Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Adepta Sororitas (section)

===HQ===
Easily the best section of our codex, so don't be afraid to unashamedly drop points here. Both special characters range from modestly useful (Celestine) to borderline mandatory (Jacobus), while even the Canoness -- when kitted right -- has her uses.

*'''Canoness''' - The Canoness is the cheapest base HQ Sisters have which in itself is quite handy, since one can never have too many Bolter Bitches running around. Seeing as how she's still just T3 with a 3+ Armor Save you '''WILL''' give her at least a [[Rosarius]] for the improved invulnerable save. Depending on what you've planned to do with her you can kit her a few different ways, but she's usually used as a supportive meatshield HQ. Generally giving her a combi-weapon or a good supportive relic is a solid option. Her AoF gives Hatred... in the Assault Phase. Decent on the face of it, but Priests/Uriah already have Zealot, so what's the point? She's also Stubborn, which isn't all that important, but good to remember in a pinch (as with the AoF, pretty much only if your priests cark it).
**'''Consider the following:''' Canoness can provide valuable support, while Jacobus / Celestine (usually) steal the warlord spotlight. She's a cheap HQ choice, '''BUT''' she doesn't '''HAVE''' to be cheap. Given that she can have eternal warrior, a 3+/4++ AND an eviscerator, she can become pretty formidable. Don't go up against big-time CC HQs, but she could hold her own against the likes of a <s>Typhus</s> Lucius, for example. Let's face it, Typhus would crump her. Or, alternatively, you could lose the eviscerator, but take the cloak and have her tank wounds (in this instance, she should NOT be your warlord). Retributors ''love'' their mistress, being able to tank up wounds, perhaps manning a quad-gun with her impressive BS 5 and providing a Ld 10 for AoFs. If you run her that way, grab a Storm Bolter for a little extra dakka.
***'''Alternative opinion:''' While still not the best, she could beat models '''FAR''' above her weight in the right squad. Kit her out as mentioned above (with eternal warrior and the eviscerator), but throw her in a battle conclave squad in an inquisitor's land raider with 4-5 crusaders, 5-6 death cult assassins, and 1-2 priests (1 of them having Litanies of Faith). the squad itself will have a re-rollable 3++ in the front of the squad to keep the assassins alive and (if you took a second priest) either shred or more AP2 attacks (depending on your need). As a result, your Canoness' 4++ is now rerollable and she will sometimes have shred. Very strong indeed.
*'''Sororitas Command Squad''' - If you take a Canoness, you can get these ladies. They're a little schizophrenic, with their melee-oriented AoF combined with decent-at-best close combat capability. That said, they are a quite solid option for shooting with the allowance of up to 5 Combi-, Special or Heavy Weapons. A lot cheaper then previous edition (WD) and they can use Heavy Weapons without requiring Retributors (and sucking up a scarce Heavy Support slot). They get access to the Endless Crusade AoF in Assault Phase, which gives them Fleet, Crusader and Move Through Cover. You can use it to get into assault more reliably. They do have access to Power Weapons and the CC relic banner (+1 ATK, reroll pinning, fear, morale) so they can provide melee prowess, but considering that Sisters aren't that great in melee (T3)... Either way, they provide you special weapons, another Immolator or banners to buff your sisters.
**'''Sister Dialogus:''' Adds a laud hailer and can take other Relics. Could possibly be handy if you really need the relic but generally you're better off slapping a Laud Hailer on their transport and taking another shooty Sister.
**'''Sister Hospitaller''' - Adds Feel No Pain. Recommended if you are taking this squad.
***'''Alternate opinion''' - this squad is incredibly versatile and usually worth taking in most games, if you have the spare points. In terms of ranged ability, this squad can simply function as a devastator or shock trooper squad. Sitting back and hitting with the Heavy bolters, or popping out of a cab with heavy flamers/combi-plasmas. As a CC squad, they have the ability to really bring out the hurt and hit way above their number, but you have to prepare for it. Take the Hospitaller and 4 axes with a couple priests and a Canoness, or with Jacobus and another priest. If you manage to charge with them, watch them be able to tank wounds and hit pretty damned hard too. Reroll to hit (zealot) with reroll saves (war Hymns) and potential shred (other war Hymns) followed by FnP makes a tough squad to Crack. And sure, most armies can ignore your FnP by just bringing power mauls, but then they aren't getting through your armour, are they? 
*** Another fun way to use them is as the absolute bane of a psyker or a squad of psykers. Give all 5 condemnor boltguns and perils the living hell out of that farseer/librarian/cheese rerollable 2++ deathstar unit. Fun stuff. Obvious counterpick. But fun stuff.

*'''Priests''' - For only 25 points, these independent characters are your cheap unit buffers. They are Zealots (Fearless and Hatred), they can take relics (litanies anyone?), and they can use War Hymns to additionally augment their unit (reroll to wound, reroll failed saves, or grants the Preacher Smash, which is hilarious, albeit for the most part impractical). Always take them. Even if you are running a single squad of basic Sisters as an allied detachment. I don't care. Take the crazy preachers. The big puzzle with Priests is figuring out what wargear to take, from your rather extensive armory. There are a few stand-out options, however:
**'''Plasma Gun''': Interesting because they're the only thing in your whole army that can take a non-combi plasma. Less interesting because having your source of Fearless burn his fingers and croak is a bummer, and because Rapid Fire is not a good thing in a choppy squad. Take these if your priests are riding with a standard Battle Sister squad, since their AoF gives Preferred Enemy, and because they generally don't want to charge anyway.
**'''Power Weapon''': If the priest is hanging around with a fighty squad - Celestians, Battle Conclaves - a little more armor-chopping power is nice to have. I'd pass on the sword, since priests are only S3, but both the axe and maul are good options. The maul is more interesting than it looks because if you use a War Hymn to gain Smash, it becomes AP2.
**'''Eviscerator''': Add a bit more heavy punch, if you need it. A good bet with Celestians, or maybe with Repentia, but expensive. If you take this, never use Smash.
**'''Combi-Weapon''': Always nice. For the reasons mentioned above, I'd avoid combi-plasma (take it on someone with a 3+ if you really want it, or just take a real plasma gun), but combi-meltas and combi-flamers can both help out in the right circumstances.
**'''Storm Bolter''': No, really. It's cheap, and it's Assault 2 rather than Rapid Fire. A nice option if you're cheaping out or if you're not sure what squad you'll want the priest to run with. Pass on the Shotgun, and definitely pass on the Autogun, but this is handy.

*'''Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave''' - You can take a battle conclave for each priest (including Jacobus) in your army. Pretty similar to the Inquisition's henchmen, these are cheap(ish) choices to fill in your army's close combat hole. Sisters do not have any assault vehicles, so it takes a lot more work to use these effectively - and remember you have no grenades, so watch the fuck out.
**'''Arco-Flagellant''' - The base option. They have Feel No Pain, highest strength (5) and most attacks (5 on charge) of the three, but have no armor save and no AP. Cheap pack of attacks at I3, but ludicrously squishy.
**'''Crusader''' - The meatier option, but lacking offensively. They aren't as killy as assassins, but you can use them to soak up attacks with their 3++ saves and they have power weapons (only swords in the new codex) if you get to strike back. Worth taking a couple to soak up wounds; just remember to keep them up front.
**'''Death Cult Assassin'''- The strongest option generally speaking. Dual power <i>swords</i>, but 4 attacks on the charge at WS5, STR4, and I6 should allow you to kill most things just on quickness and massed wounds alone.  Remember that 5++ is ''not'' an acceptable substitute for actual toughness, but with a re-roll from a Priest, they can stick around longer than opponents would like. They are what Howling Banshees wished they were.
**'''Consider the following:''' Inquisition has these units as well and they have Land Raiders, so you could just take them as allies from that codex... but what they don't have is priests, relics and Jacobus, which buff close combat units greatly. Get some allies with assault vehicles, stick priests and conclaves (7th edition Battle-brothers) in them and enjoy the show. You should take 3-4+ Assassins with at minimum 2 - 3 Crusaders and 1 - 2 Priests. Priests for their Hymns and Crusaders to tank. A particularly mean version of this teams 3 Crusaders, 6 Assassins and 2 Priests (one could be Jacobus, take along the Litanies of Faith if not) with a Librarian, all mounted in a Stormraven (Iron Hands for that sweet IWND on the transport). Endurance or Iron Arm will make anyone cry, and Warp Speed is pretty nice, too. A similar combo with Space Wolves works too.

====Special Characters====
*'''Saint Celestine''' - Previously known for being '''the''' trolling HQ, the living saint was nerfed in the digital codex. Fortunately for Sisters players her latest incarnation (and reincarnation) has been enormously buffed... I mean Kaldor Drago buffed ... in the latest Gathering Storm module - although at the cost of a major hike in points from 135 to 200!  
**So what to you get? Her digital version was hampered by the fact that for all her high WS, BS, attacks and initiative, she was only T3, so given the amount of plasma, laser cannon, melta and other AP1 stuff around these days, she was going to be insta-killed a lot. But the new codex gives her (...wait for it...) eternal warrior which, with her 2+ save and 5 wounds, returns her to monster status. Her weapon is still S+2 AP3 and a S5 AP4 flamer, so she can consistently rip through hordes (the pre-digital edition she was only wounding on a 4+). The latest update also adds Armourbane, making her dangerous to soft-skinned vehicles too. At I7, she'll strike first against pretty much anything but the big greater Daemons and some of the Dark Eldar HQs. 
**She has some potential as a character killer once again (the Gathering Storm fluff has her kicking Abbadon's ass - with her new stats, entirely possible, if she weren't AP3) and she can still chop up mobs. She still has the ability to come back from the dead (and does so with full Wounds[!]), but she can only do so once per game (and her Martyrdom only comes into effect when she dies for real). And she's likely to given she just needs to pass a Leadership test to revive. She will take a great deal of killing simply to whittle down the 10 wounds she'll get in most games.
**Her Warlord Trait allows all units within 12" of her to use her Ld10 for AoF and War Hymns and she has ability to hit a specific type of unit within 12 inches of her with a special ability (Zealot for HQ, FNP6+ for Troops, Counter Attack and Furious Charge for Elites, Fleet and Crusader for Fast Attack, Relentless for Heavy Support and It Will Not Die for Lord of War (keep in mind that unlike all the other abilities which only last for a turn, IWND affects your Lord of War for the entire game, but since the ability specifically state non-vehicle, no trying to give an Imperial Knight IWND)). These abilities make her a bit schizophrenic in a footslogging list. She should be at the vanguard of your assault, but if you are marching, she's going to outrun her bubble. All of this being said, she is a great unit. Outside of her strength and toughness of 3 (buffed by EW), she has a fantastic statline, wargear, and special abilities. She still hits at strength 5 ap3 with 5 attacks base (with Master crafted) and weapon skill 7, so she is likely to take out nearly half a tactical squad by herself in one round of CC. Just be careful to kill enemy plasma guns early. Oh yeah, she also gets a one-shot S8 AP3 Orbital Bombardment.
**She also gets a couple of personal Seraphim Superiors, called "Geminae Superia" with Power Swords. If they cop it, she can re-animate one once per turn... so that unlimited "watch out sir!" rolls too.
**'''Consider the following:''' A common enough tactic was running her around solo back with her nigh invincible 5E version. This is once more an option. However, with a somewhat-shiny Power Sword she'll generally struggle against most units with a ton of wounds. She has her own (semi-immortal) Seraphim BFFs, but it's still an option to give her a bigger bunch of ordinary Seraphims. She also could be useful marching in a blob of 20 girls, doing some wound tanking and making the most of her WT. Another thought would be Vanguard Veterans, Sanguinary Guard, Death Company(this works very, very well), Assault Marines or Sky Claws from your near-mandatory allies. '''But if she dies before her allies do, no Act of Faith for you.''' The new GW FAQ implies otherwise, since the AoF goes off AFTER she dies and most things don't apply to dead characters she should be fine. No Laud Hailer reroll though...

*'''Uriah Jacobus, Protector of the Faith''' - [[Ollanius Pius|Badass]] old guy who loves to smite heretics with his '''Twin-barreled shotgun.''' For 100 points you get a buffed up priest with a decent assault shotgun (basically an AP4 Storm Bolter). His banner gives Counter-attack and Fearless within 12" and, more importantly, he gives the unit he's attached to an additional AoF. Let's not forget he is still a priest, so Zealot, War Hymns (on LD 9!) and for being a HQ, Martyrdom special rule. Not to pile on, '''BUT''' his Warlord Trait also makes his squad have a 5++ instead of 6++ and under 7th edition, there's no rule stating that your highest LD character has to be your Warlord. The question is not whether or not you take this guy, it's to what squad do you attach him (9/10 woman Repentia? 20 woman Sisters blob? A bunch of assassins?). If you're taking allies, consider buying him and his squad an assault vehicle (Land Raider for example). Either way, he will not disappoint.

*'''Canoness Veridyan''' While a kickass model, Veridyan isn't much different from a standard Canoness stat wise. She carries no unique weapons outside of a bolt pistol and power sword. To top it all off, her act of faith is the same as a regular Canoness. What she does have that is unique is her special ability Clinical Precision. Basically she gives precision shot and strike to ALL sister models. For a cheap 85 pts, she's not that bad of an HQ choice. Park her with some blob sisters and exorcists, and get that sweet precision shot bonus. That being said, avoid putting her in melee, as she has a 6 up invulnerable save at best. Your best bet is to place her in the Command squad with a Hospitaller. Oh, a rather interesting note on Veridyan. According to her rules, she can be used in any formation or detachment that can use a Canoness.