As we draw close to getting all codexes into final draft format, we are getting a first revised look at the Sisters of Battle. One of the things I have wanted to really bring to the table for them is their faith. As it stands, we are in the process of working with them on two fronts. One is that their leadership, both Characters and Independent Characters, will allow the unit or a model in the unit to reroll 1 dice per phase! As their spiritual leaders inspire their battle sisters, their faith rises to a peak and they can begin to manifest miracles!
The other format I have wanted to bring in is actually from very old Warhammer Fantasy rules. The Britonnia are knights of the round table, grail knight type characters. Way, way back before they were abandoned by GW for many moons they had the ability to forgo rolling for Initiative and essentially roll a 0 for getting to choose who goes first, choosing to pray for guidance instead of typical last minute battle preparations. In return, they will gain a 5+ Invulnerability Save if they choose to do this! This might be a trait common amongst their Orders depending on how this pans out, but I want it to be an option presented as it suits them very well.
Statline wise, as we have tested many datasheets, it would fit the theme if power armour granted them W2 instead of W1. They still do not have the super human augmentation the Space Marines have that grant them T4, and they will not have the vast array of personal wargear that they have either. This will keep them on track with Eldar Elite units that wear power armour and have tested quite well in terms of balance and capabilities.
These game mechanics grant them a very unique place amongst the many armies, and we look forward to getting them tested like all the others! I did just start my new job. As I work on training and learning new systems this progress may be slow for the time being, but the work will continue!
What lore features do you feel the Sisters of Battle are missing? Let us know! As always, happy wargaming!
Alternate 40k Rules 
As a long time Sisters player (just prior to the Witchhunters 3rd ed codex coming out) that has also designed my own Sisters rules for 7th ed I don’t like any of these rule suggestions, as I think they are all inappropriate for the Sisters of Battle. The armies design, tactics, strengths and weaknesses must all be considered. .
In designing rules for Adepta Sororitas, let’s start with their fundamentals.
1.) Like all armies they must be different and unique in their army design, aesthetics and playstyle.
2.) Other than Saints, Sisters should have the same statline as Storm troopers (Tempestus Scions) in power armour as that’s what they are. Adepta Sororitas are highly trained un-enhanced humans, their statline must represent that, it must be the same as other trained humans without their armour. Low strength & toughness is the first of their weaknesses.
3.) They rely on the holy trinity; Bolter, Flamer and Melta as their weapons. This should mean, as it was the case in previous editions, that they will kill anything & everything at flamer range. They are ok, at melee and poor at long range. Long range combat is their second weakness.
4.) They have their signature ability of faith powers allowing them to call for miracles. This is a unique and separate ability to every other army and has no connection psychic powers or the warp. This is what allows them to stand and fight against things they shouldn’t be able to.
4.) They are notably resistant to psychic powers and warp effects. This is both due to their high leadership and a inherent resistance due to their devotion. Their third weakness is that they have no psykers of their own at all.
5.) Additionally they have; NO fast units (jetbikes etc), NO heavy tanks (Land raiders, monoliths etc), NO monstrous creatures, NO stealth units and NO exotic weapons (grav guns, neural shredders etc). All of which are weaknesses. .
They are not a all comers list. By their lore they are a defensive army, they defend relics, temples and religious personnel. When they do go on the attack its a purging, a massacring of civilians, cultists and rogue PDF forces in a merciless ‘war of faith’. Relying on their gear, training and relentlessness as they cut and burn their way through masses of weaker foes. This isn’t to say they can’t fight stronger targets, daemons, xenos and the like (such as marines) but that’s not the standard for them. ,
So they question then is how do you make a defensive and then counter attack army with those restrictions?
My solution was to make their faith powers based around being attacked. -For example whenever one of their units passes a morale, fear, pinning or ‘deny the witch’ test they gain faith, additionally whenever a faithful unit dies other Sisters units within 6″ become more faithful from that units martyrdom.This is to represent the idea that their belief grows when they prove their dedication.
On top of that whenever a Sororitas unit is close (6″) to a temple, a significant relic or high ranking Ecclesiastical personnel (Confessor, Canoness or Saint) they are enhanced (better to Ws or Bs, and better leadership).This represents their protective duties.
Instead of a 6+ invulnerable save to represent their faith, I believe a better rule would be a Feel no pain 6+. This is for several reasons; 1.) it can then be combined with invulnerable saves for units designed to take fire (such as Sacresants, Saints, or Zephyrim that could have shields granting invulnerable saves), 2.) the abilities of the Hospitaller could enhance the Feel no pain save granting them greater survivability without increasing their wounds. and 3.) there is very little in the game that stops or ignores Feel no pain saves which is appropriate for Sororita’s faith.
I also redesigned the Repressor as their main transport. My idea here was that it would be a mobile pillbox, slightly slower but a lot more damage resistant than a Rhino, with 3 fixed Bolters on each side, a turret mounted special weapon, a rubble clearing dozer blade. The idea being that its role would be to creep forward while under fire.
All of those suggestions are to make Sisters harder to kill without changing their statline. .
While you are going to make alternate rules for Sisters please bring back the units that was taken away. Such as; -Imperial Cultists. (you could even add Redemtionists as a elite version of imperial cultists as well.) -‘Avenger strike fighter’ and the ‘Arvus lander’ as their aircraft. -Special characters like; ‘Arch-confessor Kyrinov’, ‘Uriah Jacobus’, ‘Canoness Veridyan’ and ‘Sister-Superior Novena’.-and give them the ‘Incarcerator’ anti-psyker TANK that was promised back in 3rd ed. .
While I’m at it, what I’d add to a Sisters codex?I’d make them a lot more unique, more religious, more fanatical, more horrifying, more grimdark. I’d add stuff like….
-Mobile temples (a temple the size of a Necron Monolith on tracks)
-Flying temples (a small flying chapel)
-I’d also make the Condemner-Boltgun a standard special weapon option for Sisters units, and add other size variants; Condemner-Boltpistol and the Condemner-ballista (heavy weapon version) to the army list.
-A design-your-own-saint where you can choose what gear & abilities your saint has (like a saint version of a Daemon-prince)
-A Prisoner escort unit (‘Condemned’) that gives out leadership debuffs to enemy units would be very fluffy for lore. (the sight of Repentia mistresses dragging wailing unbelievers away in chain-gangs to be painfully, slowly redeemed would be an awesome unit!)
-Make a cart pulled by Penitent Engines and on that cart is a statue to the Emperor or bell surrounded by Preachers as a HQ model that buffs Sisters and Imperial Cultists around it.
-Make a cart pulled by Penitent Engines (made from the same box as the model above) and on the cart is a servitor manned catapult which launches flaming bodies of heretics, dealing anti-infantry/ morale damage. Heavy support role.
-A Mortifier variant where it’s hidden behind overlapping curtains of religious banners but mounted on top of the Mortifier is a platform which sits a Condemner-ballista mount manned by a servitor while speakers spouting endless holy texts hang from the platform’s sides..These suggestions are to make them more brutal, both to themselves and to civilians and yet more holy, more unique. To make them different to every other army in 40k.
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These are great suggestions! I do have them at S3 T3 because they are definitely not marines. I do have a bunch of old units added to the rough draft already, but i will check all of the ones you have listed are present. I dont recognize all of them.
I will keep these all in mind and see what i come up with!
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Note about the official GW stuff;
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‘Imperial cultists’ is a cover-all term that I’ve used as to describe that unit as they have had different names depending on publication and age. -I’ve called them Imperial cultists because that’s what they are.
For example, in White Dwarf issue #292 they where called ‘Zealots’.
(Their WD codex approved rules where; statline & gear/ equipment basically the same as chaos cultists with the bonus of any negatives to morale or leadership is instead ADDED to their morale/ leadership roles to represent their fanaticism. They also had the equivalent keywords of: Imperium & Adeptus Ministorum.)
Redemtionists are a extreme version of Imperial cultists that had their own comic, miniatures and special character (Klovis the Redeemer), these days the Redemtionists have been folded in to the Cordor gang faction in the Necromunda game.
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The ‘Avenger strike fighter’ & the ‘Arvus lander’ where Forge world models that available to most Imperial forces.
The Arvus lander being like a cheep but very fragile flying Rhino. (a flying death-trap in a lot of cases)
The ‘Avenger strike fighter’ was a clunky outdated precursor to the Lightning fighter but Sororitas love their relics so they still had Avengers assigned to them.
-These where the only flyers that Sisters have ever had (Lore wise they permanently assigned to them from the Navy).
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‘Arch-Confessor Kyrinov’ & ‘Uriah Jacobus’ where both Ministorum special Characters that had great models, flavoursome rules for many editions and had appeared in novels too (I think)
‘Canoness Veridyan’ & ‘Sister-Superior Novena’ where limited edition Sororitas characters with rules & models.
Note that Veridyan is the canoness from the famous cover of the first Sisters of Battle codex (2nd ed).
Sister-superiour Novena is modelled from (with rules) of another famous Sisters picture.
Additionally Sister Tariana Palos (that I forgot to mention above) is White Dwarf cover-girl that also had her own rules and limited edition miniature.
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In the White Dwarf issues immediately after the Witch Hunters 3rd ed codex release (WD #292, #293) they talked about how the Sisters range was going to expand even further.
With that they gave the rules for Zealots (mentioned above) and talked about the ‘Incarcerator’ anti-psyker tank that was used by the Sisterhood and the Arbites to contain, store and transport dangerous psykers to the Inquisitorial Black Ships for processing. This ‘Incarcerator’ tank was covered in protective wards and anti-psyker materials etc etc but it could also be fielded in battle to combat psykers!
The ‘Incarcerator’ tank was included in the excellent Witch Hunters mod for Dawn of War 1.
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Mobile temples (a temple the size of a Necron Monolith on tracks) is shown in official GW artwork but doesn’t have a name or rules as far as i know.
Flying temples (a small flying chapel) is again shown in official GW artwork but doesn’t have a name or rules as far as i know.
Ecclesiarchal Behemoths, huge tracked transport vehicles as tall as titans is also shown in official GW artwork too.
I’d imagine if these three vehicles had rules they would be ‘Lords of War’, in the same category as Titans.
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Everything I listed after that are things or units that I believe Sisters should have to make them more unique as an army, more religious, more focused on their role as hunting the mutant, witch & heretic, closer to their lore and frankly just more terrifying.
-the 6+’feel no pain’ rule boosted by Hospitallers & temples is to get the 2 wounds effect without changing their statline.
-if the Condemnor-Bolter came in a variety of sizes and was considered as a standard special weapon for Sisters, then you can have Dominion squads firing volleys of anti-psyker rounds! You could have Retributors and tanks mounting the heavy weapon version. Have the pistol version (along with Eviscerators again) be an equipment option for characters!
-A ‘design-your-own-saint should have always been an option considering the number of Saints there are; Saint Celestine, Saint Praxedes, Helena the Virtuous, Saint Sabbat, to name just a small few.
-‘The Condemned’ idea is a flavour unit that ties into Arco-Flagellants, Penitent engines, the Incarcerator, Imperial cults and generally the Sisterhoods role as hunting mutants, witches & heretics.
-I have even more ideas; catapults flinging heretics, podiums mounted on top of Repressors so Confessors & Canonesses can give sermons IN BATTLE, mobile altars…
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Most people try to turn Adepa Sororitas into female marines with bike units, Land raiders, improved stats, (Predator tanks!), drop pods and so forth, when I believe they should lean heavily into the religious horror!
Sisters and the Ecclesiachy as a whole are the Imperium’s equivalent to the Dark Eldar. They are literally are a 40k’d extreme version of all the horrifying things that religions have done in our very real history. This with their ability to generate actual faith & make miracles make them my favourite faction as they are a condensed version of 40k, with all its wonderous purity and horrifying brutality.
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In short, I guess what I’m trying to say is;
I’d encourage your rules to even further make Sisters frothing fanatics armed with military grade equipment, not be regimented army soldiers with quirky rules, and I worry that your suggestions (like many others) want to take them in the wrong direction.
Either way, I love that you want to give Sisters some love, and I look forward to seeing your version. ^_^
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Im getting close to done with the draft. I liked the idea of Martyrdom, so i created Martyrdom #. When a model with this dies they give a one use token that works like Faith for rerolls, but is not replenished in each phase. Higher command figures or figures holding relics give more, same with Faith #.
Sinner units like Repentias can benefit from Faith and Martyrdom, but do not grant any on their deaths (keeps them more expendable and also, its their just reward. Not as inspirational).
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Email?
I mentioned above that I wrote my own Sisters codex for 6th-7th edition (because of the horrid state that Sisters where left in during, 4th, 5th & 6th editions).
This led me to wanting to rewrite the 40k rules, it’s major codexes, it’s story arc (a precursor storyline to primaris marines, returning primarchs & the great rift) and a more streamlined marketing strategy.
-at one point I even had contacted & had details for a member of the GW design team to send these too.
While I had stopped continuing rewritting 40k and its major codexes due to issues in my own life. I thought you might like to see what those ideas where and where I was going with them.
If you are interested is there a email address I could use to send you my fan made Sisters codex and 40k rules design concepts to you for curiosity or even consideration?
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Oh cool! Feel free to send it to alternate40krules@gmail.com. I would love to look it over!
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I have the Sisters of Battle compiled. If you reach out to me at alternate40krules@gmail.com I can forward them to you for your thoughts. These changes are not tested yet, and are subject to change for balance purposes of course, which is why it is not publicly available just yet.
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