Early Sororitas Impressions, Part 2

I'm going to try and be a bit more structured with this second part of my look at the Adepta Sororitas beta Codex, and focus on the new Warlord Traits and Relics for the most part.

Leading By Example
As is usually the case, the Warlord Traits run the gamut from 'almost completely useless' to 'practically an auto-include', though there are a couple of outliers.

1: INSPIRING ORATOR: A 6" Morale re-roll bubble, combined with being able to use the Leadership of the Warlord within the same radius. Sororitas are pretty cheap and have very good Leadership anyway, so unless you're up against some serious morale manipulation this one doesn't seem very useful. Especially worthless if you're going with the Order of the Sacred Rose, since  then you can only lose one model to Morale anyway. On top of that, the Light of the Emperor Act of Faith is a morale auto-pass.

2: RIGHTEOUS RAGE: Re-roll charge distances, and re-roll to Wound for the first round of combat. For many Warlords this won't be all that appealing (and Celestine can't take it), but a Bloody Rose Canoness with the Blade of Admonition (see later) might well get some use out of it. Would be a decent choice for the jump-packing Canoness we don't get.

3: EXECUTIONER OF HERETICS: A 6" -1 LD bubble for the enemy. Sororitas do like to get close, and if you're working on cutting down big mobs of Cultists this might possibly be useful. But let's face it, probably not. Falls victim to the usual problem with morale-manipulation that there're so many ways to shut it down.

4: BEACON OF FAITH: Gain a Faith point on a 4+ at the start of your turn. Now this one is quite interesting. Celestine is saddled with it, which at first glance is disappointing since there are several that seem better for her. However, it's worth looking at how Faith works. You start with 3 points just for having any models in the army that can use it, and then gain a point for every 10 models. Whilst this means that mono-Sororitas armies tend to have quite a lot of Faith, a small allied detachment won't have very many. Since Celestine, in particular, hands out a save buff to Militarum and Ministorum models as well as Sororitas, she might well see some use in 'Soup' armies. In that situation, gaining some extra Faith to fuel Acts might well prove handy. Still, overall not one of the stronger Traits.

5: INDOMITABLE BELIEF: This is the money-shot, at least most of the time. It improves the Shield of Faith save to 5++ within a 6" bubble around the Warlord. What's important to note is that since this increases the bonus to 5++, and then both the Seraphim's Angelic Visage and Celestine's Saintly Blessings are +1 modifiers, you can get an area of up to 3++  for some models. (Somewhat oddly, instead of getting the +1 like Seraphim, the Geminae get +2 from Celestine, for much the same result so long as they stay close, and they really should.)

There might be some situations where this may not be an auto-take. Some army builds rely far more on volume of fire or Mortal Wounds than on AP, and especially if the board has a lot of cover you might find that Invulnerable seeing less use than you expected. Keeping the maximum bubble by overlapping Celestine and another Warlord can also be a bit limiting, given that Celestine works best aggressively, so if you're using this Trait to protect your Retributors and Exorcists she may end up twiddling her thumbs a bit. Still, overall a very strong Trait.

6: PURE OF WILL: Gives the Warlord a second Deny the Witch and a 12" bubble of -1 to enemy psychic tests. This one is situational and basically requires a Relic to use effectively, but can be very handy in the right circumstances. Obviously it's little use against armies with few Psykers and the 1D6 Deny is still almost completely useless, but that's what the Brazier of Eternal Flame is for. (See later.) Might well be handy against armies like Eldar, Thousand Sons and Grey Knights.

In summary, the best we can say about the Traits is that they're not much worse than those in many other Codexes. Hopefully in the full Codex we'll see one for each Order as well (for example an extra Wound and improved wound ignore save for the Valorous Heart) but for the moment there's at least Indomitable Belief if you're stuck.

(not) The Holy Hand Grenade
On to the Relics, then, and these are a somewhat better bunch than the Traits, I think, though there's the odd duffer in there.
BLADE OF ADMONITION: The obligatory beat-stick, in this case a +2 S, -3 AP, Damage 3 Power Sword replacement. As is usually the case with these sort of weapons in Codexes full of normal humans, the only problem with it is that the person wielding it isn't all that scary. Still, a Canoness brandishing this thing is up for most targets, though only getting up to S5 means you're not that likely to be cutting the legs off Knights. Obviously very nice for the Order of the Bloody Rose, since that additional +1S and +1A comes in very handy with it.

BOOK OF ST. LUCIUS: Increase the range of the bearer's Aura abilities by 3". Quite nifty, increasing the distance a Canoness can dish out her re-rolls and working with several Warlord traits, including Indomitable Belief and Pure of Will. Also combos well with the...

BRAZIER OF ETERNAL FLAME:  A 6" bubble that makes the Deny The Witch roll from Shield of Faith into a proper 2D6 rather than that near-pointless 1D6. Obviously combos well with Pure of Will, in fact I'd say it's pretty much essential if taking that Trait. However, for maximum anti-psychic defence you could take the Book of Lucius with the Warlord, and keep another Character with the Brazier next to her, giving the Warlord her two 2D6 Denies and a 15" radius to the psychic penalty.

LITANIES OF FAITH: A 5+ roll to regain a Faith point when an Act is passed within 6" of the bearer. Its usefulness will depend on how much Faith you find yourself needing, a topic on which my own personal jury is still very much out. Works regardless of Order, which mostly just means it also works for Celestine and the Geminae in practice.

MANTLE OF OPHELIA: A cloak that's basically a Storm Shield, conferring a 3++. Not brilliant, given that all the HQ options have a 4++ anyway. Probably needs to do something else (e.g. halve wounds suffered or grant a wound ignore save) to be really worth it.

WRATH OF THE EMPEROR: Last and probably least. An 18" range, 3-shot Pistol with S5, AP -1 and Damage 2 which might be worth bothering with if you could get it for a few points, but certainly not as a Relic. Might be worth it if it did Mortal Wounds to Psykers and/or could ignore targeting restrictions.

Overall, despite finishing with a bit of a whimper (neither of those last two choices should make it to the full Codex unchanged, IMHO) a fairly decent list of toys. The Blade is fun if your Canoness wants to get stuck in (prepare for Ork players grumping about their lack of an Invulnerable save) and the utility items all have definite uses. It's nice to see Sisters back at the level of being one of the better anti-psychic armies, even if they have to resort to a Relic to do it.

So, all that remains here is to wish my readers a happy New Year, assuming I don't make a post specifically to do so. I'll return to the beta Codex in 2019 to look at the Stratagems a bit. Finally, one last plug for my first novel, The Wake Of Manadar, which is a free Kindle download until the end of the year. Motivate me to finish the third one, people!

Merry Christmas and a blatant plug

So, my turn rolls around to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! As for the somewhat incongruous image, I'm taking this opportunity to do a little festive giveaway of my own. From Boxing Day until the 30th of January, the first book in the Thelenic Curriculum, The Wake of Manadar, will be free to download on Kindle, so if you've got a shiny new device just waiting for books to be loaded onto it, fill your proverbial boots. Get it HERE, though unless you're feeling generous wait till Boxing Day :)

Other than that I'll see you all in the New Year, unless I get a bit bored before them and do Part 2 of my Sororitas overview. There's a lot to talk about!

Early Sororitas Impressions (Part 1)

I've had the chance to get a game in with my Sisters of Battle, so I thought I'd have a look at how the Chapter Approved beta-codex feels when compared to their Index incarnation, and previous versions of the army. Obviously there's stuff I haven't personally tried out yet, so this will be a mix of personal experience and theory.

Keep The Faith
So, the obvious first topic is the new Faith system. To give a brief summary, you get a Faith point for every 10 models with the Acts of Faith rule (rounding down) plus 3 more. These points are then spent to attempt the various Acts by rolling over a target number, and each Act can only be attempted once per battle round. So firstly, this system does  work quite well. By giving you points based on the number of Sisters you have, it rewards you for taking a mono army and comes with built-in scalability. In terms of raw power, it's debatable whether this system is actually more effective than the old one which gave bonus actions but it's certainly more colourful and closer to earlier editions of the Sisters.

Appropriately enough, some Acts also feel like a bit of a Hail Mary. Most notably, The Passion, which lets a unit fight twice, has to be activated on a 5+ and is done at the start of  your Fight phase, so it's tricky to know when to use it. What's interesting here is that you can get a +1 to the roll for having a Simulacrum in the unit, and a re-roll if a Dialogus is nearby, which could also be combined with another +1 from the Order of the Ebon Chalice's Trait. So that could be on 3+, re-rolling. However, you may well want to use it on a character (such as Celestine or a Canoness with the Blade of Admonition) in which case the best you can do is get it to 4+. For Celestine herself, ironically, you're stuck with 5+ because she has no Order.

Shiny Happy People
So why would you want to use an Act on a Character, given that most of them are more effective when used on a unit? The answer is the Vessel of the Emperor's Will stratagem. What this does is extend the effects of the Act to all Sororitas within 6" of the Character, regardless of Order.
(Side note: The Stratagem simply says the Act 'effects all ADEPTA SORORITAS units within 6" of the CHARACTER' which seems by RAW to mean the Act would effect vehicles which can't usually do them. I assume this is not intended.)
Obviously this has a lot of uses- whilst it's probably not all that likely you would want to give the whole bubble +3" movement, giving multiple units +1 to hit or making them all fight twice could be very powerful, depending on the units involved. There's also the deeply troll-tastic Spirit of The Martyr, which if popped on Celestine and then used in this way can heal her, bring back or heal one of the Geminae, and add a model to all the other effected units as well.

Order! Order!
So lets look at the Order traits (aka Convictions). As an old-school Sororitas player I was a bit narked to find that my Order, the Valorous Heart, gets the groan-worthy 6+ wound ignore save. In action it's not utterly terrible, and it at least supports most army builds, but it's certainly not exciting. The Order of Our Martyred Lady possibly gets a worse deal, though, getting a Faith point whenever one of its own units is destroyed. In my game, I ended up with Faith left over, leading me to doubt how necessary gaining Faith is, though I could possibly have used more. The Order of the Ebon Chalice feels like an early stand-out, gaining +1 to Act of Faith rolls. That gets some Acts to 2+, but depending on which Acts you plan to use and how many Simulacrae and Dialogus you have may not be necessary. The Order of the Argent Shroud take a more practical approach to martyrdom in that they prefer to let their enemies do it, gaining Faith on a 4+ when an enemy unit is wiped out. The same qualifiers about gaining Faith apply there. The Order of the Bloody Rose gain +1 A and +1 S when charging, charged or Intervening, making them the Order with the most obvious key units- you're going to want Seraphim, Celestians or Repentia with them. The Sisters melee units tend to be competent but a bit pillow-fisted, so this Conviction could be handy. Finally, the Order of The Sacred Rose have the classic 'lose only one model to morale' rule, but back that up with Overwatching on a 5+, so it's pretty much Grim Resolve IIRC. With all those Flamers, Sororitas are already quite good at Overwatch so this is a solid Conviction. I think Ebon Chalice will probably be the go-to for a reliable army, though all of them can work.

All Stars
The good old Battle Sisters squad remains the sole Troops choice for Sororitas, but they're not at all bad. There are plenty of options, and since even the  basic 5-strong squad can take two Special Weapons and the Superior can have a Combi-Weapon they can function as small, highly-equipped kill teams in Immolators  or go all the way up to 15-strong blobs. Wtih their Acts, they're every bit as good at shooting things with bolters as Marines are and for less points.

Celestians are interesting. For a couple more points than Sisters they gain a lot- more Leadership, better WS, an additional Attack and a Bodyguard rule. The question is, though, if any of those things are actually needed. They seem to function well as a bodyguard for a beat-stick Canoness, helping keep her alive if her prey proves overly resilient or counter-attacks, and if backed up by a Priest of some sort for +1 A from War Hyms can put out a lot of hits. Obviously if you go with the Bloody Rose they become a lot more dangerous. Like Seraphim, they differ from most of the more specialised Assault units by still having Acts of Faith, putting The Passion on the table. I do think, though, that as an elite unit they should be more like Sternguard, with more Special Weapon or Combi-Weapon options, which are at the moment the same as those for the Sister Squad.

Seraphim are that rarity in 40k- an unusual squad that seems to have a clue what it's trying to  do. Seraphim want to shoot people with pistols, and they're pretty good at it. They can jump up to a unit, shoot it, assault it, tank return attacks with their armour and at worst a 5++ from their improved Shield of Faith before either falling back and using FLY to still shoot, or just staying in combat and shooting anyway. They cost the same as Celestians and most players will probably find them more useful. Seraphim are potentially very command-point hungry, with their own Stratagem, Burning Descent, allowing them to fire as they arrive, including boosting the range on their Hand Flamers. Since they effectively have four Special Weapons and already also bring Bolt weapons, they're a great target for Holy Trinity giving them +1 to wound too.

The Exorcist has largely returned to the position of being a bit of a beast. With the Exorcist Launcher now doing D6 damage and remaining Heavy D6 with a -4 save mod, it's capable of putting out a lot of long-range anti-armour damage and remains about the only thing in the Codex that can.

A Rhino-conversion Repressor I came up with. A tutorial can be found HERE

The Repressor (Forge World) got more expensive for no obvious reason though the reduction in points for Heavy Flamers mitigates that a little. It's still a very nice transport for Sisters since six models can shoot out of it. As always, not being 'on the table' reduces the buffs and Stratagems that can be used by the passengers, but it's a great way to get about and still do something.

Dominions are a little frustrating. They cost a point more than normal Sisters simply for the option to take four, rather than two, Special Weapons and can make a bonus move before the first turn, but that's it. I'd really have liked to see them regain their Outflank move, much like Deffkoptas' 'Scoutin Ahead'. I mean come on, if Orks can do it..

Retributors are still a solid fire-support unit, though taking anything other than Heavy Bolters on them feels like a bit of a gamble due to the short range of the other options. Not being able to make a bonus move like they could in the Index makes getting Multi-Meltas and Heavy Flamers into range tricky, though Divine Guidance can be used to offset the Heavy penalty. They do feel the lack of a +1 to Wound Stratagem that's practical for them, limiting their ability to challenge armour. Still, if you need some Sisters to sit on an Objective, you can do a lot worse.

Celestine and her Geminae have changed a bit, in a classic case of GW fixing one problem and creating a new one. To briefly recap, the old Celestine and her bodyguard formed one unit, and you could resurrect one of the Geminae per turn if one or both were dead. Since they were a unit, once a wound had been allocated to Celestine she had to keep taking them, making resurrected Geminae unable to protect her. Now, Celestine and the Geminae are two seperate units, and the Geminae can take wounds for her on a 2+ if they're 3" or less away. Unfortunately, this means that if both Geminae are killed, Celestine can't bring them back since Healing Tears adds a model to their unit. On top of that, Celestine lost a Wound and got a bit more expensive. (It's almost as if they're not trying to sell the model any-[REDACTED ON GROUNDS OF HERETICAL CYNICISM]

Still, overall the usual comments on Celestine still apply- she's quite potent, buffs Shield of Faith, and demands that you keep a Command Point back in case she fluffs Miraculous Intervention.

This has got pretty long, so I think I'll come back to look at Warlord Traits and Relics later. Keep the faith!

Walking the Walk, Talking Da Orks

I've now had the opportunity to get a fair few games in with the new Ork book, and I thought it was time to talk a bit more about it. Straight away, the biggest point with this new Codex is that it tries quite hard to push Orks off in a new direction- whilst the traditional Green Tide is still viable, Kult of Speed and shooting lists are heavily pushed.

For a Fistful of Teef
One of the more interesting things I've found is that despite most of my models being painted and decorated as Bad Moons, I'm increasingly finding that I'm playing them as Freebooterz. Fortunately a lot of Freebooterz tend to be ex Bad-Moons anyway due to a shared love of teef and flash, so it doesn't hurt my fluff-bunny feels as much as it might. As an aside, since my models are also painted Evil Sunz style in places (after absorbing a friend's warband years ago) I don't mix Klan Kultures in my armies. I don't like doing it at any time, and that goes double when some of my Bikers look like Evil Sunz and some look like Bad Moons.

What's particularly interesting about Freebooterz is that despite having the worst special Klan Strategy by a country mile (Kill Kroozer Broadside is just dire, I'm sorry) their Trait supports both shooting and assault armies, and arguably does it better than those of other Klans that might be considered to specialise in one or the other. Competitive Streak is one of those abilities that when explained, makes people look at you like you've grown an extra head.

Typical reaction to learning the radius of the Competitive Streak effect

It's the sheer size of the effect bubble that does it. A 24" radius +1 to hit for doing something that you're going to be trying to do anyway (i.e. krumping gitz) is extremely good.

The Key Players (Or, hold my Grot and Watch Dis!)

This guy. This guy right here.

There are several models that I've found are extremely useful for Freebooterz and really help to push them into the realm of exceptionally dangerous. One of the first is the Dakkajet. Already, even before the new Codex, the Dakkajet was one of the more reliable performers in the Ork army, since if it targets the same unit with all its guns (which will be six Supa Shootas unless you've cheaped out like some sort of grot) it gets +1 to hit, meaning it's usually hitting on an unprecedented-for-Orks 4+. A Freebooter Dakkajet, however, is even more exciting. If it's benefiting from Competitive Streak it's hitting on 3+, which can even get to a flat-out-bonkers 2+ against a unit with Fly through the use of the Long, Uncontrolled Bursts Stratagem. More usefully, however, it's an excellent MSU hunter. If an opponent has taken several small units of squashy infantry (eg, three squads of ten Guardsmen, to pick a.. random example) the Dakkajet is excellently equipped to hunt them down and is quite capable of wiping them out in a single salvo. Usually, other than conceding First Blood, people aren't too bothered when an inconsequential unit like this gets annihilated, but when that kill suddenly means that all the other Ork shooting is hitting on 4+ they tend to sit up and take notice.

Traktor Kannons are for grots. So's this, but it's better.

My next choice might be a bit surprising, but it's the Mek Gun, more specifically the Kustom Mega Kannon variant. As a grot-crewed weapon, the Mek Guns receive no bonus from Competitive Streak, but they do trigger it if they manage to kill a unit, because no self-respecting Ork wants to be outdone by a Grot. A well-sited battery of KMC Mek Gunz gives any Ork army a very respectable anti-armour punch and is also useful for winkling heavy infantry out of cover, especially the first floor of GW Ruins where they might have made themselves immune to Assault. Since you're not going to get the benefit of Competitive Streak, it usually means you can fire the KMCs first in a shooting phase and see if you can wipe a unit to trigger it for everyone else. As I'll talk about later, your order of attacks is very important with Freebooterz, so this is quite liberating.

The next Freebooter All-Star is more of an Ork All-Star if we're honest, and it's the humble Grot. They may not really be able to kill anything on their own, they may fight like sick in a paper bag and they may flee if a nearby Squig breaks wind*, but they give Orks their own version of the 'Loyal 32' and those extra Command Points can be crucial. I also personally like the idea that the Grots are providing logistical support to the Orks who simply can't be bothered with it. They can serve useful duty as objective holders (so long as no threat is allowed anywhere near them) anti-deep-strike bubble-wrap, and of course as Grot Shields.

The Loyal 32 does raise the tricky question of who else to bring to fill the two HQ slots of the Battalion. Whilst Orks do have plenty of useful HQs, most of them are rather more expensive than the Guard officers who traditionally fill out the Imperial version. Weirdboyz are a solid choice, providing useful abilities (and of course the Battalion provides the CP to make them into Warpheadz if required). It's annoying in this case that other very handy utility characters like Painboyz, Runtherds and the Waaagh Bannner are Elites since they would otherwise be an ideal way to fill out the Detachment. For Freebooterz, however, there's another option that meshes well with what we have already:

Must.. Orkbliterate!

We're going a long way back in my own personal collection here, but these three charmers are known as Da Obliteratorks**, and were originally built as Chaos Ork Obliterators back when allies were a big thing. These days, however, I use them as Shokk Attack Gun Meks, and the weapon's very random shooting profile meshes well with their look. There are a couple of reasons why these guys fit very well into a Freebooter list. Firstly, if interspersed among the Mek Gunz they can fix them, dealing with the inevitable overheat damage and forcing opponents to work that little bit harder to get rid of the things. Secondly, that +1 to hit can easily turn the SAG from 'entertainingly erratic' to 'downright terrifying'. Their AP of -5 means even the very best armoured foes have little chance to save, even in cover, and their potential to inflict Mortal Wounds allows them to even threaten things like Knights and Custodes. In the extreme case- and this is the never-going-to-happen case but it's fun to tease opponents with, a single SAG can inflict 36 Wounds plus 18 Mortal Wounds with one shot.***

Da Uvver Stuff
Of course the nice  thing with Freebooterz is that anything shooty or fighty works with them just fine. (Sorry Killa Kans). The Morkanaut is handy for the big KFF bubble and if it gets the +1 to hit can be a very dangerous shooting unit, but a CP should always, always be saved to prevent its 9" radius explosion when it gets focused down, which it will. Lootas get a lot of benefit from the bonus as well, though they can't double-tap like they could if they were Bad Moons. A sore point is Flash Gitz- whilst their firepower is amazing, especially if supported by Badrukk, their expense, shortish range and relative fragility make them tricky to use, even with Freebooterz. On the rare occasion that you get them to shoot with both the benefit of being stationary and with Competitive Streak up, they hit on 3+ (2+ for the Kaptin with his Gitfinda Squig) and do tend to delete things. Meganobz love being Freebooterz so long as someone else krumps something first to get them good and riled up, since it cancels out the deeply irritating -1 to hit on their Klaws without the need for a Waaagh Banner, though to be honest the Banner is so useful I try to always take one anyway. Potentially Meganobz under both effects and led by a Freebooter Warlord with Killer Reputation can be hitting on 2+ and re-rolling 1s, which tends to get their victim's attention.****

Fiddly bitz, gubbinz and know-wotz
There are a few considerations, and at least one irksome rules issue, when playing Freebooterz. First and foremost, the most killy models tend to be those which will benefit most from Competitive Streak, but are at the same time those most likely to trigger it, making deciding what to attack first with sometimes quite tricky, which is one of the big benefits of Mek Gunz. This is even more important in the Assault phase, where you have to balance the need to mitigate the inevitable Counter Attack stratagem against the desire to get a quick kill to trigger Competitive Streak. The rules issue comes with Open-Topped Transports. We know from the FAQ that to no-one's great surprise, models shooting out of Battlewagons etc can't have Stratagems played on them, which makes Lootas firing out of them distinctly less appealing, for example. What isn't all that clear is how Competitive Streak works with them. Personally, I play it that a unit killed by models  shooting (or even fighting, with Boarding Action) out of a vehicle counts as having been destroyed by the vehicle itself for the purposes of triggering Competitive Streak, whilst the models inside it never benefit from the +1 To Hit bonus since they aren't on the table. This is of course logically ridiculous, but does seem broadly consistent with how GW treats embarked models.

Final Thoughts
So, this turned into a Freebooterz post! It wasn't exactly meant to be, but  the Ork book is so chewy and has so many different options that there's a hell of a lot to talk about with it. Speaking of chewy, I've found it's a good idea to mark a Freebooter unit that gets a kill with a token, and I usually use some sort of individually-wrapped (ideally green) sweet. This means that you get to give your ladz a sweetie when they excel, and at the end of the phase the sweets can be shared out amongst players, with first refusal going to the player whose unit got wiped out to earn said sweetie in the first place. Just be sure to bring as many sweets as the opposing army has units, to avoid disappointment..





* in the Grots' defence, depending on the type of Squig this may actually be lethally dangerous.
** Annihilatork, Devastatork and Eradicatork.
*** This requires you to roll at least 15 sixes. Of course if the hits are also 6s, you could do more hits so the theoretical ceiling is in fact 72 wounds plus 36 Mortal!
**** Briefly.