Have the Sisters of Battle ever actually won a battle? All the stories I see about them (except maybe excluding the part of Shield of Baal where they appear) have them lose horribly.
Plenty. Like any 40k faction however they tend to be reduced to background buttmonkey if they are not the focus of their own story.
>>46765049
In 40k lore the sisters of battle are martyrs. They win plenty of battles and keep the peace on many shrine worlds and I'm sure they have completed many successful witch hunts, cleansings and purges. When writers use Sisters of Battle they generally want to show the zealous side of the Imperial religion. They want to show people bravely throwing their lives away for the Emperor's cause which doesn't sound as awesome if the mission goes completely to plan and with minimum casualties.
>>46765049
You can thank the days of Matt Ward using the Sisters of Battle as the punching-bag of every fluff piece he wrote for that. They used to kick wholesale ass.
GW has a problem with women.
>>46765049
They are women. Most of 40k is wildly unrealistic but they get a few things right, such as that women would lose 99 times of 100 in a straight fight.
>>46767072
>I'm a Shitty Asshole: The Post
Yeah. If you look at the most recent codex for them:
>They out-tactics an Eldar farseer, ambushed her force and killed her.
>Raided a DAEMON WORLD and got out with holy relics.
They also won the rematch at Sanctuary 101. There is now not only no Necrons there but the Necrons lost their ability to phase out over the entire system it was in.
The issue the SOB have is not that they lose all the time in fluff. It's because they get so few books. Everyone loses in another guy's codex, everyone wins in their own. The SOB don't get many codexes, so while they don't really get picked on, they don't get a super balanced version either.
>>46767246
>everyone wins in their own [codex]
Tempestus Scions has them losing as many battles as they win, though.
>>46765049
The battle for our hearts.
>>46766376
Like what, you imbecile? Examples, aside from that single le maymay piece from GK book. And even that - pay attention you inbred moron - praised Sisters for such purity even GK couldn't match it. Ward was also the guy who made the most badass (and frankly only) female character in last FOUR fucking editions, Inquisitor Valeria. Gee, such women hate, much wow.
>>46765049
>how does it work
Canonically, SoB have always been the Ecclesiarchy's private security force. Congrats on not knowing that frontline combat was never their role. Your parents must be SO proud.
>>46765049
>martyr's worth being measure upon his or her success
topkek.
>>46765049
They purged the Rainbow Warriors. Not many 40k factions can say they wiped out an entire First Founding Legion.
>>46768241
>Inquisitor Valeria.
You mean Miss 'Never got a mini before being forgotten completely because actually making a mini for her was to difficult to comprehend'?
>>46768853
>Implying that the Ecclesiarchy doesn't have their hands in literally everyone's pies including the front line of many, many warzones.
That and being able to hold off several Marine chapters for months of sustained combat certainly suggests they are a cut above the standard soldier fare.
>>46768241
>found the spiritual liege
>>46769032
woahwoahwoah, when did this happen?
>>46772806
In a single picture back in ancient rogue trader days and bringing it up today is laughable.
>>46767294
Seconding. Next, I would like them to win the battle for a new codex.
>>46768241
Go home Matt Ward, you're drunk
>>46772863
It's a bit of a running joke. One of the first images of a Sister has her purging a member of the Rainbow Warriors. The fluff mentions that part of a Sister's job is taking out impure or renegade Space Marines.
In the White Dwarf intro article to the GLORIOUS Witch Hunters codex back in the 3.5 era, the codex authors cracked a joke about no one having heard of the Rainbow Warriors since then, so the Sisters must have wiped them out.
>>46765049
>>46767246
They won the war against the Vandire, with the help of some Space Marines and the Custodes.
And they have some successes obviously.
I think the real trick is that in general, some factions at least get played up as "worthy foes". F'rex, in the Dark Eldar codex there's a whole lengthy piece about getting their asses kicked by a Space Marine ship they trap in Commoragh, and another bit about how taking a Dark Angel champion alive cost a shit ton of their lives and even after being captured he was basically able to give Lelith Hesperax her money's worth in the arena. Whenever 'Nids show up, there's a lot of "We can't stop them there's too many of them!" even in other people's books, etc. Now, Space Marines and Tyranids lose all the time in the fluff too, but in general their defeats get played as a significant event and not par for the course, a sign that the protagonist faction has overcome a formidable opponent.
Most of the time, when the Sisters show up it's to lose terribly because they're zealous idiots. The Necrons massacre them. The Grey Knights paint themselves in their blood (not canon anymore but still). The Space Wolves blast them to atoms when they try to convert Fenris.
You add to that the fact that they show up pretty rarely in the fluff, and the perception shifts from them being formidable to them being just kinda shitty.
They need some new models and some serious love, both rules and fluff wise.
>>46770333
That's more the model maker's problem than the rulemaker's.
>>46774183
Well, it seems like someone at GW still loves the Sisters, since they got this recently. Someone in the company appears to be fighting for them to some extent.
>>46776042
>Daemonifuge
