Sisters of Battle on the way?

The rumor on the interwebz, whether true or not, was that the molds were worn out for the actual Sisters of Battle models prompting GW to make a decision.  They have been liquidating their existing stock, as compared to what they had been doing with it, which was melting it down for reuse and they upped the prices quite a bit as they did so.

Nonetheless, the faithful have gathered up what they can.  At first many feared there might be a Squatting in the offing.  But then hope shined through the gaps in the dark foliage overhead to reveal that in upcoming publications, the Sisters of Battle will be featured.  Rejoice, for the Emperor is surely with you.

I see that going one of three ways.

If it is simply fluff and lore, it will be an exploratory effort to see what the interest levels are, and with the possible advent of the new FAQ regarding the Adepta Sororitas, they are at least making an effort to support the line for now so an exploratory effort makes sense.  If interest and commentary is low on it then perhaps they will not be overly zealous in expending resources on the line in the short term.

...But...  It has been said about one million times that players would delve right into the line if it had updated plastics that look awesome.  Well I don't foresee that as being any great problem for a company that produces ridiculous quality models (in a good way) like Games Workshop does.  Even those who do not enjoy the business model enjoy the product and Games Workshop has been trading on that fact in dire times and in good for quite a while.

So the second way this can go is with a new codex.  In it I would not at all be surprised for them to fully port over the Forge World Repressor tanks as a multi-kit you can build into the Rhino or the Immolator as well.  Naturally with a price bump so that those JUST wanting an Immolator or a Rhino with all the Sororitas filigree will have to pay a little more for it.  I also would then foresee the availability of your choice of heads for the Sisters of Battle and the usual scalping they do in order to get the special weapons models by including "one of each" in every Sisters of Battle box.  For new collectors, no problem.  For old ones, hopefully you got them while you could.

Another interesting prognostication I will make on the matter is the possibility of a flyer being added to their repertoire.  Whether it would be the Forge World one or not is pretty debatable.  My reasoning behind thinking they will create a new one is because I know that Skies of Death lacks stats and such for the Forge World models and so a new jet would be needed in order to stat them completely.  It is also possible they could use the product drop as the excuse TO give some of those same planes stats you can use.  But ultimately Games Workshop makes more money with a new plane.  Edge goes to making more money.  They are, after all, not running a charity for disgruntled gamers (the resources needed to run such a charity would be astronomical).

The last way this can go is to incorporate the Adepta Sororitas forces into a splash release like the Raven Guard and the Imperial Guard got for example.  In that scenario, new models may still be coming because of the mold issue, but perhaps not as extensive a commitment will be made on that end.  In that case only the Sisters of Battle models themselves would be replaced and possibly the Exorcist which is (currently) a monstrously poorly designed model that requires a lot of conversion work on its gun to fit right but for which a plastic gun sprue could be produced and embraced most likely and most easily.

All of this wild speculation on my part is as much wish listing as anything but it does seem very plausible that we will be seeing the Adepta Sororitas in their full panoply sooner than later.  I for one would be quite excited by the prospect.

Oh and for the love of all that is holy, one hopes they get Celestians right this time.  They were onto something when it came to them in the White Dwarf version of the Codex, but are now kind of the black sheep again.

7th Edition Ork Tools

I am constantly reminded every time an ork steps onto the field how much I appreciate this one army among the sea of never ending shenanigans players bring to the table.  it does exactly what it looks like it does.  That is novel on it's own in a game full of c-c-c-c-combo breakers! (older video gamers will appreciate the reference)

It is a brutal (but kunnin') force, and I decided to bring mine to a tournament last weekend.  I had a few good games with them and realized that other than taking them out and putting them away, they are super fun.

While preparing, I was able to remind myself of all the things they do well.

Unexpectedly Good Artillery

Let's face it:  most players don't even show up with Ork artillery.  Available to them however are Mek Guns which are some of the neatest units in the game for almost no price at all.  Mek Guns come in a lot of variety and one of those varieties is the Traktor kannon.  It is stronger (STR 8 AP 3 instead of the usual STR 7 AP 4 anti-air missiles most get) at anti-air operations and automatically adds an immobilized result to any other results it gets when smashing flyers.  So really, two hits with Trakor Kannons and a plane is probably finished.  Hitting on Gretchen at BS 3 isn't the worst thing in the world when you have five Mek Guns.  That forces planes that enjoy living to jink.  Against Flying Circus's, it gives the flying monster a whopping -3 to its grounding check which is enormously important if you want to take one down and slaughter it with Meganobz.  And you do.

If you have lootas and are content to count on them for anti-air duty, then you can instead take the Kustom Mega Kannons which are essentially STR 8 Plasma cannons.  Zzap guns are unreliable and probably aren't as good, but they embody everything orky:  random STR and the chance to kill its own crew but with the chance to pump out some serious low cost AP 2 firepower.  The ork artillery compares favorably when you look at its cost to almost any kind of hard hitting unit the enemy can boast.  A base Devastator squad with Plasma Cannons for example is T4, 5 wounds and costs about 130 points.  The Kustom Mega Kannons?  150 points with 20 Tough 7 wounds to give!  The comparison isn't even close and you get better firepower at the cost of a little accuracy.

There is a dirty little secret here too in that a Mega armored character can make the artillery unit mobile, granting slow and purposeful to the unit.  This can provide added opportunity for clever deployment and objective snagging when it's least expected.

Bone Crushing Melee Force

Whether it be Nurgle infested Spawn or Power Armored Sisters of Battle, the orks bring it hard and fast in melee.  4 attacks on a charge at STR 4 is almost as good as Necron Flayed ones and while they can't truly compete with the Flayed ones, the Ork hordes are also not as likely to give up the fight until they are well and truly devastated.  They also don't cost nearly as much.  30 Boyz in a unit will mill your bones to dust in one round, and their unique morale rules make breaking them a real challenge.

MegaNobz are a strong part of the codex's ability to project melee might forward into the enemy.  They've grown to be one of my favorite things in the codex s some here know, because a two wound 2+ save running around with a Powerfist screams to be used  It has seemed to me that they compliment well if the Ork horde charges first and locks the elements the Nobz don't want to fight first and then the Nobz come into the least fair matchup possible.  Then just let the orks do their whittling...and the Meganobz do the final culling of the flock.

Ego Annihilating Psyker Energies

Underestimated is the onslaught of Ork Psykers.  I did a blog on that already which you can find here:  Ork Psyker article

Suffice it is to say, the orks can obliterate their enemies with an awesome array of firepower from their Psykers, and this aspect of the codex is no doubt the one most overlooked.  When people say Orks aren't competitive, I wonder if it is simply a lack of imagination.  Consider that a strong Psychic attack by Orks, which many armies simply can't stop, can decimate squads on its own with powers like Power Vomit, Frazzle and Da' Krunch.  It's a lot of added firepower to units if you want it.

Confounding Relics

Da' Lucky Stikk on a MegaArmored Warboss is truly a thing of beauty giving it an enormous edge in protecting his flock.  He alone can tank a huge number of wounds for the unit he is in and so long as you keep him out of challenges, he will rack up an impressive kill total to turn the battle way in the favor of the ork mobz so keeping him at the fore of the unit when charging is important.

Ork Warlord traits are very very good and the Finkin' Kap let's you have two of them instead of just one.  All of them are useful, especially if you don't have Da Lucky Stikk (and you won't if you select the Finkin' Kap).

Cheaper Than Cheap Gofers

My great Uncle used to call my sister and I his Gofers.  As in "Go fer this' or "Go fer that", because he could get us to bring him tools or whatever he needed while he worked.  What an Orky thing to say.

Gretchen are the gofers of the Ork race.  The little bastard are uber cheap and baby sit objectives or just simply sit where they are told very well.  If there is one unit whose whole reason for being is merely to EXIST in a given space, the Gretchen have mastered it.  They are the galaxy's cheapest gofers, stumbling blocks, cover save generators and charge insurers.  Put them in front of your melee unit and watch as the enemy kills them in frustration, unable to get at the unit they really wanted to kill.  Or roll your 5+ cover saves and protect the Meganobz using these entirely useless Gretchen who just use forest and ruin cover to make a shooting units life nigh meaningless in actual impact.  

In Warhammer 40,000, things die.  Making the enemy units use up their kills for the day on something so fruitless is fun.

Ork Bikers are Wiz Bang

Yup, I took and cleared out an entire battle company with the orks you see above and at the spear of that attack were the Bikerz and their silly cover saves.  Bursting forward and going flat out turn one while Night fight is in effect?  Sheesh.  I was able to blast into the enemy lines with the unit round 2, hold there and then do it again, ripping apart his backfield artillery.in round 3.  It was a runaway freight train of hurt, and by round three I had other things in his face as you'd expect.  Zoom in and look.  This guy even had Whirlwinds, which are frighteningly good against Orks.

The other fun thing was that the bikerz can really shoot.  The volume of decent strength shooting was a very pleasant surprise as I have learned to use them more.  

Different Plans For Different Manz

The Tau Empire would have been able to force me into a different plan, but that's entirely okay because fortunately the Orks are capable of different plans.  The Battle Company just happened to be susceptible to this one.  

This force included Kommandos and plenty of ability to push models up to the front, even in Hammer and Anvil deployment.  4 trukks, a Biker squad and Kommandos ensured that I could most definitely pin the enemy in while the rest of my orks slowly crossed the intervening no mans land.

I will be playing orks more I think.  Everyone pretty much wins when orks are being placed on the table, or so it seems to me.

Guest Articles

Starting soon I am going to hand pick a few guest articles to appear here.  I do not like to post as often as some blogs, once or twice a month is the norm.  I do that because I want to actually have something to say instead of whoring for clicks as seems the norm.

Those contributors will be people whose judgement I actually trust on the subject and I will of course edit them to make certain the work has value and is presented in a great form for you, the reader.

If you feel particularly qualified to speak on a certain topic, you can e-mail me at Jancoran@hotmail.com so that we can discuss it.  I am not looking to do this all the time, but recent conversations have made clear to me that there are some pretty great insights we could be sharing here, and the best people to speak to them are the ones who have the most passion for it.

A recent example was a rather contentious discussion on a large forum wherein the member of the forum is pretty much constantly down on his Blood Angels.  Knowing someone who is very good with them, I started a discourse with him and I think his insights will be valuable.  Be looking for that help soon.

If you've been looking for help on a particular subject, army or whatever, let me know.  I know a lot of really good generals who might know what you want to know if I do not.  My prerequisite in general for posting here is that someone out there would actually care what we have to say.  If people are silent on something, why waste the space here to address it other than just senationalizing no-news?

Feel free to post below any ideas for guest articles you think I should pursue.  Thank you for your input and for visiting to hear what I have to say once in a while.  I appreciate you all for the comments you've left and your contributions to my processing of ideas.  the Unorthodoxy Empire grows.  If you have friends who might find my unorthodoxy useful, steer them here as well.  The more the merrier.