2000 point Sisters of Battle

[Root]

Canoness: blessed weapon, bolt pistol, frags, cloak of st aspira, book of saint lucius, litanies of faith
Celestians retinuex9: hvy flamer, melta, frags, imagifer, vet w/master crafted eviscerator
Rhino: XTA, DZ, SK

Karamazov

Exorcist: XTA, DZ, SK
Exorcist: XTA, DZ (No smoke. This keeps the list below 2000)

Storm Troopers x5: plasma gun x2
Storm Troopers x5: plasma gun x2

Battle Squad x10: hvy flamer, melta, imagifer, vet w/ master crafted eviscerator
Rhino: XTA, DZ, SK

Battle Squad x10: flamer, melta, imagifer, vet w/ master crafted eviscerator
Rhino: XTA, DZ, SK

Battle Squad x10: flamer, melta, imagifer, vet w/ master crafted eviscerator
Battle Squad x10: flamer, melta, imagifer, vet w/ master crafted eviscerator

All 4 Battle Squads have a Book of St Lucius
1998 Points 7 Faith Points + Litany

Ok boys flame on but first a few notes:
The 3 Battle Squads don't have heavy flamers because I don't own anymore.
The Storm Troopers camp objectives or supply speed bumps, hide, or snipe depending on mission.
If I dropped the imagifers and master crafted weapons I'd save 175 points but I find them immensely useful. They are a personal preference much like mixing flame and melta in a squad.
The sisters all try to stay within 12" of Karamazov and just steamroll across the table. They are almost impossible to break and with Spirit they can usually live long enough to grind out battles. The army shreds vehicles into bits, can deliver massed Bolter and flame for the hordes, and can handle itself respectably well in melee. (The idea being try to tie them up til help arrives.) Unless I flunk the faith tests killing the squads with any but the nastiest assault units is rather tricky, and once the Canoness or Inquisitor or another squad jumps in those master crafted eviscerators are vastly superior to any marine sergeant with a powerfist or power sword for only 15 extra points.

So you have 50 power armor models who fight almost to the last man led by a canoness who while not terrifying, never dies supported by enough vehicles and a monstrous creature (target saturation) to keep enemy guns occupied for a little while, capped off with 2 of the cheapest yet still dangerous scoring units in 40k. The army has no static units to come after with flankers or infiltrators and my heavy support fires on the move.

This army has been devastating for me but has never faced: tyranids, dark eldar, new grey knights, necrons.
Its not a push button easy winner, but beating it has proven difficult for anyone in the Tampa Bay area.

You may now start the hate machine,
I_and_I

[MajorSoB]

Thank you for posting your list. Trust me, I wasn't hating on you or anything close to that but when someone makes a statement that they have the best Sisters list ever, you sparked my curiosity, I kinda wanted to see it.

On to your list. To me it looks more like a standard 4th edition build than anything that would last in 5th edition. It lacks mobility ( 3 rhinos, right?). I also understand the tactics using Karamazov but cannot see it doing anything meaningful. Please tell me how this conquers the mech builds that are so prevalent in 5th edition. Yes you have two exorcists, sometimes good, sometimes a mess due to the random number of shots. Meltas are only good when you get in range. Have you played any mech guard builds? How does your army fair against Vendettas and multiple pie plates? I also seeing armies like deathwatch, space wolves and nids as well as flood orks winning most games are well.

Please tell me more. What opponents do you face regularly and how specifically do you handle them? Eldar? Orks? Mech Guard?

I do have all the models you listed, with a bit more knowledge I do want to try your tactics. More info is good.

Again, thank you.

[Dalleron]

Well, first off, I've found winning with sisters is tough. But when you're a 3rd ed codex, it's not surprising.

I find you light on the faith. I have squeezed 7 pts into a 1500 list. I would personally ditch the Inq lord. but that would be for fluff purposes.

I find the list interesting, and if it works for you, then I'd say keep at it.

[Root]

Totally agree on dumping Karamazov for fluff purposes but he is the glue that holds it all together. If I dumped him it would buy me another exo and some sisters for the foot squads and since he sucks in the GK codex that may end up happening someday. I do love that goofy ******* though, he's solid and a major bullet magnet which unless its S10, isn't a huge problem. Anything that shoots him isn't shooting the Rhinos or the exos. I would like more faith and i end up burning it all on Spirit and Hand. Alas, I used up all 6 troops slots and I go more toys less bodies, hence a shortage of faith. However I've only ever totally run out a few times so I'm ok with where its at.

[Root]

Hey its the internet misunderstandings and such happen. Now I have been drinking so bear with me: The list is built purely for 5th ed with 6 scoring units, plentiful AP1, flamers, things that negate FNP, a handful of vehicles, and a few handy melee elements. As for mobility, 3 Rhinos is plenty when you consider I only need them for 2 turns max. Sisters have literally no choice but to get close, so no matter what I am coming across the board and getting out. Add in 2 exos and Karamazov plus 20 sisters running and thats a good number of targets that even IG have trouble stopping. Yeah I'll get Chimeltad but who cares? That means I'm already in attack range. In the meantime a total lack of heavy weapons means I never have a problem moving or running the 3 units on foot thus the whole army happily participates in the movement phase. So mobility isn't an issue at all as long as there is reasonable cover available.

Karamazov is the lynchpin of the army. His leadership rule is sweet, but mainly he soaks up bullets (S9 and lower), shoots his move and fire BS5 twin linked multimelta, then rips stuff apart (oftentimes land raiders and such) in melee. By himself he's not great in melee, but tag team him with a simple battle squad with Hand of the Emperor and suddenly sisters start winning fights by a few points.

On to mech builds: I love it. The exos are hit or miss but are usually good for a few AV 11 or 12 vehicles during a game. Meanwhile EVERY squad has the ability to throttle vehicles. I do have to get very close, but very close is absolutely the name of the game with Sisters. (Hence all the melee stuff. If I can't hurt you past 18" I have to be ready to fight you in CC.) This build has loads of AT ability and generally the only enemy vehicles that live are running full speed or hiding. A monolith would be trouble and fast BA and Eldar tanks are irritating cuz you often need 6's but other than that mech is no problem.

Pie plates can sting, but I don't have so many models I can't spread out and take cover. Mech guard are no problem. My Rhinos are totally expendable and as long as I get one move with them I don't care if they die. Once they're gone you can melta, lascannon, and missle me all day long. You will kill a few 11 point sisters, I will take my morale on a 9 or 10 with a re-roll, then its payback time.
If he shoots from the chimera it only moved 6" and I'll kill it in melee. If he got out to shoot, he's still dead cuz he's close. 3 or 4 sisters is still plenty to drop IG squads.

Flood orks take up so much space they get in each others way. Stick together. Kill one squad. Move on to the next. If he does have trukks, kans, and wagons well that's the exos specialty... Emperor help him if he has dreads and kans cuz eviscerators murder them.

Eldar are screwed against sisters. They are IMO the worst (or best?) matchup for me. I have a 5+ save vs all their psychic shenanigans, runes don't bother me cuz I don't have any psychic powers, the exo is the perfect weapon for crashing their vehicles, and their shooting is decent but not overwhelming. Most importantly: they are T3 and individually expensive with crappy saves. They hate bolters, fire, and sisters will slaughter them in melee. (Even banshees if I get Spirit.) The hard part is catching them! Same with Tau...

I mostly play against marine variants with Rhinos or Pods and beefy HQ's, along with orks, chaos, mech eldar, and hybrid IG. I haven't played tyranids, necrons, or demons with this army. My strategy is usually pretty consistent. 2 waves rush across with Karamazov in the middle, all trying to stay close enough to shoot each others targets and bail each other out in melee. The stormtroopers and exos play a support role. One on one they aren't great but nobody dogpiles opponents like sisters and once you get the hang of that, they rock. They shoot like marines and chuckle at casualties like orks, they blow up vehicles like tau, and they manipulate the phases of the game like Eldar with their faith. They aren't awesome in melee, but they aren't scared of it. Plus they never die. I swear that Canoness has been killed once in just over a year of pretty regular gaming. (10 TH/SS termies and I ran out of faith...) She chunked a LD10 morale test and fled off the board once but that's it. All in all a solid well rounded army.

Too bad all the other stuff in the codex is garbage...

[MajorSoB]

Again thanks for the response.

I wish I could say that you unlocked some secret or tactic that I had been overlooking but sadly that wasn't the case. I still plan on playing this list variant but with all due respect to you and your army I still do not understand how this holds up in your local metagame. Understand you have my respect for still running this army and succeeding. All I can think of is that you are one hell of a tactician ( most likely), sometimes you get lucky rolls?, maybe the competition isn't the greatest? or some combination of all these? Still I cant see this holding up well against Wolf spam, Blood Angels Mephiston lists, pie plate Guard or even the CSM Nurgle list I run. Toughness 5, mobility, oblits and FNP beats Sisters everyday. Still I printed this out and will try it in the coming weeks. I will keep you posted.

I agree as well that the rest of the codex is crap. This is the army that drew me into 40k in the first place since they had a wide variety of unique figures like Penitent Engines ( I own 6) and Repentia ( Full squad plus the Penguin). Its just too bad they don't fight like they play! Maybe someday a new codex will fix this.

[WereWolf_nr]

I saw a similar list brought up as a theory on Bolter and Chainsword some time ago. Using the faith power that makes your save inv. means that many lists simply cannot kill the Sisters fast enough to make a difference. Since the list is not heavily relying on the Canoness, she can be safely allowed to die to refill the faith points mid to late game.

[Root]

I half agree with you. Spirit of the Martyr is one of the best abilities in 40k and its why I buy the 20 point imagifers because they vastly increase my odds of getting it when I really need it. You are exactly correct about many armies being unable to kill them quickly enough.

But the Canoness is a big part of the list! I think of her as the tie breaker. A standard battle squad can lock up with most normal units in 40k and with faith neither squad really comes out on top. Each side kills a few models and somebody takes a break test. The Canoness and the Inquisitor are there to jump in next turn and tip the scales in my favor.

And while allowing her to die can be effective (and probably glorious in her mind) I can never bring myself to letting it happen. I just like her too much, so she must continue living despite her wishes and fight the good fight for the soul of mankind. Your suggestions sir are heretical, Karamazov will be speaking with you shortly...

[Root]

I too know the sting of owning Sisters Repentia but there are no PE's in my collection. Good luck trying out the list, in my experience you're better off against the smaller elite armies than the hordes. Keep your units as close together as you dare so they can help each other out, the humble sisters can be quite surprising at what they can accomplish when they work together. Remember I run imagifers and master crafted weapons as a personal choice. They can be traded in for 175 more points of models. Let me know how it goes.