Null Maiden Vigil: The 11th-Edition Custodes Sisters of Silence Army Detachment

An aura, and unusually it fires in your opponent's turn.

In the Battle-shock step of your opponent's Command phase, if an enemy unit that is either a PSYKER unit or below its Starting Strength is within 12 inches of one or more ANATHEMA PSYKANA models from your army, that enemy unit must take a Battle-shock test. If that unit is Below Half-strength, it must subtract 1 from its Battle-shock test this phase instead.

The mirror also carries a designer's note making the breadth explicit, and it is worth quoting the sense of it: this means all enemy Psyker units in range and all enemy units in range that have lost one or more models must test, not only those Below Half-strength. That is a much wider net than the rule reads at first glance. Any unit that has taken a single casualty qualifies.

Selecting this detachment also gives PROSECUTORS units the BATTLELINE keyword, which is the mechanical piece that lets a Sisters-led list score properly rather than being a support element bolted onto a Custodes core.

What this rule actually does is worth stating plainly, because Battle-shock is easy to undervalue. A Battle-shocked unit cannot use stratagems, and its Objective Control drops to zero. Against an army that leans on reactive stratagems, which in 11th edition is most of them, forcing tests across the board every single Command phase is a stronger effect than most damage buffs, and it costs you nothing to use. You do not spend command points, you do not spend a phase, and it happens whether or not you remembered to plan for it.

The list-building consequence is that you want Anathema Psykana models spread across the board rather than concentrated, because the aura is measured from models and 12 inches from three separate units covers far more of the table than 12 inches from one.

Six, all 1CP, and notice how many of them key off Psykers or Battle-shocked units, which is the state your own detachment rule creates.

• Desperation's Price (any phase). Just after an enemy PSYKER unit has finished using a Psychic ability that targets a unit, or finished making Psychic Attacks, target one ANATHEMA PSYKANA unit within 18 inches; that Psyker unit must take a Leadership test. If it passes it is Battle-shocked; if it fails it suffers 3 mortal wounds and is Battle-shocked. Both outcomes Battle-shock the target, so this is never wasted against a psyker.
• Anathema Blademastery (the Fight). Target one VIGILATORS unit that has not fought; you can re-roll the Hit roll for its melee attacks, and if the target is Battle-shocked or a PSYKER, re-roll the Wound roll as well. Read that next to the detachment rule: Creeping Dread is what makes enemy units Battle-shocked, so this stratagem is designed to follow it. Full melee re-rolls on a cheap unit is a large swing.
• Witch Hunters (your Shooting or the Fight). Target one ANATHEMA PSYKANA unit that has not shot or fought; select [LETHAL HITS] or [SUSTAINED HITS 1], and its weapons have it this phase, but models in your unit can only target PSYKER units. Severe restriction, real payoff: this is what lets cheap Sisters delete a psyker outright.
• Psy-chaff Volley (your Shooting). Target one PROSECUTORS unit that has just shot; select one enemy unit hit by those attacks, and until the start of your next turn, while your unit is on the battlefield, that unit is prosecuted. While prosecuted, Anathema Psykana attacks against it improve Armour Penetration by 1, and while a PSYKER or Battle-shocked unit is prosecuted, its own attacks subtract 1 from the Hit roll. Two effects for one point, and the debuff half lasts into your opponent's turn.
• Purgation Sweep (your Shooting). Target one WITCHSEEKERS unit that has not shot; add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of Torrent weapons in the unit, with a further improvement against a PSYKER or Battle-shocked target. Torrent means the extra attacks all land automatically.
• Psychic Abominations (opponent's Shooting). Just after an enemy unit selects targets, target one ANATHEMA PSYKANA INFANTRY unit among them; it has the Stealth ability, and Battle-shocked and PSYKER models can only target it from within 12 inches. Sisters are fragile, and this is what keeps a Prosecutors block alive long enough to keep the aura on the board.

The habit to build: let Creeping Dread do its work in your opponent's Command phase, then aim your stratagems at what it Battle-shocked. Three of the six get better against a Battle-shocked target.

Four, and every one is restricted to an ANATHEMA PSYKANA model, which means the Knight-Centura is the only generic model that can carry any of them. Plan for at least one.

• Oblivion Knight (25 pts). While the bearer is leading a unit, each time a model in that unit makes an attack, add 1 to the Hit roll; if that attack targeted an enemy PSYKER unit, add 1 to the Wound roll as well. The best enhancement in the detachment and the one that turns a Sisters squad from a utility piece into a real threat.
• Huntress' Eye (15 pts). In your Command phase, select one enemy unit within 12 inches of the bearer; that unit must take a Battle-shock test. A second Battle-shock trigger, and crucially it fires in your own turn with no condition on the target's state, so it can Battle-shock a fresh, full-strength unit before you attack it. Creeping Dread cannot do that.
• Enhanced Voidsheen Cloak (10 pts). Each time an attack is allocated to the bearer, subtract 1 from the Damage characteristic; if the attack was made by a PSYKER or Battle-shocked model, change the Damage characteristic to 1 instead. Cheap durability on a leader this detachment cannot afford to lose.
• Raptor Blade (5 pts). Add 1 to the Attacks, Strength and Damage of the bearer's melee weapons; while the bearer is within Engagement Range of one or more Battle-shocked enemy PSYKER units, add 2 instead. Five points for three improved characteristics is the best rate in the faction, and the detachment is built to create the Battle-shocked psykers that double it.

If you take one, take Oblivion Knight. If your budget is tight, Raptor Blade at 5 points is close to free.

(Points come from the Munitorum Field Manual and move with updates; confirm in the app.)

• Prosecutors become BATTLELINE when you select this detachment, which is the mechanical heart of a Sisters-led army, and they are the unit Psy-chaff Volley names. Take more than you think you need: they are your scoring, your aura coverage and your cheapest bodies all at once.
• Vigilators are the melee Sisters, named in Anathema Blademastery, and the unit that finishes the psyker your detachment rule has already Battle-shocked.
• Witchseekers are the flamer Sisters, named in Purgation Sweep, and the unit that clears a screen so the rest of the Sisters can reach the psyker behind it.
• Knight-Centura is the only generic ANATHEMA PSYKANA character, and therefore the only legal bearer of all four enhancements. Our catalog has no entry for her, so we link no box, but a list without one has no enhancements at all.
• Aleya is the Sisters Epic Hero and the strongest leader a Vigilators or Prosecutors block can take. As an Epic Hero she cannot carry an Enhancement.
• Custodian Guard are the durable anchor a Sisters list still needs, because Creeping Dread suppresses an enemy rather than killing it and something has to do the killing.
• Anathema Psykana Rhino is the Sisters transport, which is how a 12 inch aura gets where it needs to be. Faction Pack v1.1 errata it to add the FRAME keyword, so check the current datasheet. Our catalog has no entry for it, so we link no box.

The catalog's Sisters of Silence Vigilator / Prosecutor Squad builds all three Sisters datasheets from one kit, which makes it by far the most efficient purchase for this detachment. See the full roster on the army page.

Take it when you own enough Sisters of Silence to make them the army rather than an attachment, when you expect psyker-heavy opponents, or when you want a detachment that attacks your opponent's stratagem economy rather than their models.

Be clear-eyed about the limits. Creeping Dread does no damage. It suppresses, and suppression only wins games if something else is converting it into dead models, so a list of Sisters and nothing else will struggle to close. The rule also has a real condition: it only touches units that are Psykers or below Starting Strength, so against a fresh, full-strength army in the first battle round it does nothing at all until you have caused a casualty. That is what Huntress' Eye is for.

And take the sourcing seriously. This is the one Custodes detachment that appears nowhere in Faction Pack v1.1. Everything above is read off a community mirror. Given that Custodes sat out the 26 August 2026 reissue, a future revision could print this detachment and change it, so re-check before an event.

Sample gameplan: pair it with Tharanatoi Hammerblow (1 DP). A Battle-shocked unit cannot use stratagems, which means it cannot use a reactive stratagem to survive being charged. Suppress the target with Creeping Dread in your opponent's Command phase, ingress an Allarus block onto it, re-roll the charge, and swing into a unit that has no answer available. Alternatively pair with Silent Hunters (1 DP) for a pure Sisters army at 3 DP: Null Maiden Vigil makes them Battleline and suppresses, Silent Hunters lets them advance and still start actions, and neither carries a Unique Tag.

For the fundamentals underneath all of it, read the Adeptus Custodes army guide.