Ruleshammer: Adepta Sororitas

This Ruleshammer article will cover the quirks and oddities to be found in Codex Adepta Sororitas! You can also find answers to many more questions in the Ruleshammer Compendium!

Last Updated: 2022-02-10

Current Q&A

How do Quick to Anger and Desperate for Redemption Combine?

Q: Do Bloody Rose Repentia gain the benefits of the “Quick to Anger” extra attack when the models (but maybe not the unit?) fights using “Desperate for Redemption” (same as shock assault and “Only in Death …”, I suppose). – Sebastian

I’m actually not sure. I’d lean towards saying no, it can’t benefit from Quick to Anger in this circumstance but I don’t know if that’s being too pedantic.

QUICK TO ANGER Each time a unit with this conviction fights, if it made a charge move, was charged or performed a Heroic Intervention this turn, then until that fight is resolved, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in this unit. Each time a model with this conviction makes a melee attack, if that model’s unit made a charge move, was charged or performed a Heroic Intervention this turn, improve the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack by 1.

This first part of the ability is quite specifically for when a unit fights and then Desperate for Redemption is very specifically about models fighting. Also notice that the second part of Quick to Anger is worded very specifically to affect models from a charging or heroically intervening unit, a similar trigger could have been used for part one but was not.

DESPERATE FOR REDEMPTION Use this Stratagem in the Fight phase when a SISTERS REPENTIA unit from your army is targeted by a melee attack. Until the end of the phase, each time a model in this unit is destroyed by a melee attack, if that model has not fought this phase, do not remove it from play. The destroyed model can fight after the attacking model’s unit has finished making attacks. After doing so, any other rules that affect this model ‘when it is destroyed’ are triggered (if any), and then the model is removed from play.

So I think I’d be looking for a TO to rule on this for events, and for a casual game make it part of the pregame discussion. Sorry I can’t be more definitive on this.

Defenders of Faith

How many shots does this stratagem actually provide? Lets check the rule first.

Instead of following the normal rules for Rapid Fire weapons, models in this unit shooting Rapid Fire Bolt weapons make double the number of normal attacks.

So the key thing here is that "instead of following" text, so it's not double what ever attacks you'd normally make in a given situation it's just double the number of attacks those weapons have listed. The Rapid Fire rules no long apply. So for a Rapid 2 weapon it's not 4 shots at full range and 8 at half range because the half range bonus from Rapid Fire doesn't apply. It is 4 shots regardless of the range.

Paragon Warsuits

Paragons (or "nundams" as Greg continually insists I call them) are a brand new unit for Sisters of Battle but as has been covered extensively they've debuted with two issues in their rules and costs. First of all their current listed cost in the codex is 240 points per model. This is pretty obviously ridiculous for a T5 4W 2+ model, and most players are going to be using that 240 as the intended cost of the whole unit of 3.

The other issue is with their damage reduction rule.

Each time an attack is allocated to a model in this unit, subtract 1 from the Damage Characteristic for that attack.

whilst not broken in an "this in unclear" way, rules-as-written this has no lower limit. As such, that means it will reduce the damage on incoming attacks with a dama1 Damage weapons to 0 damage. Damage as a characteristic unlike some others does not have a core rule limit on how low it can be reduce to, maybe because there are weapons with a damage characteristic of "-". With Ruleshammer I really do like to stick to RAW as often as I can, but I think I can safely say that most players will be running that these suits aren't immune to 1 Damage weapons, probably as many players who aren't going to insist on paying 720 points for the unit.

Credit: JD Reynolds

Celestine and her Retinue

Celestine and her Geminae Superia are a single unit again, one that can be healed a few times over the game so I thought covering how that interacts with other rules was worth covering again.

Do I need to spend Reinforcement Points to return these models to the battlefield?

The short answer to this is "no." Returning Geminae Superia to the unit does not require any Reinforcement Points.

REINFORCEMENT POINTS Some rules allow you to add new units to your army during the battle, or else replace units that have been destroyed. If you are playing a game that uses a points limit, then you must set aside some of your points in order to use these rules; these are your Reinforcement points. Each time a unit is added to your army during the battle, subtract the points of that unit from your pool of Reinforcement points. If there are not enough points in your pool to pay for the unit, you must either decrease the size of that unit (but no smaller than its minimum unit size) or the number of weapon options the unit has until you do have enough points to pay for it, otherwise it cannot be added to your army.

Sometimes a rule will allow you to add extra models to an existing unit from your army during the battle. Unless otherwise started, adding these models does not cost any Reinforcement points.

When do these models count as Destroyed for the purposes of the Assassination Secondary Objective?

The updated Secondary in GT2021 Assassination does mean this unit is worth 9 Victory Points on its own, however it will only be worth a maximum of 9 VP during a game, rather than giving you 3 VP each time a Geminae is killed.

If this unit is below its Starting Strength, 1 GEMINAE SUPERIA model is returned to the unit with their full wounds remaining.’

and the new Assassination Secondary Objective in the 2021 Grand Tournament Missions pack:

Score 3 Victory Points at the end of the battle for each enemy Character that is destroyed. If the enemy Warlord was destroyed during the battle, gain 1 additional victory point.

As with Assassinate in the 2020 pack, this checks at the end of the game for destroyed units, so it really only matters which models from the unit have been destroyed at the end of the game.

Note: There's perhaps an angle here for "well the rule doesn't say they aren't destroyed" which I guess is technically true but also seems a bit of a reach. They're back on the board and can be destroyed again by future attacks. It's not as tight as it could be but I don't think this argument would be in good faith,

Taking a Diagolus Warlord with <ORDER> Traits

The Diagolus do not have an <ORDER> keyword so what happens when they are given an <ORDER> Warlord Trait? Ignoring the slightly odd command structure that this represents, let's look at the rule:

When you have determined a Warlord Trait for an ADEPTA SORORITAS CHARACTER model, replace all instances of the <ORDER> keyword in their Warlord Trait (if any) with the name of the Order Militant that your model is drawn from. If your WARLORD has the SANCTIFIED keyword, replace all instances of the keyword on any Warlord Traits they have (if any) with ADEPTA SORORITAS.

Because Diagolus do have the SANCTIFIED keyword they replace all instances of <ORDER> with just ADEPTA SORORITAS. I'm not sure if this allows for any game braking combinations but does mean you can make some of the traits army wide for a mixed <ORDER> army.

Credit: RichyP

GW FAQed!

Amorium Cherubs

We now have an FAQ Answer for this!

Page 114 – Retributor Squad, Armorium Cherub Change the second sentence to read: ‘If this unit has two armorium cherubs, it can use this ability twice per battle, but only once per turn.’

which settles the debate on one per turn.

Previous Answer

Can you use these twice in the same turn? The short answer is that it's not 100% clear.

Once per battle, in your Shooting phase, after this unit has shot, one model in this unit can immediately shoot with one of its ranged weapons again. If this unit has two armorium cherubs, it can use this ability twice per battle.

Update: Since publishing I've looked at this rule again and after some really helpful reader feedback; I've been convinced that being able to use both in a single turn is potentially allowed. I've left my orginal answer below because I think what I said about the trigger point is still valid, "after this unit has shot" does happen once however this point can trigger BOTH cherubs. We then end up with two models in the unit that need to shoot again immediately, and the core rules explain how to resolve two rules happening at the same time in the sequencing section. The player who's turn it is decides the order, in this case which model is resolved first. I think you'd need to decide to activate both cherubs at this point though, not activate one and then decide to activate the second after shooting. Also it's not clear if both activations can target the same model. So I still think an FAQ would be helpful to clear that up.

Original Answer: Personally I lean toward once per turn, purely because the trigger happens once in a turn; "after this unit has shot"... you then shoot with another model again. This hinges somewhate on "after this unit has shot, one model in this unit can immediately" implying "the next thing you could do imediately is this" and once you move on from that moment it stops being an option. The "in your Shooting Phase" does limit this rules timing at least, rather than inadvertently being any moment after it has shot in the game.

Adepta Sororitas - Argent Shroud and counting as Remained Stationary

Does the FAQ on Remain Stationary rules allow an Argent Shroud sisters unit to disembark from a Rhino and remain stationary? Having trouble understanding if they covered this circumstance with the new rules, or if the old rule of never stationary after disembarking is in effect.

This one has been addressed now in the core rules FAQ, with the other "Count as Remain Stationary" effect rules.

9. If a unit has disembarked from a Transport model, rules which allow that unit to be treated as though it has Remained Stationary have no effect.

This is a bit of a reversal of some event rulings that were the basis for allowing it at our events. Though having a proper answer is always preferable.

Previous Answer

This is another tough one - I'm sorry but there's not a proper answer to this currently.

It's generally accepted that this part of the "counts as remain stationary FAQ" means that units arriving from reinforcements can't ever count as stationary:

Even if a Reinforcement unit is subject to such a rule, that rule has no effect on that unit in the turn they are set up on the battlefield. This means Reinforcement units always count as having moved (i.e. they never count as having Remained Stationary). Remember that this also includes Repositioned and Replacement units.

And then the rules for disembarking use this very similar wording

Units that disembark can then act normally (move, shoot, charge, fight, etc.) in the remainder of the turn, but its models count as having moved that turn, even if they are not moved further (i.e. they never count as having Remained Stationary).

So RAW the FAQ and Disembark rules seems to lead to the answer "no." However a significant number of events, including GW's own event in Orlando two weeks ago, have ruled that they can count as Remaining Stationary after disembarking - a ruling that the upcoming Goonhammer Open is also going to be using.

Holy Vanguard with two Squads Sharing a Rhino

Q: Could you take 2 minimum size squads of Dominion in a single Sororitas Rhino and benefit from the Holy Vanguard ability (6″ normal move at start of first battle round) twice?

As expected the answer to this one has been confirmed as no.

Q: If an Adepta Sororitas Transport model contains two Dominion Squad units, can it use the Holy Vanguard ability from both units to make two moves at the start of the first battle round? A: No.

Previous Answer

I don’t think this does work based on perhaps a pretty pedantic reading of the ability.

Holy Vanguard: At the start of the first battle round, before the first turn begins, this unit, or the ADEPTA SORORITAS TRANSPORT it is embarked within, can make a Normal Move of up to 6″ as if it were your Movement phase. This unit must end that move more than 9″ away from any enemy models. If both players have units that can do this, the player who is taking the first turn moves their units first.

This ability gives the unit or their transport the ability to make “a Normal move,” singular. So essentially for the second Dominion unit their transport already has made “a Normal move” and the ability ends. Maybe this is just seeing a convenient interpretation though, but personally I’d expect something more specific to allow for multiple moves.

Competitive Note: This is how the majority of events are ruling this ability as well.

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