Adepta Sororitas Operations

[Nabterayl]

1000 Sisters of the Order of the Bloody Rose liberated 100 worlds from a tyrant, supposedly by themselves. I think the impression was that they were supposed to fight on each world one after the other, but I'm not sure, it doesn't go into detail.

This is the sort of thing that makes me wish Imperial Armour would do a Sororitas-focused book at some point. Did they liberate 100 worlds through a single strike at the Tyrant of Denescura, whose pocket empire fell apart after Saint Aspira and her brave 1,000 slew him? Did they literally conquer 100 worlds (and if so, against what sort of opposition)? Even granting that this is supposed to be one of the high points of the Bloody Rose's history and that their opposition may have been little better than street rabble, it's almost unbelievable to imagine that 1,000 women could literally fight and win 100 sequential battles, so presumably the true story is somewhat more complicated than that - but we don't get to know.

One thing I note we do know is that the liberation of Denescura is called a "War of Faith." So apparently Wars of Faith can be very small in nature - at least as small as 1,000 sisters.

The biggest problem in answering this question, to my mind, is that when considering how the Sisters function in battle we have to put them into context with the other forces of the Imperium. Unfortunately we have little or no information on how the sisters are organized, suggestions indicate that at least the main Orders are far more numerous than Space Marines, but are not deployed in numbers as large as the guard. This seems to be because they are very decentralized, any given Order is spread across the galaxy in many different shrines and cathedrals, each such unit lead by a Canoness or Sister Superior (probably depending on the size and prestige of the posting). Each of these units seems to function almost as a Space Marine chapter in miniature in that they represent a discrete and self-contained fighting force. There is little indication that each great Order has any centralized leadership (although there are some suggestion to the contrary), rather it seems that individual units take their orders directly from the Ecclesiarchy.

This is certainly the impression I get as well, which actually raises some very interesting questions. Since the Sororitas do not have their own fleets, how are these detachments supplied? We have, to my knowledge, no mention of Sororitas logistical vehicles. Surely they must have some manner of resupplying their sistren in the field (if nothing else, we know that bolt weapons are very low endurance weapons, and given the size and weight of their ammunition, keeping a bolt-equipped unit supplied with ammo must be a non-trivial task). Do they always rely on other arms of the service for logistical support?

For starters the sisters are even less equipped with armoured support than the Marines they have only two fairly thin skinned tanks and a handful of APCs.

Surprisingly, this is untrue. The Immolator's fluff stats are in line with a Razorback's, but it has a slightly lower profile, a slightly slower off-road speed (by 5 kph), and slightly heavier armor (an extra 10mm of armor on the turret). It is also half a ton lighter than the Razorback, which suggests that there's no material difference in the armor technology, either, so an Immolator actually seems to be very slightly tougher than a Razorback. The Exorcist is the real shocker, though. Compared to a Predator, an Exorcist 23% more superstructure armor and 82% more hull armor (54% more hull armor than even a Vindicator). It's also a lot slower - 55/35 kph as opposed to 68/50 kph. And it has a lot less battlefield endurance (48 missiles as opposed to 120 autocannon or unlimited lascannon rounds). Oh, and the Exorcist is twelve tons lighter than a Predator.

The Exorcist has always confused me. It's never been clear to me whether, fluff-wise, it's supposed to be a rocket artillery vehicle a la the MRLS, or whether it's supposed to be a direct-fire missile carrier. If the latter, then its far superior armor compared to a Predator or Vindicator suggests that, in some senses at least, Sisters are better equipped for frontal attacks than are marines.

Secondly the Sisters are extremely deficient when it comes to long ranged weapons (virtually nothing they have is greater than 24” range). Thirdly they are very heavily armoured by in-universe standards. Fourth while they lack ranged capabilities they are devastatingly well equipped for close ranged firefights, and are particularly adept at defeating technically or numerically superior forces at that range. Finally their acts of faith combined with their highly decorative appearance (you think Astartes are stylized? Take a look at the Exorcist!) makes them very flashy and inspirational.

These facts make me wonder whether the Sisters are, in a sense, more like marines (or whatever your national equivalent of the USMC is) than are space marines (who are better analogized to, say, Army Rangers, or whatever your national [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_action_%28military%29]direct action[/url] specialists are). Nobody ever says as much, but I think we must conclude that sisters are an infantry-focused force - their lack of a main battle tank pretty much requires that. Yet compared to marines sisters have several features which imply to me that they don't shy away from conventional engagements as much as marines do. The Exorcist is one. The fact that sisters are more numerous and not as institutionally afraid of death (and thus better able to absorb casualties) is another. And then there's their personal weaponry, which is clearly designed for brutal short-range firefights.

And then there's the mobility issue. Clearly a canoness who as willing to leave her Exorcists behind could match space marines for ground-based speed. But she lacks a Thunderhawk or Valkyrie equivalent to give her force air mobility, and doesn't have access to dedicated assault starships like marines do. Thus, a mechanized Sororitas force lacks the mobility that a mechanized space marine force could have. What about drop pods, though? I know there's some fluff out there somewhere regarding Sororitas and drop pods.

Given these facts we must conclude that their role, whatever it is, is very specialized and very limited. All things considered it seems that the Sisters would be best suited to defense; mechanized support would be secondary and their short reach would not be a disadvantage as the enemy would be forced to enter their threat range where the Sisters firepower and heavy armour have the overwhelming advantage, finally they would serve as an inspirational and object lesson to all troops fighting with them.

I actually come to the opposite conclusion. A defending force with short-range weaponry is at the mercy of an attacker unless the attacker is spectacularly poorly prepared. The attacker can bring up whatever long-range weaponry he wants, and the defender will have no choice but to either accept an indefinite period of shelling or leave her prepared positions to bring the long-range guns under threat. Either response is advantageous to the attacker. The short range and seemingly low endurance of sisters units (as another example, a heavy flamer armed Immolator only carries enough fuel for 20 bursts - compare to the 98 shots a Hellhound carries) suggests to me that they are essentially assault troops, intended for short, fierce offensive engagements that rely heavily on shock.

In wars of faith the sisters would likely function as the spear-tip of offensive operations and the lynchpin of defensive ones. They would not be the line units and foot-soldiers, but would act in support of the Guard and the unreliable Fratris Militia, strengthening their resolve and combat abilities (after all, the Fratris Militia are nothing more than common citizens whipped into religious zeal by the Ecclesiarchy, not professional soldiers).

This I agree with, for the above reasons.

Again, going back to the Sisters novel, when the commander of the convent eventually decides there is a problem requiring the intervention of the Soroitas, it is a total deployment of all resources at her command and is pretty much a fight to utterly destroy the enemy. Until she realized what they were dealing with, the operations to discover the enemy and investigate the circumstances around the psyker escape, it is up to a single, under strength squad of Sisters who had just been mauled by the enemy.

To an extent I agree ... it doesn't seem that Sororitas doctrine is as codified as that of some space marine chapters. On the other hand, they clearly accept some significant restrictions that one would think fits with their battlefield role - for instance, they never seem to use plasma guns, though you would think that plasma guns are a natural complement to meltas.

As for this novel, that is a subject I am keenly interested in. What sorts of operations do we see the Sororitas conducting in Faith and Fire?

[entendre_entendre]

well just looking at their standard equipment upgrades, flamers, and meltas, as well as having rhinos, transports designed for getting to the enemy's face as soon as possible, i would say that the sisters serve as a speartip for other imperial forces (mainly the guard) when the astartes aren't around. with the flamers and meltas, they are perfect for clearing bunkers and fortifications (planetstrike anyone?) while being covered by the guns of the imperial guard. this just seems most likely as they don't have the long range capabilities to out shoot their enemies at long range and have to get close to do the damage. fluff wise, they charge, guard follow. also, they could lead/inspire the guard, but this would only be in small numbers as this would probably be the most effective use of them.

[Melissia]

Do they always rely on other arms of the service for logistical support?

We don't know. That's really the only answer to this. GW has not deemed it important enough to expand upon-- we don't know the answer to any of these questions, and my only speculate. For that matter, for the most part we don't even know how Sororitas are going to get from planet to planet, and from orbit to planet once they arrive, and can only guess that either the Ecclesiarchy has the influence to be able to order Naval units around (which seems unlikely to me) or the Ecclesiarchy is rich enough to pay them off (which is likely... but it just seems like a cheap cop-out IMO).

[Nabterayl]

We don't know. That's really the only answer to this. GW has not deemed it important enough to expand upon-- we don't know the answer to any of these questions, and my only speculate. For that matter, for the most part we don't even know how Sororitas are going to get from planet to planet, and from orbit to planet once they arrive, and can only guess that either the Ecclesiarchy has the influence to be able to order Naval units around (which seems unlikely to me) or the Ecclesiarchy is rich enough to pay them off (which is likely... but it just seems like a cheap cop-out IMO).

The resupply bothers the heck out of me, but I agree we just don't get to know. Both solutions seem equally weird to me - for instance, if you have a fortress convent on Planet X garrisoned by 100 sisters, it would seem weird that you also have some PDF stationed at the same place to provide logistical support. But if the sisters do their own resupply, what do they do it with? Some cargo-carrying Rhino variant? Borrowed Trojans? Yet some operations, such as Saint Aspira's War of Faith, certainly seem to have been conducted without outside support. Sigh.

As for getting from planet to planet, and from orbit to surface, I actually think that's less weird than it first appears. The Guard can't get anywhere without the Navy either, after all, which means Guard operations must be organized at the level of the Departmento Munitorum. I'm not sure it's a question of the Ecclesiarchy ordering the Navy around (although on a small scale I'm sure that happens from time to time) so much as it is the Ecclesiarchy getting one of its own appointed as supreme commander of a particular high command, or convincing the Munitorum to put some naval assets at its disposal for a particular operation. I get the impression that there's enough politicking whenever a high command is established that the Ecclesiarchy could pull something like that off on a semi-regular basis.

[Aegis]

Based on the discussion points already brought forth, it would strike me that the Sister's primary military role (besides defending the faith, of course) would exist as Urban engagement. Evidence of this is the lack of large mechanized resources, and what they have seem designed to either bust bunkers/buildings, or incinerate the insides of them, combined with the serious amount of short/mid ranged weapon that reeks of anti-personal (though, no plasma for some odd reason).

As far as space transportation, considering their working relationship with the Inquisition, and they positions of defenders of the Faith, they probably have no problems calling in favours/pulling strings with the ecclesiarchy, arbites, or munitorium.

[Melissia]

They don't have to pull strings with the Ecclesiarchy... they ARE the Ecclesiarchy :P And noone within the Ecclesiarchy is outside of their authority if they are deemed to be heretical, from the lowliest priest to the Ecclesiarch himself.

Don't forget, the Sisters have always been the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy first and foremost. Even in C:WH, this much is obvious-- they have an agreement to assist the Inquisition, but their primary duties are towards the Imperial Creed.

[Nabterayl]

Based on the discussion points already brought forth, it would strike me that the Sister's primary military role (besides defending the faith, of course) would exist as Urban engagement.

This seems likely to me - I imagine their role as defenders of the Faith actually results in a lot of urban operations all on its own. A lot of deviant cults either start or end up taking refuge in urban areas, I would think.

[Just_Me]

Surprisingly, this is untrue. The Immolator's fluff stats are in line with a Razorback's, but it has a slightly lower profile, a slightly slower off-road speed (by 5 kph), and slightly heavier armor (an extra 10mm of armor on the turret). It is also half a ton lighter than the Razorback, which suggests that there's no material difference in the armor technology, either, so an Immolator actually seems to be very slightly tougher than a Razorback. The Exorcist is the real shocker, though. Compared to a Predator, an Exorcist 23% more superstructure armor and 82% more hull armor (54% more hull armor than even a Vindicator). It's also a lot slower - 55/35 kph as opposed to 68/50 kph. And it has a lot less battlefield endurance (48 missiles as opposed to 120 autocannon or unlimited lascannon rounds). Oh, and the Exorcist is twelve tons lighter than a Predator.

While I will agree that the in absolute terms Sisters and Space Marines vehicles are roughly equivalent or even favor the Sisters (kudos for going all the way back to IA2 for that data by the way), I was thinking more in terms of the overall flexibility of their motor-pools. In this sense the Immolator can be seen as a rough equivalent to the Razorback rather than the pseudo-battle tank role it seems to fill for the Sisters (for which it is very thin skinned). Despite its heavier armour, the Exorcist is a rough equivalent in role to the Whirlwind. There is no equivalent in the Sister’s motor-pool to either of the Predator variants or to the Vindicator. So while the Sister’s do have vehicles that are at least the equal of those used by the Astartes they lack the versatility of Astartes options .

The Exorcist has always confused me. It's never been clear to me whether, fluff-wise, it's supposed to be a rocket artillery vehicle a la the MRLS, or whether it's supposed to be a direct-fire missile carrier. If the latter, then its far superior armor compared to a Predator or Vindicator suggests that, in some senses at least, Sisters are better equipped for frontal attacks than are marines.

Given the randomness factor in its fire-rate, I always assumed that it was rocket artillery.

I actually come to the opposite conclusion. A defending force with short-range weaponry is at the mercy of an attacker unless the attacker is spectacularly poorly prepared. The attacker can bring up whatever long-range weaponry he wants, and the defender will have no choice but to either accept an indefinite period of shelling or leave her prepared positions to bring the long-range guns under threat. Either response is advantageous to the attacker. The short range and seemingly low endurance of sisters units (as another example, a heavy flamer armed Immolator only carries enough fuel for 20 bursts - compare to the 98 shots a Hellhound carries) suggests to me that they are essentially assault troops, intended for short, fierce offensive engagements that rely heavily on shock.

I suppose I didn’t explain that conclusion properly, while it is true that having no long ranged weapons would be a disadvantage in a siege, where the primary exchanges will be long ranged artillery duels, the same is not true for urban warfare. Given that the Sisters are most likely to be defending a shrine or cathedral, which will most likely be inside a city, their lack of long ranged weapons makes perfect sense.

[Aegis]

They don't have to pull strings with the Ecclesiarchy... they ARE the Ecclesiarchy :P And noone within the Ecclesiarchy is outside of their authority if they are deemed to be heretical, from the lowliest priest to the Ecclesiarch himself.

Don't forget, the Sisters have always been the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy first and foremost. Even in C:WH, this much is obvious-- they have an agreement to assist the Inquisition, but their primary duties are towards the Imperial Creed.

if only the Inquisition in all things fantasy, reality, and science were always directly tied to, if not a part of, some large, faith based organization

[Nabterayl]

While I will agree that the in absolute terms Sisters and Space Marines vehicles are roughly equivalent or even favor the Sisters (kudos for going all the way back to IA2 for that data by the way), I was thinking more in terms of the overall flexibility of their motor-pools. In this sense the Immolator can be seen as a rough equivalent to the Razorback rather than the pseudo-battle tank role it seems to fill for the Sisters (for which it is very thin skinned). Despite its heavier armour, the Exorcist is a rough equivalent in role to the Whirlwind. There is no equivalent in the Sister’s motor-pool to either of the Predator variants or to the Vindicator. So while the Sister’s do have vehicles that are at least the equal of those used by the Astartes they lack the versatility of Astartes options .

I'm not sure the Exorcist is a Whirlwind equivalent, actually. Has it ever had a direct-fire option, in any codex? I think it might be more like a TOW carrier.

I suppose I didn’t explain that conclusion properly, while it is true that having no long ranged weapons would be a disadvantage in a siege, where the primary exchanges will be long ranged artillery duels, the same is not true for urban warfare. Given that the Sisters are most likely to be defending a shrine or cathedral, which will most likely be inside a city, their lack of long ranged weapons makes perfect sense.

Ah, well, that's fair enough. By the same token though, I imagine they'd make good shock troops if one was attacking an urban center.