Hello everyone, Danny here a bit late, but still here, and that’s what matters, right? Today, I am going to go over another new detachment that is bound to see way more play, at least until 8th edition drops.
The Detachment: Null-Maiden Task Force
Source: Codex: Sisters of Silence Faction: Sisters of Silence
Requirements:
1 Elite
Optional:
2 Elites
Restrictions: All units must have the Sisters of Silence faction
Command Benefits:
Nauseating Aura: Psykers that are locked in combat with a unit from this detachment reduce their WS by 1 (to a minimum of 1) in the Fight Sub-Phase.
Rite of Annulment: For each unit from this Detachment beyond the first on the battlefield, your range of Psychic Abomination is increased by 3 inches.
Ok, so to get what this Detachment does, you need to know what Psychic Abomination does. Namely, it screws over Psykers. They don’t generate Warp Charge whilst within the aura, they only harness Warp Charge on a 6, all blessings and maledictions end immediately when moving within the aura, and -3 leadership to the psyker. So yah, any army that relies on psychic dice is suddenly screwed as super psychic deathstars turn off, summoning turns off, and witchfire heavy armies cannot even target the Sisters. Fun times.
Ok, so this just screws over psykers, that’s all?
Well, long answer Yes, and or short answer No, but. The Sisters themselves are dirt cheap, so a full formation of 3 sister units and 3 rhinos (oh, the rhinos also project the F-U psyker aura) can theoretically project an aura each of 30 inches. That pretty much covers the entire board. This also only costs you 330 points. That’s a whole lot of “Get Rekt daemons or Superfriends” for a very small investment. Granted, you can only get the 30 inch aura if you keep the sisters out of their rhinos as transported units no longer constitute “on the battlefield”, but hey, it is a neat trick to move a rhino up 6, deploy the squad up 6, and suddenly project the aura 3 inches farther.
So yes, this screws over psykers pretty hard, but the sisters themselves have a small bit of utility. They come in three flavors, swords, bolters, or flamers, with the former being the cheapest and the latter being the more expensive. So what else do the gals bring? Well, the swords are a steal at only 65 a unit for 5, and those swords are S4 AP2 in melee with 2 attacks base at initiative 4. That’s relatively legit, and against a psychic heavy deathstar, that starts to be money in the bank, especially considering that the Sisters have Precision Strike and reroll to hit against units with psykers, so you can actually start to snipe out Conclaves or Cabals pretty easily.
The flamers are also pretty solid for camping objectives. Drop them off on an objective for some flank aura-spreading, and while they sit pretty on it, any unit trying to kick them off is going to take 5d3 S4 ignore cover hits. That can make a lot of units pause for thought, especially those pesky fast movers or the inevitable Genestealer Cult MSU spam. The Bolters aren’t all that great really as S4 AP5 shots, even rerolling to hit against anything with a psyker in it, isn’t all that great, especially since you can only get 20 shots max. So yah, the swords and flamers are both worthy choices that can actually do work besides turn off several prominent army builds. That’s the thing about them: they are absolute meta-benders as a lot of the big, competitive lists out there use psychic powers, and these girls just turn that off.
Wow, ok, this is really good. Should I expect any Imperial army to have them?
Well, maybe. They are going to be super popular, at least until 8th, but they have a few big weaknesses. The first is that they are only T3 with a 3+ armor save, so they are going to die to just about any shooting. While Daemon lists usually ignore this phase of the game, any army that can put out S4 at range is going to easily pick a unit up. So against say Renegade Artillery Spam, these ladies are dead. Even in close combat, any horde unit is going to sweep them away as AP2 is only cool against valuable models, but a horde of Orks or Gants? The Sisters will pick up a few and then be buried under chaff. Any unit that has more than 10 models in it is likely going to cripple or wipe a Sisters unit in melee.
The other issue is that they rely on rhinos to move around the board or spread the aura, and well, rhinos are easy to kill. Since Battle Company was a thing, just about any legitimate tournament army has a way to pop multiple AV11 vehicles. Without the rhinos, the Sisters lose mobility and the extra bonus to the aura, so a good round of shooting can push back the tide of anti-psyker hate. Of course, the standard Magnus or Daemon armies don’t do this as they rely on Witchfires for any real range, but they will adapt.
So overall, the Sisters are absolutely top-tier against any army that relies on psychic dice, but against just about any other army, they aren’t too special, and well, they die pretty easily. If you are concerned about Daemon BS, make 330 points free in your Imperial army (or even Eldar/Tau), and watch the magic happen. Thanks everyone, and I promise, next week, I’ll be on time and with a non-Imperial thing to ponder. Oh, and go check out that Patreon to make sure Travis and Adam can fulfill their standing offer to buy armies for 50 bucks.
