Think Tank: Sisters Weaponry

[Houghten]

Over the past editions, the presence of Heavy Flamers in the Space Marine codex has gradually increased, from being on Dreadnoughts (including Tactical Dreadnoughts) only, to being takeable on Sternguard and Damned Legionnaires and twin-linked on Razorbacks, and if the Kit Bash article in this month's White Dwarf is an accurate indication of the Codex and not just a chap putting a heavy flamer in his Tactical Squad because it looks cool, then they can now be taken in Tactical Squads as well.

If Razorbacks can take twin-linked multi-meltas, well, Battle Sister squads and their dedicated transports will be left scratching their heads and wondering what happened to all their unique toys. Especially since they got them by forsaking plasma guns, plasma cannon, lascannon and missile launchers.

So let's all put our crazy heads on and pretend that Sisters are actually getting a release some time this decade.

What new weapons might we see on the plastic Battle Sisters frame?

I doubt they'll get any of the things I mentioned in paragraph 2, or grav guns, but maybe some fantastical "new" Ecclesiarchical thingamubobby that wounds against Leadership like a neural whip / shredder does.

I also envision some kind of incendiary missile launcher - maybe one that fires a swarm of micro-warheads - but I'm not sure how to stop such a thing from completely eclipsing flamers.

A thought? Anyone?

[MajorWesJanson]

Over the past editions, the presence of Heavy Flamers in the Space Marine codex has gradually increased, from being on Dreadnoughts (including Tactical Dreadnoughts) only, to being takeable on Sternguard and Damned Legionnaires and twin-linked on Razorbacks, and if the Kit Bash article in this month's White Dwarf is an accurate indication of the Codex and not just a chap putting a heavy flamer in his Tactical Squad because it looks cool, then they can now be taken in Tactical Squads as well.

If Razorbacks can take twin-linked multi-meltas, well, Battle Sister squads and their dedicated transports will be left scratching their heads and wondering what happened to all their unique toys. Especially since they got them by forsaking plasma guns, plasma cannon, lascannon and missile launchers.

So let's all put our crazy heads on and pretend that Sisters are actually getting a release some time this decade.

What new weapons might we see on the plastic Battle Sisters frame?

I doubt they'll get any of the things I mentioned in paragraph 2, or grav guns, but maybe some fantastical "new" Ecclesiarchical thingamubobby that wounds against Leadership like a neural whip / shredder does.

I also envision some kind of incendiary missile launcher - maybe one that fires a swarm of micro-warheads - but I'm not sure how to stop such a thing from completely eclipsing flamers.

A thought? Anyone?

Currently, Sisters are heavy into Stormbolters, Heavy Bolters, Melta and Flame Weapons for shooting, so run with that. Additionally, GK have Psybolts to bump the strnegth of stuff, so give Sisters Blessed Ammunition to bump AP of weapons. Blessed bolters and stormbolters would be S4 AP4. Blessed Heavy Bolters and Heavy Flamers would be S5 AP3.
Add the pistol versions of flamers and meltas, and give sisters access to Torrent for their vehicle flamers and the melta cannon from the IG book.
Neural whip sounds like a good idea, but maybe make it basically a DE agonizer, a power weapon that wounds on a fixed roll.
Maybe add shotguns with specialist ammo- slug at S4, Inferno at S3 ignores cover, Flechette at S3 Shred, ect.

[DarkLink]

If they gave Sisters something like blessed ammo: grants Ignores Cover, that would be pretty sweet. Otherwise, they're just overpriced mediocre Marines with very limited options.

[DrBored]

Sisters of Battle, being an Imperium army, would probably get access to a lot of the same weapons that the Imperial Guard and Space Marines get. They definitely seem partial to Melta, Flame, and Bolter weapons, with no Plasma in sight. I think what would really set them apart more than anything would be the upgrades that they could then give those *weapons* instead of the models, such as Blessed Ammunition, different Acts of Faith, and something along the lines of 'commands' that could be given by the 'sergeants' of a squad.

Sisters of Battle, even now, still have a few unique weapons. Their Penitent Engines, Sisters Repentia, and especially the Exorcists all have the potential to be devastating weapons, given the right statline, weapon profiles, and different realm of options.

Really though, the problem is that the Codex is so old, and the White Dwarf added absolutely nothing to the army, that when a Codex for them DOES come out, it'll probably end up being a radical shift from what we think we know.

[Gleipnir]

Wouldn't shock me to see sisters get rolled into a codex again with Grey Knights and Inquisitors/Ecclesiarchy/Assassins etc... with the Supplement treatment for one or both, get same box set treatment Grey Knights currently have with lots of options for squad types in less boxes. Whatever they do to differentiate Sisters though I'm sure it will be distinct and if its among the last codices from 6th to come out if past experience with codex creep can be relied upon I'm sure it will play well.

[DrLove42]

I see Penitent engines being a nice shiny new plastic kit...the original Dreadknight after all

[Dimitrios]

To me the weaponry aspect of the sisters of battle is not, and should not, be the main focus of the Sisterhood. For me the aspect that defines them (ignoring the lady lumps) is their religious devotion to the emperor and all of the mystical powers that bestows them. Equally we have not truelly seen the full weight of their NULL aspect represented on the field of battle. Blessed ammuntion and blessed weapons could be a very interesting dynamic (as already mentioned) but I would rather see the following:

1. A focus on Devine Powers and Mystical abilities (These would be psykic styled powers that would work through faith as apposed to pyskic ability - No rolling for pyskic test - No pyskers). Very much akin to Warrior Priests in the Warhammer Empire codex.

2. An army wide Null affect, in the same vein as the Tyranid Shadow In The Warp power however with the additional affect of reducing the leadership of nearby enemy models (fearless would obiously be unaffected).

3. Amplification of their faith points and martyr unique mechanic.

4. Prefered enemy (or better) on all non Imperial Forces.

5. Allow certain characters to "enlighten" the sisterhood to view selected units as tainted bestowing further bonuses to damage against them (be they Imperial forces or otherwise - this would represent the church launching attacks against imperial positions in the belief that they may have fallen to chaos or are about too).

All of the above would make sisters unique, but wouldnt be tied to or require "unique" wargear. Why should every imperial army have unique wargear anyway?

[Houghten]

I'm not going to pretend I know why they should have. I just know that they do.

And the Sisters are already at least partially defined by their weaponry, what with the whole "holy trinity of bolter, flamer and melta" thing preventing them from accessing a lot of the weapons that your bog-standard Guardsman (or a pair of him) can take.

So as interesting as your ideas are about what you'd prefer to see instead, this thread is for baseless speculation about possible new weapons. It is not "Gentlemen, how do we fix Sisters?"

--

Wes' idea about blessed ammo as a counterpoint to psybolt ammo is an intriguing one.

[Clockwork]

I just wanted to point out that Sisters already have a Nueral Whip, it's S8 vs unmodified Ld. And against most things it SUCKs because it'll typically wound on a 4+ AT BEST.

[Bigred]

This conversation is all well and good (please continue ladies and gentlemen) but I'm going to relocate it into 40K General.

-Larry