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A new old player


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Hello all,

 

I am a returning player. I recently stumbled upon my old boxes of miniature figures (sealed for at least ten years) and found my old sisters of battle miniatures. Though some seem to have gone missing - I can't for the life ode me remember what I did with those fraterus militia. Anyway I have been looking thought GW's current offerings and have determined that there are no rules available for these wonderful figures (how they can slight this line so is beyond me, grumble grumble) are there any sources of legitimate info out there or should I just content myself painting my Sisters of the Pale Mask until there is? I'm going to paint them no matter what, using them? Well that's another story.

 

I have enjoyed reading through some of the posts here so far and I expect that you will se me around from time to time.

 

Thanks

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At the moment, unfortunately, it's a royal pain to get the Sisters of Battle Codex. What you need is White Dwarf 379 and 380 (US numbering, or 380 and 381 UK). These are sold out as far as Games Workshop goes, so you'd have to scavenge for the issues to get a legitimate copy. Maybe some gaming stores still have copies in a backroom somewhere, or maybe one of them have a store copy of the rules (I heard of one store doing this after copies proved to be rare), or shop ebay for a premium (because unfortunately people know the codex is basically a freaking rare collectible).

 

The first issue sold out so fast in the US it wasn't even funny, it sold out before the second issue even went to market. I had to buy the first part from the UK and pay international shipping to get it here myself, so somewhat humorously both parts are numbered as issue 380 (first part UK, second part US).

 

In theory, GW will eventually do something about it, and someone contacted them at some point about it, but the answer from customer service was that they're aware of it and have passed it along to their web team, but nothing has gone up yet. I have a small suspicion that it may be made a digital codex at some point, but that's just hearsay.

 

But welcome back to the Sisters of Battle, right where you left them, on a ship named Languish. Company is a bit less these days, the Necrons, Dark Eldar, and Grey Knights all abandoned ship just a little while back. I mean the whole reason the allies chart lets us grudgingly use Necrons and Dark Eldar is allies is because we had to room with them on the Languish for so long. Grey Knights were actually kicked off after that whole blood incident.

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Sadly right now on Ebay there is a copy of both White Dwarf issues. Starting bid 99 dollars. I was taking a gander at what was on there, hoping to spot a steal. I am with AdmLancel hopefully they go digital, release more of the magazine or forbid actually give us a real codex. I would settle for a mini codex like what the different space marine chapters had in 3rd. I would pay 30 bucks gladly for it.
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99 dollars, wow. A bit rich for my blood. I'll just have to keep an eye and an ear open. Thanks for the heads up. However, most of what I have now is standard sisters and ones with special weapons. So I think I am safe to paint these. I doubt they will be removed when we get a new codex. It will take me quite some time since I haven't painted anything in almost ten years.

 

Once I have these done then I can worry about what comes next.

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I'm pretty sure nothing will get spontaneously deleted from the codex. There's not much to begin with, and most of what is is quite thoroughly ingrained into Sisters mythos by now. Immolators, Exorcists, Rhinos, Battle Sisters with melta, flamer, and boltgun, Seraphim. The Battle Conclave is about the only potential case I can think of.
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Welcome back to the cause :) The WD codex has been a farce from the start really, the lack of availability is just the icing on the cake (greedy online sellers aside). At least you can busy yourself painting while waiting for a proper codex. That all depends on how fast you paint though as we've no idea how long we must wait... Sisters are lucky in that the majority of our army is rank and file just with different weaponry so you can be sure your newly painted models will always have a use.

 

That doesn't help you for the meantime though, all you can do is check your local store/s to see if they've reserved a store copy or can find someone who has spares etc.

 

Keep the faith, and don't forget to let us know how your painting goes!

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Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. Thanks to the help of others have gotten to look over the codex. It has left me with several questions, and judging from other threads on this forum that is not an abnormal state.

 

I understand that we are required to take two troop selections and then one HQ after that we can choose another HQ and a number of additional things from other sections. I understand that, fluff wise that there's only one cannoness per sisters order, but it doesn't say that you can choose only one. Does this mean that technically you could have two cannonesses in your army? I am loathe at this time to plan on a battle conclave since that would be the most likely part to change in future codecies and I really don't want youse unique characters in my army (how many places can the living saint be at once?).

 

Anyway it just seems like the list relies a lot on unique characters. I might try to include a priest or two, but they don't cont for much.

 

First focus will be on sisters. I have dug up about 20 figures so far. I'll start on the basic troops to clean the cobwebs out of my painting skills and then move on. I am also considering at first an allied contingent of marines as I have a bunch of the old plastic "beakie" marines tha I could practice on as well. I thought, fluffwise that the fanatical Red Scorpion chapter might be appropriate.

 

Well, I have been going on and on so I'll take a break and check in with you later.

 

LT

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(how many places can the living saint be at once?)

Paint her green and call her Saint Sabbat :( She just "counts as" Saint Celestine.

 

If you just don't want to take named characters, that's cool. I know some people (especially those who played back in 2nd edition) to build stock their armies. If you are worried about them being deprecated in the next codex, don't. The design philosophy for 6th edition seems to revolve around unique characters who unlock the flavor elements of the army. This makes it more difficult to even make fluffy armies with out unique characters if you have to take one to unlock the fluff unit.

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I have thought of the "counts as" option, it just seems strange. I guess my heart is still back in the rogue trader era when it comes down to it. I have only played 40k a hand full of times since then. So far, at least, there aren't any troop types that are unavailable with out special characters. So I'm not going to worry yet.
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I have drafted up some history about my Order. I figured I would share it with you and get input since there seems to be a good amount of fluff interest in this board.

 

The Order of the Pale Mask.

 

This order of the Adepta Sororitas is a minor offshoot of the Order of the Valorous Heart. They started as a large crusading force from that mighty Order and while returning the light of the Emperor to the dark side of the rediscovered colonies on the planet of Sedgemore Prime in the Segmentum Tempestus a system. There they discovered a nascent genestealer cult, that unbeknownst to the imperium foreshadow the Leviathan incursion, and went to work to destroy it.

 

At the same time there was an urgent call for help that came from the second planet in the system from one of the guard regiments attached to the crusade that had been tasked to investigate some strange ruins on that planet. The sisters split their forces into two parts one to exterminate the cult the other to assist the Guard troops with their findings.

 

The cult proved to be much more entrenched than the sisters had first determined and it took weeks to eradicate. The Palatine in charge of the force discovered that the area they cleared was only the tip of the iceberg. The whole system was under its sway. During this time contact was lost with the guard troops and the sisters on Sedgemore Secundus.

 

When they finally got to the second planet to their horror they discovered the total destruction of the Guard regiment and the sisters that were sent. The bodies of the dead were strewn about lying pale and lifeless, the result of some bio-agent that destroyed all the red blood cells in the host. It turned out that the second planet had been a ruse to split up the imperial forces and destroy the attacking troops. However the cult had underestimated the sister’s strength and even half their forces had been enough to destroy their largest enclave.

 

In righteous fury the remaining sisters vowed vengeance in the name of the emperor. They built a fortress convent on the site of the eradicated cult on Sedgemore Prime and used that as a base of operations to cleanse the entire system. With permission from the Abbes Sanctorum they changed their uniform to their current deathly visage and renamed their order to that of the Pale Mask, to ensure that their comrades would never be forgotten.

 

Over the course of the next hundred years they methodically cleansed the sector of all hint of xenos taint and established a thriving community devoted to a strict adherence to the Emperor’s will. The monastery has continued to grow in size and prestige. The sisters of the Pale Mask now have enough strength to reach out beyond their system and have battled all manner of xenos in the Segmentum Tempestus. Their work has seen them work with Imperial Guard, the Inquisition and the Adeptus Astartes of the Red Scorpion Chapter, whose loyalty to the Emperor is a match for their own zeal.

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Ok, so I have a story, Now I have a color scheme:

 

http://www.cmgds.com/sisterbeta.jpg

 

Let me know your opinions. The armor is supposed to be bone/pale but not quite white color. Maybe an ashen or bluish tinge to it. The black obviously signifies death and the gold is the brilliant light of the emperor.

 

Now I have to practice on something a little easier before I paint sisters. I think I'll try a few old plastic beakie marines I have lying around. They don't have nearly as much detail and would be perfect for some future Red Scorpion marine allies. One question the standard tactical squad is still 10 marines with one special weapon and one heavy weapon right? After I get my painting hands back I will take on the sisters (maybe even getting two done a month).

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Overall I like it :P A very "dark" look at Sororitas armor. I'm not sure I'm sold on the boots, they're belnding into the robes a little much for me, but that could just be personal taste. The bone armor definitely ties into the doom and gloom backstory you have going on and it's a very nice touch.
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I forgot to mention that I would have gold (metallic) piping on the skirts and sleeves as well. That would break it up a little. Alternatively I could go for a dark gray instead of black which would provide for a greater variance in color depth and such., or I could expand the bone color to the boots as well. I'll work up a couple of other mockups and see what looks better.

 

Thanks for the input. I want these to turn out well.

 

LT

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Either is fine, but the former is more "traditional" as SoB armour tends to be all one colour unlike Marines so that's my favourite.

 

The bone/black scheme is a good complement of colours though so will be well worth the effort :P Have you researched the new shades and such? With detailed models like Sisters they can help you paint to a good level without too much effort, especially on the robes if you're not one for layering (like me).

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Vesper: Thanks for the input. I am leaning in that direction, but I still have some time to decide.

 

WarriorFish: I have started to read through several of the tutorials. I also picked up one of my old 80s plastic marines and started to paint it Red Scorpion fashion, just to get back in the swing of things. I am experimenting with layers, but it think the technique that confounds me the most is multiple layers of shading. I just don't like having hard lines as you shade up, so I have always heavily used drybrushing and washes. With a little more practice and experimentation I think I'll be ready to get the sisters started.

 

Thanks to all for your help. I am still open to suggestions for the paint scheme.

 

LT

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I used drybrushing and washes, it works well on detailed sculpts like Sisters. The new shades are even better than the washes too. Along with the new painting "book" (which can stand on its own) I've been slowly improving having only yesterday finished a Stormtalon which is probably the best model I've ever painted. There's still a long way to go but it's looking fine and will only look better once I've applied extra touches like weathering (once I've improved my methods).

 

While we're discussing painting methods there's a method I read of on the B&C of using washes on white hair for a more natural look on detailed hair. It works really well, especially with lighter shades like blonde. Thanks to the imperious Ceramite White this has never been easier, so I've decided hair dye is big in the 41st millennium ;)

 

 

I look forward to seeing your models once you've settled on a colour scheme :)

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@WarriorFish: What washes would you recommend for blonde? That's the one hair color I've never been able to pull off... I do fine with reds and browns but I've never found a good combination for working up to blonde by drybrush/highlights.
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Gryphonne Sepia, I've not used the new shade version (isn't it called Seraphim?) but I imagine that would look the same. You can use it with a brown for varying shades of brunette too. I experimented a bit with highlighting with white on the top too but that wasn't necessary.

 

I have a disassembled Succubus ready for repainting on my desk with said blonde hair so I'll post a picture up of her head for you to see. Assuming my rubbish phone camera can pick up the detail enough that is...

 

Anyway, it's really as simple as that - as much or as little wash as you want for the right shade on a white base. The more detailed the hair (like Sisters) the better it works, I can't imagine it working well on Space Marine Scouts for example.

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My GK Brother Captain namesake is wearing a helmet. <3 I stress over painting hair, and I've only failed at blonde.

 

That's especially ominous as I look eagerly upon the stack of High Elves I have and wish to paint and play some day. They may be, all of them, brunettes, despite my contrary desires.

 

Meanwhile, in actually relevant Power Armor land, the only haired-head I have to paint in my force right now is the Sister noggin, which will sit on her highly modified (read-as: chopped up) terminator armor. She will definitely be a brunette. <3

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