My
name is Rob and I am so excited to be a guest blogger for Brother C. I
recently had a hobby epiphany and wanted to share some thoughts.
My
Local FLGS Adventure’s Guild of Harrisburg has decided to get back into
hosting tournaments. The first one is set for 01/19/12 and is a 1K
affair. I currently have 3 armies to choose from to play in this event:
Orks, space marines (who doesn’t) and Sisters of Battle. Now my Orks
are my most competitive army and I have won with them, placing high in
several local tournaments. My drop pod Marines are my fluffy, fun list
and have played them pretty regularly over the past year. That leaves my
Sisters.
My
Sisters were my favorite army when I first started playing ten years
ago, before they were tragically White Dwarfed. It was overall a solid
army and was the scourge of the table tops, with the ability to table
opponents while being fluffy doing it. I tried playing the White Dwarf
codex in fifth edition once or twice and just didn’t like it. The codex
did not have enough tools to deal with the power builds, therefore
making my army non-competitive. I made the difficult decision to shelve
my sisters, but no one likes to see an army collecting dust. Although I
am not a WAAC player, nobody wants to go and loose every game. So with
these reservations fresh in mind I prepared for battle.
The
first thing one does when preparing for a tournament is write an army
list, considering the local meta or what kind of lists you could see.
My typical goals for constructing an army list in 6th edition is as
follows:
Excel in one phase of the game and be competitive in the other two.
Have an ability to deal with flyers.
Have a unit that can get into my opponents deployment zone.
Have several durable scoring units.
Using this template let’s take a look at how My Sisters can meet my goals.
Sisters
excel best in the shooting phase at mid range, have mobility in the
movement phase and can tar pit with the best of them in the assault
phase. They, as with most armies, have a limited answer to flyers with
the addition of an Aegis defense line with a quad gun (which is a
bargain at 100 points).
Sisters
have a couple of options in regards to getting to the other side of the
table. They have scouting Immolators (think Razorbacks with limited
weapons options) with a suicide squad inside and Rhinos and Seraphim
(jump pack, storm troopers stats, dual hand flamers and several special
rules).
The
base stats of a Sister of Battle is ws 3, bs 4, s/t 3 with 3+ and a 6i
save. They come in squad sizes of 10-20, have accesses to a good mix
of special and heavy weapons, and cost 12 points. I think they define
what it means to be a durable troop choice. In addition, they can man
the quad gun and receive a 2+i save if behind the Aegis.
So,
in looking at my collection of models, I now have the following list in
mind. St. Celestine, 2 twelve man Battle Sister Squads with
flamer/multi-melta and combi-flamer or power maul, two exorcists, an
Aegis defense line, and seven seraphim with two sets of hand flamers and
a power axe.
The
second thing I do to prepare for a tourney is play test my army. I
have now played six games with my Sisters out of retirement and I am
happy to report that it has eased most of my reservations. I have found
that it is such a unique army to play, and have enjoyed playing the army
as I first did so many years ago. I am still a getting to the tipping
point of the battle and not having enough force to topple my opponent,
but it has been surprising the amount of wounds my seraphim can cause.
In
regards to being competitive, if you play the mission, you always have a
shot to win. Most 6th edition missions are predicated on things the
army does well, like holding objectives and midrange shooting. It is all
trial and error. I am hoping they fair well
So,
in closing, don’t be afraid to take a second look at that old unit,
army, or model lurking in the back of your hobby stash. For you might
find that they are able to be used with unexpected positive results, at
least I have.
Amen Brother Robert
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