Episode 8

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Published on:

16th Dec 2024

The Magic of KILL TEAM: Warhammer 40k Made Accessible

Episode 8 of the TTP Field Manual has Joshy and Johnny delve into the tactical skirmish game Kill Team, part of the Warhammer 40000 universe, where small, elite squads face off in dynamic, strategic battles. We explore what sets Kill Team apart from its larger counterpart, emphasizing its fast-paced matches, alternating activations, and focus on individual model actions. These mechanics create an engaging and accessible experience, allowing players to dive straight into tactical decision-making without the extensive setup and downtime of traditional Warhammer 40K.

We then propose creative concepts for new Kill Teams in a lively brainstorming session, blending lore with innovative gameplay ideas. From the Gue'Vesa, human auxiliaries of the T'au, to the swift and chaotic Night Lords Raptors, we highlight unique traits, mechanics, and thematic elements that could enrich the game. We then discuss what Kill Teams we want to play in the new edition. Whether you're a seasoned player or new to the game, this episode is packed with inspiration and strategies to spark your creativity.

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TTP Field Manual comes from the minds of Joshy and Jonny, two best friends who game in their local group, Trust the Process Hobbies. Both are die-hard fans of the Warhammer universe, and this podcast gives them the perfect outlet for their passionate (and often humorous) ramblings.

By day, Joshy is a therapist, and by night, an RPG aficionado who grew up on not-so-Final Fantasies and crafting his own Dungeons & Dragons worlds. Jonny, a café manager, plays more video games than Joshy can count. 

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Notes

  • Kill Team offers a more accessible entry point into the Warhammer 40K universe, making it less intimidating for new players.
  • The alternating activation system in Kill Team fosters a more engaging and strategic gameplay experience compared to traditional 40K.
  • Players can explore various unique factions and customizations within Kill Team, enhancing the narrative and thematic depth.
  • The recent release of new kill teams, such as the Vespid Stingwings, showcases Games Workshop's commitment to expanding the game's universe.
  • Kill Team emphasizes quick-paced gameplay, often allowing matches to be completed in under two hours.
  • Brainstorming new kill teams can lead to exciting and creative concepts that enrich the overall experience of the game.
Transcript
Speaker A:

Hello you lovely folks.

Speaker A:

Welcome back to listening to the TTP Field Manual podcast.

Speaker A:

TTP meaning?

Speaker A:

Just trust the process.

Speaker A:

Johnny, are you trusting the process this week?

Speaker A:

How have you been?

Speaker B:

Oh, always trusting the process.

Speaker B:

Especially right now.

Speaker B:

I've got some paint on my fingers.

Speaker A:

Oh, what are you painting?

Speaker B:

Trying to push through some of these thousand suns.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Are you enjoying your paint scheme?

Speaker B:

I'm trusting the process right now.

Speaker A:

Very good.

Speaker B:

Because I'm not.

Speaker B:

I'm not sold yet.

Speaker A:

You're not sold yet, but you got some models.

Speaker A:

You're painting it.

Speaker A:

You're actually giving it a go.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

What can we ask for?

Speaker B:

That's it.

Speaker A:

We played a game this week.

Speaker A:

Four player boarding actions.

Speaker B:

We sure did.

Speaker A:

You were tied for first place, I believe.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

After four rounds we ran out of time to run the fifth round because multiplayer takes a little longer.

Speaker A:

Yeah, Boarding actions has been your baby.

Speaker A:

Are you still enjoying it a lot?

Speaker B:

Oh yeah, I still think it's great fun.

Speaker B:

The small 500 point limit just really helps speed things up.

Speaker B:

And tight corridors really make you think strategy around like where you position yourself and where you go.

Speaker B:

It kind of gives me vibes of our topic for today, to be honest.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I was going to use that as a nice segue.

Speaker A:

I was going to say something along the lines of, you know, I realize afterwards what I could have done in the moment to be more skirmish game friendly.

Speaker A:

But that also can be applied to today's topic.

Speaker A:

Kill Team.

Speaker B:

Kill Team.

Speaker A:

Kill Team.

Speaker A:

So we've been playing boarding Actions.

Speaker A:

It's a small scale Warhammer 40K game with a bit more of a rules, restrictions, tighter spaces.

Speaker A:

Not a very open battlefield.

Speaker A:

But what's the difference, Johnny, between Kill Team and just Warhammer 40k?

Speaker B:

Well, 40k is an army centric game focusing on large groups of units moving around, accomplishing things on a large scale battlefield.

Speaker B:

Whereas Kill Team focuses more on the small elite scouts and small processes that are going on around the 40k esque games focusing on 6 to 13 ish people, all who are very unique that you control with a very interesting back and forth activation that I think is actually a lot of fun and really helps keep the engagement high.

Speaker B:

In these games.

Speaker B:

Kill Team focuses very much on the smaller narrative.

Speaker B:

You have kind of one squad as opposed to multiple in a much smaller, more dynamic battlefield where there are more than 30 factions.

Speaker B:

I think there's currently 33 factions in the new edition.

Speaker B:

So there are plenty of different ways to play in almost every faction of 40k.

Speaker B:

There are a few that are missing, but.

Speaker B:

And there's also a couple of different battlefields that allow for different play styles.

Speaker B:

So there's like a close combat battlefield, there's a more open, multi level oil rig style battlefield and then there's the more traditional like ruins sort of vibe for the battlefield as well that are supported as well as anything you want to actually throw together yourself.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I really like Kill Team for what it represents.

Speaker A:

Within the hobby sphere for the, you know, Warhammer universe, 40k is often seen as quite intimidating to get into.

Speaker A:

You have to spend a bit of money and or a bit of time to really get that army built and painted and learn how it works.

Speaker A:

Takes a few hours to play a match, but Kill Team is quick.

Speaker A:

It is one to two hours if you really know what's going on.

Speaker A:

As you point out, it's a turn based system.

Speaker A:

Instead of your whole army goes and then my whole army goes, it's my one guy goes then your one guy goes until the end of the round.

Speaker A:

It's very nitty gritty and the actual like modeling aspects really simple as well.

Speaker A:

If you buy a Kill Team box, you have a whole Kill team ready to go.

Speaker A:

You don't usually haha need to buy other models to supplement your Kill Team, right?

Speaker A:

You've got everything you need.

Speaker B:

Two Kill teams I think that currently need to buy separate kits to make run.

Speaker A:

They were released as a bit of a Kill team plus expansion set.

Speaker A:

So it does make sense.

Speaker A:

The Chaos Cult and the Imperial Agents are bigger, more narrative kill teams.

Speaker A:

But the core game, yeah, very small stuff.

Speaker A:

Would you believe me if I told you I wrote everything down so we can sort of see how it's all spread out.

Speaker B:

Oh, did you now buy Kill Team?

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Well I guess you're taking the lead on this after all.

Speaker B:

Nah, no.

Speaker B:

Kill Team is a very fun way of playing the game.

Speaker B:

Kill Team is very, very fun.

Speaker B:

I think it's an absolute blast to play.

Speaker B:

The rules are very simple while being quite distinct from 40K.

Speaker B:

Everything kind of works a little differently so it doesn't feel like 40k light.

Speaker B:

It feels like it's completely own game.

Speaker B:

And as you said, like you buy one box and you have your entire team.

Speaker B:

The thing I really like about the Kill Team boxes is that they give you extra bits, they give you all these customization options, they give you all these ways of making your Kill Team look and feel very unique in a lot of the Kill Team boxes.

Speaker B:

So even if you were to go up against someone with the same Kill Team, you might have very different looking models which I Think is really cool.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

In 40K, if you have a squad, let's say a Chaos Legionary squad, right.

Speaker A:

You know, you have most of them have like a bolt gun or a bolter.

Speaker A:

One or two of them might have a heavy weapon.

Speaker A:

But in Kill Team, to make it very specific, every model is an individual.

Speaker A:

Every model usually has a unique loadout from the rest.

Speaker A:

And so your Kill Team Chaos group, like the Night Lords warband, that guy's got a big sword, that guy's got two knives, that guy's got two pistols, et cetera.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A:

Tell me maybe your top three favorite sort of ways of playing or the way the rules are written that are different to 40k that you really enjoy.

Speaker A:

Like what makes you think I want to play Kill Team right now?

Speaker A:

Because I like that element of the game.

Speaker B:

Part of what I like is the alternating activations.

Speaker B:

It increases a lot of the strategy.

Speaker B:

In this small game where you very reactionary in a lot of what you do, you have a lot of chance to jump in and do something to try and interrupt your opponent.

Speaker B:

And I think that back and forth is really fun and engaging.

Speaker B:

As I said before.

Speaker B:

Whereas in 40k you might be 15 or 20 minutes before you actually need to realistically roll a die or do anything and you kind of zone out a little bit and then you're like, oh wait, it's time to do a thing.

Speaker B:

There's none, no time for that.

Speaker B:

In Kill Team it's fast paced, it's quick, it's reactive and everyone kind of just moves around the board fairly quickly.

Speaker B:

On top of that, I think that the different play styles are a lot of fun.

Speaker B:

The new addition does simplify things a little bit.

Speaker B:

So there are kind of distinct play styles that are made into groups.

Speaker B:

So certain armies will fit into certain groups, whether they be elite horde somewhere in the middle, more jumpy, more tanky.

Speaker B:

Like there's all these different niches that they fit into it, but they still hold a lot of their personal identity and they really show the the factions identities as well from 40k.

Speaker B:

So if you do play 40k, there's probably something in your army.

Speaker B:

For most armies there are a couple missing as I said before, but for the most part there is something for you.

Speaker A:

I'm waiting for the Nighthouses Kill Team.

Speaker B:

Yeah, it'll never happen.

Speaker B:

Let's be real.

Speaker B:

I'll just cry in the corner.

Speaker B:

It's okay.

Speaker B:

It makes sense that we don't exist in this small skirmish field because one war dog would just be a menace.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

So sorry.

Speaker B:

Just blanked out for a moment there.

Speaker A:

You're having a classic Chaos Knights player depression.

Speaker B:

No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker B:

Legionaries are in a very good place right now.

Speaker B:

One Another thing I really like about the new addition to Kill Team is from what a lot of people are saying and doing, I haven't actually played a game of new Kill Team yet.

Speaker B:

But all most of the Kill Teams are very balanced.

Speaker B:

There are a couple that are stand out and a couple that are below the bar.

Speaker B:

But for the most part balance seems to be very good.

Speaker B:

You can run anything and have a chance.

Speaker B:

Is there anything Kill Team related that stands out to you at the moment?

Speaker B:

Whether it be something you're interested in playing or the new changes that you enjoy the look of.

Speaker A:

So Kill Team is an interesting little phenomena for me.

Speaker A:

Typically I'm not so motivated by PvP gaming as a whole.

Speaker A:

I'm in this hobby more so for the sort of social environment, the law, the hobby, like craft, etc.

Speaker A:

But kill team is so well designed in my opinion and there's always so much like room for improvement that's like got a high skill ceiling.

Speaker A:

There's not really any of those feel bad, gotcha by the rules moments.

Speaker A:

So whenever I play Kill Team or whenever I read a Kill Team rulebook, I think that it's really well designed and I want to give it a go.

Speaker A:

Which is something I usually don't say about a lot of these style games And Kill Team, besides like that, besides that real like tight rule set, it's supplementing 40k in a really like spectacular way.

Speaker A:

You're getting a lot of kits that are maybe not so focused by the core 40k team, getting a little sort of side, you know, line upgrade, whether it be like sculpting visual, even if it's just meant for the Kill Team, you see like an orc unit here, a chaos unit there.

Speaker A:

Usually there are rules to actually put them into 40k.

Speaker A:

So you buy your Kill Team, you can play that whole game, then you can bring your, you know, curated, perfectly painted Kill Team into a main 40k army.

Speaker A:

I think that's great synergy.

Speaker A:

The third point I would say I really like about Kill Team is just that it's quick.

Speaker A:

We usually don't get through a lot of our 40k games because we're still learning and usually a lot of us have a bit of a curfew.

Speaker A:

We all work pretty early, except for myself.

Speaker A:

But when Kill Team, you know, we were done comfortably every time that we've played.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

And that's One of the three things I like most about it.

Speaker A:

It's a tight rule set.

Speaker A:

Feels fair.

Speaker A:

The models synergize with the other Warhammer game and it's a quick pick up and play and it's quite easy to teach as well because there's not a whole lot of rules to consider and everyone's so engage.

Speaker A:

Because you're always having a turn like every couple of minutes.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker B:

Well, to go further into what Kill Team is and what, what it means to play, they have just released a new rule set.

Speaker B:

We've just started third edition.

Speaker B:

They've just released new rules for all of the kill teams that are supported.

Speaker B:

There are a few that disappeared, but they were mostly from the original compendium.

Speaker B:

For second edition, there are, as I said, over 30 kill teams supported at the moment.

Speaker B:

And that number is only going to grow.

Speaker B:

You can go through them if you want, but there is.

Speaker B:

That's a lot to get through.

Speaker A:

But let's just rapid fire.

Speaker A:

Yeah, just rapid fire.

Speaker A:

Like what exists.

Speaker B:

Let's do it.

Speaker A:

I think.

Speaker A:

I think I have all of them.

Speaker B:

So I'll let you know if you miss any.

Speaker A:

Yeah, cool.

Speaker A:

So including the ones that have just been released For Kill Team 3.0 and a couple that have been announced to be coming next, we have for the Imperial Guard, the Guard veterans which are the Death Korps of Krieg Gas Mask guys, they have a lot of bodies and have a lot of like crossfire tactics.

Speaker A:

You have the Cadian Kasrkin, which are like Stormtroopers.

Speaker A:

You have the Tempestus Aquilons, which are the new Hive Storm Box Jump Pack Trooper.

Speaker A:

You also have announce the Ratlings, which are essentially the hobbits from Lord of the Rings.

Speaker A:

Not lying.

Speaker A:

Look them up.

Speaker A:

For the Imperium we have the Rogue Traders which are sort of like your sort of piratical free agents of society.

Speaker A:

They were one of the original kill teams to be released.

Speaker A:

You have the Navy Breachers, which are kind of like your Space Police.

Speaker A:

You have the Adeptus Arbites or Arbitus.

Speaker A:

They're your Judge Dread looking city cops or your mall cops.

Speaker A:

You have the Inquisitorial agents who are your really unique human specialists that form their sort of secret police.

Speaker A:

A lot of police themes in the Imperium.

Speaker A:

For orcs you've got Commandos.

Speaker A:

They are like your sneaky lads.

Speaker A:

They've just announced Tank Busters which are your armored, you know, sledgehammer wielding missile launcher firing orcs.

Speaker B:

They sound pretty impressive.

Speaker A:

Chaos.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

For Chaos we got the Legionaries.

Speaker A:

They're just evil Space Marines.

Speaker A:

Night Lords are like your evil Space Marines but more terrifying with flesh, capes and knives.

Speaker A:

You've got the Blooded, which are Guardsmen.

Speaker A:

If they turn traitor and start worshiping Chaos.

Speaker A:

You got the Felgore Beastmen, self explanatory.

Speaker A:

You've got the Chaos Cult, which are cultists, just generic humans.

Speaker A:

Some of them have been mutated into demons.

Speaker A:

You have the Death Guard, a poisonous, heavily armored and tanky subsection of Chaos Marines.

Speaker A:

For Chaos Demons.

Speaker A:

You have the Gelipox infected.

Speaker A:

They are like Death Guard with their Nurgle ish influence, but they're a bunch of nurgle demons.

Speaker A:

I'm halfway through.

Speaker A:

Do you have anything to say about the half I just went through?

Speaker B:

No, I'm pretty good so far.

Speaker B:

You're running through them and giving them a brief summary of kind of what they're meant to be.

Speaker B:

So just keep going.

Speaker B:

Let's push through.

Speaker A:

All right, Space Marines, we have the Phobos.

Speaker A:

They are your lightly armored, very tactical Marines.

Speaker A:

One of our mates plays Phobos and he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve with mines and extra movement.

Speaker A:

Really cool.

Speaker A:

You have Strike Force Justian, which were an old blind box style Space Marine kill team, which has been turned into the new edition start box alongside those Death Guard Marines I mentioned.

Speaker A:

Everyone looks a bit different.

Speaker A:

Different gun, different loadout.

Speaker A:

You have the Scouts.

Speaker A:

They are your sort of amateur Space Marines.

Speaker A:

Your trainee Space Marines.

Speaker A:

They move quicker.

Speaker A:

Not so heavily armored, but Space Marines nonetheless.

Speaker A:

For the T'au Empire, you've got Pathfinders.

Speaker A:

They are your classic T'au guns and marker lights.

Speaker A:

You have the Kroot Kinband.

Speaker A:

They are the carnivorous T'au allies that look a little bit like dinosaurs.

Speaker A:

They're a bit tribal, bit caveman like.

Speaker A:

You've got the Vespid Stingwings from the new HIVE Storm Box.

Speaker A:

They are a sort of insectoid avian race.

Speaker A:

They actually fly around the battlefield.

Speaker A:

For the Aeldari or the Space Elves, you've got the Corsairs.

Speaker A:

They are the piratical version of the Eldar Society.

Speaker A:

You got the Striking Scorpions.

Speaker A:

They are an elite, melee, focused force of Aeldari.

Speaker A:

For the Drukhari, you've got the Hand of the Archon, which are your classic Dark Elder Foot troopers.

Speaker A:

They like to torture people.

Speaker A:

For your Necrons, you actually have the Hero Tech Circle, which are a bunch of their, you know, Cryptex, their wizards leading a couple of the elite foot soldiery around and buffing them up.

Speaker A:

The leagues of Votann have the Hearthkin Salvagers.

Speaker A:

They are like your Deep Rock Galactic.

Speaker A:

But in Warhammer you have the Hern Kin Yeagers.

Speaker A:

They are your forward scouts of the Votann.

Speaker A:

They like to wear trenchcoats.

Speaker A:

You also have the Genestealer cult Brew Brothers.

Speaker A:

These are Imperial Guard.

Speaker A:

If they were mutated to be part Tyranid.

Speaker A:

Lastly, the Sisters of Battle have no vitiates.

Speaker A:

They are like scouts, but for sisters.

Speaker A:

I think that's all of them.

Speaker B:

I think you missed a couple.

Speaker A:

Okay, well, you know what?

Speaker A:

There is some White Dwarf ones that I didn't mention.

Speaker A:

That is true.

Speaker B:

Warp Coven.

Speaker A:

Yep.

Speaker B:

We missed them in the Drukhari part.

Speaker B:

Focus more on the Mandrakes.

Speaker A:

I did miss Mandrakes.

Speaker A:

You're right.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

And I might have missed it in the monks, but I didn't hear Void Dancer Troop.

Speaker A:

I didn't mention the White Dwarf Compendiums.

Speaker A:

It is true.

Speaker B:

Ah, but now they're supported.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

So we have the Warp Coven Thousand Sons.

Speaker A:

They are a bit sorceress.

Speaker A:

You've got the Void Dancer Troop.

Speaker A:

They are Harley Quinn's Aeldari Clowns.

Speaker A:

You have as well.

Speaker A:

I think there's the Worm Blade for Genestealer Cults, which have more of their actual mutated acolytes.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

And I think there's the Hunter Cadre for Mechanicus, which are.

Speaker A:

This is like your cyborg foot soldiers.

Speaker A:

And then as well as Mandrakes, I think that's the majority.

Speaker A:

Am I missing any?

Speaker B:

I think we've got them all.

Speaker B:

But there's definitely a chance we missed them.

Speaker B:

That's just how many there are.

Speaker A:

That.

Speaker A:

That felt like 30.

Speaker A:

That came out of my mouth.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I was.

Speaker A:

I'm impressed with myself.

Speaker B:

And more support to come.

Speaker B:

So that number's only gonna grow.

Speaker B:

They have done this unique thing where they're moving into like a rotating roster of support.

Speaker B:

So each kill team will only have two years of like supported rules, updates and mechanic reworks and stuff like that.

Speaker B:

After which it will fall into kind of what 40k does as the Legends vibe in saying that some of the older kill teams from like the start of second edition, like Commandos and Kasrkin are only going to get a year of support as they've been around for just that long.

Speaker B:

But in saying that they will replace or change in with similar vibes in the future with different releases, which will help push more releases without them just getting overwhelmed with the workload of balance.

Speaker A:

Which is healthy.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker A:

Some people a bit upset, but it's a bit of a mate.

Speaker A:

You've had it for four years.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

And it's definitely a positive because like after two years of like rules updates and balancing and all of that, there's not a lot of changes they can realistically do for that unit or that kill team.

Speaker B:

So for the most part they'll probably stay at a similar balance level from then out.

Speaker B:

In Legends, they just won't be tournament legal.

Speaker B:

You could still play them.

Speaker B:

The rules will still exist.

Speaker B:

So if you're in your friend group, there's no reason you can't continue playing them after they disappear from the competitive focus, you know.

Speaker A:

Absolutely.

Speaker A:

Do you want to talk about a bit more, I guess, how the missions themselves tend to play out with your various operations and the equipments and stuff.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker A:

Stratagems, etc.

Speaker A:

Different data sheets.

Speaker B:

So Kill Team works a little bit differently in the setup for a mission.

Speaker B:

The missions are kind of similar to the way that you see 40k rules.

Speaker B:

Like there will be objectives, there will be side missions and stuff like that.

Speaker B:

And your side missions will be focused around your unit and what they want to accomplish as opposed to necessarily what the game randomly chose.

Speaker A:

There's three, isn't there?

Speaker B:

There is.

Speaker B:

There is three specific play styles which are what I understand what they divide all the teams into.

Speaker A:

Yeah, you're about to tell me.

Speaker A:

I'll just shut up.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I just don't want to miss one.

Speaker B:

So I just want to make sure I get this right while you look that up.

Speaker A:

I think There are like three ways to score in Kill Team 3.0.

Speaker A:

There's the primary mission.

Speaker A:

There's the sort of the hidden tactical secondaries which is determined by your Kill team's playstyle.

Speaker A:

And then the third is just straight up a kill chart which is balanced around how big your opponent's size is.

Speaker A:

So you get just as much points from killing 1 out of a 6 strong kill team compared to like say 2 of a 12 strong kill team.

Speaker B:

This is correct.

Speaker A:

Did you find your thing?

Speaker B:

I did.

Speaker B:

The three play styles are Security, Seek and Destroy and Infiltration.

Speaker B:

And these kind of fit around their different play styles based on the Kill team that you're playing and where they're better at scoring.

Speaker B:

On top of that, we also have.

Speaker B:

I've just completely gone blank.

Speaker A:

Still sad about Chaos Knights not existing in Kill Team?

Speaker B:

No, no, no, not at all.

Speaker B:

Just there's a lot to go through for what exactly Kill Team is.

Speaker A:

But I think we, we've set it up pretty well.

Speaker A:

It's a small scale skirmish 40k that still has primary, secondary, and notably in my Brain for fun is just kill.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Which is something you don't see a lot of in this day and age of 40k, is a kill centric objective.

Speaker B:

They always normally have one mission rule in a pack of like 12 that's around killing.

Speaker B:

But this, it's like every game you can score points based on models getting destroyed.

Speaker B:

So there's.

Speaker B:

There's also this interest in keeping yourself alive as well.

Speaker B:

On top of that, there is a couple of phases in the game.

Speaker B:

You have like a strategy phase before you go to like using your units where you can use your stratagems and get set up and all of this.

Speaker B:

And also where you give your orders to each person because you can set them up in two different orders.

Speaker B:

The engage and conceal order, which kind of replicates whether or not they're trying to fight or whether they're trying to stay a little more sneaky.

Speaker B:

Obviously in a game with models, you want cool looking models.

Speaker B:

You don't want some guy hunkering behind a wall.

Speaker B:

So a conceal order is meant to replicate that while you might be able to see the model, they are taking cover, they are hiding behind a wall.

Speaker B:

And that is kind of just like their relative position.

Speaker B:

Meaning that they can't be shot as easily, but they also can't shoot because they're taking cover.

Speaker B:

They can't charge because they're hiding.

Speaker B:

Whereas if they are engaged, they are peeking around corners.

Speaker B:

They are actively looking to do things and counteract and you know, fight the opponent.

Speaker B:

And therefore they are also able to be seen and fought back.

Speaker B:

Which also adds like a deep part of strategy.

Speaker B:

When you've got these few units and trying to work out who needs to hide who, you can like move around sneakily to like capture an objective while you send someone out and are ready to try and take down a sniper.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

If you're playing Guardsmen, for example, you don't want to have an engage order on your medic who's only equipped with a standard pistol compared to his buddy who's walking around with a plasma rifle.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

So it's more in your interest to hide.

Speaker A:

And much like 40k, there are stat sheets.

Speaker A:

They look a little bit similar to 40K.

Speaker A:

You know, you gotta hit, you gotta wound, you gotta save.

Speaker A:

And you also have unique stratagems.

Speaker A:

I think they're called tac ops or something in this game though, but stratagems nonetheless.

Speaker A:

Every kill team has like its own thing, whether it's a bonus dice resource or, you know, can't be hit.

Speaker A:

If you're hiding behind a Cover.

Speaker A:

I think orcs commandos have like a rule where you can actually shoot from conceal and they're like the only faction to do that.

Speaker A:

Etc.

Speaker B:

There are ways to change your orders so you can suddenly change which direction you're going in, which is good.

Speaker B:

Which is different from the second edition.

Speaker B:

It's a lot easier to like react to what your opponent is doing.

Speaker B:

They also changed the way that Overwatch worked in the previous edition and now you can also perform other actions instead of just shooting.

Speaker B:

There are some restrictions obviously.

Speaker B:

One of the key things to notice about their sheets though is that for the most part range isn't a thing unless you have pistols and shorter range weapons.

Speaker B:

If there is no range listed, it is map wide line of sight to really show that this is a small battlefield skirmish.

Speaker B:

On top of that, everything kind of has a unique ability and even your generic troopers because normally you get a couple of different loadouts and then there's like a generic warrior or generic guardsman.

Speaker B:

And even they have an ability now just to really emphasize that like everyone gets to do something specific.

Speaker B:

And it really helps with your team building and reacting to what your opponent is team building to kind of get an idea of what you might want to bring to the fight, what operatives you might send into the kill zone.

Speaker B:

And I really like all the back and forth strategy that comes out of this small skirmish game.

Speaker A:

Yeah, it's almost more tactical than 40k in a lot of ways.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

At least in the reactionary.

Speaker B:

In a reactionary strategy, yes, you're a.

Speaker A:

Lot more in the dirt getting bloody rather than choosing whether that tank is going to go over there or that unit's going to go screen the big thing charging.

Speaker A:

Is there much else you had in mind to talk about for the ruleset and the actual game as a whole?

Speaker B:

Not too much.

Speaker B:

Without diving in depth and turning this from an hour long to like six hours long.

Speaker B:

That is kind of.

Speaker A:

It says here that you can do this.

Speaker B:

Every army has a couple of ploys that they can do during the firefight, which is their like strategies that they can spend their CP on.

Speaker B:

They also have some that they can use before the firefight phase.

Speaker B:

So during that strategy phase that tend to focus on buffing like more than one unit, whereas the firefight ones tend to focus on one guy.

Speaker B:

So there's.

Speaker B:

There's a lot of different ways that they've introduced tactics to this as opposed to just like moving your armies up the board, shooting, charging, fighting.

Speaker B:

There's so much more in depth and everyone is restricted in how many Actions they can do and which actions they can do.

Speaker B:

But yeah, I think we want to move on to our next segment now, don't we?

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Workshopping our own kill teams in a general sense.

Speaker A:

Not a nitty gritty sense.

Speaker B:

Yeah, more of a.

Speaker B:

What would we like to see come next?

Speaker B:

Or in the future?

Speaker A:

Yeah, a little brainstorm session of, you know, what could be there.

Speaker A:

What would we like to see where.

Speaker B:

There might be gaps that need to be filled.

Speaker A:

Chaos Knights.

Speaker B:

No, I didn't make a Chaos Knight Kill Team.

Speaker B:

I promise.

Speaker A:

This would be the perfect place for Nighthouse Bannermen.

Speaker A:

Like a medieval.

Speaker A:

Like, hear ye, hear ye, Praise House Taron or whatever it's called, you know?

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, definitely a bunch of guys.

Speaker A:

With bayoneted musket rifles that are also, for some reason, plasma rifles.

Speaker A:

You know, just some guys walking around with a sword and shield.

Speaker B:

It would be a weird way of introducing the knight factions to Kill Team because they don't fit into their vibe.

Speaker B:

But it would be really cool to see.

Speaker B:

It would be a good way for them to segment A missing part of 40k, which is something they do a lot in Kill Team is, oh, this model.

Speaker B:

This unit has a very old model and we want a new one, but we can't release it with their regular release schedule.

Speaker B:

So they make a Kill Team release.

Speaker B:

And that's how we get updates like striking Scorpions, Commandos, Mandrakes, Imperial Agents.

Speaker B:

Imperial Agents as a way of them pushing out extra content.

Speaker B:

Oh, extra content for 40k with these really cool, detailed kits that are pushed through a different schedule of release and therefore aren't stuck to waiting for a Codex.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And they just released, like, rules on Warhammer Community with the downloadable data cards.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

Easy.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I think Tempestus Equilibons are kind of ruining the meta for the better at the moment.

Speaker A:

Oh, have you seen their.

Speaker A:

Have you seen their stat sheet?

Speaker A:

They have something like a three inch deep strike.

Speaker B:

Well, that's insane.

Speaker A:

And you can pick them up later.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Do it again.

Speaker A:

I think it's 3 inch.

Speaker A:

Anyway, it's something small and for how, like, cheap guard units tend to be for their foot soldiers, because you can just look at them and they'll fall over and die.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

People are already like, I'm gonna take three of these for my 40k game.

Speaker B:

No one expects short range deep strike.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

People then wonder if they actually ever played Kill Team, but they don't have to when the Kill Team models just work for 40K.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

But would you.

Speaker B:

I was gonna say, Johnny, give me a Kill Team, my friend.

Speaker B:

Come on, show me what you want.

Speaker A:

Oh, you want me to.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Start us off.

Speaker A:

All right.

Speaker A:

So, as usual for me, I created a couple of arbitrary rules.

Speaker B:

I didn't go that in depth.

Speaker A:

I know.

Speaker A:

As Mr.

Speaker A:

Lore Guy here, I looked at what the current kill team setting is.

Speaker A:

We have the planet Vulcus, the planet Vulkas, with my favorite name for an artillery cannon ever.

Speaker A:

You know, the big gun.

Speaker A:

Do you know what it's actually called?

Speaker B:

No.

Speaker A:

Massif.

Speaker A:

As in M A S S I F.

Speaker A:

Ballistus.

Speaker B:

Is it an Orc weapon?

Speaker A:

No, it's like a.

Speaker A:

Just based on the namesphere.

Speaker A:

It's like an atmosphere scraping cannon that every time it fires, it blows up the city around it with shockwave.

Speaker A:

And so the actual crewmans that man the actual big gun build up shanty towns and then evacuate in between firing, which takes like, a week or two.

Speaker B:

That is hilariously horrific.

Speaker A:

But this gun is so strong, it can, like, crack a moon, like, across the system.

Speaker B:

So it's a Death Star?

Speaker A:

Yeah, it's a Death Star, but it's in the Chalnoth Expanse, or, like, bordering the Chalnoth Expanse, which is like a.

Speaker A:

Like, where the Tower wants to expand next.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

So they see this gun, they're like.

Speaker B:

Shit, we need to shut that down.

Speaker A:

Like, where did that come from?

Speaker A:

And so the Hive Storm box set, the special edition box set was Vespid Stingwings sent in to, like, dismantle it and escort some of the T'au Earth Kaas engineers to, like, figure out what it is, how to disrupt it.

Speaker A:

And then the Imperial Guard sent the Aquilons to go fight the flying creatures.

Speaker A:

Anyway, so I have a few kill teams based around this setting.

Speaker A:

This Chalnoth expands the planet Vulkas.

Speaker A:

My first idea is a box set which I call Insurgent.

Speaker A:

It's going to feature the Fire Caste, so another Tau faction, but it's Gu Vessa, human auxiliaries that have defected to the Greater Good.

Speaker B:

That's cool.

Speaker A:

The idea I had in mind is because in the lore, the Gu Vessa are still allowed to actually practice the Imperial Cult as you will, so long as they're, like, still in service of Greater Good.

Speaker A:

They're allowed to believe in the Emperor, mankind as God, but they have to still be, like, for the T'au, which is usually not a very hard selling point, because the T'au tends to treat humans way better than the Imperium does.

Speaker A:

And so you end up with a bunch of usually Imperial Guard defectors.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

So I can imagine A bit of a guerilla tactics.

Speaker A:

You've got mines, trip wires, random guard items like Las guns, grenades.

Speaker A:

But then as these various Gu Vessa prove themselves, they go from the Gu Vessa La, which are your standard troopers, up to Gu Vessa ui, which are sergeants, even up to Gu Vessa Vri, which are like trusted human helper in the Tau tongue.

Speaker A:

And that's like your officers, right?

Speaker A:

And so you could have a bunch of line troopers, lasguns, Markolites, EMP grenades, maybe like an Imperial cult zealot to still like keep their morale up.

Speaker A:

Have a sergeant who maybe has been gifted a pulse rifle or a pulse carbine, a Gevesevre, which might be like a defected commissar.

Speaker A:

Maybe they still got their power sword and their coat, but maybe they also have like a Tau gun and maybe a Tau shoulder plate or something.

Speaker A:

And then maybe they have a couple other like drones to help mark a light some things.

Speaker A:

Maybe have a water cast Tau diplomat to help, like, you know, be like, guys, you know why we're doing this, right?

Speaker A:

And they're like a buff piece.

Speaker A:

And overall just be a guerilla tactic.

Speaker A:

Guardsman Tau Force.

Speaker A:

That's my first kill team.

Speaker B:

Cool.

Speaker B:

I dig it.

Speaker B:

It seems really fitting.

Speaker B:

And you'll probably see like a lot of your law focused attitudes will come across in the things you've picked, which is cool to see.

Speaker B:

For my first one, I want to see a following along from like the new release and the new rules.

Speaker B:

A Chaos Raptors slash Warp Talons kill team.

Speaker B:

I think that it's a really cool unit.

Speaker B:

You could focus around, like moving in and out of the battlefield in a similar way to the Tempest of Scions and their ability to like pull back out and redropped or even focus around like a cool debuffing sort of vibe.

Speaker B:

Maybe focus on a Night Lords theme again.

Speaker B:

The Raptors are known to come down with a terrible screeching sound that is used to terrify the enemies as they land.

Speaker B:

Warp Talons will literally rip holes in the reality and move between, move through the warp to teleport.

Speaker B:

And I think that coming from the same kit, you could add in like an upgrade sprue.

Speaker B:

And I think you can make some really cool, unique couple of guys, maybe one or two Warp Talons, a guy with a plasma pistol, and then just like some regular troop loadouts to like run around and move around really quickly and do some stuff.

Speaker B:

I think it'd be a really interesting kill team altogether, especially coming from an army that has a couple of different ways it does.

Speaker B:

Jump pack loadouts.

Speaker A:

I like it though.

Speaker A:

Didn't they recently resculpt those units?

Speaker B:

They did have a fairly recent resculpt, which is why I was thinking more a upgrade sprue or even just releasing them and just having rules.

Speaker B:

Maybe it's not a full release, but maybe it's like a White Dwarf release.

Speaker A:

Okay, I like where you're going.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

What's your next one you want to talk about?

Speaker A:

So, versing the Fire Cast.

Speaker A:

Guessa.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I hope I'm saying it right, but it's an alien language.

Speaker A:

So at me.

Speaker A:

The Death Watch Mortgard.

Speaker B:

Oh, another Death Watch kill team.

Speaker A:

Well, the Deathwatch don't have any official kill team.

Speaker B:

They don't.

Speaker A:

They also were correct.

Speaker A:

They were removed from that game too.

Speaker B:

Or Death Watch.

Speaker A:

So the Death Watch Mortgard Mortgard is a Watch fortress set in the Chalnoth expanse.

Speaker A:

See where I'm going with this?

Speaker A:

They tend to be versing a bunch of like genestealer cults.

Speaker A:

T'au warriors.

Speaker A:

So yeah.

Speaker A:

Anyway, what is one thing that Death Watch cannot stand above all else?

Speaker A:

Johnny?

Speaker A:

In particular?

Speaker A:

Human defectors of xenos ideologies.

Speaker B:

Which makes them a very good.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker A:

And I'm thinking the Death Watch Mortgard would be like a spiritual successor to the Kill Team Cassius set of old where you kind of have like a Space Marines, like Expendables, Avengers style.

Speaker A:

Like a high skill ceiling Swiss army knife with the rule that I call Suffer not the alien to live.

Speaker B:

I love it.

Speaker A:

Which is an actual phrase they love.

Speaker A:

And my idea for Suffer not the alien to live is this sort of buddy system where if you have a couple of different marines, when they are near each other, they have a bit of like RPG esque, like partner move.

Speaker A:

You know, if one person's attacking a unit, the other marine is hitting them harder because they've found this sort of weakness.

Speaker A:

The the enemy's on the back foot and they like drive home the blade, you know?

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

So looking at the Kill Team Cassius box, I did notice that there are a lot of individuals in the box.

Speaker A:

Different armor sets, different chapters.

Speaker A:

And I thought it'd be really nice to have like a reverence of the original legions.

Speaker A:

So you have a Watchmaster, like an actual Death Watch character.

Speaker A:

And then I wrote an Ultramarine Sternguard veteran.

Speaker A:

So just a tactical guy with bolter and grenades, A Raven Guard assault veteran with lightning claws to come up and down.

Speaker A:

A Blood angel assault intercessor, perhaps, you know, towing the rage a little bit so they're very much a melee threat.

Speaker A:

An Iron Hands bionic who could, like, repair chinks in their armor.

Speaker A:

An Imperial Fist Heavy Intercessor.

Speaker A:

Who's the guy you're going to stand in the doorway and hose?

Speaker A:

Anyone's foolish enough to come out into the open.

Speaker A:

A Salamander's Terminator with heavy flamer and forge hammer.

Speaker A:

A Dark Angel Blade Guard veteran.

Speaker A:

A Space Wolf Long Fang with plasma gun, which is a heavy weapon.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

Maybe a teleport homer for the Salamander.

Speaker A:

And maybe a Servo skull.

Speaker A:

The idea is that they're really strong, so you'd only bring like five or six of them, and you can really, like, choose your approach.

Speaker A:

But that's what I had in mind for a Deathwatch kill team.

Speaker B:

I really like the idea of Death Watch mixing chapters, mixing armor types, mixing weapons.

Speaker B:

And I think it could be a lot of fun to have that pulled into a kit and really have, like, a lot of different customization options for what you bring to the fight.

Speaker A:

I had one.

Speaker A:

I forgot to mention a White Scar, master of the hunt on bike.

Speaker B:

On bike.

Speaker B:

That's an interesting choice.

Speaker A:

I wondered if they would ever do, like, a rules supplement where they add, like, a heavy unit.

Speaker A:

Like, just one heavy unit you can add for like, a more intense game, like Tao Drones, Space Marine, White Scar, Master of the hunt on bike, etc.

Speaker B:

Yeah, no, that'd be super cool.

Speaker B:

And it definitely stand out in the crowd of Kill team.

Speaker A:

It'd be really nice, I think, to verse them against your Raptors.

Speaker A:

Like, they're getting ready for this drop that's not here yet and preparing themselves for the onslaught.

Speaker A:

The Raptors come in, and there's just some guy in the door with a heavy bolter.

Speaker A:

Another person's running at them with a chainsaw.

Speaker A:

Yeah, fun.

Speaker B:

So I'm not gonna lie, I kind of shilled out a little bit on this next one.

Speaker A:

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker B:

I want to see more bespoke demons for the other three factions, like Corn, Slaanesha, and Zinch.

Speaker B:

I know I.

Speaker B:

We said one each.

Speaker B:

I'm picking three, but I want to see three distinct kill teams.

Speaker B:

We got Gelapox Infected, which felt very nurgle.

Speaker B:

I want to see a Corn one, a Slaanesh one, and a Zinch one.

Speaker B:

And I did have an idea listed out for the Zinch one being the A Fox master, running around with some pink horrors, focusing on their ability to, like, split into blues and then split into brimstones, which I think would make for a really weird play style.

Speaker B:

Maybe have like a flamer, a screamer running around as like a faster unit that doesn't split, but really focusing on that, like split on death.

Speaker B:

And I think it'd make for a really interesting kill team that's hard and fun to play and also an interesting challenge to play against because killing them just means they get up in a different form.

Speaker B:

Or they might split into two brimstones.

Speaker B:

And then those brimstones are like little mines that run across and just explode.

Speaker B:

And I think it'd be a really interesting kill team.

Speaker B:

And I think tzeentch fits perfectly into that kill team vibe of being a real nuisance.

Speaker B:

But yeah, that was.

Speaker B:

That was my demons idea.

Speaker A:

I think it's a good idea.

Speaker A:

I have already a head cannon for like a corn demons.

Speaker A:

One the Gallipox infected, you know, had a couple of big guys and a bunch of just zombies, right?

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

And some bugs and little stuff like that.

Speaker B:

It was very hoardy.

Speaker A:

Imagine for Khorne, you have some poor cultist who's become a fountain of blood.

Speaker A:

And so long as they're alive, these Khorne demons just keep like piecing themselves back together after they, like, slay people.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah, that'd be pretty cool.

Speaker B:

And Khorne has some interesting units.

Speaker B:

Like you could have some.

Speaker B:

Some of the fire hounds, whatever they're called, running around.

Speaker B:

You can have blood letters.

Speaker B:

You've got.

Speaker B:

You could even have a dude on a juggernaut potentially.

Speaker B:

I think they've got a lot of avenues for all of the demons.

Speaker B:

It's just a matter of picking which ones they want to do.

Speaker B:

Do you have any more that you would like to talk about?

Speaker B:

Because I do definitely have a couple more as well.

Speaker A:

Sure, I have a couple of more.

Speaker A:

My second box set for this thematic KT3 season I call Scrap Heap.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

The first kill team.

Speaker A:

I don't have much to really say about them, but I did want something that flies because we have a couple of more flight based kill teams now.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

There is a Genestealer cults cult in the region called the Pauper Princes.

Speaker A:

The Pauper Princes are a bunch of not super mutated cultists that like to defend a couple of their characters.

Speaker A:

But I thought, what if we push the Genestealer cult strains and give them a little bit of wings, you know, so winged neophytes as a kill team and perhaps some of them that aren't like super mutated might supplement with like jet packs or like DaVinci wings.

Speaker A:

And so you have this mutation and jetpack hybrid, like weak Bodies, but they fly around with power tool melee weaponry.

Speaker A:

A couple of characters, maybe a clamorous, which is the vox expert, directing them like pack hunters, and you kind of overwhelm similar to how the Raptors would come up and down, except the clamorous would pick a target and the winged neophytes would rush them with power saws, actual mining chainsaws, boring drills, etc.

Speaker A:

But if they're caught out, they will likely get shot out of the sky relatively easy.

Speaker A:

So if you get hit, good night.

Speaker A:

But if you hit them, you're fine.

Speaker B:

Yeah, no, it sounds like a lot of fun and very thematic and fits the vibe of genestealer cults.

Speaker B:

It would definitely be a blast to play and play against, and I think you could do a lot with this faction to really like make it shine.

Speaker A:

Yeah, they haven't gone too far into the super mutated things the Tyranid Swarm could do.

Speaker B:

Melstrain is definitely starting to push that way, so maybe that'll open up the avenues for Kill Team as well.

Speaker A:

Just radiation bomb your species, you'll be fine.

Speaker B:

Yeah, right.

Speaker A:

Do you want me to say my other one or you go?

Speaker B:

No, no.

Speaker B:

The next one I wanted to talk about.

Speaker A:

Okay, let's go.

Speaker B:

Is one of the armies that don't have a kilt anymore.

Speaker B:

They had a compendium kill team, but now since the new addition, they now don't have one.

Speaker B:

And that is Tyranids.

Speaker A:

Hey, we.

Speaker B:

We got a crossover here.

Speaker B:

Did we?

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

What did you have in mind?

Speaker B:

Well, my thought process was to focus on warriors and leapers.

Speaker B:

The.

Speaker B:

The previous kill team that they had in second Edition was three warriors and some homogaunts and termagants running around as one of the options you could do.

Speaker B:

And I, I.

Speaker B:

While I like the idea of having a couple of big guys commanding like a couple of little guys, you kind of had this weird.

Speaker B:

Wants to be a horde, wants to be elite, doesn't quite do either very well.

Speaker B:

Focus.

Speaker B:

So what I was thinking is you swap out the smaller guys for just like a couple of leapers.

Speaker B:

So you've got these three warriors running around, whether they be melee or ranged, and then these like sneaky leapers moving around the board, infiltrating, taking locations and then like pouncing on the enemy when they get too close.

Speaker B:

Which fits my feeling of like the kill team vibes would work really interesting in like the close quarters sort of melee, more melee focus that you get out of the close quarters layouts while still being playable in the larger matches or the different Terrain matches as well.

Speaker B:

It would give them an excuse to maybe release a new warriors kit that fits closer to what they're doing with the new Tyranids.

Speaker B:

So I.

Speaker B:

I think it's a very good idea to me to have.

Speaker A:

I think it'll sell.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

A lot.

Speaker A:

Yeah, people see that and think sick.

Speaker B:

And with the new Tyranids being like the big bad of the edition, there's a lot of new Tyranid players.

Speaker B:

The leapers are a new kit, which means that people want or might have them already.

Speaker A:

Oh man.

Speaker A:

People just paint them as xenomorphs.

Speaker A:

Yeah, Wouldn't they?

Speaker B:

Oh yeah.

Speaker A:

Oh yeah.

Speaker B:

And imagine that running around in the close quarters Space Hulk battlefield.

Speaker B:

Feel.

Speaker B:

Feel very alien, you know?

Speaker A:

Oh yeah.

Speaker A:

You'd have to.

Speaker A:

You would have to do a special box of them with like Blood Angels Terminator and just call it Space Hulk.

Speaker B:

Oh, wouldn't it be glorious?

Speaker A:

Like a little ruined version of the Gallow Dark.

Speaker A:

It may be.

Speaker A:

It's a special edition box like the ashes of faith For Kill Team 2 with the cult and the agents versing each other.

Speaker A:

But it's this Tyranid mob.

Speaker A:

Blood Angels mob Ruined like Space Hulk rather than the Gallow Dark terrain.

Speaker B:

Maybe it's just like a Gallow Dark Terrain upgrade essentially.

Speaker B:

Like it's just an add on with like some more ruined walls and stuff like that.

Speaker B:

Oh yeah.

Speaker B:

Nah, you're really selling me on it now.

Speaker A:

Good idea.

Speaker A:

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Speaker B:

And like, I'm not even going to.

Speaker A:

Charge you for that idea.

Speaker B:

Space Hulk is one of their most renowned game systems that they've released and most beloved.

Speaker B:

So I think a rerelease of that would really kind of hit the nail on the head.

Speaker A:

Yeah, you don't need to bloat your systems with another game.

Speaker A:

Just tack it on to Kill Team.

Speaker B:

Yeah, and on that, my next one kind of leans in that direction as well.

Speaker B:

But we'll let you tell your last one first.

Speaker B:

We'll.

Speaker B:

We'll wrap it up after a couple more.

Speaker A:

What do you think would go against winged neophytes in a box that I call scrap heap?

Speaker B:

We doing more orcs?

Speaker A:

Hell yeah, brother.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Orcs.

Speaker A:

Free pootars.

Speaker B:

We're getting some free booters going.

Speaker A:

Free bootahs which have been confirmed in lore to be on the moon of Vulcus.

Speaker B:

So he really went into the lore applications I did.

Speaker A:

The pauper princes is a stretch, but the other three are legit.

Speaker A:

But the Ork freebooters, which I thought were a thing, but turns out Freebooters are represented by the Flash gits squad.

Speaker A:

I thought they were two separate things.

Speaker A:

Turns out freebooters is just a lifestyle.

Speaker A:

Flash gits is the unit that people tend to run to represent them.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

So this would be a flash gitz upgrade.

Speaker A:

They don't have a new upgrade.

Speaker A:

They have a bit of an older unit.

Speaker A:

Perfect opportunity.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker A:

So I'm thinking pirate orcs with their huge custom shooters which they call snaz guns that do much better when combined, such as spending two activations together for one stronger attack.

Speaker A:

And we call the rule stockpile.

Speaker A:

But st.

Speaker A:

Okay, stockpile.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

And turns out that orc freebooters or more so the flash gits tend to be kicked out of their society because they got a little too rich and bought the flashiest gun.

Speaker A:

And then the warboss was like oi, incoming for me.

Speaker A:

And then they just sort of like eject them from society and then they form the little freebooter warbands.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

So there's so much you could do with flash gets.

Speaker A:

And much like the space marines, they went a bit unique with some ideas.

Speaker A:

So naturally you have a generic captain, a free builder captain and then up to nine flash kits because you need to build that box for 40k.

Speaker A:

I don't know if you would take all 10, but anyway, I had a few different styles.

Speaker B:

Just mentioning that flash kits are a box of five as is normally.

Speaker B:

So they could go elite.

Speaker B:

Or you do like six or eight and you have your unit of six and couple of spares.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

Six works as well.

Speaker A:

Yep, six works as well for what I had in mind.

Speaker A:

Good to know.

Speaker A:

Good to know.

Speaker A:

The I wanted to represent the core 6ish dudes.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Snake bites with spear guns.

Speaker A:

Like a single long range super piercing, super damaging gun.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

A bloodaxe guy with dual submachine gun.

Speaker A:

Commander esque with the multiple like low damaging shots.

Speaker A:

A golf orc with maybe a triple barrel shotgun.

Speaker A:

So a high damage at a closer range.

Speaker A:

A death skulls.

Speaker A:

Which are your more mechanized orcs who has like wrist mounted blasters.

Speaker A:

And maybe they're a bit more mobile, they can fall back shoot.

Speaker A:

Maybe they shoot in melee because it's around their fist.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

A bad moons.

Speaker A:

Which are your heavier rich ones.

Speaker A:

Maybe they have like a tripod LMG style with a stationary overwatch ability.

Speaker A:

The evil suns love to go fast.

Speaker A:

So maybe you give them a rocket launcher with a limited shot blast profile.

Speaker A:

Maybe they have some like optional targeting squigs for a heavy option.

Speaker A:

I thought it'd be hilarious if they just had Like a big squig who's just got all these ammo packs strapped to it.

Speaker B:

That would be hilarious.

Speaker B:

Squigs are very well loved.

Speaker A:

But that's my idea for another orc kit.

Speaker A:

I'm surprised they didn't go for something like that over the Tank Busters.

Speaker B:

But anyway, I guess Tank Busters were also in need of a kit.

Speaker B:

But Tank Busters feel very weird choice for Kill team.

Speaker B:

Being anti tank in an infantry based game.

Speaker A:

And against Ratlings.

Speaker B:

And against.

Speaker B:

Yes, the dwarves.

Speaker B:

Oh, not Dwarves.

Speaker B:

Not even Dwarves.

Speaker A:

Hobbits.

Speaker A:

Like halflings.

Speaker A:

Hobbits.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

These guys are like cooking their chicken legs and there's this giant orc with a power sledge just coming for them.

Speaker B:

Like terrifying.

Speaker A:

Ratlings are like the ab human accepted sniper variety of the Guardsmen because they're really lucky and really accurate.

Speaker A:

Why are they bursing Tank Busters?

Speaker B:

I guess we'll find out in the lore, right?

Speaker A:

Sure.

Speaker A:

What's your last one?

Speaker B:

Ah, so I went down the Terminator route because I was thinking about space hull.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker A:

I didn't need to sell you after all.

Speaker B:

You didn't.

Speaker B:

But it was.

Speaker B:

I'm glad we were on a similar page.

Speaker B:

I want a Terminator focused kill team.

Speaker B:

I wanna.

Speaker B:

I wanna build that space Hulk vibe.

Speaker B:

I wanna have Tyranids running around with some Terminators.

Speaker B:

I want a kill team similar to the way that Custodies worked last edition where it's like four guys with extra activation super tanky.

Speaker B:

But you've only got a couple of guys running around.

Speaker B:

Which was a.

Speaker B:

It was a very unique playstyle in the last edition that looked really interesting.

Speaker B:

And now being able to bring that in here is Hyper Elite.

Speaker B:

But only a couple of guys.

Speaker B:

And the twist I was thinking for these guys was maybe you can run them as Chaos or Imperium, maybe have some stuff to upgrade either way.

Speaker B:

So that you can then create like two kill teams out of one kit essentially and have them work in a very similar rule set or maybe even the same rule set and just have them look a little different depending on which way you decide to go.

Speaker A:

Brilliant.

Speaker A:

I like what we've talked about a lot.

Speaker A:

I love all these different kill teams.

Speaker A:

I'm surprised we managed to pull out eight so many unique ideas.

Speaker A:

Yeah, so many unique ideas too.

Speaker B:

And it just goes to show like how much room there is for like growth and excitement around this small skirmish game.

Speaker B:

And even looking at games, workshops, other areas of growth.

Speaker B:

Like their skirmish games are very popular.

Speaker B:

Whether it be War Cry, the new Underworlds kill team.

Speaker B:

Like they've got all these different aspects of these skirmish games that they're really.

Speaker B:

Their skirmish teams are very well put together at the moment.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Sigma especially seems to have a lot of synergy with the Core list building as well.

Speaker A:

40k is getting that way.

Speaker A:

There are only a couple that don't have a rules equivalent, which I know off the top of my head's the Necrons, but Air Attack Circle.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Which is a weird one to not have because it did come out before.

Speaker A:

Their codec hero Tech Circle has a Technomancer and a Prentech Cryptek, then five body, which you can build as either immortals or death marks, with one of them being an immortal Despotek, which is like immortal Sergeant.

Speaker A:

So I get that there isn't really like a core squad because there are lots of options and you do get an actual character in the box.

Speaker A:

But there's another character that has no rules and a squad that isn't represented as any sort of Commando Elite in the base game.

Speaker A:

Which feels weird.

Speaker B:

It's just.

Speaker B:

Yeah, it's just weird that you've got two models in this Kill Team box that have no representation whatsoever in 40k being the despotek and the Apprentice and they're sick models.

Speaker A:

And then you have Mandrakes, which are just all ready to go.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Like so many of these teams are just ready to go.

Speaker B:

And it really shows the Kill teams that they made for Kill Team and the ones that they kind of designed for 40k but gave kill Team rules too.

Speaker A:

Or the opposite, where they released so many imperial themed teams, they decided to go ahead and make an Imperial Agents Army.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Because you get.

Speaker B:

Yeah, you get what?

Speaker B:

Three Death Mark slash Immortals.

Speaker B:

You get one Sergeant Immortal.

Speaker B:

Essentially a couple of plasma sites.

Speaker B:

Which one of the plasma sites is adorable?

Speaker B:

The one up on the pole.

Speaker A:

Yeah, you get.

Speaker A:

He is cute.

Speaker B:

A sick character that did my head in painting being the Technomancer.

Speaker B:

The Technomancer.

Speaker B:

That's the guy I spent a whole day painting the staff of and his little friend.

Speaker A:

And I think his little friend is friend.

Speaker B:

His little friend is the one I'm the wit like.

Speaker B:

So wigged out that he doesn't have rules.

Speaker A:

He should be part of the Crypto Thralls.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

Or just make it a token and give the Technomancer are once off.

Speaker A:

Most people run it as another Plasmancer.

Speaker B:

Yeah, he is very Plasmancer y, but a lot smaller than a Plasmancer.

Speaker A:

I think they're the same base.

Speaker B:

Oh, I just meant the model himself.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Plasmancers are tiny.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

They only come in the Royal Court Sprue, which is like a 200 buck thing with a couple other units.

Speaker A:

The Reanimator, the Skorpekh Lord, the Cryptothrals.

Speaker A:

People usually don't want to buy that to get another Plasmancer.

Speaker A:

So they just run the Apprentech as one.

Speaker B:

Which is fair.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Hey, so when are you picking up your Heretic Circle?

Speaker A:

Heretic Circle's out of stock at the moment while they re box it to something more expensive.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Which they have announced it's coming.

Speaker A:

Oh, they've announced it's coming.

Speaker A:

It will be bundled with a token sheet, which is cool.

Speaker A:

But it's going to be more expensive than it was.

Speaker B:

Oh, everything is more expensive than it was at the moment.

Speaker A:

Everything.

Speaker A:

But I don't know when I'll pick it up.

Speaker A:

We haven't exactly.

Speaker A:

We haven't showed any particular plans of playing Kill Team 3.0.

Speaker A:

We've been a bit focused on the boarding actions in our 40k crusade.

Speaker A:

I will be playing Inquisitorial Agents because I got them.

Speaker A:

But I do need to supplement them because they're one of those two big kill teams with a few different options.

Speaker A:

The core game styles them as you can take like half of another Imperium kill team.

Speaker A:

So I need to buy one of those.

Speaker A:

Unfortunately.

Speaker A:

Wow.

Speaker B:

Unfortunately.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

But I could also just play Harley Quinn's again.

Speaker B:

You could, but you did play them for an entire edition.

Speaker A:

I did.

Speaker B:

Other than Inquisitorial Agents, is there a kill team that you're interested in?

Speaker B:

The look of that you might want to pick up.

Speaker A:

I was always pretty into the arbites before the Agents came around.

Speaker A:

Anyway.

Speaker B:

They're pretty cool.

Speaker A:

They are pretty cool.

Speaker A:

I love the Judge Dredd vibe.

Speaker A:

I could see myself picking up the Novitiates Sisters box because of running a Sisters army for our crusade next year.

Speaker A:

Quite likely.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

I was very close to getting the Brood Brothers box when it came out because I was heavily considering Genestealer cults before I ended up considering Sisters.

Speaker A:

And I always have a soft spot for Aeldari.

Speaker A:

So Corsairs would be pretty fun for me.

Speaker A:

Having a few different styles of Aeldari in one kill team.

Speaker B:

I won't lie.

Speaker B:

Corsairs were an interesting one to me as well.

Speaker B:

I feel like if I build another kill team, I want it to be something not chaos.

Speaker B:

Because I have a few already.

Speaker A:

Not the Beastman or the Traitor Guard.

Speaker B:

And I just want to like branch out and see what else is there.

Speaker B:

The Drukhari.

Speaker B:

The Drukhari Kill team is interesting.

Speaker A:

And should I close my eyes and give you one at random?

Speaker B:

Oh, let's see where you come up.

Speaker B:

Because if it's.

Speaker B:

You know where I go on.

Speaker B:

Roll.

Speaker B:

Roll me a kill team.

Speaker A:

Hang on.

Speaker A:

I think I should count how many we have here and then do a random number.

Speaker A:

Jen.

Speaker B:

Well, if we run off of the Warhammer community, there are team rules for 34 teams.

Speaker B:

Here, roll.

Speaker A:

Okay, you roll.

Speaker A:

I'll roll a random dice gen.

Speaker A:

Hold on a sec.

Speaker A:

And then you can just pick the one that's from like the list you're looking at.

Speaker A:

All right, I need a custom dice here.

Speaker A:

Dice bag.

Speaker A:

Was it 34.

Speaker B:

34.

Speaker A:

All right, I'm going to roll a D.

Speaker A:

34.

Speaker A:

7.

Speaker B:

7.

Speaker B:

Oh, that's novitiates.

Speaker A:

All right, get out of here.

Speaker A:

I'll roll it again.

Speaker A:

34.

Speaker B:

34.

Speaker B:

That's vespid sting wings.

Speaker B:

They do not interest me in the slightest.

Speaker B:

They all look identical.

Speaker A:

But third time.

Speaker B:

No, no.

Speaker B:

In saying that.

Speaker B:

20.

Speaker B:

Oh, God.

Speaker B:

You're gonna make me count Death Corpse of Kree.

Speaker B:

I don't like your dice story.

Speaker A:

Has it.

Speaker A:

Our friend has it.

Speaker B:

Sure.

Speaker B:

He sure does.

Speaker B:

Doesn't he have a cassockin?

Speaker A:

No.

Speaker B:

Death Corpsman.

Speaker A:

Oh, 2.0 start box.

Speaker B:

Yes, he does.

Speaker B:

But yes.

Speaker B:

I was looking at both the Hand of the Archon and the Blades of Khaine as potential options.

Speaker A:

You'll like it.

Speaker A:

Do you know the Blades of Kane has options?

Speaker A:

You can bring some howling Banshees as well.

Speaker B:

That's what interests me is you've got the choice between Avengers, Banshees and scorpions.

Speaker B:

And you get to mix and match.

Speaker B:

And that.

Speaker B:

That's what gets me going is the ability to chop and change and mix things up a little bit.

Speaker A:

I could see it.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I could also see you're really liking the Hand of the Archon.

Speaker B:

I think the models are sick.

Speaker B:

And you even get cool.

Speaker B:

A dude with like this cool air sword, big old spiky almost looks like eyes.

Speaker A:

It feels like classic male appreciation.

Speaker A:

He has a big sword.

Speaker B:

He has a big sword.

Speaker B:

Hey, hey.

Speaker B:

It's called the Razor Flail, all right?

Speaker A:

Oh, I'm sorry.

Speaker B:

And you also get dude.

Speaker B:

You also get dude with bird.

Speaker A:

What's is his name?

Speaker A:

Terra Psalm or Terra Guy Store?

Speaker B:

He is the Sky Splinter assassin.

Speaker B:

And the bird is called Razorwing.

Speaker A:

I was trying to make a Chaos Knight joke.

Speaker A:

I don't think I know.

Speaker B:

No, it's okay.

Speaker B:

But yeah, like, they're what I'm looking at.

Speaker B:

If I was to right now.

Speaker B:

Terror Shade Yes.

Speaker A:

Got it.

Speaker A:

Nailed it.

Speaker B:

Nailed it.

Speaker B:

First time.

Speaker A:

Right hand of the Archon or striking scorpions.

Speaker A:

That's your next one, eh?

Speaker B:

Well, yes, potentially.

Speaker A:

All right, but mine's likely novitiates or.

Speaker B:

Arbites Agents, man, before I pull that trigger, we need some interest.

Speaker A:

Hey, Johnny, do you want to play Warhammer Underworlds with me?

Speaker B:

You know, I still almost bought one of those boxes.

Speaker A:

I bet you did.

Speaker A:

So, chat.

Speaker A:

We have a game group of like four to six players, depending on the week.

Speaker A:

Most of them are constantly buying stuff for their 40k army.

Speaker A:

The moment we suggest playing a specialist game with a very cheap price of entry in comparison, everyone's like, mmm, hmm.

Speaker B:

No.

Speaker A:

Hmm.

Speaker A:

I'm just going to leave this message on red.

Speaker A:

And it made Johnny sad.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

Especially when there were four options with four in each one.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

If you want to get a really good value, go for Warhammer Underworlds.

Speaker A:

Right now you get four warbands, I think they're called, in one box, split it with your mates.

Speaker A:

Merry Christmas.

Speaker A:

Off you go.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

Even the cards to, you know, play it with aren't as expensive as I was expecting.

Speaker B:

Yeah, it's surprisingly affordable.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

Have you seen the card art?

Speaker A:

It's actually just photos of the models.

Speaker A:

Yeah, hilarious.

Speaker B:

Our local games workshop has Ember Guard in there, and I saw it yesterday and I was, do you want to.

Speaker A:

Go and have a game?

Speaker B:

I mean, I don't know if they had it on display.

Speaker B:

I just saw them.

Speaker B:

I saw it on the shelf and I was like, oh.

Speaker B:

But we definitely could see if he has a copy to play.

Speaker A:

All right.

Speaker A:

Today, Next year when I'm not busy.

Speaker B:

Oh, okay.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker A:

Hey, I think that was a good episode.

Speaker A:

Kill teams.

Speaker A:

We talked a lot about it.

Speaker A:

I rapid fired 34, maybe.

Speaker A:

Kill teams.

Speaker A:

We talked a lot about some new ideas.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Salivated over Space Hulk again.

Speaker B:

You gotta at least once a year, right?

Speaker A:

It's like a rite of passage to want Space Hulk back and be very vocal about it.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

All right, Mr.

Speaker A:

Hand of the Archon, any other closing remarks?

Speaker B:

I hope you all have a lovely week of hobbying and get some stuff painted, built, played, get some stuff done.

Speaker A:

Because soon you'll be holiday season and you might end up with a lot more stuff all of a sudden.

Speaker B:

Or worse, no time to do anything over the next month due to the holiday season.

Speaker B:

So you gotta get in while you still can.

Speaker A:

Get him while you still can.

Speaker A:

Hey, we'll catch you.

Speaker A:

Not too long after this episode airs.

Speaker A:

With the advent calendar of TTP, we're gonna do 12 shorter episodes highlighting character each episode that also happens to have a model on the tabletop.

Speaker A:

I'm keen.

Speaker A:

I've also been Joshi.

Speaker B:

And I've been Jonny.

Speaker A:

Bye, beautifuls.

Show artwork for TTP Field Manual

About the Podcast

TTP Field Manual
Joshy and Jonny are here to Play Games, Read Books, Roll Dice, and Trust the Process
Our Community Discord: https://discord.gg/2cxVdKGN4J
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TTPFieldManual
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ttpfieldmanual

From the grimdark depths of Warhammer to the weird corners of indie skirmish games, we’re here to help you explore, expand, and enjoy 'hobby'—wherever it takes us. Expect insights, unfiltered opinions, and an approachable take on miniature wargaming, model releases, lore deep-dives, rambles, and the occasional video game or book chat.

Join us as we light the way for gamers, hobbyists, and lore fanatics through the ever-expanding worlds of tabletop gaming, with new episodes weekly. Whether you're a battle-hardened gamer or eyeing your first box set, you're in good company.

About your hosts

Joshua Bryant

Profile picture for Joshua Bryant
By day, Joshy is a therapist; by night, he's an RPG aficionado who grew up on (not-so) Final Fantasies and crafting his own Dungeons & Dragons worlds.

Josh loves sci-fantasy, and so is quite at home with Warhammer! He plays Necrons, Adepta Sororitas, and Aeldari. His playstyle is reserved and cagey, preferring to outmaneuver his opponents before delivering the killing blow. His painting approach is a blend of fast painting styles and technical effects. He's the resident lore expert and wishes he could apply his encyclopaedic brain to other areas of life.

Jonathan Langtree

Profile picture for Jonathan Langtree
Jonny, a technician, spends his downtime conquering more video games than Joshy can keep track of.

Jonny is a big fan of magic in his games and putting together vicious combos. He's the de facto Champion of Chaos when it comes to Warhammer, playing Chaos Knights, Thousand Sons, and Chaos Space Marines. He loves synergistic army lists and is always putting together new ideas. His painting approach is classic 'Eavy Metal.