Codex Witch Hunters will be arriving in stores in March of 2004, but I have
had the pleasure of reading through a preview copy provided by Mark aka Da
Boss. The new Codex focuses on the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition, but,
like Codex Daemon Hunters, contains multiple Codices worth of goodies. You
get Inquisitors, their retinues and Stormtroopers, a complete Sisters of
Battle list, allied contingents, the Witch Hunters as allies, and finally,
adversaries for use when opposing the Hunters!

The Inquisition and Sisters of Battle are the foci of the list. Most of the
Inquisitorial forces are familiar to you if you've already seen Codex:
Daemon Hunters. The Inquisitor Lord (HQ), Inquisitor, Officio Assassinorum
Operatives, Death Cult Assassins (all Elites) Inquisitorial Storm Troopers
(Troops) and Orbital Strike (Heavy Support) all are straight copies from the
previous Hunters book. Only Wargear, a few Henchman types, and Psychic
Powers give a different flavor to these portions of the list.

The Sisters of Battle are where the Codex takes off! The Sisters have been
neglected since their last appearance in Chapter Approved (2002). This
publication blasts that list and gives the Sisters a needed upward tweak.
The new Sisters are a hair more expensive (unfortunately I cannot name point
costs), but they all, from Elite to Heavy Support, have a Ballistic Skill of
4 as befits their experience and training. That coupled with the Emperor's
bolter and Power Armour, make for the core of a tough force. The Shields of
Faith (a 5+ save vs. psychic powers) and Acts of Faith (miracles) special
rules are more than enough to make up for the increased cost.

The Sisters have always been meant for brutal short range shooting combat
followed by short, decisive assaults on a depleted or Falling Back enemy. As
such, they are armed with a variety of Assault type weapons; Flamer, Melta
Gun, Storm Bolter and Heavy Flamer. Their "Heavy" weapons are also short
ranged, being limited to Heavy Bolters and Multi-Meltas. With the Sisters
you have to get close quickly and rapidly hose your foes down or fight from
cover and fortifications against close assault troops.

Additional rules show the Faith the Sisters have in their Emperor. Each
Faithful Unit or Character adds to the armies' Faith pool. The Faith of the
Sisters can be spent to perform mighty miracles which allow them to strike
harder, shoot straighter, fight faster, become fearless or even gain an
Invulnerable save. Each miracle needs a test to succeed, but the tests vary.
Each test is a 2d6 roll, but some miracles need you to equal to or under the
squad size and others need to be equal to or over it! In the previous
incarnation of the Sisters it was a simple Leadership test. Now miracles are
not as reliable, but the associated miracles are appropriate to the squad
size.

Every Force slot has it's own set of Sisters to bring to the war.

Adepta Sororitas Heroines fill the HQ slot. She is the standard supped up
leader used to head your army. She is also a nodal point of Faith (much more
of this later). Of course, you can tool her up with wargear to fulfill a
variety of battlefield roles, but with a Ballistic Skill of 5 and a retinue
of Celestines, she is more suited for the shooting role.

Celestines are similar the experienced, veteran troopers that hold an army
together. They are meant for the shooting role, being armed primarily with
bolters, but have the usual compliment of weapons. They add to the armies
Faith and are good counter-assault troops as they always hit enemy troops on
3+. Players who like Mechanized armies can mount them in Rhinos or
Immolators (size 6 maximum).

Sisters Repentia are a 0-1 Elites choice composed of "failed" Sisters who
seek absolution in death and battle. They lack Power Armor (only a 4+ save),
but are armed with Eviscerators and come in bands of 4 - 19. That is a whole
lot of S6 +2d6 armor penetration attacks with power weapons, even if it is
at I1. They are also subject to "Holy Rage" (+d6" right towards the enemy)
and even Fall Forward regularly due to "Righteous Zeal" after their unit
leader dies.

Standard Battle Sisters squads are your troops choice. They are the rank and
file troopers and other than squeaking an additional Faith point out with a
Veteran leader they have no special rules. That is not to disparage them, 3+
saves, BS4, massed bolters and miracles beat out Stormtroopers every time.
Squads can range up to 19 Sisters plus a Superior, units maxing out at 10
can be mounted in the ubiquitous Rhino.

Seraphim Squads are Faithful by nature and with their signature jump packs
inspire surrounding squads of sisters, +1 to morale and pinning tests to
non-Seraphim units within 6". They carry two bolt pistols which allows their
fire be twin-linked and counts as an additional weapon in close combat.
However, with their S3 and T3 they are not dedicated close combat troops,
instead they use "Hit and Run" to leave combat and sweep back around for
additional firing runs. Naturally, Seraphim are Fast Attack choices.

Dominion Squads are also Fast Attack. They are heavily armed with Special
Weapons (up to 4) and must be transported in a Rhino or Immolator. Their
role is sharp devastating attacks with Flamers, Storm Bolters and Melta Guns
(for those anti-tank and Carnifex killing moments).

The last of the infantry is Heavy Support. Retributor Squads carry the heavy
ordnance of the Sisters. Four members of the squad can be armed with Heavy
Bolters or Multi-Meltas. Retributors can be mounted in vehicles; Immolators
or the common Rhino.

Immolators can be taken as Heavy Support choices. With twin linked Heavy
Bolters or Multi-Meltas they are a vital addition to the Sisters firepower
while their Armor of 11 to the front and sides keeps them safe from the
standard small arms of most of the galaxy.

The "tank" of the Sisters is the Exorcist. Based on a Rhino chassis, it is
closer to a Predator (front armor of 13) with a multi-barreled krak missile
launcher (1d6 shots per turn) as its weapon. I've been on the receiving end
of these things in the past and they can devastate a squad of Marines with
just a few lucky rolls or reduce a tank to scrap under a hail of glancing
and penetrating hits.

Ok, take a short breather..... we're not done yet.

Not only does the Inquisition and the Sisters of Battle hunt the heretics
and witches that plague the Imperium, but the Ecclesiarchy's own
representatives, in the form of Priests, join in the fun. Priests have
rather normal stat lines, but subject the unit they join (and they must join
a unit, any unit) to Fanatical and Righteous Fury special rules. Fanatical
units reroll missed to hit rolls when they charge, while the Righteous Fury
makes them charge if able and prevents them from firing Heavy Weapons as
long as the Priest lives. You may take up to 5.

So why take the Priests? They unlock other units in the list.

Arco-flagellants (Elite) are close combat monstrosities created from guilty
heretics, their punishment to fight until their death for the Emperor.
Extensive augmentation, drug therapy and brain washing results in a
Fearless, Invulnerable (4+), S4, T5, d6 Attacks monster with a power weapon.
There only failings are that the drug injectors kill them off when rolling a
6 on extra movement or attack roll and they cannot be joined by others or
enter vehicles.

The all-new Penitent Engine (heavy Support) is either a Dreadnought light or
heavy Sentinel. While Open Topped (the heretic/controller/prisoner is
strapped to the front of the unit) it has a front and side armor of 11 with
2 Dreadnought close combat weapons and a heavy flamer. And they run in
packs! One to three Penitent Engines form a unit.

In addition to all this, Witch Hunters can requisition Imperial Guardsmen
(Platoons or Armored Fists) or Space Marines (Scouts or Tactical Squads),
but not both. If you take 2 troop choices from either, then you may also
take Fast Attack or Heavy Support choices from those lists. You don't have
access to everything, but the added punch of Land Speeders, Sentinels,
Predators, or Leman Russ Battle Tanks (among others) is not to be
discounted. Plus if you have those armies already you get double-duty from
your figurines.

Then again, if you already have one of those armies, you can take Witch
Hunters as Allies and add them to your existing army. In fact, this is the
easiest way to build up to a Witch Hunter army as it lets you get play
experience for minimal cost and gradually build to an independent force.

But wait.... there's more. If you should find yourself facing off against
Witch Hunters you can add some special nastiness to your army as well in the
form of Witch Hunter Adversaries. These units may only be used after you've
satisfied your compulsory unit choices.

For free, yes, really free (it doesn't even use up an HQ slot) you can make
the leader of your army psychic! He gets a random power, but hey, it is
free!

Or you can choose a Rouge Psycher or Apostate Cardinal as an HQ choice. The
Psycher is cheap, but you get to choose the psychic power he has. The
Cardinal isn't psychic, but he allows you to take Traitors as Troops beyond
your usual limit of 6, cause all units within 12" to automatically pass
morale and pinning tests, and can bring along with a crusader retinue.

The Psychic powers available to heretics are potent, but limited. Brain
Flayer lets you and your target roll 1d6 + Leadership. The loser takes the
difference in wounds. Soul Shrive is a shooting attack that whips out 2d6 S4
shots. You are forced to roll an additional die. On a 6, all the attacks are
AP3. On a 1, you have to target a unit selected by the opponent. Finally,
Puppet Dance forces a unit to make a round of close combat attacks on
itself, using any legal weapon options the psycher desires.

Regular troops range from Traitors to the Imperium to hordes of scrofulous
mutants. Both units saw treatment in Codex: Eye of Terror in The Lost and
the Damned list and are essentially unchanged form there (small point
tweaks). Mutants are cheap and plentiful close combat troops. You can give
them firearms, but they are horrible shots. Traitors are formed like
renegade Guard squads with an emphasis on ranged combat.

Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus have a variety of psychic powers at their
call. Most of the powers are combat oriented; such as the Strength doubling
Hammerhand, long ranged shooting of the Scourging, His Will Be Done which
doubles the Inquisitors results for determining who won an assault, or the
independent character killing power of Purgatus. Other powers cause the
enemy to take morale tests or flee (Divine Pronouncement) or for them to
assault (Word of the Emperor). Finally, Hammer of the Witches causes the
closest d6 psychers to make Perils of the Warp test regardless of range.

There is a variety of specialist Wargear and weapons available as well. The
non standard items either are Sister specific or work in defense or to
attack enemy psychers. Some of the strange ones are the Bolter-Stake
Crossbow which is Assault 2 and wounds Psychers on 2+ and negates their
regular armor save and the Power Stake which wounds psychers on 2+ and is a
power weapon. The Inferno Pistol is a 6" ranged melta-gun in pistol form.
There are many others to discover in these pages as well.

Finally, what Codex would be complete without Special Characters? This book
contains two.

Inquisitor Lord Karamazov rides on the Throne of Judgement and with his 3
member Retinue (all included on the same base) counts as a Monstrous
Creature. Such is his power that the model boasts S6, T5, 4 wounds and a 2+
save. One of his servitors is armed with a Multi-Melta that may fire even if
he moves. He also benefits from Iron Will as all Inquisitor Lords do.
Unfortunately, he finds Strength in Solitude and may not join units and may
be picked out for enemy fire even if he is within 6" of a friendly unit
(he's just that big!).

The other Special Character is Saint Celestine, an Adepta Sororitas model,
who is fearless, carries the Ardent Blade (a flames spitting Blessed
Weapon), is borne upon the battlefield on Wings of Faith and is, naturally,
Faithful. Additionally, she keeps coming back time and again. (If she is
killed, she merely makes a Leadership 10 test to return via deep strike.)

In summation, Codex Witch Hunters is a great addition to the 40K line and a
must have if you'd like to play with Sisters of Battle. They are a potent
and colorful force with some exciting new models coming down the line,
including new some new Sister models, Rhino kits and Immolator kits both
based on the new Rhino chassis. Additionally, the new Inquisitional powers
will make them a must have against any psychic powered foe whether they be
heretics, librarians, Tyranids, or Eldar.

ps: das heisst die lackleder-tussis ham ne light power armor und haun mit stärke 6 energiewaffen her die dazu noch 2W6 panzerdurchschlag haben