Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus Shows that the Holy Trinity is Still Holy

Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus lets players have a glimpse of the new rules for the paragons of faith, the Adepta Sororitas.

The Imperium of Man has a huge problem in the 10^th Edition of Warhammer 40k: Hive Fleet Leviathan, a new Tyranid force that is threatening the Realm of the God Emperor. While the Space Marines and the Astra Militarum are doing everything in their power in order to keep the hungry, hungry bugs at bay, they alone won’t be able to succeed. Luckily for the human race, the Sisters of Battle are there to help them, and we finally have a concept of what their most important rules will look like in the next Edition of the most popular tabletop wargame in the world – of which you can read more about on ESTNN!

Faction Rules shown in the Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus

With their unwavering faith, the Adepta Sororitas are capable of performing Acts of Faith, using Miracle dice gained beforehand, which can help them in the direst situations. Normally, units can only perform one Act, but that can be overwritten by other rules.

Miracle dice are gained at the start of each turn and when a friendly Sororitas unit is destroyed. To gain a dice, you have to roll a D6, storing the dice to the side for later use – meaning that you can stockpile good rolls, which can be substituted later for crucial shots, wounds, or saves.

Acts of Faith can be performed when making Advance rolls, Charge rolls, Damage rolls, Hit rolls, Wound rolls, Saving throws and Battle-shock tests. By performing an Act, you can substitute one of the dies in the roll in question for a Miracle dice, meaning you can manipulate the outcome of the rolls. In 10^th Edition however, rolls that are made by the pair, such as Battle-shock tests and Charge rolls can only have one dice swapped, so Sisters of Battle players can’t just get a 12” Charge if they got two lucky Miracle dice rolls beforehand. Still, this ability is extremely strong, as we all know that the real main characters of a Warhammer 40k game are the dies, and Miracle dice are stronger than rerolls – which GW is trying to implement less of.

The Sisters of Battle also had a Hallowed Martyrs Detachment Rule shown, called The Blood of the Martyrs. This ability gives +1 to a unit’s Hit roll if the unit is below it’s Starting Strength (meaning that there’s less models in the unit than at the start of the battle), and +1 to it’s Wound rolls if the unit is below Half-strength. If a unit is just a sole model, it’s considered to be below Starting Strength if it’s damaged – but there seems to be no way of making it below Half-strength. But as GW said in the blogpost, that doesn’t stop Saint Celestine and her entourage to hit like a truck once the said entourage is gone.

Unit Spotlights of the Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus

One of the units shown in the Faction Focus was the Battleline unit for the Adepta Sororitas, the Battle Sisters Squad. These brave warriors are a premier source of Miracle dice, as they can gain one after performing an Act of Faith, effectively having a “free” dice replacement ability. They also have a Wargear option called Simulacrum Imperialis, which grants a Miracle dice if the Squad destroys an enemy unit. While they are only Toughness 3, the Battle Sisters have a 6+ Invulnerable Save, so if they believe hard enough, they can overcome any odd.

Their Special and Heavy Weapons lists have been implemented into their datasheet, but we didn’t get the wargear part, so we don’t know how many big guns the nuns can take. However, the Battle Sisters Squad looks better than before, as Miracle dice seem to be more important than before.

While Saint Celestine wasn’t showcased, another iconic Adepta Sororitas HQ was: the Triumph of Saint Katherine. It still only has 3 Toughness and 18 Wounds, but it’s 4+ Invulnerable Save should keep the remains of the Saint intact. The squad escorting the Triumph still has it’s Bolt pistols, and the Relic weapons got merged with the Martyr’s Sword, so the Triumph of Saint Katherine only has 18 melee Attacks in total – but with the new 10^th Edition melee rules, it could only attack with one melee weapon anyways.

What the remains of Saint Katherine excels at is dishing out buffs to nearby Sororitas. It’s Relics of the Matriarchs ability let’s you choose 2 Auras out of 6 at the start of each battle round, which lasts until the beginning of the next:

• The Fiery Heart makes Adepta Sororitas models within 6” give an automatic 6 Miracle dice if they die,
• Censer of the Sacred Rose improves the Leadership characteristic by 1 to each Sisters of Battle unit in 6”,
• Simulacrum of the Ebon Chalice breaks the limits of the Acts of Faith, meaning that a unit within 6” of the Triumph of Saint Katherine they can use any number of Miracle dice,
• Simulacrum of the Argent Shroud gives an extra pip of Attacks to Rapid Fire guns of Adepta Sororitas units within 6” – which become 2 extra attacks if they target something that’s within half range,
• Icon of the Valorous Heart grants units within 6” the Feel No Pain 6+ ability, letting them shrug damage on a 6,
• And the Petals of the Bloody Rose grants the Lethal Hits ability to melee weapons of units 6” within the Triumph of Saint Katherine, which let’s them automatically Wound on a Hit roll of 6 – called a Critical Roll in the 10^th Edition of Warhammer 40k.

While the Triumph has only 5 or less wounds left, you can only choose one of these abilities, but provided it will be tucked away in an ocean of Battle Sisters, it should stay relatively safe, giving out insane buffs to any believer nearby.

Weapon Spotlight of the Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus

The Exorcist will rain heavy fire down upon heretics, mutants and xenos alike, as the Heavy Support unit’s Conflagration Rockets and Missile Launcher have both been showcased. The former let’s the Adepta Sororitas tank deal with mobs of enemies thanks to it’s Blast and Ignores cover keywords, but it’s relatively low Damage means that it’s no good against bigger targets.

Thankfully, the Sisters have thought of everything, as the Exorcist Missile Launcher has AP -2 and D6 damage, alongside a potential 8 shots, which can deal some serious harm. With this weapons, Games Workshop also showed the new rules of Indirect Fire, which stayed kind of the same as in 9^th Edition: Indirect Fire weapons can shoot at enemy units without the need of Line of Sight, but if they do, they get -1 to Hit and their targets receive the Benefit of Cover, making the damage that much less likely to happen. Still, shooting at your opponents forces from 36” and in cover sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

Morven Vahl is one of the most iconic leaders of the Sisters, and her Lance of Illumination is still a powerful tool in melee. While both profiles have lost a pip of AP, that’s just to bring it down to 10^th Edition levels, and the Strike version retained it’s mortal wounds, as it gained the Devastating Wounds ability, meaning if you roll enough 6’s – or perform an Act of Faith – you can ignore any saves.

Stratagem Spotlight of the Warhammer 40k Sisters of Battle Faction Focus

Games Workshop showed the Rejoice the Fallen Stratagem in the Sisters of Battle Faction Focus, which let’s units shoot back after they lost some models. In your Opponent’s shooting phase, if they managed to destroy models, you can shoot as if it were your Shooting phase, but only at the culprits which thinned your ranks – for only 1 CP. This is an incredibly strong ability for the Sisters of Battle – and a bit better version of the Leagues of Votann’s Reactive Reprisal.

Overall, the Sisters of Battle are looking great in the upcoming 10^th Edition of Warhammer 40k. While they can no longer substitute 2 dies to Charge rolls and the new Battle-shock tests, all the new rules showcased are great – even Morven Vahls melee weapon, which seems like a straight up nerf, but really, it’s just to keep it to the same standard as the other weapons. The Nuns with Guns should be happy – but they still have a new Hive Fleet to defeat.

All pictures are the property of Games Workshop