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This time last year it was the hotness, now I don't see much on GW's site.

What gives?

they just put out a new rules supplement a few months back, thing is if GW's not actively releasing something they don't talk about it, gotta keep the hype train moving

Anecdotally, I’m playing more Kill Team than regular 40k these days. I really enjoy playing it. I enjoy being able to build and paint a “complete” army in a short time. I like getting two or three games into the time it would take to play 2 or 3 turns of a one-sided ass-whoopin’ that scarcely qualifies as a game and more of an exercise in picking up models... but I digress.

I feel like it’s the kind of game people get excited about and then the excitement wanes as they want to bring out the big toys and the game is missing the “epic” component that regular 40k has. I don’t miss that, I like the smaller scale the game plays at and I don’t miss tanks and Knights and Daemon Princes. But that’s me and not everyone else. To each their own.

KT is keeping me in GW games these days. I’ve spent more money on GW product (first and second hand) than I have in a long time, and I’m enjoying the game more than 7th or 8th editions.

Kill team is the only GW game really going here with any form of regularity. But the last releases have not really done much for excitement.
Only two people even buy commanders, and elites seem to have sour as much players as its being used.

But i feel GW needs to start thinking of it as its own game a bit more, or it may fade away in the end. :(

It's up against a lot of stiff competition in the skirmish market, is the trouble. Infinity, for example, which is light-years ahead.

 Phobos wrote:
This time last year it was the hotness, now I don't see much on GW's site.

What gives?

With regards to the GW site, they always push the current new releases.

I'm sure there'll be another expansion down the road and that'll be all over Warhammer Community when it comes.

Where I am, I see more games of KT being played than 40k. The core game seems to still be the most balanced, and my observation is that most pick up games are in that format. Commanders was poorly balanced, and Arena kinda screwed some armies but in my opinion had pretty good balance - Elites seems to have a passable standard from a chapter tactics perspective, but I think the units themselves could have been considered for longer.

It looks like GW are just going to milk it until they ruin it.

Sorcererbob wrote:

It looks like GW are just going to milk it until they ruin it.

That's the pessimistic way of saying that as a business they have to keep releasing new things for people to buy to make support of the product viable.

I play a lot more Kill Team than I full 40k. Locally, I am in a very good gaming group with a decent core of players as well as a decent number of players that come in every now and again. We haven't made use of Commanders or Arena because no has really shown any interest in buying/bringing those in to game. Elites is only kinda used. I don't think any of us actually own the Elites book yet. Elites stuff isn't off the table, we yet don't really use it for our games often. Elites units are just allowed, and both players agree if they want to use subfaction traits or not which is about 50/50.

I don't think Kill Team isn't the sort of game that needs tons of stuff to come out. Most everything is regular 40k models that have existed for years before Kill Team and never really needed special Kill Team faction starters. I appreciate that, for whatever reason, rules bloat hasn't been a thing in Kill Team. Because the two big things Kill Team has going for it is the rules are reasonably accessible and a player can play the game for the price of the core rule book, some dice and Troop choice box of models (dependent on the faction of course).

As someone that has played quite of Kill Team, I can tell you that the game is only just good in a world of great tabletop games. It has a lot of wonky rules interactions, very much has tiered factions in terms of effectiveness and luck can be a big decider in games since it is possible to have a game involving less than 50 dice rolls. That said, I think all those issues exist in full 40k and far more intrusive to the enjoyment of the game.

As for the future of Kill Team, I am good with the rules as they are and don't need another sweeping addition of units. At least not as the game is currently adding anything and everything from a data sheet. What I am getting at is, I would mind being able to field 1 or 2 Hellblasters, but I don't want the ability to field nothing but Hellblasters. I would like daemons and Sisters of Battle to be become incorporated (or more incorporated) into Kill Team. Next year, I could definitely go for a new edition of Kill Team that largely keeps the game mechanics the same (well, maybe improve the Morale Phase and make snipers worth taking the sniper specialism or just plain worth taking) but give a good once over to all the units in the game and try and reduce power variance between factions. I personally, wouldn't mind Kill Team moving further away from 40k in points cost of things and alter how special/heavy weapons are doled out.

TL;DR: I think Kill Team is doing fine. It is just not the sort of game that benefits from constant releases of stuff. At this point, more stuff has a better chance of hurting the game than helping it if you ask me.

I just wish they'd update the CSM rules to allow the additional weapon options in the new plastic CSM kit.

 Duskweaver wrote:
I just wish they'd update the CSM rules to allow the additional weapon options in the new plastic CSM kit.

What? In a game where most of team's power comes from their special weapons, what wrong with a Heavy Bolter and special weapon Plasmagun?

Seriously, I completely agree with you. I almost forget I have a Chaos Space Marine army the options are so bad for them in Kill Team. With Elites, I can't say they are weak anymore. At the same time, Khorne Berserkers models either look kinda bad or cost way more than I want to kitbash a make okay looking ones.

I guess my comment came from the lack of product. Last year there was the starter box, and all the little boxes for each force, and scenery packs.

All that appears to be gone now.

 Phobos wrote:
I guess my comment came from the lack of product. Last year there was the starter box, and all the little boxes for each force, and scenery packs.

All that appears to be gone now.

There's a new starter set coming.

The Commanders stuff wasn't very well received, by all accounts, and it looks like the intention is to try again with non-repackaged characters.

Overall, I love Kill Team and its been the best thing to happen to GW in recent years. I see some niggles though...

First thing I'll knock is the lack of an official counters set. Red and blue - two sheets of cardboard tokens for those who only required the core manual( i.e you already had the minis and terrain ). If you are hosting a game where the other player has only the miniatures, this would be very useful.

Kill Team commanders. Didn't buy into it because the expansion - to add a single character to your team - cost more than the core rule set. Apparently comes with tokens, but the core rules could have done with that instead! See above! Also, for a game that focuses on the lower ranking characters of the battle field, an elite would make a more suitable leader. For example, a Brood Lord is meant to lead a swarm, not a handful of Tyranids. Not saying KT:C shouldn't be a thing, because a lone Brood Lord allows for a "predator" style game, such as an Imperial guard team trying to survive until superior Astartes forces can arrive to rescue the survivors and destroy the creature. I just think Elites would have been a better follow up to the core manual and given rules to provide your current troop-choice team leader with options to upgrade them into an elite level character.

On a similar note, why does KT: Elites need to cover more commanders when the previous Commanders expansion costs more than either Elites or the core manual? KT:Commanders is apparently a "comprehensive list of Commanders" but clearly not as the £35 expansion has spilt over into another expansion which costs £25 less...which begs the question - is KT: Elites a comprehensive list of elite units if its also playing errata to KT: Commanders?

Sometimes you just want to add a single character to your team...which most likely means you are going to fork out for a whole squad just to get that one mini. For example, say you have a Marine team, and want to add a single Terminator elite as a leader. Well, I guess thats £28 for a box of terminators.

Eldar...could they not have shared in the faction set love?

...otherwise, happy days. I love the core game as it is and the above are - once again - just niggles and not game-threatening faults in the slightest. The biggest problem is the lack of tokens, but there are at least alternatives and work arounds. So long as gaming events don't get picky about using non-GW tokens that shouldn't be a problem.

Kill Team is doing fine. GW does not need to produce many extra kits for it as it already borrows from the 40k core set. Another thing that might make KT less visible is the fact that you can play it at your home much more easily than the larger 40k games. This means not everyone is playing at their FLGS, but in their homes.

 Phobos wrote:
I guess my comment came from the lack of product. Last year there was the starter box, and all the little boxes for each force, and scenery packs.

All that appears to be gone now.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/08/18/next-week-quests-kill-teams-and-more/

From yesterday.



GW gives it a couple of articles every month on their website, Elites was released not 3 months ago, along with new kill team boxes, but people have way too short attention spans these days.

 Saturmorn Carvilli wrote:


I don't think Kill Team isn't the sort of game that needs tons of stuff to come out. Most everything is regular 40k models that have existed for years before Kill Team and never really needed special Kill Team faction starter

i think this is true. it's like how blood bowl is one of the most popular games at the two clubs here, but most people are using teams from a decade+ ago and no one gets that excited even when there is a new release. i think also with KT the faction starters aren't that great if you want any variety. it's all just repackaged sprues from elsewhere, so even if you are starting from scratch, you might be better off just buying a box of 10 minis for the same/cheaper than the 5 odd you get the in faction sets. from what i can see the new starter is just repackaged tau and SW, which compared to the new models in blackstone fortress expansion, you can see why there is less excitement.

Kill Team is doing fine in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. There is a hardcore of tournament minded players who play games using SoCal Open or Las Vegas Open tourney rules. As such, Kill Team Elite is used, and sometimes Arena. (First it was 100pts with Elites, now 125 with Elites). No KT: Commanders however. The tournaments don't use them, and many people are not interested anyway.

Personally, I like Arena, even though my Deathwatch are completely useless in it. It feels more like SpecOps, and it is a different kind of challenge. However, you do need bodies, and even with a 6 man DW kill team, I could not take objectives. So for Arena, I'm using my Necrons and am building an AdMech team.

KT: Elites is also an interesting supplement as it adds a Reserve rule and tactics to take advantage of it. (The combination of the two makes the Assassination mission easy). The new units usually help the weaker factions such as Orks and Drukhari, who are now higher in the tourney meta thanks to Elites.

For any KT player wanting a change of pace, either Elites or Arena would be a good choice; the former is cheaper, but the latter does support 2 players so only one person in a group has to buy it. (There are two sets of 2ndary Objective cards, so each player can select them secretly.)

I play pretty much only kill team these days. I can easily get two or three games of kill team in the time I’d maybe get one 40k game in. And I have way more fun with kill team, it’s no contest.

I would play 40k more if it wasn’t so slow, and stuck in igoyougo. I love the look of a game of 40k on a full table with a few tanks and such.