Sisters of Battle

Mention Warhammer 40K, and the first thing most casual fans think of is Space Marines.

After all, the Adeptus Astartes are just too famous. They are indeed the face of Warhammer 40K and a major source of revenue for its parent company, Games Workshop.

But in the Imperium of Man in the 40K era, the Space Marines are not the only force in the Imperium.

Or rather, the Space Marines cannot represent the Imperium, at least not the Imperium as it exists in the 40K era.

If you had to summarize it, the Space Marines perhaps represent the Great Crusade era of 30K, when the Emperor still walked among humanity, and the Imperium was thriving, full of progress and science.

But in the 40K era, with the Emperor on the Golden Throne, the Primarchs betraying, dying, or disappearing, the entire Imperium has inevitably deviated from the Emperor and the Primarchs' plans and expectations for it.

In this era, if you had to say who best represents the current state of the Imperium, perhaps the Sisters of Battle are the most representative of the Imperium's many forces.

This armed force, nominally under the command of the Adeptus Ministorum, is pious and loyal, fighting to the death against the enemies of the Imperium while chanting the Emperor's name.

However, their fanaticism and extremism are equally striking. Any blasphemy, disloyalty, or betrayal of the Emperor will provoke their most extreme targeting and punishment.

Being sent off directly with a Meltagun by the Sisters of Battle is one of the easiest ways to die.

One of the punishments used by the Adeptus Ministorum to punish various Heretics and traitors is to transform them into flagellant servitors, used as cannon fodder for the Sisters of Battle.

It should be noted that the Order of the Sisters of Battle not only turns various Heretics and traitors into servitors, but the Sisters themselves also turn themselves into similar beings.

If a Sister feels that she has desecrated her faith in the God-Emperor, that she has failed to fulfill her duties, or that she has retreated or been cowardly on the battlefield, she will ask her superiors to be flogged and electrocuted to atone for her sins.

Repentia Sisters will even take off their Power Armor, then, wearing only strips of cloth covered in scriptures, charge into battle wielding giant chainswords, until they die or believe they have atoned for their sins.

And this usually requires surviving a bloody melee charge on the battlefield, or receiving the Emperor's blessing and becoming a Living Saint, to mark the end of the penance.

In a sense, this is the most vivid embodiment of the Imperium today.

In the 40K era, with the rise of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Imperium's citizens fanatically worship the Emperor, venerating him as a god.

Extreme religious fanaticism pervades the entire Imperium. Their faith is so devout that they can use themselves as candles, and for their faith, they can endure the most extreme and harsh treatment.

And while the Imperium maintains the survival and purity of humanity, it also carries out a cruel and bloody rule internally.

The Imperium's citizens struggle to survive on the brink of death, with an average life expectancy of no more than 40 years, while the Imperium's nobles can easily live to be two or three hundred years old through life-extension surgery.

Sacrifice is the cornerstone of the Imperium. From the Emperor himself to the garbage collectors at the bottom of the Hive City, everyone is sacrificing for the Imperium, with blood flowing like rivers.

It can be said that the Warhammer 40K world created by Games Workshop is a grimdark dystopian world, not a beautiful place at all.

And the vast number of fans around the world are full of loyal fans who love this hardcore setting, which brings in billions of pounds in revenue for its parent company, Games Workshop, every year.

Of course, liking grimdark settings is completely different from personally experiencing this cesspool of hell.

That's why there's the famous saying, "A time-traveler who realizes he's traveled to Warhammer cries like a butt-hurt sissy who's had his toes stepped on."

Chen Xi, as a true fan who buys miniatures, naturally likes this hardcore dystopian setting very much, and the Sisters of Battle are naturally among the miniatures he has purchased.

However, the Sisters of Battle are not his main army, and their number is not very large, only about a thousand points worth of miniatures.

The main reason for considering training Sisters of Battle on Rostov II is that the Sisters are currently the high-level combat unit that Chen Xi can quickly deploy and train.

Space Marines are out of the question. Putting on the can requires at least Level III permissions, and Chen Xi is only Level I now. It is impossible for him to have Space Marines in the short term.

And although the Astra Militarum are known as elite and are available in large quantities, and can be recruited and trained on the planet, the Astra Militarum's role is still as line fillers and cannon fodder, and they cannot cope with situations that require high-end combat power.

Therefore, the Sisters of Battle, who can cope with combat situations that require high-end combat power and have the blessing of faith to fight against Chaos, are a very suitable choice.

They are generally equipped with Power Armor, which is not as thick-skinned as the can, but at least it is much stronger than the Astra Militarum, who can only wear carapace armor.

Power weapons, Bolters, and Meltagun weapons can also be equipped, and the Sisters also have Living Saints, which are Greater Daemons in their own right. If a real fight breaks out, they are much more useful than the Astra Militarum.

And there is also a very key factor, which is cost performance.

Both are 100 points for a squad of ten, but the Sisters of Battle are all equipped with Power Armor, Bolters, and Meltagun weapons, plus Power Swords.

The Kasrkin Shock Troopers, on the other hand, are all equipped with carapace armor and are equipped with laser guns, which are jokingly called flashlights.

Tabletop battles are balanced by the game rules, and there is no obvious difference between the two, but in the real 40K world, the Sisters of Battle's equipment costs nearly 20,000 Throne Gelt, while the Astra Militarum's equipment costs 400 Throne Gelt. One Sister can be exchanged for forty guardsmen, so the choice is obvious.

If Chen Xi could use a higher point value, he could directly use his own miniatures and not have to consider training them himself on Rostov II.

But since the point value is limited, he can only consider training them himself.

Fortunately, training Sisters is much simpler than training Space Marines and does not require Gene-seed or anything like that.

As long as he has a good relationship with the Adeptus Ministorum, and then builds a convent and invites the Sisters of Battle to settle in, he can start mass-producing Sisters.

The only possible problem is the Sisters' equipment, but as long as he has a good relationship with the Adeptus Ministorum, the Sisters of Battle's equipment can still be purchased with money.

If he is lucky, the Adeptus Ministorum may even sponsor him.

After all, since the Age of Apostasy, the Adeptus Ministorum has been forbidden from having armed forces. Although the Order of the Sisters of Battle is nominally subordinate to the Adeptus Ministorum, in a sense, they are actually the Adeptus Ministorum's supervisors.

While incinerating Heretics for the Emperor, if the Adeptus Ministorum has any corruption or depravity, the Sisters will also use Meltaguns to purify everything.

Just as the Sisters of Battle cut off Goge Vandire's head with a Power Sword during the Age of Apostasy.