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.

I has 'Don't panic Mr Mannering'

Games Workshop has finally gone and done it. 

After years and years of producing mediocre rules which have threatened to kill 40k off, they've finally managed it with the introduction of Escalation and Stronghold Assault.

Bollocks.

All they've done is expand the game. No-one is forcing anyone to play that guy with the Revenant Titan, at least not in a friendly game, and no-one is forcing you to buy either of the two new books.

So what's the problem?

The internet. 

The same internet that told us 40k was fucked when they introduced fliers. Oh, and that would be the same internet that told us 6th edition was shit, and that Allies had killed the game off and that the world would end in 2012.

In case you haven't noticed, the world didn't end and 6th edition is actually quite good, shock horror gasp, even with fliers and allies. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Private Frazers of the 40k world have made out.

So will Escalation or Stronghold Assault kill 40k?

No, because most of the bitching and moaning that's going on about the new releases is by people who've never read the books or played a game with them and their opinions have been formed from what other unhappy bunnies on the internet who've probably never read the books or played a game with them have written.

Sure, without a doubt they're going to change the nature of the game. But, how popular do you think 40k would be if it didn't change and we were all still playing 2nd edition rules?

Change, whether we like it or not is what's kept the game alive. 

And do you know what? Nobody is stopping you or your buddies playing 2nd, 3rd or 4th editions.  

Here's Durham.