Warhammer 40,000 kill teamGames Workshop’s small-unit miniature skirmish game is in a great position right now.
Aided by last summer’s reboot, the game mechanics are lively and engaging. It also benefits from a newfound focus on narrative play, a sort of storytelling-through-wargaming that’s veering into tabletop roleplaying territory. His latest box expansion set, Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Moroch, leans admirably on those strengths. But the parts in the box will likely only appeal to a small segment of the fan base – either those looking for very specific miniatures to complete their army in a hurry, or those who just can’t wait for the individual components within to continue Sold separately. Dedicated players should wait for the standalone campaign book that includes new rules and unit rosters, while most hobbyists can also hit the brakes until the new Chaos units go on sale a la carte.
Image: Games workshop
Inside the Moroch box you will find many older models that already exist in the wild. The Space Marine Phobos Strike Team is basically a bunch of invaders
The really new bits come on the opposite side of the fight. Inside Moroch is a brand new group of Traitor Imperial Guardsmen known as the Blooded. The new sculpts of the base soldiers are a bit of a letdown, as they echo poses that were previously released Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress. However, the elite units are top-notch, including a traitor commissar with a power fist and a Chaos-infested ogryn. Like the terrain, though neither is new. Anyway, players of the full fats Warhammer 40,000 Anyone wanting to create an Astra Militarum themed army will likely be buying all of these Chaos models in bulk once they become available separately.
While the miniatures are a bit mixed, that’s it Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Moroch Rules Guide that stubborn kill team Players will want to get their hands on it. It features an excellent overhaul of a Space Marine Kill Team that combines both the supremely sneaky Space Marine Infiltrators and the tactically flexible Space Marine Incursors. It is a combination of units that was not previously possible with the rules in the Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Compendium and really unlocks what was previously a very basic faction with lots of hit points.
Image: Games workshop
Image: Games workshop
Meanwhile, the rules for the Blooded Kill Team reward aggressiveness – which, ironically, isn’t the case for all factions. Players will be able to field larger (compared to the standard Imperial Guard) groups of units without sacrificing any durability. The faction also includes a new mechanic that rewards consistently killing the opponent with guaranteed hits and other goodies in later turns. Once they get going, Blooded Kill Teams can be very difficult to stop, making them more than competitive for the Space Marines in this box.
The narrative campaign included in the box is a lot of fun, with a good mix of symmetric and asymmetric battles, and great payouts in terms of upgrades. To achieve that, Moroch introduces Sentry and Infiltration rules to the latest version of kill team. Essentially, the feature adds a few game turns before the game actually begins. Commanders take one or two models at a time and move them across the battlefield before other units are placed on the table. The goal is to sneak forward without revealing yourself, thereby gaining an advantage or objective from your opponent before the larger skirmish begins. It feels a bit like that XCOM2‘s stealth mechanic, but with a live player controlling the opposition rather than mindless bots wandering in circles.
Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Moroch It’s available for pre-order on May 28, and while no official price has yet been announced, independent retailers are telling Polygon the set will be priced in the $200 range, which feels about right given the scope of delivery. However, it would be nice if the set included the core rulebook required to play the game. Shipping is expected sometime in June along with a retail release.
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