Sisters players have been on the edge of their seat for two months waiting for an FAQ, thanks to GW’s insistence of holding it back until the full release. But finally it’s here and…
It’s barely a page long.
Not to worry however, as it’s still got some juicy clarifications that Sisters players have been pondering about since everything was covered in tinsel and fake snow. Light the holy incense and refill your flamers, we’re going in. And if you missed our initial detailed review of Codex: Sisters of Battle, you can find it here.
Errata:
Page 77 – Canoness: Change the first wargear option to read:‘This model can be equipped with 1 plasma pistol, 1 power sword and 1 rod of office instead of 1 bolt pistol and 1 chainsword.’
Jay: One of the funniest rules mistakes GW’s ever made, completely invalidating the Battle Box Canoness right out the gate. Mild disappointment that it’s plasma pistol and power sword only, rather than plasma pistol or bolter w/power sword; the bolter option helped shave a few points off Rod of Office Canonesses, but we’ll live. It’s still a powerful tool in the Sororitas’ bag of tricks.
Evan: Good shit. This is nice to have a slightly less anaemic in combat buff Cannoness without the Bloody Rose chainsword relic.
Page 92 – Mortifiers: Change the second sentence of the unit description to read:‘It can additionally contain up to 3 Mortifiers (Power Rating +3 per model).’
Evan: They fixed a typo. Nobody was going to take 5 Mortifiers to risk losing them to morale checks anyways.
Jay: Another rules typo that had Sororitas players arguing for months. While the risk of losing a Morti to morale was there, an extra model in the squad is another 15 Flail attacks (see below) and means a more efficient use of your Stratagems and aura buffs. Like with the Canoness change, it’s not breaking however. 4-strong packs of Mortifiers will still likely be a flanking terror to behold.
IMPERIAL ARMOUR INDEX: FORCES OF THE ADEPTUS ASTARTES ERRATA Page 54 – Sororitas Repressor: Abilities – Change the first line to read:‘Acts of Faith, Sacred Rites, Shield of Faith (see Codex: Adepta Sororitas)’
Evan: The Repressor is cool and good. Now you can use it for a month before it gets legends-ed when new FW indexes come out.
Jay: The Repressor is a lovely unit that straight up blows the Rhino and Immolator out of the water. Coming in cheaper, tougher and far more shooty than the latter thanks to the Firing Ports rule. Lack of an official model is gonna be a hindrance, but yeah enjoy it before the Index rewrites probably shuffle it off to the old Hams home or bring it into a more reasonable level.
FAQs:
Q: When making attacks with a unit, how many Miracle dice can be used when making several rolls simultaneously using fast dice rolling?
A: One. Note, however, that if the unit was equipped with a Simulacrum Imperialis or within range of the Triumph of Saint Katherine’s Icon of the Valorous Heart ability, this would allow multiple simultaneous rolls to be replaced with Miracle dice, up to the number of Acts of Faith that unit is permitted to perform during that phase.
Designer’s Note: Where the Acts of Faith ability states players can choose to use ‘one or more Miracle dice’, this is in reference to replacing one or more of the dice for a roll that involves multiple dice (e.g. a charge roll). Utilising fast dice rolling does not enable the player to treat several rolls made simultaneously as a ‘single roll’ for this purpose. For example, four hit rolls made simultaneously are still considered to be four separate rolls, and so only one of the roll’s dice can be replaced with a Miracle dice.
Evan: Everyone already knew this. The real cool thing is that the designers note pointed out that you can use two miracle dice on a charge, which I had totally missed. If anything did 2D6 damage in the sisters codex, this would be pretty hilarious too, but nothing does.
Q: When determining a randomised number of mortal wounds (e.g. D3), is this treated as a damage roll for the purposes of Acts of Faith?
A: No.
Evan: Slightly unfortunate, but pretty much according to RAW, and Sisters aren’t handing out fistfuls of mortal wounds. Just use a command point if you roll bad and you really need those mortals to go through.
Jay: One thing Sororitas players are gonna have to learn fast is when to weigh blowing a Miracle Die against a CP reroll. At the moment looking around the interweb, it feels like a lot of Sisters pilots are over-relying on Miracle Die for every re-roll and hoarding CP, a seriously bad habit.
Q: When a Miracle dice is gained, can I use the Command Re-roll Stratagem to re-roll the dice?
A: Yes
Evan: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. There are stratagems to let you convert CP into 1d3 miracle dice if you really want to.
Q: If I use the Faith and Fury Stratagem, is reusing the same Miracle dice for the wound roll of that attack treated as an additional Act of Faith?
A: No.
Evan: Duh. The stratagem is utterly nonfunctional if it worked this way. Not that that has stopped GW before (COUGHValhallanstratagemCOUGH. I’m not salty at all.)
Jay: Sometimes with these FAQs, it feels like a bunch of the questions are just an extreme misreading of the rules. This FAQ is no exception.
Q: If I use the Storm of Retribution Stratagem to affect a Retributor unit when they fire Overwatch, are attacks made with heavy bolters by models in the unit affected by the modifier to the hit roll?
A: No.
Evan: Modifiers have never applied to overwatch. It’s a good clarification though, as the stratagem specifically says it can be used during overwatch, but that’s more for the heavy flamers to use.
Jay: There’s absolutely gonna be some cheeky Hams that will try and sneak this through. Don’t, let, them.
Q: Assuming there are no modifiers to its Attacks characteristic, how many hit rolls are made by a Mortifier equipped with 2 penitent flails?
A: 15.
Evan: Yesssss… (Author’s note to editor: Please insert as many flashing emojis as possible into this hot take. Blingee the fuck out of a Mortifier picture. Corrode: No.) It’s only two extra attacks, but there’s an actual reason to take 2 flails now. These will be glorious murder blenders wiping out swathes of cultists, demons, and Ork Boyz with 45 attacks for a unit of 3 (before a priest comes into play making it 54). GLORIOUS.
Jay: Flails are so good it wouldn’t be a shock to see them either toned down or get a points rise in the next CA. There’s so little reason to take the buzz-saws when you can just drown almost anything in the sheer weight of attacks a pack of Mortifiers can piss out.
Overall
Evan: Mostly typos and clarifications of things where the intent was obvious, but the wording was slightly ambiguous. The two cool things are the ability to take a Cannoness with a power sword and rod of office to give your back line buff lady a bit of combat punch, and the clarification that Mortifiers and Penitent Engines get a full 3 extra attacks for being equipped with 2 Flails instead of just 1 extra. Repressors are cool too, but unless they come out with a new model, I’m expecting them to get consigned to legends as soon as the new Forge World books come out, since they’re no longer in production. And I don’t own any.
Jay: Pretty much what we needed to quench the myriad of silly internet slap fights. Expect like a month of Repressor conversions flying about before the FW Index rewrite jabs a stake through the unit’s undead heart and everyone consigns themselves to begrudgingly using the Codex transports. Expect to see a lot of Mortifiers stomping around the boards in the near future, and expect people who built Penitent Engines instead to feel rather inadequate compared to them. The next few months are gonna be exciting to see how the army as a whole stands up against the horrors of Iron Hands meta.
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