Tactica: SISTERS of BATTLE!

[Ixe]

Optimal depends on the rest of the list. IMO, with the nerfing of faith, the optimal setup might just be 2x flamers because it's the cheapest. But with the amount of melta fire in your list (just 3x doms and that's it) I think your BSS's need some melta power. The MM, flamer, combi-flamer seems situational to me, in games where the enemy comes to you, or when the enemy lacks the firepower to take out your rhinos when they're taking multi-melta pot shots from 24", it's gravy. But as you point out, against certain armies like IG if you don't close range you're dead, so that MM is going to be wasted. So I would lean towards melta/melta/combi-flamer. Also think about melta/flamer/combi-melta, unless your meta is entirely MEq and the melta is worth a lot more to you than the flamer.

[Dervos]

Personally I avoid flamer templates like the plague preferring to go full on melta in all my load outs.

Our local horde players are very experienced and know their coherency rules well and i'm lucky if i get can more than 2 units under one flamer template, and at that point shooting 2 shots with bolters at 12" compared to a template at 8.25 is pretty neglige and huge hordes of orks and tyranids are going to have a hard time finding any cover anyway so I don't bother with flamers; and the rest of our opponents are either mech or +2 armies. I can always find a use for a melta gun, a little harder to find a use for a flamer all the time, at least with my groups.

After thinking long and hard about 5 girl squads of doms vs 10 girls squads of doms I'm sticking with the 10 girls squads that use 4 melta guns. I dislike both elites choices, and since the rest of my FOC is filled up I need to take the 10 girl squads to fill out the rest of my point and then stick a h/k missile on all my rhinos and exorcists.

I like saint celestine but in my experience she's more of a decoy/delayer than anything else and won't hold something up for long by herself, so I roll with 2 battle conclaves, one with Uriah and one with a Confessor wielding a eviserator. I don't take kyrinov because I don't want to be rolling additional armor saves on a battle conclave since most of them will be +5. Second I only use one unit of retributors so taking him to just have a fearless ranged unit isn't worth it, and the rest of my rhinos are full up with regular sized 10 girl squads and since i don't want him footslogging by himself he stays behind. The regular confessor gets me the righteous rage that really helps the conclave murder things and the eviserator gives me a few more strong power weapon attacks and lets me tackle vehicles as well if necessary.

I kinda go easy on upgrades, extra armor,search lights and extra bolters on rhinos can really add up and i don't like what they add to how i build my army, so aside from the weapon purchases(meltaguns) I just spent my last 100 points on equipped all my vechiles with h/k missiles to give them all a little bite that first turn.

1995
Uriah Jacobus
2 crusaders
7 DCA
rhino
h/k

Confessor
eviscerator
x2 crusaders
x7 DCA
rhino
h/k

x10 sisters
x2 melta gun
superior chains sword
rhino
h/k

x10 sisters
x2 melta gun
superior chains sword
rhino
h/k

Exorcist

Exorcist

x5 Retributors
x4 Heavy bolters
superior chainsword

x10 Dominions
x4 melta guns
superior chain sword
Rhino
h/k

x10 Dominions
x4 melta guns
superior chain sword
Rhino
h/k

x10 Dominions
x4 melta guns
superior chain sword
Rhino
h/k

I exchanged the bolter on the superior for a chainsword for free not only for WYSIWG but also to give her one more chance at wounding something.

So in a ideal world I'll have 30 dominions scouting with 12 melta guns, 9 h/k missiles + exorcist volley's on the first turn provided I ideally only move the rhinos 6" and exorcists don't move at all. Alternatively the h/k missile gives the exorcist weapon insurance, also in most games the chance of me getting to use all of my missiles is low but I'm not spending so many points on my rhinos. They really don't need extra armor, search lights and extra bolters in my opinion, but a cheap one shot missile with unlimited range that has 66% chance to hit something in the open and possibly disable it in some way or wreck it will really help out the rest of my army considering how weak sister's stat line and how much they rely on their rhinos for protection.

I've tried x3 retributors and x3 exorcists, I think a mix between the two will work the best. Also I personally like the 7 DCA/2 crusader mix because 7 gives me a lot of bite to my counter assault squad couple with x2 crusaders for a little bit of endurance. A battle conclave with no crusader's losses it's effectiveness very quickly and I rarely get past it's first assault in one piece, and in the unfortunate event you lose your rhino they'll need some help against shooting wounds. Since i'm only using 5 squads of sister units that have acts of faith kyrinov's free hailer and simularum doesn't really provide me the same benefit as it would to a larger army, you only get one chance at a act of faith, i only have 5 squads and the two sister unit's I use sparingly so most if not all my faith points are going to go directly to the dominions.

[Ixe]

Don't let Cruddace play you. Don't use confessors.

[Bunnahabhain]

On the assumption that there are some sisters players in this thread, I have a favour to ask.....

I'm after some small Fleur de lys transfers, in either black or white. IIRC, there are some on the sisters transfer sheets. If anyone wouldn't mind giving/selling at a reason price me some, it would be very handy. Drop me a PM...

[Warnoober]

If the 6th ed rumors are true then Seraphim are going to be really fun.

Quad hand flamers and dual pistols plus Celestines flamer and then the new impct hits

[Commisar]

In the realms of "if what they say about sixth is true" If allys have indeed become mainstream, Hello Primaris Phyker (gives us something to do in that phase) Plasma vets (Better Objective campers then we can take) and heck, who needs imperial Armour Arvus Lighters when you can take allied Valkaries or Vendettas.

[Spiney Norman]

What do people make of the rumoured changes to rage? Are penitent engines and repentias looking a little more viable now that they don't run straight at the nearest enemy unit

[Commisar]

I think things are looking good for Sisters in general at the moment.

Rage change means I might actually take some Penitent Engines.
Over watch is going to give our girls, who like to rapid fire and then take the assault from whatever left a bit of a boost.

I'm sure someone will be along to do a more comprehensive summery in a while.

[Warnoober]

So let's talk IG as allies. I know almost nothing about the army. I do like the idea of repentia in a vendetta being dropped off to kick butt.

[WallWeasels]

I think things are looking good for Sisters in general at the moment.

Rage change means I might actually take some Penitent Engines.
Over watch is going to give our girls, who like to rapid fire and then take the assault from whatever left a bit of a boost.

I'm sure someone will be along to do a more comprehensive summery in a while.

I really doubt penitents will be useful because the new vehicle chart is "immobilized and weapon destroyed" rather than separating them. Any AP1 weapon will get +3 on the chart (1 = stuned, 2-3 = basically dead due to no movement and 4-6 = esplode) and AP 2 is just 1 lower than AP1. They are MORE fragile than before and thus probably not worth the time. Sure they move fast and could do alot of damage (D6 + 3 attacks on the charge with rage) would net an average of 6~7 attacks and thus ~3 wounds making it attack (on average) around 10 times a charge each. Sure its deadly, but they still cost 85 points each and that's just to much for that fragility.


IG as allies?
Well a Primaris Psyker is able to use almost all the new psychic powers...we just need to know what they do. Some might be unit buffs that could be valuable to the army. Sadly we still cannot give orders to our units (as from imperial guard FAQ) so any other HQ is fairly mediocre. Commissar Lords would give 10LD in an area, but without stubborn LD10 doesn't mean much in combat over LD9. A Lemus Russ squad might give us a good backbone...but they are costly to take units of more than 1 of (and we can only take 1 choice).
A single Vendetta would give good anti-tank, as well as a Valkyrie with its transport ability. But I still don't think they'd be amazing to transport anything in our army and cannot reliably come in on turn 2 without the HQs +1 to reserves.

Now a funny unit would be Jacob + 10 Ogryns. Sure it'll cost an arm/leg but that's a T5 unit with FNP and +1 attacks that rerolls to hit at S6 on the charge. Their guns are also pretty decent at just mowing things down too. But they are slow and unreliable without a transport...which they take 2 spaces in. Maybe not fluffy, but might be fun to consider. Although the ogryns I use are just humans in ghetto terminator armor :P So I don't care.
Psyker Battle Squads are another elite option that might give us some good blasting power...but theres a reason why IG don't really use them much. If you can take characters (no ones confirmed or denied this) then having an "assassin" aka marbo might be entertaining too.
Hellhounds are a decent choice for more scouting and would synergize with dominions by having more of your force be able to scout move or come in from the sides. I know a banewolf wouldn't be to bad to look at as a choice for some anti-MEQ. If you love cheese then a Manticore would also provide some strong blasts as well for a heavy choice.

In the end the best choice will probably just be 1-2 plasma vets in a chimera and maybe just leaving it at that. Then taking only the min requirement of sisters and having 4 effective scoring units for objectives. Battle Sisters might be able to always shoot at 24" but that's something all armies received. So my overall opinion so far for sisters is that the overall army strength has gone up, from the rumors so far, slightly...but so has everyone else.
Edit: apparently HQ + 1 Troop is required to take anything for allies.

[inq.serge]

Repentias now having 4 st 6 ap1 I1 2d6 armour pen attacks each on charge, and no need to charge the closest enemy, are going to rape tanks, right?

[Warnoober]

Problem is they still have to hitch a ride in a rhino to get there. It yea they will tear things up on the charge.

[SabrX]

I find the allies chart hilarious. SoB allies of convenience with Space Wolves? Desperate allies with Black Templar? You'd think they would be Battle Brothers with a pious chapter. It's nice to see SoB Battle Brothers with IG. I'm surprised Necrons aren't like Tyranids in relation to everyone else.

With the WD codex throwing out SoB's immunity to psykers out the window, I have no bones to pick if SoB pairs up with heavy psyker allies.

I hope the rumors about Jump Infantries is true. Time to dust off my Seraphims.

[Ixe]

Even with a boost in effectiveness, I'm not sure if Seraphim beat Dominions, though it sounds like their boost in effectiveness may be pretty huge... The problem is, they don't got what we need, what we need is deployment strategies that negate the whole "go second and lose" aspect of the SoB mech convoy. Dominions do have that. Of course, it sounds like vehicles are getting easier to splode, and infantry is getting more dangerous. That means we might see a shift away from the fully mechanized meta, which means we might not be forced to build our entire armies around bringing our short-ranged anti-tank to bear as soon as possible. Then again, with 4+ cover mostly going bye-bye, infantry lines are also looking less effective, though power armored models that usually get a save regardless of cover don't take as big a hit as lighter armored troops.

[Warnoober]

Why take Immos with doms when you can take IG Chimeras with triple melta vets? Add in the Primus Psyker and your set. Lemus Russ Tanks and Valk jets are just extra gravy

[Commisar]

Hmm I'd rather take plasma vets to give me something I don't already have. And a Bastion for them to sit in. SoB have lacked a "Home objective camper" since we lost allies. As far as Russes and Valks... There comes a point were you should just play IG :P. Also, I have heard conflicting things about being able to ride in allied transports.

[Warnoober]

Yes plasma vets good for that. No riding in Allie stuff boo. Also blood angel allies, no FNP from a priest?

[Spiney Norman]

Hmm I'd rather take plasma vets to give me something I don't already have. And a Bastion for them to sit in. SoB have lacked a "Home objective camper" since we lost allies. As far as Russes and Valks... There comes a point were you should just play IG :P. Also, I have heard conflicting things about being able to ride in allied transports.

I had heard that it depends which level of allies you are, for example IG are battle brothers so we could put a squad of repentias in an allied Valkyrie, but because Grey knights are allies of convenience you can't put that same squad in a storm raven.

[Ixe]

Why take Immos with doms when you can take IG Chimeras with triple melta vets? Add in the Primus Psyker and your set. Lemus Russ Tanks and Valk jets are just extra gravy

If that's your thinking, why even play SoB? Just play IG with SoB allies. Or don't even bother with SoB because they're overpriced and underpowered, especially compared to IG.

[VendableFall]

ive jsut started collecting SOB (my collection so far is 10 seraphim and 30 sisters with an assortment of spcial equipment) and the more roumours i hear the more im thinking of doing a (gasp) foot sisters army!

IMHO repentia with priest just got really good!

with the hull points thing rending heavy bolter squads (forgot their name) jsut got really good to!

seraphim will be awesome im thinking 2 squads of 10

and then sisters with over watch and longer range bolters on the move!

then our conclaive is still as good as it used to be!


am i crazy or is this looking good for us sisters players?