Order of the Cobalt Flame

Founder: Saint Ingribeth

The Order of the Cobalt Flame formed as a breakaway order following a schism regarding the treatment of Sister Cyneburga in the Order of Our Martyred Lady some 600 years ago. Its Founding Mother, Saint Ingribeth, was Dogmata of the Order of Our Martyred Lady when she came to the defence of sister Cyneburga. Peteronella the Pious, Prioress of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, believed that Sister Cyneburga was possessed by Chaos when the flames from her heavy flamer began to change to blue. Initially, Cyneburga's rituals of weapon blessing were reviewed, fearing that she was conducting these wrong and damaging the machine spirit of the Order's weapons, for this was the only option outside of meddlings with the warp. However, when Dogmata Ingribeth witnessed the prayers, she was moved to tears by the sister's emotion and piety in performing these rites. Various ecclesiarchy members were brought in to examine the sister, but not one of them detected a hint of sorcery. Without Ingribeth as her support, Cyneburga would have been put to the torch much earlier than she was. In the end at a fiery debate within the sacred Abbey of St Katherine on Novvar, Prioress Petronella ruled that Sister Cyneburga is to be burned at the stake as a heretic. Dogmata Ingribeth was so convinced of Cyneburga's piety that she chose to share her fate, and her stake. Both were burned that same day, and in the moments before the ritual was to begin, Ingribeth penned a letter to the sisters loyal to her. That they were to found their own convent far from Novvar.

The resultant split was orchestrated by the High Lords of Terra, and the Order of the Cobalt Flame was formed. In the centuries since the schism, tensions have subsided between the two orders, though the rivalry still remains. Sisters of the Order of the Cobalt Flame view sisters of Our Martyred Lady with mild contempt, while in return they are seen with pity as lost sisters.

While Sister Ingribeth never held office as the first Prioress, she is still held as the Founding Mother of the Order, and was officially canonised by the eclesiarchy as a Saint of the Imperium. The Order's Cathedral World of Abbis Iv was renamed in her honour, now the fledgling Order call Ingribethae home. They have a small collection of holy relics, most recaptured in the years following the split, but the High Lords of Terra did allow them several important relics of St Katherine to be housed in the Cathedral. After many long years of debate, the have since taken ownership of the bones, ashes and garments of both Cyneburga and Ingribeth. The Order of Our Martyred Lady has consigned them to be held in the lower cells on Novvar, with the remains of others who have fallen from His sight. However upon Morven Vahls ascension, she ordered the remains be returned to their 'home' on Ingribethae. 

The trials and punishment of Sister Cyneburga continues to be a core gospel of the Order of the Cobalt Flame, as is Ingribeth's sacrifice for truth and justice. It was never determined why Cyneburga's flames changed colour, however the Sisters of Her order believe it to be a sign of her belief in the God Emperor that caused her weapons to burn fiercer.

Order of the Cobalt Flame - an Order Minoris

I've been tossing up which of the successor convictions to pick for my custom order. While the Order of the Martyred Lady is nice, I think I prefer to mold my own order a pick and choose the convictions to suit the way I want my sisters to play.

The martyrdom of sisters really appeals to me, I've got BA that gets a tonne of attacks, so the orders that give more attacks is a bit boring for me here. I think I'm going to struggle to keep my sisters alive, so probably need something to help in that regard too. I'm keen to play with the Holy Trinity of weapons equally, so leaning into one or the other convictions that boost weapons wouldn't be super-efficient either. Also, I like the anti-psyker nature of sisters, but not sure if a conviction looking specifically at this would help giving there's a lot of armies that don't lean on psykers around, especially in my group.

The top minoris convictions I'm toying with at the moment are:

• Hallowed Martyrs - When a unit is below full strength gain +1 to hit

• Holy Wrath - When charging/charged/Heroic Intervening improve AP by 1

• Purifying Recitations - Add 3 to deny the witch

• Righteous Suffering - Can not be wounded on 1-2

• Shield of Aversion - AP-1 = AP0

I really liked the Eldar version of Hallowed Martyrs that Dire Avengers Exarchs had access to. I never got to use it to its full potential. But I like it in theory, it gives the enemy something to think about. Adding 3 to deny the witch is also nice, but as above I don't think it would be useful enough against most of the armies I play against. Righteous Suffering and Shield of Aversion are both probably tied for second place, so I might need to do maths to work out which is more likely S6+ or AP1 weapons.

Then, if I like Hallowed Martyrs, is it not better to just go with Order of Our Martyred Lady and get the good second half of that conviction? A miracle dice each time a unit is destroyed is nice!

CRUSADING NUNS

Saint in the Making - Aethelreida

Trial of Suffering

• Defeated at the hands of the Plague Marines. With flames erupting from her Vindicator she charged headlong into the fray, cutting down one marine. She took grievous wounds but continued fighting, eventually falling after 2 rounds of combat. (1pt)

• Rushing through the library of the ruined Cathedral, Aethelreida's flamer lashed out scorching the mandrakes that were lurking and defiling the sacred relic. With the relic saved she left the Devoted to pray for it and rushed through the open portal into the courtyard, where she ended the life of the final winged Scourge. A cry erupted to her left and she turned to see the Archon, her sisters' blood dripping off its blades, charge towards her. She engulfed it in a holy pyre, but it was not enough and she eventually fell to its blades. 

The Beginnings of the Crusade

The sisters of the Cobalt Flame attacked the ruined mechanicus hoping to deny the Chaos key supplies. There were only three possible supply drop-zones available in this section of ruins. The Daughters of Ingribeth looked to hold one key potential drop-zone while the rest of the force pressured the other two options. The Chaos were not taken by surprise however and begun the assault by launching a fusillade on the dominons who had taken cover by the railing pillars. They took enough of a hit to blunt their impact and their flamers were unable to do enough damage to the plague marines. Meanwhile the Sacresants locked shields and bore the brunt of the Lord's charge, their halberds exacting a serious toll, but not enough to halt the menace before they were cut down. However, their sacrifice bought time for the Canoness to charge the plague marines and with the words of St Katherine on her lips cut several of them down and blasted another with Martyr's Vengeance. Daughter Aethelreida readied her vindicator and charged, like a woman possessed. With a gout of blue flame and mighty swings of her chainglaive she tore into the foul denizens of Mortarion. She brought down a couple of marines, and bravely bared the wounds she received. With her sisters watching on she stood her ground and hacked, but in the end their numbers overwhelmed her and she fell. Seeing their blessed sister fall, the Sisters of Battle regrouped and unloaded their bolters and melta-guns into the marines, with shots finding unlikely chinks in their armour they slew several of them. All of a sudden hymns sounded out over the runis as the Seraphim graced the battlefield, they unloaded their pistols and hand flamers and eventually finished off the plague marines. However the Lord had caught them and cut them down, the field was lost and the sisters Hospitaler rescued those they could. Their Faith was tested as they encountered such tough foes, they bent but did not break. It wasn't until later that evening when Aethelreida stumbled back into camp, bloody and coughing up a foul phlegm. She was treated with reverence, her sisters already knew she was gifted with Saint Ingribeth's piety, but seeing her again after that battle, they now believed she was destined for great things. 

The Ruined Cathedral

Within the confines of the ruined Cathedral of His Benificent Being the Sisters set about ensuring the safety of its holy items. Seeing the Drukhari entering the Cathedral they whispered prayers over their with Bolter, Flamer and Meltas and readied them to deliver His vengeance. The Retributors took a heavy toll on the Raider, before turning the wyches to a fine red mist as they were desecrating a relic. The Dominion set off towards another relic, looking to use their flamers to defend themselves and their prize. The Canoness and Palatine ensured their benedictions were heard by both Dominion and Retributors and with the Raider approaching the sisters through the courtyard, the Canoness, words of faith on her lips, destroyed the craft with one well timed shot (9 damage). Several of the crew were killed in the crash and the rest were finished off by the Palatine and Canoness. The Archon however proved difficult to end and she ran and dodged everything the was thrown against her. Her twin blades reaping a deadly ruin on the sisters. The Canoness suffered a grievous wound, part of her soul being ripped from her and captured within the Archon's soul-stone. Meanwhile Aethelreida torched the mandrakes and scourges and fell in holy battle with the Archon. In the end the Sisters were driven off and the Archon claimed the Cathedral, its floor littered with the bodies of the dead