Sisters and Gunlines

[Ficinus]

So, how do other Sisters players deal with gunlines, Tau in particular? I feel like my army gets shot to pieces every time I play them. Maybe I just need to spend more time checking every angle to make sure a set of dozer blades or single seraphim aren't in line of sight when moving (since one model in line of sight means the whole squad can die), but it seems like irritating behavior.

 

This is made only more annoying when my opponent's first few drops are deep strikers, giving them a solid advantage in counter deployment. And if the board is terrain heavy, it seems like it hinders my transports' movement more than it provides them cover (given the way cover doesn't work this edition).

[bkde]

The dozer blades thing is annoying. I've started clearly stating before setup that I do not count the dozerblades on my vehicles during the game. I.e. I cannot use them to draw line of site for shooting purposes and only measure to/from the hull. All opponents to date have been okay with it. Sadly dozer blades are a carry over from last edition, I don't think it's fair to be penalized for having cool looking vehicles.

 

My group is also quite heavily into the ITC, which states that the first floor of all ruins completely blocks LOS, so there is typically more options to hide vehicles.

 

Regarding the seraphim thing, it sucks. I've made the same mistake before. But positioning is part of the game and good positioning is part of tight play. I'm sure you won't make the mistake again, and now you'll know to watch for it if your opponent does.

 

Dealing with the actual gunline itself, dominions in transports are good distractions. The real key is getting Celestine where she can tie things up and possibly also do some damage. But the key is to tie things up. Keeping Celestine within 6" of the scouting vehicles is also helpful. Charging from behind LOS blocking terrain with Celestine will cut down on overwatch. Seraphim are slightly less useful than doms due to the lack of transport capability. Lots of no LOS req'd missiles can make short work of girls who thought they were safe. Keeping seraphim off the board and deep striking them in is a way to keep them safe, and also make up ground if playing Hammer/Anvil style deployments. Screening out the backfield is also key to preventing any deep strikers from threatening your backlines.

 

Sadly, against tau, imp guard, or even the new Knights, retributors probably won't cut it. Their weapons are easily outranged and T3 girls who are positioned for LOS are easily picked off by the better ranged guns. Exorcists will hold out longer due to the T8 and 6++, but they frequently won't accomplish much.

 

It's unreliable, but if your opponent is deep striking a large portion of their army and you won the roll off to go first, it's probably a good plan to take first turn. Pick one side to hit hard and force them to drop into their deployment zone turn one to support.

 

Playing against gunlines is a challenge, but that's why we play Sisters. Cheers!

[Beams]

I hope for narrow deployments, move fast with dominions in repressors and st. Celestine escorting a squad of seraphim, and try and kill as much as physically possible turn one.

[Eddie Orlock]

... Their weapons are easily outranged and T3 girls who are positioned for LOS are easily picked off by the better ranged guns. ...

Okay, this may be throwing good points after bad, but has anyone tried running rets in a bunker or some other such fortification? I've been giving it some serious thought of late but it's a bit of a thing to actually go and buy a bastion.

 

Seems like it'd offset their fragility and with one of the taller models give them some interesting LOS options. This might be a heavy bolter rets option only. A plain bunker is only 100 points which is only five more points than a five girl heavy bolter squad. Maybe this is the 'fourth repressor' in a list that skews toward presenting 'hard targets'

 

Okay, immobility might be an issue if your opponent is 'playing the range game', but that might just be a case for placing it in the front centre of your deployment zone where a three foot reach only excludes the far back corner of their zone on a standard 4x6. A corner that you can set up to raid with a fast moving early dominion strike?

 

Okay, this part may be shenanigans, but has anyone thought about nesting such a bunker within another terrain piece? if you placed it inside some of the ruin models I've seen you could probably shoot over the side and maybe through some windows without much issue thanks to eighths more abstract LoS rules while the ruin, from at least some angles, would cover more than half the bunker for +1 save.

 

Or sillier yet, depending on the specifics of some terrain piece rules, make a castle in the sky on top of another terrain piece. Maybe a nice tree-fort in one of those three tree forests if they glued the trees down? Which could make your pill-box totally impervious to assault depending on if your group has embraced the interpretation that you need level space to place a model to get into an assault. May have unfortunate implications for passengers if they do manage to shoot out your bunker though.

[Montford]

To help counter deep strikers I usually leave a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) in my backfield. I dedicate one Immolator with a 5 girl Battle Sisters Squad and a Canoness inside. The squad has a heavy flamer and a melta gun.  They have generally done a good job. If my opponent does not have deep strike, or chooses not to drop in my rear or flank then the QRF has the speed to move forward and get into battle. Typically I arm the Canoness in the QRF with a power maul and an inferno pistol.

 

For gunlines I have to pick one side or the other of his/her line and concentrate on that, usually employing two Seraphim Squads, Celestine and Immolators; essentially units that can get to the gunline, hit it, then start to roll it up. If I can get the upper hand on one end then I can swing out other units and  force the opponent choose between where they have to shoot. Its not fool proof by any means but its a plan and more often than not it has worked out for me. The terrain will play a big roll in how well this works.