Tactics for Units: Seraphim

[CaptainHelion]

Tactics for Units: Seraphim

Welcome once again to another exciting installment of my multipart 8th Edition Adepta Sororitas tactica, Tactics for Units. This instalment will be looking at those angelic gunslingers called Seraphim, as iconic a Sororitas unit as exists. 

 

Seraphim are pistol wielding, jumppack riding, angelic veterans deployed as a fast moving strikeforce, delivering the Emperor’s wrath where the fighting is thickest. They are those Sororitas who’s Faith shines strongest.

 

Statistics

Seraphim are, in terms of statistics, roughly average for Sororitas. Strength and Toughness 3, Leadership 7, 8 on the Sergeant, that nice little BS3+. But they have two places where they stand out, with WS3+ and a Move of 12”! Now, the WS3+ isn’t as great as it could be, with the standard Seraphim only having 1 attack, but 12” of movement is huge for letting these ladies get where they need to be. And with the Fly keyword, they can really capitalise on that movement, both to get into position, and to get out when things get sticky. Overall? Good standard stats, though don’t let the extra WS fool you, these ladies don’t have the attacks to carry an assault against anything tougher than a pre-mauled Guard Infantry Squad.

 

Special Rules

So, as always, we start with the basics. Shield of Faith and Acts of Faith. 

Shield of Faith grants a 6++ Invulnerable save, which is very nice to have even though it’ll rarely come up, given how AP works. It’s unlikely that, with a 3+ save, your Seraphim will be saving on anything less than a 6+ anyway, but as I said, it’s nice to have. It’s going to save a Seraphim against a Meltagun ⅙ of the time, so that’s pretty great. It also grants the unit the ability to Deny The Witch with a single d6 instead of 2d6, making it not hugely useful as you will only be able to deny a power cast on a 5 at most. But it’ll happen occasionally, especially with the increase in buffs that cast on 4s in the newer codexes. As a general rule, Shield of Faith is a pair of minor benefits that are mostly going to surprise your opponent by tripping them up for making some assumptions.

Acts of Faith is the gold standard for Adepta Sororitas special rules. This is where the magic is. This rule allows, on the roll of a 2+, one unit with this special rule to make an action before the Movement Phase of their player turn. For Seraphim, the act with the most immediate utility is probably Hand of the Emperor, which allows for an As-If-Movement-Phase move. With their 12” move, this lets the squad really rocket across the board, and get into the exact position you want them to be in. Of note, if you Advance in this move, then you can’t shoot or charge in the Shooting Phase, so make sure you only do this if you really need the extra d6 of move. Also, Advance in your real movement phase as well. Divine Guidance is a close second, giving the squad an extra Shooting Phase. As Seraphim are primarily a shooting unit, this is a great option. If you use this and then are in a position to shoot later, that’s 4 bolt pistol shots per sister. Storm Bolter whom? It gets even better if you’re taking either of the special pistol options, because they are unfortunately expensive, so you want to squeeze every shooting phase possible out of them. Spirit of the Martyr is always a solid choice, as regaining a model is always welcome, but you do need to weigh the utility of the extra model against the above options. The Passion is a pass, honestly. Seraphim only have one attack each, and only the Superior has access to a power weapon. Which is only a power sword, for her two attacks. If you’re in assault, then just shoot your pistols. 2 s4 attacks is better than 1 s3. If you’ve somehow given the unit +1 s and attack then maybe, but even then I’d still prefer the shooting.

The next Special Rule Seraphim have is Sky Strike. This allows the unit to be deployed in reserve, brought in at the end of your movement phase, and set up more than 9” from enemy models. This is obviously a pretty powerful rule, allowing you to bypass large sections of the board and place your ladies almost exactly where you want them. However, due to when they get set up, they can’t benefit from Acts of Faith, and their special pistols are both out of range of being used at 9”. Additionally, there are no buff characters that can use a similar rule, so the Seraphim will be hanging out on their own, unless they get deployed quite close to your own lines. Overall, a powerful but situational rule that you should think carefully about before using.

The final Special Rule is Angelic Visage, and it is pretty great. This allows the Seraphim to reroll failed Shield of Faith Invulnerable saves. This is functionally almost as good as a 5++ save. If you’re pairing it with St Celestine’s +1 to SoF saves, remember that rerolls happen before modifiers, so you’ll reroll all 1-5s, then any 5 and 6s will be successful saves. This isn’t an enormously powerful rule given the restricted circumstances SoF is useful for, but it’s very good for keeping your ladies alive a bit longer than expected.

Overall, a nice selection of Special Rules which give a fairly flexible unit even more flexibility and and surprising amount of durability.

 

Equipment

Seraphim come with two bolt pistols and both frag and krak grenades. Bolt Pistols, as I am wont to say, are a great basic pistol to have, as s4 is a solid strength level to be at, but it’s nothing special, due to a lack of AP and extra damage. But you have two of them! So that’s just wonderful. The Frag grenade is always a good option to toss if you’re against infantry, and the Krak grenade is nice to have to throw against monsters and tanks, though the short range on both grenade options does let them down a little. Just try and remember them!

Up to two Seraphim may replace their two bolt pistols with either two hand flamers or two inferno pistols. These are both fantastic options, and you should definitely consider grabbing them. It’s best to pair up with the same type of pistol, as they have two rather different targets. 

The Hand Flamer is a s3 pistol that deals d3 (originally d6, but FAQed to d3) automatic hits within 6”. Two of them is thus 2d3 automatic hits, and it should do roughly twice the amount of wounds as a pair of bolt pistols. Of note is that, because it auto-hits, it bypasses any negatives to hit like Tau Stealth Suits or Death Guard Miasmae of Pestilence. They’re also quite cheap. 

The Inferno Pistol is a heavy hitter, make no doubt about that. With the profile of a half range Meltagun, a pair of these has the potential to wreck a majority of vehicles out there in one volley. That said, they’re not going to automatically hit or wound, so keep that in mind. On average, they’ll hit and wound on 3s, so you’ll probably get one wound through. With AP-4, and d6 Damage, you’ll probably get 3 Damage through. A 6” range means that you’re quite unlikely to get into melta range, so you do lose out on some reliability from that, but d6 damage is still a Lot. The biggest drawback of inferno pistols is their cost. Buying a pair of them for a pair of sisters may make your Seraphim a nightmare for anything with an armour save, but it’ll cost you almost as much as an entire new unit. Worth the points in my opinion, but the expense does restrict your choices elsewhere in the army.

The Seraphim Superior has the option of swapping one of her Bolt Pistols for either a Power Sword or a Chainsword. They’re both alright options. The Chainsword is free, and grants a third attack for the Superior, but doesn’t change her Strength, AP, or Damage. The Sword is a small 4 points, and gives her AP-3 which is lovely. But, like the Chainsword, it doesn’t change her Strength or Damage, and s3 means not a huge amount of wounds are going to happen to benefit from the increased AP. I would suggest the Chainsword, though neither option is bad.

The Superior can also swap out another Bolt Pistol for a Plasma Pistol. This one is a hard yes from me. S7 and AP-3 is fantastic, given how little she has to pay for it. Of course, if you don’t want to, it is by no means a compulsory choice. 

 

Tactics

Seraphim are designed for fast moving harassment strikes. They have the movement to get into places that your opponent will find inconvenient, and they can strike well ahead of your main force without the need for much support.

As I see it, there are two main uses for Seraphim. One is as an assassin unit, with a small unit with two ladies carrying Inferno Pistols. This squad is intended to find something expensive, fly next to it, and annihilate it. With luck, they may survive to repeat the process, but this is to be considered an unintended benefit. Low bodies keep this unit cheap, which helps offset the price of the inferno pistols, and helps mitigate the pain of inevitably losing them to a counterstrike.

The second use is as a firesweep team. This is a large unit with two ladies carrying hand flamers. This squad is supposed to take on chaff and screening units, knocking them back with sheer weight of fire. The large unit does make it an investment, but the extra bodies do help the squad’s survivability, and their highish leadership should help offset morale. 

 

So that’s the Seraphim! A flexible and fast moving squad with a number of unique features that make for a truly unique unit.

 

How do you use your Seraphim? What’s your views on the Special Pistols? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share? Any particularly fantastic battle experiences? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

 

[Inquisitor Fox]

I put a power sword and plasma pistol on my unit of Seraphim with 2 inferno pistol Sisters and use them to hunt heavy infantey or vehicles. They're not so much an assault unit as they are "gankers of opportunity". More skirmishers for juicy targets. I have a second unit with all the hand flamers where the Sister Superior is more cheap and has a bolt pistil with her power weapon. I've been thinking of giving her a chainsword instead.

[Atrus]

Pretty much use mine as most people do- as a kill squad thrown at anything particularly menacing. Always dual inferno pistols and i like to throw a plasma pistol on the vet- no sword, i like her purely shooting and i have a converted model i need to justify its existence.

 

Used to do dual handflamers before they got nerfed down to d3 hits.

[bkde]

Huge fan of Seraphim. I've had good luck running 3 squads, 2x5 w/inferno pistols, 1x5 all with boltguns.

 

For the inferno pistols, one squad always starts on the table (out of line of site preferably or within 6" of Celestine). First turn if something is in the 30" danger zone they'll attack it, generally with Celestine for backup, or they'll hop into LOS blocking cover. Often they will support Celestine in an assault (especially against fighty characters on foot, as these are less likely to fall back from combat) the 5++ reroll makes them surprisingly durable against power weapons, and if they survive combat until my next turn then they are prime candidates to shoot point blank with their inferno pistols using an AoF.

 

2nd squad of inferno pistols will drop into the same out of LOS spot vacated by squad 1. Squad 1 dies, then Squad 2 double bounces forward to take their place and do the same all over again. Or I have two squads of meltapistols running around.

 

Squad 3 (boltpistols) are a 55pt investment that drops in Turn 3 to score linebreaker, hop on backfield objective, etc. Typically by Turn 3 enough has died that they're able to drop where they need to. Bonus is they can AoF in the lategame to control/contest whatever objective they need to.

[Beams]

I like to do max squads, take Max advantage of those cheap bodies and AoF. I usually have on squad with dual inferno pistols, a powersword and plasma pistol accompany my St. Celestine for a nice rerollable 5++ to tank heavy shots, and to get my inferno pistols into melee with something that needs to die. 4 shots plus an AoF 4 shots will usually kill whatever it touches.

[Aothaine]

Finally! A forum that understands how good the bolter statline is! ^_^ Love it! 

 

If I ever built these girls they would either be a max size squad with all bolt pistols or 5-woman squads with the double inferno pistols.

[Kapitan Montag]

Just a little thing I noticed, in index 2 FAQ they allowed the seraphim supervisor to take any of the melee options. I agree they're not a melee unit but I,'ve been thinking of me swapping out my chains word for a power maul.

[Warsmith Aznable]

Scalpel: 5 woman squad with dual infernos and a tooled up Superior. Either hide them on the table and run them after high value targets as the situation develops, or deepstrike them in support of Celestine into the enemy backfield.

 

Hammer: 10 woman squad with dual handflamers and a minimal Superior. Start them on the table behind available cover (or behind something more distracting, like Penitent Engines or transports) and jump them forward to burn down and shoot up enemy infantry. Also serve as a screening force for Celestine if you start her on the table.

 

This is my usual line of thinking.