So GW have released Kill Team again as a boxed game. I like these boxed games they have been doing, I haven't rally bought any of them myself but they do seem very good value for money. But I digress, back to Kill Team.
The basis behind it is that you play a game with a very small army, basically a unit or two and each model acts as an individual otherwise, its basic 40K. I like it for a few reasons: -
1. Building an army to 200 points is a challenge.
2. You only need a small number of models, so you can either buy something new or use all those bits of armies you started but never finished.
3. Allows you to put some real effort and individualisation into the models as you don't need that many.
4. You can write some fluff/cool back story.
5. There is a campaign element so you can progress your characters.
(That was actually more reasons than I thought).
So what can you get for 200 points? There are so many options, just from the armies I have I can field some pretty good teams but to get a good Kill Team setup you have to think out of the box a little. What is considered a bad unit at 1850pts can be an awesome unit at 200pts.
I think shooting is probably the most important aspect at this level, I don't think that a Close Combat army would work that well as it just won't have the numbers or the transport ability to be able to get close before being shot up so I think shooty armies would work better. So now its about maximising that ability for the points available. In Kill Team you are allowed 2 Troops, 1 Elite and 1 Fast Attack. I don't think there are any armies that could fill all four slots at 200. So given the above what can I do in terms of an army.
From my own collection I could: -
1. Space Marines - 200 would get you a full Tactical Squad with a Heavy Weapon, Special Weapon and a Sgt with a Power Fist. I think this is a pretty good all rounder and you can't go wrong with marines.
2. Chaos Space Marines - At 200 I could get a 7 man Plague Marine Squad with a couple of Special Weapons. You are getting less bodies than a regular Marine Squad but you are getting T5 and FNP. At this points level those two things become super good. Also 7 is Nurgles number so that must be a good omen.
3. Orks - 20 Boyz with Shootas and 10 Boyz with Sluggas, thats 30 bodies on the table and a fair bit of shooting.
What I like the sound of: -
1. Eldar - 9 Jet Bikes (5 Scatter Lasers and 4 Shuriken Cannons) comes in under 200 points and I think this would be pretty horrific. The speed and manoeuvrability is pretty stunning. Also each bike is pumping out 3 str 6 shots. Now the down side is that each model is a unit so each bike can only shoot one enemy model a turn but that model is probably going to die. This list is fragile though, still only T4 with one wound and a 4+ save but they do have jink in their favour.
2. Skitarii - Not sure they would be super powerful but I like the concept/fluff. Maybe a unit whose programming has been corrupted and have gone rogue. I think a few Rangers backed up with some Dragoons would look really cool.
3. Deathwatch - Basically made for Kill Team, in fact their units are called Kill Teams. The book has just been released and you can pretty much just build a squad of Marines exactly how you want them equipped with pretty much anything. It's a kit bashers dream. I have been playing around with a few bits for these guys myself. The beauty of it is you really can just use bits from any Marine kit, the options are massive.
Update - Playing my first Kill Team games tonight, going to take three lists with me and hopefully get a couple of games in.
List 1.
Plague Marines. 7 Marines in the unit with a Plasmas and Meltagun.
List 2.
Chaos Marine Bikers. 5 Bikers with Mark of Nurgle, 2 Meltaguns and a Power Fist on the Sgt.
List 3.
Daemons. 8 Screamers.
I think the Nurgle Bikers will be hard as they are T6 and there isn't a lot in a 200 point list that is going to be able to deal with that. The 8 Screamers could be interesting, have no real thought or plan with this one I just thought it could be fun. The Plague Marines could be good as well, as I said earlier with T5 and FNP they are going to be able to a beating hopefully.
Update 2.
So I played three games against Eldar, I won one and lost two. Turns out Eldar are pretty good in Kill Team games, the Shuriken rule on their weapons really makes an impact. In the first game I used the 5 bikes which I thought would be pretty powerful but with a ton of Shuriken shots a turn the 6's to wound meaning the shots were AP2 just hurt too much, even with FNP. He wiped me out by the end of turn 2.
In the second game I used a 10 man Space Marine Tactical squad, my oppo changed his army up a bit with some Jet Bikes, again the Shuriken rule and their agility did for my guys although I did last a bit longer this time.
In the third game my oppo used Harlequins and I used a Plague Marine Squad, as I suspected CC armies are not going to do well in this game. My guys just blasted them up, a couple got into combat but didn't really make a mark.
So all in all a good game, I think it needs to be played differently to 40K as in you can't be too gun-ho with tactics. Might try out a big IG blob next time - could be amusing.
Until next time......
