units with wounded/killed Sisters Superior must get replacements, though you may “promote” one of the other Sisters in the unit (though you may also just get a replacement): functionally, one of the remaining unwounded Sisters in the unit is removed and the Sister Superior remains in the unit. Units that fall beneath five models must get at least enough replacements to bring their number to five, but replacements may never bring the unit to a size larger than its size when the vow was made. Replacements must have the same wargear as the model they replace. When wounded models return to their unit, any replacement that was brought in for them leaves the unit. When wounded Sisters Superior return to their unit, any Sister that was promoted to replace them returns to their former role.

Note that replacements do not alter how the unit plays in-game; they simply give participants a way to represent model deaths while maintaining a viable size for their vowed units on the tabletop. It is recommended that replacements be given names, along with all other models in vowed units so that model injuries and deaths become more meaningful.

[Servant of Dante]

Vow Progress

Servant of Dante

1 - Sororitas Command Squad (Canoness Commander Luxia Telnayan)

 

2 - Exorcist Tank "Sorrow's Keen" (Sisters Pietine Erador and Alaedia Denth)

     A - Sisters and Death Guard vs Ultramarines and Imperial Guard (2v2)

 

3 - Dominion Squad Tempestus (Dominion Superior Lynata)

     A - Sisters and Death Guard vs Ultramarines and Imperial Guard (2v2)

 

Jacinda

1 - Battle Sister Squad (Sister Superior Brianna Libidine, Father Brennan Haas) - Immolator

     A - Sisters v Black Legion

 

2 - Repentia Squad (Mistress of Repentance Rhonna) - Sororitas Rhino "Mercy of Blood"

     A - Sisters vs Black Legion

 

Sister_Miriya

1 - Clestian Kill Team (Senior Celestian Raina) - Immolator "Emperor's Hate"

 

Brightstar

1 - Dominion Squad Incandor (Sister Superior Selene Martak) - Immolator "Blazing Edict"

[Servant of Dante]

I, Servant of Dante, vow to display records of the acts of Canoness Commander Luxia Telnayan of the Order of the Valorous Heart and her Command Squad over the allotted time.

Vow Details:

Sororitas Command Squad

Imagifer Cantelen Agena (Blessed Banner)

Celestian Magitha Yarret (Heavy Bolter)

Celestian Belaen Sarent (Heavy Bolter)

Celestian Illium Bethei (Heavy Bolter)

Celestian Olineve Eldemen (Heavy Bolter)

Canoness (attached)

Canoness Commander Luxia Telnayan (Chainsword, Plasma Pistol, Rosarius)

names may be subject to change I'm looking forward to this. I hope some of you are too!

Remember that you don't have to make all your vows at the same time, just get them filled by the end of the event! I've included more names than are strictly necessary here :P

[Jacinda]

Forging a narrative, hmm?

 

Sounds like fun!  I'm in.

[Jacinda]

I, Jacinda, vow to herald the Faithful Acts of Sister Superior Brianna Libidine of the Order of Our Martyred Lady and her Battle Sister squad as they are performed during their time of duty.

 

Vow Details:

 

Battle Sister Squad

Sister Superior Brianna Libidine (Power sword and Condemnor Bolter)

Battle Sister Jacqueline Shrine (Flamer)

Battle Sister Yuki Tachibana (Meltagun)

Battle Sister Lyssa Mari (Simulacrum)

5 Battle Sisters

Sororitas Rhino (Storm Bolter, dozer blade) yet to earn a name

Priest Brennan Haas (plasmagun)

 

[edit]
Added names for the specialist.  I thought about calling them Dominion Sisters which would be fluffy but confusing maybe?

[Jacinda]

I, Jacinda, vow to herald the Faithful Acts of Mistress Rhonna and her Sisters Repentia from the Order of Our Martyred Lady as they strive for absolution of thier sins during their time of duty.

 

Vow Details:

 

Repentia Squad

Mistress of Repentia Rhonna

6 Sisters Repentia given the designations Angel, Bronwyn, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Fox.

Sororitas Rhino "Mercy of Blood"

[Servant of Dante]

Awesome! I'd reeeeally like to see someone use the Model Death rules for a unit of Repentia. It would be really thematic.

Hum. I was worried about this. You don't need to make a "Vow Progress" post I'm going to use the one at the top of the thread to track everyone's progress

Feel free to take a "vow taker" banner for your signature (and a Penitent one while you're at it. You'd just have to get rid of it if you fail your vow, which would be extra ironic for a unit of Repentia). . .

"FORGE THE NARATIVE!"

-GW cheering us on from across the Atlantic (well, it's across the Atlantic for me)

[Servant of Dante]

What the heck. I, Servant of Dante vow to display records of the acts of the Exorcist Tank Sorrow's Keen.

 

Exorcist Tank Sorrow's Keen (Dozer Blades)

- Sister Pietine Erador(Driver) [pie-eh-teen]

- Sister Alaedia Denth (Organist) 

 

Edit (4/21/17) yeah I'm swapping the names, Pietine is the organist and Alaedia is the driver

[Commander Dawnstar]

I certainly hope be taking part in this in due course but most likely not for a week or more as I haven't got some of my key models on-hand right now.

[Servant of Dante]

I certainly hope be taking part in this in due course but most likely not for a week or more as I haven't got some of my key models on-hand right now.

Certainly not an issue! I've set the end date for the end of April for those who don't play more than a game or two in a month, and the minimum for a vow is just three games :D I look forward to seeing your vow!

[Servant of Dante]

Ah, I should note here that I have clarified that you don't have to use the optional model death rules to compete for the Martyr banner, and how games with more than 2 players works in terms of list construction

 

Edit: also, I've clarified that the tank hunter banner is for killing vehicles of all kinds, not just those with the Tank type

[Commander Dawnstar]

I'm not sure if I said this when you put this thread up the first time, but thanks for making the effort to do something like this, Dante. It's really good of you.

[Jacinda]

Awesome! I'd reeeeally like to see someone use the Model Death rules for a unit of Repentia. It would be really thematic.

Hum. I was worried about this. You don't need to make a "Vow Progress" post I'm going to use the one at the top of the thread to track everyone's progress

Ah. OK. I axed the Vow Progress so it doesn't get confusing.

And I do plan to make heavy use Model Death especially with the Repentia.

-- OK. I'm done editing the squads for now. The BSS is not what I would normally take in a list but I think this makes them all the better for a featured squad in a story.

(and BTW ....

*squeeeee*

I'm having fun already )

[Servant of Dante]

I'm not sure if I said this when you put this thread up the first time, but thanks for making the effort to do something like this, Dante. It's really good of you.

Hehe. No problem. I see these events on the forum, and I think "wouldn't it be cool to be one of those guys running official looking events?" Plus, this event is a Sisters thing, and I haven't seen one of those in the time I've been on the forum (admittedly not that long) and this event is exactly the kind of thing that interests me. I'm really looking forward to writing from the organist's point of view

Awesome! I'd reeeeally like to see someone use the Model Death rules for a unit of Repentia. It would be really thematic.

Hum. I was worried about this. You don't need to make a "Vow Progress" post I'm going to use the one at the top of the thread to track everyone's progress

Ah. OK. I axed the Vow Progress so it doesn't get confusing.

And I do plan to make heavy use Model Death especially with the Repentia.

-- OK. I'm done editing the squads for now. The BSS is not what I would normally take in a list but I think this makes them all the better for a featured squad in a story.

(and BTW ....

*squeeeee*

I'm having fun already )

Awesome! I would really prefer that, like I said in the OP, if you sue the Model Death ruled for a battle, you use them for the entirety of the vowed unit and exactly as written, especially since they can change your squad size (or at least give you the option to downsize as models die). Plus, this way model deaths will be consistent between different people's vows, which I think is more interesting.

And yeah, I consider all heavy weapon Sisters Retributors and all special weapon Sisters Dominions, but since the command squad is already filled with Celestians, I figured that takes precedent. Of course, that's all headcanon, so it up to you! Is there just 1 Sister with a boltgun and no name (poor her)? Your vow still says "5 Sistters" but then they couldn't fit in the Immolator together.

I'm glad to hear you're having fun! I think this is a neat idea (of course) but what I like in the hobby often doesn't line up with what other people like

I'll be getting my first game in on Friday (hopefully). Needless to say, my list will be purely Sisters (and maaaaybe an Inquisitor if I think there will be psykers that need their heads bashed)

Edit: I'm not sure I'll be vowing my 5 heavy flamer command squad, since it's associated with the Order of the Glorious Reprisal, and I'm doing Valorous Heart, but it's so much fun. Maybe I can vow a HF Retributor squad? but I do already have 2 vows . . . well, I suppose I'll wait and see. I should have plenty of time to finish one of my first 2 vows then add a third, though I was planning on taking Luxia and her command squad in every game in the next 3 months.

Edit: scratch that (what I had in yellow at the top of this post). A vow is a vow. To keep things simple, once you post a vow, you can change model names and nothing else. Like it says in the rules I already wrote :P sorry about the confusion :P

[Sister_Miriya]

I should be playing a game next weekend or so. I may end up running a Kill Team so are the rules going to be different for the vow?

[Servant of Dante]

I should be playing a game next weekend or so. I may end up running a Kill Team so are the rules going to be different for the vow?

Yeah they'll be slightly different. Of course kill team doesn't allow allies, so no allies at all allowed :P At minimum, I would like you to name your team commander, though with kill team I think it would be a great opportunity to name all your models. The Model Death rules can be used, treating each model as it's own unit though you must get replacements for wounded/killed models (and remember their wagers must be the same as the model they replace). The options for reporting on a game remain unchanged. Basically your whole kill team will be a single vow.

 

I'm on my phone right now, so I'll review what I've said here and get it added to the rules in the OP when I'm back in front of my computer. Any other questions? :)

[Sister_Miriya]

I'll most likely name each sister since they are technically independent "units"

 

martyrdom will defiantly be involved! And I will be going against the vile daemons and orks! So it will be an interesting battle for sure....

 

Ill take a look when you make the official ruling

[Servant of Dante]

 

Kill Team

A vow may consist of a single list for a game of Kill Tea. The vow must include every model in the list, and no others. Either the official Games Workshop version, or the Heralds of Ruin Kill Team rules are acceptable. Like other vows, once a Kill Team vow is made, it may not be changed. You may vow one or more Kill Teams alongside normal vows. The following changes to the normal rules apply to Kill Team vows:

 

• You must at minimum name you Kill Team's Commander (this replaces the requirement to name a unit's Sister Superior).
• No allies (as defined above) of any kind are allowed.
• The Model Death rules may be used, treating each model in the Kill Team as an individual unit (this means that you must use replacements for wounded or killed models; recall that replacements have identical Wargear to the model they replace).

All other rules remain unchanged. If you believe I have missed something, feel free to ask!

Kill Team rules are up!

[Sister_Miriya]

Sweet thank you Dante

[Jacinda]

 

 Is there just 1 Sister with a boltgun and no name (poor her)? Your vow still says "5 Sistters" but then they couldn't fit in the Immolator together.

 

 

DOH!

I had to edit the squad to make it legal :(

sorry .... I blame the shaky state of world politics for my short attention and lack of ... hey, is that a fox in the back yard?

[Sister_Miriya]

I, Sister_Miriya, vow to show declassified records of the faithful acts belonging Celestian Kill Team Rosalind.

 

Celestian Kill Team: Rosalind

• Senior Celestian Raina (Melta Bombs, Storm bolter, Vet)
• Celestian Dominic, Weapons Specialist (Heavy Bolter with Reaping Volley)
• Celestian Yasmine The Guerilla Specialist (Flamer with infiltrate)
• Celestian Lillith The "dirty fighter"(Bolter with blinding attack)
• Celestian Rebecca (Bolter)
• Celestian Eve (Bolter)
• Justice Pattern Immolator "Emperor's Hate" (TL Multi-Meltas with Extra Armor, Laud Hailer)

  Crewed by:

  --Sister Katherine (Gunner)

  --Sister "Kit" (Driver)

[Servant of Dante]

And the vow progress post is up to date! This is great I can't wait to write about my Sisters, and see what all you are doing (I'll be doing a narrative and a record of what each unit does for each of my vows I think . . . )

Now if I can only get someone else to take a Vow Taker banner . . .

[Sister_Miriya]

I have no idea what you are talking about Dante ;)

[Servant of Dante]

Yay! :P I'm pretty happy with how those turned out (of course) and I figure this way maybe people outside the Sisters forum will notice the event :) (plus they were a lot of work, but that's beside the point really).

[Sister_Miriya]

I dig 'em! I should be playing my game this weekend (maybe as soon as Thursday/Friday if I pull some shananagins) so ill be posting something, multiple games are a definite possibility!