Collection almost complete, but what about Celestians?

[EmperorGTank]

Hey there everyone! So a bit of introduction first, the question I have is in the paragraph below so skip there if you want the TLDR version. Since quarantine began I have pretty much finished the core components of my Adepta Sororitas force and while I have never been much of a painter I am proud of how these 90+ or so Sisters and their vehicles have come out. I have a healthy force of battle sisters with bolters, meltas, storm bolters, and a few flamers, 12 girls with 4 of each heavy weapon, 10+ superiors armed with various combi weapons and those with chainswords/bolters, 2 separate squads of five Seraphim with their superiors, inferno pistols and hand flamers as well as enough extra girls to fill in if points require it. Additionally I have Celestine and her Geminae, two Canonesses + Veridiyan, an old missionary model, Imagifier, Hospitaller, 3 Simulacum Imperialis wielders, and then the 4 Repentia and Superior from the original box set along with the Arcos that are primed but not sure when I am getting around to finishing them. I also have 3 mortifiers, two exorcists, one of the new immolator kits that I have left with the option of switching its weapons since 9th is changing up vehicles for the better it seems, 3 additional older immolators with flamers and multi meltas, one old rhino and of course cherubs galore, though only 4 armorium ones are done so far. There are some WIP units I am finishing up including those 3 arcos, a bunch of cherubs, and a minimum squad of 5 Zephyrim to fill out the close combat support element of the army. For the most part my collection is where I want it to be as of this moment, however, I came into one additional box of battle sisters from my FLGS that just opened back up and was looking for some support, the price was far cheaper than GW so I decided to try and aid the post quarantine hobby world a bit. I planned on just making a base superior, few more bolter babes, and the odd special weapon or 2 to round out my storm bolters, flamers, and meltas. However, that should only take about 5 sisters out of the box and I planned on making the remaining 5 into a Celestian bodyguard unit.

 

My main question is what do you think is the best loadout on a squad of Celestians currently? I have never really used them in lists, though I know they received a slight buff in the codex with rerolling hits when near a Canoness and their 2CP stratagem to reroll wounds as well, and I am just looking for suggestions. I believe I have enough bits from other boxes to do just about anything, but personally I was thinking of making them more narrative based as either a holy trinity squad with a meltagun and flamer, or a heavy weapon and flamer/meltagun. Using flamers on them though feels like a waste since they will be parked near the Canoness most likely so I want to be able to make use of the rerolls. Part of me thinks just 2 meltaguns may be the way to go. I should also mention I kitbashed a sort of Celestian Superior with a power sword/plasma pistol a while back, but have since considered just using her as another Superior and instead using the Superior in this box as the Celestian one with a combi weapon of some kind, maybe a combi-flamer and then the 2 meltaguns? While I do play in pseudo competitive settings this squad is more of a fluff/narrative unit for my army, and will probably be used in many of the new crusade format games, so I guess I am looking for suggestions on both sides, from competitive options to fluffy ones too.

 

Sorry for how long this became, like many of you I have been playing these girls and as a result waiting for plastic for over a decade and now that it is here I am trying to really fill the collection out with as many options as possible so no matter what kind of army I want to play I can field the appropriate models. While I love the shooty elements of the army the most I like to have the odd squad of melee support to counter charge, harass the backfield, etc. I am sure I will eventually cave and get the Triumph along with Junith in addition to a 3rd exorcist and maybe another odd vehicle just to have them, but those are projects for the future, and after spending most of what I had saved up for the army my hobby fund needs a rest for a moth or so to replenish! I look forward to any suggestions you can give everyone! Thanks for being such a great community!

Edited June 11, 2020 by EmperorGTank

[toaae]

I've not played a single game with my new Sororitas, but I do have opinions about Celestians. They are essentially Battle Sisters +1, since they have the same weapon options. They get +1 attack, the bodyguard rule and the Sword Protectors rule as you mentioned. Currently, in 8th edition, they have the problem of being Elites, when you really need to fill troop slots for Command Points. Let's assume in 9th that won't be an issue, and you can freely choose between running another BSS squad or Celestian squad.

I'd imagine you'd want to use them as a retinue for your Canoness. Not only do they get re-rolls but they can eat sniper shots for her. Offensively, just play them like a Battle Sisters Squad that happens to get full re-rolls. Storm Bolters have the benefit of being cheap, but Meltaguns wouldn't be the worst, I guess. I wouldn't get too excited about the bonus melee attack; Strength 3 and no AP means those attacks really won't do much, even with re-rolls.

If you're running Bloody Rose, all of that gets amplified. The Canoness can be her own beatstick with the relic, and the Celestians can actually put out some hurt.

 

Thanks for being such a great community!

 

Thank you!

[EmperorGTank]

Thanks for the insight, yes I see them as a way to protect my buff Canoness and even my warlord Canoness from Eliminators and other sniper units. I am probably either going to go double storm bolter or maybe meltagun/storm bolter just to have lots of dakka and then a threat on overwatch or anti vehicle in case something gets close.

 

Thanks again man really! Even with the changes coming in 9th I think I'll still always love bringing my Battle Sisters to most games. The Celestian squad will be there for fluff mostly.

[taikishi]

Honestly, the best way to deal with snipers is just be Valorous Heart and/or run an Imagifier with Tale of the Stoic. 6+++ and ignoring AP -1/AP -2 is plenty.

 

As for Eliminators, with the errata to the Marine Dex they can only be in Devastator doctrine one turn so just hide important characters well enough they there can't be seen on your opponent's first turn. The las-fusils can't target characters directly, mortis rounds are only AP -3 for one turn now, and the other two rounds are less impactful after turn 1 if you run Tale of the Stoic with any Order Conviction

[EmperorGTank]

Very true all around. While I play Valorous Heart in most of the "competitive" games I have had, I am also anticipating minor orders in our Pariah rules, and my color scheme is a minor order I've created of course in head fluff so I'm going try to play with some of the custom order rules or traits if we get them. For that reason I'm trying to not have to rely on one of the six main order bonuses at least for narrative games.

[dracpanzer]

Until they put any "choose your own" faction relics and warlord traits in a psychic awakening book I wouldn't even consider one.

 

A set of strategems that are unit specific would be nice though.

[EmperorGTank]

I hope we get some unit specific strats in PA definitely. As for relics and warlord traits, most of my lists take some pretty generic stuff usually, with the exception being the Ebon Chalice warlord trait for the extra CP and auto 6 MD first battle round. I love EC in general and fitting in a small vanguard detachment of characters with a Canoness with that always feels worth it in more casual games.

 

But other than that some "choose your own order convictions" and some additional strats for the army would be fine for me! Hoping for a Chapter Master equivalent where a Canoness can give a reroll 1s to wound aura, or even a stratagem for a generic living Saint, I doubt we'll ever get a model for one but maybe at least a way to make a character into a Saint equivalent, in lieu of a jump pack Canoness.