Warhammer 40,000 Battlesector – Sisters of Battle gives you a whole host of flaming goodness to toast the xenos.
Adepta Sororitas. The Sisters of Battle. SPACE NUNS! Whatever you call them, the Imperium’s fanatical ladies are hard as nails and act as a way for Games Workshop to get around the female space marine question. There should be female space marines by the way, lore be damned. Their wild devotion to the Emperor of Mankind manifests itself in extreme hatred for anything alien or heretical and is presented in the most insane religious ways. They’ve now been added to Warhammer 40,000 Battlesector as a fully playable faction in this new DLC, and I’m always keen for more content for a 40k game that I’m a big fan of.
The Sisters of Battle have already appeared in Battlesector as part of the main Blood Angels campaign, though their time in the spotlight was incredibly underwhelming, being fairly weak compared to the storyline’s main faction. Any concerns I had that they would be underpowered here were quickly squashed though, as many of the new units added are devastatingly effective.
Aside from the basic combat units, you have the Penitent Engine, a mech controlled, essentially, by a tortured soul wired into it. With its heavy flamers and melee option, it absolutely minces squads of weaker foes and can go toe-to-toe with bigger opponents. Then there’s the Paragon Warsuits who can pack power swords and multi-meltas to wipe the floor with enemies at close range. Immolator tanks and Celestians give you even more close combat options too. This army is very much focused on getting in the face of your enemies and melting them quickly.
This does mean that mid to long range options suffer. At mid range you tend to have to rely on your basic sisters unless you give some of your other units different weapon options, but even those feel fairly limited. At long range your have an Exorcist tank — which still looks like a damn pipe organ by the way — which has a mortar of sorts, and a couple of special weapons that can be equipped such as the Paragon’s grenade launcher. You really are quite limited in this regard, and you’ll want to find ways to keep yourself safe from the likes of Necrons with their longer range combat style as you try to get close enough in one piece. Once you’re there though, those enemies are in for a world of hurt.
Your HQ options don’t look all that strong, but they’re absolute machines. The Canoness is an absolute beast with an upgraded sword, and her abilities hugely benefit units around her. This is also true of the returning Sister Superior when she adds bonus accuracy and armour penetration to those nearby. With the cooldowns on these abilities, you’ll need to plan carefully, but you can have absolutely devastating turns when you switch them all on at once. You also have a healer in the form of a Hospitaller, who doesn’t feel all that special but it’s nice to have.
As a new faction, they’re really enjoyable to play as, and feel different enough from the others to make them a worthy inclusion. The downside is the same as with the Tyranids and Necrons, and that’s that they can only be used in the multiplayer, demon invasion and planetary supremacy modes. These options are all enjoyable and play really well, but I can’t help but feel that a mini campaign for each of them would be a really fun inclusion and would make that near £12 price tag feel a bit more worthwhile. Even so, I’m looking forward to seeing future factions added to Warhammer 40,000 Battlesector, as strategy games like this can absolutely thrive when there’s enough variety. Give me some T’au to throw at those Space Marines next and I’ll leap at the chance to play again.
Warhammer 40,000 Battlesector – Sisters of Battle DLC is available now.
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