hopes, dreams, and fears for sisters in 8th

[Montford]

After the FAQ video today I feel even better about my Repentia. A -1 to hit is much better than going last :)

[Atrus]

Can you imagine repentia striking first-hand maybe wiping out their target and consolidating into another combat?

[Banjulhu]

With Str 6 only wounding T4 on a 3+ they loose a lot of their attraction

 

Beyond that with dreads and tanks coming in at T7 and up they also have lost a lot of Thier ability to nonce tanks as well.

 

If they follow their current design I really hope they are dirt cheap points wise.

[WarriorFish]

I'm guessing the Sisters teaser info is likely to come near the end of the pile, but until we get that it's hard to say. So far 8th is sounding good, so I'm optimistic - Eviscerators will presumably have some additional rules akin to chainfists to make them hit harder? With Marines dropping in cost I'm assuming this means the same for Sisters who would very much like to be a bit cheaper, but also a chance for GW to tweak the codex rules in general...

[Commander Dawnstar]

I feel like the big thing hanging over any future Sisters revamp is that GW really needs to solidify a gameplay identity for the faction. I don't feel it's entirely unfair to describe our army as "lesser Space Marines with less unit options and equipment variety, a greater concentration of Special/Heavy weapons and Acts of Faith," and 7th saw both Ad Mech factions make their way into the same sort of design space as Acts of Faith. We've seen the Tau (sorry, T'au) keep Supporting Fire and their battlesuits gain the ability to shoot while Falling Back from combat, the Dark Eldar keep emphasis on their identity as a glass cannon army with extreme mobility, every flavour of Chaos Daemons gain fluffy bonuses relevant to their patron and that the Guard are going to have a big thing for Orders, Commissars and heavy armour. So what then for the Sisters?

 

Once you get beyond Acts of Faith - and even they don't feel too special in 7th - what is it that makes us unique and what could be done to either emphasise those qualities or help solidify new ones moving forwards?

[A.T.]

Once you get beyond Acts of Faith - and even they don't feel too special in 7th - what is it that makes us unique and what could be done to either emphasise those qualities or help solidify new ones moving forwards?

 

They need new units and wargear, no two ways about it. All of the old 'unique selling points' - the access to heavy flamers, the eviscerators, even divine guidance (in the form of bladestorm/monofilament) have been claimed and improved on by other factions. Even Celestine was not safe.

 

As it stands all the sisters really have to call their own are the repentia and the possibilities of being cheaper space marines with whatever passes for faith in 8e. Without new models they are going to struggle to carve out anything beyond new faith rules.

 

 

There are lots of opportunities though if GW pushes ahead with a 'proper' release. The ecclesiarchy element of the faction allows you to pull in all kinds of weird stuff that wouldn't look right in a marine or guard army (such as giant walking 'preaching platforms' and gothic mechanical ballisate) and neglected support units like arcos, zealots, crusaders, and death cultists are due a new lease of life.

 

The sisters themselves could be expanded around banners, relics, and GW has a fairly free hand in creating the rules for a cast of special characters. While some players will always want to player the 'pure' sororitas force I think there is potential in chaotic mass of humanity depicted in the old WH book (pages 12-13).

[A.T.]

After the FAQ video today I feel even better about my Repentia. A -1 to hit is much better than going last

With the cc article released today it appears that Repentia will be 4+ to hit, 3+ to wound MEQs (or 5+ to wound tanks), Save mod -3, D3 wounds per hit.

Plus whatever additional effect eviscerator/chainfist type weapons get.

[Servant of Dante]

There is definately potential. The Frateris Militia could be brought back, but that's basically cultists. I'd love to see some neat Ecclesiarchy units, even if I won't run them much. I personally like to run pure Sisters.

 

I know it's not actually an upside, but I'm really attached to the concept of the Holy Trinity, so I'd rather not break that too much (I don't mind that characters can get plasma, Exorcists, etc.), but if they do I'll just not use any of the new options. The Holy Trinity is something that is unique to Sisters, even though it's kinda a downside, and to me, that we are a non-marine army that's all in power armour makes us unique too, even though, again, it's kinda a gameplay downside.

 

New stuff would be awesome, but I don't actually feel like I can't enjoy playing Sisters without a new release. To me, or niche is less about what we have, and more about what we don't have. Of course, things like the immolator and Exorcist are important to the Sister's image, and we have dedicated special weapons squads, but other than that . . .

 

If anything, I'd like to see another unique long-range piece. It's something we're really lacking, so I think a little variety would go a long way. Like I said, more Ecclesiarchy stuff would be cool.

 

Repentia will probably need to be super cheap, or they'll need a new rule, since I wouldn't be surprised if the armourbane rule goes the same way melta did - roll 2 dice and pick the nuggets for armour penetration.

 

AoFs are mechanically different from Canticals and Doctrines Imperative, or at least they have been until now, but, regardless, it's true AoFs are no longer as unique as they used to be.

 

I don't want to sound like I DON'T want a new Sisters release (as long as GW doesn't change our aesthetic), I just find that I don't really feel like my Sisters aren't unique. Maybe it's because I'm thinking about the fluff on some level all the time. :P I'm also not trying to say that other people's concern is unfounded - Sisters do tend to play like Marines, with 1 or 2 extra options, minus a bunch of weapons and with an inferior stat line. I suppose I just don't mind playing the army, even in that state.

[Servant of Dante]

Raedia isn't happy about this (she runs around with an Evicerator). Looks like S3 is going to hurt us in close combat more than ever.

[robofish7591]

I wouldn't mind if GW decided to go with a more ecclesiarchy route as a sisters reboot. I think they could do a lot of really cool unique stuff if they run with the wars of faith angle. As for new weapons for the sisters, well I think there is still room to add stuff and remain within the holy trinity. I also don't think our aesthetic will change much, if at all. Celestine and the geminae didn't change much, armor wise anyway. I am curious if our models will be bigger though, since people keep talking about primaris marines as a scale reboot for marines, it will be interesting to see if the normal humans stay the same or if their scales change too.

Only being S3 is going to make CC tough for us, but thats always kind of been the case. Hopefully repentia will have some special rules to make up for the changes in the to wound table. If not, I will miss carving up vehicles with my eviscerators.

[Commander Dawnstar]

Repentia will probably need to be super cheap, or they'll need a new rule, since I wouldn't be surprised if the armourbane rule goes the same way melta did - roll 2 dice and pick the nuggets for armour penetration.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see them steal some rules ideas from Flagellants in AoS.

[Servant of Dante]

Could we get, like, mortars that fire melta bombs or something? :P The new Celestine does make me optimistic that any future Sisters release will maintain the current aesthetic, though her legs are even thinner than the current models, which is really silly.

 

I'm still really looking forward to having my Seraphim be able to use their pistols in close combat :D 4D6 hand flamer hits on each of my turns!

[Knight of the Raven]

Could we get, like, mortars that fire melta bombs or something?

I believe my favored approach to non-Sororitas imperial armouries is known well enough for people to guess my answer.

[BitsHammer]

After the FAQ video today I feel even better about my Repentia. A -1 to hit is much better than going last

With the cc article released today it appears that Repentia will be 4+ to hit, 3+ to wound MEQs (or 5+ to wound tanks), Save mod -3, D3 wounds per hit.

Plus whatever additional effect eviscerator/chainfist type weapons get.

Following the melta rule: 2d6 to wound, drop the lowest. So they'll do wounds more often, but no longer be able to cleave large models in half.

That said, the Repentia should move faster than the Sisters. Assuming Sisters move 5" Repentia could move 6 or 7" to represent their fanaticism driving them into the enemy with a level of ZEAL that'd make a Black Templar blush.

[BitsHammer]

Raedia isn't happy about this (she runs around with an Evicerator). Looks like S3 is going to hurt us in close combat more than ever.

On the flip side we wound more consistently with Eviscerators than we would with power weapons (assuming 2D6 drop the lowest to wound), so being S6 wound hurt THAT much compared to some of the other options.

Could we get, like, mortars that fire melta bombs or something? The new Celestine does make me optimistic that any future Sisters release will maintain the current aesthetic, though her legs are even thinner than the current models, which is really silly.

I'm still really looking forward to having my Seraphim be able to use their pistols in close combat 4D6 hand flamer hits on each of my turns!

Celestine's legs got thinner, but she has some nice hips. *ahem*

That aside, I could see Hand Flamers going to a D3 hit weapon. I'm not saying I want them to, I'm just saying I could see them being further toned back from being as like flamers since we don't have templates.

Regarding wargear, seeing as we dug up the Exorcist on Terra I think there is definitely room to dig up some other relics of war to bring to the battlefield. Perhaps Volkite (it has a rule that is defined as "heating a material up to burn quickly", if that doesn't fit the Sisters, not much does).

That said, I still see hope for the Avenger (or Vulkan) Bolt Cannon, Melta Cannon and Flamestorm weapons becoming turret options. They could easilly become fast tank options to support our troops. Big gun, Rhino Chassis with some extra front armor (for some extra toughness or additional wound or two) and a faster than average movement speed.

Then again, I still think we should be seeing DtW bonuses for Vets and the Canoness, and that a 2+ save for them should be a thing as well.

And maybe it's time we break out the crate of Rosarius to give to the vets too.

[Rizara]

Well guys, if you noticed the new rules for the chain swords, they get an extra attack each time it's bearer fights, so perhaps the eviserator will get something similar. Even though sisters have Low str the eviserator could get something similar and possibly be double str, and yeah str 6 isn't as good as str 8 but that should would and help kill most any unit that comes in contact especially if it gets an extra attack on top of their normal attacks, and if they charge they hit first. Either way you look at it, repent is will be in a better position this edition than any previous edition.

 

As for getting new units, yes sisters need new units and weapon options for diversity and their is ways to keep the holy trinity, and even expand it, just wish they would remove the notion of just three weapons and bring it down to all flame and heat weapons, and all bolt and bullet weapons so we could access volakite weapons, plasma weapons, mega bolters, auto cannons, thermal cannons, and get more range to the army and more threat. Would also make since that maybe due to the crusade and the extra amount of heretics and chaos influence, the sisters gain new armor tanks and weaponry to help cleanse the taint of heresy from the Galaxy,

 

At this point I would just be happy with at least new plastic basic sisters so I can start building a budget friendly force to get my sisters started again.

[Eddie Orlock]

Could we get, like, mortars that fire melta bombs or something?

I believe my favored approach to non-Sororitas imperial armouries is known well enough for people to guess my answer.

Not a clue, mate.

Though I've advocated for missile launchers in the past. Once upon a time melta-missiles were a thing and I don't think it'd be too hard to swap out the payload on an anti-plant missile for promethium and an igniter to produce an incendiary missile. Missile tubes can remain 'trinity' compliant and tie-into theme with the exorcist launcher.

As a further hare-brained scheme, I've long daydreamed about taking the hurricane arrays from a storm raven and mounting them on a rhino chassis. Either a repressor or a heavy bolter immolator to produce an IFV with gobs of small arms projection while maintaining transport capacity. Sure you lose the side doors, but you don't lose any transport seats.

[Noeh]

Oh dear glorious allfather...please give us melta missiles.. I want more promethium fueled weapons to set the sisters apart from the rest. Maybe a faith-fueled way to have the trio of standard weapons be better than others too. Like how the salamanders get master crafted on their stuff.

[Knight of the Raven]

but you don't lose any transport seats.

Yeah, somehow the ridiculously high amount of bolts necessary to provide a land raider crusader ammo for the whole battle increased transport capacity compared to the godhammer generators.

 

Not a clue, mate

Pilfer all the imperial vehicles and strap fleurs de lys on them!

[Red_Shift]

I'd like to see the sisters fanaticism tempered with professionalism. Too often they have been portrayed as mindless fanatics and although their faith drives them on I am sure they are very adept and professional soldiers. Maybe a slightly more hard nosed like where they use frateris and archoflagellants to drive enemies into the kill zone. I agree sisters terminator equivalents would be cool. I've been converting up a jetbike and a land raider storm conversion and I'd be happy to see a fast attack focus

[Servant of Dante]

The fanaticism is important to me, but I agree that just because Sisters fight fanatically, doesn't mean they fight stupid. They don't go charging off without support for no reason besides "there are enemies over there." There's a difference between fighting to the last woman over a shrine because of the relics there, and (to take a shot at a particular Caiphas Cain book) charging out into a tyranid swarm when you're the only thing holding the PDF together without helmets or a secure line of retreat.

[Red_Shift]

The Cain book is exactly what I was thinking of.

[Drider]

surprised nobody has brought this up yet.

Key points from the live stream:

Power fists = -1 to hit

Transports have no unit limit just a capacity and keywords

Faction stratagems on release, with a layers mentality: Basic -> Space marines -> chapter if all your keywords share that (eg blood angels)

Drop pods are also 9" for reserves and passengers must also stay 9" away, looks like this will be the same for all DS

No way to have more than 50% reserves in matched play, want to make cool drop pod stories, just stick to narrative.

Consolidate from combat to combat is back

Defender chooses casualties,  no more closest model.

Psykers can choose there powers, or roll for them if you are crazy or just don't care....

think that is about it rules wise

 

so... any thought's on sticking 2 squads of in one rhino? 

 

Also dat powersword profile! i think celestine is going to be something like ws 3+ S 3 (+2) AP -3 in melee. meaning that she's actually going to be able to do something to termies now!

[Servant of Dante]

I really dislike every appearance Sisters make in the Cain books, but that's fitting pretty off topic :P

 

Back to the idea of new weapons for Sisters, I might be ok with missiles, if they are specifically the same kind of technology as the melta bomb (preferably with matching S/AP/D) or were promethium based. Autogun-based weapons such as the assault cannon are not something I'd enjoy, and plasma and volkite weapons are not melta weapons, so I'd rather not (again, I'm ok with variety in the pistols/combo weapons available to characters), though the idea of some Sisters choom does have its appeal, especially if we get it and marines don't :D

[Knight of the Raven]

Re: fanaticism.

 

Sisters of Battle should fight at least as competently as Word Bearers, and with enough additional efficiency to make up for not being space marines by virtue of not spending the time they don't spend on praying on either thinking about stabbing each other in the back or doing just that.

 

And if they end up fighting enemies immune to flames and fusion (I'm looking at you, Faith and Fire), they should be good enough with their bolters and everything else to make a good showing at bare minimum instead of needing the local protagonist to win the battle for them from behind the scenes (yes, I'm once more looking at you, Faith and Fire).