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Hello and Happy New Year to all!

My boys and I just played our first game of Kill Team last night while waiting for the New Year countdown after getting a bunch of starter sets for Christmas. After reading the rules, we decided to have a game using the first mission in the rulebook but immediately encountered a myriad of questions so I'll just list them here:

1. The rulebook mentions 10 models but building a T'au list, I ended up with 5 Fire Warriors and 5 Pathfinders, but still had space for 4 drones and the support turret. Do the drones and turret count for the 10-model limit?
2. The rulebook also mentioned that a T'au group would be able to get a support turret -- is this free (0 points) or do I have to pay depending on whether I take a missile pod or smart missile system?
3. Pathfinders have a pulse carbine, markerlight, and Shas'ui can take a pulse pistol too. If a Pathfinder Shas'ui has a target at around 10" away, can it fire the carbine and the pistol in the same round? Does it have to be the same target or can it fire the pistol at a near target and fire the carbine at a target further away?
4. Do markerlights expire after use or do they last for the whole round? For example, a Pathfinder manages to get 4 markerlights on a target, a Fire Warrior then attacks the same target and rerolls dice that roll 1's. Does the target now have 3 markerlights? If the Fire Warrior used a higher-level markerlight ability to add 1 to the hit rolls, does the target now have 0 markerlights?
5. I use the Uplink Marker Light tactic and have two Pathfinders fire their markerlights at one target. Do both Pathfinders gain benefit of the tactic or just one?
6. A Space Marine starts his turn behind cover (obstructed) and charges my T'au so I fire Overwatch and apply the tactic where Overwatch hits on a 4+ instead of a 6+. Since the Space Marine is behind cover, does the "obstructed modifier" count and therefore I need a 5+ to hit?
7. When my units fire Overwatch, can they fire Overwatch again this round if another Space Marine charges another T'au unit or charges the previously-charged T'au unit?
8. Can the units that fired Overwatch still shoot during the shooting phase?
9. I have my T'au units inside the Wall of Martyrs shooting at a Space Marine out in the open. Since there is a small "wall" in front of the T'au firing units, is the Space Marine considered obstructed? Another example would be a Space Marine is hiding behind Barbed Venomgorse terrain, the unit is right beside or even inside the terrain, shooting out at a T'au Fire Warrior out in the open. Is the T'au unit considered obstructed since there is Barbed Venomgorse between the Space Marine and the T'au?
10. Shaken units do absolutely nothing while shaken? This seems to be a death sentence! Do they at least make armor/invul saves and the like?

Sorry for the varied questions but we never really got the hang of 40K rules and didn't play much 40K so very little, if any of those 40K rules stuck in our minds. We do like the quick setup of Kill Team and look forward to playing more.... which I'm sure will bring more questions! Thanks in advance for any help and Happy New Year again to all!

ps. if possible, please cite page numbers in the rulebook so that we can easily reference any future rules clarifications. Thanks again!

1. Where are you seeing this 10-model limit? There is a 20-model limit on your roster outside of campaigns and a 20-model limit on your kill team. See choosing a team on P62.

2. Support turrets cost points and take up a model slot on both your roster and team. See designers commentary.

3. Models with multiple weapons can fire all of them and can fire them at different targets. Additionally, weapons that fire more than one shot can have their shots split between different targets.You select a weapon and then select a target(s) for it. Resolve. Next weapon, etc. Do note that markerlights have a special rule that says you can't shoot other weapons if you shoot a markerlight - this is an exception. See P28-29 points 1 and 2. ETA - do note that pistols and grenades have a similar exception.

4. The markerlight marker stays on the model until the end of the phase. See P169.

5. You use that tactic when a marklight hits so it only applies to that one shot. The two pathfinders are not shooting at the same time so only one markerlight is hitting at that time. See the card.

6. Regarding the overwatch on a 4+ tactic, this is a tricky one. Overwatch normally hits on a 6 ignoring modifiers. The tactic replaces that target value of 6 with 4+. I would suggest that the rest of the overwatch rule (ignoring modifiers) is still in place since it is not removed but it would be nice to have had that explicitly stated. Nothing additional was added to this in the errata or designer's commentary.

7. You can fire overwatch repeatedly. See P23 overwatch. Note that for the greater good is an exception - if a model uses for the greater good to fire overwatch then they cannot fire overwatch or retreat for the rest of the phase. See rule on p170-171

8. Yes, firing overwatch doesn't stop you acting as normal in the shooting phase. No reference for this - models have permission to shoot in the shooting phase. There is no rule that says shooting in the movement phase removes that permission.

9. It depends entirely on line of sight. You have to be able to see all of the target from some point on the shooter. When the cover is close to you that's easier to do - for example with the defence lines you can generally take LoS from the highest part of the model and get a clear view. With something like a barbed venomgorse there's generally no way to get an unobstructed view through it. See P30 obscured box

10. The models can make no voluntary action but their passive abilities (armour, disgustingly resilient, etc.) still work. See the designers commentary.

As noted - other comments.

3 - a model can fire EITHER a grenade (if noone else does) OR all its pistol weapons OR all its non grenade, non pistol weapons (markerlights and some other weapons have a specific rule)

9 - note that obstructed for the purposes of injury rolls requires you to be close to the terrain you're claiming cover from.

Good point on grenades and pistols having the no other shooting exception as well.

Thanks for the help!

1. p.41 recommended 10 or fewer models which is where I got the number from, but I see that's not the case as per p.62

2. Is the Sept.2018 one the latest?

3. Thanks for clarifying. locarno24, can you point me to your reference regarding your response?

4. Still not 100% clear on this -- so if an enemy unit has 2 markerlights and 10 Fire Warrior fire on it and all 10 dice come up as 1's, I can re-roll all 10 dice? Or just two (one for each markerlight)? Sorry for being obtuse but I'm trying to understand why an enemy can have "4 or more" markerlights on it as stated in p.169

4a. Another thing doesn't make sense -- with 2 markerlights, does it mean it's easier to hit a target that's obscured? Or does the "add1 to hit rolls" just cancel out the -1 modifier for obscured models? For example, a Fire Warrior with BS 4+ shoots a Space Marine who is in cover, so the BS is now 5+. If the Space Marine has 2 markerlights on it, is the BS back at 4+? Or 3+?

5. I was under the impression that the Tactic stayed after it was activated and so was good for the whole turn, not just after one shot. I guess I was also confused due to being able to roll multiple shots at one instance, ie, two Pathfinders were firing markerlights and I activated the Tactic.

6. Yeah, we went with 4+ since Overwatch already cancelled any modifiers. Anyone else doing it differently?

7. So normal units doing Overwatch can fire repeatedly, but the Tau's Greater Good imposes a once-only limitation for the ability to fire Overwatch even when not charged? I guess I'm understanding that correctly now?

8. Thanks for clarifying.

9. So LOS is like a cone starting at a single point from the firing model? The T'au unit is inside the defence wall and he just "pokes" his head out from cover to take a shot, giving him clear LOS to the Space Marine. At the same time, a Space Marine inside the barbed venomgorse can peek around a trunk to get a clear view but those targeting that Space Marine will have to contend with the foilage obscuring the Space Marine. This makes sense from a "cover" point of view but I wonder if this is clarified in the rules somewhere.

10. Thanks for clarifying.


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11. Is there an online resource for the Command Roster on p.206-207 and the stat blocks for T'au and Space Marines and their weapons? Obviously we're still learning the game but with only one rulebook, having to constantly pass the rulebook back-and-forth gets kinda awkward really quick. I can easily scan and print out the relevant pages but the poor look of a scanned book plays on my (undiagnosed) OCD.

I wouldn't mind typing out the relevant info if there was a template I could plug the values into and still get a pretty printout.

2. There is only one errata and one commentary at this point.

3. See P30 - pistols and grenades sections.

4. Yes, all ten. Those benefits apply for the rest of the phase. The "or more" is presumably because of the strat. You might have two on there and then fire a third using the strat to make sure you get four and end up with six (that would be the dumb way to do it but you could unintentionally end up with more than 4).

4a It cancels it out. You get -1 for being obscured and +1 from the markerlight. If someone has a benefit that says they get -2 when they're obscured you'd get +1 still. That's why it doesn't say something like "ignore negative hit modifiers for the target being obscured".

5. No, the tactic happens right there and that markerlight hit that triggered it gets D3+1 rather than 1 counter. No lasting effect of any kind.

7. Yep

9. Correct. See the obscured box on P30 - first paragraph, second sentence.

11. You can get the ebook version of the rulebook. There's the Kill Team Manager mobile app. Or you could take a copy of this and type the info into it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zo3ooj1I4hVaUKWxo9reKem156G1G3xChVDb-v70Gag/edit#gid=0

I've already stopped using that spreadsheet that replicates the command roster and unit cards in favour of a one-page cheatsheet that has all of the unit and weapon profiles relevant to my roster as well as all of the abilities and tactics.

2. Thanks, downloaded both! The GW site is a pain to navigate, so I did not know about these; had to google each one. Thanks for the heads up!

3. Thanks for the reference! Obviously got lost in the firehose of information!

4. The "or more" just made me more confused; if it had said that a unit can only have max 4 markerlights, any more would be wasted/ignored, then that would've been clearer. Annoys me how the rulebook doesn't have an index like other games rulebooks!

4a. Aha! Thanks for clarifying! My son kept scratching his head last night and complaining about how it would've been better if his units were out in the open. This makes much more sense now.

4b. New question and I probably know the answer but just throwing this here to be sure: if I had 5 Pathfinders all with markerlights, do I have to declare targets for all Pathfinders at once? Or can I pick one Pathfinder, shoot the markerlight at Target 1, see how he does, pick another Pathinder, shoot markerlight at Target 1 again, decide I'm happy with 2 markerlights on Target 1, so pick Pathfinder #3 and now shoot Target 2? Basically, if Pathfinder #2 missed with his markerlight, I would then use Pathfinder #3 to shoot at Target 1 (instead of Target 2) to make sure I get a certain number of markerlights on Target 1. This is legal, right?

5. Thanks for clarifying this; I knew my interpretation was OP somehow!

9. I think I was confusing LOS calculations in Kill Team with some other method in some other game. Thanks!

11. Thank you for the resources. I've downloaded the app to explore it but I'd really want something I can customize then print out, so the excel file you've linked would be really helpful! I've been wondering about the eBook which I didn't really want to buy since I prefer dead-tree versions but it would be awesome to print out parts of the book so that we aren't throwing the core manual around as often. Do you own the eBook or have any experience with GW eBooks? Can I print out pages from the eBook? Some digital products restrict printing permissions. Is the eBook also updated as errata come out?

Any chance of having a look at this cheatsheet you've mentioned? I'm thinking of making my own as we were really struggling to follow the phases and especially the steps in each phase (shooting, charging, etc.)

4a - remember that you get the lower level benefits as well - so with two markerlights you get re-roll 1s for having one marker and +1 if the target is obscured for having two markers.

4b - yes, each model is completely independent so no need to declare what subsequent models are doing. I don't think there are any examples where it's relevant to markerlights but you also don't need to declare what a model with two weapons is going to do with his second weapon until after you've fired the first. If you've got a multi shot weapon that you're splitting between targets then you've got to divide it up before you start rolling.

11 - the GW ebooks are a massive pain in the bottom, to be honest. Even viewing them properly can be a pain and printing them certainly is.They are EPUB3 format.

My cheatsheet only has the unit/weapon/tactics relevant to the stuff on the roster - nothing about the turn sequence or core rules, that wasn't something I felt I needed. I can't give you a link to that, unfortunately, as it would be distributing the rules.

4a. Yeah, we kinda gathered that it was cumulative, just found certain wordings confusing but very happy that's all cleared up now!

4b. Again, I may be confusing this with how rules are interpreted in other games. Thanks for this clarification, but do you have a page reference on the book?

11. What do you mean exactly by the ePub being a pain? I'm not sure what ePub3 format exactly is, but basically, I'm hoping that this is like the core rulebook but in electronic format..... but still retains the rulebook's formatting and pictures, etc. Looking at the store page, it sure looks like it, but I've been duped by false advertising before!

I just want to be able to print off pages from the core rulebook but still keep the nice formatting and colors from the rulebook; I have a color laser printer just for this purpose! Is this possible with the ePub?

12. So how is your cheatsheet different from the roster pages at the back of the rulebook? What other info does it contain? I was thinking of making my own reference sheet like the one on the very last page of the rulebook, but with slightly more data on it to be absolutely newbie friendly.

The epub3 format isn't supported by all viewers and the speed of rendering varies greatly between viewers that do support it. Rakuten Kobo performs extremely well for me on Android.

4b - look at the shooting sequence. You pick a unit (which is a model - there are no units with multiple models in kill team) and then you pick a weapon. You resolve the shooting sequence and then repeat for any other weapons the model has.

The only time you need to declare shooting is when you are splitting the shots from a single weapon between targets.

12 - I have all of the unit profiles, weapon profiles, special rules, specialism abilities and tactics (general, specialism, leader specialism and faction) that are relevant to my roster on one page. No flipping back and forth or referring to cards.

On that subject, there are some great tactics in the team starters.


EPUB3 documents, especially the way that GW formats them, can have all sorts of rendering problems in different reader apps. Just getting it readable can be difficult. They may have improved it - I stopped buying them a couple of years ago. Most readers won't let you print so you'll have to take screen grabs and print those.

Thanks for the replies guys! We're going to have another game tomorrow so I'll see if that sorts out most of our issues.

I won't be relying on the ePub document for actually reading the rules, it'll just be some sort of print-on-demand source material so that we're not fighting over the actual rulebook all the time I know I can just type out the stat blocks, but we also like our purty pictures! I guess for £20, I'll give it a shot!

EDIT:
Aha! Found this in the description:

This is an ePub3 file. You will need an ePub3 reader on your device to use it.

Fixed Layout ePub (also known as ePub 3)
These eBooks are designed to match the look and feel of physical books as closely as possible They are full colour, and laid out to match the pages of a physical volume. Some of these eBooks come in two formats, one optimised for tablet devices and one for mobile phones. They are the closest you'll get to having the physical book in your hands – but with convenience of using your phone and tablet!

13. When does Saviour Protocols kick in? Is it after the wound roll? But the text says "after an attack successfully wounds it" and a successful wound roll can still be invalidated by a good saving throw. So it is in the Inflict Damage part where "a model loses one wound for each point of damage it suffers"?

I'm thinking the previous steps were **maybe** the model will suffer a wound, maybe not, so too early for the Saviour Protocol to kick in but on the inflict damage part, where an attack is successful, that's when it activates?

It kicks in after a successful wound roll.

So - you have to decide before rolling your armour save if you want the drone to take the hit.

Compare to things like disgustingly resilient which kick in after a failed armour save. These say things like "when a model loses a wound" .

11. Got the ePub version and wow, I underestimated how much of a pain it can be. I tried it on no less than 11 ebook readers and it only works on Azardi on PC and Kobo and Google Play Books on Android. Everything else has formatting issues with either using wrong fonts or separating the words/text from the pages. While the Kobo and Play Books apps allow for some detailed zooming in, reading all of this on a phone or tablet is just too small. Azardi on the PC looks good as well but the biggest issue is that there's no zoom-in function at all! It's either windowed or full screen but there's no fit-to-width or any other zoom options at all, still making the text too tiny to read, much less screen-grab and print out, which is sad because it looks like the ePub incorporates the latest errata text.

13. That's the confusing part --- so a model can be successfully wounded but still not lose a wound? It's like saying I kill you but you don't die?

I did say they were a pain...

Yes, that's the difference between wounding and inflicting a wound. Those two things really ought to be described differently (you roll to wound and then if the target fails it's save you inflict damage or something) - the naming overlap between rolling to wound and inflicting wounds has been annoying for ages.

Stages
You hit successfully
You wound successfully (savior protocols, etc. trigger)
The target then fails it's save
A wound is inflicted/lost (disgustingly resilient, etc. trigger)

There are various ways of fluffing that sequence up (and some people will complain bitterly that the armour save should come before the wound roll...) but that is the mechanic. The reason for that order is that the last roll is the chance for the player on the receiving end to save their model which is an important psychological difference.

I did buy some ebooks from them in 2017 and didn't really have this much trouble.... but then again, I wasn't too bothered by text size or layout like I am now with the rulebook. If they just made this in a PDF version, even if watermarked on the border or some of those hidden ID tags, I wouldn't be too bothered and would fit my needs completely.

As for wounds, the wording really does make it more confusing. I also don't understand this strength vs toughness bit especially if we have an AP vs armor/invul save bit. I mean if the enemy makes an armor or invul save, I can imagine the armor or some force field blocks or deflects the shot, but how would you explain hitting the enemy (successful to hit roll) but not wounding the enemy?

Think of it as:

Step1 - Did I hit the guy - taking into consideration if I moved, the range, his cover, etc. Did I hit him at all?
Step2 - Did I wound the guy - was my gun strong enough to injure him and did I hit him solidly, not just wing him or clip him with some shrapnel?
Step3 - Did he save - was my gun able to defeat his armour?

Isn't 2 and 3 really not that different? A solid hit.... but on the toughest part of the armor... no dice. A ricochet that by some freak chance gets in between overlapping plates.... dead.

I'm just so confused with this part. The first roll is to see if I hit, but then I might not wound him.... or I hit, I wound him, but his armor (or magic) saves him.... so I didn't really wound him, did I? It's like having to roll twice to see if I land a solid hit, then an armor save... or rolling once to see if I hit, then two opportunities for him to cancel out the hit. Either way, I can't wrap my head around wound save and saving throw.

I can understand injury roll.... was the hit lucky enough to knock him out, ie body hit or did I get through the armor but just break the skin? Or get him solidly but just at the extremities so he still fights on.

Yeah, fluffing it out doesn't really work. If you forget fluff and just consider mechanics it's better.

1. Compare ballistic skill to range, cover, etc.
2. Compare strength to toughness
3. Compare armour to armour penetration.

A lot of wargames would drop step two because they only have infantry or because only dedicated AT weapons can be used against vehicles so it's redundant - with 40K having everything from grots to titans you can see why that step is useful.

 Scott-S6 wrote:
with 40K having everything from grots to titans you can see why that step is useful.

How is it useful?

14. Just bought some of those cardboard game tiles and wondering how much terrain is enough? Like I said, we have a few starter set boxes so do we use two starter set's worth of terrain? How much is too little or how much is too much? As a Tau player, range is important to me and so is open spaces and with too much terrain, well, much more carnage would ensue!

Think of the wound roll as seeing where the model has been hit. So first you see if the attack hit at all, then you see if it just hit an extremity or a vital or weak spot, then you roll to see if it makes it through the armor. A very strong weapon could be indiscriminate in its shot placement and still wound someone who isn't very tough, but a weak weapon would need to hit just the right spot. Then, even if it does, the defender's armor may still hold true.

As for terrain, I tend to think that more is better. Using only one starter set will make for a pretty sparse board without being supplemented with at least the ruin pieces from another set.

That sounds like it makes a bit more sense.... I'll have to think about that a bit more.

14. So about two starter set's worth of terrain per game? I'm thinking of buying a couple of killzones just to ahve a properly themed setup.

Two is good, I would personally go with even more but it's kind of a matter of taste. I also prefer to play on a 30x30 surface, even though most of my teams are close combat focused.

FanOfTau wrote:

 Scott-S6 wrote:
with 40K having everything from grots to titans you can see why that step is useful.

How is it useful?

14. Just bought some of those cardboard game tiles and wondering how much terrain is enough? Like I said, we have a few starter set boxes so do we use two starter set's worth of terrain? How much is too little or how much is too much? As a Tau player, range is important to me and so is open spaces and with too much terrain, well, much more carnage would ensue!

If all targets are more or less human then it doesn't really matter what gun you shoot at them - it's all capable of injuring them. When targets can include enormous monsters and tanks it makes a difference if you're shooting a pistol or an antitank missile. Even in KT targets range from grots to 12ft tall bioweapons. There is a definite range of target resilience beyond armour.

In my opinion the killzones come about half full of terrain.

If you have a look in my thread I think these zones are about right except for the mechanicum one. That needs a little more and the drilling platform revealed today will be perfect I think.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/761193.page