Pass in Review: WH40K Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle)

Prelude:

I was originally planning on only raising an Astra_Militarum force for Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K).

However, a few serendipitous events happened that motivated me to expand my force of common foot soldiers.

First, I read Faith & Fire, a novel about the Adepta_Sororitas (Sisters of Battle), or for us "cynical fans" Nuns with Guns.

I liked it so much, I read the sequel, Hammer & Anvil.

There's an additional novel and novella, compiled in an omnibus with the earlier books by James Swallow that I'm currently not in the mood to buy.

But shortly after reading the first books back-to-back, someone offered to sell his painted metal Sisters of Battle miniatures collection for such a great price I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  While I'm not in the mood to buy a book that I've essentially read half of already, I'm always in the mood to buy figures I don't have to paint.

Since this was two years ago, I'm afraid I can't remember the guy's name, nor what I actually paid for the figures.

Anyway, these figures dated back to WH40K 2nd Edition.

The problem for me--and a considerable number of fans of the Naughty Nuns--was that we had rules for 6th, 7th and finally 8th_edition.  None of which featured the Adepta Sororitas.  So folks had to make due with old models and old Codexes and wedge them into their games.

Then, amid much rumors and anticipation, the Sisters of Battle Army Set was released with much fanfare in December 2019.

While the new plastic models look stunning, I wasn't in the mood to add to my Mountain of Shame.

All I wanted was the codex and game accessories, which Games_Workshop (GW) assured it's long-suffering fans--again, with much fanfare--that additional material would be available shortly after the New Year.

Fortunately, GW made good on their promise and I scarfed-up the codex, data cards and dice.

Now that I have all the necessary 8th Edition Crunch to run an Adepta Sororitas task force (in)competently, and Fluff to maintain my geek cred; I can finally post a decent Pass in Review.

Review:

Somewhere in the Sector Fronteris...

...an Adepta Sororitas task force assembles.


The first vehicle to approach the apparently abandoned settlement is a Chimera armored personnel carrier (APC).

This vehicle is actually part of my Inquisitor Retinue, but since the color scheme is about the same does double-duty, serving with both the Inquisition (a.k.a. The Emperor's Pet Psychopaths) and the Adepta Sororitas.

I'm including this vehicle because it is part of the Sisters' order of battle, according to the Witch_Hunters Codex (3rd_Edition), but seems to have been dropped by this edition.  I figure I could use the stats from the Astra Militarum's Splatbook.

Next in the advance column is Rhino...

...followed by an Immolator.

The Adepta Sororitas' vehicle laager-up around the abandoned settlement.

My figures were painted based on the Order_of_Our_Martyred_Lady, in honor of Saint Katherine, the founder of their order and probably the most commonly fielded of the Orders Militant.

Since these figures are dressed mostly in black I decided to remove the settlement buildings for a clearer image of the miniatures.

(1st Battle Sisters Squad)

Adepta Sororitas' task forces are known as "Missions." These are considered the smallest organizational units capable of independent action and form the military arm of the Adeptus Ministorum, a.k.a. The Ecclesiarchy.  In addition to forming the main militant arm of the Church Militant, the Adepta Sororitas also works closely with the Inquisition’s Ordo Hereticus.

Note on higher echelons:  Two or more Missions form a Commandery, two or more Commanderies for a Preceptory, while the various Orders are divided between two Convents—Convent Sanctorum and Convent Prioris.

My particular Mission consists of two squads of Battle Sisters, each armed with an assortment of Bolters,Flamers, /Storm_Bolters, and Meltaguns, with one sister bearing the Simulacrum_Imperialis and led by a power sword-wielding Sister_Superior.

(2nd Battle Sisters Squad)

With a little finagling I might be able to select some figures from the two Battle Sisters Squads and form a single Celestian squad instead.

The Battle Sisters/Celestian Squads will need close-assault specialists or fire support.  And that's where the Dominion and Retributor squads come-in.

(Dominion or Retributor?)

From what I can gather, the four figures pictured above could form either a Dominion or Retributor Squad.  I'll just need to clarify what they are at the start of any game.

If the Adepta Sororitas can be considered religious zealots, then the Sisters_Repentia are fanatics.  These women seek atonement for their real, or perceived sins and form the Sororitas' suicide squads.

Here's my full squad of Repentias:

Since the picture looks a bit crowded, I split the squad in half for a better view of the Chainsword-wielding Repentias, driven-on by their Mistress:

My Adepta Sororitas Mission includes two special characters.

First, is the shotgun-wielding preacher, Uriah Jacobus, bearing the Banner of Sanctity:

Second, and commander of my Adepta Sororitas Mission, is none other than Canoness Veridyan, the iconic poster-girl for the Sisters of Battle:

(The original Canoness_Veridyan cover art by John_Blanche)

While the Adepta Sororitas aren’t genetically mutated enhanced like the Space Marines.  Despite this, they can count on divine intervention in the form a living saint:

 Saint Celestine.

Another version of Saint Celestine and her attendant Geminae Superia:

Here’s my entire Adepta Sororitas Mission, or as many as I could squeeze into one image, minus the three transports shown earlier:

Overall I’m very happy with my Sisters of Battle collection.  While I stated earlier I wasn’t planning on adding to my Mountain of Shame, I could use a few Hopitallers to act as the Mission’s medics or field chirurgeons.  So I hope there’ll be some available separately that I could purchase without having to get an entire starter kit.

Since this is an older set of metal miniatures, some figures, especially the Repentias, required some touch-up paint work.  I also added the sand flocking to the black bases, minus the flying figures of Saint Celestine and her Geminae Superia.

I'm sure the new plastic models will be more detailed.  But for the most part, I like the weight and feel of metal miniatures.  I've had to add washers underneath the bases of my WH40K plastic figures because they're too light and tip over easy.  My metal ones can too, especially if their pose is too extreme, like with my Repentias.

And it's not just the infantry-type figures that have a balance problem.  The flamer attached to the commander’s hatch of the Mission's Rhino is too unbalanced.  I’d rather not glue the hatch down, but I haven’t found the right sized washer to weigh down the underside of the hatch.

Bibliography of Related Videos:

In addition to leafing through my new Adepta Sororitas Codex, I watched several videos on the subject that I couldn't manage to weave into my review's narrative.

So I've listed them below, starting with The Crunch—

—Snipe and Wib, of Codex Complaint, present the Adepta Sororitas' First Codex (2nd Ed WH40K).

—Uncle Atom Smasher, of Tabletop Minions, helps players determine whether or not they need to buy the Adepta Sororitas' Limited Edition Army Box Set.

—Norn Queen Alexis also has an unboxing video of the Adepta Sororitas Limited Edition Army Box Set, as does Sword 'n' Steele.

—Striking Scorpion 82 discusses the new Adpeta Sororitas Codex (from the Box Set).

—For anyone planning to buy the new figures, The Painting Coach has tips on how to paint Sisters of Battle based on the Order of Our Martyred Lady.

—Norn Queen Alexis hosts a Beginner’s Guide video.

—There’s plenty of visual information on Adpeta Sororitas Fluff—

—One Mind Syndicate has 4 videos, starting with:  Sisters of Battle 40 Facts (Part 1) and Part 2, as well as their origins, while delving in to what they don’t tell you about the Sisters of Battle.

—In another Norn Queen Alexis video, our hostess does a rundown of the Adepta Sororitas’ various Orders, as does Arch Warhammer.

—WH40K Theories newcomers’ intro video answers the question:  Who are the Sisters of Battle?

—And for anyone wanting to set their games to earlier eras than the 40th Millennium, Arch Warhammer has a video on The Sisters of Battle in the Age of Apostasy.

Regardless of how involved you are in WH40K, I hope you enjoy the information presented here.

T'was the Swap Meet Before Christmas...

(Image by:  OOP Games & Hobby)

A few days before Christmas I ventured up to the Angel of the Winds Arena for the 13th Boardgame & Miniature Swap Meet hosted by OOP Games & Hobby.

The venue was nice, large enough to accommodate all the vendors and easy to get to once off I-5.

Since I left 30 minutes later than I planned, I rushed off without my cameras, so I don't have any "man on the street" pictures to post.

My usual quest at these affairs is purchasing items I don't have to cut-out, paste together or paint.

For the most part I was successful in this endeavor.

One vendor, I'm afraid I didn't get his name, was selling off spare items from the several Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader Kill Team Starter Set.

 For a mere $10, I obtained the rulebook...

...the supplement guides...

...the double-sided, mounted playing board...

...and the status counter sheets.

Okay, that's one item I have to punch out and trim, but there's less than 50 counters, unlike many boardgames which contain hundreds of them. Even over a thousand if you consider monster games.

I've never been good at haggling.  But when I asked another vendor about these near-future, pre-painted figurs, he said it was $25...

...But then added prices could be negotiable.

When I offered him $20, he accepted.  Upon my return I conducted  a quick Google search an extensive on-line research and found these figures sell for about $20-$33.

So I got another deal.

The most expensive item I bought turned out to be this WH40K-ish looking dice tray made by Carrie Emmerich, artist and proprietor of Omnibusy.

She also runs a Tumblr blog called Iris of Ether.  The dice tray cost me $30.  But as we concluded my purchase, some of the furniture figures on her display table caught my eye.

Specifically, these wine/beer casks:

Carrie originally wasn't planning on sell them, but offered them to me for $5 each.

Unlike previous swap meets there were a number of non-gaming vendors, specifically artists and authors.

While I spent some time chatting with these folks, along with other game vendors, I didn't spend any more of my money.

I always feel rather bad when I don't help out small/at-home business owners.  My late mom was an artist and attended art & craft shows throughout her life.  Plus I'm a wannabe writer myself.  So I know how hard it can be to make a profit at various shows, conferences and conventions.

However, I couldn't bring myself to buy anything else I was interested in, or something I have no room for, like this:

(Image found on eBay, not from the vendor I spoke with)

One vendor did have this Star_Wars_Miniatures AT-AT but I had to pass it up due to lack of shelf & storage space.

Here's a list of the game vendors, artists and authors I talked with and picked up business cards from before departing:

Authors 4 Authors Publishing

Almost Critical

Moon Dragon Games

Arcanum Miniatures

Ink Gasket

Ford 3D Printing

This has been the second swap meet I managed to attend. The last one two years ago, which I didn't even get a chance to write about. What keeps me away is my rotating work shift.

Hopefully it won't be another two years before I can attend the next one.

Happy New Year everyone!

Pass in Review: WH40K Imperial Inquisition

(Image:  Inquisitorial Rosette)

When I got into Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K), I intended to raise only an Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard force, because the stories that move me are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.  And the “...grim darkness of the far future...” is about as extraordinary as circumstances can get.

However, I had the good fortune to attend one wargamers swap-meet and stumbled across some great deals.

The first of which were three lots of painted and previously-owned Imperial Inquisition vehicles and figures.

Here’s a rundown of my Inquisitor and her entourage set in the Sector Fronteris:

1. Inquisition Land Raider.

2. Three Inquisition Chimera Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs)

3. The Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus with her entourage/henchmen, servo-skull and cherubim.

4. I'm calling this character "Inquisitor Faustina."

5. An alternate version of Inquisitor Faustina.

6. Crusaders.

6. A Ministorum Confessor flanked by Acolytes.

7. A Sister Dialogous flanked by Ministorum Missionaries.

8. A sister from the Order of the Blue Robe's Dominion Squad, a Grey Knight and a Vindicare Assassin (I think) in winter camouflage.

9. A Callidus Assassin (I think), moves stealthily through the ruins on her way to sow mayhem among the enemies of The Emperor.

And stealing as an homage to Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition Skits, I concocted this meme:

Product Review and Pass In Review of WH40K Kill Team Sector Fronteris Environment Expansion

It's been a couple of months since I posted anything about Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) Kill Team.

That's because I was waiting for my friend Dan to finish painting my set of STC Ryza-Pattern Ruins and Sector Fronteris Environment Expansion.

I haven't gotten the Kill Team Starter Set's buildings painted yet.  I figured I'd "start at the Imperial Frontier and work my way Coreward."  That is, when I picked up my frontier buildings and ruins, I gave the Starter Kit buildings to Dan to work on next.

Okay, so back to the Frontier.

This expansion includes a thick, double-sided board, which depicts a frontier outpost, which may or may not be active...

...and an urban area--which I forgot to take a picture of--and I didn't want to delay posting this by doing another photo shoot.

Other items include:  An 8-page booklet, a dozen Fronteris Tactical Cards, a Fronteris Environment Card, 4 Fronteris Mission Cards and of course four frames of ruined buildings.

Instead of coloring the buildings red, as depicted in the expansion kit's cover art and just about elsewhere, I had Dan paint my buildings a shade of khaki to suit the desolate terrain.

The Sector Fronteris and Ryza-Pattern ruins have a lot of pieces in common and both of my sets are intermingled.

The following is a sample of my Fronteris terrain collection.

1. Right-angled ruins and a ruined wall with a ventilator fan:

2. An intact environmental shelter:

3. A ruined support section--and another ruined wall with ventilator fan:

4. Two large, right-angled ruins:

5. A couple small, ruined walls:

6. A two-story ruined wall and a tunnel hatch leading to--where, I wonder?

I'm impressed with how solid and sturdy these terrain pieces are--and even more impressed with Dan's work.

Warhammer 40K Webcomic

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Author's Notes:

I got the idea for this silly, gender-bender story while rummaging through my miniature collection in preparation for the Chaos Cultists Pass in Review post.

I thought:  What would be the "worst" that could happen to a bunch of evil, vengeful fighters?

While their fate may not be as horrible as their previous lot in the "...grim darkness of the far future..." the story was fun to write.

As to the "behind the scenes" of this webcomic's imagery:

About half of the female figures were from an older line of D&D Miniatures from Wizards of the Coast.  The other half, including the male bartender were another set of pre-painted figures that I can't remember who manufactured them.  Googling the images hasn't helped.

I was also frustrated at attempting to find the source of the "Inquisitor Faustina" images.  I downloaded it from Tumblr years ago, but am unable to relocate it, even when I typed-in the HTML, my search came up with zilch.

Here's what I can tell you about the other products used during the creation of Suitable Servants--

--The badlands scenery is a terrarium backdrop I purchased from PetSmart.
--The ground is represented by Cigar Box Battle Store's Arid Lands Terrain Mat.
--The mysterious Chaos Temple is the Altar of Evil by Pegasus Hobbies, I purchased years ago.

The planet Kalf does exist in the WH40K 'verse.  It's listed as a frontier world in the Calixis Sector that can be found on the inside cover of  Fantasy Flight Games "Only War" WH40K RPG (2012).

A more readable map can be found on the WH40K Fandom Wiki:

I picked this location for a few reasons.  First, the idea of a frontier world brings to mind a planet that's not the usual toxic waste dump, war-torn hell that WH40K games and stories take place on.  Second it's one of the border worlds, so it's close enough to main fighting that was portrayed in Fantasy Flight Games' (FFG) Only War series, without being on the front lines.  But at the same time, close enough for raids and incursions by xenos and heretics.  Finally, it's location fits in with both FFG's WH40K RPG and WH40k/Wrath & Glory's Imperium Nihilus or the Age of the Dark Imperium.

I hope you enjoyed Suitable Servants along with the background material that went into creating it.

Thanks!