Witch Hunters Guide

December 30, 2007 by Blackhat · Filed Under Newbie Guides

An imperial army the reinforces the imperials faith in the emperor and hunts down the heretical. Main force of sisters but with an inquisitors influence at hand other forces of the imperium can be called upon to aid the destruction of the heretics. Based on purifying the unfaithful using fire this army uses weapons like flamers and melta type weapons so weapons such as lascannons and such long ranged weapons are rarely found.

Unique to the army:

Sisters of Battle:

Orphans raised by the Scholar Progenium, armed with unshakeable faith, this is their greatest weapon against the heretics. Each is clad in power armour and armed with a bolter, also able to call on faith points to enhance their fighting ability and they ignore effects of force weapons and nullify psychic powers (immune to minor psychic powers), this mix makes them a match for any foe, not just heretics.

Inquisitors:

Agents of the emperor with absolute power over any resources and armies of the imperium in order to help them combat the enemies of the Imperium.

Acts of Faith:

Battle sisters are armed with faith in the Emperor and this faith may encourage sisters to do heroic deeds in the face of the enemy. During the game any Adapta Sororitas unit/model may call upon this to enhance their combat efficiency, such powers such as turning their basic armour save into an invulnerable save, making them fearless etc.

Holy Rage:

A special rule that some units are special to. Allows these units to reach combat quicker. Much like fleet of foot the Eldar have but less controllable.

Using the Units:

Inquisitors:

During battle the Inquisitor may have a retinue that accompanies them, these are trusted individuals who have proved themselves to be useful in the fight against the heretics. These guys are called henchmen and each boosts the inquisitors fighting ability. As well as this some henchmen can aid the inquisitor in battle they may have access to certain weaponry.

The inquisitor himself can be armed with hefty war gear, one such is the force weapon which allows them to slay an opponent outright. One useful piece of war gear worth keeping might be Inquisitorial Mandate, which confers a +1 attack to units in close combat for the turn, quite useful when used to support a unit such as the Repentia or Arco-Flagellants.

How to use them? An inquisitors fighting ability can be rather meagre when compared with the canoness but if used correctly they can be a devastating force. Here are some examples:

Inquisitor Lord: Combi-Plasmagun
Warrior Henchman: Plasma gun
Warrior Henchman: Plasma gun
Warrior Henchman: Plasma gun
Acolyte: Combi-Plasmagun
Acolyte: Combi-Plasmagun
Acolyte: Combi-Plasmagun
Sage
Sage
Rhino Transport: Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers

The set-up above is built with the ability of powerful anti-heavy infantry rapid fire. Aided by a rhino to get them there quickly. The sage confers improved accuracy for the inquisitor and the squad. Note, such set-up may be powerful but it isn’t very points efficient.

Inquisitor: Inquisitorial mandate, Bolt pistol, Power weapon, Purity seals

The set-up above is purely supportive. Being an independent character they are able to join with squads to aid in combat. The mandate is used for this purpose. Useful when placed with Celestians or Repentia.

Canoness:

Leader of a convent of Sisters. Her skills are superior to those of her sisters and her faith is just as unmatched. My preference over the inquisitor lord as she is cheaper in points and has a better fighting ability, she also confers extra faith points to the army.

There are many ways this character can be used, such as, combat based or shooting based, supportive or pure offensive. In any role I try to limit her cost as much as possible so points may be spent else where. Normally she does not exceed 110pts, though she may be worth spending some points on her low toughness is a constant reminder that she is not invincible however much a 2+ invulnerable save may seem tempting.

A blessed weapon and cloak of St. Aspira is a popular choice and quite logical.
An alternative maybe to give her an eviserator instead of a blessed weapon. Her low initiative means she strikes at the same time or last most occasions anyways so the eviserator improves strength and ability to destroy tanks (especially when combined with “The passion” act of faith).

Jump packs allows her to team up with seraphim and put her combat ability to use there, if she is in foot moving squad then maybe a storm bolter fits the bill as she is able to move and shoot at some considerable range or maybe a combi-plasmagun to offer some more anti-heavy infantry firepower. A popular choice with a shooting canoness would be to give her either a Brazier of Holy Fire or a Combi-Flamer with her mounted in a transport. Both choices allows her to use a flamer combined with “Divine Guidance” although the Brazier is a more practical choice seen as it’s one handed so she benefits from an extra attack.

Celestians:

These act much like the regular sisters of battle but they are better in combat as they have a better weapon skill and imitative. Plus they also have the holy hatred rule that allows them to hit effectively in combat regardless of weapon skill with a few exceptions and they are faithful without the need of a faithful character. A good bodyguard choice for the canoness. See the Battle sisters for more information.

Arco-Flagellants:

These require a priest in order to include them in the army but a unit worth having on the field. An excellent unit to fulfil a close combat, with a high toughness combined with an invulnerable save they are extremely hard to kill. In addition they have the Implant Injectors rule, this makes them subject to holy rage when activated so they can move with some speed and when in combat they role a D6 to see how many attacks they have. This means that a full unit can have a total of 42 attacks that are power weapons! Not bad for only 6 models. The only downside to this unit is that they can burn out and die due to the implant special rule.

Although tough this unit would still not survive a turn of rapid fire so it’s beneficial to use every piece of terrain to their advantage or even use your own transports to shield them for a turn, however once they reach combat they are ferocious and can fight even better than Eldar Banshees. Points wise they are a cheaper investment than Sisters Repentia. It’s key that you find the right time to activate their Implant injectors.

Sisters Repentia:

Another close combat unit. The repentia wield a Eviserator each, which acts much like a chain fist, this makes them very useful against units such as Dreadnoughts and heavy infantry. The problem with this unit is that they are expensive and they die rather easily, with low toughness and poor armour save. On a plus they have Righteous Zeal, which means if they loose their mistress they will move 2D6″ forward instead of fallback if they suffer 25% casualties and they have the Holy Rage special rule that allows them to move quickly into combat. A very powerful squad, just very frail and expensive which makes Arco-Flagellants my personal choice. Beneficial for them to hug as much terrain as possible, even deploy them in a forest or behind something to prevent line of sight in the first turn.

Assassins:

Tough and strong, but each quite expensive. Each has their own abilities which make them an effective killer. As strong as they might be do not expect any of them to survive the full onslaught of an enemy squad by themselves. Best fielded when they are supporting other units.

Culexus:
A good addition to the Witch Hunter army to stick with the anti-psyker theme but that’s about it. He can do damage against regular units but his effectiveness falls short of what the other assassins can do. A good choice against Ulthwe Eldar though.

Callidus:
Useful assassin she’s armed with a weapon that ignores all saves and a neural shredder which fires like a strange flamer, but with an Ap of 1 it’s a deadly weapon. Addition abilities such as Polymorphine allows her to turn up any where on the battlefield and Jump Back which allows her to move out of combat, thus preventing the enemy from striking her for a turn. She is expensive however, although able to handle squads by herself it would be best if she supported another unit.

Eversor:
I regular favourite I’ve noticed in other imperial armies, cheaper than the rest and is capable of dealing mass damage to regular squads, getting more than the usual +1 bonus in combat and power weapon, he also charges at a longer range. He also always wounds on a 4+ which is a great add for dealing with those big beasties, wraithlords for example. And when he dies he causes a blast marker which can deal more damage to a squad.

Vindicare:
Basically a really good sniper. He wields an Ap 2 sniper rifle with three special rounds which causes various effects. Other pieces of gear he has makes him able to se the enemy better and reduces his own presence. The major plus he gets is being able to target anything within line of sight and range, very useful in dealing a wound to a character model. I personally don’t use him, an interesting model to have but I don’t think he does enough damage compared to the Eversor and Callidus. I think of it in the sense of only one kill per turn so it’s six kills at most, this can make up for his points but the eversor and callidus are capable of dealing more damage than that.

Death-Cult:
Cheapest assassin available and good for their cost. You can buy three for a single elites choice (but may be deployed separately) and each armed with a power weapon, fearless and able to infiltrate. Unfortunately they aren’t as tough as other assassins but you can expect them to hold off a squad for a turn or two and maybe even take one down, but don’t expect it to happen though unless all three are attacking the same squad. Probably more useful when aiding another squad in combat than going off by themselves to do their own thing.

Battle Sisters:

Power armour, high ballistic skill and armed with a bolter. This combination makes them hit as hard as any marine squad for cheaper the cost or even harder should you choose to go for a full squad of 20 and they can use faith points. Unfortunately an army of just these as basic troops may find that the army lacks some of the longer ranged weapons, but they may be mounted on a Rhino for speed.

I tend to use a rhino to get a squad really close up and unleash a load of short ranged weapons combined with the act of faith “Divine Guidance”. Keep in mind you can have up to three flamers per squad the chances of rolling 6s becomes a lot higher.

Other choices could be to arm three storm bolters to the squad, this keeps a constant hail of bullets while they advance at some range. Though some players underrate these weapons they are very efficient when put to correct use.

I dedicate these girls to doing most of the anti-infantry. They may be equipped to deal with tanks but there are other units in the army which are better suited for the job. Most players equip their Veteran superiors with power weapons in hope of preparing them for combat, I prefer the approach of focusing in on the sisters strength (which is short-medium range shooting) than try to amend their weakness so my superiors end up more shooting should I ever give them equipment. Remember if you choose to martyr them giving them expensive equipment would be a waste on points.

Inquisitorial Storm Troopers:

Armed with hellguns and a high ballistic skill, these guys can still give off their share of firepower. On top of this they may be given some extra weapons such as plasma guns and melta guns that regular sisters can’t get, these can add to some of the extra anti-heavy infantry fire power. These guys are only a point less than that of a battle sister, with less armour and weapons strength these are an inferior choice. Saying this I do take them as they can be transported in a chimera, which adds a good share of long range firepower which a pure sister may lack for less than 100pts its quite a deal. Plus the new kaskrin models look really cool and make excellent Inquisitorial Storm Troopers

If possible field these against lighter infantry as they won’t deal a huge amount when facing power armoured foes unless supported. Use these with purpose in the army, with the sister dealing most of the anti-infantry you can dedicate these to another task, one such is getting them close to a tank and use melta weaponry, or have them focus in on a mission objective. Best used as a support/side task unit than a force to be reckoned with on the battle field.

Seraphim:

Battle sister with jump packs, they act like an equivalent of the space marines assault marines. These however are much better I think. They have just as many attacks as assault marines but just doesn’t hit as hard or as tough. The bonus is they can also do the “Divine guidance” tactic that normal sisters can do as up to two models may upgrade their twin-pistols for twin-flame pistols. On top of this they can do hit and run, which means they can break off from combat at the end of a round of combat (presuming that one of the two sides didn’t fall back before hand). This is basically a fall back move but they regroup automatically at the end of the movement and the opponents models may only consolidate. Do this at the end of combat during the opponents turn and you will be able to shoot at them again using “Divine Guidance” and get a +1 attack for charging. An addition plus is that they give all Adapta Sororitas units within a certain get an improved leadership.

As well as anti-infantry they can take on the roll of anti-tank. Having jump packs they can put the inferno pistols into good work. In addition, they may be given melta bombs so they may deal with tanks in combat as well. If the squad does take on this roll the veteran tends to be equipped with an inferno pistol (master-crafted sometimes, depending on if it can be afforded) or an eviserator so she can still do damage in combat against normal troops as well as tanks. Indeed she may have both but keep mind of the points costs.

Big squads of seraphim work well when using them as Anti-infantry (due to faith points testing and number of shots and attacks in combat) but smaller squads work well against tanks (reason being that when they destroy a tank they will end up being in the open, this will mean they are les of a loss in small numbers and are easier to hide when advancing).

Dominion Squads:

Smaller squads of battle sisters that use a lot more special weaponry than regular squads. Up to four of these sisters may exchange their regular bolters for special weapon. That’s a possible four flamers, again combined with the “Divine Guidance” act of faith could quite easily decimate any squad. In addition, if the squad was small enough they may be mounted in a Immolator, which adds a heavy flamer for support.

The choice of using six sister per squad can open up to many more immolators than normally allowed, one could choose to use four storm bolters instead of flamers, this way they can advance and lay down a hail of bullets from long range (as they don’t have to be deployed in a transport) , the immolator can do the same with its heavy bolter.

Retributors:

Like the dominion squad but instead of being overly armed with special weapons this unit is armed with heavy weapons. No heavy flamers though for this squad though, but they may be armed with heavy bolters, which is a nice anti-infantry weapon with a boosted range which is a rarity in the army. A nice add is that they can be transported in an immolator, although not very useful to the squad itself (Unless you need to get a squad of multi-meltas somewhere) it does add another heavy flamer tank on the board without it taking up a heavy choice slot, useful for quick responses.

Immolator:

Sporting twin-heavy flamers that may shoot even though having moved max distance, may re-roll any rolls to wound or penetrate and has a transport capacity of six models. Downside is that it has light armour. Although for a few more points its weapons can be upgraded to a heavy bolter or multi-melta for more range or anti-tank potential.

Has various tactical advantages in battle:

-It can act as a quick response vehicle.
-It can move small squads around quickly as it isn’t dedicated.
-It can shield other squads from being shot at, having an armour of 11 renders any shot below strength 4 useless, being a cheap choice it’s not too costly if it is destroyed.
-It can be used as a mobile wall, blocking passages from the opponent.

These can be applied to just about any vehicle, but because it’s cheap these can be used extensively in large groups of light vehicles. This sort of use has proven itself many times to me in battles so it does work provided they are done under correct conditions, you can’t expect it to withstand a lascannon for example, but it can prevent a group of banshees from assaulting.

Exorcist:

A nice favourite for me and many other I‘m sure. Has the armour of a battle tank and has an Exorcist Launcher, this tank acts as a great anti-anything vehicle except swarm armies, though may be put to use against bigger beasties. With a low Ap it is able to take out any tank and it able to deal with those heavy infantry models such as terminators. It is quite expensive (though not as expensive as other battle tanks) so I am reluctant to abuse it the way i would do an Immolator or rhino and tend to keep it out of harms way as much as possible, though it has got the durability to withstand most blows.

Penitent Engines:

Basically a dreadnought with short ranged weapons and less armour. But in addition it has holy rage which means it moves a hell of a lot faster than a dreadnought. They also ignore all crew shaken and stunned effects. For its cheap points cost it’s a deal. Fielded in squadrons of three they are guaranteed to get to combat, provided you are smart and don’t move them in front of something like 5 lascannon for example. A very nice plus of taking these is that they qualify for the combat patrol rules.

Orbital Strike:

Only available if you have an inquisitor. The strike comes in three flavours:

Lance: A simple strength with a high strength and low AP
Melta: A lance like a meltagun, useful against tanks as well as infantry, probably more favourable since the new rules with the centre hole needing to be in contact with the tank for full strength.
Psyk-out Warheads: Doesn’t kill but can knock out a psychic power on any model it wounds, provided they had one.

These strikes target a piece of terrain but can scatter quite a long distance so it can be rather random. But slot this somewhere unexpected, like a mission objective, and it can be devastating to an opponent, note though your units can be just as easily a victim of this weapon if they got too close.

Allies:

Of course if you do not want a pure witch hunters army there are always options from the Imperial Guard and Space Marines codex’s. Imperial Guard can offer that long range hard hitting weaponry that isn’t so available in the Witch Hunters army while space marines offer that extra toughness which sisters do not have (But a witch hunter army cannot include space marines and sisters at the same time)

There’s always the option of taking Witch Hunters as an ally for another army. For imperial guard this will allow them to get something more tougher than a squad of Storm Troopers to their list and give space marines greater numbers. But this would work best for Daemon Hunters, since their troops are really expensive they do lack army size, sisters of battle can help them bulk up their numbers a bit.

During Battle:

Martyrdom:

This is when a faithful character dies. When such a model dies they add an extra faith point to the stack. Keeping this in mind it is always a good idea to keep such models cheap, but it also means if the unit is only faithful until the end of the turn if this happens.

Faith points:

It is advisable to read up and remember what faith points do as various ones can prove to be really handy for different situations. There is a summary in the codex though if you’re too lazy.

Example 1500pts Army:

HQ:

Canoness: 95pts
Blessed weapon, Cloak of St. Aspira,

Troops:

10 Sisters of battle: 200pts
Veteran Superior with bolt pistol and combat weapon
1 Flamer upgrade
1 Heavy Flamer Upgrade
Rhino Transport with Smoke launchers and Extra armour

Fast:

9 Seraphim Sisters: 222pts
1 Veteran Superior
2 Twin-Flame Pistol upgrades

5 Dominion Sisters: 178pts
1 superior with bolt pistol and combat weapon
4 flamer upgrades
Immolator transport with smoke launchers and Extra armour

Heavy:

Exorcist: 135pts

This army is based on having a short ranged army that can get to places quickly (canoness is joins the Dominion squad inside the Immolator) also armed with a large amount of faith points (A possible 13). The army is largely anti-infantry, relying totally on the Exorcist Tanks to provide any anti-tank, but with three of them and D6 shots each it is more than enough. It is also base upon using the “Divine Guidance” act of faith, combining this faith with flamers makes this army easily able to deal with small heavily armoured troops or squads of large numbers (such as tyranids). The only close combat unit in the army would be the Seraphim, although i would not pitch them against other combat specialists (especially Eldar Howling Banshees or Marine Terminators). Although not close combat specialists the dominion squad is also a squad i would charge in. Having four sisters armed with a flamer to weaken a squad first with a canoness to support them during the combat their chances of winning an assault is fairly high, of course only if the squad wasn’t destroyed by the shooting. Of course you might of noticed, this army is made to do the assaulting but that doesn’t have to be the case exactly, with the large amount of transport available they can also be used as walls to defend, then use the exorcists to harass the enemy before they get too close. I have found this works against dark Eldar and various long range armies like imperial guard.

This is only an example list, having something like 3 sisters squads all the same may be a bit boring and 3 exorcists may be a bit too much, just have a little play around with combinations and see what you get.