Adepta Sororitas (Crusade Army beginnings)

The Sisters of Pompeii

Born of the fires of battle, and forged in the faith of an entire world... The Sisters of Pompeii are a minor militant order of the Adepta Sororitas.   Born of the struggles of the Redemption Crusades, in which every segmentum of the Imperium rose to forge greater glories for the Emperor and his people.  

It was during the opening years of these crusades that vial cultists arose from secrecy among the lower levels of the population of Gallaya.  The strongest leader of the cult a mutant named Ikol held sway in the city of Pompeii, a mining concern in the equatorial south of the main continent of Gallaya. This cancer grew to nearly envelope the entire world.  Only by the swift intervention of Cardinal Vicarus was catastrophic destruction averted.  Vicarus was able to bring the might of a small mission of Adepta Sororitas upon the heretics.  

The Purging

The close-in combat that was required of the faithful of Gallaya was just what the Battle Sisters were prepared for.  They cleansed the city of the filth with bolter and flame... so much flame.  The ashes of much of Pompeii rose to join the pollution already in the air.  By the time Lord Ikol was brought to battle himself, only the central districts of the city remained, with all else ruined, and untold thousands lay among the ashes.  

Upon his death, he swore that in time the entire Sector would burn, even if his body died... his masters would bring ruin.  His words were choked out as the fires took him, the Battle Sisters crushing his ash beneath their feet as they cleansed the rest of the city around them.  In the years that followed, it was decided that a defense against possible future cancers would be needed.  Cardinal Vicarus, as his last action, called for a mission to be erected upon the cooled ashes of Pompeii.  Within a century, it was seen done.

The Sisterhood

While the Sisterhood holds to the use of the Holy Trinity of weapons, they have a special preference for the use of cleansing prometheum.  Every unit of the sisters dives into the conflict, prepared to purify every enemy in His name.

• Flamers
• H. Flamers
• Immolators 

Color Scheme

Stage 1: Primer with Gray

So many Adepta Sororitas armies I see have a very dark colour scheme.  For these ladies, I thought about flames and light... but with a little scorched colouring in it.  To make the colours really pop, I needed to start off with a bit of a neutral shade.

Stage 2: Armour

Personally, I like the metallic shades.  I gathered up acrylic paints, which are not the best for this, but work real well for me.  Dark Copper fit the look I was going for. (Bright, but with a dirty look to it.)

Stage 3: Cloth... and finally Stage 4: Detail

I skipped taking a picture of the cloth stage.  The Red Gore color provides a nice contrast to the shining armor.  Lead Belcher paint from GW highlights the Rosette chain, and the icons on the shoulders.

Charadon Granite covers the flamers to provide a darker color to offset the brights of the rest of the specialist models.

A Crusaders Dream

For now, the number of Sisters painted is small.  This leads them to being able to only be used as allies.  Sister Superior Krista and her ladies will be joined shortly by the other thirty in time.  Until I get them some wheels though, they will not be as useful as I would like.

Priests and perhaps an Inquisitor will soon follow to support the theme of Crusaders.