Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000: Codex: Adepta Sororitas

Product Information

Strong weaponry that is quite easily accessible across a number of units, letting you hit hard and have redundancy

Rites of Fire- +4” Range to all Flame weapons is a decent buff, though probably unnecessary due to wanting to fight over the midboard and the generally smaller board sizes as is. Coupled with the 12” Range most Flamers have now, and this isn’t as amazing as it would have been previously. Still not bad, but there’s generally better choices. Can’t be combined with Raging Fervour or Unshakeable Vengeance. Beacon of Faith- If the Warlord is on the battlefield, generate an extra Miracle Dice in your Command Phase, that only they can use. Whilst it can be used even if you’ve used another that phase, it’s lost at the start of your next Command Phase, so no storing them up, and it can only be used on Acts of Faith, so low numbers aren’t all that useful to you (unless you want to fail something). Given the limitations, you can probably pass on this. Aestred Thurga has this, meaning this will realistically only ever be relevant in Crusade. Decree Passive- A max of one CANONESS per Detachment, and one MISSIONARY , as well as a limiting CULT IMPERIALIS PRIESTS in a Detachment to less than the number of SORORITAS CHARACTERS . You’ll rarely find you’d not have wanted to run some of the Sister Characters, so this is unlikely to have ever impacted you. Psalm of Righteous Smiting- The PRIEST themselves gets +1 Str, +1A, +1 AP to non-Relics, and Fights Again at the end of the Phase. Can make even the humble Preacher a mini blender, and works nicely on the Dogmata who is already semi-decent in combat. Less useful on things like the Dialogus, who isn’t the best in melee as it is and probably has better Hymns to shout. Defenders of the Faith- If a unit of BATTLE SISTERS is in range of an Objective Marker at the end of your Movement, you can use this to give them Transhuman as well as always Rapid Fire for their Bolt Weapons, both until your next Movement Phase. A good defensive and offensive boost, albeit only for a unit of basic Sisters, and at 2CP no matter what, it obviously has better mileage on larger squads. Can still be useful on smaller squad to help them resist a bit of extra damage on a crucial Objective.Hallowed Martyrs- Be like Our Martyred Lady, getting +1 to Hit when under Starting Strength. A good trait, making your units potentially more powerful if they aren’t outright destroyed, but again is useless for units with only single models. Blade of Saint Ellynor X+++, or ‘shrug’, ‘Feel No Pain’ or ‘Ignore Damage roll’ depending on how you’re feeling, means it is a dice roll to ignore each point of damage, which is taken after any failed saves. First turn of combat’ means any rules that trigger when you Charge, are Charged, or Heroically Intervene.

Passive- The Character heals D3 Wounds in each of your Command Phases. Obviously not so helpful if you aren’t injured, or die, but can be useful if you’ve borne the brunt of an explosion or Psychic Power, perhaps revived with Divine Intervention, or otherwise managed to take some hits in a previous turn. Not always relevant, but useful when it crops up. Exceptional Proficiency- A CELESTIAN unit gets +1 to Hit in either Shooting or Melee. A great boost for only 1 CP, especially on a unit of SACRESANTS on the charge to help them clear a unit away. Fiery Oratory- Automatically intones a Hymn with a PRIEST at the start of any non-Command Phase, with the usual caveats of it can’t have intoned any this turn and no duplicate Hymns. Only 1CP, which is nice given some of the Hymns are quite potent, so ensuring an important one goes off can be very useful. If your Detachment is Battle-Forged (which will be most armies) and only has SORORITAS units in it. Faith and Fury- 1CP to double dip a Miracle Dice, letting it count for both a Hit and Wound. Great when you just need something to go through, though it will then preclude you from using it for Damage, important on things like Multi-melta, so make sure it will do the business without that reliability.A Sacred Burden- The “Sergeant carries a Relic” Stratagem common for Imperium armies. Some of them are particularly potent on certain units, though others probably wouldn’t be worth the time. The Relics in question will be discussed in the Relics section.

Aspects of their rules can be quite niche, or difficult to benefit from, depending on the match up, taking some time to master

Order of the Sacred Rose

Purifying Recitations- Adds 3 to any Deny the Witch test you make, and whilst it doesn’t make you auto deny on a 3+, it can be helpful to help deny middling casting rolls. Realistically this is only going to help you against casts of a 5-7, as anything on 8+ will need the 6 to Deny regardless, on top of being incredibly niche as it is. Might have use in a mixed army for some Psychic defense, but otherwise you can safely pass. Inviolate Shieldwall- -1 to wound for a unit of SACRESANTS or CRUSADERS in the Fight Phase. Solid defensive buff, though remember with only T3 they will generally still be wounded on 4s, if not 3s against the real scary stuff out there, but for 1CP every little can help

Open the Reliquaries- The usual “More Relics” Stratagem. There’s lots of good Relics, but lots of good Stratagems as well, so don’t go crazy on this just cos you can. Cleansed by Fire- Make a unit’s Flame weapons do max shots in the Shooting Phase. It’s a strong ability, albeit pricey at 2CP, so generally don’t use this on units with only 1 or 2 flamers. An Immolator, or unit of Retributors with Heavy Flamers? Go to town. explode’ essentially translates to ‘An unmodified 6 to Hit does an additional hit’, so read that as ‘Does 2 Hits instead of 1’. Per the Core Rules, anything that might also happen on a 6 to hit (such as auto-wounding) does not apply to the additional hit, only the original. Inspiring Orator- Grants a 6” Aura to CORE for ignoring Half-Strength for Combat Attrition, as well as giving +3” to any Hymns or other Command Phase abilities (not Blessings). It’s fine, ignoring a negative on Attrition can occasionally be useful, though only realistically useful for larger squads. The range boost on Command phase abilities is fairly niche, but this is pretty good as a secondary trait on a Dogmata, synergising with her abilities and her role as a “line holder” for your Infantry. Junith Eruita has this, as it’s hard not to be inspired by a floating pulpit of marble and fire.

Hot Takes

Passive- +1 Strength and Damage to non-Relic Melee Weapons. It’s simple but effective, and can turn even the humble Power Sword into a decent melee weapon, though you get the most mileage from a Blessed Blade, basically making it better then the already existing Relic version.