Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Kill Team(8E) Factions

This page is in need of cleanup. Srsly. It's a fucking mess.

Faction specific tactics for Kill Team. General gameplay tactics are here.

Errata [here]

Space Marines

Why Play Space Marines

• Pros
  • Transhuman Physiology lets Space Marines ignore the to hit penalties from the first Flesh Wound taken by a model, so that single wound is more valuable than others.
  • Reliable morale. Ld8 Sarges means they don't break easy, and with And They Shall Know No Fear they'll pass Nerve tests readily when they do start taking losses.
  • The sheer versatility of Space Marines coupled with easy access to 2W models and Transhuman Physiology makes Space Marines a very flexible, but also very forgiving choice, great for beginners or for when you don't know what you're playing against.
    • Even Reivers, your primary melee unit, are flexible enough to be competent at range.
  • You get to play the music from Nolan's The Dark Knight whenever your Reivers Grapnel Launcher about. You can also do Bane's throat-cancer voice when they reach melee.
  • The Librarian lets you pull off some interesting stuff when you when you combine Might of Heroes and Veil of Time.
• Cons
  • As generalists, you'll find that other Kill Teams with a more dedicated focus towards Melee or Range might have better toys than you. Bolters are nothing out of the ordinary.
    • Even Reivers, lacking melee AP, will struggle against other dedicated melee units. They can definitely deal with the enemy, but the point here is that you have to actually think in order to do it.
  • You can field a grand total of four heavy/special weapons, which are going to be your actual workhorses, since you want to aim for actual kills instead of just flesh wounds. Your enemy will know this and aim for the actual threats first.
  • While that's a barely below average number of special/heavy guns compared to what other Kill-Teams can field, your squad members are expensive enough that it'll be hard to hide the weapon bearers behind other teammates, and you'll find yourself outnumbered more often than not.
  • All your available Commander units are Primaris, which will restrict the wargear you can give them.

SM Special Rules

• And They Shall Know No Fear: Reroll your Failed Nerve Checks. With base Ld7, this means 2 models have to be dead for one of your solitary models to even have a chance to get Shaken after two consecutive 6s.
• Transhuman Physiology: Ignore -1 penalty to hit from the first flesh wound suffered in a game.
• Camo Cloaks: Adds a further -1 to hit to obscured Scouts. Makes Sniper-Scouts and Missile-Scouts surprisingly survivable for a bargain price - you don't need armour if you aren't hit at all.
• Auspex: Excellent value for a single point, this lets one member of your killteam within 3" of it ignore the penalty for shooting and injuring an obscured target. Considering how extreme the rules for cover are, this thing is probably worth the price on a Tactical Comms officer, and not too bad on an Intercessor of any type either.
• Grapnel Launchers: Allows Reivers to ignore vertical distance when normal moving (moving under and up to your model's Movement characteristic: charging and advancing fall under special cases as defined in the rulebook). It's hard to overstate the advantage that freedom of movement brings to a game as terrain-heavy as Kill Team. Turning Reivers into defacto jump troops allows you to use them at their full potential.
• Grav Chutes: Allows Reivers to ignore falling damage. Considering how often your stabby boys will be leaping tall buildings and ziplining all over the place, these things can come in handy. The only downside is that it's a further points tax on an already pricey unit with an already existing points tax (Always. Take. The. Grapnel. Launchers.), but it's a nice way to avoid tempting fate with that Combat specialist you've come to love, protecting that investment from an idiotically underwhelming death. You can play without them, but just be aware that you're playing a risky game.
• Auxiliary Grenade Launcher: Exclusive to the Intercessor Gunner, it radically changes the way to use grenades, from risky to an actual primary weapon. While only one model may use a grenade, this doesn't replace the Intercessor's weapon, and in the hands of a Demolitions specialist with Grenadier this turns grenades into budget missiles. 30", frags wounding obscured MEQs on 4+, Kraks wounding everyone on 2+. ZERO points, it's basically the Gunner's 1pt tax. Almost an auto-include. That said, keep in mind that with the errata it does have to deal with the long range penalty.
• Iron Halo: Exclusive to the Primaris Captain, it gives him a 4++. Useful for when someone thinks they can beat your space marines with just some big numbers in their AP stat.
• Rosarius: Same thing as the Iron Halo, but for the Primaris Chaplain.
• Psychic Hood: Exclusive to the Primaris Librarian, gives a +1 to his Deny the Witch roll when within 12" of the psyker he's attempting to deny.

SM Ranged Weapons

• Boltgun: The classic 24" Rapid Fire S4 gun everything else is compared against. Nothing to write home about, good or bad. And yet, you likely won't see too many of these in a Space Marine Killteam, as there are plenty of better weapons options and not enough bodies to wield them.
• Combi-Weapon: A Bolter with an underslung flamer/grav/melta/plasmagun. You can fire either/or as per normal, or shoot both at a -1 penalty. It gives your Sergeant solid flexibility, but removes your bolt pistol as of the most recent errata. It pairs well with a nearby Comms Specialist to give it a +1 and fire both guns without penalty. It's also the only way to have a second special weapon, but, sadly, it's mutually exclusive with the Auspex.
• Shotgun: 12" Assault 2 S4 that becomes S5 at half range. Useful in the hands of a Scout Scout - not only can they close the distance by moving up to 8" and re-rolling advances, but a lvl3 one can use Move unseen to teleport into S5 range.
• Sniper Rifle: 36" Heavy 1 S4, it allows Scouts to score a mortal wound on a 6+ to wound. It also ignores the long range shooting penalty.
• Bolt Rifle: AP-1 Bolter with excellent 30" range, so it not only threatens the entire table from a suitable vantage point, but it ditches the long range penalty and shoots twice 3" before most enemies are able to do the same. Plus the AP makes it always useful.
• Auto Bolt Rifle: Two-shot Assault Bolter. Shooting twice across its entire range, it's not in such a hurry to close in like other Rapid Fire weapons are. So, good rate of fire and mobility, a good all rounder.
• Stalker Bolt Rifle: 36" Heavy 1 S4 AP-2 gun. It doesn't ignore range like the actual Sniper rifle does, but it's used in a similar fashion, with better results due to its armour penetration. It can be good for a Sniper, especially if used in conjunction with the relevant strategem or a Comms Officer to boost those hits.
  • Master-Crafted Auto/Stalker Bolt Rifle: Exact same as the standard versions, but with 2 damage. Exclusive to the Primaris Captain and Lieutenant.
• Bolt Carbine: Literally the same as the Autobolt Rifle, for Reivers. If you want a more mobile Intercessor, you give this to a Reiver, otherwise you use something else. Quite simple, really.

Special Weapons: They all have their use, but their limited nature forces you to really think what its role will be.

• Flamer: All the -1s to hit in kill-team make flamers a valuable pick, especially in the hands of a Demolitions Specialist.
• Grav-gun: 18" Rapid Fire S5. D3 damage vs MEQs makes it a good counter against them (especially Rubrics), although the range and subpar strength make it somewhat less useful than the Plasma Gun.
• Meltagun: While the vehicles that a meltagun is typically used against don't exist in Kill-Team, its short range is less of an issue on the small playing field and the high amount of damage it causes will all but guarantee that anything shot by it will be out of action. Heavy specialists can advance without shooting penalties, so they have an easier time getting it into range.
• Plasma Gun: The classic sungun, you know the drill. High AP, two settings: Safe solid Str7 to wound everyone on a 3+, or Str8 to wound everyone on a 2+ and deal 2D, but risk blowing up. Not even flesh wounds, just death. That is only natural 1s, regardless of modifiers, so give it to a Sniper to re-roll them - it also means a Comms can't save you either.

Heavy Weapons: They've got good range, so long shots won't be a problem. Moving is, so it makes sense for Heavy weapons to be handled by the Heavy specialist.

• Missile Launcher: The longest ranged weapon you've got, good against both lightly armored enemies and tougher foes.
• Heavy Bolter: Plenty of shots, AP-1, and 36" range makes this your staple heavy weapon.

Pistols: Remember everyone in your Kill Team (except combi-weapons sergeants) has a Pistol, which can save your ass in combat, as not all enemies have one and shooting happens before melee. Furthermore, dealing a Flesh Wound in the shooting phase increases the chances of landing a true kill in melee.

• Bolt Pistol: The classic bolt pistol. Really entertaining to have spam meleeists like hormagaunts slam into combat with Tacticals or Intercessors, fail to kill them and suddenly have the color drain from their face when they realize that they'll get shot apart in the next shooting phase before your marines even begin curb stomping.
• Heavy Bolt Pistol: Reiver Bolt Pistol with AP-1, so it's their actual source of AP in melee. Anyone with an armour save will start sweating once your stabby boys pull out their DESERT EAGLEs and begin dropping dudes before they even get into melee and steadily afterwards. Despite Kill Team being a close ranged affair, this is a pistol first and foremost - Carbine Reivers have no reason to use it over their main gun, as there are range penalties and two AP0 shots are better than a single AP-1 shot, especially with the Flesh Wound mechanic.
• Grav Pistol: Sergeant sidearm. Extra punch for close combat, or something for your Auspex Sgt. to contribute with. Best against single wound MEQs, but good vs everything.
• Plasma Pistol: Sergeant sidearm. Extra punch for close combat, or something for your Auspex Sgt. to contribute with. Best against GEQs, but good vs everything. You're sooo not supercharging this. Not on your Sergeant, at least not without re-rolls nearby you aren't.
• Absolver Bolt Pistol: Chaplain exclusive. A heavy bolt pistol with extra range. Better than not having any gun.

Grenades: You're not in 40K anymore, Kill Team's game mechanics make using a grenade a risky endeavour. Only 6" range, you can't use them after an Advance or failed charge, and being an I-go-You-go game, at such close range the enemy might charge before you get to shoot. And even in overwatch you're better off using another weapon, unless it's a bolt pistol. IF the enemy goes before AND they fail a charge AND they get so close to you that you'd need to have the initiative the next turn to have a chance of escape AND they're a unit you wouldn't want to be in combat with despite going first after an easy charge, THEN you might use them. See how hard to use they are? That's why the Intercessor Gunner's Auxiliary Grenade Launcher is such a game changer, especially if he's your Demolitions specialist. If playing a Campaign, a lvl2 Grenadier Demo also has an easier time using them, and a Scout can use Quick March to move farther before throwing the grenade.

• Frag Grenade: It usually translates to a couple of lasgun shots. At 6" all your other weapons surpass it.
• Krak Grenade: S6 AP-1 D3 dmg. An argument could be made for hurting tougher, multiwound boys like Tyranid Warriors, Gene-Cult Aberrants, Stealthsuits, Ork Nobs and the odd Primaris Marine.
• Shock Grenade: Reiver exclusive. 1d3 shots, no damage but hit models can't neither Overwatch nor be Readied until the end of the next whole battle round, and they have to substract 1 from all hit rolls until then. The only argument that can be made for tucking this grenade instead of just charging/shooting it is that Grapnel launchers don't work on charges AND you're not confident you can kill the enemy with your Heavy bolt pistol/Carbine. That and the melee target being too dangerous to fight without playing dirty first.

SM Melee Weapons

• Chainsword/Combat Knife: Mechanically the same, this translates to an extra attack. The main weapon of melee Reivers, it turns Intercessor and Reiver sergeants into a terrifying whirlwinds of attacks without losing their primary guns. Especially against enemies with invuln saves. Your other sarges need to let go of their gun and are less impressive, so it's less of an attractive choice on them. Also available to regular Scouts, at the cost of their bolter.
• Power Sword: Exclusive to Tactical and Intercessor Sergeants, its AP pretty much guarantees your opponent won't get more than a 6+ save, if that. A reliable tool for a dedicated CQC leader or just to serve as a deterrent to make the enemy think twice before charging you. Intercessor Sergeants will find those 3 attacks really useful with this thing.
  • Force Sword: Exact same as the power sword, but with d3 damage. Exclusive to the Primaris Librarian.
• Power Fist: Strap on the Hulk Hand™ if you absolutely want to wound everything (short of Plague Marines) in the game on a 2+, dealing valuable D3 dmg while at it. The tradeoff is that you'll be at -1 to hit, so your accuracy will suffer a bit. Interestingly, a Tactical Sergeant Veteran Specialist at Level 2 with Practiced and a Power Fist can reroll a hit roll per round, so that can go a long way toward mitigating the accuracy issue.
• Crozius Arcanum: Pimp cane exclusive to Primaris Chaplains

SM Psychic Powers

• Might of Heroes (Warp Charge 6): Select an allied model within 12" of the user. It gets +1 to Strength, Toughness, and Attacks.
• Veil of Time (Warp Charge 5): Pick a friendly model within 18" of the psyker. Until the next Psychic phase, that model can re-roll Advance and charge rolls, and always fights in the Hammer of Wrath section of the Fight phase, whether they charged or not.
• Null Zone (Warp Charge 8): Until the start of the next Psychic phase, enemy models within 3" of the user can't use invulnerable saves and divide their Psychic tests in half, rounding up.
• Stormcaller (Warp Charge 7): Exclusive to the Primaris Librarian. If manifested, the power allows all friendly models within 6" of the librarian to count as obscured.

SM Units

• Scouts (Leader [Sgt only], Heavy [Gunner only], Comms, Demolitions, Scout, Sniper): Your cheaper way to add bodies to your Kill Team. They come armed with a Bolter, and can exchange it for a Sniper & Camo cloak to provide long range support, the -1 to hit in a game already filled with -1 hit modifiers will drive the enemy crazy. They can also exchange it for a Shotgun to get mobility (useful with Scout), or for a chainsword to deal with the many enemies that apply a debuff in cover.
  • Scout Gunners (2): A cheaper source of heavy weapons than the Tactical gunner. A Demolitions Missile Gunner is the bane of models in cover, and infuriatingly difficult to hit in return when equipped with a Camo cloak. Heavy Bolter gunners can't get a camo cloak, but them and Sniper Rifles both can make good of any of the available Special, except maybe, ironically, lvl1 Scout.
  • Scout Sergeant (1): Interesting if you want a cheap Leader who is hard to hit.

• Tactical Marines (Leader [Sgt only], Heavy [Gunner only], Comms, Demolitions, Medic, Sniper, Veteran): Not versatile, that's Tactical Gunners you're thinking of. Bolter marines are basic but reliable - not everyone in your team has to have a Heavy bolter. Though Intercessors are better, Tacticals still do a good job, and the Flesh Wound mechanic paired with Transhuman Physiology means them having a single wound isn't that much of a disadvantage when compared to them.
  • Tactical Gunners (2): Real tactical flexibility here, he brings the only Special weapon in your team; the other guy is restricted to heavy weapons like the Scout Gunner. A good model to turn into a specialist: a Plasma gun re-rolls 1s in the hands of a Sniper. A Heavy has an easier time moving around with either Missile Launcher or a Meltagun, and he can also increase the Heavy Bolter's RoF with More Bullets. A Heavy Bolter can also wound most infantry on a 2+ in a Demolition specialist's hands. So does a Grav gun while ignoring almost all armour saves, and a flamer benefits as well. You'll run out of points and specialists sooner than of options with these guys, they can be the backbone of your Kill Team.
  • Tactical Sergeant (1): Versatile in the extreme. He can take a Combi-weapon in lieu of carrying a pistol, which gives him even more flexibility than what Special Gunners have, BUT he can also opt to exchange one of his weapons for the amazing Auspex, of which he's the only non-Primaris source in your Kill Team. Since he'll be next to other teammates to buff, it also makes sense to make an Auspex-bearing Sergeant your Comms specialist. He still has his Boltgun or a bolt pistol sidearm, which can be upgraded to a grav-pistol or plasma pistol if you want more close range punch. Despite being a competent fighter and able to take a melee weapon instead of the Auspex, and your only model with a power fist, he can't take any Combat Specialty, unlike the Intercessor. Make him a Veteran if you want to run him with a power fist; the rerolls from Practiced will fix its accuracy issues and with Survivor it'll be protected by a 2+ armor save.
• Reivers (Leader [Sgt only], Combat, Comms, Demolitions, Scout, Veteran): While not cheap, Reivers are almost tailor-made for Kill Team and surprisingly effective when properly employed. They've got two wounds, fantastic vertical mobility, debuffs, and can hold their own in both the shooting and combat phases. They're better Scouts than Scouts themselves, since they have a better Assault gun, Grapnel gun, and can use Quick March to have a 14" Shock grenade radius. Plus, you get to field the 40K equivalent of Batman.
  • Reiver Sergeant (1): Unlike the regular Reivers, he can have a combat knife and still keep the carbine. 4A is a not only a deterrent, but actually useful. A model like that does alright even when solo, so a Veteran can make good use of his Grapnel and use Adaptive tactics and Marbo his way around. Or swap the carbine for the pistol and fully specialize in Combat to get 5 attacks in melee and an occasional little poke with the pistol if your opponent survives your onslaught of attacks the turn before. Combine this with a Medic's Stimm Shot to briefly unleash a ludicrous 6 attacks, for when there's someone you need to assassinate with extreme prejudice. Even without AP, that will eat through the saves of just about anything in the game.

• Intercessors (Leader [Sgt only], Demolitions [Gunner only], Combat, Comms, Medic, Sniper, Veteran): More tactical than the actual Tacticals, as they have a choice of Bolt Rifle variants on top of their extra wound and attack, so they live longer, are harder to shift in melee and are thus generally better at holding objectives. Plus they have access to Masterful Marksmanship. They do cost a bit more than Tacticals, so you pay for what you get. Also, thanks to the errata, intercessors can now take an auspex for a single little point.
  • Intercessor Gunners (2): An Intercessor with the awesome Auxiliary Grenade Launcher. They keep whatever bolt rifle flavor they want, so you can combine Demolitions with an Auto Bolt rifle to be very mobile. You can take two, but you can only really use one. Because of the errata, the grenade launcher is now affected by half range penalties.
  • Intercessor Sergeant (1): What peak efficiency looks like, being able to take a melee weapon without making you lose their guns. Thus, he'll always have a free chainsword, and can also take a power sword to be truly scary with his extra attack.

SM Elite Units

• Terminators: New unit introduced in the new Kill Teams Elite expansion.

SM Commanders

• Janus Darik (Blackstone Fortress) (Leadership): He's a rather unique card, considering he can be either used for Adeptus Astartes, Astra Militarum, and Adeptus Mechanicus kill-teams without being able to use the rules of either. What he does offer is plenty of anti-armor between His S4 AP-2 pistol, his S3 AP-4 rapier, and his S6 AP-1 Dd3 single-use grenade as well as the ability to use a one-time ability to instantly score d3 mortal wounds. Unfortunately, he's man-tier squishy with a 4+/4++ save, so he'll need some degree of protection in order to last.
• Primaris Captain (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist, Strength): The Captain hasn't changed much from vanilla 40k, although the free 4++ is nice. Being a Primaris, he's stuck with the basic power sword and bolt pistol, the only thing that's customizable being the bolt rifle. He can take either a master crafted stalker bolt rifle or a master crafted auto bolt rifle (does 2D instead of 1), the former for sitting and the back and sniping, and the latter for rapidly advancing on the enemy. Remember that the auto bolt rifle is Assault 2, meaning you can split-fire with it unlike the Stalker, and the 2D is especially punishing vs GEQs. Despite the inflexible wargear setup, he can fill a lot of roles since he can take nearly any Commander-exclusive Specialism.
• Primaris Lieutenant (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist, Strength): As a watered-down Captain, don't expect the Lieutenant to make as much of an impact as his counterpart. His re-rolling 1's to wound aura tactic can be useful, but many others have auras that are strictly better than his. Like the Captain, he's stuck with the basic power sword and bolt pistol along with one of the master-crafted bolt rifles. Since the lieutenant has WS 2+ and 4A but only BS 3+, the auto bolt rifle will often be better because his strong suit is melee and the auto rifle lets him advance and still shoot; Usually, though, if you want to get melee then the chaplain will be a better idea due to the superior buffs, stronger melee, and invuln save that he has. That said, he can be almost as flexible as the Captain without having to pay as many points to do so due to how many specialisms he can take.
  • Interesting Note: A level 3 Lieutenant with the Iron Will and Tactical Planner traits is exactly 100 points, allowing them to fit nicely into any preexisting Killteam. If you take the Logistic specialism, you can use 1 of those D3 bonus command points from Tactical Planner to purchase yourself a 5++ save, and upgrade your sword to 2 Damage with the Master Artisan trait. That gives you a well rounded front-line warrior who can also contribute to shooting with the Armed to the Teeth trait allowing him to throw a grenade every turn.
• Primaris Librarian (Fortitude, Melee, Shooting, Psyker, Strength): The Primaris Librarian is the most expensive Adeptus Astartes Commander, and for good reason. He can use 2 psychic powers per phase, and has a wide variety of powers to choose from. Sitting right at 81 points, the Librarian has a pitiful little bolt pistol for ranged weapons, but has a 4A Force Sword to cut apart multi-wound models in melee. Don't forget that you can manifest psychic powers WHILE IN MELEE, so don't be scared to get up in the enemy's face and spam Might of Heroes and Veil of Time. One very important aspect of the psykers in Kill Team are the fact that they can replace psybolt with a different power. For example, you could run 2 power from the Librarius discipline, and 1 power from the universal psychic powers everyone gets. One small disadvantage the Librarian has is that he has 3+ WS/BS, as compared to many other commanders having 2+ in some stat. Overall, the Librarian is likely the best commander because it unlocks an entirely new phase for the Space Marines, and many Commanders Missions make the commander cost no points, so most of the time the higher cost won't have much of an impact.
  • Torrvald Orksbane: Even though the named characters are supposed to be superior versions of the standard model, this guy really does the opposite. He's often WORSE than the normal Primaris Librarian because of the specialism he's stuck in. His statline is entirely unchanged, the only difference between him and a normal librarian being his "Primaris Librarian Specialism". The reason he is inferior to the normal librarian is that he has 0 stratagems specific to him. Not only that, but his specialism gives him a +1 to psychic tests at level 1, which is good, but the "Psyker" specialist already does the same thing (BUT THE PSYKER SPECIALISM HAS STRATAGEMS SPECIFIC TO IT). The normal Primaris Librarian also has the ability to be a few other specialisms, and can help to shore up its weakpoints instead of wasting its time enhancing its already strong psychic phase. The level 4 ability he gets is literally useless outside of a campaign (Like, what were you thinking when you made this guy's abilities GW?) and his level 3 ability, Icy Kiss of Fenris won't work alot of the time because you'll probably just replace psybolt with another power anyways. Buy this guy's box just for the free tokens and psychic powers, don't actually use his ruleset and just have him count as a normal Librarian.
    • Primaris Librarian Specialism: Torrvald Orksbane's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: Wyrdsborn: +1 to Psychic tests. Good, but you can get this by just using the Psyker specialism.
      • Level 2: Ork Hunter:
      • Level 3: Icy Kiss of Fenris: When Torrvald uses psybolt on someone and they don't die, automatically make them shaken. Useful for fighting bigger enemies that won't die to one bolt.
      • Level 4: Trophy Hunter:
• Primaris Chaplain (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Melee, Shooting, Strength): If you have a very stabby kill team, this is gonna be the right guy for you. He's really good at melee, and really good at providing buffs for melee, but that's it. Even though his skill set is limited, he is VERY good at what he does. With his 4++, Arcanum melee, 2+ WS, AND aura tactic for melee, he's a force to be reckoned with in the fight phase. If you have alot of reivers in your team, this guy works wonders with them. You'll be ripping your enemy to shreds with the right setup. However, his only ranged capability is his pistol. With almost no range to work with, he won't work very well on your team if you're not going for melee. If you're playing a mission that has objectives, probably avoid using the chaplain, because sitting on the objective doing nothing doesn't really work for him. On the other hand, if the mission is about killing the enemy or the enemy's commander, then this guy works great. He performs especially well against enemies with high AP melee like GSC or Dark Eldar (because of his 4++).

SM Tactics

• Death to Traitors! (1 CP): If in melee with Chaos Marines of any flavor, hit rolls of 6+ explode into additional attacks. SUPER narrow in it's usage, but can be relevant if you find yourself fighting a Chaos Marine army.
• Armour of Contempt (1 CP): In response to a mortal wound, get a 5+ save against mortal wounds for the rest of the round, including the one you just took. Snipers, booby traps, Psykers, Chaos stratagems, GSCult Rock drills. Even tripping and falling gets around power armour. That's when you use this strat.
• Honour the Chapter (2 CP): A unit can immediately fight again at the end of the Fight phase. Turns Reivers into Khorne Berserkers, with expected results.
• Masterful Marksmanship (1 CP): This lets an Intercessor with a Stalker Boltrifle add 1 to hit and wound rolls in the Shooting Phase. Demo, Sniper, Comms, Auspex. Either of those rules can further assist an Intercessor so armed.
• Hellfire Shells (2 CP): A Heavy Bolter can fire one shot, but if it hits, do D3 Mortal Wounds instead of usual wound rolls. Look at you, who's dealing the mortal wounds now? But for the cost, better make that shot count - the same assists for Masterful Marksmanship apply here.
• Shock and Awe (2 CP): Normally, Shock grenades are used in the Shooting phase, after you decided to move instead of charge. This strat allows a Reiver to chuck a shock grenade before the charge actually happens, protecting him. As it connects, the affected model can't Overwatch that very phase, on top of -1 to hit & inability to use Overwatch or be Readied until the end of the next battle round.
  • So, remember how risky it is to use a grenade after you moved? Now try to do it before you move. Since the strat doesn't say you increase the grenade's range to match your charge's, this would mean you were already within 6" of the enemy when you begin the charge, meaning the previous battle round ended with you at that distance. Maybe you consolidated 3" towards an enemy 9" away from a previous combat, and the enemy decided to Ready instead of moving away - can't let go of that objective. Maybe it is the enemy who is moving towards you, attempting to use a grenade/half-range Shotgun or Meltagun trick on your Reiver. Or you're punishing a failed enemy charge. It can happen, and if you do, by all means use this to charge the fool who thought a readied flamer meant anything against a Reaver THAT close. Everything has its place, you can nudge it but you can't force it. That's if the enemy has the initiative - if you do, then it's a bit easier.
• Battle-Brothers (1 CP): If a saving throw for a model is failed and that model is within 3" of a friendly model that is not shaken, no damage is inflicted on that model. Instead, the other model takes mortal wounds equal to the damage of the attack the first model would have taken.
• Death Denied (2 CP): Use this Tactic when a model would be taken out of action. It takes a flesh wound instead. Remember that Transhuman Physiology negates the penalties of the first Flesh Wound you receive. (Seriously, this may be the single most powerful stratagem in the entire tabletop game, and is perhaps the only reason why the Deathwatch Faction is not hands-down superior to the Space Marines Faction.)
• Adaptive Strategy (1 CP): Gain d3 CP after your kill-team is broken. You'll probably need them to stay in the game if you do break, and even on a roll of 1 the Tactic will be essentially free.
• Angel of Death (1 CP): In the fight phase, select a model that charged this turn. It gains an extra attack.
• Auspex Scan (2 CP): When selecting a Readied model to shoot, that model will ignore all negative hit modifiers.
• Psychological Warfare (1 CP): In the morale phase, select a Reiver that took a model out of action this turn and is not shaken. All enemy models within 6" of it add 1 to their Nerve tests.

SM Commander Tactics

• Champion of Humanity (2 CP): Use at the start of the Fight phase if you have any non-shaken Adeptus Astartes commander. When you use this, it allows you to choose one - reroll all failed wound rolls or all failed hit rolls until the end of the battle round. The tactic lets you to adapt to various situation, and can be particularly useful when using a power sword/force sword, as it sometimes has a hard time wounding targets. However, many commanders have auras that can give the same effect, but at a lower cost AND affecting the models around them.
• Rites of Battle (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if you have a non-shaken Primaris Captain. As long as this model is not shaken, you can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for friendly models within 6" of this model until the end of the battle round.
• Tactical Precision (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if you have a non-shaken Primaris Lieutenant. As long as this model is not shaken, you can re-roll wound rolls of 1 for friendly models within 6" of this model until the end of the battle round.
• Litanies of Hate (1 CP): Use at the start of the Fight phase if your Kill Team has a Primaris Chaplain that is not shaken. You can re-roll failed hit rolls in the Fight phase for any friendly model within 6" of the chaplain until the end of the battle round.
• Spiritual Leader (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if your Kill Team has a Primaris Chaplain that is not shaken. Friendly models within 6" can use the chaplain's leadership (9) as their own when making nerve tests until the end of the battle round.

SM Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 6 models, 100 points
  • Intercessor sergeant with power sword, 18 pts
  • 2 Reivers with grapnel, 34 pts
  • Intercessor with auspex, 16 pts
  • Tactical gunner with heavy bolter, 16 pts
  • Tactical gunner with plasma gun, 16 pts

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

• 8 models, 200 points
  • Primaris Librarian, 81 pts (Psyker)
  • Intercessor Sergeant with power sword, 18 pts (Leader)
  • Intercessor Gunner with grenade launcher, 16 pts (Demolitions)
  • Tactical Gunner with plasma gun, 16 pts (Sniper/Medic)
  • Scout Gunner with heavy bolter, 14 pts (Heavy)
  • Tactical Sergeant with combi-melta, 16 pts
  • Reiver Sergeant with grapnel and grav-chute, 19 pts
  • Scout Gunner with launcher and camo cloak, 18 pts

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

• 13 models, 197 points
  • Primaris Librarian, all commander traits, level 4 (Psyker)
  • Intercessor Sergeant with power sword, 18 pts (Leader
  • Intercessor Gunner with grenade launcher, 16 pts (Demolitions)
  • Reiver Sergeant with grapnel and grav chute, 19 pts (Combat)
  • Intercessor with auspex and stalker bolt rifle, 16 pts (Comms)
  • Reiver with grapnel and grav chute, 18 pts
  • Reiver with grapnel and grav chute, 18 pts
  • Tactical Sergeant with combi-melta, 16 pts
  • Tactical Gunner with heavy bolter, 16 pts
  • Tactical Gunner with plasma gun, 16 pts
  • Scout Sergeant with sniper and camo cloak, 13 pts
  • Scout Gunner with missile launcher and camo cloak, 18 pts
  • Scout with sniper and camo cloak, 12 pts

Deathwatch

Why Play Deathwatch

• Pros
  • Perhaps the easiest Kill Team to build and convert - one five-man Kill Team set gives you practically every combination of gear that you'd like on your Kill Team - barring multiple Frag Cannons. Huge wealth of bits in the kit.
  • The Frag Cannon is currently the most powerful gun in the game...and you can bring 4 of them in a 100 point list.
  • Small model count + high customisation = severe Your Dudes. Flexible as hell, not only everyone can do whatever you want them to, but their guns have multiple profiles.
  • Special and power weapons without hard caps unlike other factions.
• Cons
  • Even without hard caps, you'll bring only what you can afford. Compromises will be made.
  • All of the possible combinations of gear in the DW Codex haven't translated to Kill Team. No lightning claws, storm bolters or non-combi flamer/plasma/meltaguns. No power axes, no guns alongside a storm shield.
  • Small model count. Your kill team will most likely number five to seven Marines. Casualties will be felt.
  • In addition to making you That Guy, a 4-Frag Cannon loadout will leave you with no points to level up your Specialists with.
  • No Medic.

DW Special Rules

• And They Shall Know No Fear: Reroll your Failed Nerve Checks. Vets having Ld8 means you can lose 4 models (aka 4/5ths of the team) and the last one would still need a rerollable 5+ to fail.
• Transhuman Physiology: Ignore -1 penalty to hit from the first flesh wound suffered in a game.
• Special Issue Ammo: All Bolt weapons (except the Infernus Heavy Bolter) can use one of the three ammo types whenever they fire. As to when to use what, remember benefit is proportional to how much the characteristic was modified, like so:
  • Dragonfire Bolts: Add +1 to hit when targeting obscured models. Ranged hit penalties are fairly common in Kill Team, and the +1 is just enough to nullify the penalty for hitting obscured targets. A +50% benefit if you're forced to hit on 5s (enemy in cover at long range), +100% if you do so on 6s. Good against T3 models, where the issue is to hit them in the first place.
  • Hellfire Rounds: Always wounds on a 2+. Better than a mere +1 to hit, it's the best single round against T4 and up. BE ADVISED: Hellfire ROUNDS are "special ammunition" for DW Bolt Weaponry. Hellfire SHELLS are a Tactic for both SM and DW. They are NOT the same thing. You can fire multiple DW "special ammunition" Hellfire ROUNDS from your bolt weaponry, versus the single shot taken with the Hellfire SHELLS Mortal Wound(s) Tactic.
  • Kraken Bolts: +3" to the range of Pistols, +6" otherwise. Improve the AP by one, to a maximum of AP-2. Mighty useful since it both debuffs the enemy AND lets you play with range, which is even more important in Kill Team since does away with the Long Range hit penalty.
  • Vengeance Rounds: -3" to the range of Pistols, -6" otherwise. Increase the AP by two, to a maximum of AP-3. It's the best round against everything but Plague Marines...UNLESS the range reduction applies the Long Range penalty. Great otherwise.
• Fortis Kill Team: The Deathwatch can use Primaris Marines, but they need to use the Deathwatch's prices for wargear.
• Auspex:Now available to the Deathwatch by being added to the Intercessor's datasheet. One of your marines within 3" of the Intercessor ignore the penalty for shooting and injuring an obscured target. Because Frag Cannons weren't nasty enough.
• Storm Shield: A 3++ invulnerable save, the highest in the game, but it can't be combined with a gun unlike 40k.
• Atonement Through Honor: Black Shields can re-roll failed charges.
• Grapnel Launchers: Allows Reivers to ignore vertical distance when normal moving (moving under and up to your model's Movement characteristic: charging and advancing fall under special cases as defined in the rulebook). It's hard to overstate the advantage that freedom of movement brings to a game as terrain-heavy as Kill Team. Turning Reivers into defacto jump troops allows you to use them at their full potential.
• Grav Chutes: Allows Reivers to ignore falling damage. Considering how often your stabby boys will be leaping tall buildings and ziplining all over the place, these things can come in handy. The only downside is that it's a further points tax on an already expensive unit with an already existing points tax (Always. Take. The. Grapnel. Launchers.), but it's a nice way to avoid tempting fate with that Combat specialist you've come to love, protecting that investment from an idiotically underwhelming death. You can play without them, but just be aware that you're playing a risky game.
• Auxiliary Grenade Launcher: Like with vanilla SM, this is good - the Intercessor keeps his gun (and Special Ammo), gets a powerful way to use grenades, the Demolitions guy turns it into a killer machine and makes it behaves like a missile launcher (which you don't actually have) at no cost beyond a Gunner's tax. The thing is you (and especially the Demo) have better weapons to use, and grenades can't be used with other guns. Will you pay 4pts more than regular marines to bring a Deathwatch Primaris that won't use his special ammo? That's up to you to think about - the option is still good and not everything has to be super optimized.
• Iron Halo: Exclusive to the Primaris Captain, it gives him a 4++.
• Rosarius: Same thing as the Iron Halo, but for the Primaris Chaplain.

DW Ranged Weapons

• Boltgun: The classic Special Ammunition dispenser, it lets your Vets dominate other MEQs. Given how spoiled for choice you are with special weapons, though, you're probably not going to have any room for standard boltguns unless you're deliberately running a bare-bones team, or are using a bare-bones sergeant to fit in four frag cannons.
• Combi-Melta/Plasma: Same as vanilla Space Marines, but since the bolter part has special issue ammo shooting both at the same time is a bit more appealing, as 6s always hit.
• Deathwatch Shotgun: It uses its own selection of special shells and slugs to deal with a variety of enemies. It's also your Veterans' only multishot assault gun, a counterpart to the Stalker boltgun.
  • Cryptclearer: 16" Assault 2 S4, re-rolls failed wound rolls. A re-rollable 3+ is stronger than a 2+ against GEQ.
  • Xenopurge: 16" Assault 2 S4 AP-1. It deals 2 dmg within 8", and multiple damage is so valuable in Kill Team. It's main purpose is to be on the hands of someone who will close into double damage range, otherwise a Kraken bolter gives similar results without that much struggle.
  • Wyrmsbreath: 7" Assault D6 S3 flamer to deal with entrenched GEQ. Good deterrent and sidearm to a close range Xenopurger.
• Stalker Pattern Boltgun: 30" Heavy 2 AP-1 Bolter to let your Veterans shoot twice as much as Intercessors at full range.

Primaris weapons

• Bolt Pistol: Comes with Intercessors, and while not amazing it can be a nice sucker punch if stuck in melee.
• Heavy Bolt Pistol: Better AP than the standard bolt pistol gives it distinctly more punch than its smaller cousin. Never forget you have them.
• Bolt Rifle: Its excellent range coupled with natural AP-1 humbles vanilla SM by using Vengeance like it was an AP-3 bolter, or Tau by rapid firing AP-2 from 18".
• Auto Bolt Rile: Assault 2 Bolter. Thus, from 12+" away it's basically a double bolter you can advance with. While it lets you fire two Vengeance shots from 18", two Kraken rounds from a Bolt rifle will do more damage, as they won't suffer the long distance penalty at that range.
• Stalker Bolt Rifle: 36" Heavy 1 AP-2 Bolt Rifle.
• Bolt Carbine: Reiver tactical-looking Auto Bolt Rifle.

Gunner weapons

• Deathwatch Frag Cannon: Hoo boy, this is quite possibly THE single strongest ranged weapon in Kill Team. 24" Assault 2 S7 AP-2 dealing 2 dmg a shot. When you ditch the long range penalty, it becomes S9 AP-3. As if that wasn't all, it can deal with swarming enemies with its 8" Assault 2D6 S6 AP-1 D1 autohit profile, making GK Incinerators jealous. You can fit 4 of them in a Kill Team, but that will make you That Guy.
• Infernus Heavy Bolter: A combi-Heavy Bolter/Heavy Flamer. The Heavy bolter wounds pretty much everyone on a 3+, and 36" range means it loses the long range penalty a turn before everyone else. And if anyone get too close, you still have the Heavy flamer. All of that costing less than half of a Frag cannon, meaning you can have a more varied Kill Team.

Grenades: Just not worth it when your army has such cool guns.

• Frag Grenade: You're not closing within 6" of the enemy to deliver a bunch of lasgun shots. A storm shield Vet could use it to overwatch enemies dumb enough to charge a 3++ power weapon model from within 6" away.
• Krak Grenade: While it does D3 damage, your main guns already wound Plague Marines on a 2+.
• Shock Grenade: 6" Grenade 1d3, can't kill but stunned enemies can't shoot Overwatch or be Readied, and suffer a -1 to all hit rolls until the end of the next battle round. Since we don't get that SM shock grenade stratagem, you'll use this when you want your Reiver to debuff the enemy's damage rather than have him debuff his head off by means of blade or a Kraken bolt - if you're scared of an enemy's flamer overwatch, you're better off killing it with the Special Ammo you're paying for rather than committing a Reiver + another model to kill it.

DW Melee Weapons

• Power Maul: S+2 AP-1 to bully the GEQ so common in Kill Team, and people who rely on invulns with a high armour save to back it up, like other stormshield Deathwatch.
• Heavy Thunder Hammer: An even more offensive oriented version of the Power Fist (which you lack), with the same hit penalty and profile but doing 1d6 damage, or automatic 6D on a 6+ To Wound. That's a 72.2% of dealing more damage than its smaller brother (and multiple damage is extremely valuable) at the cost of the model's gun/storm shield. A Combat specialist armed with it turns into an executioner who can consistently deliver true kills with it.
• Power Sword: Reliable can opener. A Zealot complements its relative lack of strength.
• Xenophase Blade: Power sword that forces re-rolls on successful invulnerable saves. Only one point more expensive than the power sword, so might as well take it if you don't know what you're going up against and want your sergeant to have a melee weapon. Fantastic against anything that relies heavily on its invuln to stay competitive (Wyches, Genestealers, Aeldari), but against tougher beasties like Plague Marines, wounding on 5s is rough.

DW Units

• Deathwatch Veterans (Leader [Sgt. only], Heavy [Gunner only], Combat, Comms, Demolitions, Sniper, Veteran, Zealot): Operators operating operationally, now with Specialists & Stratagems. Where other factions need gunners and fighters, Your dudes' vast wargear options allows them to excel in either melee or ranged combat (or both, but that's expensive). Besides being your cheapest source of special weapons, they're also the only ones who can bring Deathwatch Shotguns or Heavy Thunder Hammers.
  • Deathwatch Veteran Gunners (4): Source of Frag cannons, Infernus and the Heavy. It's very easy to go overboard; bringing 4 frag cannons means you can't afford any of the DW's options, only a naked Watch Sergeant. You might want to exercise restraint here.
  • Deathwatch Black Shield (1): +1A Veteran that re-rolls failed charges, so he's a good candidate to be the team's Zealot or Combat specialist. Besides a power weapon give him either a Combi-melta to have him do something while closing in (offensive), or a Storm Shield to protect him from mean blades (defensive).
  • Watch Sergeant (1): Good leader material, with the highest Imperial Ld9 so your team never breaks. He can wield the Xenophase Blade to put even Harlequins on the run, if you didn't splurge all your points on frag cannons.
• Intercessors (Leader [Sgt only], Demolitions [Gunner only], Combat, Comms, Medic, Sniper, Veteran): Since they cost even more than already expensive SM Intercessors, bring them when you need to use Special Ammo at maximum range/speed, otherwise Vets might serve you better. Still, a Primaris specialist has a better chance of surviving a match.
  • Intercessor Gunnners (2): Still a powerful option able to deal with anything at both long, medium and short ranges, but he's paying for 3 guns and he can't use all once.
  • Intercessor Sergeant (1): Mighty leader figure with the same "can't do everything at once" issue as the Gunner, although he can swap one of his guns for a melee weapon to keep his cost down. But his melee capabilities are top echelon, so he can keep up pace and actually lead a melee-oriented Kill Team, if by dint of being the teammate who can withstand the most punches to the face and yet keep on fighting.
• Reivers (Leader [Sgt only], Combat, Comms, Demolitions, Scout, Veteran): Use them when you absolutely NEED mobility and resilience to small arms. The Carbine works very well with the Grapnel gun and contributes to their speed, but it makes them worryingly expensive. And while their melee loadout is cheaper, for that cost Deathwatch players can bring a melee Vet with actual AP and even a 3++.
  • Reiver Sergeant: Actually cheaper than regular ranged Reivers when using the Carbine + Knife loadout, and it makes him cost the same as an Intercessor but with +2A & +1Ld. If you want someone with a two shot Assault bolter this is your guy, and a Veteran can reposition himself better than an Intercessor can.

DW Commanders

• Watch Master (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strategist, Strength):
  • Gaius Acastian: Standard Watch Master, but with a unique Specialism.
    • Watch Master Specialism: Gaius's unique skills, focused on being a front-line leader that retains some buffing potential.
      • Scion of Guilliman (Lvl 1, 125 pts): This model can Fall Back and shoot in the same turn, but it takes a -1 to hit for those Shooting attacks. Somehow, the only Space Marine in all of Kill Team to remember their chapter tactic is a Watch Master. Go figure. Stronger than it seems at first glance, since if your opponent falls back while you were in melee, the only move you can make is a fall back move of your own. Now you don't have to choose between moving to cover or shooting in this situation. Still, try to avoid these situations by ending combats in one round or having another model in position to charge into the fight to prevent an enemy from falling back (Use decisive move if you lose initiative).
      • Instinctive Strategist (Lvl 2, 145 pts): When this model is on the battlefield and not shaken, roll a D6 each time an opponent uses a Tactic. You get a Command Point on every 5+. Ankra the Colossus has to wait until Level 4 to get this power, pathetic xenos scum. Never not useful.
      • Lead by Example (Lvl 3, 165 pts): When Gaius takes an enemy out of action, then the CP cost for Master of Battle decreases by 1, to a minimum of 0. If your Leader has Tactician as a Level 3 ability, it is possible to gain net CP if your Commander can consistently kill enough dudes each turn.
      • Artisan Weapon (Lvl 4, 190 pts): The Melee profile of your Guardian Spear goes from D3 damage to a flat 3. Can turn Gaius into a one man army, which is good, because outside of some specific missions that make Commanders free, you won't have any points left for other guys. Or too many points for other commander traits, at that matter.
• Primaris Captain: Identical to Space Marine version but with special issue ammo.
• Primaris Librarian:Identical to Space Marine version but with special issue ammo.
• Primaris Chaplain:Identical to Space Marine version but with special issue ammo.

DW Tactics

• Decapitation Doctrine (1CP): If one of your units attacks the enemy leader during the Shooting or Fight phase, re-roll failed wound rolls until the end of the phase.
• Hellfire Shell (1 CP): A Heavy Bolter can fire one shot, but if it hits, do D3 Mortal Wounds instead of usual wound rolls. The Deathwatch Frag Cannon is better, but this is much, much less cheesy.
• Only In Death Does Duty End (2 CP): When one of your units is taken out of action, it can either shoot as if it was the shooting phase or make a single attack as if it was the fight phase.
• Rival Chapters (1CP): If one of your units attacks in the Shooting or Fight phase while a friendly unit is within 2", both units re-roll hit rolls of 1 for the rest of the phase. Use it to have up to three supercharged Combi-plasma Snipers on a given turn.
• Priority Execution (1CP): Use this tactic when you choose a model in your kill team to fight in the Fight Phase. Add 1 to all wound rolls for that model until the end of the phase.
• Death to the Alien! (1CP): Choose a model in the fight phase, each time you hit on a roll of 5+ for that model during this phase, that model can make an additional attack against that same model if the target was not Imperium, Chaos, or Unaligned.
• Tactical Disengagement (1CP): Use this in the movement phase when a model in your team retreats. That model may retreat up to 6" rather than up to 3" and may shoot as if it had not retreated.
• The Beheading (2CP): Use at beginning of fight phase, until end of phase, you can re-roll hit rolls for attacks targeting an enemy leader.
• Unrelenting (1CP): In the shooting phase, choose a model from your kill team to shoot. When rolling to hit for this model's shooting attacks, it is considered not to have moved in the previous movement phase.
• My Armour is Contempt (1CP): Use this tactic when a model suffers a mortal wound, roll a d6 for that wound and each other mortal wound inflicted for the rest of phase. Mortal wound is ignored on 5+.

DW Commander Tactics

• Litanies of Hate (1 CP): Use in the Fight phase if your Kill-Team has a Primaris Chaplain that is not shaken. You can re-roll failed hits in the Fight phase for any model within 6" of the chaplain until the start of the next battle round.
• Spiritual Leader (1 CP): Use at the start of the Movement phase if your Kill-Team has a Primaris Chaplain. As long as it isn't shaken, friendly models within 6" can use the Chaplain's leadership instead of their own.
• Rites of Battle (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if your kill team has a non-shaken Primaris Captain. Friendly models within 6" re-roll hit rolls of 1.
• Master of Battle (2 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if your Kill-Team has a Watch Master who is not shaken. Re-roll failed hits for any model within 6" of the Watch Master until the start of the next battle round.
• Steel Your Minds (1 CP): Use at the start of the Movement Phase if your Kill-Team includes a Watch Master. As long as it is not shaken, friendly models within 6" ignore the hit penalty for all flesh wounds suffered. Transhuman Physiology already protects you from the first flesh wound, now you can ignore the rest too!
• Vigilance Incarnate (1 CP): Use at the start of the battle round if your Commander is not shaken. Friendly models within 3" of the model get 6+ FnP. If they already have a similar power, choose which one to use and re-roll 1s.

DW Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 100 points, 5 models
  • Watch Sergeant with Xenophase Blade, Combi-Melta, and Grenades. Leader Specialist. (22pts)
  • 2x Veteran Gunner with Frag Cannon and Grenades. Demolitions or Heavy Specialist, depends on the mission. (42pts)
  • Veteran with Storm Shield, Power Maul, and Grenades. Combat or Zealot Specialist, depends on the enemy you expect to face. (19pts)
  • Veteran with Shotgun and grenades. The most 'expendable' of your dudes. (15pts)

• 99 points, 5 models (Typical all-comers list, nice shooting but also nice melee. Can be built from a single Kill Team box)
  • Watch Sergeant with Combi-Plasma and Grenades. Leader Specialist. (20pts)
  • Veteran Gunner with Frag Cannon and Grenades. Demolitions or Heavy Specialist, depends on the mission. (21pts)
  • Veteran Gunner with Infernus Heavy Bolter and Grenades. Demolitions or Heavy Specialist, depends on the mission. (18pts)
  • Veteran with Heavy Thunder Hammer. Combat specialist. (19pts)
  • Black Shield with Storm Shield, Power Sword, and Grenades. (21pts)

• Full on Cheese (5 models, 100 points)
  • Watch Sergeant with Boltgun and grenades. Leader Specialist (16pts)
  • 4x Veteran Gunner with Frag Cannon and Grenades. Demolitions or Heavy specialists. Be that guy! (84pts)

• 100 points, 5 models Fortis Team Can be assembled with both easy to build Intercessors and Reivers kits sans Power Sword, the kits are 15 usd and Primaris marines are a thing
  • Intercessor Sergeant with Bolt Rifle, Power Sword, Pistol, and Grenades. Leader Specialist. (22pts)
  • Intercesor Gunner with Bolt Rifle, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Pistol, and Grenades. Comms Specialist (20pts)
  • Intercesor Gunner with Stalker Bolt Rifle, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Pistol, and Grenades. Sniper Specialist (20pts)
  • Reiver Seargent with Heavy Bolt Pistol, Combat knife, Grapnle Launcher and Grenades. Combat Specialist (20pts)
  • Reiver with Heavy Bolt Pistol, Combat knife and Grenades. (18pts)

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Grey Knights

Why Play Grey Knights

• Pros
  • One of only three (four if you count the basic CSM Icon of Flame) factions in the game (so far) that can make use of Kill Team's psychic phase, bar Commanders.
  • Only have one unit to choose from, but with access to the psychic phase, guns that lets them handle teams many times their size, and blades that can reliably deliver true kills, that's all they need. Grey Knights don't have to worry about crippling overspecialization and predictability like Harlequins do.
  • The Storm Bolter is among the best base guns out there.
  • Small model count makes teams quick and easy to build and manage.
• Cons
  • Models that both shoot and fight good are expensive, and they can't do both in the same turn.
  • Your Kill Team will be a Kill squad of 5 models at most, meaning each casualty is going to hurt hard.
  • No access to a Medic or Scout. Also, they're the only Imperial faction without a Sniper. Only two special guns.
  • As of Rogue Trader there is exactly one unit with the Daemon keyword in the game. Your anti-daemon abilities are unlikely to get any use.
  • You can still only use one Psyker a turn - no Psybolt Spam for you.
  • Access to only one Commander doesn't really do much to shore up your tactical flexibility.

GK Special Rules

• And They Shall Know No Fear: Reroll failed nerve checks. If you're taking nerve checks at all you're probably losing, this will help you in these tough situations.
• Transhuman Physiology: Ignore -1 penalty to hit on units first flesh wound suffered.
• Daemon Hunters: Reroll failed wounds against Daemons in fight phase. Would be more useful if the Gellerpox Infected weren't the only faction that has daemons.
• Rites of Banishment: Psybolt range is now 12" but always causes D3 wounds on Daemons if successful. As above, only relevant against Gellerpox Infected.

GK Ranged Weapons

• Storm bolter: 24" Rapid Fire 2 Boltgun. Your basic gun allows a single brother to engage multiple enemies, you will be usually shooting twice as many bullets as your opponent with these bad boys (but you will have half the models that they have) and it's got a great stratagem all for itself.
• Incinerator: 8" Assault 1d6 S6 AP-1 flamer to auto-hit bothersome cover campers, and wound most of them on a 2+. Demolitions can make it wound even Plague Marines on a 2+, and Veterans can get in position faster. A devastating weapon, flamers are super good since they ignore minus to hit which is so common in this game and (usually) won't get charged. That said it's only 8” range and you can't afford to be losing people so it's a high risk, high reward weapon.
• Psilencer: 24" Heavy 6 D1d3 Boltgun to bring True Death even to enemies in far away cover. D3 damage is really nice and means that if you score a wound most likely you will take out your target, unless you just don't give a fuck about that 6 injury roll.While there is an instinctive impulse to give it to a Heavy, a Comms specialist can nullify the -1 to hit for moving, and also benefits even while stationary according to the Errata, a Comms cannot buff themselves, just put this weapon on a Heavy.
• Psycannon: 24" Heavy 4 S7 AP-1 D1 gun, will generally outperform the Psilencer against any MEQ but will be worse against GEQs. Since your storm bolters will be already shredding GEQs it's a really nice option to have, although the Incinerator is better then either Psycannon or a Psilencer. Heavy specialist is recommended to stay mobile and his lv1 tactic is also great on this weapon.
• Psyk-out Grenade: 6" Grenade D3 S2 D1 grenade it deals mortal wounds on a hit roll of 6+ against Daemons and Psykers, absolutely useless since by throwing this piece of shit you can't use your storm bolter which is going to outperform it in 99% of all the situation, also it only deals mortal wounds against other Grey Knights, Thousand Sons Sorcerers, the occasional Commander, and do I really need to remind you that there is currently only one daemon in this game?

GK Melee Weapons

• Nemesis Force Sword: D3 power sword. Probably our least impressive melee option, as a halberd in general will outperform it against almost everything except for models with a 4+ save. A Zealot improves this weapon greatly but Zealots will make a much greater use out of falchions than a sword.
• Nemesis Daemonhammer: Sx2 AP-3 which does a straight 3 damage per wound, -1 to-hit modifier as it's bigger than the unit carrying it, but it'll squish anything it actually hits. If you feel a single WS 4+ attack is a bit of a gamble, a Justicar or Combat specialist have an easier time wielding it.
• Nemesis Force Halberd: S+1 AP-2 D3 weapon, great against T4/5 in general better than the sword and since you get them both for free this should be your standard melee weapon for all non-specialist knights.
• Nemesis Warding Staff: S+2 AP-1 D3 damage that gives the user a 5++ against attacks in the fight phase. Wounding T3 on a 2+ is a huge plus for this weapon since it will wreck GEQs without any issues. Best used on a justicar sice he gets two attacks and a little bit of extra protection againts other melee combatants is a nice bonus.
• Two Nemesis Falchions: AP-2 power weapons with +1 attack when taken as a pair. By far your best melee option for a Zealot and Combat specialists since they will both get 3 attacks with these bad boys. Unlike standard 40k they cost as much as the daemonhammers, so don't give everyone a pair. As of the errata, the falchions only cost a single point meaning you can afford to give every model in a GK kill team an upgraded melee weapon. When choosing to take a hammer or falchions, the hammer is the high risk-very high reward while the falchions are consistent but not as hard-hitting.

GK Psychic Powers

• Hammerhand (Warp Charge 5): A friendly model within 8" of the user gets +1 to wound with their melee weapons until the next psychic phase.

GK Units

• Grey Knight (Leader [Justicar only], Heavy [Gunner only], Combat, Comms, Demolitions, Veteran, Zealot): HOLY SHIT, these guys are expensive. While outnumbered, they can deal with several units at once. They're good all-rounders, but you have to decide what you want them to do. This is where you pick your Zealot and Combat specialists. Being models that work best at 12" (Rapid Fire + Psybolt), a Veteran using an Adaptive Tactics move can be a valuable asset.
  • Grey Knight Gunners (2): They give up their melee weapons to use their exclusive guns, so keep them at a safe distance. This is where you pick the Heavy, Comms or Demolitions specialists. Their strategy depends on what weapon you pick or rather, you're able to afford.
  • Justicar (1): The obligatory leader model of this Kill Team. Give him a warding staff if you want to keep him alive, and either a falchion pair or the Daemonhammer if you want to put his extra attack to use.

GK Commander

• Brotherhood Champion (Fortitude, Leadership, Melee, Psyker, Shooting, Strength): A souped-up Grey Knight with access to Hammerhand and the stances from his 40k counterpart. It's a shame he can't swap out his force sword for another melee weapon, but the Melee and Strength specialisms can fill in as an approximation of the falchions and the Daemonhammer, respectively. As an added bonus, he can fight an extra time in melee if he dies in the fight phase. Granted, that shouldn't be too much of a risk but it's always nice to have an extra "screw you" available just in case.

GK Tactics

• Psybolt Ammunition (1CP): When a unit fires with a storm bolter, the weapon becomes S5 AP-1 until the end of the phase. Not only means even your melee specialists can wield the might of a 4-shot Heavy Bolter at close range, but a Demolitions specialist can wound anyone in cover on a 2+ without even buying a special gun (which might be already assigned to the Heavy and Comms Gunners).
• Psychic Channeling (2CP): When a unit takes a Psychic test, roll 3 dice instead of 2 and use the 2 highest rolls.
• Honour The Chapter (2CP): At end of Fight phase, a unit can immediately fight again. Very potent if you need somebody really dead and got shit rolls, also for 4CP you can combo this with the Decisive Strike Stratagem for some... interesting results.
• Heed The Prognosticars (2CP): At start of battle round, add +1 to saving throws for a unit until the end of the battle round. Super situational since you have to use it at the begining of the battle round, you opponent can just target somebody else and ignore the buffed knight A 4++ in meele when used in conjunction with the stave.

GK Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Adeptus Custodes

Why Play Adeptus Custodes

• Pros
  • You'll be fielding some of the most overpowered motherfuckers in all Kill Team, with the most durable baseline troops in the game.
  • You enjoy making people yell "What the hell am I supposed to do about that?" when they see your team.
  • You'll be much less vulnerable to getting swarmed in Kill Team than you are in 40k as the most models your enemy can field is 20 and all you have to do is kill half of them with your insane shooting and melee prowess. This will force their Kill Team to Break, and then it's just a case of wandering around slaying shaken models indiscriminately.
• Cons
  • You'll be an even bigger that guy than the Deathwatch player who brings four frag cannons.
  • If Custodes are as elite in Kill Teams as they are in regular 40k, you'll probably be able to tally off your entire list with one hand. Every loss will likely hurt immensely - srsly, you'll probably be lucky to get any more than 3 models in a normal sized Kill Team.
  • Odds-on you'll still be vulnerable as shit to psykers unless the Silent Sisterhood are getting rules as well (they haven't been announced so I wouldn't hold your breath). On the plus side, most factions can only field 1 psyker per Kill Team, so your priority target is both obvious and when its gone there's nothing stopping you. As Vulkan said, "Their greatest strength is also their greatest weakness."

Astra Militarum

Why Play Astra Militarum

• Pros
  • Kill Team is where the variety of the Imperial Guard can really shine, allowing you play obscure or custom regiments (those fancy conversions shown off in the codex for example) that would be too troublesome to convert or too expensive to buy for a full 40k army.
  • Orders let your guardsmen shoot better, stand firmer, move faster, and fight harder than the cultists they otherwise share stats with.
  • You have the most options for accuracy buffing of most teams, dirt cheap units and special weapons.
  • With the ability to take an outrageous eight special weapons the Guard are your one stop shop for flamer, plasma, or melta spam. The sheer output of this many special weapons can annihilate some smaller elite teams but remain aware that you are extremely vulnerable to melee teams. Tyranids, Harlequins, and Death Guard can quickly overwhelm you if you don't keep your distance.
• Cons
  • No Abhumans, despite Ratlings being perfect for Kill Team operations.
  • Most of your units will drop like flies.
  • No access to heavy weapons.
  • Losing your leader, and orders, is much like Tyranids losing synapse. The rest of the match after that is probably going to be very brief and very painful.
  • Sergeants don't have access to boltguns in Kill Team. If you regularly model yours with a real man's gun in 40k you'll have to make a new one with something else for Kill Team.
  • The Commanders expansion effectively unlocked the psychic phase for just about every faction that has psykers, except you. The Guard still don't have psykers in Kill Team, or a proper defense against psychic powers, and that's a fairly serious problem when use of the psychic phase has been expanded as much as it has.

AM Special Rules

• Voice of Command: Once per battle round and if the leader is not shaken or out of action, they can issue an order to another model (not themselves) within 12" at the start of the shooting phase. These orders are:
  • Take Aim: Reroll hits of 1 until the end of the phase.
  • Bring it Down!: Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for until the end of the phase.
  • Forwards, for the Emperor!: The ordered model can shoot even if it advanced.
  • Get Back in the Fight!: The ordered model can shoot even if it fell back.
  • Move! Move! Move!: The model can advance as if it was in the movement phase.
  • Fix Bayonets!: An ordered model within 1" of an enemy can fight immediately as if it was in the fight phase.
• Vox-caster: As long as a friendly model with a vox-caster is on the field and not shaken, failed nerve tests for ASTRA MILITARUM models can be re-rolled.

AM Ranged Weapons

• Frag Grenades: Included with every Guardsman and Storm Trooper. Since grenades are exempt from the long range penalty, throw one when things get too uncomfortable. Normally only one model may throw a grenade per turn, but the Grenadiers Tactic can allow you to use as many grenades as you have CP to spend on the Tactic.
• Krak Grenades: Storm Trooper exclusive.
• Laspistol: The default pistol for the Sergeant. However, for the same cost of free, a bolt pistol can be taken in its place. Leave the laspistol for better uses, like baking potatoes during KP.
• Hot-shot Laspistol: The default pistol for the Tempestor. It is the shortest range weapon in the Guard's arsenal at 6", on par with grenades. Compared to the bolt pistol, it has less Strength but better AP.
• Bolt Pistol: The Sergeant or the Tempestor can take this for free. It is a flat upgrade for the Sergeant, should he not choose the Plasma Pistol.
• Plasma Pistol: For the cost of a measly point, the Sergeant or Tempestor may replace their laspistol with a plasma pistol. Use this if you expect to deal with MEQs, but remember to use 'Take Aim' first. While take aim makes you more likely to hit an unmodified one will still kill you. Don't overcharge unless you're sure. Modifiers are plus and minus to hit. You still get to reroll that first roll of 1 and only die if you roll another 1.
• Lasgun: The Lasgun is the default weapon of both the 'Infantry Squad' Guardsman and the 'Special Weapons Squad' Guardsman. Obviously Free. The weapon of choice for a Guard blob.
• Hot-shot Lasgun: The default zero cost pick for the glory boys. The 18" range in Kill Team will be punishing, as most enemies will drop their -1 to hit within 12" before the 9" required to reach with the hot-shot. However, the AP-2 makes this baby a lot nicer than your standard lasgun all-round, especially against GEQs and MEQs.
• Hot-shot Volley Gun: With 4 shots, S4 and AP-2, this is one of the best weapons the Guard can take for Kill Team. Scion Gunner exclusive in addition to 3 points. Obviously best used with a Heavy Specialist to re-enact scenes from Predator.
• Plasma Gun: For 3 points, a 'Infantry Squad', a 'Special Weapons Squad' Guardsman, or a Stormtrooper can have the potential to down an Astartes without any assistance, or a Primaris on an overcharge, in a single turn. Be sure to order 'Take Aim'.
• Sniper Rifle: A weapon capable of mortal wounds in addition to the standard single wound on 6+ wound rolls and doesn't suffer the long range hit penalty. Guardsmen exclusive, so it can only hit on a 4+. Therefore, you are better off leaving the sniping to the Eldar and the Scout Marines, as they will always outshoot you with their BS 3+ unless you like to use command points, waste orders, give it to a Sniper specialist, or do comm specialist baby sitting.
• Grenade Launcher: Send Krak and Flak Grenades at the range of a lasgun. Perfect for a demolitions specialist to remove the Tau plants infesting the structures. Note that this weapon is 'assault', so keep it firing. Available to both Scions and Guardsmen as of the latest FAQ. Be sure to order take aim when shooting the krak profile. 2 points.
• Flamer: For 3 Points, your guardsmen or scions can trade their worry of ballistic skill for worrying about their armor save. When use properly, however, this weapon can lock down corridors, and oust infantry dependent on cover saves. Obviously more cost effective on Guardsmen than Storm Troopers.
• Melta Gun: A true threat on the table. Expect the enemy to give priority to this model, so put it on a Storm Trooper for extra survivability (3+ save). Make him level 1 sniper for rerolling 1s to hit, and keep your comms specialist nearby to have a BS of 2+, rerolling 1s, with an almost guaranteed 2+ wound roll, and the -4 AP making sure this will drop nearly anything in shooting. Not only will the weapon drop its long range penalty at 6", but will allow the choice from two dice to select from when applying wounds instead of just 1. Great for making sure Death Guard take multiple save and injury rolls. 3 point cost.

AM Melee Weapons

• Chainsword: Default free choice for Sergeant and Tempestor. +1 Attack.
• Power Sword: A Sergeant or Tempestor may upgrade to a power sword for 1 point.
• Power Fist: A Tempestor may upgrade to a power fist for 2 points.

AM Units

• Infantry Squad Guardsmen (Leader [Sergeant Only], Heavy [Gunner Only], Comms [Vox-Caster Only], Demolitions, Scout, Sniper, Veteran): A regular old guardsmen with a lasgun isn't worth much more in Kill Team than they are in 40k, but like 40k, you can bring a lot of them for their cost, and they can shoot better than Boyz or Termagants
  • Cheap, with a base price of 5 points.
  • Infantry Squad Sergeant (1): Here he is, your cheapest leader when you want the most boys on the field. He lacks the lasgun, but he now gets a chainsword/power sword to act as your melee.
  • Infantry Squad Guardsman Gunner (1): The difference between the gunner and the average guardsman? This one gets a different weapon. He's pretty much here if you've run out of spaces for special weapons guardsmen and don't mind missing out on the specialties open to specialists.
  • Infantry Squad Guardsman with Vox-Caster (1): Only 5 points more than the run of the mill armydude and he becomes your most likely comms specialist.
• Special Weapons Squad Guardsmen (Heavy [Gunner Only], Leader, Medic, Demolitions, Scout, Sniper, Veteran): Identical to regular guardsmen, except these are the guys that can bring the special weapons you'll need to bring down the bigger nastier stuff that would otherwise mulch right through your dudes.
  • There is basically no difference between the "Infantry Squad" Guardsman and this one, save a change in keyword, and that leader are not limited to specific models from this unit.
  • Special Weapons Squad Gunner (3): Here's your means of grabbing the nice guns, which you'll probably need to fight anything tougher than a gaunt or a heretic.
• Pious Vorne (Blackstone Fortress) (Zealot): If you wanted a zealot without dipping into the specialist pool, Vorne's got you covered. Don't be fooled by that plate armor her model is wearing, though. With a 7+ save, apparently it's literally made of wet rotten cardboard. However, Vorne does get a Feel No Pain that works on 5+ and re-rolls attacks when charging or gets charged. Her lone weapon works in both melee with S+1 AP-1 or as a heavy flamer that re-rolls the number of hits when shooting CHAOS models.
• Rein & Raus (Blackstone Fortress) (Sniper [Rein Only]): The twin ratlings are always taken as a pair and it helps that Rein counts as a sniper without using the specialist cap. Rein gets to re-roll hits with his rifle if his brother can see them and Raus gets a grappling hook to climb any distance as well as a single-use demo charge that's an insta-kill. Both of them add -1 to any attacks against them if they're in cover and they can move if they shoot that turn.
• Tempestus Scion (Leader [Tempestor Only], Demolitions [Gunner Only], Heavy (Gunner Only], Comms, Medic, Scout, Sniper, Veteran]: Bigger, tougher, better guardsmen (think MEQ shooting and armour save) that have have hot-shot las weapons instead of regular las, krak grenades, and can take hot-shot volley guns instead of sniper rifles for more dakka. Take if you want a team focused on quality over quantity. Or, even if you have a team of regular dolts, it might be a good idea to bring a Tempestor as your leader to have a more survivable source of orders.
  • A regular scion can take a vox-caster for 5 additional points. The model also gains a hot-shot laspistol for free with its vox-caster and has the option of keeping or ditching its hot-shot lasgun. A scion with a vox-caster is the only model that can be a comms specialist from this unit.
  • Near double the base price of a regular guardsman at 9, and 10 for the Tempestor or Scion Gunner, so you'll be running 10 dudes at best.
  • Tempestus Scion Gunner (4): An extra point permits the gunner to grab the nice guns, including the hot-shot volley.
  • Tempestor (1): Also a point more than the average scion, but this nets him a melee weapon (chainsword, power sword, or powerfist) to throw down.

AM Commanders

• Espern Locarno (Blackstone Fortress) (Psyker): This navigator isn't much to write home about, with only a 4+ Invul and a melee weapon that deals Dd3 at S3 AP0 separating him from the common leader, but he has his psybolt that can deal mortal wounds to a designated model even if they're not the closest. Like the Grey Knights, his psybolt is limited to a 12" range.
• Platoon/Company Commander (Leadership, Logistic, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist): The cheapest commander choice in the game, only the Commissar is as cheap as the platoon commander. You can almost always afford the extra five points for +1W, Ld, and order. In no way a beatstick, the commanders give extra orders, one for the platoon, two for the company commander. Their aura tactic makes an order affect all units within 6" of the ordered model, which can be a fantastic boost for a plasma blob. Has a refractor field for a 5+ invulnerable save, which can keep them a little more durable than your opponent may expect. It may be worth it to give them the plasma pistol and power fist for emergency combat, since they are cheap.
• Tempestor Prime (Leadership, Logistic, Shooting Stealth, Strategist): More expensive and generally less useful than the Platoon and company commanders. Pays 10 extra points for the same statline as the Company Commander, except a 4+ save, but no invulnerable, a hot-shot laspistol, Krak grenades, and needing to pay an extra 2 points for the second order. Unless you think you can get a lot of extra mileage out of the 5+ overwatch from his aura, you should probably give him a pass in favor of the Company Commander.
• Commissar/Lord Commissar (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strategist): The Lord Commissar costs extra, but gets better Ld, Wounds, a BS/WS of 2+, and a 4+/5++ instead of just a 5+. While the base Commissar is a good choice if you just want the morale boosts, the LC can do fairly well in melee if equipped with a Power Fist. That said, the abilities are more geared towards holding together after everything's gone wrong, while the Platoon/Company Commander tend to be more proactive.
  • Feodor Lasko: A named Commissar with his own specialism. Really, really wishes he had a power fist. Without one, it's not worth going beyond level 1 for the durability boost. The 5 points he costs over a regular Commissar of the same level goes to paying for his Power Sword and Plasma Pistol. Can use normal Commissar exclusive tactics. Might have a 5++ Refractor Field depending on how you interpret the datacard.
    • Commissar specialism: Feodor Lasko's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: True Grit: +1 to Toughness, built into the statline.
      • Level 2: Skilled Swordsman: Re-roll unmodified 1s to hit and wound in the Fight phase.
      • Level 3: Grav-Chute Acts like an always-on version of the Level 1 Logistics Tactic.
      • Level 4: I've Had Worse!: FnP on a 5+. If he already has FnP from another source, choose which source applies and re-roll FnP results of 1.
  • Severina Raine (White Dwarf) (Leadership): Essentially a Commissar statline with a 4+ save and a slightly improved Chainsword and Bolt Pistol. Like Lasko, she can use regular Commissar exclusive tactics. She only costs 20pts but with no options for better weapons and no rules for leveling up it causes problems with a faction that already has a problem filling out 200pts while retaining a usable roster. She does have a special rule letting units within 6" automatically pass Nerve tests while she is in combat, but she doesn't have the gear, statline or specialism to survive there and neither do your guardsmen. She's basically terrible, if you like the model, take her as regular Commissar.
• Taddeus the Purifier (Blackstone Fortress) (Ferocity): You got yourself a beefy preacher with only a rosarius and 4W for protection. As a melee combatant he's not much, but re-rolls hits on a charge or when he's charged and he's got a power maul and two pistols (neither are very effective, but he gets to fire both and one of them shoots three times). He's also handy to get the troops in on the fight with his free, always-on aura granting an additional attack to the troops within 6" and to himself. Ridiculously overpriced for what he offers, as a Power Fist Lord Commissar is 19 points cheaper, infinitely more capable in combat and more than makes up for the extra attacks from your useless guardsmen.

AM Tactics

• Get Down (1 CP): When an enemy unit shoots at one of your units, so long as your unit is obscured, this adds an additional -1 penalty to their hit rolls.
• Cunning Strategy (2 CP): Your leader can issue an additional order.
• Sir, Yes Sir! (2 CP): After picking a model to be affected by an Order, everyone other than the Leader within 3" of that model also benefits from that Order. Mutually exclusive with Cunning Strategy. Not a bad idea if you wanted to stack Take Aim on a group of, say, 8 plasma gunners.
• Reconnaissance Protocols (1 CP): At the start of the first round, choose a Tempestus Scion present on the battlefield. He can move as if it was the Movement Phase, replacing their Movement characteristic with 2d6".
• Mission Critical Supplies (1 CP, Sector Imperialis Killzone): At the start of the first round, select a Munitorum Armored Container. For the rest of the battle, that container grants models from your Kill-Team that are within 1" of it -1 to their Nerve tests.
• Defensive Stand (2 CP): When one of your models is charged, its Overwatch shots hit on a 5+.
• Reserves of Courage (1 CP): In the morale phase, if a model needs to take a Nerve test it rolls a d3 instead of a d6 for the test.
• Vengeance For Cadia! (1 CP): When choosing to shoot or fire Overwatch at a Chaos Space Marine, re-roll all failed hit or wound rolls.
• Fight to the Death! (1 CP): Before an injury roll is made for a model from your Kill-Team, apply a -1 modifier to the roll.
• Adrenal Shot (1 CP): When a model suffers a mortal wound, roll a d6 for it and all future mortal wounds received. They are ignored on a 5+.
• Grenadiers (1 CP): When selecting a model to shoot with, that model may use a grenade even if another model has already done so. This Tactic can be used more than once per phase.

AM Commander Tactics

• Inspirational Command (2 CP): Its Sir, Yes Sir! except with a 6" radius and only for an order issued by your Platoon or Company Commander. A model can still only be affected by a single order per round. There is no language to prevent using it and Sir, Yes Sir! (or it and Cunning Strategy) in the same round.
• Covering Fire (Aura) (1 CP): Defensive Stand in a 6" aura while the Tempestor Prime is not shaken.
• Aura of Discipline (Aura) (1 CP): Automatically pass nerve tests in a 6" aura while the Commissar or Lord Commissar is not Shaken. It also replaces their Leadership with the Commissar's for things like the Thousand Sons' Treason of Tzeentch.
• Bellowing Voice (Feodor Lasko Commander Set) (1 CP): Gives any auras your commander has an additional 3" to radius. Lasts the entire battle round. Only applicable to the Tempestor Prime and the Commissars only they have Auras.
• I Am Your Worst Fear!(Feodor Lasko Commander Set) (Aura) (1 CP): While your Commissar or Lord Commissar is not Shaken, gives everyone Transhuman Physiology in a 6" aura.

AM Strategies

Meltaspam and Volleyspam:

At 8pts, an ordinary guardsman with a meltagun has a fair chance of deleting any model in the game should it hit. As counter intuitive as it might sound, making a scion with a meltagun your sniper is actually a quite viable choice, since you're capable of reliably hitting on 2's even when advancing to close range. However you'll be giving them to regular guard in most cases and handing Volley guns to your Scions.

The core of this strategy is based around two elements. Good use of full cover to break LOS and strategic use of orders and the universal strategy Decisive Shot. The latter is tied closely to whether you've won or lost the initiative and your enemies CP reserves. As a rule of thumb, if the enemy ends their movement phase with 1CP or less, and they have an isolated unit within 12 inches of you, that unit is dead.

Decisive shot provides priority shooting, so even if the enemy has readied that unit to shoot, you can shoot first and therefore, if you send in a scion with a +2 to hit melta, there is literally nothing the enemy can do to save their unit but hope you roll 1's.

The game has few invulnerable saves and due to how flesh wounds work, a multi wound model that loses all it's wounds in one shot is just as screwed as a single wound model. Once your enemy is aware that you can walk forward and delete units, they'll likely start treating your melta's with more respect. Fortunately for you, you're capable of forcing unfair trades.

Again, should the enemy win the initiative and decides to instead ready all their guns against your onslaught, you can move two units forward into optimal melta range. As before, using decisive shot to win initiative on one unit, and using move move move to relocate the other before the enemies readied shot goes off, hopefully leaving them without a valid target.

In this, do not be afraid to trade units with your enemies. Meltagun toting guardsmen are cheaper than any of your enemies special snowflakes- although the same doesn't necessarily apply to scions. If you win initiative, don't move closer than 9 inches to an enemy without good reason.

Considering the options available to your opponents, you can expect people trying to counterpick with long range firepower. Bear in mind, that a standard kill team board is only 30" by 20" and should have plenty of terrain offering full cover, so this isn't a dealbreaker. Anything with a range of more than about 24" inches has the same threatened area, if lower accuracy as long range weapons. Hence let's first cover your matchup against the best ranged weapon in the book, Frag Cannons.

Counterplay:

Frag cannons, which fire high explosive cheese, come to 21 points with the marine attached to them. Outside of 12 inches, they will kill you and medium infantry. Inside of twelve inches, they will kill any heavy infantry and inside of 8 inches they will kill you, your family and your dog. Probably will be FAQ'd, but until then they aren't completely unbeatable.

Their primary weakness is they come attached to 1 wound MEQ's. The optimal configuration for a frag cannon team is a normal, Heavy, a Comms and a Sniper backed up by a Leader with a normal bolter. From your box of boys, should you expect to face seal team Chedder, you have two basic options. Pick your specialists to work outside of 24 inches and try and plink the enemy down (which in guard doesn't work due to the weapon options on offer), or go danger close with melta and plasma. Your enemy will be on a common turn of shooting, be hitting on 2-3+ often with re-rolls of 1's. Due to ignoring the penalties of the first flesh wound, anything less than a confirmed kill is meaningless, as by the time a second flesh wound is inflicted, it's fairly likely that the enemy will be closing to use their 2d6 autohitting mode.

The issue with trying to outrange fragspam as any faction is the aforementioned size of the table and terrain density. A marine with a frag cannon can move and be in range to hit anything on the board, with the accuracy to hit it outside of 12". They can be in flamer range within two turns, and then you're at the mercy of an average of 7 S6 hits splitfired at everything you love and care about. If they win the initiative, expect to be facing high accuracy readied shots and aggressive placements.

If you're trying to fight at range your choice is to either duke it out with them or move to break LOS. Bear in mind that should you instakill a deathwatch and the player has CP remaining, the player will take another round of shooting with them. Moreover as AM, you only have one weapon which outranges your enemy. Sniper rifles. You can also only take them on regular guardsmen, but taking them eats into the number of actually useful weapons you can field.

Having considered what we can't do, lets consider what we can do. 4 scion gunners with hot shot volleyguns are 13 pts a piece and under most circumstances won't go any worse than a 4-5 to hit. In a 100 pt game you can take 4 scion gunners with hot shot volley guns, at 13 points a pop. On average considering the buffs on offer, terrain, range and cover and heavy weapon movement penalties, you can expect your scions to be regularly around BS4. A single scion who shoots at this strength is capable of putting one wound on a marine. Should the enemy be in cover, you have about a 60% chance of inflicting a flesh wound, which means basically nothing for Astarte shooting.

The obvious answer to this is to buff accuracy further and focus fire. The obvious problem with this is if you and your opponent are taking turns shooting, the odds are on his side- you need two rounds of shooting to take him out, he only needs one to take two of your models out. Even if you increase one models accuracy so that it hit's on 2's, you're still likely to only inflict a flesh wound. If you try to take a decisive shot, even if you've got a volley gun hitting on 2's, you're still left with a coinflip as to whether your target will actually die if they're in cover.

Basically, exchanging fire like this will cause you to lose models faster than your enemy- but fret not, for that's where the melta tactics we discussed earlier come into play. This also works with plasma, but if you plan to use specialists, Melta will get more Milage. If you plan for them to die the moment they leave cover, then rapid fire that overcharged plasma by all means. If you start forcing one for one trades, where win or lose the enemy is left with only one target to shoot at, then you can grind them off the board. Using comms and orders a normal 8pt guardsman who's walked into range can decisive shot at an impressive +2 to hit the target he's flanked.

Against other factions, your tactics will vary significantly, depending on whether or not you want your specialists to be part of team Melta or team Volley Gun. Meltas are overkill for orks, but on normal troops either melta or plasma is still worth taking since it will prevent anything surviving with flesh wounds. Your enemy may either spam deffguns or bring a heavy deffgun loota and buff him with comms. In the latter case, focus him down first, and unless the comms is armed with a big shoota, ignore it. The only other unit you really need to worry about is a nob with a combi-skorcha. If said nob gets into range and you've blobbed up behind cover, Dakka Dakka will occur, and tears will flow. Don't give him the opportunity.

Your safety distance in a given movement phase is 9 inches. Even though orks re-roll charges, they aren't exactly flush with ways of getting extra moves. Play smart, the major threats are the same durability as basic boyz, so prioritise between specialists and anything which will start next turn within 9 of one of your units. Be careful of any sneaky grot objective capping that might occur if they've backed you into one side of the board.

Nids are a tougher nut to crack. They're better equipped to get into CC with you. Volley guns are still the name of the game, but you'll want to back them up with flamers, since even if they should double move, if they charge from 9 inches, you can simply fall back and they'll need 11 to get to CC. Melta should still be brought, since they make Lictor's cry.

Against any CC army, if you win the initiative, unless your leader is capable of ordering 'get back in the fight' or you have other specialist/activated abilities handy, do not bother falling back from any combats you might be in. Your enemy will simply re-charge you, you don't get overwatch and will just end back in the fight with the enemy hitting first. If you lose the initiative,. You can't charge again if you started the movement phase within 1" of an opposing model (even if they leave your model by falling back). Relevant rule: "When you pick a model to move, if that model started the movement phase within 1 inch of an enemy model, it cannot make a normal move" Core rules p.22. You should always fall back from any given combat and let the rest of your army shoot the now gormless CC sitting in the open.

Deathguard are stupidly tough, to the point where consider strongly taking more high damage weapons and aiming for high accuracy close range exchanges can be advisable- though be wary of poxwalker spam, either as soft cover or objective capping. If the enemy has an entire team of poxwalkers for some bizarre reason, you can kite them around the board as you whittle them down; no charge phase and similar base movement scores, along with orders means they'll struggle to actually catch you. If they do catch you, expect a quick and painful death at the hands of a Flail of Corruption-toting Plague Marine Combat Specialist with +1 to all hit and wound rolls, especially as you're T3 Sv 5+ W1 facing a possible 9 S6 AP -2 D2 attacks, and DttFE can result in them getting another d3 attacks on you on a hit roll of 6 (shoot those guys first).

Eldar, should you actually hit them, will find it difficult to endure volley guns. If they're trying to slink around and exchange shots from cover, show them whose boss, use comms and the sniper CP buff and split the resultant +2 to hit shots against all the units that they thought were safe simply because they happened to be 22 inches away and obscured. Due to flesh wounds they have a fair chance of living making this less than 'optimal', but seeing you perform such a feat may cause your opponent to make a misplay, and also if that's the first shot in the shooting phase, any survivors will find it harder to return fire.

An interesting combo is to use a demolitions volleygunner with orders and Comms, for and impressive result 3's to hit against units at long range and in cover, and with +2 to wound against units in cover. Said gunner will wound basically anything on a 2, making it a force to be reckoned with, particularly against enemies in cover inside 12" (which is anyone who was planning of charging into CC next turn) since they're both hitting and wounding on 2's and shredding armour.

With Harly's, avoid taking refuge inside structures, otherwise you may find yourself in the unpleasant situation of your enemy walking over the roof to drop straight onto you. Should the harly player win initiative and successfully enter CC, consider moving all your other units away from the doomed one to avoid being immediately charged next turn. Terrain is basically meaningless against them, so although their pistols are deadly, you're in a strange situation where open space is safer than cover that might ultimately lead to your units getting boxed in- even considering factors such as intervening terrain in melee. Expect the Clowns to take full advantage of their mobility and the existence of difficult/dangerous terrain in kill team.

These are one of the units that Melta's don't shine against due to the whole invulnerable save thing and only having one wound anyway. These are also one of the few units you might want spend CP on to hit your overwatch on 5-6's. Don't expect flamers to see much use on overwatch thanks to the Harly's 3d6 charge, and because they ignore units as well as terrain. Grenade launchers aren't bad against them, nor are flamers, however, don't expect to get the opportunity to use the latter.

Remember, if you win the initiative, but can't avoid being charged for whatever reason, you can use a more expendable unit to counter-charge the enemy, and thereby prevent them getting into CC with multiple units at once. The difficulty of facing Clowns is heavily tied to the objective and board setup. If for whatever reason there's 500 bucks worth of assorted terrain in your killzone, good luck. What you can hope for is that the table/objectives force a situation where a Harly cannot end their movement phase outside of LOS in an unflankable position or in CC, at which point your guns will slice through them like butter.

If you want to actually go on the offensive against Harliquens with a ranged setup, you must lose the initiative in order to be able to advance for shooting without the danger of being charged before you get a shot off. If you manage to catch one off guard by advancing up to where one is hiding, then you may end up rolling against your opponent on the decisive shot- with a fusion pistol blast being the price of failure.

One thing to bear in mind is that since harlequins are so fragile, pistol fire in CC can kill them before the fight phase, and the Harly player will be unwilling to kill you before the end of the shooting phase, if doing so would leave him outside of combat and therefore vulnerable to being shot. Secondly, with 'Fix Bayonets' if you do have a CC guardsman, then he has the opportunity to fight before the xeno's can even think about shooting.

While the odds aren't great, it's nonetheless one of the best uses for that strategy, should you have nothing better to do with your order. If you're playing with the 'exclusive' IG tactics provided in the IG kill team box, Sir Yes Sir has interesting potential for winning the fight phase outside of the fight phase. However, Harly's have one advantage that we haven't covered yet, which is that keeping your leader out of harms way behind solid walls doesn't do anything. On a standard game-board, this can mean that he'll be getting charged by a space elf through two buildings and a promethium pipe as early as turn 2. Expect them to do this every time and at the earliest opportunity. There's no good general way to deal with this, as if you want to support troops with orders, you must remain within 12" and objectives will often require you to do things that don't involve camping the far corner of your deployment zone. In summary this is potentially one of your most difficult matchups.

Dark eldar are interesting. You don't really care about poisoned, since you're not known for your toughness anyway. Going for volume of fire over damage here is the temptation, but, it's not a terrible idea to continue with plasma/melta simply because of their merit as weapons which will almost certainly kill their targets and deny the privilege of a flesh wound. This is more important than against, say Clowns, not only because they lack an invulnerable save, but because compared to you, they can't take nearly as many special weapons. You'll want to use a heavy scion with an accuracy buff to attempt a decisive shot snipe on their gunners before they can make their points back with their splinter cannons. These guys are like Nid's for CC, in that flamers can deter a charge, simply because the odds are against anyone charging in from outside flamer range due to the reaction rules. Be wary of their troops trying to position to make charges that avoid overwatch. Also, and this applies to any eldar player, if they start bundling their troops out of LOS with 3 CP in their bank, then they're planning to attempt a decisive shot followed by fire and fade.

It's worth being wary of players who aim for morale damage as a priority- but don't obsess over it. Consider your options if you start being denied your special abilities due to units becoming shaken, but don't let it stop you from making the best plays you can. Hot shot volley guns will cut through these guy's like a knife through butter. If you're looking to catch an enemy off-guard, there's a special, but, not necessarily advisable tactic that bears mention here. Since CC is the safest place to be, players may seek to take refuge in it to wait out the shooting phase, leading to multiple models charging into combat with a single enemy model, eschewing cover if they can make such a charge reliably and it will put them closer to the main enemy force. No enemy with any smarts will use pistols if it will take them out of CC while there are models who can shoot at them still alive.

However, bizarrely enough, should a model with a plasma pistol decide to overcharge and die for it, they can leave an entire wad of units just sitting out in the open as a big fat juicy target. It's a long shot strategy, but one your opponent is unlikely to see coming- unless they've read this page of course.

Necrons get to cry since for now as a faction, they have to take sniper specialisations on snipers and not more useful weapons. Reanimation protocols is annoying, as it is, it's actually More Likely to trigger should they get hit by high damage weapons wat. On top of that, 'Prime Reanimation protocols' needs clearer wording, since as it is, it could potentially block the activation of the reanimation protocol special rule.

Your priority target is their comms. They don't get to take heavies, but expect their comms to be buffing an immortal with a Tesla Carbine, since it lacks the 'unmodified' keyword from it's special rule (Not that it's a good thing, see below). Because of the wording on the comm's ability, it might even be an immortal buffing itself. Thankfully in matched play, their level 1 specialist choices aren't nearly as effective as yours. Flayed one's are scary in CC, but don't really have the tools that other races do to close the distance. Their weapons are the same range as yours, but as we've discussed because of orders and specialisations, as well as the fact that their weapons are all rapid fire, you will win a long distance shooting battle with relative ease. Let the hotshots do their job, use cover and occasionally the guard strat to maximise their hit penalties.

Your arrangement will be, 1 Volley heavy, 1 Volley sniper, a normal volley and a Volley Comms backed up by a leader. Comms buffs itself and the leader uses 2 CP (assuming you didn't need it for a decisive shot) to buff both the heavy and the normal volley, so all four reach BS+2. If both sides are at range and in cover, your enemy will have BS+5 with one shot per unit, with the exception of tesla guns. Tesla guns against units at range and in cover become rather pitiful, since even with comms, their special rule cannot proc, due to requiring a modified hit roll of 6. Since it is impossible for the enemy to roll above an effective 5 no matter what configuration they're in under these circumstances, they're not particularly threatening. Meanwhile, you have 16 shots at BS+4 which will wound 2-4 Necrons, and likely put two to rest for good. While your scions provide this barrage of firepower, you can move the rest of your group to play the objective, or simply provide great volumes of uncharged plasma. If the enemy doesn't advance, they'll spend 2-3 turns in the present state of affairs before they can close to "12 since their weapons are almost exclusively rapid fire not assault and therefore they'll be less inclined to advance. Since you have the advantage in a straight fight, keep your mind on what the objective is, since that's the more likely way for your opponent to snatch victory here.

Tau possess, for now uniquely, flying units in the form of drones and stealth suits. You don't really care though since you aren't planning on engaging them in CC, right? Same goes for their 'for the greater good special rule. The rail rifle is the sniper rifle that everyone would actually want their snipers to take. Too bad it's on a unit with a base BS of 4. Markerlights are scary, but, that's only until you realise that the markerlight itself still has to hit. It may have a range of 36, but it's a heavy weapon. So, if they've moved and you're in cover, that's 6's to hit and they've just wasted their entire shooting phase, to possibly give a bonus to hit against a single one of your models. If they proc the tactic, again it can get scary, but, they still have to roll 1d3, and it's still a bonus to hit against a single model. This is great and all, but, since in order to proc it in the first place, if involves designating a model to fire a weapon, if they do this they've likely just yielded you several consecutive turns in the shooting order, during which time you can actually frigging do some damage.

Finally, after all that, even if they get a maximum markerlight count on you, if a pathfinder sniper with a railgun fires at you from across the board, point out to your enemy that Rail rifles take penalties for long range. This means that only if they bank 3 CP and manage to roll max on markerlights (assuming they managed to hit with them) will their snipers hit on 2's (you're in cover, right? If not, get in cover(Well, recon drones mean that you'd be better outside of cover actually so pay attention to that)). And if you still have CP banked you can always have your model use 'get down', reducing their accuracy back to 3. Should the enemy hit, they'll almost certainly kill you, but they'll have paid dearly for it in actions and CP.

Rail rifles and ion rifles are rapid fire 30" so look to punish them while they try to close to 15" using your superior BS. While your scions handle their more fragile units, have your special weapons guard initiate decisive shot tactics against any stealthsuits with melta/plasma once more. Pay more attention to cover than usual during close range firefights against them since a round of shooting from one is entirely survivable if you happen to be obscured. If the stealth-suits are still alive once your scions have cut down their other kill team members, volleys will help clean up. If the enemy has gone pathfinder heavy, strongly consider taking out recon/pulse accelerator drones that they might be hoping to use as soft accuracy buffs. Force them to fight on your terms.

More to come as research is performed.

AM Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing Accept that you're probably going to lose.

Adeptus Mechanicus

Why Play Adeptus Mechanicus

• Pros
  • A versatile middle spot between IG and SM, with units that can hit hard at long range, move fast into melee, and cause all kinds of pain everywhere in between.
  • Shroudpsalm with cover gives your opponent total of -2 to hit.
  • A kill-team that can be very versatile by combining good Dakka (six Gunners) with fast yet tanky melee specialists.
  • You're as hardy as mortals come. 4+/6++ means anyone with AP-3 is paying for extras they won't use.
• Cons
  • The randomness of the canticles can be frustrating at times.
  • No Medic, but worst of all, no Demolition Specialist. Funnily, the heavy weapon is too heavy for even Heavies to benefit.
  • While the individual models are very good, they're very expensive with no cheap bodies to be found. That means a Mechanicus Kill-Team is going to be a very tight-knit, elite, tactical affair. You can't afford to sacrifice models or get bogged down by fast melee units. Your Kill Team will be 11 naked Skitarii at most.
  • Tyranids, in general, can shut you down HARD with multiple super fast and cheap Hormagaunts tying you up, and a couple Lictors murdering your expensive models turn by turn. You do have counters against the spammable or the big fast ones (Sicarians, Plasma), but the thing is you have to prepare for it. It's not like you aren't putting out the firepower of a kill-team twice your size, though.

AdMech Special Rules

Canticles of the Omnissiah Either roll or select one at the start of the battle round. The same Canticle may not be picked twice in the same battle, but you can always roll even if you picked them before. Therefore, you could pick the one that helps you the most for when you want to supercharge/melee, and keep on rolling afterwards. Half of them are active in the Fight phase so, despite being mostly random, they're a thing to think about while creating your Kill Team.

1. Incantation of the Iron Soul: Re-roll failed Nerve tests for models in your kill team. Not bad, but you don't know whether you'll need it or not. The Enhanced Data-tether does the same, but that depends on a model.
2. Litany of the Electromancer: Roll a D6 for each enemy model within 1" of any of yours at the start of the Fight phase, and they'll suffer a mortal wound on a 6.
3. Chant of the Remorseless Fist: Re-roll hits of 1 for your models in the Fight phase.
4. Shroudpsalm: Enemies shooting at your obscured models suffer an additional -1 to hit. Even BS3+ marines are forced to hit you on a 6+ from beyond 12".
5. Invocation of Machine Might: +1 Str to your models. Vanguards will wound rad-weakened GEQ on a 2+, and makes Sicarians' jobs easier...for that turn.
6. Benediction of the Omnissiah: Re-roll hits of 1 for your models in the Shooting phase. Everyone is a Sniper this turn! It's plasma time.

• Bionics: All your models have a 6++.
• Rad-saturation: -1T for enemies within 1" of a Vanguard. They're still ranged units, but it helps them fight back, especially with a Canticle. Nearby Sicarians can also pounce on rad-weakened models that are in combat with Vanguards.
• Omnispex: At the start of the shooting phase, pick another of your units within 3" of the bearer. That model doesn't suffer penalties to their hit or injury rolls due to the target being obscured. It'll be your Gunners' best friend.
• Enhanced Data-tether: All your units re-roll failed Nerve tests as long as the bearer is on the battlefield and not shaken. So, that's cool. But the REAL reason you buy this is because it doubles the effect of Doctrina Imperatives within 6" of the bearer, making Taser goads generate extra hits on a 4+. Useful in the extreme with all the hit penalties to shooting in KT.

AdMech Ranged Weapons

Skitarii weapons

• Galvanic Rifle: Rapid Fire S4 with excellent 30" range. Gets AP-1 on a wound roll of 6.
• Radium Carbine: 18" Assault 3 S3 cancer gun. It does Damage 3 on a wound roll of 6+, and its excellent rate of fire means you're going to see it proc.

Gunner weapons

• Arc Rifle: 24" Rapid Fire S6 AP-1. If you are short on points this can be a dandy little gun to put on your extra Ranger Gunners, 10 points is a pretty good deal for what you get.
• Plasma Caliver: 18" Assault 2 plasma gun. Less range, but slightly better fire rate. The supercharge can make short work of even the biggest stuff.
• Transuranic Arquebus: Grimdark .50 cal sniper, ignoring range penalties and dealing a mortal wound on a wound roll of 6+ on top of S7 AP-2 D3. It can't shoot the same turn you move, so you'll basically fire it when readied. At least 60" range means you can reach whatever you see.

Infiltrator pistols

• Flechette Blaster: 12" Pistol 5. Even with S3 it's going to drop someone.
• Stubcarbine: 18" Bolt Pistol 3. A damn good gun for a melee model tbh.

Alpha Pistols

• Arc Pistol: There's no vehicles in KT, yet this is still a powerful S6 AP-1 weapon in 12" Pistol 1 form, wounding everyone in the game on a 3+. GEQs and rad-weakened marines like it even less.
• Phosphor Pistol: The iconic Alpha revolver, it ignores the penalty to hit obscured targets. Good, because being a 12" Pistol you almost always shoot with a penalty. S5 AP-1 to wound anything short of a Plague marine on a 3+. Or a 2+ if your Vanguard closes in.
• Radium Pistol: 12" Pistol 1 cancer gun. Occasional 2 damage on a wound roll of 6+ makes it capable of dropping a 2W model, like Exarchs, which the other pistols can't.

Tech-Priest Weapons

• Macrostubber: The angry lovechild of a flechette blaster and a stubcarbine 12" Pistol 5 S4 Ap-. A prime candidate for stratagems for improving S/AP/D or for a shooting specialist to shoot twice per turn. May be hindered by it's short range but your Dominus is no stranger to melee if charged.
• Phosphor Serpenta: 18" Assault 1 S5 Ap-1. Looks mediocre for a 4pt upgrade from the macrostubber but is unaffected by models being obscured and allows the dominus to also fire their volkite blaster or eradication ray.
• Volkite Blaster: 24" Heavy 3 S6 AP0 D1, deals a mortal wound in addition to normal damage on a 6+ to wound. Free default weapon for your Dominus.
• Eradication Ray: 24" Heavy D6 S6 AP-2 D1, upgrades to AP-4 and DD3 when shooting within 8". Hits like a truck but costs an additional 14pts on top of the already expensive Dominus. Note that due to points limits you cannot take this on an L4 Dominus.
• Laspistol: Your enginseer goes into battle bearing the MIGHTY LASPISTOL. S3 lovetap at 12".
• Magnarail Lance: 18" Heavy 1 S7 AP-3 DD3, increases to D3 if you didn't move this turn. Default weapon for the Manipulus.
• Transonic Cannon: 8" Assault D6 S4 AP-1 D2 auto-hitting like a flamer. Weapon upgrade for the Manipulus, 10pts, only way for AdMech to get a flamer at present.

AdMech Melee Weapons

Alpha exclusive

• Arc Maul: The iconic night stick. S+2(5) AP-1 gives you a glimmer of hope against MEQ and those things you may not want to be in melee with.

Alpha & Infiltrator

• Power sword: Ol' reliable S(U) AP-3. Infiltrator S4 and Vanguard Rad-saturation means this blade behaves the same on either unit.
• Taser goad: S+2, hits thrice on a 6+ to hit, so Conqueror Imperative means exploding dice on 5+ or even 4+ near the Data-tether.

Ruststalker exclusive

• Chordclaw: S(U) D3 damage. Becomes D3 mortal wound on a wound roll of 6 instead. Only one of the model's attacks can be a chordclaw.
• Transonic Razor: S(U) that becomes a mortal wound on a 6.
• Transonic Blades: S+1 Razor.

Tech-Priest Exclusive

• Omnissian Axe: Melee whooping stick for both the Enginseer and Dominus, let's them hit at S5 with AP-2 and D2. The extra damage helps to make sure whatever you wound stays down.
• Servo-Arm: Power fist for enginseers, unfortunately can only be used for a single attack hitting at WS5+.
• Omnissian Staff: S+2 AP-1 D2 hitty-stick for the Manipulus.
• Mechadendrites: D6 additional S(U) AP0 D1 attacks for the Manipulus.

AdMech Units

Skitarii: Your basic troopers. Good dakka, decent armour, akin to Scions with better basic guns, more range, and more rules, for the same price.

• Skitarii Rangers (Leader [Alpha only], Heavy [Gunner only], Comms, Scout, Sniper, Zealot): More than non-radioactive Vanguards, but you do pay the same points as for them, without acquiring the sweet, sweet radiation. Your only source of Galvanic rifles, they get to rapid fire (and ditch the long range penalty) before tactical marines do, so there's that for starters. They're also a good source of a second Omnispex or Data-tether, and their range allows them to act like a spotter for even your Transuranic gunner, so an Omnispex Galvanic Comms specialist isn't such a crazy idea. Tau Fire warriors wound GEQ on 3+ from 30" away? So do these guys, without having to spend markerlights to hit on 3+.
  • Ranger Gunners (3): Extra muscle to supplement your Vanguard gunners - they could wield plasma from 18" while Arc Vanguards close into RF range, things like that.
  • Ranger Alpha (1): Sergeant figure. If you want your Leader to keep the most distance possible instead of risking him in melee, this is your guy. Or keep him near a Vanguard model for the same effect.
• Skitarii Vanguard (Leader [Alpha only], Heavy [Gunner only], Comms, Scout, Sniper, Zealot): Despite being ranged models, their rad-saturation weakens enemies, allowing a counter attack or at the very least serving as a deterrent. You can (read should) have one with either an Omnispex or a Data-tether, so that can be your Comms guy, and their rate of fire is so high that it's not unthinkable to have one be a Scout. While they do a good job as Snipers (3 shots to re-roll) or Zealots (2 S4 punches on a T3 marine), other units can benefit more.
  • Vanguard Gunner (3): The Heavy can dash around with a Carbine or Caliver without penalty, and even increase their already good rates of fire with More Bullets, and the Sniper can re-roll those plasma 1s so you don't depend entirely on the Canticle. The Transuranic Arquebus is outright nasty, but it does require careful positioning. Keep them around your Omnispex/Data-tether bearer for best results.
  • Vanguard Alpha (1): Radioactive Sergeant figure. He's got an actual use for pistols, since he can use them on rad-weakened enemies.

Sicarians: Basically Mechanicum Primaris. Their 8" move and lots of base Str4 attacks make these guys your dedicated brawlers, akin to lighter, faster Primaris but with dedicated melee weapons. They are expensive, but their 2W makes them a good candidate for Specialisms, better able to survive a battle.

• Sicarian Ruststalkers (Leader [Princeps only], Combat, Comms, Scout, Veteran, Zealot): Ruststalkers are there to bully the small guys, making confetti out of those Hormagaunts while your Gunners blast appart the bigger models. Their 3 attacks at S5 (Blades) make them a menace for even Harlequins and marines.
  • Ruststalker Princeps (1): Besides the usual +1Ld +1A sergeant upgrades, the Princeps also comes with a Chordclaw. While he can't swap it out, that also means he can combine it with the +1Str Transonic Blades, unlike the baseline Ruststalkers who must choose either paired Blades or a Razor + Chordclaw loadout.
• Sicarian Infiltrators (Leader [Princeps], Combat, Comms, Scout, Veteran, Zealot): Mechanicum Reivers, with a -1Ld aura. Despite being oriented to melee, their Stubcarbines gives them plenty of ranged attack. Stubcarbines are paired to power swords, which all but deny armour saves and can be further boosted by Invocation of the Machine Might or Rad-saturation. Or they can switch to a Flechette blaster and taser goad to throw an insane amount of hits and deal with invuln saves, like Harlequins'. Besides being a Combat specialist, an Infiltrator Veteran can make good use of Adaptive tactics with its 8" movement and Stubcarbine. If you don't have enough CP for Conqueror Doctrine but you do have 1pt for the Taser Goad, a Zealot using Killing Frenzy will proc an extra attack on top of the extra goad hits on a 6+.
  • Infiltrator Princeps (1): +1Ld and +1A to better stab people or proc extra Taser hits with. Durable, fast and competent in both melee and ranged combat, he's a nice choice to be a Leader.

UR-025 (Blackstone Fortress) (Heavy): Abominable Intelligence? In MY Mechanicus?! REEEEEEE - But seriously, while UR-025 is underwhelming in 40k, this motherfucker is the toughest of toughs in Kill Team. He's got T5 and a 3+ save to make him astartes-tier tanky, he heals a wound each round, and he's a Heavy without dipping into your specialist cap. He's also got a power fist and an assault cannon to guarantee he's gonna be in a fight. The one big drawback (aside from his 30 point cost and 5" movement) is that he'll never benefit from your canticles.

AdMech Commanders

• Tech-Priest Enginseer (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Shooting, Strategist, Strength): Same stats as his 40k incarnation, definitely more of a leader than a straight fighter with only a laspistol and 2 attacks to split between his axe and servo-arm at a 4+ to hit (5+ with the servo-arm).
• Tech-Priest Dominus (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Shooting, Strategist, Strength): Straight copy/paste of his/her/its/xe's stat line from normal 40k along with the same weapon options. Possibly the tankiest model in killteam with a 2+/5++ and automatically restoring D3 (of 5) wounds per turn. Capable in both melee with a D2 power axe and at range with a variety of heavy weapons.
  • Possibly best as a Lv.2 Shooting specialist for 10 S4 shots at BS2+ rerolling 1's with a macrostubber. Or strategist for that juicy command point.
  • Don't discard Fortitude either; the Dominus is already tough and the higher traits can make him borderline unkillable. Want to shrug off an entire KTs' worth of supercharged plasma? If you can afford it, grab 1/2 damage and an extra T - the first gives him more room to regen and the second does a lot to stop him from needing to. If you can only make Level 1 though, pick something else. There's better L1 options.
  • The only thing to watch out for is victory points - this guy is one of the costliest models in the game, beaten only by the Tyranid Broodlord and GSC Patriarch (and those only by 1 point!). If your opponent decides to play the objective instead of killing him, you may not have the model count to stop them.
  • Magos Dalathrust: Unique version of the Tech-Priest Dominus. Kinda meh, but has a good survivability (such as Fortitude Specialism) and some damage potential (not as Fortitude Specialism). Their skills are mainly copy-pasted tactics for free.
    • Tech-Priest Dominus specialism: Magos Dalathrust's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1:Unblinking (130): When this model fires Overwatch, they sucesfully hit with a roll of 5 or 6. Free Auto-Tracking Software, always useful against melee teams.
      • Level 2:Loyal Adherents (150): When you fail a saving throw for this model, if there is another model from your kill team within 2" of it (excluding shaken models) roll a D6, on a 2+ the attack is inflicted on that model instead of this model. Free Look Out, Sir!, could make this tank even tankier.
      • Level 3:Forbidden Technology (170): +1 Damage for this model ranged weapon. PURE GOLD, now you have a Macrostubber with 2D, 5 shots nearly guarantees a kill.
      • Level 4:All Part of the Plan (195): You can add or subtract 1 from any roll (yours or of the other players) to determine wether or not the mission ends. Circumstantial, but useful if you have a slightly advantage at the first roll of this type.
• Tech-Priest Manipulus (Theta-7 Acquisitus)(Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Shooting, Strategist, Strength):
  • Balphamus Vaulk:
    • Tech-Priest Manipulus(?) specialism: Balphamus Vaulk's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: Sentient Scopes: Reroll 1's on hits in the Shooting phase.
      • Level 2: System Cleanse: Roll a 5+ at the start of the battle round to remove shaken
      • Level 3: Binharic Wrath: +1 Attack in the fight phase in rounds that you charged
      • Level 4: Data Surge: Pick a canticle thats not currently in affect and this model gets the benefits of that IN ADDITION to the general one.

AdMech Tactics

• Protector Doctrina Imperative (2CP): Adds 1 to hit rolls for a shooting unit until the end of the phase. Add 2 if they're within 6" of a unit with a data tether.
• Conqueror Doctrina Imperative (2CP): Adds 1 to hit rolls for a fighting unit until the end of the phase. Add 2 if they're within 6" of a unit with a data tether.
• Dunestrider (1CP): During an advance, roll two dice and pick one.
• Gloria Mechanicus (1CP): After determining the canticle, use this tactic to reroll it.
• Scryer Skull (1CP): If your opponent picks the Plant Traps strategy in the Scouting phase, in the Movement phase you can pick a piece of terrain within 6" of your leader and make your opponent reveal whether or not they've booby-trapped it.
• Optimal Conditions (1CP): Use this Tactic at the start of the Movement phase. Add 1 to charge rolls made for models in your kill team until the end of the phase.
• Transonic Attunement (2CP): Use this Tactic in the Fight phase when a model from your kill team armed with transonic blades, a transonic razor or a chordclaw is chosen to attack. Until the end of the phase, add 1 to wound rolls for attacks made by that model with any of these weapons. (changed CP value on Theta 7 acquisitus set)
• Stabilization Actuators (1CP): Use this Tactic before you take a Falling test for a model from your kill team. You can re-roll the dice when taking this test, and the taking any further Falling tests for that model in this battle round.
• Auto-Tracking Software (1CP): Use this Tactic in the Movement Phase when an opponent declares a charge against a model from your kill team. When that model fires overwatch this phase they successfully hit on 5 or 6.
• Hyper-Penetrative Shot (2CP): Use this Tactic when you pick a model form your kill team armed with a transuranic arquebus to shoot. Until the end of the phase attack made with this weapon do not suffer the penalties to hit rolls or Injury rolls for the target being obscured.
• Reknit Circuitry (1CP) Pick a model at the start of the morale phase to heal D3 flesh wounds. Comes in the Theta-7 Acquisitus box. For 1CP this is awesome as this faction does not have a medic. Remember, it heals 'Flesh Wounds', not 'Wounds'. Note that this takes place at the start of the morale phase so it helps with those checks as well.
• Defensive Interfacing (1CP) Sector Fronteris specific. Use at the start of a round. For that round re-roll 1s to hit in overwatch if a firing model is within 3" of a Ryza-Ruin. Comes in the Theta-7 Acquisitus box and kind of meh. Unless you're drowning in CP you've got better things to spend it on.
• The Machine God's Will (1CP) Use this tactic at the start of the Morale phase. Ignore all modifiers to the first Nerve test you make this phase. Nice if a model is on their own, but you ignore both positive & negative modifiers.
• Alpha Target Proximate (1CP) Use this tactic at the start of the Fight phase. Pick a model from your kill team. Until the end of the phase, re-roll wound rolls of 1 for that model.
• Neurostatic Shock (1CP) Use this tactic at the start of the Morale phase. Pick a Sicarian Infiltrator from your kill team that is not shaken. Until the end of the phase, subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy models that are within 3" of that model. This is cumulative with the Neurostatic Aura ability. EZ Break & Nerve tests.
• Trauma Override Protocol (1CP) Use this tactic at the start of the Movement phase. Pick a model from your kill team which has an invulnerable save. Until the start of the next Movement phase, that model's invulnerable save is improved by 1 (to a maximum of 3+).
• Zealous Disciples (2CP) Use this tactic at the start of the battle round, before picking a Canticle of the Omnissiah. You may pick a Canticle to be in effect that has already been chosen in a previous battle round. This tactic may only be used once per battle.

AdMech Commander Tactics

• Repair Artisan (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if you have a non-shaken Enginseer in your Kill-Team. Models within 3" of the Enginseer get FnP on a 6+. If an affected model already had FnP, it can choose which source of FnP they want to use and will be able to re-roll 1s on the FnP roll.
• Lord of the Machine Cult (1 CP): Tech Priest Dominus tactic that allows friendly models to reroll hit rolls of 1 in the shooting phase.
• Xenotech Divination (2CP): Use this tactic at the end of a mission in which any of your opponents used any models that did not have the IMPERIUM or CHAOS keyword, if your kill team includes a Tech-Priest Dominus that is not out of action or shaken. If you do, roll a D6; on a 5+ you gain 1 Materiel. You can only use this tactic once per mission.
• Auto Repair Protocol (1 CP): Use at the start of the battle round if your kill team contains a commander. If that model isn't shaken, it regains one lost wound.
• Galvanic Pulse (1CP): Aura tactic for the Manipulus. Boosts movement of nearby models by 1". Situational and doesn't apply to charge/advance but could be useful to get your team into a good position on turns 1/2. You won't always use it but remember you can.

AdMech Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• Ranger Alpha (Leader) w/ Galvanic rifle; 10 pts.
• Infiltrator princeps (Combat) w/ Taser goad and Flechette blaster; 16 pts.
• Ranger Gunner (Sniper) w/ Transuranic arquebus; 14 pts.
• Ranger (Comms) w/ Galvanic rifle and Omnispex; 10 pts.
• Infiltrator w/ Power Sword and Stub carbine; 14 pts.
• Vanguard gunner w/ Plasma caliver; 13 pts.
• Vanguard gunner w/ Plasma caliver; 13 pts.
• Vanguard gunner w/ Arc rifle; 10 pts.

100 pts.

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Elucidian Starstriders (Rogue Trader)

Why play Elucidian Starstriders

• Pros
  • You get to play as a Rogue Trader!
  • You can have up to 7 Specialists, due to some models in the Kill-Team being Specialists by default.
  • Your Commander has access to "normal" Specialisms plus Strategist, instead of the common Commander Specialisms.
  • Several 2W units for an otherwise too much squishy team.
  • You get doggo.

• Cons
  • Not much room to choose which units you can bring with you. If you aren't playing a mission that lets you use Commanders, you literally only have one possible team formation. And given that Knosso, Larsen and Sanistasia all have pre-defined Specialisms and Nitsch is your only Leader, you don't have many options to experiment with different Specialists.
  • Voidsman Gunner and Knosso Prond are your main source of damage (quickly followed by Nitsch), without team you could also surrender.
  • Your units are all on the squishy side.
  • This team requires some severe training to be used, all specialist members need to be protecetd (without the Comms you have no 5++, without Nitsch no easy mortal wounds, without Knosso no fighting ability...).
  • Underwhelming in no Commander matches (CPs are too useful here).

Special Rules

• Specialist Retainer: Units with this rule have only one Specialist type available to them, but do not count against the normal maximum number of specialists you can have.

Ranged Weapons

• Lasgun: You know'em, you love'em. 24" Rapid Fire 1 S3 AP0 D1 that we've all seen before.
• Concussion grenade: All your voidsmen are equipped with these. 6" Grenade 1d3 s3 0 d1, goes up to S4 D2 if they are within one inch of terrain.
• Rotor Cannon: 24" Heavy 4 S4 AP-1 D2 cannon is the main ap for the kill team. Somehow more useful in the 42nd millennium than it ever was in the Horus Heresy.
• Dartmask: 9" Pistol 1 S1 AP-1 D1 that always wounds on a 2+.
• Artificer shotgun: 12" S4 AP0 D1, S5 D2 within half range.
• Heirloom pistol: Our rogue trader's saucy firearm. 12" Pistol 1 S4 AP-2 D2.
• Laspistol: Same as the IG's and just as crappy.
• Voltaic Pistol: 12" Pistol 1 S5 AP0 D1 that scores 3 hits on a natural 6 (which behaves like +2 to hit, without running into a ceiling at BS2+).

Melee Weapons

• Monomolecular cane-rapier: Elucia Vhane's pimp cane of pain. Basically a power sword with AP-4.
• Death cult power blade: S user AP-2.
• Scalpel Claw: S User AP-1.

Units

• Nitsch's Squad: Everyone in the squad gets +1 Ld when they're within 6" of Elucia Vhane.
  • Voidsman (Veteran, Demolitions): Similar to a normal guardsman, but costs 1 point more for BS 3+ and concussion grenades.
  • Voidsman Gunner (Heavy): Your primary source of ranged AP, and the rotor cannon is actually pretty good at it too.
  • Aximillion (Scout, Demolitions, Veteran): Your doggo is not as well armored as the rest of the squad with only a 6+, but he's fast and gets an extra attack. You will be sad if he dies, so don't let that happen. Aximillion is the only model in the "Voidsman" category that can be a Scout specialist, but Scout is not the only specialism you can take for your dog. Demolitions is not of much use, but the Veteran pre-game move stratagem "Adaptive Tactics" can get this good boy into melee range earlier.
  • Voidmaster Nitsch (Leader): The compulsory leader for the Elucidian Starstriders. Nitsch's artificer shotgun requires him to get a bit closer to the enemy than his other squad members to make the most of his firepower, but S5 and d2 help to compensate and the extra wound will keep him alive.
• Death Cult Executioner Knosso Prond (Combat): The main melee fighter. Zealous complements the advancements in the Combat tree nicely and the Dartmask's always wounding on a 2+ is a godsend against the Death Guard. The 5++ invulnerable save is also nice to have.
• Lectro-Maester Larsen van der Grauss (Comms): The cogboy's main role is to be a buff generator, given his Comms specialty and his giving everyone near him a 5++ invulnerable save. The voltaic pistol isn't half bad either, and with Priority Objective Identified he's good at holding objectives, especially with his teleportation ability from Voltagheist Transference. You can use Voltagheist Transference to teleport him to your opponent's backfield, and take out a pesky leader (reducing the CP they gain every turn) or a sniper that's giving you trouble down range...but then you won't be spreading that invulnerable save around or doing much with his Comms specialist skills.
• Rejuvenat Adept Sanistasia Minst (Medic): As the Starstriders are not the biggest kill-team, Minst's ability to remove flesh wounds from other models will be a must-have when it comes to keeping them in the fight.

Commander

• Elucia Vhane (Combat, Scout, Strategist, Veteran, Zealot): Despite only having S3 and T3, Elucia Vhane can still hold her own in combat thanks to her 4+/4++ and one-use sucker punch that deals d3 mortal wounds on a 4+, and with the Level 1 Zealot ability and Trader Militant Commander traits she can give herself a total of 5 attacks and S4 on the charge. That said, she's best off keeping herself alive as a Strategist to crank out more CP and relying on her melee skills to fend off anyone who gets past her men.

Tactics

• Killing Strikes (2 CP): In the fight phase, Knosso Prond's power blade deals d3 damage instead of 1 damage.
• Combat Medicine (1 CP): Sanistasia Minst can attempt to use her Healing Serum ability twice per movement phase.
• Executioner Shell (2 CP): When Nitsch is chosen to shoot, he only makes one hit roll but adds +3 to hit. If it hits, the targeted enemy takes a mortal wound and the shooting phase automatically ends.
• Priority Objective Identified (1 CP): If Larsen is within 3" of an objective and not shaken, he adds 1 to his saving rolls and his attack stat.
• Voltagheist Transference (2 CP): Instead of moving normally, Larsen can deep strike within 4" of any enemy models.
• Voltagheist Field (2 CP): When Larsen is chosen to shoot, he can do one of the following: open or close a door as if he were within 1" of it, reveal if a terrain feature is trapped or not, or ignore penalties when shooting at an obscured target. The first two are situational, but the last one is always helpful.

Commander Tactics

• Multi-spectral Auspicator (1 CP): At the start of the movement phase, Elucia Vhane allows all friendly Starstriders within 6" of her to re-roll hit rolls of 1. This ability lasts until the end of the round.
• Digital Laser Regalia (2 CP): After Vhane fights, make another hit roll against a model in melee range. If the attack hits, it scores a mortal wound and the fight phase automatically ends.

Commander Traits

• Explorator Fleetmaster (10 pts): If the kill team is battle forged, you start the battle with one bonus CP that can only be used on Elucidian Starstriders tactics.
• Trader Militant (15 pts): Gain 1 extra attack.

Chaos Space Marines

Why Play Chaos Space Marines

• Pros
  • With access to both Chaos Marines and Chaos Cultists, you can be more flexible than the IG or Loyalist Marines and field Cheap Fodder CQC Cultists alongside Plasma Wielding Marines.
  • Just like the loyalist Marines, you get access to Transhuman Physiology, so that's nice.
  • Marks of Chaos and Icons are still in, and icons have the same relatively low costs of the vast majority of special items in kill team, even if the banner buffs are mostly within 6".
  • Excluding the Icon of Wrath, Icons can affect friendly models of different Marks to Icon bearer. Maybe not as intended, but allows for the potential of multi-God Kill-teams.
  • The Icon of Flame does technically mean you get a Psychic Phase.

• Cons
  • A chunk of weapons from the basic Chaos Marine Arsenal have been stripped out from Kill Team. No Combi Weapons and no taking a Boltgun and Chainsword on the same model for you.
  • Limited to one dude (Aspiring Champion) who can wield Power Swords and Fists, the rest are stuck with chainswords. Compare this to our loyalist brethren, who can have two with a Tactical and Intercessor Sergeant. On the other hand, our standard dudes can take chainswords while the Tacticals are stuck with generic CCWs.
  • No cult troop soup for you. Plague Marines and Rubrics are restricted to their own particular factions, while Noise Marines and Berserkers aren't in Kill Team at all (so far).
  • If you want to play a force like Iron Warriors, Night Lords, or Fallen Angels, you might be better served playing them as loyalists instead to take advantage of some of the niftier options they have.
  • You can't use hardly any of the new toys, characters, and models Chaos got as of the new codex and Vigilus Ablaze. For now.

CSM Special Rules

• Death to the False Emperor: hit roll of 6+ against IMPERIUM keyword models allows you to make an additional attack. This additional attack cannot spawn more attacks. Also note, it you take two or more Flesh Wounds, you will be unable to trigger DttFE, due to the -1 or worse to hit.
• Transhuman Physiology: Ignore -1 penalty to hit from the first flesh wound suffered. Good, and allows you to keep using DttFE if you have just suffered one flesh wound.
• Mark of Chaos: You can choose to replace MARK OF CHAOS keyword with nothing (no mark), or one from NURGLE, TZEENTCH, KHORNE or SLAANESH.

CSM Ranged Weapons

Chaos Space Marine

• Boltgun: The other classic weapon, this weapon has solid range, and a decent strength and not much else to say. Still will probably see them more in Chaos Space Marine Kill-teams compared to loyalists, due to the lack of other bolt weapon choice, and assuming you are not just filling out on cultists for your fire teams.

Special weapons

• Flamer: The standard flamer with all the auto-hitting goodness you have come to expect. Doesn't care about all your -1 to hit, and can be fired after advancing to help get it into range. Even better in the hands of a Demolition specialist.
• Meltagun: While there are no vehicles in Kill-team to melt with this thing, its short range is less of an issue when it comes to getting into range with it due to the small playing field. Will all but guarantee to take a model out of action (if it hits) with its high amount of damage, though be cautious when using it on Necrons. Can be shot after Advancing to get into short range and a more reliable D6 damage. Works well with a Heavy specialist
• Plasma Gun: The classic plasma weapon with high strength, AP and two firing modes: the 'safe' Str7 1 damage profile, and the 'overcharged' Str8 2 damage profile. Unmodified hit rolls of '1' will take the bearer out of action immediately. Though this actually makes it safer than in regular 40k, as only 'unmodified hit rolls of a 1' will slay the bearer, the -1s to hit that are so common in kill-team are not taken into account. Generally, the 'safe' mode should be enough for most targets, though 'overcharging' does give you the ability to take down Primaris, Sicaran's and Ork Nobs with one shot. Works well on a Sniper specialist for the sweet re-roll 1s.
• Heavy Bolter: At 36" range, this is the best long range gun we have. -1 AP with 3 shots at a high-ish strength makes this a good staple weapon. Which is good, because in kill team you have to have at least one if you want to arm both your Chaos Space Marine Gunners.

Pistols

• Bolt Pistol: The classic bolt pistol, something all your Chaos Marines will come equipped with, regardless of load out. Useful to get a shot off during a prolonged close combat you get stuck into. Always remember them, they come in useful quite often
• Plasma Pistol: All the versatility of a pistol, combined with the firepower to put a hole through anything. Like all plasma weapons, it has two modes: the 'safe' Str7 1 damage profile, and the 'overcharged' Str8 2 damage mode, though an unmodified roll of a '1' will take the bearer out of action immediately.

Grenades

• Frag Grenade: As a grenade weapon, you ignore the -1 to hit long range penalty. Only one grenade can be thrown per phase. A good option if you need to clear a number of closely clustered low toughness targets, or to give you a greater chance of hitting in Overwatch. Other than that, your probably better off with your bolter if you have one.
• Krak Grenade: As a grenade weapon, you ignore the -1 to hit long range penalty. Only one grenade can be thrown per phase. A good option in a pinch to take down multi-wound models like Ork Nobs, Sicarans, Aberrants, Tyranids Warriors and the odd Primaris Marine.

Chaos Cultist

• Autogun: A lasgun by another name, don't expect these to do much, although be pleasantly surprised when they do. Rapid fire gives them a greater chance of doing something if they get into short range. Plus, no-one wants their 20pt+ model to die to a 4pt cultist, and some may blow their command re-roll to prevent just that.
• Shotgun: Exclusive to the Cultist Champion, the small gaming area of Kill-team makes this a much more realistic option. 12" range coupled with Assault 2 and plus +1 Str at short range can be surprisingly good against certain targets. You just have to get there...

Special Weapons Special/Heavy weapons

• Flamer: The only upgrade that is not free (to Cultists), this thing is identical to those wielded by your Dark Masters, except on a squishy human. Being able to advance and shoot this thing at full effect can make such a model a good distraction model, forcing your opponent to choose between D6 auto hits on a squishy human, or focus fire on your power armoured models. Though this distraction does cost the same as two regular cultists, so it's up to you which is better.
• Heavy Stubber: Our 2nd (and only other) long range gun, the stubber can be thought of as a 3 shot bolter with Heavy. With a short range of 18" it can be surprisingly accurate, and weight of dice can get through armour where quality (or lack thereof) failed.

Pistol

• Autopistol: A las pistol by another name, don't expect these to do much. In fact, you probably won't use this, as the short range generally means that the choice is usually shoot or charge. And in most cases, Combat is usually the better place to be. Still, if you find yourself locked in combat for more than one round, use them. You never know what might happen.

CSM Melee Weapons

Chaos Space Marine

• Chainsword: The trusty reliable chainsword, +1 Attacks when used in combat and that's about it. Turns your marines into mini whirlwinds of attacks, especially on a Zealot or Combat specialist.
• Power Sword: Exclusive to Aspiring Champions (boo!), the AP on these swords pretty much guarantees that your opponent won't get a save against wounds caused, or a 6+ save at most. Can be a useful as a close combat deterrent, though as this model is most probably your Leader too, the positives will outweigh the negatives in such situations.
• Power Fist: Exclusive to Aspiring Champion (boo!), the weapon of choice when you want to wound on a 2+ against all models (excluding plague marines). Cuts through armour like the sword, but also does D3 damage with each wound. When you get hit by this, you stay down! The -1 to hit unfortunately prevents Death to the False Emperor, though this can be countered through the "Beseech the Gods" stratagem (though the +1 to wound will be wasted).

Chaos Cultist

• Brutal Assault Weapon: Mechanically the same as a chainsword, it can make an assault cultist a bit more of a threat through weight of attacks. Or at least more then a slight irritant, dependant on your target.

Icons

• Icon of Wrath: KHORNE only, any KHORNE models within 6" of the icon bearer can re-roll charge rolls
• Icon of Flame: TZEENTCH only, at start of your turn in the psychic phase, roll 1d6 for each model equipped with an Icon of Flame. on a 6, you cause a mortal wound to the nearest enemy within 12" of the icon bearer.
• Icon of Despair: NURGLE only, subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy models within 6" of the icon bearer.
• Icon of Excess: SLAANESH only, the Death to the False Emperor takes effect on a 5+ rather than a 6+ for any friendly models within 6" of the icon bearer. RAW, this means it also effects models with no Mark/different Marks to the icon bearer, though you still need to be SLAANESH to carry it.
• Icon of Vengeance: Models without the KHORNE, TZEENTCH, NURGLE or SLAANESH keyword. Add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of friendly models within 6" of the icon bearer

CSM Units

• Chaos Space Marine (Leader [Aspiring Champion only], Heavy [Gunner only],Combat, Demolitions, Sniper, Veteran, Zealot): With good stats and the versatility of being armed with either chainswords for Melee or bolters for Range, these guys can be kitted out to fulfill different rules, with the option to mix in both across the Kill-team. Which is good, as these are the only Power armored guys you're going to get (for now at least). With only 1 wound a piece, one bad roll is all it takes to be taken out of action, though Transhuman Physiology helps with countering the negative of Flesh Wounds on your own attacks. Using cover/cultists is, therefore, key to staying relevant in the first round or two as you move into position.
  • Chaos Space Marine Gunner (2): Additionally gain access to special and heavy weapons (though you can only have one of each, and for a heavy gun, your only option is the heavy bolter. No dual flamer/melta/plasma like in regular 40k). Being the only Heretic Astartes that can have the Sniper specialism, they have access to reasonably safe overcharged plasma gun shots, which always have a use. A Heavy Bolter is great on a Heavy, specially if they successfully Beseech the Gods at the start of the game to wound most targets on a 2+. A Flamer armed Demolition specialist can also wound most obscured targets on a 2+ thanks to Custom Ammo
  • Aspiring Champion (1): The only one who can wield anything above a chainsword in close combat, and can take a plasma pistol. As he is 9/10 likely to be your Leader, whether you want him in danger close depends on the rest of your kill team. He can bring him in close to really wreak face in Melee/Pistol range, but then be potentially exposed to be assassinated. Or he can hold back and do very little. Or thirdly, make a Cultist Champion your Leader, make this guy your Zealot specialist, and go hunting.
• Chaos Cultist (Leader [Champion only], Heavy [Gunner only], Combat, Demolitions, Veteran, Zealot): What they lack in quality, they make up for in numbers. 3 of them cost the same as one Chaos marine, and you could easily fit 20+ models into a kill team at that price. But don't take that many, seriously. They are only regular humans, with a 6+ save and if they lose half their models and break, the nerve tests you will then have to take for each guy will just mean you will stand around shivering in fear for the rest of the game (they are Leadership 5, 6 on champ). What you want to use them as living shields for your scarier and tougher Chaos marine masters, imposing -1 hit and -1 to injury rolls from whatever angle your opponent can shoot from. Or otherwise, use them to block the movements of your opponents' models, isolating them from one another. Or surround them so your chaos space marines can finish them off. Or take overwatch (still only a 50/50 chance of a frag cannon taking a fresh cultist out of action). You get the idea, just be a nuisance to your opponents' efforts and you're doing your job right. And if by some miracle you do take a model out of action during all this, then praise be the Dark Gods! They are not the best specialists for this reason, save that for your Chaos space marines.
  • Cultist Gunner (2): Can take either a heavy stubber or a flamer, adding some stronger and/or more reliable ranged support for your Dark Masters (for free in the case of the stubber). Not to belittle the flamer in anyway, as it actually makes the Cultist Gunner a much more threatening, when they can move, advance and still fire D6 auto hits on a target within 8", which on the small playing size of kill-team, can threaten most of the board by turn 1, if not 2. Which in turn forces your opponent to choose between D6 Str4 hits, and a potentially more dangerous target if left unchecked. Making them specialists is not the best idea though, as it essentially puts a big target on their head. And it doesn't take much to take these guys out
  • Cultist Champion (1): Can take an autogun, shotgun or the brutal assault weapon and autopistol combo the regular dudes have access to. While the shotgun can be good, this author prefers the weight of three attacks in the close combat, the better to (potentially) bring down an unsuspecting enemy. Plus, if you do make this guy your Leader, it's probably best you hide him out of line of sight, as he will likely go down if exposed to even just one enemy model.

CSM Commanders

• Exalted Champion (Commander) (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Logistic, Melee, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist, Strength): Probably the best duelist in Kill Team thanks to his ability For the Dark Gods that permits him to re-roll failed hit rolls against a Commander.
  • Plasma Pistol and Power First is probably the best combination if you're using him mainly to kill the Commander, because you have in both cases a rerollable 3+ to hit and at minimum a 3+ to wound.
  • Shooting is a waste on this character, you should take a Strategist (it's never a wrong choice), Melee (especially if using Axe instead of Fist, to deal with nearly every enemy in melee) or Strength (if you're using a Fist and you hate to remember how wound roll work, now you always roll 2+)
• Sorcerer (Commander) (Fortitude, Melee, Psyker, Shooting, Strength):

CSM Tactics

• Beseech the Gods (2CP): In true Chaos fashion, this can either turn a unit into a rape train with no brakes, or insta-gib them before the battle's even started. At the start of the first battle round, pick a unit and roll a D6. On a 1 the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. On a 2+ add 1 to hit and wound rolls for that unit until the end of the battle. You can only use this once per battle. Amazing on the model you use it on, and pairs well with other stratagems/specialisms, but will leave you with no CP for the first turn, and again, will fuck you over if your roll is a dud. (You want this on a heavy bolter. Just do it.)
• Daemon Spirit (2CP): Pick an enemy unit within 1" of your leader at the end of the Movement phase and roll a D6. On a 4+ that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. Expensive, but good in a pinch when you need to clear away or wear down one of the models you charged (or charged you!)
• Veterans of the Long War (2CP): Use this tactic when you choose one of the models from your kill-team to attack in the Shooting or Fight phase. You can add 1 to the wound rolls for that models attacks that target IMPERIUM models until the end of the phase. Would be really good if not for the fact that it comes at 2CP, plus you have other ways of getting +1 wound, mostly via the Demolition specialism.
• Fury of Khorne (2CP): Pick a KHORNE model from your kill-team that is within 1" of an enemy model at the end of the fight- it can immediately fight again. Enemy still standing? Have another go with this Strat!

CSM Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 7 models, 99 points
  • Aspiring Champion with chainsword and plasma pistol, 14 pts (Leader)
  • Chaos Space Marine Gunner with heavy bolter, 16 pts (Heavy)
  • Chaos Space Marine Gunner with plasma gun, 16 pts (Sniper)
  • Chaos Space Marine with chainsword, 12pts (Zealot)
  • Chaos Space Marine with chainsword, 12 pts
  • Chaos Space Marine with chainsword, 12 pts
  • Chaos Space Marine with boltgun and Icon of Flame, 17 pts
• 10 models, 100 points
  • Aspiring Champion with power sword and plasma pistol, 15 pts (Leader)
  • Chaos Space Marine Gunner with heavy bolter, 16 pts (Heavy)
  • Chaos Space Marine Gunner with plasma gun, 16 pts (Sniper)
  • Chaos Space Marine with chainsword, 12pts (Combat)
  • Chaos Space Marine with chainsword and Icon of Wrath, 17 pts
  • Chaos Cultist Champion with brutal assault weapon, 5 pts
  • Chaos Cultist with brutal assault weapon, 4 pts
  • Chaos Cultist with brutal assault weapon, 4 pts
  • Chaos Cultist Gunner with heavy stubber, 5 pts
  • Chaos Cultist Gunner with heavy stubber, 5 pts
• 20 models, 100 points
  • Aspiring Champion with power sword, plasma pistol, and Icon of Vengeance 19 pts (Leader)
  • 8 Chaos Cultists with brutal assault weapons and autopistols, 32 pts
  • 9 Chaos Cultists with autoguns, 36 pts
  • Chaos Cultist Gunner with heavy stubber, 5 pts
  • Chaos Cultist Gunner with flamer, 8 pts

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Death Guard

Why Play Death Guard

• Pros
  • Poxwalkers can spawn more Poxwalkers by killing enemies.
  • Plague marines are disgustingly tough in every sense of the word, capable of eating small arms fire like popcorn. The Plague Marines are the only non-Commander T5 unit in the game!
  • Poxwalkers are great soft cover units.
  • FLAIL OF CORRUPTION FTW
  • Flesh wounds are a thing, meaning that with your FNP you have three layers of saves, assuming anyone can hit and wound you in the first place.
  • Access to four commanders gives as many different choices as the other two Chaos Space Marine factions combined!
• Cons
  • The only reason you're not the best faction is that deathwatch have frag cannons.
  • Your best strategy is to use poxwalkers to give marines cover from heavier weapons. Expect everyone to know this and field one or two dedicated anti-infantry guns to mow them down first and fire accurate anti-armour into your gooey centre.
  • You'll easily become that guy if you bring these to friendly games against un-optimised opponents.
  • In a multi-person match, you'll be the first one focused down after the guy with four frag cannons.
  • You're expensive, you aren't fast, and you're geared towards getting in close. You are very good when you get there, and you got some tools to help you get there but never forget your team is centred around 3-5 very expensive one wound models. Getting mobbed, sustained fire, an unlucky roll, or a bad tactical decision can really hurt you.
  • The Commanders expansion effectively unlocked the psychic phase for just about every faction that has psykers, except you. Nurgle's Babies still don't have psykers in Kill Team, or a proper defense against psychic powers, and that's a fairly serious problem when use of the psychic phase has been expanded as much as it has, which will obviously mean that your opponent can easily bypass your high toughness, high armour save, and DR and put d3 wounds up against your flesh wound rolls.

DG Special Rules

• Disgustingly resilient: FnP5+ as an extra layer of protection even against multi-damage hits. And Kill Team's flesh wound mechanic means a single wound goes a long way.
• Death to the False Emperor: Nurgle's still chaos. Roll an additional melee attack on a 6+ to hit an Imperium model. This new attack has to be aimed at the same target, and cannot generate itself further DttFE attacks.
• Transhuman Physiology: Ignore the penalty to the model's hit rolls from the first flesh wound. Thus, the enemy has to go through your toughness, armour save and FNP twice to get an effect on you, meaning you can still DttFE on a flesh wound.
• Icon of Despair: -1Ld to enemies within 6". It is useful that it doesn't require essentially being in melee like other armies' debuffs.

DG Ranged Weapons

• Boltgun: The standard 24" RF S4 gun everything compares to. Though with Gunner options and expensive models you may see only one. This isn't 40K, you don't rapid fire from 18" here.

Special weapons

• Blight launcher: 24" Assault 2 S6 AP-2 D3 dmg, re-rolls wounds of 1 for being a plague weapon. Pretty much a Frag cannon's standard profile, for all intents and purposes, but cheaper. It shines when used by a Demolitions specialist, wounding everyone obscure on re-rollable 2+, noticeably reducing armour and with a good chance for true kills. Its good rate of fire and mobility can be used by a Veteran employing Adaptive Tactics to get into a good starting position, and a Heavy can both advance without penalty and an even higher rof with More Bullets. Models with a Blight launcher also make great targets for the Grandfather's blessing stratagem, especially heavies. 3 shots with 2+ to hit and 2+ to wound, -2ap and d3 damage will put most things in kill team in the ground.
• Meltagun: Capable of overkill, but there's no such thing when facing Lictors, Primaris, Aberrants and the like. Useful on a Heavys hands to run and gun.
• Plague Belcher: S4 flamer that re-rolls wounds of 1. Powerful on a Demolitions specialist's hands.
• Plague Spewer: Better S5 AP-1 Plague Belcher, so a Demolitions wounds almost all obscured targets on re-rollable 2+. The catch? It's Heavy, so this is a 9"-flamer your movement-5" marine can't advance with, and a Heavy can't help you with it.
• Plasma Gun: Sadly we don't have a Sniper specialist to re-roll those 1s, but at least it's also available to our leader figure. The supercharge risks an automatic death, so it's less appealing in this Kill Team. Either use the Tactical re-roll or your other multi-damage guns.

Pistols: Sidearms exclusive to a dedicated melee Champion.

• Bolt Pistol: Useful. Really, it's there for when you'd rather spend the points on a melee weapon instead.
• Plasma Pistol: Pistol version of the plasma gun. One of the best things you can spend a point on if you have a melee Champ.

Grenades: Their short range means they're situational, especially given how slow Death Guard are. Fortunately, plague marines can survive the approach, and don't fear counter charges as much as other armies. You can use only one per phase.

• Blight grenade: Plague frag. Unlike other armies' frag grenades, however, D6 Str3 re-rolling 1s to wound is, on average, better than a rapid firing bolter against GEQ. And your dudes have plague knives too. On an Icon bearer, there's the argument to keep going forward on and on. Something something inevitable death theme.
• Krak grenade: Grenade 1 S6 AP-1 D1d3, always better than the bolt pistol/gunshot it replaces.

DG Melee Weapons

• Flail of Corruption: JEEZ, NURGLE, this weapon really shows a middle finger to Khorne. On a Combat Specialist this gives 3D3 attacks at S6 AP-2 D2 while rerolling wound rolls of 1. Death To The False Emperor also triggers d3 extra attacks for every hit roll of 6 as well. The most dangerous melee weapon in Kill Team. It becomes even more deadly with the tactic "Grandfather's Blessing" (if it doesn't kill the bearer) for 2+ to hit, 2+ to wound, rerolling 1s, against most things (except GEQs, against which you have a 1+), along with D2 to really fuck with Primaris Marines and double the dice in the Flesh Wound rolls. Seriously, this guy can take on some of the best commanders in the game and come out on top. Obviously however, this is the equivalent of putting a giant "SHOOT ME" sign on the bearer. Even more so than usual, anyway.
  • Practically designed for killing GEQs. S6 ensures you’ll be wounding on 2s even before Grandfather gives you his blessing, AP -2 means they don’t get an armour save, and the high volume of attacks means you can easily take on more than one and emerge victorious.
  • It was slightly nerfed by the September 2018 errata, dropping the damage down to 1, so not that good anymore but still awesome vs horde armies. It generates only more hitrolls against its target, you can still only target as many models as you have Attacks. Splitting attacks on the Cleaver is more likely to successfully kill multi-wound units (like Primaris) than the Flail, even with the bonus hits.
• Bubotic Axe This weapon can be a nice cheap and quite strong option on a fighter. The high AP and +1str make it rather nice against single wound power armor, but you're probably better off with a flail.
• Mace of Contagion This instead is for when you need to crack open that pesky multi-wound Tyranid warrior, Primaris marine, aberrant etc. Hell, even rubric marines are going to regret lifting their dusty mugs from their also dusty books. Although, if you REALLY want to kill stuff on the spot you might like...
• Great Plague Cleaver Essentially a meltagun that you can use in Close Combat. If the flesh wounds build up you could have some trouble hitting with this but when you do, oh boy, the thing you stroke is going to disappear. For some reason it costs the same as a power fist while having the potential to do double the damage. Don't give the bearer the Zealot specialty as the extra 2 strength is basically useless in Kill Team- the only thing you'll need the +2Str against are other plague marines! (Usually - remember a lvl 2 medic can give someone +2 toughness for a round) Again, consider Grandfather's Blessing to keep the 3 Attacks hitting at a 3+.
• Power fist You will probably want this on your leader if you expect him to see some CC action. Not too easy to hit with but will kill anything it connects with. Again, consider Grandfather's blessing if you want to mitigate this hit modifier and wound marines on a 1+ (well, still 2+ as unmodified 1's always fail. However, any -1 to wound modifiers you may come across will do nothing to you rolls as you'll still be wounding on 2s, even against T5 or higher). That is, of course, if you're willing to take the risk of losing your leader (and 1 extra CP per turn) before turn 1 actually begins.
• Plague Sword Ugh... I wish that a plague champion could get a Balesword or a Bubotic Axe. It's cool in that it's free, so there isn't really a reason not to take it. It does not do much damage outside of GEQ.
• Plague Knife Better than nothing. It makes base Plague Marines a bit better in Close combat than they would be but even a chainsword will put it to shame. MEH.
• Improvised Weapons Generic but come with poxwalkers so who cares.

DG Units

• Plague Marines (Leader [Champ only], Heavy [Gunner only], Zealot [Fighter only], Combat, Demolitions, Veteran): Dead strong at T5 with Disgustingly Resilient, practically immovable on objectives and within cover, although a bit slower than other MEQs. True all-rounders, they have bolter for standard firefights, but can also gut someone with their plague knife. Regular fighters at all ranges, they become truly scary when within 6", as their blight grenades can be put to use. One of them can take an Icon of Despair, which also works at 6".
  • Plague Marine Gunner (2): Great flexibility, whether you're going ranged or melee, a good idea is to make at least one of them either a Heavy or a Demolitions specialist.
  • Plague Marine Fighter (2): They will be your Zealot and Combat specialists. While they keep their grenades, at that range they'll be attempting charges rather than throwing grenades. But if a fool charges them, remember to use them to overwatch.
  • Plague Champion (1): Tactical in the extreme - he WILL have a plague sword to stab the little ones, can further take a power fist for the big ones without letting go of the sword, a pistol for melee OR a full sized Plasma gun, which is an excellent way to patch your lacking number of special weapons. Just remember he can't do everything at once, so don't bloat his cost.
• Poxwalkers (Combat, Zealot): Aka (un)living shields. Put some in front of your marines and enjoy open field cover. Despite being slower than Plague Marines, lacking guns they'll be advancing when not charging (and charges are 2d6" regardless of base movement stat), so they can still provide a much needed distraction from your expensive and outnumbered marines.

DG Commanders

• Foul Blightspawn (Fortitude, Logistics, Melee, Strength): The Blightspawn's Plague Sprayer was nasty enough in vanilla 40k, but with the Logistics specialism at level 3 (which will coincidentally let him shrug off AP-1 attacks) he can boost it to a vicious 15" range. Don't forget about the Refractor Field tactic to make him even more unkillable!
• Biologus Putrifier (Fortitude, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strength): Grenade specialist.
• Tallyman (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strategist, Strength): A CP Factory. Make him a strategist so you have more CP to potentially refund, or a Leadership specialist for a truly enormous Aura.
• Plague Surgeon (Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strength):

DG Tactics

• Nurgle's Gift (1CP): Roll a D6 after a Poxwalker takes an enemy unit out of action in the Fight phase. On a 4+ you can set up a new Poxwalker within 1" of the one that made the attack. However, the new Poxwalker is not part of a fire team and is not added to the command roster.
  • It is, however, useful as an expendable meatshield. Since you lose nothing when it dies it can act as a suicide unit. Well, you say nothing - every expendable dead is another +1 to nerve tests...
• Cloud of Flies (2CP): Pick a unit after the Movement phase. Until the end of the battle round, enemy units can only shoot it if it's the closest target visible to them. If you were wondering how to protect Grandaddy's favourite flail combat specialist, now you know. Put a pair of Poxwalkers in front of him, use this tactic and go and have fun out there, you little rascal you.
• Putrid Splatter (2CP): When something kills you in close combat you blow up. Id does a mortal wound on a 6 to every enemy within 1" of the guy that has died. Cool if you are fighing really massed infantry, if not then it is rather meh, expecially for 2 CP.
• Veterans of the Long War (2CP): Want to really fuck up that IMPERIUM enemy model? Pop this when you attack it either by shooting or smashing and you get a +1 to wound. Would be really good if not for the fact that it comes at 2CP and that "Grandfather's Blessing" exists. Alternatively, use on a model with Grandfather's Blessing and a Flail to up their wound rolls against the bad boy Lictors to 2+.
• Grandfather's Blessing (2CP): Oh boy. This basically makes one of your guys a miniature chaos lord, giving him a +1 to hit and wound in BOTH shooting and close combat. I have to specify though that this only works once at the start of the game and on a 2+. If you roll a 1, the guy you choose gets a one way ticket for the warp by taking D3 mortal wounds. Ouch. If you feel lucky pop this at the start of the game and watch the terror in either yours or the opponents eyes.

DG Commander Tactics

• Revolting Stench (1 CP): Use at the start of the Fight phase if your kill-team includes a non-shaken Foul Blightspawn. Enemy models within 3" of this model that charged this turn lose the benefits of charging, even if they have abilities that would normally let them fight as if they had charged.
• Festering Zealot (1 CP): Use at the start of the Fight phase if your kill-team includes a non-shaken Tallyman. Friendly models within 7" of the Tallyman can re-roll failed hits for that phase.
• Blight Racks (1 CP): Use at the start of the fight phase (might be typo?) if your kill-team includes a non-shaken Biologus Putrefier. All friendly models within 3" that have access to blight grenades get them upgraded with +1 S and the ability to cause a mortal wound on a wound roll of 6.
• Tainted Narthecium (1 CP): Use at the start of the fight phase if your kill-team includes a non-shaken Plague Surgeon. Friendly models within 3" of the Plague Surgeon can re-roll 1s for their Disgustingly Resilient roll.

DG Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• Plague Marine Champion with Power Fist, Plague Sword, and Plasma Gun. Leader Specialist, obviously.
• Plague Marine Fighter with Flail. Combat Specialist to up his attacks to 3d3, or Zealot to help him wipe out anything on the charge. Prime candidate for Grandfather's Blessing. Additionally, in Narrative Play games where the opponent has a higher point Kill Team, remember the fact that you get an additional 1 CP per turn, and use this as insurance against Grandfather's Blessing going wrong.
• 2 Plague Marine Gunners, each with Blight Launchers. Heavy specialists for advancing and firing without the -1 to hit modifier. Use together as a single unit and focus fire to make sure that your target joins Papa Nurgle in his Garden.
• Bog-standard Plague Marine. Use as more durable mobile cover for your Flail or Leader.
• 3 Poxwalkers, to make up the numbers. Use as mobile cover and be very suprised if they actually kill anything.

Total: 100 points.

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

• Level 3 Foul Blightspawn. Logistics or Fortitude. (120 points)
• Plague Marine Champion with Power Fist, Plague Sword, and Plasma Gun. Leader Specialist, obviously.
• Plague Marine Fighter with Flail. Combat Specialist to up his attacks to 3d3, or Zealot to help him wipe out anything on the charge. With Grandfather's Blessing, this guy can even take on Commanders and emerge victorious.
• 2 Plague Marine Gunners, each with Blight Launchers. Heavy specialists for advancing and firing without the -1 to hit modifier. Use together as a single unit and focus fire to make sure that your target joins Papa Nurgle in his Garden.
• Total: 200 points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Thousand Sons

Why Play Thousand Sons

• Pros
  • One of only three (four if you count the CSM Icon of Flame) factions in the game (so far without commanders) that can make use of Kill Team's psychic phase, and unlike the Grey Knights, Thousand Sons have more than just one unit to choose from.
  • Despite all other units with a 2+ save being barred from kill team, Rubrics can boost their save to a 2+ against attacks that deal only 1 damage.
  • -2 AP on all the Rubric Marine's standard ranged weapons will eviscerate GEQ opponents and seriously threaten other MEQ targets almost as severely.
  • The 1CP Hungering Warp Flame tactic makes Warp Flamers OP as fuck. Allowing you to advance in the movement phase with no penalty and guaranteeing any charge within 8” will be shredded by overwatch (still watch out for harlequins).
  • The only Chaos faction with access to the Comm specialism, via Tzaangors with a brayhorn/megaphone of all things. This can make your Soulreaper armed Rubric surprisingly accurate.
• Cons
  • Limited weapon selection, literally two guns and a heavy for Rubricae.
  • Unlike all other space marines, your Rubric Marines do not have Transhuman Physiology, meaning if they do take (flesh) wounds, or if you have to patch them up with a Medic, their accuracy will start to drop noticeably.
  • All your (non-commander) models lean heavy towards melee or shooting. If a rubricae gets punched or a Tzaangor shot then they can’t do much back.
  • A very limited model roster, fine for 100 points but with commanders you’ll find it tough against other armies such as SM who suddenly have loads of different models and lots of utility.

TS Special Rules

• Death to the False Emperor: You've seen it, you know. Any roll of a 6+ in close combat against an IMPERIUM model generates another attack roll against the same target with the same weapon. These bonus attacks cannot generate further bonus attacks. Also note, it you take two or more Flesh Wounds, you will be unable to trigger DttFE, due to the -1 or worse to hit. But considering your lack of close combat weapon options, you should avoid close combat wherever possible.
• All is Dust: Unique to Rubric Marines and Rubric Marine Gunners, you +1 to saving throws against weapons with a damage characteristic of 1. Additionally the Rubric Marine Gunner ignores the -1 to hit penalty for moving and firing Heavy weapons.
• Favoured of Tzeentch: Gives the model a 5+ invulnerable save. A good fall back save if your Rubric marines get hammered with meltaguns and overcharged plasma guns (because of All is Dust, see above). Not the most reliable save, but as one of the few factions that have them, it's better than nothing.
• Aura of Dark Glory: Favoured of Tzeentch, but for your Tzaangors. +5 invulnerable save. Basically guardsmen armour, but one that you can take regardless, be it a lasgun or a meltagun.
• Transhuman Physiology: Unique to the Aspiring Sorcerer only, this allows him to ignore the first flesh wound suffered for to hit penalties (won't stop the +1 to injury rolls though. Useful, but situational, as you don't necessarily want your sorcerer too close to the action in order to shoot/fight, since he can just smite instead.

TS Ranged Weapons

• Inferno boltgun: A boltgun, but with -2 AP. With a 24 inch range, very little will be able to stay out of range of -2 shots. You may not have many of them, but each of them that gets through is most likely going to hurt. Getting into Rapid Fire range boosts their effectiveness considerably, but also gets them within Melee threat range. Somewhere your definitely don't want to be!
• Warpflamer: Identical to a flamer, but with -2 AP, this thing is scary, especially as you can Advance and still shoot with this thing!

Heavy Weapons

• Soulreaper Cannon: A up-gunned Heavy Bolter, it trades a third of the range for an additional shot and -3 AP, leaving most opponents with at best a 6+ Armour save (with the exception of, hilariously, other Rubric marines). Rubric Marines already can move without getting a -1 to hit when wielding heavy weapons. Pairs well with a Brayhorn Comm specialist and the level 1 heavy tactic.

Pistols

• Inferno bolt pistol: Like a bolt pistol, but better. Unfortunately you pay for that with the cost of the model, but in exchange you get -2 AP. That's going to leave most targets with a 6+ save if any, 5+ if your a space marine or it's not going to affect them if they're Harlequins. Still, you will more likely get your wound through if you manage to wound it. And you can use it is subsequent rounds of close combat.
• Warpflame pistol: Similar in some ways to the hand flamer, this baby instead gets D6 shots at -2 AP, increasing the chances that one will at least wound. Should be seriously considered if you plan to run a rubric-heavy team, where you'll really need that second flamer to help ward off anything getting too close to your spooky-scary dudes.
• Autopistol: A las pistol by another name, don't expect these to do much. In fact, you probably won't use this, as the short range generally means that the choice is usually shoot or charge. And in most cases, Combat is usually the better place to be, especially with Str4. Still, if you find yourself locked in combat for more than one round, use them. You never know what might happen.

TS Melee Weapons

• Chainsword: The trusty reliable chainsword, +1 Attack when used in combat and that's about it. Turns your Tzaangor's into decent CC combatants but not as good as Tzaangor blades.
• Force Staff: The Aspiring Sorcerer's default weapon. +2 str, -1 ap and Dd3 make it reasonable for primaris removal.
• Tzaangor blades: -1 AP and +1 attacks makes these a nice default choice for Tzaangor, who probably wouldn't hit anything with their autopistols anyway.

TS Psychic Powers

• Gaze of Fate (Warp Charge 6): Gives you one free re-roll of any one roll until your next psychic phase. Better than the standard stratagem, without dipping into your CPs.
• Treason of Tzeentch (Warp Charge 8): Beat an enemy model's Ld on a 2d6 and they become part of your kill team until the end of the fight phase.
  • with the overall lowered leadership in kill team and the ability to target normal mooks this becomes much better than its 40k counterpart.
  • Bonus points for killing 2 or more enemy models with overcharged plasma.
• Bolt of Change (Warp Charge 9): The closest visible enemy model within 12" of the psyker takes d3 mortal wounds.

Other Wargear

• Brayhorn: Unique to the Tzaangors, It allows friendly Tzaangors within 6" to add 1 to their Advance & Charge rolls. Also allows the model to become a Comm specialist. Because blowing through a horn is an effective way to direct the firepower of a suit of power armour filled with dust... Consider converting your comm specialist 'gor with psychic radio antenna antlers or something if a literal musical instrument seems a little too silly.
• Icon of Flame: At the start of your turn in the psychic phase, roll 1d6 for each model equipped with an Icon of Flame. On a 6, you cause a mortal wound to the closest enemy model within 12". Your 2nd psychic phase. Don't rely on it going off, but if it does, it's unlikely that your opponent has thought to keep a disposable body between the icon bearer and a more important target.

TS Units

• Aspiring Sorcerer (1) (Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Veteran) With a stat line identical to most space marine sergeants (including a 6" move compared to his Rubric marines) this guy is pretty reasonable, and as one of only two options when it comes to choosing a Leader, he is probably the standout winner. He is very limited choices for wargear; only being able to swap his inferno bolt pistol for a warpflame pistol. His only other weapon is a force staff, which while only -1AP, does deal D3 damage per wound, so can really deal out the pain in close combat. Being the only member of the kill-team with Transhuman Physiology helps him to keep hit accurately. He is no Melee monster though, with only a 3+ save (but also a 5+ invulnerable) to keep him going, so keep him out of bigger scraps unless he is well supported by Tzaangors. As the only psyker played exactly as set out in the book (Grey Knights were nuffed slightly), he gives a pretty reliable mortal wound factory, crippling and killing a single 1 wound model a turn. Occasionally he might roll high enough for D3 mortal wounds on the target, though this is only useful against targets with 2 or 3 wounds. Keep a CP handy though, as a dreaded Perils of the Warp has a good chance of killing him, and dealing damage to your seemingly untouchable automaton bodyguard.
• Rubric Marines (Combat, Demolitions, Veteran): In comparison to the other space marines, Rubrics lost out Transhuman Physiology and dropped to a 5" Movement). In return, they gained a 5+ invulnerable save and the All is Dust ability. This means you will get a 2+ save against most small arms fire, and a 5+ invulnerable against anything with a half decent AP. And even against a meltagun, at least you get a 5+ save. At 5" move, you are slower then most marines, though on the small area of kill team, this isn't so much of an issue unless you need to get off the other side of the board. Can take inferno boltguns for longer range -2AP shooting, or warpflamers to Advance up the board and unleash a torrent of -2AP fire right into your opponents grouped together models (this works especially well with the Demolition specialism. Stay out of combat where possible, it is a waste of your abilities and you don't have pistols. Though an over watching flamer is still nasty.
  • Rubric Marine Gunner (1) (Heavy, Combat, Demolitions, Veteran): Limited to one per kill team, and thus only 1 Soulreaper cannon, this is still a good weapon and a good firing platform. Everything this apples to basic Rubrics applies here, but with the added benefit of being able to take the Heavy specialism, and the fact you ignore the -1 to moving and firing heavy weapons already.
• Tzaangors (Combat, Medic, Veteran, Zealot): Your source of cheaper but still surprisingly tough bodies. With Str and toughness 4, and WS 3+ they are akin more to Ork boyz then to the cultists and pox walkers of other chaos kill teams. Cost about the same too, which means you will not be able to flood the battlefield it quite the same numbers as the other chaos kill teams. They do have a 5+ invulnerable save however, so they at least have a chance of stopping a meltagun one-shooting them. They also move 1" faster than your Rubric marines, which is always handy. For options, they can either take chainswords and autopistols, or drop shooting altogether for tzaangor blades, giving you a respectable -1 AP in Melee. This synergises quite well with the passive effect of the brayhorn, and the Medic stratagem 'Stimm-shot', meaning that Tzaangors can cross the field into combat surprisingly quickly, which is where they do there best work. Whether that is taking out key enemy models, or holding them back from your Rubric marines so they can spend their time shooting.
  • Bizarrely enough these guys are one of the only SM or CSM kill team units which can be Medics. While this will not have much effect in the first few games, as you gain experience your Medic will be able to help keep your expensive marines in the fight, and even revive them if they go down (or twice in the same turn, if you have the CP to spend on this AND 'Immovable Automaton'). In regular matched play games, though, you'll have to settle for just combining Stimm-shot with the speed boosts of a brayhorn to make your 'gors, particularly a Combat specialist Twistbray, move fast and hit hard.
  • Tzaangor with brayhorn (Comm, Combat, Medic, Veteran, Zealot): Identical to a normal tzaangor, but with a big ass warhorn! And damn is it an effective (considering some of your kill team are empty suit it of power armour). A Comm Specialist brayhorn pairs particularly well with a Soulreaper cannon armed Gunner, meaning in most cases, half your shots will hit their target, which is more than enough to wound and force an injury roll, with the cannons built in str5 and -3 AP meaning most wounds will stick. Outside of boosting Rubric shooting, the guy can really boost the speed of a tzaangor heavy kill team (as previously mentioned). Basically, in most cases, you want this guy in your kill team, for one or both reasons. This is also probably the 'gor you'll want to equip with a chainsword and autopistol, as whether he's giving his fellow 'gors a speed boost or directing soulreaper fire, he's probably going to end up hanging back a bit, so you might as well give him something to do in the shooting phase, for what little it's worth.
  • Twistbray (1)(Leader, Combat, Medic, Veteran, Zealot): Your tzaangor boss, and also you second choice for Kill team Leader. Has exactly the same options as his subordinates, but with +1 attack and leadership. While he maybe more fragile then a Aspiring Sorcerer, the extra attack he gets over him (regardless of weapon load out) makes him a pretty good Combat specialist. 4 attacks with -1 AP is not something you can easily ignore. He will leave a mark if left alone, so use this to your advantage to keep shit away from your Rubric marine fire support.

TS Elite Units

• Scarab Occult Terminators: Upcoming unit for the Kill Teams Elites expansion.

TS Commanders

• Exalted Sorcerer (Commander):
• Tzaangor Shaman (Commander):

TS Tactics

• Sorcerous Focus (2CP): Use this at the start of your Pschic phase. Pick a PSYKER model from your kill team that is within 2" of at least two other models from the kill team. Add 6" to the range of this model's Psybolt psychic power until the end of the phase. Good if you prefer to keep your enemy at arms length for the first and second battle round, but still want to get in those mortal wounds!
• Immovable Automation (2CP): If a Rubric Marine or Rubric Marine Gunner is taken out of action, roll a D6. On a 4+ the unit suffers a flesh wound instead.
• Veterans of The Long War (2CP): Use this when a RUBRIC MARINE model from your kill team is chosen to attack in the Shooting or Fight phase. You can add 1 to wound rolls for the models attacks against IMPERIUM models until the end of the phase.
• Cycle of Slaughter (2CP): Use at the end of the Fight phase. Select a TZAANGOR from your kill team- that model can immediately fight a second time.
• Malicious Familiar (1CP): Use at the end of the Movement phase. Pick an enemy model with 1" of your Leader and roll a D6. On a 4+ that enemy model suffers 1 mortal wound. Identical in operation to the Heretic Astartes and Death Guard stratagem, except this one, only cost 1CP rather than 2.
• Hungering Warpflame (1CP): Use this when a model in your kill team with a warpflamer or warpflame pistol is about to shoot in the Shooting Phase. Until the end of the phase, you can roll two dice when determining the number of attacks made by that weapon and pick the highest. This is insane on a demolitions specialist.

TS Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 7 models, 100 points
  • Aspiring Sorcerer with warpflame pistol (Leader), 18 pts
  • Rubric Marine with Icon of Flame, 17 pts
  • Rubric Marine with warpflamer (Demolitions), 20 pts
  • Rubric Marine Gunner with soulreaper cannon (Heavy), 20 pts
  • Tzaangor with Brayhorn (Comm), 10 pts
  • Tzaangor, 7 pts
  • Twistbray, 8 pts
• 6 models, 100 points
  • Aspiring Sorcerer with warpflame pistol (Leader), 18 pts
  • 2 Rubric Marines, 32 pts
  • Rubric Marine with warpflamer (Demolitions), 20 pts
  • Rubric Marine Gunner with soulreaper cannon (Heavy), 20 pts
  • Tzaangor with Brayhorn (Comm), 10 pts

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Gellerpox Infected (Rogue Trader)

Why play Gellerpox Infected

• Pros
  • All the Nurgly toughness you've come to expect - high Toughness values and wound counts, and Disgustingly Resilient.
  • Options to focus either on a small group of extremely tough mutants or a horde of weaker beasts.
  • Vulgrar Thrice-Cursed is a Commander, which means he can gain the benefits of various Traits and can set his own level! Also the only one with access to the Strength specialism.
  • Access to several very powerful Stratagems.
• Cons
  • Virtually no Shooting game beyond Vulgrar's belly flamer and the Sludge-Grubs' spit.
  • Stratagems are expensive.
  • Apart from the Mutoid Vermin, your units are slow as hell. We're talking 5" of movement at most here.
  • Running high model teams above 14 will make it impossible not to have the faction fall apart to morale.

Special Rules

• Disgustingly Resilient: Just the same as it is with Death Guard.
• Vermin: Add one to injury rolls. Makes your weak trash even trashier.
• Mindless: Cannot gain experience, be a part of a fire team, or be a specialist. Hammers in the point that the Mutoid Vermin are expendable meatshields.

Units

• Nightmare Hulks (Leader (Gnasher-Screamer only), Combat, Veteran, Zealot): Large, slow dudes with paper armor and butchers. Gnasher-Screamer is almost as tough as Vulgrar so he makes a good choice for a Leader.
• Gellerpox Mutants (Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Veteran, Scout, Zealot): Your basic fighters, with Disgustingly resilient and a 5+ invuln that deals a mortal wound to the attacker on a 6. They also have grenades so they have something to do in the shooting phase.
• Eyestinger Swarms: The fastest of the little bugs with 10" of movement, and while its attack stat of d3 is unreliable it auto-wounds on a hit roll of 6. Good thing too, since S2 doesn't do it any favors with its wound rolls. Don't be deceived by its 7+ save, +1 to injury rolls taken, and poor toughness: its complete immunity to flesh wounds and -1 hit penalty against all attacks targeting them makes the Eyestinger Swarm surprisingly tough to kill.
• Cursemites: The cheapest model in the faction. It can reroll failed charges and pile in 6" and has 2 attacks that scores 2 hits on a 6.
• Sludge-Grubs: Slow moving, but the only ranged normal model equipped with something other than grenades and has AP-1 on its attacks. Can roll a D6 when its taken out of action to deal a mortal wound to its attacker but it needs a 6.
• Glitchlings (Combat, Scout, Zealot): Currently the only Daemon in Kill-Team, with Disgustingly resilient (albeit reduced in effectiveness because of Squishable, like Nurglings in vanilla 40k), and a 5+ invuln. Also causes a -1 penalty to hit them when targeted by ranged attacks.

Commander

• Vulgrar Thrice-Cursed (Combat, Demolitions, Strength, Veteran, Zealot): Armed with a flamer and the equivalent of a damage 2 power axe, Vulgrar is a melee monster even when compared to the other melee monsters among the Gellarpox Infected. His armor save is rather low, but since it's the same as his invulnerable save you won't care about it. And with 5 wounds and Disgustingly Resilient, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Just one level in the Strength specialism will pump his melee attacks up to an impressive S7, and with Devastating Power his attacks can one-hit kill even Aberrants and Warriors. If you can afford the points, give him Generalist as well so he can get the level 1 ability for Zealot or Combat to further increase his beatstick potential. Vulgrar also imposes a -1 Ld penalty to all enemy models within 6" of him, which isn't spectacular but still has its uses.

Tactics

• Gellershift (2 CP): A Deep Strike Stratagem in Kill Team? You'd better believe it! Works just like similar Stratagems in 40K, only you cannot place the Deep Striking model within 4" of an enemy model. Yes, 4". This means in addition to moving a model to contest a last minute objective, you could also use it to set up a Charge the next turn. The only real downside asides it's cost is that it only works on Gellerpox Mutants, so this rules out the big guys.
• Verminoid Infestation (3 CP):This one allows you to place a Mutoid Vermin model within 6" of a member of your Kill Team but it must be placed 6" from any enemy models. The summoned Model is ignored for determining if your Kill Team is broken and it is removed at the end of the game, before determining who won the mission. Really, the important thing is that you get to call in reinforcements at any time and don't get penalized if they die.
• Twisted Blessings (2 CP): At the end of the movement phase, choose a Nightmare Hulk with at least 1 flesh wound and roll a d6. On a 4+, it loses a flesh wound. You know, because they weren't tough enough already.
• Rancid Vomit (2 CP): At the start of the shooting phase, pick an enemy model within 6” of a friendly Nightmare Hulk. Roll 3 dice - for every 5+, deal a mortal wound to that enemy unit.
• Corruption and Decay (2 CP): At the start of the fight phase, pick an enemy model within 1” of a friendly Gellerpox model and reduce that enemy’s toughness by 1 for that phase.
• Machine Glitch (1 CP): When an enemy tries to open or close a door and you have a glitchling within 1” of that door to contest the door opening or closing, add 3 to your die in the roll-off to prevent the door from opening or closing.

Commander Tactics

• Insane Gibbering (1 CP): Use at the start of the psychic phase. Vulgrar imposes a -1 penalty to psychic tests for psykers within 18" of him.
• Lord of Resentment (1 CP): At the start of the movement phase, Vulgrar gains an aura that allows all Gellarpox Infected within 6" of him to re-roll hit rolls of 1. This effect ends at the start of the next battle round.

Commander Traits

• Twisted Brilliance (10 pts): If Vulgrar is in the Kill-Team, gain 1 extra CP that can only be used for Gellarpox Infected Tactics.
• Master of Vermin (15 pts): As long as Vulgrar is not shaken, all Mutoid Vermin within 6" of him re-roll failed hits.

Servants of the Abyss (Blackstone Fortress)

Why Play Servants of the Abyss

• Pros
  • Beastmen, Dark Mechanicus, and Rogue Psykers
  • You might gain a perverse sense of glee in drowning your enemies with attacks
  • Unlike vanilla CSM, your marines can actually buff your mook horde and use them as literal meat shields.
  • Servants of the Abyss are an excellent way to represent the Tyrant's Legion or Lost and Damned for some old school Badab War and Siege of Vraks Kill Team goodness.
  • Servants of the Abyss are one of only two factions, the other being Grey Knights, that can bring an entire team of psykers if you so choose.
• Cons
  • No Chaos marks or icons.
  • Obsidius is your only reliable heavy-hitter. the only other option you have is krak grenades to crack harder targets.
  • These guys cannot supplement an existing Chaos Marines force. Not even your beastmen and guardsmen have the CSM keywords to be of use.
  • With even fewer special and heavy weapon options than vanilla CSM, Servants of the Abyss are sorely lacking in ranged firepower. CQB is where they need to be, what shooting they have is mostly just to keep the enemy's heads down while they get there.

Ranged Weapons

• Plasma Pistol:
• Bolt Pistol:
• Boltgun:
• Lasgun:
• Laspistol: They're functionally identical to Autopistols. Grab one to make sure your boys can actually shoot something, but don't rely on it to amount to anything.
• Autopistol: They're functionally identical to laspistols. Grab one to make sure your boys can actually shoot something, but don't rely on it to amount to anything.
• Flamer:

Melee Weapons

• Thunder Hammer:
• Chainsword:
• Brutal Assault Weapon: What could have just been left as a basic CCW was instead made into an equivalent to a chainsword. Thank Chaos for that.
• Electro-goads:
• Chaos Stave:

Special Rules

• Servants of the Abyss: If any model with this rule are within 6" of a HERETIC ASTARTES model, they can re-roll nerve tests.

Units

• Traitor Guardsmen (Leader [Sergeant Only], Heavy [Gunner Only], Demolitions, Scout, Sniper, Veteran): You have guardsmen. Now give them spikes. They lose out on most special weapons for their heresy, but now each of them can grab melee weapons and pistols. Be sure to have a marine or two tag along to keep them in line.
  • Traitor Guardsmen Gunner (2): This is your lone way of grabbing flamers or krak grenades.
  • Traitor Guardsman Sergeant (1): Has the usual extra attack and better Ld of a sergeant/leader/champion, but costs the same as a regular dude, so there really isn't any reason not to bring him along.
• Chaos Beastmen (Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Veteran, Zealot): They're 2 points more than a guardsman, and they get quite a bit: +1 S/T and WS 3+. On top of that, they add +1 S/A whenever they charge. They're still strapped with chainswords and pistols, so they're best used as a frontline.
• Negavolt Cultists (Leader, Combat, Veteran, Zealot): Your not-Electropriests are probably the most expensive chaff you can net. Their lone weapons hit on 3+ on S+2, but scoring a 6+ on the hit makes it 3 hits, which is neat. They have two means of real protection (as in nothing with a 6+) from a 5+ Feel No Pain and a 5+ invul from the Voltagheist field, which can also deal a mortal wound when charging.
• Rogue Psykers (Leader, Comms, Veteran, Zealot): Having access to a psyker as a basic unit may sound cool, but for what they have and what they do, Rogue Psykers are ridiculously overcosted, especially when compared to Grey Knights, which are two points cheaper. With W4 and a melee weapon at S3 AP-1 Dd3 they can at least stand up to carapace, and their one unique rule lets them re-roll 1's on a psychic test, but they have a guardsmen's toughness and save, and suffer perils on any doubles. Honestly, a Rogue Psyker's space on a team would probably be better filled with more guardsmen, cultists, beastmen, or space marines.
• Black Legionnaire (Leader, Combat, Sniper, Veteran, Zealot): Here are your big men. Unfortunately, they lack all the bells and whistles that marines from the core CSM list have, and are the only unit in the faction that doesn't have access to a melee weapon (ironic considering they can take Combat specialization), which limits their usefulness in combat. Instead, they're used as runtherds for your squishy humie (and abhumie) hordes so that they don't try legging it when shit goes bad. If you take more than just what you need to keep your team covered and controlled, you might as well just play vanilla CSM.

Commanders

• Obsidius Mallex (Fortitude): Your lone commander is pretty damn loaded for his lot. W5, a Sigil of Corruption for a 4+ invuln, a plasma pistol, and a thunder hammer makes him your premier assault unit. He's best suited for smashing opposing commanders and other heavy units.

Tactics

• Blackstone Trinket (2CP): You can nullify the psychic powers of anyone casting within 6" when you roll a 4+ on a d6. Since only the Thousand Sons and Grey Knights would have more than a single psyker to worry about, this is best used when you don't bring the psykers or you've got a lot of psykers to worry about.
• Expendable Minions (1CP): Use this tactic whenever a HERETIC ASTARTES model's about to get shot. Select any other non-marine model to instead take the blow, prolonging the lives of your big black boys at the expense of your goons.
• Fully Charged (2CP): Pick two Negavolt Cultists within 1" of each other at the start of the shooting phase. They now get +1 to their invulns for the turn. Sadly, you can't go on and daisy-chain the Voltagheist fields together for a wall of 4++/5+++.
• Veterans of the Long War (2CP): Use this tactic when you choose one of the HERETIC ASTARTES models from your kill-team to attack in the Shooting or Fight phase. You can add 1 to the wound rolls for that models attacks that target IMPERIUM models until the end of the phase. Would be really good if not for the fact that it comes at 2CP, plus you have other ways of getting +1 wound, mostly via the Demolition specialism.

Eldar

Why Play Eldar

• Pros
  • You are sneaky enough to bring a heavy weapons platform on a stealth mission.
  • You like to run fast and still hit your targets.
  • You want a reasonable balance between infantry quality and quantity.
  • You have hard-hitting special weaponry, with the occasional AP-3 "crit" on the basic shuriken guns, meaning even a lowly Guardian can dish out the pain.
  • The Dire Avenger Exarch is surprisingly handy in a firefight or a fistfight, and is among the better squad leaders available.
• Cons
  • The only available Aspect Warriors for your hand-picked operatives are Dire Avengers. Yes, Dire Avengers are decently well rounded skirmishers, though when you have to settle for Storm Guardians in melee rather than Howling Banshees or Striking Scorpions, you'll definitely be left wanting when those Primaris Reivers, Harlequin Players, Wyches, Orks, Tyranids, and Death Guard get up in your business.
  • Unfortunately, Asuryani lack the Heavy and Demolition specializations, which can hamper how effective their Heavy Weapons are compared to other armies. This is compounded by their limit of only one Heavy Weapon Platform and only 2 Storm Guardian Gunners.
  • Pretty brittle. Your "standard" Guardians have a measly T3 with a 5+, which is only a slightly better 4+ on your Dire Avengers. Staying obscured is crucial for survival.
  • Atrocious average range on their standard weaponry, arguably the worst in the game. The Heavy Weapon Platform and Ranger Long Rifles offset this a little, though your standard Shuriken guns have an effective half-range of only 6". Dire Avengers get a slightly better 9" on their guns, though that's still easily in charge/rapidfire range for most other armies.

ELD Special Rules

• Battle Focus: Like in vanilla 40k, the Eldar ignore any to-hit penalties incurred when firing their weapons after moving and/or advancing (Heavy weapons are excluded from this rule). Since almost all of your weapons will be assault-class, there is almost no reason to not advance your troops every single turn to maximize your Guardian Defenders' and Dire Avengers' threat range.
• Ancient Doom: Re-roll failed hit rolls in the Fight phase if charging or being charged by a model with the Slaanesh keyword. However, being within 3" of one adds 1 to Nerve tests. This is primarily a fluff rule, since currently there's only one faction that can be Slaanesh; specifically Chaos Space Marines choosing Slaneesh for their Mark of Chaos. Seeing as how ideally, you wouldn't willingly engage MEQ targets in hand-to-hand combat with Storm Guardians, it's unlikely this rule will really come into play.
• Crewed Weapon: Heavy Weapons Platforms can only take actions (move, shoot, etc.) if a non-shaken Guardian Defender is within 3" of it. If it shoots, one such Guardian Defender is unable to shoot that phase. Heavy Weapons Platforms cannot charge, do not gain experience, and can never be specialists or join a Fire Team. This is something of a handicap for any Asuryani looking for advanced long-ranged firepower, since other factions have access to Heavy/Demolition Specialists who don't have to effectively pay for two models shooting only one gun between them and can actually benefit from Specialist status.

ELD Ranged Weapons

• Aeldari Missile Launcher: The biggest boom with the most range that points can buy, the AML can either really ruin someone's day with one hell of a hit (Heavy 1 S8 AP-2 D6) or a flurry of hits (Heavy D6 S4 AP-1 1D). At 48" either way, it's the single longest ranged weapon you can bring, though bringing it will effectively take up a fifth of your team (20p between the AML, HWP and Guardian Defender crewing it).
• Avenger Shuriken Catapult: Standard stock for the average Dire Avenger. Functionally the exact same as a Shuriken Catapult, but with slightly further range (18" Assault 2 S4 AP0, AP-3 on a 6+ 1D). The Dire Avenger Exarch is allowed to take two of these, which seeing as they're free, should always be done by the ranged Exarchs out there.
• Brightlance: A long ranged murder machine, Brightlances fire S8 AP-4 shots 36" down wind for D6 damage a pop. This can be quite fantastic for dealing with heavily armored characters, or ensuring that you take that target out of action.
• Flamer: Really basic at 8" Assault D6 S4 AP0 1D, flamers make up for their subpar range by autohitting their targets regardless of the countless to-hit penalties that can debuff your dudes. Pretty handy on your super-mobile Storm Guardian Gunners, who can advance up to 13", torch an enemy, then possibly Fire and Fade 7" back to cover.
  • Counterpoint: in a game as combat focused as KT, camping an objective and being able to overwatch at 8" against units like Orks can completely ruin their day.
• Fusion Gun: Where the Flamer does its work through volume of saves, the Fusion Gun simply ensures that whatever shot lands hurts. A lot. At S8 and AP-4, pretty much any standard squaddie isn't getting a save and is all but guaranteed a few wounds (particularly if they're within half range!). As an Assault Weapon, your Storm Guardian Gunners can take full advantage of Battle Focus to make every shot hit as hard and accurately as possible.
  • Fusion Pistol: Same deal as the main gun, only exclusive to your Autarch with half the effective range. In melee, this thing is nightmarish. Outside of melee, not so much.
• Ranger Long Rifle: Exclusive to your Rangers, these let them bip enemy models at maximum range for no additional penalties (so long as they're not obscured), and can plant a Mortal Wound on a wound roll of 6+ on top of any other damage. Reliable, but their Heavy typing means your Rangers can't take advantage of Battle Focus if they need to move anywhere.
• Scatter Laser: A satisfying source of dakka, the Scatter Laser churns out 4 respectably long ranged shots at S6, easily ensuring a at least a few wounds get planted on an enemy model. Reasonably priced, this may be the go-to weapon for more flexibly inclined teams.
• Shuriken Cannon: The default gun on your Heavy Weapon Platform, it makes up for its slightly shorter 24" range with the Assault 3 profile at S6, letting Guardians stay accurate and fast as needed. The AP-3 on 6+ wound rolls can potentially make short work of MEQ targets, though you shouldn't rely on that alone
• Shuriken Catapult: The basic gun given out to your Guardian Defenders, this Assault 2 S4 AP0, AP-3 on a 6+ 1D gun is pretty much the golden standard for Craftworld weaponry.
  • Shuriken Pistol: Identical to the Catapult, only having an Assault 1 profile instead. Your Rangers, Farseer and Warlock can sidearm these if the situation calls for it, though ideally they won't ever be using them. This is also the ranged weapon on your standard Storm Guardians, where it is moderately more useful since it can contribute to melee combat as well.
• Starcannon: A reliable in-between gun that fires 2 S6 AP-3 shots doing D3 a bip. This makes them excellent anti-MEQ guns that can be quite effective mid-field.
• Plasma Grenade: Dire Avengers also come stock with some S4 AP-1 grenades, which are extremely handy both on the offense or countering enemy charges (Dire Avengers overwatch on a 5+, take advantage of this!).

ELD Melee Weapons

• Aeldari Blade: A user-strength butterknife with no AP. Relatively unimpressive, given the S3 Storm Guardians waving it around, but since it re-rolls misses, it's at least all but guaranteed to hit. Now, whether or not that hit actually hurts them...
• Chainsword: S User (S3) AP0 chainsword, which grants an additional attack. A little better than the Aeldari Blade, but the Storm Guardian using it will still need to pray to Khaine that it'll do more than scuff up that Space Marine's paint job.
• Power Glaive: A surprisingly solid choice for your Exarch, S+1 (S4) with AP -2 means he stands a solid chance at slicing up MEQs, and can easily deal with GEQs tryin' to mess up his sweet hat. Aside its statline, it doesn't have anything else special about it, though you can either take it with a Shuriken Pistol for more of an offensive loadout, or a Shimmershield to help keep his fighty buddies safe.
  • Shimmershield: This is more of an accessory to the Power Glaive (an expensive one at that), but if you plan to have a couple Dire Avengers posse up with your Exarch, it can ensure that your Dire Avengers always get a save from anything bar Mortal Wounds. While this sounds nice, keep in mind that most standard weapons have little to no AP, making your Avengers' natural armor saves better (4+ vs a 5++). The Shimmershield also only applies this effect to strictly Dire Avengers within 2" of the Exarch. This means if you're going for diversity, or planning on splitting up your forces, the Shimmershield provides absolutely no benefit. Long and short, if you're taking the Shimmershield, you'll need to effectively build your list to take advantage of it. Otherwise, you're wasting points on a useless upgrade.
• Diresword: While it's only S User (S3), the AP-2 helps it punch through any armor that might resist the hit. Additionally, if you crit on the wound roll (Roll a 6+), the defending model takes an additional Mortal Wound along with any other damage dealt. Slightly more expensive and less reliable than the Glaive, but that extra damage could possibly make a hell of a difference.
• Witchblade: Exclusive to your Farseer and Warlock Commanders, these blades are extremely handy in that they always wound on a 2+, making up for the otherwise pitiful S3 your dudes have. With the relatively low average armor on most models involved in Kill Teams, these are actually really handy combat weapons. Still less than advised against MEQ targets given their lack of AP.
  • Singing Spear: An upgraded Witchblade that, aside an additional 12" Assault 1 shooting profile, does exactly the same thing as its free counterpart. If you have the points to spare, it's definitely recommended.
• Power Sword: For Autarchs only. While you're still swinging this around at a sad S3, the AP-3 virtually erases any armor saves your opponents might get if you hurt them with this.
• Star Glaive: The Autarch's default weapon, this beaut hits at a juicy S6 with AP-3 and D3 damage, making it exceptional at gimping GEQ and even MEQ targets with relative ease. Its only downside is the -1 to hit it imposes on the Autarch, though swinging at a 3+ is still pretty reliable.

ELD Psychic Powers

Farseer

• Guide (Warp Charge 6): A friendly model within 12" can reroll failed hits for their ranged weapons until the next psychic phase. There are two main advantages this has over the other re-roll options you have; as a psychic power, this costs no CP, letting you spam it every turn without affecting your Stratagem availability. Additionally, you may re-roll all misses, not just hit rolls of 1. And yes, this applies to all shots, including Overwatch. This is extremely useful on specialists or HWPs with Flesh Wounds, due to their drastically reduced accuracy.
• Fortune (Warp Charge 6): When cast on a friendly model within 12", it gives them a 5+ FNP. Can be a helpful bit of insurance on someone like a Combat Exarch or other Specialist who you're a bit concerned about getting focused down.
• Will of Asuryan (Warp Charge 5): When cast on a friendly unit within 6" of your Farseer, they auto-pass nerve tests. Additionally, this adds 1 to any Deny the Witch tests until your next Psychic Phase. A very useful defensive buff if you're getting backed into a corner, or fighting enemy psykers and need the extra help making sure they don't cast anything particularly damning.

Warlock

• Conceal/Reveal (Warp Charge 5): Use on a model within 12" of the Warlock. If the target is friendly, enemies trying to attack it with ranged weapons subtract 1 from their hit rolls until the next psychic phase. If the target is an enemy, it loses any bonuses it might have from being obscured until the next psychic phase. Conceal's usefulness compared to its standard 40k counterpart is a bit more conditional, given that 6's always hit in Kill Teams, but can still be quite handy in close quarters. Keep in mind flamer-type weapons and melee units don't give a damn about these sort of debuffs, however. Reveal is actually quite handy, especially against units like Rangers or Lictors who gain multiple to-hit debuffs from being in cover.
• Protect/Jinx (Warp Charge 6): A buffed friendly model adds 1 to their save, a debuffed enemy model subtracts 1 from theirs. This is particularly fantastic, as it one of the few ways to lower enemy Invulnerable saves! Alternatively, a buffed Exarch gets a fairly reliable 3++.
• Empower/Ennervate (Warp Charge 5): Buffed Friendly models add 1 to any wound rolls in melee, while enemies subtract 1 from theirs. The buff side of this is a bit more conditional; the only one who'd really appreciate the buff would be a Combat-oriented Exarch. Wounding MEQ targets on a 3+ at AP-2 is actually quite reliable. Buffing basic Storm Guardians can help them against GEQ targets, but with their pitiful melee statline and armor saves, buffing them or debuffing their targets is kind of an... inefficient use of your Warlock's one cast per turn.

ELD Units

• Guardian Defenders (Leader, Comms, Medic, Scout, Veteran): Your basic cheap as chips guardians are simple, but effective. You aren't the toughest, you aren't shiny, you ain't special, but you are fast, reliably accurate and at 7 points a dude, they're excellent for filling out infantry-heavy lists. Take a bunch with a souped up Dire Avenger Exarch as your leader, and go to town with a horde of citizen soldiers trying to be a professional army.
  • Heavy Weapon Platform (1): Unlike many other armies, who'll often just carry their special weapons themselves, Guardian Defenders need to plant them on a separate model and babysit them if they want to actually use it. This makes them somewhat expensive and inefficient as vectors for heavy firepower compared to everyone else. This is exacerbated by the fact that you can only take one, it can't be a specialist, gain experience or be part of a fireteam. This doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, though. Shuricannons and Scatter Lasers can rinse through GEQ models reliably enough, while Starcannons and Bright Lances can tear through MEQ and multi-wound models fairly easily. Plus, its higher wound count and better armor save means that it'll take a modest amount of firepower to bring it down. Plant your Comms specialist behind it to ensure you get the most out of your shots.
• Storm Guardians : Your melee skirmishers, armed with Shuriken Pistols and some rather pitiful beatsticks. They are your cheapest choice, but they'll likely struggle against armored enemies, anything particularly shooty or anything that actually knows how to make a fist. What they can do is ideally swarm a specialist/leader and try to bury them in melee saves. They can perform decently enough against units like Tau, Guardsman, or even other flavors of Eldar (within reason), though regular Guardian Defenders will likely outperform them against almost everybody else.
  • Storm Guardian Gunners (2): These guys are your special weapons bearers. Fusion guns are a nice counterpart to the Shuriken spam, and with battle focus you can run up and blast apart models at full BS. Bonus points if you make them comm specialists for a speedy +2 to hit delete button. If you'd rather try to drown your opponent in saves, you can also equip them with a flamer to auto-toast peeps before you go in for the charge.
• Rangers (Leader, Comms, Medic, Scout, Sniper): Just like in the full 40k game, Rangers serve as your snipers. They don't suffer any penalties for firing at their weapon's full range, and can plant a Mortal Wound on any unlucky sop on a wound roll of 6+. Dealing with these cloaked bastards at range can be particularly daunting as well; they get an additional -1 to-hit modifier if they're obscured. This makes them fantastically durable, as anyone shooting at them from half-range or further could be dealing with a frustrating -3 modifier! At 11 points a model, they're your most expensive standard unit. All that said, they're still reasonably priced support units, though as they don't really benefit from Battle Focus (Ranger Long Rifles are Heavy Weapons) and are practically helpless at melee, they are not ideal for contesting mid or cross field objectives. And while 11 points per dude isn't terribly expensive, they start to eat into your maximum body count quite quickly. Use a few of them to harrass/assassinate key enemy units or to heavily discourage enemies from entering certain areas of the map.
• Dire Avengers (Leader (Exarch only), Combat, Comms, Medic, Sniper, Veteran) : A Dire Avenger may be three points more than a Guardian Defender, but for that you get an extra six inches of range (Wouldn't you pay 3 points for an extra six inches wink wink), a slightly better armor save, better overwatch (5+), grenades and better leadership. Depending on what specialists you wish to take, these guys can serve fantastically, though they'll definitely be a premium compared to your other options.
  • Dire Avenger Exarch (1): A Dire Avenger Exarch makes a fantastic leader for any kill team, and is flexible enough to accommodate any kind of focus you're gearing your team for. Shooty Exarchs can take one or two Avenger Shuriken Catapults (since they're free, you should always take two) for run-and-gun teams. Fighty Exarchs can be kitted out with a Power Glaive or Dire Sword for glorious combat, each of which can take a Shuriken Pistol for little potshots here and there. Exarchs have a built in 4++ Invuln covering 2 wounds, making them slightly harder to drop than the rest of the dudes he's leading. That said, Power Glaive Exarchs can support fellow Dire Avengers by using the Shimmershield to confer a 5++ Invuln to any of other Dire Avengers within 2". Respectably cheap, an Exarch's all but required for your kill team and makes for a good centerpiece to base your composition around.

ELD Elite Units

• Striking Scorpions: Announced for the new Kill Teams Elite expansion. No other details available just yet.

• Wraithblades: Announced for the new Kill Teams Elite expansion. No other details available just yet.

ELD Commanders

• Autarch (Ferocity, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist): Your all-rounder Commander at 55p base, Autarchs can serve as excellent close quarter combat commanders. With their 3+/4++ string of saves, access to a Power Sword, Fusion Pistol, Mandi-Blasters and Swooping Hawk wings, Autarchs can put Harlequins to shame with their frankly disgusting melee potential. Their unique Path of Command stratagem can help support nearby troops with re-roll support on their shots, though clumping up your units to abuse it can make them vulnerable to multi-hitting weapons such as Flamers or Grenades. As far as the Autarch's specializations go, it is the most flexible of your commanders and can fill a variety of roles the rest of your army might be lacking.
• Farseer (Leadership, Logistics, Psyker, Strategist): Arguably the most reliable Psyker in the entirety of Kill Teams, not only are Farseers able to freely re-roll any number of dice used for manifesting powers once per phase, but can avoid Perils of the Warp on an effective 2+ (Regular Mortal Wounds on a 5+). They can also know 2 of the 3 powers available to them and cast both of them in the same turn, making them very effective buff vectors for the rest of your army. While Farseers can indeed participate in melee/shooting to a modest degree (WS/BS of a 2+ with melee weapons that always wound on a 2+ is pretty damn good after all), they lack the specializations and skills to excel at it like your Autarch can. As such, Farseers should primarily be regulated to supporting your specialists or primary forces.
• Warlock (Logistics, Melee, Psyker, Shooting): The "poor man's" Commander starting at 20p baseline, the Warlock is the cheapest and weakest commander available to you. With only 2 wounds to his name, you'll definitely want to keep this guy out of line of sight at all costs if you want to keep his Psychic buffs/debuffs in play. Additionally, you'll want to keep at least one CP in your pocket for any accidental Perils you may cast with him; it's quite possible for your Warlock to just blow himself up trying to protect your dudes. However, his psychic versatility is unmatched among other commanders, making him ideal for flexible lists.
• Amallyn Shadowguide (Stealth): Now available as a Commander! Starting at 30 points base, Amallyn has a reasonable price point for what she offers; a Ballistic Skill of 2+ coupled with her great range means she can pick off enemy models down field while remaining a frustrating target herself due to her innate -1 to hit modifiers and buffed saves while obscured. What's more, is that her ability to ignore terrain and models for her movement means that she can be extremely challenging to pin down, with her power blade making her significantly more dangerous to engage in Melee than any of your Rangers would be. While Amallyn is unfortunately limited strictly to the Stealth specialization, it does actually compliment her skill set rather well, both for defensive and offensive purposes. She does suffer from two major shortcomings worth noting, however. Amallyn only comes stock with 3 base wounds at the same GEQ statline as her kin, making her the second frailest commander available to you. Additionally, Amallyn doesn't really offer any real support for the rest of her team, making her something of a "lone wolf" commander. While this means that your overall team won't really suffer if you lose her, it's not really gaining anything from taking her over a Farseer or Warlock either.

ELD Tactics

• Phantasm (2 CP): At the beginning of the first battle round, pick a unit and set it up again anywhere in the deployment zone. The usefulness of this tactic is questionable; it's rather high cost and limit to one model can possibly cripple your kill team early in the game, though it can serve as an emergency get-away for your leader or a specialist caught with their pants down during deployment.
• Asurmen's Blessing (1 CP): When a Dire Avenger shoots in the Shooting phase, re-roll failed hit rolls until the end of the phase. On a twin-Avenger Shuriken Catapult Exarch, this is fantastic. Given the penalties for firing at range, this can significantly improve your chances of scoring a hit. Of course, regular Dire Avengers can take advantage of this as well, it's just literally half as useful comparatively.
• Feigned Retreat (1 CP): After a model in your Kill-Team falls back, it can still shoot in the following shooting phase. On an Exarch or Specialist, this can come quite in handy; particularly if said specialist happens to be wielding a flamer/fusion gun. That said, aside your Exarch and maybe your Storm Guardians, you ideally won't be in melee combat all that much (willingly, at least).
• Matchless Agility (1 CP): Instead of rolling for advance distance, a model simply adds 6" to its movement for a phase. Combined with Battle Focus, this can be particularly nasty with a Fusion Gun Storm Guardian. Alternatively, a great way to get out of dodge.
• Fire and Fade (1 CP): After a model in your kill-team shoots in the shooting phase, it can make a normal move up to 7" as if it was the movement phase. This is again, quite fantastic for your eldar, as all your weapons have garbage range, and the units holding them have garbage armor. Suffice to say, they'll need all the help they can get to keep distance between them and whatever they just shot at.
• Rune of Ynnead (2 CP): When a model in your kill-team is taken out of action, roll a d6; on a 4+ that model takes a flesh wound instead. Expensive, but a potential life-saver for a specialist or Exarch you really don't want to lose.

ELD Commander Tactics

• The Path of Command (1 CP): Use at the start of the battle round if you have a non-shaken Autarch in your Kill-Team. All models within 6" of the Autarch re-roll 1s to hit until the next round. This ability has two primary advantages over just using the Guide psychic power; it works for both ranged and melee attacks, and as stated, can include any and all friendly models within range. This can be particularly helpful if you're running a large number of Storm Guardians with Chainswords, though you'll need to beware multi-shot profile weapons before you clump up too much.

ELD Strategies

Specialist Recommendations:

• Leader: The Dire Avenger Exarch is tailor made for this position. Even though technically any unit qualifies for the Leader specialization, none of them offer the flexibility or durability that your Exarch can bring to the table. Unless you are explicitly trying to shave points to maximize your body count, or wanting to spec your Exarch under a different specialization, there's really no reason not to stick with the Exarch. Otherwise, a Ranger camping in the back of your deployment zone can be extremely frustrating to bring down, and is a good way to ensure you generate CP every turn.
• Combat: Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is probably the only role a standard Storm Guardian can perform decently enough at. If armed with a Chain Sword, even a "rookie" S. Guardian will be swinging 3 times in one sitting, which has a respectably high chance of inflicting a wound, possibly even on a MEQ opponent. Alternatively, a close-combat Dire Avenger Exarch armed with a Power Glaive can dish out 3 AP-2 blows at S4, which has significantly better odds of wounding most targets compared to your bargain-bin Storm Guardians, and has a much better chance of surviving any reprisal given the 4++ Invuln he comes stock with.
• Comms: Guardian Defenders or Dire Avengers make ideal Comms specialists; they typically will be in fairly close proximity with other friendly models (particularly if you are bringing a Heavy Weapons Platform into play), and while their range is still relatively crap, they'll still be encouraged to keep a safer distance between themselves and enemies trying to hunt them down. Storm Guardian Gunners can also use the +1 to-hit buff on themselves, letting them operate more independently and all but ensuring their Fusion Gun hits their target.
• Medic: Honestly, Guardian Defenders probably benefit the most from being a Medic. Dire Avengers have slightly higher leadership, and are encouraged to stay close to their Exarch (assuming it's a Shimmershield Exarch), so this can be an effective way to keep your slightly more cowardly citizens in check. Alternatively, a Dire Avenger Medic can improve a Combat Exarch by giving them an additional attack during the fight phase, and will benefit from said Shimmershield due to his proximity.
• Scout: A Storm Guardian Gunner with a Fusion Gun (for all but guaranteeing the removal of practically any one model) can be particularly devastating. With re-rollable advances, the Scout can spend either a Command Point to boost their standard move by 2", or to trigger the "Fire and Fade" Stratagem to get in close, hit hard, then duck out of any possible retaliation. For someone literally overflowing with CP, one could spend 3 in one turn; Boost the Scout's movement to 9", auto-advance an additional 6", blow something fancy up then retreat 7" behind cover. Expensive and impractical? Maybe. Spectacular and hilarious results? Real likely.
• Sniper: Literally only your Ranger is eligible for this spec, so whether or not you even want a ranger is the question. That said, it isn't really that hard a question to answer. Given the abysmal range on almost everyone else's weaponry, having at least one Ranger on your kill team is advised to deal with enemy units camping in their deployment zone, or to help take down a particular threat to your team as a whole. Making said Ranger a Sniper helps them do that a little better.
• Veteran: This one is a bit more flexible than the others. Having a Storm Guardian Gunner or Guardian Defender HWP Baby-Sitter Veteran can come in handy if they come under fire often, as it'll help shore up their mediocre leadership so that they can keep doing their jobs effectively. Campaigns that let you level up your Veterans can be particularly useful for your SGGs, letting you move up and get the jump on enemy specialists with heavy-hitting weaponry. Dire Avengers, if nothing else, can also make use of the spec decently enough, though they don't really offer anything quite as significant as the prior two.

Faction Strategies:

• Space Marines: When fighting a kill team of the Imperium's mascots, it's generally advised to avoid close combat like the plague; only a melee oriented Exarch will perform adequately against them, while even an unspecialized Space Marine can simply flick your average Storm Guardian's head to remove it from existence. Let's not even mention the things Primaris Marines will do to your Guardians if they get close enough. Reliably, one or two Storm Guardian Gunners with Fusion Guns can rush any average MEQ target and incinerate even their Primaris battle-brothers with one all-consuming shot. A Bright Lance fitted HWP can perform much the same role on the field with much less of a ride-or-die attitude compared to your S.G Gunners. In a pinch, you can swarm Marines with basic Guardian Defenders; Shuriken Catapults might have garbage range, but their penchant for AP-3 crits makes them quite effective.

• Grey Knights: A particularly daunting foe, Close Combat is a death sentence for any of your units hapless enough to get caught in with any of these tanks. What's worse, is that with Storm Bolters, you're always going to be getting pelted by an unholy number of shots at even the maximum range on your Guardian's Shuriken Catapults. They're also one of two factions in the entirety of Kill Teams with access to the Psyker phase, so there's that to consider as well. Thankfully, you do have a few advantages. You are guaranteed to outnumber your foe, and where the loss of one or two Guardians might sting a bit, the loss of a single Grey Knight can very likely throw your opponent's plans into disarray. Utilize high AP weaponry such as the Bright Lance and Fusion Gun to your advantage, with the Star Cannon striking a nice medium for volume of fire, strength, damage and AP for the cautious player. A few Rangers can also go a long way; the potential mortal wounds they provide isn't something to under-estimate on a faction with as few models as the Grey Knights.

• Adeptus Custodes: Full details have yet to come, but since in practice they're basically Grey Knights in their final form, dealing with a Custodes KT will be largely the same bar the psychic phase, which they don't have (probably). You will undoubtedly outnumber any Custodes team, though each enemy model will require a combined effort from several of your dudes in order to down. Much like the Grey Knights, melee combat is a great option for people looking to forfeit the match.

• Imperial Guard: One of the precious few factions your standard Storm Guardians might perform decently enough against, a CC Exarch will have a field day against the average guardsman. While your units may indeed be more accurate than the Imperial's finest in a firefight, your range is extraordinarily pathetic compared even to their flashlights; weapons that actually pose a significant threat due to your pitiful toughness and armor. Taking advantage of cover and rushing in for melee combat with Storm Guardians against the average Guardsman may ultimately be more reliable than attempting to trade fire. Rangers in your backline would also be advised; their hit modifiers can make them extraordinarily frustrating to hit, while they conversely are reliably accurate and can snipe priority targets that may threaten your Storm Guardians on the approach.

• Adeptus Mechanicus: Due to their weird cobble of flexible units, playing against Adeptus Mechanicus can be a bit tricky, depending on what they're bringing. While Storm Guardians can put up a good fight against their rangers, you generally don't want to be in melee combat with their Vanguard, and you really don't want to be in combat with their Infiltrators or Ruststalkers. Their guns are also a nasty combination of accurate and shooty with particularly brutal special weapons available to them (their sniper can practically one-shot any of your dudes if the shot lands true). You'll want to out-maneuver their infantry and focus down any specialists/special guns that they've brought to the table; Storm Guardians can reliably tie down anyone with the sniper if you can sneak them close enough. Depending on your formation primarily, you also might be able to secure a slight numerical advantage on them as well.

• Death Guard: These veritable bricks of pus and puke will be particularly daunting to take down due to their toughness and armor, making the only reliable means of taking them down heavy weapons fire. Fusion Guns, Bright Lance/Star Cannon HWP and massed Shuriken Volleys.

• Thousand Sons: The other Psychic faction, and the only one with access to an effective 2+ armor save. Multi-wound weapons will be your friend against Rubric Marines, but beware the hell out of their Inferno Bolters; they'll insta-gib your Guardians and very likely your Dire Avengers as well.

• Asuryani: Aside the obvious "anything you can do, they can do" stchick, it really comes down to outmaneuvering your foe. Don't bog down your points by bringing expensive heavy weapons, even a standard Shuriken shot stands a solid chance at dropping Dire Avengers, much less any Guardian pedestrians holding said Avenger's tailcoats. If you know what kind of build your opponent is going for, try to tailor your list to counter it. Rangers will be borderline untouchable for a fair few turns in a Guardian heavy list, though Ranger Heavy lists can only drop so many targets a turn. If your opponent fields a HWP for some reason, you can easily ensure it turns into dead weight by sniping any Defenders who try to make use of it. Though in all honesty, match-ups like this can often end up boiling down to a literal coin toss.

• Drukhari: Your less than ethical kin have two advantages on you; they have a slightly better average range on their slightly shootier weapons, and they're more proficient at melee combat compared to you. Fortunately, they're also just as, if not more brittle than you are (if you can believe it), and you are slightly more accurate when on the move comparatively. Dire Avengers will match their Shard Carbine range, and are slightly more durable than the rest of your army, making it easier to tank shots on them (though you shouldn't attempt to tank, if possible). Alternatively, Rangers will be a chore and a half to deal with due to the D. Eldar's own mediocre range, and stand pretty good odds on planting normal wounds on them due to their equally garbage armor.

• Harlequins: I'll be frank, you're at a significant disadvantage with these guys. Their ability to simply pass through intervening terrain and models and their particularly terrifying melee prowess means there's precious little you can do to slow down their advance, and with your terrible range on your weapons, keeping them at a safe distance simply isn't an option. In the early game, Rangers can attempt to pick one or two of them off before they barrel down on your side of the field. Weapons that rely on volume of fire will prove more useful, so a dual-ASC Exarch, Scatter lasers and a large clump of Guardians will prove modestly effective at picking off Harlequins on the approach. Special mention goes to flamer-wielding Storm Guardian Gunners, who will be significantly less tempting to charge due to their nasty auto-hitting overwatches. Dire Avengers, while more expensive, can out range your Guardians (and the Harlequin's effective pistol range) and between their better overwatches and grenades, will also be more of a challenge to take down. For the suicidal eldar, mobbing a single Harlequin Player with several Storm Guardians can actually stand a decent enough chance to down it; you will have a numbers advantage after all, and Harlequins are still T3 underneath that invuln save. This isn't necessarily advised though, because should that or a nearby Player survive the assault, they will eviscerate your S.Guardians in such laughably short order that you'll wonder what the hell you were thinking would happen.

• Orks: Yet another faction where close combat is to be avoided at all costs, Orks can be reliably kited using your superior movement and accuracy. Their average accuracy is pretty bad, so barring any fielded Burna's, keeping your distance is the best way to avoid taking any losses.

• Necrons: Treat these guys in a manner similar to Space Marines; AP heavy weapons will breach their armor easily enough, though you'll need to watch out for their potential Reanimation Protocols rolls. Thankfully, this is another army you can outnumber if you play your cards right, so don't be afraid to focus fire as needed.

• T'au: Probably the best faction to use Storm Guardians against, in an ideal world. Don't even try to one-up the T'au's shooting game, it will result in a pretty quick and painful match. That said, Rangers are certainly a welcome asset against Firewarriors and Pathfinders; making use of a few of them can potentially pin down the enemy while you advance a CQC Exarch and his Storm Guardian buddies downfield. Flamers and Shuriken weaponry should more than suffice against most of their units, though a Fusion Gun would be recommended if the forecast calls for Stealth Battlesuits in the field.

• Tyranids: A likely much swarmier army than yours (unless your opponent is going for the "four-lictor" or warrior heavy lists), their unit selection allows Tyranids a high degree of build flexibility that can be challenging to plan for. Thankfully, no matter their build, volume of fire can prove quite reliable at dealing with most of their units, with multi-wound weapons such as the Fusion Gun, Star Cannon and Bright Lance being particularly effective against Warriors and Lictors. Melee combat is arguably the biggest mistake you could make (by electing to participate in it, or allowing it to happen), because be it through numbers of units or attacks, Tyranids and their Genestealer buddies will outperform you in every regard. Obviously, focus down any Synapse units you can before turning your attention towards any of the smaller gibblies.

• Genestealer Cult: These guys will behave in a similar manner to Imp. Guard, but just because Storm Guardians work against the Emperor's faithful doesn't mean using them against the Genestealer Cultists is a good idea. Again, close combat is probably the worst approach you can take when combating them, though Guardian Defenders and Dire Avengers will perform quite admirably against them in the ranged game. Rangers are also quite effective early game, though like with many fighty armies, their effectiveness wanes when the distance between them and their target dissipates.

ELD Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• Balanced Ranged Team (11 Models, 100pts): A fairly versatile team with an emphasis on flexibility, this particular team I personally found to strike a nice balance for engaging both GEQ and MEQ targets. With the Comms specialist supporting the HWP, it becomes a shockingly accurate infantry gibber that can become a borderline DISTRACTION CARNIFEX for your enemies. It is also quite effective at locking down particular zones on the map with its impressive range, letting you discourage foes from recklessly charging any objectives down its sights. The veteran SGG with the Flamer can make excellent use of the post-deployment move to take a forward position to also discourage the enemy from advancing too quickly in a given area. Campaigns that allow you to level them up can also let them Ready after moving, potentially letting you get the drop on an unsuspecting backline unit with D6 auto-hits. The Scout SGG offers an extremely speedy unit who can very quickly cross the battlefield and easily pile wounds on even the sturdiest of models, though using it in this way can be quite CP intensive (Level 1 Scout tactic, Matchless Agility, Fire and Fade as well as a potential CP re-roll for hitting/wounding). Lastly, Dire Avengers are decently durable (for GEQ standards, anyways) with workable range on their base weapons, letting them engage targets at safer distances compared to their Guardian kin. This list does have a general aversion to melee-based opponents, so do what you can to kite your opponent using your (likely) superior mobility. With Battle Focus, there's almost no reason not to advance any and all of your units to keep them just outside charging range.
  • Leader: Dire Avenger Exarch with two Avenger Shuriken Catapults
  • Comms: Guardian Defender
  • Veteran: Storm Guardian Gunner with Flamer
  • Scout: Storm Guardian Gunner with Fusion Gun
  • Fireteam: Dire Avengers (x6)
  • Misc: Heavy Weapon Platform with Starcannon

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

• Balanced Ranged Team (13 Models, 200pts): Virtually identical to the standard version, the only difference in this set up is a level 3 Farseer. I personally take him as a Strategist; Many of the Leadership abilities are relatively useless, given Farseers lack aura based abilities, or are conditional at best for a Farseer. The Logistics and Psyker specializations can be useful, if specced offensively, though many abilities between the two aren't particularly appealing for Farseer use. Strategists allow you to gain more CP per round while simultaneously reducing CP cost for all of your tactics (Asuryani or general), allowing you to get extremely tactical with your engagements. The powers recommended are Guide and Fortune, Guide being particularly handy on your HWP and Fortune can serve as a decent insurance policy for any of your specialists in particular. Outside campaigns, this arrangement is recommended:
  • Commander: Level 3 Strategist Farseer with Singing Spear
  • Leader: Dire Avenger Exarch with two Avenger Shuriken Catapults
  • Comms: Guardian Defender
  • Veteran: Storm Guardian Gunner with Flamer
  • Scout: Storm Guardian Gunner with Fusion Gun
  • Fireteam: Dire Avengers (x7)
  • Misc: Heavy Weapon Platform with Starcannon

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Dark Eldar

Why Play Dark Eldar

• Pros
  • No vehicles in kill team means that poison weapons will always be wounding on a 4+, making them incredibly reliable. Fast & spooky GEQ that wound Plague Marines on 4+? Yes, please.
  • Power From Pain and Combat Drugs are still in.
  • You can shoot and you can melee, unlike other armies who either do one thing or the other.
• Cons
  • S3 melee is awful for a melee orientated army when you can expect many people to be fielding one or more T4/5 unit that also has a decent save and will obliterate your paper men in return. Even GEQs will only be wounded half the time!
  • Only TWO Gunners! Oh but what nice guns they are, really. But that still means only two guns in your team can wound GEQ on something better than half the time.
  • With T3 and a 5+/6+ save against shooting your models will drop like flies to even autoguns. And a FnP6+ is too low to rely on.
  • Power From Pain takes time to reach its full potential, so you're vulnerable in early battle rounds.
  • No Wracks ;__; Also no Medic, Heavy or Demo. Nor a way to deal with obscured enemies that doesn't involve melee combat (other than Headshot on snipers, which you unlock at tier 2).

DE Special Rules

• Power from Pain: Each Battle Round each Model in your Kill Team gains a bonus depending upon which round it is. Each bonus is cumulative with the previous rounds:
  • 1 - Inured to Suffering: Roll a D6 each time this model loses a wound; on a 6 that wound is not lost.
  • 2 - Eager to Flay: You can re-roll the dice when determining how far this model moves when it Advances or Charges.
  • 3 - Flensing Fury: Add 1 to Hit rolls for this model in the Fight phase.
  • 4 - Emboldened by Bloodshed: Re-roll failed Nerve tests for this model.
  • 5 - Mantle of Agony: Subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy modes that are within 6" of any models from your Kill Team with this bonus.

DE Ranged Weapons

• Splinter Rifle: 24" Rapid Fire 1. It wounds 50% no matter the toughness of your opponent.

Pistols: Bring guns to a knife fight.

• Splinter Pistol: Same as its rifle cousin but 12" range and 1 shot.
• Blast Pistol: S8 AP-4, D6 dmg. With 6" range, melee is pretty much the only time you'll fire it without penalty.
• Phantasm Grenade Launcher: Not Grenade type, you were fooled. 18" Assault D3 to inflict -1Ld to whatever it hits. That's its main use, but it's also Str1. Roll for it, it'll be fun.
• Plasma Grenade: 6" Grenade D6 S4 AP-1. Sometimes your Wyches won't have a gun, but they'll still have this. Better than most other armies' frags.

Gunner's choices (2): (1) Either a Dark Lance or a Splinter Cannon + (1) either Blaster or Shredder. They're all good, choosing one is the real torture.

• Dark Lance: 36" Heavy 1 S8 AP-4 Dd6 will kill anything you hit with it. Kill Team's accuracy rules means you'll need a nearby Comms or the Sniper Gunner's own Careful Aim to use it to its full potential. A bit cumbersome, but rewarding when its D6 dmg manages to delete even a Primaris or Plague marine in a single shot. This will remove a single enemy a turn if it gets any buffs, or a high lvl specialist, but you need to make sure you put yourself in a position where you can either A) see enough of the main objectives or B) reposition to harass enemies, otherwise you can be beaten out by null-deploying opponents. It's also a good idea to make sure any back routes to your hidey hole are guarded by supporting infantry, so you don't suffer from a nasty charge to the back.
• Splinter Cannon: 36" Rapid Fire 3. Very useful with 6 splinter shots within 18". Use a Veteran's Adaptive Tactics to close the range early. A powerful tool against swarming enemies (like Tyranids), with enough dakka to deal with them all and it outranges them to boot. Even a Harlequin charging from 18" away will be forced to brave 6 shots in overwatch! Good at dealing with most opponents, but keep in mind you only wound on a 4+, so you will need kabalites to support you if your target(s) come out alive.
• Blaster: 18" Dark Lance profile but Assault 1, making it less cumbersome. While the Shredder is more powerful, you could boost its chance to hit the same way as you would with a Dark Lance to avoid having to get your Gunner uncomfortably close to the enemy. This will be more powerful in lists that have problems with engaging bunkered-down marines, while the Shredder is a strong deterrent against melee-oriented forces. Consider what faction you are fighting before picking your weapons.
• Shredder: 12" Assault D6 AP-1. Reroll all failed wounds. Lots of dakka, lots of wounds, useful AP, only held back by it short range. Dark Eldar's speed makes it easy to get within range but your opponents will be shooting at you without penalty when you're just entering your maximum range. Great otherwise. A strong deterrent against chargers, as any hits have a 35/36 or 8/9 chance to wound depending on the target. Even Painkillered marines are still wounded by 75% of shots. Don't expect to rack up kills with this weapon, instead place it in a position during your shooting phase which zones out enemies and forces them to reposition (for fear of a decisive shot or by comboing Adaptive tactics with a Ready in the movement phase). If an opponent does not move when they are in a readyed shredder's sights, they deserve what's coming.

DE Melee Weapons

• Agoniser: -2AP and 4+ wounding makes this a reliable choice with the low Str of the Kill Team.
• Hekatarii blade: Wych weapon that grants an additional attack
• Hydra Gauntlets: -1AP granting an extra attack, and re-rolling failed wounds.
• Power Sword: The best option in a fight to pierce armor with -3AP, but needs a Zealot charging or Grave Lotus combat drug to make the most out of it.
• Razorflails: -1AP with a bonus attack, and re-rolling failed to hit rolls.
• Shardnet and Impaler: Keeping the theme of -1AP and attack bonus, this weapon inflicts Damage 2 and if it takes the last wound off a model it will roll 2 Injury rolls taking the higher result.

DE Units

• Kabalite Warrior (Leader [Sybarite only], Sniper [Gunner only], Comms, Scout, Veteran, Zealot): Your basic ranged option, splinter rifles wound even Death Guard on a 4+ and with 2 shots within 12" they provide good output for their points. They're also tough by Dark Eldar standards having a guard rather than a cultist statline.
  • Kabalite Gunner (2): Your option for ranged dakka, you can take one shredder or blaster and one dark lance or splinter cannon. The shredder and splinter cannon win out mathematically against everything but multiwound models in KT so they make the best defaults. Veterans make good Darklance/Blaster wielders since at lvl 2 you get to reroll a single hit or wound per turn, Snipers make good shredders at high lvl surprisingly, since they can give the shredder a 50% expanded range, and use CP to fire twice, hit more accurately, and ignore cover. It’s sad we don’t get demo or heavy specialists, who make up the backbone of most long range killteams. Keep a Comms specialist near Darklight (especially veterans) since the free +1 is invaluable.
  • Sybarite (1): Your Kabalite leader, he has the same options as a Hekatrix but one less attack. Not a bad option for your leader. Give him a phantasm launcher and hide him in the back.
• Wyches (Leader [Hekatrix only], Combat, Scout, Veteran, Zealot): Melee warriors for your fire team, with a high volume of attacks but are cultist easy to kill. They have 3 accurate but weak chainsword-equivalent attacks and nice pistol. It's better to substitute them for a Wych Fighter unless you're going CC heavy or already took 3 Fighters.
  • Wych Fighter (3): Your melee special weapons drops. Out of the weapons options (gauntlets, flail and shardnet) the Gauntlets are going to be your best option for reliable hitting power given their low Str but high accuracy.
  • Hekatrix (1): Your Wych leader option. She can take all sorts of goodies. A blast pistol provides much needed high str and armor cracking and an agonizer makes up for her low str by wounding on a 4. You should consider making her your zealot or combat specialist to drown opponents in a volume of high quality attacks.

DE Elite Units

• Mandrakes: New unit from the Kill Teams Elites expansion.

DE Commanders

• Archon (Commander):
• Succubus (Commander):
  • Vysa Kharavyxis: Interesting for a campaign (although just go logistics) but shit for matched play, you’re welcome for wasting £15 so you may known the horrible truth.
    • Succubus Specalism:
      • Level 1: Dancing With Death +1 Atk for each flesh wound: okay but by the time you have flesh wounds things are quite rough and won’t take effect for some time given she has 5 W.
      • Level 2: Back From the Dead Re-roll casualty rolls: kinda usefel but not in the actual game
      • Level 3: Gladiatrix When you use duel for honour tactic on a 2+ (D6) +1 CP: very good, but doesnt make up for lvls 2 and 4 being useless in the match.
      • Level 4: Talent Scout If after the game the model is decided to be dead you D6 for every specalist this model took out of action, on a 5+ +1 morale: FUCKING GARBAGE, useless until your dead and then its not even +1 resource of your choice (although that wouldn’t make much sense), what if I have lots of morale. It is quite possible this ability will do nothing for your campaign.
• Haemonculus (Commander): The only thing that makes him worth it is his tactic Master of Pain, an aura that gives +1 to toughness for all friendly models within 6". It would be better if he had the strategist specialism for that CP that the tactic costs. Probably the better choice is giving him Fortitude, if you make him level 3 with +1 toughness, halving damage and 6+++ (rerolling 1s) plus the tactics, he can be a good support commander with Toughness 6(!) -each time you use the tactic- on the front surrounded by wyches (in fact if you get +1 Toughness cause the Combat Drugs you're having hyperdoped Toughness 5 Wyches). However, I don't know if 50pts (55pts with the ichor inyector) for a commander that needs 1CP for turn and with 5+/6+++(rerolling 1s) save is worth it, as he's nothing special on melee and shooting, although you can let him at level 2 for having 15 more pts. Also, instead of sending him to the front you can keep him among your shooters for protecting them (the -1 to injury rolls for a friendly model tactic is tasty).

DE Tactics

• Fire and Fade (1CP): A unit can immediately move up to 7" after they've fired in the Shooting phase. Positioning is key in Kill Team. You can use it as an equivalent to a consolidation move in the shooting phase after killing an enemy, or to redeploy to safety after having exposed yourself for shooting, like when using the short-ranged Shredder.
• Cruel Deception (1CP): Use this after one of your models fall back so it can still shoot in this battle round.

• You have to take you enemy's actions into consideration. Remember falling back doesn't specify a direction - you can fall back forwards, towards the enemy, and get them in your crosshairs from cover, while the rest of your team handles the guy you fell back from.

• If you have the initiative...
  • ...and the enemy lacks a gun, you'll shoot them the next phase, unless they successfully charge back at you and you don't kill them in overwatch (if you are allowed to overwatch, as models that fell back can't react, but this enables your model to "shoot in the battle round", not necessarily just in the shooting phase - it's not yet a 100% clear). So nothing changed and you lost both CP and the initiative.
  • ...and the enemy has a gun, they might ready themselves, so you better also have a Readied model that can kill this enemy would-be-shooter before it kills the model you just moved.
  • ...and the enemy moves away from your fall back move, it'll be very easy for it to get out of range of a grenade or blast pistol, so this isn't a good way to use those.
• If you go second...
  • ...and the enemy both stays and lacks a gun, then you fall back and shoot it with yours. Preferably fall back in a position where the rest of the enemy team can't easily kill you, because you'll shoot second.
  • ...and the enemy both stays and has a gun, then you better also have a Readied model that can kill this now-open enemy before it kills the model you just retreated.

• Torment Grenade (2CP): If a unit hits an enemy with a phantasm grenade launcher, roll a 3D6 in addition to the -1Ld. If the result is higher than their Leadership stat, they suffer 1 mortal wound.
• Pray they Don't take you Alive (2CP): -1 Ld for the enemy team after you kill their leader. Some Kill Teams depend heavily on their Leader, like IG and Tyranids. Twist the knife! Some teams have ways to lessen Nerve tests, so you'll need to supplement it with Phantasm launchers to shaken as many enemies as possible.
• Bloodied Grace (1 CP): Use when a Wych is consolidating in the fight phase. She can consolidate up to 6".
• Architect of Pain (1 CP): At the start of the round, a selected unit treats the round count as 1 higher for the purposes of determining Power from Pain bonuses.
• Lightning-Fast Reactions (1 CP): Use when an enemy targets one of your models in the Shooting or Fight phase. Until the end of the phase, enemies subtract 1 from hit rolls targeting that model.
• Hyperstimm (1 CP): At the start of the round, select a unit with the Combat Drugs rule. The bonus received from Combat Drugs is doubled, but at the end of the round, roll a d6- that model takes a mortal wound on a 1.
• Murderous Rivalry (2 CP): At the start of the Fight Phase, choose 2 models from your kill-team that ended their charges within 4" of each other. You may resolve their attacks before any other player selects a model to fight with. Wyches are mean in melee as it is, and being able to activate two at once before anyone else gets to fight is a big deal.
• Hunt From the Shadows (1 CP): If a model from your Kill-Team is targeted in the shooting phase and that model is obscured, it adds 1 to its saving throws.
• Profane the Ruins (1 CP, Death World Forest Killzone): At the start of the round, choose an Eldrich Ruin. Any model from your Kill-Team within 1" of the ruin treats the round as being 1 higher for the purposes of Power From Pain.

DE Commander Tactics

• Master of Pain (1 CP): Use at the start of the round if you have a non-Shaken Haemonculus. Gains an aura that adds 1 to the toughness of all allied models within 6" of this model, which lasts until the start of the next round.
• Overlord (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if you have an Archon. Until the end of the battle round, as long as the model is not shaken. Friendly models within 6" of this model can reroll hit rolls of 1.
• Bride of Death (1 CP): Use at the start of the Fight phase if you have a Succubus. Until the end of the battle round, as long as the model is not shaken. Friendly models within 6" of this model can reroll hit rolls of 1.
• Acrobatic Leap (1 CP): Use the tactic when you choose a Succubus to move in the movement phase. For the duration of the phase, that model can move as if it could Fly. (Included in Drukhari Commander Box)
• Dark Majesty (1 CP): Use the tactic at the start of a battle round if you have a commander. Commander gains this aura until the end of the battle round: as long as this model is not shaken, models from your kill team within 6” of this model ignore the penalty to their hit rolls from one flesh wound they have suffered. (Included in Drukhari Commander Box)

DE Strategies

• Leadership:* If you are playing League/campaign games, you'll be getting access to a plethora of leadership-nerfing potential. To start with, between Phantasm Grenades, Pray they dont Take You Alive and Mantle of Agony you will be forcing enemies to a -3 on round 5, which will reduce most enemies to 4Ld. In a League, you also get Vox ghost on your coms, which aplies a flat -1 to all models, as well as tactics on both your Veteran and Leader, allowing you to push this a further -3. putting space marines on 1 leadership means you're guaranteed to break them, which is a win by default in Sweep and Clear as well as Terror Tactics. You're not likely to get this scale of penalties in most games, but keep all of your ressources in mind, because breaking an enemy on turn 2 or 3 usually guarantees a victory. To this end, you'll want to snipe out enemy leaders, and keep your comms alive and hidden, and put your Sybarite/Hekatrix in a position to put Phantasm grenades on enemies every turn. If you have a chance to kill an enemy leader in combat (Especially Guard, Tau, or other Eldar who don't have strong T/Sv) then make sure you save the 2 CP you need to pull this off. In a Wych-centered Kill team this is the one big advantage you need to press if you want to beat strong opponents, since you don't have the high-ap weapons to take out hard targets.
• Shooting Denial:* Your toughest elves have a 5+/6+++ in shooting or a 6+/4++/6++ in melee, so you need to be keenly aware of 2 things at the start of every game: The blindspots of your heavy weapons, and those of your opponent. Against Heavy Bolters, Hotshot Vollyguns, and other rate of fire weapons you are going to be mowed down if you end in their path without having (multiple) solutions to taking them out first. Against High-damage High-AP weapons you should expect to lose model a turn if you stay in their line of sight. There are several solutions to this.
  • if the opponent is reliant on CPs to keep their heavy weapons fed with tactics, keep your troops out of LOS as much as you can, and try to force them to use other tactics before they use them on their HW (Forcing an opponent to move troops out of position and take Decisive shots, for example). **You can either take a long push around the HW's killzones, and harass or kill them, while the rest of your forces are fully concealed, or keep your forces fully concealed until they would need to push out of cover (right before end of the game, or when you have enough troops left that losing a few troops wouldn't prevent you from holding objectives).
  • If the enemy HW is in a position too entrenched to flank, and can still see your forces, ignore it entirely and focus on taking out secondary targets I.E. That heavy bolter might be a problem, but the flamer/plasmagun that is trying to flank me is easier prey so, so I'll put everyone in cover and deal with the other threat until the HB is vulnerable or isolated.
  • The fourth option is to see the Leadership section above, Heavy Weapons and Snipers tend to be the first targets to break, since they like to be isolated in the back far from much support, breaking the forward section of an enemy kill-team will usually result in the heavies running.
• Area Denial:* Darklight Weapons and Shredders are some of the scariest weapons in the game, due either to their high Str+AP combo, or high number of shots with decent AP/Str. Some of the best uses for them are keeping enemies out of regions of the board you need to control, or "flushing" enemies out of entrenched positions. Dark Lances are great for keeping enemy infantry from moving up exposed terrain, and have the impeccable ability to instant-kill most targets that they can hit, which makes veteran players nervous about moving their specialists into windows and streets where they can be hit. Taking Decisive shots first turn to keep enemy special weapons out of windows gives you great control over the rest of the game, especially against killteams that rely on static gunline tactics. The Shredder is excellent tool for forcing enemies to move, especially when the user has the initiative, or uses adaptive tactics or decisive shot. Pushing a shredder into an occupied building forces the opponent to either ready all the models inside, in which case a decisive shot can eliminate an important enemy (or a cluster of lighter enemies) or for the occupiers to leave the building. If you don't have the initiative, Shredders are best used to punish unreadied enemies, since the 12-inch threat range can be expanded quickly due to deldar's faster than average movement. Again, the shredder is a good target for decisive shots, or any of the veteran's tactics in this situation. TL;DR Darklances are terrifying, so use them to keep enemies out of annoying places, and Shredders are excellent at punishing unprepared targets, or forcing enemies to relocate.

DE Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 10 models, 100 pts
  • Sybarite with Splinter Rifle (Leader), 8 pts
  • Hekatrix with Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Power Sword (Zealot), 14 pts
  • Kabalite Gunner with Dark Lance (Sniper), 12 pts
  • Kabalite Gunner with Shredder (Comms), 9 pts
  • 3x Wych Fighers, with 1 each of Hydra Gauntlets, Razorflails, Shardnet & Impaler, 33 pts
    • NB: Razorflails and Hydra Gauntlets are identical mechanically, but the Wych box only gives you one of each, so if you've got more than one box, feel free to swap for whatever's the coolest in your opinion
  • 3x Wych, 24 pts

The Sybarite should sit in the back with the two Kabalite Gunners and play a ranged game. Your Hekatrix should use your mob of Wychs as mobile, stabby cover as it advances on your opponent's VIPs (e.g. Rail Rifles or other "delete button" units)

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Harlequins

Why Play Harlequins

• Pros
  • One of the most mobile factions in the game, moving fast and ignoring terrain and models.
  • Hit like an absolute truck in melee.
  • Harlequins may be a one-trick pony in Kill Team, but they do that one trick very well. Knowing what you're going to do doesn't do your opponent much good if he still can't hit or otherwise stop your murder clowns from the closing the distance, and certain factions will be scared shitless of that.
  • You have a 3d6 charge. This is Very Important.
  • Plenty of commanders to choose from.
  • They're clowns. Killer Clowns. Killer Clowns from outer space.
• Cons
  • Ironically, the mercurial and unpredictable Harlequins are one of the most predictable factions in Kill Team. With only one unit choice and one with very limited options, Harlequin teams will inevitably all look and play pretty much the same, dashing through cover to get into close combat. Most opponents will know what you're about (and how to counter you) as soon as your murder clowns hit the table.
  • No long-range weapons on any standard units. In fact, no ranged weapons at all on standard units except pistols. The Death Jester is the only unit you have with halfway decent range, and you can't use one on missions that don't allow the use of Commanders.
  • Harlequins may be ridiculously hard to hit but will fall apart under any kind of concentrated fire that does manage to connect. If they can't hit first and hit hard things will go poorly.
  • They're clowns. Killer Clowns. Killer Clowns from outer space. Not even Juggalo's are this lame.

HAR Special Rules

• Flip Belt: Models with this rule can move across other models as if they were not there, and can climb all vertical distances (up or down) without penalty -do not measure the distance moved in this way. In addition, they never suffer falling damage, and never fall on another model. If it would, instead place the model as close as possible to the point where it would have landed. This can bring it within 1" of an enemy model. Different to the Revier Graphnel launcher, this allows Harlequins to ignore vertical distances at ALL times, not just when moving normally. Now who's batman!?
• Holo-suit: This model has a 4+ invulnerable save. Amazing against kill teams packed with -AP 1 or higher weapons, or a few high damage attacks (meltaguns, power fists etc), 50% of attacks will just bounce off. Weight of firepower, and Smites, will still ruin your day however.
• Rising Crescendo: Can roll 3D6 instead of 2D6 for the model when making a charge roll, and may choose an enemy model within 18" of this model as the target of a charge, rather than 12". Those frag cannons and flamers can't overwatch you if you start your charge out of range, and with this ability you can do that AND still make that charge!

HAR Ranged Weapons

• Fusion Pistol: The infamous meltagun in 6" pistol form, the fusion pistol will make sure whatever it is aimed at goes out of action. This short range however, coupled with your 3D6 charge distance means you will most likely find yourself having charged into combat, which means you will be shooting your pistol into combat as well (unless you get counter-charged). And most people are unlikely to want to go another round with you. It does have it uses in conjunction with "Cegorach's Jest".
• Neuro Disruptor: A pistol with -3 AP and D3 damage, and now Str 4 once again, so it can wound fairly reliably now. It has a better range than the fusion pistol, but then again you're charging 9/10. And if you do end up in Melee able to shoot, a fusion pistol is more reliable.
• Shuriken Pistol: Free and none the worse for it, the shuriken pistol is a good cheap option if you get stuck in Melee, with a chance to cause -3 on a wound roll of a 6+. Don't expect to use it much beyond this, unless you really need to hold onto an objective away from the action.
• Plasma Grenade: Free to all Players, though limited to one being thrown per phase, the Str 4 and -1 AP makes these grenades much better than the Shuriken pistol, but unusable in Melee. They can however, be quite useful if you ever need to Overwatch, and because they do not suffer the penalty for Long range like all grenades, they are more reliable to shoot with too.

HAR Melee Weapons

• Harlequin's Blade: Standard Free Melee weapon, does not add anything to a Player, just helps keep them cheap. Str 3 will struggle to wound anything though, even with 4 attacks, so probably best to upgrade if you have the points
• Harlequin's Embrace: +1 Str and -3 AP, this will let you do work on the battlefield, ignoring most armour on the battlefield or reducing it to a 6+. Whether this is better or worse that a Caress depends on your local meta. It is however the cheapest of the upgraded Melee weapons
• Harlequin's Caress: +2 Str and -2 AP, means most people will still get some sort of save, but the trade off is you will wound most targets on a 3+. (Or 4+ against Plague Marines). More expensive then the Embrace, it is better in certain circumstances.
• Harlequin's Kiss: At +1 and -1, but with Damage D3, this weapon is the Harlequins only combat option when taking on multi-wound models like Primaris and Tyranid Warriors. As the most expensive Melee weapon, it can be hard to justify, but with how multiple damage works vs the injury chart, it can guarantee whoever you stick with it stays down.
• Power Sword: Unfortunately does not exist at all in kill-team games, but is inferior to the Embrace anyway, so no hard loss

HAR Psychic Powers

• Fog of Dream (Warp Charge 5): Grants enemy model within 12" -1 to hit.
• Webway Dance (Warp Charge 7): Grants friendly models within 6" FnP on a 6+. If they already have FnP, they can re-roll FnP rolls of 1.
• Mirror of Minds (Warp Charge 7): Choose an enemy model within 12" and you and your opponent roll a D6. If you win (or if you tie) the enemy model suffers a mortal wound. Repeat until you fail or the enemy model dies.

HAR Unit

• Player (Leader, Combat, Medic, Scout, Veteran or Zealot): The only model available to Harlequins, the Player is still very impressive, with a 4+ invulnerable, 8" movement, and a massive 4 Attacks! At 12 points per model, it is expensive, and with a Strength and Toughness 3, you're going to struggle to wound and be taking a lot of wounds yourself. An upgraded Melee weapon is almost a must, to allow the model to wound on 4+, if not 3+ most of the time.

HAR Commanders

• Troupe Master (Ferocity, Leadership, Melee, Shooting, Psyker, Stealth, Strategist): A Player but more so. 2+ WS/BS, 5 wounds, an additional attack and can take a powersword. Other than that it is a Player in every way down to wargear and abilities. Tactic is an aura allowing rerolls of failed wound rolls in 6"
• Shadowseer (Ferocity, Melee, Shooting, Psyker, Stealth):
• Death Jester (Ferocity, Melee, Shooting, Stealth):

HAR Tactics

• Prismatic Blur (1CP): When one of your units Advances during the Movement phase, this gives them a 3+ invulnerable save until the start of the next battle round.
• Cegorach's Jest (2CP): If an enemy unit Falls Back from one of yours, so long as no other enemies are within 1", your unit can shoot at the fleeing enemy as if it was the Shooting phase.
• Warrior Acrobats (1CP): When one of your units Advances during the Movement phase, add 6" to the models Move characteristic for that Movement phase instead of rolling a dice.
• War Dancers (2CP): At the end of the Fight phase, pick a model from your kill-team who has already fought this phase. This model can immediately fight an additional time.
• Fire and Fade (1CP): Use after a model from your kill-team shoots in the Shooting phase. This model can immediately make a normal move of up to 7" as if it were the Movement phase. Identical to the Eldar & Dark Eldar stratagem of the same name.
• Mirthless Hatred (1CP): When one of your models is chosen to fight, use this to re-roll failed hit rolls and wound rolls for the model if its target is a SLAANESH model.

HAR Commander Tactics

• Choreographer of War (1 CP): Use at the start of the fight phase if you have a non-Shaken Troupe Master. Until the end of the round, it gains an aura that allows friendly models within 6" of it to re-roll failed wounds.
• The Art of the Kill (1 CP): Use at the start of the shooting phase if you have a non-Shaken Death Jester. Until the end of the phase, all friendly models within 6" of it re-roll failed wounds.

HAR Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Necrons

Why Play Necrons

• Pros
  • Necrons will be particularly rage-inducing to fight for factions that depend on taking enemies down fast, since every time Necrons make an Injury Roll to see if a unit goes out of action, there’s a chance that they’ll just be fully restored instead. This ability is even crazier when obscured, and within 1" of a model/terrain that is obscuring. This is a -1 to injury rolls against shooting and psychic powers (c.f. core rulebook p.32). This means the only way to kill an obscured Necron without flesh wounds via shooting or psychic attacks is to roll a natural 5.
    • The Resurrection Orb commander tactic raises this durability to near-That Guy levels. Have your troll face ready.
  • With an Ld of 10 Necrons are virtually invulnerable to nerve tests.
  • No bogus restrictions on model counts. Want 6 Immortals? Go for it.
• Cons
  • A Dearth of bodies. Most Necron kill teams will be 6-7 models.
  • With the exception of Flayed Ones, your team is largely mediocre in hand to hand combat, possessing no dedicated Melee Weapons outside of Flayer Claws. While you hit on a 3+ and have a Strength of 4 on most of your zombie robots, dedicated Melee Units (like the above Killer Clowns) will demolish you in hand to hand.
  • While Reanimation Protocols make Necrons stupidly resistant to high damage attacks, we have absolutely zero access to any 2+ damage weapons of our own without commanders (or one extremely chancy stratagem). Don't expect to rack up an impressive bodycount with your killbots fleshwoundbots.

NEC Special Rules

• Reanimation Protocol: Rolling a natural 6 on your Injury Rolls makes you all shiny and new. Your guy goes back to 1 wound remaining and ditches all flesh wounds that they may have.
  • Note that high-damage injury rolls have to use the highest result rolled, so you're actually more resistant to high damage attacks: If that d3 attack rolls a 1, a 5, and a 6 on the injury table, the other player must use the 6 result and heal you.

NEC Ranged Weapons

• Gauss Blaster: 24" s5, -2ap rapid fire 1. Very nice against MEQ and Plague Marines
• Gauss Flayer: 24" s4, -1ap rapid fire 1.
• Synaptic Disintegrator: 24" s4, 0ap rapid fire 1. Ignores range penalties and deals a mortal wound on a modified 6+ to wound. Potentially useful for sniping models but needs buffs like the Sniper specialization and a supporting Comms specialist.
  • Alternate take: Don't get sucked in by the "ignores range penalties" note; these are not your sniping weapons. At 24" vs an obscured target, the Synaptic Disintegrator has a 50% chance to land one hit, and a 0% chance to land two. For one point more, the Tessla Carbine is S5 and has a 56% chance to land a hit on the same target, and a 31% chance to land three or more. The only reason to take a this over a Tessla Immortal is to run a Scout or Sniper specialist and even then you should be pushing them forward, not hanging back and sniping. Without access to Demolitions or any other way to modify wound rolls, the only way to trigger those mortal wounds more often is to get in rapid fire range and shoot more often. You paid for your Deathmarks' big boy armor, get in there and use it.
• Tesla Carbine: 24" s5, 0ap assault 2. Does 3 hits for every unmodified 6 to hit. Like the Disintegrator needs a supporting Comms specialist to reach its full potential.

NEC Melee Weapons

• Flayer Claws: Allows you to re-roll failed wound rolls

NEC Units

• Necron Warriors (Leader, Comms, Veteran): Basic troops that come with (only) a s4 -1ap bolter. They're nice for filling out your fire team but not much else.
• Immortals (Leader, Comms, Veteran, Zealot): Elite troop that can take either a gauss blaster or tesla carbine. The gauss blaster is better for taking out armor but a few lucky rolls with the tesla will clear out hordes. High Level Zealot Immortals in cover are some of the toughest bastards in kill team, needing to be fleshwounded before even being vulnerable to death
• Deathmarks (Leader, Comms, Scout, Sniper, Veteran): Mortal wound sniper plinkers. Synaptic disintegrators don't suffer the range modifiers and do a mortal wound if you roll 6+ to wound. Might have been nice with Demolitions specialist to trigger more often, instead they can take Scout to.... advance faster with their rapid fire sniper weapons.
• Flayed Ones (Leader, Combat, Veteran, Zealot): Your only choppy boys, these guys have 3 chainsword equivalent attacks (4 with the Combat or Zealot specializations). Useful for objective holding or missions when you *must* kill something in combat.

NEC Commanders

• Necron Overlord (Commander):
  • Ankra the Colossus: An Overlord with a fancy unique specialism and a voidscythe. Still only has 3 attacks, and the voidscythe brings you down to WS 3+, but by the Silent King, what attacks they are! Sx2 means you are wounding Plague Marines on a 2+, AP-4 means armor saves are basically cancelled, and 3 damage means lots of injury dice to roll.
    • Overlord Specialism: A unique specialty to Ankra, the grab bag of bonuses are focused on making him even more of a terror in melee. Points costs are for the Commander and its wargear, but not Commander Traits:
      • Impenetrable (Lv1, 86 pts): Add 1 to this model's Toughness characteristic. That's T6 for an Overlord. You laughed at boltguns already, now even anti-MEQ weapons will have some trouble scoring wounds. Lasguns and other S3 weapons are now completely beneath your concern. Don't forget you still have Living Metal and Phase Shifter, too.
      • Bloodthirsty (Lv2, 106 pts): Re-roll failed charges for this model. Ankra has no ranged capability and 5" movement, so anything that can get him stuck in faster is a good thing. The combination of two very strong traits from disparate specialism trees will usually make this the ideal level to field Ankra at.
      • Vengeful (Lv3, 126 pts): Add 1 to Ankra's wound rolls for attacks in the Fight phase if he suffered any wounds earlier in the round. It's very fitting for the character, and a great way to punish gutsy pistol users, but with how easily you wound things already, it's overkill against anything with less than toughness 5, and still probably worse than re-rolling 1s to hit and wound a level 2 Melee Specialist would have gotten against those models.
      • Ancient Strategist (Lv4, 151 pts): When you're on the battlefield and not shaken, you can roll a D6 each time an opponent uses a tactic, and get a Command Point on a 5+. Definitively solid, but with only 49 points to protect Ankra with, you'd better spend these extra CP to good effect.
• Cryptek (Commander):

NEC Tactics

• Mindshackle Scarabs (2CP): During the Shooting phase, pick an enemy unit within 6" of one your units and roll 2D6. If the result is higher than the enemy's leadership stat, you can immediately make a shooting attack with that unit as if it were one of yours. Always Funny with Plasma Guns.
• Overcharged Disintegration (2CP): If one of your units shoots a gauss flayer or gauss blaster, this improves the AP of the weapon by 1 until the end of the phase. A waste compared to Superior Inheritance, but if you're drowning in CP, it could be funny to combine the two.
• Prime Reanimation Protocols (2CP): Lets you roll 2 dice for injury rolls and pick the lowest. Ironically, it makes you less likely to trigger regular Reanimation Protocols, and more likely to get Flesh Wounds (which will debilitate your Necrons, which while they're not dead might as well be with enough of them). Complete waste of CP in it's current state - wait for an FAQ. (A way to fix this would be by making it so that if one of the results is a 6, you choose it instead)
• Targeting Routines (1CP): Adds 1 to to hit rolls against obscured models. Used to be able to trigger Tesla of 4+, now the FAQ has made it so they always trigger on unmodified 6+
• Flensing Fury (1CP): For every modified 6+ to wound do one more point of damage. Useful against Tyranids.
• Disruption Fields (1CP): Increase the strength of any model by one. Useful for killing MEQ and Death Guard with Flayed Ones.
• Superior Inheritance (1CP): Use this tactic after a model from your kill team shoots with a gauss flayer or gauss blaster. That model can immediately shoot again with the same weapon. Far superior to a tactical re-roll when shooting a Gauss Weapon.
• Deathless Ire (2CP): Use this tactic when a model from your kill team suffers a flesh wound as the result of an injury roll. It is shaken instead.
• Assured Disintegration (1CP): Use this tactic before a DEATHMARK shoots. Until the end of the phase you may re-roll the dice to hit with that model.
• Tireless Advance (1CP): Use this tactic at the start of the shooting phase. One model of your choice from your kill team beacome readied (even if it moved in the previous movement phase) and may shoot in this phase as if they had not moved in the movement phase. This tactic may not be used on a model that is within 1" of an enemy model.
• Enthropic Strike (1CP): Use this tactic when you choose a model in your kill team to fight in the fight phase. until the end of the phase, if this model's attacks reduce a target to 0 wounds, add 1 to the injury roll you make for that target. Horrifying with a Voidscythe. The target's 1-in-8 chance of surviving with a flesh wound drops to a despair-inducing 1-in-27! Watch as your Overlord deletes every model that lacks an invulnerable save.
• Resurrection Protocols (2CP): Use this tactic when your leader is slain. Instead of removing the model, place it on its side. At the end of the phase, roll a D6. On a 4+, the model is no longer slain: stand the model up again as close as possible to its previous position but more than 1" away from enemy model with 1 wound remaining. If a model is still on the battlefield at the end of the battle after having been resurrected in this way, it is not considered to have been taken out of action for victory points purposes. You can only use this tactic once per battle.

NEC Commander Tactics

• My Will Be Done (2 CP): Use at the start of the round if you have a non-Shaken Overlord. It gains an aura that allows friendly models within 6" to add 1 to their advance, charge, and hit rolls.
• Resurrection Orb (3 CP): Use at the end of the Morale phase if you have a non-Shaken Overlord. Select a friendly model that is Out of Action and roll a d6; on a 2+ it is revived with 1 wound and no flesh wounds and placed within 3" of the Overlord but no closer than 1" away from enemy models.
• Vendetta (1 CP): When you first add an Overlord to your team/command roster, you can pick a faction keyword. Then, use this tactic in the Fight phase to re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 against enemies from that faction. Since your Overlord already has WS 2+ and will be wounding most things on a 3+ or better anyways, this makes for a handy "This thing dies NOW!" button.
• Technomancer (1 CP): Use at the start of the round if you have a Cryptek. It gets an aura that lets friendly models within 6" ignore the hit penalty for one flesh wound.
• Chronometron (1 CP): Use at the start of the round if you have a Cryptek. If it's not shaken, it gets an aura that gives friendly models within 3" a 5++ invuln.
• Enduring Will (2 CP): Use at the start of the round if your Commander isn't shaken. Until the end of the round, it takes one less damage from each attack (minimum of 1, obviously).

NEC Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 7 models, 98 points
  • 3 Gauss Immortals, one Leader and one Comms
  • 2 Deathmarks, one Sniper
  • 2 Flayed Ones, one Zealot

The Comms Immortal supports your Deathmarks, especially your Sniper, so that it's easier for you to inflict those mortal wounds. The Flayed Ones assault anything that comes too close and shred it to pieces, thanks to that +1 to Strength and Attacks.

• 8 models, 100 points
  • 1 Tessla Immortal, Leader
  • 1 Gauss Immortal, Comms
  • 2 Flayed Ones, one Combat and one Zealot
  • 4 Warriors

The Tessla Immortal's only job is to sit on an objective in the back and be a 3+ save - being the only model in your army that can throw two shots downrange at 24", and with Tessla triggering on an unmodified 6 per the errata, he ends up doing better at this job than your dedicated sniping units. As for the Flayed Ones, don'e expect them to rack up a body count against MEQs - between our lack of close combat AP, lack of multi-damage attacks, and the other guy's tactical re-rolls, there's just nothing we can do to get through 3+ armor. Focus instead on using those CP defensively to keep his guys tied up while the rest of your Warriors shamble 5" at a time towards objectives. Finally, if you're playing a campaign consider replacing one of the Immortals with a Scout Deathmark. Scout's nearly useless with a Rapid Fire weapon, and the MWs just aren't reliable enough to make the Synaptic Disintegrator worth trading in either a Gauss Blaster or a Tessla Carbine. But a level 2 Scout with Pathfinder can save you from losing before deployment - if you roll up a Terror Tactics mission against the Eldar without him, you'd be better off just forfeiting on the spot and spending the next two hours in a bar instead.

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Orks

Why Play Orks

• Pros
  • "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
    
  • Recreate the glory days of Gorkamorka!
  • A lot of the things that give Orks trouble in 40K are absent from Kill Team (vehicles, expensive heavy weapons and characters, footslogging distances)
  • Still able to drown low model count armies in CC attacks.
  • Due to the existence of flesh wounds, their low profile and low point cost, Grots are solid troops for contesting, capping, providing soft cover to more valuable units and pouring massed fire into soft targets. For added usefulness, they also double as literal meat-shields that will take wounds meant for more important models.
  • Gretchin Kill Teams.
• Cons
  • Orks probably have the worst accuracy in the game. Be prepared to spend whole battles shooting at everything and hitting nothing, or just take burnas- which are still weaker than most flamer equivalents. A Spanner Comms Specialist or the Pyromaniak Tactic can fix this for a fairly reasonable price, but even then you're better off getting into melee most of the time.
  • Still have terrible saves, even when considering Kill Team cover mechanics.

Ork Special Rules

• ‘Ere We Go: Just like in Big Boy 40K, lets all Orks (no grots) reroll failed charge rolls.

Ork Ranged Weapons

• Big Shootas: free upgrade but with Orky BS 5+ you get what you pay for.
• Burna: free on Burna Boys and auto-hits. A model holding one should definitely be a Demolitions Specialist focusing on the flamer branch.
• Deffgun: Free on Lootas, but again, it’s twice the cost of a Boy. Keep near a comms specialist, and if you're willing to spend 2 CP, a heavy loota can output 2d3+2 shots a turn.
• Grot Blasta: pfft haha but at least it comes with a 4+ BS
• Kombi- weapon w/ Rokkit Launcha: 3 points that would likely be better spent on half a Boy or a grot shield. Only allowed once per kill team as it’s only usable by the one Boyz Boss Nob you can take.
• Kombi-weapon w/ Skorcha: 4 points, and you can only get 1 per kill team as a Boyz Nob upgrade, but might be worth it if you have a lot of Burnas in yours. Quite literally the best weapon the orks have- perhaps with the exception of a buffed deffgun. With Dakka Dakka, capable of outputting 2d6 autohitting + 4 shots that'll hit on 6's. Being a heavy or demo isn't a bad idea here, since the abilities of either can benefit. Unfortunately, this means one of the two best melee units in your force is now locked into a ranged speciality.
• Kustom Mega Blasta: Orky Plasma gun, only available to Spanners; you love it, you want it.. It’s free, so if you’re running a few Lootas, give this to their Spanner Comms specialist. You have a higher chance of killing yourself than the enemy under common kill team circumstances. It's a one shot weapon, you have BS5+ and you'll usually be hitting on sixes. On average this means assuming that your hit leads to a wound and failed flesh wound rolls, you might kill one enemy a game- assuming you don't die first. If you end up needing to use this, you may as well have that Comms specialist buff himself so he has a better chance of hitting/not dying.
• Rokkit Launcha: 3 points for up to two Boyz or any Spanners. OK if given to a Demolitions Specialist. A demo specialist does almost nothing with this. In fact, unfortunately, while a rokkit launcher has a very high chance of instagibbing nearly any model should it hit, this is contingent on it hitting, bringing up the same, one hit per game average of the mega blasta.
• Shoota: Free with 18” range and Assault 2, but that Orky BS means it’s still best to keep your Boyz with choppas/sluggas.
• Slugga: A Boy’s best friend, this grants an extra CC attack (because it’s paired with a choppa) and comes standard. 12” range isn’t that much worse than a Shoota when your battlefield is only twice that distance.
• Stikkbomb: Free grenades for all! The only Ork Kill-Team models that can’t take/don’t get them standard is Grots.

Ork Melee Weapons

• Big Choppa: These come into their own in Kill Team; they’re cheaper than a PK and more versatile than in regular 40K when you know you’re only going up against infantry. 3 S7 3+ attacks are much more threatening in a small scale game.
• Choppa: Free and gives a model equipped with one an extra attack. When your opponent only has 5-10 models and you’re pumping out several dozen S4 attacks in melee you’ll appreciate the extra attack per model. Also viable on Boss Nobz as 4 S5 3+ attacks are still pretty brutal.
• Power Klaw: Classic wound-stripper still keeps its appeal in Kill Team, even if it’s not as much of an auto take vs a big Choppa. For double the cost, you have a weapon that essentially hits on 4s, has S 10 Ap-3 D3d. Is more likely to put an MQU down than a Big Choppa if it hits.

Ork Units

• Ork Boyz (Leader[Boss Nob Only], Heavy[Gunner only], Combat, Demolitions, Veteran): More or less the same as in regular 40K, they’re cheap and tough. Likely to be the core of most Ork kill teams. Paying 8 more points for a PK Nob (12 if you want to give him the Inspiring Specialist Leader trait, which you probably do) is a little rough points-wise but keeping some grots nearby to act as cheap meatshields will help.
  • Ork Boy Gunners (2): Don't bother. If you want firepower, take a Loota.
  • Boss Nob (1):
• Kommandos (Leader[Kommando Boss Nob Only], Combat, Demolitions, Scout, Veteran): Getting an improved cover save in a 40K system where cover matters again are decent for 2 points more than a Boy, with the ability to take a PK Nob that gets the same benefit. The extra inch of movement is a nice bonus as well. A Kommando Nob would be a good choice for the Scout specialist role: a level 3 Scout tactic gives you essentially a deepstriking PK that can set up 3” from an enemy model. Need to assassinate a Specialist? He still gets that good cover sav and is also our most durable character so maybe invest in a gretchin or two to take and hold an objective.
  • Kommando Boss Nob (1):
• Burna Boyz (Comms[Spanner only], Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Veteran, Zealot): Auto-hitting flamers in a game of close quarters makes them more desirable than in regular 40K. Your opponents will want to keep out of their range so sticking them in cover makes for a dangerous objective holder, especially if one is a Demolitions Specialist with Pyromaniac. Plus, upgrading one to a Spanner gives you the option of making him a Comms specialist. Twice the cost of a Boy, though. On top of that, with paper armor and a flamer that only has 1d3 hits, their effectiveness is questionable at best. Adding insult to injury, these boyz are the only ones among your force that qualify to be zealots. While the extra strength and attack (on charge) is a welcome option, it would be nicer on a nob.
  • This said tho a Zealot Burna Boy is actually a pretty nice Melee model, multiple strength 5 attacks w/ -2 AP is never anything to sneeze at.
• Lootas (Comms[Spanner only], Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Heavy, Veteran): Probably not worth building a kill team around, but likely worth taking one as they get the same Spanner option as Burna Boyz. A Spanner with the Comms Specialist tree essentially gives one Loota per turn a 4+ BS. Making your Loota a Heavy specialist, use a Heavy strategem to add one to his shots for the round and then use Dakka Dakka for 2d3+2 4+ BS shots. This is the Orks’ best-ranged option by a fair margin, but an expensive weapons platform at 22pts.
• Gretchin (Leader, Scout): Gretchin may be the weakest unit in all of Kill Team, but they are also the smallest in a game with big emphasis on terrain and cover, are dirt cheap, and can even be the team leader (they mentioned the Gretchin Revolutionary Committee by name in the previews, so they knew what they were doing). But their main role is to be a literal meat-shield; every attack that's redirected to a Gretchin via Grot Shield is one that doesn't hit your Nob Boss, and they're as cheap as they are expendable. In actual fact, because the models themselves provide cover, you don't need to use the strategy to gain the benefits- simply place grots between your boyz and the enemy, and you become significantly less likely to die. As a side note, tactically, designating a grot as a leader is not necessarily a terrible idea for an ordinary kill team. This is almost entirely due to the fact that they are small and easy to hide and that boy nobz who are more suitable leader designate die embarrassingly fast when they try to do their job.

Ork Commanders

• Warboss (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Melee, Strategist, Strength): The Power Klaw is not as mandatory here as it is in normal play; the big choppa's S8 and 2 damage make it a reliable tool for wrecking anything short of Plague Marines. More importantly, keeping the default gear gives you more points for levels, which can greatly compensate for this guys shortcomings. A level 4 Warboss with Fortitude can get a 6+ FNP, 6 Toughness, 7 Wounds and the ability to halve all damage dealt to him. With that kind of staying power, you won't mind that he doesn't have an invulnerable save. Also, an attack squig costs as much as an Ork Boy, and delivers fewer attacks while being stuck to the warboss. Pass.
  • Gitzog Wurldkilla:
    • Warboss specialism: Gitzog Wurldkilla's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: Dead 'Ard: +1 to Toughness, built into the statline.
      • Level 2: Redfangz Smellz Yer!: No penalties to hit from target being obscured.
      • Level 3: Krumpin' Time: +1 Attack in rounds in which it charged.
      • Level 4: Loota: If he survives a battle, roll a D6. 5+ and you get a free Materiel.
• Big Mek (Ferocity, Fortitude, Logistics, Melee, Strength):
• Painboy (Ferocity, Fortitude, Logistics, Melee, Strength):

Ork Tactics

• Dakka Dakka Dakka (1 CP):: A unit that's already fired in the Shooting phase can fire again.
  • An absolute steal for what it does. Use on a tooled-up loota for "Ork Sniping" at it's best.
• Grot Shield (2 CP): If a unit is within 2" of a gretchin, they can deflect any shooting attacks made against them onto the gretchin instead until the end of the Shooting phase, so always keep your grots close to your important boyz.
• Krump 'Em (1 CP): When a unit in the kill-team fights, it gains +1 Strength until the end of the fight phase.
• Just A Flesh Wound (2 CP): When a model in the Kill-Team is taken out of action, roll a d6; on a 4+ that model takes a flesh wound instead.
• Gnasher Squig (2 CP): At the start of the fight phase, pick an enemy model that is within 1" of any of your models and roll a D6. On a 4+, that enemy model suffers 1 mortal wound.
  • A bit overkill for your more choppier models, this tactic is actually best suited for Grots as it essentially makes them mortal-wound landmines. Use it to potentially get a gretchin out of a bad position, or even just throw the bugger at a reckless enemy model.
• Mek's Special Stikkbomb (2 CP): When choosing a model to attack with a stikkbomb, the stikkbomb becomes Grenade d3 and adds 1 to its Strength and Damage.
  • An almost complete waste of CP. You trade half your possible hits for a slight boost in S&D on something that is arguably never even going to land a single hit. It also lacks any AP, meaning that if you happen to actually hit and wound your target, it is very likely that it'll just shrug off the damage anyways.
• Pyromaniak (1 CP): Use when shooting with a burna; it deals d6 hits instead of d3 hits.
• Itchin' For a Fight (2 CP): When selecting a model to fight in the fight phase, gain 1 attack for each enemy model within 1" of the selected model.
• Dead 'Ard (1 CP): When a model suffers a mortal wound, roll a d6 for it and all future mortal wounds received. They are ignored on a 5+.
• 'Ere We Go, 'Ere We Go! (1 CP): Re-roll one of the charge dice when charging.
• Indiscriminate Dakka (1 CP): A selected unit can fire twice for Overwatch.
• WAAAAGH! (2 CP): Use on your turn in the Movement Phase. If your Leader is on the battlefield and is not shaken, the whole Kill-Team gets 1" of extra movement and adds 1 to all advance and charge rolls.
• Joyride (1 CP, Sector Imperialis Killzone): When choosing a model that is within 1" of a Galvanic Servohauler, the Servohauler moves with the model as if it was a friendly model. Both models are treated as having 2d6" movement (rolling once for both), may not advance, cannot move vertically, and must end their moves within 1" of each other.

Ork Commander Tactics

• Mega-Waaagh! (Aura) (2 CP):: Use at the start of the battle round if your Kill-Team includes a non-Shaken Warboss. For the rest of the round, it gains an aura that allows friendly models within 6" of it to roll 3d6 on charges instead of 2d6, discarding the lowest result.
• Dok's Tools (Aura) (3 CP):: Use at the start of the battle round if your Kill-Team includes a non-Shaken Painboy. For the rest of the round, it gains an aura that grants friendly models within 3" a FnP on a 6+ (if they already have FnP, they can reroll FnP rolls of 1). Additionally, at the end of that round's Movement Phase, you can remove a flesh wound for a friendly model within 3".
• Duff 'Em Up (Aura)(1 CP): +1 Strength to models within 3" of your Commander
• Breakin' Heads (1 CP): Inflict a mortal wound on a model within 3" of your Warboss, and models within 6" are no longer shaken.

Ork Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

T'au Empire

Why Play T’au Empire

• Pros
  • Long-range weapons make the range penalty less of an issue.
  • They can still fire overwatch for each other.
  • Strength 5 shooting as standard across the board means you hit like a cast iron skillet against the head of an abusive husband, and the easier time wounding helps mitigate guardsman level accuracy.
  • You're the only faction in the game with standard units that can fly. (Excluding units introduced in expansions such as Commanders or Elites)
  • You get Kroot via the Kroot Mercenaries faction.
  • Pulse Pistols are now kinda useful in melee and EVERY Fire Warrior & Breacher can take them for free. So as long as they survive the initial charge, they might actually be able to give those ork boyz up in their face a rude surprise. It's a slim chance, but as Ciaphas Cain would say, a slim chance is better than none.

• Cons
  • Tau are just as squishy in melee here as they are in 40k, and on a small battlefield that's an even bigger problem for them than usual. Fast moving melee units like Sicarians, Wyches, Harlequins, Reivers, Genestealers and especially Lictors will wreck your shit if you don't make maximum use of terrain and fire lanes to keep them far, far away.
  • With one shot that suffers from range penalties with the Tau BS of 4+, markerlights are nearly useless and cannot be relied on to help you hit things most of the time. Additionally, the benefits of markerlights can be replicated by many faction tactics, specialisms and commander aura effects.

T'au Special Rules

For the Greater Good: The same as 40K, anyone within 6" of a charged friend can Overwatch. This can be really dangerous because it's relatively easy to have 2 or 3 people at that distance without even trying. Specially dangerous if one of them is a Gun Drone or a Stealthsuit.

Bonding Knife Ritual: -1 to Nerve tests if another warrior of the same type with this rule is within 3" (save drones). Best used with Fireteams. After the first FAQ, it has now been limited to T'au of the same type (i.e. Firewarriors only bond with Firewarriors, Breachers with Breachers, Pathfinders with Pathfinders and Stealth with Stealth ... that's caste society for you).

DS8 Tactical Support Turret (Fire Warriors and also Breachers, so you can get two): Not only the Craftworlders can bring turrets. This baby is equipped with either a Missile Pod or a Smart Missile System and is taken as an additional piece of equipment for one of your Fire Warriors. When the Shas'la deploys, the turret does so too at 2" of him, but if their gunner is over 2" for any reason, the turret is lost. Note that the turret is an independent model and shoots as such.

Camouflage Fields (Stealth Battlesuits only): -1 to hit against models with this. If you combine this with XV25 armor, T4 and cover, Stealthsuits are surprisingly tough.

T'au Ranged Weapons

• Burst Cannon: Stealthsuits basic weapon. 18" Assault 4 S5 AP0 D1.
• Fusion Blaster: 18" Assault 1 S8 AP-4 Dd6 with fusion shenanigans, basically a Tau meltagun with a bit more range. If you're able to get into 9" of someone, (and with Stealthsuits it's not that difficult) you can one-shot everything. Even Lictors. Remember that for each point of damage it's an additional roll for injury.
• Ion Rifle: Either 30" Rapid Fire 1 S7 AP-1 D1 or 30" Heavy d3 S8 AP-1 D2 if overcharged, but kills you on 1's to hit. Not a bad weapon that relies on its versatility.
• Markerlight: Our dear 36" Heavy 1 laser pointer. Take into account that, due of how shooting works in KT, it's reccomended to use it with Ready men.
• Missile Pod: One of the two options for the DS8 turret. 36" Assault 2 S7 AP-1 Dd3.
• Photon Grenade: Remember that you have them and that only one of your team can shoot it each turn. That -1 to hit on combat is great when they'll get to you. Remember that you can use them in FtGG-induced Overwatch to support those who doesn't have them, like Stealthsuits or Drones.
• Pulse Blaster: 15"/10"/5" Assault 2 S4/5/6 AP0/-1/-2 D1
• Pulse Carbine: 18" Assault 2 S5 AP0 D1
• Pulse Pistol: Free for Fire Warriors & Breachers, so always take them. It may not give you a good fighting chance when the bad guys get up in your face, but it will give you a fighting chance. Assuming you survive the initial charge. Possibly hilarious if you do manage to score a lucky pistol shot and drop that nasty combat specialist that thought a Tau would be an easy kill. 12" Pistol 1 S5 AP0 D1
• Pulse Rifle: 30" Rapid Fire 1 S5 AP0 D1
• Rail Rifle: 30" Rapid Fire 1 S6 AP-4 Dd3 Each 6+ to wound roll causes a mortal wound in addition to the normal damage. This can occur even on 5+ in the hands of a Demolition specialist (or 4+ if the target is obscured). The tricky part is connecting the shots but thats where Comm specialist and recon drones come in...
• Smart Missile System: The other option for the turret. 30" Heavy 4 S5 AP0 D1. You can fire without sight at 6s to hit.

T'au Melee Weapons

We don't do that here. Shower thought: Cadre Fireblade can order teammates to fire Pulse Pistols twice. This must be tested.

Kroot Rifle: Gives the Kroot +1 S in combat.

T'au Units

• Fire Warrior (Leader [Shas'Ui], Comms, Medic, Scout, Sniper, Veteran) Your regular bluie. Able to equip the Pulse Rifle for long distance or the Pulse Carbine for closing in. Of both choices, the Rifle is somewhat better because the Pathfinders are a cheaper choice for carbines, and the drones bring two for less points. And don't forget the Stealthsuits and their burst cannons. Also, take into account that they're still Fire Warriors and their stats are not impressive. Sooo... no, they're better far and high if you can and supported either in fireteams and/or in FtGG! distance. Also, Close Range at 15" with S5 Rapid Fire 1 it's not something that should be ignored. It's also recommended to be the ones to have the DS8 turret if you can only afford one, because they're the most likely to not to move much.

• Fire Warrior Breacher:(Leader [Shas'Ui], Demolitions, Comms, Medic, Scout, Veteran) Breachers are a very powerful High Risk/High Reward option for T'au. Their pulse blasters normally hit just like a bolter but when within five inches hit like a freight train. With some brainpower you can run around the battlefield as a mini distraction carnifex for your T'au snipers while at the same time delivering some very respectable ordinance. But due to how long range shooting rules works, you'll be -1 to hit at Close Range setting unless they're within 3".

• Pathfinder (Leader[Shas'Ui], Sniper [Gunner], Comms, Demolitions, Medic, Scout, Veteran) A pathfinder with a rail rifle, though expensive, can become a terrifying threat when mixed with the sniper specialization. Set him in the back to cover your more aggressive units like Breachers, or to simply block off firing lanes. However if you just need bodies Pathfinders are also your best best. Cheaper than a Fire Warrior and comes free with a markerlight its your best option for filling out a roster.
  • A level 2B Sniper spec Pathfinder with a rail rifle, when readied and using the level 1 sniper stratagem can shoot two S6 AP-4 damage D3 shots at 15" while hitting on two's rerolling ones. This is T'au shooting at it's very finest and can take out any model in the game provided the shots connect.
  • Something to consider in Matched Play over Campaigns is a Pathfinder Gunner with the Rail Rifle and the Demolitions specialization. Only Death Guard get a FNP without some sort of janky stratagem, so being able to pump out Mortal Wounds on a to-wound roll of 5+ (or 4+ if the target is obscured) isn't something to ignore. Pair him with a Recon Drone and a Comms specialist Pathfinder and you're set to remove units across the whole board.

• XV25 Stealth Battlesuit (Leader [Shas'Vre], Comms, Heavy, Scout, Veteran): Stealth suits have one of the most expensive base cost in the game at 20 points, only surpassed by the Lictor itself. However they're full of goodies: 8" movement, 2 wounds, 3+ save, Fly, Burst cannon by default and always -1 to hit aganist them. They have mobility, endurance, firepower and only lacking in combat and options, but that's the T'au for you. Take one or two.

• Drones: One may wonder why take one of these instead of more troops, the answer is ablative wounds for your leader as well as markerlights that doesn't come from a unit fighting for their lives. They also provide a source of Invulnerable saves which can be very useful on a team of breachers.
  • However, markerlights, since they require hit rolls and you'll be hitting on 5's against most models in cover, are a mugs game. Adding insult to injury, in order to receive benefit from a markerlight, you will need to have shot it first in the phase, which means you'll have needed to ready the model with the markerlight as well, which means you'll be letting the enemy take consecutive turns in the shooting round before you fire real guns back at them- therefore increasing the chance that you'll have less models to return fire. In summary, rail rifles are good, but you have to be rather careful, since being at 15 inches, means you'll be in range of multiple factions that can kill you in a single round of shooting. Splinter cannon sniper dark eldar, Scion's with volley guns and more, all of whom will be perfectly happy to take you out with a decisive shot, letalone return fire during the readied shooting phase.
  • Gun Drones are a 7-point source of Fly with 2 Pulse Carbines shooting 4 S5 shots a round. Since 6s are auto hit in KT, you gain no further penalty from being both at long range and obscured than you would for either. The second gun makes it strictly better than a Burst Cannon since you can roll on the injury chart twice (two different weapons). That same gun drone can also act as ablative wounds for your Stealth suits. All-all-all a 7point gun drone is an incredibly cost effective source of Fly (which is very powerful in Kill Teams) and 4 S5 shots which can potentially roll twice on the injury chart.
• Kroot Carnivores: Behold your one close combat unit! Despite this Kroot aren't really worth it as they will break quickly and they're the same price as Gun Drones and unless Kroot sprout wings they get outclassed.

T'au Elite Units

• XV8 Crisis Battlesuit: New unit in Kill Teams Elites.

T'au Commanders

• Cadre Fireblade (Leadership, Logistics, Shooting, Stealth, Strategist): An improved Fire Warrior in every respect, most notably his BS2. He's got FtGG like the regular Fire Warriors as well. Note his aura tactic, allows any unit to fire an extra shot with pulse weapons at 1/2 range. Can anyone say 6 S5 shots each from a wall of gun drones?
  • Fireblade Twinflame: A unique Cadre Fireblade (Who'd have guessed). In addition to the extra shot aura the regular Fireblade gets, Twinflame gets a 1CP Aura Tactic lets units around him use his Ld and a 0CP tactic that gives you D3 CP when he dies.
  • Level 1: Overwatch on 5+, applies to FTGG
  • Level 2: Enemies re-roll 6s rolled against Twinflame in Fight phase.
  • Level 3: Friendly models within 3" get a 6+++.
  • Level 4: Can force a reroll when determining whether or not a mission ends.
• Dahyak Grekh (Blackstone Fortress) (Stealth): He has a good distance and offers plenty of S4 shooting between his pistol and rifle which doubles as an S+1 melee weapon (Which with his S3 still leads to S4). He doesn't give a fuck about concealment obscuring his aim while also making enemies take -1 if they shoot at him while in cover. If you set up booby traps at the start of the game, you can add another one.
• Ethereal (Leadership, Logistics, Strategist): He may be able to take Equalizers for a low cost, but he's not Aun'Shi and should very much lead from the back. You're taking him for his numerous Aura Tactics, so make him a Leadership specialist and take all the advancements that improve those. Hover Drone isn't necessary, but it's there if you need him to quickly move to wherever his buffs are needed most.

T'au Tactics

• Uplinked Markerlights (2CP): If an enemy unit gets hit with a markerlight, you stack D3+1 markerlight counters on them instead of just 1.
• Breach and Clear (1CP): If a Fire Warrior Breacher shoots at an obscured enemy unit, re-roll failed wound rolls against that unit until the end of the shooting phase.
• Recon Sweep (1CP): Pick a Pathfinder to move 2D6” in the shooting phase instead of shooting.
• Stimulant Injector (1CP): If a unit (no drones) loses a wound, roll a d6 for that wound and all wounds after that in this phase. On a 5+ that wound is not lost.
• The Baited Trap (2CP): Use when charged. Model hits his Overwatch shots on a 4+ instead of a 6+, for the remainder of the phase.
• Tandem Hunting Pattern (2CP): Two Readied models within 4" of each other may both fire during the Ready Fire! step, before any other player may choose a model to shoot!
• Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite (1CP): Use when shooting with a model. Enemy target gains no benefit for being obscured. (Mimics Recon Drone Ability)
• Neuroweb System Jammer (1CP): Pick an enemy model within 12" That model must subtract 1 from 'to hit' rolls made during the shooting phase.
• Focused Fire (1CP): After inflicting an unsaved wound, for the rest of the phase you can add 1 to wound rolls for models that target the same enemy and are within 2" of the model that inflicted the original wound.
• Support Turret Replacement (2CP): Respawn your DS8 Tactical Support Turret, if it has been removed from the battlefield.
• Inheritors of the Galaxy (1CP): During the Moral Phase, if you are standing inside a defense line (wall of martyrs terrain) You may subtract 1 from Nerve Tests. 1 CP covers every qualifying model in the Morale Phase. This is also labeled a Sector Imperialis Tactic.

T'au Commander Tactics

• Volley Fire (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the battle round if you have a non-shaken Cadre Fireblade. Friendly models within 6" can fire an extra shot with their pulse pistols, pulse rifles, and pulse carbines when firing at someone within half the weapon's range. 4 pulse shots per rifle/carbine, anybody? 'an extra' meaning +1 NOT changing the profile from RF1 to RF2. 3 shots total; think how +strength abilities and power fists interact.
• Failure is Not an Option (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if you have a non-shaken Ethereal. Friendly units within 6" can use this model's Ld instead of their own until the end of the round.
• Sense of Stone (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if you have a non-shaken Ethereal. Grants FnP on a 6+ to models within 6" of the user until the end of the round.
• Zephyr's Grace (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if you have a non-shaken Ethereal. Models within 6" of the user can re-roll advance or charge rolls until the end of the phase.
• Storm of Fire (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the shooting phase if you have a non-shaken Ethereal. Models within 6" of the user can re-roll 1s to hit until the end of the phase.
• Voice of the Greater Good (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the movement phase if you have a non-shaken Cadre Fireblade. Friendly units within 6" can use this model's Ld instead of their own until the end of the round.
• Inspiring Sacrifice (0 CP): : Use this tactic when a T'au commander dies. You gain 1D3 CP.

T'au Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 9 models, 96 points
  • Shas'vre Stealthsuit [20pts] with Fusion Blaster [+4pts]/Markerlight [+0pts]/Targetlock [+1pt], 25 pts
  • 3 Pathfinder Gunners [7pts ea]with Rail Rifles [5pts ea] as Sniper/Demo/Comms, 36 pts
  • Recon Drone, 7 pts
  • 4x Gun Drones [7pts ea] (flex), 28pts

Anything the Rail Rifles wound will probably die. Recon and comms to boost hit rolls to make sure they hit. Rest of Drones as flying wounds to accompany aggressive leader, or soak for sniper nest. Burst cannon may be preferred for hordes, as well as grav-inhibitor drone. Guardian drone may be considered if you need the 6++ saves.

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Kroot Mercenaries (White Dwarf January 2019)

Why Play Kroot Mercenaries

• Pros
  • Shoot like Tau with bolters.
  • Move and hit like Eldar.
  • Bird/lizard alien doggos.
  • Space Harambe
  • Kroot Carnivores can have either Kroot or T’au Empire as their faction keyword, allowing them to supplement Tau Kill Teams.
• Cons
  • Die like Guardsmen.
  • No wargear options whatsoever. What your kroot have is all they get.
  • Despite every Kroot unit having the T’au Empire keyword, Kroot Carnivores are the only unit that can have T’au Empire as a faction keyword for use in matched play.
  • Mediocre shooting. Bog-standard Kroot Rifle boltguns are nothing special, other than you'll be bringing them in guardsmen-level numbers. The only truly dangerous ranged weapon Kroot have is the Kroot Gun on the Krootox, a unit that is limited to 1 per team.
  • Kroot are a strictly "fun" faction, for strictly friendly games.

Kroot Special Rules

• Agile Brute: Krootox Rider gets this. Lets the Krootox move 6 inches with no need to roll.

Kroot Ranged Weapons

• Kroot Rifle (shooting): A boltgun for Kroot.
• Kroot Gun: Basically a Krak Missile Launcher.

Kroot Melee Weapons

• Kroot Rifle (melee): +1 S
• Ripping Fangs: -1 AP
• Krootox Fists: 2 D.

Kroot Units

• Kroot Carnivore (Leader, Combat, Scout, Sniper, Veteran, Zealot): Unlike in a T'au team, Carnivores are essential here as this is the only model that can become your leader, and your other unit choices are limited in number, so even if you're loaded up with Hounds and a Krootox a full team will always have at least 8 Carnivores. Decent in both shooting and melee, and are quite fast.
• Kroot Hound (Combat, Scout): Fluffy Kroot Doggos! In comparison with Carnivores, Hounds are almost twice as fast, have an extra attack, their Ripping Fangs have -1 AP rather than the +1 S of the Carnivore's rifle, and Hounds have a much lower profile to make better use of cover. However, Hounds (naturally) have no shooting, and have a limit of 4. Bring at least two, to provide your Combat (if you don't have a Krootox Rider, or your Rider is being used as a Heavy) and Scout specialists if nothing else.
• Krootox Rider (Combat, Heavy): Space Harambe is one of the most expensive units in Kill Team at 27 points, and you can only have one of him, but for that price you get a brute that few will be willing to tangle with, or be able to escape. A 6+ save isn't worth much, but he's got 4 wounds, Plague Marine toughness, and the ability to move an extra 6" when advancing to make up for it. Also, between the Kroot Gun and Krootox Fists, a Krootox has a choice of some fairly mean shooting and melee, so the choice between Combat and Heavy specialization depends entirely on how you prefer to use him.

Kroot Commanders

• Dahyak Grekh (Blackstone Fortress) (Stealth): He has a good distance and offers plenty of S4 shooting between his pistol and rifle which doubles as an S+1 melee weapon (Which with his S3 still leads to S4). He doesn't give a fuck about concealment obscuring his aim while also making enemies take -1 if they shoot at him while in cover. If you set up booby traps at the start of the game, you can add another one.

Kroot Tactics

• Unfettered Agression (1 CP): Gives a model an additional attack
• Hyper-Evolution (2 CP):When one of your models kills an enemy model and there are no other models within 1' they gain +1 S and +1 inch to their movement that lasts the rest of the battle, model may not move in consolidate move.
• Primal Savagery (1 CP): Allows Space Harambe to fight again if he has already, for 1 CP this can be really good if you were using him as a combat specialist.
• Prestigious Trophy (1 CP): When a Kroot Carnivore kills an enemy leader in close combat he does not take have to take nerve tests. (lasts entire battle) Situational as against any melee kill teams good luck killing the leader, however against T'au, Necrons etc it could work still situational however.
• Agile Hunter (1 CP): Lets your Kroot jump gaps of 4" instead of the usual 2". Very situational, and depends on the board being fairly thick with the just the right kind of terrain.
• Tearing Jaws (1 CP): When a Kroot Hound takes an enemy model down to 0 wounds roll two dice for injury and apply the highest result. Can work if the Kroot Hound is charging down a defenseless shooter who you really want dead.

Kroot Commander Tactics

• N/A

Kroot Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• 13 models, 99 points
  • 1 Kroot Carnivore, Leader 6 pts
  • 7 Kroot Carnivores, 49 pts
  • 1 Kroot Hound, Scout 6 pts
  • 1 Kroot Hound, Combat 6 pts
  • 2 Kroot Hounds, 12 pts
  • 1 Krootox Rider, Heavy 27 pts

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Tyranids

Why Play Tyranids

• Pros
  • Since Kill-Team is short ranged combat and morale actually matters here, a deadly and mostly unbreakable army like Tyranids is probably going to perform quite well.
  • Flexible army composition, with 5 unit types where other factions have only 2 choices. If you want to fill the table with a tide of unbreakable critters or 10 ft tall alien aberrations, you are in the right place.
    • Genestealers can also be used for GSC, so you can have two factions without having to spend that much.
  • While not psykers themselves, Tyranids have psychic protection, so they debuff the very skill other elite factions pay a premium to get.
  • You can run four lictors and reenact the movie Alien while scaring the shit out of your friends.
  • You can run all Genestealers and play Space Hulk.
• Cons
  • Warriors and lictors get really expensive really fast.
  • Small critters are hard to deal with but rather ineffective at actually hurting the enemy if he doesnt allow you to surround his models.
  • Genestealers, while fast as fuck and relatively hurty, are quite squishy and expensive.
  • No 3+ armor without a properly upgraded Veteran Specialist.
  • If the enemy manages to put out your synapse, you are in for a brief but painful couple of minutes.

NID Special Rules

• Instinctive Behavior: Similar to vanilla 40k, although only the Gaunts are affected by it. Keep a bare-bones Warrior around to babysit any Gaunts you might have unless you enjoy missing your attacks.
• Shadow in the Warp: Unique to warriors, this rule does exactly the same thing as in main 40k: -1 to the Psychic tests of all non-Tyranid PSYKERS with 18". Good defence again the only two factions who have Psykers, both reducing the chance of the power going off AND the chance of it causing D3 mortal wounds instead of 1, something that will matter considering your 2 scary multi-wound model options.
• Synapse: Although not really a special army rule you are pretty much almost always going to have it and in the remanent cases, it is not really going to matter that much since lictors and genestealers have Ld9. It makes guys affected by it immune to nerve tests, wich is rather amazing.
• Adrenal Glands: +1" to advance and charge distance. All your models either use short ranged Assault guns or want to be in melee, so it's got value.
• Toxin Sacs: Wounds rolls of 6+ in the fight phase cause +1 damage. Band aids your severe lack of multi-damage weapons.

NID Ranged Weapons

• Barbed Strangler: 36" Assault D6 S5 AP-1. Better range and slightly more shots than a Deathspitter, but you have to give up a Venom Cannon for this.
• Deathspitter: 24" Assault 3 S5 AP-1. Pretty damn cost-effective. You can spam it on your Warriors, giving them a rather nice mid ranged weapon to use in addition to your flesh hooks before you get close and personal with the enemy.
• Devourer: 18" Assault 3 bolter, free for Warriors. Quite good if you don't feel like taking can't afford a Deathspitter on them. Termagants can have it too but it almost costs as much as they do and makes them more appealing targets, even if they triple their dakka for less than double the points.
• Flesh Hooks: 6" Assault 2 Str(User) that can shoot both within 1" of the enemy and target enemies within 1" of your units, which not even Pistols can do. It's free and replaces nothing, so it's not a choice - you're bringing it. Available to Warriors, Lictors and 1 Genestealer. While Warriors can shoot it alongside their other guns, its range means that's only happening if you advance up to 6" of a model when setting up a next turn charge; that's akin to 2 bolt shots that hit on a 6+. So, a half-range pistol for most intents and purposes. (Something to keep in mind, Because of how being charged and shooting works this is the only weapon that can be fired if you were CHARGED due to pistol wording being specific to pistols alone. Perticularly useful if you are fighting another nid team, or some scary clowns)
• Fleshborer: 12" Assault bolter that comes stock with Termagants. Meh, it's free, and the whole point of Termagants is being disposable anyway.
• Spine Fists: 12" S3 Pistol that shoots as many times as you attack. Debatable at best on termagants. Terrible even on Combat Warriors (4 shots) who not only have Flesh hooks, but most importantly have to give up their gun for these.
• Venom Cannon: 36" Assault D3 S8 AP-2 D3, making it your only multi damage gun. If you have any Warriors in your Kill Team, this is the first thing you buy. Give it to a Heavy.

NID Melee Weapons

• Acid Maw: What if I didn't need to roll a 6 to rend? Only one available per kill team, worth putting on a genestealer specialist.
• Boneswords: AP-2, +1A, Warriors only. An auto-include unless you want to try something specific.
• Lash whip and Bonesword: AP-2, Warriors only, allows them to fight before dying (potentially with hit penalties from flesh wounds). It allows a Warrior to be a hazard even in death, but that pair of arms has better things to hold. Like guns to be a hazard from afar.
• Grasping Talons: The lictor answer to multi wounds enemies. At S6, -1AP and 2 damage, these are going to hurt. Also more likely to cause flesh wounds than rending claws, since it's multi damage - attack with this against astartes - see lictor section.
• Rending Claws: AP-1, AP-4 on a wound of 6+. Better than you bare hands. When combined with Toxin Sacs, 6+ to wound are AP-4 2D - it's a gamble, but this is a dice game. Available to Genestealers, Lictors and Warriors, though warriors have better things to chop people up with, and on genestealers and lictors it will depend on the target's defense profile. "Kills terminators like the armour wasn't there" my ass.
• Scything Talons: Your bare hands re-roll 1s to hit, having two pairs gives the user +1A. Available to Hormagaunts, Genestealers and Warriors, who are the only ones that can get the extra attack - useful when fighting something with no armour save/a better invul save (Harlequins, Wyches, genestealers, poxwalkers), otherwise you're better off using other weapon options.

NID Psychic Powers

• Catalyst (Warp Charge 5): Grants a friendly model within 18" FnP on a 5+. If it already has FnP, it can choose which FnP value it wishes to use and may re-roll 1s for it.

NID Units

• Termagants (Scout, Veteran): The shooty tide. In high numbers they can quite overwhelm a light armored enemy force, but they need a Warrior around to keep them accurate. The most valuable thing about these pests is that the enemy has to commit an effort to kill them; have someone in your team who can take advantage of the annoying barbed meatshield gaunts are. They are disposable models, as such they should never be made specialists.
• Hormagaunts (Combat, Scout, Veteran): The slashy tide. Same goes for them as for the Termagants but in melee. The are also quite useful to tie up shooty armies with their staggering 8" movement and 6" consolidation. Keep them in cover and even outside of line of sight to further annoy your enemy, as they screen their Warrior babysitter. Buy the Adrenal Glands, they'll still be cheap enough for you to bring a dozen or so.
• Warriors (Leader, Heavy [Gunner only], Combat, Comms, Veteran): Now we are talking big. Like, really fucking big. The only things bigger than them are Lictors and (arguably) Aberrants, and they are not even half as versatile as them. Though they have a lot of options, Bone Swords + Deathspitter + Flesh hooks is the best loadout hands down, allowing them to be good at everything. You'll only make them keep their Devourer if you can't afford the Deathspitter, which is the only thing from that loadout that actually costs, and 2pts at that. Unless you're going Lictor or Genestealer heavy, this is where you get your specialists from. A Combat specialist could make use of a Lash whip alongside the bone swords, but giving up a gun for an effect on death isn't all that good. A must-take if you want to get an actual use out of gaunts, as they are the only source of the much needed Synapse.
  • Warrior Gunner (1): Venom Cannon + Flesh Hooks + Bone Swords bearer.
• Genestealers (Leader, Combat, Scout, Veteran): Fast. Lots of attacks. Half the cost of a warrior (after wargear). These guys are glass cannons, a way of delivering Warrior-like melee sacrificing resiliency for numbers and speed - Metabolic boost works wonders on a model that moves 8" and re-rolls charges, even better than for Lictors (?!). While they can get a 4+ save, that comes at the expense of losing the charge re-roll, and a 5++ is a nice way to disregard AP. One of them can take an Acid Maw and another one the Flesh Hooks, consider putting them on specialists. Toxin sacs are great, giving extra damage synergising with your rending claws - which you should always use unless you're fighting models that depend on invulns/lack an armour save.
• Lictors (Leader, Combat, Comms, Scout, Veteran): This guy is possibly the scariest thing in the game. In Kill Team the Lictor is every bit the stalking movie monster it was always meant to be. While it's got poor armour, thanks to its 9" movement it can reliably keep in cover, and gets an additional -1 to be hit when it does so. Good luck shooting it down with its 4 wounds. But watch out for demo specialists with flamers, which heavily counter it. In close combat it is downright terrifying, being the only model in Kill Team with a natural WS2+, and with a base Str6 also wounding most of the models on a 2+ as well, benefitting its Flesh Hooks. Against astartes, a single flesh wound is less important, and you should aim for "out of action" results, not just wounds. Because of this, you should always use the Grasping Talons against them, or against other models where you'd rather increase out of action chance than wound chance. Against other single wound models, or against astartes who already have a flesh wound, just use rending claws (unless the extra ap isn't useful against the target).
  • Being your most expensive model you'll only be able to bring up to 4, but that's the same number of specialists you can have, so your "Aliens" movie cast can each have a personality: Leader, Combat, Scout and Veteran. Comms lvl2 and lvl3 advancements are useful as well, but they won't be available in matched play or when you used up all your points on 4 Lictors.

NID Commanders

• Tyranid Prime (Commander):
• Broodlord (Commander) (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Melee, Psyker, Stealth, Strategist, Strength): BOI this dude is strong: S5 T5 6W 6A mean you have a quite strong and resiliant melee fighter. Add a 2+ WS and a melee weapon S5 AP-3 Dd3 (which became a really useless AP-6 with a 6+ wound roll) that re-roll failed saves and you have a killing machine. BUT, THERE'S MORE, IT'S A PSYKER! You could problably using it alone and, with a not too much numerous enemy team and some clever positioning, still have some possibility to win. Pay attention to enemy fire, though.
  • If you are going to pick a Level 1 Broodlord, problably your best choice are Melee (against everything) or Strength (against GEQ if you really want to kill them or against Plague Marine to have a rerollable 3+)
  • If you are going to play like a hero and pick a level 4 Broolord (and that's it, because it cost 196 points), consider to choose Psyker, especially the ability that permits you to choose your target for Smite: in this way you could stay in melee with the enemy (preventing it from shooting you) and still be able to deliver some damage in the Psychic Phase
  • Ferocity and Stealth are evergreen choices:
    • Ferocity makes you always fight as you have charged (a Bloodlord may kill every enemies that dare to stay on its way, preventing them to attack you first is a nice option) and high lever option are still good
    • Stealth gives you a Veteran-like tactic to move before round-one (helping you to reach melee) and, at higher lever, bonus that makes you harder to shoot (or negates to your enemy the possibility to Overwatch, which is awesome).
  • Nemesis 9 Tyrantis: named Commander for the Tyranids. Funny choice if you pick it at level 3 against elitè army or Elucidian Starstriders, otherwise, meh:
    • (Level 1, 131): Add one to Attack characteristic, already built in the statline (a Melee specialist does the same at the same level)
    • (Level 2: 151): You can add or subtract 1 from any roll (yours or of the other players) to determine wether or not the mission ends. Circumstantial, but useful if you have a slightly advantage at the first roll of this type.
    • (Level 3, 171): Gain 1 CP every time this model puts Out of Action an enemy specialist IN THE FIGHT PHASE (no Psychic, just punching). Fluffy ability similar to Feeder Tendrils, but for this point cost it will be hard to have more than 3 models (unless you're taking only Gaunts and the Bloodlord, but it sounds stupid, doesn't it?)
    • (Level 4, 196): If this model is in your kill team and it's not Out of Action, roll a D6 for each enemy player that participate in this mission. With a 5+ that enemy lose 1 Morale. Useful ability, because if you use this skill tree you'll never tempted to choose it as a Level 4 Commander, saving points for useful things.

NID Tactics

• Feeder Tendrils (1 CP): Gives you D3 CP if a Genestealer or Lictor takes an enemy leader out of action in the Fight phase. Strong and pays for itself, remember to use this.
• Lurk (1 CP): If a unit hasn't moved in the Movement phase, this prevents them from moving for the rest of the phase, but so long as they're obscured, shooting attacks against them suffer an additional -1 penalty to their hit rolls for the rest of the battle round. With this you can give a lictor a -3 to be hit, just saying.
• Scorch Bugs (1 CP): Gives +1 to wound to ONE termagant fleshborer for a phase. Lackluster.
• Metabolic Overdrive (2 CP): Makes one model move twice - note, move, not "make a standard move". This includes advancing and charging. On a 1 you get a mortal wound which is a fair price to pay - and hurts less on multi wound monsters. According to Kill Team: Writhing Shadow tyranid Starter set, it is only a standard move.
• Hunting Roar (2 CP): When a warrior make a successful charge, you can pop this to give all your guys within 6" from him free reroll to hit. I do not need to tell you how strong this can be in a close combat army.
• Caustic Blood (1 CP): When something kills you in close combat you blow up. It does a mortal wound on a 6 to every enemy within 1" of the guy that died. Cool if you are fighting massed infantry.
• Dragged into the Darkness (2 CP, Sector Imperialis Killzone): When choosing a model to shoot with in the shooting phase, if that model's target is within 1" of any Munitorum Crates or Munitorum Barrels, a wound roll of 6+ will inflict an extra mortal wound.
• Predatory Leap (1 CP): Before making a Charge roll, pick a model from your Kill-Team. When it charges, it counts as having the Fly keyword, which is frankly freaking amazing on your speediest beasts.
• Implant Attack (2 CP): When an injury roll is made for an enemy model that lost its last wound to one of your models in the Fight phase, add 2 to the injury roll.
• Rapid Regeneration (2 CP): When a model is taken out of action, roll a d6; on a 4+ it takes a flesh wound instead.
• Legacy of Ymgarl (1 CP): When a Genestealer is selected to fight, it re-rolls all failed wound rolls.
• Single-Minded Annihilation (1-2 CP): A selected model can shoot twice in the shooting phase. This costs 2 CP if used on a Warrior, 1 CP otherwise.
• Adrenaline Surge (2 CP): A selected model can fight twice in the Fight phase.

NID Commander Tactics

• Alpha Warrior (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if you have a non-Shaken Tyranid Prime. Friendly models within 6" gain +1 to hit until the end of the battle round.
• Terrifying Reputation (Aura) (1 CP): Use at the start of the Shooting phase if you have a non-Shaken Broodlord. Enemy models within 6" take -1 to Leadership until the end of the battle round.
• Voracious Appetite (2 CP): Commander rerolls failed wounds in the fight phase.

NID Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

• Warrior Leader with devourer, boneswords, and fleshhooks
• Heavy Warrior with venom cannon,boneswords, fleshhooks
• Combat Warrior equipped same as leader (or additional boneswords if you want that extra attack though being able to shoot is a better option)
• having a fourth Warrior is optional (if you aren't already fully into Nids no need to buy another box for one model)
so at this point you should just start filling you lists with gaunts depending on what you want.
• Termagants for shooting(your choice of devourer or fleshborer depending on your points)
• Hormagaunts for combat(with adrenal glades if you want the extra speed)
• Though best option is an even split between the two and have the termagants follow the heavy warrior and hormagaunts follow your combat for synapse

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing

Genestealer Cults

Why Play Genestealer Cults

• Pros
  • The close-quarters design of kill team allows you to use Neophyte shotguns and Metamorph hand-flamers to their maximum potential.
  • Tons of potential choices for your neophyte models. Imperial Guardsmen, Chaos Cultists, Necromunda Hive Gangers, Skitarii (if you want to play the Cult of the Bladed Cog), just about anything is viable if it can wield a lasgun or autogun.
  • You can use the same Genestealer models as the Tyranids
  • You have access to abberants, who at base level they have 2 strength 5 ap-2 DD3 attacks, which will eat their way through every model in kill team.
  • Strength Of Faith can make your squishy cultists surprisingly resilient against psykers.
  • If you don't mind leaving out the more alien stuff, GC can be neatly used to represent a more irregular, close-combat flavored Imperial guard force. You could even use Ogryn as count-as Aberrants.
  • Since you're getting your Kill Team genestealers from the Tyranids list, they get access to wargear options that they wouldn't have in 40k.
  • A minimum of Ld 7 across the board means your hybrids will hold their ground like Space Marines despite having otherwise Guardsmen-level stats.
• Cons
  • For obvious balance reasons, the Cult Ambush ability is severely neutered. Now only triggering on a 5+, it allows you to take a full-distance move with that model before the game starts.
  • Most of your units are only strength and toughness 3 (actually, only neophites are S 3), so despite your relatively high attack count per model you will struggle to wound toughness 4 and above without using tactics like the Metamorph's toxin sacs.

GSC Special Rules

• Cult Ambush: After Deployment but before the first battle round, roll a D6 for each model with Cult Ambush. On a 5+, you may immediately move it up to 6".
• Unquestioning Loyalty: Shared by the Commander units. If the Look Out, Sir! Tactic is used on them, roll a d6; on a 2+ you gain a CP.

GSC Ranged Weapons

• Autogun: Free with 24" range Rapid Fire 1
• Autopistol: Default S3 pistol for all Hybrid models.
• Blasting Charge: Comes free with each Hybrid model. Only 1 can be thrown a Battle Round but ignores long range penalty.
• Bolt Pistol: Free S4 upgrade to your Neophyte Leader's Autopistol.
• Demolition Charge: Special Wargear for your Acolyte Hybrids. S8 AP-3 D3 D. Can only be used once per game so don't bother with more than 1.
• Flamer: The standard flamer with all the auto-hitting goodness you have come to expect. Doesn't care about all your -1 to hit, and can be fired after advancing to help get it into range. Even better in the hands of a Demolition specialist.
• Grenade Launcher: A assault Weapon that fires Krak and Flak Grenades
• Hand Flamer: A flamer in pistol form, albeit at 1 point less strength. Still useful for softening up enemies in melee, and it autohits.
• Heavy Stubber: A long range gun, the stubber can be thought of as a 3 shot bolter with Heavy. With a short range of 18" it can be surprisingly accurate, and weight of dice can get through armour where quality (or lack thereof) failed.
• Mining Laser: Heavy 1 S9 AP-3 D3 damage. Only one shot with it, but it's still enough to reliably wound a Plague Marine.
• Seismic Cannon: Two firing modes: Long-wave, which is Heavy 4 24" S3 AP0 1 D, and Short-wave, which is Heavy 2 12" S6 AP-1 2 1 D. Both of them become AP-4 on a wound roll of 6.
• Shotgun: Free with 12" range Assault 2. Goes from S3 to S4 when 6" away from your target.
• Web Pistol: The other pistol upgrade for your Neophyte Leader. Offers D3 shots at S3, against the target's Strength or Toughness (whichever is lowest).
• Webber: A S4 D3 Assault weapon that has an 18 " range. Available as an upgrade to your Neophyte gunners. Wounds in the same manner as the Web Pistol above.

GSC Melee Weapons

• Bonesword: A -2AP weapon, considering your high attack count per model the ap -2 of this weapon can allow you to do a surprising amount of damage.
• Chainsword: Free +1 attack, a free way to bring your Neophyte leader up to 3 attacks, but often you're better served by the Maul which is one point more for 2 attacks at s5 ap-1
• Cultist Knife: Same as the Chainsword.
• Heavy Rock Cutter: Sx2 AP-4 2 D. Has a -1 penalty to hit, but has a nasty extra effect. Whenever a model takes damage from this, you roll a d6; if the result is higher than the model's remaining number of wounds, it immediately goes out of action. Usually overkill, but handy against Necrons and Death Guard.
• Heavy Rock Drill: Sx2 AP-3 1 D. Each time a model takes damage from this weapon, roll a d6; on a 2+ it takes a mortal wound and you can roll again for a chance at another mortal wound, adding 1 to the required roll. Repeat until you either fail a roll or the target is out of action, whichever comes first.
• Heavy Rock Saw: Sx2 AP-4 2 D. Costs the same as the heavy rock cutter, so decide whether you want accuracy or the chance to instantly kill enemies. Although lets be realistic here, what model in kill team other than maybe some tyranid models are over 2 wounds. There's so few it becomes almost stupid to take the cutter compared to the much more accurate saw The issue is not getting to an injury roll, it's taking models out of action. The saw is more likely to get you to a flesh wound, the cutter will insta-gib anything once you get it to zero wounds.
• Lash Whip and Bonesword: Do you want to troll your opponent when he triumphantly supposes to have slain you warrior and having thus saved his models from an untimely death just to watch his confidence be shattered by a literally weaponized overgrown dick? Then look no further because this weapon is a bonesword that allows you to fight even if you die in close combat. It is quite sad that you don't get the usual +1 attack but nothing is perfect.
• Metamorph Claw: +2 S so strength 6 with 3 attacks, downside is that you have no ap with this weapon.
• Metamorph Talon: Free +1 to hit so your metamorphs will be hitting on 2's, add in a cult icon for a 35/36 chance of each attack hitting its target.
• Metamorph Whip: Same as the Lashwhip and bonesword, but with AP0.
• Power Hammer: The aberrant's double strength (10) ap-3 damage 3 weapon, but at minus 1 to hit. The be all and end all melee weapon in kill team, with a few buffs from the cult icon and specializations this weapon will chew through even death guard (if you can afford the base cost of 19 points for the weapon and its carrier).
• Power Maul: Gets a neophyte leader up to S5 -1 AP, turning it into a reasonable CC option.
• Power Pick: Strength user ap -2 Dd3, a respectable weapon on whoever has it, and on aberrant's its downright scary as their base strength is 5.
• Rending Claw: AP-1 weapons that on a 6+ to wound get a -4AP, with the high attack count of the models that can take these you can do some serious damage, even with only ap -1. Especially good on genestealers who go up to -4AP and D2 on 6s if you give them toxin sacs.

GSC Units

• Neophyte Hybrids (Leader [Leader only], Heavy [Heavy only], Demolitions, Medic, Scout, Zealot): Your “totally not guardsmen” units, cheap, expendable, but like guardsmen they are surprisingly short, especially in numbers. They cost the same as normal guardsmen but are slightly better in melee (unless you include orders) as they also come with autopistols/laspistols as standard as well as having the usual lasgun and blasting charges (aka grenades) but they also have the option of replace their autoguns/peashooters with shotguns if you really want to specialize them to melee/close quarters fighting. Other than that one of your Neophyte hybrids may take a cult icon, giving re-rolls to one's for friendly units within 6" in the fight phase, a must take if you intend your not guardsmen to get into melee as then you take need to spend any points one specializing them.
• Acolyte Hybrids (Leader [Leader only], Demolitions [Fighter only], Combat, Comms, Zealot) Your melee flavor “not guardsmen”, having an extra attack and melee weapons, with the trade off being a lack of long ranges firepower. However, they make up for it in close combat accuracy and absolutely vicious short-range weaponry.
• Hybrid Metamorphs (Leader [Leader only], Combat, Comms, Demolitions or Zealot): Metamorphs are interesting because they provide the closest thing to a cheap counterpunch unit in GSC. The whips allow them to still get off attacks when they die, which can be huge against MEQ or close combat monsters like Harlequins.
• Aberrants (Leader, Combat, Demolitions, Zealot): At strength 5 base, two attacks and the choice of either a S5 ap-2 DD3 pick or a S10 ap-3 D3 hammer aberrants are your true heavy hitters in an army which otherwise struggles with high toughness targets, as with their hammers they can wound even death guard on 2's. They also come with rending claws as standard, but there's no point using them unless you take the hammer over the pick and are fighting lots of small, weak targets where the hammers -1 to hit would be a detriment. This combined with toughness 4, two wounds and an ability which reduces all damage received by 1 (to a minimum of 1) makes aberrants one of the toughest models in the whole of kill team, and their short comings (only two attacks and relatively low accuracy when using the hammer)can be shored up using specializations, the most notable of which being the combat specialism, but they can also take the leader specialism, something which is worth considering as (unlike the rest of your army) an aberrant will not die at the first sign of a stiff breeze.
• Genestealers (Leader, Combat, Scout, Veteran): Your vanilla tyranid genestealers, they do not benefit from cult ambush but they're plenty fast and they're the toughest GSC unit outside of Aberrants. Being able to reroll charges also allows them to charge earlier and longer than Hybrids.

GSC Commanders

• Acolyte Iconward (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Melee, Stealth):
  • Crasker Matterzhek: A carbon copy of the default Iconward except for his specialism, down to his price. The question you ask is "Is +1W and a 12" nerve reroll that keeps him away from the fighting worth giving up what real specialisms offer?". The answer is almost always no.
    • Acolyte Iconward specialism: Crasker Matterzhek's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: Sacred Duty: +1 to Wounds, built into the statline.
      • Level 2: Fearless Dedication: Can't be shaken. Ever.
      • Level 3: Scale the Heights: Acts exactly like the Steath specialism "Climber". Not all that useful by itself but obviously meant to synergize with...
      • Level 4: Raise the Standard High: Increases the range of the Sacred Cult Banner to 12", so long as Crasker is 1" above the surface of the battlefield. Fluffy.
• Patriarch (Ferocity, Fortitude, Melee, Psyker, Stealth, Strength):
• Magus (Leadership, Logistics, Psyker, Stealth):
• Primus (Ferocity, Fortitude, Leadership, Logistics, Melee, Shooting, Strategist, Strength):
• Kelermorph (Starn's Disciples)(Fortitude, Leadership, Stealth, Shooting):
  • Ghyrson Starn (Starn's Disciples): The eponymous kelermorph from the Starn's Disciples box. Costing the same as the default Kelermorph he might be the first unique commander actually worth taking, if only because the shooting specialism doesn't mesh well with multiple weapons.
    • Kelermorph specialism: Ghyrson Starn's unique skill tree, with the following skills.
      • Level 1: Hybrid Agility: +1" to Move, built into the statline.
      • Level 2: Preternatural Skill: No hit penalties for targets being obscured. Similar to Trick-shooter from the Shooting Specialism.
      • Level 3: Swift Reflexes: Overwatch on 4+.
      • Level 4: Trick Shooter: 1/Round when you pick Starn to shoot, you can make a shot as if he were standing in the place of another model within 6". Use that model for LOS and measuring range but use Starn's stats and wargear.

GSC Tactics

• Density Analysis Lenses (2CP): Adds 1 to hit rolls for a shooting unit against targets that are obscured. Not particularly useful for genestealer cults as your not particularly good at shooting and far better in melee. This can get the mining laser or the seismic cannon up to 3+ to hit against obscured targets with a comms specialist. Nobody likes losing their expensive Reiver to a readied neophyte half its cost with a mining laser first turn.
• Unnatural Senses (1CP): A charged unit can fire overwatch at charging enemies even if they're not visible, treating them as obscured instead.
• I Like To Keep This Handy... (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples) (1CP): A unit armed with a shotgun changes the shotgun's type to Pistol 2 until end of the phase.
• Raise The Icon (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Cult Icon's ability becomes 12" instead of 6"
• Acidic Spit (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Model within 1" suffers 1 mortal wound on a 5+
• Toxin Gland (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Hybrid Metamorph's Rending Claw or Metamorph Talon gains 1 to wound rolls
• Mesmerizing Gaze (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Enemy model within 1" loses 1 to Attack on a 4+
• Seismic Blast (Devoted Sons/Starn's Disciples)(2CP): Choose a model in your killteam with short-wave profile of a Seismic Cannon, if an attack for the weapon hits roll for each other model within 2" of target model. On a 5+ that model is Shaken
• Industrial Brutality (1CP): Attacks from a model with Heavy Rock Drill, Heavy Rock Saw or Heavy Rock Cutter, on a 4+ can immediately fight again.
• Inhuman Reflexes (1CP): When a model fails a falling test it doesn't take falling damage and won't fall on other models. If it would have fallen on another model, place it within 1" of that model.
• Frenzied Hammering (2CP): Aberrant armed with power hammer increases it's Attack by D3 until end of phase. Subtract 1 from Hit rolls until end of phase. Yes, you are obligated to declare "hammer time!" when using this tactic, but unless you have some positive hit modifiers these extra attacks will only hit on a 5+. You also only get 2 attacks base so to make the most of this stratagem you’ll need to buff your attack count as well.
• Strength Of Faith (1CP): when a model suffers a mortal wound in the Psychic phase, roll a D6 for each model wounded in that phase. On a 5+ that wound is ignored and has no effect. Not as good as it sounds since you can only cast 1 psychic power per phase so only going to be rolling for that 1 wound
• The Cult Innumerable (Starn's Disciples)(3CP): Use it when a model of your kill team es taken out of action (other than a specialist). You can set that model again in your deployment zone and more than 9" than enemy models. It is still treated as a casualty at the end of the battle.
• Blinding Acid Spit (Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Use it when a model of your kill team is chosen as the target of an attack in the fight phase. Roll a dice; on a 4+, the attacking model substracts 1 from its hit rolls until the end of the phase.
• Corrosive Fuel (Starn's Disciples)(2CP): Use it when your are gonna shoot a hand flamer. Improve its AP to -1 and its damage to 2 until the end of the phase.
• Messy Demise (Starn's Disciples)(2CP): Use it when a model from your Kill team takes an enemy model out of action with a heavy rock saw. Roll a dice for each enemy model within 3" of the model that made the attack. On a 5+ the model you are rolling for is shaken.
• Plant the Flag (Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Use it when a model from your kill team equippedwith a cult icon takes an enemy model out of action in the fight phase. Frindly models withn 6" of that model doesn't need to take nerve tests until the end of the battle round.
• Ensnaring Strike (Starn's Disciples)(1CP): Use it when you pick a model to fight un the fight phase equipped with a lash whip and bonesword. Until the end of the phase, if the model scores any hits, you can pick one melee weapon their target is armed with. The target model may not use that weapon in that phase.

GSC Killzone Tactics

• Secret Lair (Sector Fronteris) (1CP): Take a model off the board near a hatch off the board at the start of a Movement Phase. Put it back on the board at the end of the next anywhere within 3" of a hatch, and without 9" of an enemy. If nowhere satisfies this condition, it stays in hiding until it can. If its still hiding at the end of the mission, it counts as out of action.

GSC Commander Tactics

• Blaze of Glory (1CP): Your Kelermorph shoots a single time (regardless of number of attacks) with a single one of his weapons against every target within 8", instead of shooting this phase.
• Cult Demagogue (Aura) (1CP): +1 to hit in the Fight phase within 8" of your Primus. Ends if he's shaken.
• Meticulous Planning (2CP): Only if you have a Primus, essentially lets your reroll failed Cult Ambushes, but oddly isn't technically a reroll.
• Nexus of Devotion (Aura) (1CP): FnP5+ within 6" of your Iconward. Ends if he's shaken.
• Rabble Rouser (Starn's Disciples) (Aura) (1CP): Friendlies within 6" uses the Iconward's leadership. Ends if he's shaken.
• Unsettling Presence (Aura) (1CP): Enemies within 6" of your Commander take -1 to leadership. Ends if he's shaken.

GSC Example Teams

Standard Kill Teams

Roster is created to have an answers to biggest outlier factions: Tau's overwatch, Harlequins Invul, Death Guard's T5, GEQ, MEQ, and horde Orc/Chaos

• 20 Models, 196 points, Command Roster

Death Guard (T5 3+Save, Resilient), 8 Models (100 points):

• Leader
  • Neophyte Leader with Autogun/Autopistol (Keep cheap & Hidden)
• Specialists:
  • Combat: Aberrant with Power Hammer (Wounds everything on 2+, even Death Guard)
  • Zealot: Acolyte Fighter with Rock Saw (Wounds everything on 2+, even Death Guard)
  • Heavy: Neophyte Gunner with Seismic Cannon (Good for Pox walkers or if close enough short wave)
• Non-Specialists:
  • Abberant Power Hammer
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Saw
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Cutter
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Cutter

MEQ/Necrons (T4, 3+Save), 9 Models (100 Points):

• Leader
  • Neophyte Leader with Autogun/Autopistol (Keep cheap & Hidden)
• Specialists:
  • Combat: Aberrant with Power Hammer (Wounds everything on 2+)
  • Zealot: Acolyte Fighter with Rock Saw (Wounds everything on 2+)
  • Veteran: Genestealer with AcidMaw & Scything Talons (Early charge, careful of their melee units)
• Non-Specialists:
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Saw
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Cutter
  • Acolyte Fighter with Rock Cutter
  • Metamorph Leader with Bonesword
  • Neophyte Gunner with Heavy Stubber

Orcs (T4, 6+Save), 12 Models (100 Points):

• Leader
  • Neophyte Leader with Autogun/Autopistol (Keep cheap & Hidden)
• Specialists:
  • Comms: Acolyte Hybrid base, help Stubber or Hybrid and get in melee if foes are too close
  • Veteran: Genestealer with AcidMaw & Scything Talons (Early charge, careful of their melee units)
  • Zealot: Acolyte Fighter with Rock Saw (Wounds everything on 2+)
• Non-Specialists:
  • Acolyte Leader Bonesword
  • Genestealer with Flesh hooks & Scything Talons
  • Metamorph Leader Bonesword
  • Neophyte Gunner Heavy Stubber
  • Neophyte Gunner Flamer
  • Neophyte Gunner Flamer
  • Neophyte Hybrid Shotgun
  • Neophyte Hybrid Autogun

Harlequins/Tau/GEQ (T3, 5+ or 4++), 13 Models (100 Points):

• Leader
  • Neophyte Leader with Autogun/Autopistol (Keep cheap & Hidden)
• Specialists:
  • Comms: Acolyte Hybrid base, help Seismic cannon or Stubber and get in melee if foes are too close
  • Veteran: Genestealer with AcidMaw & Scything Talons (Early charge, careful of their melee units)
  • Heavy: Neophyte Gunner Seismic Cannon
• Non-Specialists:
  • Acolyte Leader Bonesword
  • Metamorph Leader Bonesword
  • Neophyte Gunner Heavy Stubber
  • Neophyte Gunner Flamer
  • Neophyte Gunner Flamer
  • Neophyte Hybrid Shotgun
  • Neophyte Hybrid Shotgun, Cult Icon
  • Neophyte Hybrid Autogun
  • Neophyte Hybrid Autogun

Melee Squad: Acolyte Leader, Metamorph Leader, Genestealer, Neophyte Shotgun Cult Icon

Commanders Kill Teams

For When Commanders Cost Points

For When Commanders Cost Nothing