Hey everyone! This one has been long in the test queue. Some players from across the world have been testing it to help us out and no one has found any issues except a few typos which I have corrected.
For those that don’t know what Alternate 40k Rules is its a fan made, free ruleset rebuilt from the ground up. It plays like 5e-early7e with a modern interface, a point formula accurate to .003%, and just under 5000 man hours invested. Any Datasheet ever released is included, and if I’m missing any let me know!
This army saw core concept after core concept get written up, deleted, and started all over again from scratch. In a late night stupor of sickness I had a new idea click! The problem was Miracle dice.
Sisters of battle gear is pretty standard imperial technology. Nothing wrong there. But statline wise they are just a guardsmen space marine hybrid. Every edition has seen a wide variety of Miracle Dice implemented, ranging from predetermined results to rerolls, all of which were wildly calculated. I piggy backed off of one edition in particular and went from there! (and its been so long now I forgot which one. None of my local co-developers play Sisters of Battle so its been on the backburner while we chewed through the rest of them).
The main army mechanic usually called Miracle Dice has been divided into two rules; Faith # and Martyrdom #. Having read books and short stories about the Sisters of Battle altering the battlefield with sacrifice and piety I really wanted to bring this mechanic into the game and make it FEEL immersive as Sisters rally to causes and bring back a surge of resistance in their moment of greatest darkness.
Faith # allows the model or its unit to reroll failed Saves, Feel No Pains, To Hit, To Wound or Penetrate, and failed Ld Tests each phase equal to #. As normal, a reroll can’t be rerolled. Most armies get access to constant “reroll all 1s To… or Reroll all failed To…”, but the Sisters don’t. They lose consistency and gain variety.
Martyrdom # works just like Faith, but it only grants tokens when the model is slain equal to its # value. This can be granted to any friendly unit within 6″, and once used is gone. These one off tokens can help bolster Faith dice as they begin to dwindle in number as unit Champions and characters get killed off.
Lastly, I LOVED an old rule Britonnians had back in the old Warhammer Fantasy days. A model with this rule allows you to choose to fail the Initiative roll during game setup. If you do so, all of your Infantry gain a 5+ Invulnerability Save until the end of the game! This can be a very powerful tool, but allows your opponent to then dominant the game setup phase. Only the most powerful of characters have this rule.
There are various Orders to play as, which are your army variants. Some Unique Characters are specific to just one Order, while others have been known to operate with many. They will have the Order name in blue in their keywords and rules if they have this hard requirement.
Some of these Datasheets have been merged with various upgrade options included. This allows greater diversity amongst the simple minded GW unit design of late and also reduces bloat in the Codex. Others are very old ones returned to live again! Any model ever produced is playable, and if I’m missing one let me know.
HQ
The classic Canoness is there to lead your army. With Faith 2 and Martyrdom 5, she is sure to push for steady rerolls throughout the game. As most HQ combat officers in A4R goes, she does ALSO allow reroll of 1s To Hit, which makes her a prime target. But, when she goes, her acts of valiance will inspire her followers to greater acts of faith!
She can take the upgrade to become a Canoness Superior. This is their equivalent of a Space Marine Chapter Master. She gets the usual W+1 and A+1 buff, but instead of an Orbital Strike she gains the ability to pray before battle (afore mentioned), Faith +3, and Martyrdom +5. This is a unique upgrade, meaning you can only have one per army. It may sound powerful, because it is, but at +159 additional points she nearly doubles her cost to do so.
Out of the Unique HQ section we have Morvenn Vahl in her battle suit. She brings a potent aura to with some more rerolls and excellent combat gear.
Unique to Order of our Martyred Lady, you can take Canoness Veridyan. She is capable of bolstering leadership with an Aura to grant Fearless and another to take a unit and Outflank for strategic maneuverability.
Also, naturally this Order can also take Celestine the Living Saint! This very potent model is capable of dumping a lot of miracle dice with Faith 5 and Martyrdom 10*. You might be saying, “wow! that’s great and over powered!” Well, it has a catch. The first time Celestine is Defeated, she has to take a Ld Test. If she passes, she grants the Martyrdom dice anyways and returns to life with d3 Wounds!
If she fails, (or is Defeated a second time from which there is no return), she tests again.
If she ever fails, which is very unlikely, all friendly units within 24″ lose the Stubborn rule (if they have it) and Ld equal to her Martyrdom value for the rest of the game! Seeing your literal saint break before the enemy would shatter their faith, so be very wary of what your opponent is up to!
Lastly, she gets access to an Orbital Strike. It doesn’t hit right away, you place a marker where you hope it will hit, giving your opponent time to think about the birds and the bees and why they do heresy. In your next Command Phase it strikes with a powerful 15″ Blast that will HOPEFULLY be on target. Miracle dice can’t be used on scatter dice so good luck! This acts as a movement control to force opponents into your trap or risk getting annihilated.
Naturally she also gets access to up to two of her bodyguards which strongly bolsters her defense.
Because GW loves this Order more than any other Order you also get access to Junith Eruita. She is pretty durable thanks to her floating pulpit, which can extend its shield generator to nearby units.
Advisors
The Pronatus is you typical standard bearer. Rallying your troops and boosting their Melee output is the primary role of this character. A lot of Sister officer upgrades were included for this model.
The Chirugeon is your combat medic. A straight forward but critical role, further enhanced by the miracle dice.
Your Dialogus is a highly affordable character intended to boost Leadership while providing some light damage absorbtion for early game.
The Palatine allows your back line Sisters to fire rapid fire weapons of ALL TYPES as if they were in half range. This gives your rear Objective holders a chance to throw some more damage down range and have some light wound absorption for sporadic fire tossed their way.
Sister Dogmata is a potent key figure for your main unit to ensure it doesn’t break. But, it comes at a steep price. You automatically pass failed Ld Tests, but you lose a model for each one as she demonstrates Judgement to those weak of spirit. You do still get your Martyrdom dice at least.
Unique Advisors brings Superior Amalia Novena. I’m going to say it, she’s a cover art turned pinup girl basically. Which is fine, as poster material she gives an aura that offers Objective Secured, which is great when dealing with Space Marines or Imperial Knights.
Order of our Martyred Lady brings Sister Tariana Palos to the table. She is currently the only model in the game that can swap places with someone else locked in a Challenge during the Issue Challenge subphase. She is a great way to get a key support figure out of trouble against those that can choose and force Challenges.
Order Pronatus brings Aestred Thurga. Her ancient relic she carries massively increases melee output in a unit. Because it is not a typical Standard, it can stack with one as well!
Troops
Battle Sisters are you staple troops of course. Typical weapon options with the Superior bringing Faith 1 for light support.
Novitiates are you militant branch. Led by a Superior but made up of essentially militia members with moderate training. They are reasonably expendable and are great for getting large variety of hodgepodge gear.
Redemptionists haven’t had a model produced in a very long time. They are your old zealot cultists of the emperor that use zeal to make up for quality. As such, at a whopping 3 points each, go ham. Just like in the lore losing a bunch of Cultists is a mild inconvenience at best and is a great way to flood an objective.
Elites
Flagellants (Which I call Flatulence because I’m basically 5 years old when it comes to humor) are your typical glass cannon melee troops we are used to. Great for clearing chaff.
A very old Datasheet, the Incarcerator is a personal favorite of mine. Its a converted Rhino designed to abduct dangerous psychic individuals. So, you can literally attempt to kidnap enemy psykers that are Infantry or Monstrous Infantry. Basically, drive at them in Melee. If you roll any natural 6s To Hit, discard those dice. Then yoink a psychic Infantry or Monstrous Infantry for each one!
This ability is similar to Gulp but the model doesn’t die. They are entirely unusable while trapped in stasis.
If the Incarcerator is Destroyed, the embarked psychic models have to take a Ld Test, suffering 1 Mortal Wound for each point they failed by as the Turbine Purge attempts to contain them during the power loss. If they survive they are free to resume doing heretical psychic shenanigans.
The Repentias are also the classic melee glass cannon we are familiar with. They have even less durability than the Flagellants, but they massively increase their damage output in melee.
Sacresants are an excellent Bodyguard choice to shelter key figures and help hold strong in Melee.
Fast Attack
Dominion Squads are still your typical special weapon squads. Like before they can bolster their numbers for absorbing damage and bring a solid 4 Special Weapons, plus the Officer’s weapons to bear!
Seraphim Squads are both Jump Troopers merged together, creating a wonderful blend of possibilities!
Paragon Warsuits are a well rounded light Combat Walker. They specialize in taking out infantry clusters but can be equipped to deal with most threats. They can bring fairly large squadrons of models
Heavy Support
Castigators come in squadrons of 1-3 and have a solid set of armaments. While lacking the massive howitzers of the Imperial Guard, they still bring good armaments with a reasonable and cost effective main cannon that will stagger any monster and threaten most vehicles.
Exorcists also can come in squadrons, with some old Datasheets lending an additional rocket variant.
Penitent Engines also come in squadrons and can deal some serious damage in Melee. They are far less armored then their counterpart, keeping them quite affordable despite lighter armor and being Open Topped.
Retributors are your typical Heavy Weapon squad like the Space Marines use.
Flyers
The Arvus Lighter Fleet is a squadron of light shuttles used across the entire Imperium by just about everyone. A good shuttle with reasonable fire support, its one the cheapest air options out there.
The Sisters are documented numerous times flying Avenger Strike Fighters, so they get this squadron as well! Basically an A-10 Warthog in space, it is feared by all!
Dedicated Transports
The Immolator is a classic brutal transport. Well armed and with a light carry capacity it can clear Objectives and have its Squad claim them in the aftermath.
The Repressor is another forgotten weapon of war. This refit brings a significant amount of armor to a fast moving vehicle and potential brutal flamethrowers early game!
We of course have the classic Rhino. As is, a decent Transport with two 360 degree Fire Ports. A good classic for most situations.
Lord of War
The Sisters of Battle are a very limited Codex still despite the recent additions. For a long time there they were just a single squad even! They do have the Triumph of Saint Katherine.
This is a particularly unusual Lord of War, as its not only Infantry, its a large base of Infantry? Of people carrying a coffin and relics, but still somehow accessing Bolt Pistols? Not how I would have done it personally, but it is what I’ve got to work with.
Each relic brings an ability, dampening psychic powers, Denying the Witch, and of course bolstering your forces. It is a huge Wound count of 12, and can join Infantry units, making it amazingly good for a central unit that will break the enemy over its knee.
I dropped the Bolt Pistols because 1), I can’t even see them on the model in the pictures and 2), they are carrying far more important things. They can do some kicking and such, resulting in a ton of light attacks to help in Melee.
Fortifications
All of the Fortifications are pretty standard except for one. These range from the massive Imperial Fortress from FW (A true envy on my part. Yes Yes I know there are 3d printed options but I’m a collector).
There is however the Monument. This model in itself is moderately durable and grants a Fearless Aura to a target unit. Placing this on or near a key Objective can be the difference between winning or losing!
I’m sure many of you knew what most if not all of these units were, but I wanted to break it down for those who didn’t. This marks the 17th main Codex out of 18! All that is left at this point is the Eldar complete rework (95% complete, probably 1 more stress test can do it!) and the Inquisition, which pulls from every Imperial Codex to build its force. This last mentioned Codex is one test from release as well!
As always, happy wargaming regardless of what ruleset you enjoy!
Alternate 40k Rules 