Sisters of the Thorn

[Anaya]

I got myself a unit of Sisters of the Thorn. I have never used them before, but I like their lore and fluff.

Do you use them? How do you use them?

They seem pretty good, but I am uncertain about which role they should play in an army.

[Mollesvinet]

I used two units of five with full command in my previous battle.

The best thing about them is their ability to select exactly the spell you want, in my case two fireballs.

They are fairly mobile with M9 fast cavalry, although not being able to march before casting and only being able to pivot at the end of their move makes it quite tricky after all. I think removing free pivot is good, but I don't quite agree with the march and cast rule.

They are also fairly durable with 4+ ward. I didn't get to use their shooting much, but it has potential with poison if you can get into position without getting blocked next turn.

See thread on spell selection here: viewtopic.php?t=29158

[Anaya]

Thanks! But they are just M8.

What I am thinking about is how to put them to use most effectively.

The javelins are not bad, but have a much shorter range than Glade Riders' bows, so I guess they will not be as affective as a mobile missile unit. They are durable with their ward save, but they don't seem to hit very hard. They seem perhaps to be more of a harassment and support unit?

[James]

Hello everyone!

The Sisters of Thorn are probably our best unit.
And I'm sure one of the best in the entire game. Quite a lot of tactical possibilities, deflecting enemy units, ability to choose a spell (Fireball, Pilar of Fire etc.), survivability depends on the "driver", and Ward 4+ means that a single shooting/spell is not a threat to us. The price of a unit with full command is bearable and you can safely sacrifice it if the situation requires it without fear of losing a million points. The 12" shooting range can be tolerated because, in my opinion, the main advantages of this unit are its magical capabilities. LD9 when escaping and the musician gives us a rebound for LD10, so with an efficient "driver" you can outmaneuver your opponent and make him not be remembered fondly against the Wood Elves

[Anaya]

Hello! So, do you use them mainly as a mobile spellcasting unit?

I am thinking of making them a kind of bodyguard for my spellweaver, either on a horse or a unicorn.

[Mollesvinet]

Wow, you are right. They were dropped to M8 for whatever reason, thank you for pointing that out before my tournament

Not sure I would agree with James that they are the best unit in our army, but I certainly agree that spellcasting and high LD is their main advantage. Javalins is just a potential bonus only useful in a few scenarios, as I see it.

Personally I don't think they are a good mage bunker anymore, as they are quite clonky to move as described before. For mounted mage bunker I much prefer glade riders since they are M9, skirmish and can take reserve move for redeployment after casting spells.

More info and tips on glade riders here: viewtopic.php?t=29175

But in any case, give them a try and see what you think

[James]

Hello! So, do you use them mainly as a mobile spellcasting unit?

I am thinking of making them a kind of bodyguard for my spellweaver, either on a horse or a unicorn.

Yes, using them as a mobile spellcaster . I Love 24” range of Fireball and i Love spaming „Pilar of fire” it depends of enemy.
It Works pretty well.
I'm not complaining

[Anaya]

I thought about putting a spellcaster with the sisters because they are quite sturdy with their ward save. Glade Riders die pretty easily, so I guess you'll need a sizable unit to give the caster proper protection. I usually only field five of them (mostly because I only have five of them).

[Dracos]

Do Sisters have Reserve move? That’s a pretty powerful protection bouncing in and out of the backside of a free forest.

[Anaya]

Sisters don't, but Glade Riders do. Another argument for sticking the wizard with the Glade Riders, I guess.

[Anaya]

After using the sisters in a few battles I must confess I feel a little underwhelmed. They seem to struggle with getting off their spells with. Even with fairly low casting values they often do not manage to beat it, and even then they are fairly easy for a lvl4 caster to dispel, which makes them feel rather unreliable.

[stampire]

I haven't had a chance to use Sisters yet (no suitable models), but looking at the unit profile, it appears the Steeds of Isha also have Poisoned Attacks? The special rules simply say "Poisoned Attacks" and don't include "(Riders only)". I checked the rulebook to find some reason why Poison would only apply to the rider on a split profile but couldn't find one there or in the FAQs/errata. Am I off base here or is this a nice little bonus for the Sisters?

[danny1995]

That is what we determined after looking at the rules. Split Profile says rule apply to the mount and the rider "unless specified otherwise" and our group has yet to find anywhere that specifies otherwise. It helps out if you have to pull them away from harassment duties and actually get in a fight. Since they're cav even a 5 model unit is unit strength 10, so they can come in and pull of disruptions in flanks and such, then successfully swing with 11 poisoned attacks, it's actually not terrible in the right situation.

[OvertninjaX]

a mobile fireball caster unit charging into a combat's flank with 11 poison attacks and 10 unit strength will be a very unpleasant surprise for most opponents, I doubt many players are that aggressive with the unit but it's a good gambit to try and pull off imo. using them more aggressively also brings their poison ranged attacks into play more, which has good potential. so long as your opponents don't have too many ranged options, playing SotT in this manner might be worthwhile.

[lune]

Hi folks!
Now that the new FAQ 1.2a is out, what are your thoughts on the sisters nerf?
- Sisters generate their spell randomly now (no more Fireball or pillar of flame spam)
-Clarification (not a real nerf) that characters joining don't get a 4++

With no more reliable spell to get (wording is a bit fuzzy if we can at least opt for the lore's signature spell), I believe that their use has become much more limited. Granted, a nerf was necessary, especially for tournament play, but it feels like they are ready to stay on the shelf if you don't need some poisonous fast cav.

Does anyone has already undergone some test games with the changes from the FAQ?

[Dracos]

Dont Dark Elves have a unit that can pick it's spell?

This is a piss poor response to Pillar of Fire spam.

Shelf Sisters

[lune]

Dooomfire warlocks may freely choose their spells from Daemonology or Dark Magic, yes. But the warlocks only have hand weapons, a 5++ against non-magical attacks and dark magic was nerfed in the first update for their best spell cursing word of reducing BS or WS only by 1 (on a 9+!) instead of "to 1" like in its initial iteration.
The unit's sole purpose is to be a caster with the option to be a chaff sacrificed if needed.

I believe that the comparison is not fair.
Not to mention that Dark Elves are a legacy faction and as such receive much less attention.

[OvertninjaX]

I think at this point if you field sisters, you are going to want to use them as poison fast cavalry with the added bonus of having a spell. I've got only one unit but I'll run them with elementalism for the 5/6 chance of a spell that's useful (the only one I absolutely wouldn't want is flaming sword), and the option of taking the signature spell (which is cast in the unit's operant shooting range, happily). I'll use them to harass a flank and mess with enemy movement, without worrying too much about preserving them.

probably not going to see any tournament play now that you can't use them to be filthy, but that's really not going to make me too sad. ;p

[Spiney]

I think this is true, the problem is that ignoring the spell (which you kind of have to now) glade riders are better poisoned light cavalry in almost every way, they’re cheaper, can access skirmish, reserve move and drilled, can operate at much longer range and occupy core points rather than special.

I would rather they had mandated a particular spell that was actually useful for sisters (or perhaps a choice out of two - say plague of rust and wind blast) like they had in 8th Ed. The risk of rolling a spell that is either completely useless or too high casting cost for a L2 to get off reliably just kills the viability of sisters now imo.

[OvertninjaX]

you are probably right, though glade riders function very differently on the table. they'll never want to get close to anyone thanks to having no defenses, so they are better as far-range poison archers. thanks to having a 4+ ward, sisters can actually operate more closely to things and not be so worried about being shot back.

I don't own any glade riders, so I'll have to wait to grab some to play with, I am keen on having at least one unit running around - though I've got so many scouting archers I'm usually good as-is.