Monday, September 23, 2019

Taking Escalation forces to Kill Team: Rules Preview


Many of the miniatures in the side games created by Games Workshop are making their way into Warhammer 40k and the Age of Sigmar. Today we have of Games Workshops smaller games sharing miniatures between themselves!

Blackstone Fortress: Escalation miniatures are headed to Kill Team in the latest article in the White Dwarf!



via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/09/23/serving-the-abyss-in-kill-teamgw-homepage-post-3/

Those of you who’ve already read September’s issue of White Dwarf* over the weekend will know that it includes beta rules for using the amazing miniatures from Blackstone Fortress: Escalation in your games of Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team. If you’re wondering how to get the most from these new Cultists and Characters in your games, read on – you’re in the right place! Let’s kick things off with the hostiles from Blackstone Fortress…




…The Cultists of the Abyss

At only 5 points per model, they offer you the opportunity to vastly outnumber all but the most numerous opponent, ensuring that you can easily contest multiple objectives while advancing to pin the enemy in their own territory. Your Cultists may not be able to outfight every warrior one-on-one, but with the numbers at your disposal, total battlefield domination will be yours for the taking. For an additional point each, you can upgrade two Cultists of the Abyss to Gunners – one armed with a grenade launcher and another with heavy stubber (which you should totally do!) – offering you some heavier firepower to supplement your massed autoguns.






Your Cultists of the Abyss can be led by a Commander in the form of the Cultist Firebrand. While he may not have the resilience of a Terminator Captain or the deadly melee prowess of a Broodlord, his hellfire torch is capable of reducing enemy Commanders to molten slag in a single, fiery burst.





What’s more, as he’s only 70 points at Level 1 you can maintain your numerical superiority, so your Cultist Firebrand will be free to barbecue enemy warriors at your leisure! Of course, if you need to protect your Firebrand from unwanted enemy attention until you can get him close enough to inflict grievous immolation, remember to keep a loyal** Cultist nearby so that you can make use of the Look Out, Sir! Tactic to keep him in once piece.

Explorers of the Battlefield

The Explorers from Blackstone Fortress: Escalation represent a hybrid mix of unique Commanders, Specialists and warriors for a variety of existing kill team factions. In fact, as a Rogue Trader, Neyam Shai Murad can serve as a Commander for Adeptus Astartes, Astra Militarum or Adeptus Mechanicus kill teams!
Not only is she a dead-eye shot with her pair of negotiator pistols (bolstered even further by her accompanying servo-skulls), but she can get the jump on anyone with her Quick Draw reflexes. Keep her close behind your main fighters and she’ll reliably pick off an enemy warrior each turn – even if they’re in cover!

The Adeptus Mechanicus can include Tech-Priest Daedalosus as a Commander as well as the Servitor known as X-101. Daedalosus’ greatest asset is his Omniscanner, with which he can offer nearby warriors from his faction a bonus to their hits rolls against one target of choice. It’s not even an Aura Tactic – just an ability he gets as standard!
If you have Daedalosus or any other Tech-Priest Commander leading your kill team, make sure you include X-101. Not only will you have two devastating weapons at your disposal, but X-101 will benefit from an improved Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill of 4+ while within 6” of your Tech-Priest. Not bad for only 10 points!

If your kill team hails from the Astra Militarum, you’ll be able to field Aradia Madellan and Gotfret de Montbard as a Commander and Combat specialist respectively. Aradia is a Primaris Psyker, meaning that you’ll be able to blast your opponent’s kill team with Psybolts, all the while offering a means to counter any psychic powers they may have. Aradia also has the Psychic Boost ability, which can be handy for keeping your valuable specialists in peak fighting condition even if they’ve picked up a flesh wound or two.
Astra Militarum kill teams aren’t normally known for their melee prowess, but Gotfret de Montbard certainly is! Not only is he an absolute bargain at only 20 points, but Gotfret doesn’t even count towards the maximum number of specialists in your kill team due to his Specialist Retainer ability. Oh, and he’s armed with a power sword and storm shield.
And if that wasn’t already awesome enough, he’s got a killer profile – remember that, as a Combat specialist, he’ll have an extra Attack as standard from his Expert Fighter ability, as well as the chance to score additional hits in combat!
Whether you’re a fan of Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team or Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress, Escalation offers loads of exciting new content for both games! If you haven’t already done so, order your copy today!