Well, well...

Looks like I won't be putting up any posts before vacation time. Instead, I was surprised to show up at my FLGS earlier today for a 2500 point tourney. Luckily, I had my Sisters and a list. Bizarrely enough, very few others showed up, and I ended up winning. Go me! Hopefully, my win should net me the Imperial Sector box, bringing me one step closer to the Mobile Battle Cathedral that I will be making...

In addition, the store owner was running a "Buy a Super Heavy, get a second one half off" sale. So, I bought 2 Shadowsword/Stormlord kits to the tune of $150ish including tax. One will be made into part of the Mobile Battle Cathedral, making me two steps closer to the glory of such a cool thing. The other one will be... Eh, I don't know.

I'm torn. I want to make one of the really cool tanks, but I don't know which. I'm leaning towards the Shadowsword with double sponsons. 575 points of delicious death. 1 big nasty gun. 5 twin linked heavy bolters. Either 4 lascannons and BS3 or 2 lascannons and BS4... Not sure which. Regardless, it's gonna be super awesome. My army grows constantly.

Spring break... whoo hoo...

Didn't realize until yesterday, but apparently I'll be flying to Florida on Sunday... Oh well.

Good news for anyone who reads this (not that I expect there are many, yet). I'll try and post some actual tactical type stuff, plus I'll be working on a few things while I'm on vacation.

Right now, I'll be posting as follows:

Before Vacation:
Tip and Tricks of Sisters
Commonly forgotten rules that help us
Guard? What? (maybe, if I can get more concrete info on the new dex)

After Vacation:
Faith Powers in detail (a series on when and why specific powers should be used).
Unit Selections (a series on how I set up my units and why I do it the way I do).
Tacticas versus specific armies

Anything else anyone would like to see?
I might also do some modeling and painting articles, or I could toss out some more fluff, possibly even Sisters themed short stories if there's any interest.

My Sisters' Fluff

One reason I love Sisters is the fluff aspect. The "nuns with guns" thing gets me every time. Also, the fact that they are inward focused, rooting out the evil within the Imperium is cool.

My Sisters are the Order of the Ardent Maiden.

Years ago, they were a fairly modest Order, their Convent on a small moon in a rather remote and uninhabited part of the Imperium. The Order was known for the strict martial training and harsh vows that it encouraged. Many of these vows would put Sisters into certain roles. For example, some Sisters would take vows sending them on long solitary vigils to hone their senses, making them ideal for combat where visibility was impaired. Others would vow to not to remove their armor until the end of a campaign, resulting in Sisters who would shrug off the most greivious of wounds. Many Inquisitors would select Sisters of the Order of the Ardent Maiden to become semi-permanent bodyguards because of the specializations that Sisters acquired through their vows.

Within the Order, the rank of any particular Sister could be determined by the number of names she has. Upon joing the Order of the Ardent Maiden, a sister would recieve her new name (becoming Sister Melissa, for example). After participating in enough actions to lead a squad as a Veteran Superior, a Sister is granted a second name (Veteran Sister Superior Melissa Ione). If a Sister lives long enough to ascend to the rank of Cannoness or Palatine, she is given a third name (Cannoness Melissa Ione Ophelia, our current Cannoness).

The most influential Sister within the Order joined as Sister Ismene. A pious young girl, Sister Ismene had high hopes to become the Veteran Sister Superior of a group of Seraphim eventually. However, the Emperor had set his sights upon Sister Isemene and laid out a much different fate for her.

The Inquisitor Lord Varrus Almeada visited the Order of the Ardent Maiden after Sister Ismene had been through several campaigns, proving her faith time and time again (at this point, the Sisters mainly campaigned against rogue PDF formations and the heretic witches of the Eldar). Lord Varrus paid his respects to the Order and petitioned for three of the finest Sisters for his retinue. Sister Ismene, Sister Kali and Sister Marguerite were assigned to his retinue.

Sister Ismene accepted her new position with pride, knowing in her heart that should she live to return to the order she would have her pick of placements. The three sisters were all granted their second names as part of the honor of accompanying Lord Varrus. They became Sister Ismene Meghan, Sister Kali Victoria and Sister Marguerite Valeria.

The next few years saw the Sisters tried in the fire of Lord Varrus' dark assignments. With these three by his side, the Inquisitor Lord was surrounded by an iron wall of faith. With the Inquisitor and the rest of his sizable retinue, the Sisters plunged into danger time and time again. Eventually, however, calamity struck, and first Sister Kali Victoria and then Sister Marguerite Valeria were felled while purging a most insidious cult. Lord Varrus was able to use the sacrifice of their lives to destroy the cult leaders and recover their artifacts in a hope to use them to identify and destroy similar cults.

After the deaths of Sister Kali Victoria and Sister Marguerite Valeria, Sister Ismene Meghan continued to follow Lord Varrus into danger after danger. However, as time passed, Lord Varrus began to change. Once a compassionate and understanding man (for an Inquisitor who burns heretic witches, anyways), Varrus had become moody and unstable. It became common for him to execute the men under his command for his slightest whim, having them tortured in front of him. Eventually, Varrus took over the torture himself and began requisitioning men only to kill them in this gruesome manner.

At first, Sister Ismene Meghan was loathe to question Varrus. Then, however, she began to see signs of mutation and corruption upon his followers. Intending to confront Varrus himself, she stormed into his chambers only to find the runes of the Dark Gods scrawled all over and Varrus engaged in an obscene rite. Sister Ismene Meghan put a bolt round into the former Lord's head, ending his twisted parody of a life. She then stormed through Varrus' citadel, pouring rounds of holy bolter fire into the assorted deviants within.

After this incident, Sister Ismene Meghan submitted herself to the judgment of the Ecclesiarchy and the High Lords of the Inquisition. Stunned by the fall of a man they had considered a paragon of virtue, they granted Sister Ismene Meghan the powers and rights that had once been Varrus'. Now Sister Ismene Meghan had become Inquisitor Lady Ismene Meghan. Her first act was to raze Varrus' corrupt citadel to the ground and conduct purifying rituals upon the ashes. She then swore an oath of infinte vengeance upon the Dark Gods. After requisitioning an enormous battle barge, the Inquisitor returned to her former Order.

Upon her return, the Sisters of the Order of the Ardent Maiden honored Inquisitor Lady Ismene Meghan with her third name, christening her as Inquisitor Lady Ismene Meghan Morwenna. After conferring with Cannoness Sister Melissa Ione Ophelia, the entire Order was seconded into her service. The convent itself was moved into one of the cargo holds of the ship. Lady Ismene renamed the ship Purgation Through Flame.

The Purgation Through Flame and the Order of the Ardent Maiden now sought out and destroyed impure Space Marine Chapters, as identified by the High Lords of the Inquisition. Over time, the Order became recognized as exceptional in this field and were granted additional equipment to be permanently attached to their formation. Among these were the Hellhammer Heart of the Emperor's Chosen and several Land Raiders.

After a Titan Legion detachment dispatched to crush an uprising spearheaded by rebel Marines lost communication with Terra, the Order of the Ardent Maiden was sent in to recover what they could. After obliterating the rebels, a single Warhound Titan was recovered. Re-christened Lupus Virgo, the Titan was assigned to travel with the Order.

Lady Ismene also instituted a program of hiring the finest of artificers to work on the Order's equipment. Following the destruction of many rogue Marines, enough pieces of hallowed Tactical Dreadnought armor and Holy Dreadnought Sarcophagi were recovered that these artisans were able to grant the Order several suits of Terminator armor suitable for the use of the Sisters and a single Dreadnought shell. Lady Ismene herself re-consecrated these artifacts and sanctioned their use, hand selecting those who would be allowed to don the armor. She appointed a second Cannoness to head the small division (which consisted only of the Cannoness, 10 Sisters and Veteran Sister Margaret Hazel, who elected to forego her martyrdom to serve the Order further).

Cannoness Melissa petitioned Lady Ismene for a large warmachine which could double as a Cathedral for extended ground campaigns. Lady Ismene agreed and set the artisans to work on such a project. After years of labor, the Mobile Battle Cathedral Saint Myfanwy was built.

Currently, the Order has set out upon a campaign to crush a kabal of heretic Eldar who continue to raid frontier worlds, taking slaves...

What follows is a list of all of the named things within my army.

Battle Barge Purgation Through Flame*

Inquisitor Lady Ismene Meghan Morwenna

Cannoness Sister Melissa Ione Ophelia

Land Raider Might of the God Emperor

Land Raider Redeemer Buring Rage of the Pious

Hellhammer Heart of the Emperor's Chosen

Mobile Battle Cathedral Saint Myfanwy* (Counts as Warlord Titan)

Warhound Titan Lupus Virgo

Terminator Cannoness Sister Iseria Gabrielle Bianca (counts as Belial)

Terminator Veteran Sister Superior Sarah Cassandra (Counts as Deathwing Termies)
Terminator Veteran Sister Superior Alexandra Kelly (Counts as Deathwing Termies)

Dreadnought Veteran Sister Margaret Hazel

Seraphim Veteran Sister Superior Katherine Elizabeth

Veteran Sister Superior Alicia Dominique
Veteran Sister Superior Rebecca Julia
Veteran Sister Superior Beatrice Caroline
Veteran Sister Superior Ceres Victoria
Veteran Sister Superior Carla Celeste*
Veteran Sister Superior Kara Aline*

Celestian Squad Leader Sister Charity
Celestian Squad Leader Sister Faith
Celestian Squad Leader Sister Hope
Celestian Squad Leader Sister Joy

Dominion Squad Leader Sister Grace*
Dominion Squad Leader Sister Chastity*

Exorcist Light of the Angels
Exorcist Faith of the Saints
Exorcist Spirit of the Martyrs*

Vindicator Vengeance Upon Witches
Vindicator Hatred for the Unrighteous*

*This indicates the squads and vehicles I have not assembled as of yet. When taken all together, this list totals 8500 points. The Battle Barge will likely never be modeled (maybe I'll buy one BFG ship just for kicks), as there is nothing to use it as a "counts as."

This is from a letter I sent the guys at Bell of Lost Souls in response to their best army ranking thing. I originally posted some of this in the comments on their site, but here's the EXPANDED EDITION complete with info about me!

I play in Charlotte, NC. (I've also been in Sarasota, FL, and Athens, OH since the new edition).
We can get (at the FLGS near my place) upwards of 20 players in for tourneys. There are a few of us who play very frequently, and the others show up when they like. I know also that there are 2 other stores in or close to our city, both of which have thriving groups of gamers. Most all of our players around here have 3-4 or more armies. A very select few (myself included) have enough armies that we're embarassed to give a number (mine is: 10 40k armies, 6 fully painted. 4 fantasy armies, 1 fully painted).
Our tournament scene is pretty decent around here. We have more than our fair share of strong players. For instance, my Orks took 2nd in our local 'Ard Boyz and then 5th in the second round. Sadly, we don't have a large number of tournaments. But, the quality makes up for it.
I've probably played 150+ games of 5th edition, since it dropped.

Here are my top picks for the best 40k armies.
I'll just expand on the list I've already put up.

1. Space Wolves
-Unequivocally brutal. Multiple close combat charges = lots of dead things. Loads of HQs (most games I've played are 2k on up). Benefit from the new Marine book in a lot of ways.
Here's a list I faced in 'Ard Boyz round 2 that really shows where the Wolves still shine. 3 Blood Claw packs in Land Raider Crusaders. 2 small Grey Hunter packs with Wolf Guard leaders in Terminator armor with Assault Cannons, crouching in cover. 1 Venerable Dreadnought. 1 group of Wolf Scouts.
Basically, wolves have all of the ranged punch of other Marines, but they get an extra boost in CC. A single squad of Blood Claws can tear through enemy squads 2 at a time or stop a Ork Charge dead in its tracks. Fully kitted Wolf Guard squads can go toe to toe with Nob Bikerz and come out on top. They have all of the advantages of Orks, except they take quality over quantity. Bizarrely, this tends to work very well for them.

2. Orks
-We don't see the nob bikerz here (one guy is working on a whole biker army, but not even remotely the same). Horde is the style of the day, slightly mechanized horde is also popular.
Orks have the best troops choices in the game, and everyone I've seen play wants to capitalize on it. Large groups with sluggas and choppas or shootas have killing power and staying power. KFF Big Meks or Battlewagons help them get to the line generally unscathed. Additionally, a Warboss and a unit of nobz coming out of a battlewagon or trukk can lay some serious hurting down, even without their bikes. Orks would have spot #1, but Wolves will beat them at their own game.

3. Sisters
-This is all due to me, apparently. I'm the only one around here who plays them, and I've got a reputation, I guess.
Rending bolters and 3+ invulnerable saves when you need 'em. A highly faithed mechanized Sisters army is the bane of bugs and orkz as well as Marines. Flamers and Heavy Flamers all over the place (especially the Immolator- 12" move and fire twin-linked Heavy Flamers? Yes, please) are great for hordes, as are the cheap BS4 bolters. Add in the ability to make all of our weapons rounds rending for a win against Marines. Average combat abilities would drop us down, but we also have 3+ invulnerable saves on demand in our Stubborn LD9 units.

4. Blood Angels
-Dante. Lemartes. There are a couple of really good BA players around here who drop the army occasionally.
Basically, Blood Angels are like the poor shadow of Wolves. Quality assault troops, but not near as many special close combat weapons. Dante's re-rolls and dropping everyone else's BS and WS make him a necessity for the middle of your front lines. Dante and Assault Vets plus Lemartes and the Death Company supported by a couple of regular squads will punch through any line you care to show me.

5. Black Templars
-Preferred enemy, need I say more?
Preferred enemy in assault with lots of power armored guys. Shooty squads with a few guys and neophytes for ablative wounds. Add in a couple of Land Raiders, the Emperor's Champion and maybe a Marshall. Blam, yet another assaulty Marine army like the Wolves, yet still not as good.


6. Imperial Guard
-Russes, hellhounds and lots of heavy weapons. Even the relative new players can drop an opponent rather handily. Oh, don't we all dread that new codex ;)
Think of 3 stripped down Russes, 3 Hellhounds and then as many guys with grenade launchers, missile launchers and mortars as you can toss in. Bring a few lascannons and heavy bolters for luck. Drop one squad in a chimera to make a dash for any far objectives. This army is template city. Anyone who thinks cheaper Guard and more durable Russes aren't going to propell it to the top slot need to step back and take a good hard look at their biases. Guard currently have a resiliant pie plate dropping tank and loads of men around it to drop small templates and just shoot the enemy to hell. A good guard player (with some really great luck) can drop my army in 3 or 4 turns without taking significant losses.


7. Dark Eldar
-My buddy is the only one who plays these around here, but he is rightly feared (except perhaps, by his dice, which always roll 1's on the vehicle damage tables). WWP kabal with lots of agonizers and dark lance shots.
Archon with Incubi, one of the most lethal close combat units in the game. Add wyches to tie up termies or other elite assault troops. Warriors mop up the rest of the army with decent shooting and close combat punch. Dark Lances on every Raider means vehicles get to do nothing all game. Dissintegrators on Ravagers means that Termies or regular marines will be dropping. Superior mobility means they hit the enemy where they want, when they want. Horrorfexes and the like mean that anything that can be pinned that needs to be pinned will be pinned. They only suffer against horde armies.

8. Chaos Marines
-They probably should have been higher, but we haven't seen them a whole lot, lately. Plague Marines are a problem everywhere.
Nobody here takes a Lash. Not too sure why, but even with that, Chaos is not as much of a threat as some of the other big nasties. They have relatively good staying power, but they seem to (as played here) lack that killing punch that wins so many games. We have a couple of dedicated Chaos players who are cutting their teeth on somenew Marine armies, so the Warp Gods have been strangely absent as of late.

Honorable mentions:
Vanilla Marines (and Dark Angels)- Just too mediocre unless you spam special characters, even then, they're not a super powerhouse. We have loads of people playing new Marine armies right now, and the Special Character based ones shine and come together as a whole. They usually just still are pummelled by any of the top contenders, however.
Eldar- We just don't see them often. But when we do... There can be all hell breaking loose. The specificity of their Aspect Warriors lets them compete in any game phase, while Guardians and the like provide more than adequate support.
Nids- They can't out horde orks, so many player are frustrated with that. The rise of mechanized armies of every stripe has also taken its toll. If they can't open up transports to eat the men inside, they're kind of stuck sitting there until the heavy weapons from the top hatch of the transports blow away the big guys. Still, in my book, a good army. Players are just having trouble adapting to 5th here. Still, a nice change from seeing them be the "We own everything" army they were in 4th ed.
Tau- Really we have 2 Tau players here. Both have good armies that can do a hell of a lot of damage. S5 basic weapon? (Thought your transports were safe from small arms? Think again.) Railgun submunitions which don't just disappear? However, JSJ has been hampered by the new cover system.
Daemons- Seems like everyone has a daemons army they're working on. Still, however, the randomness and dangers of deepstrike have hobbled them in many games. Maybe as people get more familiar with them.

Not so honorable mentions:
Necrons- Huge nerf to their ability to take down tanks coupled with more tanks showing up = sad, sad necrons. Not necessarily bad, as they needed a small toning down, but they need a bit of fixing still. The Monolith is still ridiculously hard.
Grey Knights- No one plays actual Deamon Hunters. Everyone plays Grey Knights. Grey Knights would be great, if you could get more than 10 or so in a 1500 pt list. I know it's an exaggeration, but the basic criticism is correct. There are too few of them.

First Post

So, here it is... The first post of my new blog. I've never done this before, so bear with me, some of this may be rocky!

My purpose here is to make a blog similar to all those other little tactics and opinion blogs out there. However, this one is for Sisters of Battle. Not really Witch Hunters (although I will use an Inquisitor on occasion). Pretty much straight up Sisters.

So, where to start?
I figure I'll post a few pictures of my army that were taken in a game I played in a fairly recent tournament in Athens, Ohio. My opponent played straight Khorne Berserkers.

The game itself was a lot of fun, for the most part. Both of our lists were decent (1850), and both our armies were fully painted (He actually had a lot of really old school chaos stuff, too. I wish it was in the pictures, but most of it is not).

However, after the 3rd turn, his luck dramatically took a turn for the worse, and we ended the game early with only 1 of his squads left on the board (It was hanging onto his base objective).

I'm not gonna put a lot of other details here, mainly because I don't remember them too well (This was a couple of weeks ago, give me a break). Also, there was nothing particularly special that happened. He'd get close. I'd jump out and Divine Guidance a squad away. Another of his squads might get the charge, which would wipe one of my squads. Then my Sisters would retaliate.

Basically, the reason I'm posting these is because it was a snow table and I have snow-based Sisters, so the pictures look cool.

Note: I didn't take these pictures, and I don't remember who did or where I got them. If you want to lay claim for credit, please let me know.