# Sisters of battle and the lack there of!



## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

So I whanna know why are their barely any Sisters Of Battle players out there??
Is it the models? The fluff? or a mix of the two?:shok: Because I don't get it haha peace out folks!:victory:


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Woopse please move this to the 40k thread >.<


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## Khorothis (May 12, 2009)

For me, its the models mainly. And that you need a bookful of explanation for your army NOT to be apeshit crazy like most Sisters of Battle. I have trouble with people who lack a good sense of humour, you know, and while the pyromaniac within me rejoiced when I was playing Soulstorm and I could kill everything with fire (either flamers or meltas), I really didn't like the Canonness being an unsatisfied Khornate nun with rights and means to take revenge on the world that forces her to exist without even the most basic of carnal pleasures, making having a sense of humour practically impossible. So 75% models and 25% fluff. No, wait, its 100% the models, since I could always make them Chaos Nuns and be done with it, but metal models are not conversion-friendly. And no, not Slaaneshi nuns; Word Bearer nuns! :grin:


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

gah your lack of faith upsets me  hehe chaos isent all what its cracked up to be you know  almost all of my store collects chaos its upsetting to see nothing else  but I can see why the metal models put people off


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## The Wraithlord (Jan 1, 2007)

Moved to General 40K.


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## FatBoyFat (Feb 23, 2009)

I've got maybe 100 sisters, about 50 made and "painted" but that was the first army I painted, you know the one I mean.. it sits in a box somewhere and don't show anyone, although I did make up a new scheme and started painting the others recently, but then I got distracted by dark angels, then back to my guard.. and now its orks! Give me some plastic models and a new codex and I'll get them all painted!


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

=/ a shame so many people hate the Metal models the army is fantastic looking in my opinion and to be fair the not needing to build the troops helps me alot been that im horribly lazy:laugh: but the idea of a full army of battle nuns going off the handle with flamers and other means of fiery death is far to cool for me:mrgreen:


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## randys_s13 (Dec 29, 2009)

Honestly I think it's the state of the hobby right now, There are so many out dated armies, and every one is jumping on the new stuff. It's to the point were so many people play Space Marines it makes me want to quite 40k and just build my Lizardmen army that much quicker. Also the Sisters are not an unstoppable killing machine and people are afraid to play armies like that now, plus metal model kinda suck now.


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

randys_s13 said:


> Honestly I think it's the state of the hobby right now, There are so many out dated armies, and every one is jumping on the new stuff. It's to the point were so many people play Space Marines it makes me want to quite 40k and just build my Lizardmen army that much quicker. Also the Sisters are not an unstoppable killing machine and people are afraid to play armies like that now, plus metal model kinda suck now.


well no their not the unstoppable killing machine and that's why I like them ^^ its far more fun winning a fight well than playing with only basic knowledge of how to use your army the only reason some armys are left in the dust is because of the updating of the more popular armys -looks at space marines and their retarded amount of updates- oh and chaos.... them too


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## randys_s13 (Dec 29, 2009)

If GW would worry less about giving every chapter it's own book then maybe they could actually support the game they produce. Chaos is pretty popular too but atleast the csm only have one book and alot of the same models from 2nd edition, I mean honestly how many versions of ultra marines do we need. At least there is one person who dears to be different.


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Im the only SoB player in my store so far its rather depressing  alot of tau and orks mind so my immolaters have fun!


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

I've always liked the idea of a sisters army, i like their fluff and i have a big thing for fire weapons.

The cost and lack of construction options with the metal models just puts me off completely though.

If they ever brought out some plastics i'd definetly be interested in a little army.


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## Inquisitor Varrius (Jul 3, 2008)

I played SoB's for while, then I decided I liked the non-nun half of the list better. I'm bad at painting human faces and there are a lot of those on sisters. They're also pretty expensive; plastics would go a _long_ way towards making me buy more. I love the fluff, and I use the ones I've already done, but they're hard for me to do. I'll probably stick to the sisters I have now. 

Oh, and they have the coolest tanks in the game. I'd kill to be able to use an immolator in my Imperial armies.


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Inquisitor Varrius said:


> I played SoB's for while, then I decided I liked the non-nun half of the list better. I'm bad at painting human faces and there are a lot of those on sisters. They're also pretty expensive; plastics would go a _long_ way towards making me buy more. I love the fluff, and I use the ones I've already done, but they're hard for me to do. I'll probably stick to the sisters I have now.
> 
> Oh, and they have the coolest tanks in the game. I'd kill to be able to use an immolator in my Imperial armies.


By far the coolest model range in my opinion :so_happy: I love the detail my 1000 point army is going to have 2 Immolaters in it! HERESY WILL FEAR THE FLAMES OF TERRA!


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## zarition (Nov 4, 2009)

sisters are my favorite army but theirs heros sucks 
the thorn, and the saint is trash. its like they force be to use a cannoness
i rather play my guard or orks.
just cause their hq's are more pleasing
I see de players crying about a their codex least their codex has decent fluff with a good range of hqs.
I would mainly focus on the metal too the price for a squad of sisters is 40$(american) and you get a flamer and stormbolter ...cmon stormbolter...

they only yhing i truely hope for is for forge world to making some sister apoc stuff, and sister models. a boy can dream.


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## Asmodeun (Apr 26, 2009)

I concur. I do like sisters but the fact that you can drop a plastic model from one meter up and expect it to be relatively intact is almost as good as knowing the same is true from a foot high. Metal models don't fair too well in either situation.


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## Arbite (Jan 1, 2010)

I would say because it is a predominantly metal army. A real bitch to paint and convert.


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## Wal-Marx (Oct 21, 2009)

Personally, I like it the metal models. They may be a bit harder to paint, BUT, as a person who always seem to lose layers of skin to the assembly process of plastic models, very few metal pieces is fine by me. I just wish Sisters didn't cost so much monetary wise, and/or very little point wise.

Either way, I use 5 strong seraphim squad for my allied fast attack choice with my Grey Knights, and just recently, they annihilated 3 guardsman squads and a company command.


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## Sethis (Jun 4, 2009)

A Bad boxed set (No wargear options - either for the Sister Superior or Special Weapons) in addition to the lack of decent HQ/Exorcist Models means it's too much money or effort for most people.

Also lots of people have hangups about playing as women kicking the asses of men, when they are in fact a man themselves. :grin:


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## Necrosis (Nov 1, 2008)

I would say it would be the price of making an army. I mean one squad is 50 dollars and their less points then marines. Also you have to buy certain weapons seperatly. Also most of their stuff has to be ordered in. They also have very little fluff and are often ignored by GW. Not until recently they had nothing for planetstrike and Apocaplsye.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

It's a catch-22, I think. On one hand, you've got a lot of interest in the army, but people citing that they don't want to play it because the whole range is metal. On the other, sales are low, so Games Workshop's spreadsheet goons don't have a good reason to say "Hey, let's sell these people MORE of this."

I guess you have to understand the marketing strategy a bit for that to make sense. What Games Workshop does is focus on what is most popular in their range, rather than create equally popular components in the range. That's how they stop themselves from essentially competing with themselves. The reason that there are so many Space Marine things is that people like Space Marines more than anything else. Despite all the bitching and moaning about how the Space Marines get all the love, the sales records show that Space Marines sell better than anything else, so it is in Games Workshop's interest to promote and develop their leading product the most strongly. 

What sales records indicate is that Sisters of Battle, for whatever reason, aren't as popular as Space Marines. Rather than make a product that competes with an existing product, it's easier to simply continue to offer what currently exists, but place emphasis and development on things that sell better. Does it make the game better? No. Does it please the people that do like the Sisters of Battle range? No. But overall, it's a sound marketing strategy, and as someone who DOES like the Sisters of Battle quite a bit, I can't fault them for doing things that way.

Now, to go back on topic, I own a Sisters of Battle army. I haven't played with it in about eight months or so, I think, largely because when I do have time (or lately, the urge) to play 40k, it's been vaguely scheduled games and people want to play against my Space Marines. I think it's the amount of detail that's gone into everything about my Chapter, but I could be wrong. 

The fact that the range is almost entirely metal is irritating, but ultimately not that big a deal. I never notice that I have seventy or so Sisters, of which there are five distinct models. By varying the skin tones and hair color, you actually end up not noticing how few different versions there are. I'd agree that the basic box set is lousy-- the special weapons included are iffy, in my opinion. The Sister Superior in the box is fine, though-- nobody questions it when I use the chainsword she has as an Eviscerator, because it's actually the same size as the ones wielded by the Sisters Repentia models. The plasma pistol is an iffy option, but it's easy to clip off and replace with a bolt pistol. 

The Exorcist is the real problem in the range, I think. It's an unnecessarily complicated model, by Games Workshop's own admission, and is something they know they should've done in plastic but decided for unfathomable reasons not to. The thing's a pain in the ass to transport because of its height, and is probably the single hardest miniature to assemble well that Games Workshop makes due to how the pipe organ is made. Now, it's a gorgeous model when it's done, but it has some serious issues on the hobby side of things. 

I know a lot of people are attracted to Games Workshop's "newest best" way of developing things, but I've always maintained that Codex: Witch Hunters doesn't need to be touched at all to be very competitive right now. The Acts of Faith are extremely powerful, and always have been. The book is one of the last which contains a general Armoury section, as well, and that's something huge for me-- I was infuriated when Games Workshop decided to cut the Armoury from more recent books, starting really with Codex: Eldar. I found the Sisters to be far more effective against the common "power builds" that people just pull off of the internet, to boot, because the metagame largely ignores the Adepta Sororitas. 

People knock the Sisters as having poor options in the Codex as far as units go, too. I've never quite followed that-- it's no different than a Space Marine army, really-- every squad is made up of Sisters of Battle, and it's a question of how they're grouped and armed as to where they fall in the force organization chart. It's a finesse army, really, and in an age where people are looking to do less thought on the table and more metagaming and focus more on what they bring to the table rather than how they play it, I can understand why that's not particularly attractive. 

People cite Sisters Repentia as a bad unit, and I've never quite followed. Yes, they're pricey. They suffer against heavy bolters. Power-armoured Sisters, who do get their armour save, suffer against heavy bolters too since the things wound them on 2's. It's a 66% wound reduction, but the volume of saves you take makes it a lot less good than people make it out to be. What the Repentia do offer is a shock weapon and a psychological weapon against your opponent. They're able to cut their way through Space Marine squads without breaking a sweat, and have a comparable points cost to a fully-upgraded (i.e., how you actually field one) Tactical Squad. That's a pretty positive thing in their favor, I think. People look at them as easy kills, but are absolutely terrified of their eviscerators, so they spend more resources in a given shooting phase eliminating a unit of Repentia than they really ought to. That takes the heat off of your Sisters, if only for a turn, and when you consider that the Battle Sister squads do the real heavy lifting in the army, that's extremely valuable. 

As for the HQ choices-- there was a post earlier about how the book "forces" you to take a Canoness because the named characters aren't good. That's really incorrect-- the named characters aren't _better_ the way they are in more recent books. Codex: Witch Hunters was written at the tail end of the era when people still used special characters for special occasions, and not as the thoughtless and obvious leaders of their army. It was a better time. *Nostalagia sniffle* 

That being said, the Canoness/Palatine entry is pretty phenominal for the points you pay. You can bring a Canoness that's basically immune to consequences for around 160 points by giving her The Book of Saint Lucius, the Cloak of Saint Aspira, a jump pack, Litanies of Faith, Mantle of Ophelia, a bolt pistol, and a Blessed Weapon. Have her hop around with some Seraphim-- it doesn't matter that they forgo their Hit and Run rule while she's with them, because she's a powerhouse and they just play bodyguard for her in addition to being a Faithful unit. The Book is a great buff, the Cloak gives her a 2+ armor save, and the Litanies let her use an Act of Faith for free without testing. So, she gets herself into combat, burns the litanies of faith to give herself a 2+ invulnerable save, is immune to the first instant death-causing wound she takes, and then swings back with three S5 master-crafted power weapon attacks, which can be made rending if you feel like it with an Act of Faith. Not bad for 161 points. It's how I run my Canoness, and she's -never- died. Even after the Litanies of Faith are used, she's testing on Leadership 10 for the Act after that since she's an Independent Character, rather than rolling the usual way for squads. To top it all off, she contributes two Faith Points to the army. Honestly, the Canoness may be one of the most cost-effective HQ choices in the game.


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Thank you for that Huge post!!! It showed what I was going to say  the army book isent in need of updating I agree but the models are though it dosent bother me as ive said It makes the hobby easier on my dispraxic body


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

I'll pipe in my two cents here, when looking at armies to play when I was first getting into 40k, although I decided on Chaos, SoB was another one I took a real good look at. If it weren't for the total lack of updates, I might have picked them, and now I still think they could be really kickass with an update. Just give me some better SoB models, and I'll seriously think about collecting them. :good:


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Seems its the models over all then  Shame to be honest =/ ah well  back to painting up my army of sisters!k:


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

I have a large army of sisters, the only one i have right now. I love them and am in the process of painting my 3rd squad of sisters. I hvae 2 squads painted and i must admit it gets a bit boring painting the smae models all the time. I would love some poseable models. I have some pics somewhere, if you are interested give me a PM and i will post them up or put up a link.
In all i love my sisters of battle. The fluff is amazing the models still stand up and although i win about half my games i think they are still very strong


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## DaafiejjXD (Jun 22, 2009)

I like the SoB's, but I like the IG more. Though I must admit, I am making plans to include a SoB heroine in my IG force(already have one with a stormbolter). Probably going to use her as a sure shot in one of my veteran squads(that stormbolter can hurt a lot, really well), or give her a power weapon and use some more daring tactics. 

A well.. I like the models to be honest, and isn't it just cool to have a chick in power armor, blasting away at heretics with an eternal vigor, and desire to see them burn, and to bring the emperor's light to the distant corners of the galaxies?


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## Vanchet (Feb 28, 2008)

I use to see one-He was a combat nut-none of the sisters shot-they all jumped in kickin teeth in


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Interesting sounding list thats a lot of seraphim! unless your talking about the basic sisters :S then thats just suicidal!


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

Ok, since I'm back, I'm going to add my 2 cents to this thread. I play SoBs as well, and yes, I'll admit, the metal models make for hard converting of the army. That said, they're already very nicely detailed and look very nice even without conversions.
( ofcourse it didnt'help that the IG platoon that I include in my army is also made up entirely of metal models, using the necromunda range )

I love the fluff of the army, and the way it's played. It's definitely not an army for someone that just wants to put down stuff and expect them to kill everything inside.
They require planning and tactics to pull off well.

And ofcourse.. it's ALWAYS fun to WTFPWN somebody by playing your cards right, and they go.. but but but.. how?

Speaking of that, I consider SoBs still a good army, even with it's outdated codex.
A Cannoness can be a serious powerhouse as mentioned above. I usually use her as said powerhouse and sacrifice her halfway in the battle to get more faith points.
Add to this that the lowly basic battlesister is STILL one of the most economic troop units around, and you can bet your ass a good general will be able to use that to an advantage.

I also love the dynamics of the army, the faith pool makes for a very unpredictable effect on the table to the enemy, they will always be secondguessing themselves and you on what you plan to do.


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Indeed the faith points are amazing! can't wait to get to play my friend tommorow Ill be sure to write a battle report!


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

I have found a Canonness with the right gear can bea real bitch.
Never under estimate how scared people are of the Exocist.


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## Arbite (Jan 1, 2010)

Dagmire said:


> I have found a Canonness with the right gear can bea real bitch.
> Never under estimate how scared people are of the Exocist.


They have full reason to be scared of an exorcist. D6 shots is something to be scared of. 
What do you take with you canonness. A blesed weapon and litanies is a must, if your going CC with her.


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

Litanies are not a must when going solo.

My own solo melee cannoness has this:
Blessed weapon, bolt pistol, Cloak of st.Aspira, Mantle of Ophelia, Jump pack, frags
( melta bombs optional )

Total points: 132(137)

With ld10, she will rarely fail her faith check to give that nice 2+ invulnerable save. Ofcourse if she does, she'll probably be dead, but that's another matter.

I'm still trying to think of a good setup for a cannones with celestian retinue, but so far, everything I came up with, is horridly expensive.

Oh, for laughs and giggles, try setting up a landraider next to your excorcists. And watch your opponent squirm, trying to decide which tank to shoot first.
And if you want to be REALLY mean, bring in some inducted guard, and get a lemon.
This would be in a higher point game but still:
Landraider, 2 excorcists and a lemon... please pick your target mister enemy sir.


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

My cannoness runs with a 5 woman squad of dominion sisters 4 armed with flamers and a vet with a power weapon and a holy brazier.
They all jump in a immolator with HF and holy pro and melt faces.
The cannoness has an Inferno pistol, blessed weapon, cloak of St Aspria, book of st lucier and Litanies of faith.
Nothing is nastier the dropping 5 flame tamplates that are AP 1 on a roll of 6 to wound (using lits to get an auto pass) what ever is left is getting at least 8 power weapon attacks and 8 normal attacks on them which can then be buffed.
I have killed 4 termmies in a single round of shooting once. The cannoness finishing of the left overs
My cannoness has downed a Hive tirant 2 times in CC after a becoming a tar pit for it.

The AV 13 of an exorcist + the ability to move 6" and still fire means i have 2 in my list for the lack of any other long range. Never forget AP1 weapons can still destroy land raiders


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

Inquisitor Einar:
I'm still trying to think of a good setup for a cannones with celestian retinue, but so far, everything I came up with, is horridly expensive.


Try a ret with as many SB and PW as you can get and a sacred banner. lots of shots that can be made AP1. If your in assullt the banner makes alot of differance


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Seems Ive started a rather popular thread!!! GW read here people will collect the SoBs if you upgrade the models!!!


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Cannoness Katelyn said:


> Is it the models? The fluff? or a mix of the two?


probably a mixture of these 2, the miniatures are fine, price isn't though, and the fluff has kind been abandoned by GW to a basic "these are women, they have BOOOOOOOBSLOLZOR, they do stuff.....but there not ultramarines"

that kinda puts people off really, if GW can actually give us some plastics and some decent fluff again they might become more popular, but then comes the problem of the main type of player being a sweaty fat bloke who has been labled a hazard to shipping and little boys......so your typical GW player but with sisters.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

> but then comes the problem of the main type of player being a sweaty fat bloke who has been labled a hazard to shipping and little boys......


Fuck me, that is epic without boundaries...


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## Cannoness Katelyn (Dec 30, 2009)

Stella Cadente said:


> probably a mixture of these 2, the miniatures are fine, price isn't though, and the fluff has kind been abandoned by GW to a basic "these are women, they have BOOOOOOOBSLOLZOR, they do stuff.....but there not ultramarines"
> 
> that kinda puts people off really, if GW can actually give us some plastics and some decent fluff again they might become more popular, but then comes the problem of the main type of player being a sweaty fat bloke who has been labled a hazard to shipping and little boys......so your typical GW player but with sisters.


I take offence to that!!!:ireful2:....oh wait no I dont' :laugh:


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## Discy (Oct 23, 2008)

Daemonhunters appear to be getting the same treatment by GW. COME ON GW, BRING BACK THE INQUISITION!:threaten:

please?


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

Stella Cadente said:


> the main type of player being a sweaty fat bloke who has been labled a hazard to shipping and little boys......so your typical GW player but with sisters.



Yeah i take offence to that to but its stella so its taken witha pinch of salt now days


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

Dagmire said:


> Inquisitor Einar:
> I'm still trying to think of a good setup for a cannones with celestian retinue, but so far, everything I came up with, is horridly expensive.
> 
> 
> Try a ret with as many SB and PW as you can get and a sacred banner. lots of shots that can be made AP1. If your in assullt the banner makes alot of differance


I know.. I've been working on it.. but it generally ends up in a big chunk of points for a half decend assault squad, then I look at a regular sister squad and count the number of those I can fit into my army if I didn't take this assault squad. As such, I've relegated the assaulting to my IG platoon.
Al'Rahem with a mob of 30 guardsmen with 3 flamers, a commissar, 4 PWs, a vox and a priest with eviscerator does quite nicely.
And his command squad has 3 meltas, and there's an SWS with plasma's in the platoon, it is a wonderfull hammer coming in fromt he flank.


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## MadCowCrazy (Mar 19, 2009)

I havent played for long but from what I have read and been told these are some of the problems with the WH codex

*HQ*
*Canoness : *
Pretty much milk and butter of the army, its what you chose because its the best HQ points vise for what she can get and do.

*Palatine : *
Not exactly worthless but pretty close, why take this when you get a canoness for 10p more? Dont think I have seen a single army list where someone has actually chosen a Palatine over a Canoness.

*Inquisitor Lord : *
The bane of all min/max people. You can make a shooty lord, or a meleish lord. It does both jobs poorly, costs tons more than other units that do the same job better and is overall pretty meh.

*Elite *
*Arco-Flagellants : *
Seems really fun when you read about them but people often insist they are a very expensive gamle to use. As soon as you activate them you lose all control of them for the rest of the game. If you roll a 6 on the extra movement one dies, and for every model that rolls a 6 for attacks allso dies. If you activate combat drugs in the first turn there is a small chanse 1-3 could have died just from movement before they even reach the enemy.

*Sister Repentia :*
I love the way these models look and I love the lore about them but other than that they are pretty meh. Low toughness, high pointcost and a 2x2/6 chanse to lose control of them every turn if the mistress is alive 2/6 chanse if she isnt.

*Celestian Squad :*
Not much to say about these, they are good afaik

*Assassin Operative :*
Some are good, some are bad, and one is pretty much useless unless you face lots of psykers.
*The Eversor* is the cheapest but allso one of the most reliable ones if you want to make your points back.
*The Vindicare* is pretty good rules vise but 4s to wound makes him very unreliable.
*The Culexus* has some interesting rules but thats about it, unless you are facing psykers I dont really see any point in taking him. Soulless however can be quite fun if you want to do some tank shocking with Laud Hailers (Soulless: Anything withing 12" has Ld lowered to 7).
*The Callidus* has some of the best rules and wargear, allso the most expensive. The template weapon is quite meh, not really something you can rely on.

*Death-Cult Assassins : *
From what I know these are some of the best units in the WH codex, they are pretty strong offensivly and though pricey they should be able to get their points back with relative ease.

*Inquisitor :*
Same as the HQ but with less henchmen, making them rather expensive and ineffective for their point cost.

*Fast Attack*
*Dominion Squad :*
The problem I often find people complain about these are the point costs for the weapons. +9 for a flamer, +15 for melta and +8 for stormbolter, so the flamer and SB costs +3 more than for other squads and the melta costs +5more. Might not seem like much but thats between +12 - +20 points per squad extra.

*Seraphim :*
Afaik some of the worst assault jump pack infantry in the game, they cant take a punch but can deal it at times. The models themselves are allso made so they are a bit off the ground, making them easier to hit as well but thats just a minor detail. They cost more than a Space Marine assault squad units but have worse stats.

*Troops*
*Battle Sisters :*
Nothing wrong with these afaik, low cost and pretty descent for what you get.

*Inquisitorial Stormtroopers :*
If you desperatly need a cheaper troop choise then this is for you.

*Adeptus Arbites Squad :*
Same as above, but they come with shotguns incase you want to assault with them...

*Heavy Support*
*Exorcist :*
Oh where do I begin... I got 2 of them, both models were miscast so I havent been able to put them together. Going to just use Whirlwinds instead so I dont have to carry around the 50pound models either.
As a unit in the game its pretty much mandatory, most people say never leave home with less than 2. I think this is a sad statement but from my own experience its quite true, they can either be really good or really bad. It all comes down to the luck with dice.

*Immolator : *
Burninator is what I call them, no complaints from me. If you could only chose 1 vehicle to join your army, you would probobly choose an exorcist but this is a close second.
The only platic WH vehicle, its just 1 extra sprue but still. It doesnt weigh over 50pounds.

*Penitent Engine :*
I just love these, they look cool, they have some cool rules and fluff. Gamewise they kinda suck from what I hear. 80points a piece and you can take them in squads of 3.
FA 11 and open topped plus in a squad = dead unit. You have no control of them, they just run towards your closest enemy or die trying (more die than try).
They cost as much as a Dread but are worse in pretty much every single way. The D6 attacks is pretty much their only saving grace, too bad you most likely will not make it to the other side to use it.
Lovely model though.

*Retributor Squad :*
Why in gods name would I take these? Give them 4 heavy bolters than they cost 115 points, 4 multimelta and they cost 155 which is more than an exorcist.
You allso have to buy these guys in blisters costing 12€ a piece, thats 48€ for 4 heavy bolters or meltas. You can buy a Land Raider for that, or a whole battleforce if you buy from a retailer other than GW themselves. These needs to be made plastic and sold in boxes of atleast 5 with options for either HvyB or MM.

*Orbital Strike :*
No no no no no, just no. If you could place it anywhere then maby it would be worth it but as it is right now its very unreliable, its pretty crappy and it costs too much.
Give the Inquisitor Lord the same thing those Space Marine chaplains (or whatever they are called) have, dont move in the movement and you can call down orbital bombardment in the shooting phase.

*Transports *
*Rhino :*
Too Expensive

*Chimera :*
Too Expensive, worse than the IG one (less fire points, not amphibious (like that matters) and not a command vehicle (doesnt matter to sisters anyways)) and more expensive as well.

*Land Raider :*
Would be nice if we could chose some other variants like maby a crusader. Not much else to complain about.

*Conclusion :*
Overall I find the army lacking in some areas, mainly in long range fire with high S weapons. Its kinda sad when you have to induct IG to be able to get some reliable AV weapons. Heck, you could take a platoon and get loads of heavy weapons into your army for allot cheaper than what similar things cost. The trade off would be -1BS and -2Armor save.
At the moment it kind of feels like Im forced to induct IG to be competative but I guess thats just because I lack experience. Ive never heard of a WH army winning any tournaments though but Im sure someone has someplace.

There are allot of things that needs to be fixed and changed, basically just to bring it up to speed with 5th Edition. I would allso like to see some new units, snipers and lascannons would be nice. Im sure allot will get fixed, Id rather them give WH some special units of their own rather than inducted stuff but I guess that wont happen.


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

Ok, Going to add my comment to this, because on several points, in my opinion, you're very wrong.



MadCowCrazy said:


> *HQ*
> *Canoness : *
> Pretty much milk and butter of the army, its what you chose because its the best HQ points vise for what she can get and do.
> 
> ...


Yes, Sobs lack some good long range firepower, however their mid-range firepower is second to none. You have larger numbers than space marines, yet shoot harder than they do, yet wear the same armour, which helps A LOT. you don't need IG to be compettitive really, just have to remember that SoBs are a finesse army, you have to have some strategic skill to use them properly. Don't expect them to simply be deployed and blast everything to smithereens like some armies seem to like to do.


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## MadCowCrazy (Mar 19, 2009)

Inquisitor Einar said:


> Wrote allot of stuff


Like I said, Im new to the game. When it comes to the Inquisitor Lord I think the DH one is better. The dominion squad full of flamers put in an IG Chimera with 5 fire points seems really good. 5 Template attacks plus whatever you have on the chimera seems really powerfull.
I need to play more games to get more experience, I still think they should lower the points costs on Penitent though, 60 each would be better with wargear options to remove open topped, add smoke launcher and a fiew others.
If you face lots of AV weapons you can expect to lose 1 Penitent from every 2 units that take a shot at you. Any smart player will just shoot them before they reach you.


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## oreomaster3 (Mar 13, 2009)

whoops, double post, srry


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## oreomaster3 (Mar 13, 2009)

i like the metal models, they handle better than plastic and feels more important, i mean, my bro showed me this game and only his HQs were in metal, this must mean something...

you can get a box (10 girls squad) from non-GamesWorkShop site at about 16 GBP or 30 CAD, which is like paying 60% of the price (or saving 30%), but thats for canada, i dont know about USa

what about running an immo spam (which means a lot of little group of sisters) with dual banners, i did that list for fun, and it worked wonderfully, opponent had to take extra saves each turn (fearless)


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Guess I can't really add much to this thread that's not already been said.....

Love the SoBs, love the metal figures (who can't love the sister pulling the grenade with her teeth!?), love the fluff too.
But its the prices of the metal figures that puts me off doing anything with them.
The Codex seems pretty good, as even when I stopped bothering with GW I still bought the novels (and the odd codex just to be nosey).

As most people seem to have said, GIVE ME PLASTICS!!! :mrgreen:
A half decent range of plastics would sell them to me without question....

Right, I'm off to cry into my paint rack now.

Me
:cray:


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## talisapien (Jul 31, 2009)

*Reviving this thread to ask a question.*

Ok, about the solo cannoness, the blessed weapon/bolt pistol combo seems to be pretty popular. My question is: Why not give her a master crafted Eviscerator instead? In exchange for 10pts you can have a cannoness that can kill anything and not die easily. 

I see it this way: 

1. Hide her behind a unit of seraphim till you get her where you want her. (i.e within assault range of a unit of termies, or a land raider)

2. Make your assault.

3. Use Spirit of the Martyr if needed.

4. Let the enemy attack since you are going last (where applied)

5. Use Hand of the Emperor, make things dead.

At this point you have 3 attacks with a S8 power weapon with 2d6 to AP per hit and a reroll for a miss every turn. Oh and you can have another just like her if you want since none of the wargear is one per army.

Unless Im reading my codex wrong (please let me know if i am) the small risk of taking wounds before attacking at the chance to kill almost anything in an assault looks much better to me than 3 S5 attacks at I4.

Please let me know what you think.

EDIT: Afterthought: Im sorry this is off topic but i figured this would be a good place to a. get an answer to my question and b. hopefully restart some discussion about my favorite army.


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## mahavira (Jan 10, 2010)

On the eviscerator canoness option: myself I'd rather have 1 less strength and a little less tank busting (this is why the emperor invented inferno pistols) and not go last unless I want the boost from hand of the emperor. The whole business of going last due to power fists and the like makes my skin crawl.

As to the wider issue of why there aren't more SoB players, a better question would be why are there as many as there are? Consider:

1) All metal (aka expensive and more difficult to convert) army
2) Ancient codex (not even 4E), with unusual red tape
3) Considered to be a 'difficult' army to use
4) Not actually mentioned in the 5E rulebook

A starting player is likely to be routed towards space marines or another more user friendly army (Necrons, Orks, CSM), which conveniently also have plastics easily available. Even if the new player isn't interested in being pointed at specific armies, unless he just started playing after trying Soulstorm (guilty as charged), SoB will not be the army chosen.

Experienced players will typically start a new army because it has been brought to their attention, either throuhg a rules/models update, through encountering it in play, or something like a White Dwarf article. Even if they somehow have SoB brought to their attention, they are faced by the cost of an army, the old codex, and arguments online as to whether the army is going to be discontinued. 

The problem with the obscure armies like SoB is that they don't get updates because they're not popular, but a major reason they aren't popular is the lack of updates.

In any event, based on the disappearances of the WH and DH codices and some models, GW appears to be about to either fish or cut bait.


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## Col. Schafer (Apr 15, 2008)

I love the whole WH codex, especialy the SOB's, the fluff is awsome. As are the models. I just wish they werent metal, right now I'm limiting myself to a few alies and holding out for further updates. 

However I recently descovered the folowing:

-Creed
-5 serephims, 2 flamers, PW.
-Inquisitor with mandate.

1: flame enemy
2: reveal mandate
3: isue; for the clory of cadia
4: unleash 16 attacks and 5 PW attacks on suprised enemy
5: wait until oponents combat phase ends; disengage
6: repeat from step 1 (exepting step 2)

Its so fun when the inquisitor gets into the action with 3 crusaders to, unleashing an additional 17(?) PW attacks on the charge! The mandate combined with creeds order is just amazing. 

faith added to the mix adds an additional level of ass-woop.

I really like the current codex, so if it does get updated, I'll praise the models but I might be a bit mixed on the codex itself.


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## Necrosis (Nov 1, 2008)

That won't work since order can only be given to guardsmen and not sisters. It's been FAQ. Yet this can be easily solved by taking Straken instead of creed.


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

Hmm yes.. I'm going to have to think on this.. while yes.. you can't use creed.. the idea of an inquisitor with a bunch of acolytes and crusaders assaulting along with straken.. that's a scary thought.


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

I disagree with Sons of Horus and those who say that GW doesn't make the models because it's sales are low... well, that is true but it is only have the story. 

Why are the sales low? Because of GW themselves. If they made plastic models and updated the rules I bet the sales would be great. 

It's almost like someone who complains they can't get a job because they don't have a car and can't get a car because they don't have a job. They need to realize if they just take care of one of the problems then they will take care of both problems. 

Unfortunately GW recently discontinued the SoBs meaning either they have given up, in which case I will probably go to their HQ and tell them to sod off (before getting thrown out by security) or they will hopefully make a new range, in which case I will go to their HQ and tell them how cool it is. 

I would like to point out that WHs are arguably more popular than DE. I don't have a lot of evidence to back this up but I have never even personally seen a DE army and there are many less army lists for DE than WHs here on this site. Despite this, DE are all but confirmed at having a new codex sometime this year or early next.


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## DaBurgernator (Mar 1, 2010)

i have a SOB army that i love, but theyve taken a back seat to my orks. mainly because of the metal models. way too expensive and so much harder to convert. once they finally come out with plastics ill be back on. theyre a lot of fun to play, especially because they take 10x as much skill as SM. When i announce my orbital barrage and see my opponents face, makes it all worth while


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## Inquisitor Varrius (Jul 3, 2008)

Orbital bombardments are reason enough to play WH.  But orks and chaos are easier to convert, so that's what I'm doing.

...Actually, if you take an SM commander, you can have 2 orbital weapons. My heart just skipped a beat typing that.


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## talisapien (Jul 31, 2009)

OK many of you share the complaint that the metal mini's for WH are too spendy. I agree, but i also disagree.

The fact is all mini's for the game are spendy, simple as that. Yes the metal ones do cost more but the difference is minimal. I did a bit of math and i will share what i learned. All these figures are in USD and im not going to include actual prices to avoid getting myself in some kind of trouble.

Price difference between a squad of plastic marines and a squad of metal sisters = $6.25

Price difference between a special weapon marine and a special weapon sister = $0.75

Price difference between a heavy weapon marine and a heavy weapon sister = $0.00

That being the bread and butter or either army i figured the total difference at about 16%. So for every $100 worth of mini's you buy of SM you spend about $116 on sisters.

That's not too bad when you look at the $$$ scope of this game anyway regardless of what army you play.

I personally both love and prefer the metal mini's. It's pretty undeniable that metal mini's have a greater lever of detail than the plastic ones. I am not referring to the "amount" of detail but the quality of the detail.

I think the new SW's look good but not as good as the sisters, for one simple reason. No matter how well that SW is assembled and painted, all those lil tassels and trinkets still look like they were added on after the fact. Metal mini's tassels and trinkets appear to be a natural part of the figure over all because they are literally a part of the mini. They look much more realistic when painted, especially when painted well.

I cant really debate the fact that plastics are easier to convert than metals, but its amazing what one can do with a Dremmel and a lil creativity.

In the end i guess WH are a hobbyist's army not a players army, and as a hobbyist i will stick with them.


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## Necrosis (Nov 1, 2008)

But your also forgetting that sisters of battle cost less points to and when you buy a box set it comes with a storm bolters and a flamer model. Thus if you don't want the storm bolter and want say a heavy flamer you have to spend extra money on a heavy weapon.


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

Necrosis said:


> But your also forgetting that sisters of battle cost less points to and when you buy a box set it comes with a storm bolters and a flamer model. Thus if you don't want the storm bolter and want say a heavy flamer you have to spend extra money on a heavy weapon.


And compounding this problem is how hard metal models are to convert. There's more than just plain statistics at work here.


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Necrosis said:


> But your also forgetting that sisters of battle cost less points to and when you buy a box set it comes with a storm bolters and a flamer model. Thus if you don't want the storm bolter and want say a heavy flamer you have to spend extra money on a heavy weapon.


*
Exactly. 
*

People may say that SoB arn't much more expensive than SM but the fact is you field waaay more of them in a single army so they are more than just 16% more expensive like Talisapien says. They are more like 25% more expensive. 

Then when you take into acount that a lot of poorer players like myself like to forgo buying expensive heavy weapon marines and just convert stand marines into carrying left over heavy weapons from dreads or tanks, you get a cost of more like 30% or more difference. 

THEN, let's say you want SoB rhinos and not just Space Marine rhinos... well then you have to buy all Immolator sprues and mod your rhinos since you can't really buy SoB rhinos anymore. Now even your tanks are costing 25% more... 

:shok:


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## Tebok (Apr 25, 2008)

I play Sisters of Battle and I think they are being ignored by GW. Here are a few things GW needs to do to make them more interesting:

1. Plastic Models. They are so much easier to convert. Even the individual Guard Soldier comes in about about 5 pieces. You can swap heads, arms, weapons and so on. There is not to much you can do with 1 piece metal models without a lot of work. 

2. More backstory. For example, the Space Marine Codex explains in detail what it takes to become a Space Marine. The Witch Hunter codex doesn't explain anything about the kind of training at all. How old are they when they are first selected? What kind of training do they go through to make them so dedicated? What happens to the drop outs? None of this is explained as it is in the Space Marine Codex.

3. The Sisters should have their own codex, seperate from the Witch Hunters Codex. I know they are basically one in the same, but you can still field a full Sister army without inquisitors and such. 

4. Going along with #3, add new Sisters of Battle units and vehicles. Give them more of their own unique vehicles instead of them having to reply on Rhinos and Chimeras. Maybe even a Inquisitoral Titan.


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## Cyklown (Feb 8, 2010)

Er, according to the fluff they use Rhinos. Inquisitoral stormtroopers use chimeras. They have a rhino variant that others don't, but for basic metal boxes there's already a standard for what you cram power armour into.


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## Dagmire (Oct 9, 2008)

plastics would really help the army. I have 35 metal sisters and a few exorcists and they start adding up when you got to lug a carry case around.
I love how i can pose each and every guards man differently.
I would love the same for my sisters.


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## HOBO (Dec 7, 2007)

Cannoness Katelyn said:


> So I whanna know why are their barely any Sisters Of Battle players out there??
> Is it the models? The fluff? or a mix of the two?:shok: Because I don't get it haha peace out folks!:victory:


I have 2K of WH, but until a new Codex comes out I'm only using them in narrative-driven Apoc games currently..and even then I'm not using the standard Codex but the Ordo Hereticus Strike Force one that the BoLS guys created.

I love everything about the 'Inquisition'-based Forces, and their background is far and away more interesting and of greater depth than the majority of other factions out there.

Personally I think it's the fact that the models are metal that stops people taking them on, but making them Plastics will turn it around imo. I know at least 10/12 people who'll pick them up in a heartbeat when/if that comes to being ....it sure as hell isn't that they're not competitive.


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## Inquisitor Varrius (Jul 3, 2008)

It's a shame, really. The WH fluff is second-to-none, and their elite/Hq models are great. It's just the sisters themselves that make this such a pain.


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Inquisitor Varrius said:


> their elite/Hq models are great.


Seriously? I think they are the worst in the game and have never had the ambition to field either of the whopping two special hqs they can have. If you refer to the Cannoness, I also think her model is rather poor since it doesn't fit in a typical unit slot in a carrying case and looks more like a female dwarf than a Sister of Battle. 

The female inquisitors look even worse. Like some kind of old woman fop who is still going out about town because she has a lot of money. Why the heck would I want to field an old haggard woman with bad hair and antique armor in an army of badasses?

This doesn't even mention that both of their special HQs are dead in the fluff, a fact which I couldn't be happier about. 

Then take a look at the Repentant Mistress. She looks like someone gave her power armor that was the XXXL version or she ate too many hamburgers. 

I'm not saying I want every unit in the game to be some sexy babe but at least not be some ugly, grisly, she-dwarf with mk4 armor and weapons that look more in place in Warhammer Fantasy than 40k. 

IMO the standard SoB models, Repentia sisters, Dominion, Retributors and Seraphim are the only decent looking units in the army and the Seraphim really need a redesign to be more practical.


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## Lucio (Aug 10, 2009)

overall they aren't newby friendly...
1) Not really newbie friendly and I'm a newbie
2)The tactics seemingly needed don't suit my general style at all, while i like fire I'd rather sit back and pump bolter rounds into something than get to 8'' to flame something.
3) Metal models are even more expensive
4) More difficult to paint and convert. I'm a newbie at that too.
5) I love Dark Angels fluff more than Sisters fluff


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