Seraphim Squad

Seraphim Squad, when you really want a flying angel but you still lack the appropriate faith to awaken a Living Saint from her snooze fest.

"They appear upon the field of battle, the suns are their halos and their arms are the Emperor’s judgement. I welcome their arrival as the number of executions I must perform decreases significantly."

– Commissar Cadet Vectili

Sisters of Battle who take to the skies on wings of fire, stirring the hearts (and loins) of faithful men and women and turning the fortunes of the battlefield to the favour of the Imperium.

Such is their reputation that faithful allied Imperial Commanders will even time their assaults to coincide with the arrival of the Seraphim squads in order to give the biggest morale boost possible.

History and Selection

Seraphim fight in the "Ancient Way" and are traditionally armed with a Jump Pack and a pair of Bolt Pistols, Hand Flamers and Inferno Pistols as standard. This method was said to be handed down from the original Daughters of the Emperor on San Leor and probably says a lot about what the Sisters used to be like before the Thorian Reformation.

This way of fighting is supposed to be incredibly difficult to master, and can take years of training to perfect. It takes a lot of skill to wear Sisters of Battle power armour without a black carapace, while dual wielding pistols, while flying. The level of dexterity, battlefield awareness and requirement of Faith means that outside of the Adeptus Astartes or Officio Assassinorum, the Seraphim are perhaps the most elite "un-augmented human" formations available to the Imperium. It also means that only the most exceptional candidates are selected for initiation into the Seraphim and many battle sisters never get the opportunity to join them. Therefore the Seraphim are considered a type of veteran and are given much latitude and deference from their commanders and allies.

Typically once a Sister finds her calling as a Seraphim, that's where she will stay for the rest of her career. Becoming a Celestian is a separate promotion for experienced and honoured, but ultimately ordinary sisters. However the need for individuals of high skill and pure faith often means that Seraphim are pulled out of their units to become squad commanders of less experienced Battle Sisters, where the former Seraphim can train and inspire them into better warriors.

Tabletop

They might still have the statline of a human, but for two points less than an Assault Marine with a Jump Pack you get a bolter-babe with a rerollable 6+ invulnerable save (which is only marginally worse than a 5+ invulnerable save: 31% vs 33%). They also come with the Adamantium Will and Hit & Run special rules.

They have two bolt pistols which counts as your additional close combat weapon but also doubles the normal shooting output of your typical assault squad due to the Gunslinger rule.

Their unique act of faith gives their shooting attacks the Shred rule once per game, which although is not very special, will make sure they bring down their target when it really matters. At least since they're pretty likely going to be charging into whatever they shoot at (with human S T and I) piling on the extra damage to hedge the advantage is okay, they'll probably need it.

Each weapon option only serves to improve their performance, as Hand Flamers or Inferno Pistols also come in pairs, so never cost the Sister her extra attack while still giving her two shots.

Seraphim aren't a dedicated close combat squad, but with Deep Strike, fast movement and Hit and Run they are perfect harassing units who might get caught in combat, but can hold their own long enough to back out and continue raining down pain on their opponent. Their primary problem is that they compete in the Fast Attack slot with the Dominion Squad who have an even bigger shooting potential.