I has Kill Team

So Games Workshop have dropped Kill Team upon us just in time for Christmas and as with anything they seem to do these days there's a quite a bit of vitriol surrounding it's release.

Now, granted most of this is centred around the fact that it's an electronic release and that it costs £6.99 and I'm not going to get into a pricing rant for a couple of reasons, it does absolutely no good and whether people like it or not, Games Workshop are not a charity, they're a company who sell things.

First off, I'm a hypocrite, I broke the habit of a lifetime and bought a copy. I don't like digital books. I prefer reading real books, but as the license allows me to print off one hard copy, it kind of gives me one.

So what's it like?

First impressions are that it's pretty decent and there's some 'Stonetooth' Harker fluff in there for all of you Guard buffs.

The basic rules are pretty self explanatory - 

200 Point Force chosen from -

0-2 Troops

0-1 Elites

0-1 Fast Attack

• Must include at least four non-vehicle models. One Leader and three Specialists.

• Cannot include any models with more than 3 Wounds or Hull Points on their profile.

• Cannot include any vehicles with a combined Armour Value of more than 33.

• Cannot include Flyers.

• Cannot include any models with a 2+ Armour Save.

So -

No vehicle spam.

No hard to kill characters or vehicles.

No Hellturkeys or Donuts.

No Terminators.

The Leader needs to roll off on the Leader Traits table to see what which of the following he gets - 

1 - A Cunning Ruse.

2 - Quick Thinker.

3 - Chasing Promotion.

4 - Iron Resolve.

5 - Been there, Seen it, Done it.

6 - Unshakeable Dedication to Duty.

As with the Warlord Traits in the main rulebook, some of these are more useful than others and some of them, depending on your build, may not even benefit you that much.

You then have to use 3 Specialist Traits from 5 Specialist Sections, only one trait per specialist and only one from each section.

Combat Specialist
Weapon Specialist
Dirty Fighter Specialist
Indomitable Specialist
Guerrilla Specialist. 

This is where the fun starts; in those 5 sections you've got 40 specialist traits to choose from. So, if like me, you run Space Marines, you find yourself with access to some of the more unusual special rules available to other armies, as well as the ability to put some familiar ones onto weapons that you would never associate with them.

Master Crafted heavy bolter or missile launcher anyone?

There are specific rules that come into play with Kill Team, and most of them will be familiar in some way, shape or form to folks who have played other versions of it, with some of them being slightly different, or new -

Skirmish Battlefield.
Every Man for Himself.
Transport Vehicles.
You’re on Your Own.
Scoring Units.
Psychic Solitude.
Break Tests.
Command Range.

As with the main rulebook there are primary and secondary mission objectives, the primary ones are outlined in the missions which are -

Forward Push
Alone in the Dark
Head Hunt
Infiltrate the Camp
Secure the High Ground
Supply Drop

Whilst the secondary are -

Slay the Leader.
Linebreaker.
First Blood.
Break the Enemy.

So that's the basics; unfortunately I can't go any further into the rules specifics, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that it looks as if it's going to be a lot of fun.

Is it worth £6.99? To me it was, but then again, I'm not the one holding your wallet.
Would it be better as a real book? You bet your life it would, and I hope that sometime in the future it'll find its way into print.
Am I going to enjoy playing it? Yep, thrice times, and thrice times more for luck.

But, enough of my ramblings. Have a good holiday and here's a pic to cheer you all up.