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.

And yet they live!!!!! Blog NECROMANCY!!!!

An entire edition has come, and a new Sisters Codex as well.  One would think I had up and slogged off to death.  But no, I have merely been far too busy with life itself.

I have really only been able to get a paltry three games in over the last stretch of time since my last posting.  And none of the terrain building I had once hoped for.

But "The Forsaken" remain... and they have fought wondrous battles.  Oh the things I have planned still remain... but on a smaller scale. 

What was

The Poor Infantry:  Not much expansion on these boys... I have an entire field company of artillery just waiting to be assembled.  But I need to get the men to crew them first.  As it stands though, I have three full platoons still.

Malcador Tanks:  I love the look of them... and I have three of the beautiful things.

What is

Breastplate Veterans/Engineers.  (Various bits)

Sisters of Pompeii :  A very flame heavy Adepta Sororitas army.  One of the biggest problems I have is a serious lack of accessible models.  Ebay can sometimes still get expensive depending on who is bidding.    Still progress is being made.

Here we have the first example: Sister Superior Krista Vora

Rough Rider Irregulars:  Over the course of these last many months, I have scoured Ebay and reject bins throughout the tristate area.  And I have gathered a full 55 roughriders of various qualities and appearance.   Would I like a little uniformity... sure, but to see a small army of cavalry rushing down the field upon poor unsuspecting Necrons.  I am willing to let it go.

351st Imperial Naval Wing:  2 Marauder Destroyers, and 2 Thunderbolts now take the sky together

What will be

Expanding upon the current army is still my wish.  Filling in little areas here and there as I go.  My biggest weakness still seems to be mobility, unless I am using the Riders... but then it becomes an issue of lack of real ranged power.

Slowly I have begun to put together a Chimera or two... but I am being picky with the paint scheme and bits for it. 

I would love to have a Crusade style to the army as I move forward... and am seriously trying to find more Immolator sprues to add some character to chimeras I am planning to get.  I have one already just about done... but it is tough when you are a bits guy and the bits just aren't out there anymore.



I have also found out that I have a small love for Sentinels.  Perhaps I have been watching a little too much Star Wars lately and the AT-ST thrills some part of my soul... who knows.

6th Edition Allies... Yes Please!

Recently I played what the local gaming store called "Farewell to 5th"

The number of mechanized forces I witnessed really should not have surprised me, considering the blogs out there that support the built for guard... perhaps you have seen it.

Command Squad + Melta Vet Squads in Chimeras + Manticore Missile Launcher... and maybe a Valkryie just for flavor.

At least that seemed to be the builds I witnessed more than anything else.  For my fleshy guard that was a tough nut to crack.  Still, I was able to pull out a victory against one of those formations thanks to charging my boys right up against them with Krak grenades.  After that it was numbers against veterans.

Still, there is an obvious lack of mobility in this army... men can only run so fast.  Which brings me to my point.

Allies in 6th


Everybody and their mother has been talking about this... some love it, some think it will break the game.

Me, I just think it allows me to get even more into the background character of this army.  

And what kind of allies would an imperial guard army from a Shrine World likely have... only one really came to mind for me.

The Sisters had not received much love... and with their WD codex release, really have not had anything added to them.  But something about them just makes it love at first site for my army.

Being able to throw some ladies into a Rhino or two... not to mention several decent close combat units.. I say hell yes.  The Emperor Wills It!.

Several of my friends have mentioned using Inquisition and Grey Knights, and they made some compelling points.  Honestly though, I don't think it fits as well... especially since Sisters are more common, and are not specifically focused on any one type of enemy.

I just don't fight demons enough to warrant taking a unit of the Knights.

So, needless to say I intend to slowly start building up an army of them.  Only one thing will keep it slow.

$$$$$$$$

With a blister of three of them costing nearly 20 bucks... Having a squad of them would run me as much as a battleforce in near any army.  

With my other ideas still in the works, this could take some time... but eventually it will turn into a very flavorful army.

Test Construction; Engineer Part 1

The heads and bodies arrived quicker then I thought they would.  With a little trimming down, I started putting a couple of them together.

I made a kneeling one and an advancing one. 

From this picture, it does not look too bad.

Front and center

The goal is to use as many GW/FW bits as possible.  This way when tournaments come, I will not have much griping from others.  

Originally I was considering using some new arms I have seen previewed from Victoria Lamb... but I have since decided against that.

I do not want the engineers to have the huge Cadian shoulder pads.  Instead I intend to mold layered armored plates along the shoulders.  

As far as arms go... I am considering a couple of options.

A: Empire Repeater

B: Scout Marine Shotgun

The last option I have thought of, is trying to convert my own like I did for the Grenade Launchers.  Of the above two choices, I am leaning more toward the Empire Repeater.  The only downside to it, is that it is a rather large gun.

Project Ideas... plans for 2012, 2013

The Plan...

When I started this army, I always had the goal of making it Apoc. scale.  Whether this was because of the Spirits I was drinking at the time I thought it up, or the fact I just really love converting hundreds of troopers... who is to say.

As my latest batch of the needed Men at Arms heads is incoming from England, I consider the new platoon I will be making.  Will I abuse more Cadian legs and make them like my original platoon, or will I say forget it and just go the easy route?  

Added to this the many beautiful ideas that have come to mind, both in expanding beyond just the infantry, and into specialists and terrain.

New Units

Engineering Squads

As I looked over the Siege Army list that Forgeworld so happily provides for easy download.  I looked over the Troop Choice;  Engineers.  I love these guys, for the simple reason of being unusual.

Sure, they are pretty much just veterans with some special gear.  The personality of them made me think of making up my own.  I did not want to make them just a carbon copy of my previous regular infantry... I want to make the different and more archaic looking.

Enter some Empire Bits, and some new heads from Puppet Wars.

It is a rough idea, and one that will likely change as I receive the actual bits and see how they look together.  Greenstuffing a few armor plates on Cadian legs will be pretty easy I think.

Add to this the fact that buying some Hades Breaching drills from Forgeworld would take me awhile, this may be a project for Next year at some point.  Depending on whether or not I find semi-permanent work in the school system.

Cavalry

While I have actually put together a unit of Rough Riders... I find that they really look out of place with the army I have right now.  Whether it is the paint scheme or just the use of Wargs as mounts I am unsure.

My painting skills are not what I would like for the appearance of my army.  But without winning the lotto, I am unlikely to be able to pay someone to do it for me.  

Whatever I do, I intend to have at least two more squads of riders... even if it means using Simple Green to strip the paint and go with a different color scheme I like better.

Terrain

The ideas I had for terrain came from my great interest in World War I and II, and what various governments tried to do to protect themselves.   France created the Maginot Line, what they considered to be the greatest line of fortifications built specifically to stop invasion from the East.  It did not work of course, but it was an impressive feat of engineering to build.

What would go into such a design in the world of 40k?  How many big guns, how many small guns?  How big of a table would it cover?  And finally, how modular could I make it?

To start, you must have THE BIG GUNS!

Imperial Defense Laser

Ever since seeing various WIP of others, I have been fascinated by the idea of making a Defense Laser.  Not just to use it with the datasheet, but to have a cool bit of terrain to fight over as an objective.  

Thanks to me having time around the house, I have been working on many in-home remodeling projects.  With left over pipes, and various bits lying around... and a small hamster ball from years ago, I think I can do it.

Mid-Range Guns

Next up I would like to get a hold of a couple of these bad boys... to cover the mid range guns of the Line.  These are made by the proprietor of IronHands.com... the site even has some great "how to" guides for other terrain pieces I may just use someday.

Not only do they fit the theme of a line of big guns, but they just look fantastic.

Other bits and bullets

Not everything is a big gun, so of course smaller weapon emplacements, barricades, and trenches will be in order.  The only difficulty I see in all of this is length of time it would take, and how easy it will be to make on a limited budget.

I will be doing further research on the actual historical Maginot Line itself... to see what really went into it.  That way I don't go too crazy and just make a line of Battle cannon towers everywhere.

In summation... after a little bit of run-on

Goals for this year and most of next (Barring the end of the world... or the Emperor getting off the Throne)

Engineer troopers x 20+

Rough Riders x 20+

Regular Infantry x 50+

Defense Laser (Definately)

Other Stuff for the line (Maybe.. depending on time and resources)

This would bring my total Infantry force to around 200... just out of Regular Guardsmen.  

Who they are

Who are they?

Gallaya

Gallaya has been a part of the Imperium for untold generations. It holds a stance of both religious fervour and industrial focus.  As a Shrine world, the Imperial Church holds great power, but provides comfort to the population regularly toiling in the modest industrial concerns of the world.

When first found during the Emperors glorious crusade, Gallaya had fallen back into what could have been considered Feudal culture.  In the proceeding millenniums there have been some advancements, but the social order which had gained power refused to surrender completely.  For this reason, there is a great deal of power in both the church, and the nobility of the world... while the general population scrapes by.

On one of the few beautiful days... faith shines for Gallayans

Thanks to the ever increasing demands for materials throughout the imperium, Gallaya exports most of the industrial products they make.  Light vehicles, weapons, machinery parts, and raw materials all flow from this modest world.  With the constant lack of machinery due to these demands, the regiments have learned to go without.

Endlessly surrounded by the ceaseless canopy of smog and pollution, the world has few areas which can be considered for good farming.  Only in the northernmost tracts of land can even the most basic crops grow.  These are enough to sustain much of the population, but do not really prepare them for droughts or other food shortages.

In response to a massive drought in the early part of the 41st millennium, the church and planetary lords chose to mandate compulsory military service, off-world.  Dozens of regiments were raised in the course of the following years, and the population saw some relief from the endless food shortage which had hit their world.  From time to time, this regimental tithe has been increased as the need arose.  The influx of new regiments has been helpful during several recent campaigns throughout the current millennium

The Martial Tradition

From the time he is first able to walk, a child of the nobility is taught the honored traditions of his predecessors.  Any Gallayan who is unable to show expertise with at least one combat weapon is considered practically worthless... and shunned among open society.  

This tradition continues today even among the lower populations.  While the food shortages are less common, it is considered a great opportunity to be considered for the regiments... both for the families and the communities of the child.  So, many peasant children are schooled in the rudiments of combat if their families can afford it.  Those that cannot usually find themselves watching their child enter one of the many "training cadres"  

"Training Cadres" are little more then violent groups of bandits that prey upon others.  While this is a less reputable way to learn the martial traditions, in some Counties and Baronies they are allowed to act... as long as they provide a steady stream of recruits to the regiments.  

The wrap-up... turns 4 and 5

When I began the apoc game against Justin, I had a substantial army of footslogging.  By the end of turn 3, I was down to barely 2 dozen infantry on the ground, with the rest sitting in a super heavy transport... scared to death to leave it.  My command squad still had full count, but otherwise I had ten men remaining on my left flank, with another half dozen in the center.  While this still left me with scoring units... I had mostly ignored the really important objectives.

The last two turns saw me regain my focus.  Also, by this time in the night, we had neglected to take any real pictures, which is a shame.  My apologies for the boring walls of text.

Turn 4

Tyranid Turn

This turn found the tyranid forces losing a lot of focus, they had few controlling creatures to keep the little and big guys in line.

With the game winding down, Justin gained vengeance for what little damage I had done to his Carnifex brood. In rapid succession he obliterated all six of the hellhounds without even breaking a sweat, I was an idiot in the fact that I had mistakenly combined them together (Not my brightest moment).

 His massive Hyradul and two other monsters turned toward the center to finish off the troopers.  Luckily they were unable to reach assault range this turn.  The shooting downed another lascannon team though, and brought a structure point down on the Baneblade.

Imperium Turn

My turn saw more fire then movement.

Ignoring the impending doom that was coming down the line, I turned the massive gun of the Baneblade upon a pile of gaunts that had been sitting on an objective all game.  With an explosive blast, 19 of the little beasts exploded in fire... but still seven remained.  Remaining fire from the turrets of the massive tank opened up on the incoming beasts to the side.  That fire brought a wound on the Hyradul, and another on one of the Carnifex beasts. The lone lascannon fired and failed to wound... a poor and final showing.

The two Leman Russ opened up on the same pile, finally bringing it down.  One less objective for the Tyranids.

The lone squad on the left flank fired upon and killed the last Lictor, finally clearing the area.

The Fires of Retribution opened up on what little was left, finishing off some scatterings of creatures.  This left almost no Synaps creatures on the board... which made my final turn considerably easier.

There was very little effective fire from my naval support this turn.  A few gaunts killed, but little else.  The rules of Lascannon missing or failing to wound had caught up at last.

Turn 5

Tyranid turn

The Hyradul charged home... the last two structure points from the mighty Baneblade, leaving it a wreck.  The damage had been done though... there was little left of the gaunts holding an objective in the center on his side of the board.  They had been getting picked apart throughout the last couple of turns.  Planes would no doubt eliminate them at last on my turn.

Instead, he focused on doing what damage he could. The Screamer Killer charged the remnants of the center platoon, killing every man.  Leaving only the command squad as the lone meat in the middle.

The remainder of the carnifex force that came in could not reach anyone else before the game ended... so he left them to their own devices.

Imperial Turn

The lone squad on the left ran forward to try and reach a middle objective... but missed it by easily 6 inches. Can't blame a guy for trying.  

The Pathfinders finally decided to get out of the tank, and marched to the lone objective as The Fires of Retribution turned the mega-bolters upon the Hyradul and put all power to weapons.  In a hail of gunfire the Hyradul ignored all but two of the seven wounds it recieved.  

The two thunderbolts and two vendeta gunships decided they had enough, and finished the monster off.  

Meanwhile, both Valkyries rained rocket pod fire down upon the remaining gaunts on the lone held Tyranid objective.  Despite surviving most of that fire, they finally were brought down.  

Thus, the Imperium was victorious... it just was real close.

Total Objectives in game: 6

Total Tyranid Held: 0

Total Imperial Held: 1

Conclusion... Airpower and Numerous scoring units make a differance.

I had always been a lover of the Super Heavy vehicles... but in spite of the points they were, they did not do an incredible amount of damage.  The planes on the other hand slaughtered much of the Tyranid army, with little response in kind.  Which leads me to a thought...

Everyone else has flyers galore these days... what about the Tyranids?  One flyer on his side of the board could have made a big difference, because it would have wounds instead of armor... I would have had to focus a lot on killing it.