Kill Team has been seemingly one of Games Workshop's most successful iterations of their grimdark sci-fi universe over the past few years. Honestly up until a few years ago I didn't really find Kill Team appealing as it felt (to me anyway) like a cut-down version of 40K without any real appeal of its own. More recently Kill Team has become a game in it's own right that's ties to 40K are narrative and visual rather than mechanical. I have really enjoyed engaging with the Warhammer 40,000 IP in a way that is disconnected from it's main game.
Going up for pre-order today is Kill Team Into The Dark which is thematically AWESOME! It's basic setting is a space hulk (a giant derelict abandoned space ship) being explored for lost technology and secrets. It's meant to be a claustrophobic gaming experience that captures a feel extremely similar to the first two Alien/s movies. Having played my first two games I can say it does a great job of 'feeling' like the setting it's meant to portray. The box game set comes with some fantastic looking space hulk scenery as well as two opposing forces; The Kroot, and the Imperial Navy Breachers.
I painted up the Imperial Navy Breachers. Troopers who specialize in boarding actions and naval warfare. For those familiar with traditional 40K armies Navy Troopers are normal humans like Imperial Guardsmen but are drastically better equipped bordering on the level equipment possessed by the genetically super-human Space Marines. These figures are absolutely fantastic! I used to work for Games Workshop years ago and in the 13 years since I left I've got to say the quality of their models has gone through the roof. Here we go...
My Kill Team is led by a Sergeant-At-Arms.
This Sergeant is armed with a Bolt Pistol and although there are enough extra heads to have any of your troopers helmetless I only chose that option for my Sergeant to make her stand out from her troops.
Two basic Arnswomen.
The basic Naval Trooper is armed with a shotgun which works well up close and given the environment the game is set in has few disadvantages in most scenarios.
Axe-Jack!
The Axe-Jack looks cool and I should have spent less time during my first game looking at how cool I thought it was and should have read how cool it actually was. When the Axe-Jack can get into a dense group of enemies he can do catastrophic amounts of damage.
Gunner.
The Gunner is the heavy weapon wielder of the Navy. This model posses a real choice for the player. The box offers a melta-gun and plasma-gun as options which have certain limitations (primarily range) in conventional 40K games but that is far less of an issue in Into The Dark games. The laser weapon I took has tons of shots at longer range but that's of little practical benefit in the setting I'm playing in, it functions as more of an area denial weapon than an active offensive weapon.
Chainfist armed Hatchcutter.
The unquestioned MVP of my first two games was the Hatchcutter. The Hatchcutter can breach walls and create openings that his fellow Naval Troopers can move through. It allows the Breacher player to control the board significantly more than their opponent. I really enjoyed how the Hatchcutter played but if I'm being 100% honest I'm pretty sure the way the rule for breaching is worded will get a slight change in an FAQ at some point at which time the Hatchcutter will still be highly effective but less so than it is now.
These models are absolutely fantastic and unfortunately my photography really doesn't do them justice. I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the team and if you're reading this post the day of posting your friendly local game store just started taking pre-orders for Kill Team Into The Dark today!
Support your FLGS and I hope to see you back tomorrow!
-Jay
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