Joel is one of the designers on Warhammer Community, and one of the best hobbyists on the team. You’ll have seen his Raven Guard previously, but not content with one black colour scheme on snowy bases, he’s produced a second in the form of his Adepta Sororitas force from the Order of Our Martyred Lady – which you can marvel at here.
Joel: My earliest memories of Battle Sisters are looking through the Third Edition Warhammer 40,000 rulebook with my brother. The design and colour scheme really stood out to me. I started collecting a Sisters army around the time of the Witch Hunters Codex and the Ephrael Stern comics, which were a huge influence on how I viewed both the Adepta Sororitas and the Imperium as a whole.
When Celestine came out as a plastic kit along with the Gathering Storm sets, I fell in love with the aesthetic again and immediately picked her up, praying that more plastics were on the way. I was not disappointed, and I fell back on Our Martyred Lady again, thinking to create an army that had gone slightly rogue, and had decided to follow and assist Ephrael Stern.
When the Daemonifuge set was released, I added them into the list and they have been a staple unit in most of my games (for better or worse), including in a Crusade army.* It’s also a lovely way for me to inject an Aeldari character into my otherwise human army. I’ve absolutely loved playing Crusade games, and it has been the perfect way to play narratively, allowing me to personalise my units outside of painting or conversion.
Canoness Laurent has devoutly followed Stern after witnessing her miracles first-hand, offering her detachment of sisters to be of service to the Daemonifuge with blind faith. This also extends to Kyganil who, though xenos, has proved himself a loyal ally to these sisters.
No Adepta Sororitas host is complete without a Canoness, and I wanted mine to match my Our Martyred Lady Celestian scheme (black habits and gold details on the shoulders). With an inferno pistol and a blessed blade, she can be quite nasty at close range – especially when being protected by a Celestian Sacresant squad.
The backbone of this army is a good chunk of Battle Sisters, I have two squads of 10 Battle Sisters painted up with more on the way. I’ve always loved how dynamic they look and the variety you can get from the set and by filtering in some extra poses and details from the Army box. The Retributors provide some much-needed heavy weaponry to the force. Heavy flamers are a classic, but I like to have a couple Multi-Meltas for some anti-armour punch too.
The armoured section currently comprises two Rhinos, and an Exorcist for some high strength and damage attacks. The Exorcist is a personal favourite unit, as a tank that fires missiles from a pipe organ is completely over-the-top and SO Warhammer 40,000. I spent many hours painting it, it has so much detail but it is very much worth the time, as it always looks great as a centrepiece. Whilst I love the stained glass helmet option, I chose the helmless option that matched the old exorcist organist for pure nostalgia.
I have two squads of Seraphim, one with hand flamers and the other with inferno pistols for use in different lists. They are always a great distraction for opponents, and now being able to attach Celestine to the squad means they’ve become very threatening as she glides across the field purifying heretics.
One of the best things about running a Sororitas army is that you can add in so many characters who aid the squads with a variety of upgrades, and they all look so unique. I have a small collection of these I love to switch out every so often, but I have a soft spot for the Hospitaller who is a bit like a mini diorama with the dying sister on her base.
As for the future, I still have loads more I’d love to add. Morvenn Vahl has now been painted, and I’m currently painting up a squad of warsuits to accompany her. I’d also like to add either a Castigator or Immolator (...maybe both…) as I’ve really enjoyed painting the tanks. There is much more to come for Stern’s followers!
Thanks Joel! That’s incredible work as always. If you want to get going with an Adepta Sororitas force of your own, the Combat Patrol is the perfect place to start.
* The force also starred in an early episode of Battle Report, facing off against some very nasty Khorne Daemons.