BSB Speculation

[Dread]

 

 

There is a Fleur de Lis on the latest PA video; I haven't watched it with the sound, but the fact that they're already beginning the drive for the next PA release gives us some idea how fast they intend to release new stuff.

 

And the Fleur de Lis might mean we get a piece of this one.

It might have to do with Sister of Battle Ephrael Stern ( a powerful psyker) who appeared in the first Psychic Awakening book and spoke with Yvraine.

This would be great. I have the comics from way back about her. Had a cannoness I named her back in the day, cool name and character. Hopeful anyhow.

[Slasher956]

So not truly on topic...but not deserving of its own...

 

What are people’s expectations of SoB /C:AS in PA?

 

Fluff and Sister Stern only?

 

If there’s more I think I’d feel let down about the codex... it should be able to stand on its own for 6 months before any extra rules /units come along...

[ThePenitentOne]

I think the Codex is Sisters in their capacity as the fighting force of the ecclesiarchy.

 

PA is the the Sisters in their role as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus.

 

Mostly that would be fluff, but there could be special rules related to Souping with Inquisitors. Psyker hunting gear would be good too.

[Commander Dawnstar]

I'm purely expecting fluff. Ephrael Stern appears connected to the Ynnari plotline, given her ties to the Black Library, so I certainly wouldn't assume we'll see her again anytime soon.

[ThePenitentOne]

Well if Stern is part of PA, and each faction is only getting one set of rules updates as part of PA, that means we must get Stern in the next PA drop, because the fact that there's Sisters content in the next PA is pretty much confirmed.

 

And if Stern is part of the Dex, that drops in November...

 

If she's in CA 2019, that drops in December.

 

I anticipate PA2 for January.

 

The fact the Stern is connected to the Ynarri makes it MORE likely that we'll see her sooner rather than later- the story will have to connect to the part that has already been released. I believe the Grinning Skull Icon in the video is Harlequins, which may indicate affiliation with the Black Library.

[Montford]

I'm purely expecting fluff. Ephrael Stern appears connected to the Ynnari plotline, given her ties to the Black Library, so I certainly wouldn't assume we'll see her again anytime soon.

 

I think we might, as GW keeps featuring the Fleur de lis  in their promos for PA. Also Stern has been reborn twice according to the fiction and that ties in with the Phoenix theme. She might appear in a mixed character box akin to the one Celestine comes in.

[Slasher956]

however GW dont seen to be able to put rules in line with fluff.....

 

look at Jain Zar, lots of fluff tieing her in with the Ynnari but the rules stop her from being included in a Ynnari army.....

 

The more I think about it the more I think that Stern will not get rules.... because do they include her in the AS or Ynnari lists?  If AS then do you include the pointy ear with her?  If Ynnari then why is a mon-keigh the 4th named character when there are at least 2 others (Eldrad & Jain Zar) not included?

[Lord Grimskull]

It's amazing to me still: I can recall the community survey so vividly, and the two things I said I would like to see most- updated sisters and the return of Stern, are both coming to fruition. Strange times... Strange times indeed.

[ThePenitentOne]

however GW dont seen to be able to put rules in line with fluff.....

 

look at Jain Zar, lots of fluff tieing her in with the Ynnari but the rules stop her from being included in a Ynnari army.....

 

The more I think about it the more I think that Stern will not get rules.... because do they include her in the AS or Ynnari lists?  If AS then do you include the pointy ear with her?  If Ynnari then why is a mon-keigh the 4th named character when there are at least 2 others (Eldrad & Jain Zar) not included?

 

Sorry to be off topic, but must correct: Jain Zar can be fielded in a Craftworld detachment in an army which also includes a Ynarri detachment. Furthermore, Jain Zar can be part of a Craftworld dettachment that includes any or all of the Ynarri characters.

 

The only thing Jain Zar can't do is be in a Ynarri detachment; fortunately this is not required in order for her to fight side by side with the Ynarri.

 

I do take your point though; the fluff does seem to imply she SHOULD be able to join a Ynarri unit. I think GW is aware that this may have been too much change for the player base; there are enough voices of discontent with the general storyline and enough folks suspecting that all eldar are going to go the way of Ynarri.

 

Again, sorry for the side track, but I needed to clarify the rule. 

 

Back to sisters: not sure how credible it is, but there's a leaked release schedule for November/ December and it seems to confirm that this box is all we're getting within that window. The next PA will drop too- Blood of Baal, so not sure if there's any Sisters content there. Many folks here had already suspected this, so at least it minimizes the disappointment factor.

 

 

[taikishi]

It's the PA before Blood of Baal that at least hints at Sisters activity - the one that's being billed Templars vs Chaos.

 

And I had a dream last night, but take it with a grain of salt:

 

Stern, a woman in golden power armor, Terra burning, the manufactorum for OG marines destroyed, and the Emperor stirring.

[Slasher956]

Penultimate BSB up... We get churbs.... Yep that's all it says.

[taikishi]

Meh.

[Banjulhu]

Not just cherubs, but cherubs with a hint of rule for a historically poor unit that is mostly screwed over by having to chose one of three over-costed and/or terrible heavy weapons.

I get the sinking feeling its going to be an upgrade for a once per game re-roll or exploding 6s rule because having those kind of rules built in and for free are things that happen to other armies.

[taikishi]

Does imply that Cherubim will be available for more than just Retributors, but I still get the feeling they won't be very good and will have an associated point cost.

[ValourousHeart]

So 2 weeks from now (11/11/19) is the last BSB.  So do you think that the sister box set will go up for pre-order on that Saturday 11/16 with a release date 2 weeks later 11/30?

 

That would draw people into the store for the weekend of black Friday, while making the sister release distinct from holiday sales, yet also insuring that GW sells out of the run.

 

 

As for today's BSB, I like the Churbs... and it is nice that they will have some in game effects.  Maybe they will have a role like the Incursor's haywire mine.  I'm not sure if I can say the word without my comment being flagged but a defensive system with a similar effect to a fashion accessory vest that appears some times in the news.

 

Although now that I put it into words, I don't know if GW has the guts to make a game mechanic around the image of an exploding baby.  While it is sufficiently grim-dark, it does go against the family friendly image they are trying to go for.

[ERJAK]

So 2 weeks from now (11/11/19) is the last BSB.  So do you think that the sister box set will go up for pre-order on that Saturday 11/16 with a release date 2 weeks later 11/30?

 

That would draw people into the store for the weekend of black Friday, while making the sister release distinct from holiday sales, yet also insuring that GW sells out of the run.

 

 

As for today's BSB, I like the Churbs... and it is nice that they will have some in game effects.  Maybe they will have a role like the Incursor's haywire mine.  I'm not sure if I can say the word without my comment being flagged but a defensive system with a similar effect to a fashion accessory vest that appears some times in the news.

 

Although now that I put it into words, I don't know if GW has the guts to make a game mechanic around the image of an exploding baby.  While it is sufficiently grim-dark, it does go against the family friendly image they are trying to go for.

We already know every release between now and the end of the year, as of this weekend's preorder confirming the leaks.

[Commander Dawnstar]

Not just cherubs, but cherubs with a hint of rule for a historically poor unit that is mostly screwed over by having to chose one of three over-costed and/or terrible heavy weapons.

 

I get the sinking feeling its going to be an upgrade for a once per game re-roll or exploding 6s rule because having those kind of rules built in and for free are things that happen to other armies.

 

I'd assume it'll be exactly the same as the Devastator Squad's Armorium Cherub (same name) and once per game let a single model shoot their ranged weapon twice.

[Banjulhu]

 

Not just cherubs, but cherubs with a hint of rule for a historically poor unit that is mostly screwed over by having to chose one of three over-costed and/or terrible heavy weapons.

 

I get the sinking feeling its going to be an upgrade for a once per game re-roll or exploding 6s rule because having those kind of rules built in and for free are things that happen to other armies.

 

I'd assume it'll be exactly the same as the Devastator Squad's Armorium Cherub (same name) and once per game let a single model shoot their ranged weapon twice.

 

So just a crap 5pt upgrade in general.

[ValourousHeart]

 

So 2 weeks from now (11/11/19) is the last BSB.  So do you think that the sister box set will go up for pre-order on that Saturday 11/16 with a release date 2 weeks later 11/30?

 

That would draw people into the store for the weekend of black Friday, while making the sister release distinct from holiday sales, yet also insuring that GW sells out of the run.

 

 

As for today's BSB, I like the Churbs... and it is nice that they will have some in game effects.  Maybe they will have a role like the Incursor's haywire mine.  I'm not sure if I can say the word without my comment being flagged but a defensive system with a similar effect to a fashion accessory vest that appears some times in the news.

 

Although now that I put it into words, I don't know if GW has the guts to make a game mechanic around the image of an exploding baby.  While it is sufficiently grim-dark, it does go against the family friendly image they are trying to go for.

We already know every release between now and the end of the year, as of this weekend's preorder confirming the leaks.

 

My bad.  I haven't seen that leak yet.  Link please.

[ThePenitentOne]

Did anyone else notice that one of the cherubs is attached to a large relic frame? The article mentions cherubs with keys to simulacra; the picture features a cerub with a key, and it looks like there's a locked chest or reliquary in the frame. It looks to be too big for an infantry model. The means one of 3 things:

 

1) It's an objective marker intended as a bonus to a sprue.

2) It's part of a bespoke piece scenery.

3) It's vehicle mounted. That could mean a standard upgrade, or perhaps a new vehicle.

 

Also, if the ammo cherub is a 5 point upgrade,  the right combo of AoF + Strat could make it very much worth 5 points.

[ERJAK]

Did anyone else notice that one of the cherubs is attached to a large relic frame? The article mentions cherubs with keys to simulacra; the picture features a cerub with a key, and it looks like there's a locked chest or reliquary in the frame. It looks to be too big for an infantry model. The means one of 3 things:

 

1) It's an objective marker intended as a bonus to a sprue.

2) It's part of a bespoke piece scenery.

3) It's vehicle mounted. That could mean a standard upgrade, or perhaps a new vehicle.

 

Also, if the ammo cherub is a 5 point upgrade,  the right combo of AoF + Strat could make it very much worth 5 points.

Not with our current aofs and strats. Assuming it's rets only, the damage added assuming fully buffed with canoness reroll is, 3*.97*.667*.5= .97 damage to a marine with or 2.2 damage to rhino with an MM or 1.167 damage to a marine with HF.

 

Even a ret with a HF, faith and fire, and trinity would only get 1.67 additional damage. Hopefully it let's the whole unit shoot twice and is free. You might actaully take rets again.

[Montford]

During last winter's feedback one of the requests I made was for a means for the Sisters to repair vehicles. From the text in the article its possible that could be one of the functions of the Cherubs. The article really made it seem as if the Cherubs could have multiple functions to choose from: either chose when you use them or preset prior to battle. Vehicle repair, healing squads, extra shot a-la Devastator cherubs, boosts to the Shield of Faith invulnerable save, all these are possible from the text hints, and would be in line with abilities found in the new Astartes and Aeldari Codices. That would make them versitile and valuable to have.

[Slasher956]

I feel like BSB went on to long and the joke that was the sister Amalia release (3 BSBs for a9 point model with 0 special rules) means too many people (including me) are being overly pessimistic about the release.....

 

I can see why GW are doing the release this way but don’t like it from a skint gamers perspective ...,would have preferred them to have taken a brake from BSB for 6 weeks, then released this box along side wave1, or a month before, next year.

[Closet Skeleton]

Battle Sisters bulletin #1 had 2017 copywrite on the preliminary sketches.

 

We know the product lead time is 2+ years. The Dark Eldar range refresh took a lot longer than that so something equivalent for 2019 was literally impossible.

 

A lot of people were dubious when GW claimed they were making plastic sisters in response to the community survey and assumed that they had actually been in progress for a while but looking at the evidence it appears that the actual reason behind people's disappointment is that GW have been completely honest with us.

 

Chaos are still waiting on stuff from Shadowspear in march, Space Marines only just got multiparts of a shadowspear kit and are still waiting on 1. Genestealer Cults waited years to get the last of their units from Death Watch Overkill. Getting a box that isn't that useful for making a playable army out of the gate is annoying but its far from an example of Sisters of Battle being given the short end of the stick (that was the preceding 15 years).

 

Maybe they shouldn't have bothered with this box and just released a bigger range in 2021 but that's basically saying you'd rather have a Thousand Sons style model range than a Death Guard one.

[ERJAK]

Battle Sisters bulletin #1 had 2017 copywrite on the preliminary sketches.

 

We know the product lead time is 2+ years. The Dark Eldar range refresh took a lot longer than that so something equivalent for 2019 was literally impossible.

 

A lot of people were dubious when GW claimed they were making plastic sisters in response to the community survey and assumed that they had actually been in progress for a while but looking at the evidence it appears that the actual reason behind people's disappointment is that GW have been completely honest with us.

 

Chaos are still waiting on stuff from Shadowspear in march, Space Marines only just got multiparts of a shadowspear kit and are still waiting on 1. Genestealer Cults waited years to get the last of their units from Death Watch Overkill. Getting a box that isn't that useful for making a playable army out of the gate is annoying but its far from an example of Sisters of Battle being given the short end of the stick (that was the preceding 15 years).

 

Maybe they shouldn't have bothered with this box and just released a bigger range in 2021 but that's basically saying you'd rather have a Thousand Sons style model range than a Death Guard one.

Anyone who was skeptical about GW only doing Sisters of battle as a result of the community survey wasn't paying attention. They were very clear about never planning on doing sisters until 100000+ people asked for them.

 

That's exactly an example of Sisters getting the short end of the stick, it's just also an example of OTHER armies getting the short end of the stick. On the other hand, there's a big difference between not having easy access to some of your new models, versus your codex being an expensive coaster for several months. Genestealer cults had the same problem but also had the luxury of coming out several years ago, to the point where they've now had 2 full release waves.