2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Planetary Defense Force

2018-01-08T04:32:16Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

[[File:Tumblr_mp3teqHQKG1rneqlno1_500.jpg|400px|right|thumb|A relatively and fairly accurate representation of the PDF.]]
In [[Warhammer 40,000]], a '''Planetary Defense Force''' is, as the name suggest, an armed force that protects a single planet (as opposed to the [[Imperial Guard]], which travels from planet to planet). They have a tendency to [[Meme|try to respond, but to be killed to a man]].

The [[Imperium of Man]] is a very feudal empire; while much is made of the [[Space Marines]] and [[Imperial Guard]], they cannot be everywhere at once, and so each world is expected to be able to protect itself. On civilized worlds, the PDF fill that role, either fending off attack entirely, or holding out long enough for off-world assistance to arrive.

We never hear about their victories, partly because stories where the PDF wins are not as interesting as those where the Imperial Guard and Space Marines have to get called in, and partly because most planets make their [[Imperial Tithe]]s by bundling the best few percent of their Planetary Defense Forces into IG Regiments and shipping them off-world. It is also important to remember that sitting on a safe backwater planet for centuries means that they have absolutely no combat experience compared to IG regiments that are shipped from one warzone to another. Add to that they have even less equipment, no comm-beads for individual soldiers, and that for an entire system of planets a single [[Commissar]] is attached. Ironically, planets with a feral orks infestation tend to have a better PDF and produce better IG regiments. However, the average PDF unit tend to fold like wet paper when a significant off world threat arrives. As such, the Imperial Guard consider them grossly undertrained, incompetent, and poorly armed compared to the Guard. The irony of this is lost on the Guard itself. Better yet, it highlights just how bad it is to be a member of the PDF.

Another major problem for the PDF is lack of experience and as a result, morale. PDF from a forgotten backwater planet do not typically see a lot of action and as a result lack any combat experience. Add to this that most information sources available to them are compatible to the IG uplifting primer (and they don't have anyone around to tell them what a pile of groxshit it is) and you can see why facing the untold terrors of cosmos might go south very quickly for them.

To be fair, not all PDF are incompetent pushovers. For example, [[Cadia]]'s entire population is militarized from birth, in reserve if not in active duty, and those active duty Cadians who are selected to stay instead of being shipped out to the Guard are chosen at random instead of by lack of merit. This means that Cadia's PDF is every bit as skilled and tough as any of the planet's many exported Imperial Guard regiments, and train just as hard, just as frequently, and are just as well supplied for being on a fortress world. The shipped regiments are also rotated frequently enough meaning that most Cadian PDF actually have some combat experience. However, examples like this are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to PDF quality.

Often, when PDF aren't incompetent, they turn traitor. While an Imperial Guard unit is constantly shuffled from world to world, only resting in transit, and under the watchful eye of a [[Commissar]], the PDF may go for years or even lifetimes without seeing a planet-scale defensive effort. As such, they often also serve as local law enforcement. This can result in the PDF being more loyal to the planetary government than to the [[Imperium]]; if the planetary government turns corrupt, they can bring the PDF with them, which makes it that much harder for the Imperium to reclaim the planet later. Also, even if they did not turn traitors they are the most suspected people if heretical cults are active on the planet, and they usually are, or the planet got infiltrated by [[Genestealers]]. Thus even if a problem arose the guards would still avoid them and the authorities would still distrust them to use them so that they might gain combat experience.

The three notable exceptions to this rule are the [[Armageddon]] PDF, who often fight the Orks still on the planet, as a result of a lower than normal Tithe for a planet of its size allowing the Armageddon PDF to be well trained and funded. The other is the [[Ultramar]] Auxilia, as Ultramar has no tithe due to supporting the [[Ultramarines]] [[Space Marine Chapter]], also since they must meet the standards of Space Marines resulting in higher than normal training, generally they are still shipped offworld like normal guard and often support the Ultramarines. And the last is the Cadian Interior Guard whose members are chosen from one out of ten best men in the Cadian Shock Troops Imperial Guard regiments.

The greatest irony is that if the [[Imperium]] would only enforce the training of planetary defence forces to a decent standard (as they are so eager to get their mitts on your tithes!) then the heretic and xenos would have a damn harder time taking over worlds and the guard and marines won't have to keep running in to save them and could actually concentrate on the full scale invasions (But of course that much common sense won't be at all grimdark enough....). Not to mention the fact that if the [[Imperium]] were to require worlds to also have their own law enforcement that is controlled by, trained by, and generally indoctrinated by, the Adeptus Arbites, you wouldn't have to worry much about A) crime (pickpockets would be shot, soooo...yeah) or B) turncoat PDF (because of fanatical loyalty to Imperial law). So then you would technically have two competent fighting forces on the planet, both of which are separate enough from local affairs to remain loyal to the Imperium. The PDF and the local law enforcement. Then the Guard to concentrate hundreds, perhaps thousands of regiments on threats instead of a few dozen. Not to mention how much hurt the Astartes would be free to lay down. However, it's questionable whether such indoctrination would work. One of the reasons that the Arbites are so loyal to the Imperium instead of the planet they're stationed on is because they come from a different planet.

In general, in cases where PDF would get the opportunity to gain the experience and funding necessary to become a reliable fighting force, they don't tend to keep the title of PDF for long. However, the PDF do their jobs as well as they can with the equipment they have, and typically its only confirmation bias that they get such a bad rap (If deservedly so). Usually they are sufficient enough to keep the peace and fend off minor threats like a small savage Ork incursion or petty bandits.

PDFs also have a couple advantages over Guard. As stationary forces, they have a home field advantage. Planets in the Imperium run the gamut between "nice enough" and "kill you if you look at it funny" so being able to utilize a world's natural defenses and terrain is helpful. Secondly, PDFs can utilize stationary gun emplacements and shield generators. It is remarkably difficult to shoot through a world with anti-naval cannons and an [[exterminatus]]-resistant shield network. Generally PDF losses occur because the onus of victory is on the attacking force. That is, they only attack planets they can win against. Heavily-fortified fortress worlds can take centuries worth of orbital beating before they collapse. Take [[Vraks]] for example. While, yes it did go traitor, the fact that it took over 18 years to collapse shows just how long a well defended city (Remember Vraks only had one thing worth a damn about protecting on it. it was only ONE fortress) can last and what a toll it can inflict on it's attacker.

Also, there was one (yes, ''one'') PDF trooper worth noting. Some family man with a forgettable name fought alongside Uriel Ventris of the Ultrasmurfs during a battle against [[Tyranid|Tyranids]]. When he ran out of shots for his lasgun, what did he do? He picked up a discarded chainsword and ''charged the 'nids with it''! He actually managed to keep up with Ventris, an Ultramarines ''Captain''. When a Carnifex came to blow them to bits with bio-plasma he ran back, grabbed a missile launcher, and ''shot it in the face''! Then picked the chainsword back up and charged again. After the battle was over, Ventris visited him in the hospital and, in front of everyone announced that this man had saved his life and about how badass the guy was to keep pace with an Astartes. If you've played or seen the Space Marine game, you must realize how incredible a feat that is. Ventris then removed one of his purity seals and gave it to the man. Clearly, the mustering of the Guard missed one.

And the ones Ciaphas Cain hang out with in Death Or Glory. [[Story:Praise the Emperor (and Pass the Ammunition)| And Private Connie Obel.]]

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|300px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|300px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|300px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|300px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|300px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|300px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|300px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|300px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|300px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|300px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|300px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|300px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|300px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|300px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|300px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|300px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|300px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|300px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|300px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|300px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|300px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|300px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|300px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|300px]]

{{Imperium}}

Planetary Defense Force

2018-01-08T04:31:48Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

[[File:Tumblr_mp3teqHQKG1rneqlno1_500.jpg|400px|right|thumb|A relatively and fairly accurate representation of the PDF.]]
In [[Warhammer 40,000]], a '''Planetary Defense Force''' is, as the name suggest, an armed force that protects a single planet (as opposed to the [[Imperial Guard]], which travels from planet to planet). They have a tendency to [[Meme|try to respond, but to be killed to a man]].

The [[Imperium of Man]] is a very feudal empire; while much is made of the [[Space Marines]] and [[Imperial Guard]], they cannot be everywhere at once, and so each world is expected to be able to protect itself. On civilized worlds, the PDF fill that role, either fending off attack entirely, or holding out long enough for off-world assistance to arrive.

We never hear about their victories, partly because stories where the PDF wins are not as interesting as those where the Imperial Guard and Space Marines have to get called in, and partly because most planets make their [[Imperial Tithe]]s by bundling the best few percent of their Planetary Defense Forces into IG Regiments and shipping them off-world. It is also important to remember that sitting on a safe backwater planet for centuries means that they have absolutely no combat experience compared to IG regiments that are shipped from one warzone to another. Add to that they have even less equipment, no comm-beads for individual soldiers, and that for an entire system of planets a single [[Commissar]] is attached. Ironically, planets with a feral orks infestation tend to have a better PDF and produce better IG regiments. However, the average PDF unit tend to fold like wet paper when a significant off world threat arrives. As such, the Imperial Guard consider them grossly undertrained, incompetent, and poorly armed compared to the Guard. The irony of this is lost on the Guard itself. Better yet, it highlights just how bad it is to be a member of the PDF.

Another major problem for the PDF is lack of experience and as a result, morale. PDF from a forgotten backwater planet do not typically see a lot of action and as a result lack any combat experience. Add to this that most information sources available to them are compatible to the IG uplifting primer (and they don't have anyone around to tell them what a pile of groxshit it is) and you can see why facing the untold terrors of cosmos might go south very quickly for them.

To be fair, not all PDF are incompetent pushovers. For example, [[Cadia]]'s entire population is militarized from birth, in reserve if not in active duty, and those active duty Cadians who are selected to stay instead of being shipped out to the Guard are chosen at random instead of by lack of merit. This means that Cadia's PDF is every bit as skilled and tough as any of the planet's many exported Imperial Guard regiments, and train just as hard, just as frequently, and are just as well supplied for being on a fortress world. The shipped regiments are also rotated frequently enough meaning that most Cadian PDF actually have some combat experience. However, examples like this are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to PDF quality.

Often, when PDF aren't incompetent, they turn traitor. While an Imperial Guard unit is constantly shuffled from world to world, only resting in transit, and under the watchful eye of a [[Commissar]], the PDF may go for years or even lifetimes without seeing a planet-scale defensive effort. As such, they often also serve as local law enforcement. This can result in the PDF being more loyal to the planetary government than to the [[Imperium]]; if the planetary government turns corrupt, they can bring the PDF with them, which makes it that much harder for the Imperium to reclaim the planet later. Also, even if they did not turn traitors they are the most suspected people if heretical cults are active on the planet, and they usually are, or the planet got infiltrated by [[Genestealers]]. Thus even if a problem arose the guards would still avoid them and the authorities would still distrust them to use them so that they might gain combat experience.

The three notable exceptions to this rule are the [[Armageddon]] PDF, who often fight the Orks still on the planet, as a result of a lower than normal Tithe for a planet of its size allowing the Armageddon PDF to be well trained and funded. The other is the [[Ultramar]] Auxilia, as Ultramar has no tithe due to supporting the [[Ultramarines]] [[Space Marine Chapter]], also since they must meet the standards of Space Marines resulting in higher than normal training, generally they are still shipped offworld like normal guard and often support the Ultramarines. And the last is the Cadian Interior Guard whose members are chosen from one out of ten best men in the Cadian Shock Troops Imperial Guard regiments.

The greatest irony is that if the [[Imperium]] would only enforce the training of planetary defence forces to a decent standard (as they are so eager to get their mitts on your tithes!) then the heretic and xenos would have a damn harder time taking over worlds and the guard and marines won't have to keep running in to save them and could actually concentrate on the full scale invasions (But of course that much common sense won't be at all grimdark enough....). Not to mention the fact that if the [[Imperium]] were to require worlds to also have their own law enforcement that is controlled by, trained by, and generally indoctrinated by, the Adeptus Arbites, you wouldn't have to worry much about A) crime (pickpockets would be shot, soooo...yeah) or B) turncoat PDF (because of fanatical loyalty to Imperial law). So then you would technically have two competent fighting forces on the planet, both of which are separate enough from local affairs to remain loyal to the Imperium. The PDF and the local law enforcement. Then the Guard to concentrate hundreds, perhaps thousands of regiments on threats instead of a few dozen. Not to mention how much hurt the Astartes would be free to lay down. However, it's questionable whether such indoctrination would work. One of the reasons that the Arbites are so loyal to the Imperium instead of the planet they're stationed on is because they come from a different planet.

In general, in cases where PDF would get the opportunity to gain the experience and funding necessary to become a reliable fighting force, they don't tend to keep the title of PDF for long. However, the PDF do their jobs as well as they can with the equipment they have, and typically its only confirmation bias that they get such a bad rap (If deservedly so). Usually they are sufficient enough to keep the peace and fend off minor threats like a small savage Ork incursion or petty bandits.

PDFs also have a couple advantages over Guard. As stationary forces, they have a home field advantage. Planets in the Imperium run the gamut between "nice enough" and "kill you if you look at it funny" so being able to utilize a world's natural defenses and terrain is helpful. Secondly, PDFs can utilize stationary gun emplacements and shield generators. It is remarkably difficult to shoot through a world with anti-naval cannons and an [[exterminatus]]-resistant shield network. Generally PDF losses occur because the onus of victory is on the attacking force. That is, they only attack planets they can win against. Heavily-fortified fortress worlds can take centuries worth of orbital beating before they collapse. Take [[Vraks]] for example. While, yes it did go traitor, the fact that it took over 18 years to collapse shows just how long a well defended city (Remember Vraks only had one thing worth a damn about protecting on it. it was only ONE fortress) can last and what a toll it can inflict on it's attacker.

Also, there was one (yes, ''one'') PDF trooper worth noting. Some family man with a forgettable name fought alongside Uriel Ventris of the Ultrasmurfs during a battle against [[Tyranid|Tyranids]]. When he ran out of shots for his lasgun, what did he do? He picked up a discarded chainsword and ''charged the 'nids with it''! He actually managed to keep up with Ventris, an Ultramarines ''Captain''. When a Carnifex came to blow them to bits with bio-plasma he ran back, grabbed a missile launcher, and ''shot it in the face''! Then picked the chainsword back up and charged again. After the battle was over, Ventris visited him in the hospital and, in front of everyone announced that this man had saved his life and about how badass the guy was to keep pace with an Astartes. If you've played or seen the Space Marine game, you must realize how incredible a feat that is. Ventris then removed one of his purity seals and gave it to the man. Clearly, the mustering of the Guard missed one.

And the ones Ciaphas Cain hang out with in Death Or Glory.

[[Story:Praise the Emperor (and Pass the Ammunition)| And Private Connie Obel.]]

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|300px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|300px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|300px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|300px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|300px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|300px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|300px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|300px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|300px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|300px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|300px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|300px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|300px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|300px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|300px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|300px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|300px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|300px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|300px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|300px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|300px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|300px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|300px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|300px]]

{{Imperium}}

Mary Sue

2018-01-08T02:26:47Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

[[Category:Mary Sue]]
{{HurfDurf}}

[[Image:Marysuetest.jpg|500px|right]]

Originally, a '''Mary Sue''' is a character that is shamelessly self-inserted, poorly developed, without flaws and stupidly overpowered. [[/tg/]] hates [[:Category:Mary Sue|Mary Sues]].

Unfortunately, after so much [[rage]] and so many [[troll]] threads, /tg/'s definition of Mary Sue has become blurred to the point that any character at all can be (and probably has been) accused of being a Mary Sue on even the flimsiest of pretenses.

Some accept nothing less than the above description, and will sooner gut you then look twice if you say it's anything else. Others prefer a more generalized definition, which refers to an overly-idealized character who exerts an unjust amount of influence upon their respective setting or story. Others still carry this meaning out to extremes, and use the term to describe anyone who isn't a homeless junkie or a brooding sociopath with an alignment of chaotic neutral.

However, there is a conundrum regarding the definition. If the character is overpowered, idealized and part of an established story (such as some portrayals of Wolverine and Batman), some say that this is not a Mary Sue, as they are a canon character in an original story. For them, the term "Canon Sue" is used. The only difference between a Mary Sue and a Canon Sue (I'd like to take the time to apologize to any real-life people named "Sue" who are reading this) is a Canon Sue is an established character in the story/wish-fulfillment for the creator of the story (NOTE: few people will admit if the fictional character they create is for wish-fulfillment). For the sake of this page, the definition of Mary Sue will also include Canon Sues.

Another problem is when people use the term "Mary Sue" to refer to a "creator's pet"; a character that part of the fanbase dislikes but is adored by the creator of the character and gets treatment such as increasing focus, magnifying the importance of their role, and having the other characters talk about how awesome they are in painful ignorance — or sometimes in spite — of the fans' obvious hatred. This is not a Mary Sue though a character can be both; the two types share common traits and a Creator's Pet is more easily defined. For example; [[Marneus Calgar]] is a creator's pet, while some characters who are both Mary Sues and creator's pets are [[World of Warcraft| Sylvanas (formerly Thrall too until recently)]], [[Alice]] and [[Twilight|Bella]].

It is worth noting, however, that very rare authors have the skill to pull off the Mary Sue, creating a character of such epic awesomeness (e.g. [[Star Trek|Jean Luc Picard]]) that no one gives a shit.

==Origin of the Concept==

The name "Mary Sue" comes from a parody of shitty [[Star Trek]] fanfiction called [http://www.wiccananime.com/amslt/amslttrekkiestale ''A Trekkie's Tale''] (no, seriously, that's the origin, look it up if you don't believe me). First written in [[Old School Roleplaying|1974]] by Paula Smith, the original Lieutenant Mary Sue was a parody of the half-Vulcan jailbait and other shameless self-inserts that had been clogging up the Star Trek fanfic magazines. The trolling was so epic that her name became permanently ingrained in the vocabulary of every fandom on the planet, and this makes Paula Smith a paragon of trolls.

The term is commonly used by [[troll]]s, and can most easily be spotted by a blanket accusation of a character being a Sue without attempting to justify actual reasons behind it. More clever trolls will attempt to offer some explanation that is deliberately intended to get under the offended party's skin.

==Villain Sues==

Note that the Mary Sue need not be the hero of the piece. A large minority of Sues are villains (either protagonist or antagonist).

Some well known characters with a tendency in the hands of bad writers to become Villain Sues include [[Batman | The Joker]], Magneto, Doctor Doom, and [[Star Wars | Admiral Thrawn]]. And then there's the flat out Villain Sues in a single writer's canon, such as Red Hulk's initial appearances, or the show version of Ramsay Bolton. Or, to be more directly /tg/ relevant, [[Fabius Bile]] and [[World of Darkness | Samuel Haight]]

==How Can I Tell If My Character Is A Mary Sue?==
Each "Yes" answer gives your character a piece of Mary Sueness.
[[File:God-Man.gif|300px|right]]
* Does their personal morality always perfectly match objective reality? To put it another way, would there be any difference between describing their opinion and simply narrating what was actually going on in a scene?
* Do they start the story at the pinnacle of achievement and have no way to grow or improve?
** Or do their new skills and abilities come from your ass at just the time they need them?
* Do they have unexplained frequent good luck, even when by all logic they should fail in that area?
* Is it a fan character that is better than the canon characters?
* Do they have physical features, powers or items that are impossible to have or extremely rare going by the rules of the setting (ie; a human with cat eyes and wings with no explanation in real-world based fiction, or a ridiculous item such as a weapon which is [[Noise Marines|chainsaw, electric-guitar and machine-gun combined]] in a swords-and-sorcery setting)?
* Do they have the most powerful ability or power in a setting, without any sacrifices? (For example a character that can use magic which would destroy any enemy, without any negative effects. But if a character has that ability, and it reduces his lifespan, damages him forever and/or kills everyone including his comrades, it's not ''that'' overpowered.)
* Are they connected to the canon characters or do they become connected to them? This usually takes the form of being a "long-lost" relative or love interest to a canon character.
* Do they get a lot of shilling? For example; do all the canon characters suddenly start talking about a fan character, with their presence in the story largely relegated to providing opportunities for the new character to show how pure, powerful, good-hearted, etc they are?
* Do you never allow other characters to dislike them?
** [[Eragon|Or do you punish those other characters for disliking your character by portraying them negatively and/or making something terrible happen to them]]? (For example; making them unlikable, a secondary villain, or having the one character that dislikes the Mary Sue "coincidentally" have their home destroyed)
* Are they someone's self-proclaimed [[furry|fursona]]? (If so, stop reading this list and burn them for [[heresy]]).
** The Sonichu exception: If the author is making fun of ''somebody else's'' fursona, and isn't a furry themselves, everything is perfectly fine, at least as far as Mary Suedom is concerned.
* Do they always make good decisions? And/or bad ones that are suddenly revealed to have been a good choice?
* Do you use absolutes like "always," "everybody," or "never" when describing their abilities?
* Do they feature an entirely contrived "weakness" that doesn't affect them any time it would harm them (such as being clumsy ''unless'' they are required to perform a great feat of athleticism) or isn't really a weakness (such as being too kind or righteous "for their own good") which was clearly added solely so the author could point to it when accused of writing a Sue?
* Is the main problem in the story one that this character can easily fix or solve on their own? (Doesn't count if they're the only character in the story).
*Do they have powers that no-one else has.
* Is it a protagonist character written by Matt Ward, Kim Dal Young, Stephenie Mayer, Ayn Rand or Terry <del>Good</del>Badkind? (Note, a Mary Sue can be written by someone who's none of these people.)

Since then, it's been realized that a character doesn't need to be a self-insert to be a Mary Sue, but it helps. Everyone has their own criteria for what makes one, but the big three traits are:
#They are super-powerful/hyper-competent. In established settings, usually more so than canon characters. Better leadership skills than a McDohl, faster than Sonic, etc.
#The story completely revolves around them, even in... no, ESPECIALLY in established settings.
#They can do no wrong. Everyone loves the Mary Sue and defends them even against perfectly reasonable concerns, invariably demonizing people that make these concerns.

Bonus points:
#The Mary Sue's competence doesn't match the creator's knowledge, leading to things like "The greatest Scorpion Clan shinobi EVAR" walking around in broad daylight in stereotypical ninja gear.
#The Mary Sue is a hypocritical monster and the creator is totally blind to this fact.
#Other characters comment on how much better at their own skills the Mary Sue is like they're happy for her, even if the character is known for being arrogant and standoff-ish.
#Characters that don't react well to the Sue's 'harmless pranks' see the light and begin to love the Mary Sue as well.
#Those that don't turn out to be evil spies or something.

A lot of traits (e.g. too-long-names and heterochrome eyes) are assumed to be signs of Mary Sues, but in themselves don't make a character one. This is because the "But I'm '''''Specul'''''" features are more a symptom than a cause, and all of them can be used in a non-Sueish manner (for example, a character with a twenty-part name is meant by the author to be taken as overly pretentious, and is reacted to in-universe as such).
 

==Not Really Mary Sue==

There are many cases of the "Mary Sue" accusation being used against characters who aren't '''quite''' Sues.

Remember, one of the defining traits of Mary Sue is in her relation to the author; either the author sees her as herself/himself, or views her as fap or schlick material (or worse, waifu material).

As a general rule: If the character makes a mistake, and it's clear that '''the author''' understands that the decision is a mistake, then they're probably not fully a Mary Sue.

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|300px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|300px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|300px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|300px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|300px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|300px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|300px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|300px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|300px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|300px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|300px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|300px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|300px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|300px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|300px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|300px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|300px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|300px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|300px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|300px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|300px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|300px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|300px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|300px]]

==Negating the Mary Sue==
Interestingly, there hasn't been really much written about how to defeat a May Sue aside from trolling, but we may identify a few ways to deal with Mary Sues and even Canon Sues:
*The first one, and quite accessible is character development, while this implies a risk of expanding the infection it is possible to remove a Sue status with a good writer either making fanfiction or a spin-off where the Mary Sue is changed for the better. Examples of this has been seen in long-existent characters which, due to good writing, become more down to earth, with the added bonus of annoying fans of the Sue period of time to no end. After all, one fanfic denies another.
*The second one is retcon, as the easiest way to annihilate a Mary Sue is to achieve the general consensus that it never happened. This is harder of course, as it requires the creators recognizing they made the wrong decisions or at least conceding to the fans. It can happen, but it can only be through official involvement, which requires a lot of fan reaction to happen.
*Third, have them operate in something resembling the real world; their impossible perfectness is treated as impossible by the people within the setting, and their actions have unforeseen consequences. (See, for reference, good quality [[Superman]] and [[Batman]] stories that don't focus on making either character more "human". Or the two protagonists from One-Punch Man, who are very much overpowered, but the focus of the series is a comedy based on ''how little satisfaction'' they find ''due to their overpoweredness''.)
*Finally, when it comes to reality, badly written characters end falling by their own weight. This is the reason no one remembers most of the overpowered characters added in fanfiction.net while everyone remembers cool, well molded characters - after all, reality ensues.

Note that like overpoweredness, Mary Suedom is relative to the context of the work. Much like how if in a game everybody is overpowered, nobody actually is; if you are describing everyone in a setting as a Mary Sue, more than likely you're just in a "cast of snowflakes" setting, like superhero comics or transformers. Here, everyone of import is super amazing and special with a lot of weight put on their decisions and actions. [[Troll|Or maybe you're just a dumbass flinging around buzzwords at things you don't like.]]

==Hard Men Making Hard Decisions (While Hard)==

A side note: A specific kind of male version of Mary Sue[1] is also well known. He is usually described as a "Hard Man making Hard Decisions", but works using that description are usually sufficiently closer to "porn logic"[2] than actual human logic that it's usually called "Wank material". (Note that "Hard Women making Hard Decisions" is also very much a thing, but tends to be less common.)

'''Footnote 1:''' Male versions of Mary Sue are known as Gary Stu or Marty Stu (both work, with usage depending on whether you prefer it to share initials or to rhyme). Note that not all "Gary"/"Marty Stu"s are Hard Men Making Hard Decisions (While Hard); there exist Stus who are diplomatic or are idealistic but no less annoying. It's just that HMMHD(WH) are the subset that's the most predictable (and thus describable); other equally common types are the kind who makes all female characters want to sleep with him, or otherwise just gender-swapped versions of other Mary Sue archetypes. 
'''Footnote 2:''' Just with action movie scenes occasionally taking the place of the screwing.

=Gallery=
<gallery>
Image:Bloody_Mary_Sues.jpg|Get rid of them before they lay eggs.
File:Marysue_1517.jpg
Image:Avatar shoopface by vfalconi.jpg|How it works.
File:Sparklypoo.jpg
File:Ma-Rey-Sue.jpg|Fuck you Disney!
</gallery>

=See Also=
[[List of Mary Sues]]

=External Links=
*[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue TVTropes' article on Mary Sues], that discusses the phenomenon and its many forms in detail.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1379217 sup/tg/ archive] of a hilarious thread with ultimate Mary Sue and PURE ENERGY in it.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1383654 sup/tg/ archive] of the Ultimate Mary Sue thread continued.
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13722924/ sup/tg/ archive]; [[ITT]], the most grimdark setting ever conceived.
*[http://www.big-metto.net/RP_Wiki/index.php?title=Mirabelle_Armitage Mirabelle Armitage, D&D Mary Sure beyond Drizzt.]
*[http://www.ongoingworlds.com/blog/2011/04/the-many-different-types-of-mary-sue/ The many different types of Mary Sue]

Sisters of Battle

2018-01-08T00:49:14Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

''"Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings, and you have a practical guarantee of dark morbidities expressed in crime, perversion, and insanity."''

-H.P. Lovecraft

''"Strength through purity. Purity through faith. Strength through unity. Unity through faith.''"

''[[Guidelines of the Space Marines|Space Marine Guideline]] 1: Thou shalt not refer to the Adepta Sororitas as "[[Bolter]] [[Bitches]]," nor shalt thou go anywhere near our sisters during the time of their "Red Rage," lest thou wish to be the first human to enter orbit without the aid of a shuttle.
[[File:AdSor 2.jpg|300px|right|thumb|We'd like to [[Flamer|talk]] [[Bolter|to]] [[Meltagun|you]] for a moment about your [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Lord and Savior]]]]
'''Sisters of Battle''' are essentially [[Warhammer 40k]]'s female equivalent of [[Space Marines]], warriors devoted to the [[God-Emperor_of_Mankind|Emperor]]. Although they lack the genetic modification of their beefier brethren, they also wear [[power armour]] and are armed mainly with the ubiquitous [[Bolter]] and [[Chainsword]]. The Sisters of Battle are also known as the "Daughters of the Emperor", and officially as the "Adepta Sororitas", though the Adepta Sororitas refers to their entire organization, while the term Sisters of Battle refers only to their militant branch. They are more colloquially known by players as "bolter bitches" or "nuns with guns", almost always resulting in an awkward boner. They are ''not'' to be confused with [[Female Space Marines]].

==Overview==
[[File:Lusty Marine.png|300px|thumb|left]]
The Sisters of Battle are part of the [[Ecclesiarchy]], the religious arm of Imperial government, and sometimes work with the [[Inquisition]]'s [[Witch Hunters]]. In the 36th millennium, the Ecclesiarchy's pope launched a coup d'état that led to a devastating civil war. After said pope was crushed, the Imperium banned the Ecclesiarchy from having its own army. However, they fucked up the wording of the law, which only explicitly banned the church from having "men at arms", but not "women at arms". The Ecclesiarchy fully exploited this loophole.

They have somewhat of an obsession with the purifying effects of flame, and generally choose equipment that allows them to cover heretics with as much holy promethium and thermal lances as possible. This philosophy is most obviously exemplified by the Immolator tank, essentially a rolling [[METAL BOXES|steel crate]] with giant flamethrowers or multi-meltas stuck on it. They also have the [[Exorcist]], a mobile pipe organ that shoots missiles. Less accurate than the Whirlwind Missile Launcher or any Imperial Guard artillery, but who cares, the thought of pipe organs launching missiles while playing epic mass complete with Latin is fuckawesome, dammit.

[[File:Ordersmilitant.jpg|200px|thumb|right|An overview of the six main Orders. Sadly brief, but characterful.]]

There are six main Orders. All minor Orders are descended from one of these.

* '''Sacred Rose:''' cool, calm and collected. The most tactical Sisters. Enjoy gunning their foes down in a more disciplined manner. If they were to get their own rules, their Rets would have slow and purposeful. They wear White.

* '''Ebon Chalice:''' the vanilla Order. These Sisters haven't changed a whole lot since they were first created, preferring to stick to their tried and tested methods. They wear Black.

* '''Argent Shroud:''' the Lawful Goods. Are a rarity among Imperial factions, in that they are described as being famous for selfless heroism, as well as altruism. For this reason, /tg/ likes to fluff them as noble space Paladins and she-bros to the [[Salamanders]]. They wear Silver.

* '''Bloody Rose:''' aggressive as fuck. Aim to kill off their enemies as quickly as possible, as they see no reason to let the heretic live any longer than necessary. They wear Red.

* '''Our Martyred Lady:''' the postergirl Order, depicted in most mainstream portrayals of the Sisters. This has led to many people thinking that all Sisters have white hair, when it is in fact seemingly only this Order that does it. The Order itself is reputed as being determined even for SoBs, which is saying something. Will not stop until their enemies are utterly destroyed. They wear Black and Red.

* '''Valorous Heart:''' Repent! These Sisters feel the guiltiest about that whole [[Age of Apostasy]] thing, and as a result have an excess of [[Sisters Repentia|Repentias]]. Likely on constant lookout for the slightest sign of weakness in themselves or any allies serving alongside them. They wear the most black.

==Sororitas Orders Non-Militant==
As mentioned in the opening, not all of the Adepta Sororitas are actually Sisters of Battle. A number of Orders exist which officially serve non-combat-related roles in Imperial Society, although they tend to receive even less attention than their combat-fighting sisters. The largest source of info on these Sororitas thus-far is the ''Blood of Martyrs'' sourcebook for [[Dark Heresy]], which specifies the three most important Orders and mentions the existence of others, even lesser in nature. ''Blood of Martyrs'' even includes character classes for members of the three major Orders Non-Militant.

* '''Orders Dialogous:''' These Sororitas are dedicated to the studying of language, with tasks ranging from interpreting long-lost texts to accompanying Imperial diplomats on contact missions with intelligent xenos species. Thanks to their training, even the most average Sororitas knows several hundred everyday human dialects and dozens of secret cants, ciphers, even xenos tongues. Sororitas of these Orders are some of the few individuals judged worthy (and capable) of actually understanding the [[Eldar]] tongue.

* '''Orders Famulous:''' Figuratively the [[Dune|Bene Gesserit]] without the kung fu skills from perfect body control. These Sororitas serve intimately with the upper echelons of Imperial society, acting as chamberlains, counselors, and consuls to the nobility. Their focus is on the spiritual and genetic purity of the human race, so they concern themselves with not only seeing to the education of nobles, but also secretly arranging alliances and marriages, in the hope of preventing corruption and inbreeding from taking root. They are particularly involved in tracking the manifestations of saints, which makes them a popular ally for Thorian Inquisitors.

* '''Orders Hospitaller:''' Healers and medics, these Sororitas are amongst the most skilled and compassionate surgeons in the Imperium, meaning they are commonly found attached to the [[Imperial Guard]]. Given their mission, they are one of the more beloved orders by the common citizenry of the Imperium. Of course, this being the Imperium, they're also expert torturers often called upon for that purpose by the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition, though Inquisitors are cautioned against using Hospitallers to keep important heretics alive; they have a bad tendency to forget about the future gains and instead "take the Emperor's justice into their own hands".

* Others: Scores, perhaps even hundreds, of minor non-militant Orders exist within the Adepta Sororitas. ''Blood of Martyrs'' mentions the '''Orders Sabine''' (who infiltrate newly rediscovered worlds and prepare them for the Missionarius Galaxia) and '''Orders Pronatus''' (guardians of sacred relics) as examples of more wide-spread Orders Non-Militant, and three "local" Orders in the forms of the '''Madriga''' (temple choirs), '''Planxilium''' (leading processionals on holy days) and '''Vespila''' (sanctifying the dead and forensic specialists).

==Sisters Snuff==
Back in [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|1st Edition]], they were present fluff only as an order that was essentially the [[Just As Planned|Inquisition for everyone including the Inquisition]] (like an Inquisition Internal Affairs branch; a "who watches the watchmen?" deal) and [[Derp|Space Marines]]. This would change in later editions, when they eventually get their own codex.

In 1997, when the [[Necron|Necrons]] were launched, [[Games Workshop]] had them face the Sisters in a Battle report, which the Sisters lost. The results of this battle report then became the [[Sanctuary 101]] fluff. Games Workshop liked the result so much that they decided the Sisters of Battle should get slaughtered all the time. Unless they are falling to Chaos, obviously. Some fans blame popular GW whipping boy [[Matthew Ward|Matt "Spiritual Liege" Ward]] for this tendency, but it was there long before he got here [[FATAL|and it continues to exist after he left]].

Please note that while [[Heresy|fa/tg/uys]] [[/d/|masturbate furiously]] to fanfics of Sisters engaging in bdsm fetish sex with the likes of other Lesbian sisters, servitors, children, Schola Progenium cadets, Eldar, Dark Eldar, [[WhipsOil&Lofn|Half-Eldar]] or even the likes of [[Sister of Nurgle|Nurgle]], all of the below actually, '''canonically''' ''fucking happened''. (It should also be worth noting that they're getting stomped '''by their own fucking allies''' in most of these.)

[[File:Warhammer_40k_sisters_of_battle_adeptas_sororitas_battling_Dark_Eldar.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Heroic Fascist Space Nuns + Evil BDSM Space Elves = [[Faptau|YEAH!]]]]
Some highlights include:
* Some of a Dialogus Order and some Battle Sisters turned to Chaos by a [[Slaanesh|Slaaneshi]] Keeper of Secrets.
* A whole Order Mind Controlled by one Chaos [[Psyker]]. Fucking [[C.S.Goto|Goto]] (This happened again in the Ciaphas Cain books, although it was only a tiny convent with a couple of squads of sisters, not a entire Order and said pskyer was also a direct lieutenant of the [[Failbaddon|Despoiler]] himself and could control [[powergamer|entire planets]]).
* A strike force of [[Celestians]] and an [[Inquisitor]] being killed, cannibalized, and sacrificed by the Sons of Malice Astartes chapter for disturbing their victory rites and falsely accusing the chapter of heresy. (To be fair, a small force of sisters against an entire Chapter? Still doesn't excuse the cannibalism, though.)
* A whole shrine-world of Sisters killed by a <s>[[Chaos Dreadnought#Helbrute|Helbrute]]</s> [[Daemon Engine]] powered by [[rage]]. It shrugs off meltas, meltabombs and multiple [[Exorcist]] volleys, and the efforts of a number of [[Salamanders]] in Terminator armour. A [[Living Saint]] even gives up her divinity (not to be confused with virginity) to stop it by speaking the bound Daemon's true name (her order had a vow of silence, probably so the audio recording team didn't need to hire women to do any of the speaking rolls for the audio drama), therefore weakening it after her aura of peace causes it to calm down and shrink down to the size of a man instead of a massive daemon walker. The daemon is then destroyed when its shell is broken after a Space Marine decides to throw a [[Power weapon|Thunder Hammer]] at it. ''We are not making this shit up''.
* A detachment of Sisters killed by [[Grey Knights]], [[Khornate Knights|their bodies sliced open and their blood applied to the Grey Knights' armor, so the Grey Knights can be immune to the Bloodtide's effects (though some of the Sisters were immune with faith alone, make of that what you will).]] The Bloodtide was retconned in the most recent Grey Knights Codex to instead go down holding the line long enough for their Grey Knight allies to finish off the Daemons. Still losing, but at least this time they die with dignity.
* In another instance of Grey Knight-on-Sororita violence, during the climax of the first novel of the Grey Knight series, a detachment of Sisters led by Cannoness Ludmilla is tricked by a Chaos-turned Inquisitor into thinking that the Grey Knights pursuing it are Chaos Space Marines. Later (as in a few pages later), said detachment gets nearly kamikaze'd by said Grey Knight Strike Cruiser, which itself was shot down by Imperial Navy ships fooled into thinking that it was Chaos - starting to see a pattern here? Surprisingly, the only dudes that die from the crash are Imperial Guard and PDF - the Sisters survive but only to get the ever-Emprah-lovin' shit beaten out of them by the surviving Grey Knights. The sisters pull no punches, however, and do manage to take out a few of Alaric's squadmates, so power to them. BUT WAIT. Seeing as this was written by a much more competent author, unlike the ambiguous piece of shite-fluff written by a certain [[Matthew Ward|spiritual liege]], both sides figure out that this was part of an elaborate case of [[JUST AS PLANNED]], they stop fighting,and even more shockingly, the person who ends it is Cannoness Ludmilla, after noticing the FUCKHUEG books bolted on the GK's mighty pauldrons, and team up to take down the Big Baddy.

* Apart from the codex stuff, they were also stomped in the video game ''[[Dawn Of War|Dawn of War: Soulstorm]]''. It all started when [[Selena Agna]] of the Sacred Rose falsely accused Governer General [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs]] for the Warp Storm that appeared in Kaurava system. The sisters then had a zealots hard which resulted in them thinking that everyone, even their imperial brethren ([[Space Marines|Space Marines]] and [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Guards]]) should be purged. Stubbs, like a true gentleman, not only dismissed the claim, but was also planning to destroy the sisters without [[Khornate Knights|the worries of commit a heretical action]] because "fuck you, no way me and my men gonna die for from some crazy bitch's accusation." They were presumably killed sacrificing themselves in an attempt to destroy the enemy, though we don't know who it was that wiped them out (however considering that Gorgutz is the canonical winner, it was likely him).

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|300px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|300px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|300px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|300px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|300px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|300px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|300px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|300px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|300px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|300px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|300px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|300px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|300px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|300px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|300px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|300px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|300px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|300px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|300px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|300px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|300px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|300px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|300px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|300px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|300px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|300px]]

==The Sudden Yet Inevitable Betrayal==
{{MattWard}}

[[File:Sister_Hmph.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The reaction of Sisters and SoB players everywhere to the codex update.]] On August 1, 2011 [[Games Workshop]] finally decided to attempt to "revamp" the Sisters of Battle with a [[White Dwarf]] codex, much to the aggravation of about two thirds of the [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Witch Hunters|Witch Hunters']] remaining playerbase. It was by no means a horrible update; initial worries on [[/tg/]] suggested it to be akin to a biblical plague in terms of disaster-level, when in truth it was simply sub-average. The update had its fluff written by [[Matt Ward|your SPIRITUAL LIEGE]]. In spite of this, it was squarely in-level with another [[Tyranids|bad codex update]], because the rules were clearly written by committee.

Gone were the various inquisitorial units that got gobbled up by the [[Grey Knights]] codex update. This meant that many of the classics, like [[Witch Hunters#Notable Members of the Ordos Hereticus|Lord Inquisitor Krazypantzoff]] and [[Officio Assassinorum|Temple Assassins]], were gone, though they were replaced with Ecclesiarchy characters like [[Uriah Jacobus]] and [[Arch-Confessor Kyrinov]]. The Sisters did get some of Grey Knight units, namely [[Death Cult Assassin|Death Cult Assassins]], [[Arco-flagellant|Arco-Flagellants]], and [[Crusaders|Crusaders]], though their usefulness was questionable at best. [[Immolator|Immolators]] took a nasty nerf-bat to the face, being unable to fire on the move and losing all fire-points, which basically made them more-cost-effective [[Razorback Transport]]s). Who would have thought that Games Workshop would update an army by [[Carnifex|nerfing the one model every player had a couple of so that they all have to go out and buy new models]]?

Faith was functionally changed to a game of roulette, with randomized dice rolls deciding how much (if anything at all) you get. Units were given very specific faith powers on a squad-by-squad basis now, and whilst several were powerful, others were meh at best. [[Image:Repressor.jpg|right|thumb|Heavy armor in an update? We fucking ''wish''.]] Whereas before you had a nice general army that could use faith points to adapt to different situations, in the [[White Dwarf|Dwarf-dex]] system you had mostly weaker powers that were unreliable. Powers that most other units for similar points get permanently.

[[Sisters Repentia]] were originally purportedly nerfed, but in the end they were ''vastly'' better, boasting a 6++ invulnerable save, Fleet, and double their original number of attacks with a faith act to do more on death - meaning they stood a good chance of fucking up a lot of units they wouldn't pre-update... So ''now'' instead of paying ridiculous prices for a sick joke, you're just paying ridiculous prices for a suicide squad. At least they'll rape shit while they're there now. ''Progress''!

Sadly, things were muddled by a spree of fake releases as part of an [[Troll|April Fool's Prank]]. Original reports of genuinely useful units to offset the loss of the [[Stormtrooper|Stormtroopers]] and inducted forces thus turned out to be false. There was also talk of a new heavy transport/assault vehicle called the [[Repressor]], but it turned out to be part of the same fucking April Fool's Prank and is still Forgeworld-only (which sucks because it would be an improvement). Of the new characters, Kyrinov was semi-useful, and Jacobus was near-mandatory if you wanted to do anything with Acts of Faith. So in summary, about a third of the Sisters' armory is now gone without being replaced by anything. (The [[Bretonnia|knights]] feel your pain now.)

The biggest kick in the cunt for the Sisters, aside from the obvious loss of utility units, was the loss of ally rules and inducted unit rules. One of the biggest advantages the Sisters had was the ability to, courtesy of the Ordo Hereticus, requisition allied forces. A time-honored method of getting around the relatively weak Sisters of Battle vehicular lineup was to take some Inducted Guardsmen for a Leman Russ or two, or Space Marines for a Predator. The loss of Inquisitors also came with the loss of [[Land Raider|Land Raiders]] as dedicated transports, which was another stab at their vehicular capabilities.

===The Eternal Vigil===
[[Image:Homelesssister.jpg|right|thumb|Come on guys, she's got sisters to feed.]]
While many members of [[/tg/]] are violently, gleefully convinced the sisters are on their way to be [[Squat|squatted]], a tiny contingent of the faithful keeps a candle burning, waiting for the day that their beloved bolter bitches will rise again ([[Finecast|tiny bubbles]] and all).

*'''0172008.M3:''' The Sisters are released as a playable faction in [[Dawn of War|Dawn of War: Soulstorm]]. While it is poorly designed and built, it still drums up some enthusiasm for the Sisters. Many conflicted feels are had.
*'''0583011.M3:''' [[Matt Ward|The Destroyer]] and [[Robin Cruddace|The Cruddace]] release a playable [[White Dwarf]] codex for the sisters, hinting at a similar treatment to the [[Blood Angels|Blood <s>Angels]] </s> <s> heretics </s> fuck you.
*'''0608012.M3:''' The sisters are retained for the 6E allies system and given a new flyer via [[Forge World]]. An unconfirmed leak shows a line up of new Sisters characters in development.
*'''0569013.M3:''' Faithful pilgrims supplicate themselves before the great and powerful [[Jervis Johnson]] asking for news on the Sisters. They are told that all armies are being worked on and there are no plans to discontinue support for the sisters. [[Phil Kelly|The Kelly]] adds that modeling issues prevented their release previously.
*'''05611013.M3:''' Rumors begin swirling about an [[Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Adepta Sororitas|official digital codex]] release for the Sisters. A leaked and subsequently confirmed White Dwarf advert later confirms this, and promises an updated version of the 5e codex. A later interview with [[Robin Cruddace|The Cruddace]] indicates that the codex will include tweaks to Faith and points cost, and that if it sells well enough it may get a physical release. The release date for the digital codex was set for October 19th. Later comments on the GW Digital Editions facebook page confirms a Warlord Traits Chart, Ecclesiarchy Relics and an Altar of War, in addition to some updates, new fluff and artwork and changes to faith and points costs. It appears that the Sisters prayers have been at least partially answered. A physical release however is still very much dependent on the sale of this eBook however. Also during all this GW changes the name from Sisters of Battle to Adepta Sororitas most likely because it sounds cooler and is [[ChapterHouse Studios|easier to maintain copyright on]]. The reactions are mixed when the Codex is released, with such changes like making all Acts of Faith usable only once, maximum twice, per battle and many buffs and nerfs around the board, leaving many arguing whatever the Sisters got better or majorly screwed. However, this mixed reception '''is''' better than the universally negative reception of the [[White Dwarf]] codex.
*'''09999015.M3:''' Escalation is released, alongside Stronghold Assault. While Stronghold Assault slips by unnoticed, the Sisters of Battle receive no Lords of War choices in an otherwise controversial and poorly thought out expansion. It then falls to Forge World to release a downloadable sheet a few days later saying that Sisters armies can take Warhound & Reaver titans, as well as Marauder Bombers & Destroyers as Lords of War. The Sisters have yet to comment on how overkill these choices might be if they can ever deploy them. The Reaver is at least far too expensive for normal games.
*'''0914016.M3:''' The Adepta Sororitas digital codex finally gets a physical release as part of [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Agents|Codex: Imperial Agents]]. Like the digital codex, the new one has a mixed reception, as it removes Saint Celestine from the army (leaving the Sisters with a single named character) and comes with a formation that called the Vestal Task Force that isn't great. However, it also allows for Ministorum Priests to be taken independently, and separates the component units of the Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave, though these units are not given any buffs to make them useful on their own. Not much, but it was something.
[[Image:Celestine Fall of Cadia.jpg|left|thumb|Guess who's back, bitches?]]
*'''0999016.M3:''' The Warhammer TV team, after the initial hint in the video which saw Magnus announced, releases a compilation of 2016 launches. At the end of said video can be seen clearly several launches of January, including no other than a new plastic kit of the '''Living Saint Celestine''', supposedly tied to the release of The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia]]. The internet, and specially /tg/ and the SoB players go nuts shortly after that, which only gets worse after the confirmation in a Twitch live few hours later.
*'''0019017.M3:''' Fall of Cadia releases and Sisters are starting to return to the limelight. Not only do the Nuns With Guns play a substantial role in the 13th Black Crusade, but Saint Celestine is one of the key characters of the story, bringing reinforcements, rallying the beleaguered Imperial Forces, and facing off with [[Abaddon]] himself. She also gets updated rules which turn her into a powerhouse, capable of calling orbital strikes, chopping tanks in half, buffing nearby Imperial units, and becoming nearly impossible to kill. The book also comes with additional Ecclesiarchy Relics, causing much rejoicing among SoB fans.

===Optimistic Theory===
There's been a theory circulating the hobby stores and /tg/ for a couple years now that Sisters have been out of focus because GeeDubs haven't been able to make quality plastic molds of Sisters until very recently (two prominent GW people, Jes Goodwin and Phil Kelly, have said as much anyway). The general idea is that GeeDubs has been saving up, and will give Sisters a fancy hardcover codex at some point in the near future once the plastic models are finished. There seems to be some truth to this, as GW has recently released a spat of Sisters of Silence (including their own codex), along with Canoness Veridyan in resin and the Saint Celestine re-release in plastic.

===Getting Started With The Nuns===
As of the time of this writing the Sisters of Battle are only marginally better supported than GW's old specialist games, at least Bretonnia was all in plastic before the End Times took care of them, but the Sisters are all still in [[The Steadfast Pewter Sororitas|metal]]. In fact their range may be up to 90% of the models GW sells that still are in metal and they are priced accordingly to that. To build a single ten Sister squad leaves you almost 90 US dollars poorer right there, not counting any special or heavy weapons you want to add. The sculpts themselves are also over 20 years old, thankfully due to their unique nature and design most of their models are still very pleasant to look at, but nevertheless an update would be appreciated.

Compounding the issue is the fact that GeeDubs is cutting the range in to more tatters than a particular incident involving Grey Knights, the Sister's most notable loss of late was the Immolator (The local GW manager wasn't even aware of this fact) and most recently stocks of Sisters bearing Blessed Banners have dried up in the UK. Making hounding eBay the only real alternative.

Until that happens, any player looking to start Sisters has an unique problem; actually getting models for their army in a cost-effective way. This is especially problematic for the Sisters since they can and will eventually amass quite a bit of power-armored models, which while not as many as the IG or the Ork, they are still''' a wallet screaming nightmare to put together.'''

The first answer is to [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Proxy proxy], look for another company for models. The problem is that Sisters are '''unique'''. If you look around among other miniature manufacturers you'll find that the 'army of nuns in power armor' theme is, surprisingly uncommon (given how many Space Marines knockoffs you can find). Sure you can find one or two models, but nothing you can replicate army-wide. Your odds of finding proper models go up if you just look for 'girls in power armor' but even then your pickings are slim. Again any option you do find will likely be hard to use army wide unless you really commit to kit bashing to deal with weapon and pose problems. There's a few ideas and links in the [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Adeptus_Ministorum(8E) tactica.]

All in all, until GW puts some plastics out, there are no good options for sister players at the moment except MAYBE [[casting]] if you're dedicated and want official models on a budget.

==The James Swallow books: SoBs can win too!==
[[File:Hammer-and-anvil.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Sister Miriya from Hammer & Anvil; yes, [[Black Library]] artists can draw pretty sisters too.]]
Among [[Black Library]], there are two books, specifically starring the Sisters, that are widely considered to be some the finest portrayals of SoBs in all of [[40K]] fluff. Both were authored by [[James Swallow]], who decided that Sisters needed some attention and got to work. The first, [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Faith-and-Fire.html Faith and Fire], has the Sisters battling with what are basically terrorist psykers on a shrine world while trying to uncover the reasons behind the attacks. Then there's the sequel, [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Hammer-and-Anvil.html Hammer and Anvil]. Remember reading about Sanctuary 101 up there? This book has them going back there and trying to figure out what happened. While saying too much would be spoiling it, it can be said that shit hits the fan hard and that the final battle is very epic stuff. Also, if you're feeling extra faithful, Swallow wrote an SoB audiobook called [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/red-and-black-mp3.html Red and Black]. A prequel to Faith and Fire, it has the Sisters being sent to a recently rediscovered planet as representatives of the Imperium, and ultimately to judge it. Needless to say, things get complicated. Also features a Scottish SoB. So, you can help the Sisters by getting the above books so that [[Games Workshop]] and Black Library may decide to change their minds and give some love to these girls. Or at least give them some additional badass portrayals.

==Tactics==
The Sisters of Battle employ a costly yet simple tactic whenever they're called out for battle:

 1. Bring thousands of sexually deprived Sisters of Battle into the field.
 2.Arm them all with Melta and flame-based weapons.
 3.<s>Tell them they can shlick to the image of the Emperor if they triumph over the foul enemies of the Imperium.</s> {{BLAM|'''HERESY. *BLAM*'''}} - {{BLAM|'''HERESY. *BLAM*'''}} Nothing doing with only the Empror filling your mind is heresy! Since he is the perfect human it is only natural to shlick to him! Filthy heretic!
 4.Set them loose, hope you are not fighting slaaneshi cult, hope you're fighting Dark Eldar wyches (although they do seem to be doing that just fine in one of the artworks on this page).
 5.If they do win, all remaining Imperial troops, save for the SoBs, are ordered off the field.
 6.No other accounts can be heard of, as remembrancers and all other Imperial journalists are sworn to an oath of silence on whatever events transpired (one theory is it would look like a mix of "Soldier of Fortune" and "Girls Gone Wild")
 7.????
 8.Profit.

''(Yes we do have a real tactica, its [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Adeptus_Ministorum(8E)|here]].)''

==Notable Sororitas Characters==
{|align=center border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0""
|-
|align=center|'''Name'''
|align=center|'''Order'''
|align=center|'''Description/Current Status'''
|align=center|'''Image'''
|align=center|'''Model'''
|-
|align=center|'''[[Canoness Veridyan]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|The canoness from the cover of the 2nd Edition codex. A steadfast, calculating woman who operates with a high degree of precision.
|align=center|[[Image:Veridyan Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:Veridyan Model.jpg|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Ephrael Stern]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|Also known as the Thrice-Born and the Daemonifuge. A living weapon against Chaos, currently heading to the Black Library with a harlequin.
|align=center|[[Image:Ephrael Stern Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:SternMini.JPG|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Miriael Sabathiel]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]] (formerly)
|align=center|Former Sister Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady and one of the very few Sisters who fell to Chaos (specifically, Slaanesh worship).
|align=center|[[Image:Miriael Sabathiel Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|None
|-
|align=center|'''Mirya'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|Celestian Elohim (Celestian Sergeant) of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. The protagonist of Swallow's Sister of Battle books.
|align=center|[[Image:Mirya Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|None
|-
|align=center|'''[[Saint Celestine]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]] (formerly)
|align=center|A sister who became one of the most famous [[Living Saint|Living Saints]] in the Imperium.
|align=center|[[Image:Celestine Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:Celestine 7e.jpg|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Canoness-Errant Setheno]]'''
|align=center|Order of Piercing Thorn (Minoris)
|align=center|After burning her own order down after it's corruption, she became Canoness Errant, a vaguely defined position that involves a lot of asskicking. Allied with the [[Black Dragons]] and [[Commissar Yarrick]]. Inquisitors wish they were as scary as her.
|align=center|None
|align=center|None
|}

==See Also==
*[[Codex - Adeptus Ministorum /tg/ Edition]] - An [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]] [[homebrew]] codex for everyone's favorite Nuns With Guns. Includes new characters, frateris milita, flyers, customizable Living Saints, and much more!
*[[Sisters of Cleaning]] - a [[/tg/]] created order.
*[[Sister Hospitaler]] - a non-militant Sister.
*[[The Times and Trials of Klightus]]; a love story about a shy [[Imperial Guard | Guardsman]] and a Sister of Battle.
*[[The Steadfast Pewter Sororitas]] - a sad story about what happens to those metal Sisters that don't get bought.
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Adeptus Ministorum(8E)]] - tactica on how to play them.
*[[Sisters of Battle Order Creation Tables]] - Create your very own Order of pyromaniac nuns.
*[[Sisters of Sigmar]] - The Warhammer Fantasy equivalent
*[[Psychic Sisters]] - A small house rule for 7th edition if you want your sisters a bit more witch hunting, but don't want to go full /tg/ edition.
*[[Sister of Nurgle]] - An article riddled with the blessings of Nurgle and PROMOTIONS.
*[[Codex - Sisters of Battle: /tg/ edition]] - in which the glory of the Witch Hunters, fueled by the possibilities of the 6th edition rulebook come together to cleanse the battlefield in a holy trinity of prometheum, bolter shells and melta rays. As of [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]], these rules are no longer usable.
*[[Codex - Adepta Sororitas: /tg/ 7th Edition]] - the result of an anon challenging /tg/ to update the mediocre 6th edition digital codex; a true update that makes full use of 7th edition rules. Includes formations, flyers, decurions, customizable Living Saints, and much more. As of [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]], these rules are no longer usable.

==External Links==
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1426730/ suptg archive about Sisters of Battle and pedophilia].
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHuNbWMBAeA FOR THE IMPERIUM! ''Hey, there's no rule saying that warrior space nuns can't be badass.'']
*[https://www.sendspace.com/file/8zykal Rules & Summary for Codex: Adepta Sororitas, for those who do not like the clusterfuck 7e digital codex.]

==Costume Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Sororita cosplay7.jpg
Image:SororitaAsianCosplay.jpg|Sister Shoju
Image:Sororita_cosplay4.jpg
Image:Repentia_+_bolter_bitches.jpg|The [[China|Chinese]] are beating us to the punch.
image:Sis.jpg
image:Celestine Cosplay.jpg|Sweet Emprah!
image:SoB Cosplay.jpg
image:SoB Cosplay 2.jpg|Scarred sisters are best sisters
image:SoB Cosplay 3.jpg
image:Shenzi sob warhammer 77 by cynshenzi-dalqqbb.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:AdSor.jpg|[[Meme|Scourge and Purge!]]
File:16 bit Battle Sisters SteelJoe.gif|The Action-Girls of 40k (Animated!)
Image:Nun n' Gun.jpg|What? U MAD [[Space Marines|SPESS MAHREEN?]]
Image:Sister of D'awwwww.jpg|They aren't actually this cute. -But they should be.-
Image:But That's Heresy.jpg|But whatever it is, it's probably worth it. Maybe.
Image:Sororit as planned.jpg| The rape face you know you love.
Image:Pedo Sisters.jpg
Image:NoiseMarine SoB.jpg | [[Rape|We all know how this is going to end.]]
Image:MujuLolcron.jpg|Love Can Bl-- wait.
Image:Sororitas.png
Image:Ephrael_stern_page29.jpg|There was a sister in the [[Lost Worlds]] battlebook series.
Image:1290509755821.jpg|Can't read my, Can't read my, No he cannot read my Purging Face (She's got no one to spare)
Image:Sistersnslaanesh.jpg| Incompetent Inquisitor is incompetent (Hey, we know he did that on purpose).
Image:1269678816033.jpg|dum dum dum... dummmm
Image:1228253984074.jpg|OMNOMNOMNOM
Image:1230052783344.png|Post whenever you need to make a fa/tg/uy rage that he doesn't understand the role and jurisdiction of Commissars.
Image:Peachsororitas.jpg|Sorry Mario, but your Heresy is in another castle
Image:Games Workshop Hates France.jpeg|This is rain.
Image:1232217288173.jpg|
Image:LolimoNsis.png
Image:B0018254_4897156440df9.jpg|Grimdark meets [[Hot Chicks]].
Image:1227858843066.jpg|Sisters love delicious xeno shota.
Image:Sororita_change_poster.png|Yes We Can
Image:Nagasister_of_battle.jpg|Are we this desperate for recruits?
image:Haters.png|Some day we too will receive an utterly broken codex update, and when we do this image will be faithfully waiting for you.
image:Sistersuperior.jpg|
image:1335738154693.jpg
Image:SisterShy.jpg|You don't want to see her tsun side.
image:Notsureheresy.jpg
File:Heretic%3F_Colored.jpg|Better purge them anyway...
image:SisterCheer.jpg|<s>NO THATS STUPID NO NO NO.</s> Let's face it, being a bunch of glorified cheerleaders isn't that far off the mark nowadays...
image:Sisterweeaboo.jpg
image:Pyschosister.jpg|[[Awesome|Problems heretics?]]
image:ChaosCookies.png|Just as planned.
image:BurnHereticsBurn.jpg|Heretics gunna get burned.
Image:SororitaInquisitorIsntHome.jpg|When the Inquisitor's away, the Sisters will play...
File:Sisters of repentia sisters of battle Adepta Sororitas rule 34 montage can't believe how hard fetish rule 34 Warhammer 40k myoc redux.jpg|As hilarious as it is to picture a bunch of semi-nude nuns bull rushing a carnifex or a baneblade through a hail of gunfire, it's also weirdly sexy. Behold, the [[Sisters Repentia]].
</gallery>
</center>

 
{{Promotions}}
 
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Canoness femdom.jpg|Goddamn fetishists... '''Ohoho!''' The [[Slaanesh|glorious satin throne]] is telling me '''someone''' is feeling a little butthurt! Speaking of which I'm late for my [[Rape|lunchtime appointment]].
Image:Sistergangbang.png|There are not too many men (not counting old priests) in Adepta Sororitas so they have to improvise.
File:Strip_hammer_commission_for_propertyoflamb_by_hotgum-dagtqp6.jpg|What happens when a Battle Sister, a Repentia, a Hospitaller and a Living Saint decide they need to make a little cash?
Image:R-daemonette 10.jpg |evidence that slaneesh can corrupt sisters of battle
Image:Repentia_1.jpg|Sisters Repentia are supposed to repent. Stop whinging you know we know that you like this more.
Image:FIGHTBYMYSIDE.jpg| An imperial artist's representation of a living saint.
Image:1230051355300.gif|GENESTEALERS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. <s>-But they should-</s> NO THEY SHOULDN'T, YOU SICK [[Slaanesh|PERV]].
Image:Sister reading heretical text by Naga.gif
Image:1233114472588.png|Unlike other settings, in 40k this kind of thing DOESN'T work. Still kinda hot though.
Image:Sororitas strawberries.jpg
Image:Sisters.jpg
Image:1228252747952.jpg|Cum my sisters!
Image:Repentia_2.jpg|Not that they are fanatical about it.
Image:sister_n_slaaneshi.jpg|Sister in ''deep'' trouble.
Image:2nhnnlh.jpg|The lesser known loli chapter.
Image:X6eb14.jpg|More loli.
Image:SistervsLeviathan.jpg|OMNOMNOMNOM
File:Sororita_by_ipheli-d9mzze4.png|Sister Temeraire at rest
File:Sororita_2_rest_by_ipheli-damic1m.png|Interesting place for your devotional tattoo...
Image:Saint celestine and the geminae superia by sexual yeti-dat6rd3.png|Sexy Celestine
image:91a96fb85899c260cb028d6ac34603b6.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

{{Template:Sisters-of-Battle}}
{{Template:Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[category:Imperial]][[Category:Matt Ward]]
[[Category:Sisters of Battle]]

Sisters of Battle

2018-01-08T00:48:21Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

''"Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings, and you have a practical guarantee of dark morbidities expressed in crime, perversion, and insanity."''

-H.P. Lovecraft

''"Strength through purity. Purity through faith. Strength through unity. Unity through faith.''"

''[[Guidelines of the Space Marines|Space Marine Guideline]] 1: Thou shalt not refer to the Adepta Sororitas as "[[Bolter]] [[Bitches]]," nor shalt thou go anywhere near our sisters during the time of their "Red Rage," lest thou wish to be the first human to enter orbit without the aid of a shuttle.
[[File:AdSor 2.jpg|300px|right|thumb|We'd like to [[Flamer|talk]] [[Bolter|to]] [[Meltagun|you]] for a moment about your [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Lord and Savior]]]]
'''Sisters of Battle''' are essentially [[Warhammer 40k]]'s female equivalent of [[Space Marines]], warriors devoted to the [[God-Emperor_of_Mankind|Emperor]]. Although they lack the genetic modification of their beefier brethren, they also wear [[power armour]] and are armed mainly with the ubiquitous [[Bolter]] and [[Chainsword]]. The Sisters of Battle are also known as the "Daughters of the Emperor", and officially as the "Adepta Sororitas", though the Adepta Sororitas refers to their entire organization, while the term Sisters of Battle refers only to their militant branch. They are more colloquially known by players as "bolter bitches" or "nuns with guns", almost always resulting in an awkward boner. They are ''not'' to be confused with [[Female Space Marines]].

==Overview==
[[File:Lusty Marine.png|300px|thumb|left]]
The Sisters of Battle are part of the [[Ecclesiarchy]], the religious arm of Imperial government, and sometimes work with the [[Inquisition]]'s [[Witch Hunters]]. In the 36th millennium, the Ecclesiarchy's pope launched a coup d'état that led to a devastating civil war. After said pope was crushed, the Imperium banned the Ecclesiarchy from having its own army. However, they fucked up the wording of the law, which only explicitly banned the church from having "men at arms", but not "women at arms". The Ecclesiarchy fully exploited this loophole.

They have somewhat of an obsession with the purifying effects of flame, and generally choose equipment that allows them to cover heretics with as much holy promethium and thermal lances as possible. This philosophy is most obviously exemplified by the Immolator tank, essentially a rolling [[METAL BOXES|steel crate]] with giant flamethrowers or multi-meltas stuck on it. They also have the [[Exorcist]], a mobile pipe organ that shoots missiles. Less accurate than the Whirlwind Missile Launcher or any Imperial Guard artillery, but who cares, the thought of pipe organs launching missiles while playing epic mass complete with Latin is fuckawesome, dammit.

[[File:Ordersmilitant.jpg|200px|thumb|right|An overview of the six main Orders. Sadly brief, but characterful.]]

There are six main Orders. All minor Orders are descended from one of these.

* '''Sacred Rose:''' cool, calm and collected. The most tactical Sisters. Enjoy gunning their foes down in a more disciplined manner. If they were to get their own rules, their Rets would have slow and purposeful. They wear White.

* '''Ebon Chalice:''' the vanilla Order. These Sisters haven't changed a whole lot since they were first created, preferring to stick to their tried and tested methods. They wear Black.

* '''Argent Shroud:''' the Lawful Goods. Are a rarity among Imperial factions, in that they are described as being famous for selfless heroism, as well as altruism. For this reason, /tg/ likes to fluff them as noble space Paladins and she-bros to the [[Salamanders]]. They wear Silver.

* '''Bloody Rose:''' aggressive as fuck. Aim to kill off their enemies as quickly as possible, as they see no reason to let the heretic live any longer than necessary. They wear Red.

* '''Our Martyred Lady:''' the postergirl Order, depicted in most mainstream portrayals of the Sisters. This has led to many people thinking that all Sisters have white hair, when it is in fact seemingly only this Order that does it. The Order itself is reputed as being determined even for SoBs, which is saying something. Will not stop until their enemies are utterly destroyed. They wear Black and Red.

* '''Valorous Heart:''' Repent! These Sisters feel the guiltiest about that whole [[Age of Apostasy]] thing, and as a result have an excess of [[Sisters Repentia|Repentias]]. Likely on constant lookout for the slightest sign of weakness in themselves or any allies serving alongside them. They wear the most black.

==Sororitas Orders Non-Militant==
As mentioned in the opening, not all of the Adepta Sororitas are actually Sisters of Battle. A number of Orders exist which officially serve non-combat-related roles in Imperial Society, although they tend to receive even less attention than their combat-fighting sisters. The largest source of info on these Sororitas thus-far is the ''Blood of Martyrs'' sourcebook for [[Dark Heresy]], which specifies the three most important Orders and mentions the existence of others, even lesser in nature. ''Blood of Martyrs'' even includes character classes for members of the three major Orders Non-Militant.

* '''Orders Dialogous:''' These Sororitas are dedicated to the studying of language, with tasks ranging from interpreting long-lost texts to accompanying Imperial diplomats on contact missions with intelligent xenos species. Thanks to their training, even the most average Sororitas knows several hundred everyday human dialects and dozens of secret cants, ciphers, even xenos tongues. Sororitas of these Orders are some of the few individuals judged worthy (and capable) of actually understanding the [[Eldar]] tongue.

* '''Orders Famulous:''' Figuratively the [[Dune|Bene Gesserit]] without the kung fu skills from perfect body control. These Sororitas serve intimately with the upper echelons of Imperial society, acting as chamberlains, counselors, and consuls to the nobility. Their focus is on the spiritual and genetic purity of the human race, so they concern themselves with not only seeing to the education of nobles, but also secretly arranging alliances and marriages, in the hope of preventing corruption and inbreeding from taking root. They are particularly involved in tracking the manifestations of saints, which makes them a popular ally for Thorian Inquisitors.

* '''Orders Hospitaller:''' Healers and medics, these Sororitas are amongst the most skilled and compassionate surgeons in the Imperium, meaning they are commonly found attached to the [[Imperial Guard]]. Given their mission, they are one of the more beloved orders by the common citizenry of the Imperium. Of course, this being the Imperium, they're also expert torturers often called upon for that purpose by the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition, though Inquisitors are cautioned against using Hospitallers to keep important heretics alive; they have a bad tendency to forget about the future gains and instead "take the Emperor's justice into their own hands".

* Others: Scores, perhaps even hundreds, of minor non-militant Orders exist within the Adepta Sororitas. ''Blood of Martyrs'' mentions the '''Orders Sabine''' (who infiltrate newly rediscovered worlds and prepare them for the Missionarius Galaxia) and '''Orders Pronatus''' (guardians of sacred relics) as examples of more wide-spread Orders Non-Militant, and three "local" Orders in the forms of the '''Madriga''' (temple choirs), '''Planxilium''' (leading processionals on holy days) and '''Vespila''' (sanctifying the dead and forensic specialists).

==Sisters Snuff==
Back in [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|1st Edition]], they were present fluff only as an order that was essentially the [[Just As Planned|Inquisition for everyone including the Inquisition]] (like an Inquisition Internal Affairs branch; a "who watches the watchmen?" deal) and [[Derp|Space Marines]]. This would change in later editions, when they eventually get their own codex.

In 1997, when the [[Necron|Necrons]] were launched, [[Games Workshop]] had them face the Sisters in a Battle report, which the Sisters lost. The results of this battle report then became the [[Sanctuary 101]] fluff. Games Workshop liked the result so much that they decided the Sisters of Battle should get slaughtered all the time. Unless they are falling to Chaos, obviously. Some fans blame popular GW whipping boy [[Matthew Ward|Matt "Spiritual Liege" Ward]] for this tendency, but it was there long before he got here [[FATAL|and it continues to exist after he left]].

Please note that while [[Heresy|fa/tg/uys]] [[/d/|masturbate furiously]] to fanfics of Sisters engaging in bdsm fetish sex with the likes of other Lesbian sisters, servitors, children, Schola Progenium cadets, Eldar, Dark Eldar, [[WhipsOil&Lofn|Half-Eldar]] or even the likes of [[Sister of Nurgle|Nurgle]], all of the below actually, '''canonically''' ''fucking happened''. (It should also be worth noting that they're getting stomped '''by their own fucking allies''' in most of these.)

[[File:Warhammer_40k_sisters_of_battle_adeptas_sororitas_battling_Dark_Eldar.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Heroic Fascist Space Nuns + Evil BDSM Space Elves = [[Faptau|YEAH!]]]]
Some highlights include:
* Some of a Dialogus Order and some Battle Sisters turned to Chaos by a [[Slaanesh|Slaaneshi]] Keeper of Secrets.
* A whole Order Mind Controlled by one Chaos [[Psyker]]. Fucking [[C.S.Goto|Goto]] (This happened again in the Ciaphas Cain books, although it was only a tiny convent with a couple of squads of sisters, not a entire Order and said pskyer was also a direct lieutenant of the [[Failbaddon|Despoiler]] himself and could control [[powergamer|entire planets]]).
* A strike force of [[Celestians]] and an [[Inquisitor]] being killed, cannibalized, and sacrificed by the Sons of Malice Astartes chapter for disturbing their victory rites and falsely accusing the chapter of heresy. (To be fair, a small force of sisters against an entire Chapter? Still doesn't excuse the cannibalism, though.)
* A whole shrine-world of Sisters killed by a <s>[[Chaos Dreadnought#Helbrute|Helbrute]]</s> [[Daemon Engine]] powered by [[rage]]. It shrugs off meltas, meltabombs and multiple [[Exorcist]] volleys, and the efforts of a number of [[Salamanders]] in Terminator armour. A [[Living Saint]] even gives up her divinity (not to be confused with virginity) to stop it by speaking the bound Daemon's true name (her order had a vow of silence, probably so the audio recording team didn't need to hire women to do any of the speaking rolls for the audio drama), therefore weakening it after her aura of peace causes it to calm down and shrink down to the size of a man instead of a massive daemon walker. The daemon is then destroyed when its shell is broken after a Space Marine decides to throw a [[Power weapon|Thunder Hammer]] at it. ''We are not making this shit up''.
* A detachment of Sisters killed by [[Grey Knights]], [[Khornate Knights|their bodies sliced open and their blood applied to the Grey Knights' armor, so the Grey Knights can be immune to the Bloodtide's effects (though some of the Sisters were immune with faith alone, make of that what you will).]] The Bloodtide was retconned in the most recent Grey Knights Codex to instead go down holding the line long enough for their Grey Knight allies to finish off the Daemons. Still losing, but at least this time they die with dignity.
* In another instance of Grey Knight-on-Sororita violence, during the climax of the first novel of the Grey Knight series, a detachment of Sisters led by Cannoness Ludmilla is tricked by a Chaos-turned Inquisitor into thinking that the Grey Knights pursuing it are Chaos Space Marines. Later (as in a few pages later), said detachment gets nearly kamikaze'd by said Grey Knight Strike Cruiser, which itself was shot down by Imperial Navy ships fooled into thinking that it was Chaos - starting to see a pattern here? Surprisingly, the only dudes that die from the crash are Imperial Guard and PDF - the Sisters survive but only to get the ever-Emprah-lovin' shit beaten out of them by the surviving Grey Knights. The sisters pull no punches, however, and do manage to take out a few of Alaric's squadmates, so power to them. BUT WAIT. Seeing as this was written by a much more competent author, unlike the ambiguous piece of shite-fluff written by a certain [[Matthew Ward|spiritual liege]], both sides figure out that this was part of an elaborate case of [[JUST AS PLANNED]], they stop fighting,and even more shockingly, the person who ends it is Cannoness Ludmilla, after noticing the FUCKHUEG books bolted on the GK's mighty pauldrons, and team up to take down the Big Baddy.

* Apart from the codex stuff, they were also stomped in the video game ''[[Dawn Of War|Dawn of War: Soulstorm]]''. It all started when [[Selena Agna]] of the Sacred Rose falsely accused Governer General [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs]] for the Warp Storm that appeared in Kaurava system. The sisters then had a zealots hard which resulted in them thinking that everyone, even their imperial brethren ([[Space Marines|Space Marines]] and [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Guards]]) should be purged. Stubbs, like a true gentleman, not only dismissed the claim, but was also planning to destroy the sisters without [[Khornate Knights|the worries of commit a heretical action]] because "fuck you, no way me and my men gonna die for from some crazy bitch's accusation." They were presumably killed sacrificing themselves in an attempt to destroy the enemy, though we don't know who it was that wiped them out (however considering that Gorgutz is the canonical winner, it was likely him).

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|600px]]
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[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|600px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|600px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|600px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|600px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|600px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|600px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|600px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|600px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|600px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|600px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|600px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|600px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|600px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|600px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|600px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|600px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|600px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|600px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|600px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|600px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|600px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|600px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|600px]]

==The Sudden Yet Inevitable Betrayal==
{{MattWard}}

[[File:Sister_Hmph.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The reaction of Sisters and SoB players everywhere to the codex update.]] On August 1, 2011 [[Games Workshop]] finally decided to attempt to "revamp" the Sisters of Battle with a [[White Dwarf]] codex, much to the aggravation of about two thirds of the [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Witch Hunters|Witch Hunters']] remaining playerbase. It was by no means a horrible update; initial worries on [[/tg/]] suggested it to be akin to a biblical plague in terms of disaster-level, when in truth it was simply sub-average. The update had its fluff written by [[Matt Ward|your SPIRITUAL LIEGE]]. In spite of this, it was squarely in-level with another [[Tyranids|bad codex update]], because the rules were clearly written by committee.

Gone were the various inquisitorial units that got gobbled up by the [[Grey Knights]] codex update. This meant that many of the classics, like [[Witch Hunters#Notable Members of the Ordos Hereticus|Lord Inquisitor Krazypantzoff]] and [[Officio Assassinorum|Temple Assassins]], were gone, though they were replaced with Ecclesiarchy characters like [[Uriah Jacobus]] and [[Arch-Confessor Kyrinov]]. The Sisters did get some of Grey Knight units, namely [[Death Cult Assassin|Death Cult Assassins]], [[Arco-flagellant|Arco-Flagellants]], and [[Crusaders|Crusaders]], though their usefulness was questionable at best. [[Immolator|Immolators]] took a nasty nerf-bat to the face, being unable to fire on the move and losing all fire-points, which basically made them more-cost-effective [[Razorback Transport]]s). Who would have thought that Games Workshop would update an army by [[Carnifex|nerfing the one model every player had a couple of so that they all have to go out and buy new models]]?

Faith was functionally changed to a game of roulette, with randomized dice rolls deciding how much (if anything at all) you get. Units were given very specific faith powers on a squad-by-squad basis now, and whilst several were powerful, others were meh at best. [[Image:Repressor.jpg|right|thumb|Heavy armor in an update? We fucking ''wish''.]] Whereas before you had a nice general army that could use faith points to adapt to different situations, in the [[White Dwarf|Dwarf-dex]] system you had mostly weaker powers that were unreliable. Powers that most other units for similar points get permanently.

[[Sisters Repentia]] were originally purportedly nerfed, but in the end they were ''vastly'' better, boasting a 6++ invulnerable save, Fleet, and double their original number of attacks with a faith act to do more on death - meaning they stood a good chance of fucking up a lot of units they wouldn't pre-update... So ''now'' instead of paying ridiculous prices for a sick joke, you're just paying ridiculous prices for a suicide squad. At least they'll rape shit while they're there now. ''Progress''!

Sadly, things were muddled by a spree of fake releases as part of an [[Troll|April Fool's Prank]]. Original reports of genuinely useful units to offset the loss of the [[Stormtrooper|Stormtroopers]] and inducted forces thus turned out to be false. There was also talk of a new heavy transport/assault vehicle called the [[Repressor]], but it turned out to be part of the same fucking April Fool's Prank and is still Forgeworld-only (which sucks because it would be an improvement). Of the new characters, Kyrinov was semi-useful, and Jacobus was near-mandatory if you wanted to do anything with Acts of Faith. So in summary, about a third of the Sisters' armory is now gone without being replaced by anything. (The [[Bretonnia|knights]] feel your pain now.)

The biggest kick in the cunt for the Sisters, aside from the obvious loss of utility units, was the loss of ally rules and inducted unit rules. One of the biggest advantages the Sisters had was the ability to, courtesy of the Ordo Hereticus, requisition allied forces. A time-honored method of getting around the relatively weak Sisters of Battle vehicular lineup was to take some Inducted Guardsmen for a Leman Russ or two, or Space Marines for a Predator. The loss of Inquisitors also came with the loss of [[Land Raider|Land Raiders]] as dedicated transports, which was another stab at their vehicular capabilities.

===The Eternal Vigil===
[[Image:Homelesssister.jpg|right|thumb|Come on guys, she's got sisters to feed.]]
While many members of [[/tg/]] are violently, gleefully convinced the sisters are on their way to be [[Squat|squatted]], a tiny contingent of the faithful keeps a candle burning, waiting for the day that their beloved bolter bitches will rise again ([[Finecast|tiny bubbles]] and all).

*'''0172008.M3:''' The Sisters are released as a playable faction in [[Dawn of War|Dawn of War: Soulstorm]]. While it is poorly designed and built, it still drums up some enthusiasm for the Sisters. Many conflicted feels are had.
*'''0583011.M3:''' [[Matt Ward|The Destroyer]] and [[Robin Cruddace|The Cruddace]] release a playable [[White Dwarf]] codex for the sisters, hinting at a similar treatment to the [[Blood Angels|Blood <s>Angels]] </s> <s> heretics </s> fuck you.
*'''0608012.M3:''' The sisters are retained for the 6E allies system and given a new flyer via [[Forge World]]. An unconfirmed leak shows a line up of new Sisters characters in development.
*'''0569013.M3:''' Faithful pilgrims supplicate themselves before the great and powerful [[Jervis Johnson]] asking for news on the Sisters. They are told that all armies are being worked on and there are no plans to discontinue support for the sisters. [[Phil Kelly|The Kelly]] adds that modeling issues prevented their release previously.
*'''05611013.M3:''' Rumors begin swirling about an [[Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Adepta Sororitas|official digital codex]] release for the Sisters. A leaked and subsequently confirmed White Dwarf advert later confirms this, and promises an updated version of the 5e codex. A later interview with [[Robin Cruddace|The Cruddace]] indicates that the codex will include tweaks to Faith and points cost, and that if it sells well enough it may get a physical release. The release date for the digital codex was set for October 19th. Later comments on the GW Digital Editions facebook page confirms a Warlord Traits Chart, Ecclesiarchy Relics and an Altar of War, in addition to some updates, new fluff and artwork and changes to faith and points costs. It appears that the Sisters prayers have been at least partially answered. A physical release however is still very much dependent on the sale of this eBook however. Also during all this GW changes the name from Sisters of Battle to Adepta Sororitas most likely because it sounds cooler and is [[ChapterHouse Studios|easier to maintain copyright on]]. The reactions are mixed when the Codex is released, with such changes like making all Acts of Faith usable only once, maximum twice, per battle and many buffs and nerfs around the board, leaving many arguing whatever the Sisters got better or majorly screwed. However, this mixed reception '''is''' better than the universally negative reception of the [[White Dwarf]] codex.
*'''09999015.M3:''' Escalation is released, alongside Stronghold Assault. While Stronghold Assault slips by unnoticed, the Sisters of Battle receive no Lords of War choices in an otherwise controversial and poorly thought out expansion. It then falls to Forge World to release a downloadable sheet a few days later saying that Sisters armies can take Warhound & Reaver titans, as well as Marauder Bombers & Destroyers as Lords of War. The Sisters have yet to comment on how overkill these choices might be if they can ever deploy them. The Reaver is at least far too expensive for normal games.
*'''0914016.M3:''' The Adepta Sororitas digital codex finally gets a physical release as part of [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Agents|Codex: Imperial Agents]]. Like the digital codex, the new one has a mixed reception, as it removes Saint Celestine from the army (leaving the Sisters with a single named character) and comes with a formation that called the Vestal Task Force that isn't great. However, it also allows for Ministorum Priests to be taken independently, and separates the component units of the Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave, though these units are not given any buffs to make them useful on their own. Not much, but it was something.
[[Image:Celestine Fall of Cadia.jpg|left|thumb|Guess who's back, bitches?]]
*'''0999016.M3:''' The Warhammer TV team, after the initial hint in the video which saw Magnus announced, releases a compilation of 2016 launches. At the end of said video can be seen clearly several launches of January, including no other than a new plastic kit of the '''Living Saint Celestine''', supposedly tied to the release of The Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia]]. The internet, and specially /tg/ and the SoB players go nuts shortly after that, which only gets worse after the confirmation in a Twitch live few hours later.
*'''0019017.M3:''' Fall of Cadia releases and Sisters are starting to return to the limelight. Not only do the Nuns With Guns play a substantial role in the 13th Black Crusade, but Saint Celestine is one of the key characters of the story, bringing reinforcements, rallying the beleaguered Imperial Forces, and facing off with [[Abaddon]] himself. She also gets updated rules which turn her into a powerhouse, capable of calling orbital strikes, chopping tanks in half, buffing nearby Imperial units, and becoming nearly impossible to kill. The book also comes with additional Ecclesiarchy Relics, causing much rejoicing among SoB fans.

===Optimistic Theory===
There's been a theory circulating the hobby stores and /tg/ for a couple years now that Sisters have been out of focus because GeeDubs haven't been able to make quality plastic molds of Sisters until very recently (two prominent GW people, Jes Goodwin and Phil Kelly, have said as much anyway). The general idea is that GeeDubs has been saving up, and will give Sisters a fancy hardcover codex at some point in the near future once the plastic models are finished. There seems to be some truth to this, as GW has recently released a spat of Sisters of Silence (including their own codex), along with Canoness Veridyan in resin and the Saint Celestine re-release in plastic.

===Getting Started With The Nuns===
As of the time of this writing the Sisters of Battle are only marginally better supported than GW's old specialist games, at least Bretonnia was all in plastic before the End Times took care of them, but the Sisters are all still in [[The Steadfast Pewter Sororitas|metal]]. In fact their range may be up to 90% of the models GW sells that still are in metal and they are priced accordingly to that. To build a single ten Sister squad leaves you almost 90 US dollars poorer right there, not counting any special or heavy weapons you want to add. The sculpts themselves are also over 20 years old, thankfully due to their unique nature and design most of their models are still very pleasant to look at, but nevertheless an update would be appreciated.

Compounding the issue is the fact that GeeDubs is cutting the range in to more tatters than a particular incident involving Grey Knights, the Sister's most notable loss of late was the Immolator (The local GW manager wasn't even aware of this fact) and most recently stocks of Sisters bearing Blessed Banners have dried up in the UK. Making hounding eBay the only real alternative.

Until that happens, any player looking to start Sisters has an unique problem; actually getting models for their army in a cost-effective way. This is especially problematic for the Sisters since they can and will eventually amass quite a bit of power-armored models, which while not as many as the IG or the Ork, they are still''' a wallet screaming nightmare to put together.'''

The first answer is to [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Proxy proxy], look for another company for models. The problem is that Sisters are '''unique'''. If you look around among other miniature manufacturers you'll find that the 'army of nuns in power armor' theme is, surprisingly uncommon (given how many Space Marines knockoffs you can find). Sure you can find one or two models, but nothing you can replicate army-wide. Your odds of finding proper models go up if you just look for 'girls in power armor' but even then your pickings are slim. Again any option you do find will likely be hard to use army wide unless you really commit to kit bashing to deal with weapon and pose problems. There's a few ideas and links in the [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Adeptus_Ministorum(8E) tactica.]

All in all, until GW puts some plastics out, there are no good options for sister players at the moment except MAYBE [[casting]] if you're dedicated and want official models on a budget.

==The James Swallow books: SoBs can win too!==
[[File:Hammer-and-anvil.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Sister Miriya from Hammer & Anvil; yes, [[Black Library]] artists can draw pretty sisters too.]]
Among [[Black Library]], there are two books, specifically starring the Sisters, that are widely considered to be some the finest portrayals of SoBs in all of [[40K]] fluff. Both were authored by [[James Swallow]], who decided that Sisters needed some attention and got to work. The first, [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Faith-and-Fire.html Faith and Fire], has the Sisters battling with what are basically terrorist psykers on a shrine world while trying to uncover the reasons behind the attacks. Then there's the sequel, [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Hammer-and-Anvil.html Hammer and Anvil]. Remember reading about Sanctuary 101 up there? This book has them going back there and trying to figure out what happened. While saying too much would be spoiling it, it can be said that shit hits the fan hard and that the final battle is very epic stuff. Also, if you're feeling extra faithful, Swallow wrote an SoB audiobook called [http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/red-and-black-mp3.html Red and Black]. A prequel to Faith and Fire, it has the Sisters being sent to a recently rediscovered planet as representatives of the Imperium, and ultimately to judge it. Needless to say, things get complicated. Also features a Scottish SoB. So, you can help the Sisters by getting the above books so that [[Games Workshop]] and Black Library may decide to change their minds and give some love to these girls. Or at least give them some additional badass portrayals.

==Tactics==
The Sisters of Battle employ a costly yet simple tactic whenever they're called out for battle:

 1. Bring thousands of sexually deprived Sisters of Battle into the field.
 2.Arm them all with Melta and flame-based weapons.
 3.<s>Tell them they can shlick to the image of the Emperor if they triumph over the foul enemies of the Imperium.</s> {{BLAM|'''HERESY. *BLAM*'''}} - {{BLAM|'''HERESY. *BLAM*'''}} Nothing doing with only the Empror filling your mind is heresy! Since he is the perfect human it is only natural to shlick to him! Filthy heretic!
 4.Set them loose, hope you are not fighting slaaneshi cult, hope you're fighting Dark Eldar wyches (although they do seem to be doing that just fine in one of the artworks on this page).
 5.If they do win, all remaining Imperial troops, save for the SoBs, are ordered off the field.
 6.No other accounts can be heard of, as remembrancers and all other Imperial journalists are sworn to an oath of silence on whatever events transpired (one theory is it would look like a mix of "Soldier of Fortune" and "Girls Gone Wild")
 7.????
 8.Profit.

''(Yes we do have a real tactica, its [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Adeptus_Ministorum(8E)|here]].)''

==Notable Sororitas Characters==
{|align=center border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0""
|-
|align=center|'''Name'''
|align=center|'''Order'''
|align=center|'''Description/Current Status'''
|align=center|'''Image'''
|align=center|'''Model'''
|-
|align=center|'''[[Canoness Veridyan]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|The canoness from the cover of the 2nd Edition codex. A steadfast, calculating woman who operates with a high degree of precision.
|align=center|[[Image:Veridyan Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:Veridyan Model.jpg|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Ephrael Stern]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|Also known as the Thrice-Born and the Daemonifuge. A living weapon against Chaos, currently heading to the Black Library with a harlequin.
|align=center|[[Image:Ephrael Stern Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:SternMini.JPG|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Miriael Sabathiel]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]] (formerly)
|align=center|Former Sister Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady and one of the very few Sisters who fell to Chaos (specifically, Slaanesh worship).
|align=center|[[Image:Miriael Sabathiel Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|None
|-
|align=center|'''Mirya'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]]
|align=center|Celestian Elohim (Celestian Sergeant) of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. The protagonist of Swallow's Sister of Battle books.
|align=center|[[Image:Mirya Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|None
|-
|align=center|'''[[Saint Celestine]]'''
|align=center|[[Sisters of Battle#Overview|Order of Our Martyred Lady]] (formerly)
|align=center|A sister who became one of the most famous [[Living Saint|Living Saints]] in the Imperium.
|align=center|[[Image:Celestine Portrait.jpg|150px|]]
|align=center|[[Image:Celestine 7e.jpg|150px|]]
|-
|align=center|'''[[Canoness-Errant Setheno]]'''
|align=center|Order of Piercing Thorn (Minoris)
|align=center|After burning her own order down after it's corruption, she became Canoness Errant, a vaguely defined position that involves a lot of asskicking. Allied with the [[Black Dragons]] and [[Commissar Yarrick]]. Inquisitors wish they were as scary as her.
|align=center|None
|align=center|None
|}

==See Also==
*[[Codex - Adeptus Ministorum /tg/ Edition]] - An [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]] [[homebrew]] codex for everyone's favorite Nuns With Guns. Includes new characters, frateris milita, flyers, customizable Living Saints, and much more!
*[[Sisters of Cleaning]] - a [[/tg/]] created order.
*[[Sister Hospitaler]] - a non-militant Sister.
*[[The Times and Trials of Klightus]]; a love story about a shy [[Imperial Guard | Guardsman]] and a Sister of Battle.
*[[The Steadfast Pewter Sororitas]] - a sad story about what happens to those metal Sisters that don't get bought.
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Adeptus Ministorum(8E)]] - tactica on how to play them.
*[[Sisters of Battle Order Creation Tables]] - Create your very own Order of pyromaniac nuns.
*[[Sisters of Sigmar]] - The Warhammer Fantasy equivalent
*[[Psychic Sisters]] - A small house rule for 7th edition if you want your sisters a bit more witch hunting, but don't want to go full /tg/ edition.
*[[Sister of Nurgle]] - An article riddled with the blessings of Nurgle and PROMOTIONS.
*[[Codex - Sisters of Battle: /tg/ edition]] - in which the glory of the Witch Hunters, fueled by the possibilities of the 6th edition rulebook come together to cleanse the battlefield in a holy trinity of prometheum, bolter shells and melta rays. As of [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]], these rules are no longer usable.
*[[Codex - Adepta Sororitas: /tg/ 7th Edition]] - the result of an anon challenging /tg/ to update the mediocre 6th edition digital codex; a true update that makes full use of 7th edition rules. Includes formations, flyers, decurions, customizable Living Saints, and much more. As of [[Warhammer 40,000 8th edition|8th edition]], these rules are no longer usable.

==External Links==
*[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1426730/ suptg archive about Sisters of Battle and pedophilia].
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHuNbWMBAeA FOR THE IMPERIUM! ''Hey, there's no rule saying that warrior space nuns can't be badass.'']
*[https://www.sendspace.com/file/8zykal Rules & Summary for Codex: Adepta Sororitas, for those who do not like the clusterfuck 7e digital codex.]

==Costume Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Sororita cosplay7.jpg
Image:SororitaAsianCosplay.jpg|Sister Shoju
Image:Sororita_cosplay4.jpg
Image:Repentia_+_bolter_bitches.jpg|The [[China|Chinese]] are beating us to the punch.
image:Sis.jpg
image:Celestine Cosplay.jpg|Sweet Emprah!
image:SoB Cosplay.jpg
image:SoB Cosplay 2.jpg|Scarred sisters are best sisters
image:SoB Cosplay 3.jpg
image:Shenzi sob warhammer 77 by cynshenzi-dalqqbb.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:AdSor.jpg|[[Meme|Scourge and Purge!]]
File:16 bit Battle Sisters SteelJoe.gif|The Action-Girls of 40k (Animated!)
Image:Nun n' Gun.jpg|What? U MAD [[Space Marines|SPESS MAHREEN?]]
Image:Sister of D'awwwww.jpg|They aren't actually this cute. -But they should be.-
Image:But That's Heresy.jpg|But whatever it is, it's probably worth it. Maybe.
Image:Sororit as planned.jpg| The rape face you know you love.
Image:Pedo Sisters.jpg
Image:NoiseMarine SoB.jpg | [[Rape|We all know how this is going to end.]]
Image:MujuLolcron.jpg|Love Can Bl-- wait.
Image:Sororitas.png
Image:Ephrael_stern_page29.jpg|There was a sister in the [[Lost Worlds]] battlebook series.
Image:1290509755821.jpg|Can't read my, Can't read my, No he cannot read my Purging Face (She's got no one to spare)
Image:Sistersnslaanesh.jpg| Incompetent Inquisitor is incompetent (Hey, we know he did that on purpose).
Image:1269678816033.jpg|dum dum dum... dummmm
Image:1228253984074.jpg|OMNOMNOMNOM
Image:1230052783344.png|Post whenever you need to make a fa/tg/uy rage that he doesn't understand the role and jurisdiction of Commissars.
Image:Peachsororitas.jpg|Sorry Mario, but your Heresy is in another castle
Image:Games Workshop Hates France.jpeg|This is rain.
Image:1232217288173.jpg|
Image:LolimoNsis.png
Image:B0018254_4897156440df9.jpg|Grimdark meets [[Hot Chicks]].
Image:1227858843066.jpg|Sisters love delicious xeno shota.
Image:Sororita_change_poster.png|Yes We Can
Image:Nagasister_of_battle.jpg|Are we this desperate for recruits?
image:Haters.png|Some day we too will receive an utterly broken codex update, and when we do this image will be faithfully waiting for you.
image:Sistersuperior.jpg|
image:1335738154693.jpg
Image:SisterShy.jpg|You don't want to see her tsun side.
image:Notsureheresy.jpg
File:Heretic%3F_Colored.jpg|Better purge them anyway...
image:SisterCheer.jpg|<s>NO THATS STUPID NO NO NO.</s> Let's face it, being a bunch of glorified cheerleaders isn't that far off the mark nowadays...
image:Sisterweeaboo.jpg
image:Pyschosister.jpg|[[Awesome|Problems heretics?]]
image:ChaosCookies.png|Just as planned.
image:BurnHereticsBurn.jpg|Heretics gunna get burned.
Image:SororitaInquisitorIsntHome.jpg|When the Inquisitor's away, the Sisters will play...
File:Sisters of repentia sisters of battle Adepta Sororitas rule 34 montage can't believe how hard fetish rule 34 Warhammer 40k myoc redux.jpg|As hilarious as it is to picture a bunch of semi-nude nuns bull rushing a carnifex or a baneblade through a hail of gunfire, it's also weirdly sexy. Behold, the [[Sisters Repentia]].
</gallery>
</center>

 
{{Promotions}}
 
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Canoness femdom.jpg|Goddamn fetishists... '''Ohoho!''' The [[Slaanesh|glorious satin throne]] is telling me '''someone''' is feeling a little butthurt! Speaking of which I'm late for my [[Rape|lunchtime appointment]].
Image:Sistergangbang.png|There are not too many men (not counting old priests) in Adepta Sororitas so they have to improvise.
File:Strip_hammer_commission_for_propertyoflamb_by_hotgum-dagtqp6.jpg|What happens when a Battle Sister, a Repentia, a Hospitaller and a Living Saint decide they need to make a little cash?
Image:R-daemonette 10.jpg |evidence that slaneesh can corrupt sisters of battle
Image:Repentia_1.jpg|Sisters Repentia are supposed to repent. Stop whinging you know we know that you like this more.
Image:FIGHTBYMYSIDE.jpg| An imperial artist's representation of a living saint.
Image:1230051355300.gif|GENESTEALERS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. <s>-But they should-</s> NO THEY SHOULDN'T, YOU SICK [[Slaanesh|PERV]].
Image:Sister reading heretical text by Naga.gif
Image:1233114472588.png|Unlike other settings, in 40k this kind of thing DOESN'T work. Still kinda hot though.
Image:Sororitas strawberries.jpg
Image:Sisters.jpg
Image:1228252747952.jpg|Cum my sisters!
Image:Repentia_2.jpg|Not that they are fanatical about it.
Image:sister_n_slaaneshi.jpg|Sister in ''deep'' trouble.
Image:2nhnnlh.jpg|The lesser known loli chapter.
Image:X6eb14.jpg|More loli.
Image:SistervsLeviathan.jpg|OMNOMNOMNOM
File:Sororita_by_ipheli-d9mzze4.png|Sister Temeraire at rest
File:Sororita_2_rest_by_ipheli-damic1m.png|Interesting place for your devotional tattoo...
Image:Saint celestine and the geminae superia by sexual yeti-dat6rd3.png|Sexy Celestine
image:91a96fb85899c260cb028d6ac34603b6.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

{{Template:Sisters-of-Battle}}
{{Template:Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[category:Imperial]][[Category:Matt Ward]]
[[Category:Sisters of Battle]]

Belisarius Cawl

2018-01-07T23:31:01Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

{{Topquote|The Omnissiah filled the galaxy with mysteries so that we might learn from them, coming step by step closer to his perfect being. To ignore them, even in the face of war, is heresy.|Archmagos Belisarius Cawl}}
{{Topquote|His colleagues are limited. Their beliefs have become a faith that they dare not challenge. The Adeptus Mechanicus is far more trammelled in its thinking than the Mechanicum of your time was, my Lord Guilliman, and the archmagos was a radical in those distant centuries. You would not have come to him if he were not.|Cawl Inferior, Cawl's not-an-AI}}
{{Topquote|I suppose I could part with one and still be feared|Cawl, on his various Doomsday Devices}}

[[File:CawlArt.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ten thousand years and enough augmentations to be the size of a Carnifex, and he still hasn't gotten rid of that organic left arm.]]

Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl is the first unique character for the Adeptus Mechanicus faction, and like all good servants of [[Omnissiah|the dragon on mars]] has turned himself into a [[awesome|FUCKING CYBORG]]. Along with Inquisitor Greyfax and [[Saint Celestine]], he forms the Triumvirate of the Imperium. This motherfucker is old. How old? Ten thousand years, old enough to have been one of the tech-priests that aided the [[Emperor of Mankind]] in designing the [[Gene-seed|Black Carapace]]. Which should be impossible as the oldest the mechanicum can get is around 1000 years and they also go insane, but who knows. He might have spent most of it in stasis, or built himself new bodies and implanted his not-an-AI into it, but the most popular rumors among the Mechanicus have it that he did so using some kind of forbidden [[Xeno|xenos]] tech while replacing what few organic parts he had left with machinery, Ship of Theseus style. Even after having his memories wiped on two separate occasions, he's famed among the AdMech as having a truly unmatched horde of knowledge compiled over the millennia.

He has some sort of mysterious mission he's been on for the last ten thousand years. It was given to him by [[Roboute Guilliman|/tg/'s favourite person]], apart from a certain [[Matt Ward|Spiritual Liege]] and consists of two parts. The first is making Guilliman a brand new suit, making Belisarius Cawl the slowest tailor in all of fiction (though admittedly that's because it went on hold until he could figure out the 'resurrection' thing). The second is to build brand new weapons and pull out old ones to help fight against the enemies of the Imperium. his main creation was the [[Primaris Marines]] which took him nearly 10,000 years to
create (although this is because how ridiculously advanced the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor's]] work was so hard to decipher (and even then he may have just ripped off part of the [[Adeptus Custodes]] creation process.))

He also sounds like a Dalek.

== Fall of Cadia ==
Cawl is introduced at a technoarchaeological dig on the planet Eriad IV, a planet only notable for having a small Imperial outpost that was destroyed in a [[Black Crusade]]. Although his progress is interrupted by an [[Ork|Orkish]] invasion, he continues onward, following the mysterious hints of the [[Shadowseer]] Sylandri Veilwalker. Eventually, he digs deep enough to find the remnants of [[Cadian Pylons| ancient obsidian pylons]]. Cross-referencing this with similar discoveries, he realizes that [[Abaddon]] has made a point of destroying similar such pylons across his Black Crusades. He puts two and two together, and immediately starts heading for [[Cadia]], fearing that they might be the last pylons left in the galaxy.

After arriving at Cadia and briefing the command about his discoveries, he went about studying the pylons, believing that they held the key to Abaddon's defeat. This was a dead end until [[Trazyn]] showed up and gave him some Necrontyr tech-support. With his help, he managed to activate the true power of pylons, shrinking the [[Eye of Terror]] and fucking up all warp activity on Cadia. This was a double-edged sword, as while it prevented [[Daemons]] from manifesting, it also forced the [[Legion of the Damned]] out of the Materium and greatly weakened Saint [[Celestine]]. Despite this, the defenders successfully got the Black Legion to retreat, and victory looked inevitable.

Then Abaddon just had to crash the remnants of a [[Blackstone Fortress]] into Cadia. Cawl's efforts were for naught, as the pylons were destroyed and the Eye of Terror expanded to consume the Cadian Gate. He retreated on his [[Ark Mechanicus]], the Iron Revenant, but was pursued by Abaddon, who just learned of a mysterious relic Cawl had and sought to claim it for himself. Cawl was forced to sacrifice the Iron Revenant to stave off the Vengeful Spirit and took his artifact along with the rest of the Imperial forces to the ice moon of Klasius, where they found the [[Emperor's Sword|Emprasword]]. Cornered by the [[Black Legion]], all seemed lost, until they were saved by the timely intervention of the Ynnari [[Eldar]], who offered an escape route through the [[webway]] and an alliance (needless to say, he is really ashamed that he couldn't stop what happened to Cadia).

===Rise of the Primarch===

This is where it's revealed that the artifact Belisarius has is the Armor of Fate and a self-fitting dressing room, commissioned by Grandpa Smurf several millennia in advance. Cawl, alongside the Ynnari, successfully uses this to resurrect Guilliman and then assists him in his crusade to Terra. When they arrive Guilliman tells Cawl to work on the second part of his mission, that of strengthening Imperial forces by pulling out all the stops on Mars.

It has since been revealed that this "second part" was the creation of the [[Primaris Marines]], along with their new wargear.

===Uncle Cawl for Fabricator General!===

Cawl has pretty much been the only Magos that has had the desire to innovate (and survive to do so) in the last 10,000 years. A Magpie [[Magos]], Cawl has no qualms about claiming that human technology and understanding is lacking in ways compared to the older races. Which makes him more than willing to incorporate any xeno technology, slap the emblem of Mars on it, and let it benefit mankind. As a result the list of "Tech Heresy" he has committed is only marginally shorter than the list of awesome new stuff he has built. Even more radically, he has gone on record claiming that the loss of the spirit of inquiry was an infinitely worse loss than any of the [[Standard Template Construct|STCs]] and that as a result none of his "brothers" can create anything truly new.

Currently wants Guilliman to appoint him Fabricator General of Mars so he can <s>"Get Shit Done"</s> '''MAKE MARS GREAT AGAIN''', but Guilliman is unwilling to have all of the tech priests lose their minds over it; given his outspoken views on the value of innovation and thinly veiled contempt for the accepted AdMech dogma such a [[PROMOTIONS|promotion]] would be certain to result in a civil war within the Mechanicus.

Cawl also has experimented with creating Primaris Marines of all the [[Traitor Legions]], as well as the infamous missing Legions II and XI. He petitioned Guilliman to sanction their use, but you can guess how that went. (Guilliman has a feeling that he's just going to try and make them anyway). He is also trying to make new pylons to shrink back the [[Great Rift]]; perhaps it's time for Cawl to pay a visit to [[Illuminor Szeras]], or maybe politely request (at gunpoint) Magos-Explorator [[Omnid Torquora]] to tell him all the knowledge he has left of that empyrical bomb he used in the novel [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]: Tech-Priest.

Oh, and that AI we talked about before? It's not even the only one. Guy Haley's ''In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future'' openly mentions that Cawl's mind is essentially composed of numerous AI copies of himself operating in tandem with his original mind, in what he compares to being a conductor of an orchestra with the AI copies as the musicians. Which in effect makes him practically immortal, since he could switch on a backup copy of himself if his original body dies.

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|400px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|400px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|400px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|400px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|400px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|400px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|400px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|400px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|400px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|400px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|400px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|400px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|400px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|400px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|400px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|400px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|400px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|400px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|400px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|400px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|400px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|400px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|400px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|400px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|400px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|400px]]

== On the Tabletop ==
[[File:Cawl.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Too many limbs? NO SUCH THING!]]
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Belisarius Cawl:''' || 200 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 3 || 3 || 10 || 2+\5++\5+++
|}

Belisarius Cawl is quite a formidable opponent. His ranged weapon of choice is the melta-gun on steroids Solar Atomizer, and for melee he's got a Mechadendrite Hive to fight hordes, Arc Scourge to fight vehicles, and a power axe to fight terminators. He also brings across the three Canticles of the Archmagos, which are like the Canticles of the Omnissiah but they also affect friendly vehicles not part of the Cult Mechanicus faction. Harmony of Metallurgy gives It Will Not Die, Utterance of Neutralization increases Ballistic Skill, and the War Hymnal of Fortitude grants invulnerable saves.

Not only can he dish out the pain, he can take it as well, with a 2+ armor save, Toughness 6, Feel No Pain (which is rerollable if he's the Warlord), and five wounds [[cheese|which he restores 1d3 of each round]]. Oh, and he can also use his canticles to give himself three It Will Not Die rolls. However, he lacks Eternal Warrior, and his Invulnerable Save is a mere 5+, making him vulnerable to Instant Death.

Despite all his cheese, he'd probably still get beaten by [[Anacharis Scoria| Anacharis "I fuck Primarchs for breakfast" Scoria]].

===8th Edition===
{| class=wikitable
! || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Belisarius Cawl:''' || 6 || 2+ || 2+ || 5 || 6 || 8 || 4 || 9 || 2+\5++
|}

Come with a special rule that allows you to add or subtract 1 when rolling on the Canticles of the Omnissiah which as Mars you get to roll twice and keep both, allows Mars units within 6" to re-roll any to hit in shooting,also have the ability to repair any friendly {{W40Kkeyword|imperium}} model within 3" by 1 wound, without caring even a little bit about its other keywords - he can repair {{W40Kkeyword|infantry}}, {{W40Kkeyword|cavalry}}, whatever. AdMech units get d3 wounds healed instead, though. I guess 10000 years of min maxing yourself lets you do these things. And his Solar Atomiser is an Assault D3 S10 AP-4 unholy beast that does D3 damage, unless the target is within half range, which then it does D6 damage.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]] [[Category:Imperial]] [[Category: Adeptus Mechanicus]]

Alpha Legion

2018-01-07T21:54:47Z

2A02:587:3A0A:6B00:4099:5D97:9196:C893:

{{Heresy}}
{{Infobox Traitor Legion
|Name = Alpha Legion... we think.
|Heraldry = [[File:Alphalegionlogo.gif|200px]]
|Battle Cry = "Hydra Dominatus", "I am Alpharius!.", or "For the Emperor!"... probably.
|Number = XX, as far as we know...
|Primarch = [[Alpharius]]. Or [[Omegon]]. Or both, maybe neither.
|Original Homeworld = Ah...
|Current Homeworld = Well...
|Champion = You see....
|Specialty = Covert espionage and infiltration, information warfare, mass use of cultists...probably
|Strength = Hmm...
|Allegiance = [[The Cabal|You see]]...[[Imperium|ummm]]...[[Chaos|not sure]]
|Colours = Dark blue, sometimes, often with green ornamentation. Possibly both, unless neither.}}

''“Such are we that in this art of war are like unto serpents, to lie out of sight, to strike swift, to carry such poison in our mouths that men fear to tread where we may lie."'' 
- Anonymous, quoted by the Emperor

''"I'm confused. Really, really confused"'' 
- Adam Gilchrist possibly 

''“What is important is to spread confusion, not eliminate it.”'' 
― Salvador Dalí or so they say 

“If you want to keep a [[Dark Angels|secret]], you must also hide it from yourself.”

- George Orwell maybe 

''"Hail Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place! We serve the Master, as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!"'' 
―Alpha Legi-wait a minute!

{{BLAM|The term is used by the heretical to refer to a mythical 20th Legion. It is nonsensical name, which proves it is a false story, since true priests of the Adeptus Ministorum would know 'alpha' is an ancient term meaning "first". But any such 20th Legion would have been the last to be discovered before the [[Horus|Horus Heresy]]. 'Alpha' is an old word meaning 'A' so the name Alpha Legion translates into 'A Legion' (heretic falsehoods are rarely original).}}

No such legion exists, nor has it ever existed. The remainder of this page is intentionally [[Malal|left blank]]. There is no need for you to read further, and if you feel any urges to read beyond this paragraph or if you have any suspicion that there is any text following, please consult your local [[Commissar]] for re-education. If you ARE said Commissar, please consult your bolt pistol [[Blam|instead]].
-----
Now that we've got that out of the way...

The [[Alpha Legion]] (also known as the '''Chaos [[Reasonable Marines]]''') are basically what would happen if you gave the CIA from the 1950s onwards a Space Marine legion and told them to go nuts. They are the 20th and last Legion of the Adeptus Astartes from the Great Crusade, and were the last to find their Primarch, [[Alpharius]]. In part, this is because [[Horus]] was the first to find him, and [[What|kept him hidden from the Emperor and everyone else for some time.]] In retrospect, it probably should have been obvious that he was going to go full Chaos.

The Alpha Legion's BIG SECRET is, as you probably know, the fact that their "one" Primarch is actually two guys, the twins Alpharius and Omegon. Since the Emperor made all of the Primarchs, it's unclear how this would be a secret; surely he'd know that he made twenty-one Primarchs, not twenty. Right?

... Right?

As you are about to realize, we know absolutely ''nothing'' about the Alpha Legion or their members. Sure, there are a lot of sources with information about them around, but none of this is solid and, as we know that the Alpha Legion are sneaky as ''fuck'', and are properly getting their shit done without anyone noticing it.

==Origins==
As with most lore, the Alpha Legion's name comes from religion (and not from the ancient Greek alphabet?). The two Primarchs, Alpharius and Omegon, represent the line Jesus said in Revelation 22:13: ''"I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."'' But as Omegon is meant to be a secret, the legion is named after Alpharius. If Omegon was to be the face rather than the secret, the Legion could possibly have been called the Omega Legion. Or in other words the "last" legion which conforms to your "needing sense in a name" thing.

Adherents to the stories of this Legion make addle-minded claims that prove their insincerity, such as: all marines in this legion were surgically altered to look identical to [[Alpharius|their Primarch]]; that the Emperor himself gave this Primarch command over campaign forces above that of the Lord Commander of the Imperial Army; even power fantasies such as the existence of more than one Primarch in this Legion; and other tall tales that defy belief. Most heretical of all is the claims that these Primarchs betrayed his holiness the Emperor of Mankind willingly without being corrupted by [[Chaos]], which conveniently excuses their absence from the Eye of Terror and thus any observable evidence of their betrayal with the other traitor Legions.

It has also been suggested that the Legion, their Primarch, and their symbol may be based on the star [[wikipedia:Alphard|Alphard]], in the constellation of Hydra. What's more, [[What|Alphard means "the solitary one", but it has a much less bright star "hidden" behind it]]. If this was intended, considering that "Alpha Legion", "Alpharius" and the hydra motif have been around for a lot longer than Omegon has, it means that Games Workshop has been playing a very, very long game. Meta.

===The Documented "Truth"===
Apparently, the naming of the Alpha Legion refers to the fact that it actually has no name. In Horus Heresy III: Extermination it goes to great lengths to explain the early history of the Alpha Legion and how it contrasts to other more well-known Legions. It seems that the Primarch either kept the name to be deliberately ironic, deeply meaningful in the sense that "Alpha" can also mean "Supreme" or the early title of "Alpha" just stuck.

All Legions after the [[Dark Angels|First]] were put through a series of tests and trials by the [[Emperor]] before general release into the Great Crusade. Quite literally ''(and un-ironically)'' an '''"Alpha Test"''' where the Legion would only consist of 1,000-2,000 Astartes to see how they would perform their intended function, which was pre-determined by the Emperor before their creation.

The XXth Legion however was never publicly released or announced by the Imperium, though the initial tests proved positive, it never progressed past this initial stage and remained an '''''"Alpha"'' Legion'''. Leading some to question whether the XXth Legion were actually intended for a much darker purpose and were intentionally kept concealed by the Emperor.

For the first 40 years of the Great Crusade, the few warriors of the XXth were a ''"Ghost Legion"'' who would act in obscure warzones isolated from the other Legions yet would sometimes act under the heraldry of a different legion, or no legion at all. They performed dubious tasks such as assassination, kidnapping, artifact retrieval, escorts, and other clandestine support roles. It may not be coincidental that these tasks were assigned to the Legion whose number could be represented as a ''double cross'', which also figures prominently in their iconography. These roles would later be taken by the [[Adeptus Custodes|Custodians]], [[Officio Assassinorum]] and [[Sisters of Silence|Sororitas Inconcessus]], causing the XXth to fall into myth and stagnation. It was only with the discovery of the Primarch [[Alpharius]] (''which still might not even be his true name'') which allowed the Ghost Legion to resurface nearly 160 years later and become a true Legion in its own right, seemingly springing up from nowhere with a full force of 10,000 Astartes and a battle-ready fleet.

==History==
[[Image:Alpha_Legionnaire.jpg|thumb|240px|right|The denizens of this wiki failed to detect our infiltration forces. <s>[[Just as Planned]]</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|''HERESY''!!! There are no Chaos forces infiltrating this site. Especially from the nonexistent Alpha Legion.}}]]
There are extremely persistent and consistent rumors that the most blessed Blood Ravens chapter of the holy Adeptus Astartes led by Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos and assisted by the Librarian Isador Akios, the PDF and Imperial Guard lead by [[Mordecai Toth|Inquisitor Mordecai Toth]], and the [[Eldar]] of [[Craftworld]] [[Biel-tan]] lead by [[Farseer]] [[Macha]], fought the mythical Alpha Legion lead by Chaos Lord Bale and Chaos Sorcerer [[Sindri Myr]] and an Orkish Waaagh! lead by the Warboss [[Orkamungus]] on the planet Tartarus (what a lovely name for a planet). Attempting to accuse the Blood Ravens of Heresy for spreading lies about fictional legions has universally ended in failure. The same applies to the Legion's alleged involvement in the events surrounding the [[Exterminatus]] of Typhon and [[Azariah Kyras]]' (almost) ascension to Daemonhood. We're not even going to mention the [[Metal Boxes]] incident in the [[Kaurava System]]...
Also any relation between the Alpha legion and [[Tzeentch]] dogma is purely coincidental. But everyone agrees they are space terrorists, and probably al-Qaeda with a grimdark-startrek-feel.

Here are some of the things that we know about them:
*Do not talk about the Alpha Legion
*Do NOT talk about the Alpha Legion.
*The Alpha legion never existed.
*The Alpha legion is the only real Warhammer 40,000 force, the rest are operatives dressed up.
*Alpharius was not killed. [[Roboute Guilliman|Rawbutt Jellyman]] was the one who died, and Alpharius disguised himself as him. Which means that he now leads the Imperium.
*'''+++Records Expunged+++'''

In all seriousness, we really, honestly DON'T have any clue what the fuck is up with the Alpha Legion because Games Workshop gives them so little fluff compared to the rest of the Traitor Legions, and even those few things we know might be misinformation. And because that's part of their shtick.

With the release of Forge World's 3rd Horus Heresy book, Extermination, as well as several Black Library short stories and novellas, there are a few confirmed events that the Alpha Legion took part in, for a given definition of confirmed. They consistently show that when the Alpha Legion is involved, even if they're ostensibly "allies", whether you're a loyalist, traitor, a secret society of aliens trying to destroy Chaos, or Alpharius himself, they're going to find a way to screw with you.

Finally, if we take [[Dawn of War]] to be canon (and Games Workshop certainly does) then we can infer that the Alpha Legion is probably just as splintered and broken up as the eight outright-traitor legions, with some of the sub-groups running off to [[Sindri|embrace Chaos outright]]. Honestly this is not all that surprising if you take into consideration [[Your dudes|GeeDub's stance on character motivation and adaptability]].

Hell, even when they have recently became their own class in the [[Black Crusade (RPG)|Black Crusade]] supplement ''Tome of Fate,'', the information provided is still somewhat vague and just stuff we already know. What it ''did'' reveal though, was that groups of Alpha Legionnaires are seldom seen together. Many are independent operatives working on extended reconnaissance missions sent by some higher up, insurgents waging a one-man guerrilla war, or trying to achieve a personal objective known only to them. Some are even seen amongst "the Severed"; a group of Chaos Marines forcibly exiled from their Legions.

Even when by themselves, many often gather a loyal cult of followers who try to help them in their goal. Alpha Legionnaires are more often than not the orchestrator behind Chaos cults and rebellions who fester within Imperial hives. They may not even pose as Marines, as ''Tome of Fate'' mentions that they have an unusual and legendary ability to disguise themselves as xenos, mutants, or even loyalists (maybe they are already loyalists, depending on who you ask). If one thinks about it, a terrifying possibility arises; that they have somehow acquired the transformative technologies of the Callidus assassins. They frequently travel in and out of the Eye of Terror, setting up decoys, assassinations, and propaganda within Imperial space.

==Tactics==
During the Great Crusade the Ultramarines had a proverb: "Information is victory". What they meant to say is "If you know an opponent, you can defeat them." The Alpha Legion took this doctrine and turned it up to eleven: why focus only on the intel '''you''' have? An enemy that doesn't know '''you''' (or better has nothing but carefully crafted disinformation about you) is doomed. That's pretty much what their strategy revolves around: ''fucking with their opponent's mind''. Since then no one knows anything for certain about them. If you think you know more, start worrying: this means Alpha Legion is messing with your mind right now. That's why the [[Ultramarines]] and Alpha Legion absolutely ''despised'' each other during the Horus Heresy, as their battle doctrines antagonized each other.

Notable examples (allegedly) include:
* Making everyone believe their primarch was killed by Rowboat Gyrlyman, despite even Ultramarines have no records about it.
* Leaking their attack plans to the subsector governor, so he strips nearby planets of garrisons to reinforce his defense, and then attacking those weakened nearby planets.
* Hypno-indoctrinating natives of space marine recruiting world with a trigger switch, and then turning the unwittingly brainwashed marines on their brothers when the Alpha Legion attacked their fortress-monastery.
* Conquering hundreds of planets during Horus Heresy with a ''single agent'' planting rumors of the Warmaster's advance, and causing civil wars and rebellions of people trying to plead their allegiance to Horus only to make sure he doesn't nuke their homes upon arriving. Did I mention all these were made by a single fucking person who wasn't even a full-fledged marine?
* Plotting and executing the Night of Thousand Rebellions, that effectively severed Segmentum Pacificus away from the Imperium, leaving it at the mercy of Chaos. Yeah, you heard it right - entire ''segmentum'', and while it ''is'' the smallest one, it's still like 15% of the Imperium.
* Adopting the battle cries of their enemies. Yelling "For The Emperor!" before you charge will cause any true loyalist opponent to hesitate - usually fatally.

{{BLAM|These stories are obvious and self-contradictory falsehoods, trash that pollutes the minds of the faithful. We apologize for any discomfort this wiki article may have caused you -- speak to your local [[Chaplain]] or [[Commissar]] if you require counseling. If you witness anyone spreading these harmful lies about a 20th Legion, immediately report the heretic to your local representative of the Inquisition or to your unit's commissar. If you happen to be the commissar and you witness yourself spreading these rumors, please report yourself to your bolt pistol.}}

So to sum it up, they are in the top league of Warhammer 40 000 universe, fighting when and where they want to achieve great goals with very limited forces, much like [[Eldar]] and [[Thousand Sons]] except with less smug and arrogance. Also while Eldar and TS rely on extremely complicated plans, that either excel brilliantly or fail horribly, Alpha Legion plans on the other hand are mostly simple at their core, but extremely well planned, with multiple back up plans and are executed equally as stellar, so even if they are not successful (which happened multiple times, especially when they fought against equally smart or unpredictable opponents) they rarely suffer much from their defeats. It helps that their intelligence often excel at feeding completely inaccurate intel to their opponents. For example, their grand operation against the Raven Guard during the Heresy failed at the final stage with their undercover agents being compromised, and their back up plan of direct assault with their Mechanicum allies also failed, but due to extensive planning and a second fall back plan they still managed to steal the gene-codex and clear all the loose ends that could bite them in their asses later.

The Alpha Legion is basically an army of James Bond clones, like some unholy combination of the Taliban, CIA, and American MACV-SOG. No, really, that is how they fought. They were known for popping out of freaking nowhere and curbstomping the shit out of the enemy at the best possible moment (or worst, depending on whose side you were on). The Alpha Legion was also known to have a training doctrine that actually matches the idea of a super-soldier. That is, they trained ''all'' their marines in how to use all their equipment and weapons instead of picking out individuals to be trained as specialists while not bothering to educate the others on the subject beyond the basics. Every Alpha Legionnaire was a fully capable Assault Marine, Devastator, Fast Attack (like speeders and bikes, etc.), ''leader'' (hence, the hydra, because you couldn't decapitate their command structure, someone equally competent would take the leaders' places), trained in the use of Terminator armor, masters of stealth and psychology, actually used their serfs for more than spit-shining their boots, and did all of this while keeping each of their marines fully capable of matching a specialist from another Legion. This meant that the Alpha Legion was capable of having as many, or as few, specialist marines and vehicles as they wished to best complete any given mission at any time, tailored to each mission. Of course, that could all have been a trick, too... They also had specialized kill-teams used to sow chaos through the enemy during the Heresy and the Crusade. These so-called Headhunters had these awesome combo-bolters with two barrels. Omegon supposedly lead the Alpha Legion's black-ops division, no one really knows who is who, though, so just consider "Alpharius" and "Omegon" to basically be titles, your head will hurt less. Yes, even ''they'' have special forces.

Another interesting bit of their tactics is heavy focus on team play. Alpha legion squads move, fight and think as one, and are trained to quickly adapt to new squads. There is no "battle brotherhood" bullshit in this - just a simple extensive training and lack of typical chaos space marine hubris, jealousy and occasional backstabbing. It goes so far that Alpha Legion initiation trials are passed by squads rather then individual aspirants like in other loyalist chapters or chaos warbands, so you either get to play as a team or do not play at all (likely being killed in case you squad fail the trial).

Their devotion to Chaos is not entirely concrete, either. Alpharius himself never turned to Chaos, only following Horus into the Heresy as he saw it as the best outcome. Of course some Alpha Legion members like [[Sindri Myr]] are balls-to-the-wall Chaos worshippers but they are a radical minority. Most may see Chaos as a means to an end, using it simply to advance whatever goals they have. Their devotion can depend entirely on the place and the time. Some may [[Night Lords|loathe it]] while others are [[Word Bearers|zealous in their belief]]. In terms of Chaos worship the Alpha Legion is one of the more diverse, some theories even claiming that some operatives within the Legion are in fact closet loyalists seeking to protect humanity and stop Chaos.

To make it even more interesting/confusing, what is considered a Legion of [[Space Marines]], was in reality more of a combined effort. More than any other Legion, they recruited outside the Legion for roles besides Astartes, or even agents. They were really, more accurately, a moving society. This trend only seems to have accelerated since the Heresy. No one knows how many regular human soldiers they have, but if their Cultist numbers are anything to go by, the Alpha Legion likely has whole Imperial Guard regiment strength armies integrated within. That and the fact they don't even hang out in the [[Eye of Terror]] or have a recruiting planet and yet seem to only grow indicates that they have a normally functioning society. At this rate, they'll start looking like the Twilight's Hammer Clan from [[Warcraft]], but it doesn't matter. The GOAL remains!...what that goal is, no one knows.

We wish their [[HMKids]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcpR4IutUMk theme] had had quotes from [[Sindri Myr]], [[Lord Bale]] or [[Carron]]... Hey, maybe they could do a remake?

Hopefully during the final battle at Holy Terra that will no doubt happen eventually, the Alpha Legion guns down the traitors with infiltrators amongst the Chaos Marines and then comes down on them like a tidal wave of ceramite, having secretly been building up their numbers constantly for the past ten thousand years specifically to sweep away all of the Imperium's enemies in one fell swoop galaxy-wide. One interesting possibility is even that most (or at least disturbingly many) Chaos Space Marines may secretly be Alpha Legionnaires waiting for the moment to strike. This becomes a lot more likely when one considers Alpharius may be his legion. Literally. When the Marines say "I am Alpharius", the might be speaking with complete honesty.

[[File:Enchanted Raven(42024).png|400px]]
[[File:Barkskin(76997).png|400px]]
[[File:Lesser Jasper Spellstone(73327).png|400px]]
[[File:Jasper Spellstone(73344).png|400px]]
[[File:Greater Jasper Spellstone(73345).png|400px]]
[[File:Wrath(633).png|400px]]
[[File:Celestial Dreamer(49748).png|400px]]
[[File:Addled Grizzly(35235).png|400px]]
[[File:Eat the Mushroom(76875).png|400px]]
[[File:Loot the Chest(76877).png|400px]]
[[File:Explore the Darkness(76876).png|400px]]
[[File:Branching Paths(76870).png|400px]]
[[File:Oaken Summons(76966).png|400px]]
[[File:Ironwood Golem(76965).png|400px]]
[[File:Fandral Staghelm(35208).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(587).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(408).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(45).png|400px]]
[[File:Druid of the Claw(35256).png|400px]]
[[File:Jungle Giants(55538).png|400px]]
[[File:Barnabus the Stomper(55539).png|400px]]
[[File:Ixlid, Fungal Lord(76947).png|400px]]
[[File:Menagerie Warden(42059).png|400px]]
[[File:Spider Fangs(62911).png|400px]]
[[File:Scarab Shell(62912).png|400px]]
[[File:Scarab Plague(62910).png|400px]]
[[File:Frost Widow(63090).png|400px]]
[[File:Plague Lord(62908).png|400px]]
[[File:Malfurion the Pestilent(62904).png|400px]]
[[File:Grizzled Guardian(76894).png|400px]]

==Daily Routines of the Alpha Legion==

04:00 - The Alpha Legionnaires emerge from their - {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}}

04:20 - The Alpha Legionnaires settle down to pray to {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}}

05:00 - {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}} - causing much confusion among their serfs.

06:00 - Morning Firing Rites. The Alp- {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}} - the serfs are still left largely bewildered.

10:00 - Covert Sabotage. The Alpha Legion practice their covert warfare. Serfs are still confused on which is which.

14:00 - Tactical Indoctrination. The Alpha Legion are tasked on which pla- {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}}

15:00 - Daily Facial Surgery. The Alpha Legion undergo daily surgery to continue to look like their Primarch.

17:00 - Eveni- {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}} -ge, that and the serfs are still confused.

18:00 - Covert Sabotage and something involving {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}} .

22:00 - Evening <strike>Malal</strike> Meal. A feast is prepared by the serfs who are still nervous on which Alpha Legionnaire is which as they try their hardest on picking the correct one, especially when it comes to dietary requirements.

23:00 - {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}}

24:00 - The Alpha Legionnaires goes back to sleep in thei- {{BLAM|++Information confiscated by orders of his majesty's most Holy Inquisition++}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:But_oNLY_LOYALIST_BATTle_BROTHERS_NOT_THAT_THERE_ARE_TRAITOR_BROTHERS_JUST_SOME_THAT_ARE_MORE_LOYAL_THAN_OTHERS.png|Be wary, this might be the only chance you get.
</gallery>

{{Template:Chaos-Official}}