Games Workshop has previewed the army rules for Warhammer 40k 10th edition Sisters of Battle, aka the Adepta Sororitas. The latest Faction Focus article on the Warhammer Community website gives us our first taste of the Adepta Sororitas’ new rules, including a new Detachment and previews of unit datasheets.
The WarCom article from Wednesday shows that the Sisters of Battle’s Miracle Dice and Acts of Faith abilities won’t change much in the new edition. Here’s a quick recap of the mechanic: whenever you receive a Miracle Die you immediately roll it and ‘store’ the result. Later, before you make another dice roll, you can use an Act of Faith to substitute one of the dice for the stored result on a Miracle Die.
Need to reach an objective with an Advance roll? Need the last Battle Sister in melee with a Tyranid swarm to pass her save, tying them up for another turn? That’s what Miracle dice are for.
What has changed is how you’ll get them. As in 9th edition, Sisters of Battle get one Miracle Die at the start of each turn. In 9th you also received Miracle dice at the end of a phase in which you destroyed an enemy unit, or one of your units was destroyed: in 10th you will gain one each time you lose a unit.
The article also reveals the Datasheet for the Battle Sisters Squad, the basic infantry for the Sororitas. They have abilities that willgenerate more Miracle Dice (MD) for you. For each Objective held by a Battle Sisters Squad at the end of the turn, you’ll gain one MD. If a unit is carrying a Simulacrum Imperialis it will also gain one MD whenever it destroys an enemy unit, while once per battle a Cherub will refund you a MD after the unit employs an Act of Faith.
The article also reveals the Datasheet for the Triumph of Saint Katherine, a diorama model with a choice of six different Aura abilities that reflect the six relics of the dead Saint. While it’s the centrepiece model from the army, the new rules for the Battle Sisters may be more interesting. Their ability to easily generate Miracle Dice seems like a reason to these humble infantry them over more powerful war machines.
Speaking of which, the preview shows off the weapon stats for the Exorcist Missile Launcher. The Exorcist is a hybrid of a pipe organ and a Multiple Launch Rocket System, and can fire anti-horde incendiaries or armour-piercing anti tank rockets, using the ‘Indirect Fire’ Weapon Ability. The ability allows a unit to target enemies outside line of sight in exchange for an accuracy penalty and giving the target the Benefits of Cover – which the Exorcist’s incendiaries ignore, thanks to the ‘Ignores Cover’ Weapon Ability.
We also get to see the first Detachment for the Sisters of Battle, the Hallowed Martyrs detachment. It grants the whole army the ‘The Blood of Martyrs’ – units that have lost a model (or suffered a wound, in the case of single-model units) gain +1 to hit, while units that are below half-strength get +1 to wound as well.
The Detachment’s first revealed Stratagem is ‘Rejoice the Fallen’. It costs 1CP and allows one of your units to return fire after it loses a model to enemy shooting. As a Horus Heresy Iron Warriors player, I can vouch that the threat of Out of Activation shooting is one of the best ways to keep your heavy gunners alive.
Detachments are one of the most interesting changes coming in Warhammer 40k 10th edition. Similar to the Subfactions from 9th edition, each detachment provides a set of themed armywide abilities, enhancements, and Stratagems. Unlike Subfactions, Detachments will be mutually exclusive – you pick one, you can’t combine them. The game will launch with one free Detachment for each Warhammer 40k faction, and we have to assume that new Warhammer 40k Codex army books will be packed with them.