Warhammer 40K: Sororitas New Celestian Insidiants – Any Good?
The Sisters of Battle got a new unit, arriving in Killteam: Shadowhunt – Let’s dive into Celestian Insidiants to see if they’re any good in 40K.
After all the updates to C’Tans and Ultramarines, would you know that the Sisters of Battle got a new unit? Coming in an upcoming Killteam update – the Celestian Insidiants are a weird unit to add to an already bustling army of angry Space Nuns. It feels like there are a few missing pieces, and the overall vibe of being heavily anti-psyker is an odd choice in this current game of 40K that isn’t very keen on adding Psykers to units. Let’s dive into this new unit to see if it might be any good.
Celestian Insidiants 101
The overall feel of the unit is an elite choice that is an Anti-Psyker option designed to punish any mind bullet-dealing characters that are attached to your precious units. They get some protection versus mortal wounds with a Feel No Pain that also works on Psychic wounds. They can select an enemy unit and gain precision attacks with that unit as well (even if there isn’t a Psychic model in that unit). They throw out a bunch of Condemnor Bolt Pistol shots that are Devastating Wounds with Anti-Psyker 4, which would be deadly against those units. They are just bolt pistols, so they have to get fairly close, and as they are only one-shot, it isn’t like they will be murdering Magnus if he floats too near this unit. They get some close combat attacks that match the Condemnor Bolt Pistol shots with Devastating Wounds mixed with Anti-Psyker 4+.
They are a 10 model unit, so they can’t just be a small knife to throw out of a Rhino. They all have 1 wound with a 3+ armor save mixed with a 5+ invulnerable save. It feels like they just don’t do enough, and the only time we could see them be interesting would be if they got an extra keyword to allow them to be used in Champions of Faith as a nice option if Thousand Sons or Nids get a bit too big for their britches.
Celestian Insidiants Verdict
It just feels like an odd unit in the grand scheme of things. Most of the other Killteam updates give armies a cool, unique option or at least an update on a standard favorite like the Raptor Squad for Chaos Space Marines. I always feel that each new Sisters update has me wondering what they are for. Maybe this unit will be important in future editions, where having more Psykers will be needed. I do love the idea of shooting out a leading Sorcerer in a unit, as it could just be a cool option.
The models do look pretty awesome with some neat cloak designs and a different feel than normal Sisters of Battle. They almost feel like a batch of cool elites you summon when you need that special job done. It looks like the kit is full of extra bits so this could be a good thing to buy to freshen up some of your Sisters units with unique heroes or other fun kitbashing opportunities.
I just don’t think we’ll see much of them beyond what they bring to the Killteam game as a pretty mean little unit designed to kill other Psykers. Will see if they wreck the table top at any Killteam event in the coming months.
Hopefully, I won’t get smacked around too much from a Null Mace in the future.
