STARTING AN ADEPTA SORORITAS ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: THE SISTERS OF BATTLE KEEP THE FAITH
The Adepta Sororitas are the Sisters of Battle: power-armoured warrior nuns, candle-crowned war engines, penitents in chains and living saints on wings of light. This page covers the Battle Sisters box to start with, the penitents and Seraphim that follow, and three centrepieces.
Battle Sisters and a Canoness
Buy the current Adepta Sororitas Combat Patrol; starter boxes rotate with the edition, so take whatever is current rather than chasing an old printing. The core you want early is unambiguous: Battle Sisters Squads, the bolter-armed heart of the Order, plus a Canoness to lead them. Battle Sisters are one of the great modern kits, endlessly customisable and covered in fleur-de-lys and purity seals, and painting two squads teaches you the entire palette: black or bone armour, rich reds, parchment, brass and candle-glow, every technique in the hobby on one squad. A Rhino or Immolator gives them wheels and gives you your first vehicle lesson.
Seraphim, Repentia and a Penitent Engine
The second wave is where the Sisters show their range. Seraphim or Zephyrim add jump-pack drama in the skies. Sister Repentia bring the tragic fury of the penitent, magnificent models of straps and eviscerators, and Arco-flagellants or a Penitent Engine push the theme to its grim conclusion. A practical note here: 11th edition changed points and datasheets, and starter contents move over time, so check the current points before you list-build.
Exorcist, Vahl or Celestine
Few factions offer three centrepieces this good. The Exorcist, a missile-launching pipe organ on tracks, is the most Sororitas vehicle imaginable and a joy to paint. Morvenn Vahl, Abbess Sanctorum in her towering Paragon warsuit, is the modern face of the Order's leadership. Saint Celestine, the Living Saint aloft with her Geminae bodyguard, remains one of the most breathtaking kits in the game. Collect toward whichever one makes you want to clear the painting desk tonight; the Order's clear spine of Sisters, then penitents, then a saint is exactly what a first army needs.
One unit of penitents is enough
- A third Exorcist before the first has its organ pipes gilded. The Emperor appreciates restraint too, occasionally.
- Every flavour of penitent at once. One unit of Repentia conveys the message; a shelf of them is a cry for help.
- Named saints as your first models. Earn the miracle; paint the Battle Sisters first.
The convent's rolls
Every Order keeps its rolls, every relic catalogued and every Sister accounted for. Add each kit to yours the day it arrives, as boxed, built or finished, so no pile of grey plastic accumulates unconfessed. The finished column growing is what turns a drawer of shrink-wrap into an army worthy of the God-Emperor. The complete catalogue of everything the Sisters of Battle field, from novitiate to living saint, is on the Adepta Sororitas faction page under Data.