Sisters inducting new vehicles into Order

[Beams]

I'd prefer fleur de Lys shaped jetbikes - with penitent pattern underslung heavy bolter for heretic hunting.

 

Big, heavy armoured transports like the gorgon supported by penitent engines on the ground. Somehow sisters need to be a bit different to both guard and space marines.

They should be, but in practice it equates to worse space marines that cost more, but hey, you can take 20 in a squad.

 

Or defining grace is the prevalence of special/heavy weapons that is higher than all other imperial armies, and our being more likely than other's to survive high strength lie so weapons.

[micahwc]

Put the bolters in the petals of the fleur de lis

 

Edit: something like this.

 

http://imgur.com/A2PhNhT

 

Multi melta in the nose, hurricane bolter under the wing. Wings fold up a bit. Supposed to be like angel wing feathers on top of the wing.

[Servant of Dante]

I think that fleur shaped bikes would look reeeeeally silly, but that's just me.

[robofish7591]

Personally I would like to see some kind of baneblade chassis with big melta cannon, maybe have hurricane bolters, heavy bolters, or heavy flamers as sponson option.  Plus lots of stained glass, church organs, and murals all over... practical, no... awesome, yes!

[Knight of the Raven]

I like the idea of sisters of battle pilfering vehicles from their allies' armouries, if only because I find the idea of Blood Ravens and an order coming to the same battelfield for "relic recovery" after some other chapter's battle and getting into a sissy slap fight over that sexy overturned sicaran over there hilarious.

 

More seriously, we know space marine chapters take spoils of wars upon defeat of other space marines (whether loyalist, renegade or traitorous), but we don't know if sisters of battle do the same, or more accurately if they can do the same, possibly due to the lack of lore about them. Space marines already don't take kindly to other chapters stealing their holy relics, and I suspect the only reason Blood Ravens haven't been wiped out by a coalition of chapters seeking to get back what the magpies are hoarding is because they're protected by their status as Dawn of War protagonists. An Adepta Sororitas order taking a space marine tank for themselves without permission are likely to get a visit from its owners even with the Ecclesiarchy's backing. Some chapters might deign proposing them to return the vehicle before opening fire, but space marines like the Iron Hands and the Space Wolves would just reduce the monastery to rubble from the get-go before thumbing their nose at the Ecclesiarchy.

 

That doesn't mean sisters of battle can't get space marine vehicles however. A friendly or grateful chapter might gift an order a tank after a battle or campaign where the sisters have been particularly essential, be it in securing victory, protecting important sites or swooping in to prevent a space marine rout strategic redeployment to another battlefield to turn into a slaughter. That'll probably require several casualties from the Adepta Sororitas before they consider gifting the thing, but still. Or maybe a tank's machine spirit was impressed by the sisters and made the techmarine understand it wanted to join them.

 

Or maybe that Space Wolf vindicator's machine spirit is just sick of living in a dumpster and having wolves pee on its tracks all the time and wants to go with the army that actually understands the concept ot hygiene. That works too.

 

As for imperial guard vehicles, while the squaddies guarding the parking lot can't exactly say no to a sister of battle who wants to take a hellhoud for a joy ride, their superiors probably can, and if they can't, the enginseer in charge certainly will tell her off.

 

Of course, if you really want to field more varied vehicles, nothing prevents you to paint a sicaran battle tank, a land raider, a sentinel or even a macharius vulcan* in the colors of your order. All the Imperium is battle brothers after all. You just might have trouble with land speeders since you'd have to replace the pilot and gunner's space marine models with sisters of battle.

 

*I really need to start painting that thing.

[micahwc]

Space wolves bomb the monastery from orbit. They come down expecting no resistance. Half their force melts in a hellish torrent of melta fire. Space wolves realize that every battle sister made their shield of faith roll.

[Sir_Gaea]

Well, I was planning on playing up the entire "Ignorance is a Blessing" aspect of 40k, and have my sisters find an ancient battlefield where one vessel of war still has life, a wounded hound, loyal to death, abandoned by it's masters. The ignorance comes in when they find an unknown (either Legion Glaive or Legion Fellblade) vehicle that has marked similarities to the Astra Militarum's Baneblades but of superior manufacture.

 

The Sisters take it to their convent where they repair it and reconsecrate it in the name of the God Emperor. In return it gives them it's all in battle.

[Knight of the Raven]

Yeah, that's one of the most plausible ways to make it work. Makes you wonder if sisters let the Adeptus Mechanicus into their convent or if some sisters are trained on Mars though.

 

An Adepta Sororitas mechanic is a nice image.

[Aqui]

Yeah, that's one of the most plausible ways to make it work. Makes you wonder if sisters let the Adeptus Mechanicus into their convent or if some sisters are trained on Mars though.

An Adepta Sororitas mechanic is a nice image.

It would be Pity it's doubtful we'll get one

[Sir_Gaea]

Well, in Hammer and Anvil we see that neither side had any respect for one another, so I really can't see a Sister trained in the ways of He on Earth in His Aspect of the  Omnissiah. That said, I once read a fanfic where a Techpriet had a one night stand with a SIster and the Canoness jumped on that as an excuse to co-opt an entire Explorator Fleet to fix her gear on the Crusade the Sisters were about to embark on.

 

You can use that or possibly have the Canoness and the Magos once serve alongside each other under the command of an Inquisitor and build up a friendship.

[Red_Shift]

You don't need much excuse to give sisters a new tech tree. Maybe there was an advanced race of abhumans that were purged and their exclusive stc designs coopted for the ecclesiarchy. Ad mech would leap at the chance to play with the tech regardless of having to deal with the sisters.

[Servant of Dante]

Hahaha

 

You just brought up the two Sisters topics I've never seen complete agreement on. Who repairs the Sisters vehicles (how much do the Mechanicus do), and Sisters having intimate relations . . .

 

I'm not really in the mood for either of those discussions, so I'll just leave it at that. :D

 

(But if there are Adeptus Sororitas mechanics, I like to think the more specialized ones are memebers of one of the Orders Pronatus)

[micahwc]

The biggest hurdle in the sisters getting a new vehicle is the blessing of the ecclesiarchy; certifying the vehicle is "holy".  That being said, the Repressor was "holified" after impromptu use. I could see some Sororitas type technicals being developed during prolonged conflict. This being said, here are some spitballed ideas.

 

After lots of prolonged defensive siege fighting the faithful sisters take a page from the demolisher, and uparmor a rhino or chimera chassis. A modified melta array is fabricated to help punch through enemy fortifications. You end up with a rhino/chimera with extra armor, no transport capability, and a short ranged focused melta array. Melta array can fire a sustained blast similar to that of a multi melta, or can volley fire like a melta gun with heavy 4 (or something like that).

 

The siege lasted long after the penitent had paid for their sins, yet many of the penitent engines were able to be repaired into serviceable condition. Lacking sinners to pilot them, especially devout sisters volunteered to pilot the engines to bring death the enemies of the emperor. Upgraded with a laud hailer to keep the faithful's spirit up, and armed with a shoulder mounted twin linked heavy bolter, these Piety engines allowed the faithful to purge many heretics in the name of the emperor. While not as armored as a dreadnought or dread knight, the impressive faith of these blessed pilots allowed them to keep fighting well past when they should have been able.    - Penitent engine with a twin linked heavy bolter, and a shield of faith roll on 5+.

 

After months of sustained fighting it became clear that the siege would not be lifted quickly. In an effort to keep the faithful holy, much of their down time was spent constructing hasty shrines and chapels. Many a battle sister squad would spend their limited down time offering prayers to the emperor while devoting their personal transports with holy iconography of great personal meaning. Vehicle Upgrade, -holy shrine, a dedicated transport with the holy shrine upgrade allows the squad which purchased this transport to add 1 to their shield of faith roll as long as they have line of sight to the transport.

 

 

Edit: After reading the penitent engine entry on the 40k wiki, specifically that pilots are too frantic to use ranged weaponry, I'd modify the profile of the heavy bolter to something like range 18, heavy 7 to represent a distracted user violently blasting away at whatever enemy is closest, as opposed to firing controlled aimed bursts.

[Knight of the Raven]

Edit: After reading the penitent engine entry on the 40k wiki, specifically that pilots are too frantic to use ranged weaponry, I'd modify the profile of the heavy bolter to something like range 18, heavy 7 to represent a distracted user violently blasting away at whatever enemy is closest, as opposed to firing controlled aimed bursts.

That's because the sinner strapped to the machine is either suffering from constant pain that would put the Imperial Fists' pain glove to shame or pumped full of drugs that turn them at least as insane as a berzerker, and actually it's probably both at the same time. Sisters of battle might be martyr happy, but I doubt even they would subject themselves to the same treatment, if only because they know that for all their (often self-imagined) faults, they don't deserve to be punished that harsh.

 

EDIT: to turn this post into something more than "NO UR WRONG," I find your ideas plausible.

[micahwc]

A SOB MBT with a Vulkan Mega Bolter would be thematic. Or a modified inducted storm lord.

 

After a massive chemical weapons barrage many guardsmen had fallen. Protected by their faith in the Emperor and their sealed power armor, battle sisters took up the Storm Lord whose crew had all died. Over time the sisters built up a shrine above the turret of the holy Mega Bolter, it's towers a symbol of faith flying over the battlefield. 20 battle sisters could ride at a time in the open troop compartment, firing the heavy bolter sponsons before leaping over the sides to end heresy in close combat. Storm Lord with the following upgrade, SOB models embarked in this transport gain +1 to shield of faith rolls.

[Knight of the Raven]

Protected by their faith in the Emperor and their sealed power armor

Mostly the latter, let's face it.

 

I prefer to induct a macharius vulcan myself. Just replace the twin-linked heavy stubbers with twin-linked heavy bolters and we're done, because heavy stubbers are for pansies.

[micahwc]

I just read the wiki entry on the avenger. They could put an Avenger bolt cannon on a Excorcist chassis.

[Sir_Gaea]

When I first read the entry for the Repressor, I thought that only the Ecclesiarchy had an issue with it, and that the other orders found it to be useful and used it. Rereading it, I realize that I got the fluff mixed up with the Land Raider Crusader and that the other Orders didn't like the Order of the Sacred Rose being the only ones to have a new toy.

 

That said, I'm glad I'm running my minor group of Sisters like the Pandion Order in that they are secure in their faith and will use all the tools at hand to get what they need done and aren't above using allies to cover their gaps.

[Cleon]

Well the Sisters have Rhino chassis, so mounting something like an Avenger bolt Cannon in place of the Vindicators demolisher cannon, but otherwise a hybrid of the Vindicator/Sisters Rhino kits could work and wouldn't be too out of place.

[Knight of the Raven]

It's hard to say. On one hand, everything the sisters own is a holy relic of some kind and the only acceptable change to them is to cover them in more religious bling. On the other hand, they suffer the Adeptus Mechanicus rather than tolerate it.

 

Either way, they're gonna need someone who knows how to work on gear and vehicles (even if their competence peaks at "light encense and kick the damn thing while cursing)  before they can even modify them. Space Marines have techmarines who're taught how and some chapters like the Iron Hands and Salamanders how to maintain their own gears, but as I said previously, we don't know about any Adepta Sororitas mechanic.

 

If that eventual mechanic actually does hail from Mars though, I can already picture her interactions with other sisters.

 

"Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I'm in the middle of some calibrations,

And I don't have time for you."

[Goonbandito]

Belisarius Cawl, the new Mechanicus bigwig from the Gathering Storm books, got along quite well with St Celestine, since in his view the God-Emperor and the Omnissiah were one and the same.  That's an easy angle to add new stuff to the Sororitas armoury - just have Cawl hand out some goodies from one of his ancient vaults to help out his new buddy.  I can't see the Ecclesiarchy or the Sororitas having an issue if The Living Saint herself gives it her blessing.

[micahwc]

Sisters should also have devil dogs and hellhounds, or rhino versions of them.

[robofish7591]

Immolators kind of fill those roles to some extent already. I think sisters need some form of battle tank to support them, plus their own super heavy... or maybe I just want to see some kind of rolling cathedral with a whole bunch of guns and angry nuns on it

[micahwc]

So an exorcist avenger variant and a mobile chapel on a band blade chassis.

[robofish7591]

With multimelta and flamestorm cannon sponsons of course!  Gotta get the holy trinity in there!