Good units for a new Sisters player?

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

Hi I'm new on the forum and have started building an army of Sisters of Battle. Currently, I'm only collecting them but I maybe will start playing with them. I think the Hospitaller looks really cool and I like the aspect of having a faithful army with a touch of spirituality. What SoB units are good, and which are to avoid? Will there be a new release for SoB soon? Because I didn't find any Immolator or Repentia. Are they playable? And if so, how good are they?

[EmperorGTank]

Our second and final model release is this weekend, so immolators and repentia will be available then, along with the rest of the line. While I would say both units are solid (personally I love immolators with their flamers), I wouldn't say they are objectively "good" units. In my half dozen games with the army so far I can tell you that the Exorcist is probably one of the best units in the codex. The rework really helped it, and it's consistent damage output has won me many of my recent games. It finally feels like it's worth its points.

 

Some other units that I would consider "good" depending on your playstyle are as follows:

 

-Imagifier

-Seraphim

-Zephyrim (though have not play tested yet since they release this weekend)

-Battle Sisters (only troop choice for us)

-Mortifiers

-Canoness (very versatile HQ option)

-Retributors

 

In addition to this list, I would say Arco Flagellants and Penitent Engines are also decent, I just personally prefer the pure sisters motif, I have some ecclesiarchal models but beyond missionaries or preachers I don't like to use them much. Dominions are still pretty good despite the nerf, though they are not the "must bring 3" choice they once were. The Hospitaller you like is also improved so she's a decent choice.

 

At the end of the day most things in the codex have some role in the army, with the units I listed just being generally useful in most lists. The only options to stay away from competitively are Celestians as they still don't have much of a place even with their slight buffs, and some Ministorum units like Death Cult Assassins or Crusaders, Repentia or Arco Flagellants usually do more damage for you. Though again even what isnt "good" can still have uses depending on your playstyle.

 

Sorry for getting long winded, welcome to the forum! May the Emperor protect your army!

[bkde]

Welcome to the forum. Start with a canoness and two to three squads of battle sisters and the codex. Then build out to a battalion.

 

The canoness and battle sisters will be in every list you make. Typical canoness builds are blessed blade/inferno pistol or plasma pistol/power sword rod of command. Battle sisters vary, all weapons are viable depending on their role.

 

Have a read through the army list section of this forum, goonhammer has a good list of adepta sororitas tactics, as does 1d4chan (although you’ll need to take it with a grain of salt).

 

Most of the units in the book are good, with a few that are more dependent on playstyle. Starting out I would avoid the order specific models (Junith Erita) as they won’t get as much play. The ladies are not a point and click army (and they aren’t cheap in $$$ either) so it’s really important to start small (say 500 or 750pts) play some games, find out what you like and build out from there.

 

Generally exorcists, and seraphim are safe bets for when you are ready to expand the army. However mortifiers, repentia are solid choices for more melee focus.

 

All of the sisters model range has now been released on the GW site.

[Spinsanity]

Regarding Celestians, I've been wondering if a unit of Order of the Ebon Chalice (5+ save vs MWs) Celestians might be a good character bodyguard. They could babysit a Canoness and Imagifier, but alas would not be able to tank for the other characters (I wish they could also do so for the Triumph).

[EmperorGTank]

That's a very niche thing but may honestly be feasible. At some point I may put those Celestian heads on a squad of 5 and give that a try. I would just never want to invest in more than a few points of them. It's also very difficult to tell in the box which helmets are supposed to be used for which squad between dominion/bss/and celestian, which is another reason I haven't built any. Luckily most people dont know much about our army so that helps lol.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

Our second and final model release is this weekend, so immolators and repentia will be available then, along with the rest of the line. While I would say both units are solid (personally I love immolators with their flamers), I wouldn't say they are objectively "good" units. In my half dozen games with the army so far I can tell you that the Exorcist is probably one of the best units in the codex. The rework really helped it, and it's consistent damage output has won me many of my recent games. It finally feels like it's worth its points.

 

Some other units that I would consider "good" depending on your playstyle are as follows:

 

-Imagifier

-Seraphim

-Zephyrim (though have not play tested yet since they release this weekend)

-Battle Sisters (only troop choice for us)

-Mortifiers

-Canoness (very versatile HQ option)

-Retributors

 

In addition to this list, I would say Arco Flagellants and Penitent Engines are also decent, I just personally prefer the pure sisters motif, I have some ecclesiarchal models but beyond missionaries or preachers I don't like to use them much. Dominions are still pretty good despite the nerf, though they are not the "must bring 3" choice they once were. The Hospitaller you like is also improved so she's a decent choice.

 

At the end of the day most things in the codex have some role in the army, with the units I listed just being generally useful in most lists. The only options to stay away from competitively are Celestians as they still don't have much of a place even with their slight buffs, and some Ministorum units like Death Cult Assassins or Crusaders, Repentia or Arco Flagellants usually do more damage for you. Though again even what isnt "good" can still have uses depending on your playstyle.

 

Sorry for getting long winded, welcome to the forum! May the Emperor protect your army!

I'm so glad the new models will be out on saturday :) I got a bit chocked when the models weren't on the website. And yes, I have an exorcist and I've heard they are good artillery troops. Maybe I should get another one of those. The imagifier definately looks like something I might get. I like the missionary aspects of it. And of course, battle sisters.

 

Welcome to the forum. Start with a canoness and two to three squads of battle sisters and the codex. Then build out to a battalion.

 

The canoness and battle sisters will be in every list you make. Typical canoness builds are blessed blade/inferno pistol or plasma pistol/power sword rod of command. Battle sisters vary, all weapons are viable depending on their role.

 

Have a read through the army list section of this forum, goonhammer has a good list of adepta sororitas tactics, as does 1d4chan (although you’ll need to take it with a grain of salt).

 

Most of the units in the book are good, with a few that are more dependent on playstyle. Starting out I would avoid the order specific models (Junith Erita) as they won’t get as much play. The ladies are not a point and click army (and they aren’t cheap in $$$ either) so it’s really important to start small (say 500 or 750pts) play some games, find out what you like and build out from there.

 

Generally exorcists, and seraphim are safe bets for when you are ready to expand the army. However mortifiers, repentia are solid choices for more melee focus.

 

All of the sisters model range has now been released on the GW site.

Would you say the repentia are good in general? Or only as a fill when you need combat? I'm definately going for a canoness and some battle sisters squads next time I'm buying 40k models. What would you guys put into a list for maybe semi-competative play? I'm not saying I would start off the bat comptetitively, but afaik, there are in some armies one general way to do your 'build' certain units to play, certain units not to play, etc.

[EmperorGTank]

A general rule of thumb for a competitive Sisters list so far seems to be single or double battalion detachment depending on what points you're playing. You fill these out with Canonesses and minimum squads of Battle Sisters, in my case I like to keep most of these pretty cheap with storm bolters on the squads for dakka and my Canonesses with mostly power swords and maybe one with a Blessed Blade, along with plasma or just bolt pistols, and maybe one with a rod. Celestine or a Missionary can be used for extra HQs in a double battalion.

 

You choose Valorous Heart as your order since it make sisters pretty durable and then bring an imagifier so everyone within 6" is ignoring ap -2 and also get their built in 6+ FNP. You bring 2 or 3 Exorcists with missile launchers for anti tank, and then a squad or two of seraphim with two sets of inferno pistols. This is pretty much your core. After that it's add whatever else you like, I personally go with either a squad of Heavy Bolter or Multi Melta Retributors or a Dominion squad with all meltaguns or storm bolters along with 2 or 3 immolators with immolation flamers to ferry any squads around. Any combo of this usually gives you a good mix of anti infantry and anti tank for any narrative, casual, or semi competitive play. I also try to add an Ebon Chalice character in there somewhere to give them the Warlord trait that gives d3 CP and an automatic 6 on your first Miracle Dice. If you wish to go with some melee support and like repentia, throw 8 in a rhino with their repentia superior and a missionary and run them into a big scary thing your opponent has.

 

Regardless, your core list is a battalion with Canonesses, battle sisters, exorcists, seraphim, and an imagifier. Hope that helps a bit! Be aware that things may change now that the whole range is getting released, people will have some more options to play with that we just didn't have before.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

A general rule of thumb for a competitive Sisters list so far seems to be single or double battalion detachment depending on what points you're playing. You fill these out with Canonesses and minimum squads of Battle Sisters, in my case I like to keep most of these pretty cheap with storm bolters on the squads for dakka and my Canonesses with mostly power swords and maybe one with a Blessed Blade, along with plasma or just bolt pistols, and maybe one with a rod. Celestine or a Missionary can be used for extra HQs in a double battalion.

 

You choose Valorous Heart as your order since it make sisters pretty durable and then bring an imagifier so everyone within 6" is ignoring ap -2 and also get their built in 6+ FNP. You bring 2 or 3 Exorcists with missile launchers for anti tank, and then a squad or two of seraphim with two sets of inferno pistols. This is pretty much your core. After that it's add whatever else you like, I personally go with either a squad of Heavy Bolter or Multi Melta Retributors or a Dominion squad with all meltaguns or storm bolters along with 2 or 3 immolators with immolation flamers to ferry any squads around. Any combo of this usually gives you a good mix of anti infantry and anti tank for any narrative, casual, or semi competitive play. I also try to add an Ebon Chalice character in there somewhere to give them the Warlord trait that gives d3 CP and an automatic 6 on your first Miracle Dice. If you wish to go with some melee support and like repentia, throw 8 in a rhino with their repentia superior and a missionary and run them into a big scary thing your opponent has.

 

Regardless, your core list is a battalion with Canonesses, battle sisters, exorcists, seraphim, and an imagifier. Hope that helps a bit! Be aware that things may change now that the whole range is getting released, people will have some more options to play with that we just didn't have before.

Thanks for your reply. Good and straight to the point :) I'm gonna go and buy some sisters tomorrow and the codex, along with maybe some seraphim. So I guess the new models won't have been released by tomorrow. But I must say I love the new models, if they have arrived, I'll probably get an imagifier and canoness. Ignoring ap -2 sounds good, I guess sisters have some form of armour save? Or do they? I have celestine so it would be nice to have her in the army. I think ebon chalice is my favorite chapter so far, but I guess you can play them as any chapter you like rules wise and still have them painted as another chapter? :) I think I know what you mean by battallion, 3 troops, HQ, HS and so on. Or am I wrong? I have played lots of 40K in my local tabletop community, but it was 2 years ago, so the rules may have changed a bit and I also may have forgotten certain things xD

[EmperorGTank]

Yea a battalion is still 2 HQ and 3 Troops and then I believe a max of 3 of any other role, HS, FA, Elites, etc. Ebon Chalice is my favorite major order too actually, though my custom scheme is an order that fights mainly like Ebon Chalice, Valorous Heart and sometimes Bloody Rose since I like those 3 the best. But yea you can play them as any order really, not many know the right color schemes anyway.

 

All battle sisters have power armor so have a 3+ save, they are pretty much humans with marine gear except for lascannons, plasma, and a few other heavy weapons since they use bolters, melta, and flamers mainly. So ignoring ap -2 is pretty great, even ap -1 base is nice too. Vehicles get it too which is nice. All sisters also get a 6+ invulnerable which helps too. Celestine is a solid choice and a good melee option though shes gotten nerfed throughout the edition since she first came out so she's not as tanky or silly as she used to be. Our Psychic Awakening supplement is also coming eventually so we may get some goodies in that too!

 

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask, most have played sisters a long time here, personally I'm going on 11 or 12 years playing them so we all have a good amount of experience.

[Dread]

Yes, welcome! As stated above, Gtank is correct. Added to Celestine, the fact she is no longer order specific, I found out, is really good. Most people not happy with her Geminia, but I really like them. I also bring 2 detachments, one specifically to take 3 exorcist and I always do.

 

I'm also a pure sisters player and the only non sisters model I bring is inquistor Greyfax. She helps balance against pyshic based armies. Any inqiistor will work for that matter.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

Thanks for your replies guys. It makes it so much more fun to kickoff with Sisters. 3+ armour save sounds good, and lots of dakka I suppose with all the battalions. Now to something very basic: how much is one model worth in points? I'm going to get the codex today, I was just curious. I think the rule celestine has that she can resurrect when she loses all wounds on a 2+ is pretty sweet. Paired with the fact that she has a 4+ invulnerable save. Also, celestine can replenish all wounds on one geminae once per shooting phase, if celestine is in her squad ;)

[EmperorGTank]

Battle Sisters are 9 points so pretty cheap for how versatile they are. Everything else goes up from there, seraphim are 11, repentia are 13 I believe, most of our support characters like the hospitaller are between 35 and 45, and the Canoness is 45 too. Our tanks and transports get more expensive of course, with Immolators being 110 with the flamers and Exorcists being 170 with their anti tank missile launchers. Overall the army's point cost is somewhere in between Tempestus Scions and Marines, so not too expensive but not dirt cheap.

 

Regarding Celestine, her built in resurrection is great and her 2+/4++ is solid, though only being T3 really hurts. When she could be taken in a squad with the Geminae at the start of 8th her ability to restore their wounds was far better. Now they are unfortunately separate squads, and they have to remain 3" from one another for their synergy to work. Plus if both Geminae die or get sniped quickly she cant bring them back, she needs one alive to do that. Celestine can also make charges that they fail and vice versa so she can outrun them or fail to keep up which mean she loses their bodyguard rule and can get caught out. Just in general taking the Geminae isn't really worth it rught now until we see if and what PA gives them. Celestine by herself though is pretty good.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

Battle Sisters are 9 points so pretty cheap for how versatile they are. Everything else goes up from there, seraphim are 11, repentia are 13 I believe, most of our support characters like the hospitaller are between 35 and 45, and the Canoness is 45 too. Our tanks and transports get more expensive of course, with Immolators being 110 with the flamers and Exorcists being 170 with their anti tank missile launchers. Overall the army's point cost is somewhere in between Tempestus Scions and Marines, so not too expensive but not dirt cheap.

 

Regarding Celestine, her built in resurrection is great and her 2+/4++ is solid, though only being T3 really hurts. When she could be taken in a squad with the Geminae at the start of 8th her ability to restore their wounds was far better. Now they are unfortunately separate squads, and they have to remain 3" from one another for their synergy to work. Plus if both Geminae die or get sniped quickly she cant bring them back, she needs one alive to do that. Celestine can also make charges that they fail and vice versa so she can outrun them or fail to keep up which mean she loses their bodyguard rule and can get caught out. Just in general taking the Geminae isn't really worth it rught now until we see if and what PA gives them. Celestine by herself though is pretty good.

Okay, I'll consider running Celestine as a solo model instead of taking Geminae then. And since I have the codex now, atleast she has a strong attack, she gets strength 7 on her attacks I believe. How good are the exorcists? They look pretty cool and I've heard they have lots of strong missiles. Also, is it worth taking SoB rhinos? Dedicated transports can sometimes change the outcome, but is it worth it for SoB?

[EmperorGTank]

Exorcists are our only consistent long range anti Tank fire support. 3d3 strength 8 ap -3 d6 damage missiles are pretty strong and with the devastating refrain stratagem you can reroll the number of shots to make sure you get good numbers of missiles.

 

Rhinos aren't bad for certain units like repentia, or big squads of 10 sisters, but if you're gonna take dedicated transports I would say immolators or repressors are the way to go, though repressors dont currently have a model out unfortunately, FW is killing us. But it's up to you, I keep a rhino or 2 around for certain units but I think immolators just add so much firepower in addition to transporting.

[bkde]

Rhinos aren't bad for certain units like repentia, or big squads of 10 sisters, but if you're gonna take dedicated transports I would say immolators or repressors are the way to go, though repressors dont currently have a model out unfortunately, FW is killing us. But it's up to you, I keep a rhino or 2 around for certain units but I think immolators just add so much firepower in addition to transporting.

 

The old immolator kit, was basically a rhino with an extra turret, so all the rhinos could be immos or immos could be rhinos.  Looking at the sprues for the new kit, this may still be possible if you get creative with plugging the turret hole where the immo turret goes with a stormbolter turret.  In which case my recommendation would just be to buy immolators and ignore the rhino kit completely.  Also, magnetize the immo weapons so it's possible to swap between multimeltas, heavy bolters and immo flamers.  Immo flamers are king right now, but rules have a habit of changing...

 

If you scoop up an Immolator you'll probably have enough bits left over to sister-up a space marine rhino, which are cheap and plentiful and can save a bit of $$$.  

 

Given that the army is so new, there is no real used market for plastic sisters.  Therefore the army will have to be bought new from GW and will be expensive.  Again I can't stress the importance of starting small.  Play small games at 500pts, 750pts, 1000pts to figure out what you like.  Just for the canoness model and the two boxes of battle sisters recommended above you're looking at $185 CAD.  Add in a couple exorcists (one is too random, pairs or triplets are better) and that's already $385 CAD+tax.  USD it'll be cheaper, but still a good chunk of money for only ~500pts of models.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

I'll definately be getting some exorcists soon, maybe so I have 3 of them :) I already have one and it was fun painting it, just a bit tricky to build. And yes, immolators are probably better than rhinos since you can drive them inside and scorch the enemies and then bam. Drop the repentia. Looks wise, I like the repentia alot with their purity seals and pergaments. So what would a normal army look like if it consists of the best units?

 

Currently I have 1 retributor squad, celestine, 3 units of sisters and an exorcist. The canoness model wasn't in store yet but I'm looking forward to it.

 

Something like this maybe:

 

-3x10x Sisters

+ Canoness

 

-3x10 Sisters

+ Canoness

 

-3x10 Retributors

+ Celestine

 

3 Exorcists

 

-10 Repentia in an immolator.

 

What do you think? I'm just guessing and was going mostly on what units I have/what units you said are good.

[EmperorGTank]

So with what you have I would say start with a battalion detachment so it could look something like this:

 

HQ:

 

Canoness with whatever you want

Celestine

 

Troops:

3 squads of 5-10 Battle Sisters, I like squads of 5 personally, with any special weapons.

 

Elites:

6 Repentia in an Immolator (Immolators only have 6 transport capacity)

4 Repentia in an Immolator

Or all 10 repentia in a rhino

 

Heavy Support:

Retributors with either Heavy Bolters or Multi Meltas

Exorcist

 

As you add things to the army and want to get more competitive think about making a battalion of Valorous Heart with Celestine, Canoness, battle sisters, Exorcists, and Retributors.

 

Then you can make a separate Bloody Rose vanguard detachment of elites with Repentia in transports so they get those melee buffs. Either 10 in a rhino and 2 squads of 6 in immolators, or whatever you want. Personally I like a Repentia Superior and Missionary or Preacher with them for more buffs, and maybe a Canoness with the 5+ invulnerable warlord trait to make them more survivable. So 8 in a rhino with 2 characters, a squad of 5 and a Canoness and another squad of 6 in immolators.

 

Just start with what you have, play a few games when the world opens up again, and see what you enjoyed the most.

[Inquisitor Xenoflay]

So with what you have I would say start with a battalion detachment so it could look something like this:

 

HQ:

 

Canoness with whatever you want

Celestine

 

Troops:

3 squads of 5-10 Battle Sisters, I like squads of 5 personally, with any special weapons.

 

Elites:

6 Repentia in an Immolator (Immolators only have 6 transport capacity)

4 Repentia in an Immolator

Or all 10 repentia in a rhino

 

Heavy Support:

Retributors with either Heavy Bolters or Multi Meltas

Exorcist

 

As you add things to the army and want to get more competitive think about making a battalion of Valorous Heart with Celestine, Canoness, battle sisters, Exorcists, and Retributors.

 

Then you can make a separate Bloody Rose vanguard detachment of elites with Repentia in transports so they get those melee buffs. Either 10 in a rhino and 2 squads of 6 in immolators, or whatever you want. Personally I like a Repentia Superior and Missionary or Preacher with them for more buffs, and maybe a Canoness with the 5+ invulnerable warlord trait to make them more survivable. So 8 in a rhino with 2 characters, a squad of 5 and a Canoness and another squad of 6 in immolators.

 

Just start with what you have, play a few games when the world opens up again, and see what you enjoyed the most.

Thanks :) the repentia superiour sounds cool, and I'm fond of tanks so maybe 2 squads of repentia in immolators.