Those who start with Warhammer 40,000 are initially faced with the choice of which faction to actually play – at least in tabletop. A user has chosen Chaos but is now looking at the Adepta Sororitas and wants to know what makes them so great. The community of the Sisters of Battle has a clear opinion.
What kind of order is this?
- The Adepta Sororitas consist of women who worship the Emperor as a god. They are ordinary humans with superhuman abilities granted to them by their faith.
- Unlike Space Marines, the Sororitas do not draw their strength from genetic breeding for super soldiers, but from their religious zeal alone. They have no extra organs like the Astartes.
- Since only men can become Space Marines, promising female candidates are often entrusted to the Adepta Sororitas to become sisters – either for combat or for diplomacy, research, and healing.
So how does the heretic come to that? On Reddit, a Warhammer player posts who has succumbed to the whispers of the dark gods of Chaos. He writes: Actually, he is into Chaos, but keeps glancing over at the Sororitas.
He particularly likes the minis. For comparison: In Warhammer 40,000 (the tabletop) you build and paint figures yourself and let them engage in battles on tables. Compared to other factions, the Sororitas have:
- Mech suits and walkers, sometimes with a sinner who is strapped naked and defenseless in front of the vehicle to do penance.
- Armor with gothic embellishments and women who wear heavy tanks and do not have “level 100 fantasy armor” (a.k.a. plate bikini).
- Flamethrowers up to the hilt and – at least in the lore – assault cathedrals that are just thrown onto a planet.
The user writes that he simply wants to have an army that looks cool and now wants to know why Sororitas players chose their faction. The answers range from the simple coolness factor to deep into Warhammer feelings.
“Demons and Sisters are the most ‘On Brand'”
In the dozens of comments, fans rave about their Sisters of Battle. The most frequently mentioned are the elaborate weapons and the portrayal of the warrior nuns: “Nuns. With guns. Do I need to say more?” One thing particularly stands out: the Exorcist.
Every faction has vehicles, but the Sororitas have a completely unique weapon in the Exorcist. Exorcists are modified Rhino tanks with an organ on top that fires rockets (and of course plays organ music).
In keeping with the Sororitas flair, some models also have little angels (“Cherubim”) flying around the tank, it glows and shines and actually looks more like a lavish altar in a church… like almost everything with the Sisters. One user says succinctly: “I like to pretend my thought process is deeper than [the Exorcist], but it’s really not.”
In comments deeper in the thread, the discussion goes much deeper into the lore. There it is stated, for instance: A fanatical order of women that is absolutely messed up
fits perfectly into the picture of the “Grimdark” Warhammer 40,000. Others go even further:
For me, chaos demons and sisters are the most “On Brand” things in 40k. Space Marines are the poster boys, bugs, orcs, elves, and dwarves are somewhat general for fantasy and don’t feel especially 40k.”
But something about the demons as opponents carries the essence of human struggle in the setting, and the Sororitas seem like the most iconic representation of what humanity must do to survive.
The entire idea of the Sororitas is, by the way, a perfect example of the Imperium itself, because they only exist to circumvent a law. For after the great brother war, the church was not allowed to have “men at arms” – there was never any mention of women.
So the Ecclesiarchy founded the Sororitas and made millions of women into soldiers, partly led by (male) confessors, who, although they belong to the clergy, in fact represent military commanders. If you want to delve deeper into the lore, you can find more here: There are over 350 books on Warhammer 40,000 – These are the 15 best to get started in the world
