“Who speaks for the dead if we shall not?”

• Abbess Santa Dominica, the Order of the Sacred Chapel

The Sisters of the Sacred Chapel are a Lessor Order of the Convent Sanctorum founded in early M.39 to protect the lonely ossuaries cities scattered throughout the Eastern Fringe. After standing watch for two thousand years, the Order remains unflinching in its defence of the resting places of the Imperium’s grateful dead.   

The Espandor Preceptory, the Order’s 4th Preceptory, is based in four fortress-chapels, each one standing guard over hundreds of square miles of graveyards and mausoleums. The Fourth is headed by Abbess Santa Dominica, an experienced but aged adminitstor who also guides the non-militant sisters stationed on the planet. The Order’s 800 sisters-militant are led in battle by Preceptory Canoness Emila Hoth, a veteran of three wars of faith and dozens of purges.   

I have painted up the first four squads of sisters, each five strong and each with two special weapons plus a preacher (Dirk Castrati, as you asked nicely):

I wanted a paint scheme which:

1) paid homage to the classic red and black battle sisters of old;

2) had slightly realistic touches (to put the models more on a battle-nun footing rather than an angelic footing); and

3) suggest the background (hopefully the bases point towards the mausoleum theme, but without there being skulls everywhere).

The paint scheme also had to be relatively quick - this is absolutely the golden rule as any project which is too slow or too complicated is not going to get finished!

Black mixed with medium over a zenithal highlight for the armour, everything else got a base, wash rebase and highlight (except the hair and faces which got a little more care).

Next - catching up posting the vehicles!