Maximize your Miracle Dice and power up your Acts of Faith with these play tips for Sisters of Battle. Play smarter, not harder!
As organized play across the globe slows down for a bit, let’s take some time to analyze and understand the newest rules mechanics around Miracle Dice and Acts of Faith for the Sisters of Battle.
If you missed Horton’s breakdown on Miracle Dice and how to max them out, be sure to give that a read first over here.
This is How To Play Smart With Sisters of Battle
The Adepta Sororitas (aka the Sisters of Battle) are here and they bring with them a unique mechanic, unlike anything 40k has ever seen before.
What Are Miracle Dice and Acts of Faith?
Miracle Dice are a special set of dice generated by Adepta Sororitas units with the Acts of Faith ability when they do specific things one or more times in a phase. These things are:
- Begin the Battle Round
- Destroy an enemy unit
- Have a character in your army destroyed by the enemy
- Deny a psychic power
- Roll an unmodified 1 for a morale test
When you do one of these things, roll a die and set it to the side. The value on that die can then be used once per phase to perform an Act of Faith. An Act of Faith lets you substitute one of your miracle dice for one of the following rolls INSTEAD of rolling the dice. They can be used for:
1. Advance roll
2. Charge roll
3. Deny the Witch Test
4. Hit roll
5. Wound roll
6. Saving throw
7. Damage roll
8. Morale test
So, if you have a Miracle Dice of a 6 off to the side, and an enemy flyer right next to you, you can use that 6 for your hit roll on your melta gun instead of leaving it to chance.
This is an extremely cool ability that opens up an incredible range of tactical opportunities. You do not have to gamble. You can make plans and make magic happen.
Apply Acts of Faith Effectively
Now that we’ve spent some time talking about how to generate Miracle Dice and maximize their use on the field, let’s talk about some of the specific ways they can be used to turn the tide of battle.
Unbreakable Defense:
Almost all Adepta Sororitas keyword units have a 6+ invulnerable save thanks to their Shield of Faith ability. This, combined with Miracle Dice, can provide just the defense you need to endure the firepower of your opponent, as you can simply pass a single critical save. You may think that’s an obvious use, and it is, but you can continue to layer this trick. Use Ebon Chalice and you always have a 6 in your back pocket. Place the Triumph of St. Katherine near-critical units and you can auto pass 2 saves instead of 1. You can also use what is quite possibly the best Stratagem that the Sororitas possess: Moment of Grace.
For 1 CP, you can modify a dice that you have already rolled by 1, for each Miracle Dice you expend, to a maximum of 3. This means you can turn a dice roll of a 3 into a 6 as long as you have the Miracle Dice available to do so. All of these tricks combined mean you can quite reliably pass three 6+ saves, or four if the unit in question has a Simulacrum Imperialis. This gives the Adepta Sororitas a real advantage over units that have high-damage shooting packed into a lower total number of shots.
Incredible Mobility:
With an army full of Simulacrums and Incensor Cherubs, suddenly a relatively slow army can cover the board in a single turn. Even just a Battle Sister unit on foot can always move 6”, advance, 6”, and with a stratagem, charge 12” that same turn. This is a 24” reach for infantry on foot, and even more for vehicles and units with Fly.
With the Hand of the Emperor Sacred Rite, the whole army gets +1 to advance rolls and charge rolls, further increasing the incredible reach of the Sororitas. Watch out! If you are within 30”, the odds are that they can assault you.
Impeccable Offense:
The use of Acts of Faith lets the Adepta Sororitas apply the perfect amount of pressure on the enemy right when they need it. The question is: is it better to use an Act of Faith for a Hit roll, a Wound roll, or a Damage roll? I like to ask myself the following questions to help me decide.
- Are you likely to hit?
- Are you likely to wound?
- Are you likely to do a lot of damage?
All of these steps are potential failure points for an attack, so the most effective way to use an Act of Faith is at the most likely point of failure. Saving your Miracle Dice to do lots of damage does you no good if you can’t hit or wound.
Generally, I tend to use offensive Acts of Faith on Exorcist Missiles and Melta weapons, the two heavy hitters of the codex. These weapons are both strength 8, both D6 damage, and both are used by units with a BS of 3+, so the same logic applies on how to use them.
- Scenario 1: the target has a significant hit modifier. Act of Faith on the Hit roll.
- Scenario 2: the target is toughness 8 or higher. Act of Faith on the Wound roll.
- Scenario 3: the target is toughness 5-7. Act of Faith on the Damage roll.
Specific scenarios may of course cause you to deviate from this, but in general, I’ve found this to be a useful way to do it.
So there you have it. We’ve taken some time today to really dig deep into Acts of Faith and Miracle Dice. Whether you are an Adepta Sororitas player looking to dish out the Emperor’s wrath, or a vile heretic trying to make sense of these unique tricks, I hope this has been a helpful analysis.
Remember, the Sororitas are an army unlike any other. If it is possible, then they simply can do it.
May the odds ever be on your side- Horton
About the Author: Horton Doughton
