TIP OF THE SPEAR
Kill Team Missions for 40K

By Ross Watson
Squig-at-Large

“Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.“ – Marine Gunnery Sgt. Tom “Gunny” Highway (portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the film Heartbreak Ridge)

White Dwarf #286 introduced a mini-game for Warhammer 40,000 known as Kill Team. Kill Team is a great game you can play in a short amount of time, as it does not require a large number of miniatures nor a great deal of set up. The essence of Kill Team is to have a fast, fun game that can be played repeatedly without losing its sense of fun (the protaganist and antagonist player switch places after each game to try it from the other side). Each player needs only about 12 models to get started.

White Dwarf #287 included expanded rules for Kill Team, such as rules on how Kill Teams gain experience, equipment for the Kill Team and extras for the Goon Squads, as well as new ways to build Elite Kill Teams with specialized troops.

Sometimes a Kill Team is a tight-knit group of comrades who have saved each other’s lives a dozen times over. Other Kill Teams are made up entirely of strangers who’d as soon slit their teammates' throats as talk to them. However hard-bitten or world-weary, a Kill Team relies on doing the job together as opposed to individual heroics that will get everyone killed. This Black Gobbo article presents a group of new Kill Team scenarios, designed to give your sneaky specialists a real challenge! Whether your Kill Team is composed of Ork Commandos or Space Marine Scouts, you’ll find a mission that suits your strengths and tests your weaknesses. Remember, if it’s easy, it’s not a Kill Team mission! When it’s not easy, you can still win if you improvise, adapt, and overcome.

Improvise. When the Kill Team arrives on the table, the positions of the Goon Squads are visible, so the player can come up with a game plan for how to get his Kill Team to the objective without encountering too many Goon Squads (and triggering more klaxon counters). However, the Goon Squads are going to wander, subject to the dice each turn. Therefore, it becomes necessary to improvise your Kill Team’s path.

Adapt. No matter how good your improvised plan is, chances are it won’t go perfectly. A Kill Team should expect to encounter at least one Goon Squad going to and leaving from the objective. When battle with a Goon Squad occurs, klaxon counters start popping up and the antagonist’s forces have a good chance of becoming aware. If this occurs, don’t panic! If the Kill Team can still reach the objective and escape, it’s a victory…no matter how terrible the price.

Overcome. When your Kill Team engages the enemy Goon Squad, keep in mind your Kill Team has a special weapon (such as the Space Marine Scout’s sniper rifle or the Stormtrooper’s plasma gun) and your sergeant (who typically has some nifty weaponry as well). Don’t be afraid to pile in to close combat if necessary, because the quicker the Goon Squad goes away, the less time you have to spend worrying about other Goon Squads wandering over to join in!

Applying these three concepts to games of Kill Team may help keep your team alive and the missions successful. Good luck out there…you’re going to need it!

Click on the links below to go to the scenarios.